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diff --git a/34575.txt b/34575.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b83ffad --- /dev/null +++ b/34575.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12241 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Triumph of Virginia Dale, by John Francis, Jr. + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Triumph of Virginia Dale + +Author: John Francis, Jr. + +Illustrator: W. Haskell Coffin + John Goss + +Release Date: December 5, 2010 [EBook #34575] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Roger Frank and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration: _VIRGINIA DALE_] + + + + +THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE + +BY JOHN FRANCIS, JR. + +WITH A FRONTISPIECE IN FULL COLOR + +FROM A PAINTING BY W. HASKELL COFFIN + +AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS + +BY JOHN GOSS + +BOSTON + +THE PAGE COMPANY + +MDCCCCXXI + + + + +Copyright, 1921 + +By The Page Company + +All rights reserved + +Entered at Stationers' Hall, London + +First Impression, August, 1921 + +THE COLONIAL PRESS + +C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. + + + + +DEDICATED + +TO THE MEMORY OF + +MY FATHER AND MOTHER + + + + +CONTENTS + + Chapter Page + I HER MISSION IN LIFE 1 + II THE MISSION BEGUN 17 + III UNGIVEN ADVICE 29 + IV THOSE DARKIES AGAIN 37 + V ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN 45 + VI IKE EXPLAINS 59 + VII JOE PROVES INTERESTING 74 + VIII ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY 97 + IX HEZEKIAH HAS A SOLUTION 118 + X AN AFTERNOON OFF 143 + XI OLD HEARTS MADE YOUNG 161 + XII MORE TROUBLE 183 + XIII VIRGINIA HELPS AGAIN 195 + XIV AN OUTING AND AN ACCIDENT 209 + XV A MAN IN DISGRACE 236 + XVI VIRGINIA MUST GO 262 + XVII A FRIEND IN NEED 276 + XVIII AUNT KATE LENDS A HAND 292 + XIX OBADIAH "COMES-TO" 308 + XX HIS JOURNEY'S END 330 + XXI THE TRIUMPH 339 + XXII NOBODY HOME, MR. DEVIL 353 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +Virginia Dale (in full color) Frontispiece +"This request appeared to require deep thought" 155 +"'I must choose between your way and the way of my Mother'" 251 +"'I think that I shall love it,' she said softly" 261 +"'You are my sweetheart,' the brazen Helen told him" 297 + + + + +THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +HER MISSION IN LIFE + + +Obadiah Dale was the richest man in South Ridgefield. He owned the great +textile mill down by the river where hundreds of people were employed +and which hummed and clattered from morning until night to add to his +wealth. He lived in a fine house. About it, broad lawns, shaded by +ancient elms and dotted with groups of shrubbery, formed a verdant +setting for the walls and massive porch pillars spotless in white paint. + +Obadiah's only child was Virginia. She was a charming bit of girlhood +with a complexion so clear that it seemed pale in contrast to the black +hair and the clearly lined brows which arched those big, serious, blue +eyes. + +On an afternoon in early June she was reading on the couch which swung +from the lofty ceiling of the porch when she became aware that some one +was coming up the walk from the gate. She arose and her face lighted +with happiness as she ran down the steps to greet a smartly dressed +woman of middle age. "Oh, Hennie dear," she cried, "I am so glad +that you've come." + +The older woman laughed gaily as she caught the girl in her arms, "You +know I couldn't forget your birthday, Virginia." + +"No, you wouldn't do that, Hennie. You don't come often," the girl +sighed, "but you always remember that." + +Mrs. Henderson kissed her little hostess. Always had her big heart gone +out to this motherless maid. Long ago she had been the intimate friend of +Virginia's mother. Elinor Dale had died when her daughter was a year +old so that Hennie had a twofold reason for loving her young friend. + +"It's good to have you here," exclaimed the girl as she drew her +visitor to a chair by the couch. "I wish you would come every day." + +"Now, listen to that. Wouldn't it be better, please, for you to come +and see me instead of planning for a poor old woman,"--Mrs. Henderson +did not look the part--"who has twinges of rheumatism, to make daily +calls upon you?" + +Virginia regarded her guest with great seriousness. "I come to your +house very often, Hennie. I was over the other day, but,"--she gave +another sigh,--"you were not home." + +"I do remember. Carrie told me that you were over with Serena. I +supposed that you came to see her. I am on so many committees for +various charitable organizations----" She stopped short and reaching +over patted the girl's hand. "I am sorry that I was not home, dear. +I should remember that you are rather old to call upon my negro cook." + +Virginia's eyes danced. "I must have called upon Carrie a thousand +times since I was a baby. A few more calls in your kitchen instead of +your parlor won't hurt me." + +"Why are you laughing?" demanded Mrs. Henderson. + +"I can tell you a secret about your own house but you must agree not to +use it against Carrie." + +"I promise." + +"Well, Hennie, you might be interested to know that refreshments are +served oftener in your kitchen than your parlor. I learned that years +ago." + +"The very idea!" exclaimed the caller. + +The girl's gaze wandered thoughtfully over the beautiful grounds. "I do +so love to have you here. I don't see very many people." Her voice +was wistful. "This big place gets lonesome sometimes. I think I envy +girls who live in houses with stoops on the sidewalk. They have the +cars, peddlers, policemen and lots of people going by all of the time. +It would be great fun to live that way." She was very sober now. "I +think that I want noises and lots of things going on. Am I very strange, +Hennie?" + +"No indeed, all young people are that way," declared Mrs. Henderson +with emphasis. "I felt so myself, once. Of course, it is lonely for you +in this big house with only Serena. Your father is home for so short a +time each day." + +"Please don't misunderstand me, I am not very lonely--only a +little bit. If something interesting--something exciting and wildly +adventurous--would happen, Hennie, it would be fine." + +Mrs. Henderson smiled. "I am afraid that I can't help you in such +ways, dear, but I have something here which I am very sure that you will +dearly love." She drew forth a small parcel from her bag. + +Virginia waited in pleased expectation. "I am going to adore it," she +cried joyously, as, accepting the package, she prolonged anticipation +by inspecting it curiously, "because you gave it to me." + +"You will care for it for other reasons," replied the older woman +soberly. + +Within the wrappings, the girl found a little volume, the cover of which +was much worn. + +"Don't be misled by appearances," Mrs. Henderson suggested as Virginia +opened the book. + +Upon the fly leaf, written in ink faded with age, was the name, Elinor +Clark. The girl's eyes opened wide in wonder and suppressed delight. +"It was my mother's book, Hennie?" she asked gently. + +"Yes, dear, it was a girlhood possession of your mother. During her last +illness she gave it to me and asked me to see that you got it on your +eighteenth birthday. She explained that she didn't want to trouble +your father, yet she wanted you to have it. It was the last request +Elinor ever made of me." Mrs. Henderson's eyes winked suspiciously and +leaning forward she peered at the worn cover. When she spoke her voice +was husky with emotion. "It's a gift that you will always cherish, +dear." + +A great tenderness swept over Virginia's face. "It's my mother's +birthday present to me, isn't it, Hennie?"--she almost whispered--"the +only one that I can remember." + +As the older woman bowed her agreement, she moved over upon the couch by +the girl and for a time they were silent. + +Virginia was the first to speak. "Tell me about my mother, please," +she said softly, her hand caressing the cover of the book. "It makes +Daddy sad if I talk to him too much about her so I never do. But Hennie, +I should like to know more of her if I could." + +"Bless your heart, I will gladly tell you everything I can, dear." She +was thoughtful for a moment and then resumed, "Your mother was three +years older than you are now when I first met her." + +"And married," cried the girl in surprise, "I never thought of my +mother as so young. I pictured her as much older." + +"Old, nonsense! Your mother was my age. She was hardly grown at the time +of her death." + +"Where did my father meet her? I know that she lived down South. Serena +is always talking about the old home." + +"He met her here in South Ridgefield. He had come here from New England +and started his mill. It was small in those days, but prosperous. +Social affairs had little attraction for your father. That made him +very interesting to us girls. I suppose too we did not forget that he +was making lots of money and could give the girl of his choice everything +she desired. He had been here four or five years when the marriage +took place. Its announcement caused much excitement among us young +people. We had given your father up as a hopeless old bachelor. Think +of it, in a week, your mother snatched the best catch from under the +noses of the South Ridgefield girls." Mrs. Henderson laughed gaily. +"Elinor did that very thing." + +"My mother must have been very beautiful?" + +"She was, every one admitted that, but she had the advantage in another +way. She came from Virginia after her father's death to settle some +business affairs with your father." Again Mrs. Henderson laughed. +"The girls used to say that he took Elinor in full settlement of all +indebtedness. After the marriage he built this house and you were born," +she pointed upwards, "in that big corner room on the second floor." + +"Please go on, Hennie," begged the girl, after a pause in which the +older woman's thoughts wandered in the past. + +"I was thinking of the good times I've had in this house. Your mother +used to give delightful dances." + +"Dances, _here_!" Virginia's astonishment was evident. + +"Certainly, I have danced here many times until three o'clock in the +morning and thought nothing of it." + +"You danced, too?" It was as if the girl were shocked. + +"Of course I danced. Do you think I was a wall flower who could lure no +partners to myself?" Mrs. Henderson demanded with spirit. "Remember, I +had been married only a year. There were grand dinners, too." She went +on more calmly. "How we enjoyed Serena's cooking and afterwards many +is the gay crowd this porch sheltered in those days." + +"It is hard to imagine, Hennie." The girl shook her head soberly. +"Daddy and I are so quiet. We sit here in the evenings and I talk until +he falls asleep. Then I watch the fire-flies until he wakes up and we +go to bed. The thought of him dancing is very strange." + +There was a note of pity in Mrs. Henderson's voice when she spoke, "To +be sure it is, dear. I never said that your father danced. He seemed +to enjoy having people here. It was your mother, though, who loved that +sort of thing and her word was law to him in everything. She depended on +Hezekiah Wilkins to set the pace by wielding a rhythmic toe, as he used +to call it." A smile of gay memories died in her eyes at more solemn +thoughts. "Those good times lasted only a couple of years. Your mother +was taken ill and then--" she paused and continued softly, "--one +afternoon she went away from the room upstairs and left you, dear," +her voice caught, "to Serena and me." + +Mrs. Henderson's arm went about the girl but in a moment she resumed, +"After the death of your mother your father devoted himself to money +making again. It took all of his time." There was a flash of anger in +her eye. "He has succeeded very well in that." + +Mrs. Henderson arose hastily. "Dear me, child, I am staying too long. +You should go to some of these youthful affairs about town. I imagine +that the boys and girls of South Ridgefield have some very good times." + +The girl's eyes lighted with interest but in a moment it had gone, +replaced by a thoughtful little smile. "Daddy would be lonely without +me. I ought not to leave him alone in the evening." + +Again the angry glint came in Mrs. Henderson's eyes, but she controlled +herself and said quietly, "You are the best judge of that, dear. But +now that you have finished school you should have something to occupy +your time. I know that Serena would have you play great lady, but, +with due respect to her ideas, you will find it a lonely game in these +busy days. Why don't you give some of your time to helping those not so +fortunate as you? Think it over, child," she urged as she left. + +After her caller had departed Virginia returned to the couch and with +intense interest gave herself up to the examination of the book which had +been her mother's. + +A negress of uncertain age appeared in the doorway of the house. Her hair +was streaked with grey and she was enormously fat. She wore a calico +dress over the front of which stretched a snowy white apron, its strings +lost in a crease of flesh at the waist line. Bound about her head was a +white handkerchief and her sleeves were rolled to her elbows. + +She moved about the porch replacing the wicker furniture. Stopping by +the couch she rearranged some magazines, and then, "Honey chil', ain' +you gwine git dressed? De clock done struck fo'." + +"In a minute." + +Serena's eyes wandered to the side lawn. Instantly her attention was +riveted upon certain objects protruding from some shrubbery. They were +conspicuous and unusual as lawn decorations, bulking large beside a +recumbent lawn mower, a rake and grass shears. + +"You Ike," she shouted. The objects moved convulsively. "Wot you +mean a sleepin' under dat bush?" The commotion in the shrubbery ceased +and the objects reappeared in their normal position as the feet of a +sleepy-eyed negro youth. + +"Ah ain' a sleepin' none, Miss Sereny, ah was a layin' under dat bush +a ca'culatin' whar ah gwine to trim it." + +"You got a po' haid fo' figgers den. You computen all dis yere +afternoon, ah guesses. Ma eye is on you, boy. Go change you' clothes +an' git dat ca'ah down to de office a fo' you is late." + +Ike gathered the tools and disappeared in haste. + +Serena turned again to the girl, who had displayed but slight interest +in the sleeping laborer. "It gittin' mighty late, chil'." + +"Yes, I know, Serena." + +"You bettah dress you'se'f." + +"Please, only a little longer." + +"You gwine be fo'ced to be mighty spry den," warned the old negress +as she waddled into the house. + +"Oh, how wonderful," breathed the girl, a great joy suddenly showing in +her face. "It's for me--from mother. Really." + +The worn volume lay open in her lap. It contained selections from the +works of many poets. Upon the page before her these lines, taken from +Coleridge's, "The Ancient Mariner," were printed, + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things both great and small: + For the dear God who loveth us, + He made and loveth all." + +They were heavily underlined. In the broad margin was written in a +tremulous hand which displayed the effects of illness, + + "My darling little daughter-- + --live these lines. ELINOR DALE." + +A vast tenderness enfolded the girl. She reread the lines. "My mother +is telling me how to live," she whispered. "Her voice is calling to me +through all the years--the only time." She touched her lips impulsively +to the place where the cherished hand had rested and then, clasping the +book to her breast, she closed her eyes and remained so for awhile. When +her lids raised anew, the blue eyes were filled with a great yearning +as she breathed softly and reverently as if in prayer, "Yes, mother." + +A little later, Virginia entered the house and Serena told her, "Ah done +lay out yo'all's clothes, honey chil'. Ef you want anythin' else jes +yell." + +The girl dreamily climbed the broad staircase. At the bend she remembered +something, and, turning back, smiled down at the old colored woman below. +"Thank you, Serena," she called. + +Amply rewarded, the faithful servant contentedly busied herself once more +with the affairs of the Dale household. From that far away day when she +had, "'cided ah gwine foller Miss Elinor to de no'th," she had been +recognized by well informed persons as one in authority in that home. + +It was Serena who first held Virginia in her arms and tenderly rocked the +squirming red mite across her ample bosom. During those long days and +nights of watching in the last illness of Elinor Dale, it was Serena +who, with undisguised distrust of the trained nurse, was in and out of +the sick room almost every hour. It was Serena who closed Elinor Dale's +eyes, and it was Serena who held the motherless child with great tears +rolling down her black face as she stood by the open grave. + +No formal agreement held Serena after the death of her mistress. She saw +the home as a storm tossed craft, from whose deck the navigator had been +swept, drifting aimlessly upon the sea of domesticity. Unhesitatingly, +she had assumed the vacant command which carried with it the mothering +of Virginia. + +In the early months of his bereavement, Obadiah Dale gave some attention +to the establishment which he had created for his wife's enjoyment. +Yet all things followed a well managed routine and, more important than +all to a man of his nature, the monthly bills evidenced economical +judgment. Quick to recognize a valuable subordinate, Obadiah saw no +necessity for immediate change. + +Serena had excellent ideas in child training. Although in her mind +Virginia was a young lady of position who could properly demand +appropriate attention, yet must she learn to meet the responsibilities +of her station. + +Obadiah was assured that his daughter in Serena's charge was in the +care of one who loved her. From time to time he made vague plans for +the child's future. As they were to commence at an indefinite time +they never materialized. More and more the business activities of the +manufacturer occupied his time, and slowly but surely the duty of +Virginia's upbringing was shifted to the negro woman. + +When Virginia was five, Serena told her employer, "Dis yere chil' +orter be in school a learnin' mo' an' ah kin teach her," and so +the mill owner's daughter was started upon her scholastic career at a +kindergarten. + +Obadiah never knew the worries of this illiterate negro woman in +planning suitable clothing for his child. No man could appreciate that +watchful eye ever ready to copy styles and materials from the garments +of children of families deemed worthy as models. + +Virginia's education was continued under the guidance of a Miss Keen +who conducted a select school for young ladies in South Ridgefield. This +institution, highly esteemed as a seat of learning by Serena, offered +courses usually terminating when pupils refused longer to attend the +establishment. In its most prosperous years its enrollment never exceeded +twenty misguided maidens. + +Now, Virginia had arrived at the age of eighteen, a serious, rather shy +girl, whose youth had been spent under the supervision of an old negro +woman, narrowed by the influence of a small school and neglected by a +busy father. + +When Obadiah came home that night for dinner, she met him in the hall. +He was a very tall man and extremely thin. His sharp features gave a +shrewd expression and his smooth shaven face displayed a cruel mouth +and an obstinate jaw. + +"Hello, Daddy dear," cried the girl as she held up her mouth to be +kissed. She gave a happy little laugh when he pinched her cheek, and +demanded of him, "What day is this?" + +"Tuesday," he answered indifferently, "the tenth of June." + +"Can't you think of anything else?" + +He looked puzzled. "It's not a holiday, is it?" + +"No, but it's my birthday, Daddy dear." + +He displayed some interest now. "Is that so? How old are you today?" + +"I am eighteen," she explained proudly. "Serena made me a cake with +candles. She brought it in at lunch. She said it might bother you, +tonight." She looked up at him quickly. "Do you love me, Daddy?" + +"Surely," he answered absently and shaking his iron grey head he +ascended the stairs to prepare for dinner, muttering, "Time flies--how +time flies." + +He joined his daughter again in the dining room in response to the +gong. Serena had planned the meal with due regard to the fact that the +day had been warm. A lobster, magnificent in its gorgeousness, reposed +upon a bed of lettuce on the platter before Obadiah. A potato salad +flanked it and a dish of sliced tomatoes reflected the color scheme of +the crustacean. Dainty rolls, Serena's pride, peeped from the folds +of a napkin and the ice clinked refreshingly in the tall tumblers of tea +as they were stirred. + +Sometimes Virginia and her father chatted, but there were long silences. +At intervals, Serena, noiselessly in spite of her weight, appeared to +replenish or change a dish and to see that all things were in order. + +As they waited for the table to be cleared for dessert, the girl said +wistfully, "I wish that I could help somebody, Daddy." + +He looked at her curiously. "What ever put that into your head? You are +a help to me sitting there and smiling at me." + +"Oh, but that's not much. To sit at a table and smile and eat good +things only helps oneself." + +"Well, why should you want to help anybody but you and me?" + +She gazed at him thoughtfully. "Don't joke, Daddy. I know I would be +happier if I could do something for some one." + +Obadiah chuckled. "Where did you get that idea? I am perfectly happy +tonight, and I haven't bothered myself about other people." + +"The very idea. All this livelong day you have been planning for those +who work in your mill." + +A sudden light came to him, he chuckled again. "Surely, I look after +my employees or they would look after me." + +"That makes you happy." Virginia was certain that she had made her +point. + +"No," Obadiah shook his head vigorously, "my employees make me angry +more than they make me happy. My happiness is the result of my own +efforts." + +"That is what I mean, Daddy. You have had such great opportunities to +make yourself happy." She viewed him with eyes of fond admiration. "You +have accomplished so much." + +Obadiah was filled with a comfortable egotism. "I have accomplished +a whole lot," he boasted. His mind was upon his commercial success and +the wealth he had accumulated. "I'm not through," he bragged. He +became thoughtful as he dwelt upon certain fertile fields awaiting +his financial plough. His jaw set. He had rivals who would contest his +tillage. He would fight as he had always fought. His eyes glistened +beneath his shaggy brows as he sensed the fray. + +The conversation languished as they ate their dessert, but Obadiah's +pride of accomplishment had not departed. "I am going to do bigger +things than ever before," he exulted. "When you are older you will +realize what I have done for you," he explained as they went out on +the porch. + +For a time the girl and the old man followed their own thoughts while +the fire-flies sparkled and gleamed about the lawn as if they were +the flashlights of a fairy patrol. Emma Virginia was thinking of her +father's words. He was going to do more for her. She must certainly +share her blessings. + +"Daddy dear, do you mind if I help some one?" she asked gently. + +"Back on that?" he demanded with a note of sharpness. + +She gave an emphatic little nod. "It is very important. I--I--can't +tell you now, why," she hesitated. "I should feel much better, though." + +"You are not sick, are you?" Obadiah worried. + +"Oh, no indeed, perfectly well. Only, I am sure that I would be much +happier if I could do something for someone else. I don't know whom. +That doesn't make any difference." + +"What a strange idea!" It seemed to bother Obadiah. "You want to help +someone but you don't know whom." He considered a moment. "Here's +my advice. Help somebody who can help you." + +"Now you are teasing me, Daddy?" she protested. "I am really serious +about this. I want to be of more use in the world." Her voice was very +soft and gentle now. "I know that I should share my blessings and I +want to do it. It is such a comfort to talk things over with you, Daddy +dearest." She moved quietly over to him and seated herself upon his lap. + +As she touched him, he jumped. "Gracious, you startled me so, Virginia. +I was asleep." + +"Please, Daddy, don't mind," she whispered, "I'll be quiet as a +mouse." + +Almost grudgingly, he let her settle herself and drop her head against +his shoulder. In a moment his head slipped down against the soft hair +of the girl and Obadiah dozed anew. + +She murmured softly, "It was so easy to explain to you. Serena wouldn't +understand, I am afraid. All of your life, Daddy, you have been helping +other people." + +"Whom?" asked Obadiah in alarm, starting up and shaking the girl's +head from his shoulder. + +"Daddy, wake up. You were asleep while I was talking to you." She tried +to kiss him as he rubbed his eyes, but his arms were in her way. "You +are such a comfort, Daddy. I wish I could be like you," she said softly. + +"You can try," conceded Obadiah immodestly. "You are keeping me up. +I am tired. I want to go to bed. My legs are asleep from your sitting on +them," he complained and then told her shortly, "The place for you to +dream is in bed, not on my lap." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MISSION BEGUN + + +Obadiah Dale's car was waiting at his home. It stood upon the gravel +driveway opposite the steps at the end of the porch. Virginia was seated +in the rear seat and her eyes rested seriously upon Serena, who from the +higher floor of the porch, viewed Ike, lounging by the car, as from a +rostrum. + +The young negro was attired in a neat livery which gave him a natty +aspect distinctly absent when his siesta was disturbed by Serena. +Regardless of his more attractive guise, however, he shifted nervously +under her stern gaze. He, who ever bore himself, in hours of leisure, +before the black population of South Ridgefield as one of imperial +blood, was abashed before her. That poise, that coolness of demeanor, +that almost insolent manner exhibited at crap games, chicken fights or +those social functions where the gentler sex predominates, was absent +now. Before Serena, his lofty soul became as a worm, desirous of burying +itself from the pitiless light of publicity. + +"You Ike," she said with great severity, "mine wot ah say. Stop you' +fas' drivin'. Miss Virginy ain' wantin' to go shootin' aroun' dis +yere town lak er circus lady in er cha'iot race." + +The girl displayed interest in the remark, but remained silent. + +Ike climbed into the car and sought support from the steering wheel. +In a gentle manner, as if desirous of averting wrath, he made answer, +"Ah ain' no speeder, Miss Sereny. Ah is de carefulest chauffah in dis +town. Ah sez, 'Safety fust.' Dat's ma motta." At the sound of his +own voice he gained in assurance. He had acquired these statements by +heart from frequent repetition. + +"Wat you down in dat co't fo', den?" inquired Serena. "Mr. Dale he +done say, he gittin' tired er payin' fines fo' yo'all. He say de +nex' time he gwine ax de jedge to let you rot in dat calaboose." + +Ike listened to this promise of extended incarceration with the casual +interest due an oft repeated tale. Disregarding it, he continued, "Ah +goes to co't 'count o' de inexpe'ienced drivers." He spoke as an +expert. "Ef dey had 'spe'ienced drivers dey ain' gwine be no trouble +a tall." + +"Dey bettah be no mo' trouble," snapped Serena, "les yo'all gits in +worse. G'wan now 'bout you' business. Take Miss Virginy down to de +sto' an' den out on de river road. You gotta git back in time to bring +her pa home fo' lunch." The solution of a difficult problem dawned +upon her and instantly she returned to her former argument. "Don' you +drive dat caah no fas'er den er hoss an' er ker'idge kin go," she +commanded. + +It is of record that even a worm upon extreme irritation will fall upon +its tormentor. Thus Ike reacted to this notable example of feminine +ignorance. "How's ah gwine mek dis yere high powah caah run dat slow? +Ah ast you dat? How's ah gwine do it?" + +Apparently heedless of this incipient rebellion, Serena gave her +attention to her young mistress, "Good bye, honey chil'," she +worried. "Don' you mek youse'f sick on sody an' ice cream." + +Virginia smiled sweetly at the now beaming black face of the negro woman. +"I'll be very careful," she promised. + +Serena devoted herself again to her minion. "You Ike, go slow. Go mighty +cafful. Dat's wot ah say." + +He looked askance at her. Every vestige of humor had departed from the +black face replaced by a cold, implacable glare. Without a word, he +started the machine and it glided down the drive. + +Her purchases completed, Virginia sat musing upon the message from her +mother as the big car hummed softly towards the quiet beauty of the river +road. Vague plans, indefinite as dreams, floated through her mind. + +Ike was obeying Serena's wishes so faithfully that the absence of +excitement, so essential to the display of what he considered his best +talents, was almost lulling him to sleep. + +A large bill board fenced the front of a vacant lot, on their way. A +magnificent example of the lithographer's art, as adapted to the +advertising needs of a minstrel show, was posted upon it. It's +coloring, chiefly red, was effective and forceful and displayed an +extravagant disregard of the high cost of ink. It portrayed the +triumphant passage of the Jubilee Minstrels. The brilliant uniforms, +the martial air of the musicians as well as the exceeding pleasure with +which this aggregation appeared to be welcomed by the reviewing +public, was of a character to please, to impress, yes, even to stun +all beholders, except the blind. + +This picture caught the soul of Ike as he came within the scope of its +influence. To him, applause and admiration were as strong drink. Envy +knocked at his heart as he beheld the bright raiment. He visualized +himself, thus dazzlingly attired, exhibited to his admiring fellow +townsmen. Violating speed laws was infantile piffle to this. A syncopated +melody, appropriate to a victorious march, blared in memory's ear. +He hummed it softly. His body twitched to the rhythm and his feet took up +the cadence. He pressed a pedal and the powerful car accelerated its +motion well above the modest limits commanded by Serena. To the shell of +Ike, the increased speed was but a return to normal. His spirit was +away. Expanding as a morning-glory to the sun, it paraded, in wondrous +garments, to martial music, before gaping thousands. + +A turn in their way was before them. Ike partially roused himself from +his sweet dreams and automatically attended to the necessities of the +moment. These included no slackening of speed. + +The car swung a corner and instantly thereafter there came a mighty +groaning of brakes as it was finally stopped in the midst of what had +been an orderly procession of small negro children. The startling arrival +of the big machine had scattered them, with shrill cries and screams, +in every direction. + +Virginia was alarmed at the sudden halt and at the frightened outcries +of the youngsters. She leaped out. On the curb an excited colored woman +was holding a weeping black boy by the hand. He was very small and, +because of a deformed leg, used a crutch. Between efforts to reassemble +her scattered charges, she endeavored to calm and comfort him. + +Hurrying to the woman, Virginia cried, "I'm so sorry." + +"Much good sorry gwine do after you kill somebody," shouted the woman, +much angered by the occurrence. "Ain' you got no bettah sense 'en to +run down a lot o' chillun?" + +"It would have been terrible if we had hurt one of them. I never would +have forgiven myself. We couldn't see them until we turned the corner." +In her excitement she sought friendly support. "Could we, Ike?" + +To Ike, it was a duty from which much pleasure could be derived to +take part in any controversy. Likewise, one acquires merit, when one +is a chauffeur, by strongly maintaining the contention of one's +mistress--she may reciprocate in a difficult hour. Ike turned an +unfriendly countenance upon the woman, and asked for information, "How +ah gwine see 'roun' er corner? Does you 'spect dat ma eyes is +twisted?" + +"Go long, man. Mine you' own business." + +Not thus summarily was Ike to be dismissed. "Dese yere chillun ain' no +call to be in de street. Howcum 'em der? Ain' it yo'all's business +to keep 'em outen de way?" A uniformity in costume struck him. "Ain' +dey orphant chillun runnin' loose?" + +"Orphans! The poor things!" Virginia cried. + +"Wot ef dey is orphants?" the woman protested with great belligerence. + +"Den," Ike behaved as if he, a public spirited citizen, had discovered +the warden of a penitentiary seeking pleasure beyond the walls with +notorious criminals, "howcum dey heah? Wharfo?" + +The suspicion and force in the chauffeur's manner brought fresh tears to +orphan eyes. + +Encouraged by these evidences of public attention, Ike continued his +investigation. "Ah axes you woman, why ain' dey in de 'sylum whar +dey 'long?" + +The chauffeur's words had not soothed the guardian of the children. She +showed unmistakable signs of increasing wrath. Glaring fixedly at him, +she blazed, "Mine you' own business, you black po'cupine." + +Although the application of the epithet was obscure, its effect was +all that could be desired. Ike suffered a species of fit. His mouth +opened and closed without sound. His wildly rolling eyes exposed wide +areas of white and then glued themselves in invenomed hatred upon the +woman. Muscles contracted and worked in his neck. Even as a panther, he +appeared about to spring upon his foe. + +Virginia interfered. Her experience of life was limited, but she +understood the negro. "Don't get out of the car, Ike," she ordered. + +"Ef dat spindle legged dude git outen dat caah, ah is boun' to bus' +his haid wid ma fist," predicted the woman. + +Virginia feared no blood shed but deemed it desirable to take steps to +avoid an argument certain to be loud and long and to add nothing to her +dignity as a bystander. She answered Ike's inquiries herself. "The +children were out walking, I suppose, and had to cross the street?" + +This overture slightly mollified the woman but she yet viewed the +porcupine with distinct hostility. + +"Are all of these poor children orphans?" continued Virginia, shaking +her head at the pity of it. + +"Yas'm, dey's all orphants f'om the Lincoln Home, up de street." + +"And you had them out for their daily walk?" + +"No, mam, dey gits out onest er week. Ah ain' got no time to take 'em +out every day." + +Virginia looked at the woman very thoughtfully. "Your work makes you +very happy, doesn't it?" she asked. + +"Ah ain' heard o' no kind er wo'k mekin' nobody happy. Ah jes allers +was, an' allers is happy. Dat's me," the woman explained. + +"Why, you are a mother to all of those children." + +"Yas'm, de onlies' mother dey gwine git, ah guesses." The woman +viewed her reassembled charges speculatively. She patted the little +cripple at her side. "Po' li'l Willie, he cain't walk ve'y fas', +kin you, sweetheart?" + +"You poor little fellow," sighed Virginia. + +"Ah bettah tote you, Willie. We gotta move right smart afo' noon an' +you ain' ve'y spry on dat crutch." Picking up the lame boy, the woman +began to issue instructions for the advance of her forces. + +Virginia surveyed the manoeuvering orphans comprehensively. "If I could +get them all into the car I would take them for a ride," she exclaimed, +and then, "They can be crowded in, I believe. May they go?" + +The woman regarded the girl in great astonishment. "Cou'se dey kin +go eff yo'all wants 'em." Her conscience appeared to demand a +further warning. "Dey is er powe'ful mouthy and mischievous lot o' +rascallions." + +Ike was disgusted. To be required to act as chauffeur for a crowd of +screaming infants of his own race was another wound to that dignity so +recently and fearfully lacerated. He submitted protest. "Dis yere caah +ain' gwine hol' all dem chillun. It ain' no dray. Dey gwine bus' de +springs smack bang offen it." + +"If the car breaks down you can have them fix it at the garage, Ike. +They always have been able to mend it," Virginia told him with great +complacency as she proceeded with her plans. + +"Ef all de chillun stan' close, 'ceptin fo' or five wid li'l Willie +an' me on de back seat, dey is plenty room," the orphan's guardian +indicated, greatly pleased at the prospect of the ride. + +The sullen fire of eternal hatred burned in the eye which Ike turned +upon her. He fired his last shot. "Miss Virginy, you' Daddy ain' want +all des yere chillun in dis caah. He mighty biggoty about whoall ride +in it. Ah 'spects dey is gwine dirty it up sumpin fierce." + +"Who yo'all call dirty?" demanded the woman; but Virginia made peace +by an emphatic "Hush," as the colored orphans were packed into the back +of the machine. With their attendant they filled the entire space. + +The car moved away as soon as Virginia had taken her seat by the +irritated Ike. They left the town and sped along country roads. The +little negroes, awed by their new surroundings, became noisy with +familiarity and expressed their joy by screaming. + +The young hostess of this strange party was at first uncomfortable and +embarrassed at the clamor of her small guests, but as she awakened to the +enjoyment she was giving the orphans she forgot herself in their pleasure. + +It was a beautiful ride along the river shore, through the woods, and +then back between great fields of growing grain the surfaces of which +were broken into moving waves of green at the touch of the summer breeze. + +They reentered the town a few minutes before noon and were almost back +to the turn towards the Orphans' Home, when far down the street they +caught the glitter of brass and the glow of red. "Er ban', er ban'," +screamed the little negroes. + +The enticing strains of melody called to Ike across the intervening +blocks. There was a look of deep guile in his face, which became regret, +as he suggested to Virginia, "Des po' orphants ain' no chans to heah +fine ban' music. Ah might circle aroun' dat minst'el ban' an' let +de chillun lis'en fo' er spell." + +As Virginia nodded assent, the car shot away, straight down the street. +In a few moments they had overtaken the marching musicians, the reality +of the poster which had charmed Ike. From them burst melody which coursed +through his veins. As he drifted away on a sea of syncopated bliss, +the car, subconsciously driven, closed upon the marching minstrels. +In the midst of a delegation of youth, honoring the snare and bass +drummers, it rolled. Bearing Virginia and her guests behind the pageant +and as an apparent part thereof, it proceeded towards the center of +the city. + +The negro children were clamorous with delight at the wonderful +concentration of humanity, noise, and excitement. Their screams vied +with the band and their guardian on the rear seat assumed a careless +dignity. + +Virginia's mind was occupied with the infants. To her, the onlookers, +more numerous as they neared the business part of town, were the +background of a picture. She was utterly unconscious that the load of +pickaninnies formed a most appropriate part of the spectacle. + +Laughter pealed from the increasing crowds at the nonsensical behavior of +the orphans. In the center of town, prominent business men were away +from their offices for luncheon. They gazed indifferently at the marching +band, but as the machine approached, they recognized its monogram, +and, attracting the attention of companions, they burst into shouts of +laughter. Here was the car of wealthy Obadiah Dale, packed with negro +children, chaperoned by his daughter, taking part in a minstrel parade. + +Suddenly upon the sidewalk near the curb, Virginia espied her father. +Regardless of her surroundings, the girl endeavored to attract his +attention by waving her hand. The pickaninnies joined with shouts, +considering it a pleasant game. + +Plunged in thought and heedless of the band, the increased clamor aroused +Obadiah. Incredulity and amazement, at the sight of his daughter and +her company, held him. An acquaintance approached, spoke and laughed. +Anger flushed the mill owner as he marked the staring eyes fixed in +unveiled amusement on himself and his daughter. + +"Daddy is over there,--there." She indicated the place to Ike, delight +in her discovery accenting her cry. + +The chauffeur, thus rudely torn from his musical reverie, solaced his +disturbed harmoniousness, by smiting the ears of the crowd and wrecking +the sweet tones of the band, by a discordant honk. Thus soothed, he +attempted to turn towards the sidewalk, but the congested traffic blocked +him and he had to delay a few moments before he could swing the car over +to the curb. + +Obadiah came up. He glared at the assembled orphans with manifest +disapproval and gave gruff tongue to his astonishment. "What does +this mean? I don't understand it," he snarled at Virginia. + +In the depths of her big blue eyes lay tenderness as she anxiously +searched his cold grey ones for some sign of sympathetic appreciation. +"Daddy, dear"--there was a note of pride in her manner--"these are +orphans from the Lincoln Home. I have had them out riding all morning." + +The pickaninnies acknowledged the introduction with screams. + +This attention added fuel to Obadiah's irritation, "How are you going +to get rid of this bunch?" he asked loudly, giving no heed to the +listening ears of guests. "I want to go home and get my lunch." + +The girl wrinkled her nose in thoughtful consideration of the social +dilemma she faced. The truly resourceful are never long at a loss. "You +get in here, Daddy," she urged, "you can hold me on your lap and we +will run over to the Orphans' Home. We can leave the children there and +go straight home." + +"The idea!" snapped Obadiah, "I won't be made more ridiculous than I +have been, today. You must learn to give thought to others, Virginia." + +Instantly, her happiness faded before his words. "I am so sorry. I +forgot how time was passing and I didn't mean to get in this big crowd. +How will you get home? What can I do for you, Daddy?" + +Once more he realized that amused faces watched him as he interviewed +his daughter, a lily in a bed of black tulips. "Get out of this crowd. +Everybody is laughing at me. I'll get home some way," he declared +peevishly. "You get rid of that outfit as soon as you can," he called, +as he moved away, apparently in a hurry to escape the orphans' company. +"I'll see you at home." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +UNGIVEN ADVICE + + +Obadiah Dale's office was in a modern building. He considered it the +finest in South Ridgefield, but then--Obadiah owned it. The proximity +of an army of employees disturbed him. So he had gathered his principal +assistants about him, away from the mill, in this more peaceful +environment. + +Obadiah's personal suite contained three rooms. His private lair was +in the corner. Its windows overlooked metal cornices, tin roofs and +smoke stacks. The view should have afforded inspiration to sheet metal +workers, and professional atmosphere was available at all times to such +chimney sweeps as called. + +The personal staff consisted of Obadiah's stenographer, Mr. Percy +Jones, who referred to himself as the "Private Secretary" and was +habitually addressed in discourteous terms by his employer, and a +bookkeeper identified by the name Kelly. + +Across the hall was the sanctum of Hezekiah Wilkins, general attorney +for the Dale interests. The other executive officers of the organization +occupied the rest of the floor. + +Certain preparatory sounds evidencing to the discriminating ear of youth +the probability of a band bursting into melody had reached Mr. Jones. +Rising hurriedly from his desk in the center of the middle room of +Obadiah's suite, he had gone to a window, and peering down, discovered +that the Jubilee Minstrels were about to favor South Ridgefield with a +parade. + +Mr. Jones watched the preparations with interest. He was a dapper little +fellow with thin, dark hair, who sported a very small mustache with a +very great deal of pride. As much of a dandy as his small salary would +permit, he had indefinite social aspirations, and rather considered +himself a man of much natural culture and refinement. + +His curiosity satisfied, he turned to a door, opposite to the one +which insured privacy to Obadiah, and entered the domain of Kelly. +The bookkeeper was perched upon a high stool before an equally elevated +desk burdened with the mill owner's ledgers. He was red headed, big +and raw boned, clearly designed by nature for the heaviest of manual +labor but by a joke of fate set to wielding a pen. + +"Hi, Kelly,--minstrels," thus Mr. Jones advertised the forthcoming +pageant as he lighted a cigarette. + +The upper part of Kelly's person was brilliantly illuminated by the +reflected light of a globe hanging an inch above his head. "Where?" +he asked, blinking about from his area of high illumination into the +shadows of the room as though looking for callers. + +"In the street, you chump. They are going to parade. As soon as the old +man goes, we'll hustle out and look 'em over." + +A movement in the corner room sent Mr. Jones scurrying to his desk. From +the street sounded the staccato taps of a snare drum, rhythmically +punctuated by the boom of the bass, passing up the street. Obadiah +emerged from his room as one marching to martial music. He broke step +like a rooky to tell his stenographer, "I'm going to lunch." + +Leaping to his feet, Mr. Jones bowed profoundly as his employer departed, +his manner filled with the awe and respect due a man of such wealth and +position. He listened intently until the elevator descended, then he +shouted, "Get a move on you, in there. He's gone." + +The bookkeeper appeared, his hat on the back of his head and struggling +into his coat. + +"Hurry, we can get the elevator on its next trip," urged the +stenographer. + +"What's the rush--we don't want to run into the old man," the +bookkeeper demurred. + +"We've got a right to eat, ain't we? What's the lunch hour for?" + +"Say, who's talking about not eating? I don't want the old man's face +as an appetizer," protested Kelly. + +"Gee, he has got you bluffed. You are scared of him." + +The bookkeeper shrugged his big shoulders and laughed. "Not on your life +am I afraid of that old spider, but I don't like him. That's all." + +"The old man is a good enough scout when you know how to handle him," +boasted Mr. Jones. "Tell him where to get off once in awhile and he'll +eat out of your hand." + +"Say," chuckled Kelly. "The next time you decide to call him down, +put me wise. I don't want to miss it." + +"Quit your kidding and come on. You think that I am shooting hot air. +I'll show you some day." + +Their hasty luncheon was completed when the strains of music heralding +the return of the minstrel show hurried them forth to the curb to procure +suitable places to watch the parade. + +"Kelly, look at the pickaninnies in the automobile following the band," +exclaimed Mr. Jones, greatly interested. "That's something new. I never +saw it before." Thus he confirmed originality from the wealth of his +own knowledge. + +"What's the white girl doing there?" Kelly sought information at the +fountain of wisdom. + +The sagacious Mr. Jones was puzzled, but for an instant only. He +elucidated. "They have a white manager and that's his wife who won't +black up." + +The explanation struck Kelly as reasonable and for the moment it +sufficed, as he gave his attention to the passing machine. "That's a +peach of a car," he proclaimed, and in further commendation, "Gosh, +it's as fine as the old man's!" + +Now it was so close that Mr. Jones was enabled to place an expert's +eyes upon it. "Why," gasped that specialist, astounded by the +revelations of his own keen optic, "blamed if it ain't the old +man's car and," he stammered in his excitement, "I--I--It's the +old man's daughter--Virginia--in that minstrel parade." + +In silent wonder the young men watched the passing marvel and, turning, +followed it as if expecting further events of an extremely sensational +nature. + +"By Jove, there's the old man." The eagle eye of Mr. Jones had +picked his employer unerringly from amidst the multitude. "He sees the +car," the stenographer continued, as one announcing races, on distant +tracks, to interested spectators. "Wilkins is kidding him. He's getting +sore. We'd better beat it." Regardless of previous fearlessness, Mr. +Jones guided his companion into the entrance of a building from which +vantage point they watched the meeting of Obadiah and his daughter. + +"By crackie, he's hot. Everybody is laughing at him." To prove the +truth of his own assertion, Mr. Jones threw back his head and guffawed +cruelly at the embarrassment of his employer. + +One o'clock found the two clerks at their desks. Obadiah was a punctual +man. Always on time himself, he demanded it of his employees. Today, +however, minutes flew by with no sign of the manufacturer's return. + +At one thirty, Mr. Jones entered Kelly's room to confer in regard to +this unwonted tardiness. Resting his elbows upon the bookkeeper's desk +he projected his head within the area of light in which his colleague +labored and submitted a sporting proposition. "I'll bet my hat that +the old man is raising the deuce somewhere." + +Kelly inspected the illuminated face of the stenographer with interest, +as if the brilliant rays exposed flaws which he had not previously +noted. Disregarding the wager, he replied with emphasis, "You said a +mouthful." + +Mr. Jones displayed marked uneasiness. "I'm surprised that he is not +back. He had important matters to attend to." The stenographer waxed +mysterious. "Only this morning he called me in. 'Mr. Jones,' sez he, +'I must have your invaluable assistance, today, on a matter of great +importance. I couldn't get along without your help. Please, don't step +out without warning me.'" + +Apparently Kelly regarded the stenographer's secret revelations lightly. +"You told him that you didn't have the time?" he suggested with a grin. + +Mr. Jones attempted to frown down unseemly levity regarding serious +matters. + +Kelly burst into laughter. "Gee, if I wasn't here to keep you off the +old man, he sure would suffer." + +Mr. Jones changed the subject, before such frivolity. "He ought to fire +that feller Ike. I'll bet he's to blame for the whole thing. The idea +of getting a young lady mixed up in a mess like that. He ought to be +fired." Mr. Jones' soul revolted at the notoriety which had befallen +his employer's daughter. He became thoughtful and then confidential. +"That girl is a pippin, Kelly. A regular pippin." + +"You've said it." The bookkeeper's emphasis spoke volumes. + +"Did you ever think about her?" + +"Sure," admitted Kelly with candor, "lots of times." + +"That girl lives a lonesome life in that big house with only the colored +servants and her father," alleged the knowing Mr. Jones. "What fun +does she ever have? The old man thinks that she is only a baby. If +she has a nurse and is taken out every day for an airing, he imagines +nothing else is necessary." + +"You are talking," quoth Kelly. + +"If the old man had any brains--" Mr. Jones noted a correction--"I +mean, if he was a cultured and refined man, if he was alive--" Mr. +Jones's manner expressed grave doubt of Obadiah's vitality--"He would +understand that young people must enjoy themselves once in awhile." +Poignant memories of the mill owner's refusal to grant certain hours +off for social purposes embittered the stenographer at this point in +his discourse. He paused. "If he had any brains, instead of hanging +around and trying to grab every cent that isn't locked in a burglar +proof safe, the old duffer would open up his swell house and spend some +coin. He's got plenty of money. It sticks to him as if his hands were +magnets and his fingers suction cups." + +"I say so," agreed Kelly, with a vigorous nod. + +For a moment Mr. Jones departed to assure himself that Obadiah did not +surreptitiously draw nigh. Thus reassured, he returned and vigorously +pursued his scathing arraignment of the absent one. "If he had red +blood in his veins he'd have a heart where that girl is concerned. Why +doesn't he ever give a dance for her? If he wasn't an old tight wad +he'd give several a week, have a swell dinner every night and a theater +party each time a decent show comes to town. He'd do that thing if he +wasn't a short sport. He ought to get a lively bunch of young people +to make his place their social headquarters and tear things loose." + +"That's me." Thus did the laconic Kelly record his position. + +Mr. Jones went on, "He should give his daughter the opportunity to +enjoy the better things of life." The stenographer drifted over to a +window and fell to musing. He gave thought to volumes of lighter +literature which had led him to believe that, in well conducted +families of wealth and position, private secretaries often assumed +the responsibilities of social secretaries or major domos. Turning +again to the bookkeeper, he resumed, "It takes certain peculiar +qualifications to handle that sort of thing. Everybody knows that the old +man couldn't do it. He ought to come out like a man and admit that he +has no conception of that bigger social life which plays such an +important part in the world today. Then--" Mr. Jones spoke with great +meaning--"there are those who understand such matters and could relieve +him of all responsibilities except--" Mr. Jones snapped his fingers +as though it was a bagatelle--"signing the checks." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THOSE DARKIES AGAIN + + +After Obadiah, highly indignant at the presence of the black orphans, +had departed, his car moved slowly up the street. It stopped at the +corner for the policeman's signal. At the edge of the sidewalk stood a +newsboy eating an ice cream cone with great enjoyment. The shouts of +the pickaninnies were stilled at the pleasing spectacle of a fellow +man partaking of food. Every eye watched the disappearing cone as if +fascinated by some novel mechanical process. + +The unusual silence aroused Virginia from uneasy thoughts of her father. +Following the eyes of her guests she caught the common target as the +last bite disappeared, and noted that the lips of the black company moved +sympathetically coincident with its departure. + +"These children will be late for lunch?" worried the young hostess, +awakening to the requirements of the hour. + +"Yas'm," the woman confessed with indifference. "It ain' no +mattah." From outward appearances the infants took issue upon the +question, deeming it one of grave concern. "Dey eats at noon but ah +fix 'em up er snack w'en we git back." The orphans registered relief. + +"How would they like an ice cream cone?" suggested Virginia. + +The infants awaited the verdict in breathless anticipation. + +"Ah guesses dey lak it mighty well." The woman looked about her at the +upturned mouths even as in a nest of fledgeling blackbirds. The financial +extravagance daunted her. "Yo'all mought git one fo' each two." + +Sore disappointment depressed the fledgelings. + +Virginia sensed the prevalent dejection. "No," she decided, "each +child shall have one. Go on to Vivian's, Ike." + +Now, Mr. Vivian maintained an establishment for the distribution of those +mild refreshments appealing to youth. His fastidious soul endeavored +to foster the delicate things of life. He dealt in sugars and syrups +in preference to lard or kerosene. This spirit prevailed in his public +parlors. Golden rays reflected in dazzling brilliancy in many mirrors +from gilded grills. It was meet that in such a temple only the elect +should partake of ambrosia. This thought exuded from every pore of Mr. +Vivian. At times he spoke of it. + +The world accepts a man at his own value. So, South Ridgefield appraised +Mr. Vivian's resort at his own valuation; but by no means does this +mean that his clientele was limited. Far from it. The youth of South +Ridgefield were not modest in their self-esteem. In spite of individual +embarrassment, when first brought under the influence of the Vivian +presence and decorations, they gathered daily in great numbers in the +Vivian parlors, that the world might bear witness, through their +presence, to their elevated social status. + +Indeed, certain hardy and desperate spirits did, by continued presence +and notable consumption of wares, become so bold that they dared to +address the proprietor as "Bill," and risked mild pleasantries as +that the nectar was "rotten dope," or that, through error, a "dash +er onion or sumpin'" had been introduced into their sacchariferous +cup. Such familiarity was for the few. Did not eye witnesses support +tradition in evidence of the casting forth of the unworthy from the +Vivian portals? + +Had not reputable bibbers testified that certain dirty faced urchins, +essaying early adventures in trade and tendering but five coppers instead +of the eight, well known to be the post war value of the cone, been +driven into the street with loud objurgation? + +Likewise, there was the memorable episode of the drunken tramp. Stumbling +into this resort of innocent youth under the belief that it was a +saloon, he was summarily ejected by the police. For a time, a splintered +mirror gave silent testimony to this banishment. It evidenced the casting +of a root beer mug at the white coated soda dispenser by the vulgar +varlet, obsessed by the delusion that he was enjoying the more thrilling +sport of heaving a beer stein at a bartender. + +But by far the greater number of refusals of service, with its corollary +of altercation and throwings out, had to do with negroes. + +"I ain't serving 'em in my place," Mr. Vivian had proclaimed, with a +frank disregard of at least the spirit of the fifteenth amendment. + +The sweets dispensed by Mr. Vivian drew the black people as molasses +does the fly, and South Ridgefield had a large percentage of negro +residents. For a time hardly a day passed without noisy wrangles. +Comfortably seated in full view and hearing of such disputes, the +elect were greatly edified thereby. Of late, such disturbances had +decreased, and, as they had ended always in favor of the confectioner, +he felt assured that he had settled the race issue in his own place at +least. + +Mr. Vivian waited today behind his marble topped counter and supervised +his numerous assistants. Through the front windows he watched the +multitude which had assembled to view the minstrel parade disperse. He +observed an influx of gilded youth over his threshold. One listening +to explanations would have gathered that the unusual number present was +not due to interest in such low concerns as minstrel bands. Through +untoward events the pageant had obtruded itself, as it were, into +blase vision. + +Mr. Vivian's eyes, as has been suggested, rested upon the street. +Into his optical angle rolled the Dale car. It was well known to the +confectioner. Often it paused for long periods before his place while +Virginia refreshed herself within. It was his delight, at these times, +to greet the maiden with profound respect, as his heart swelled with +pride. The car of Obadiah Dale, the wealthiest, and in consequence, in +Mr. Vivian's judgment, the peak of the town's social strata, awaited +without. Within the house of Vivian, the heiress partook of Vivian +products. What could be more appropriate? + +The spectacle of the big machine given up to the conveyance of this small +maiden had always pleased Mr. Vivian. There was a cavalier disregard of +the cost of gasoline, oil, and tires which appealed to him. Today, the +large passenger list astonished him, and, even as the number impressed +him, their aspect amazed him. + +"Negroes," he gasped, "coming _here_!" There are moments in every +life which have far-reaching consequences. The confectioner faced one. + +The car stopped at the Vivian door. The glad shouts of infants penetrated +the halls set apart for the fashionable. They offended the ears of the +elect. + +"There is Virginia Dale and those colored kids with whom she was making +a spectacle of herself in the minstrel parade," sneered an excited girl. +"If she brings them in here, I'll leave and never come back." + +"Oh, don't worry," a man of the world, of sixteen, calmed her. "Old +Viv won't stand for any foolishness. You watch him." + +"Virginia Dale has lived so long in that big house with only colored +people that she likes them for friends," declared another girl +contemptuously. "Too good to associate with any of the young people of +this town, she parades around like that. I think it is disgusting +myself and I would tell her so, for very little." + +These and similar remarks filled the ears of the perplexed proprietor. +He decided that whatever was done in this instance had better be done, +contrary to his usual practice, beyond the hearing of the elect. + +He rushed out to the waiting car. A smile was upon his face but it was +not his usual one of hearty welcome. It spoke of hidden pain and anxiety. + +"How do you do, Mr. Vivian," Virginia courteously greeted the dispenser +of toothsome delicacies. "I want you to meet these little people from +the Lincoln Home." + +He cast a glance into the nest of the blackbirds. It lacked that interest +with which new friends should be greeted. He felt the curious glances +of the chosen, impinging against his back. + +"They are hungry, Mr. Vivian. We have had a long ride and the children +missed their lunch watching the parade. Each of us wants the nicest ice +cream cone you can make. Seventeen, please." + +"Cones!" Light dawned in Mr. Vivian's darkness. + +"Bring them out, please?" Virginia begged. + +"Out?" The clouds which had veiled the true Mr. Vivian rolled aside. +Came sunshine and gladsome welcome. + +In a moment the confectioner was behind his counter urging his assistants +to diligence. In joyous relief, he shouted, "Make 'em big, boys. Make +'em big!" + +Then, disregarding the feelings of the staring elect, Mr. Vivian hastened +forth, bearing a box of cones. In a moment, with his kindest smile, +encouraged by Virginia, he delivered with his own hand, to each infant, +one of his products. + +"The poor things. I don't suppose orphans get ice cream cones very +often, do they?" Virginia asked the woman. + +"Some ain' nevah had none afo', Ah bets. Has you, chillun? Who had +one?" Six worldly wise infants voted in the affirmative. + +Mr. Vivian was stirred deeply by this information. That human beings were +permitted to arrive at such an age without experience of cones struck +him as an economic mistake. "It's a shame," he cried. + +"They eat them as though they were used to them," laughed Virginia. + +"Yes," he agreed, as he watched the mouths of the blackbirds wag in +solemn unison. Another thought struck him. "You have had these orphans +out for a ride all morning, Miss Dale?" + +She nodded. "We've had a grand time, too. Haven't we, children?" + +Mouths were too full for utterance but there was a unanimous bobbing of +heads. + +When Virginia opened her purse to pay for the cones, Mr. Vivian, after +inspecting the tendered currency for a moment, submitted a proposal. +"Miss Dale, would you object if I presented the cones to the children? +I would be glad to do it." + +There was a look of understanding in Virginia's eyes as she answered +him, "I know how you feel about it. I can't let you do it today, +though, Mr. Vivian. You see, it is my treat." + +Motionless as a statue, Mr. Vivian stood before the door of his +establishment and watched the machine depart. As it disappeared a +look of great approval rested upon his countenance. "There goes a darn +fine girl," he muttered. He threw back his fat shoulders and worked +them as though a great load had been recently removed from them. +"Thank heaven," he cried, "she didn't take it into her head to +unload that outfit in my place." He scratched his head. "What +would I have done?" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN + + +It was past one o'clock when Virginia left the colored children at the +Orphans' Home. The purchase of the cones had detained them much longer +than she had anticipated. Now, rid of her guests, she remembered her +meeting with her father. Appreciating with dismay how the minutes had +flown, she considered it advisable to return home as soon as practicable +that rough water might be lubricated. + +"Hurry, Ike," she told the chauffeur. + +Now, Ike needed little encouragement in this matter. It delighted him +exceedingly to find excuse to unloose the surplus power of the fast +machine. Tantalizing qualms which only Serena's cooking could quiet +likewise beset him. It was his custom to lunch early and abundantly. + +Ike hurried. In a moment the car was rushing along one of South +Ridgefield's residential streets at a high rate of speed. Virginia's +thoughts rehearsed the events of the morning. Those of the chauffeur +anticipated his delayed repast. + +They approached a corner. The hoarse honk of a horn sounded from the +intersecting street. At the crossing came an instantaneous perception +of a man approaching at high speed upon a motorcycle and trying to +dodge. The sickening sensation of impending peril held the girl as the +emergency brake squealed. A heavy shock at the back of the automobile +seemed to lift it. Virginia screamed. The motorcycle rider half dove, +half tumbled out from the back of the big car and crumpled an inert and +senseless heap in the street. + +The Dale car stopped almost at the instant of the shock. Seeming to +fall from his seat, Ike ran back and stared for a second at the upset +motorcycle and then hurried to the recumbent figure. + +A bystander rushed out and joined the chauffeur, crying, "Is he dead?" + +Ike, filled with personal woes, took no heed of the inquiry. "Run +squa'e into me. Smack bang. Done knock er big dent in ma caah," he +protested. + +Luckily the bystander was a man of action rather than words. He gave +attention to the stricken one. "Get the doctor, over there," he +commanded sharply, pointing to a white house nearby. + +Ike disappeared on the run. + +For seconds which seemed hours, Virginia, held by fright, could not move. +Her eyes, wide with horror, stared back at the motionless motorcyclist. +His flattened figure resembled a bundle of old clothes dropped carelessly +in the roadway. Certain that the man was dead, the terrible thought came +to the girl that she was responsible for it. She could hear herself +saying, "Hurry, Ike." It made her frantic, she could not sit still +and yet she wondered if she had the strength to move. In a moment, she +found herself standing. Hardly knowing what she did, she climbed from +the car and moved slowly towards the figure lying in the dust. She +watched it fearfully, as if it might suddenly leap at her. Now she +saw the face. How dreadfully white it was. Surely he was dead. The pity +of this great fellow lying helpless in the street moved her strangely. +The pathos of his weakness wrung her heart. + +The bystander removed his coat intending to make a pillow of it. Guessing +his purpose, Virginia hastened to the car and brought back a cushion. + +"Thank you, that will be better," he told her. Taking the cushion, he +held it irresolutely as though planning how best to use it. + +"May I help?" To Virginia it seemed that the words came of their own +accord. She doubted if she had the strength to do anything. + +"If you would, please? When I lift his head, will you push the cushion +under?" + +The girl dropped upon her knees in the dust of the roadway. It brought +her face very near to that of the unconscious man. She noticed that +he was young, not much older than herself. When the cushion was placed +it lifted his head into an awkward position. Readjusting the cushion, +Virginia pushed it too far. The motorcyclist's head slid over and rested +against her knee. For an instant she hesitated and then, making a pillow +of her lap, she very gently lifted his head into it. + +"That's better. That's the stuff," approved the bystander. Noticing +her pallor, he added, "If you can do it." + +"I--I--I will be all right," she hesitatingly reassured him. Yet, at +the moment, she was not at all sure of herself. Was she not holding the +head of a dead youth in her lap? It had shifted and a rivulet of blood +oozed from a small wound in the forehead, formerly hidden. A deathly +sickness swept the girl. But even as it seized her came a determination +to fight her feelings and conquer them. She would not faint. + +The motorcyclist groaned. Virginia almost dropped his head in alarm. He +wasn't dead, but certainly that melancholy sound marked the passing of +his soul. Other groans followed of such grievous quality that she was +sure each one was his last. + +"He's coming around, I believe," declared the bystander. + +The words reawakened hope in Virginia's breast. "Isn't he dead?" she +murmured gently. + +"No." The voice came from her lap. + +Her startled blue eyes dropped. Two wide open black eyes looked up into +them wonderingly for an instant and the lids closed. + +"Lord," moaned the stricken one in unmistakable language. + +"He's praying," thought Virginia and solemnly bowed her head. + +Ike returned, followed soon by a doctor. + +"He's regained consciousness," the bystander told the medical man. + +The physician knelt by the injured youth. He listened to his heart and +then started to lift an eyelid when both lids opened so wide that +Virginia was enabled to confirm her previous impression that the +motorcyclist's eyes were black. The doctor felt the man's body and +the groans redoubled as he touched one of the legs. The medical man +straightened up. "His head seems to be all right. There is a fracture of +the right leg and probably a rib or two broken. He is lucky to get off +so easy. He will be a mass of bruises, too, I suppose," he announced. +He glanced curiously at the waiting car and then at Virginia and went +on, "You are Obadiah Dale's daughter, are you not?" + +As she nodded her assent, he asked, "How did the accident happen?" + +"I was to blame," confessed Virginia, her eyes filling with tears. + +"You weren't driving the car?" he argued sympathetically and when she +admitted it, "I don't see how you can be in fault." + +"I was though, doctor." + +He gave her an enveloping professional glance. The pale face and the +flood of tears fighting to break their dams did not escape him. "You are +suffering from the shock of the accident. You have been under a strain +and are nervous and unstrung." + +Ike considered this an appropriate moment to make public outcry. "Dat +man was to blame. Ran smack into me. Lak to punch er hole in de tiah wid +'is haid. Ah gwine look fo' er punkcher," he assured the crowd which +had assembled. + +This attempt to win public favor at the expense of a semi-unconscious +opponent filled the doctor with indignation. "You talk like a fool," +he informed the chauffeur. "Without inquiring into the matter I conclude +that you are to blame. You help me carry this man under the trees and +make him comfortable until I can call an ambulance." + +The snap judgment of the medical man apparently struck Ike as of +uncontrovertible accuracy, because he prepared in silence to assist +in caring for the injured until Virginia suggested, + +"Why not take the man in our machine and get him to the hospital so much +quicker?" + +"Very good," agreed the doctor. He eyed Ike sternly. "It's not a +question of speed now. There has been too much of that around here in my +opinion." + +"Yas'r," the chauffeur made illogical response. "Ah ain' no speeder. +Ah is de carefles' drivah in dis yere town. Safety fust. Dat's ma +motta." + +"Appearances are against you," the doctor snorted as he prepared a +rough splint to protect the leg of the motorcyclist during his removal. + +They placed the youth in the Dale car, the doctor holding him in his +arms but using a middle seat to support the lower part of the body. Ike +pulled down the other seat and, at a sign from the physician, Virginia +took it. + +As they slowly left the scene of the accident, the girl noticed that the +arm of the youth nearest to her swung helplessly at every jolt of the +car. Taking the hand in her own, she lifted it into her lap. When she +released it, there was a faint movement as if the fingers searched for +her own. Knowing him to be suffering, Virginia regrasped his hand and +it seemed to her that there came an answering pressure as of appreciation. + +Yet woe descended anew upon the girl. The youth could not walk. He +could not talk. As she looked at his grotesquely postured body, she +became convinced that he was dying. The doctor's remarks were to cheer +her. No one could forecast the results of such an accident. The victim +might pass away in the car. He was so young to die, a mere boy. She had +killed him. Such thoughts were overwhelming her with fear when they +reached the hospital. + +In the reception room of the institution, she awaited in dread the +outcome of a more thorough examination. As she looked about her, there +was nothing in the furnishing of the apartment to distinguish it from +thousands of others except the faint, sickening odor of ether which told +its own story. + +A most attractive young woman in a nurse's uniform came across the hall +from a small office opposite. "Were you with the emergency case Dr. +Millard brought?" she asked. + +Virginia thought the blonde curls, beneath the cap, very attractive. +Also she approved of the hazel eyes. They seemed sympathetic and the +overwrought girl longed for that. "I came with a motorcyclist who was +hurt. I don't know the doctor's name," she responded. + +"If you can give me the information about the patient I will fill out +his card." + +Virginia looked at the nurse in astonishment. "Why I don't know him. I +never met him until he ran into our car." + +"A violent introduction," giggled the nurse, and then, more seriously, +"I am glad that it is not your husband." + +"_Husband_," gasped Virginia, "on a _motorcycle_." Her face reddened +in an embarrassment the absurdity of which provoked her. + +The nurse broke into a gale of soft laughter. "They come in automobiles, +on motorcycles and on foot. Evidently, you don't care for those on +motorcycles." She considered a moment. "I don't blame you. He would +have so many accidents that you would never know whether you were +wife or widow." + +Virginia was uncomfortable. The strain of the most exciting day in her +life was telling. The mischievous eyes of the nurse were not helping +matters. "I think that I am quite young to be married," the girl +announced with a prim dignity meant to suppress this frivolous person. + +That sophisticated young woman shook anew with amusement. "Oh, I don't +know. Have a look at our maternity ward." + +The shot went wide of the mark with Virginia. "Oh," she exclaimed, with +rapturous interest, "I'd love to. That's where you keep the babies, +isn't it? I adore them." + +"We were speaking of husbands, not babies, you know." The irrepressible +nurse persisted. "They are closely related but not the same thing. That +is, unless the wife, as many of them do, insists upon making a baby of +her husband." + +Husbands! Babies! Where was this strange conversation leading? Again +an annoyed Virginia felt herself flush beneath the amused eyes of this +very complacent young person. With a rush, horrible thoughts of the +youth upstairs, surely suffering, possibly dying, through her fault, +obsessed her. Yet this nurse could look at one with hazel eyes dancing +with merriment. The mill owner's daughter whirled to a window, but, +regardless of her efforts, the tears came. + +She heard the nurse move. In a moment a hand touched her shoulder and +a kind voice whispered, "Dearie, you are all broken up, aren't you? +It's a shock from the accident. I should have remembered. Let me get +you something?" + +"No,--no," protested Virginia, dissolved in tears. "It's not medicine +I need. Oh, if I could only be sure that poor fellow isn't going to die. +I will never have a happy moment the rest of my life if he does." She +raised her tear drenched face. "I wanted to make people happy, not +to bring sorrow or trouble to any one. And now," she sobbed, "I've +killed a man." + +"Don't be silly, girlie. You couldn't kill a flea, let alone a man. +Accidents will happen. We get hundreds of such cases every month." + +"You don't get motorcyclists though. They are injured while riding at +fearful speed." + +"Oh yes, we do. I don't mean to criticise your friend but most +motorcyclists are dreadfully reckless." + +"He isn't my friend. I told you that I don't know him," grieved +Virginia. + +"Why worry so, then? I heard the doctor say that it was not a serious +case myself." + +"He was concealing something. Anyway, it is wrong of us to say unkind +things about the poor fellow when he has no friends to help him," +Virginia concluded with a note of defiance. + +"_Have_ we?" the nurse responded, "I think that I said,--you may +remember--that motorcyclists are reckless." + +"But," sobbed the unhappy girl, "I thought it, too." + +"He wouldn't care about it, anyway," argued the nurse soothingly. +"Cheer up, he'll soon be well. I never remember a motorcyclist dying in +this hospital. They are either killed outright," she explained in a +matter of fact tone, "or they soon recover. They have so many accidents +learning to ride, I suppose, that they get toughened. I don't mean +that they are tough fellows," she explained hastily, fearful that +Virginia might deem the remark unkind. "I mean that one must be young, +and strong, and hard, to run one of the things." + +Virginia's tears had ceased to flow. "I should think that a +motorcyclist would have to be--quick--and graceful," she interrupted, +and then ended, "--and very brave," being, evidently much uplifted by +the nurse's remarks. + +"And," continued the very observant attendant of the sick, "I +should think that they would have to be very strong and healthy, +perfectly nerveless, and," she smiled, "not a bit fastidious to ride a +motorcycle." + +Virginia's face bore a look of mild reproof which melted away as she +joined in the hearty laugh of the nurse. + +"I am going up stairs," resumed that energetic person cheerfully, "and +see your motorcyclist. In a minute, I will be back able to assure you +that he is not seriously injured." + +As the girl waited, the quiet of the great building depressed her. To her +came the thought that it was a place of weariness, pain, suffering. +The hall before her was the highway along which men and women passed on +their way to those white bed battle-grounds beyond. Through hours, and +days of weariness and suffering the combat dragged its weary length or +moved in strenuous actions, short and sharp, towards victory, with the +joyous return of the pale and weakened warrior to loved ones, home, +friends, and all that makes life worth living, or else-- + +A door opened above stairs. Something very like a smothered laugh echoed +and the soft pad of rubber soles came on the steps. + +"He's all right," the nurse reassured Virginia, as she reentered the +room. "He's perfectly conscious and the doctor says that he sees no +reason why he should not get along nicely." Her manner became very +professional as she went on, "Your motorcyclist has a fractured leg, +three fractured ribs, and many bruises." She shrugged her shoulders +deprecatingly, "That's nothing." + +"Nothing! I think that it is dreadful." Virginia displayed indications +of renewed agitation. + +The nurse made haste to comfort her, "Remember, I have seen him. That +young man may be brittle but he'll mend fast." + +"He will suffer so," worried Virginia. + +"No, not after his leg is set. Of course he will be in some pain for a +few days but that will soon pass." The nurse giggled. "Right now he +has a bad headache from striking either your car or the street with his +head. It must be made of extraordinarily strong material." + +Virginia gave no heed to the concluding sentence. A look of alarm spread +over her face. "He struck the car an awful blow. It fairly lifted it. +Was that his head?" she gasped. + +"Possibly," admitted the dancing eyed nurse. "His headache is severe. +But he'll be over that in the morning." + +Another matter of anxiety recurred to the girl. "How's his fever?" she +troubled, her eyes big with pity. + +"Fever!" Surprise claimed the nurse as its own. "Now what ever put +that into your head?" + +"I held his hand when we brought him here. It was very hot." + +"Oh, I see," admitted the nurse with a solemnity of tone which belied +her tell-tale orbs. "What a little helper you _were_. You held the +patient's hand, and, discovering it to be warm, you believed him dead." + +"Wasn't it strange?" Virginia gravely pursued her own line of thought. +"It seemed to me that he wanted me to hold his hand, so I did." + +"Kind girl," the nurse complimented her, and then, as from a wealth of +experience, explained, "I never knew a man who disliked to hold hands. +Certainly a motorcyclist would have no compunctions about it. Don't +worry about fever in this case." + +"You are laughing at me again. You love to tease me," protested +Virginia. + +"I can't help it after seeing that motorcyclist." + +"Why should you laugh about him? Poor fellow, he suffers so." + +"Yes, I suppose he does, but his appearance does not draw sympathy. +They've dressed him up in pink pajamas. He's a great big fellow and +his eyes--" + +"Are black," announced Virginia with great assurance. + +"Yes, but how on earth did you know it?" + +"He looked up at me," Virginia confessed soberly. + +"Looked up at you? Please tell me when? While you were holding his +hand?" + +"No." The girl spoke with great gentleness, as if in a dream she +reenacted the scene she described. "His head was lying in my lap and +suddenly he opened his eyes and looked up at me for a moment--and closed +them." + +The nurse choked with suppressed laughter. "I thought," she rippled, +"that it was a collision of vehicles, not of hearts." + +"How very silly," thought Virginia, and regarding the nurse coldly, +she said aloud, "I'll go now. I am sorry to have been so much trouble +to you." + +Unmoved by the change in the mood of the visitor, the nurse accompanied +her to the door. "You'll be coming back to see your patient?" she +suggested. + +"I suppose I should," Virginia mused. Her coolness towards the nurse +melted. "It would be dreadfully embarrassing to visit a strange man." + +"I can help you. I go back to ward duty tomorrow and will have charge +of the surgical cases. I'll know him by the time you call." + +"That will be fine. I'll bring him something to eat." A further +courtesy occurred to Virginia. "Would you let him know, please, that I +waited to be sure that he was as comfortable as possible?" + +"That has been done," the nurse told her. "When I was up stairs I +explained to him that you were waiting, in almost your very words." + +The curiosity of her sex beset the mill owner's daughter. "Did he say +anything about it?" she questioned. + +Great merriment, promptly subdued, shook the nurse. "I should hardly +call it 'anything.' Of course, I could not question him in his +condition. I caught two words. Perhaps I misunderstood them." + +"What were they?" + +"He said"--again the nurse was shaken by concealed +amusement--"something which sounded to me like"--she hesitated to +regain control of her feelings--"Some chicken." + +"Poor fellow," sympathized compassionate Virginia. "He is hungry. +Serena fries chicken deliciously, and he shall have some of it." As +she hurried away, she wondered what it was that had amused the nurse so +much that she could not overcome a final outburst. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +IKE EXPLAINS + + +Obadiah Dale gave unusual thought to his daughter during a period +following the minstrel parade. This attention was due primarily to the +appearance of Virginia as a seeming part of the pageant. It was due +secondarily, and consequently in ever increasing force as the minutes +passed, to the girl's unexplained delay in returning home to lunch. + +Immediately upon his arrival, Obadiah had attempted to elicit from Serena +all information in her possession concerning orphans and minstrels. His +approach to the subject was craftily obscured. + +"I don't see the car. Virginia not home, yet?" + +"Yas'r. She orter bin back er long time ergo." From Serena's +appearance one would have judged her deeply aggrieved. + +"Where is she?" + +"She tek er li'l ride. Ain't she bin at yo'all's office?" + +Serena was conscious that her speed regulations, literally interpreted +and conscientiously obeyed by Ike, might be responsible for the delayed +return of the absent ones. She was aware, that regardless of the real +reason, Ike, constitutionally, would not be adverse to transferring +all blame to her. She deemed it advantageous, therefore, to submit +her defence before the arrival of the complainant and thus win the +sympathetic support of the court. + +"Ah tole dat Ike to drive mo'e cafful. Ah ain' wantin' Miss Virginy +broke up 'count o' his foolishness." + +"They were safe enough when I saw them down town. As far as I could make +out they had been following a minstrel band about," Obadiah informed her. + +"Minst'el band!" Serena lifted up her voice loudly. "Dat's Ike. Wot +inte'est dat chil' got in er ole minst'el band. It sure is dat fool +Ike." + +"They had a negro woman and a lot of negro children in the back of the +car." + +"Black woman an' chillun," shouted the old negress. "Howcum dey in +dat caah? Ah axes you dat?" Serena's temper was rising. "Dat fool boy +Ike done fill up dat caah wid trash. Yas'r. Whar was dey?" + +"Following that band down the middle of Main Street." + +"On Main Street, wid all de high tone folks er lookin' at ma po' li'l +honey chil' er packed in wid er bunch o' trash er laughin' an' er +hollerin' at er minst'el band." Serena became almost inarticulate in +her anger. + +Obadiah kicked angrily at the rug in front of him. Again he remembered +the smiles of the crowd. Gruffly dismissing the servant, he watched her +depart, every line of her body quivering with indignation and muttering +dire threats at Ike. + +The manufacturer dropped into a chair and attempted to read a newspaper +but he could not keep his mind from the episode of the morning. It had +been an absurd affair. His sense of personal dignity rebelled at his +daughter being entangled in such a thing. The thought came that Virginia +was only a child who had become involved in an escapade of Ike's which +every one had already forgotten. + +He settled himself more comfortably but the picture of the parade +would not depart from his thoughts. Obadiah could not stand ridicule +and those laughing faces danced before him. That child argument was +unsatisfactory, too. Virginia had appeared quite proud of the load +of colored children when he had talked to her. She didn't look the +child part, either. To the contrary she seemed quite mature--almost +a woman. With a start, he remembered his daughter's age. "Confound +it," he muttered, "she is a woman. She should behave as one. She must +learn to have some regard for my dignity and to uphold my position in +this town." + +He arose, looked at his watch, and, striding out upon the porch, gazed +anxiously down the street. As he watched, there came a distant honk of +familiar note and in a few moments his car turned in through the gate. + +"What made you so late?" roared Obadiah before the machine stopped. + +Virginia leaped out as the car paused and running up the steps threw +her arms about her father. "Oh Daddy," she responded, "I have been +so frightened." Laying her head against his arm, she shuddered. + +"What happened?" Obadiah's voice was cutting, sharp. + +"We almost killed a man. We broke his legs and ribs and gave him a +terrible headache. We had to take him to the hospital where he is +suffering dreadfully." + +"Dat man done knock er big dent in dis yere caah wid his haid," +proclaimed Ike. "Ran slap bang into me." + +At the sound of the chauffeur's well remembered voice, Serena, as a +privileged member of the household, returned to the porch. Approaching +Virginia who had drawn an arm of her father about herself, the old +negress patted the girl reassuringly upon the shoulder and pledged +revenge. "Nev' mine, honey chil', nev' mind, ah gwine 'tend to +dat fool, Ike, presen'ly." Hurrying to the end of the porch she +glared down at the chauffeur as if he were the root of all evil in that +vicinity. "Wot you mean er takin' er woman an' 'er fambly in dat +caah wid ma honey chil' an' er runnin' ovah er ban' an' er killin' +er minst'el man? 'Splain youse'f, boy." + +Ike was puzzled to identify the victim of his alleged manslaughter under +the conditions named. "Wot minst'el man? Ah ain' kill no minst'el +man a tall." + +"Who dat done dent yo'all's caah?" cried the accusing voice. + +"How ah gwine tell if dat man wot bre'k hisse'f up on ma caah is er +minst'el man? Ah ain' ax 'im. Ah ain' kill no man." + +"Who dat woman an' her fambly you 'vite into dat caah? Wot mar'ied +woman is yo'all makin' up to? Wot's de name o' dat frien', wid +chillun?" + +Ike had to suffer much that morning. He writhed under this new +inquisition which displayed a tendency to besmirch his reputation. No +love light glowed in the porcupine's eyes but hatred, intense and +eternal, flashed from them, and he bristled as he made forceful +denial. "Dat female sco'pion ain' no frien' o' mine." + +Before such dislike, who could suspect? Where dwelt such frankness? Who +could doubt? Yet, Serena, conjecturing that a more complete understanding +of the case might insure some interesting developments, excused him with +words of warning, "You ain' nevah kep' nothin' f'on me, no time." + +After Obadiah had heard his daughter's story of the accident, his mind +reverted to the minstrel parade. "You seem to have had a very strenuous +morning, Virginia," he remarked. "When we met, you had quite a load of +passengers with you. Tell me about them." He wanted to know how those +orphans got into the car. + +Virginia was in the midst of her description of the morning's events +when her father interrupted, + +"Why should you take those negro children for a ride? What made you do +it?" + +"Can't you understand, Daddy? Those poor little darkies were frightened +almost out of their wits by our car. They cried, and they looked so +forlorn. The walk is their big pleasure each week. We spoiled it in a +way, today, and I tried to make up for it." She was lost in thought +for a moment and then went on. "Think of it! Those children are shut up +within the walls of that institution every minute of the time except +for that weekly walk." + +"What's the matter with that? Where else would you keep them? They +can't run loose upon the streets." Obadiah wished to bring his daughter +to a reasonable and sensible view of the situation. + +"Of course, Daddy, the orphans can't be allowed to run wild. That would +never do. But that makes it no less hard for them to be shut up in that +yard year after year with only a walk now and then for a change." She +looked appealingly at him. "How would you like to be shut up in a yard +all of the time, Daddy?" + +Obadiah almost shuddered. The thought of being confined in an inclosure +was repulsive to him. It savored of the penalties prescribed in certain +anti-trust laws of which he had an uncomfortable knowledge. He would +have gladly eliminated the question of restraint, but not being able to, +asked, "How can you help it?" + +Virginia gleefully clinched her argument. "Take the orphans out oftener +and take them riding so that they can go farther than their little legs +can carry them. I did the last thing, Daddy, don't you see?" + +Obadiah saw, and, admitting the strength of his daughter's argument to +himself, recognized that it had logical strength as a plea for a series +of rides. He dropped the matter promptly and in this was assisted by the +gong calling them to a belated luncheon. + +Virginia, because of the excitement of the morning, had little appetite. +She watched her father for a time and then her eyes took on a deeper +blue as, without averting her gaze, she drifted away into one of those +mysterious musings of girlhood. + +He gulped his food hastily as if he had a train to catch. "I should +be back," he fretted. "My time is worth money. You must learn to be +considerate of others, Virginia." + +The shadow of unhappiness veiled the face of dreams as the girl started +at his words. "I am very thoughtless, I am afraid, Daddy," she +answered. "I shall try to be more careful." And then in a whisper so +low that he could not hear it, she continued, "It would make mother +unhappy to know that I was that way." + +"You should overcome your faults, particularly your thoughtlessness in +regard to others," he grumbled, and immediately changed the subject. +"Do you know the name of the fellow who ran into you?" + +"No, Daddy." + +He considered a moment. "Don't you bother about it." He gave her a +smile and the traces of her unhappiness faded before it. "I will have +some one call up the hospital. I must take the matter up with Wilkins." + +"Honey, chil', ain' yo'all gwine res' you'se'f dis afternoon?" +Serena demanded, as they arose from the table. + +"In a minute, Serena, I want to ask Daddy something." + +She hurried after him. There was almost a trace of embarrassment in her +voice, as she asked, "Daddy, may I go to the hospital tomorrow and visit +that man?" + +"What?" Obadiah was surprised. "Why on earth should you want to do +that?" + +"I think I should. I told Ike to hurry, as I explained to you. If I +hadn't done that the man would not have been hurt." She gave a woeful +little sigh. "I helped to take him to the hospital and so I feel +acquainted with him." + +A shrewd, calculating look swept over Obadiah's face. "That's a most +informal introduction, I am thinking. However, it will do no harm to get +on friendly terms with that fellow. I suppose that it will mean a suit, +anyway, but I won't oppose your going." + +Virginia's face lighted with happiness and pride. "Daddy dear, you +have the kindest and most thoughtful heart. You are always trying to do +something nice," she laughed, softly. "You've made a mistake this +time, and you will have to think of something else. The man in the +hospital doesn't need clothes. I noticed that his were not hurt in the +accident." + +"_Clothes_," cried Obadiah, much perplexed by the tribute to himself +and the subsequent explanation. "Who said anything about clothes?" +Suddenly, understanding came to him. "I'll swear--" promised the +astounded manufacturer. + +Virginia quickly kissed him squarely upon the mouth. + +"No, you won't," she said, her eyes tender with love and pride, "you +are much too good and generous and noble to do that." + +For an instant, Obadiah appeared about to contradict his daughter, but, +changing his mind, he hurried out to his waiting car and pressed the +button on the horn. + +At the signal, Ike appeared, coming hurriedly from the kitchen. As he +advanced, he deposited in his mouth the remains of a slice of pie. +Because of the unfortunate events of the morning, the procurement of +this pastry partook of the nature of a diplomatic triumph. Ike had +but little pride in this. His mind was upon weightier matters. As he +approached his employer, he bolted the remnants in a manner conducive +neither to his present dignity nor future health. + +Obadiah endeavored to fix the shifting glance of his chauffeur with a +piercing eye. "Ike," he demanded, roughly, "how did that accident +occur?" + +"Yas'r, dat man come er speedin' down Secon' Street an' ran smack +bang into dis yere caah. He dent it wid his haid," the chauffeur +testified glibly. + +"Show me the dent!" + +Ike promptly indicated a slight depression in the body of the car above +a rear fender. + +"You did that when you ran into a coal truck and smashed the fender." + +Ike was greatly astonished but admitted erroneous conclusions. "Ah mek +er mistake. Dat man mus' er landed on de wheel den." + +"Don't make any more mistakes about this accident," the manufacturer +rapped. "Virginia tells me that you were coming out Forest Avenue and +that this fellow was going down Second Street." + +Ike considered this with care, that deception be eliminated. "Yas'r, +Miss Virginny ain' mek no mistake, neither." + +Obadiah glared at his humble retainer. "He was on your right hand +then?" he suggested. + +"Ah dis'remembers jes whar dat man cum f'om, Misto Dale. He cum so +fas' it plum slip ma mind." Ike scratched his head thoughtfully. "It +done gone f'om me." + +"He was going down Second Street towards the Court House and you were +coming out home, weren't you?" + +"Yas'r, dat's jes de way o' it." + +"Then, he approached you on your right hand. He had the right of way." + +"Misto Dale, dat man done took all de way." + +"You know he had the right of way under the law," bawled Obadiah, +provoked by the stupidity of his servitor. + +"Yas'r, dat's de law." A most flattering note of admiration for his +employer's legal acumen crept into Ike's voice. "Misto Dale, yo'all +sutinly knows de law." + +"Never mind what I know," roared Obadiah, thrusting compliments rudely +aside. "If that fellow hit my car you must have been in his way." + +"No, sar, Ah was er gwine to hit 'im, 'ceptin' he dodge. He done cum +so quick ah ain' seen 'im 'till he whar der. Yas'r." + +Puzzled at what he had unearthed, Obadiah sought illumination along other +lines. "How fast was that fellow running, Ike, when he hit you?" + +The chauffeur lifted his eyes heavenward as if seeking inspiration. A +crow winged its way slowly across the sky. He followed it critically as +if using its speed as a measure for the estimate sought. "'Bout seventy +seven mile er hour," he ventured. + +Obadiah boiled. "Seventy seven miles an hour on Second Street is +absurd," he blurted. "It's too rough. A man would have to fly to do +it." + +"Yas'r dat's hit. He was er flyin'. Jest er hittin' de high places." + +Obadiah scorched his menial with a look which should have reduced him +to a cinder. + +Ike shifted uneasily under the unkind gaze of his indignant employer as +he waited further interrogation. + +"How fast were you running?" Obadiah's tone was as warm as his aspect. + +Ike deemed it advisable at this point to make his statements general. +"Ah drives cafful. Safety furst, dat's ma motta." + +"I have heard that nonsense of yours before. What I want to know," +Obadiah bleated in a high falsetto, "is, how fast were you going?" + +Again, Ike turned to the skies. Suddenly came a change. His doubtful +demeanor disappeared. He met the stern countenance of his employer +with a glad smile of confidence and assurance. To him, in the hour +of need, had been vouchsafed a solution of his problem. "Miss Sereny," +he explained, with great satisfaction, "she done tell me not to drive +no fas'er den er hoss an' ker'idge kin go. Dat's jes how fas' ah +goes." + +Obadiah leaped into his car and slammed the door. "Take me to my +office," he blazed. + +Ike obeyed him, running, it may be noted, at a speed well above that +usually attained by the horses and carriages of Serena's fond +remembrance. + +Obadiah entered his office yet much irritated by the recent examination +of his chauffeur. "Jones," he shouted peevishly. + +"At your service, Sir," responded the ever courteous private secretary, +ceasing his social plannings for the House of Dale, hurriedly, and +leaving the bookkeeper sorely embarrassed in his labors, through the +loss of the voucher from which he was working snatched away by Mr. +Jones, and borne into the manufacturer's presence, as proof that his +absence was due to zealous watchfulness of his employer's interests, +rather than to personal motives. + +"Tell Mr. Wilkins that I want to see him." + +"Immediately, sir." Obadiah's voice demanded speed and Mr. Jones sped, +bearing the bookkeeper's work away with him. + +In a moment the expeditious private secretary returned followed by +Hezekiah Wilkins who passed on into Obadiah's room and closed the door. + +Obadiah was waiting behind a large desk in the center, and motioning to +his legal adviser to be seated, made known his business in these words. +"An embarrassing personal matter has occurred, Hezekiah, in which I +must ask your assistance." The manufacturer chose his words with care. +Diplomacy is necessary when asking corporation lawyers to attend to the +minor concerns of life. "It is so small a matter, I hesitate to ask +your advice." + +Mr. Wilkins was short and fat. His head was bald and his face +intellectual. There was a glint of humor in his eyes which was very +noticeable when he removed his nose glasses for purposes of +gesticulation. His defective sight did not prevent him from casting a +keen glance at his employer, meanwhile tapping upon his front teeth +with the gold frame of his glasses. "Don't hesitate on my account, +Obadiah." There was a shadow of a smile on the attorney's face. +"I've done everything for you, but--" he intended to suggest as a +pleasantry--"bail you out of jail," but after a second's +consideration of his employer's grim countenance, he continued, "buy +you a marriage license," as being less likely to affront a sensitive +soul. + +Now, Obadiah Dale had never given a moment's consideration to a second +marriage, and the thought that his attorney harbored inner suspicions +of matrimonial designs upon his part interfered with the thread of his +remarks. "What put that into your head?" he demanded, testily. + +"Put what?" The fat face of the lawyer reflected great innocence. + +"Marriage licenses," retorted Obadiah. + +"Oh," chuckled the attorney, and quite frankly for one of his +profession, he confessed, "It just slipped out, I suppose." + +The mill owner gave Hezekiah a severe glance as if to warn him of the +grave danger of slips of the tongue to one in his profession. + +This attention was lost, because the lawyer seemed greatly interested in +the erection of a sign over the way. + +Finding looks unavailing, Obadiah reverted to his business. "A fellow +on a motorcycle ran into my car this morning. He broke a leg and they +took him to the hospital where he is now, I believe." + +"Who was to blame?" asked the attorney. + +"I can't tell," Obadiah replied crossly, as he remembered Ike's +testimony. "I can't get a thing out of that fool chauffeur of mine. +His story is absurd." + +"Were there witnesses?" + +"One, I think, besides my daughter." + +"What does she say?" Hezekiah tickled his chin with his glasses and +examined the picture moulding as if it were something unique in that line. + +"I have not asked her, directly. I thought it inadvisable. I gather that +she believes herself to blame because she told the chauffeur to hurry +home." + +"Ahem," said the lawyer, resuming his dental tattoo with great spirit. +"Who had the right of way?" + +"The motorcycle was approaching from the right," admitted Obadiah +grudgingly. + +Hezekiah arose to his feet and moved around until he stood opposite to +his employer. "Keep out of court, Obadiah," he warned him. "A jury +will soak you in this kind of case. How far can I go in a compromise?" +he concluded, perfunctorily. + +"I won't pay a cent," roared Obadiah, flying into a rage. "They +can't bleed me." + +Hezekiah understood the manufacturer's mood. He paused for a minute and +then continued very calmly. "How about a couple of hundred dollars and +hospital expenses?" + +"No." + +"The fellow's hospital expenses?" There was a persuasive note in the +lawyer's voice. + +"No!" Obadiah's face was flushed and set in its obstinacy. + +"The man may be poor. He may have dependents who will be deprived of +the actual necessities of life. It could easily be that suffering and +want would arise from this little case." There was a pleading note in +Hezekiah's voice and almost a look of entreaty upon his kindly face. + +"I don't give a hang," snarled Obadiah. "That's their bad luck, not +mine." + +Yet, the attorney waited, silently watching the angry manufacturer thrust +papers from side to side of his desk. + +Finally he glanced up. His temper had worn itself out. "Fix it up for +twenty-five dollars," he snapped. "That's my limit." + +Hezekiah shrugged his shoulders in frank disgust at the smallness of the +sum named, nodded his head in recognition of his instructions and left +the room. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +JOE PROVES INTERESTING + + +The morning was beautiful. During the hours of darkness a shower had +cleansed the great outdoor world with its gentle moisture. Now, in +all of its new laundered freshness, the earth welcomed the warm rays of +the rising sun, sweeping with millions of scintillating reflections +through the air, clear and pellucid in its purity. The rays sparkled +and glittered on the drops of moisture which clung to the grass blades +and to the leaves. They gave warm caresses to the bushes and to the +trees and from the upturned faces of the flowers, waving coyly and +coquettishly, they stole sly kisses, until the blossoms blushed red and +pink and hid their faces beneath the leaves for very shame. + +Down from the hills danced a gentle breeze, and, catching the naughty +lovemakers, laughed merrily and rushed away to whisper the story in the +branches of the trees. The birds overheard it and they laughed, too, and +spread the news, the naughty gossips, in a cheery chorus of song. + +Then the world awakened and heard the laughter of the wind and the merry +song of the birds and felt the caress of the sun and wise men threw +back their shoulders and took deep draughts of the morning air and were +happy, too. + +At the hospital, a nurse in her garb of white was humming softly as she +moved about among the awakening patients, setting the ward in order. She +stopped by a bed to remove a glass from the enameled table. + +A big, handsome fellow, arrayed in pink pajamas, opened a pair of black +eyes beneath a mop of disheveled black hair and smiled up at her. + +"Good morning," she greeted him. "How are you this morning?" + +"Good--ouch!" An attempt to move was the cause of the peculiar response. + +She came to his assistance. "Isn't that better?" + +"Yes, thank you. I forgot about yesterday's troubles while I slept. +How could I get so many sore spots when I only struck in one place?" +he asked. + +The nurse laughed as she inspected his chart. "How's your head this +morning?" + +"Sister--" he grinned good humoredly--"that dome of mine has +completely recovered. I am healing from the top down." + +She raised a shade and a ray of sunshine flashed across the foot of his +bed. "Isn't that better? It's a beautiful day." + +He rolled and twisted his eyes until he was able to get a glimpse of a +bit of blue sky through the window. His face registered great regret. +"What a day for a two or three hundred mile spin, sister," he mused. + +Again she examined his chart. "Say, Mr. Joseph Tolliver Curtis," she +remonstrated sharply. + +"Those who love me call me Joe," he interrupted in a gentle voice as +he watched with great interest and amusement the snap in her hazel eyes. + +She disregarded the brazen hint and proceeded to reprimand. "It's time +for you to cut out this 'sister' business. I might stand for it once +in awhile but you have a chronic case of it. You took a spin yesterday +which is going to make us intimate acquaintances for some time." + +"Oh death, where is thy sting?" he interjected. + +Perfectly oblivious to his remark, she continued, "It will be better, +particularly for you, if our acquaintance is a pleasant one. You will +call me--Miss Knight--Mr. Curtis," she intimated with a grave dignity +which the wayward blonde curls beneath her cap did not loyally support. + +"'Night, sable goddess, from ebon throne descends,'" he quoted with +dramatic emphasis. "Do you furnish breakfast as well as lectures on +behavior in this hospital?" + +She retired with great hauteur between smiling masculine eyes to the end +of the ward. Suddenly, she whirled and waved her hand at the injured +one, and, as if addressing an old and intimate friend, called, "You can +have your breakfast in a minute, Joe." + +In his apartment above the garage at the Dale home, Ike was awakened by +the shrill alarm of an electric bell rung from a button pressed by Serena +in the comfort of her own bed. Thus he arose betimes of necessity, rather +than from personal desire to salute the rising sun. + +Breathing deeply, the spirit of the morning entered into the chauffeur's +veins as he watched a couple of fat robins enjoying a breakfast of +elastic worms pulled from the moist earth. Lifting his voice in muffled +song, he ran the big car out of the garage, and, opening its bonnet, +reclined on the radiator and lazily looked at the engine. + +Like a high priestess veiled in clouds of incense while engaged in holy +mysteries, Serena moved about her kitchen in the midst of appetizing +odors, preparing coffee, frying ham and cooking waffles for the morning +refreshment of the Dales. Now, as if such dainties were insufficient, she +brought forth another skillet and put diverse parts of a fowl therein, +and with skilled, fork-armed hand shifted them about until they sissled +and hissed and fried. + +The morning breeze faintly wafted pleasing odors to Ike. They assailed +his nostrils delightfully. He breathed yet a little deeper and sang +yet a little louder. Closing the bonnet, he climbed into a seat that +he might, in pleasant anticipation, rest from labor. Suddenly, there +came to him a more delicious scent. He sniffed in disbelief that fate +could be so kind, but his experienced olfactory nerves reassured him. +In such matters, they could not err. + +"Chicken!" He sniffed and sought appropriate outlet for joy. With a +roar which shook the early peace of the neighborhood as a salute of +artillery, Ike raced the engine of the machine and in the midst of this +diabolical furore, he sang a paean of joy. + +The uproar smote the calm of Serena's kitchen. She jerked with alarm, +but the wisdom of years asserted itself. Rushing out on the stoop she +fixed indignant eyes on the chauffeur. "You, Ike," she cried, "stop +dat noise." + +He returned her words with a cheery smile of trust and confidence. +Deafened by his own row, he judged that she desired speech with him. The +engine slowed and the noise decreased until there could be distinguished +the words of a ballad of strenuous love, + + "Ah kissed 'er in de mouf + An' ah hugged 'er in de souf." + +"Ain' you know bettah an' to mek a noise dat a way, dis time in de +mo'ning?" the irritated cook inquired. + +"Ah ain' mek no noise, Miss Sereny. Hit de _caah_," he made reply in +pleasant tones. It would be folly to irritate unduly the custodian of +the chicken lest the fowl be consumed before friendly relations could be +reestablished. His black face was bathed in good humor as he went on. +"Miss Sereny, ma hand an' ma foot done slip." + +That smile disarmed the cook. It was his strongest weapon, but Ike +usually resorted to a sullen obstinacy which infuriated her, to his +undoing. She glared at him for a moment and then his smile and the +spirit of the morning claimed her. "You bettah watch you' step, den," +she returned, and their voices blended in a boisterous gust of laughter. + +Ike's salute to his favorite fowl awakened Virginia from her sleep +with a start. Sitting up in bed, she cast a frightened glance about +her pretty bedroom. For a moment she listened intently, drawn up in a +little white heap on her bed, her blue eyes misty with dreams, peeping +out from a frame of towsled hair. "It's Ike running the engine," +she decided. + +She gave a little yawn as she poked her feet into her slippers and +ran over to a window. From it she could look, between the tops of two +great elms, across the valley in which South Ridgefield lay to the +top of a small hill upon which, bathed in the morning sun, stood the +brick hospital building. Her eyes rested upon it, thoughtfully, and she +took a deep breath of morning air. She began to sing happily as she +turned to dress. + +Obadiah was shaving in his bath room. He used an old fashioned razor, +the pride of his youth. His deep cut wrinkles made it a matter of +care--almost a ceremony. Ike's disturbance nearly resulted in the +amputation of a lip. Obadiah was peeved. Rushing to the window, he threw +it open. He heard Serena's words of remonstrance and determined to +dismiss Ike. He often did that. + +Suddenly the morning breeze played caressingly about him. He pulled his +bath robe closer to him and slammed the window down. His face felt stiff +where the lather had dried upon it. "Darn the luck," growled Obadiah. +He washed his face, restropped his razor, reprepared his lather, and +finally completed his shave by nicking his neck on his Adam's apple. +"Dang it all," he howled. The world was ill using Obadiah and he +resented it. He dressed slowly and from his bedroom window moodily +viewed his beautiful grounds. + +Into his view danced Virginia, swinging a wide brimmed hat by its +streamers and singing gaily as she made for a bed of sweet peas. + +Obadiah watched her, but the harsh lines upon his face did not soften +nor the irascible look fade. He gave a grim nod when the girl discovered +him and shouted a merry greeting. + +There was no one in the dining room when the manufacturer entered it that +morning. He seated himself and began to eat his melon. + +The rich voice of Serena with all of its carrying power came in at the +window, "Yo' all bettah git in yere mighty fas'. You' Daddy done eat +up all de breakfus'." + +Then sounded the answering words of the girl, ringing silvery and sweet, +"Ask Daddy to wait. I have some beautiful flowers for him." + +Serena was suddenly beset with internal mutterings and grumblings +and broke into incoherent utterances. "Ah ain' got no time--no +time--flowers--tell him dat--No siree--Ah ain' no fool." A few moments +later she entered the dining room worrying aloud. "Dat chil' gwine be +fo'ced to eat a col' breakfus. Ah caint keep grub hot all day." + +"She must learn to be on time at her meals," Obadiah scolded. + +Serena gave him a look of stern disapprobation. "Dat gal miss 'er +breakfus er gittin' flowers fo' yo' all." + +Light feet ran through the hall and Virginia skipped into the room, her +face flushed, her hair tossed and a bunch of sweet peas in either hand. + +Unexpectedly, two soft arms were about Obadiah's neck. He found his face +buried in a mass of blossoms while girlish laughter in peals of delight +rang in his ears. + +Virginia shifted her position to examine in mock solemnity the sober +face of her father blinking from the mass of delicate colors. She gave a +shout of amusement. "Daddy, you don't match very well." She shifted +the bouquets about his face. "There, that is much better," she decided. +"Don't you think so, Serena?" + +Obadiah sneezed. + +"God bless you," Virginia whispered. + +"Take those things out of my nose," protested Obadiah. + +"You look so beautiful," the girl giggled. "Doesn't he, Serena?" + +The colored woman watched the proceedings with great gravity. "Leave +you' Daddy 'lone, chil'," she urged. "De breakfus gwine be ruined." + +Obadiah released himself from his daughter's embrace and the blossoms +dropped in a glowing mass upon the table. "Eat your breakfast and stop +this foolishness," he told her. + +"I'll eat anything you'll give me, Daddy dear. I am as hungry as a +bear." She glanced at the clock. "It's late. I must hurry to get over +to the hospital." + +"What for?" he asked in apparent surprise. + +"To see the man who was hurt yesterday. I spoke to you about it." + +"Yes, but upon reflection I think it inadvisable. You might catch some +disease in a place like that. You must think of yourself." + +A look of disappointment came into her face. She ate in silence, the +gayety of the morning swept away by his refusal. + +When breakfast was over, she followed him into the living room where he +sank into a chair and devoted himself to his paper. Thinking deeply, +she paused by the center table. Very quietly, she opened a drawer and +took from it the book which had belonged to her mother. She caressed +the little volume gently for a moment, a great tenderness in her eyes. +Then she replaced it. Determination had driven disappointment from her +face and there was a faint reflection of his obstinacy in her jaw when +she went over and confronted her father. "Daddy," she commenced, +very softly. "All your life you have been helping people--thinking +of others. In your thoughtfulness for my health you wish to keep me away +from the hospital. But, don't you see, I was to blame for that accident. +It is my duty to help that man, if I can. I must go." + +Obadiah glanced over his paper at Virginia as she began to speak. +Realizing that her words savored of rank rebellion, he reddened and +glared at the sheet before him as if it contained a warning of the +presence in his household of a serpent pledged to destroy its peace. +"What--what--what's this?" he spluttered. + +"I can't allow your love to make a coward of me--turn me from my duty, +Daddy." + +Obadiah blinked as he considered this mutiny. Judgment and experience +warned him to control himself. Unpleasant differences in the past had +not always resulted as he could have wished. There had been times when +he had been forced not only to sue Virginia for peace but likewise to +make abject overtures to that firmest of allies, Serena. + +Obadiah thought rapidly. Outside of moral suasion, modern opinion +recognizes but few methods for the influencing of eighteen year old +female insurgents. If Obadiah argued, he would get mad. In his dilemma, +he surrendered, but not with good grace. "Well," he yielded sulkily, +"if you feel that way about it, have it your own way." Scowling +darkly, he flung his paper from him and departed for his office with +asperity. + +From the porch Virginia waved him a last good bye. "Poor Daddy. He is so +afraid that I will get sick," she thought, pensively, as she watched +the disappearing car. But in a moment her good spirits returned and she +hurried into the kitchen. Serena was forced to lay aside her work until +the chicken was daintily arranged in a basket with other delicacies +added by the old negress in reparation, possibly, for her weakness in +yielding to Ike a small portion of the invalid's fare. + +Later that morning Virginia arrived at the hospital. Following the +directions given her, she found herself standing in the doorway of a +long room on the second floor. On each side of a center aisle ran a row +of white bedsteads. The walls, painted a dull buff, were pierced by +many windows and the linoleum in the aisle and the hard wood floor +were waxed and polished until they shone. In this place, cleanliness, +fresh air, and sunshine reigned. + +The beds were filled with pajama clad men. To the embarrassed young girl +it was as if she had blundered into a man's bedroom, and impulsively +she turned to flee. + +A cheery voice arrested her, and the nurse whom she had met in the +reception room on the previous day greeted her. "I told you that I +would meet you here." She smiled with a frank cordiality which instantly +dissipated the visitor's embarrassment. + +Virginia knew now that she liked this young woman, even though she was +a great tease, so she answered the smile with one of equal friendliness +and told her, "It is nice to find someone I know"; but instantly she +referred to the cause for her visit. "How is he?" + +"I think that we have his fever under control," laughed the nurse. + +"Now she is beginning to tease," thought Virginia. "I won't notice +it." + +The nurse went on. "He is really getting along fine. If I were you I +shouldn't give a moment's worry to that young man's health. Don't +trouble to plan your remarks to him, either. He won't listen to them. He +does most of the talking." + +The walk down the aisle between those beds, each with its pair of +masculine optics, was a trial for the girl. It seemed miles. At last, +safely by this gauntlet of inquisitive male glances, she found herself +looking down into those same black eyes which had looked into hers +for a second out on Forest Avenue. Then they were dazed with pain, +now they were filled with friendly inquiry. + +The nurse, Miss Knight, was direct and explicit. "Joe," she announced, +"this is the young lady who says that she put you here." + +Joe accepted this surprising remark as a matter of amusement which +increased as the nurse went on. + +"Now she comes to soften the hard blows with tender words and kind +attentions." + +Virginia blushed furiously. She thought Miss Knight's manner towards +men distinctly common. + +A deep voice came from the bed. "I am very glad to meet you and be able +to thank you for what I have been told you did for me, Miss Dale. That +accident was my hard luck." He put his whole soul into his smile of +welcome and the girl knew that she liked it. + +Having endeavored to relieve his guest's embarrassment, he turned upon +Miss Knight, the greatly delighted cause of it, and adapted his manner +and speech to her case. "Say, sister, blow. Blow while the breeze will +toss you away. I haven't noticed any invitations for you to sit in on +this peace conference." + +The nurse flared at his words, although his smile had tempered them. +Drawing herself up, she made answer with great dignity. + +"You don't need to urge me not to hang around while your wounds are +being dressed with soothing lotions. It's not necessary to hit me with +an automobile to get me out of the way," she exclaimed with great +sarcasm, and flounced away. + +"The gloom of night departs," he chuckled, and, turning dancing eyes +upon his visitor, continued softly, "and now comes dawn." + +Virginia flushed again. "For all that you know, it may be stormy," +she retorted, astonished at her own glib tongue. The merry banter of +the patient and nurse had surprised her. She had been taught that this +sort of thing was vulgar. Yet, somehow, it didn't seem so dreadful. +She suspected that she rather liked it and was troubled by this symptom +of innate depravity. Now she became aware that those black eyes were +studying her, and mischief gleamed in their depths. + +"Our meeting was very sudden yesterday," he laughed. "I didn't +have a chance to give you my card. My name is Joseph Tolliver Curtis. +Those who--" he hesitated and then went on--"are my friends, call me +Joe." Happiness radiated from him. He was so good humored that it +was contagious. + +The visitor beamed upon the patient. "My name is Virginia Dale," she +explained. + +"I know it," he admitted, and then, with the manner of intense personal +interest, he demanded, "Do your friends--your intimate friends--by any +chance call you 'Virge'?" + +"I should say not." The girl's eyes flashed as she retorted, "They +would hear from me." + +"By letter," he inquired, "or telephone?" In a moment he continued, +"I have it. You will sing to them just as you are going to sing to me." + +"Sing to you?" + +"Of course you are going to sing to me. Every one who visits a hospital +should sing. It was found wonderfully soothing to the patients in +the big army hospitals during the war. After they had listened to +the performers they were more contented to endure their suffering." + +"They would have died on the spot if I'd sung," she answered. + +They both laughed in the exuberance of their youth at their own nonsense +until his injured ribs stopped him and she became very serious. + +"I came, today--" her manner was almost shy--"to tell you how sorry +I am for that accident. It makes me unhappy to think of you suffering +here through my fault." + +"How can you blame yourself? You had nothing at all to do with it," he +declared with great earnestness. + +"I told our chauffeur to hurry," she explained, and then with finality, +"if he hadn't, there would have been no collision." + +Again his injured ribs subdued his laughter. "If everybody had stayed +off the street, I wouldn't have been hurt. That's your argument." He +studied her face for a moment and then resumed. "Listen, I am going to +tell you a secret. Promise never to tell." + +"Honest," she agreed. + +"I was running away over the speed limit. I must have been going forty +miles an hour." + +Virginia became the custodian of his secret with great calmness and +solemnly confessed, "We were running over the speed limit, too. Ike +usually does. He knows that I enjoy going fast. The speed limit in this +town is away too low, I think." + +"Yes," he concurred, "I wouldn't have been hurt worse if I had been +running twice as fast. The point is, that we could both be arrested and +fined for speeding." + +"They always arrest Ike," she explained with complacency. "He doesn't +care a bit. He's used to it." Anxiety arose in her eyes. "Surely, +they wouldn't arrest one as badly hurt as you?" + +"You don't know that judge." Joe spoke with experience. "If they +brought a dying man into his court who had only fifty dollars to leave +to his widow and children, that judge would take it from him for +speeding. That is, if he rode a motorcycle." + +"Oh, the injustice of it. Doesn't he care for motorcyclists?" + +"No," asserted Joe with great forcefulness. "Nobody likes a +motorcyclist." + +"I do," proclaimed Virginia, and then, after taking a moment to recover +from the embarrassment of her own outspokenness, she continued, "It's +not right. They are entitled to equal justice," as if enunciating a +newly discovered truth. + +"Sure, they are entitled to it, but they don't get it. That's why I +must keep quiet. My accident insurance will take care of my hospital +bills and my job will keep." + +"Why don't you collect damages?" urged Virginia with great gravity. + +"From whom?" + +After a moment's consideration, she solved the legal problem. "From +me--that is, from my father, for me." + +At the reference to her father a change came in the injured man. His good +humor faded. "No," he said decidedly. "In the first place I wouldn't +accept money from your father and in the second place he would not give +any." + +"You don't know my father," she said with pride. "He is a very +just man. Sometimes he's gruff and a little cross but he doesn't +mean anything by that. He always wants to do the right and generous +thing." Her face was alight with loyalty and admiration. + +"Does he?" There was a note of sarcasm in his voice which disappeared, +and he said no more after he had read her eyes. + +She misinterpreted the change in him. "I have stayed too long," she +worried. "You are tired." She remembered the chicken. "I brought you +something." She put the plate of fowl beside him. + +He viewed it in joyous anticipation. "Fine," he shouted. "If there is +one thing I love, it is fried chicken. How did you guess it?" + +She smiled at Miss Knight who had joined them. "A bird told me," she +answered him. + +The nurse put her hands on her hips and viewed the visitor with marked +suspicion at this remark, but, as if satisfied that her distrust was +unfounded, she retired to the diet kitchen from which hearty laughter +immediately thereafter resounded. + +"Good bye," she told him almost shyly. + +His good spirits had returned. "You and I are friends, and remember, we +are always going to be friends." + +She nodded and said again, "Good bye, Mr. Curtis." + +"My friends call me Joe," he reminded her. + +Virginia hesitated, and then, "Good bye--Joe," she whispered and left +the ward with a sweet little smile. + +In the hall Miss Knight rejoined her. "Before you go I want to show +you something which is our pride and joy at the present moment," she +explained to the girl. She opened a door and displayed a beautifully +furnished room which glistened in its cleanliness. + +"It is very attractive, but why is the room different?" asked Virginia. + +The nurse pointed to a bronze tablet. It bore the name of the donor, one +well known in South Ridgefield. + +"What a beautiful idea," the girl exclaimed. + +"Isn't it?" responded the nurse. "The gift includes not only the +furniture but the endowment of the bed for five years." She laughed. +"The man who gave it is ahead of the game. He was hurt in a railroad +accident and was here for a couple of months. He sued the railroad +company and collected more than enough from them to do this." + +Afterwards, by Virginia's express wish, she was taken to the nursery +and permitted to hold a recently arrived guest in her arms, who +happened at the moment to be awake. She was allowed to peek into the +maternity ward with its beds filled with women, and her tour ended in +the dispensary where she met Dr. Jackson and a nurse who were busily +engaged in caring for the ailments of the sick babies the mothers +brought in from outside. At last she left for home, and on the way +she thought of this strange new world she had been shown in this big +brick building, but principally she thought of a pair of black eyes that +laughed and of the gross injustices to which down trodden motorcyclists +were the victims. + +Later that afternoon, Miss Knight was very busy among the shining +utensils in the diet kitchen when she was disturbed by another visitor. + +"I beg your pardon," said a voice, "but could you direct me to a +patient? My name," he continued suavely, "is Wilkins--Hezekiah +Wilkins." He wiped his bald head, and went on. "It's very warm +today--extremely so." + +"Sure, it's warm," agreed Miss Knight, "and this electric heater +makes it a darn sight warmer." + +Hezekiah intended to give the nurse a look of sympathetic understanding, +but ended by giving her a friendly grin. "I comprehend your point of +view," he added. "A trip to a pleasant resort would be more agreeable, +don't you think?" + +Miss Knight viewed his words in the sense of a tentative invitation and +considered the merriment in his eyes suspicious in one of his age. She +froze and demanded with the utmost frigidity, "Whom do you wish to see?" + +Utterly innocent that he had all but persuaded this sophisticated nurse +that he was one of those aged profligates of whom young women had +best beware, Hezekiah drew forth an envelope upon which he had entered +certain notes which he now found difficult to decipher, and told her. + +She led the way and the lawyer followed through the ranks of curious +eyes. He vigorously mopped at his shining cranium and held his inverted +panama before him as if taking a collection of errant drops of moisture +that they might not mar the polished floor. This detracted from the +dignity of Hezekiah's progress. + +Seating himself by Joe Curtis's bed, the attorney gazed at the youth +for a few moments in polite curiosity. + +The motorcyclist returned the look with one of undisguised distrust. + +"My name is Hezekiah Wilkins," announced the lawyer when the mutual +scrutiny had continued so long that it threatened to become embarrassing. +"I have reasons to believe that I am speaking to Mr. Joseph Tolliver +Curtis." + +"You've got me, Steve," responded Joe. + +"I've what?" inquired Hezekiah, much perplexed. Light dawned upon +him. "Oh, yes--quite so--assuredly," he indulged in a soft chuckle. +"I am dense at times. Slow might be better, eh?" Again he chuckled. +"Slow for the rising generations, particularly--" he smiled genially +at Joe--"when they ride motorcycles." + +Joe abated none of his vigilance. His policy was that of watchful waiting. + +"The day is very warm," continued Hezekiah, looking about the ward +with interest. "This is a delightfully cool and pleasant place. You +are to be congratulated upon having such comfortable quarters in which +to recuperate." + +"Say!" Joe's voice was distinctly hostile. "Are you the advertising +agent for this hospital?" + +Hezekiah's trained ear sensed unfriendliness abroad. He changed his +manner of approach with the quickness of a skilled strategist. "Mr. +Curtis," he went on briskly, "I represent Mr. Obadiah Dale. You have +no doubt heard of him?" + +Joe nodded. + +"Your motorcycle ran into Mr. Dale's automobile yesterday," the +lawyer resumed. "I do not come to seek compensation for the injury to +his car. I am delighted, finding you as I do upon a bed of pain, to +be upon a much pleasanter mission." Hezekiah smiled benignantly. +"There was a witness to the accident. With some difficulty, I have +located him and procured his statement. While it may be conceded that +this person has no special skill or training in estimating the speed of +moving vehicles, he is" (the attorney's manner expressed assurance) +"prepared to testify that you were operating your machine at a speed +in excess of that permitted by law." He paused as if awaiting an +incriminating admission. + +"Go on," snapped Joe. + +Hezekiah continued with increased emphasis. "Assuming this to be true, +it appears that you were entirely or in part responsible for the accident +and the consequent damage to Mr. Dale's car and your own person." + +"Not on your life," cried Joe with great excitement. "I have a witness +who says the Dale car was to blame for the accident and that it was +exceeding the speed limit." + +"Surely." Mr. Wilkins chuckled. "There are always witnesses for both +sides. My gracious, if this were not true how could we have law suits? +It's the reputation of a witness for truth and veracity which counts +in court, my boy." + +"I know it." + +"Admitting your witness," Hezekiah resumed with great cheerfulness, +"the speed of your own machine is certain to be the subject of +controversy. My client has no desire to enter into this. He waives +it." Hezekiah likewise waved his glasses and then went on speaking +much more rapidly as one hurrying to be rid of a task in which he has +no heart. "My client not only waives your personal responsibility +and the material damage suffered by him, but authorizes me, in his +behalf, to tender you this check in the sum of twenty-five dollars to +assist in the defrayment of your hospital expenses." + +Joe Curtis's eyes flashed with temper. "Obadiah Dale and his money can +go straight to the devil," he roared, in a voice which startled the +entire ward and made the lawyer jump. + +"Calm yourself, Sir," urged Hezekiah. "Undue excitement is injudicious +in your physical condition. Bless my soul, there may be grounds for +differences over the sum tendered, but I can see no reason for intense +anger." + +Down the aisle came Miss Knight, stern of face. "Say," she demanded, +"do you think that this is a livery stable, Joe? If you do, you had +better wake up. That rough stuff doesn't go around here. Do you get me?" + +He gave her a most sheepish glance. "Sister," he began. + +The nurse's eyes flashed. "Must I speak to you again about that +'sister' habit. I won't stand for it." She explained to the lawyer, +"I not only have to nurse these men but I have to teach them manners, +too." + +Before her righteous indignation, a great meekness descended upon Joe. +"I am sorry, Miss Knight. I didn't mean to start a rough house, only +I--got mad." He smiled at her. + +She surrendered to his humility and that smile. She adjusted his pillow +and brushed the hair back from his eyes with her hand. "You are a bad +boy, Joe. I am going to forgive you for this, but the next time you +start anything, you will be punished." She shook a threatening finger +at him. "Do you understand?" + +"Yes'm," he answered in the tone and manner of a naughty small boy. +He rolled his head towards the lawyer. "I owe you an apology for losing +my temper." + +"Never mind, my boy," said Hezekiah, who had viewed the calming of the +storm with relief. "A gale clears the atmosphere. Plain speaking begets +clear understanding." Resuming his glasses, the lawyer regarded the +youth with great friendliness, and, after a moment, deemed it safe to go +on. "You expressed yourself so--ah--" (he sought for an inoffensive +term) "with such certainty of feeling that I assume that you have +determined upon some measure of adjustment yourself." + +Again Joe Curtis's eyes flashed. "There can be no adjustment between +Obadiah Dale and me," he answered coldly. + +"No?" Hezekiah's regret had the ring of sincerity. "In a friendly +spirit towards you, my boy," he urged, "I would advise against the +development of an hostile feeling towards Mr. Dale. He had no more to +do with that accident than the man in the moon." + +"I know it," admitted Joe. + +"The institution of an action at law is an expensive proceeding. As a +lawyer I warn you that the outcome would be extremely uncertain. Who can +tell what a jury will do?" Hezekiah shook his head solemnly, thereby +registering his grave doubts of the action of twelve men good and true. + +"Institute an action," repeated Joe, his eyes dancing with mischief. +"Say, Uncle, when I sue that old skate, it sure is going to be some +case." + +Hezekiah waxed indignant. This may have been due either to Joe's +intimation of relationship to himself or to the opprobrious designation +of his client as an old skate. "Don't mislead yourself," he exclaimed +peevishly. "You will be thrown out of court." + +Joe ruffled visibly. "Who is going to throw me out of court?" he +demanded. "Obadiah Dale?" Another idea struck him. He gave the lawyer a +most threatening and pugnacious glance. "Maybe you think _you_ can +do it?" + +Hezekiah's amazement at the suspicion that either he or his client +contemplated physical violence upon this young giant, swathed in +bandages, was extreme. "Gorry diamonds, you must be crazy," he +gasped, and then the other's point of view came to him. He burst into +a big booming peal of honest amusement, an infectious laugh which +brought instant peace. "My friend," he chuckled, "you misunderstand +me. I attempted to suggest that in view of the evidence which I can +produce, a court would refuse to consider your claim." + +"Not with the witness I have," Joe insisted. + +"Well, what about this wonderful witness of yours?" chuckled Hezekiah, +comfortable in the assurance of holding the master hand. + +"My witness" (the calmness of his voice did not quite conceal a note of +exultation in it) "is Virginia Dale." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY + + +In the Dale home, dinner was served in the middle of the day on Sunday, +and Serena caused the meal to partake of the nature of a banquet. +Abstemious in week day luncheons, Obadiah succumbed to the flesh pots +on the seventh day and thereafter relapsed into slumber during digestion +even as a boa-constrictor. + +He was sleeping off his Sunday engorgement in a porch chair. His head +drooped awkwardly and he had slumped into his best clothes, while from +time to time he choked and coughed and made weird noises. All about him +lay the peace of a summer Sabbath broken only by the low hum of the bees +gathering sweetness from the blooming honeysuckle vine near by. Only +the energetic resisted the combined attacks of plenteousness and the +somnolent afternoon. + +Virginia had not surrendered to the soporific tendencies of the hour. +She had conversed with her father until made aware that, mentally +speaking, he was no longer with her. Such knowledge is discouraging even +to the most enthusiastic of female dialogists, and so, as the minutes +passed, her words lost force and her sentences fire. Compelled to seek +other fields of interest, the girl strolled aimlessly about the lawn +until she came to the gate. The street looked cool and inviting beneath +its arching elms and she moved down it slowly. She had almost reached +the corner when a woman's voice sounded from an awning shaded porch, +"Virginia, come here. Don't you pass my house without stopping." It +was Mrs. Henderson. + +"Yes, Hennie, I'm coming. I was sure that you were taking a nap." +The girl turned up a walk, bordered with blooming rose bushes, towards +an old-fashioned house. "You are as busy as usual, I suppose?" she +continued, after she had been affectionately greeted by her hostess. + +Mrs. Henderson nodded. No other woman in South Ridgefield gave as much +of her time and, proportionately, of her wealth to help others as did +this strangely constituted widow. Hers was a frank nature, given to the +expression of its views without regard to time or place. She had the +faculty of so phrasing her remarks that they cut their victim cruelly +and convulsed her hearers. So, respected for her innate goodness, and +feared for her sharp tongue, Mrs. Henderson had many acquaintances +but few friends. She was judged in the light of a magazine of high +explosives, dangerous to those near, but likely to blow up if left +without attention. Many were her friends because they were afraid not +to be, but there were those who appreciated her character. Strangely, +these were they who had waged mighty battles with her, to emerge from +strife her devoted adherents. Having felt her sting, they dubbed her +harmless as a dove, delighting in her intimate companionship. Such a one +had been Virginia's mother. + +But Obadiah had no place in this category. Soon after the death of his +wife, Mrs. Henderson had discovered that a girl who worked in his mill +was sick and in dire want. She asked him to assist the sufferer, but, +to her surprise, the mill owner refused. Thereupon, Mrs. Henderson, +without mincing words, expressed her opinion of him. Also, she repeated +her remarks to a friend. + +Obadiah's legs were thin, and under stress of excitement he pitched +his voice high. When it became known that Mrs. Henderson had likened the +mill owner, to his face, to a mosquito sucking blood from his employees, +the whole town laughed. The tale spread to his mill, during a time of +labor unrest, and a cartoon portraying the manufacturer as a mosquito +hovering about emaciated workers was circulated. + +A strike followed in which the employees were successful and Obadiah +never forgave Mrs. Henderson for giving a weapon to his opponents. +Yet, strangely enough, he had never attempted to interfere with her +friendship for his daughter. Possibly, knowing the widow, he feared that +she would openly defy him, and, abetted by Serena, carry the war into his +own house, to the greater enjoyment of his fellow townsmen. + +As Mrs. Henderson welcomed Virginia, she was thinking of other things +than Obadiah. She was filled with amusement and gave vent to laughter. +"Dearie, how on earth did you get mixed up with that minstrel parade? I +never dreamed that my little girl would startle this town." Again the +widow gave way to merriment. She was thinking of a group of women she +had caught discussing with great unkindness the outcome of the girl's +efforts to make the pickaninnies happy. Hennie's championship of her +favorite had been unusually vigorous, and the endeavors of the critics +to reverse themselves had resembled a stampede. + +"We had nothing to do with the parade," Virginia told her. "We +followed it so that the orphans might enjoy the music. As we had nearly +frightened them out of their wits, I took them for a ride to make up." + +"I heard how you came to take the orphans for a ride. I could understand +that, but the minstrel part puzzled me," Mrs. Henderson's amusement +faded into seriousness. "That ride idea is a splendid one. It would +add so much to the happiness of those children." She continued, "I +have been on the Board of that Home for years. There are so many +things to be done over there and so little to do with. No one is +particularly interested in the place. We must find some way, though, +to arrange rides for those orphans now that you have started things +going." + +Virginia was instantly fired with great enthusiasm. "I'll take them +out each week, myself," she promised. + +Mrs. Henderson smiled. "We can't allow you to continue to excite too +much interest in this town." + +The girl disregarded the objection. "But I started it, Hennie." + +"That is very true, but you can't expect your father to let you use +his fine car for those children. Anyway, it is not necessary to bother +about that, because it is entirely too small. We need a truck. Something +in which movable seats can be placed." + +"Like those at the mill? Why not ask Daddy for one of them?" suggested +Virginia. + +"They would be the very thing," Mrs. Henderson admitted, but she shook +her head hopelessly. "Your father would never let you have one of them. +We must look elsewhere." + +"Oh, yes, he will, Hennie," Virginia assured her with great confidence. +The widow's doubting eye moved the girl to remonstrate, "You don't +know him at all. I think that it is the strangest thing, that you have +been my father's neighbor all of these years and don't understand him +better." + +Mrs. Henderson displayed sudden stern-eyed interest in a flower bed upon +her lawn, and the toe of her shoe softly tapped the floor of the porch. + +The girl leaned towards the older woman, her face aglow with pride +and admiration, as she searched for some acknowledgment of her words. +"Daddy is so noble and so good," she explained in a voice modulated by +tenderness. "He spends all of his time thinking about other people." + +The lines of Mrs. Henderson's mouth relaxed, and the tempo of the +tapping toe slowed. Her eyes twinkled merrily. + +"Isn't it wonderful, Hennie?" and Virginia looked up to a face for a +moment puzzled. + +"Very wonderful, child," responded the widow, and Virginia never +dreamed that there was a delicate note of sarcasm in the voice. Leaning +forward, Mrs. Henderson clasped the girl's hand. "Your father is a +lucky man to have such love and affection," she said, and then as +though thinking aloud, she murmured, "I hope that he appreciates it." +After a pause she returned to the subject of the orphans with great +vigor. "Some one in this town must loan us a truck. That is all there is +about it." + +"Let Daddy do it. He will love to." + +The hopeful enthusiasm of the girl was lost upon the older woman. "Well, +it will do no harm to give him the opportunity," she conceded dryly; +"but I wouldn't count on it too much if I were you." Suddenly, she +remembered something. "Dear me, I almost forgot it. I must run over to +the Lucinda Home a minute. You come along, dear," she urged. + +"Hennie, I can't. I haven't a hat. I am not dressed to go out." + +Mrs. Henderson smiled. "It doesn't make any difference what you wear +over there. Most of the old ladies are so nearly blind that they can't +tell what you have on." + +So Virginia agreed to go, and, as the distance to the institution was +short, in a few minutes they entered the grounds. + +The Lucinda Home for Aged Women occupied a large brick building. A +triple-decked porch, supported by posts and brackets of ornamental iron +work covered the entire front of the edifice and afforded delightful +resting places from which to view the beautiful grounds. + +The two women ascended the steps to the lower porch. On either side of +the entrance stretched a line of chairs occupied by old ladies. They +rocked and fanned and stared across the grounds with dulled, unseeing +eyes, as if watching and waiting for something. + +The afternoon light flashed against the spectacles. It brought out the +snow of the moving heads. It showed the deep carved lines of age and it +disclosed the hands, knotted and toil worn. + +Once these faces were soft and full; these eyes snapped with health and +joy. Love showered its kisses. The world showed wondrously beautiful +in the tender light of romance and the voice of hope rang clear and +strong. Came babies for these hands to fondle and caress, and tiny +forms to be upheld as little feet struggled in first steps upon the +rough and hilly path. Noble deeds of unselfishness gleamed in the +shadowed lives of these women as they battled with the adversities +which all who live must face. Slowly their beauty faded; their eyes +no longer sparkled; their hands were red and hard. Little ones grew +into men and women and went away, filled with hope and proud in their +strength, leaving loneliness behind. Through the years, a shadow, +almost indiscernible to youthful eyes, drew ever closer. One by one, +they had seen friends and loved ones pass behind the black veil, until +they were alone in a world, cold, loveless, without hope, waiting---- + +Waiting. Yes, waiting--slowly rocking and fanning--living anew the past, +and peering out into the sunshine as if they sought with their poor eyes +to glimpse the approach of that enfolding shadow of mystery. + +The visitors paused for a moment at the entrance, sobered by the tragedy +of age. Near them, an old woman became suddenly active. The sweep of her +chair increased as she glanced at Virginia. She stopped and whispered to +her neighbor. + +This aged one started, as if awakened from slumber, and she, too, +inspected the girl. Then, she placed her lips by the ear of her deaf +companion and in a shrill voice of great carrying power, cried, "Powder +makes her look pale. They all use it nowadays." She stopped for breath +and screamed, "Her dress is too short. Her mother ought to have better +sense than to let her run around that way." + +Luckily for the embarrassed girl, at this moment Mrs. Henderson led her +into the reception room and left her to regain her composure while she +transacted her business with the matron in an adjoining room. + +The remarkable quiet which reigned in this home of age oppressed +Virginia, so that when Mrs. Henderson returned with the matron, she +cried, impulsively, "Oh, Hennie, I am glad that you are back. This +place is so still that it is lonesome." + +Mrs. Henderson turned to Mrs. Smith, the matron. "That is what I have +always said," she argued. "The old ladies like it quiet, but we overdo +it here. The place is a grave. We should have more entertainment." She +looked questioningly at the girl. "What do you think should be done, +child?" + +Virginia's blue eyes were very serious as she answered, "I hardly +know--almost anything which would make it happier. It needs something +to stir it up," she ended impulsively. + +The older woman laughed and Mrs. Henderson put her arm about the girl's +waist, and suggested, "You have nothing on your hands, child. Why can't +you arrange some sort of an entertainment for these elderly women?" + +"Oh, I couldn't," she demurred shyly. + +"Certainly you can, you are quite old enough to undertake the task of +making these old people happier for an afternoon." + +Into the girl's mind came a remembrance of her birthday gift. "I will +be glad to do it, Hennie," she agreed with great seriousness. + +They paused at Mrs. Henderson's gate as they returned from the Lucinda +Home. "Won't you come in, dear?" urged the older woman. + +The girl, dreamily engaged in planning marvelous but impossible +entertainments for the stirring up of the old ladies, did not hear. + +"Come and have tea with a solitary somebody?" the widow begged the +girl wistfully. "You think that the Lucinda Home is lonesome, but +don't forget that an old lady who loved your mother and who loves +you is lonesome, too." + +"Dearest Hennie, you haven't the slightest idea of what loneliness +is." Virginia smiled sweetly at the older woman and kissed her. "I +would enjoy taking tea with you but I must not forget my father. Probably +all afternoon he has been making plans to help the people who work in his +mill. I think he is so like my mother--always trying to make other people +happier. You loved her, Hennie, and you know him. I want you to help me +to be unselfish like them." + +During this recital, Mrs. Henderson underwent a severe test in +self-repression, the high praise of Obadiah's disinterestedness +nearly causing severe internal injury. There was yet an ominous flash +in her eye as she bade the girl farewell. + +Virginia found her father awaiting her. His digestive organs were +protesting by certain unpleasant twinges, against the extra work he had +forced upon them. + +"Where have you been?" he demanded of her sharply. + +She dropped into the chair by his side. "At Mrs. Henderson's, Daddy." + +"You left me alone," he complained. + +"You went to sleep and I was so lonesome, Daddy dear." + +"That makes no difference. You should not have left me. You have the +week days to yourself. I ought to have your Sundays." + +"Oh, I am sorry that I was so thoughtless," Virginia reproached +herself, with a suspicion of tears in her eyes. + +"Yes, you were thoughtless," Obadiah grumbled. "You must learn to +think of others. Don't get teary. That always disturbs me." + +Virginia was engaged in a battle to keep back her tears when the notes of +a ragtime melody resounded through the calm of the Sabbath evening. Ike +approached. The gorgeousness of his apparel eliminated every variety of +lily, except the tiger, from consideration. His suit was of electric +blue. His shirt was white, broadly striped with royal purple, and it +peeped modestly from beneath a tie of crimson. His hat was straw, +decorated with a sash of more tints than the bow of promise. + +Ike was happy. He had loitered through the afternoon before the meeting +house of his faith, impressing the brethren and the sisters with the +magnificence of his attire. He deemed it, socially speaking, to have +been a perfect day. + +It was now his intention to partake of refreshment before returning +again into the shadow of the sacred edifice, not then, however, to give +pleasure to the faithful in general, but rather for the special and +particular delight of an amber hued maiden who at the moment held his +flitting fancy. + +Filled with pleasant anticipations and in cadence with his melody, Ike +approached the house. + +Obadiah arose hastily as the sweet tones struck his ear and awaited the +arrival of the musical one at the edge of the porch. + +At the sight of the gaunt form of the manufacturer, a dulcet timbre +departed from Ike's performance and as he approached, the volume of +sound diminished in proportion to the square of the distance. Opposite +the mill owner it ceased. + +"Good evening Misto Dale." The voice was humbly courteous. + +Disdaining the kindly salutation of his hireling, Obadiah made outcry. +"I want the car. Get the car," he commanded. + +Ike halted. + +These were portentous words. The Dale car was not often used on the +seventh day. Ike himself was opposed to the Sunday riding habit. +Assuming a confidential attitude towards his employer as if imparting +a secret of moment, he intimated, "Ah ain' got no confidence in dat +lef' han' hin' tiah, Misto Dale, a tall." + +Obadiah glared at the tasty garb of his minion with disgust, and flew +into a rage. "I pay you to put confidence in that tire," he bleated. + +"Yas'r, yas'r," Ike surrendered hurriedly. "Ah gwine pump er li'l +aiah in dat tiah. Dat fix 'im." + +When Ike, shorn of his finery, returned with the car, Virginia, in +obedience to an abrupt invitation from her father, was prepared to +join him for the ride. + +Obadiah's conscience did not usually trouble him; but today, as the +machine started and he settled himself by his daughter, it struck him +that she seemed unusually pale. He could not well overlook, either, +the note of sadness which had played about the girl's mouth and eyes +since his remarks to her. These things made Obadiah uncomfortable. His +explosion at Ike had acted as a counter-irritant to his indigestion, +and he felt relieved. + +They passed a woman driving a pretty runabout. In times of great good +feeling Obadiah had avowed his intention of purchasing Virginia a light +car which she could drive herself. However, it took direct affirmative +action to persuade the mill owner to open his check book even for his +own family; and, as Virginia had been contented with the big car and Ike +to drive it, nothing had ever come of the intention. + +"Did you notice that runabout?" Obadiah inquired. "How would one of +that type suit you?" If he could get Virginia to chatter along as usual, +he could enjoy his evening. + +"Oh, I'd like it," she exclaimed. The girl was thinking rapidly. Not +for nothing was she Obadiah's daughter when it was necessary to take +advantage of a situation. "I thought that you had given up the idea of +getting me a car, Daddy." + +"No, indeed. It seemed to me that you were not particularly interested +in one." He shrewdly placed the responsibility for delay upon her. + +"I am _now_. More so than ever," Virginia declared. "I wasn't sure +before what kind of a car I wanted. Now I know." + +"Well?" Obadiah's enthusiasm in the proposed purchase had cooled as +hers increased. + +She squeezed his arm up against her and announced breathlessly, "I want +a truck, Daddy." + +"A truck!" Obadiah viewed his daughter as if he deemed the immediate +attentions of an alienist essential in her case. "What on earth would +you do with a truck?" + +"I need it to take those colored orphans out for a ride each week," she +explained, full of the plan. "I am going to have benches made to fit on +each side of the truck so that it will take them all comfortably. Isn't +it a fine idea?" + +Obadiah, dumfounded for the moment, regained speech and sought +information as one who had not heard aright. "Do you mean to say that +you want me to buy a truck to haul those negro children around town?" + +"Yah--yah--yah." Upon the front seat, Ike so far forgot the proprieties +of his station that he gave vent to noisy merriment at the domestic +perplexities of gentlefolk. + +"Keep your mind on your business," Obadiah commanded, glaring at his +chauffeur's neck. + +Virginia, disregarding the _faux pas_ of the chauffeur and its condign +reproof, proceeded to explain her plans. "We have decided, Daddy, that +those orphans must be taken for a ride every week." + +"Who has decided that?" + +"Hennie and I have worked it all out." + +"What has that woman got to do with it?" he snapped. "Does she expect +me to buy trucks to haul all the negro children in town on pleasure +trips?" + +Violent paroxysms beset Ike and bent him as a sapling in a gale. + +Obadiah's eyes glared at the black neck as if, discharging X-rays, they +might expose the chauffeur's malady. + +Heedless of disturbing influences, Virginia went on, "Hennie thought +that this car was too small. She felt that it would be better to get a +truck which would carry all the orphans than to use this." + +"Indeed!" interjected Obadiah. + +"I suggested to her that I would get you to loan us a truck from the +mill; but Hennie said that she was sure that you wouldn't let us have +it." + +"Ahem--ahem," choked the mill owner, getting red in the face. + +"I told her that I knew you would be glad to let us have it because you +did so love to help people," explained Virginia with great pride. + +Obadiah shifted uneasily in his seat. "What did she say?" + +"Hennie said that she wished me success." + +Obadiah relaxed as one relieved from strain. + +Sensing the change in him, Virginia cuddled up to her father full of +happiness and contentment as if the purchase of the truck was settled. +"Isn't it sweet, Daddy dear," she murmured gently, "within an hour +after I talked to Hennie you offer to buy me a car? Of course, you +don't care, so long as I am satisfied, whether I choose a runabout or a +truck." She took his hand and held it in her own, pressing it. + +Obadiah appeared greatly interested in something upon the skyline. + +"A truck," Virginia continued thoughtfully, "especially a fine large +one such as we would need--" Obadiah flinched--"would be in the way. +Our garage wouldn't hold it and Serena would object to it being left +in the yard." She arrived at a sudden determination. "Choose, Daddy, +whether you will buy me a truck or loan me one from the mill." + +Obadiah's response was not delayed. "You had better use a mill truck," +he agreed with a sigh which might have been of relief. + +"Thank you, Daddy. I can hardly wait to tell Hennie," she exclaimed, +highly delighted at the outcome of her efforts. + +Obadiah leaned towards his chauffeur. "Ike," he ordered, "you get the +new truck down at the mill, the first thing in the morning. Run it out +to Mrs. Henderson's house. Make all the row around her place you wish. +Tell her," Obadiah continued, "that it is there by my instructions, to +take those negro orphans riding." He paused. "Ike," he resumed more +forcibly, "don't you forget the noise." + +"Yas'r," promised Ike with happy smiles of anticipation. + +"That will be a dandy joke on Hennie," giggled Virginia. "Go very +early, Ike." + +They were following a boulevard which now brought them to the Soldiers' +Home. Its fine buildings and large acreage were matters of great pride +to South Ridgefield. As they approached the central group of edifices, +they heard music. + +"Let's stop for the band concert," suggested Virginia. + +Obadiah, much relieved physically and mentally from recent disquietude, +was unusually complaisant. "Drive in, Ike," he directed. + +They turned into a broad, paved road which followed the sides of a square +about which were located the principal buildings of the institution. +It bounded a tree shaded park with a band-stand in the center. Walks +radiating to the sides and corners of the square were lined with benches +occupied by veterans in campaign hats and blue uniforms, smoking, +chatting, and enjoying the music. + +The inner edge of the roadway was lined with automobiles full of +visitors. Ike stopped upon the opposite side, in front of the quarters +of the Commanding Officer. + +Hardly had they paused when a tall, fine looking man of a distinctly +military bearing, despite his white hair, hurried out to meet them. + +"Mr. Dale," he greeted the manufacturer in a big booming voice, "I +am glad to welcome you to the Home." + +Obadiah genially returned the salutation of Colonel Ryan. That officer, +being a man of rank, in charge of the Soldiers' Home, with power of +recommendation in government purchases, was one whose acquaintance it was +wise for even wealthy mill owners to cultivate. + +When presented to Virginia, the Colonel bowed deeply. "I want you to +come up to the house and meet Mrs. Ryan," he urged. "You can hear +the music more comfortably there. I am proud of my band. They are old +fellows like you and me, Dale, but give them a horn and they have lots +of musical 'pep' left." + +Mrs. Ryan met them at the head of the porch steps. "You have often heard +me speak of Mr. Dale," the Colonel, discreetly noncommittal as to his +manner of speaking, reminded her. + +"Oh, yes, and I have heard of you, too." She smiled at Virginia and +explained to Obadiah, "I happen to have a good friend in that splendid +Mrs. Henderson, your neighbor." + +The mill owner received this information with little enthusiasm, but, +learning that Mrs. Ryan was a victim of rheumatism, he advocated the +use of a liniment prepared by his father and applied with remarkable +results to both man and beast. Obadiah was hazy upon the mixture's +ingredients but was clear upon its curative qualities. Mrs. Ryan evincing +marked interest, the manufacturer entertained her with the intimate +details of miraculous recoveries. + +Neither Virginia nor the Colonel being rheumatic, they failed to give +Obadiah's discourse the rapt interest of a true brother in pain. Their +attention wavered, wandered and failed, and the band played a crashing +air; but the rheumatic heeded not. + +All hope of a general conversation having departed, the Colonel praised +his band to Virginia. "Every man in that organization is over sixty +years old," he bragged. "They get as much pleasure out of playing as +their audience does from their concert. It's a great band." + +"They _do_ play well," the girl agreed. "I don't wonder that you are +proud of them. I love a brass band, myself. You do, too, Colonel Ryan. +I can tell by your face, when they play." + +The Colonel grinned boyishly. "Yes," he admitted, "I think a band is +one of humanity's boons. I can't get close enough to one, when they +are playing, to satisfy me. I have to have some sort of an excuse to do +that, now-a-days--you'll do fine--let's go nearer." + +The medical lecture was disturbed, that the audience might nod +understandingly to its husband, as they departed. + +The Colonel chatted gaily. In the presence of a pretty woman he was a +typical soldier. About them were the benches filled with the white headed +veterans, as they entered the square. But a few years and these had +been the fighting men of the country--its defence--playing parts modest +or heroic on a hundred half forgotten battle fields. Now, they, too, +bowed with age, rested in their years, and waited--waited calmly, as +true soldiers should, with the taste of good tobacco upon their lips +and the blare of martial music in their ears, the coming of the ever +nearing shadow. + +"Why have I never heard this band down town, Colonel Ryan? It is a +shame when they play so beautifully. Do they charge for concerts?" +asked Virginia, as an idea developed behind the blue eyes. + +"People want young and handsome men to play for them if they pay for +it," laughed Colonel Ryan. "So my old codgers don't get many chances +of that sort." + +"Who has charge of the band?" Virginia's manner meant business. + +The Colonel loved a pretty face. He was enjoying himself. "Do you want +to object to the leader about his interpretation of a favorite air?" + +"Don't tease, Colonel Ryan," she protested. "I want to know who has +authority to make engagements for the band. Please be serious." + +"You frighten me into submission, Miss Dale. Do you wish to engage the +band?" + +"I do, Colonel Ryan." The girl's voice was almost imploring. + +He looked down into the depths of the pleading eyes. Never in his long +life had he refused a pretty woman anything, and it is doubtful if he +could have done so. Yet, he desired to prolong the pleasure of the +moment. "May I ask, without undue curiosity, for what purpose you desire +the organization?" + +"I want them to give a concert for the old ladies at the Lucinda Home," +she explained. + +Colonel Ryan choked. He recovered himself quickly. Military training is +of value in difficult moments. + +"I was over there this afternoon, Colonel Ryan. The place was so +lonesome that I thought it needed some excitement. They asked me to +give an entertainment. Your band would be the very thing. It plays so +loud that even the deaf ladies could hear." + +He who had borne the burden of a regiment of men bowed sympathetically, +but his face and neck displayed symptoms of apoplexy. + +"The Lucinda Home is a graveyard, Colonel Ryan. When I see all of these +old men sitting around and talking and smoking while the band plays +lively airs to them, it makes me sorry for those women. I should love to +live here. But I should die over there. It is dreadful to be lonesome." + +Colonel Ryan agreed with great gravity. + +Virginia waxed forceful. "Those old ladies should be made as happy as +these soldiers," she argued. "Isn't a woman as good as a man, Colonel +Ryan?" + +The Commandant by his silence refused this challenge to a discussion upon +woman's rights. + +"Those old ladies should have everything that these men have," +maintained the girl, with great emphasis. + +"Including tobacco?" suggested the Colonel solicitously. + +"Of course not." Blue eyes snapped indignantly. + +The boyish look was back in the Colonel's face. "I only wanted to be +sure," he explained soberly. "It has a very important place here." + +"Oh, Colonel Ryan, you will joke, and I am so in earnest." Her eyes +were dark and tender and a soft pink flushed her cheeks. "A concert at +the Lucinda Home would be a wonderful thing if I could get your band." + +"You can," the Colonel promised, laconically, "and it won't cost +you a cent." He became enthusiastic, "It will be a fine treat for +the old ladies and my boys will enjoy it, too. I'll have to warn the +old rascals about flirting," he chuckled. "They think that they are +regular devils among the ladies. I think that I will have to come along +myself to keep the old boys from breaking any ancient hearts." + +"Will you come, Colonel Ryan?" + +"Surely. You may count on me. Are there to be refreshments?" + +"Why--yes!" She had never given a thought to them before, and when she +considered the food that it would take it almost frightened her. + +"My old boys can eat as well as ever, particularly if it is soft stuff. +That band has less teeth than any similar organization in the world. It +is the toothless wonder," chuckled the Colonel. "Be sure that you have +plenty to eat." + +As they ascended the steps of the Colonel's porch, Virginia warned him, +"Don't mention the concert to my father. I want to surprise him." + +They found that Obadiah had exhausted his praises of the marvelous +liniment. Mrs. Ryan was now talking, and, though the subject-matter +was the same, the mill owner was not a reciprocal listener. He felt that +an immediate departure for home was necessary. + +The Dale car rolled away from the Soldiers' Home, leaving the Commanding +Officer standing, hat in hand, upon the curb. A broad smile broke over +his face. "A band concert at the Lucinda Home," he chuckled. "You +might as well give one out in the cemetery." His face softened. "Bless +her heart," he whispered, as he turned back towards his house. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +HEZEKIAH HAS A SOLUTION + + +Mr. Jones had finished transcribing Obadiah Dale's morning dictation and +awaited a fitting moment to place the letters before the manufacturer to +receive his signature. Meanwhile, he smoked a cigarette and, with his +face sadly distorted on account of the smoke, manicured his nails with +his pocket knife. + +This important part of a gentleman's toilet would gladly have been left +by Mr. Jones to a professional manicurist, because of the more skilled +attention and the valuable social privileges attached to such services, +had not the chronically depleted condition of his purse demanded the +exercise of rigorous economy. + +In the glare of the pendant bulb, Kelly was engaged artistically in the +preparation of a crude but libelous cartoon of the stenographer. + +A moment of rest and mental relaxation had descended upon the personal +staff of Obadiah. His hive of commercial industry had, for the moment, +ceased to buzz. Suddenly, the hall door was thrown open. Mr. Jones +suffered a severe laceration from the point of his own blade. Even +the artistic soul of Kelly was shaken by the abrupt intrusion. + +Hezekiah Wilkins entered. His manner was hurried. Not as a messenger +bearing joyous news of great triumphs, but rather as an emissary charged +with intelligence of bitter flavor, who desires to get rid of it, that +he may turn to happier matters. + +Having been courteously advised by the bleeding outer guard that the +manufacturer was not engaged at the moment, Hezekiah entered the inner +citadel. Obadiah was reading a voluminous mass of typewritten pages +which he laid aside at the coming of his attorney. Waving the lawyer to a +chair, he intimated that he awaited the further pleasure of his legal +adviser. + +Seating himself, Hezekiah shoved both of his feet as far in front of him +as his short legs would permit. He studied the aspect of his shoes thus +presented, as if he had never before appreciated their beauty. + +"Well?" Obadiah spoke curtly. + +"I wish to discuss the matter of that young man in the hospital. Curtis +is his name--I think." + +"All right," Obadiah agreed. + +Hezekiah placed his palms together and gazed upwards as if in pious +meditation upon the words which he was about to utter. + +Obadiah viewed the attitude of his adviser with disapprobation. "Go +ahead," he urged roughly. "Don't take all day." + +The lawyer gave his employer a look of reproof. "It is very important," +he announced with great calmness, "that legal matters be accurately +presented so that the facts deduced shall afford a sound basis for +correct judgment when appearing in court." Hezekiah explained with +dignity. "I have found that a moment given to the correct logical +presentation of facts tends to expedite a just solution of perplexing +questions." As he ceased speaking, he appeared to drift away into a +condition of deep cogitation under the very eyes of his employer. + +Before this display of profound thought, Obadiah was helpless. Properly +chastened, he awaited in patience the outcome of the mental processes of +his learned subordinate. + +After a period in which no sound was heard but the ticking of the clock, +Hezekiah recovered from his abstraction with a start, and announced, +"This young Curtis refuses to accept your check." + +"Bigger fool he," Obadiah responded with indifference. + +Hezekiah turned sharply upon the mill owner, "I don't agree with you +at all," he rapped. + +Obadiah had great confidence in the judgment of his legal adviser. There +had been times when failing to follow it had cost him money. He became +uneasy. "Do you think that he has a case against me?" + +"I would rather have his chances before a jury than yours." + +"Is he going to bring suit?" Obadiah's uneasiness increased. He did +not care to be at the mercy of a South Ridgefield jury. He usually was +stuck. + +"Yes, it's my opinion that he intends to bring an action against you. +He displayed marked animus." + +"He displayed what?" + +"Animus--unfriendliness," Hezekiah interpreted. + +Obadiah's uneasiness affected his temper. "Why don't you speak +English?" he demanded, the pitch of his voice getting higher. + +For an instant there was a flash in Hezekiah's eyes but when he spoke +he was perfectly calm. "I beg pardon, I failed to make allowances +for--your understanding." + +Obadiah regarded his attorney angrily but made no reply. Years of +experience had warned him against verbal combat with this man. Usually he +did not awaken to the danger until he rankled under one of Hezekiah's +darts. + +Disregarding the exchange of compliments, the lawyer went on, perfectly +unruffled, "Is there a reason for this young man to entertain ill will +against you?" + +"I never heard of the fellow before," protested Obadiah. + +"Is he acquainted with your daughter?" + +"No." Obadiah hesitated after his denial and modified it. "She helped +to take him to the hospital and she has visited him since, I understand." + +"Ah!" Comprehension lighted Hezekiah's face. "You told me," he +suggested, "that your daughter considered herself to be to blame for +the accident." + +"Yes," Obadiah agreed with reluctance. "Virginia has a silly idea that +she was at fault. She felt very badly over the matter." + +"And went to the hospital to express her regret and conceded +responsibility for the accident to the injured man. He told me that he +could rely on your daughter as a witness in his behalf." + +"I'll be hanged," cried Obadiah, the tone of his voice reminding one +of Hennie's likening of him to a mosquito. + +"You'll be stung with a fat verdict if he gets you into court with your +own daughter testifying against you. That's what will happen to you. +Probably she admitted responsibility in the presence of witnesses," +Hezekiah pointed out with deepest pessimism. + +"I won't have my daughter dragged into court as a witness against me," +groaned Obadiah. + +"How are you going to stop it? Ship her out of the state?" Hezekiah +suggested with a promptness which displayed unethical resourcefulness +in the suppression of embarrassing witnesses. + +"Can't you arrange a compromise?" begged Obadiah. + +"Not after this mistake." Hezekiah returned the check for twenty-five +dollars. "I'm as popular as a mouse in a pantry with that young fellow +after attempting to pass that on him." He gave the mill owner a glance +of curiosity. "How far would you let me go now?" + +"Use your own judgment, only keep Virginia out of court." + +Both men were silent for a time and then the lawyer spoke. "I tried to +sound young Curtis. I endeavored to discover if he had any settlement +in mind. All I found was a pronounced hostility to you personally and," +Hezekiah smiled reminiscently, "to me as your representative." + +"That's your imagination," exclaimed Obadiah and then, after the +custom of a malefactor of great wealth, went on, "How can we get at +him? He must be got at." + +"I might suggest something--," Hezekiah appeared doubtful, lacking in +his usual assurance. + +It irritated Obadiah to have this man upon whose judgment he had staked +his fortune display indecision in this trivial affair. "Out with it! +What's the matter with you? Have you got cold feet?" he stormed. + +Hezekiah chuckled. "This case is complicated. The other side is most +unfriendly. It's pretty hard to keep out of court when the other fellow +wants to put you there," he argued, "I believe that I see a way if you +will give me full authority to make such settlement as I deem advisable +and," Hezekiah shifted uneasily, "allow me the assistance of counsel." + +"Hezekiah Wilkins, have you gone crazy? Do you mean to ask me to hire +another lawyer to help you in this insignificant automobile case?" +groaned Obadiah. + +"I haven't asked you to employ a lawyer. I asked for counsel." + +"For the love of Mike, whose counsel do you require in this tempest in +a teapot?" shouted the exasperated mill owner. + +"I wish, with your permission, to ask your daughter Virginia to be of +counsel." + +"Thunderation," bawled Obadiah, shrilly, exploding with pent up +aggravation. "Have you gone out of your wits?" He surveyed the lawyer +as if he really believed his legal mentality to be addled. "Can't +I get it into your head--" he cast a look of utter contempt at the +massive cranium of the lawyer--"that my interest in this case is to +keep my daughter out of court? If it wasn't for her, I'd let that +brittle shanked motorcycling ass sue until they grow bananas in Canada." + +"Your verbal pyrotechnics are interesting but hardly germane to the +subject," Hezekiah reproved his employer. "I have no intention of +dragging your daughter into court in the guise of a Portia, although +her beauty would----" + +Obadiah's temper was on edge. "Come to the point, sir," he demanded. +"Cut out the hot air. My time is worth money." + +For a moment Hezekiah gazed thoughtfully out of a window making strange +gestures with his glasses. Then, turning to the mill owner he smilingly +agreed. "As much valuable time has been utilized by you in prolix +descriptions, possibly amusing, assuredly slanderous and not tending in +the slightest degree to shed light upon our problem, I admit a necessity +for expedition." + +Obadiah viewed his attorney with wrathful eyes but remained silent. + +Even under the angry eyes of his employer a benignant look lighted the +countenance of the lawyer and his voice was very gentle as he resumed, +"It's an old adage--'Youth will be served.' In its arrogance, +youth defies the wisdom of age and the judgment of the ages. In its +careless irresponsibility, it knows not danger. In its assurance and +self-confidence it knows not fear. Clad in the armor of health, it +basks in the sunshine of its strength and blatantly rejoices in its +hopes." + +"Hezekiah Wilkins, are you sick, or what in the devil is the matter with +you?" inquired the overwrought manufacturer. + +"No, not sick, Obadiah," Hezekiah explained placidly, "not sick, +but happy--happy in that thought--a distinctly attractive one, and +exceptionally well-developed for your benefit. I regret," the lawyer +lamented, "that a stenographer was not present to preserve it. It is a +pity that the world should lose it--that it should be lost to those who +would understand and appreciate it--even love it." + +Obadiah sank deep into his chair, encircled by gloom, as, appreciating +his inability to direct the train of his legal adviser's thought, he +allowed that worthy to pursue his own course. + +"Youth calls to youth," the sentimental Hezekiah continued. "Youth +understands youth. Youth can persuade youth." Suddenly the attorney +seemed to thrust aside the gentle atmosphere in which he had been +immersed, and, fixing a most crafty look upon Obadiah, he snapped, +"You and I can't handle that fellow, but your daughter can. It's going +to cost you some money, though." He suffered a relapse. "Youth knows +neither the value of time nor money." + +Obadiah was filled with relief. "By gum, you've hit it," he shouted. +"But why couldn't you get that off your chest without throwing a fit?" +he complained, ill-humoredly. + +Once more Hezekiah reverted to sentiment. "The language of youth is +song, and its thought poetry," he sighed, after which he arose and +faced the manufacturer across his desk. "I am authorized to proceed in +accordance with my plan?" he asked--"to make the best settlement which +in my judgment can be made in the premises, through," he chuckled, +"the extraordinary channels to which I have recourse?" + +"Go the limit, only keep it out of court," grumbled Obadiah. "Give +such instructions as you wish to Virginia and let her understand that +I am only interested in an amicable adjustment and do not care to be +bothered with details." + +As Hezekiah departed through the outer office, he interrupted a +conversation between Mr. Jones and Kelly. + +The stenographer met the intrusion with characteristic activity. Rushing +to his desk, he seized the recently typed letters and bore them into +Obadiah's presence. His haste, if noted by the attorney, should have +indicated that prolonged presence in the throne room had resulted in +marked delay to the normal performance of imperial functions. + +Apparently Hezekiah's mind was engrossed by lighter matters. He moved +spryly, whistling a cheery melody not at present in vogue but much in +favor in his youth. + +Mr. Jones came out of Obadiah's room hurriedly. The sound of stern +reproof came also, until it was shut off by the closing of the door. It +seemed as if the spirit of the stenographer expanded in relief, in the +familiar atmosphere of his own domain; as one who, having accomplished +a hazardous journey, returns to the peace of his own fireside. + +He entered Kelly's room with great dignity. Taking a position in the +center, he raised his arms horizontally, inhaled a deep breath, bowed +deeply, straightened up, exhaled, rose on his toes, descended, and +dropped his arms. + +The massive Kelly viewed this athletic exhibition with interest. +"What's that exercise for?" he demanded. + +Mr. Jones yawned. "It gives me relaxation from the strain," he answered. + +"What strain? Where did you strain yourself?" asked Kelly with kindly +interest in his friend's welfare. + +"The office responsibility," explained the stenographer. "It knocks +the sap out of a fellow." He lighted a cigarette. + +"Oh, is that it?" Kelly gave a cruel laugh. "I thought you had sprung +something. If you do that exercise often, young fellow, you'll bust a +lung. Let's see you do it again," urged the bookkeeper, as if desirous +of witnessing the fulfillment of his prophecy. + +Without fear, Mr. Jones laid aside his cigarette with care, and gulped +such a deep draught of air that he became red in the face and gave other +evidences of being about to burst from undue pneumatic pressure. + +Kelly viewed with undisguised amusement the undeveloped protuberance +thrust forward in pride by the stenographer. "You haven't the chest +expansion of a lizard," he told him. + +Mr. Jones received this deadly insult in the midst of deep bowing. He +exploded, and, leaning against a desk, breathed rapidly while the injured +look in his eyes attempted to carry that reproof which his speechlessness +otherwise forbade. + +"If you do that exercise much," Kelly gloomily predicted, "you are +going to relax in a wooden box. Who gave you that stuff? You must have +been getting your ideas from the gymnasium of a bug house." + +For obvious reasons Mr. Jones failed to reply. + +"There is no sense in the thing. What you need is--" Kelly descended +from his perch and seizing him, only that instant recovered from +speechlessness, in his strong grasp, made exploratory investigations +with his fingers throughout the panting one's anatomy. + +"Ouch," wailed the pained Mr. Jones. + +"Shut up. Do you want the old man out here? I'm not going to hurt you. +I want to find out what ails you." + +"Leggo, you are nearly killing me." + +Mr. Jones rubbed himself ruefully when Kelly loosed him. "You big stiff, +ain't you got no sense, gouging around in a fellow's insides that way? +You are liable to put a man out of business," he protested. + +Utterly indifferent to these complaints, Kelly was judging the +stenographer coldly and dispassionately. "You've got no bone. +You've got no muscle. You've got no fat." Kelly forgot that pride and +dignity are intangible assets. "You'd better take correct breathing +exercises or you'll get T. B.," he told him. "I shouldn't be +surprised if you've got it now." + +Naturally, Mr. Jones was greatly alarmed and showed it. + +"Here's the way to take a breathing exercise." Kelly slowly inhaled +a mighty volume of air until his chest arched forth in all of its +magnificent development. He held it so for a moment and beat upon it +resoundingly in accordance with the supposed custom of the orang-outang +in moments of victory. "No tuberculosis there," he boasted, after +exhaling with the rush of a gale of wind. + +"That's some expansion, Kelly," the stenographer admitted, and he +continued as in excuse for his own physical deficiencies, "I should +take more exercise. My work is confining, and the strain is heavy. I'm +all run down. The old man must have noticed it, too, because the other +day he says to me, 'Mr. Jones, you're working too hard--it's telling +on you--I'd give you a good rest if I could manage to get along without +you.'" + +Kelly burst into a roar of laughter. "If you wait for the old man to +give you a rest, my son, you are going to get tired, believe me. Cut +out the bluff for a minute. I want to talk seriously to you. You're +in rotten physical condition and you owe it to yourself to keep from +playing leading man at a funeral." + +Mr. Jones's countenance registered horror. + +Kelly went on. "I happen to know a darn sight more about physical +training than I do about book-keeping. I ought to--I spent enough time +around a college gymnasium when I should have been some place else." + +Even Mr. Jones's alarm faded before this astounding information. +"College," he remarked in surprise. + +"Sure," Kelly grinned, "I spent a couple of years in college. I'm +proud of them. I nearly flunked out before I learned that I leaned to +muscle instead of to literature." He returned to the subject under +discussion. "I can give you a bunch of exercises which will do you a +lot of good in six months if you are faithful. I'll give you gentle +exercises at first, darn gentle," he laughed, "otherwise you'll +snap something. I believe that I'll make a man out of you, young +grasshopper." He shook his head wearily. "Gosh, but it's going to take +a lot of work." + +Mr. Jones flushed hotly. "Say," he said, "it's not necessary to +insult me, is it?" + +"Yes, you've got to use a harpoon to get anything through that +rhinoceros' hide of egotism of yours." He fastened a stern and +foreboding eye upon Mr. Jones. "Do you want to die?" he inquired. + +Mr. Jones sought the motive behind the startling question. "What's +going to kill me?" he demanded. + +"Lack of air." Kelly's answer was obscure. It was too general. He +thought it necessary to restate it with modifying amendments. "The lack +of good fresh air," he concluded. + +"Oh," said Mr. Jones, apparently much relieved at the distinction made. + +"You want to get out into the air and breathe," Kelly explained as if +the stenographer were carelessly given to omit this function. + +"I don't have the time." Mr. Jones visualized a dignified stroll over +a golf links. + +Kelly gave thought to the difficulty. "A motorcycle would be the +thing," he decided. + +The effect upon Mr. Jones would have been no different if Kelly had +prescribed an aeroplane or a submarine. "I can't ride a motorcycle, +and even if I could, where can I get one?" he objected. + +"That's the point." Kelly was as enthusiastic as a life insurance +agent. "I have a friend who has one. He nearly killed himself on it and +now he is in the hospital. I'll bet that he is tired of it and will +sell it cheap." + +"What do I want with the thing if it nearly killed him?" Mr. Jones +protested logically. + +"Don't be a fool. The motorcycle never hurt him. He ran into an +automobile and hurt himself." + +Mr. Jones believed the difference to be immaterial. "I won't ride a +motorcycle," he declared obstinately. + +Kelly clung to his scheme with constructive pride. "It's up to you, my +friend," he argued. "You are going to die unless you get out into the +air. I suggest the way to do it." + +"Yes, and I'll get killed on the blamed old motorcycle," predicted +Mr. Jones mournfully. + +"Take your choice!" the generous Kelly invited. "I am going up to the +hospital to see that fellow after office hours. Why don't you come along +and meet him and then you can decide about the machine." + +Mr. Jones, fearful that he might overlook an important engagement, +consulted a note-book with care. After concluding his investigation of +the records, he said, "Well, as I don't happen to have anything on, +I don't mind going up there with you, but you can write it in your +hat that I'm not strong for any motorcycle business." + +Within a few moments after the prescribed closing hour, Obadiah's +official staff appeared upon the streets of South Ridgefield. Their +steps lead them towards the hospital and on the way they passed Mr. +Vivian's cool oasis of refreshment amidst the burning sands of the +town's business section. + +Here, the confectioner and his assistants arrayed in pure white moved +gracefully about, serving the guests with cooling drink or, from time +to time, gave attention to the adjustment of the mechanical piano which +furnished melody for the lovers of music. + +Mr. Jones feasted his eyes upon this scene of innocent revelry and good +fellowship. "Come on," he said to Kelly, "have a drink?" + +Kelly received the invitation with insulting words. "That's your +trouble," he exclaimed in a voice which carried far. "That's what +makes your complexion so fierce." + +The sensitive soul of Mr. Jones rebelled at this public outcry of his +physical defects. "Say, you big chump," he burst out, "don't you know +any better than to bawl a fellow out that way in a place where everybody +can hear you? That's a dickens of a thing to do." + +"Come on. Nobody was listening." Kelly looked about as if disappointed +at failing to find an audience awaiting other personal allusions. "It's +the truth," he maintained vigorously. + +Mr. Jones hesitated, torn as many another good man, between his vanity +and his appetite. Before his eyes flowed a tantalizing stream of those +delicacies so dear to his palate. In his pocket reposed two dimes, his +wealth until pay day on the morrow would replenish his purse. Why should +not a good fellow entertain his friends even though they resort to +personal comments? Rent by conflicting desires, he jingled the coins. +As he fingered them, there flashed the remembrance of the war tax. He +turned to Kelly and his voice was very sad, as he murmured, "I guess +that you're right, old man. We'll cut out the sweet stuff." + +They had no difficulty in locating Joe Curtis. His sunny characteristics +had won him already wide spread friendships among the hospital staff, +so that the way to his bed was indicated as the path to a neighbor's +door. + +Kelly grinned amiably at Miss Knight, and inquired, "May I speak to Joe +Curtis?" + +The nurse looked at the big fellow with the appraising eye of a +connoisseur of men. "Sure," she retorted, "if you can talk and he +will give you a chance to." + +The participants in this repartee were much pleased with its cleverness. +They laughed loudly. + +Mr. Jones, considering the remarks frivolous, did not deign to unbend +from a stately poise assumed by him when in the presence of ladies. +Miss Knight was evidently a person of ordinary origin, lacking in +discrimination. She had failed to notice the stenographer, confining +her attentions, including her smiles, to the husky Kelly. + +"Here's another friend, Joe," the nurse told the injured motorcyclist +when they arrived at his bedside. She failed to take account of Mr. +Jones who had progressed down the aisle with mien of great distinction. +His entrance was marred only by a remark of a vulgar patient who in a +coarse whisper desired to be advised, "Who let Charlie Chaplin in?" +much to the amusement of other low fellows. + +"Hello, Joe, how's business?" asked Kelly. + +"Fine, Mike, fine. Never better," responded the patient. + +"Meet my friend, Mr. Percy Jones." The introduction was impaired as the +stenographer's attention was devoted to frowning down masculine giggles +reminiscent of the reference to the illustrious movie star. + +That the social exigencies of the moment might not be overlooked, Kelly +dug a finger into the stenographer's side. + +Mr. Jones undulated as to a measure of the Hula Hula. "Wough," he +yelled. "Wot cher doin'?" + +Happy laughter arose from nearby beds. + +Miss Knight swept her recumbent charges with a glance of stern +reproof. "Where's your manners?" she demanded. "Cut out this rough +stuff or--" she paused for effect and then launched this terrifying +threat--"you'll get no ice cream on Wednesday." The male surgical +cases quailed before this menace of cruel and unusual punishment. +Peace reigned. + +"Gentlemen, be seated," invited Joe, in the rich and mellow tones of +an interlocutor. + +Miss Knight departed. Mr. Jones sat down in the only chair and Kelly made +preparations to rest his huge form on the bed of the injured one. + +Joe viewed this arrangement with alarm. "Don't you sit on my broken +leg, you hippopotamus," he protested. + +Kelly withdrew so hastily that he nearly knocked Mr. Jones off his chair. + +"Mike, go over there and get that other chair. Don't try to rob a +little fellow like Jonesy," Joe told him. + +Pain swathed the features of Mr. Jones. To be publicly addressed as +"Jonesy" was bad enough, but when coupled with an insulting reference +to his size, it was too much. + +Kelly finally seated himself by the invalid's head and remarked with +a smile of pleasure, "Joe, they tell me you're about dead. Is there +anything in it?" + +"Listen to words of warning," suggested the injured man. "Even with my +game leg, it would take a bigger man than you to put me out of business." + +Kelly disregarded the challenge. "Is there any truth in the report that +landing on your head is all that saved you?" + +Joe grunted in disdain and Mr. Jones openly yawned at such commonplace +humor. + +Regardless of popular displeasure, Kelly went on. "I understand that +your head ruined the truck?" + +"Mike, you are a heavy kidder." Joe smiled affectionately at his big +friend. "Your conversation is usually agreeable, sometimes interesting, +but never reliable. You guessed wrong about a truck. I ran into a seven +passenger touring car." + +"Ha, a chariot of the awful rich. In the excitement did you +surreptitiously abstract any diamonds, tires, gasoline or other +valuables shaken loose by your dome?" + +"No such luck, Mike. There was only a girl in the car." + +"The priceless jewel of the Isle of Swat and you did not kidnap it?" +exclaimed Kelly. + +Mr. Jones displayed a superior interest. "Was she beautiful?" he +inquired. + +"Was she beautiful?" mimicked Kelly. "She must have been. That's why +Joe tried to make a hit." He leaned over the motorcyclist. "For once I +am proud of you, young man. You used your head." + +Mr. Jones displayed extreme animation. "By Jove," he laughed. +"Possibly the lady thought that Mr. Curtis was butting in." + +Kelly inspected the stenographer with great intentness. "Good morning, +old top. When did you wake up?" + +"Your kidding is contagious, Mike. Jonesy has caught it," chuckled Joe. + +"No, you don't understand the nature of the brute. It's not me--it's +the ladies. Jones awakens at a reference to them and blossoms beneath +their smiles," explained Kelly. + +A gentle look spread over Joe's face. "The girl I ran into happened +to be the right sort. She stuck by me when I was hurt and helped to bring +me here--" He paused for a moment and then continued, "Let's not talk +about her in this room full of men." + +"Sure," boomed Kelly. "You're right as usual, Joe. Never stopped +to think myself." He turned and pointed to the stenographer. "My old +friend Jones is on the edge of a decline." The bookkeeper disregarded +the presence of the private secretary as if he were deaf. "If he starts +to slide he hasn't far to go to land in a cemetery." + +Mr. Jones displayed no marked pleasure in the conversation. He maintained +a dignified aloofness. + +"I have decided to train him," Kelly explained. "It's going to be +a hard job. He's got no bone. He's got no muscle. He's got no fat. +He's got nothin'." + +Again Kelly overlooked the proud and sensitive spirit which protested +against this public dissection of physical defects. + +The eyes of Kelly and Joe viewed the puny figure of the stenographer in +the manner of disgusted farmers examining a runt which resists their +efforts to fatten it. + +"To get flesh and muscle and bone on him I must give him plenty of +exercise and get him out into the air. That will make him eat," Kelly +went on. + +"His present diet is mostly cigarettes, isn't it?" Joe inquired. + +"He eats them by the bale," confessed Kelly. + +Apparently Joe deemed himself invited into the case as a consulting +specialist. "Make him cut them out," he prescribed. "Take the little +fellow out for a run every night and give him a good sweat out. Give him +a bath and a rub down and get him in bed by ten o'clock. Watch your +distances at first. Jonesy is full of dope. Look at his eyes." + +Mr. Jones quailed under this keen scrutiny of experts. + +"He'll fall dead if he runs a block," predicted Joe. "He'll be +able to cover some ground, though, after a couple of weeks of plugging. +You can speed him up, then." He studied the stenographer with impersonal +interest. "Make a feather weight boxer of him, Mike, if he isn't +yellow. Get him in shape for the fall meet of the Athletic Club. If he +can't box, make him run. He's built like a jack rabbit." + +The course of treatment outlined by the consulting specialist filled +Mr. Jones with undisguised alarm. His mind and body alike protested +against the indignities which threatened him. To him came recognition +that immediate resistance was necessary to prevent the advent of a +gruelling course of physical training, repugnant to his flesh and +revolting to his soul. "S-s-s-say," he stammered in the intenseness of +his opposition, "I don't want----" + +"Look here," Joe interrupted with fierceness, "you asked Mike to train +you, didn't you?" + +Mr. Jones's mental anguish did not make for quick thinking. He worked +his lips but emitted no sound. + +To Joe this silence acquiesced in his assumption and he went on, "You +begged him to train you and he finally consented. You have shown judgment +in selecting him--you couldn't find a better man. But, remember this, +my friend. Training is hard work. You are in for a rough time of it, +Jonesy, and don't you forget it. Remember this--it's not what you +want--it's what Mike wants that is going to count. He has undertaken the +devil's own job to make a man out of a shrimp like you. Do you get me?" +he concluded ferociously. + +Before the sheer brute masculinity of the attack, the gentle courage of +Mr. Jones gave way. "Yes, sir," he agreed meekly. + +"Now, that's all settled, Mike," Joe indicated with satisfaction. +"Jonesy knows where he gets off. How about the grub?" + +"No trouble there," Kelly explained. "We board at the same place. The +food is plain enough and I can eat his dessert and make him fill up on +solid stuff. I wanted to ask about your motorcycle." + +"You are welcome to use it, Mike. It will be fine to chase Jonesy on +or to get ahead of him if you want to time him. The machine was badly +smashed in my crash. There is a repair bill of seven dollars against it. +If you will pay that, you can use it until I need it again. Put Jones +up on it, too, if you like." + +There was a rustling of skirts and the sound of soft footsteps. Virginia +came towards the young men. Mr. Jones and Kelly instantly recognized +their employer's daughter. They came to their feet as kitchen police +in the presence of the Commanding General, which is with the speed of +the lightning. + +Virginia smiled sweetly at the invalid. "I am sorry to intrude," she +explained, "but the hospital closes to visitors in ten minutes; so I +had to come now or not see Joe today." + +"It is fine of you to come even for a minute." Joe smiled happily and +then attempted to present Kelly and Mr. Jones to her. + +She gave them a friendly smile. "I know you both. I have seen you in +my father's office so often that we are really old acquaintances." + +Kelly looked her squarely in the eyes and beamed, "Thanks, I like that." + +Mr. Jones assumed a manner containing all that was best from the several +books upon social usages he had perused. Often had he longed for an +opportunity to show the manufacturer's daughter that at least her +father's private secretary was well versed in such matters. His chance +had come and he must make the most of it. He bowed profoundly, "I am +honored, indeed," he murmured gently. "Permit me to express the extreme +pleasure Miss Dale's presence gives me." Apparently, at this point, +Mr. Jones expected Virginia to extend her lily white hand to be kissed. + +She, being a young thing, a mere chit as it were, was unversed in this +procedure. She looked at the low-bowed Mr. Jones and then at Joe and +Kelly with a somewhat puzzled expression. + +The athletes, being men of vulgar minds, burst into a roar of laughter +which shocked Mr. Jones exceedingly. Finding nothing better to do, he was +forced to join in amusement at his own expense. + +"Gee, I'm going to miss my supper," cried Kelly, and, with a breezy +"Good bye" to Virginia and Joe, and a hurried "Come on" to Mr. Jones, +he rushed away. + +Mr. Jones was astounded at this exhibition of haste and ill-breeding, +before this lady of position. However, he found himself torn between +conflicting desires. He would have gladly spent some hours in the company +of Miss Dale engaged in elegant conversation, but, at the moment, for +the life of him, he could recall no subject of sufficient gentility for +discussion. + +"Come on, Jones," came Kelly's voice from the hall. + +Virginia had taken Kelly's chair and, leaning over the bed, was +engrossed in conversation with the injured man. + +The presence of Mr. Jones was being overlooked. He deemed it better to +depart with Kelly. Immediate action was essential. He arose and again +bowed deeply. "Allow me," he pleaded, in dulcet tones, "to express my +delight and joy in meeting Miss Dale and to inform her that circumstances +beyond my individual control require my withdrawal from her company." + +"Blow, Jonesy, before your beans get cold," suggested Joe. + +At this low remark, Mr. Jones straightened up to his full height very +suddenly and stepped backwards with dignity. Unhappily, his heel hooked +against the leg of his chair and twisted the piece of furniture beneath +him so that, tripping, he lost his balance upon the waxed floor. +Simultaneously, Mr. Jones lost his dignity and waved his arms wildly in +a frantic endeavor to recover himself. + +"Come on," Kelly urged again. + +Mr. Jones obeyed the words of his trainer literally. Coming on over the +chair, he landed with a crash between the beds on the other side of the +aisle. + +"Bring the ambulance up here," suggested a facetious patient. + +Sore in mind and body, Mr. Jones was assisted to his feet by the helpful +Miss Knight. "I stumbled," he explained to her in excuse. + +"It's a darn good thing you didn't fall," replied the nurse with +ill-concealed sarcasm. + +Virginia had watched Mr. Jones's acrobatic performances with mixed +emotions. She glanced at her wrist watch and, rising, leaned over to +bid Joe farewell. + +He caught her hand and held it. For a moment the black eyes were gazing +squarely into the depths of the blue ones, and no word passed between +the two, yet they were filled with a new, strange joyousness. + +"I must go," she whispered gently, and pulled her hand from Joe's as +she turned towards the stricken Mr. Jones. "I hope you are not hurt," +she told him and left the ward with a nod at Kelly at the door. + +Seizing his hat, Mr. Jones limped slowly after her. + +"You'll get better control of your muscles after Mike handles you a +bit," Joe called after him. + +"Didn't I tell you fellows that was Charlie Chaplin?" came a voice +from one of the beds. Amidst the merriment aroused by this sally Mr. +Jones joined Kelly and took his departure. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AN AFTERNOON OFF + + +"Dis yere fambly ain' nevah ready to eat. Dey allers has sumpin else +dey gotta do," grumbled Serena as she moved out upon the front porch +of the Dale home. + +Virginia stood upon the greensward listening to the call of a song +sparrow in the tree above her head. The notes of the bird rang clear +upon the morning air in all of their sweetness, until overwhelmed in +competition with a jazz melody whistled by Ike as he moved about dragging +a serpent-like length of hose behind him. + +"Cum in to you' breakfus, chil'," commanded Serena. + +"In a moment. Isn't it a beautiful day for the concert?" + +Although Virginia's tardiness was yet uppermost in her mind, Serena +deigned to examine the heavens above and the earth beneath with a +critical eye which proposed to allow no fault to escape it. Then she +made answer in a cryptic reply, "You ain' said nothin' chil', you +ain' said nothin' a tall." + +"Virginia," said Obadiah, when they met at the breakfast table, "Mr. +Wilkins was here again yesterday afternoon and you were not at home." + +The girl laughed. "I know it, Daddy," she confessed, as she poured a +generous measure of thick cream over her dish of sliced peaches. The +charge of absenteeism made against her did not appear to be affecting her +appetite as she began to eat. + +"I warned you that he was coming," Obadiah continued, impressively. + +"Yes, Daddy." The girl was enjoying her peaches and cream. "After you +told me about it I waited for him and he didn't come," she explained +virtuously. "The next afternoon, I had to go out and--of course, he +had to come. The afternoon after that, I waited at home expecting Mr. +Wilkins and he never came near. Yesterday I had to go out--and he had +to come." She laughed gaily. "We have been playing a game of hide +and seek. Mr. Wilkins has been it and hasn't caught me yet." + +"It's been an expensive game for me," protested Obadiah. "I pay Mr. +Wilkins a large salary for his time and services and I can use them to +better advantage than in making calls upon you." + +"That's an ungallant speech. I am filled with shame for my own +father." She shook her head sadly in token of her disgrace. "If Mr. +Wilkins wants to see me, why doesn't he arrange to come when I am +home?" she argued stoutly. + +Obadiah became stern. "You should have remained home for Mr. Wilkins. +You are out a great deal, anyway." + +A look of mock horror came into Virginia's face. "Would you have me +sit alone in this big house, waiting with folded arms for Mr. Wilkins?" +she giggled. + +Even Obadiah relented before this sorrowful picture. "Who said anything +about folded arms," he demanded shortly, "or about sitting alone, +either? You are out some place in that machine every day. It won't +hurt you to remain at home until Mr. Wilkins has seen you. My affairs +are of more importance than yours." + +Virginia looked at him with great solemnity. "You want to be cross at +me, Daddy, and you can't make yourself," she laughed. "These peaches +and cream are protecting me. If they didn't taste so good to you, I +would get a scolding. I don't deserve it, though, because, after all, my +affairs are always your affairs. Ike says that the machine runs better if +it is used every day. I keep it in splendid order for you." + +The efforts of his daughter did not appear to impress Obadiah. + +She went on with an air of pride, "Lately, I have been busy on a +surprise for you." She assumed an air of dignity. "I am giving an +entertainment to the old ladies of the Lucinda Home this afternoon. I +planned it all by myself and I invite you to be present. There'll be a +concert by a brass band. Aren't you surprised, Daddy?" + +Obadiah was surprised. Without reference to natural perplexity as to +why festivities for the benefit of the old ladies should be a matter +of astonishment to him, there were ample grounds for amazement in +the knowledge that his youthful daughter had assumed management of a +production involving a brass band. It was as if she had announced her +connection with a circus for the aged. + +"Where did you get the band?" demanded Obadiah, in the tone of an +anxious parent whose infant has returned bearing personal property +suspected of belonging to a neighbor. + +"Colonel Ryan loaned it to me. He is coming, too. Won't you come, Daddy +dear, please?" There was a wistful look in the girl's face. "It's +going to be lovely." + +Obadiah was uncomfortable. "I can't come today," he replied, finally. + +"Oh Daddy--" her disappointment showed in every note of her voice--"I +have counted so much on having you. I would be so proud of you." She +glanced imploringly at him. + +"I'm going out of town," he said. + +"Can't you put it off?" + +"No, Virginia, I have made my plans to go today. I can't let anything +interfere with business arrangements. They mean dollars and cents." + +"All right, Daddy," she surrendered with a sad little sigh and tried +to cheer herself. "Some day when I have something else you'll plan to +come, won't you, dear?" + +He was interested in his newspaper now. "Perhaps," he finally answered +absently without looking up. + +For a time they ate in silence. "The afternoon frightens me, Daddy," +she told him with a worried air. "It's a big responsibility. What if +it should be a failure?" + +He crushed his paper down by his plate and snapped, "You got into the +thing of your own accord. It's up to you to see it through. To make a +success of it--a Dale success. You can do it." + +His assurance braced the girl. "I'll make a go of it, Daddy," she +promised, and then, "It's wrong for me to expect Mr. Wilkins to run +after me. I will go to his office this morning and see him." + +He gave her a look of approval. "That's business," he agreed. + +She hovered about him after they rose from the table. "Could I ask Mr. +Wilkins to come to my concert, Daddy?" There was an appealing look in +the big blue eyes. "I don't want it to seem as if I have no friends." + +He gave her an uneasy glance and there was almost a note of regret in +his voice when he answered, "I am sorry that I can't come. Certainly, +you may ask Mr. Wilkins. Tell him that I want him to go. Ask any one you +like." Yet in spite of these concessions his conscience disturbed him. +"How will you meet the expenses of the entertainment," he inquired. + +"They won't be much. Serena had the things which I needed charged at +the store." + +Obadiah appeared about to protest but changed his mind. + +"I can pay for anything else I need out of my allowance," she went on. + +An unusual wave of generosity engulfed Obadiah, due, no doubt, to pricks +of his unquiet conscience. "Don't do that," he objected. "Send the +bills to me." + +A delighted Virginia lifted up her voice, joyously, "How perfectly +grand! I'll order ice cream for everybody." + +Pain rested upon Obadiah's countenance, due, no doubt, rather to a +twinge of indigestion at the mention of a large quantity of ice cream +during the breakfast hour than to regret at the result of his unusual +liberality. He sought relief in reproving Ike sternly, ere departing for +his office. + +Virginia spent a busy morning. She telephoned to Colonel Ryan, visited +Mrs. Henderson and conferred at length with Mrs. Smith, the matron at the +Lucinda Home, regarding the approaching festivities. + +Later, she repaired to the establishment of Mr. Vivian, glittering +brilliantly in the morning sun and graced even at this early hour by +thirsty members of South Ridgefield's younger set. + +Her deliberations with the genial proprietor were prolonged. Complex +factors hindered the meeting of minds regarded as essential to the +contractual relationship of commerce. Mr. Vivian's knowledge of the +law of probabilities as applied to the consumption of ice cream and +cake by infants, by adults, or by infants and adults together, was as +deep as the information of an insurance actuary on the mortality of +fellow men. But specialists gain their reputation through years of +toil, and they object to risking it on the uncertain. To Mr. Vivian +the capacity of old ladies and aged soldiers for delicate confections +was an unknown factor. He had no digest of leading cases to consult, +no vital statistics to inspect, no medical journals to study. He was +venturing into unexplored territory. Without premises he was asked to +deduct a conclusion. Mr. Vivian was reduced to an unscientific guess. + +Yet, if necessary, guesses can be made. So it came to pass that Mr. +Vivian bowed the manufacturer's daughter from his emporium, and, with +the sweet smell of his wares in his nostrils, raised eyes of loving +kindness from the profitable order in his hand, due account thereof to be +rendered unto Obadiah for payment, and gazed after her in respectful +admiration. + +Shortly after this, the judicial solemnity of the chamber of Hezekiah +Wilkins, Attorney at Law, situate and being, opposite the suite of +Obadiah, was disturbed by a timid knock. It failed to attract Hezekiah's +attention. This was strange. The room was not unusually large. Also, +its size was diminished by cases of reports, digests and encyclopedias +covering the walls, except where they were pierced by the windows and +door or broken by the fireplace and its broad chimney face. Upon this +hung a picture of the Supreme Court and on the mantel below stood a bust +of John Marshall, the stern eyes of which viewed the polished back of +Hezekiah's head as he sat at his desk. + +It is possible that the lawyer was preoccupied through profound +consideration of some abstract point of law. Before him lay an open +court report and his desk was littered with documents. His head was +bowed forward, his hands clasped over his abdomen and his eyes closed. + +"Tap--tap," sounded again at the door. Hezekiah brushed at his face as +if to shoo a disturbing fly. Yet, so deep were his meditations that he +failed to note the interruption. + +"Knock--knock--bang." The noise swelled to a well-defined blow of +sufficient authority to recall the greatest mental concentration from +the most tortuous legal labyrinth of the most learned court in the world. + +Hezekiah jumped. He raised his head with a jerk and his eyes opened. +One unacquainted with the abysmal excogitations of judicial mentalities +might describe them as having a startled look. He rubbed them with his +fists, stroked his smooth shaven cheeks and replaced his glasses on his +nose. Having by such simple expedients withdrawn his mind from the +fathomless depths of legal lore into which it seemingly had been plunged, +he shouted, "Come in." + +Virginia entered. + +Hezekiah, recognizing the daughter of his employer, sprang to his feet, +greeting her, "I am honored, indeed, Miss Dale." + +"Mr. Wilkins, my father says that I have done wrong in allowing you to +come to our house twice and not find me at home." She smiled sweetly +at him as she held out her hand to him. "I am sorry. I thought that my +best apology would be to save you another trip by coming to see you." + +"You are very considerate, Miss Dale," he responded, as he offered her +his visitor's chair. + +She sat down filled with great curiosity as to his business with her. + +He did not approach it directly. "We are having beautiful weather, Miss +Dale. Being given to out of door pursuits and pastimes--athletic, as it +were--you must find it very agreeable." + +"I do enjoy these beautiful spring days. I like to be out of doors, too. +But I am not what they call an athletic girl, Mr. Wilkins." + +"I plead guilty to an inaccuracy of nomenclature," Hezekiah responded +with great solemnity, removing his glasses and flourishing them. + +"What did you say, Mr. Wilkins?" asked Virginia in smiling bewilderment. + +His eyes began to twinkle and in spite of his serious face she caught +his mood and they burst into a peal of laughter. + +"Miss Dale--" he began. + +She interrupted him. "Call me Virginia as you always have done, Mr. +Wilkins," she urged. "Please do." + +"It will be easier," he admitted, and then for a moment he studied +her face thoughtfully. "You are looking more like your mother, every +day, Virginia. She was a beautiful woman--a very beautiful woman," he +continued dreamily. "As good, too, as she was beautiful. It seems to +me, now, that her life was given up to doing kindnesses to others. I have +always been proud that your mother accepted me as one of her friends." + +His words awakened eager interest in the girl. "Tell me about her, +please, Mr. Wilkins," she begged, as he paused. + +He smiled gently into the wistful eyes of blue, as happy remembrances +of the past returned to him. "Your mother came into our lives as a +gentle zephyr from her own beautiful Southland. With her came memories +of bright sunshine, growing flowers and perfumed air. These things +radiated from her--a part of her life. Happiness and joy were ever her +constant companions and the gifts she would shower." + +Virginia's eyes were big with the tender longings of her heart. "My +mother tried to make every one else happy, didn't she?" + +The countenance of Hezekiah softened and his voice was tempered by gentle +memories as he said, "If she tried to do that, she succeeded. Every one +who knew your mother was the happier for it." + +"Oh--what a beautiful thing to say about her, Mr. Wilkins," she +whispered. + +After a few moments of silence, Hezekiah resolutely thrust aside the +reveries into which he and his visitor had plunged. "Ahem," he coughed +and then he polished his scalp so vigorously that it became suffused with +a purplish tinge. "Virginia," he inquired sternly, "are you acquainted +with one Joseph Tolliver Curtis?" + +For an instant Virginia was unable to identify Joe under his formal +appellation. "Yes, he is the man at the hospital who was hurt by our +machine," she answered finally. + +"You have visited him?" + +She nodded. + +He removed his glasses and tapped his teeth. "Did you ever discuss with +the said Joseph Tolliver Curtis the accident heretofore referred to?" + +"What did you say, Mr. Wilkins?" worried Virginia. + +"Will you please state," demanded Hezekiah absently, "whether at any +time or any place you discussed the subject matter of this action with +the plaintiff." + +"Mr. Wilkins, what are you talking about?" Virginia cried in dismay. + +Hezekiah came out of his preoccupation. "I beg your pardon," he said +hastily. "I asked if you ever talked over the accident with Curtis." + +"Is that the question you asked me, Mr. Wilkins?" + +"Honest," he chuckled. + +"Oh, I can answer that easily. I talked it all over with him." + +"Have you objection to advising me of the substance--" Hezekiah stopped +and restated his question--"Will you tell what you said, Virginia?" + +"Certainly, I told Mr. Curtis that I was to blame for the accident and +he said it was his own fault." + +The lawyer was surprised. "Did he admit negligence?" + +Virginia deemed this question to imply danger to Joe and she remembered +her promise. "I am not at liberty to say, Mr. Wilkins," she answered +stoutly. "I can't discuss Mr. Curtis's part in the accident." + +For a moment Hezekiah eyed the girl thoughtfully. He arose and took a +turn up and down the room while his eyes danced with mischief. He reached +a decision which changed his line of questioning when he reseated +himself. "Virginia, do you think that you were to blame for that +accident?" he asked the girl. + +"I know that I was." + +"If you were a witness in court, would you testify that the accident was +your fault?" + +"I would admit my blame anywhere and any place, Mr. Wilkins." + +"Did Mr. Curtis say anything to you about bringing a suit for damages +against your father?" + +"No, he wouldn't do that, I'm sure." + +"Why are you sure?" + +"I told him that I believed my father should pay him damages." + +"What did he say to that?" asked Hezekiah with interest. + +"He said that he wouldn't take money from my father." + +"Was he angry, Virginia?" + +"Oh, no indeed." She hesitated for a moment. "He seemed tired and worn +out and so I left him." + +"Well, Virginia, what would you say if I told you that I tried to reach +an agreement with Mr. Curtis the other day and he refused to accept +anything in settlement?" + +"I say that my father is just the dearest and noblest man that ever +lived. He sent you to do that, didn't he, Mr. Wilkins, and never said a +word about it to me? Isn't that just like Daddy?" + +Hezekiah smiled but said no word. Possibly he remembered the amount of +the check. Professional confidences make lawyers cynical. He drummed a +spirited march upon his desk with his fingers and took no other part in +the acclaim of Obadiah. + +"Mr. Wilkins," worried Virginia, "do you suppose that you could have +hurt Mr. Curtis's feelings?" + +"I did not intend to. Men are never as gentle as women, though." +Hezekiah was playing a foxy game. "A man is rougher. It is easy for him +to hurt the feelings of a sensitive person without having the slightest +intention of doing so." + +[Illustration: "THIS REQUEST APPEARED TO REQUIRE DEEP THOUGHT"] + +Virginia gave serious regard to memories of a pair of black eyes. "I +think Joe Curtis is very sensitive," she said softly. + +"Probably," agreed the crafty Hezekiah. + +"Would you mind, Mr. Wilkins--" she gave the lawyer an appealing glance +after some moments of consideration--"if I talked with Mr. Curtis about +it?" + +This request appeared to require deep thought, judging from the +seriousness of Hezekiah's face for a few moments. Then it lightened +as he decided, "I can see no objection to your talking to Mr. Curtis." +The attorney's manner became cheery and hopeful. "Now, if you two +could arrive at a friendly settlement, it might be a most satisfactory +arrangement." Hezekiah slapped his palms together and squeezed his own +fingers as if shaking hands with himself at the successful outcome of +his benevolent moves. Then he chuckled softly and went on, "Let's +see what kind of an adjustment you two youngsters can make. If I can +approve it, I will be glad to submit it to your father." + +"I will see him as soon as I can, Mr. Wilkins. I can't go to the +hospital this afternoon." Virginia's manner became very dignified, +as she continued, "I am giving a concert, at the Lucinda Home." + +"Delightful." Hezekiah bowed low at the news. + +"I can see Mr. Curtis in the morning." + +"That will be quite time enough. Don't inconvenience yourself, +Virginia." Hezekiah smiled as they arose. + +"Mr. Wilkins, won't you come to my concert?" asked Virginia, shyly. + +"It would be a pleasure, indeed, but, business first, you know." He +waved his hands, palms upward, as if protesting the lowness of his profit. + +"My father said that I might tell you that he would be glad if you could +arrange to come. He is out of town." + +"Oh, in that case--" Hezekiah's manner was courtly--"I deem myself +highly privileged in accepting your invitation." + +As Virginia left Hezekiah's office, she found herself facing the +open door of her father's suite. Through it Mr. Jones was visible at +his desk, improving his mind in Obadiah's absence by reading a refined +story by a polished author concerning genteel people. Mr. Jones needed +physical rest and mental recreation. Upon the previous evening, Mike +Kelly had seized his person and regardless of vigorous protests had put +him through such a series of calisthenics, runnings, jumpings and +rubbings that the particular soreness of each bone and muscle had merged +into one great and common ache. + +At the opening of Hezekiah's door, Mr. Jones raised his eyes and, +consequently, his head. A wave of pain swept his muscles. He grimaced +frightfully. It was upon this distorted countenance that Virginia +gazed. The terrifying effect of the face held the girl for a second, +but believing it occasioned by grievous illness she hastened to the aid +of the stricken one. + +Mr. Jones instantly recognized her and the course of destiny was made +manifest. Regardless of untoward events, his social merit was appreciated +and now one approached seeking counsel or bearing invitations to +social festivities. She should not seek in vain. Percy Jones, private +secretary and social adviser, was at her service. He sprang from his +chair to meet the maid of blood with knightly bow and courtly grace. +Alack and aday, that snare of the devil, his waste basket, was misplaced. +He tripped against it. To avoid the thing, he raised his foot only to +step into the throat-like neck of the monster which instantly clove +to his shoe. Simultaneously, a flood of pain protested against his +violent movements. In his agony, Mr. Jones lost his balance and fell +over his desk. His outstretched hands sought safe anchorage amidst ink +stands and mucilage bottles to rest finally in an ever spreading lake of +ink. + +Virginia halted. Mr. Jones's face, rent by emotion and struggle, +convinced her that he must be in parlous case. + +Kelly hurried in at the crash. He observed Mr. Jones's predicament +with great calmness. Nodding to Virginia, he held the basket until the +stenographer could extract his foot. Then he turned to the girl and +said very soberly, in spite of the glint of amusement in his eye, "Mr. +Jones is the victim of an accident and requests permission to retire +and cleanse himself." + +As the crestfallen private secretary departed, Kelly and Virginia moved +over to a window. The summer day in all of its beauty fought back the +ugliness of the tin roofs and chimneys. The bookkeeper viewed the +prospect. "By gum," he asked, "how'd you like to go snowshoeing?" +This marvelous witticism was greeted by a burst of laughing applause +from its author and the girl, far in excess of its merit. + +"Jones doesn't feel very well today," Kelly explained to her. "He is +the victim of unusual exercise." + +"He doesn't look like a man who would over-exercise. He does not strike +me as a man who is in the best of health," she responded. + +"He isn't. That's why he's so stiff and sore after a few little +stunts. He doesn't get enough fresh air." Kelly cast a longing +glance out of the window and turned to inspect the room. "There isn't +enough fresh air in this place, anyway. Jones has sat in here day after +day, sucking on cigarettes and beating on that typewriter, until good +health no longer knows him. But," announced the bookkeeper with great +confidence, "I am old Doctor Fix'em. I'm giving him a course in +physical training which will fix him. I'm going to make that lad forget +his present pains by giving him worse ones." + +"I think it is perfectly fine of you, Mr. Kelly, to help Mr. Jones," +exclaimed Virginia, highly interested in the bookkeeper's plans for the +benefit of the stenographer. "It must make you very happy to be able +to do it." + +"Sure," he agreed. "I laugh myself sick every time I give him a new +stunt to do. That fellow has good points. One of these days he's going +to have the smile on some one else. You can't keep a good man down." + +"Couldn't I help Mr. Jones, too?" asked the girl eagerly. + +Kelly stared at her in amazement. "No, it can't be done," he cried, +emphatically. "Whoever heard of a woman trainer? You've had no +experience anyway." + +Virginia blushed. "I didn't mean to help train him." She waxed +indignant at the thought. "I only offered to do those things which I +could do." + +"Oh--" Kelly was relieved--"go as far as you like. There is plenty of +chance for all on that fellow. It would be dandy if you could work it to +get him out of doors once in awhile." + +"Watch me," she promised. + +Mr. Jones reentered the room physically clean and mentally chastened but +deep in gloom. He had forgotten that the darkest hour comes just before +dawn. Yet, a private secretary must not allow his personal feelings to +interfere with duty. He approached Virginia in what might be described +as a graceful manner marred by lameness. "I regret the unfortunate +occurrence which delayed me," he apologized. "If Miss Dale wishes to +see her father--" + +A pair of blue eyes rested upon him in the kindest manner and a most +attractive mouth said, "I know that my father is away today and that +neither of you has much to do." + +Obadiah's official staff looked guilty. + +Virginia went on with enthusiasm. "We are going to give a concert this +afternoon for the old ladies at the Lucinda Home. It will be lovely. A +brass band--ice cream--Mr. Wilkins--" + +The high interest of the young man cooled slightly at the lawyer's name, +regardless of the pleasing company in which he was mentioned. + +"Won't you both come? You could help me so much." + +"We can't get off," declared the practical Kelly. + +"Yes, you can. My father said that I could invite whom I pleased." +She turned pleadingly to Mr. Jones. "You'll come and bring Mr. Kelly, +won't you?" + +The victim of disaster was as one hypnotized by the charm of her +presence. Before the wiles of women, his gallant soul became as putty. +Mr. Jones stammered, he stuttered, he blushed--and from his lips came +the whispered answer, "Yes, Ma'am." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +OLD HEARTS MADE YOUNG + + +Nature left nothing to be desired in the weather as the hour approached +for the concert at the Lucinda Home. Over the closely shaven lawn and +beneath the shade of the trees lay the tranquillity of a summer's +afternoon. + +This was disturbed, shortly after lunch, by the roaring of the Dale car +as it rushed up the curving driveway to the main building. It was driven +by Ike, and Serena sat beside him in the purity of apparel, freshly +laundered and starched. + +But, even at this hour, the aged ladies had retired to their apartments +to make ready for the gaieties of the late afternoon. + +The coming of the Dale car was the beginning of a series of commotions in +this haven of peace. A big army truck arrived with a noise of thunder +bringing trestles and plank for a temporary band stand. It stopped, +and through the balmy silence sounded a rough, coarse, masculine voice, +"Where in the devil do they want this blame thing?" Answered his +companion, "You can search me." + +A window closed with a crash to shut out contamination from such vulgar +sources. + +As the army truck and its crew noisily departed, another machine entered +the grounds. It was a quiet car, not given to loud or uncouth uproar. +Stealing up the driveway, it stopped. Mr. Vivian emerged, garbed in +spotless white. Other soft stepping, mild mannered men, similarly +clothed, accompanied him, bearing freezers of cream and boxes of cake. + +Serena entered into conference with the caterer. "Des ole ladies dey +wants der tea mo'e den yo'alls sweet stuff." + +Mr. Vivian appeared pained at such taste. + +Serena went on, "Ah's gwine mek de tea in de kitchen an' surve it an' +de sandwiches outen de side do'." + +Disgust sat upon Mr. Vivian's features. "I shall serve the cream from +under the trees, in the cool fresh air," he announced. + +"You gwine surve it full o' bugs an' flies den," predicted Serena. + +Mr. Vivian, through the exercise of self-control, stood mute. + +Serena sought information. "Who gwine surve ma tea an' ma sandwiches?" +she inquired. + +Mr. Vivian whistled a few measures of melody, softly. Being thus engaged, +he could not respond. + +Serena pressed for an answer. "Ain' yo'all do dat?" + +"Possibly my men may assist you," the caterer conceded, as he glanced +at his assistants grouped at his back. + +Serena was supported by Ike and several colored females, employees of the +Home, into whose good graces the chauffeur was endeavoring to ingratiate +himself. + +The situation was tense. + +Serena's hands were upon her hips and her entire body vibrated. Her +eyes glistened with rage and rested menacingly upon the caterer. She +was clothed in an air of mystery. Her opponent could not determine +whether she proposed to rely upon logical argument, abusive language, or +physical violence. + +Mr. Vivian noted uneasily the mass of vibrant temper he had aroused. He +stood his ground, however, and did not retreat. + +"Whoall is er givin' dis yere sociable? Whoall pays fo' dis yere +'tainment? Ah asts you dat? Answer me, whiteman?" + +Ike drew nigh, inclining an ear that he might miss no word of the +altercation. "Dats right," he interjected in a rich mellow voice. + +Mr. Vivian gave no heed to the aid and comfort vouchsafed his adversary. + +"Ah tells you who pays. Ah'm right yere to tell yo'all who pays," +proclaimed Serena. "Miss Virginy done pay. Dat who." Hers was a song +of triumph now. "Ahs her nu'se. Ah's her housekeeper." She shook a +great fist at the caterer. "Whiteman, wot ah sez, ah means. Ef yo'all +ain' gwine surve ma sandwiches an' ma tea, jes tek yo'se'f an' des +yere white waiters away f'om yere." + +"Dat's right," concurred Ike, confident that he appeared to good +advantage before the employees of the Home and that, through his stalwart +support of Serena, he was laying up treasure for a rainy day. + +"What's all this talk about?" Mr. Vivian demanded suddenly as if being +a stranger to the controversy he sought enlightenment. "Who said that +I wouldn't serve your sandwiches and tea?" + +Serena, after the manner of her generation, was wise. She understood +the whiteman and knew when to stop war and resort to diplomacy. She +whirled upon the hapless Ike. "Ain' yo'all got no bettah manners +an' to stan' der er listin' at dis gent'men an' me a talkin'. +You 'minds me o' er ole turkey gobbler er standin der wid you' haid +twisted." + +Such an unlooked-for attack, from one with whom he had publicly allied +himself, grieved Ike sorely. He retreated crestfallen and humiliated. + +When Virginia entered the kitchen she found Serena and Mr. Vivian +laboring diligently and as intimate friends, decrying the efficiency of +their assistants without regard to color or previous condition of +servitude. + +Another army truck brought the band. White collars and ties showed +festively above brass buttoned blue coats. Hair, mustaches, and whiskers +had been dressed with extraordinary care, and aged musicians looked +from beneath campaign hats worn at a most rakish angle. As they took +possession of the stand, there ensued a period of melancholy tootings +as instruments were adjusted and lips made supple. + +Excitement seized the old ladies at their toilets, as these isolated +blarings smote their ears. Certain partially deaf ones, confident +that the concert had begun and desirous of missing no note of it, +descended, minus switches, false fronts and, indeed, in one case, an +over-skirt. These omissions became the subject of great embarrassment +when discovered later. + +As three o'clock approached, a prim calmness fell upon the inmates of +the home when they assembled stiffly gowned in best apparel. + +Hezekiah Wilkins, in holiday garb of silk hat and cutaway frock, arrived. +Mrs. Henderson came a few moments later. Certain uninvited ancient +men dressed as for a fiesta followed. Mr. Jones and Kelly entered the +grounds with an air of having casually dropped in and not intending to +stay long. The stenographer wore a natty suit, the check of which caught +the discriminating eye of Ike as it rounded the gate. At the scheduled +moment for the concert, Colonel Ryan approached and, after saluting +Virginia, seated himself upon the porch and viewed the band with the +pride and pleasure of its proprietor. + +At the tap of the leader, the onlookers were dazzled by golden +reflections as the musicians lifted their instruments. With a burst +of harmony, Virginia's concert was on. Even at the first note, the +stiff dignity of the audience melted and they conversed. Women whose +taciturnity had been remarked for years in that place of silence became +loquacious. + +The concert made an attractive picture. The band was upon the lawn in +front of the building. On the lower porch and in shady places about the +grounds were groups of aged women. Their white hair blended softly with +the dresses of grey and black, and soft fichus or treasured bits of lace +were drawn about wrinkled necks by cameos and big brooches. + +Mr. Wilkins conducted Mrs. Henderson to several spots from which to +hear the music. They were rejected summarily by the fastidious widow on +the grounds of ants below or spiders above and the general presence of +bugs. Finally she made her own selection, confessing a suspicion of the +presence in concealment of grasshoppers and the fear that the place was +attractive to frogs and grass snakes. + +Perceiving Hezekiah's holiday attire and Mrs. Henderson's manner, +Mr. Vivian deemed them important personages and served them bountifully +with his own hands. He was rewarded by hearing the widow tell her +escort, "You can't buy decent ice cream in South Ridgefield. It's all +adulterated and unfit for human consumption. The people who make such +stuff should be put in jail for life." + +Hezekiah chuckled contentedly. "Why not chop off their heads?" he +suggested kindly. + +Mr. Vivian departed hastily. + +From their position they could see Virginia moving busily about from +group to group. + +Mrs. Henderson indicated her. "There is a dear girl," she said fondly. +"It's Elinor Dale come back again." + +"Virginia is very like her mother," he agreed. + +"Why did Elinor ever marry a man like Obadiah?" she sighed. + +Hezekiah liked sandwiches. Particularly lettuce sandwiches with +mayonnaise dressing. Mrs. Henderson's question caught him unawares. +"Wanted to," he mumbled through his mouthful. + +"Hezekiah Wilkins, an answer of that sort kills conversation. You give +me a sociable reply." + +The muffling sandwiches had been gotten rid of. "Fascinated," he +suggested. + +"Fascinated by a serpent," sniffed Mrs. Henderson. + +The inference that Obadiah was a reptile failed to effect the appetite +of his legal adviser. He appropriated another sandwich. + +"Why do you work for him, anyway?" she demanded sharply. + +"Money," confessed Hezekiah, between bites. + +"Hezekiah, there is something about your conversation which irritates +me. I think that its brevity gets on my nerves." She gave him a +questioning look. "I want to talk seriously with an old friend, +Hezekiah. I want to ask him to do something for me." + +He stopped eating and turned towards her. The humor had faded from his +face and in its place was a certain sweetness with much of sorrow in it. +"Over twenty years ago, you asked me to be a brother to you, Mary," +he said softly. "I have always tried to be a good one--to be ready to +obey your slightest wish." + +There was pain and pity in her countenance as she reached over and patted +his hand. "I know it, Hezekiah," she whispered. "You have been too +good a brother to me. You should have married." There was a catch in +her voice and her eyes were moist, when she continued, "I never intended +to condemn you to a life of loneliness when I married Tom Henderson." + +His thoughts flew back over the long years. "It has been lonely, Mary," +he admitted. "Are you sorry that I could not forget?" + +"No," she whispered, winking back her tears. "It has been a beautiful +tribute--too beautiful for me. I was never worthy of it." + +"I am the better judge of that," he murmured quietly. + +For a time they were lost in the dreams of what might have been, when +they were disturbed by the big booming laugh of Colonel Ryan. + +"Hezekiah Wilkins," exclaimed Mrs. Henderson with some sharpness, "we +are a pair of sentimental old fools to dig up the past. We should save +our strength for the future." + +"Implying that we might better be preparing to dig our own graves. Is +that your idea?" he demanded. + +Indignant eyes in which but little sentiment lingered, rested upon the +lawyer. "I suppose that you wished to be amusing, Hezekiah, but for a +man noted for his tact that was an inexcusably gruesome speech. We may be +old, as you intimate," she snapped, "but we have work to do before--we +get busy on our own graves." Her gaze traveled across the lawn and +came to rest upon the girlish figure of Virginia standing beside the +Colonel. Hennie's mood softened, and when she spoke, it was as if she +were thinking aloud. "If we have met sorrow and disillusionment in our +own lives, Hezekiah, and with smiling lips have swallowed the bitter +mouthful, should we not be willing to keep those whom we love from a +similar experience?" + +Hezekiah bowed in sober agreement. + +"Virginia Dale is very happy this afternoon," Mrs. Henderson went +on, "because she is doing what her mother, Elinor, always loved to +do--make others happy. It has never entered her head that her father is +not generous and kind--that he is the mean and selfish man that you and +I know." + +The widow reached over and laid her hand upon that of the lawyer. +"I am going to tell you a story, Hezekiah. It is about those good +old days when you and I used to dance and do other gay and frivolous +things--before we laid ourselves on the shelf." Her face saddened. "My +story is mostly a guess," she continued, "and it is about what I +think happened to Elinor Dale in those long bedridden hours before she +died." + +Again, he bowed and he was saddened, too, by the memories she recalled. + +"It is my guess, Hezekiah," she resumed, "that before Elinor Dale +died, the scales fell from her eyes and she knew the true Obadiah." +Mrs. Henderson sighed. "Poor Elinor knew that she had to go. Too loyal +to confide in any one, she wanted to fight his selfish influence over +her baby girl after she had gone. Let me tell you what she did--the poor +weapon she was forced to resort to, Hezekiah." The widow shook her head +sorrowfully. "Elinor marked a poem in a book and pledged me to give it +to Virginia on her eighteenth birthday. + +"This afternoon is one of the first fruits of the seed poor Elinor +sowed years ago. Her daughter has grown, thanks to poor Serena's +efforts--they ought to be successful because I don't believe that +old negro ever bought the child a hat without taking it up in her +prayers--into a beautiful woman. Fertile soil for the crop her +mother would harvest, but--" Mrs. Henderson paused and her eyes +flashed--"there is that Obadiah. Only the kindness of fate has kept +Virginia from understanding him. When she does there will be a day of +reckoning." + +Mrs. Henderson leaned towards Hezekiah and looked into his eyes with +her own overflowing with a great tenderness. "My faithful brother," +she whispered, "when that day comes won't you do your part in keeping +that sweet girl happy even as she is trying to do it for these old +ladies? In your way you can do more than I can, Hezekiah. Won't you +do it for Elinor?" She hesitated for a moment and continued, very +softly, very gently, "Won't you do it for me?" + +He returned Hennie's look, his face alight with tenderness. "I will, +Mary," he promised. + +The activities of Mr. Jones at this period were interesting. Regardless +of his aches and pains, he deemed it his duty, as Obadiah's private +secretary, to assume an active part in making the entertainment a +success. With this in mind, he had volunteered his services to Virginia. +Rewarding him with a sweet smile, she had sent him for a cup of tea. Mr. +Jones performed this errand with great expedition and dispatch, thereby +winning the gratitude of an aged tea drinker. Virginia being busy, Mr. +Jones determined to exhibit his zeal in so signal a manner that it might +not be overlooked. Returning to the kitchen, he seized a tray of edibles +and, bearing it forth, began to distribute its contents with great energy. + +Instantly, excitement seized the white coated waiters. They laid +aside their trays and conferred. Soon, above the music, even above +conversation, the notes of a whistle sounded. It was not the piercing +call of a policeman or of a referee, it was not the pipe of a boatswain, +it was rather the low, mourning call of a dove. As it smote the ears +of Mr. Vivian he became as one transfixed with horror. He became +ghastly pale as he recognized that the earnest efforts of Mr. Jones +alone stood between the guests and famine. + +Recovering himself, the caterer hurried towards his assembled employees. +From his manner it appeared he hoped for the best but suspected the +worst. "What's the matter here?" he demanded in low, tense tones. + +"We have struck," murmured the waiters. + +Mr. Vivian's worst expectations were confirmed. "Why?" he inquired, +with the usual interest of employers under similar circumstances. + +The strikers turned and pointed at the form of Mr. Jones as he +distributed a tray of viands with such marvelous rapidity that the +effect of the walkout was as yet unnoticed by the aged. "Scab," +they hissed in hostile sibilation. "Strikebreaker," they groaned, +impressed by the wonderful dexterity of the stenographer. + +"Where did that bird come from?" demanded the amazed Mr. Vivian as he +viewed the skill of the gratuitous laborer. + +"You know," taunted an irate waiter; but Mr. Vivian's honest +countenance gave him the lie in his teeth, noiselessly. + +Curiosity held the little group. They examined Mr. Jones's work with +professional interest, making surmises as to his identity. "Looks like a +jockey," said one. "More like a barber," urged another. "I'll bet +ten cents he is an ex-bartender," wagered a sportive character. + +Even as they watched, Mr. Jones approached Virginia, offering her food +with profound bows and courtly manners. + +"He is a waiter," declared the strikers with one accord, and again they +rested suspicious eyes upon Mr. Vivian. + +"That dub ain't working for me," affirmed the caterer. + +Much elated at successfully allaying famine, Mr. Jones turned anew +towards the kitchen. Had not Virginia smiled upon him? He swung his tray +and whistled a merry tune. In the pleasure of serving others, the aches +and pains of the athlete were forgotten. At the kitchen door he was +surrounded by resolute men. + +"Make no resistance," a determined voice warned. + +The white coated mob moved away escorting Mr. Jones as towards summary +execution. + +Scenting happenings of interest, Ike followed. + +From the kitchen Serena sought information. "Whar yo'all gwine?" she +demanded. + +"Dey done struck. Yah--yah--yah," laughed Ike. + +"Shut you' big mouf. Ah ain' er astin' you nothin'." Serena +reproved the chauffeur and then she charged into the midst of the mob. +"Wot yo'all mean a leavin' ma trays an' dirty dishes out in dat +ya'd? Ain' you know how to wait?" Her eyes flashed her indignation. +"Go git ma dishes an' ma trays afo'e ah meks you move fas'er den you +lak." + +As snow before an April sun the strike melted. The waiters departed +hastily for their field of duty, leaving Mr. Jones alone with Serena. +She glared at him fiercely. "How cum you mek ma waiters mad?" she +demanded. + +Amazed at the strange results of his diligence, Mr. Jones stood silent +under her accusation. + +She inspected his slight figure contemptuously. "Clea' out," she +commanded, "afo ah lays ma han' on you an' breks you, boy." + +This last victim of woman's tongue moved rapidly towards the front lawn +seeking safety amidst aged women. On the way he passed a fellow sufferer. + +Serena's cutting remarks had, for Ike, turned an afternoon of pleasure +and recreation into a time of humiliation. Here was music, food, +agreeable company, all turned into dust by public reprimands. Yet the +inextinguishable fire of hope burned in his breast. In the fullness of +time, Serena might forget, allow him to enter the kitchen as one in +good standing and, in the alluring company of the colored maids, to +partake of refreshments. Until then he must wait. Doing this, he +watched the assemblage with melancholy eyes. He considered the band +futile. It played no jazz. In an unhappy hour, tobacco brings solace to +man. Ike produced a cigarette. Lighting it, he puffed nervously, +suspecting the use of the weed in this haunt of aged women to be taboo. +Happy laughter arose in the kitchen easily identified as the hearty +tones of Serena, amused, a favorable augury to the courtier cooling +his heels in the ante room. Casting down his cigarette, Ike turned to +reconnoiter. The butt dropped beneath the porch into some ancient +leaves, damp but inflammable. + +The leaves ignited and smouldered. Fanned by a gentle breeze the fire +grew into a burning which produced much smoke and little flame. + +Upon the porch sat Mrs. Comfort Bean. Life to her was an open book. She +had survived three husbands. The first, a drunkard, had drowned, not +in rum, but in the river into which he had the misfortune to fall while +returning home from a convivial evening enjoyed with other gay lads at +the village tavern. The second, a gambler, was shot in an altercation +over the ill-timed presence of five aces in a card game. The third, a +fragile thing, had faded like a flower. Mrs. Bean had neither regrets +for, nor fear of, man. She knew him too well. She had come to anchor in +the Lucinda Home like a storm ridden ship seeking safe harbor after a +stormy passage. Here lay a peace the like of which she had never known. + +But one cloud rested upon her horizon. Mrs. Bean was afraid of fire. She +considered that because the inmates could not dwell upon the ground floor +of the Home, the place was a fire trap and the most horrible holocaust, +not only possible but probable. To inure herself to the inevitable, she +read the harrowing details of every fire involving fatalities. + +Having enjoyed refreshments, Mrs. Bean had retired to the porch that she +might listen to the music in the peace of her own thoughts. She sniffed. +It was but a tentative sniff. Not a full, deep whiff. Such sniffs she +gave many times each day. "Somethin's burnin'," said Mrs. Comfort +Bean. Hearers being absent, there was no sympathetic response. "I smell +fire," she announced in louder tones. A phenomenon puzzled Mrs. Bean's +highly developed olfactory nerves. Her nostrils were assailed by the +odor of ignited hay instead of the fateful smell of burning wood. + +The fire smouldered and spread. A gust of wind came. Mrs. Comfort Bean, +sniffing expectantly, was enveloped in a thin cloud of smoke. It caught +her when, dissatisfied by preliminary investigations, she had taken a +full, deep whiff. Mrs. Bean was almost asphyxiated. Gasping and choking +she strangled in the efficient smudge of Ike's preparing. A change +in the wind relieved her. "Fire!" she screamed. + +As this fateful cry, anguish-toned, rang over the festive throng, many an +aged heart stood still. Shrieks arose as well as answering alarms. +For the moment terror held them, and then certain women rushed for +the building that they might ascend to their apartments and rescue +choice possessions. Other more hardened spirits removed their chairs +to positions of advantage that in greater comfort, they might "Watch +the blamed old thing burn down." + +The coolness of military men was well exemplified by Colonel Ryan. He +arose from his chair at the first alarm and shouted, "Sit down," in a +voice which had arisen above the roar of cannon. Perceiving the stampede +towards the building, he thundered, "Two of you waiters keep those +women out of there." In utter disregard of the high cost of shoes, +he roared, "Stamp that fire out!" In searching tones, he demanded, +"Who set it?" No guilty man confessed, but Ike became ill at ease and +sought retirement in the crowd. + +The Colonel turned to the leader of the band which rested between +numbers. "Play!" he commanded. These ancient musicians had little +regard for modern music. They loved the tuneful airs of the past and were +about to render some selections from "The Serenade." At the word +of the leader, the chorus from "Don Jose of Seville," the words of +which run, "Let her go, piff, paff," pealed forth. + +To avert impending peril, Mrs. Comfort Bean had remained upon the porch +emitting loud screams at intervals as if they were minute guns. She +disappeared into the hall. She was back in a moment. Kelly was gazing +beneath the porch at the smouldering leaves. She called to him, "You +big red-headed feller," and when he looked up, she screamed, "Fire +extinguisher." + +He nodded understandingly and in a moment had procured the apparatus +from the hall and carried it to the end of the porch where a group of +waiters, assisted by their late enemy, Mr. Jones, were endeavoring to +stamp the fire out. + +For an instant Kelly perused the directions. Then he inverted the +extinguisher. There was a hissing as of a monstrous snake. From the +nozzle gushed a fizzing, sizzling jet like a soda fountain in action. +Kelly whirled about to bring the stream to bear upon the conflagration. +As he turned, the frothing liquid circled with him and cut the check +suit of Mr. Jones, the white coats of the waiters, and the Norfolk jacket +of Ike, at the waist line. Now arose the protests and violent language of +angry men. + +"You big chump, ain't you got no sense?" gasped Mr. Jones, +ungrammatically. + +"Get out of the way so that I can put this fire out. You are kicking it +all over the place," the bookkeeper responded. + +"I have as much right here as you--you big lump of grease," proclaimed +Mr. Jones as he inspected with indignation the dark colored belt with +which he had been invested. + +Kelly cast a menacing look at the stenographer. "If you don't shut up, +I am going to stick this nozzle down your throat," he threatened. + +Mr. Jones watched the fizzling stream as if estimating its physiological +effect under the conditions named, and remained silent. + +Loud laughter sounded in the kitchen. Ike, cooled by his bath, had +presented himself for comforting. + +Serena thus welcomed him. "Dey souse you in saltpeter an' you done +smoke youse'f so you mus' be cu'ed lak er ham. Sit by de stove. Ah +gwine give you er cup o' coffee," she chuckled, "ef yo'all smells +ham er feels youse'f er beginnin' to fry, git out o' yere afo you +greases de flo." + +So Ike rested in comfort, sandwiches and coffee at his side, and smiled +pleasantly upon the maids. Truly, after affliction, he had entered into +the blessings of the promised land. + +The fire was out. Kelly moved to return the extinguisher to its place. +With a thud, a white bundle dropped from the third floor upon his head. +It appeared soft but upon its touch Kelly sank to the ground, blinking +vacantly. + +Forgetful of their recent altercation, Mr. Jones rushed to his fellow +worker's assistance. "What's the matter?" he demanded. + +Kelly rubbed his head. "Somebody hit me with a rock," he answered, +observing Mr. Jones meanwhile with suspicion. + +The stenographer kicked the bundle open. Then, howling with pain, he +grabbed his toe. In the center of the bundle lay a mantel clock. "Might +have killed you--easy," he spluttered at Kelly, and raised indignant +eyes to where an old woman, her wrinkled face filled with anxiety, leaned +over the railing. "Did you throw that clock?" demanded Mr. Jones. + +She held her hand to her ear and smiled sweetly. "What?" she called. + +"Clock," bawled Mr. Jones. "Did you drop that clock?" + +"I can't hear you," she answered. + +"Clock," yelled the private secretary. + +"Yes, it's mine. Thank you for telling me that it is not hurt," she +responded in great contentment to the vexed Mr. Jones. + +The reunited official staff of Obadiah moved on, one member limping, the +other caressing his head. + +Gentle peace returned for the moment to the emotion-swept aged ones. But +now, through the gates of the Home rushes the fire department of South +Ridgefield. With awe inspiring roar and mighty clangor of bells the +engines advance, reflecting gorgeously in the afternoon sun. Taxpayers +must have thrilled with pride as they remarked the speed of approach and +energy with which these public servants entered upon their duties. Even +as they halt, powerful pumps sound, ready to deluge the edifice with +water while enthusiastic men with axes rush into the halls and upon +the roof, prepared to hew. + +"Where is the fire?" demanded the chief in a voice of authority. + +Silently, Mrs. Bean led him to the blackened leaves. + +"Who turned in that alarm?" he asked with great sternness. + +"I did," calmly replied the widow of three. + +For a moment he looked down into the wrinkled face filled with the pride +and satisfaction of duty well done. He raised his helmet and scratched +his head. "The whole department out for a bonfire," he grumbled. + +Virginia came and smiled timidly at this burly man. "I am sorry that +you have been given all of this trouble," she said. "I have arranged +to serve refreshments to your men, if you don't object." + +When his little hostess left him, the grim old fire fighter stood at the +head of the steps and gazed at the waiters ministering with energy to +the voracious appetites of his men. "Huh," he chuckled, "looks like +that blame bonfire cooked up a pretty good feed for my boys." + +The concert ended and the musicians awaited, in a group, the truck which +was to take them back to the Soldiers' Home. Colonel Ryan went to speak +to the leader. As he turned to Virginia, who had been at his side, he +discovered her thanking the members of the organization individually +for their part in the concert. + +"Your music was beautiful," she told a cornet player. "Every one +enjoyed it so much." She made apology to the entire number. "It is too +bad that the fire alarm disturbed you." + +"That weren't no disturbance, Ma'am," the cornetist reassured +her. He was bowed with age and had a shrill cracked voice. Tucking +his instrument under his arm, he filled a disreputable pipe and went on. +"No, Ma'am, that weren't what I'd call no disturbance. In the war our +old Colonel used to make us go out on the skirmish line and play. Our +leader allowed that the rattle of bullets on the drum heads ruined the +time." + +"How brave of you," Virginia marveled at this thumping tale of war. + +"Had to be brave in my regiment, Ma'am. Old Colonel Dean was a bob-cat +and he expected his men to be catamounts," he cackled. + +A clarionetist chewed a stubby mustache and listened to the remarks of +the cornet player with a hostile air. "They ain't over their squallin' +yit," he proclaimed, and the musicians roared with laughter. + +Shaking his old pipe wrathfully at his fellows, the man with the cornet +challenged them. "Colonel Dean was a bob-cat," he maintained. "A +ragin', clawin', scratchin', bob-cat of a fighter and the whole +regiment was just like the old man." + +As the name Dean was mentioned, an old lady arose from a group with +whom she had been chatting and drew near the musicians. She was tall +and dignified and a cap of lace was pinned upon her snowy head. She +peered at the cornetist through her spectacles. "Were you speaking of +Colonel Dean of the Infantry?" she asked sweetly. + +"Yes, Ma'am," the cornet player growled. "I was a talkin' about old +Colonel Dean of my regiment, a ragin', clawin', scratchin', fightin' +man." His bellicose tones indicated the danger of contradiction and +displayed a suspicion that his questioner lifted her voice in behalf +of his opponents. + +"Colonel Dean," she said gently, "was my husband. Were you with him at +Shiloh?" + +A great change swept over the cornetist. He bowed deeply, his hat +sweeping the ground. His voice was reverential, even tender, as he +replied, "I was behind him there, Ma'am--his bugler. I helped to +carry him from the field." + +The group was very serious now. When the old veteran spoke again he could +not conceal the emotion which shook him. "Colonel Dean lived a brave +man, Ma'am, and he died--" he hesitated, seeking words--"just like a +soldier orter die." He straightened proudly, his old eyes flashing. +"Boys," he called, "my Colonel's lady. Attention!" As one man +they stiffened. Each hand sought the rim of a hat and together swept +forward in the old time salute. + +Mrs. Dean acknowledged the honor with a bow of great dignity, but the +wrinkled hand at her side was shaking. For an instant the frail body held +its poise and then broke beneath the storm of feeling which beset it. +She seemed to shrink and would have fallen had not Virginia caught the +withered form in her arms and helped the old lady to a seat. After a time +the tears were fewer and the sobs lessened. + +Mrs. Dean turned to the girl. "Forgive me, child," she begged. +"Forgive the weakness of an old woman." A withered hand stroked a +soft white one. "You have given me great happiness today, dearie." +Her eyes returned to the waiting members of the band. "I think," she +said very gently, "my soldier boys wish to speak to me." She arose and +one by one and silently the musicians came forward and took her hand. + +A little later Mrs. Henderson and Hezekiah found Virginia at the foot +of the steps where she had just left Mrs. Dean. The girl was gazing off +into the distance. + +"Virginia Dale, you have been crying," Hennie said, as she noted a +telltale moisture of the eyes. + +"No, Hennie, I am wonderfully happy." + +"So much so that you had to cry, dearie?" The older woman smiled +tenderly. Raising her hands she caught Virginia's cheeks between them +and looked down into the big blue eyes. "It was a success, dear--a +great success," she giggled mischievously for one of her years. "You +told us, remember, that the place needed stirring up. Bless your heart, +you shook it with an earthquake." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MORE TROUBLE + + +"It is a fine form of advertisement and comes cheap," thought Obadiah +as he read, with pleasure, certain laudatory references to himself and +his daughter, in an article regarding the concert at the Lucinda Home, +prominently displayed in the morning paper. + +He told her about it. "There is a very nice account of your concert +at the Lucinda Home. They give you great credit." He glanced at her +proudly. "You made a Dale success of it, didn't you?" + +His words as well as her own satisfaction at the outcome of the concert +made Virginia very happy. All that morning she sang as she went about +her various affairs in the big house until Serena smiled to herself +and muttered, "Dat chil' is a mekin mo'e noise an' er jay bird er +yellin' caze de cher'ies is ripe." + +The joyous mood was yet upon the girl when she went to the hospital that +afternoon and found Joe Curtis sitting up in bed for the first time. +"You are looking fine," she told him. + +"Don't make me blush. I am a modest youth," he protested. + +Her cheeks flushed prettily. "I am not complimenting your looks but your +health." + +"It is all due to the shave, anyway," he grinned. "The fatal symptoms +are not so apparent." + +She observed his face with interest. "It does look smoother," she +admitted. "Who shaved you? Did Miss Knight?" + +"Hush!" he whispered in mock terror. "Don't let her hear you. She +didn't shave me, but she might want to. That would be the last straw. My +proud spirit would never survive the outrage of that woman wielding a +razor over my tender skin." + +"I will ask her to shave you. Perhaps she may let me help," giggled +Virginia. + +"I have always looked forward to your visits." + +"You wouldn't be glad to see me even if I came to shave you?" she +demanded with severity. + +He closed his eyes. + +"Answer me," she commanded in a stern voice. + +"I suffer great pain," he groaned. + +"You are pretending. Answer my question." + +With closed eyes he pondered aloud. "If she shaved me, her hands would +touch my face. They would caress my cheeks, softly--" + +Virginia blushed. "I wouldn't touch your face for--for--anything," +she interrupted. + +"How would you shave me then? Who ever heard of a barber who did not +touch the face of the people he shaved?" + +"I won't do the shaving. I'll bring the hot water. It will be scalding +hot, too," she promised. + +"Coward," he taunted her, "to scald a man with three ribs and a leg +broken." + +She gave him a very friendly look for one supposed to harbor such brutal +intentions; but as he referred to his injuries the fun died out of her +face. "It is unfair for you to suffer while I bear no part of the +punishment for my own thoughtlessness." Her lips trembled. + +Joe reached over and patted her hand. "It was my own fault, I tell +you," he argued. "I am all hunky dory now, anyway." + +"I know that my father would be glad to help you. Won't you let him, +please?" she begged. + +"I want no help." His reply was brusque. "I am able to take care of +myself." + +Virginia viewed him with thoughtful eyes. "I am afraid, Joe," she +protested, "that you only look at this matter from your own point of +view. There is my side, too. I want my conscience cleared of that old +accident. Every time I think of it, I am miserable. Is it nice that I +should be unhappy every time I think of the first time I met you?" + +His mood softened and his eyes showed it by their tenderness. "I want +every minute of your life to be happy," he said with warmth. + +She reddened under his words but was quick to follow up her advantage. +"Help me to be, then," she pleaded. + +"There should be a way to satisfy us both," he admitted. He dropped +his head back upon his pillow and studied the ceiling for a time. He made +a suggestion but she shook her head violently. + +She urged something and watched him expectantly. + +All at once he began to chuckle. "I have it," he cried. + +She leaned towards him and for a long time they were engaged in a +conversation which gave them both great pleasure and aroused their +enthusiasm to the highest degree. + +Miss Knight came along the aisle and stopped at Joe's bedside. "You +people are having such a good time that I have to come and get into it." + +They welcomed her as an intimate friend. + +"We'll have Joe out in a roller chair before long," the nurse boasted. +"That will be pleasanter because he can receive his visitors on the +lawn these fine days," she giggled. "After that it won't be long +until the hour of sad farewells, will it, Joe?" + +"Don't you worry, there will be no tears in my farewell I can tell you. +I shall be so delighted to get from under your tyrannical sway that I +am afraid my joy will give me a relapse and keep me in your clutches." + +Miss Knight shook her head at the depravity of men. "How's that for +ungratefulness? They bring him to me helpless with pain and I bring him +back to health. Now he calls me a tyrant. Is that the way to reward a +faithful and devoted nurse?" + +"Listen a minute, Knightie," begged Joe. + +Virginia laughed barefacedly. + +Miss Knight squelched the motorcyclist with a look, and addressed her +remarks to Virginia. "Did you hear that, now? _Knightie_--what kind of +a way is that to address a lady? The minute you utter a kind word near +him, he gets gay. He's the freshest thing I ever had in this ward." +She shook her head with weariness. "I've done my part. I have tried to +train him." + +Joe attempted to smooth the ruffled feelings of the nurse. "Sister," +he expostulated, "you don't get me--" + +"Say," snapped Miss Knight, "if you don't cut out that 'sister' +habit I'll get you all right before I am done with you." + +"Help!" groaned Joe. "What kind of a dump is this anyway? They cure +my leg but ruin my disposition. No one could ever be the same after two +months in this ward." + +"I improve them in mind and body," Miss Knight boasted. + +"You don't improve a thing," he retorted. "This place is a mad house. +I am kept awake by the voices of patients asking for poison to put them +out of their misery." + +"Those voices are calling for cooling drinks these warm nights, +which," the nurse declared ruefully, "I have to prepare in the hot +afternoons." Determination seized her. "Joe Curtis," she exclaimed, +"you have had enough lemonade this week to bathe in and I have carried +it to you. Unless you apologize immediately you will get no more. +There now." + +Before such a threat, Joe meekly surrendered and thus addressed the +stern-faced nurse. "Miss Knight, after listening to your bawling out, +I know that I should have called you 'Rapper' instead of 'Knightie,' +and I wouldn't have you as a sister at any price." + +The nurse tossed her head in disdain. "I don't care to be related to a +motorcyclist," she announced. + +Joe grinned at Virginia. "What did I tell you? No one cares for a +motorcyclist. They have no friends, even in a hospital." + +"Why should any one care about them? Their troubles are due to their +own foolishness. They are a noisy pest in the streets and they get +themselves hurt and take up bed space in hospitals which might be +devoted to better uses." Miss Knight's seriousness gave way and her +eyes danced. "And they make their nurses like them in spite of it +all," she laughed as she hurried away to another patient. + +Virginia watched Joe thoughtfully. "You take a strange way to show +Miss Knight that you like her," she told him. "You are always in an +argument with her." + +"She starts the scrap, not I." + +"But you make her do it!" + +"No," he declared with earnestness, "she jumps on me to stir things up +and give her something to talk about." + +"I don't understand you at all, Joe. You treat Miss Knight so +differently from the way you treat me. Yet, you like her," Virginia +urged. + +"It's such great sport teasing her." + +"Why don't you tease me?" + +Joe considered the question. "I don't know," he answered frankly. "I +suppose it is because you are different." + +Curiosity seized her. "How am I different?" + +Great embarrassment held his tongue. + +She was insistent. "Won't you answer my question?" she begged. + +"It's a hard one. Perhaps I can't answer it." + +"Oh, yes, you can. Try." + +He made the attempt. "Perhaps it is because I have known girls like +Miss Knight all of my life. I played with them when I was a kid, went +to school with them, and, since I have been older, called on them and +took them to dances." + +"Did you ever take them out on your motorcycle?" demanded Virginia +almost sharply. + +The question surprised him. "No, I never had another seat on my wheel. +Why?" + +"Oh, nothing." She was very indifferent now. "I don't think that I +approve of girls on motorcycles. Go on," she urged. "You were telling +about taking girls to dances. Where else did you take them?" + +He thought a moment. "Sometimes I took them to Vivian's and had ice +cream or took them to a motion picture show." + +"Oh, what fun." Virginia was thinking aloud. + +"What?" he asked. + +She very calmly disregarded his question. "You haven't told me how I +am different," she relentlessly persisted. "Please do." + +"It was the way we met, I suppose--the way I saw you first," he +confessed, fighting back his embarrassment. + +"Tell me about it, Joe," she pleaded softly. + +"I was regaining consciousness after the accident. My whole body was a +great pain. I was trying to understand what had happened." He hesitated +and then went on. "I opened my eyes. For an instant everything was +blurred and indistinct. Things were whirling about in mists and billowy +clouds. They rolled apart and through them, constantly growing clearer, +came your face." He was almost whispering now. "You looked too +beautiful for this world and I believed that I was dead." A little +smile like a wavelet before a summer's zephyr swept over his face. +"You are a girl from the clouds to me," he said gently. + +A very flushed Virginia leaned towards him. A great tenderness for this +big fellow held her, and for a moment she could not trust herself to +speak. She reached for his hand and held it in her own. "I must go," +she murmured, as if driven away by her own timidity, and then, giving +him a smile of ineffable sweetness, she left him. + +Joe Curtis was so tumultuously happy for the rest of that afternoon that +it was necessary for Miss Knight to reprove him on no less than three +occasions. + +Virginia called again upon Mr. Wilkins after leaving the hospital. Her +business with the lawyer was speedily dispatched, and upon her departure +for home, Hezekiah presented himself before Obadiah for conference. + +The manufacturer glanced at his counsel and indicated a seat. "I +was on the point of sending for you," he told Hezekiah, and in a +characteristic way went right to the matter upon his mind. "The river +water is bothering somebody again. They have started that old row about +the chemicals and dyes in the waste from the dye-house at the mill +poisoning the water. The State Board of Health is trying to tell me that +it makes the water unfit for consumption in the towns below and is +responsible for certain forms of sickness which have appeared." + +"That's bad." Hezekiah looked at the ceiling. + +"What's bad?" demanded Obadiah with asperity. + +"The sickness," the lawyer explained thoughtfully. + +"Oh, I thought you meant the waste from the dye-house," snarled Obadiah. + +"Well, isn't that bad, too? I certainly am glad that South Ridgefield +doesn't take the water for its supply below your mill. I shouldn't care +to drink it, would you?" Hezekiah could be frank. + +"What I want to drink is not the question," snapped Obadiah, raising +his voice a tone. The attitude of his attorney had aroused his +displeasure. + +"No," Hezekiah went on, "it's what you can make the other fellow +drink which interests you." + +Obadiah considered the lawyer's remarks unfortunate even if true. "I +am not trying to make anybody drink. These people have been drinking +the same water for years and now some troublemaker stirs up a hornets' +nest," he stormed. "They want to force me to build three thousand feet +of sewer to connect up with the city system and its new fangled sewage +disposal plant. I suppose this town would want rent for that, too. Did +you ever hear of such foolishness?" + +The lawyer cast a keen glance at his employer. "Don't forget," he +suggested, "that you have doubled the capacity of your mill in the +last few years and are running twice as much waste into the river as +formerly." + +"I don't care," roared Obadiah, in a high key. "It will cost several +thousand dollars to do what they want. Let those towns take care of +themselves. They must mistake me for a philanthropist trying to give my +money away." + +Hezekiah removed his glasses and closed his eyes as if desirous that no +point, in the interesting thought of Obadiah giving anything away, might +perchance escape him. + +"I won't do it," bleated Obadiah, striking the desk a resounding thump +which made Hezekiah open his eyes with a start. "I have been running +waste into that river for years and I intend to keep on doing it." He +glared at the lawyer. "You look up the decisions and be prepared to make +those people drink ink if I want to put it into the river." + +Hezekiah arose and moved over to the window. Possibly the ascertainment +of a legal method to force citizens to accept writing fluid as a +beverage perplexed him. Yet, it couldn't have been that, because his +eyes danced with the glee of a mischievous school boy, and he seemed to +have difficulty in suppressing inward mirth, as one wishing to perpetrate +a huge joke with appropriate gravity. + +In a moment he came back and faced Obadiah. "You will be glad to know +that a settlement has been reached with young Curtis," he announced +impressively. + +"You have kept Virginia out of court proceedings?" + +Hezekiah nodded. + +Obadiah appeared relieved. "That is fine. I would look like a fool with +my own daughter testifying against me in court." + +Hezekiah was trying to catch Obadiah's eye. "It is going to cost you +some money," he explained. "I warned you that young people have no +idea of the value of money. Remember, you authorized me to make the best +settlement that I could," he sternly reminded the mill owner. + +Obadiah shrugged his shoulders irritably. "Yes, I am bound by any +nonsensical agreement you have made." + +The attorney's voice was cold, and there was a glint of steel in his +eyes as he answered, "If you don't care to accept the compromise for +which I accept sole responsibility, it is your privilege to reject it +and take--the consequences." + +Obadiah leaped to his feet and rushing to his lawyer patted him upon the +shoulder. "Don't be so touchy, Hezekiah," he exclaimed. "Have I ever +failed to support you?" + +"No," Hezekiah admitted, "and you never will--but once." + +Obadiah was desirous of placating his counsel. "You misunderstand me." + +"I probably understand you better than any one else on earth." + +The remark made the manufacturer uncomfortable. "Forget it," he +pleaded. "I agree to any arrangement which you have made, because of +my friendship, if for no other reason." He shook the lawyer's hand. +"Explain the agreement. I consent." + +Hezekiah's manner was too calm. It was like the lull before a storm. +"You pay no money to the injured man," he announced. + +Obadiah's face registered his surprise. "What the devil?" he cried. + +Hezekiah gave no heed to this remark but went on with the solemnity +of a judge sentencing a prisoner. "You have agreed to furnish and to +endow for a period of five years, a private room at the South Ridgefield +Hospital to be used exclusively for the care and treatment of injured +motorcyclists." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +VIRGINIA HELPS AGAIN + + +When Obadiah received the formal notice from the hospital authorities +of the acceptance of his gift, being unversed in the ways of +philanthropists, he sent for Hezekiah and handed him the letter. "I +want nothing to do with this matter," he snapped. + +The lawyer bowed with great complacency. + +"You may be interested to know, as you didn't take the trouble to +find out," the mill owner sneered, "that this fellow, Joseph Tolliver +Curtis, is employed by the State Board of Health. He spent his time +prior to the accident riding up and down the river taking samples of +the water to make a case against me." + +"Ahem," coughed the lawyer. + +"If that fellow were getting a cent out of the agreement," Obadiah +threatened, "I would break it." + +"No, you wouldn't," replied the lawyer calmly. "I drew it and it's +enforceable. If necessary I would go into court myself to make you keep +it." + +Obadiah glowered, but his eyes fell before those of his attorney. +"Well," he growled finally, "we won't quarrel over it. You handle +the matter." A look of distress came into his face. "I'll sign the +checks but I don't want to talk about it." + +So, even though her father refused to discuss the subject Virginia +took up the matter of furnishing the room with great enthusiasm. She +sought advice from many persons but particularly from Joe Curtis, who was +deemed, through sad experience, capable of expressing the desires of +injured motorcyclists, and Miss Knight, who by long service had learned +those things which were not good for them. + +After prolonged discussion, Virginia and Joe decided that the room +should be papered in an old fashioned design with a background of +egg-shell blue. The windows were to be curtained with a fine net +having a filet edge, and the furniture was to be of massive mahogany. +Pictures portraying sporting scenes believed suitable by Joe and of +gentle landscapes considered appropriate by the girl were to adorn the +walls in equal number. A harmonizing smoking set was added, and the +floor was to be strewn with Oriental rugs. Thus furnished, it was +confidently argued, the room would be restful and agreeable to the most +discriminating of motorcyclists. + +When this plan was presented with pride to Miss Knight, she addressed +the pair in a sarcastic manner, "Did you by chance have in mind the +furnishing of a bridal suite? Haven't you forgotten a breakfast room +and a pipe organ?" + +Reduced to a fitting condition of humbleness they sat at her feet, so +to speak, as she discoursed. "The room set aside is bright and cheery. +Its walls, windows and floor need no treatment. Put in a double enameled +bedstead--a brass one if you like. Have an enameled dresser and a plain +rocker and chairs of similar type. You may have a plain wardrobe and +an enameled medicine table, too. That's all." She smiled at them. "I +have conceded a lot, too." + +"You have beautiful taste, Miss Knight. Don't you think so, Joe?" +remarked Virginia with great solemnity. + +The motorcyclist nodded a vigorous agreement. + +Thus encouraged the nurse became didactic. "The furnishing of a room +for the sick," she lectured, "is not a matter of taste. It is a +question of cleanliness. Give me a clean place with plenty of fresh +air and sunshine--nothing else counts." Before such simplicity the +pretentious plans faded, and in the end the wisdom of the nurse prevailed. + +When Virginia left the ward that day it had grown extremely warm. +"Hotter than fiddlers in Tophet," Miss Knight called it. + +"Where are those poor babies?" Virginia asked, as from a distant part +of the building came the petulant sound of infants protesting in the only +way they could against the high temperature. + +"They are in the Free Dispensary,--the cases which are brought in from +the outside. They would wring your heart," the nurse answered. + +Distress showed in Virginia's face. "I am going there and see if I can +help," she cried, and with a parting smile at Miss Knight she hurried +to the Dispensary. + +Doctor Jackson nodded to her as she entered. "Every degree that the +temperature rises means more sick babies," he worried. + +The peevish, fretful cries of the infants and the troubled looks of the +worn mothers filled the girl with pity. "How dreadful, Doctor. The poor +darlings. I wish I could help them," she said. + +The medical man glanced at her with new interest. "Miss Dale, didn't +you give that concert at the Lucinda Home?" he asked. + +When she answered him in the affirmative he came over to her. His duck +suit was rumpled and his collar wilted. His hair was mussed where he +had mopped it back. In his hand was a clinical thermometer and an +odor of drugs surrounded him. "Miss Dale," he urged, "why don't +you get up a picnic and take these mothers and babies into the country +for a few hours? You entertained the old ladies but you would save lives +if you could arrange to get some of these babies into a cool place for +awhile." He became apologetic. "I don't mean to be insistent but I am +interested in my work and if I can keep any of them from dying in this +heat spell, I want to do it. You understand me, don't you?" + +"Indeed I do, Doctor Jackson. I will be only too glad to get up a +picnic." A note of anxiety crept into her voice. "There isn't much +time to prepare. If it is to do good, we must have it at once." + +"Tomorrow, by all means," urged the physician. "Let's go to it." + +His enthusiasm filled her with energy. "It will be dandy," she cried, +her eyes sparkling with pleasure. "It will be difficult to arrange for, +but we can do it." + +The young medical man gave this pretty girl, flushed with interest +and confidence, a look of frank admiration. "That's the ticket," he +shouted, tossing professional dignity to the winds for the moment. +"You can make things hum. Hop to it, kiddo." Then more seriously, +"Let me know late this afternoon the arrangements you have made. Call +me by phone. I'll get word to the mothers if I have to carry it myself +this evening." + +Virginia's head was awhirl with vague plans when she left the hospital. + +On the way she espied Mrs. Henderson hurrying down the street in utter +disregard of the fiery heat. + +"Get in, Hennie," called Virginia, when Ike stopped the car. "I must +talk to you and I want to make you as comfortable as I can." + +"Don't mind me, child," protested the widow. "I am a hardened sinner +whom it behooves to become accustomed to heat." + +In a few words the girl explained the plan for the picnic. + +"It is a splendid thing to do," Mrs. Henderson agreed. "Of course +I'll be glad to help. Good gracious, sick babies all around us and at +our church we are dawdling over a new bell rope and a lock for the front +door." + +"It is such a relief to know that you are going to help," exclaimed +Virginia; "but away down in my heart I knew that you would." + +"There, there, dearie, I'm an old crank who is always minding other +people's business--and getting kicked for it," she ended petulantly. +"Hereafter," she affirmed emphatically, "I am going to attend to my +own affairs." A great energy filled her and she turned to Virginia, her +own words forgotten. "What can I do? If you will let Serena help me, +I will attend to the refreshments." + +"Hennie, you are a dear--that much is settled." Virginia sighed with +relief. "Now where can we have the picnic? Parks which have bands and +dancing won't do at all." + +"You are right. These mothers and babies need rest and quiet. A grove +by the river would be ideal." + +"Oh, surely, that is where we must go." The girl waxed enthusiastic. +"The babies can roll upon the grass and play together." + +"Fiddlesticks," objected Mrs. Henderson. "If you put babies on the +ground they will eat bugs, and if you allow them to roll they will go +into the river." + +"But they must be entertained." + +"Proper entertainment for babies," observed the childless widow sagely, +"is eating and sleeping with crying to while away leisure moments." +She leaned towards Ike. "Young man, do you know of a shady place along +the river where we can have a picnic?" + +"Yas'm," responded the ever courteous chauffeur. "Elgin's Grove is +er nice place fo' er picnic or a barbecue. Heaps o' shade an' de aiah +is mighty cool." + +"Who goes there?" + +"Ah ain' heard about nobody gwine dyah lately, Ma'm." + +"What made people stop going?" asked the widow, suspiciously. + +"Dey fou't dyah. Er man got killed in er fight an' de she'iff close +de gamblin' house. Ain' nothin' to go dyah fo' now." + +"It is very strange that I never heard of the place." + +"Maybe dey done specify it to you by de common folk's name?" + +"What's that?" + +"Some folks calls it Faro Beach." + +Mrs. Henderson gasped. The name recalled shocking stories of a river +resort where games of chance had flourished in open disregard of the law +until a murder had awakened public conscience and it had been closed. "I +wouldn't think of going there," she objected, and suddenly she began +to laugh. "We are creatures of convention. What difference does it make +what the place was? Indeed, if they were gambling now it wouldn't hurt +these mothers and their babies." Her manner became decisive. "Virginia, +as soon as you have your lunch, go and see the place. If it is what we +want, make arrangements for the use of it. We don't care about its +history." + +Strange as it may seem, when Virginia arrived at Elgin's Grove that +afternoon she found that Ike's description was not exaggerated. +Great oaks towered towards the blue sky shading a green sod, clear +of underbrush, rolling towards the river. The buildings were good, +although locked, and there was a well with a pump at which Ike, much +oppressed by the heat, refreshed himself, and recommended the water to +Virginia as of superior quality, in these words. "It tast'tes lak +de water f'om de seep back o' ma ole home in Tennessee. Dats de +fines' water in de worl'." + +The owner of the grove, a farmer, living a bachelor existence, after +listening in a cold and suspicious manner to Virginia's enthusiastic +description of the purposes of the picnic, suddenly thawed. Refusing pay +for the grove, he announced his personal desire to be present. Having +been straightway invited by Virginia, he agreed to unlock a building to +afford shelter in case of rain, mow among the trees to scare out the +snakes, and to clean out the well to insure a pure water supply. "Coming +on the _Nancy Jane_?" he asked her. + +"_The Nancy Jane?_" questioned the girl. + +"Yes, the steamboat that used to run here." + +Virginia became interested. "I didn't know that steamboats ran on this +river." + +"The _Nancy Jane_ ain't exactly running," admitted the farmer. "She +is tied up at South Ridgefield unless she's sunk since last week. The +_Nancy Jane_ is the best way to get to this grove and old Bill Quince +is the man to bring the old boat here. Bill Quince knows this river." + +"Would it be safe to bring the babies on it?" Virginia asked, troubled. + +The farmer chuckled softly. "You ain't in nigh as much danger of +drownin' on the old Lame Moose as of stickin'." + +"That doesn't seem such a terrible calamity," laughed Virginia. "I +will see Mr. Quince and inquire about his boat." + +"It's a nice trip, Ma'am," the farmer encouraged her. "Bill Quince +made it twice a day for two years a-carrying drunks, mostly, with nary +an accident. He is a fine man. A natural born sailor, Bill is. Takes +to the water like a duck. You won't make no mistake a trustin' Bill +Quince, I promise you, Ma'am." + +"Dat Mr. Quince is er gran' man," Ike told Virginia, on their +journey home. "He done save de life o' er po' colored boy wot was +er fishin' off de bank by his house. De pole dat de boy cut f'om de +bresh ain' long 'nough to rech out to de deep water whar de big fishes +is. He done git hisse'f er plank an' puts one end under er log an' +rest'tes de middle on a rock at de aidge o' de bank. Den he clum +out on tother en' ovah de water. Long come 'nother boy an' rolls de +log. De fisherman draps in de river. He done sink de secon' time an' +give er scan'lous yell. Mr. Quince rest'tes hisse'f by de house +an' he hear 'im. Mr. Quince tek er quick look an' den he grab er pole +wid er i'on hook off de house an hooks de boy in de britches an' +hauls 'im out, jes as he sink de las' time. Den he stan's dat kid +on his haid an' let de water run outen him an' puts ointment on +his purson, whar de hook dig 'im. He ain' no time think 'bout de +floater money." + +"What money?" inquired Virginia, much interested. + +"De floater money. Mr. Quince bein' er river man, he catches de daid +wot floats down de river, an' de county dey give 'im ten dollars fo' +each floater he git. Dat boy jes de same as daid. If Mr. Quince catch +'m er minute later, er hol' 'im undah er minute, dat boy die an' Mr. +Quince git ten dollars. Dat man is er hero, Miss Virginy." + +The girl shuddered. "Stop talking about dead people, Ike, you make +me nervous," she remonstrated, and, as they crossed the bridge, a +creepy Virginia thought she caught shadowy glimpses in the green depths +of a gruesome opportunity for Mr. Quince to win anew a reward from +his grateful county. + +The habitation of Mr. Quince presented much of interest. It was airily +although damply situated at the point of a promontory where Hog Creek +emptied its limited flow into the Lame Moose River. The site was +desirable for a man of Mr. Quince's tastes and aspirations. Upon the +one hand, the river afforded a pleasant marine foreground for the +abattoirs and packing-houses, veiled in odoriferous smoke, upon the +opposite shore. On the other hand, the quiet waters of Hog Creek offered +a safe anchorage for the good ship _Nancy Jane_ and a fleet of skiffs +in various stages of decay. + +Mr. Quince was a man of ingenuity and resourcefulness, and a natural +forager. On the day that he selected this site, for the sojournment +of himself and a stray youth who had elected to follow his fortunes, +Mr. Quince built a fire and cooked some fish. The next sun saw a brush +leanto constructed, shortly made impervious to rain by a covering of old +canvas. This structure was followed in turn, as freshets deposited their +beneficent fruits, by a board shack, a hut and at last a something which +a charitable public called a house. + +While the evolution of Mr. Quince's fireside furnished much of +professional interest to sociologists, it was viewed by that soulless +corporation which owned the land, a railroad company, as an attempt +to establish adverse possession, by open, notorious, and hostile +occupancy. Divers ejectments, although temporarily successful, failed of +permanent effect and Mr. Quince dwelt in more or less of a state of siege. + +Virginia found the riverman seated before his house, in a chair shaped +out of a barrel, and prevented from being mislaid by its permanent +attachment to a post in the ground. His experienced eyes watched the +surface of the river for signs of treasure trove awash. Upon the front of +his residence, conveniently at hand, hung the pole with the iron hook, +while, at the foot of a precipitous pathway, an old skiff bobbed, readily +available to meet emergencies of the deep. + +The arrival of the automobile startled Mr. Quince. To this aquatic man, +a boat upon the river offered the more agreeable pathway to his home. +He arose nervously, as one suspecting ejectment proceedings. The wind +blew his patched overalls and flannel shirt about his tall, thin figure. + +Ike, bowing respectfully, spoke words of greeting. "Howdy, Bill." + +"Howdy," returned the mariner, calmed by the thought that it was +not the custom of courts to rely upon such instrumentalities as negro +chauffeurs and young maidens. + +"We want to rent your boat for a picnic at Elgin's Grove tomorrow," +called Virginia. + +The tender of charter appeared to surprise Mr. Quince. He removed his +ancient hat and scratched his scalp. + +"Where is your boat?" Virginia looked about as if expecting to discover +the _Priscilla_ or _Commonwealth_ at rest upon the bosom of Hog Creek. + +The riverman pointed and the girl's eyes followed his finger. + +On the creek floated a monument to the ingenuity of Bill Quince. +Contrary to accepted naval traditions, the _Nancy Jane_ was in two +parts. A rusty traction engine rested upon a decked scow almost square +in form. It was geared by belt, chains and sprockets to a water wheel +as wide as the scow and attached to its stern. This was the power plant, +and, coupled to the front of it, was a second scow of like width but +greater length. Decked over, railed, and covered by a wooden canopy, it +furnished the passenger accommodations of the craft. + +Such disappointment as Virginia felt was swept aside by the profound +admiration of Ike for this vessel. + +"Dat's er fine boat," he exclaimed. "Ah done had ma good times on +dat ole boat. When you gits out on de cool river on dat ship you feels +like er fightin' cock on er hot night." + +Ike's reference to the cool river encouraged his mistress to continue +negotiations. "Can we rent it?" she asked. + +"You kin rent it if you want to. They hain't no law again it," the +mariner agreed. "But I hain't sure that she's goin' to move none." +His sporting blood was aroused. "I'll bet two bits that old engine is +a-rusted tight." + +Virginia desired certainty. "How am I going to find out if the boat will +go?" she worried. + +Approaching the car, Mr. Quince rested an elbow upon the edge of the door +and a huge foot upon the running board. His thin jaw wagged incessantly +and his eyes viewed the distant reaches of the river as he pensively +ruminated upon the problem. At last a solution came to him. "We mought +hist 'er over by hand," he told Ike. + +"Do what?" the girl inquired anxiously, puzzled at what was to be +"histed." + +"See if we can turn the old engine over," explained Mr. Quince. + +Ike having agreed to the suggestion, he and the riverman clambered down +the bank and across a plank to the deck of the _Nancy Jane_. A period +of silence ensued, broken by violent language when Mr. Quince put his +confidence in and his weight against a rotten lever. There followed the +sound of strong men grunting and breathing heavily. A sudden scramble +took place and with a great splash the wheel of the _Nancy Jane_ clove +the amber surface of Hog Creek. + +Mr. Quince and Ike returned, perspiring freely. + +"She turned," declared Mr. Quince with pride. "She hain't rusted up +much in nigh unto two year." + +"Is it settled? We can rent the boat?" demanded Virginia, all business. + +"I hain't so sure," replied the mariner doubtfully. "This yere river +bottom changes every day. I hain't took the _Nancy Jane_ to Elgin's +Grove in two year. I dunno as I knows where the old channel has gone. I +guess I plum forgot." + +"Couldn't we get some one who knows the river?" Virginia failed to +reckon with the pride of seafaring men. + +"There hain't no man knows the Lame Moose like I knows her," protested +Mr. Quince greatly offended. "I allers was the pilot of the _Nancy Jane_ +and I still aims so to be." + +Virginia smiled sweetly at the hurt riverman. "Please take us up in your +boat. It will be so much fun." + +Mr. Quince surrendered. "I'll take the old boat to the grove if I have +to wait for the spring freshets to do it." + +"It won't be dangerous, will it?" cried Virginia, disturbed by the +vigor of the mariner's remarks. "The boat won't sink, will it?" + +"That wouldn't make no odds, nohow," Mr. Quince reassured her. "That +bottom of the Lame Moose is so near the top you wouldn't know no +difference." + +It was finally agreed that the _Nancy Jane_ should await the arrival of +its passengers at a convenient place below the highway bridge at the +hour of ten on the next morning. But, before they left, Mr. Quince, after +inspecting the cars upon nearby switch tracks, announced, "I don't +seem to have no coal a layin' around handy, so I better have five bucks +on account in case I have to buy some." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN OUTING AND AN ACCIDENT + + +The heat wave had not broken in the morning. At eight o'clock South +Ridgefield sweltered beneath a rising temperature with no promise of +relief. + +"The poor babies!" thought Virginia. "It is hotter than ever; but +the picnic will help them." She remembered how warm it had been at the +hospital on the previous day and fell to thinking of Joe Curtis, and +her eyes grew soft and dreamy as she wished that he was going on the +river trip. + +The high temperature had caused Obadiah to spend a restless night and he +was peevish and irritable when Virginia told him of the plans for the +day. "You should not have mixed up in such matters without consulting +me," he snapped. "It is indiscreet and may lead to your embarrassment. +That hole up the river used to have a most unsavory reputation." He +paused as if seeking for other objections, and then went on. "You might +get a sun stroke." + +In a moment she had her arms about his neck and kissed him. "There it +is, Daddy. Thinking of me as usual." + +"How can I help--," he grumbled. + +She gave a joyous laugh and interrupted him. "I knew that you would want +to help, too, Daddy. You may--allow Mr. Jones and Mr. Kelly to come to +the picnic. It will be an outing which they will enjoy." + +Obadiah drew away from her caresses. "Don't interfere with my office," +he snarled. "I was greatly embarrassed when I returned on the afternoon +of the concert and found no one there. I spoke to them both about it." + +Virginia flushed with feeling. "Did they tell you that I asked them +to come?" she demanded, and when his face admitted it, she continued, +"Regardless of the permission you gave me in this very room to ask any +one I wished to the concert, you criticised me, Daddy, to your employees. +If you objected to my actions, why didn't you come to me?" + +The unwonted stand of his daughter made Obadiah ill at ease. He flushed +angrily and then regained control of himself. "There, there, don't get +excited. I didn't say much--a mere nothing." He drew her towards him +but she held her head stiffly, looking straight ahead. He kissed her +cheek and whispered, "Don't be cross, dear. Of course Kelly and Jones +may go to your picnic, if you want them." + +She turned to him. The look of injury was gone. "I was cross, Daddy. +I did wrong, and I beg your pardon." She raised her lips for him to kiss +and gave a little laugh in which there were memories of sadness. + +That morning there was unusual activity on the South Ridgefield river +front. The peace of Hog Creek was disturbed by the clang of shovels, the +ring of slice bars, and the hissing of steam. Billowy clouds of smoke +curling from the funnel of the _Nancy Jane_ mixed with the river mist +and gave variety to the smells emanating from the slaughter houses on +the further shore. + +As the sun dissipated the fog, the _Nancy Jane_ left her anchorage, +and, with much puffing and squeaking, breasted the sluggish current of +the Lame Moose River. To the youth of the town, the reappearance of +the craft was a matter of supreme interest, and, grouped along the bank, +they gave voice to their pleasure in cheers. So, it is painted, the +rural New Yorkers greeted the maiden voyage of the _Clermont_. + +The _Nancy Jane_ hove to and made fast at her appointed tryst with the +babies. Thereafter, Mr. Quince, bearing the pole with the iron hook +as arms, acted as a landing party, and dispersed groups of youth who +displayed a disposition to visit the ship without invitation. + +Dr. Jackson came aboard at an early hour, and caused a truck load of cots +to be arranged in two long rows down the center of the deck. Upon these +he prepared comfortable beds of blankets. + +Mr. Quince viewed these activities in the light of his personal +experiences. "I have seen 'em dance and sing and fight on the _Nancy +Jane_ but I hain't never seen nobody sleep much, leastwise, if they +was sober." Suspicion entered his mind regarding the intentions of the +physician. "You hain't a thinkin' of pullin' off no booze party +in these prohibition times, air yer?" he demanded. "I don't want +no law on me. I'm a respectable man and I runs a respectable boat." + +The distrust cast upon his efforts to relieve suffering disgusted the +doctor. "You attend to your business and I'll attend to mine. You can +kick when I start something wrong," he protested. + +"All right, old hoss, I have warned yer. There's a cop on the bridge +a watching yer, now." Mr. Quince pointed to where a policeman leaned +lazily over the bridge rail and inspected the _Nancy Jane_ with the mild +curiosity aroused by its re-advent upon the river. + +The absurd suggestion of the riverman irritated the doctor to redoubled +energy. Jumping on the bank, he seized a carboy of lime water which he +wrapped in a blanket and brought aboard, endeavoring to protect it from +the sun's rays by concealing it beneath a cot. + +Mr. Quince's worst suspicions were confirmed. He called to his follower. +"Sim, come here!" + +The lad approached. He was coolly attired in a worn shirt, overalls and +a broken straw hat. + +"Sim, be my witness." The manner of Mr. Quince was dignified, as +befitted one taking part in a legal ceremonial. He turned towards the +busy medical man, a law-abiding citizen virtuously facing one of criminal +desires. "I hereby warns yer agin' putting any licker on this yere +boat," he cried in a stern voice. + +"Oh, shut up," shouted the aggravated Doctor. "Don't be a fool." + +"You heard him and you heard me, Sim. Now I got the goods on that feller +if we git pinched," and, with an effort to engrave the matter upon the +mind of his follower, the riverman concluded in the accepted tone of +Hamlet's ghost, "Remember." + +"Ayah," responded the indifferent Sim. + +The arrival of members of the picnic party prevented further discussion +of this matter. + +Down the steps from the bridge they came, a sisterhood of the tired, +the worried, the anxious. The cruel strokes of labor and poverty were +relentlessly erasing the softness of youth. The bearing of children and +unceasing toil had destroyed their figures, and already the weariness +of age was creeping into their movements. + +Yet this was no gathering of the sorrowing. Upon each breast rested, +in gentle embrace, the fulfillment of womanhood. Their pledge to the +perpetuation of their kind, their duty to the responsibilities and +opportunities of dawning centuries. The pride of motherhood was upon +worn faces as coverings were adjusted about soft cheeks and tiny eyes +twinkled and fat hands made spasmodic efforts to grasp something where +nothing was. Coarse and strident voices dropped to a musical tenderness +as they harked to the mysterious language of baby land. + +Even as the first mothers arrived, came Virginia followed by Serena and +Ike, carrying food. Mr. Vivian appeared, bringing monstrous ice cream +freezers. Mrs. Henderson headed a small procession consisting of a man +bringing oceans of milk and another with perfect bergs of ice. + +The mothers charged upon Dr. Jackson, the familiar friend of their +households, in noisy confusion. In sharp and emphatic tones, he brought +order out of this feminine chaos in a manner pleasing even to that +marine disciplinarian, Mr. Quince, who had watched the arrival of his +passengers with great astonishment. Two lines of kicking, struggling, +emotion swept infants were stretched upon the cots, and lifted their +voices in a chorus which sounded above the hiss of steam from the boiler. + +Mr. Quince was an adaptable man, and, regardless of his amazement at the +character of his cargo, he rose to the occasion. Boarding his ship, he +inspected the rows of infants. "Wisht I'd a knowed these yere kids," +he worried. "I mought a picked up some old trunk checks at the railroad +station." + +"What for, Mr. Quince?" asked Virginia. + +"Some of these yere kids a lyin' around careless like is agoin' to +git mixed up and start the allfiredest fight amongst these women folks. +Nothin' makes a woman madder and want to fight quicker than to lose a +kid." Mr. Quince spoke in the tone of one accustomed to hailing the main +top in the midst of storm, and his voice carried authoritative anxiety +to the ears of every mother. + +A scene of confusion ensued. The dire prophecy of the riverman caused +each mother to seize her offspring and press it to her breast. The +infants, having expressed acceptance of their new surroundings by falling +asleep, were disturbed and made known their objections in loud wailings. + +"Who stirred up those babies?" Dr. Jackson demanded, angrily. + +"He did," chorused the mothers, indicating the worthy seafaring man. +"He said that they would get mixed up." The hostile eyes of the matrons +watched Mr. Quince as if suspicious that he might attempt personally to +bring about the fulfillment of his prediction. + +"Nonsense," shouted Dr. Jackson. "You mothers ought to know your own +babies by now, and, if you don't, you certainly know the clothes they +have on." + +This assurance had a calming influence and quiet was slowly restored. +For a time Dr. Jackson appeared about to reprimand the riverman, but +hesitated, probably fearful of again being placed on record. + +Mr. Quince perceived the evidences of his personal unpopularity with +great coolness. Unabashed, he remarked, "You're gettin' all het up +a layin' around here with your kids. There's nothing to it but a heap +of sweating. Let's go." + +"Wait a minute, please," begged Virginia. "I think that some one else +is coming. Won't you blow your whistle, Mr. Quince?" + +At this request, real embarrassment descended upon the skipper. After +scratching his head reflectively, he went aft to the engine room, or, +more accurately, climbed across to the rear barge and entered into +conference with Sim. After a period of argument and persuasion, that +young man took a slice bar and pounded at the lever of the whistle. A +great cloud of steam hissed forth, from the midst of which came a thin +wailing note very like in volume those advertising the presence of hot +roasted peanuts. + +Above the noise came a cry of "Whoa, hold on." Kelly, followed by +Mr. Jones, gallantly guarding Miss Knight, lest she inadvertently +plunge headlong into the waves below, descended from the bridge. The +stenographer was fittingly garbed for the occasion in flannel trousers, +silk shirt, serge coat and yachting cap. + +"We can go now, Mr. Quince," cried Virginia, making herself heard with +difficulty above the roar of escaping steam. + +"We hain't a goin' yet awhile," bellowed the commander of the _Nancy +Jane_. "The durned old whistle is stuck and a lettin' all the steam out +of the old biler." + +Dr. Jackson and Kelly repaired to the engine room to inspect conditions. +In a moment the medical man returned, and, procuring his surgical case, +hurried back towards the hissing boiler. + +"It's de fust time ah evah seed er Doctor called fo' er enjine," Ike +told Serena. "Maybe it got de pip." + +"It soun' mo'e lak de croup," chuckled Serena. + +With characteristic energy, the doctor applied a bandage to the whistle +which so confined the steam that Sim was able, with sundry taps of a +wrench, to abate "the hemorrhage of vapor," as the medical man termed +it. + +There followed a pleasant period for friendly conversation, disturbed +only by the cries of infants, the scrape of the shovel, and the clang of +the furnace door. + +During this time, the skipper sat on a box and pensively viewed the +slow movement of the needle of the steam gauge. Finally he became +energetic. Climbing upon the bank, he cast off the forward hawser of the +_Nancy Jane_. Noting the eyes of the passengers to be upon him, he +assumed a care free air tinged with a certain dignity, as if the handling +of the _Nancy Jane_, a perplexing problem to others, was a trifling +matter to him. Likewise, he entered into explanations, ostensibly for +Sim's benefit. "I've cast off the bow line. I'm agoin' to let the +current swing er out, then we'll start ahead and you cast off that stern +line." + +Before the eyes of the marveling mothers, Mr. Quince assumed a position +at the extreme front of the boat, on a small deck beyond the railing. +He held the pole across his body, as the balancing stick of a tightrope +walker, and watched the current swing the _Nancy Jane_ away from the bank. + +Sim waited, motionless as a statue, with a grimy paw on the throttle. + +"Let 'er go," sang Mr. Quince, as from the bridge of the _Leviathan_, +his powerful voice echoing against the bluffs far up the river. + +With much groaning and creaking the engine took up the play of its +gearing, and choked down with a grunt as the paddles of the water wheel +stuck in the clay bank. + +Seizing their babies, the mothers arose and screamed. The infants also +gave tongue. + +As one man, Dr. Jackson and Kelly sprang to their feet. "Sit down," +they shouted. + +"Is de biler gwine blow up?" Serena asked Ike, nervously. + +"Dat ole enjine jes balky. Dat's all," he reassured her. + +In this moment of marine disaster, Mr. Quince displayed great coolness +and judgment. "Look out," he shouted to Sim, and leaped ashore with +great agility. From this position of vantage he commanded, "Stop 'er!" +He then displayed wonderful presence of mind by casting off the stern +line. Returning on board, he seized his pole and pushed the _Nancy Jane_ +out into the river. + +Once more, upon signal, the engine strained and a large chunk of South +Ridgefield soil splashed into the river. The relieved paddle wheel caught +the water and the _Nancy Jane_ headed up the Lame Moose for Elgin's +Grove. Mr. Quince plied his pole diligently, and, exerting his good +muscles, shoved his craft into the channel it should follow. + +The journey to the Grove was accomplished without notable incident. The +sun shone upon the shallow water at such an angle that Mr. Quince was +able to view the bottom of the river through the transparent liquid as +a pathway stretching before him. + +During the voyage the heat was not oppressive, and the infants slept +while their mothers enjoyed a restful holiday. This peace was threatened +only when an impromptu orchestra consisting of Sim on the harmonica and +Ike on a pair of improvised bones showed a disposition to render some +of the frivolous airs of the moment for the edification of the ladies. + +Elgin's Grove lay cool and inviting as the _Nancy Jane_ stood in towards +the shore. The shallowness of the water made it necessary to reach the +bank by a narrow gang plank, thoughtfully provided by the steam boat +commander. As soon as this was in position, Virginia led the party +ashore where the farmer cordially welcomed them with the original remark, +"Ain't you folks afraid you're lost?" The supplies were landed +amidst much boisterous excitement by Kelly, assisted by Mr. Quince, Sim +and Ike. + +Mr. Jones escorted Miss Knight ashore, bearing her parasol. She joined +Dr. Jackson and Virginia, who were making plans for the general welfare. + +Suddenly the mill owner's daughter turned to the stenographer and, +smiling sweetly, said, "Mr. Jones, may I depend upon you to see that +the cots are brought up from the boat?" + +Mr. Jones bowed with great dignity. "You will always find me at your +service, Miss Dale," he responded, in dulcet tones. The day was rosy to +him. The system of exercise, to which Kelly had unfeelingly condemned +him, was having its effect. He felt better than he had for years. +Likewise it appeared that his dreams were coming true. That very morning +Obadiah had come to him and, in quite the approved manner of addressing +private secretaries, saving a certain undue sharpness of tone, had +said, "Jones, I wish you and Kelly to accompany my daughter on a +picnic which she is giving today. The boat leaves the bridge at ten +o'clock, I believe." Now, too, had his employer's daughter, aware of +correct usages when private secretaries were about, singled him by +name to assist her. It was of course to be regretted that this picnic +was charitable in its nature and attended only by vulgar persons, but +from the intimacy of such an occasion, it was but a step to the dances +and dinners of his heart's desire. + +Filled with joy, Mr. Jones cast aside his coat and ran across the +greensward with the grace of a fawn. He shouted for Kelly and Ike, +and in a moment had gathered about him the strong men of the party. +He issued his instructions in the terse, certain words of a leader of +men. Under his cheery encouragement, cots, with a man at each end, +moved rapidly from the boat to their appointed place beneath the trees. + +Perceiving the flushed face and the speed of the stenographer's +movements, Virginia bestowed upon him a glorious smile of approval and +called, "Oh, Mr. Jones, what a help you are to me!" + +The private secretary became proud nigh unto the bursting point. He +redoubled his efforts, and in a moment all but the last cot was ashore. +Kelly uplifted the far end and bawled for aid. + +Instantly, Mr. Jones was at hand to seize upon the shore end of the cot. +A leg caught upon a stanchion. The stenographer jerked at it. "Get a +move on you!" he commanded Kelly. + +"Wait, you cheese! What's your hurry?" retorted the bookkeeper, as +he attempted to withdraw the cot from the stanchion to release the leg. + +"Come on!" urged the strenuous Mr. Jones, turning and facing Kelly. The +leg was freed. "Hustle, you big lobster! Can't you lift your clumsy +feet?" persisted the driver of men. + +Before this admonishment Kelly advanced with alacrity. + +Mr. Jones moved backwards, blindly, but with haste. + +"Look out!" sounded Kelly's warning; but alas, too late. + +In his hurry Mr. Jones missed the gang plank and plunged backwards from +the scow into three feet of mud and water. The screams of frightened +women rent the air. A cry for the police arose from Mr. Vivian, while +from the lips of that seasoned sailor, Sim, rang that terrifying cry, +"Man overbo-o-o-ard." + +Mr. Quince sprang into action at the alarm as a fireman at the stroke of +the gong. With a mighty leap he landed on the bow of the _Nancy Jane_. +Seizing his pole, he ran along the edge of the barge with the agility of +a cat towards the circling waves which alone marked where the private +secretary had disappeared. Mr. Quince reached forth tentatively with his +pole, as Mr. Jones, having scrambled to his knees beneath the flood, +emerged coughing and scrambling from the water. + +The head of Mr. Jones came up, the pole of Mr. Quince went down. They met. + +"_Wough!_" The stenographer lifted his voice in anguish and seated +himself upon the river bottom, his head protruding above the surface +of the water. + +Undiscouraged, Mr. Quince, with practiced hand, continued to seek for +Mr. Jones with the iron hook. + +"Get off of me with that thing. It hurts," protested the moist private +secretary. + +Regardless of these objections from his victim, Mr. Quince would have +persisted in his efforts with a diligence certain of reward had not +Kelly reached down from the bank, and, seizing the dripping and miserable +stenographer by the hand, pulled him ashore. + +Mr. Quince desisted from his fishing operations only when his prey was +beyond his reach. Turning to Ike who had regarded his life saving +with profound approval, he boasted, "I'd a got him by the britches +sure, if he hadn't a bin a settin' down." He rested upon his pole and +his eagle eye swept the river, flashing brilliant in the sunshine. +Into his face, but recently lighted with enthusiasm, came a look of +dissatisfaction, of disappointment, as he confided his woe to the +chauffeur. "There hain't nobody ever gits drownded in the old Lame +Moose," he complained. "Hain't 'nough water to drownd a weasel." + +To Ike came comprehension of the troubled soul of the river-man, and he +endeavored to comfort him. "Dey am' 'nough water in dis yere river +to slac' de thirst o' er g'asshopper," he agreed. + +Loud conversation took place among the mothers as Dr. Jackson announced +his purpose of serving sustenance to those infants whose habit it was +to resort to artificial sources for nourishment. Much attention was +given to the sterilization of bottles, the measuring of milk, and the +addition of lime water thereto. The medical man took the opportunity +to deliver a lecture upon the feeding of infants with some reference to +their early care and discipline, and Virginia took base advantage of +her position as picnic manager to hold the babies while they enjoyed +bottled refreshments. She would have also kissed each recipient of her +favor had she not been sternly repressed by Dr. Jackson, much to the +amusement of Mrs. Henderson. + +"Let the child kiss the babies if she wants to, Doctor," urged the +widow. + +"No," he refused with firmness. "Kissing is dangerous. Now that we +have prohibition, if we could get rid of smoking and kissing, things +would be about right." + +"Are you engaged, Doctor?" + +"No, certainly not. What made you ask me that, Mrs. Henderson?" + +"I wonder why I did, myself, Doctor. It was a foolish question." + +At the close of the infantile banquet, the mothers returned their +offspring to the line of cots, where, protected by mosquito netting, +they straightway relapsed into slumber. + +Kelly, who had returned alone from the depths of the woods into which he +had departed with the dripping Mr. Jones, was greatly interested, and +addressed Miss Knight. "Watch those kids pound their ears! They sure +eat sleep as soon as they hit the hay." + +The nurse looked at the bookkeeper inquiringly. "What are you? Wop, +Guiney, Polock or Sheeny?" + +"Why?" + +"You must hate the English language. I thought that you must be +foreign." + +His eyes were dancing when he looked at her and said, "My name is Kelly, +Miss Knight." + +"That explains it," she laughed. + +The bachelor farmer who owned the grove watched the pleasant scene +from a seat upon the well curb. Resting upon the damp planking, he +philosophically sucked upon a black pipe, and gave ear to the prevalent +wisdom on baby feeding. He modified this, no doubt, in his own mind, in +the light of his own experience as a successful stock feeder. + +With that social spirit always noticeable in his character, Ike joined +the agriculturist and entered into casual conversation. "Dis is er fine +grove you got yere, Misto Elgin." + +"It's by long odds the best grove on the river." + +"Yas'r." The chat languished until reopened by Ike on other lines. +"You has er fine view, Misto Elgin, an' you has got fine trees an' +you has got fine aiah." + +The farmer chuckled. "If you'd a bin 'round here yesterday afternoon +when I cleaned out the well I'll bet the air would have made you sick +at your stomach, boy." + +"How cum?" Ike demanded sharply, his eyes rolling white with anxiety. + +"The old hole was full of dead reptiles and varmints. I got a skunk, a +rabbit, two frogs and three snakes out and a couple of things so far gone +I couldn't tell 'em. Gorry but they stunk." + +"You 'spec' dey mek dat water bad?" pleaded Ike, in a voice pathetic +in its intenseness. + +"Water with things like that in it is deadly pizen, I cal'late," the +farmer told him, with a shudder at his own repulsive memories. + +Ike leaped to his feet hurriedly. Fear lifted him "'Scuse me, Sar," +he murmured, as if he had been suddenly taken ill. A moment later, +discovering the medical man resting in the shade of a great tree, the +negro approached him with an air of indifference tempered with respect. +For all that he knew this might be a dreaded "night doctor"--one of +those fearful beings who steal about in the late hours of the night +despoiling sepulchers and seizing late strollers for the benefit of +science. It is obviously unwise to irritate such characters, lest evil +befall one. + +"Dis is er fine day, Doc," Ike suggested. + +"Yes." + +"Doc, do pizen hit er man suddin?" + +The physician glanced lazily at the negro. The spirit of mischief seized +him. "Look here, boy," he cried, in a threatening manner, "I warn you +as a friend as well as a medical man to keep away from poison. You are +so tough, so ornery, so low down good for nothing and lazy, that poison +would have to work slow under your hide and you would die a lingering +and painful death." + +Without another word Ike departed. The verdict had been handed down and +sentence passed. Before him lay a dreadful death. He sought solitude in +which to pass his few remaining hours and to prepare for his fearful +end. Stumbling along, he came upon the ice cream freezers and the +lunch baskets. Serena and Mr. Vivian sat among them, engaged in debate +regarding the preparation of certain types of cake in view of the high +cost of eggs. + +To Ike's mind, this was the kitchen. His home, his place of retirement, +should logically be back of this. Within him burned increasing fear. +Upon self-examination, he discovered that peculiar symptoms beset every +part of his body. Unquestionably the fatal hour approached. The time +of paroxysms and fits was at hand. Trembling and almost blind from +apprehension, the chauffeur circled the refreshments and the culinary +argument. He came upon a shady nook. The tall brush had been pulled +aside and fashioned into a rude canopy which, with the tree branches +overhead, afforded a double protection from the sun. Within it, his +confused eyes made out that which appeared a couch decked forth with +old blankets and gunny sacks. Ike sank upon this with a moan of anguish +and, with his kinky head buried in the crook of his elbow, awaited the +final agony which would herald the passing of his soul. + +With that love for solitude and self-communion, so common to unusual +minds, Mr. Quince had not mingled with the ladies. While technically a +member of the picnic party, he was not one with it in spirit, in taste or +in aspiration. Those who go down to the sea in ships give but little heed +to infant culture. Therefore, he strolled about the circumference of the +festivities instead of in their midst and thus came upon the recumbent +Ike. + +"What's the matter now?" he demanded in the rough manner of a man +hardened by contact with nature in her wildest moods. + +Ike emitted a dismal groan. + +Mr. Quince, ever one of action, promptly applied that treatment deemed +peculiarly efficacious in the treatment of those intoxicated. He seized +the negro by his shoulders and shook him violently. "Come up!" he +roared. "Git a move on yer, yer lazy bum." + +"Lemme go!" protested Ike, astounded at the administration of such +radical restorative measures to one about to shuffle off. "Ah'm er dead +man. Ah'm er gwine to pass away." + +Mr. Quince registered intense interest. "Yer don't say?" He scratched +his head reflectively and brought the cold light of reason to bear +upon the problem. "Whatcher talkin' about," he went on in tones of +regret. "Yer hain't dead"; and concluded more hopefully, "Leastways +not yit." + +"He'p," moaned Ike, apparently in intense agony. + +Mr. Quince pensively spat a stream of tobacco juice across the bier +of the dying one. "Maybe that doctor mought give yer some dope," he +suggested, with great deliberation. + +Ike's answer was a sepulchral groan. + +Dr. Jackson, with the utmost possible composure was receiving from a +group of mothers that feminine adulation usually accorded the members +of his profession. + +Mr. Quince slowly approached them. "That black boy is er dying over +there," he hailed, as an officer ex-changing casual greetings from his +bridge with a passing ship. + +The doctor leaped to his feet with a startled look. So did the mothers +as well as every one else who was sitting down. They moved in a body to +the side of the expiring chauffeur. About his couch they grouped, as it +is painted that courts gather by the bedside of expiring monarchs to +receive the royal farewell. + +Before the assembled multitude, Ike moaned and groaned in anguish of mind +and body. + +Dr. Jackson examined him. "What's the matter?" he asked. + +"Ah done drink poison," Ike whined. "De col' chills is er runnin' +down ma back an' ma laigs. Ah's gwine ter die." + +Serena drew near. Her extensive acquaintance with the young man made her +skeptical in all things concerning him. She examined his surroundings +with interest and cried, "Ef dat fool ain' got no bettah sense an' +to lay hisse'f out on ma ice why ain' he got col' chills?" + +Lifting a sack, Dr. Jackson exposed the smooth surface of a block of ice. + +Ike sprang from his chilly couch. + +Serena made indignant outcry. "Howcum yo'all mek er coolin' boa'd +out er ma ice when ah needs it fo' lemonade? Ah fin' out mighty quick +ef you is er dyin' when ah surves de fried chicken." + +Disgust developed among the mothers; but Ike took no note of popular +feeling. His was the joy of a reprieved man as his pains flew away before +the reassuring laughter of the medical man. + +"Let's have something to eat," suggested the chuckling practitioner, +when he had completed this cure by faith. + +As if by magic, the luncheon was spread, and how those blissfully +contented mothers did eat and make the woods ring with the merriment of +their holiday. The fun was given greater impetus by the reappearance of +Mr. Jones who, pending the drying of his own more luxurious apparel, +was clothed in garments of rural simplicity loaned by the farmer. + +Embarrassment spoke from every feature of the stenographer as, in the +midst of laughter, he approached the festive spread. + +Virginia perceived his sad case and beckoned him to her side. "Here +is Mr. Jones," she announced. "He suffered for the cause and shall be +our guest of honor." With her own hands she arranged a place for him +and saw that he had food enough for two men. This she made sweeter with +smiles of approval and appreciation. + +The private secretary said but little. Yet the day became beautiful, and +once again joy rested in his heart. + +In the coolness of Elgin's grove, the afternoon of the hottest day +South Ridgefield ever experienced passed lazily. The mothers chatted +and laughed and some took naps; but best of all the babies ate and slept +in comfortable rotation as the hot hours passed. + +Upon repeated urgings by Mr. Quince the tired party re-embarked upon +the _Nancy Jane_ after supper. The riverman explained gloomily, "I +hain't got no use for this old river after dark. The government hain't +hangin' no lanterns on the snags in the Lame Moose, and I hain't got +nothin' to steer by but the lightnin' bugs." + +Regardless of the skipper's attitude, the departure was delayed because +a postprandial nap of Sim's had allowed the steam to get low while the +commanding officer persuaded the passengers to return aboard. + +Becoming aware of this condition, rough language was used abaft the +beam, as the Captain addressed the crew. Mutiny was evidently rampant, +as the crew was heard to invite the Captain to return home on foot if +dissatisfied with its efforts. Then came arbitration, and, after a time, +above the noise of argument, the hissing of steam sounded in increasing +volume. + +The shadows of night lay upon the waters as the _Nancy Jane_ left +Elgin's Grove. Since it was too dark for the navigator to procure his +accustomed view of the river bottom, he peered into the gloom with +anxious eyes. Upon the banks the tops of the trees showed clear against +the evening sky; but the shadowy mass below was of a nature to baffle +the judgment of all but the most experienced pilots. + +Mr. Quince was not baffled. He laid the _Nancy Jane_ upon a course down +the middle of the stream, and, laying aside the tiller, he retired to the +engine room where, in a voice which reached every ear upon the lightless +deck, he conversed with the engineer regarding the more intimate details +of navigation. "How much steam have you got on the old tea pot?" +he asked, and when Sim told him, complained, "That hain't enough to +make this yere turtle crawl home." + +"It's all this leaky kettle kin hold," objected the engineer. + +Mr. Quince made technical explanations. "Steam is a blowin' out of the +safety valve. That's where yer air losin' power. I cal'late the old +flat iron is er slippin'. I'll fix 'er." + +The shuffling of feet sounded. + +"How kin you tell where you are a-puttin' that flat iron?" protested +Sim. "You're a goin' to bust the darned oil biler a foolin' with +that valve in the dark. You can't see what you're doin' no more than +a mole." + +"I hain't slipped 'er out er notch. She's where she orter be. This +biler hain't er goin' to blow up. What's it to yer any way; it hain't +your biler." + +"Ain't I got to stand by the blame thing?" + +"What's eatin' on yer?" asked Mr. Quince, a trifle obscurely. "Yer +know dern well you're too blame lazy to shovel enough coal under the +old wash biler to git her het up none before we git home." + +This struck Sim as reasonable. He changed the subject and inquired, +"Where are we?" + +A voice remarkably like that of Mr. Quince, although it could not have +been that experienced river man, responded, "I dunno." + +Leaves rustled along the roof, and the skipper departed hurriedly +for his post or, more accurately, his pole. For a time he wielded it +energetically. The current was assisting the engine and so they moved +fairly rapidly. The glow of South Ridgefield showed above the trees, +and, with ever greater frequency, the lights of scattered houses gleamed +upon either bank. They passed the suburbs. Upon either shore lay dark +masses of manufacturing plants lighted by isolated electric lights. They +were abreast of Obadiah Dale's mill now, while a short block away +stretched the ghostly fabric of the highway bridge, dimly traced by its +own arch of lights. Beneath it was their landing place; so the mothers +began to prepare to land and to thank Virginia for their pleasant day. + +Mr. Quince, of course, was at his post. Resting himself upon his pole, +he was enjoying that satisfaction over duty well performed which abides +in the breasts of ships' captains and locomotive engineers when they +bring their passengers to a safe journey's end. + +Suddenly the bow of the _Nancy Jane_ rose slowly and imperceptibly. There +was a sizzling, grinding sound, and the boat stopped abruptly but softly +as against a cushion, aground on a sand bar. As the craft struck there +was a forward movement upon her deck, and a shifting of passengers and +freight. A resounding splash sounded in front of the wrecked vessel. +Mr. Quince, resting meditatively upon the pole, had been, sad to relate, +hove over the bow of his own ship. At the moment of his departure he +gave a diabolical yell. + +A scene of terror ensued. Mothers sending forth wild screams hugged +their babes to their bosoms as they faced the unknown perils of the +night. They were not made calmer by a rhythmic heaving of the deck, +accompanied by a mighty boiling and beating of the water astern, as +the paddle wheel exerted itself against the sand bar. Perhaps Sim wished +to emulate "Jim Bludso" of heroic fame, and, in the absence of his +pilot, keep the engine going "to hold her nozzle agin the bank." + +With soothing and calming words, Kelly and Dr. Jackson finally brought +a partial calm when panic seemed assured. + +At the first alarm, Ike had leaped up from a box upon which he had been +resting from the labors of the day. With rare presence of mind, Mr. +Jones seized it for personal use as a life preserver in case of need. +Reassured by the remoteness of danger, Ike endeavored to sit where no +seat was, and, with a crash, measured his length upon the deck. This +episode did not tend to allay the nervousness of female minds. + +From the shadows of the night, a dripping figure scrambled over the +bow of the ship. It was Mr. Quince returning from whence he had been +hove. He reassumed command. "Stop the engine!" he squeaked, in a voice +made husky by too much moisture. "Want to burn all the coal up for +nothin'?" Obediently the engine slowed and stopped. Again the voice +of the skipper sang out, "Better fix that old safety valve. I mought +a shoved 'er too far in the dark." Suddenly a tremendous hissing of +steam arose and then died softly away. Mr. Quince hurried to the engine +room and addressed Sim at close quarters. "Yer dern fool, what made +yer let all the steam outer the biler. We hain't got no power now. +How're we goin' to git 'er off?" + +"You ain't goin' to git 'er off. She's stuck for good," prophesied +Sim. + +It is not easy to discourage great spirits. "Ef I can't git 'er off +now, I kin wait for high water. The old tub hain't hurt none," Mr. +Quince made answer. + +Basing the duration of their experience as castaways upon these remarks, +the mothers gave away to tears. Babies awakened and wept also. A chorus +of woe swept shoreward. + +"Who knows how to swim?" Dr. Jackson asked in a sharp voice. + +The ladies construed this remark as implying an early necessity for this +accomplishment. The resulting increase in grief was with difficulty +subdued. + +From the information educed, it was clear that Sim was among the most +experienced swimmer among those present. Being untrammeled by the +mandates of fearful females, he had since his early youth spent much of +the summer season in the water. + +"Sim, you swim ashore and get help," ordered the doctor. + +A difficulty arose, "I ain't a goin' to swim with my clothes on," +objected Sim. "Maybe I only have to wade, but I might get into a hole +and have to swim. Clothes drag a feller down." + +"Very sensible," agreed the physician. "Take them off." + +"I ain't no heathen. I ain't agoin' to take my clothes off before +all of these womenfolks." + +"Don't be silly," urged the doctor. "We will turn our heads." + +"Take 'em off behind the biler," suggested Mr. Quince. + +"Yes, fry myself on the durned old thing." Additional complications +struck the youth. "What am I goin' to wear when I git ashore. The cops +will git me sure, if I run around town naked." + +At last, a compromise was reached. Sim, simply attired in trousers, +disappeared towards the shore. Then followed a long period of silence +in which the babies slept in comfort and only the sobbing mothers were +unhappy. + +Voices sounded on the shore. Sim had carried the news of shipwreck to +waiting husbands and succor drew near. They built a fire and shouted +words of encouragement. A search was made for boats; but they were few +in South Ridgefield and well protected from marauders. Even the only +seaworthy skiff of Mr. Quince's fleet was securely locked, and the key +in his pocket, as Sim reminded him from the shore. + +The night wore on. Great activity with little result took place about +the fire. Policemen, firemen and newspapermen viewed the scene with +interest. Such prominent men as Obadiah Dale and Hezekiah Wilkins +exchanged ideas over the fire with factory employees and laborers. +It was Pat Murphy, a teamster, who solved the problem of rescue. As +the eastern sky was lighted by the first streaks of the coming day, a +mule team and a wagon in a few trips landed the passengers of the +_Nancy Jane_. + +In accordance with the traditions of the sea, Mr. Quince stayed by his +ship. The last load departed leaving him drying himself before the +furnace. The reflection of the fire lighted up the deep lines of his +face, its pensive look and the rhythmic movement of the powerful jaws, +as the faithful mariner kept vigil upon the waters. + +But, as the rays of the rising sun turned the eastern horizon into +gold, an early observer might have perceived Mr. Quince arise, stretch +himself, and solace his palate with chewing tobacco. The same beholder +might then have witnessed the riverman step overboard and wade slowly +towards the shore, bearing his shoes, wrapped in his trousers, before +him, while the morning breeze flapped the tails of his old flannel shirt +about his thin legs. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +A MAN IN DISGRACE + + +"Virginia, come here!" roared Obadiah on the morning after the trip up +the river. + +There was a rough commanding note in his voice which made the girl spring +to her feet, and, shaken by dread of impending calamity, with throbbing +heart and startled eyes, hurry down stairs to where he awaited her in the +living room. + +He stood before the great mantel. The morning paper was stretched between +his hands, his nervous fingers crushing its edges. His face was flushed +with passion and his eyes, as they met those of his daughter, were cruel +in their anger. "Look here! See what you have done," he cried, in a +voice which shook with the intenseness of his emotion. In his haste he +tore a corner from the paper as he thrust it towards the trembling girl. + +She accepted the sheet as if she were in a dream. Never had he spoken +so to her. Never had she seen him in such a rage. Fear of him--of the +primitive masculinity of the man--clutched at her heart. Everything +seemed unreal. It was as if she were in the midst of a horrible nightmare +from which she might, if she would, release herself. She sank into a +chair, the paper across her knees. As her eyes dropped, the print danced +queerly for a moment before her vision cleared. There, she read in +staring headlines, "The Wreck of the _Nancy Jane_." + +The comical side of the vicissitudes of the _Nancy Jane_, with its +passenger list of mothers and babies had so impressed the reporter that +he had prepared his story in a humorous vein. Unfortunately, he had +elected to weave his story about Obadiah Dale, the manufacturer, and +his daughter, instead of about Mrs. Henderson or any humble individual. +The story was funny. The way the scribbler linked the generosity of +Obadiah towards the babies, the navigation of the Lame Moose by the +_Nancy Jane_, and Elgin's Grove, was a scream to those who knew the +selfishness of the mill owner, the shallow depth and harmlessness of +the Lame Moose and the lurid history of the grove. The editor-owner of +the paper had little use for Obadiah and in running this article--good +natured and harmless on its face--he had hit the manufacturer in a +vulnerable spot. Obadiah could not stand ridicule. + +While Virginia read, the wide toed shoes of her father resounded, as he +tramped excitedly up and down the room. She finished the article and +looked up at him. Little chills of fright thrilled up and down her spine, +and yet she found no reason for it in the column she had been reading. +That struck her as rather silly. + +As she dropped the paper, Obadiah glowered down at her. "Now," he +yelled, in his high voice, "I hope that you are satisfied. You have +made me the laughing stock of this town--made a perfect ass out of +me." He shook a long forefinger at her. "I've stood enough of your +foolishness and it's got to stop." The old man was nearly frantic with +anger as he scowled at her, a pale, crushed little thing in the big +arm chair. "I'm tired of it," he raged. "You make me ridiculous by +your failure to appreciate that there is such a thing as personal +dignity. You've mixed me in the most nonsensical affairs. Think of it! +Parading down the main street of this town behind a minstrel band +with a load of negroes!" He almost gnashed his teeth at the thought. +"You got up that fool band concert at the Old Ladies' Home. It was +a farce with the fire department dashing up in the middle of it. Now," +he bellowed, "you had to go and get mixed in this mess on the river." +Obadiah had to pause in the catalogue of his grievances to catch his +breath. His temper was choking him. "I've always tried to protect +my reputation," he went on. "I've minded my business and let other +people attend to theirs. But you have to drag me into this. My name +is a hiss and a byword in this town today. I'll never hear the last +of it. You are to blame for it all." Self-pity brought Obadiah to the +verge of tears. + +But immediately a returning wave of anger engulfed his sorrow. "You +are extravagant--wickedly so. You force me to pay out large sums of +money. You've made me buy ice cream for the old ladies, the veterans, +the firemen and all the mothers and babies, too.--Pretty nearly the +whole town has been entertained at my expense," he groaned. "Worst of +all," he continued with renewed temper, "were your fool admissions and +asinine agreement which forced me to endow that room at the hospital. + +"It's time to call a halt," he raved. "I'll stand it no longer. It +must stop." He paused before the shrinking girl and shook his fist in +the air. "Hereafter you will mind your own business and not interfere in +the troubles of others. You'll stay at home where you belong and quit +gadding about." + +Stunned by his vehemence and crushed by his words, the forlorn little +figure raised pleading eyes to him as he strode out of the room. +"Daddy," she cried after him, but he took no notice of it. + +In her own room, tears brought relief to Virginia, and in time she was +able to review her father's behavior with a degree of calmness. She +trembled anew as she remembered his anger. Then, with a start, she +awakened to the fact that he had forbidden her to continue to do those +things which she had done in the spirit of her mother's message. Her +mind traveled over his actions in the past and reconsidered remarks that +he had made. Suddenly she realized that he had never been in sympathy +with her, that he had frankly told her so, and that she had refused +to believe him. With sickening alarm, she awakened to the conflict +between the ideals of her father and her mother. She sat upon the +bed, a dejected heap of sorrow, and gazed at the wall with dry eyes, +frightened and unseeing. What must she do? That was the question. It +smothered her acute grief at his angry words. Worshiping the mother +whom she had never known with all the hunger of a lonely heart, it was a +solemn and tragic decision which she forced upon herself. The gravity +of it urged her to physical action. She could not bear to lie there, +she must move about. + +It was a sad eyed girl who went downstairs. From Serena she learned that +her father had telephoned that he would not be home for lunch. + +The old negress used all of her arts to persuade her mistress to eat +something. "Ain' yo'all gwine pick at dis yere salad an' tast'tes +some o' de custard ah fix special fo' ma honey chil'?" she begged. +To comfort Virginia she belittled the episode of the morning. "You' +Daddy done git mad fo' er minute caze dat ole boat stick in de mud. +He gwine fo'git it quick. He ain' tek no 'count o' de babies wot +'joy deyse'fs er eatin' an' er sleepin'." + +The girl ate sparingly as Serena forced food upon her. + +Suddenly the old servant reached out and patted her mistress gently upon +the shoulder, her black face filled with a great tenderness as she said, +"You' Mammy done say, ef er pusson try to do right, dey ain' nothin' +else wot mek no diffe'nce. Dat's jes wot Miss Elinor she say. + +"Yas'm, she done say dat right befo' ma eyes," explained Serena, and +then she hastened away to answer the door bell, leaving Virginia gazing +dreamily out of a window, wonderfully comforted. + +The shrill voice of a woman uplifted in excitement sounded in the hall. +"We must see some one. We have come a long distance and Mr. Dale is not +at his office." + +"Dey ain' nobody heah fo' yo'all to talk no business to. You might +jes as well go 'long," Serena answered with firmness. + +"Mr. Dale has a daughter," the voice suggested. + +"She ain' gwine be 'sturbed. She jes er chil' an' ain' know +nothin' a tall 'bout her pappy's business. Bettah gwan away f'om +heah." + +"What is it, Serena?" asked Virginia, hurrying into the hall. + +"Jes some pussons dat ain' know whar dey 'long," snarled the old +negress, beginning to vibrate under the stress of anger as she glared at +three highly indignant women waiting without. + +Virginia felt that it was necessary to interfere in the tense situation. +"I am Miss Dale. I shall be glad to talk to you if you wish to come +in," she told the strangers, to Serena's disgust. + +The hostility of these visitors melted in a degree at this display of +hospitality; but their manner was cool as they followed the girl into +the living room. + +"We are a committee from the Women's Civic Club of Amity, a town +situated ten miles below here on the river," explained Mrs. Duncan, a +stern faced female, after they had introduced themselves. "We ask that +you inform your father of our call." + +"I shall be glad to do that," Virginia promised. "Am I to explain the +purpose of your visit to him?" + +Mrs. Duncan gazed questioningly at the girl. "We ask you to do that, and +if you have a heart we hope that you will use your influence in our +behalf. You may tell him--" her eyes blazed--"that we come on the +part of the women of Amity to protest against his killing us by putting +poison in our drinking water." + +"What?" gasped an astonished Virginia. + +"We don't propose to sit quiet and allow Obadiah Dale to murder our +children." + +"I don't understand." + +The very evident amazement and horror of the mill owner's daughter +at her words caused Mrs. Duncan to expand upon them in the cause of +clearness. "Amity gets its water supply from the Lame Moose River," +she explained. "The waste from your father's mill has made the water +unfit for human consumption. It has been getting worse for years and +now we have much sickness, especially among children, which the doctors +trace to this cause." + +"Why, that is terrible. I am sure that my father knows nothing about +it," cried Virginia with great earnestness. + +Mrs. Duncan gave an audible sniff of disbelief. "Oh, I think that he +does. We tried to get him to do something before we took the matter up +with the State Board of Health, but he wouldn't. They have taken samples +of the water and have decided that the waste makes it unfit for the use +of human beings. So that is settled." + +"If that is true why don't they take the matter up with my father? Why +should you come to him?" asked Virginia, suspiciously. + +"Because," Mrs. Duncan continued, "your father is rich and powerful, +and even if the Board of Health orders him to stop running waste into the +river he may take the matter into court and fight it for years. That +is what we are worrying about now. Must Amity go on drinking poisoned +water while your father and the Board of Health fight in the court? Our +purpose is to attempt to persuade him not to contest the decision of the +Board." + +"If my father is certain that the waste from his mill is making people +sick, he surely will stop running it into the river." + +"It is the only decent thing for him to do," agreed Mrs. Duncan, +greatly mollified by the attitude of the girl. "Perhaps the Board of +Health has not notified him of its final decision," she conceded. "Of +course our Club is greatly interested and we have kept in close touch +with the case. Our representatives have called frequently at the office +of the Board." She laughed. "We even had a committee which used to go +with Mr. Joe Curtis, the Board's representative, every time he took +samples of water at Amity." + +"Who took the samples?" asked Virginia, instantly alert. + +"A young man by the name of Curtis. He used to come out on a motorcycle. +He worked for the Board of Health." + +"I'll take the matter up with my father, tonight," Virginia promised +the women when they left. "You can be sure that he will do the right +thing about it." + +Her old confidence in her father surged up in the presence of the +callers; but after they had gone the remembrance of the morning's +episode, with her new realization of her father, persisted in returning. +She caught herself wondering if it were possible that he, knowing that +the waste from his mill was polluting the water and causing sickness, +had done nothing about it. Loyally she fought back the thought. He +wouldn't do that--a wicked thing. He didn't know the truth--if the +water _was_ bad. That was the point. Before she talked to him she ought +to be certain about it. Joe Curtis knew and could tell her the truth. +Her father, hearing it from her, would be glad to do the right thing. + +Yet, regardless of her hopeful reasoning, the memories of the morning--of +her father's temper torn face in all of its selfish cruelty of +expression--came back to her and filled her with strange indefinite +forebodings of evil. + +So, it was a different Virginia who came to Joe Curtis that afternoon. +It was one in whose face there were vague shadows of anxiety and sadness +which, regardless of pathetic efforts at disguise, spoke of an unquiet +heart. + +He sensed the change in her as she greeted him. But his cheery salutation +and his boyish bursts of humor could not arouse the care free girl whom +he had known. + +She came quickly to the matter which was uppermost in her mind. + +"Joe, you work for the State Board of Health, don't you?" + +His face sobered at her question, as if he recognized the approach of +complications. He nodded affirmatively. + +"You took samples of the river water to find out if it were made unfit +for people to drink by the waste from my father's mill, didn't you?" + +He delayed his response so long that she was forced to repeat her +question before she could get even a nod of admission. + +"Joe, does my father's mill spoil the water?" + +His head moved uneasily upon his pillow; but he was silent. + +"Please answer me," she urged. "It is very important." + +He turned upon her almost shortly. "How can I tell? I never analyzed +the water. I couldn't do it if I wanted to. You know that I am working +my way through college. I have only had one year of chemistry. On the +rolls of the Board of Health, I am carried as a laborer. I get samples +and certify to the time and place I took them. The laboratory analyzes +them." + +"You were around the laboratory. You brought in the samples. Naturally +you must have had some interest in the matter--in your work. Won't you +tell me what you know?" + +"Why ask me?" he complained sharply. "I shouldn't discuss this matter +with you, Virginia. Talk to your father. He knows all about the case. +Let him tell you." + +"My father knows!" she exclaimed. She leaned over the bed and gazed +down at him. Though she had guessed his answer, she must have it in +words. "Joe," she whispered, "you promised to be my friend. I must +know the truth. I can trust you. Please tell me about the water." + +There was a pathetic pleading in her eyes which tore at his heart. +He tried to resist the spell she cast about him but his face softened +beneath her gaze. "I'm sorry, little girl," he whispered, and then +blurted suddenly, "Everybody connected with the Board of Health knows +that the waste makes the water fierce. It's not fit for a dog to drink." + +That afternoon Obadiah arrived home early. Perhaps he meant to patch up +a peace with his daughter. He asked for her as soon as he entered the +house and seemed disappointed when he learned that she had gone out. + +Virginia came back from the hospital soon after the arrival of her +father. Serena met her when she arrived, after having viewed her employer +with great hostility through an opening in the portieres. The old +negress' eyes were keen enough to read the shadow of apprehension +lurking in the depths of the blue eyes. To the faithful servitor it +indicated the approach of sorrow or tragedy to this peaceful domestic +haven. She sought to intervene against fate. "Ain' you bettah res' +youse'f befo' dinner, honey chil'? You' Daddy, he's a readin' his +papah an' ain' want to be 'sturbed," she urged. + +There was determination in the girl's face. She pushed aside the black +hand which in kindness would have detained her. "No, Serena, I must see +him at once," she said, and passed on into the living room. + +"Hello, Virginia. Where have you been hiding yourself?" was her +father's friendly greeting, but he gave her a sharp glance. + +She sat down as she told him. "I have been to the hospital, Daddy." + +Obadiah's face hardened and he scanned the page before him. + +She watched his movements with unconcealed anxiety. She was very pale +and it was only with an effort that she could calm herself to say, "A +committee of ladies from Amity came to see you this afternoon." + +"What did any committee of women want with me? Money?" he suggested, +with a suspicious eye upon his daughter. + +"No, they came, they said, because the waste from the mill is spoiling +the river water and causing sickness in their town." + +"Why didn't they come to my office about that?" + +"They did, but you were not in." + +He shifted uneasily in his chair. "Did you talk to them about it?" + +"Yes. They explained the matter to me. They said that the Board of +Health has found that the water is unfit to drink. They wanted to +persuade you not to go into court about the decision. A law suit might +last for years." + +He laughed harshly. "They are waking up, are they? They thought that +they could scare me with the Board of Health. Did you say anything to +them?" + +"Yes, Daddy, I told them that if you were assured that the waste from +your mill was making people sick you would stop running it into the +river." + +There was a crackling sound as he crushed the paper in his hands. + +"You see, Daddy," she went on, "I was careful to make the point that +you could not be expected to do anything unless you were sure that it was +the waste from your mills which was responsible." + +Obadiah leaped to his feet. A smile of relief swept over his face. "You +caught the point exactly, dear. How do I know that my mill is responsible +for the trouble?" + +She did not respond to his change of mood but continued, "The ladies +assured me that the Board of Health, after a careful investigation, has +decided that it is." + +"Is that so?" he sneered. + +She looked up at the change in his tone. His manner seemed to make her +more resolute as she spoke again. "The matter was so important that +I wanted to be sure that you knew the truth about it." Her voice was +trembling now. "I went to the hospital and asked Mr. Curtis. It was +he who took the samples of water for the Board of Health, and I knew that +he would tell me the truth." + +"What?" demanded Obadiah, his voice pitched high. + +"I asked him if the waste from your mill made the water bad." + +"Well of all the preposterous interferences--" + +"Joe said that it wasn't fit for a dog to drink." + +"What does that booby know about it?" + +"As he works for the Board of Health, even though he is only a laborer, +he knows what they think about it, and--" she looked squarely at her +father--"I believe him, Daddy." + +"Believe that idiot?" shouted Obadiah, his face black as night. "He +didn't have sense enough to gouge me when your fool admissions gave +him the whip hand. He's a fine specimen of a man for you to be running +after," declared the mill owner with scorn. "It's a nice thing for a +respectable girl to be doing. You'll get yourself talked about if I +don't watch you." + +A change came over Virginia. She stiffened and her fear seemed to leave +her. There was a glint of anger in her eyes as they showed large against +her pale face. Her soft round chin set in an almost comical reflection of +his obstinate jaw. She arose, and her level gaze met his angry glower, +unafraid. "Stop, father." She spoke with wonderful self-restraint. +"You have said quite enough about Mr. Curtis. We are talking about +something else. The waste from your mill is making people sick. What are +you going to do about it?" + +"Nothing," cried Obadiah, in his wrathful falsetto, his face working +convulsively. "I've been running waste into the river for years. If +people don't like it, let them make the most of it--go thirsty for all +I care. I'll give them a real fight." + +"Do you mean that, knowing your mill is poisoning the water which people +are forced to drink, you'll fight the matter in court as they were +afraid you'd do?" + +"I'll drag them through the courts until they get so warm that any +water will look good to them." Suddenly his temper blazed anew. "What +did I tell you this morning?" he demanded. "I warned you that I +would no longer tolerate your silly interference in other people's +business. I certainly will not permit you to butt into my affairs. You +go too far--you and the friends whom you pick up in the street. Do you +understand?" + +"Yes, I understand. You spoke too plainly this morning for me to +misunderstand your meaning--as you are doing now. Daddy, I know that I +have made many mistakes. Yet, everything which you criticize was done to +aid some one else and in a small way they did spread happiness." + +"If you had minded your own business you'd be happier now." + +"I was trying to help other people." + +"God helps him who helps himself," quoted Obadiah, virtuously. + +"That doesn't mean to think only of yourself." + +Her quiet voiced argument infuriated him. "You'll attend to your own +business in the future," he bellowed. + +She did not flinch before his bluster but held her ground in white faced +determination. "You want me to lead a life of selfishness when there +are so many opportunities to help others?" + +"Call it what you like, only get into your head the idea that hereafter +you will attend to your own affairs and let the rest of the world do the +same." + +Abruptly her mood changed. She gazed at him with a great longing. "Oh, +Daddy dear, surely you are not so selfish as all that. I know that deep +in your heart you are not." + +For an instant it seemed as if his mood were softening to hers; but his +obstinacy reasserted itself and he hardened himself against her appeal. +"I have always managed to take care of myself and I expect the other +fellow to do the same," he rapped. "In the future, you and I will +follow that course and avoid this sort of trouble." + +[Illustration: "'I MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN YOUR WAY AND THE WAY OF MY +MOTHER'"] + +For a moment the pleading look of the girl faded into one of utter +helplessness. She fought to regain control of herself as if, having +reached a decision, she needed to arouse the physical force to carry +it out. Turning slowly, she moved over to the center table. From its +drawer she took the book which had belonged to her mother. + +He watched her, silenced, as he perceived the emotional conflict which +was shaking the girl strangely. + +When she confronted him again, her face was tragic in its sorrow. In +those few seconds she had aged. She had leaped from a girl into +womanhood. Her poise was maintained by sheer power of will. When she +spoke it was in a forced voice, as if the muscles of her throat +strained to hold back the sobs which her tones confessed to be near. +"Daddy, there are two persons whom I should obey," she said. "You, +my father, and--" her eyes filled with tears as she raised the book +and clasped it to her breast and whispered ever so tenderly--"my +mother." + +Wonder held Obadiah speechless in its grasp. + +"A moment ago," she went on, "you condemned me to a life of +selfishness." She held the worn little volume towards him, and then +clutched it to her heart. "In this book is a message from my mother. It +is as plain and clear to me as if I had heard it from her own lips. She +tells me to be unselfish and to think of others. I must choose +between your way and the way of my mother. I do it now in your +presence." The girl's voice softened into an ineffable sweetness. +"Perhaps mother is here, too, and understands about it. I choose her +way, Daddy." + +Her manner was firmer now, except for the telltale twitchings of the +muscles of her face, as she continued. "Knowing my mother's wishes, +I could not live as you would have me. I must go away." Her voice +caught. "I must go where I can try to be unselfish. You can't object +to my going to Aunt Kate's--she has asked me to visit her so often." +She swayed. Her hand clutched at the table for support. For an instant +her face worked convulsively, and then, with a little cry of utter +misery, she ran from the room, holding the book to her breast. + +Late that evening Serena softly knocked at Virginia's door. When she was +bidden to enter, the crumpled and disheveled form upon the bed and the +tear streaked face told the story of grief to the big hearted negress. +"Ain' you gwine eat er li'l suppah, honey chil'?" she urged. + +"No, Serena, I'm not hungry." A great sob shook the girl. + +"Bettah lemme han' yo'all er cup o' tea an' suthin' to pick on," +the old darkey pleaded. "Ah fetch it in er minute." + +"No, Serena, I can't eat. I don't believe that I will ever want to +eat again." A paroxysm of sobs wrenched the little frame of the girl +and she dabbed frantically with a moist handkerchief at the great tears +which welled up in the blue eyes. + +The springs of the bed groaned and strained as Serena seated herself upon +its edge. A gentle mothering look was in her face, and she began to rub +the white arm gently with her big black hand. "Res' youse'f, ma li'l +honey baby," she murmured. "Serena ain' gwine let nobody hu't her +baby gal." Suddenly she bristled. "Dis yere hu'tin' ma honey chil' +bettah stop. Ah bus' somebody plum wide open," she growled ferociously. +"Ah fights fo' ma baby agin de whole wo'ld." + +The girl's sobs lessened enough for her to speak. "I am going away, +Serena." + +"Whar you gwine go, chil'?" exclaimed the old woman with much +excitement. + +"I am going to Aunt Kate's home in Maine." + +"W'en is we gwine start?" + +"I go day after tomorrow," explained Virginia sorrowfully. "You stay +here, Serena." + +"Howcum? Who plan dat foolishness? Wot gwine keep me heah w'en ma +honey chil' done leave? Ah bets ah follers ma baby ef ah has to clim' +ba'foot th'ough fiah an' brimstone. Yas'r." + +"You must stay and take care of my father, Serena." + +"Wot ah wor'y 'bout him fo'? He done mek ma baby cry disaway. Ah +follers yo'all." + +"But, Serena, he is my father." + +"Ain' ah know dat? But ain' you ma baby?" Serena arose in great +excitement and pointed a quivering finger towards the hallway. "You' Ma +done give you to me," she cried. But her voice softened tenderly as she +resumed, "De day you' Ma pass ovah de rivah, ah wuz er settin' by +de baid er tryin' to ease 'er wid er fan. She know dat de good Lord +gwine call 'er home presen'ly, an' she wuz er waitin' fo' de +soun' o' de angel's voice. Her eyes wuz closed jes as dough she +wuz er sleepin'. Jes afo dusk she open 'em an' look up with er +smile, jes like yourn, honey chil'. She say, 'Is you still thar, +Serena?' Ah say, 'Yas'm, Miss Elinor.' She say, 'Ain' you bettah +res' youse'f on dat pallet ovah thar.' Ah say, 'Ah ain' ti'ed +none, Miss Elinor.' Den you' ma she look at me kinder pleadin' like, +an' say, 'Serena, you is gwine tek good caah o' ma li'l baby, +ain' yer?' Ah answer, 'Is ah gwine 'sert ma own baby?' Den she +'pear mo'e at 'er ease. De smile come back ag'in. She whisper kinder +sof like, 'Yes, Serena, you' own baby,' Den Miss Elinor close 'er +eyes an' in er li'l w'ile she heah de sweet voice er callin' 'er +home." Great tears rolled down the black cheeks of the old negress. +Burying her face in her apron, she began to sob, and a muffled voice +pleaded pathetically, "Ah caint let ma own baby go away f'om me." + +Before the sorrow of her faithful servitor, Virginia's own grief was +temporarily subdued. She sat up on the bed and met the unexpected +interference with her plans with firmness. "Serena, I must go. I know +that my mother would want me to go." + +"How you know?" demanded the practical Serena. + +"I am sure of it. Something deep in my spirit moves me." + +"Ef de spi'it move you chil' you gotta go," she admitted, greatly +persuaded. + +"But, Serena, even if my mother wants me to go, she wouldn't want +me to take you away and break up my father's home. That would be +dreadful. What would happen to the house? Ike would get into all sorts +of mischief." + +Serena gave thoughtful heed to the catastrophe which her departure would +bring down upon the house of Dale. + +"I am not going to stay away from you forever, Serena," Virginia +continued, as she made a sorry attempt to smile through her tear stained +eyes. "You know that I wouldn't desert you. Promise me to take good +care of Daddy while I am gone, Serena," pleaded the girl. "Nothing +must happen to him. He must not be disturbed or made uncomfortable." + +"Why ah gwine wor'y 'bout him fo'?" demanded the old negress, +obstinately. + +"My mother loved him, Serena, and so do I. Won't you take care of him +for us?" + +This plea weakened her stand. "Ah promises to do de bes' ah knows how +fo' a w'ile but ef yo'all stays too long ah gwine pack ma duds an' +come whar you is. Yas'm." + +Virginia awakened the next morning with a bad headache. Serena busied +herself around her mistress and finally persuaded her to take a long +walk. The brisk exercise in the fresh air refreshed the girl, and she +decided to go to the hospital and see Joe Curtis for the last time before +she left South Ridgefield. + +In the hall of the institution she met Dr. Jackson. + +"You should have seen my patients this morning," he told her. "Those +infants are a gay lot. They cried so loud that they gave me a headache. +None of that fretful weeping with which they serenaded me last week. +That trip up the river helped those kids wonderfully, and, with the cool +weather we are having now, some of those youngsters are going to see snow +fly who never would have done so if it hadn't been for the voyage of +the _Nancy Jane_." + +Miss Knight came up and slipped an arm about Virginia's waist. "Tell +the doctor and his babies good bye. He will talk a week about them if +you'll stand and listen to him," she laughed, and as she drew the girl +away, explained, "I have a surprise for you, dear." + +"I can guess it. The room for the motorcyclists is ready." + +"No, you're wrong. I'll have to show you." The nurse led the girl +through a door which opened upon a small porch and pointed over the +railing at the grounds which, lay on the side of the building. "There," +she said proudly. "Look." + +Virginia did as she was told. In the shade of a tree was Joe Curtis +seated with outstretched leg in a roller chair. He answered their waving +hands, and his face lighted up with a smile of pleasure which still +remained when the girl descended the stairs and came to him. + +"Isn't this fine!" she exclaimed, her delight at seeing him out of +bed dwarfing her own anxieties. "It seems now as if you were getting +better." + +His eyes danced with pleasure at her coming. Yet, when he recognized, +regardless of her efforts at concealment, that the gloomy influence, +the shadow of which had cloaked her spirits at their last meeting, +had not departed, his face clouded. He was conscious that his own +disclosures, even though forced from him by her, might have had some +part in causing her unhappiness and he endeavored to make amends by +cheering her. "I asked Miss Knight to send for my motorcycle engine," +he informed her. "I told her that I wanted to hitch it to this chair +and get a little speed out of the thing. I promised her, 'Whither +thou goest, Knightie, thither will I roll.'" + +Virginia expressed interest in the nurse's reply. + +"After bawling me out for calling her Knightie, she said that I was +getting so attached to her that I spent my waking hours devising schemes +to get hurt so as not to have to leave her." + +His visitor's smile of appreciation comforted Joe greatly. He took a +deep breath and flinched when his tender ribs rebelled. His eyes roamed +over the grass and trees and he watched the fleecy clouds floating in +the azure sky. He pursued his campaign of encouragement. "It is great to +take a breath of air without the ether flavor. It's a wonderful old +world anyhow," he announced, as he again viewed his surroundings with +great complacency. "Gosh!" he went on, "I wish I may never again see +the inside of a building. Me for a job in God's own sunshine." + +In spite of the consolatory nature of Joe's remarks, a great loneliness +had descended upon her. As she looked at him it seemed impossible that +such a change could have come into her life since they two had planned +for the hospital room. Then she had everything to make her happy. Now +she was pledged to leave her father, her home, the few friends of her +childhood, to go to a relative who was almost a stranger except in +name. As she pictured the future, its loneliness frightened her. There +came the temptation to bow to her father's will--to do anything to +avoid that cheerless future. + +Then, in a moment, she was filled with sweet and tender thoughts of +her mother and the creed of unselfishness. Straightway her resolution +was strengthened. She would follow the way of her mother and be true +to the message, no matter what the cost. Surely, God would make her +father understand. Until that time she must wait. + +Joe's eyes returned to the girl at his side, when, lost in her own +thoughts, she was unconscious of his scrutiny. The unhappiness which he +caught in her face troubled him anew. "What makes you so sad, little +girl?" he demanded uneasily. + +"Nothing," she maintained, with a smile so forced that it pathetically +denied the truth of the statement. + +"There is something wrong, I know," he worried. "Am I in any way to +blame?" + +She shook her head violently and then told him, "I am going away." + +"How long will you be gone?" He could not watch her averted face; but +something told him that this was no ordinary trip. + +"I can't say, Joe. Perhaps always." + +As he watched the soft curls at the nape of her neck, the thought came +to him that only owls and prairie dogs find lodgment in the same hole +with a rattlesnake; whereupon the youth ceased to question and announced +as a fact of noteworthy interest, "So long as nobody is dead, there is +always a way to mend things." + +There was a suspicion of moisture in her eyes when she turned to him and +said, "Joe Curtis, you are certainly a cheerful somebody." + +"Why shouldn't I be? I might have been killed in the accident and I +wasn't. Now I'm nearly well." Into his optimism came tenderness, as +he whispered, "Best of all, I met you." + +"Was it worth it?" She was moody for the moment. + +"You bet your life," he exclaimed. "Aren't you glad that you met me?" + +Her eyes answered him. + +After a moment, he went on. "Will you tell me where you are going, +Virginia?" + +"I am going to Maine. To Old Rock." + +"Old Rock, Maine!" he shouted in surprise. + +"Yes. Why not?" + +"It is near the home of my mother. The place is so small that it seems +strange that, with all of the rest of the world to go to, you should be +going there." + +Virginia arose from the bench and came over by his chair. "Good bye, +Joe," she said, very softly. "I hope that you will soon be well." A +sad little face looked down at him. "Please, forgive me for hurting you. +I am so sorry." Her lips trembled. + +"Forget it," he said roughly; but there was that in his face which +contradicted his tone. "I ran into you." + +"We can't agree, can we?" she said thoughtfully, and her voice broke +as she continued, "I want to ask a favor of you, Joe." + +"Sure." He eyed her expectantly. + +"Will you see that the room--is nicely arranged?" + +"You bet I will." + +"When I am gone there will be no one to care--but you." She fought back +the tears and put up a brave front. "Good bye, Joe." + +"Wait a minute," he commanded. + +She reached for his hand and repeated, very sweetly, very softly, "Good +bye, Joe." She moved away a few steps; but turned back to cry very +tenderly, "Good bye, Joe." + +"Come back, please, Virginia," wailed Joe. + +She hesitated, battling with tears. + +"Please, come back, Virginia. Remember, I am helpless. I can't come +after you." + +She retraced her steps. "What is it?" she asked, her averted gaze +apparently interested in the street beyond the grounds. + +"Perhaps this is not good bye." + +She looked at him now with great interest. + +He seized her hand and drew her closer to the chair, smiling up into her +face, as he explained, "It may not be good bye for us, because--if I +were quite sure that you wanted to see me--I might come up to Old Rock." + +She smiled at him. It was as if storm clouds had broken and let the rays +of the sun through. "Oh, Joe," she cried, "it would be lovely if you +came up. Old Rock seems to be a dreadfully lonesome place." + +"Old Rock lonesome!" he protested. "Not a bit of it, Virginia. There +are lots of interesting things to do. We can take grand tramps." In his +enthusiasm for his home town, Joe forgot his game leg. "Some evening, +I'll take you down to the big granite bowlder, from which the town +gets its name, on the shore of the pond. We can get on top of it and +watch the moon come up over the tree covered hill on the other side +until it makes a shimmering pathway across the water and turns the old +white church on the hill into a castle of silver. I love to sit there +and watch the lights of the village go out, one by one. It's lovely +then. The only sounds are the song of the crickets, the distant tinkle +of a sheep bell, the splash of a leaping bass or maybe the hooting of +an old owl. It is a beautiful place, Virginia, and with you there it +would be wonderful." + +[Illustration: "'I THINK THAT I SHALL LOVE IT,' SHE SAID SOFTLY"] + +She listened to his words, her eyes big with interest, and a new +happiness struggling in her heart. "I think that I shall love it," she +said softly, and, after a moment's hesitation, "How long--how soon +will you be able to come, Joe?" + +An attendant approached to take the injured motorcyclist back to the ward. + +Virginia hastily withdrew her hand from Joe's grasp and immediately gave +it back to him, when he cried, "Not good bye but until we meet in Old +Rock." + +As she watched the attendant wheel the injured man away and turned +to leave the hospital grounds, the girl was wonderfully cheered, and +her mind accepted Joe Curtis's picture of Old Rock by moonlight as +conclusive evidence that this ancient village was not lonesome. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +VIRGINIA MUST GO + + +Virginia sank limply into the parlor car seat. After a moment she raised +herself and looked out through the wide window upon the busy platform of +the South Ridgefield station. Serena and Ike waited by the car nervously, +endeavoring to locate the position of their mistress by peering into +the coach. The old negress was publicly weeping. + +As they caught sight of the girl, the train started and with rapidly +increasing speed moved down the platform. Ike grinned a cheerful +farewell while Serena screamed her adieu, and, as if unable to bear +the separation, started to waddle along with the train, frantically +waving her black hands. + +Virginia signaled back and shouted embarrassed little good byes, +subconsciously aware that they would be heard by no one except her +traveling companions. As the two negroes were swept from her sight, a +feeling of utter loneliness wrapped her in its gloomy folds. Pent up +tears flooded her eyes, and so, through a mist, she saw at the end of the +platform a man and woman, waving handkerchiefs from an automobile, who +looked remarkably like Hezekiah Wilkins and Mrs. Henderson. Likewise, +through a curtain of moisture, when the train crossed the bridge, she +perceived the stranded _Nancy Jane_, symbolical of her own wrecked +efforts. + +As the roar of the train upon the bridge died away, the girl sank back +again into her seat and succumbed completely to her grief. During those +last few hours at home she had steeled herself not to display her +feelings. She had met her father on the previous day and explained +her plans quite as calmly as if she were about to take an ordinary +vacation trip. + +The decision of his daughter to leave him, based as it was upon the +inspiration of her mother, dead these seventeen years, had left him +strangely helpless. In his passion he had thrust aside the cloak of +idealism in which she had arrayed him and exposed his true character. +She had struck back, unwittingly selecting a weapon which had swept aside +his momentary anger and left him shaken and perplexed at the edge of +the abyss which had opened between them. Obadiah, too, had been unhappy +in those hours. He loved Virginia with all the affection of which his +nature was capable. There had been moments when he would have surrendered +abjectly to his daughter on her own terms but for the grim obstinacy +which obsessed him. + +It may be that she intuitively appreciated his mental struggles, because, +excepting only her determination to leave home, she treated him with the +tenderest consideration. In his perplexity, Obadiah drifted for the +moment and blindly followed the girl's lead, as if through her alone +could come the solution of the problem which separated them. Their +breakfast that morning had been a difficult ordeal as had been their +leave taking. He had displayed no desire to accompany her to the train +and had parted from her with a grim indifference which his troubled +face belied. + +Now, at least, there was relief in the luxury of a good cry; but after a +time the tears ceased and a weary peace came. Resting her head against +the back of her chair she gave herself up to thoughts of the few little +happinesses which gleamed like bright stars in the darkness with which +she was surrounded. + +She thought of Joe Curtis and thrilled when she remembered the long +hand clasp. His picture of Old Rock comforted her anew as she assured +herself that such a place could not be lonely. She reviewed the few +moments in which she had bidden farewell to Mrs. Henderson. She had +dreaded Hennie's embarrassing questions. But, strangely, Hennie was +not inquisitive. She had broken away to rush into her kitchen crying +loudly that something was burning. This belief, from certain remarks +which had floated back, had irritated Carrie, her cook, exceedingly. +Returning, she had enveloped the girl in a wealth of motherly tenderness, +so that in reality the visit had consisted of much sobbing upon the +older woman's shoulder to an accompaniment of soothing endearments +and a train of explosive exclamations from which little could be gathered. + +Soon she began to think of her Aunt Kate and of the new home to which she +was going. Little enough she knew. Once, shortly before the death of +Elinor Dale, Mrs. Kate Baker had visited South Ridgefield. At the time, +she had a baby daughter of Virginia's age and was mourning the death +of her husband. For years there had been irregular correspondence; but, +as far as Virginia was concerned, her father's sister and her cousin +were merely names. + +The day of tiresome travel slowly passed. There were times when, in a +wave of despair, Virginia pictured herself adrift on a sea of sadness, +where all was dark and cheerless; but there were moments when sweet +thoughts of her mother strengthened her and made her resolve to stand by +her colors, no matter what the cost. + +It was late that evening when the train arrived at Old Rock. The unusual +excitement and the fatigue of traveling had brought on a persistent +headache, so that it was a most forlorn and miserable Virginia who was +helped down from the car. Hardly had her bag been dropped at her side +when the train moved on. As the metal doors clanged shut, it seemed to +the girl as if it were the sound of the gates of her old life closing +against her. She gazed timidly about the station. It was very dark to +this girl of the city--this child of the electric lights. The fear of +the unknown seized her. Sick, frightened, every limb of her trembling, +she hesitated helplessly. + +A figure approached through the gloom, and the soft, cheery voice of a +girl inquired, "Cousin Virginia?" + +Virginia's throat was dry and husky. "Yes." Her answer was only a +whisper. A frightened little sound, but it was all that she could make. + +Now a hand seized her arm and she was led along the platform. They came +under a station lamp, and again the voice spoke as they faced a tall, +angular, plainly dressed woman. "Here she is, mother." + +Virginia looked up into a face which made her gasp in astonishment. In +the eyes, the mouth, the deep cut lines, was resemblance to her father +but, oh, with what a difference. It was Obadiah sweetened by love and +affection. The harshness, the obstinacy, the selfishness of him were +memories here. In their place lay a gentle, motherly look beneath the +soft, white hair and from the eyes beamed a tender welcome to the lonely +girl. + +As Virginia hesitated diffidently, the lamp overhead brought out the +pallor and the pathos of her wan tired little face. With never a word +but just a soft exclamation she sank into the outstretched arms of her +aunt. + +"You poor tired darling," whispered Aunt Kate. She fixed a look of +great severity over Virginia's shoulder at her own daughter. "Helen," +she cried, "do you expect visitors to carry their own baggage? Take +Virginia's bag to the surrey." As Helen obediently departed, Aunt Kate +gave her guest a motherly hug, meanwhile making strange noises in her +throat. Releasing one arm with great care lest the girl be disturbed, +she endeavored to wipe a tear from her wrinkled cheek with a finger. +"Come, child," she said sharply. "You must get to bed. How do you +feel?" When she learned of the headache she commiserated with her niece. +"You poor child. Sleep is the best treatment for that." + +A surrey drawn by a remarkably fat horse was waiting for them back of +the station. + +"Don't you feel well, Cousin Virginia?" inquired Helen from the front +seat. + +"It's only a headache, Cousin Helen." + +There was sincere relief in Helen's voice as she replied, "I am so glad +that it is nothing worse." + +Virginia and her Aunt climbed into the back seat of the conveyance. + +"Hush," cried Helen in a loud whisper. "Archimedes is asleep. It's a +shame to disturb him. I haven't the heart to hit him," she giggled. + +"Be careful and don't strike that horse cruelly, Helen," Aunt Kate +warned her daughter, as if that maiden were habitually guilty of cruelty +to animals. + +Helen disregarded her mother's remark. "Archimedes is dreaming of corn +and oats and hay and green pastures. He must dream of such things, as +he never thinks of anything else," she laughed. + +"Stop your nonsense, Helen. I have a sick girl here who should be in +bed." + +"I'm better already," protested Virginia. + +"Get up, Arch," cried Helen. + +Archimedes stood fast. + +"Arch," she called again. + +No movement followed. + +"Pull on the reins, Helen," suggested Aunt Kate. + +"Mother, how many times must I tell you that to pull on the reins is +no way to start a horse. A logical minded animal would expect you to push +on the lines when you want him to stop, and that wouldn't do at all." +That mischievous giggle came again and Helen gave the horse a smart tap +with the whip. + +The lazy steed flinched slightly and moved slowly forward. + +"Don't be cruel, Helen, and keep in the gutter." + +"Mother, there are no automobiles out at this time of night. For once, +when we have company, we should drive in the middle of the road. As +we pay taxes, we have a right there," argued Helen. "I am getting +curvature of the spine from driving with one wheel in the gutter." + +"It is so much safer, Helen. Archimedes can't get out of the way +quickly." + +"Why should he? Let the automobiles make room for us once. Are we +frightened chickens to flee from them?" + +"It makes the people in the machines so cross, Helen. They say such +unkind things." + +Delightful remembrances returned to Helen. "Mother, are you thinking of +the man who offered to lend us his jack to move Archimedes out of the +road?" + +"That man was very angry." + +"He was, mother. I hope that he has gotten over it by now," laughed +Helen. She clucked energetically and went on, "As you are with us +tonight, we will pursue our usual humble way in the gutter. But," she +declared emphatically, "when Virginia and I go driving we will take +the middle of the road and keep it in spite of all the horn-blowing +goggle-eyed men in the state of Maine. Archimedes shall not be insulted. +His proud spirit rebels." + +They jogged along, the proud spirit of Archimedes being well content with +a modest speed. Turning into a driveway, they ascended a slight incline +and drove into a large barn. + +"This is my department," Helen told her cousin with pride as she +unharnessed Archimedes. When he was safe in his stall she paused before +the white face of a Holstein cow. "Cowslip," she giggled, "this is +your cousin Virginia who has come to visit you." + +A door opened and Aunt Kate called, "Helen, bring your cousin in. Don't +keep her out in that barn when she has a headache." + +So, with an arm about her cousin's waist, Helen guided her on her first +trip along a Maine domestic pathway which begins in the stable, or even +chicken house, and runs under one roof to the parlor. + +Virginia paused in a doorway that opened into a large oblong room. In +its center was a great, square, brick chimney which divided it into a +cosy kitchen forming a most convenient part of the dining room, and a +dining room which was a most pleasant part of the kitchen. The low room +with its old-fashioned paper, its white-curtained, square-paned windows +and its painted floor, was delightfully homey and cheerful. It seemed +particularly so to Virginia, with the motherly face of her aunt smiling +a kindly welcome and the arm of her pretty blonde cousin drawing her +affectionately towards its comfort. + +A few minutes later, with a bag in one hand and a candlestick in the +other, Helen led her cousin up the stairs to the cosiest little bed room +imaginable. Its low ceiling sloped with the roof except where broken +by dainty curtained dormer windows. A mahogany four poster, a highboy +and a table with some chairs constituted its furniture, while upon the +floor were round rugs of woven rags. + +After Helen had departed and she had removed the traces of her journey, +Virginia seated herself in a rocker for a moment. She felt as if a +weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The fear of the unknown, +which had so terrified her, was gone. In spite of her sadness, when she +thought of her father, she felt reassured and comforted. As the girl +sat there, a tender dreamy look of indescribable sweetness crept into +her face. Her lips moved and she whispered ever so softly, "Mother, +your way is not so hard." + +The simple little supper, to which the three women sat down that evening +was delightful to Virginia. And afterwards, what a gay time they had +with the dishes. The city cousin, whose headache was now a thing of the +past, donned an apron and assisted in drying them. Never had Serena +permitted her this proud privilege and how pleased she was to do it +now. She polished the few plates upon which she had the time to apply her +intensive treatment until they shone and sparkled bravely beneath the +lamplight. + +Aunt Kate watched her strenuous efforts for a time in silence and then +burst forth, "Good land, if I weren't sure that the blue on that old +willow ware was burned deep, child, I'd be afraid you'd rub it off." + +"Virginia is exercising, mother," laughed Helen. + +"If she exercises that hard on each dish, she won't have either the +strength or time to do the rest of her work. No man would want to marry a +girl who puts in her time wiping dishes. Most of them would rather look +at good things to eat in their plates than at the reflection of their +own faces, I'll warrant you." + +How the two girls did enjoy Aunt Kate's sage remark and what a pleasant +little chat they had when supper was over. + +Aunt Kate sat in her easy chair and sewed, and now and then interjected +a word of wisdom into their conversation which convulsed them. Finally +she yawned, and, looking at the old wooden cased clock upon the mantel, +announced, "It's time all honest folks were in bed and rogues were +movin'." + +A short time after this pointed remark, Virginia, tingling with the chill +of the northern night which swept in as she opened her windows, climbed +into bed, and, pulling the blankets about her, she gave a little sigh +and, very much like her old self, plunged into a deep and dreamless +slumber. + +When she awakened the next morning, sunlight was streaming into the +room. Filled with curiosity over her new surroundings, she sprang from +her bed and gazed out of the window. Across the road, which ran in +front of the house, a newly mowed meadow rolled down to the shore of a +lake or pond a short distance away. Its surface, rippled by the morning +breeze, glittered and sparkled in the sun. Beyond the water, rising +abruptly from its edge, was a great hill, its slope covered with a +forest of pine and fur and hemlock. The green expanse of the meadow was +broken by islands of maple and oak while several huge granite bowlders +stood forth against the sod in all of their grey majesty. The color +of the soft, rich summer sky, dotted with floating masses of fleecy +white, was reflected in the flashing water. The trees and grass, yet +glistening with the morning dew, were a moist green, untouched by the +yellow of sun scorch or drought. It was a restful verdancy which spoke +of frequent rains, of cool days and of cooler nights. + +"Virginia, are you awake?" came the voice of her aunt from the hall. + +She climbed hastily back into bed as her aunt entered. + +Aunt Kate smiled sweetly down at the girl whose serious eyes reflecting +the color of the morning sky, gazed at her from a mass of wavy black +hair. "How is the headache?" she asked. + +"It left last night, Aunt Kate, and hasn't come back." + +"That's good." Aunt Kate's voice was very gentle and sympathetic. +She sat upon the edge of the bed and, leaning forward, patted the soft +cheek of her niece. + +Again, in the lined face of her aunt, Virginia recognized that +resemblance to her father, so wonderfully softened by kindness and +sweetness. The thought came to the girl that her mother would have +had such a tenderness of look had she lived. A flood of memories swept +down upon her and tears welled up in her eyes. + +Her aunt gathered her into those mothering arms again, and almost before +the girl appreciated what she was doing she had opened her heart and told +her woes in the gloomiest way possible. + +After she had soothed her niece, until she could give a teary little +smile, Aunt Kate arose and, moving to the window, viewed the familiar +landscape with a stern eye, sniffing portentously. In a moment she +began to speak. "We Dales are a selfish and obstinate family. We were +always so." There was a note of pride in her voice. "The men are +worse than the women--much worse--more obstinate and selfish, dear," she +repeated. "I know my brother Obadiah--better than he knows himself. +I am very glad, child, that you told me about the whole thing." Suddenly +her voice became sharp and emphatic and she fastened a severe look +upon Virginia. "Don't you for a minute get it into your head that you +have run away from home. If you had, I should take you back myself. You +should have visited your cousin Helen and me a dozen times before, and +now we will make up for your neglect and give brother Obadiah a chance +to calm himself after the disturbances you have created." She paused +for a moment and then went on, smiling sweetly, "I want you to be +your own sweet self here and have a jolly time with Helen." Her tones +became gentle. "Follow the way of your mother until the end of your +life. Sometimes it will lead through gloomy valleys but it is the road +which leads to the sunshine of the heights. Hum," she cried sharply, +"read 'Pilgrim's Progress,' child. It says the same thing, but +better." + +A much cheered Virginia came down to breakfast, and, like the very +healthy young person she was, in obedience to her aunt's command and the +natural law of youth, forgot the unhappiness of yesterday in the joys +of the present. + +The days which followed were crowded with happy hours. There were drives +long in time but short in mileage behind the majestic Archimedes over +tree-shaded roads. Unaccompanied by the timid Aunt Kate, they forsook the +humble gutter and seized the crown of the road. With peals of ringing +laughter, they pursued their slow way, unmindful of irate tourists filled +with the belief that the road and the width thereof was theirs to be +covered at fifty scorching miles an hour, and that delays from slow +moving taxpayers were an interference with their vested rights as well +as to their progress towards the uttermost parts of the earth. + +There were plunges into the cold depths of the pond followed by wild +scrambles, when, with chilled muscles, they ran through the cool air +over the meadow to the house. + +There were long paddles in the canoe where every curve and bend of a +stream opened a new vista of loveliness, of woods, of stream, of hill, +of rolling meadow. + +There were tramps through forests of fir and pine where their feet sank +into the soft cushion of needles and they climbed until they came out +on the rugged tops of hills where, resting in weariness, they drank deep +of the pure air and feasted their eyes upon the pleasing prospect below +them. + +Tired and weary but happy beyond relief, they would return in the evening +and, catching sight of Aunt Kate waiting upon the porch, greet her with +gay shouts and, both speaking at once, relate stirring adventures of +field and flood with cows and frogs and sheep and dogs. + +Jolly feasts these three women had when sore muscles rested after the +day's effort. Never were such vegetables grown as came from the garden +back of the barn. Where else, pray tell, could such desserts be found as +Aunt Kate made? Or what could be more delicious than those big bowls of +raspberries or blueberries afloat in Cowslip's rich, thick contribution +to the feast? + +Afterwards, Virginia would write letters until too soon a nodding head +and leaden eyelids would force her to bed. Her correspondence was large +in those days. She wrote to Mrs. Henderson and Serena and Joe Curtis; +but more often she wrote to her father, telling him all that she did. + +Regularly to her, came letters from him. They were formal, precise +epistles in a style which might be described as having commercial +tendencies and obviously prepared by Mr. Jones at the dictation of +Obadiah. + +As the weeks passed "V," as Helen nicknamed her cousin, developed +muscle and flesh and grew amazingly, and the coat of tan she acquired +would have been a scandalous thing in any beauty parlor in the land. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A FRIEND IN NEED + + +A weatherworn, disreputable hammock swung lazily between two big fruit +laden apple trees beside Aunt Kate's home. Time was when it had been a +gaudy, betasseled thing taken into the house each night. But familiarity +breeds contempt for choice possessions as well as friends. Now the +hammock hung unwatched from June until October. No longer a cherished +chattel, it was left to face the ravages of time and weather and man. + +Yet, in its ripe old age, it had achieved the goal of all good hammocks. +It had found its place, not, of course, in the sun--that not being the +custom of hammocks--but in Aunt Kate's household. It had become a +place of conference, of discussion, aye, even of mutual confession for +Helen and her cousin Virginia. + +It swung lazily in the light breeze of the morning. Not slothfully, but +in the relaxation of resting strength prepared instantly to meet its +burdens and responsibilities. It was well that this was so. Upon the +self-same breeze which swung it, came sounds of laughter and the patter +of small feet. With sudden strain and elastic resistance, carried even to +the uppermost twigs of the trees, the hammock received the two girls +as they precipitated themselves into its lap. + +"I beat," cried Helen with the pride of victory, changed suddenly +into a wail of anguish as a dislodged Bell-flower apple dropped upon +her head. "Oh-o-o-o," she groaned; "those apples make me mad. This +is the second time that one of them has struck me on the head and I am +getting tired of it." + +In her own end of the hammock Virginia was coiled in a most precarious +position. She was so interested in her letter that she failed to give +her cousin the full measure of tender sympathy to which that maiden felt +herself entitled. + +Helen rubbed her head with vigor. "Say something 'V.' Is anything the +matter with your heart?" she exclaimed, fixing reproachful eyes upon +her absorbed companion. + +"Did it hurt?" Virginia, deep in her letter, politely inquired. Her +words, however, lacked that warm condolence for which the head and heart +of her cousin yearned. + +"Did it hurt?" mimicked Helen in disgust. "What a question! It is +exactly as bad as if a brick had fallen off the chimney on my head. Yet +you sit there and ask if it hurt. What do you think my head is made of?" + +"Fudge," cried Virginia as the wind twisted her letter so that she +could not read it. + +"Wh-a-at?" Helen was highly indignant until she discovered that +her cousin's remark was not a personal allusion. "Never mind," she +threatened; "see how I treat you the next time that you get hurt." + +Virginia finished her letter. She wiggled over towards Helen, an +operation which placed both girls in imminent danger of being pitched +upon their faces. "I am sorry for your poor head, dear," she giggled, +"or should I be sorry for the apple? Let me look." + +Helen thrust aside the inquisitive fingers. "Let me alone, you +unsympathetic wretch. Wait until my turn comes. Even if you writhe +before me in great agony, I shall laugh. Laugh coldly--ha--ha." + +Virginia disregarded future calamities. "I have a letter from Joe +Curtis. It happens to be one which I might read to you, if you are real +nice." + +Instantly, feminine curiosity caused Helen to forget injuries and pledged +vengeance. "Please, 'V.,' I should love to hear it," she begged, and +then listened with rapt attention as her cousin read, + + "_My dear little girl_: + + "This morning Miss Knight brought your letter to me on the + grounds where I had been taken in the roller chair. She was + grumbling about it being the business of the Post Office + Department to establish a rural free delivery route and not + expect her to chase around with my mail. + + "I spend most of my time in the chair, now. Soon I'll be + on crutches, and after that it won't be long before I am + discharged. + + "But this letter is written to give you the big news. The + room for motorcyclists is open for business. Miss Knight took + me to see it and it is dandy. I asked her what she thought + about it now, seeing that she had so much to say when we were + planning it. Her answer was, 'It's the best cure for blues + I know. If I am downhearted, all I have to do is to come up + here and think about you two innocents and I laugh myself + sick.' + + "I told her that her ideas of humor led towards the + psychopathic ward and warned her to beware of alienists or + squirrels because they might develop a personal interest in her. + + "What do you think? The very day they opened the room it + had a patient. You never would guess who it was. It was that + fellow Jones who works in your father's office. He must be a + regular dare devil of a rider. When the accident happened, + he had cut in front of a moving street car. The machine hung + in the fender and Jones went on and landed in a city trash + wagon at the curb. His head and face were cut but the trash + was soft. He bled so that the by-standers decided that he was + dying and sent him to the hospital. Of course, the doctors + kept him. + + "Miss Knight said that, from the odor about Jones when he came + in, she guessed people were careless about separating trash + from garbage. She told Jones that he must have thought he was + among old home folks when he landed. + + "To be neighborly, I called upon him. Everything was beautiful + in the room but him. I told him that he looked as out of + place as a dead rat in a flour barrel. That peeved him, so I + asked him if he hadn't felt more at home in the trash wagon. + He got sore and grabbed up a glass. 'I'll bounce this off + your ventilator if you don't get out of here,' he yelled. + + "That made me mad. 'You can't put me out,' I told him. + 'I've got more right in here than you. If you don't stop + yapping around my heels I will pull you out of that bed and + get in it myself.' + + "He got crazy then and started to climb out of the bed but + Miss Knight came in and shoved him down on his pillow. 'Take + that big cheese out of here before I break his other leg,' he + bawled. + + "She began to laugh fit to kill herself and said, 'Joe, what + kind of gentle sympathy do you give the weak and injured which + makes them wish to rise up and fight?'--when she rolled me + away from that wild man. + + "Your letter made me homesick for the north country. I have + fished all over that pond. You wouldn't catch hornpouts if you + fished in the right place and used the proper kind of bait. I + used to go to the north end of the pond by the lily pads. + Bait your hook with a live minnow and drop it in there about + sundown. The fun will come suddenly. Mr. Pickerel strikes + with the speed of an express train. Try it. When I come up we + will go fishing. + + "A tray is coming my way so I must stop. I think of you every + day and, believe me, just as soon as this hospital turns me + loose I am going to go where I can see and talk to the nicest + girl in all the world. + + "Good bye, Miss Hornpout catcher. + + "Affectionately, + "Joe." + +Virginia's face was aglow with happiness as she finished reading and +turned to Helen. "He is the nicest man. Doesn't he write interesting +letters to me?" she murmured softly. + +The sentimental Helen gazed into the distance, lost in dreams conjured by +this epistle. "Yes, he does," she agreed. "You must adore him, dear." + +Virginia's face crimsoned at this bold remark. "We are only friends," +she protested. + +"Sincere friendship and complete understanding between two is +wonderful," sighed Helen from her eighteen years' experience of the +vicissitudes of life, and she displayed further keen insight into the +problems of existence, when she continued, "Sympathetic appreciation +strengthens one to meet sorrow." + +Virginia gazed raptly at her cousin. + +"Such sincere friendship should be cherished as some tender flower," +Helen went on. "Is it not written that from the mouths of babes shall +come wisdom?" + +"You do express yourself so well, Helen. You have so much feeling in +your nature--such breadth to your character, dear," responded Virginia. + +The two girls pensively viewed the pond, possibly recuperating from the +strain of their conversation. + +"It almost seems that I know him," Helen whispered. + +Virginia turned suspiciously upon her cousin. "Did you know Joe Curtis? +Did you go to school with him?" she demanded. + +"I can't remember the name, 'V.' What does he look like?" + +Very valiantly Virginia attempted a word picture of Joe. "He is a +big fellow. His eyes are black--and large--and dreamy." She mused +for a moment and resumed with animation. "His eyes are bright--and +snapping--and brave--" again she paused and then she concluded very +softly--"and sweet. He has a smile which tears your heart." + +"How wonderful he must be!" sighed Helen. She shook her head +emphatically. "If I had met him, I should have remembered him until +the last hour of my life." + +There followed a dreamy silence devoted to maidenly meditation concerning +the manifold charms of Joe Curtis until an idea caused Helen to cry, +"Virginia, you should go fishing in the place Joe wrote about. I know +where it is. Think of it, you would fish in the same place, in the +same water and by the same lily pads where he has been. We couldn't +catch the same fish but we might catch relatives." + +"Let's go now," agreed Virginia, moved greatly by Helen's sentimental +suggestion. + +It was a long pull in the row boat to the head of the pond; but they took +turns at the oars and at last arrived at their destination. The day was +warm and the exercise at the oars did not cool the girls. + +Helen noted the position of the sun which yet hung high. "Nothing will +bite, now 'V.,'" she objected. "We came hours too soon. He said to +fish at sundown. We had better go ashore and wait." + +Glad to get out of the burning sun, they rowed to the shore and, +clambering up the bank, dropped down in a shady spot. + +Suddenly Helen became restless. "I hear a strange humming noise," she +worried. + +Virginia was likewise nervously alert. "I hear it, too. It's a low +buzzing--much louder than mosquitoes," she agreed. + +"What can it be?" Helen troubled. + +"It's my hornets' nest," cried a childish voice behind them. + +With startled exclamations, the girls turned their heads. + +Looking over the top of a granite bowlder a short distance away was a +small boy. He was a very thin and delicate child about five years old, +wearing a pair of faded khaki rompers and a shirt of the same material. + +"Don't you know any better than to sit under a hornets' nest?" he +exclaimed in disgust. "Do you want to get yourselves stung to death?" + +The two girls raised their eyes. Partially concealed by the lower +branches of the tree, a great cone of clay hung above them. From it +and the insects flying about it came the buzzing sound. + +"Crawl, Virginia, and don't you dare make a noise," whispered Helen. + +From the top of the rock the infant witnessed the ignominious retreat +from dangerous territory. "Come over here," he urged. "Much hornets +never come near me." + +Relying upon the superior judgment of the masculine mind, the girls +turned and humbly crept towards this place of refuge. + +"I guess you might stand up, now," the boy told them. "If the hornets +had wanted to sting you, they'd have done it before." + +They arose and forthwith began to dust their skirts. + +"Stop!" commanded the child in a voice of alarm. "Haven't you got +any sense? Want to get me stung? If you make a noise the hornets will +come sneaking over to see what is going on." His manner changed to one +of great politeness as he went on, "I have a house back here. You can +come over there and dust yourselves if you want to." He slid down back +of the rock. When he reappeared around its corner, he made funny little +skips and for the first time they noticed that he used a crutch. One +of his legs was flexed by distorted muscles until he carried it a couple +of inches above the ground. Notwithstanding this handicap, he moved +rapidly along a pathway ahead of him. Where the grass of the meadow +began at the edge of the woods, he waited for them and pointed with +pride to a small opening in a clump of birches. "This is my house," he +told them. + +Virginia dropped upon her knees and peeped in. "How lovely," she cried. + +Before her the flat top of a rock projecting slightly above the surface +of the ground served as a floor. A thick hedge of birch saplings grew +about it, constituting the walls. The branches arching it had been cut +away as high as a man's head. Above this they joined in a dense mass, +forming the roof of the bower. + +Following their little host, the girls entered. + +"What a lovely house," said Helen. "Did you make it?" + +"God made most of it," he answered with great solemnity. "Mother cut +away the high branches and I cut the low ones and it was done. I didn't +have it all, at first, though." + +"How was that?" Helen inquired. + +"Mr. Woodchuck lived in the cellar beneath the stone. There is his +stairway." He pointed to an opening at the edge of the rock, surrounded +by pebbles and clay. "As soon as I moved in Mr. Woodchuck moved out." + +"Are you all alone now?" + +"Oh, no indeed, a chipmunk lives over there, who is very friendly. Up +in that tree is a bird's nest; but the young ones have gone away now. +Then there are the hornets and a snake lives under the rock over there." + +"Snakes!" screamed both of the girls. + +"Yes, a grass snake." The infant was openly disgusted at the display +of feminine timidity. "Who's afraid of an old snake? I'm not. That +snake is so afraid that I will catch him that he don't dare come out." + +The neighborhood distrust relieved the fears of the visitors and they +began to make themselves comfortable. + +"Oh, 'V.,' this would be a grand place to eat our lunch," suggested +Helen and to the boy she said, "We have something to eat in our boat. +May we bring it here and will you have lunch with us?" + +"That would be fine," he agreed. "You get your lunch and I will get +some milk for us to drink from my mother." + +"Don't disturb her," protested Virginia. "We have plenty. And we have +a thermos bottle of water, too." + +"My mother won't care a bit. She loves to have me eat and she wants me +to drink lots of milk so that I will grow big and strong to take care +of her. I haven't any father, you see." Without further words the lad +disappeared. + +Taking care to avoid the hornets, the girls brought their lunch from the +boat and were soon joined by the boy bringing a pitcher of milk and some +tin cups. + +"Mother said that she was glad for us to have the milk and that after +lunch I am to bring you up to see her. Please come," he begged. "I want +my mother to know both of you so that after you are gone I can talk to +her about you and she will understand. I don't often have visitors at +my house." In a burst of confidence, "I never had any before. Please do +come." + +The pleading face of the boy was very attractive to Virginia as she +looked into it. Its wistfulness persuaded her. "We will go and see your +mother," she promised. + +A happy, satisfied smile came into his face. There was something familiar +about that to Virginia. Her eyes became dreamy. + +"I'm going to kiss you," Helen suddenly announced. + +He resisted violently but was overpowered and force prevailed. "What +do you want to do that for?" he objected, unappreciative of the favor +so generously showered upon him by the fair Helen. "It spoils the fun. +Don't you know any better than to want to kiss a feller all the time?" +he complained. + +The sight of food pacified the infant as the girls spread the lunch. +They all enjoyed the feast in the leafy bower and consumed a remarkable +quantity of sandwiches, doughnuts, apple pie and milk. "My, but that +was good!" he announced. "Don't you think that my house is a good +place to eat in? I told my mother that if I could eat here all of the +time I would get fat; but she said that I would become a worse little +savage than I am." + +The boy chattered on as he led them over the meadow towards the back of +a weather-beaten farmhouse. "Moth-er, Moth-er," he shouted, as they +approached the back door. + +A middle aged woman of good appearance came to the door. Trouble had +deeply marked her face. "Won't you come in?" she urged. "Charles +Augustus," she reproved her son, "you should bring ladies to the front +of the house, not to the kitchen door." + +"What's the difference?" he argued. "You can get in either way, +mother, and this is the nearest." + +The girls, much amused at the reasoning of Charles Augustus, followed his +mother through a spotless kitchen and dining room into a very plainly +furnished front room. + +For a time Charles Augustus sat most sedately in a chair, listening to +the conversation of the girls with his mother; but as the minutes passed; +he became restless. + +Recognizing this, his mother suggested that he get some sweet apples from +a tree in front of the house for their guests. + +Passing out of the open front door, he paused upon the stoop and began +a shrill little tuneless whistle. As he moved forward, his foot or his +crutch slipped. He lurched forward as if about to plunge headlong down +the flight of steps which led to the yard below. + +The eyes of the women had followed the little fellow, and as he swung +forward they were filled with alarm. With half suppressed screams they +sprang to their feet, thrusting out their arms as if they might catch him. + +By a marvelous effort, the boy recovered his balance. He resumed his +whistling as if nothing had happened and clumped heavily down the steps, +disappearing from their view. + +With a sigh of relief the girls sank back into their chairs. + +But the mother remained standing, her eyes yet upon the doorway through +which her son had departed. Her raised hands dropped to her side and the +look of horror passed from her face, leaving it old and tired looking. + +Helen arose and, with a word of explanation, disappeared after Charles +Augustus. + +Virginia marked the hands of the woman yet trembling from her shock. She +reached forward and, gently pulling her down into a chair, pressed her +soft cheek against the wrinkled face. + +The woman fought to control her emotion, but her face sank into her hands +and she began to weep. After a time her sobs lessened and she became +calmer. She tried to smile through her tears at the girl. "He is my +baby," she whispered; "my lame, helpless boy." A change came over +her. She threw back her head and resistance blazed in her eyes. "He +shan't be lame," she cried, shaken by the intensity of her feelings. +Quickly the mood merged into one of utter helplessness. "If I could +get the money," she groaned, but almost instantly her former temper +returned. "I will get it," she resolved. "My boy shall have a fair +start in life if I have to crawl on my hands and knees to get it for +him." + +Virginia endeavored to soothe the almost hysterical woman. At last the +tense nerves relaxed and self-control returned. + +"You must think me silly and weak," the woman told her. "I have been +worrying too much. I am so alone with my thoughts here." + +"You have Charles Augustus," suggested Virginia, as she stroked the +bent shoulders. + +"Yes," admitted the woman. "But he goes to bed at six o'clock and +that leaves the long evening in which to sit and think--and hate," she +blazed. Yet, in an instant her anger had departed and she went on sadly, +"It is very lonely after Charles Augustus is asleep." + +"Is he your only child?" the girl asked. + +"No, I have another boy, much older. He is big and strong and handsome +and can take care of himself and his mother," she explained with pride. +"But he is young and is working his way through college. His pay is +small and he has had some bad luck, but he is a joy and happiness in my +life." + +Virginia watched the woman as if fascinated. + +Thought for the comfort of her callers returned with composure to the +mother of Charles Augustus. "My dear," she said kindly, "I suppose +that you are in Maine for a vacation. You don't look like a native. +It's a shame for me to spoil this beautiful afternoon for you with my +tears and troubles. I am nervous and overwrought. I had wonderful news +yesterday. News which may make me glad all of the rest of my days or +make me always sad." + +"Please tell me about it," begged Virginia. + +The woman yielded to the girl's entreaties and explained that, on the +previous day, Charles Augustus had been taken to a physician in Old +Rock because of some infantile disease. After treating the boy, the +doctor had examined his leg with great interest. Hunting up a copy of +a recent medical journal he had shown the mother a description of an +operation for a similar case in a New York hospital. It had resulted +in the complete recovery of the use of a crippled limb. "That boy's +leg could be cured if we could get him on an operating table before +he is too old," the doctor had declared with confidence. + +The news of the possibility of her son's cure had filled Charles +Augustus's mother with joy; but her inability to raise the money +for such an operation had almost driven her frantic. + +When she ended, Virginia took hold of her hands. "Won't you let me help +you?" she begged softly. "There must be a way to do it and I should +like to, for--" she hesitated a moment and then--"the sake of Charles +Augustus." + +The woman looked into the girl's eyes. She found a sweetness there which +appealed to her. "I would have no right to refuse any help which would +rid my boy of that crutch," she answered. + +At the door Virginia glanced back. "Charles Augustus's crutch would +make nice kindling wood," she called. "A motorcycle would be much nicer +for him." + +A hopeful smile crept over the tired face of the woman. "Life would be +very beautiful if my Charles Augustus could run and play and ride a wheel +like other boys," she said. + +Virginia found her cousin and the lad in the midst of a great romp. He +beamed at Helen, of whom he had become a great admirer, regardless of her +sentimental tendencies. "We didn't miss your cousin one bit, did we?" +he announced, and then, "I don't see anything in that to laugh at," +when the girls gave vent to their merriment. + +"We are going now, Charles Augustus," Helen told him. "Kiss me good +bye." + +Regardless of his earlier attitude, the lad succumbed to the allure of +a beautiful woman as has man since the beginning of things. + +"Are you coming again soon?" he demanded. + +"Yes," Virginia answered. She was very serious and thoughtful as she +followed the lad and the gay and talkative Helen another way to the pond. +As she passed the mail box, she raised her eyes and upon it read the +name, "Curtis." + +"I knew it," she whispered. "Joe has his mother's eyes." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +AUNT KATE LENDS A HAND + + +The next morning Virginia wrote Mrs. Henderson about the case of Charles +Augustus. She wrote also to Joe Curtis, but in her letter she did not +refer to her meeting with his mother and lame brother or to her visit +to his home. Afterwards she went out and sat in the hammock. Swinging +gently, she gazed with serious eyes at the landscape; but her thoughts +gave but little heed to the beautiful scenery which lay before her. + +With motherly interest, Aunt Kate watched her niece through the kitchen +window. Wise in the habits and customs of young women, she noted +unfavorable portents. "Lands sakes," she called to Helen, "Virginia is +moping away in the hammock trying to make herself homesick. Hurry out +and cheer the poor child up. Don't let her get lonesome and unhappy." + +Helen obediently entered upon her kindly mission. Seating herself by her +cousin, she put an arm about her and gave her cheery greeting, "Hello +cuticomes. Of whom are you dreaming?" + +"I am thinking of Charles Augustus." + +"He is a darling kid. I could eat him for candy." The cannibalistic +Helen smiled anything but fiercely at the thought of her tender prey. + +"He is so sweet, Helen. That makes it sadder." + +"Makes what sad?" + +"His lameness. It is dreadful. Think of it, Helen, never to be able to +run and play in comfort." + +Shadows of unhappiness clouded the usual cheerfulness of Helen's face. +"It is terrible," she sighed. + +"All through his life," the melancholy Virginia went on, "that crutch +must be with him. Even when he proposes to a girl it will be beside him +at her feet." + +"He could leave it in the hall with his hat." Helen's optimism +attempted to thrust aside the enshrouding gloom. + +"No." Virginia was determined that no ray of light should brighten the +dark picture she was painting. "When Charles Augustus proposes, unless +the crutch is near, he can't get from his knees." + +Helen conceded the point by a helpless nod. "It won't be a bit +romantic. It will be pathetic," she whispered. + +"Not if the girl loves him truly. Not if he is the answer to the call of +her heart." + +"He would be the Knight of her thoughts then,--the Prince of her +dreams," interjected Helen, the sentimental. + +"With a crutch. He will rest on it even at his wedding." + +"When they go away on their wedding trip, the rice and old shoes will +beat against it," groaned Helen. + +"It will be at his bedside when he dies." Virginia's eyes filled +with tears. "Were he a soldier it would be a badge of honor--a mark +of patriotic suffering; but poor Charles Augustus was always that way +and must always remain so unless some one will pay for an operation." +Virginia buried her tear-drowned eyes in her handkerchief. + +The sympathetic Helen succumbed to the prevailing sorrow of the occasion +and wept also. + +From her watch tower at the kitchen window, Aunt Kate espied the +sorrowing ones. "My sakes alive, what has got into those girls?" she +exclaimed. "They must be hankering for a funeral." Hastening forth, she +planted herself before them and viewed the weepers with stern eyes. +"What is all of this crying about?" she demanded. + +They told her, abating no jot or tittle of gloom. + +"Was Charles Augustus unhappy yesterday?" + +"No," they admitted. + +"Well then," Aunt Kate's voice rang forcefully, "what's the use of +crying over happiness? Tears are to wash sorrows away." Her final remark +pointed her thoughts in a practical direction. "You two can wash the +surrey as well as for me to pay Tom fifty cents to do it. You can use +some of those tears around here if you get tired of pumping water." + +So the grief stricken arrayed themselves in bathing suits and tugged +the surrey into the sun. They hitched the hose to the force pump and +labored diligently amidst floods of conversation and torrents of water. +They polished and, inadvertently or with malice aforethought, turned +water upon one another until peals of laughter echoed into the kitchen. +A complacent Aunt Kate gave but little heed to them until they presented +themselves before her, much bedrabbled but in an exceedingly cheerful +frame of mind. + +She gazed over her glasses at them and said, "Mercy sakes, I told you +girls to wash the surrey not yourselves. Get off those wet clothes before +you catch your death of cold." As they disappeared towards the stairs +she called after them, "You girls were bound to have a moist morning. +Now I hope that you are satisfied." + +Days passed which Aunt Kate, in her wisdom, saw were busy ones. At last +an answer came to Virginia's letter to Mrs. Henderson. Hennie had a +habit of accomplishing the things which she undertook and her response +was most satisfactory. She had arranged for the operation upon Charles +Augustus at the New York hospital. A place had been found for Mrs. Curtis +to stay and tickets had been placed at the Old Rock station for her +and her son. + +Sufficient funds had been raised to cover everything but the operating +fee. But as soon as the case came to the attention of the surgeon, he +had suggested that, as the matter of age was a very important factor in +the ultimate success of his efforts, the operation be performed at once. +He was quite willing to await the result of Mrs. Henderson's further +exertions for the payment of his bill. + +A very happy and delighted Virginia cried the good news aloud to Aunt +Kate and Helen. "Right after lunch we will go and see Mrs. Curtis and +Charles Augustus and tell them the good news," she planned. "Isn't +Hennie perfectly splendid?" + +Aunt Kate was making pies. Her eyes twinkled as she told Virginia, "I +don't gather from this letter that your friend Mrs. Henderson spent much +time weeping over Charles Augustus's crutch. She is going to get rid of +the old thing. That line or two you wrote did the lame boy much more good +than all the tears you and Helen wasted around here the other morning." + +Virginia bobbed her head in agreement with the wisdom of her aunt. Then +she climbed the stairs to make ready for her trip, lifting a sweet little +voice in song. + +As Aunt Kate heard her, she smiled gently; but her face grew suddenly +stern as she muttered, "Until I settle brother Obadiah's hash, I'd +better keep an umbrella and a mackintosh handy if I don't want to get +wet"; after which she dusted the flour from her hands with great vigor. + +The two girls gave little time to their lunch that noon, and soon +afterwards started up the pond in a canoe. Helen was filled with energy. +She dug her paddle into the water and pulled mightily. + +"Stop, Helen, we are turning around," protested Virginia. + +"Paddle your share, 'V.'," retorted Helen with an air of injury. +"Remember, you are not a passenger." + +By vigorously wielding her paddle, Virginia managed to hold the canoe on +its course. "Please don't make me work so hard, Helen," she objected. +"We want to hurry and get there." + +"We are doing that splendidly, 'V.' We can't go very fast if you want +to sit and dream. Paddle, dear heart--work your way." + +[Illustration: "'YOU ARE MY SWEETHEART,' THE BRAZEN HELEN TOLD HIM"] + +So it came to pass that Virginia paddled to keep up with Helen and that +young woman paddled to make her cousin work, and thus the light canoe +was driven over the water with speed and they soon reached the end of +their voyage. + +Charles Augustus espied their approach afar off and hobbled down the +meadow path to meet them with joyous outcry. "Hello, you came to see +me, didn't you?" + +"Of course. You are my sweetheart," the brazen Helen told him. + +"My!" he sighed, shaking his head after the manner of an elderly +philosopher. "It's been a long time since I saw you. I expected you +every day. Mother said that she guessed you were busy people." + +Mrs. Curtis came to the door at the sound of voices. Her face lighted +when she recognized them. "Charles has been watching for you each day," +she told them. "I tried to persuade him that you might have interests +besides visiting small boys; but I wasn't very successful." + +Charles Augustus balked in the pathway, pulling at the hand of Helen. +"Don't let's go in. It's much nicer out here. Let's play as we did +the other day." + +Mrs. Curtis nodded understandingly when Helen bowed to her admirer's +wishes, and led Virginia into the house. "It is nice of you to come +and see me again so soon," she told the girl when they were seated in +the front room; "especially after the way I must have tired you with my +troubles and drowned you with my tears." Her forced gaiety could not +deceive one to whom she had opened her heart. The marks of trouble and +anxiety showed too plainly in her face. + +Virginia saw the opportunity to transmit the good tidings she had +brought. Its very bigness embarrassed her. "I have some good news +for you," she cried, and abruptly thrust the letter towards the older +woman, her eyes big and tender with the joy of her message. "There!" +she stammered. "Read--read that, please." + +Mrs. Curtis took the letter from Mrs. Henderson and began to peruse it. + +It seemed to Virginia that she would never finish. + +At last Mrs. Curtis turned towards the girl. Her face was pale and the +stress of her emotion weakened her. "I can't thank you," she whispered +in a queer strained voice. Suddenly her strength swept back to her. Under +the force of the joy which enveloped her she spoke in a dead monotone, +staring ahead of her with unseeing eyes. "My Charles will walk and play +like other boys. In a few weeks--perhaps before Thanksgiving Day--he +can throw aside his crutch." + +Virginia, agitated by the intenseness of the other's feelings, watched +in silence. + +Mrs. Curtis had forgotten her visitor now. She was thinking aloud. +"What a happy day it will be for Joe and Charles and me," she +murmured,--"the happiest since my husband died." + +The gladness of the other thrilled the girl. + +Like a flash there came a change in Mrs. Curtis's mood. Her joy came +into conflict with a defiant pride. Her face became cold and hard. +"It's charity," she wailed, "just plain charity. Am I a beggar now?" + +She turned furiously upon Virginia, transformed by passion, "If my +husband had lived--if I, a weak woman, had been given a fair chance to +make an honest living in this land of the free," she sneered, "I too +would ride in my automobile in silks and diamonds and extend charity to +the poor. If there were justice among men I would not be in a position +where people could offer me charity." + +A bewildered Virginia listened timidly as the woman, almost beside +herself, went on, "There is no justice--there is no right," Her eyes +seemed ablaze to the startled girl. She thrust her arms above her head. +"The wicked prosper and the good are ruined. It's all wrong--wickedly +wrong," she screamed and, rushing into an adjoining room, cast herself +across the bed, sobbing convulsively. + +Amazed at the effect of Hennie's letter, Virginia was tempted to run +away. She hesitated, however. Through the doorway she could see the +shaking form of Joe's mother upon the bed. Quickly the passion died out +of the sobs of the weeping woman and in its place came a note of pathetic +helplessness which clutched at the girl's heart and seemed to call her. + +In a moment Virginia was at the side of the bed. Leaning over, she took +one of the toil worn hands into her own. There came an answering +pressure and the girl seated herself by the bed-side holding the +knotted fingers in her own. The sobs lessened, the quivering form +became calmer, and at length Mrs. Curtis sat up and raised wet eyes +to those of her visitor. "You must think me lacking in appreciation of +the generosity of your friends," she choked, still shaken by the reflex +of her sobs. "It's not true, though. That was a display of my silly +pride. It's about all that I have left of the happiest days of my +life. Forget my words, dear, and forgive me. From the bottom of my +heart, I thank you for what you have done for my boy and me. To have +him walk without a crutch, on my hands and knees I'd scrub the most +crowded street in the world. There is no humiliation too great for me to +undergo for him. I would glory in it." In the glow of mother love +her face softened and became beautiful. Now she seemed to grasp the +full significance of the news and to be filled with unrest as if +afraid that the opportunity might escape. "When can we go?" she +worried--"tomorrow?" + +"Today, if you wish," Virginia explained. + +Her woes cast aside and filled with excitement, Mrs. Curtis dried her +tears and returned to the other room with the girl. Through the window +Charles Augustus could be seen hobbling about in a game with the active +Helen. His mother watched his awkward movements intently for a moment. +"In a few months he will be running about without the crutch," she +whispered and, swinging about, she seized Virginia by her shoulders, +looked deep into her eyes as she murmured gently, "May God bless you +and yours for what you are doing for me and mine, and may happiness be +yours and theirs until the end of time." + +Charles Augustus displayed greater interest in the journey he was about +to take than in the fact that he might no longer need his crutch. As +he passed through the meadow with the girls he explained his position. +"It's great fun to travel on the cars. I don't care a bit where I +go, so it's some place else." Possible objections arising from the +change struck him. "When I come back, will you come and see me, even +if I don't have a crutch?" he asked Helen. + +The enchantress caught him in her arms and answered him with a kiss. + +Regardless of this attention, dissatisfaction crept into his face. "If I +don't have my crutch, I will catch you all of the time. There'll be no +fun in playing with a girl who always has to be 'it.'" + +His fears did not impress Helen the agile. "When you are able to play +without your crutch," she promised him, "I shall fly with delight." + +"Like an aeroplane?" inquired Charles Augustus with great seriousness. + +They left him standing upon the shore. As they paddled away he was +leaning on his crutch, watching something. Suddenly he made a hopping +dart and dropped to the ground. Instantly he was up again, shouting +triumphantly, "Look--look at the old bullfrog I caught." He held the +slimy creature aloft, by one of its legs, for the admiration of the +girls and asked, "Do you think that my mother will let me take him to +New York with me?" + +"Ask her," suggested the diplomatic Helen. + +Notwithstanding the happy outcome of her efforts to help Charles +Augustus, Virginia was very silent and preoccupied that evening. + +"That child is homesick," Aunt Kate thought, as she kissed her good +night and watched her slowly ascend the stairs, candlestick in hand. + +As Virginia undressed, she was very thoughtful. She went over to the +dresser and, holding Mrs. Henderson's letter close to the candle's +flame, re-read it. There was a wistful, helpless look in her face when +she was ready to climb into bed. "Oh, Daddy, Daddy," she whispered +sadly, "please believe as mother did, so that I can come back home." +An hour afterwards she fell asleep upon a pillow moistened with tears. + +The two girls were at the station in the morning to say good bye to +Charles Augustus and his mother as they departed for New York. + +Before the train left Charles Augustus complained to Helen, "Mother +wouldn't let me take my frog to New York." + +"That is too bad," commiserated the deceitful Helen. + +"Mother said that the frog wouldn't care for New York. He might get +lonesome there." + +Helen gravely considered the problem. "Your mother is right, Charles. A +frog would find few friends and little amusement in New York." + +Virginia bade Mrs. Curtis good bye at the car steps. "You will write +and tell us about everything, won't you?" she begged. + +The older woman embraced her. "Good bye," she murmured. "Words can't +tell what I would say to you, dear. Of course I will write." + +Again the days passed and the best of news came from New York. The +operation was performed and the twisted muscles worked into place. The +surgeon was confident of the success of his efforts and felt sure that, +at the worst, Charles Augustus would only have a slight limp which would +disappear with age. + +Yet Virginia was not happy. Very sweet she was and thoughtful of others; +but she was serious and often, too, a look of sadness rested on her face. + +Aunt Kate watched her with the vigilant eye of a mother in those days. +One afternoon she discovered her niece alone in the hammock, viewing +the pond with a melancholy countenance. "Land sakes, that child is +moping again," she groaned. Leaving her work, she joined the girl and +commanded, "Tell me your thoughts, Virginia?" + +For the moment the girl was startled. "I was thinking about South +Ridgefield," she confessed timidly. + +"I knew it," Aunt Kate exclaimed, apparently much puffed up by her +mind-reading ability. "You are trying to see how unhappy you can make +yourself and every one else who looks at you." + +Virginia was mute before this accusation. + +"Were you thinking of your father?" asked Aunt Kate, proceeding with +her examination of the witness. + +The girl nodded sadly. + +"Why do you think of him?" Aunt Kate seemed shocked at the depraved +taste of Obadiah's daughter. + +"Oh, Aunt Kate, I do wish that he would pay for Charles Augustus's +operation. I would feel as if there might be some chance of my going +home some day." + +"I am sorry that you don't care for the company of Helen and me, +Virginia." + +The girl gave her aunt a pleading look. "You know what I mean. I love +you and Helen dearly." + +The older woman softened, patting her niece upon the cheek; but she stuck +to the business at hand. "That water business would cost your father +a lot of money, wouldn't it?" + +"I think so," Virginia agreed. + +"Hum," muttered Aunt Kate. "We'd better give Obadiah a light dose +to begin on." + +"I don't understand you, Aunt Kate," said the girl. + +"No matter," responded the older woman. "What I want to know is, have +you asked your father to pay for the operation on that lame boy?" + +"No, he knows nothing about it," admitted Virginia. "Aunt Kate, I +would be afraid to ask him after the way he talked to me." + +"Afraid!" Aunt Kate was filled with astonishment. "Afraid of Obadiah? +My stars and garters! You must begin some place! How on earth do you +expect him to give to something he never heard of? Don't you know child, +that to get a Dale to do anything which costs money you must ask them +not once, but thrice. Seventy times seven is about right for Obadiah." + +"But, Aunt Kate, after what my father said, I couldn't ask him to help +pay Charles Augustus's bill." + +"Why not?" demanded Aunt Kate. + +"I don't know why. I am sure, though, that I couldn't." + +"I know why," declared Aunt Kate. "It is obstinacy--plain Dale +obstinacy sticking out of you." + +Virginia was silent for a moment, possibly reviewing her personal +characteristics as illuminated by her aunt. Then she asked, "You think +that I should ask him?" + +"Certainly, give brother Obadiah a chance." + +"But, Aunt Kate, he will refuse." + +"We will write him then that you are going to stay with me." + +"Oh," groaned Virginia, great tears springing into her eyes opened wide +with alarm. "Then I could never go home as long as I live. I'd never +see Daddy or Serena or even Ike again." + +"Fiddlesticks, child, don't be a weakling." Her eyes twinkled. "This +is no tragedy. It is only a difference of opinion, with brother Obadiah, +as usual, wrong." + +"It would be a tragedy if I could never go and see my father." Virginia +shook her head sorrowfully. "I have been thinking about it lots lately, +and sometimes I wonder if my mother would want me to stay away from home +much longer." + +Aunt Kate put her arm about the girl. "Won't you trust to the judgment +of your old aunt, who knew your mother before you? I don't want your +efforts to help other people to be turned into a punishment." + +"I have thought of that, too." Virginia was very solemn as she spoke. +"Perhaps I went about it the wrong way. If I had done things differently +perhaps I wouldn't have made Daddy angry." + +"You must not allow yourself to worry, dear. We will give your father +a chance to help Charles Augustus. If he doesn't do it, something else +will come up and we will keep on giving him the opportunity. In the end +everything will work out for the best, I am sure." + +So that afternoon Virginia wrote to her father and asked him to +contribute towards the expense of the operation upon Charles Augustus. +It was a cheery letter and in no word of it could one guess the tears +and longings between the lines. + +Obadiah's answer, as befitted a good business man, was prompt. While he +admitted the sadness of the case he could see no reason why he should +be asked to pay for an operation upon a boy of whom he knew nothing. He +enclosed a small check and concluded his letter with directions that his +daughter return home at once. + +"Just as I expected," announced Aunt Kate, when Virginia, the +bewildered subject of conflicting emotions, brought it to her. "Obadiah +is wild to have you home. That is our strength. Don't you surrender to +him, Virginia. I wouldn't be a slave to any man and certainly not to +brother Obadiah. I always made him step about, I can promise you. And if +you follow my advice you can, too." + +Virginia's face was wistful. "I don't want to make Daddy step about, +Aunt Kate." + +"You started this revolution, Virginia, and you must see it through. +Now, I am in it. The only slave in that big house in South Ridgefield is +going to be Obadiah. My dander is up, child, and I am going to make him +sweat. I must finish the job of training which I started years ago. He +never disobeyed me then and he had better not try it now." Her eyes +flashed and her manner was extremely menacing. "In the meantime," +she stormed, "he has brought you into the world, which complicates +matters but does not relieve me of my responsibilities." + +The second letter to Obadiah was in the hand of Virginia but it breathed +the words and spirit of his sister Kate. It was an independent document. +Every line of it bristled with the spirit of '76. It regretted his +decision not to help in the case of Charles Augustus and also that +Virginia had not completed her visit so that she could return to South +Ridgefield. In vague terms it referred to a home with her aunt, and +discussed a career, as well as certain positions for teachers available +in and about Old Rock. + +Virginia copied the letter and signed her name. Then she re-read with +increasing alarm the ultimatum which she had approved. Had she been alone +it would have been instantly destroyed; but under the stern eye of her +aunt she was helpless. Obediently she addressed the envelope and, shaking +way down in her very boots, she watched her aunt fold, seal and bear away +for personal mailing the bolt which was to be cast at her father's head. + +At the door Aunt Kate turned and, with the greatest assurance, told the +fear-shaken girl, "Mark my words! This letter will make brother Obadiah +sit up and take notice." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +OBADIAH "COMES TO" + + +As it is written that a prophet is not without honor save in his own +country and in his own house, it is deemed just that such matters as +have to do with the coming to pass of Aunt Kate's prediction concerning +her brother Obadiah should be duly set forth herein that they may be not +suppressed through local jealousy. + +Obadiah received Virginia's letter late one afternoon as he was about +to return home. He did not immediately read it, but carried it with him +that he might enjoy it in the greater seclusion of his own domicile. What +took place thereafter is best described in the words of a confidential +communication from Serena to Ike. "Dat ole man is er ra'in' an' er +ta'in' 'roun' in dyar jes lak sumpin done stung 'im. It's de +badness er wo'kin' out. De hot fiah o' to'ment singe 'im an' +de cont'ary spi'it cry aloud fo' he'p lak er lamb afo' er ragin' +lion in de wilde'ness." + +Ike received these tidings concerning the spiritual pass of his employer +with an interest that lacked the kindly sympathy which should be +extended to a brother struggling with the forces of evil. He made +answer in a casual manner, "Mr. Devil done run dat ole man to ea'th er +long time ergo. He jes er settin' back, lafin sof' to hisse'f, er +watchin' de houn's er scratchin' an' er clawin'. He gwine dig +'im out presently. Ah 'spects dat de 'pointed hour is at han'." + +At dinner Obadiah was in a surly mood which he vented upon Serena by +making cutting criticisms concerning the food and service. She received +his comments in silence, storing them up until a more propitious hour of +reckoning. Meanwhile she solaced herself by certain outbursts at Ike. + +Unconscious of impending disaster, the chauffeur had seated himself +adjacent to the range. Here he rested from the labors of the day, having +in view a tempting repast of chicken and sweet potatoes. He endeavored +by agreeable conversation, to make smooth, or grease if you wish, its +pathway to his stomach. "Miss Sereny, yo'all is er movin' mighty +peart dis evenin'," he remarked in tuneful tones, as the old negress +hastily re-entered the kitchen, severely wounded by a barbed dart of +Obadiah's temper. + +She whirled upon him and snapped, "Shet up dat big mouf. Yer 'minds +me o' er ole alligator er settin' thar workin' yer jaws an' ain' +say nothin'." + +A glance at Serena's face showed Ike that storm signals were +unmistakably flying. He thought to assuage the tempest by the tender of +assistance. "Caint ah he'p you, Miss Sereny? Ah 'spects dat +yo'all is plum ti'ed er wo'kin' in dis yere hot kitchen." + +She fixed him with smoldering eyes. "He'p me, he'p me," she repeated +indignantly. "De onlies way er lazy nocount lummox lak yo'all kin +he'p me is by er movin' yer triflin' carcass out o' ma kitchen stid +o' layin' 'round ma stove lak er houn' dawg. Lif youse'f off dat +chair, boy." + +Ike, the indirect victim of Virginia's letter, removed himself in haste +from his comfortable corner and retired to the cool steps of the back +stoop, to allow the domestic cyclone to blow itself out before attempting +again to procure his evening's nourishment. + +Obadiah had an uncomfortable night. A remembrance of the lance like +thrusts of Aunt Kate, which, in the name of his daughter, had so cruelly +lacerated him in spite of his armor of egotism, drove sleep away. Tossing +upon a bed of discomfort, he heard the clocks toll out each passing +hour until, weary and tired eyed, he left his bed, ill prepared to face +the burdens and perplexities of the new day. + +At breakfast, Serena served Obadiah efficiently; but her attitude was +hostile. The wounds of the proceeding night were yet raw. When he had +eaten, she faced him sternly and demanded, "When is yo'all 'spectin' +Miss Virginy is er gwine come home?" + +"One of these days," he answered with indifference. + +She was not to be thus summarily dismissed. "Dat day bettah be er +comin' mighty quick," she threatened. "Ah is er gittin ti'ed er +waitin' 'roun' yere. Presen'ly, ah gwine pack ma duds an' go whar +she at." + +"You attend to your own business," he snarled petulantly. + +His irritation was an elixir of strength to her. Hands on hips she +gazed defiantly at him. "Ma business is whar Miss Virginy is. Ah ain' +promise Miss Elinor dat ah tek care o' yo'all. Ah gives ma word to +watch dat chil'. Ef you is er countin' on me er stayin' in dis yere +house yo'all bettah git dat gal back quick. Ah ain' got no time fo' +no man so se'fish dat 'is own kin folk done turn again 'im." + +Before the righteous indignation of his own servant Obadiah fled from +his dining room, speechless with indignation. + +He entered his office at nine o'clock. The sound of Mr. Jones's +typewriter should have greeted him and he should have perceived Kelly +recording profits in the great ledgers. This morning their seats were +vacant. There was a lonesomeness about the place distasteful to the +manufacturer. His sleepless night and the altercation with Serena had +caused him to develop a fit of indigestion which was not allayed by the +lack of punctuality on the part of his heretofore punctual subordinates. + +Footsteps sounded in the hallway, also happy laughter. Tardy employees +approached their work joyously, not stealthily, as is the normal custom +of such miscreants. No cheery smile of cordial welcome mantled Obadiah's +face. No well turned quip, to amuse his minions in their hours of toil, +was upon his lip. He sternly awaited the coming of these frivolous +and delinquent workers. + +As Mr. Jones and Kelly entered, there were glad smiles upon their faces. +There was something different about the stenographer. There was a marked +outward change in him. His clear complexion proclaimed good health. He +carried himself as if in complete control of his muscles. In place of +awkwardness had come a distinct grace of carriage. + +There were more subtle changes in Mr. Jones, also. A clearness of eye, +a steadiness of gaze and a quiet self-confidence were a novelty to his +friends of other days. + +But, strangest of all, the private secretary's old time beauty was +marred by a discoloration of the right eye, poorly disguised with powder, +by several small cuts upon his face and by certain bandages on his hands. + +Obadiah gave Mr. Jones a sweeping glance which failed to grasp details +essential to a clear understanding of a subordinate. "What do you mean, +loafing in here at noon?" he demanded most inaccurately, "I pay you to +get here at nine o'clock. What does this mean?" The cruel glance of +Obadiah's eye pierced the optic of Mr. Jones as if to plumb the depths +of his soul and wrest his innermost secrets forth to be exposed, naked +and ashamed, in the pitiless light of publicity. + +The mill owner's efforts to read the stenographer's mind through the +eye were futile. Had he succeeded, the result of his research would have +shocked him. Believing himself to be peeping into the eyes of a turtle +dove, he would have become aware that he might, with greater safety, have +attempted to stare down the baleful glare of a Bengal tiger. + +Lacking in the ability to read the human mind, Obadiah could not know +that Fate, seeking a recipient for her favor, had plucked a peaceful soul +from in front of a typewriter and made it fierce. + +Had the manufacturer been able to view Mr. Jones's mind as the scenes +of a movie, he would have beheld thrilling events taking place upon +the previous evening. He would have observed his stenographer simply +arrayed in trunks, socks and shoes, with eight ounce gloves laced upon +his hands, give battle for the feather-weight championship of the Fifth +ward, before a multitude of wildly excited male citizens. + +Had Obadiah by similar means reviewed the mind of Kelly, he would have +watched the battle as through the eyes of a second. He would have seen, +beneath the electric lights, the muscles of the little fighting men +play, panther like, under the healthy pink of their skins. If one drop +of red blood remained in his anaemic old body, the mill owner would +have thrilled as Mr. Jones, his arms playing smoothly as well oiled +connecting rods, treading upon his toes softly as a cat, advanced, +retreated and side stepped, ever warily studying the face of his +opponent. He would have perceived that his stenographer ducked and dodged +with incredible swiftness, his gloved hands playing always to feign, to +ward and to deliver blows which resounded with the thud of leather +against quivering flesh. Obadiah's eyes would have recognized the rich +red of blood smearing the marble of human flesh, and he would have +tingled at the excitement of the spectators when, rising from their +seats, they tumultuously applauded the giver of a lucky blow. + +Through five gruelling rounds of fighting the manufacturer would have +followed the fortunes of his private secretary until that final moment +when, panting and heaving, he stood over the prone form of his adversary, +counting the motions of the referee's hands, whose voice could not +be heard above the thunderous applause which acclaimed him victor. + +But no picture of this battle could have told Obadiah that in the moment +of triumph the spirit of Mr. Jones was reborn; that from the building, +into the portals of which he had been almost dragged by Kelly, he had +come forth a red-blooded fighting man whose gore had mixed with that of +his antagonist. + +Ignorant of these happenings, Obadiah angrily awaited an answer from his +unpunctual servants. + +The smile had faded from the face of Mr. Jones at Obadiah's rough +greeting. He failed to behave in accord with the best usages among +private secretaries. Squaring his shoulders, he took a deep breath, +thereby greatly straining a gusset only recently let into the back +of his vest. Suddenly he shoved his head forward. As his face advanced, +it changed into an ugly countenance with a nasty eye, such an one as +would make its recipient ill at ease. This was Mr. Jones's fighting +face, developed with care under the kindly advice of Kelly. Sporting +characters considered it a valuable asset. + +Mr. Jones's expression startled Obadiah. For years, when at a loss for +words or thoughts, he had studied the lamb like face of his stenographer. +That timid look was gone now, replaced by a countenance which had +borrowed coldness from the glance of a rattlesnake and combined it with a +grizzly bear's cruelty of aspect. To Obadiah it spoke of arson, of the +assassination of capitalists, of the proletariat running mad. He quailed +before it. + +"Where do you get that noon stuff?" snarled Mr. Jones. + +Obadiah turned towards the clock as if to place the blame for any +misstatements of time upon that instrument. The hands pointed to five +minutes past nine thereby also indicating their owner to be a liar. + +Again Mr. Jones spoke. Roughness replaced refinement. + +"For five years I have worked overtime for you, two or three afternoons +a week, sometimes fifteen minutes, sometimes an hour. I also put in many +an evening and some Sundays for you. I never received a word of thanks +for it. Now, because I am delayed by important business and come in five +minutes late, you put up a squeal as if I'd stepped on your sore corn. +Say, what kind of a cheap skate are you?" the stenographer roared in +conclusion. + +Obadiah ignored the question in haughty but uneasy silence. + +"You think so much of your ugly old self that you can't think of +anything else. But believe me, everybody else has got your number and +they're wasting no time loving you. Say," growled Mr. Jones so roughly +that Obadiah jumped, "have you a friend in the world?" + +For an instant it appeared that the manufacturer contemplated a hurried +retreat from his own office, but the pugnacious stenographer barred the +way. + +"You hain't," announced Mr. Jones ungrammatically but emphatically, +producing a gigantic roll of currency from his pocket. It was his share +of the fight receipts, and, although the denominations averaged low, it +bulked large to the surprised eyes of Obadiah. Mr. Jones shook the money +in the face of his employer. "See that?" he inquired, as if suspecting +that his employer suffered from failing eyesight. "I don't care to +hold it too near to you or you might try to pinch it." + +Obadiah viewed the roll of bills with a repugnance astounding in him. + +"I had to work to get that money, last night," Mr. Jones continued. +"It wasn't the easy kind of money that you pull down. But that isn't +the point. Kelly and I have bought a gymnasium up the street. We intended +to treat you fair--to give you full notice so that you could fill our +places before we left. But as you've had to be a little meaner than +usual this morning, I think we'll bid you good-bye right now. How +about it, Kelly?" + +"I say we will," agreed that successful trainer with emphasis, and he +and the fighter abruptly left the room. + +Obadiah closed the door of the office with a resounding slam behind +his departing staff and, taking a bunch of unopened letters from Mr. +Jones's former place of labor, he bore them into his own lair. As he +sank down behind his desk he thumbed them over and, selecting one, +opened and read the paper it contained. It was a formal order from the +State Board of Health forbidding the further discharge of waste from the +dye house at his mill into the Lame Moose River. As the manufacturer +grasped the import of the document, his face purpled with rage and +the paper shook in his hands. Finally he petulantly cast it aside and +groaned aloud at a twinge of indigestion. Dropping back in his chair +he took Virginia's letter from his pocket and re-read it. "I've had +bad luck ever since she left," he growled. "Things don't break right. +I can't keep my mind on my business. She must come home." Unhooking his +telephone, he asked Hezekiah Wilkins to come to him. + +Hezekiah responded, smiling pleasantly. "Good morning," he exclaimed. +"What has happened to the boys? Not sick, I hope." + +"I fired them," Obadiah rapped. "They were too fresh around here and +I let them go." His anger and resentment displayed itself. "They are no +good. I wouldn't give them recommendations as dog catchers." + +"Hump," ejaculated Hezekiah. "Both at once? It leaves you short +handed." + +Obadiah invited the attention of his attorney to business by handing him +the order of the Board of Health. + +Hezekiah read the document with care and, returning it to the +manufacturer, gazed at the ceiling reflectively. + +"Well, what do you think of it?" Obadiah's manner was short. + +"I have been expecting it," the lawyer replied with calmness. "What +else could you expect? You are ruining the water that people have to +drink." + +"I can't be forced. They won't drive me," Obadiah maintained with +his usual obstinacy. + +"They'll drive you into court fast enough, if you don't obey that +order," Hezekiah warned him with a chuckle. + +"That's just where I want to be. It's up to you to develop a plan +to flim-flam that bunch of fool doctors. You're losing your 'pep' or +you'd have worked out something before this," sneered Obadiah. + +"Perhaps I am losing my 'pep,'" Hezekiah mimicked, and his eyes +flashed as he went on. "I have enough mental alertness left to advise +you not to bite off your nose to spite your face." + +Obadiah flushed angrily but controlled his temper. "Listen," he +snarled, "while I tell you what I pay you to tell me. The Lame Moose +is a navigable stream, isn't it?" + +Hezekiah nodded, his eyes dancing with amusement. + +Obadiah frowned at his attorney and continued, "We'll raise a federal +question and get the case into the U. S. Courts and with dilatory pleas, +continuances and appeals it will take years before a final decision is +handed down. How's that?" + +Hezekiah laughed. "As your legal adviser, I can't approve it. The +waste from the dye-house at your mill is spoiling the water that some +thousands of people have to drink. There is a simple remedy open to +you but they have none. Common justice demands that you consider the +rights of these beings." The attorney turned loose his oratorical voice. +"Common justice demands it, sir." + +The manufacturer flushed and shifted uneasily. Quarrelsome as he was, he +could not afford a break with this man. + +Hezekiah relapsed into a careful study of the metal cornice over the way. + +"Think it over. Think about it," snapped Obadiah after a moment's +silence. "You may be able to catch my point of view. I have another +subject which I want to discuss with you--an embarrassing personal +matter." + +Hezekiah gave him a covert glance but immediately resumed inspection of +the metal work across the street. + +"It's about my daughter," continued Obadiah. "I have a letter from +her which I wish you to read." + +Hezekiah perused Virginia's letter with great care and attention. "Did +she write that?" he asked abruptly, as he returned the communication. + +"It's in my daughter's handwriting but I suspect that my sister Kate +may have had a hand in it. Virginia never wrote such a letter to me +before. It is an unusual letter." + +"Yes, it is an unusual letter," Hezekiah agreed. There was merriment +in his eyes but otherwise he presented the serious aspect befitting a +counsellor in the presence of a client. "It is an implied threat to +sever domestic relations. Such counsel as I give should have in +contemplation the facts which led up to this--ahem--veiled ultimatum." + +This reasonable request embarrassed Obadiah greatly; but after some +hesitation he explained the circumstances under which Virginia had left +home as the act of a defiant, headstrong girl. + +"Dear me, an exceedingly unfortunate matter," exclaimed Hezekiah, as if +astonished at the revelation. Therein his manner partook of deceit, as +Hennie had favored him so often with the details of the matter, gathered +from Virginia herself and more completely, through Carrie, from Serena, +that he knew them by heart. The lawyer went on, "The adjustment of +such family differences requires tact--the utmost tact and diplomacy." + +The happenings of the morning had sorely inflamed Obadiah's indigestion. +As he repeated his woes to the attorney, remembrances of the lonely +hours he had spent since the girl's departure came to him and he +believed himself a sadly ill-used man. Miserable in body and spirit, +he flamed into tempestuous rebellion at the mild measures proposed +by his legal adviser. + +"Tact and diplomacy the devil!!" he exploded. "I'll use force, if +necessary. She is my daughter, isn't she?" + +Hezekiah gravely conceded Obadiah's claim of paternity. + +"The law gives me some control of her?" + +"As an unmarried woman, you have certain rights over her," Hezekiah +admitted. + +"Well then, I want her back," bellowed Obadiah, the notes of his voice +getting higher as the intensity of his feeling increased. "You go and +get her and make her come home." + +"Did you have in mind legal proceedings to compel your daughter to +return under your roof?" inquired Hezekiah in a suave manner, in marked +contrast to the bluster of his employer. + +"It doesn't make any difference how you do it. Kidnap her for all I +care. What I want is to get her back," the mill owner stormed. + +"Has it occurred to you, that in such matters care must be taken to +avoid a serious rupture of those affectionate relations which, after +all, are the basis of the home and the natural tie between a father and +daughter?" Hezekiah suggested quietly. + +Obadiah's face was swollen with passion, his obstinacy written deep in +it. "She must come home," he proclaimed. "I want her. I'm tired of +living alone. You go and make her come back." + +The smooth shaven countenance of the lawyer hardened. His usual +good-humored expression melted into one of resolution as he said with +great calmness, "I have thought, sometimes, Obadiah, that you fail +to display a clear conception of an attorney's duties." + +"What?" + +"You don't appreciate the scope of my employment." + +"What has that got to do with my daughter?" + +"It has this. I do not conceive it my duty to force your daughter to +return to your home against her wishes." + +"You refuse to obey my instructions?" Obadiah almost screamed, throwing +discretion to the winds in the tumult of his wrath. + +"Yes, I refuse," answered the lawyer, leaping to his feet and talking +down at his employer. "I refuse," he repeated in a voice in which +passion found no place, "as I have always refused when you would +have seduced me into doing an unjust act. There are questions upon +which fair minds may differ. Men of honor may argue for the side in +which they believe or have been retained. From divers contentions, +strongly maintained, comes the bright star of right, shining clear, +in its purity, above the storm clouds of litigation. But, Your Hon--" +Hezekiah paused and began anew--"But, sir, there are fundamental +questions involving moral law upon which right minded men must agree." + +"What's this tirade got to do with me?" Obadiah demanded. + +Hezekiah silenced the mill owner with a gesture of great dignity. +"Never interrupt counsel in the midst of argument," he protested, +absently. "Undoubtedly you will be afforded ample time to present +your own views." He paused, blinking nervously. The interruption had +disturbed his train of thought, but in a moment he continued. "At +stated periods, prudent merchants take trial balances and invoices that +they may know the condition of their business. It is likewise well for +men at times to take account of their relations with their associates. +It is my purpose to do that now, Obadiah Dale." In Hezekiah's eyes +was a far away look now. "It's nearly thirty years since I entered +your employ--thirty years, Obadiah, the cream of my life. Its period +of highest power I have given to you. My life must be judged by my +accomplishments for you. You and I alone know what part my judgment +has had in the development of your great business. As a young man, I +liked you, Obadiah. I admired your energy and perseverance and that +combativeness which made you give battle in open competition for new +fields of commercial activity. Success came to you in a measure permitted +to but few, and the tremendous power of wealth accompanied it. Thoughts +come to me of your wife, that fair rose of the Southland, who not only +brought sunshine into your own house but spread it among all those +who were privileged to know her. In her you were a twice blessed +man. A daughter was born to you, the image of her mother, and so were +you thrice blessed." + +Hezekiah's face became stern. "I have tried to judge you fairly at +the bar of my heart, Obadiah. Old friendship has pleaded for you. +Unhappiness over the loss of your wife may have swayed you. Yet, +something tells me that you were always the man that you have been +of late, concealing the evil in you that you might the better court +success. At any rate, there has been a gradual outward change in you +until here and now"--Hezekiah was very grave--"I impeach you before +the high court of my heart for divers crimes and offenses, treasonable +in their nature, against the good will and happiness of your fellowmen." + +The prisoner at the bar gave a start, possibly remembering that the +historical punishment for treason was the headsman's axe. + +"You have hardened, Obadiah," the lawyer continued relentlessly, +"until you have grown as icy cold as the winter hills of your native +lands. You have become cruel and rapacious in your business dealings. +Of late years your commercial pathway is strewn with the wrecks of +enterprises, which in no sense affected your own safety but which you +have ruined through a sheer desire to dominate, a naked lust for power. +Controlled by greed and avarice, no generous thought for your fellowmen +actuates you. Steeped in your own selfishness, you sit in this room +like--" shaking a forefinger at Obadiah the attorney hesitated, seeking +a fitting condemnatory simile. Suddenly he concluded--"like a fat +hog," and struck the desk of the alleged swine such a thump that the +pork jumped. + +"Your memory will tell you how many times I have blocked your devilish +schemes by convincing you that, if persisted in, the anti-trust laws must +land you behind prison bars." + +Hezekiah in the pose of a stout statue of liberty, thrust up his right +arm and clasped his left hand to his breast. He fixed accusing eyes upon +the manufacturer and cried in a big voice, "If the world knew as much +about you as I do, I am not so sure but they'd incarcerate you under the +first law of nature--self-preservation." + +"Hush!" Obadiah paled visibly and with great nervousness viewed the +open transom. + +Hezekiah leveled an arraigning hand at his employer. "Your actions +should be such that you could rest in equanimity while they are cried +aloud in the market places. The hour of reckoning is at hand, Obadiah. +You believe yourself invincible. Blinded by a curtain of obstinacy +you have not read your destiny. I tear it aside and expose your dark +future. Your daughter, beautiful and affectionate, filled, as was her +mother, with thoughts of others, discovers your true character and, +turning from you, prefers the peace of a good conscience amidst humbler +surroundings to a home of wealth in your company. She leaves you--alone." + +Obadiah winced. + +Hezekiah returned to his task with renewed vigor. "This morning your +personal staff--men who have been with you for years--separate from you. +I have no hesitation in assuming that they departed rankling beneath +injustice. They leave you--alone. Now your attorney"--Hezekiah's +voice was filled with feeling--"your adviser for years, tenders his +resignation rather than to be a party to enforcing your selfish demands +against your own daughter. He leaves you--alone." + +Stunned by this unexpected shot, Obadiah appeared to shrink in his chair. + +Highly pleased at the effect and sound of his own words, Hezekiah seized +upon the order of the Board of Health and, shaking it in the face of the +mill owner, waxed ever more eloquent. Floating away upon the wings of +his own fervid oratory, he continued in ringing tones. + +"The keen eye of this great Commonwealth has found you out. Now does its +strong right arm, the law, reach forth to protect the weak and restrain +the strong. In ardent pursuit of evil it draws ever nearer and nearer, +until at last it embraces even the waste--" + +Hezekiah stopped short. A look of horror, loathing and disgust swept his +countenance. He was inexpressibly shocked at the extraordinary conclusion +to which his simile hastened. + +To Obadiah, the repugnance in Hezekiah's face depicted antipathy towards +himself. For years the attorney had been the manufacturer's one friend. +He had admired the lawyer's learning and leaned upon his judgment. For +years he had known that words were playthings in his legal adviser's +mouth; but that look was too much. The aversion and detestation displayed +crushed the mill owner. Humbled to the dust he reviewed the calamities +which Hezekiah had so ably painted. With due allowance for rhetorical +exaggeration, they frightened him. He must save Hezekiah to pilot him +through the darkness. + +Sick and weary and miserable but above all else lonely, Obadiah arose +from his desk and confronted the lawyer. "Hezekiah, you will not leave +me?" he begged, in pitiful humiliation, his anger gone. + +The placid Hezekiah was shaken to the depths of his soul at the +catastrophe which had befallen him. Vain of his oratorical ability, +he regarded his address to Obadiah as a worthy effort until his final +bull. Such slips are remembered by one's professional brethren +until the end of one's life. He took his grievance out on the abased +Obadiah. + +"I'm tired," he growled, "tired of your greed and selfishness, tired +of your confounded pigheadedness and the continual scrap in which you +live. You're old, Obadiah. I bet you ten dollars that the hearse is in +use which will haul you to the cemetery." + +Obadiah shuddered and displayed no disposition to take the wager. + +Hezekiah went on testily. "You worry about money until every one hates +and despises you. It's bad for my reputation to work for you--to be +caught in your company. I have saved enough to keep me comfortable +until I die and I'm going to take it easy. I want to quit fighting +law suits and go to compromising." A glint of his usual humor flashed in +Hezekiah's eyes. "If you'd let me compromise your cases, I might +stay." + +Obadiah made a quick motion as of consent. + +Hezekiah viewed his shaking employer with great severity. "You must +prove your conversion by your works," he rapped. "You've got to show +me." + +"What should I do, Hezekiah?" the manufacturer, looking helpless and +old, begged. "Give me the benefit of your advice." + +"Do?" snapped Hezekiah petulantly. "Decide how you think a thing ought +to be done and do the opposite. You're always wrong." + +"Please be specific, Hezekiah." + +At the word "please," the lawyer started in surprise. In a moment he +growled, "Compromise. Learn to consider the rights and wishes of other +people. The compromise is a most valuable instrument in bringing about +domestic happiness," and with this sage advice, Hezekiah, the bachelor, +left his employer. + +Stricken low by physical disorder and verbal assaults, it was a day of +gloomy forebodings to Obadiah. After Hezekiah's oration, the path ahead, +usually certain and clear to him, seemed beset with obstacles and lined +with eyes of hatred. + +When he went home that night there seemed to be a stoop in his usually +erect carriage and a deep anxiety dwelt in his eyes. Hardly touching his +dinner, he sat through it, in his dining room, plunged in thought. + +Serena marked the change in the behavior of her employer with great +interest. Returning to the kitchen, she told Ike, "Mr. Devil done +sna'ah dat ole man wid er bait o' shinin' gol'. Now he gwine hawg +tie 'im wid hot chains outen de fu'nace o' to'ment so dat he kin +tote 'im to de aige o' de bottomless pit an' cas' 'im into de +fiah an' brimstone. Dat ole man is er strivin' mighty fie'ce to git +loose. He's er gnawin' off er leg to git outen de sn'ah, as de hot +i'on burns 'im an' de brimstone smoke choke 'im." + +The chauffeur, being for the moment in high favor, was enjoying a piece +of pie as a fitting appetizer for his later dinner. "He ain' lif' up +his voice in prah or mek no sign er tall," responded the youth, giving +close attention to the pastry and but little heed to the demoniacal +trapping going on in the neighborhood. + +"Dey's er fightin' ete'nally, boy," explained Serena with scorn. + +Ike rolled his eyes, exposing large areas of white until they rested +upon the woman. "Ain' you mek er mistake, Miss Sereny?" he suggested +respectfully. "Ain' you mean infe'nally?" + +"Look yere, boy," she retorted with great dignity, "ah ain' er +astin' no trash lak yo'all to teach me nothin'. Ah gits ma 'ligion +f'om de good book in de chu'ch house. Min' you' own business." + +Obadiah retired early and again tossed backwards and forwards through +long hours. Hezekiah had indeed torn aside a concealing veil from the +manufacturer's life. Obadiah was not a man given to introspection, +but, for the first time in years, the words of his attorney had forced +it upon him. Tonight his boasted accomplishments were nothing, while +episodes which he would have gladly forgotten loomed large. Above all +else a great loneliness and fear of the future crushed him. + +In this hour of deepest humility, recollections of his wife and the far +away days of his married life came to him. Sweet and tender memories +these, of occurrences almost forgotten. He softened to them, and +moments followed when it was as if the spirit of Elinor Dale had crossed +the span of years and labored with the troubled soul of the selfish, +obstinate, purse-proud old rich man until at last, Obadiah--slept in +peace. + +When he appeared in the morning, a change had taken place in him. There +was strength and decision in his face; but it seemed as if the lines of +cruelty and obstinacy were altered and smoothed away as the ruts and +tracks upon a sandy beach after a great storm. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +HIS JOURNEY'S END + + +Excitement prevailed in the home of Aunt Kate in Old Rock. There was a +soft sound of feminine feet rushing about. Much searching for mislaid +articles of apparel was taking place and those hastening made nervous +demands for assistance upon those hurrying. + +The disturbance in this peaceful household was due to the receipt of +knowledge that Charles Augustus and his mother had returned from New +York during the preceding night. Preparations were now in progress for +the departure of Virginia and Helen to greet the returned ones in a +fitting manner. + +At last the two girls were appropriately garbed and Aunt Kate kissed +them good bye at the front door and, with a kindly smile upon her face, +watched them run across the meadow towards the pond, making farewell +signals with their canoe paddles. + +An hour later there was a sharp rap of the old fashioned knocker on the +front door. "Mercy sakes upon us," muttered Aunt Kate. "What business +has anybody coming here at this time of day?" A look of aversion crept +over her face. "I'll bet my boots it is an agent or a peddler. I'll +send him packing pretty quick with a flea in his ear." Apparently bent +upon carrying out this peculiar attention she hurried into the hall. +Bending low, she pulled aside the curtain of a side light and peered +out. The feet and legs before her advertised their owner as a man. +"It is a peddler," she murmured. Her gentle face assumed a stern and +forbidding aspect. Suddenly, she jerked the door open and, glowering at +the intruder, cried, "Go away! I don't want--" + +The victim of this unusual reception was her brother Obadiah. + +"Land o' Goshen, how you frightened me, Obadiah Dale," Aunt Kate +reproached him as soon as she recovered from her surprise. "Don't +you know any better than to scare a body half to death?" + +"I didn't intend to frighten you, Kate," Obadiah protested, when he +got over his own astonishment. + +"The bad place is paved with good intentions," she quoted with +sternness and, as her brother hesitated upon the porch, puzzled at his +extraordinary greeting, she commanded, "Come in. What are you waiting +out there for? Must I lead you in?" Giving him a ceremonious kiss, she +ushered him into the large back room where the table prepared for +luncheon reminded her to be hospitable. "Have you had breakfast, +Obadiah? I'll fix you something in a minute." + +"Yes, on the train. I don't want anything to eat, Kate." + +Satisfied that her brother was not starving, she gazed at him over the +tops of her spectacles with a humorous twinkle in her eyes. "This _is_ +a surprise. It is the first time that you have visited me since--" She +paused in sudden indignation. "Obadiah Dale," she went on sharply, +"you have never deigned to honor me with a visit in my own home." + +He was nervous and ill at ease as he answered, "I know, Kate, but I'm a +very--" + +She interrupted him, in a gentler mood. "Yes, I know, Obadiah. The years +have run swiftly. Yesterday we were boy and girl together at the old +home. Today we are old folks, the best part of our lives spent. The page +of our earthly hour is nearly written and there is only room for a few +more sentences." She glared at him with great severity and sniffed, +"At least, we'd better see that these lines have something good about +us." + +"Yes, Kate," he agreed meekly. + +"I know that you want to see--Virginia. She's not here, Obadiah. She +has gone up to the head of the pond to see Charles Augustus, the lame +boy who was operated upon," she told him. + +Obadiah nodded. "How far is that from here? Can I walk it?" + +Aunt Kate considered. "It's about three miles by road. You will get +lost and never find the place. The girls will be back by two or three +o'clock. Can't you make yourself comfortable and visit with me until +then?" + +"I do want to see Virginia. She has been away a long time." He jumped +to his feet and moved nervously about. "I think that I shall walk there, +if you don't mind, Kate." + +His anxiety awakened the sympathy of his sister. "You are not used to +strolls like that. I am afraid that it will not be good for you. I have +a horse that is old and fat and slow but he can haul us there if you can +hitch him up." + +"That will do." Obadiah was much relieved. "I'll drive your horse. I +used to do it when I was a boy." + +"That was a long time ago. You may have forgotten." An idea struck her. +"Do fashions change in harness? If so, you won't know a thing about +it and it won't be safe to trust you." + +The employer of hundreds was disgusted at his sister's display of lack +of confidence in his abilities. "Harnesses haven't changed," he +insisted, dryly. + +At the barn, Archimedes was brought forth and Obadiah Dale, millionaire +manufacturer, essayed to harness the steed to the family vehicle. He +displayed great energy and his enthusiasm increased with the passage +of time. Archimedes was an ideal animal for the mill owner's +experimentations. In all of his impressive dignity of weight and size, +the animal waited motionless while Obadiah buckled and unbuckled straps +in the making and correction of his errors. Minutes passed and +disaster threatened only when, in slipping the bit between the +massive teeth, a couple of the manufacturer's fingers inadvertently +attended the linked metal. Being asleep, the animal failed to take +advantage of it. + +At last, Obadiah, viewing his handiwork with pride, signified that +all things were in readiness for the journey. Aunt Kate had noted his +prolonged efforts with grave suspicion. She now approached Archimedes in +the critical mood of an irritated C. O. at Saturday morning inspection. +Obadiah took humble position, two paces to her right and rear. + +"That trace is twisted. Straighten it!" she commanded. + +He corrected this oversight. + +She surveyed the bridle and whirled upon him, horror depicted in her +eyes. "Obadiah Dale," she exclaimed, "haven't you any better sense +than to take your own sister driving without buckling the reins to the +bit. Lands sakes, I might have been dragged to a terrible death." + +Strange to relate, when this grave mistake had been overcome and all +things were in order; in spite of the conclusive evidences of Obadiah's +incompetence, Aunt Kate permitted him to drive. As she climbed into +the surrey, she announced, "I'll sit back here where I can get out if +anything goes wrong." + +This precaution as well as the general attitude of his sister towards +Archimedes, had persuaded Obadiah that he had to do with a fractious +steed, notwithstanding that all outward appearances justified the +conclusion that Archimedes was a cow in soul and action. + +The mill owner shoved open the sliding door of the barn with an anxious +eye upon the fat back as if fearful that he might gallop wildly forth +even as a fire horse leaving a truck house in response to an alarm. + +Archimedes never budged. + +Obadiah climbed clumsily over the front wheel, the reins hanging loosely +from his hands. Seating himself, he promptly drew them taut, prepared +for any emergency. + +"Be careful, Obadiah," Aunt Kate warned him from the back seat. + +"Gid-ap!" Obadiah spoke in a soothing voice suitable to a high strung +animal. + +Archimedes held his ground. + +Obadiah raised his voice in some degree, "Gid-ap!" he exclaimed. + +Archimedes might have been cast in a supporting part in an equestrian +statue for all the notice he took of what transpired about him. + +In vain Obadiah amplified his efforts. "This fool horse is balky," he +grumbled to Aunt Kate. + +"Archimedes balky, fiddle-de-dee," she answered. "Maybe he's tied." +Past experience caused her to examine the vicinity to be assured that +through inadvertence they were not made fast to anything by chains +or cables. Suddenly, she became aware of Obadiah's firm rein. "No +wonder!" she cried, "You are holding him too tight. You don't know how +to drive. Give me the lines." Leaning forward over the back of the +front seat Aunt Kate seized the reins and gave three or four swinging +pulls as a conductor signaling to the engineman ahead. Simultaneously +she made clicking sounds with her lips reminiscent of swine enjoying a +milky repast. + +Archimedes responded readily to this treatment and moved slowly forward. + +"There," Aunt Kate said with great satisfaction as she returned the +reins to Obadiah. "That's the way to drive a horse." As they turned +out of the driveway into the road, she warned him, "Do be careful of +the automobiles." + +"Why should I be careful of them? Can't they take care of themselves +up here?" he demanded, meanwhile tugging at the reins, and then, "Who +broke this fool horse?" + +Aunt Kate leaned forward. "Where?" she asked with great anxiety only +to quickly drop back into her seat with a suppressed, "Oh!" + +Regardless of the efforts of the mill owner, the steed drifted gradually +towards the gutter. + +"This horse isn't bridlewise," Obadiah declared in disgust. "I might +as well be trying to drive a cow." + +"He has more sense than lots of people I know," Aunt Kate answered +with a meaning look at her brother. "He wants to get out of the way +of automobiles." + +For a few minutes Archimedes was permitted to follow the way of the +gutter in peace, then, "This is ridiculous," protested Obadiah. "I +feel like a perfect idiot driving this way. I'll be hanged if I'll +do it." He yanked and shouted at the horse until, fighting every inch +of the way, the animal drifted towards the crown of the road. + +With nervous eyes, Aunt Kate searched the highway back of them for signs +of approaching machines. "Obadiah, look out. Here comes a car," she +screamed. + +Alarmed at her tone, his body stiffened to meet the shock of imminent +collision. He jerked his head about fearfully to perceive a car +following them a mile away. "Why did you startle me that way? I thought +something was about to hit us," he blurted. + +The horn of the approaching machine demanded the road. Obadiah tugged at +Archimedes anew. The horse answered but slowly. + +"Hurry, Obadiah, they are running into us," screamed Aunt Kate. + +The mill owner redoubled his efforts to get out of the way as a series +of frantic squawks and the grind of brakes sounded from behind them. + +In desperation, Obadiah jerked out the whip and gave Archimedes a smart +clip. The horse bounded clumsily and stopped in the middle of the road. +The petted animal's astonishment at this treatment was such that he had +to pause for consideration. + +"Don't you strike my horse that way," cried Aunt Kate indignantly, +her mind diverted from the menacing automobile by the punishment of her +property. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." + +Obadiah put up the whip, leaving the motionless Archimedes to meditate +upon his injuries in the center of the highway while the automobile +worked its way around. It came opposite to them, a flivver of the +cheapest type--mere dust beside Obadiah's own car. + +A rough, angry man glared at the mill owner and bawled, "You old +moss-back, do you think that you own this road? When somebody takes a +wheel off of that old ark, it may"--the voice was very doubtful--"knock +some sense into your bean. Don't you know enough to put out your hand +when you stop, you mutton-headed fool. If there was a constable about +I'd have you chucked into the calaboose." + +Obadiah sat speechless under this insolence. Possibly he was becoming +inured to unkind words. As the car disappeared in the distance his tongue +was loosened, "Kate, did you get their number?" he inquired with great +anxiety. + +"No. Why on earth should I want their number? I hope I never see them +again." + +He almost stammered in the flood of his wrath. "If I had it, I'd +prosecute them--have them fined and put in prison." + +"What for--scolding us?" inquired Aunt Kate softly. + +He did not answer for a time. When he turned his temper had departed. +"Kate, I was wrong, I suppose," he said. + +She looked at him curiously and there was affection in her glance; but +her voice was stern as she replied, "Obadiah, you were headstrong and +it led you into trouble, as it used to when you were a boy." + +"Yes, Kate." In Obadiah's tones was a new note. + +Thereafter, Archimedes pursued his way in the safety of the gutter +until they turned into a little used lane where great trees, decked in +wonderful autumnal colors, arched overhead, and unkempt hedges brushed +their wheels. The birds, disturbed in their preparations for their +trip South, made short, noisy flights ahead of the vehicle, protesting +against the intrusion. + +Regardless of this, Obadiah and Archimedes, meditating upon recent +injuries, pursued the path that fate would have them follow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE TRIUMPH + + +When Virginia and Helen came up the path towards the Curtis home, they +missed the little figure of Charles Augustus hobbling forth to meet them +with joyous greetings. + +"We'll go to the front door," suggested Helen. So they passed around +the house and, ascending the steps, knocked at the weather-beaten front +entrance. + +"Come in," cried the shrill voice of Charles Augustus. "I can't open +the door." + +Virginia obeyed the command of the child with a smile of delight. As she +swung the door back, the pleasant odor of frying doughnuts assailed her +nostrils. Looking through the rooms, she could see Mrs. Curtis in the +kitchen, fork in hand, awaiting their entrance with a look of inquiry +which melted into a smile of welcome as she recognized them. + +In the midst of pillows, Charles Augustus sat in one chair with his legs +propped up upon another. As usual, he was bright, cheerful and talkative. + +Virginia turned towards the child and then she gave a little gasp of joy +as a big fellow with black eyes and a wonderful smile lifted himself with +a cane and limped towards her. + +"Joe!" she trilled, her sparkling blue eyes revealing her heart's +rejoicing. "Joe!" she repeated, in a voice which breathed its own +enchantment. + +He was almost to her, his face alight with his happiness. + +"Joe!" she whispered again, and gave a startled glance of astonishment +as this huge fellow with dancing eyes stood upon one leg, balanced +himself with his cane and thrust forth an encircling arm. Rooted to the +spot, she could not evade it as it drew her to him and, with fascinated +eyes and curious thrills, she watched his head bend slowly towards her. + +"Joe"--this time it was the voice of his mother speaking--"Where did +you meet Virginia?" + +His head went up and his arm dropped at his side. Virginia released his +arms which she had clutched and, with reddened, telltale faces, they +turned to Mrs. Curtis. + +"We met in South Ridgefield, mother," he told her, and the girl gave +an embarrassed nod of agreement. + +"Hum," said Mrs. Curtis. The utterance meant little but her manner +much. She disappeared only to return in a moment with a plate of +doughnuts and a pitcher of milk. "Who is hungry?" she asked. + +Among the young people, famine stalked abroad. In its relief, flushed +faces regained their normal color and Helen's mischievous giggles were +quieted sufficiently for her to meet Joe with becoming gravity before +giving her attention to her own sweetheart. + +But alas, the course of true love is never smooth. Charles Augustus +made energetic protest when he became aware that Helen proposed to offer +him nourishment by hand after the manner in which infants but recently +weaned are treated. "Lemme be! My hands aren't lame," he objected. +An unhappy look spread over his face. "I get so tired sitting in this +old chair. Every little while, too, mother rubs my leg and works it +up and down. Ding bust it, that hurts." + +Helen, giving up her attempt to feed the boy, endeavored to sooth and +comfort him. "In a week or so you will be running about without a sign +of a crutch. Think of that. Won't that be fine?" + +"I should be out now," he grumbled. "Something might happen to my +hornet's nest." + +"Don't you worry," Helen laughed. "Neither man nor beast will +interfere with that." + +"How is Miss Knight?" Virginia asked Joe. + +"Bossy as ever," he answered. + +"She was a good nurse and she was nice to you, Joe." + +"Yes," he admitted with a chuckle; "but she is a whole lot nicer to +Mike Kelly these days." + +Virginia was all interest. + +"He's as pleased with her as a snow bird at a blizzard. Every time +it was Miss Knight's evening off, he would make an early call upon me +dressed in his best clothes." + +There came a knock at the front door. + +Hastening to it at a nod from Mrs. Curtis, Helen threw it wide open. Aunt +Kate and Obadiah waited without. + +"Daddy," cried Virginia, for the moment blissfully forgetful as she +tried to get around Joe without hurting his outstretched leg. + +"Obadiah Dale!" It was Mrs. Curtis who spoke from the doorway into the +dining room and there was something in her voice which held them all. +The happiness had gone from her face, leaving it cold and distorted with +passion as Virginia had seen it. + +"Obadiah Dale!"--she fairly hissed the words--"What do you want in +my house? Would you like to do me greater harm--you robber?" She gave +a shrill mirthless laugh and flung her hands towards the sides of the +poorly furnished room. "Look about you. There isn't much left since +you got in your devil's work." + +Mrs. Curtis's eyes shifted to Virginia as, startled by this strange +attack upon her father, she waited at Joe's side. It was as if the woman +struggled between aversion and regard. "I never thought you were his +daughter," she snarled. + +White, tense and sickened to the depths of her being by the fear of +shameful disclosures, the girl could make no reply. + +Joe Curtis was watching his mother with worried eyes. The frightened +faces of Helen and Charles Augustus peeped from behind Aunt Kate who, +from the subdued exclamations and the indignant glances she gave her +brother, was expecting to hear the worst of him. + +Clearly, Obadiah was amazed at the woman's words. He stood irresolute, +his throat working as if he were trying to swallow something. At last he +regained the power of speech. "Madam," he began. + +"Madam," sneered the woman, "Octavia Curtis, the widow of Augustus +Curtis, the man whose business you ruined by your infernal scheming, +whose wife and two children were dragged by your greed and selfishness +from a life of comfort--to this. What business have you in my house, +you thief?" + +Obadiah flushed and quailed under her words. Bewildered and puzzled, a +guilty conscience in business catastrophes made him feel it advisable to +allow his opponent to develop her case. + +Mrs. Curtis's words affected Virginia differently. Her face flushed and +her fears passed. "Stop," she interrupted, her eyes flashing angrily. +"What right have you to speak so to my father?" + +"Right?" Again that ugly laugh came from Mrs. Curtis as she urged, +"Ask him how he ruined the Curtis mill at Brenton." + +Obadiah gave a start. + +Aunt Kate, observing her brother through suspicious eyes, noted this. +"As ye sow, so shall ye reap," she quoted, for his greater comfort. + +The mill owner glanced hastily towards the door as if seeking a line of +retreat from this assemblage of women and lame men. But Aunt Kate, the +inner keeper of the outer gate, barred his way. + +Pale of face but with a determined set to her mouth, Virginia said +softly, "Daddy, explain please. You must Daddy." + +"It was a perfectly legitimate business deal. The Curtis mill had notes +upon the market, protected by a mortgage on the plant. I purchased them. +When they became due and were not paid, to protect myself--and you--I +foreclosed and took the mill. I suppose this woman was caught in the +deal," Obadiah answered and moved as if to leave the room. + +"Stop, Daddy," the girl commanded. "We must settle this matter now. +Either too much or too little has been said." + +"Settle?" Once more that acrimonious laugh came from Mrs. Curtis's +lips. "How are you going to settle for sleepless nights, for worry +and for tears? What can pay for those dreary days which grew into weeks +and months since hope for my children was torn from my life?" She +flung her arms wide in the anguish which tortured her. "How are you +going to wipe out the fact that my poor lame baby"--she pointed at +Charles Augustus--"had to depend upon charity to be able to play as +other boys--plain charity," she almost screamed. "Or that he"--she +indicated Joe--"has been forced into the world to struggle for an +education he might have had in comfort." + +"Oh," moaned Virginia. The misery of the story clouded her eyes as they +turned from the passion-torn woman to her father. + +The flood of the emotion-driven woman's words seemed to have made +Obadiah helpless. He stood as if awaiting sentence for his evil doing, +an old man abject and forlorn. + +As she looked at him, a wave of pity swept over Virginia and her love +for him struggled in her heart, regardless of all that had been said +against him. "My father can't be to blame for all of this. I couldn't +believe it of him," she cried. + +It was as if the note of grief and entreaty in the girl's voice tempered +the anger of Mrs. Curtis. She dropped into a chair and began to sob. Joe +Curtis arose hastily, limped over to her side, and tried to sooth her. At +the sound of his mother's grief, Charles Augustus put his head upon +Helen's shoulder and wept also. + +Virginia moved over and gently touched the shoulder of the sobbing woman, +who, flinching from contact with the girl's hand, drew herself sharply +away. + +"Don't, mother," pleaded Joe. + +Virginia withdrew her hand, yet she remained by Mrs. Curtis's chair. +"Tell me the whole story," she begged. "I must know. I have the right +to know." + +Even through her own grief, the anxiety and unhappiness of the girl +touched the older woman. She raised her brimming eyes. Her temper had +died away and she spoke rapidly, almost in a monotone, broken by sob +hiccoughs. "At my husband's death every thing that he left me was +invested in our mill. It was a good business and should have given me +and my boys the comforts and even the luxuries of life. Before his death, +he had borrowed money to make improvements, giving notes secured by a +mortgage upon the plant. + +"After he had gone, I took charge of the mill and tried to run it +myself. I was not a very good business woman. I had a hard time to pay +the interest on our indebtedness. When the notes came due, I asked for +a renewal but my request was refused. I was thunderstruck. I learned +that your father had bought the notes, and wherever I tried to raise +money I was refused because of his influence as a rival manufacturer. +So I lost my mill and had to meet life, a widow with a baby and a young +boy, a little money, and this old farm." + +A flash of her anger returned and she pointed at Obadiah. "My boys are +raised in poverty while _he_ stands there in the pride of his wealth. +When he got the mill he never used it. He closed it, throwing good people +who had worked for us for years out of employment. They had to move +away and sacrifice their little homes. It brought sorrow to them as well +as to me. He, Obadiah Dale, is to blame for all of this." + +Aunt Kate wiped a tear from her eye. + +"Daddy," Virginia said softly, "did you know the harm that you were +doing to all of these people?" Her eyes searched his, as if to discover +his answer before he could utter it, and her tones beseeched him to +justify her love at the altar of her heart. + +Obadiah stiffened. He held up his head and returned the look of his +daughter squarely. He knew that he was giving battle for her love, +aye, even for her respect. The old man was a fighter. "No!" he cried. +"It is unjust to charge me with all of the sorrows and tribulations +of this family. I built the first mill in this country--took the +chances of opening the industry. The Brenton mill was established to +compete with me. There was room for one big plant here and only one. +Augustus Curtis knew it and expected to put me out of business. Mrs. +Curtis"--Obadiah's voice was firm now--"you have said some hard +things about me today in the presence of my daughter and sister. I am +entitled in common justice to my defence. I started in business without +a dollar. Much worse off, I think, than your husband. Business has +been a battle of supremacy with me. I have taken hard licks and I have +given them. I have fought my way. Remember, I had to. A man must win +or lose in business and many are the weapons used. I struck with the +first one at hand and hit the man in front of me. Do you blame a soldier +for the suffering of the dependents of those he kills in battle? I +think not. Mrs. Curtis," he continued, "you never met me before." + +"No," she admitted. + +"How did you recognize me?" + +"My husband pointed you out to me in South Ridgefield," she sobbed. + +"Did you ever advertise the fact that you were running that mill?" + +"I was afraid to," she moaned. "I used my husband's name." + +"You see," said Obadiah to Virginia. "I had no way of knowing that a +woman was running the Brenton mill. I plead guilty to fighting _men_. +When I get whipped I smile. When I put a man out of business he starts +another. He doesn't sit down and cry and blame me for what happens to +his family ever afterwards. I never fought a woman in all of my life." + +"It's true, Obadiah. You used to talk back but you never fought with +me. I am afraid that you are going to have to get a camel through a +needle's eye; but you wouldn't fight a woman," interjected Aunt Kate. + +Obadiah disregarded his sister's fears and went on, "Did you ever hear +of Dalton, the New York manufacturer?" + +Mrs. Curtis nodded. + +"Five years ago, he started to put me out of business by buying up the +small mills and pooling them against me. To protect myself, I bought +negotiable paper, covering mills in this locality wherever I could get +it. Where I could get control of the mills, I did it. They were my +competitors and would have taken my business or combined against me +gladly," Obadiah's eyes rested anxiously upon the face of his daughter +as he concluded, "I was fighting Dalton, a more powerful man than +myself, not widows and orphans." + +Virginia's face had softened but there was yet a question in her manner. + +"I am an old man," Obadiah continued. "I find that my ideas are +changing and my view of life shifting. I have believed that the +accumulation of wealth was everything. I know now that the happy man +must accumulate other things or he will find himself deserted and +miserable with his gold. In my life I have been guilty of many wrongs. +I would right those wrongs if I could. Will you forgive me, Mrs. +Curtis, for unknowingly harming you and yours?" + +"No," she cried. "You explain your reasons for loosening the forces +which injured me; but there is no regret in your heart. You'd do the +same thing tomorrow." + +He turned to his daughter. "At least, you understand me, Virginia?" + +"I know what you have done, Daddy; but Mrs. Curtis has suffered, and +she alone can wipe the slate clean." The girl's face had saddened +again, and as she spoke it was as if she had forgotten that there were +others in the room. "Mother wouldn't have wanted you to make all of +this unhappiness. You brought sorrow and tears where she would have +wanted you to carry laughter and joy. I can't judge you fairly. How +I have longed for you during the past weeks and how I have wanted to +go home. Unless Mrs. Curtis can forgive you, Daddy, you haven't found +mother's way to settle this matter." She gave a queer strained little +cry. "I can never go home with you, Daddy, until you learn to follow her +way," she sobbed, and dropped into a chair. + +At the girl's words, Mrs. Curtis had raised her eyes, and as she +listened her face softened. As Virginia sank into the chair, the woman +was beside her, petting and soothing her. + +It seemed as if his daughter's words had taken the very heart out of +Obadiah. It was a haggard old man bowed low with trouble who watched her, +the greatness of his longing written plain upon his lined countenance. + +Suddenly Mrs. Curtis moved towards him. "Obadiah Dale"--she spoke so +gently that it was hard to recognize her as the one who had so recently +flung the accusations at him--"a moment ago I told you that I could not +forgive you. I was wrong. Your daughter told you that it would have +been her mother's way to have brought laughter and joy to me instead of +sorrow and tears. That which your daughter has done for my son, Charles +Augustus, fills my heart with joy and brings laughter to my lips. She has +followed her mother's way. I can't believe that any man altogether bad +could be the father of such a daughter." She held out her hand to him. +"I forgive you." + +"When I was at the office of the Board of Health, yesterday, Virginia," +Joe announced, as one discussing a topic of great personal interest, "I +was told that your father had agreed to keep the mill waste out of the +river." + +There was a scream of delight, and a teary Virginia launched herself into +her father's arms, giving happy cries of endearment. In a moment she +faced Mrs. Curtis, and cried, "He's perfectly grand. He'll do anything +to right your wrongs." + +Mrs. Curtis smiled. "I think that we had better let your father forget +my troubles for a moment," she urged. + +"Land sakes," ejaculated Aunt Kate in a loud whisper, "I'm glad to +see that woman laugh. I was afraid that she loved her troubles so much +she wouldn't give them up." + +"Hush, mother, she'll hear you," expostulated Helen. + +Thus repressed, Aunt Kate delivered a moral lesson to Charles Augustus +in a voice heard all over the room. "It is easier to receive thanks for +doing nice things, Charles, than to have to beg forgiveness for doing +mean ones." + +Fortunately Obadiah, diligently engaged at that moment in erasing the +past, was deaf to his sister's remarks. He told Mrs. Curtis, "I'll +re-open the Brenton mill as soon as I can have it overhauled. I can use +it on some contracts I have. The profits shall be yours. When you can +repay the amount of the notes from them, I'll transfer the mill back +to you. If you wish, I'll buy it from you or rent it until your son is +capable of assuming charge of it." + +He faced Joe and said, "I understand that you'll graduate from college +this June. There'll be a position waiting for you in my mill." + +"In South Ridgefield?" Virginia inquired anxiously. + +Obadiah gave his daughter a keen glance and then stared at Joe +appraisingly before he answered. "Yes, in South Ridgefield, until his +mother wants him to take charge of her own business. By that time, if +he has brains and follows my plans for him, he should be the finest +young mill executive in this part of the country." + +The youthful Charles Augustus came under the mill owner's eye. "I'll +see that every expense connected with the operation upon this young man +is paid. We don't want outsiders in on that." + +He perceived Helen. "Well, well, how you have grown," he declared in +surprise. "You want to be a teacher. I'll send you to college." + +"Goodness knows, Obadiah," protested Aunt Kate, "a body would think +it was Christmas." She viewed him doubtfully. "I am afraid that you +were always inclined to be a little extravagant." + +From the moment that his daughter embraced him, happiness had filled +the soul of the mill owner. The difficulties of the past few days were +forgotten. He beamed at his sister, generosity oozing from every pore. +"Your house needs painting, Kate. I'll have it done. I'll sell that +plug of a horse you have and buy you one that is broken or get you an +automobile." + +"Stop right there, Obadiah," she commanded. "I have managed my affairs +for years without your help. When you talk about selling a horse like +Archimedes, I doubt your judgment. Look there!" She pointed proudly +through the window. "Who'd care to own a finer horse than that?" + +Even as the assembled ones followed Aunt Kate's finger, Archimedes, +wearied by the prolonged call, gathered his feet beneath him and with a +care for the shafts evidencing practice, sank to the ground. From this +position of comfort, usually reserved by most well bred horses for the +privacy of the box stall, Archimedes viewed his surroundings apparently +with great complacency. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +NOBODY HOME, MR. DEVIL + + +The October night was clear, with a bite in the air which foretold sharp +frosts and winter's snows. There was no wind, only a great silence, as +if all nature had tucked itself away for a long night's rest. + +On the eastern horizon, there was a dull glow as if it were the +reflections of a great conflagration. The light of it brightened, +and slowly over the edge of things arose a golden streak, the curved +top of the moon. In stately dignity, it ascended towards the zenith, +its gold changing to silver and its beams bathing the world in a +flood of gentle light. Over field and forest and plain the soft veil +advanced, spreading its magic silvery sheen until all it touched +became a mysterious fairyland. + +In this delicate mantle were enfolded the huts of the poor and the +palaces of the rich, the lonely dwelling and the massed houses of +great cities. The thriving municipality of South Ridgefield was lighted +by this mild illumination which painted with a gleaming brush the +residence of Mrs. Henderson, and even tinged the bald head of that +learned lawyer, Hezekiah Wilkins, who, seated upon the porch railing, +gazed heavenward and told the widow, "It's a beautiful moon, Mary. I +have always admired the moon. It's the friend of youth. Since the +beginning of time it has been the one welcome third party at sentimental +trysts. If the moon were a gossip what stories it could tell. What +vows have been uttered in its presence and signed and sealed--" + +"And broken, Hezekiah?" suggested Hennie. + +"What if the moon should turn tattletale, Mary?" + +"Don't worry. It's blind or it would blush red with shame for the +fickleness of men," Mrs. Henderson told him and then went on, "Forget +the moon and tell me what you did for Virginia that worked this miracle?" + +He chuckled. "It was so easy. I told Obadiah that he made me think of a +fat hog. As usual he displayed--ahem--confidence in my judgment." + +She leaned towards him, her face filled with delight. "Hezekiah +Wilkins," she whispered excitedly, "I could hug you for those words." + +"I've been waiting a good many years for you to do that, Mary." + +She dropped her head. "It's the moon, Hezekiah," she warned him. "I +forgot how to embrace any one years ago." + +In the mysterious light, it seemed to him that a smile played about her +mouth. His arm slipped about her waist. He tipped her chin gently and +looked down into the face which for so long had meant to him the one +woman. "Is it true, Mary? You'll marry me?" + +A stray cloud passed in front of the moon, and when it passed, the beams +lighted the porch of Aunt Kate's house at Old Rock. + +The door opened and Obadiah came out, while his sister drew a shawl +closer to her shoulders and waited in the doorway. "It's a beautiful +night," she said, "a perfect Fall night." + +"It's chilly--it's really cold," he objected, shrugging his +shoulders. He walked to the end of the porch and looked towards the apple +tree where the hammock swung in lonesomeness. "Where is Virginia?" +he asked. + +"She went walking with Joe." + +"She'll freeze," he worried. + +Humor glinted in Aunt Kate's eyes. "Girls take moonlight walks on the +coldest winter nights and I never heard of one freezing, Obadiah. Your +blood is thin. Come in and I'll build a fire of chips for you." + +"No," protested Obadiah, "I'll build one for you." + +The moonbeams bathed the meadow and the pond in their soft light. They +silvered the great bowlder left by some glacier upon the edge of this +inland water. On a depression in its side sat Joe, and Virginia was +at his side. Before them stretched the shadowed mirror of the pond. +Opposite loomed the tree clad hill in misty gloom. The moon clothed its +summit in a mantle of light, reflected the tree-broken sky line in +delicate tracery upon the water below, and pushed a shining pathway to +their feet. + +The spell of the night held the girl. It seemed wrong to speak aloud. +"Listen, Joe," she whispered, "the world is asleep." From the hill +came the sound of a cow bell sweetened by distance. Except for this and +the crickets all was still. "It's not a bit lonely," she sighed. + +"No, not nearly as lonely as South Ridgefield after you left," he +agreed. + +"Did you miss me?" She was watching the pond. + +He stole a glance at the curves of her face and the flash of her eyes. It +seemed to him that never since the beginning of time could there have +been such another. He had lured a spirit of the night to a seat beside +him. "I nearly died of loneliness," he answered. + +"You poor boy." Her voice was rich in tenderness. "Loneliness is +dreadful, Joe. I don't want you to feel that way." Surely this was +a nymph who had stolen forth to give him sympathy. + +"I was miserable every moment after you left," he told her pathetically. + +She turned her face to him, wonderful in its mysterious moonlight beauty. +"Joe," she pleaded, "you must not be sad. Knowing me must not bring +unhappiness to you." + +"You must never leave me again, Virginia. When I am away from you I +can't be happy." Now the blue eyes were drawing a marvelous power of +enchantment from the moonbeams, and the black eyes were reflecting the +wonder of it. Under the charm of it, he dropped his cane. + +With a little cry of tenderness she tried to catch it. Losing her balance +she fell towards him. He caught her in his arms, and the only other +cloud in all the heavens that night drifted before the moon and the +world darkened. Yet, on this old rock, lips touched and love blazed and +hearts whispered words of gladness. + +The cloud passed on and the beams fell upon Serena, who had come forth +upon the stoop of the Dale kitchen for a breath of fresh air. She raised +her eyes to the great orb hanging high above her. Its light displayed +a look of great happiness and contentment upon her black face as she +whispered into the night, "Praise be! Ma honey chil' is er comin' +home. De ole man done conquah de evil spi'it which to'ment 'im. Dat +fool Ike done heard de warnin' dat come lak er cry in de night, an' +join de chu'ch. _Nobody home, Mr. Devil._" + +THE END + + + + +THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE + +Another GLAD Book (Trade Mark) + +By John Francis, Jr. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +This new novel, marking the advent of a hitherto unknown writer of +fiction, offers, along with a delightful romance of youth, a tinge of +scintillating humor that stamps itself indelibly on the mind of the +reader, and evokes many a sympathetic chuckle. It fairly bubbles over +with exuberant cheerfulness, and is sure to inject a good share of its +unlimited store of "What's good for the world" into every one who is +lucky enough to read it. + +Furthermore, the peculiar magnetism of the characters is such that the +reader cannot believe they are merely book creatures, _and_, we wager +they are not. Virginia Dale, the heroine, is a Good Samaritan, Miss +Sunshine, and Glad Heart--all of these--and yet the most natural young +person imaginable, and as she progresses in her mission of "brightening +up the corner" she builds for her own future one of the most beautiful +characters fiction has ever claimed. + +The story is essentially a "character" story, but this does not +detract from the plot what it just seems to get in the natural course of +things, for, as a venerable reader once aptly remarked: "When story +folk act natural, we ain't goin' to forgit 'em." + + + + +THE PRINCESS NAIDA +By Brewer Corcoran +Author of "The Road to Le Reve" etc. +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated by H. Weston Taylor, $1.90 + +Adventure and romance are the keynotes of this new novel by Brewer +Corcoran--adventure which will stir the blood of every lover of +fast-moving action and culminative plot, and romance which will charm +all who have a tender spot for a lovably beautiful girl and a regular +"he" man. It is a tale of today, set amid the mountains of Switzerland +and the ugly rocks of Bolshevism on which is wrecked the mythical +principality of Nirgendsberg--a story of a brave little princess who +puts unfaltering faith in American manhood and resourcefulness and +finds a newer and a better throne. Bill Hale is the sort of hero who +would win any girl's love--a clever, capable chap with two fists and +a keen sense of humor. Whether he is matching wits with suave Count +Otto, romping with tiny Janos, fighting for his life in the hunting lodge +at Wolkensberg or pleading for the love of his "princess who is all +girl," he is a man. The story of his fight for all that counts in life +is told with a rush and sweep of action which will hold the reader +breathless. The dialogue, like that in Mr. Corcoran's other books, +sparkles with humor, but there is a certain pleasurable grimness in +his method of handling the Bolshevik which will strike an answering +note in every true American heart today. + +"A romance of vivid interest, a love story full of youth and adventures +that thrill. The dialogue is unusually clever, the characters +delightfully real, the plot one that holds the reader's interest to the +end." _New York Sun._ + + + + +A FLOWER OF MONTEREY + +A Romance of the Californias + +By Katherine B. Hamill + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +The wealth, beauty and sunshine of the Californias in the days when +Spain controlled our western coast and England looked with covetous +eyes, form the setting for this beautiful and artistic romance by a +new author. Mrs. Hamill has recreated vividly the little Spanish town +where the mission bells rang silvery at dawn, where scarlet uniforms +flashed in the stately drill of an afternoon dress parade and beautiful +women wore lace mantillas. Pajarita, the "Flower of Monterey," is +an American waif, cast up by the sea, who grows up among the senors +and senoritas, happy as the sunshine, but with a healthy American +disrespect for the Spanish modes of life. Two men love her--Don Jose, +the _gobernador proprietaro_ of all the Californias, and a young American +sailor-adventurer, John Asterly. + +John Asterly, the hero of A FLOWER OF MONTEREY, came to the Californias +from Boston. He is perhaps thirty years old, adventurous and impetuous. +At a dance on the beach at Monterey, shortly after his arrival in the +Californias, he meets Pajarita, "the Flower of Monterey," and falls +in love with the girl, although she is promised to her benefactor, +the Spanish Governor. On the very night before her wedding, Asterly +tries to dissuade Pajarita from her marriage with some one other than +an American, and then the romance, rivalry and adventure begin. The +historical setting of the story is correct and the romance unfolds +with dash and symmetry. + + + + +WILD WINGS + +Margaret R. Piper + +Author of "Sylvia's Experiment," "The House on the Hill," +"Sylvia Arden Decides," etc. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +In this "story of youth for grown-ups," the vigorous, happy Holiday +youngsters who lived in the "House on the Hill" develop into keen, +lovable young people, thoroughly worth knowing. To Tony, as brilliant and +beautiful as a girl can well be and still be human, comes a successful +theatrical career on Broadway, and a great love, and Larry grows into the +industrious, reliant young doctor that one would expect him to be. + +Few writers today display the ability which Miss Piper does to "grow +up" a large family of boys and girls, each with an individuality well +developed and attractive, and her Holiday family holds a distinctive +place in American fiction for young people today. + +As the charming characters work their way out of problems which face +all young people of buoyant spirits and ambitions, WILD WINGS gives a +definite message as to the happiest relationship between old and young. + +"There is a world of human nature and neighborhood contentment in +Margaret R. Piper's books of good cheer. Her tales are well proportioned +and subtly strong in their literary aspects and quality." _North +American, Philadelphia._ + + + + +Selections from + +The Page Company's + +List of Fiction + +WORKS OF ELEANOR H. PORTER + +POLLYANNA: The GLAD Book (500,000) (Trade Mark) + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +Mr. Leigh Mitchell Hodges, The Optimist, in an editorial for the +_Philadelphia North American_, says: "And when, after Pollyanna has +gone away, you get her letter saying she is going to take 'eight +steps' tomorrow--well, I don't know just what you may do, but I +know of one person who buried his face in his hands and shook with the +gladdest sort of sadness and got down on his knees and thanked the Giver +of all gladness for Pollyanna." + +POLLYANNA: The GLAD Book. MARY PICKFORD EDITION (Trade Mark) + +Illustrated with thirty-two half-tone reproductions of scenes from the +motion picture production, and a jacket with a portrait of Mary Pickford +in color. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, $2.25 + +While preparing "Pollyanna" for the screen, Miss Pickford said +enthusiastically that it was the best picture she had ever made in +her life, and the success of the picture on the screen has amply +justified her statement. Mary Pickford's interpretation of the beloved +little heroine as shown in the illustrations, adds immeasurably to +the intrinsic charm of this popular story. + +POLLYANNA GROWS UP: The Second GLAD Book, Trade Mark (250,000) + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +When the story of POLLYANNA told in The _Glad_ Book was ended, a great +cry of regret for the vanishing "Glad Girl" went up all over the +country--and other countries, too. Now POLLYANNA appears again, just as +sweet and joyous-hearted, more grown up and more lovable. + +"Take away frowns! Put down the worries! Stop fidgeting and +disagreeing and grumbling! Cheer up, everybody! POLLYANNA has come +back!"--_Christian Herald._ + + + + + +MISS BILLY (93rd thousand) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color from a painting by G. +Tyng, $1.90 + +"There is something altogether fascinating about 'Miss Billy,' some +inexplicable feminine characteristic that seems to demand the individual +attention of the reader from the moment we open the book until we +reluctantly turn the last page."--_Boston Transcript._ + +MISS BILLY'S DECISION (78th thousand) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color from a painting by +Henry W. Moore, $1.90 + +"The story is written in bright, clever style and has plenty of action +and humor. Miss Billy is nice to know and so are her friends."--_New +Haven Leader._ + +MISS BILLY--MARRIED (86th thousand) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color from a painting by W. +Haskell Coffin, $1.90 + +"Although Pollyanna is the only copyrighted glad girl, Miss Billy is +just as glad as the younger figure and radiates just as much gladness. +She disseminates joy so naturally that we wonder why all girls are not +like her."--_Boston Transcript._ + +SIX STAR RANCH (45th thousand) + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated by R. Farrington Elwell, $1.90 + +"'Six Star Ranch' bears all the charm of the author's genius and +is about a little girl down in Texas who practices the 'Pollyanna +Philosophy' with irresistible success. The book is one of the kindliest +things, if not the best, that the author of the Pollyanna books has +done. It is a welcome addition to the fast-growing family of _Glad_ +Books."--_Howard Russell Bangs in the Boston Post._ + +CROSS CURRENTS + +Cloth decorative, illustrated, $1.50 + +"To one who enjoys a story of life as it is to-day, with its sorrows +as well as its triumphs, this volume is sure to appeal."--_Book News +Monthly._ + +THE TURN OF THE TIDE + +Cloth decorative, illustrated, $1.50 + +"A very beautiful book showing the influence that went to the +development of the life of a dear little girl into a true and good +woman."--_Herald and Presbyter, Cincinnati, Ohio._ + + + + +NOVELS BY ELIOT HARLOW ROBINSON + +A book which has established its author in the front rank of American +novelists. + +SMILES, A ROSE OF THE CUMBERLANDS (26th thousand) + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +Smiles is a girl who has already made many friends and is destined +to make many more. Her real name is Rose, but the rough folk of the +Cumberlands preferred their own way of addressing her, for her smile +was so bright and winning that no other name suited her so well. + +"This is the best book I have ever illustrated for any publisher. I have +tried to make the pictures all that you hoped for them."--_H. Weston +Taylor._ + +E. J. Anderson, former managing Editor of the Boston _Advertiser_ and +_Record_, is enthusiastic over the story and says: + +"I have read 'Smiles' in one reading. After starting it I could +not put it down. Never in my life have I read a book like this that +thrilled me half as much, and never have I seen a more masterful piece +of writing." + +THE MAID OF MIRABELLE: A Romance of Lorraine + +Illustrated with reproductions of sketches made by the author, and with a +portrait of "The Maid of Mirabelle," from a painting by Neale Ordayne, +on the cover. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, $1.90 + +A story of human and heart interest. The "Maid," Joan, is a personality +just as real and lovable as was Smiles. + +"The spirit of all the book is the bubbling, the irrepressibly +indomitable, cheerful faith of the people, at their very best, against +the grave Quakerism from the United States standing out grimly but +faithfully. The tale is simply, but strongly told."--_Montreal Family +Herald and Weekly Star._ + +MAN PROPOSES; Or, The Romance of John Alden Shaw + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 + +"This is first of all a charming romance, distinguished by a fine +sentiment of loyalty to an ideal, by physical courage, indomitable +resolution to carry to success an altruistic undertaking, a splendid +woman's devotion, and by a vein of spontaneous, sparkling humor that +offsets its more serious phases."--_Springfield Republican._ + + + + +THE ROMANCES OF L. M. MONTGOMERY + +Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, $1.90 + +ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (355th thousand) + +Illustrated by M. A. and W. A. J. Claus. + +"In 'Anne of Green Gables' you will find the dearest and most moving +and delightful child since the immortal Alice."--_Mark Twain in a letter +to Francis Wilson._ + +"I take it as a great test of the worth of the book that while the young +people are rummaging all over the house looking for Anne, the head of the +family has carried her off to read on his way to town."--_Bliss Carman._ + +ANNE OF AVONLEA (255th thousand) + +Illustrated by George Gibbs. + +"Here we have a book as human as 'David Harum,' a heroine who +outcharms a dozen princesses of fiction, and reminds you of some sweet +girl you know, or knew back in the days when the world was young."--_San +Francisco Bulletin._ + +CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA (43d thousand) + +Illustrated by George Gibbs. + +"The author shows a wonderful knowledge of humanity, great insight and +warmheartedness in the manner in which some of the scenes are treated, +and the sympathetic way the gentle peculiarities of the characters are +brought out."--_Baltimore Sun._ + +ANNE OF THE ISLAND (65th thousand) + +Illustrated by H. Weston Taylor. + +"It has been well worth while to watch the growing up of Anne, and the +privilege of being on intimate terms with her throughout the process has +been properly valued. The once little girl of Green Gables should have a +permanent fictional place of high yet tender esteem."--_New York Herald._ + +FURTHER CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA (20th thousand). + +Illustrated by John Goss. + +Nathan Haskell Dole compares Avonlea to Longfellow's Grand Pre--and +says, "There is something in these continued chronicles of Avonlea like +the delicate art which has made Cranford a classic." + +"The reader has dipped into but one or two stories when he realizes that +the author is the most natural story teller of the day."--_Salt Lake +City Citizen._ + + + + +WORKS OF L. M. MONTGOMERY (Continued) + +ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: The Mary Miles Minter Edition + +Illustrated with twenty-four half-tone reproductions of scenes from the +motion picture production, and a jacket in colors with Miss Minter's +portrait. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, $2.25 + +"You pass from tears to laughter as the story unfolds, and there is +never a moment's hesitation in admitting that Anne has completely won +your heart."--_Joe Mitchell Chapple, Editor, The National Magazine._ + +"Mary Miles Minter's 'Anne' on the screen is worthy of Mark Twain's +definition of her as the 'dearest and most moving and delightful child +since the immortal "Alice."'"--_Cambridge Tribune._ + +KILMENY OF THE ORCHARD (52d thousand) + +Illustrated by George Gibbs. Cloth decorative, 12mo, $1.90 + +"A purely idyllic love story full of tender sentiment, redolent with +the perfume of rose leaves and breathing of apple blossoms and the sweet +clover of twilight meadow-lands."--_San Francisco Bulletin._ + +"A story born in the heart of Arcadia and brimful of the sweet and +simple life of the primitive environment."--_Boston Herald._ + +=THE STORY GIRL (46th thousand)= + +Illustrated by George Gibbs. Cloth decorative, 12mo, $1.90 + +"It will be read and, we venture to predict, reread many times, for +there is a freshness and sweetness about it which will help to lift the +load of care, to cheer the weary and to make brighter still the life +of the carefree and the happy."--_Toronto, Can., Globe._ + +"'The Story Girl' is of decidedly unusual conception and interest, +and will rival the author's earlier books in popularity."--_Chicago +Western Trade Journal._ + +THE GOLDEN ROAD (28th thousand) + +Illustrated by George Gibbs. Cloth decorative, 12mo, $1.90 + +In which it is proven that "Life was a rose-lipped comrade with purple +flowers dripping from her fingers." + +"It is a simple, tender tale, touched to higher notes, now and then, by +delicate hints of romance, tragedy and pathos. Any true-hearted human +being might read this book with enjoyment, no matter what his or her age, +social status, or economic place."--_Chicago Record-Herald._ + + + + +NOVELS BY ISLA MAY MULLINS + +Each, one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.75 + +THE BLOSSOM SHOP: A Story of the South + +"Frankly and wholly romance is this book, and lovable--as is a fairy +tale properly told."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + +ANNE OF THE BLOSSOM SHOP: Or, the Growing Up of Anne Carter + +"A charming portrayal of the attractive life of the South, refreshing as +a breeze that blows through a pine forest."--_Albany Times-Union._ + +ANNE'S WEDDING + +"Presents a picture of home life that is most appealing in love and +affection."--_Every Evening, Wilmington, Del._ + +THE MT. BLOSSOM GIRLS + +"In the writing of the book the author is at her best as a story teller. +It is a fitting climax to the series."--_Reader._ + +TWEEDIE: The Story of a True Heart + +"The story itself is full of charm and one enters right into the very +life of Tweedie and feels as if he had indeed been lifted into an +atmosphere of unselfishness, enthusiasm and buoyant optimism."--_Boston +Ideas._ + +NOVELS BY DAISY RHODES CAMPBELL + +THE FIDDLING GIRL + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.65 + +"A thoroughly enjoyable tale, written in a delightful vein of +sympathetic comprehension."--_Boston Herald._ + +THE PROVING OF VIRGINIA + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.65 + +"A book which contributes so much of freshness, enthusiasm, and healthy +life to offset the usual offerings of modern fiction, deserves all the +praise which can be showered upon it."--_Kindergarten Review._ + +THE VIOLIN LADY + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.65 + +"The author's style remains simple and direct, as in her preceding +books."--_Boston Transcript._ + + + + +DETECTIVE STORIES BY GEORGE BARTON + +Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.75 + +THE PEMBROKE MASON AFFAIR + +"Not until the end will the reader ever surmise how Mason was murdered. +An absorbing and thrilling story."--_Cleveland Topics._ + +THE MYSTERY OF THE RED FLAME + +"An admirable story--an engaging story of love, mystery and +adventure."--_The Philadelphia Inquirer._ + +THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF BROMLEY BARNES + +"It would be difficult to find a collection of more interesting tales of +mystery so well told. The author is crisp, incisive and inspiring. The +book is the best of its kind in recent years and adds to the author's +already high reputation."--_New York Tribune._ + +THE AMBASSADOR'S TRUNK + +"Mr. Barton is in the front rank of the writers of mystery stories, and +this is one of his best."--_Pittsburgh Chronicle._ + +"The book is of the good red-blood type, with few dull lines and +stirring action and episodes in almost every page."--_Montreal Herald._ + +BUSINESS NOVELS BY HAROLD WHITEHEAD + +Professor of Sales Relations, The College of Business Administration, +Boston University + +Each one volume, cloth, 12mo, illustrated, $1.75 + +DAWSON BLACK, RETAIL MERCHANT + +"Contains much that it would profit a young merchant to know and its +fictional interest makes a strong appeal."--_New York Tribune._ + +THE BUSINESS CAREER OF PETER FLINT + +"Peter Flint is certainly a marvel.... His career reveals a most +remarkable metamorphosis from incapacity, stubbornness, and what seemed +a chronic inclination to fall down on every job which he undertook, +to an amazing exposition of business capacity and skill."--_Boston +Transcript._ + + + + +NOVELS BY MARGARET R. PIPER + +SYLVIA'S EXPERIMENT: The Cheerful Book (Trade Mark) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color $1.75 + +"An atmosphere of good spirits pervades the book; the humor that now +and then flashes across the page is entirely natural."--_Boston Post._ + +SYLVIA OF THE HILL TOP: The Second Cheerful Book (Trade Mark) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color $1.75 + +"There is a world of human nature and neighborhood contentment and +quaint quiet humor in Margaret R. Piper's second book of good +cheer."--_Philadelphia North American._ + +"Sylvia proves practically that she is a messenger of joy to +humanity."--_The Post Express, Rochester, N. Y._ + +SYLVIA ARDEN DECIDES: The Third Cheerful Book (Trade Mark) + +Cloth decorative, with a frontispiece in full color $1.75 + +"Its ease of style, its rapidity, its interest from page to page, are +admirable; and it shows that inimitable power--the storyteller's gift +of verisimilitude. Its sureness and clearness are excellent, and its +portraiture clear and pleasing."--_The Reader._ + +FICTION FOR YOUNGER READERS BY MARGARET R. PIPER + +THE HOUSE ON THE HILL + +By Margaret R. Piper. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated $1.75 + +"'The House on the Hill' presents higher ideals of service and +life for boys and girls, and the charming characters worked their way +out of problems which face all young people of buoyant spirits and +ambition."--_Buffalo News._ + +"The story is a delightful one, with all kinds of interesting adventures +and characters."--_Sunday Leader._ + +THE PRINCESS AND THE CLAN + +By Margaret R. Piper. + +Cloth decorative, illustrated by John Goss $1.75 + +"This is a delightful story for young and old, wholesome and uplifting. +The chief charm of the story lies in its simplicity,"--_Philadelphia +North American._ + + + + +NOVELS BY MARY ELLEN CHASE + +THE GIRL FROM THE BIG HORN COUNTRY + +Cloth, 12mo, illustrated by E. Farrington Elwell, $1.75 + +"'The Girl from the Big Horn Country' tells how Virginia Hunter, a +bright, breezy, frank-hearted 'girl of the Golden West' comes out of +the Big Horn country of Wyoming to the old Bay State. Then things begin, +when Virginia--who feels the joyous, exhilarating call of the Big Horn +wilderness and the outdoor life--attempts to become acclimated and adopt +good old New England 'ways.'"--_Critic._ + +VIRGINIA, OF ELK CREEK VALLEY + +Cloth, 12mo, illustrated by E. Farrington Elwell, $1.75 + +"This story is fascinating, alive with constantly new and fresh +interests and every reader will enjoy the novel for its freshness, its +novelty and its inspiring glimpses of life with nature."--_The Editor._ + +NOVELS BY OTHER AUTHORS + +THE GOLDEN DOG. A Romance of Quebec + +By William Kirby. (45th thousand.) + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated by J. W. Kennedy, $1.90 + +"A powerful romance of love, intrigue and adventure in the times of +Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour."--_Boston Herald._ + +SHE STANDS ALONE + +Being the story of Pilate's wife. + +By Mark Ashton. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.75 + +Few novels of the present day can stand comparison with this remarkable +book, which must be ranked in modern literature dealing with the early +Christian era as only second to "Ben Hur." + +THE ROAD TO LE REVE + +By Brewer Corcoran. + +Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated by H. Weston Taylor, $1.90 + +"A romance of vivid interest, a love story full of youth, the great +outdoors and adventures that thrill. The dialogue is unusually clever, +the characters delightfully real, the plot one that holds the reader's +interest to the end."--_New York Sun._ + + + + +THE FAMOUS SEA STORIES OF HERMAN MELVILLE + +MOBY DICK; Or, The White Whale + +TYPEE. A Real Romance of the South Sea + +OMOO. A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; a sequel to TYPEE + +WHITE JACKET; Or, The World on a Man-of-War + +Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated $1.90 + +The recent centenary of Herman Melville created renewed interest in his +famous sea stories. + +"Melville wove human element and natural setting into recitals which +aroused the enthusiasm of critics and sent a thrill of delight through +the reading public when first published, and which both for form and +matter have ever since held rank as classics in the literature of +travel."--_Boston Herald._ + +DETECTIVE STORIES BY ARTHUR MORRISON + +Each one volume, cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.75 + +THE GREEN DIAMOND + +"A clever, ingenious story, with just the right combination of detective +skill and mystery and with a touch of Oriental mysticism."--_Kansas +City Star._ + +THE RED TRIANGLE + +"The reader who has a grain of imagination may be defied to lay +this book down, once he has begun it, until the last word has been +reached."--_Boston Journal._ + +"It is a splendid story of the kind that cannot fail to +interest."--_Detroit Journal._ + +THE CHRONICLES OF MARTIN HEWITT + +"The story is told in a forceful, straightforward style, which gives it +impressive realism."--_Boston Herald._ + +"The story is well-written, unique, quite out of the usual order, +and a vein of mystery running through it that is most +captivating."--_Christian Intelligencer._ + + + + +HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF NATHAN GALLIZIER + +THE LEOPARD PRINCE + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +"With a vividness that is electrifying and a mastery of emotion that +thrills, Mr. Gallizier has written this story of Italy--a romance of +Venice in the fourteenth century."--_The Lookout, Cincinnati, Ohio._ + +UNDER THE WITCHES' MOON + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +"A highly colored romance of mediaeval Italy with a most interesting +background."--_New York World._ + +THE CRIMSON GONDOLA + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +"Mr. Gallizier is unusually strong in the use of description, and +conveys vividly the gorgeous decadence and luxury of the sybaritic +city."--_Los Angeles Sunday Times._ + +THE HILL OF VENUS + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +This is a vivid and powerful romance of the thirteenth century in the +times of the great Ghibelline wars. + +"It is vibrant with action and overflowing with human emotions +throughout."--_Wilmington Every Evening._ + +THE COURT OF LUCIFER + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +"The book is breathless reading, as much for the adventures, the +pageants, the midnight excursions of the minor characters, as for +the love story of the prince and Donna Lucrezia."--_Boston Transcript._ + +THE SORCERESS OF ROME + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated in color, $2.00 + +"A splendid bit of old Roman mosaic, or a gorgeous piece of tapestry. +Otto is a striking and pathetic figure. Description of the city, the +gorgeous ceremonials of the court and the revels are a series of +wonderful pictures."--_Cincinnati Enquirer._ + +CASTEL DEL MONTE + +Cloth decorative, large 12mo, illustrated, $2.00 + +"There is color; there is sumptuous word-painting in these pages; +the action is terrific at times; vividness and life are in every part; +and brilliant descriptions entertain the reader and give a singular +fascination to the tale."--_Grand Rapids Herald._ + + + + +WORKS OF GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO + +Signor d'Annunzio is known throughout the world as a poet and a +dramatist, but above all as a novelist, for it is in his novels that +he is at his best. In poetic thought and graceful expression he has few +equals among the writers of the day. + +He is engaged on a most ambitious work--nothing less than the writing of +nine novels which cover the whole field of human sentiment. This work he +has divided into three trilogies, and five of the nine books have been +published. It is to be regretted that other labors have interrupted the +completion of the series. + +"This book is realistic. Some say that it is brutally so. But the +realism is that of Flaubert, and not of Zola. There is no plain +speaking for the sake of plain speaking. Every detail is justified in +the fact that it illuminates either the motives or the actions of the +man and woman who here stand revealed. It is deadly true. The author +holds the mirror up to nature, and the reader, as he sees his own +experiences duplicated in passage after passage, has something of the +same sensation as all of us know on the first reading of George +Meredith's 'Egoist.' Reading these pages is like being out in the +country on a dark night in a storm. Suddenly a flash of lightning +comes and every detail of your surroundings is revealed."--_Review of +"The Triumph of Death" in the New York Evening Sun._ + +The volumes published are as follows. Each 1 vol., library 12mo, cloth, +$1.75 + +THE ROMANCES OF THE ROSE + + THE CHILD OF PLEASURE (Il Piacere) + THE INTRUDER (L'Innocente) + THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH (Il Trionfo della Morte) + +THE ROMANCES OF THE LILY + + THE MAIDENS OF THE ROCKS (Le Vergini delle Rocce) + +THE ROMANCES OF THE POMEGRANATE + + THE FLAME OF LIFE (Il Fuoco) + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Triumph of Virginia Dale, by John Francis, Jr. + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE *** + +***** This file should be named 34575.txt or 34575.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/7/34575/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Roger Frank 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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