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diff --git a/3464-h/3464-h.htm b/3464-h/3464-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..56797d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/3464-h/3464-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,14159 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tish, by Mary Roberts Rinehart</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + +body { margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + } +p { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + +hr { width: 50%; + } +hr.full { width: 100%; + } + + .quote { margin-left: 6%; + margin-right: 6%; + text-indent: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + } + .figure { padding: 0em; + padding-top: 0.5em; + text-align: center; + font-size: 90%; + margin: auto; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps; + } + .figure img { border: thin solid gray; + } + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions, by Mary Roberts Rinehart</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Mary Roberts Rinehart</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: February 16, 2005 [eBook #3464]<br /> +[Most recently updated: April 18, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Lynn Hill</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TISH ***</div> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<div class="figure" style="width: 75%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="100%" +alt="TISH +by +Mary Roberts +Rinehart" /><br /> +</div> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<div class="figure"> +<a name="image-0000"></a> +<img src="images/ill-01.jpg" width="100%" +alt='"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!"' /><br /> +"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!" +</div> + +<div style="height: 6em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h1> + TISH +</h1> +<h2> +The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions +</h2> +<h3> +By MARY ROBERTS RINEHART +</h3> +<h4> +<i>With Illustrations<br /> +by May Wilson Preston</i> +</h4> + +<h5> +1916 +</h5> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_TOC" id="h2H_TOC"></a> + CONTENTS +</h2> + +<p> +<a href="#h2H_4_0002">MIND OVER MOTOR</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0003">II</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0004">III</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0005">IV</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0006">V</a> +</p> + +<p> +<a href="#h2H_4_0007">LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0008">II</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0009">III</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0010">IV</a> +</p> + +<p> +<a href="#h2H_4_0011">THE SIMPLE LIFERS</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0012">II</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0013">III</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0014">IV</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0015">V</a> +</p> + +<p> +<a href="#h2H_4_0016">TISH'S SPY</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0017">II</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0018">III</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0019">IV</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0020">V</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0021">VI</a> +</p> + +<p> +<a href="#h2H_4_0022">MY COUNTRY TISH OF THEE—</a> + +<a href="#h2H_4_0023">II</a> +</p> + + + + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_ILL" id="h2H_ILL"></a> + ILLUSTRATIONS +</h2> + + +<p> +<a href="#image-0000">"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!"</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0001">Without cutting down her speed, bumped home the winner</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0002">The real meaning of what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0005">It ended with Tish stalking off into the woods with the rabbit in one hand and the knife in the other</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0007">As fast as she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0008">"Get the canoe and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven"</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0009">"It's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk about gripping a horse with your knees"</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0010">"The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, the more I realize that to take you anywhere means ruin."</a> +</p> +<p> +<a href="#image-0011">"It would be just like the woman, to refuse to come any farther and spoil everything"</a> +</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_4_0002" id="h2H_4_0002"></a> + MIND OVER MOTOR +</h2> +<h3> + HOW TISH BROKE THE LAW AND SOME RECORDS +</h3> + +<h3> +I +</h3> + +<p> +So many unkind things have been said of the affair at Morris Valley +that I think it best to publish a straightforward account of everything. +The ill nature of the cartoon, for instance, which showed Tish in a pair +of khaki trousers on her back under a racing-car was quite uncalled +for. Tish did not wear the khaki trousers; she merely took them along +in case of emergency. Nor was it true that Tish took Aggie along as +a mechanician and brutally pushed her off the car because she was not +pumping enough oil. The fact was that Aggie sneezed on a curve and fell +out of the car, and would no doubt have been killed had she not been +thrown into a pile of sand. +</p> +<p> +It was in early September that Eliza Bailey, my cousin, decided to go +to London, ostensibly for a rest, but really to get some cretonne at +Liberty's. Eliza wrote me at Lake Penzance asking me to go to Morris +Valley and look after Bettina. +</p> +<p> +I must confess that I was eager to do it. We three were very comfortable +at Mat Cottage, "Mat" being the name Charlie Sands, Tish's nephew, had +given it, being the initials of "Middle-Aged Trio." Not that I regard +the late forties as middle-aged. But Tish, of course, is fifty. Charlie +Sands, who is on a newspaper, calls us either the "M.A.T." or the +"B.A.'s," for "Beloved Aunts," although Aggie and I are not related +to him. +</p> +<p> +Bettina's mother's note:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + Not that she will allow you to do it, or because she isn't entirely + able to take care of herself; but because the people here are a talky + lot. Bettina will probably look after you. She has come from college + with a feeling that I am old and decrepit and must be cared for. She + maddens me with pillows and cups of tea and woolen shawls. She thinks + Morris Valley selfish and idle, and is disappointed in the church, + preferring her Presbyterianism pure. She is desirous now of learning + how to cook. If you decide to come I'll be grateful if you can keep + her out of the kitchen. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + Devotedly, ELIZA. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + P.S. If you can keep Bettina from getting married while I'm away + I'll be very glad. She believes a woman should marry and rear a + large family! +</p> +<p class="quote"> + E. +</p> +<p> +We were sitting on the porch of the cottage at Lake Penzance when I +received the letter, and I read it aloud. "Humph!" said Tish, putting +down the stocking she was knitting and looking over her spectacles at +me—"Likes her Presbyterianism pure and believes in a large family! How +old is she? Forty?" +</p> +<p> +"Eighteen or twenty," I replied, looking at the letter. "I'm not anxious +to go. She'll probably find me frivolous." +</p> +<p> +Tish put on her spectacles and took the letter. "I think it's your duty, +Lizzie," she said when she'd read it through. "But that young woman +needs handling. We'd better all go. We can motor over in half a day." +</p> +<p> +That was how it happened that Bettina Bailey, sitting on Eliza Bailey's +front piazza, decked out in chintz cushions,—the piazza, of course,—saw +a dusty machine come up the drive and stop with a flourish at the steps. +And from it alight, not one chaperon, but three. +</p> +<p> +After her first gasp Bettina was game. She was a pretty girl in a white +dress and bore no traces in her face of any stern religious proclivities. +</p> +<p> +"I didn't know—" she said, staring from one to the other of us. "Mother +said—that is—won't you go right upstairs and have some tea and lie +down?" She had hardly taken her eyes from Tish, who had lifted the +engine hood and was poking at the carbureter with a hairpin. +</p> +<p> +"No, thanks," said Tish briskly. "I'll just go around to the garage and +oil up while I'm dirty. I've got a short circuit somewhere. Aggie, you +and Lizzie get the trunk off." +</p> +<p> +Bettina stood by while we unbuckled and lifted down our traveling trunk. +She did not speak a word, beyond asking if we wouldn't wait until the +gardener came. On Tish's saying she had no time to wait, because she +wanted to put kerosene in the cylinders before the engine cooled, +Bettina lapsed into silence and stood by watching us. +</p> +<p> +Bettina took us upstairs. She had put Drummond's "Natural Law in the +Spiritual World" on my table and a couch was ready with pillows and a +knitted slumber robe. Very gently she helped us out of our veils and +dusters and closed the windows for fear of drafts. +</p> +<p> +"Dear mother is so reckless of drafts," she remarked. "Are you sure you +won't have tea?" +</p> +<p> +"We had some blackberry cordial with us," Aggie said, "and we all had a +little on the way. We had to change a tire and it made us thirsty." +</p> +<p> +"Change a tire!" +</p> +<p> +Aggie had taken off her bonnet and was pinning on the small lace cap she +wears, away from home, to hide where her hair is growing thin. In her +cap Aggie is a sweet-faced woman of almost fifty, rather ethereal. She +pinned on her cap and pulled her crimps down over her forehead. +</p> +<p> +"Yes," she observed. "A bridge went down with us and one of the nails +spoiled a new tire. I told Miss Carberry the bridge was unsafe, but she +thought, by taking it very fast—" +</p> +<p> +Bettina went over to Aggie and clutched her arm. "Do you mean to say," +she quavered, "that you three women went through a bridge—" +</p> +<p> +"It was a small bridge," I put in, to relieve her mind; "and only a foot +or two of water below. If only the man had not been so disagreeable—" +</p> +<p> +"Oh," she said, relieved, "you had a man with you!" +</p> +<p> +"We never take a man with us," Aggie said with dignity. "This one was +fishing under the bridge and he was most ungentlemanly. Quite refused +to help, and tried to get the license number so he could sue us." +</p> +<p> +"Sue you!" +</p> +<p> +"He claimed his arm was broken, but I distinctly saw him move it." +Aggie, having adjusted her cap, was looking at it in the mirror. "But +dear Tish thinks of everything. She had taken off the license plates." +</p> +<p> +Bettina had gone really pale. She seemed at a loss, and impatient at +herself for being so. "You—you won't have tea?" she asked. +</p> +<p> +"No, thank you." +</p> +<p> +"Would you—perhaps you would prefer whiskey and soda." +</p> +<p> +Aggie turned on her a reproachful eye. "My dear girl," she said, "with +the exception of a little home-made wine used medicinally we drink +nothing. I am the secretary of the Woman's Prohibition Party." +</p> +<p> +Bettina left us shortly after that to arrange for putting up Letitia +and Aggie. She gave them her mother's room, and whatever impulse she +may have had to put the Presbyterian Psalter by the bed, she restrained +it. By midnight Drummond's "Natural Law" had disappeared from my table +and a novel had taken its place. But Bettina had not lost her air of +bewilderment. +</p> +<p> +That first evening was very quiet. A young man in white flannels called, +and he and Letitia spent a delightful evening on the porch talking +spark-plugs and carbureters. Bettina sat in a corner and looked at the +moon. Spoken to, she replied in monosyllables in a carefully sweet tone. +The young man's name was Jasper McCutcheon. +</p> +<p> +It developed that Jasper owned an old racing-car which he kept in the +Bailey garage, and he and Tish went out to look it over. They very +politely asked us all to go along, but Bettina refusing, Aggie and I sat +with her and looked at the moon. +</p> +<p> +Aggie in her capacity as chaperon, or as one of an association of +chaperons, used the opportunity to examine Bettina on the subject of +Jasper. +</p> +<p> +"He seems a nice boy," she remarked. Aggie's idea of a nice boy is one +who in summer wears fresh flannels outside, in winter less conspicuously. +"Does he live near?" +</p> +<p> +"Next door," sweetly but coolly. +</p> +<p> +"He is very good-looking." +</p> +<p> +"Ears spoil him—too large." +</p> +<p> +"Does he come around—er—often?" +</p> +<p> +"Only two or three times a day. On Sunday, of course, we see more of +him." +</p> +<p> +Aggie looked at me in the moonlight. Clearly the young man from the next +door needed watching. It was well we had come. +</p> +<p> +"I suppose you like the same things?" she suggested. "Similar tastes +and—er—all that?" +</p> +<p> +Bettina stretched her arms over her head and yawned. +</p> +<p> +"Not so you could notice it," she said coolly. "I can't thick of +anything we agree on. He is an Episcopalian; I'm a Presbyterian. He +approves of suffrage for women; I do not. He is a Republican; I'm a +Progressive. He disapproves of large families; I approve of them, if +people can afford them." +</p> +<p> +Aggie sat straight up. "I hope you don't discuss that!" she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +Bettina smiled. "How nice to find that you are really just nice elderly +ladies after all!" she said. "Of course we discuss it. Is it anything to +be ashamed of?" +</p> +<p> +"When I was a girl," I said tartly, "we married first and discussed +those things afterward." +</p> +<p> +"Of course you did, Aunt Lizzie," she said, smiling alluringly. She was +the prettiest girl I think I have ever seen, and that night she was +beautiful. "And you raised enormous families who religiously walked to +church in their bare feet to save their shoes!" +</p> +<p> +"I did nothing of the sort," I snapped. +</p> +<p> +"It seems to me," Aggie put in gently, "that you make very little of +love." Aggie was once engaged to be married to a young man named +Wiggins, a roofer by trade, who was killed in the act of inspecting a +tin gutter, on a rainy day. He slipped and fell over, breaking his neck +as a result. +</p> +<p> +Bettina smiled at Aggie. "Not at all," she said. "The day of blind love +is gone, that's all—gone like the day of the chaperon." +</p> +<p> +Neither of us cared to pursue this, and Tish at that moment appearing +with Jasper, Aggie and I made a move toward bed. But Jasper not going, +and none of us caring to leave him alone with Bettina, we sat down +again. +</p> +<p> +We sat until one o'clock. +</p> +<p> +At the end of that time Jasper rose, and saying something about its +being almost bedtime strolled off next door. Aggie was sound asleep in +her chair and Tish was dozing. As for Bettina, she had said hardly a +word after eleven o'clock. +</p> +<p> +Aggie and Tish, as I have said, were occupying the same room. I went to +sleep the moment I got into bed, and must have slept three or four hours +when I was awakened by a shot. A moment later a dozen or more shots were +fired in rapid succession and I sat bolt upright in bed. Across the +street some one was raising a window, and a man called "What's the +matter?" twice. +</p> +<p> +There was no response and no further sound. Shaking in every limb, I +found the light switch and looked at the time. It was four o'clock in +the morning and quite dark. +</p> +<p> +Some one was moving in the hall outside and whimpering. I opened the +door hurriedly and Aggie half fell into the room. +</p> +<p> +"Tish is murdered, Lizzie!" she said, and collapsed on the floor in a +heap. +</p> +<p> +"Nonsense!" +</p> +<p> +"She's not in her room or in the house, and I heard shots!" +</p> +<p> +Well, Aggie was right. Tish was not in her room. There was a sort of +horrible stillness everywhere as we stood there clutching at each other +and listening. +</p> +<p> +"She's heard burglars downstairs and has gone down after them, and this +is what has happened! Oh, Tish! brave Tish!" Aggie cried hysterically. +</p> +<p> +And at that Bettina came in with her hair over her shoulders and asked +us if we had heard anything. When we told her about Tish, she insisted +on going downstairs, and with Aggie carrying her first-aid box and I +carrying the blackberry cordial, we went down. +</p> +<p> +The lower floor was quiet and empty. The man across the street had put +down his window and gone back to bed, and everything was still. Bettina +in her dressing-gown went out on the porch and turned on the light. Tish +was not there, nor was there a body lying on the lawn. +</p> +<p> +"It was back of the house by the garage," Bettina said. "If only +Jasper—" +</p> +<p> +And at that moment Jasper came into the circle of light. He had a +Norfolk coat on over his pajamas and a pair of slippers, and he was +running, calling over his shoulder to some one behind as he ran. +</p> +<p> +"Watch the drive!" he yelled. "I saw him duck round the corner." +</p> +<p> +We could hear other footsteps now and somebody panting near us. Aggie +was sitting huddled in a porch chair, crying, and Bettina, in the hall, +was trying to get down from the wall a Moorish knife that Eliza Bailey +had picked up somewhere. +</p> +<p> +"John!" we heard Jasper calling. "John! Quick! I've got him!" +</p> +<p> +He was just at the corner of the porch. My heart stopped and then rushed +on a thousand a minute. Then:— +</p> +<p> +"Take your hands off me!" said Tish's voice. +</p> +<p> +The next moment Tish came majestically into the circle of light and +mounted the steps. Jasper, with his mouth open, stood below looking up, +and a hired man in what looked like a bed quilt was behind in the +shadow. +</p> +<p> +Tish was completely dressed in her motoring clothes, even to her +goggles. She looked neither to the right nor left, but stalked across +the porch into the house and up the stairway. None of us moved until we +heard the door of her room slam above. +</p> +<p> +"Poor old dear!" said Bettina. "She's been walking in her sleep!" +</p> +<p> +"But the shots!" gasped Aggie. "Some one was shooting at her!" +</p> +<p> +Conscious now of his costume, Jasper had edged close to the veranda and +stood in its shadow. +</p> +<p> +"Walking in her sleep, of course!" he said heartily. "The trip to-day was +too much for her. But think of her getting into that burglar-proof +garage with her eyes shut—or do sleep-walkers have their eyes +shut?—and actually cranking up my racer!" +</p> +<p> +Aggie looked at me and I looked at Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"Of course," Jasper went on, "there being no muffler on it, the racket +wakened her as well as the neighborhood. And then the way we chased +her!" +</p> +<p> +"Poor old dear!" said Bettina again. "I'm going in to make her some +tea." +</p> +<p> +"I think," said Jasper, "that I need a bit of tea too. If you will put +out the porch lights I'll come up and have some." +</p> +<p> +But Aggie and I said nothing. We knew Tish never walked in her sleep. +She had meant to try out Jasper's racing-car at dawn, forgetting that +racers have no mufflers, and she had been, as one may say, hoist with +her own petard—although I do not know what a petard is and have never +been able to find out. +</p> +<p> +We drank our tea, but Tish refused to have any or to reply to our +knocks, preserving a sulky silence. Also she had locked Aggie out and +I was compelled to let her sleep in my room. +</p> +<p> +I was almost asleep when Aggie spoke:— +</p> +<p> +"Did you think there was anything queer about the way that Jasper boy +said good-night to Bettina?" she asked drowsily. +</p> +<p> +"I didn't hear him say good-night." +</p> +<p> +"That was it. He didn't. I think"—she yawned—"I think he kissed her." +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0003" id="h2H_4_0003"></a> + II +</h3> +<p> +Tish was down early to breakfast that morning and her manner forbade any +mention of the night before. Aggie, however, noticed that she ate her +cereal with her left hand and used her right arm only when absolutely +necessary. Once before Tish had almost broken an arm cranking a car and +had been driven to arnica compresses for a week; but this time we dared +not suggest anything. +</p> +<p> +Shortly after breakfast she came down to the porch where Aggie and I +were knitting. +</p> +<p> +"I've hurt my arm, Lizzie," she said. "I wish you'd come out and crank +the car." +</p> +<p> +"You'd better stay at home with an arm like that," I replied stiffly. +</p> +<p> +"Very well, I'll crank it myself." +</p> +<p> +"Where are you going?" +</p> +<p> +"To the drug store for arnica." +</p> +<p> +Bettina was not there, so I turned on Tish sharply. "I'll go, of +course," I said; "but I'll not go without speaking my mind, Letitia +Carberry. By and large, I've stood by you for twenty-five years, and +now in the weakness of your age I'm not going to leave you. But I warn +you, Tish, if you touch that racing-car again, I'll send for Charlie +Sands." +</p> +<p> +"I haven't any intention of touching it again," said Tish, meekly +enough. "But I wish I could buy a second-hand racer cheap." +</p> +<p> +"What for?" Aggie demanded. +</p> +<p> +Tish looked at her with scorn. "To hold flowers on the dining-table," +she snapped. +</p> +<p> +It being necessary, of course, to leave a chaperon with Bettina, because +of the Jasper person's habit of coming over at any hour of the day, we +left Aggie with instructions to watch them both. +</p> +<p> +Tish and I drove to the drug store together, and from there to a garage +for gasoline. I have never learned to say "gas" for gasoline. It seems +to me as absurd as if I were to say "but" for butter. Considering that +Aggie was quite sulky at being left, it is absurd for her to assume an +air of virtue over what followed that day. Aggie was only like a lot of +people—good because she was not tempted; for it was at the garage that +we met Mr. Ellis. +</p> +<p> +We had stopped the engine and Tish was quarreling with the man about +the price of gasoline when I saw him—a nice-looking young man in a +black-and-white checked suit and a Panama hat. He came over and stood +looking at Tish's machine. +</p> +<p> +"Nice lines to that car," he said. "Built for speed, isn't she? What do +you get out of her?" +</p> +<p> +Tish heard him and turned. "Get out of her?" she said. "Bills mostly." +</p> +<p> +"Well, that's the way with most of them," he remarked, looking steadily +at Tish. "A machine's a rich man's toy. The only way to own one is to +have it endowed like a university. But I meant speed. What can you +make?" +</p> +<p> +"Never had a chance to find out," Tish said grimly. "Between nervous +women in the machine and constables outside I have the twelve-miles-an-hour +habit. I'm going to exchange the speedometer for a vacuum bottle." +</p> +<p> +He smiled. "I don't think you're fair to yourself. Mostly—if you'll +forgive me—I can tell a woman's driving as far off as I can see the +machine; but you are a very fine driver. The way you brought that car +in here impressed me considerably." +</p> +<p> +"She need not pretend she crawls along the road," I said with some +sarcasm. "The bills she complains of are mostly fines for speeding." +</p> +<p> +"No!" said the young man, delighted. "Good! I'm glad to hear it. So are +mine!" +</p> +<p> +After that we got along famously. He had his car there—a low gray thing +that looked like an armored cruiser. +</p> +<p> +"I'd like you ladies to try her," he said. "She can move, but she is as +gentle as a lamb. A lady friend of mine once threaded a needle as an +experiment while going sixty-five miles an hour." +</p> +<p> +"In this car?" +</p> +<p> +"In this car." +</p> +<p> +Looking back, I do not recall just how the thing started. I believe Tish +expressed a desire to see the car go, and Mr. Ellis said he couldn't let +her out on the roads, but that the race-track at the fair-ground was +open and if we cared to drive down there in Tish's car he would show us +her paces, as he called it. +</p> +<p> +From that to going to the race-track, and from that to Tish's getting in +beside him on the mechanician's seat and going round once or twice, was +natural. I refused; I didn't like the look of the thing. +</p> +<p> +Tish came back with a cinder in her eye and full of enthusiasm. "It was +magnificent, Lizzie," she said. "The only word for it is sublime. You +see nothing. There is just the rush of the wind and the roar of the +engine and a wonderful feeling of flying. Here! See if you can find this +cinder." +</p> +<p> +"Won't you try it, Miss—er—Lizzie?" +</p> +<p> +"No, thanks," I replied. "I can get all the roar and rush of wind I want +in front of an electric fan, and no danger." +</p> +<p> +He stood by, looking out over the oval track while I took three cinders +from Tish's eye. +</p> +<p> +"Great track!" he said. "It's a horse-track, of course, but it's in +bully shape—the county fair is held there and these fellows make a big +feature of their horse-races. I came up here to persuade them to hold an +automobile meet, but they've got cold feet on the proposition." +</p> +<p> +"What was the proposition?" asked Tish. +</p> +<p> +"Well," he said, "it was something like this. I've been turning the +trick all over the country and it works like a charm. The town's ahead +in money and business, for an automobile race always brings a big crowd; +the track owners make the gate money and the racing-cars get the prizes. +Everybody's ahead. It's a clean sport too." +</p> +<p> +"I don't approve of racing for money," Tish said decidedly. +</p> +<p> +But Mr. Ellis shrugged his shoulders. "It's really hardly racing for +money," he explained. "The prizes cover the expenses of the racing-cars, +which are heavy naturally. The cars alone cost a young fortune." +</p> +<p> +"I see," said Tish. "I hadn't thought of it in that light. Well, why +didn't Morris Valley jump at the chance?" +</p> +<p> +He hesitated a moment before he answered. "It was my fault really," he +said. "They were willing enough to have the races, but it was a matter +of money. I made them a proposition to duplicate whatever prize money +they offered, and in return I was to have half the gate receipts and the +betting privileges." +</p> +<p> +Tish quite stiffened. "Clean sport!" she said sarcastically. "With +betting privileges!" +</p> +<p> +"You don't quite understand, dear lady," he explained. "Even in the +cleanest sport we cannot prevent a man's having an opinion and backing +it with his own money. What I intended to do was to regulate it. +Regulate it." +</p> +<p> +Tish was quite mollified. "Well, of course," she said, "I suppose since +it must be, it is better—er,—regulated. But why haven't you +succeeded?" +</p> +<p> +"An unfortunate thing happened just as I had the deal about to close," +he replied, and drew a long breath. "The town had raised twenty-five +hundred. I was to duplicate the amount. But just at that time a—a young +brother of mine in the West got into difficulties, and I—but why go +into family matters? It would have been easy enough for me to pay my +part of the purse out of my share of the gate money; but the committee +demands cash on the table. I haven't got it." +</p> +<p> +Tish stood up in her car and looked out over the track. +</p> +<p> +"Twenty-five hundred dollars is a lot of money, young man." +</p> +<p> +"Not so much when you realize that the gate money will probably amount +to twelve thousand." +</p> +<p> +Tish turned and surveyed the grandstand. +</p> +<p> +"That thing doesn't seat twelve hundred." +</p> +<p> +"Two thousand people in the grandstand—that's four thousand dollars. +Four thousand standing inside the ropes at a dollar each, four thousand +more. And say eight hundred machines parked in the oval there at five +dollars a car, four thousand more. That's twelve thousand for the gate +money alone. Then there are the concessions to sell peanuts, toy +balloons, lemonade and palm-leaf fans, the lunch-stands, merry-go-round +and moving-picture permits. It's a bonanza! Fourteen thousand anyhow." +</p> +<p> +"Half of fourteen thousand is seven," said Tish dreamily. "Seven +thousand less twenty-five hundred is thirty-five hundred dollars +profit." +</p> +<p> +"Forty-five hundred, dear lady," corrected Mr. Ellis, watching her. +"Forty-five hundred dollars profit to be made in two weeks, and nothing +to do to get it but sit still and watch it coming!" +</p> +<p> +I can read Tish like a book and I saw what was in her mind. "Letitia +Carberry!" I said sternly. "You take my warning and keep clear of this +foolishness. If money comes as easy as that it ain't honest." +</p> +<p> +"Why not?" demanded Mr. Ellis. "We give them their money's worth, +don't we? They'd pay two dollars for a theater seat without half +the thrills—no chances of seeing a car turn turtle or break its +steering-knuckle and dash into the side-lines. Two dollars' worth? +It's twenty!" +</p> +<p> +But Tish had had a moment to consider, and the turning-turtle business +settled it. She shook her head. "I'm not interested, Mr. Ellis," she +said coldly. "I couldn't sleep at night if I thought I'd been the cause +of anything turning turtle or dashing into the side-lines." +</p> +<p> +"Dear lady!" he said, shocked; "I had no idea of asking you to help +me out of my difficulties. Anyhow, while matters are at a standstill +probably some shrewd money-maker here will come forward before long and +make a nice profit on a small investment." +</p> +<p> +As we drove away from the fair grounds Tish was very silent; but just as +we reached the Bailey place, with Bettina and young Jasper McCutcheon +batting a ball about on the tennis court, Tish turned to me. +</p> +<p> +"You needn't look like that, Lizzie," she said. "I'm not even thinking +of backing an automobile race—although I don't see why I shouldn't, so +far as that goes. But it's curious, isn't it, that I've got twenty-five +hundred dollars from Cousin Angeline's estate not even earning four per +cent?" +</p> +<p> +I got out grimly and jerked at my bonnet-strings. +</p> +<p> +"You put it in a mortgage, Tish," I advised her with severity in every +tone. "It may not be so fast as an automobile race or so likely to turn +turtle or break its steering-knuckle, but it's safe." +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" said Tish, reaching for the gear lever. "And about as exciting as +a cold pork chop." +</p> +<p> +"And furthermore," I interjected, "if you go into this thing now that +your eyes are open, I'll send for Charlie Sands!" +</p> +<p> +"You and Charlie Sands," said Tish viciously, jamming at her gears, +"ought to go and live in an old ladies' home away from this cruel +world." +</p> +<p> +Aggie was sitting under a sunshade in the broiling sun at the tennis +court. She said she had not left Bettina and Jasper for a moment, and +that they had evidently quarreled, although she did not know when, +having listened to every word they said. For the last half-hour, she +said, they had not spoken at all. +</p> +<p> +"Young people in love are very foolish," she said, rising stiffly. "They +should be happy in the present. Who knows what the future may hold?" +</p> +<p> +I knew she was thinking of Mr. Wiggins and the icy roof, so I patted her +shoulder and sent her up to put cold cloths on her head for fear of +sunstroke. Then I sat down in the broiling sun and chaperoned Bettina +until luncheon. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0004" id="h2H_4_0004"></a> + III +</h3> +<p> +Jasper took dinner with us that night. He came across the lawn, freshly +shaved and in clean white flannels, just as dinner was announced, and +said he had seen a chocolate cake cooling on the kitchen porch and that +it was a sort of unwritten social law that when the Baileys happened to +have a chocolate cake at dinner they had him also. +</p> +<p> +There seemed to be nothing to object to in this. Evidently he was right, +for we found his place laid at the table. The meal was quite cheerful, +although Jasper ate the way some people play the piano, by touch, with +his eyes on Bettina. And he gave no evidence at dessert of a fondness +for chocolate cake sufficient to justify a standing invitation. +</p> +<p> +After dinner we went out on the veranda, and under cover of showing me a +sunset Jasper took me round the corner of the house. Once there, he +entirely forgot the sunset. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Lizzie," he began at once, "what have I done to you to have you +treat me like this?" +</p> +<p> +"I?" I asked, amazed. +</p> +<p> +"All three of you. Did—did Bettina's mother warn you against me?" +</p> +<p> +"The girl has to be chaperoned." +</p> +<p> +"But not jailed, Miss Lizzie, not jailed! Do you know that I haven't had +a word with Bettina alone since you came?" +</p> +<p> +"Why should you want to say anything we cannot hear?" +</p> +<p> +"Miss Lizzie," he said desperately, "do you want to hear me propose to +her? For I've reached the point where if I don't propose to Bettina +soon, I'll—I'll propose to somebody. You'd better be warned in time. It +might be you or Miss Aggie." +</p> +<p> +I weakened at that. The Lord never saw fit to send me a man I could care +enough about to marry, or one who cared enough about me, but I couldn't +look at the boy's face and not be sorry for him. +</p> +<p> +"What do you want me to do?" I asked. +</p> +<p> +"Come for a walk with us," he begged. "Then sprain your ankle or get +tired, I don't care which. Tell us to go on and come back for you later. +Do you see? You can sit down by the road somewhere." +</p> +<p> +"I won't lie," I said firmly. "If I really get tired I'll say so. If I +don't—" +</p> +<p> +"You will." He was gleeful. "We'll walk until you do! You see it's like +this, Miss Lizzie. Bettina was all for me, in spite of our differing on +religion and politics and—" +</p> +<p> +"I know all about your differences," I put in hastily. +</p> +<p> +"Until a new chap came to town—a fellow named Ellis. Runs a sporty car +and has every girl in the town lashed to the mast. He's a novelty and +I'm not. So far I have kept him away from Bettina, but at any time they +may meet, and it will be one-two-three with me." +</p> +<p> +I am not defending my conduct; I am only explaining. Eliza Bailey +herself would have done what I did under the circumstances. I went for a +walk with Bettina and Jasper shortly after my talk with Jasper, leaving +Tish with the evening paper and Aggie inhaling a cubeb cigarette, her +hay fever having threatened a return. And what is more, I tired within +three blocks of the house, where I saw a grassy bank beside the road. +</p> +<p> +Bettina wished to stay with me, but I said, in obedience to Jasper's +eyes, that I liked to sit alone and listen to the crickets, and for them +to go on. The last I saw of them Jasper had drawn Bettina's arm through +his and was walking beside her with his head bent, talking. I sat for +perhaps fifteen minutes and was growing uneasy about dew and my +rheumatism when I heard footsteps and, looking up, I saw Aggie coming +toward me. She was not surprised to see me and addressed me coldly. +</p> +<p> +"I thought as much!" she said. "I expected better of you, Lizzie. That +boy asked me and I refused. I dare say he asked Tish also. For you, who +pride yourself on your strength of mind—" +</p> +<p> +"I was tired," I said. "I was to sprain my ankle," she observed +sarcastically. "I just thought as I was sitting there alone—" +</p> +<p> +"Where's Tish?" +</p> +<p> +"A young man named Ellis came and took her out for a ride," said Aggie. +"He couldn't take us both, as the car holds only two." +</p> +<p> +I got up and stared at Aggie in the twilight. "You come straight home +with me, Aggie Pilkington," I said sternly. +</p> +<p> +"But what about Bettina and Jasper?" +</p> +<p> +"Let 'em alone," I said; "they're safe enough. What we need to keep an +eye on is Letitia Carberry and her Cousin Angeline's legacy." +</p> +<p> +But I was too late. Tish and Mr. Ellis whirled up to the door at +half-past eight and Tish did not even notice that Bettina was absent. +She took off her veil and said something about Mr. Ellis's having heard +a grinding in the differential of her car that afternoon and that he +suspected a chip of steel in the gears. They went out together to the +garage, leaving Aggie and me staring at each other. Mr. Ellis was +carrying a box of tools. +</p> +<p> +Jasper and Bettina returned shortly after, and even in the dusk I knew +things had gone badly for him. He sat on the steps, looking out across +the dark lawn, and spoke in monosyllables. Bettina, however, was very +gay. +</p> +<p> +It was evident that Bettina had decided not to take her Presbyterianism +into the Episcopal fold. And although I am a Presbyterian myself I felt +sorry. +</p> +<p> +Tish and Mr. Ellis came round to the porch about ten o'clock and he was +presented to Bettina. From that moment there was no question in my mind +as to how affairs were going, or in Jasper's either. He refused to move +and sat doggedly on the steps, but he took little part in the +conversation. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Ellis was a good talker, especially about himself. +</p> +<p> +"You'll be glad to know," he said to me, "that I've got this race matter +fixed up finally. In two weeks from now we'll have a little excitement +here." +</p> +<p> +I looked toward Tish, but she said nothing. +</p> +<p> +"Excitement is where I live," said Mr. Ellis. "If I don't find any +waiting I make it." +</p> +<p> +"If you are looking for excitement, we'll have to find you some," Jasper +said pointedly. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Ellis only laughed. "Don't put yourself out, dear boy," he said. +"I have enough for present necessities. If you think an automobile race +is an easy thing to manage, try it. Every man who drives a racing-car +has a <i>coloratura</i> soprano beaten to death for temperament. Then every +racing-car has quirky spells; there's the local committee to propitiate; +the track to look after; and if that isn't enough, there's the promotion +itself, the advertising. That's my stunt—the advertising." +</p> +<p> +"It's a wonderful business, isn't it?" asked Bettina. "To take a mile +or so of dirt track and turn it into a sort of stage, with drama every +minute and sometimes tragedy!" +</p> +<p> +"Wait a moment," said Mr. Ellis; "I want to put that down. I'll use it +somewhere in the advertising." He wrote by the light of a match, while +we all sat rather stunned by both his personality and his alertness. +"Everything's grist that comes to my mill. I suppose you all remember +when I completed the speedway at Indianapolis and had the Governor of +Indiana lay a gold brick at the entrance? Great stunt that! But the best +part of that story never reached the public." +</p> +<p> +Bettina was leaning forward, all ears and thrills. "What was that?" she +asked. +</p> +<p> +"I had the gold brick stolen that night—did it myself and carried the +brick away in my pocket—only gold-plated, you know. Cost eight or nine +dollars, all told, and brought a million dollars in advertising. But the +papers were sore about some passes and wouldn't use the story. Too bad +we can't use the brick here. Still have it kicking about somewhere." +</p> +<p> +It was then, I think, that Jasper yawned loudly, apologized, said +good-night and lounged away across the lawn. Bettina hardly knew he was +going. She was bending forward, her chin in her palms, listening to Mr. +Ellis tell about a driver in a motor race breaking his wrist cranking a +car, and how he—Ellis—had jumped into the car and driven it to +victory. Even Aggie was enthralled. It seemed as if, in the last hour, +the great world of stress and keen wits and endeavor and mad speed had +sat down on our door-step. +</p> +<p> +As Tish said when we were going up to bed, why shouldn't Mr. Ellis brag? +He had something to brag about. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0005" id="h2H_4_0005"></a> + IV +</h3> +<p> +Although I felt quite sure that Tish had put up the prize money for Mr. +Ellis, I could not be certain. And Tish's attitude at that time did not +invite inquiry. She took long rides daily with the Ellis man in his gray +car, and I have reason to believe that their objective point was always +the same—the race-track. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Ellis was the busiest man in Morris Valley. In the daytime he was +superintending putting the track in condition, writing what he called +"promotion stuff," securing entries and forming the center of excited +groups at the drug store and one or other of the two public garages. +In the evenings he was generally to be found at Bettina's feet. +</p> +<p> +Jasper did not come over any more. He sauntered past, evening after +evening, very much white-flanneled and carrying a tennis racket. And +once or twice he took out his old racing-car, and later shot by the +house with a flutter of veils and a motor coat beside him. +</p> +<p> +Aggie was exceedingly sorry for him, and even went the length of having +the cook bake a chocolate cake and put it on the window sill to cool. It +had, however, no perceptible effect, except to draw from Mr. Ellis, who +had been round at the garage looking at Jasper's old racer, a remark +that he was exceedingly fond of cake, and if he were urged— +</p> +<p> +That was, I believe, a week before the race. The big city papers had +taken it up, according to Mr. Ellis, and entries were pouring in. +</p> +<p> +"That's the trouble on a small track," he said—"we can't crowd 'em. +A dozen cars will be about the limit. Even with using the cattle pens +for repair pits we can't look after more than a dozen. Did I tell you +Heckert had entered his Bonor?" +</p> +<p> +"No!" we exclaimed. As far as Aggie and I were concerned, the Bonor +might have been a new sort of dog. +</p> +<p> +"Yes, and Johnson his Sampler. It's going to be some race—eh, what!" +</p> +<p> +Jasper sauntered over that evening, possibly a late result of the cake, +after all. He greeted us affably, as if his defection of the past week +had been merely incidental, and sat down on the steps. +</p> +<p> +"I've been thinking, Ellis," he said, "that I'd like to enter my car." +</p> +<p> +"What!" said Ellis. "Not that—" +</p> +<p> +"My racer. I'm not much for speed, but there's a sort of feeling in the +town that the locality ought to be represented. As I'm the only owner of +a speed car—" +</p> +<p> +"Speed car!" said Ellis, and chuckled. "My dear boy, we've got Heckert +with his ninety-horse-power Bonor!" +</p> +<p> +"Never heard of him." Jasper lighted a cigarette. "Anyhow, what's that +to me? I don't like to race. I've got less speed mania than any owner of +a race car you ever met. But the honor of the town seems to demand a +sacrifice, and I'm it." +</p> +<p> +"You can try out for it anyhow," said Ellis. "I don't think you'll make +it; but, if you qualify, all right. But don't let any other town people, +from a sense of mistaken local pride, enter a street roller or a +traction engine." +</p> +<p> +Jasper colored, but kept his temper. +</p> +<p> +Aggie, however, spoke up indignantly. "Mr. McCutcheon's car was a very +fine racer when it was built." +</p> +<p> +"<i>De mortuis nil nisi bonum</i>," remarked Mr. Ellis, and getting up said +good-night. +</p> +<p> +Jasper sat on the steps and watched him disappear. Then he turned to +Tish. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Letitia," he said, "do you think you are wise to drive that racer +of his the way you have been doing?" +</p> +<p> +Aggie gave a little gasp and promptly sneezed, as she does when she is +excited. +</p> +<p> +"I?" said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"You!" he smiled. "Not that I don't admire your courage. I do. But the +other day, now, when you lost a tire and went into the ditch—" +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" from Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"—you were fortunate. But when a racer turns over the results are not +pleasant." +</p> +<p> +"As a matter of fact," said Tish coldly, "it was a wheat-field, not a +ditch." +</p> +<p> +Jasper got up and threw away his cigarette. "Well, our departing friend +is not the only one who can quote Latin," he said. "<i>Verbum sap.</i>, Miss +Tish. Good-night, everybody. Good-night, Bettina." +</p> +<p> +Bettina's good-night was very cool. As I went up to bed that night, I +thought Jasper's chances poor indeed. As for Tish, I endeavored to speak +a few words of remonstrance to her, but she opened her Bible and began to +read the lesson for the day and I was obliged to beat a retreat. +</p> +<p> +It was that night that Aggie and I, having decided the situation was +beyond us, wrote a letter to Charlie Sands asking him to come up. Just +as I was sealing it Bettina knocked and came in. She closed the door +behind her and stood looking at us both. +</p> +<p> +"Where is Miss Tish?" she asked. +</p> +<p> +"Reading her Bible," I said tartly. "When Tish is up to some mischief, +she generally reads an extra chapter or two as atonement." +</p> +<p> +"Is she—is she always like this?" +</p> +<p> +"The trouble is," explained Aggie gently, "Miss Letitia is an +enthusiast. Whatever she does, she does with all her heart." +</p> +<p> +"I feel so responsible," said Bettina. "I try to look after her, but +what can I do?" +</p> +<p> +"There is only one thing to do," I assured her—"let her alone. If she +wants to fly, let her fly; if she wants to race, let her race—and trust +in Providence." +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid Providence has its hands full!" said Bettina, and went to +bed. +</p> +<p> +For the remainder of that week nothing was talked of in Morris Valley +but the approaching race. Some of Eliza Bailey's friends gave fancy-work +parties for us, which Aggie and I attended. Tish refused, being now +openly at the race-track most of the day. Morris Valley was much +excited. Should it wear motor clothes, or should it follow the example +of the English Derby and the French races and wear its afternoon +reception dress with white kid gloves? Or—it being warm—wouldn't +lingerie clothes and sunshades be most suitable? +</p> +<p> +Some of the gossip I retailed to Jasper, oil-streaked and greasy, in the +Baileys' garage where he was working over his car. +</p> +<p> +"Tell 'em to wear mourning," he said pessimistically. "There's always a +fatality or two. If there wasn't a fair chance of it nothing would make +'em sit for hours watching dusty streaks going by." +</p> +<p> +The race was scheduled for Wednesday. On Sunday night the cars began to +come in. On Monday Tish took us all, including Bettina, to the track. +There were half a dozen tents in the oval, one of them marked with a +huge red cross. +</p> +<p> +"Hospital tent," said Tish calmly. We even, on permission from Mr. +Ellis, went round the track. At one spot Tish stopped the car and got +out. +</p> +<p> +"Nail," she said briefly. "It's been a horse-racing track for years, and +we've gathered a bushel of horse-shoe nails." +</p> +<p> +Aggie and I said nothing, but we looked at each other. Tish had said +"we." Evidently Cousin Angeline's legacy was not going into a mortgage. +</p> +<p> +The fair-grounds were almost ready. Peanut and lunch stands had sprung +up everywhere. The oval, save by the tents and the repair pits, was +marked off into parking-spaces numbered on tall banners. Groups of dirty +men in overalls, carrying machine wrenches, small boys with buckets of +water, onlookers round the tents and track-rollers made the place look +busy and interesting. Some of the excitement, I confess, got into my +blood. Tish, on the contrary, was calm and businesslike. We were sorry +we had sent for Charlie Sands. She no longer went out in Mr. Ellis's +car, and that evening she went back to the kitchen and made a boiled +salad dressing. +</p> +<p> +We were all deceived. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands came the next morning. He was on the veranda reading a +paper when we got down to breakfast. Tish's face was a study. +</p> +<p> +"Who sent for you?" she demanded. +</p> +<p> +"Sent for me! Why, who would send for me? I'm here to write up the race. +I thought, if you haven't been out to the track, we'd go out this +morning." +</p> +<p> +"We've been out," said Tish shortly, and we went in to breakfast. Once +or twice during the meal I caught her eye on me and on Aggie and she was +short with us both. While she was upstairs I had a word with Charlie +Sands. +</p> +<p> +"Well," he said, "what is it this time? Is she racing?" +</p> +<p> +"Worse than that," I replied. "I think she's backing the thing!" +</p> +<p> +"No!" +</p> +<p> +"With her cousin Angeline's legacy." With that I told him about our +meeting Mr. Ellis and the whole story. He listened without a word. +</p> +<p> +"So that's the situation," I finished. "He has her hypnotized, Charlie. +What's more, I shouldn't be surprised to see her enter the race under an +assumed name." +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands looked at the racing list in the Morris Valley Sun. +</p> +<p> +"Good cars all of them," he said. "She's not here among the drivers, +unless she's—Who are these drivers anyhow? I never heard of any of +them." +</p> +<p> +"It's a small race," I suggested. "I dare say the big men—" +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps." He put away his paper and got up. "I'll just wander round the +town for an hour or two, Aunt Lizzie," he said. "I believe there's a +nigger in this woodpile and I'm a right nifty little nigger-chaser." +</p> +<p> +When he came back about noon, however, he looked puzzled. I drew him +aside. +</p> +<p> +"It seems on the level," he said. "It's so darned open it makes me +suspicious. But she's back of it all right. I got her bank on the +long-distance 'phone." +</p> +<p> +We spent that afternoon at the track, with the different cars doing what +I think they called "trying out heats." It appeared that a car, to +qualify, must do a certain distance in a certain time. It grew +monotonous after a while. All but one entry qualified and Jasper just +made it. The best showing was made by the Bonor car, according to +Charlie Sands. +</p> +<p> +Jasper came to our machine when it was over, smiling without any +particular good cheer. +</p> +<p> +"I've made it and that's all," he said. "I've got about as much chance +as a watermelon at a colored picnic. I'm being slaughtered to make a +Roman holiday." +</p> +<p> +"If you feel that way why do you do it?" demanded Bettina coldly. "If +you go in expecting to be slaughtered—" +</p> +<p> +He was leaning on the side of the car and looked up at her with eyes +that made my heart ache, they were so wretched. +</p> +<p> +"What does it matter?" he said. "I'll probably trail in at the last, +sound in wind and limb. If I don't, what does it matter?" +</p> +<p> +He turned and left us at that, and I looked at Bettina. She had her lips +shut tight and was blinking hard. I wished that Jasper had looked back. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0006" id="h2H_4_0006"></a> + V +</h3> +<p> +Charlie Sands announced at dinner that he intended to spend the night at +the track. +</p> +<p> +Tish put down her fork and looked at him. "Why?" she demanded. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to help the boy next door watch his car," he said calmly. +"Nothing against your friend Mr. Ellis, Aunt Tish, but some enemy of +true sport might take a notion in the night to slip a dope pill into +the mouth of friend Jasper's car and have her go to sleep on the track +to-morrow." +</p> +<p> +We spent a quiet evening. Mr. Ellis was busy, of course, and so was +Jasper. The boy came to the house to get Charlie Sands and, I suppose, +for a word with Bettina, for when he saw us all on the porch he looked, +as you may say, thwarted. +</p> +<p> +When Charlie Sands had gone up for his pajamas and dressing-gown, Jasper +stood looking up at us. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Association of Chaperons!" he said, "is it permitted that my lady +walk to the gate with me—alone?" +</p> +<p> +"I am not your lady," flashed Bettina. +</p> +<p> +"You've nothing to say about that," he said recklessly. "I've selected +you; you can't help it. I haven't claimed that you have selected me." +</p> +<p> +"Anyhow, I don't wish to go to the gate," said Bettina. +</p> +<p> +He went rather white at that, and Charlie Sands coming down at that +moment with a pair of red-and-white pajamas under his arm and a +toothbrush sticking out of his breast pocket, romance, as Jasper said +later in referring to it, "was buried in Sands." +</p> +<p> +Jasper went up to Bettina and held out his hand. "You'll wish me luck, +won't you?" +</p> +<p> +"Of course." She took his hand. "But I think you're a bit of a coward, +Jasper!" +</p> +<p> +He eyed her. "Coward!" he said. "I'm the bravest man you know. I'm doing +a thing I'm scared to death to do!" +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +The race was to begin at two o'clock in the afternoon. There were small +races to be run first, but the real event was due at three. +</p> +<p> +From early in the morning a procession of cars from out of town poured +in past Eliza Bailey's front porch, and by noon her cretonne cushions +were thick with dust. And not only automobiles came, but hay-wagons, +side-bar buggies, delivery carts—anything and everything that could +transport the crowd. +</p> +<p> +At noon Mr. Ellis telephoned Tish that the grand-stand was sold out and +that almost all the parking-places that had been reserved were taken. +Charlie Sands came home to luncheon with a curious smile on his face. +</p> +<p> +"How are you betting, Aunt Tish?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"Betting!" +</p> +<p> +"Yes. Has Ellis let you in on the betting?" +</p> +<p> +"I don't know what you are talking about," Tish said sourly. "Mr. Ellis +controls the betting so that it may be done in an orderly manner. I am +sure I have nothing to do with it." +</p> +<p> +"I'd like to bet a little, Charlie," Aggie put in with an eye on Tish. +"I'd put all I win on the collection plate on Sunday." +</p> +<p> +"Very well." Charlie Sands took out his notebook. "On what car and how +much?" +</p> +<p> +"Ten dollars on the Fein. It made the best time at the trial heats." +</p> +<p> +"I wouldn't if I were you," said Charlie Sands. "Suppose we put it on +our young friend next door." +</p> +<p> +Bettina rather sniffed. "On Jasper!" she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> +"On Jasper," said Charlie Sands gravely. +</p> +<p> +Tish, who had hardly heard us, looked up from her plate. +</p> +<p> +"Betting is betting," she snapped. "Putting it on the collection plate +doesn't help any." But with that she caught Charlie Sands' eye and he +winked at her. Tish colored. "Gambling is one thing, clean sport is +another," she said hotly. +</p> +<p> +I believe, however, that whatever Charlie Sands may have suspected, he +really knew nothing until the race had started. By that time it was too +late to prevent it, and the only way he could think of to avoid getting +Tish involved in a scandal was to let it go on. +</p> +<p> +We went to the track in Tish's car and parked in the oval. Not near the +grandstand, however. Tish had picked out for herself a curve at one end +of the track which Mr. Ellis had said was the worst bit on the course. +"He says," said Tish, as we put the top down and got out the vacuum +bottle—oh, yes, Mr. Ellis had sent Tish one as a present—"that if +there are any smashups they'll occur here." +</p> +<p> +Aggie is not a bloodthirsty woman ordinarily, but her face quite lit up. +</p> +<p> +"Not really!" she said. +</p> +<p> +"They'll probably turn turtle," said Tish. "There is never a race +without a fatality or two. No racer can get any life insurance. Mr. +Ellis says four men were killed at the last race he promoted." +</p> +<p> +"Then I think Mr. Ellis is a murderer," Bettina cried. We all looked at +her. She was limp and white and was leaning back among the cushions with +her eyes shut. "Why didn't you tell Jasper about this curve?" she +demanded of Tish. +</p> +<p> +But at that moment a pistol shot rang out and the races were on. +</p> +<p> +The Fein won two of the three small races. Jasper was entered only for +the big race. In the interval before the race was on, Jasper went round +the track slowly, looking for Bettina. When he saw us he waved, but did +not stop. He was number thirteen. +</p> +<p> +I shall not describe the race. After the first round or two, what with +dust in my eyes and my neck aching from turning my head so rapidly, I +just sat back and let them spin in front of me. +</p> +<p> +It was after a dozen laps or so, with number thirteen doing as well as +any of them, that Tish was arrested. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands came up beside the car with a gentleman named Atkins, who +turned out to be a county detective. Charlie Sands was looking stern and +severe, but the detective was rather apologetic. +</p> +<p> +"This is Miss Carberry," said Charlie Sands. "Aunt Tish, this gentleman +wishes to speak to you." +</p> +<p> +"Come around after the race," Tish observed calmly. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Carberry," said the detective gently, "I believe you are back of +this race, aren't you?" +</p> +<p> +"What if I am?" demanded Tish. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands put a hand on the detective's arm. "It's like this, Aunt +Tish," he said; "you are accused of practicing a short-change game, +that's all. This race is sewed up. You employ those racing-cars with +drivers at an average of fifty dollars a week. They are hardly worth it, +Aunt Tish. I could have got you a better string for twenty-five." +</p> +<p> +Tish opened her mouth and shut it again without speaking. +</p> +<p> +"You also control the betting privileges. As you own all the racers you +have probably known for a couple of weeks who will win the race. Having +made the Fein favorite, you can bet on a Brand or a Bonor, or whatever +one you chance to like, and win out. Only I take it rather hard of you, +Aunt Tish, not to have let the family in. I'm hard up as the dickens." +</p> +<p> +"Charlie Sands!" said Tish impressively. "If you are joking—" +</p> +<p> +"Joking! Did you ever know a county detective to arrest a prominent +woman at a race-track as a little jest between friends? There's no joke, +Aunt Tish. You've financed a phony race. The permit is taken in your +name—L. Carberry. Whatever car wins, you and Ellis take the prize +money, half the gate receipts, and what you have made out of the +betting—" +</p> +<p> +Tish rose in the machine and held out both her hands to Mr. Atkins. +</p> +<p> +"Officer, perform your duty," she said solemnly. "Ignorance is no +defense and I know it. Where are the handcuffs?" +</p> +<p> +"We'll not bother about them, Miss Carberry", he said. "If you like I'll +get into the car and you can tell me all about it while we watch the +race. Which car is to win?" +</p> +<p> +"I may have been a fool, Mr. County Detective," she said coldly; "but +I'm not a knave. I have not bet a dollar on the race." +</p> +<p> +We were very silent for a time. The detective seemed to enjoy the race +very much and ate peanuts out of his pocket. He even bought a +red-and-black pennant, with "Morris Valley Races" on it, and fastened it +to the car. Charlie Sands, however, sat with his arms folded, stiff and +severe. +</p> +<p> +Once Tish bent forward and touched his arm. +</p> +<p> +"You—you don't think it will get in the papers, do you?" she quavered. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands looked at her with gloom. "I shall have to send it myself, +Aunt Tish," he said; "it is my duty to my paper. Even my family pride, +hurt to the quick and quivering as it is, must not interfere with my +duty." +</p> +<p> +It was Bettina who suggested a way out—Bettina, who had sat back as +pale as Tish and heard that her Mr. Ellis was, as Charlie Sands said +later, as crooked as a pretzel. +</p> +<p> +"But Jasper was not—not subsidized," she said. "If he wins, it's all +right, isn't it?" +</p> +<p> +The county detective turned to her. +</p> +<p> +"Jasper?" he said. +</p> +<p> +"A young man who lives here." Bettina colored. +</p> +<p> +"He is—not to be suspected?" +</p> +<p> +"Certainly not," said Bettina haughtily; "he is above suspicion. +Besides, he—he and Mr. Ellis are not friends." +</p> +<p> +Well, the county detective was no fool. He saw the situation that +minute, and smiled when he offered Bettina a peanut. "Of course," he +said cheerfully, "if the race is won by a Morris Valley man, and not by +one of the Ellis cars, I don't suppose the district attorney would care +to do anything about it. In fact," he said, smiling at Bettina, "I don't +know that I'd put it up to the district attorney at all. A warning to +Ellis would get him out of the State." +</p> +<p> +It was just at that moment that car number thirteen, coming round the +curve, skidded into the field, threw out both Jasper McCutcheon and his +mechanician, and after standing on two wheels for an appreciable moment +of time, righted herself, panting, with her nose against a post. +</p> +<p> +Jasper sat up almost immediately and caught at his shoulder. The +mechanician was stunned. He got up, took a step or two and fell down, +weak with fright. +</p> +<p> +I do not recall very distinctly what happened next. We got out of the +machine, I remember, and Bettina was cutting off Jasper's sweater with +Charlie Sands' penknife, and crying as she did it. And Charlie Sands was +trying to prevent Jasper from getting back into his car, while Jasper +was protesting that he could win in two or more laps and that he could +drive with one hand—he'd only broken his arm. +</p> +<p> +The crowd had gathered round us, thick. Suddenly they drew back, and +in a sort of haze I saw Tish in Jasper's car, with Aggie, as white as +death, holding to Tish's sleeve and begging her not to get in. The next +moment Tish let in the clutch of the racer and Aggie took a sort of +flying leap and landed beside her in the mechanician's seat. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands saw it when I did, but we were both too late. Tish was +crossing the ditch into the track again, and the moment she struck level +ground she put up the gasoline. +</p> +<p> +It was just then that Aggie fell out, landing, as I have said before, in +a pile of sand. Tish said afterward that she never missed her. She had +just discovered that this was not Jasper's old car, which she knew +something about, but a new racer with the old hood and seat put on in +order to fool Mr. Ellis. She didn't know a thing about it. +</p> +<p> +Well, you know the rest—how Tish, trying to find how the gears worked, +side-swiped the Bonor car and threw it off the field and out of the +race; how, with the grandstand going crazy, she skidded off the track +into the field, turned completely round twice, and found herself on the +track again facing the way she wanted to go; how, at the last lap, she +threw a tire and, without cutting down her speed, bumped home the +winner, with the end of her tongue nearly bitten off and her spine +fairly driven up into her skull. +</p> + + +<div class="figure"> +<a name="image-0001"></a> +<img src="images/ill-02.jpg" width="100%" +alt="Without cutting down her speed, bumped home the winner" /><br /> +Without cutting down her speed, bumped home the winner +</div> + +<p> +All this is well known now, as is also the fact that Mr. Ellis +disappeared from the judges' stand after a word or two with Mr. Atkins, +and was never seen at Morris Valley again. +</p> +<p> +Tish came out of the race ahead by half the gate money—six thousand +dollars—by a thousand dollars from concessions, and a lame back that +she kept all winter. Even deducting the twenty-five hundred she had put +up, she was forty-five hundred dollars ahead, not counting the prize +money. Charlie Sand brought the money from the track that night, after +having paid off Mr. Ellis's racing-string and given Mr. Atkins a small +present. He took over the prize money to Jasper and came back with it, +Jasper maintaining that it belonged to Tish, and that he had only raced +for the honor of Morris Valley. For some time the money went begging, +but it settled itself naturally enough, Tish giving it to Jasper in the +event of—but that came later. +</p> +<p> +On the following evening—Bettina, in the pursuit of learning to cook, +having baked a chocolate cake—we saw Jasper, with his arm in a sling, +crossing the side lawn. +</p> +<p> +Jasper stopped at the foot of the steps. "I see a chocolate cake cooling +on the kitchen porch," he said. "Did you order it, Miss Lizzie?" +</p> +<p> +I shook my head. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish? Miss Aggie?" +</p> +<p> +"I ordered it," said Bettina defiantly—"or rather I baked it." +</p> +<p> +"And you did that, knowing what it entailed? He was coming up the steps +slowly and with care. +</p> +<p> +"What does it entail?" demanded Bettina. +</p> +<p> +"Me." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, that!" said Bettina. "I knew that." +</p> +<p> +Jasper threw his head back and laughed. Then:— +</p> +<p> +"Will the Associated Chaperons," he said, "turn their backs?" +</p> +<p> +"Not at all," I began stiffly. "If I—" +</p> +<p> +"She baked it herself!" said Jasper exultantly. "One—two. When I say +three I shall kiss Bettina." +</p> +<p> +And I have every reason to believe he carried out his threat. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +Eliza Bailey forwarded me this letter from London where Bettina had sent +it to her:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Dearest Mother</i>: I hope you are coming home soon. I really think you + should. Aunt Lizzie is here and she brought two friends, and, mother, + I feel so responsible for them! Aunt Lizzie is sane enough, if somewhat + cranky; but Miss Tish is almost more than I can manage—I never know + what she is going to do next—and I am worn out with chaperoning her. + And Miss Aggie, although she is very sweet, is always smoking cubeb + cigarettes for hay fever, and it looks terrible! The neighbors do not + know they are cubeb, and, anyhow, that's a habit, mother. And yesterday + Miss Tish was arrested, and ran a motor race and won it, and to-day she + is knitting a stocking and reciting the Twenty-third Psalm. Please, + mother, I think you should come home. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + Lovingly, BETTINA. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + P.S. I think I shall marry Jasper after all. He says he likes the + Presbyterian service. +</p> +<p> +I looked up from reading Eliza's letter. Tish was knitting quietly and +planning to give the money back to the town in the shape of a library, +and Aggie was holding a cubeb cigarette to her nose. Down on the tennis +court Jasper and Bettina were idly batting a ball round. +</p> +<p> +"I'm glad the Ellis man did not get her," said Aggie. And then, after a +sneeze, "How Jasper reminds me of Mr. Wiggins." +</p> +<p> +The library did not get the money after all. Tish sent it, as a wedding +present, to Bettina. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_4_0007" id="h2H_4_0007"></a> + LIKE A WOLF ON THE FOLD +</h2> +<h3> + I +</h3> +<p> +Aggie has always been in the habit of observing the anniversary of Mr. +Wiggins's death. Aggie has the anniversary habit, anyhow, and her life +is a succession of small feast-days, on which she wears mental crape or +wedding garments—depending on the occasion. Tish and I always remember +these occasions appropriately, sending flowers on the anniversaries of +the passing away of Aggie's parents; grandparents; a niece who died in +birth; her cousin, Sarah Webb, who married a missionary and was +swallowed whole by a large snake,—except her shoes, which the reptile +refused and of which Aggie possesses the right, given her by the +stricken husband; and, of course, Mr. Wiggins. +</p> +<p> +For Mr. Wiggins Tish and I generally send the same things each +year—Tish a wreath of autumn foliage and I a sheaf of wheat tied with a +lavender ribbon. The program seldom varies. We drive to the cemetery in +the afternoon and Aggie places the sheaf and the wreath on Mr. Wiggins's +last resting-place, after first removing the lavender ribbon, of which +she makes cap bows through the year and an occasional pin-cushion or +fancy-work bag; then home to chicken and waffles, which had been Mr. +Wiggins's favorite meal. In the evening Charlie Sands generally comes in +and we play a rubber or two of bridge. +</p> +<p> +On the thirtieth anniversary of Mr. Wiggins's falling off a roof and +breaking his neck, Tish was late in arriving, and I found Aggie sitting +alone, dressed in black, with a tissue-paper bundle in her lap. I put my +sheaf on the table and untied my bonnet-strings. +</p> +<p> +"Where's Tish?" I asked. +</p> +<p> +"Not here yet." +</p> +<p> +Something in Aggie's tone made me look at her. She was eyeing the bundle +in her lap. +</p> +<p> +"I got a paler shade of ribbon this time," I said, seeing she made no +comment on the sheaf. "It's a better color for me if you're going to +make my Christmas present out of it this year again. Where's Tish's +wreath?" +</p> +<p> +"Here." Aggie pointed dispiritedly to the bundle in her lap and went on +rocking. +</p> +<p> +"That! That's no wreath." +</p> +<p> +In reply Aggie lifted the tissue paper and shook out, with hands that +trembled with indignation, a lace-and-linen centerpiece. She held it up +before me and we eyed each other over it. Both of us understood. +</p> +<p> +"Tish is changed, Lizzie," Aggie said hollowly. "Ask her for bread these +days and she gives you a Cluny-lace fandangle. On mother's anniversary +she sent me a set of doilies; and when Charlie Sands was in the hospital +with appendicitis she took him a pair of pillow shams. It's that Syrian!" +</p> +<p> +Both of us knew. We had seen Tish's apartment change from a sedate and +spinsterly retreat to a riot of lace covers on the mantel, on the backs +of chairs, on the stands, on the pillows—everywhere. We had watched +her Marseilles bedspreads give way to hem-stitched covers, with bolsters +to match. We had seen Tish go through a cold winter clad in a succession +of sleazy silk kimonos instead of her flannel dressing-gown; terrible +kimonos—green and yellow and red and pink, that looked like fruit +salads and were just as heating. +</p> +<p> +"It's that dratted Syrian!" cried Aggie—and at that Tish came in. She +stood inside the door and eyed us. +</p> +<p> +"What about him?" she demanded. "If I choose to take a poor starving +Christian youth and assist him by buying from him what I need—what I +need!—that's my affair, isn't it? Tufik was starving and I took him +in." +</p> +<p> +"He took you in, all right!" Aggie sniffed. "A great, mustached, dirty, +palavering foreigner, who's probably got a harem at home and no respect +for women!" +</p> +<p> +Tish glanced at my sheaf and at the centerpiece. She was dressed as she +always dressed on Mr. Wiggins's day—in black; but she had a new lace +collar with a jabot, and we knew where she had got it. She saw our eyes +on it and she had the grace to flush. +</p> +<p> +"Once for all," she snapped, "I intend to look after this unfortunate +Syrian! If my friends object, I shall be deeply sorry; but, so far as +I care, they may object until they are purple in the face and their +tongues hang out. I've been sending my money to foreign missions long +enough; I'm doing my missionary work at home now." +</p> +<p> +"He'll marry you!" This from Aggie. +</p> +<p> +Tish ignored her. "His father is an honored citizen of Beirut, of the +nobility. The family is impoverished, being Christian, and grossly +imposed on by the Turks. Tufik speaks French and English as well as +Mohammedan. They offered him a high government position if he would +desert the Christian faith; but he refused firmly. He came to this +country for religious freedom; at any moment they may come after him and +take him back." +</p> +<p> +A glint of hope came to me. I made a mental note to write to the mayor, +or whatever they call him over there, and tell him where he could locate +his wandering boy. +</p> +<p> +"He loves the God of America," said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"Money!" Aggie jeered. +</p> +<p> +"And he is so pathetic, so grateful! I told Hannah at noon to-day—that's +what delayed me—to give him his lunch. He was starving; I thought we'd +never fill him. And when it was over, he stooped in the sweetest way, +while she was gathering up the empty dishes, and kissed her hand. It was +touching!" +</p> +<p> +"Very!" I said dryly. "What did Hannah do?" +</p> +<p> +"She's a fool! She broke a cup on his head." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Wiggins's anniversary was not a success. Part of this was due to +Tish, who talked of Tufik steadily—of his youth; of the wonderful +bargains she secured from him; of his belief that this was the land of +opportunity—Aggie sniffed; of his familiarity with the Bible and +Biblical places; of the search the Turks were making for him. The +atmosphere was not cleared by Aggie's taking the Cluny-lace centerpiece +to the cemetery and placing it, with my sheaf, on Mr. Wiggins's grave. +</p> +<p> +As we got into Tish's machine to go back, Aggie was undeniably peevish. +She caught cold, too, and was sneezing—as she always does when she is +irritated or excited. +</p> +<p> +"Where to?" asked Tish from the driving-seat, looking straight ahead and +pulling on her gloves. From where we sat we could still see the dot of +white on the grass that was the centerpiece. +</p> +<p> +"Back to the house," Aggie snapped, "to have some chicken and waffles +and Tufik for dinner!" +</p> +<p> +Tish drove home in cold silence. As well as we could tell from her back, +she was not so much indignant as she was determined. Thus we do not +believe that she willfully drove over every rut and thank-you-ma'am on +the road, scattering us generously over the tonneau, and finally, when +Aggie, who was the lighter, was tossed against the top and sprained her +neck, eliciting a protest from us. She replied in an abstracted tone, +which showed where her mind was. +</p> +<p> +"It would be rougher on a camel," she said absently. "Tufik was telling +me the other day—" +</p> +<p> +Aggie had got her head straight by that time and was holding it with +both hands to avoid jarring. She looked goaded and desperate; and, as +she said afterward, the thing slipped out before she knew she was more +than thinking it. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, damn Tufik!" she said. +</p> +<p> +Fortunately at that moment we blew out a tire and apparently Tish did +not hear her. While I was jacking up the car and Tish was getting the +key of the toolbox out of her stocking, Aggie sat sullenly in her place +and watched us. +</p> +<p> +"I suppose," she gibed, "a camel never blows out a tire!" +</p> +<p> +"It might," Tish said grimly, "if it heard an oath from the lips of a +middle-aged Sunday-school teacher!" +</p> +<p> +We ate Mr. Wiggins's anniversary dinner without any great hilarity. +Aggie's neck was very stiff and she had turned in the collar of her +dress and wrapped flannels wrung out of lamp oil round it. When she +wished to address either Tish or myself she held her head rigid and +turned her whole body in her chair; and when she felt a sneeze coming on +she clutched wildly at her head with both hands as if she expected it to +fly off. +</p> +<p> +Tufik was not mentioned, though twice Tish got as far as Tu— and then +thought better of it; but her mind was on him and we knew it. She worked +the conversation round to Bible history and triumphantly demanded +whether we knew that Sodom and Gomorrah are towns to-day, and that a +street-car line is contemplated to them from some place or other—it +developed later that she meant Tyre and Sidon. Once she suggested that +Aggie's sideboard needed new linens, but after a look at Aggie's rigid +head she let it go at that. +</p> +<p> +No one was sorry when, with dinner almost over, and Aggie lifting her +ice-cream spoon straight up in front of her and opening her mouth with +a sort of lockjaw movement, the bell rang. We thought it was Charlie +Sands. It was not. Aggie faced the doorway and I saw her eyes widen. +Tish and I turned. +</p> +<p> +A boy stood in the doorway—a shrinking, timid, brown-eyed young +Oriental, very dark of skin, very white of teeth, very black of hair—a +slim youth of eighteen, possibly twenty, in a shabby blue suit, broken +shoes, and a celluloid collar. Twisting between nervous brown fingers, +not as clean as they might have been, was a tissue-paper package. +</p> +<p> +"My friends!" he said, and smiled. +</p> +<p> +Tish is an extraordinary woman. She did not say a word. She sat still +and let the smile get in its work. Its first effect was on Aggie's neck, +which she forgot. Tufik's timid eyes rested for a moment on Tish and +brightened. Then like a benediction they turned to mine, and came to a +stop on Aggie. He took a step farther into the room. +</p> +<p> +"My friend's friend are my friend," he said. "America is my friend—this +so great God's country!" +</p> +<p> +Aggie put down her ice-cream spoon and closed her mouth, which had been +open. +</p> +<p> +"Come in, Tufik," said Tish; "and I am sure Miss Pilkington would like +you to sit down." +</p> +<p> +Tufik still stood with his eyes fixed on Aggie, twisting his package. +</p> +<p> +"My friend has said," he observed—he was quite calm and divinely +trustful—"My friend has said that this is for Miss Pilk a sad day. My +friend is my mother; I have but her and God. Unless—but perhaps I have +two new friend also—no?" +</p> +<p> +"Of course we are your friends," said Aggie, feeling for the table-bell +with her foot. "We are—aren't we, Lizzie?" +</p> +<p> +Tufik turned and looked at me wistfully. It came over me then what an +awful thing it must be to be so far from home and knowing nobody, and +having to wear trousers and celluloid collars instead of robes and +turbans, and eat potatoes and fried things instead of olives and figs +and dates, and to be in danger of being taken back and made into a +Mohammedan and having to keep a harem. +</p> +<p> +"Certainly," I assented. "If you are good we will be your friends." +</p> +<p> +He flashed a boyish smile at me. +</p> +<p> +"I am good," he said calmly—"as the angels I am good. I have here a +letter from a priest. I give it to you. Read!" +</p> +<p> +He got a very dirty envelope from his pocket and brought it round the +table to me. "See!" he said. "The priest says: 'Of all my children Tufik +lies next my heart.'" +</p> +<p> +He held the letter out to me; but it looked as if it had been copied +from an Egyptian monument and was about as legible as an outbreak of +measles. +</p> +<p> +"This," he said gently, pointing, "is the priest's blessing. I carry +it ever. It brings me friends." He put the paper away and drew a long +breath; then surveyed us all with shining eyes. "It has brought me you." +</p> +<p> +We were rather overwhelmed. Aggie's maid having responded to the bell, +Aggie ordered ice cream for Tufik and a chair drawn to the table; but +the chair Tufik refused with a little, smiling bow. +</p> +<p> +"It is not right that I sit," he said. "I stand in the presence of my +three mothers. But first—I forget—my gift! For the sadness, Miss +Pilk!" +</p> +<p> +He held out the tissue-paper package and Aggie opened it. Tufik's gift +proved to be a small linen doily, with a Cluny-lace border! +</p> +<p> +We were gone from that moment—I know it now, looking back. Gone! We +were lost the moment Tufik stood in the doorway, smiling and bowing. +Tish saw us going; and with the calmness of the lost sat there nibbling +cake and watching us through her spectacles—and raised not a hand. +</p> +<p> +Aggie looked at the doily and Tufik looked at her. +</p> +<p> +"That's—that's really very nice of you," said Aggie. "I thank you." +</p> +<p> +Tufik came over and stood beside her. +</p> +<p> +"I give with my heart," he said shyly. "I have had nobody—in all so +large this country—nobody! And now—I have you!" Aggie saw—but too +late. He bent over and touched his lips to her hands. "The Bible says: +'To him that overcometh I will give the morning star!' I have +overcometh—ah, so much!—the sea; the cold, wet England; the Ellis +Island; the hunger; the aching of one who has no love, no money! And +now—I have the morning star!" +</p> +<p> +He looked at us all three at once—Charlie Sands said this was +impossible, until he met Tufik. Aggie was fairly palpitant and Tish was +smug, positively smug. As for me, I roused with a start to find myself +sugaring my ice cream. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands was delayed that night. He came in about nine o'clock and +found Tufik telling us about his home and his people and the shepherds +on the hills about Damascus and the olive trees in sunlight. We +half-expected Tufik to adopt Charlie Sands as a father; but he contented +himself with a low Oriental salute, and shortly after he bowed himself +away. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands stood looking after him and smiling to himself. "Pretty +smooth boy, that!" he said. +</p> +<p> +"Smooth nothing!" Tish snapped, getting the bridge score. "He's a +sad-hearted and lonely boy; and we are going to do the kindest thing—we +are going to help him to help himself." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, he'll help himself all right!" observed Charlie Sands. "But, since +his people are Christians, I wish you'd tell me how he knows so much +about the inside of a harem!" +</p> +<p> +Seeing that comment annoyed us, he ceased, and we fell to our bridge +game; but more than once his eye fell on Aggie's doily, and he muttered +something about the Assyrian coming down like a wolf on the fold. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0008" id="h2H_4_0008"></a> + II +</h3> +<p> +The problem of Tufik's future was a pressing one. Tish called a meeting +of the three of us next morning, and we met at her house. We found her +reading about Syria in the encyclopædia, while spread round her on +chairs and tables were numbers of silk kimonos, rolls of crocheted lace, +shirt-waist patterns, and embroidered linens. +</p> +<p> +Hannah let us in. She looked surly and had a bandage round her head, a +sure sign of trouble—Hannah always referring a pain in her temper to +her ear or her head or her teeth. She clutched my arm in the hall and +held me back. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to poison him!" she said. "Miss Lizzie, that little snake +goes or I go!" +</p> +<p> +"I'm ashamed of you, Hannah!" I replied sternly. "If out of the breadth +of her charity Miss Tish wishes to assist a fellow man—" +</p> +<p> +Hannah reeled back and freed my arm. +</p> +<p> +"My God!" she whispered. "You too!" +</p> +<p> +I am very fond of Hannah, who has lived with Tish for many years; but I +had small patience with her that morning. +</p> +<p> +"I cannot see how it concerns you, anyhow, Hannah," I observed severely. +</p> +<p> +Hannah put her apron to her eyes and sniffled into it. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, you can't, can't you!" she wailed. "Don't I give him half his +meals, with him soft-soapin' Miss Tish till she can't see for suds? +Ain't I fallin' over him mornin', noon, and night, and the postman +telling all over the block he's my steady company—that snip that's not +eighteen yet? And don't I do the washin'? And will you look round the +place and count the things I've got to do up every week? And don't he +talk to me in that lingo of his, so I don't know whether he's askin' for +a cup of coffee or insultin' me?" +</p> +<p> +I patted Hannah on the arm. After all, none of the exaltation of a good +deed upheld Hannah as it sustained us. +</p> +<p> +"We are going to help him help himself, Hannah," I said kindly. "He +hasn't found himself. Be gentle with him. Remember he comes from the +land of the Bible." +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" said Hannah, who reads the newspapers. "So does the plague!" +</p> +<p> +The problem we had set ourselves we worked out that morning. As Tish +said, the boy ought to have light work, for the Syrians are not a +laboring people. +</p> +<p> +"Their occupation is—er—mainly pastoral," she said, with the authority +of the encyclopædia. "Grazing their herds and gathering figs and olives. +If we knew some one who needed a shepherd—" +</p> +<p> +Aggie opposed the shepherd idea, however. As she said, and with reason, +the climate is too rigorous. "It's all well enough in Syria," she said, +"where they have no cold weather; but he'd take his death of pneumonia +here." +</p> +<p> +We put the shepherd idea reluctantly aside. My own notion of finding a +camel for him to look after was negatived by Tish at once, and properly +enough I realized. +</p> +<p> +"The only camels are in circuses," she said, "and our duty to the boy is +moral as well as physical. Circuses are dens of immorality. Of course +the Syrians are merchants, and we might get him work in a store. But +then again—what chance has he of rising? Once a clerk, always a clerk." +She looked round at the chairs and tables, littered with the contents of +Tufik's pasteboard suitcase, which lay empty at her feet. "And there is +nothing to canvassing from door to door. Look at these exquisite +things!—and he cannot sell them. Nobody buys. He says he never gets +inside a house door. If you had seen his face when I bought a kimono +from him!" +</p> +<p> +At eleven o'clock, having found nothing in the "Help Wanted" column to +fit Tufik's case, Tish called up Charlie Sands and offered Tufik as a +reporter, provided he was given no nightwork. But Charlie Sands said it +was impossible—that the editors and owners of the paper were always +putting on their sons and relatives, and that when there was a vacancy +the big advertisers got it. Tish insisted—she suggested that Tufik +could run an Arabian column, like the German one, and bring in a lot of +new subscribers. But Charlie Sands stood firm. +</p> +<p> +At noon Tufik came. We heard a skirmish at the door and Hannah talking +between her teeth. +</p> +<p> +"She's out," she said. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I think she is not out," in Tufik's soft tones. +</p> +<p> +"You'll not get in." +</p> +<p> +"Ah, but my toes are in. See, my foot wishes to enter!" Then something +soft, coaxing, infinitely wistful, in Arabian followed by a slap. The +next moment Hannah, in tears, rushed back to the kitchen. There was no +sound from the hallway. No smiling Tufik presented himself in the +doorway. +</p> +<p> +Tish rose in the majesty of wrath. "I could strangle that woman!" she +said, and we followed her into the hall. +</p> +<p> +Tufik was standing inside the door with his arms folded, staring ahead. +He took no notice of us. +</p> +<p> +"Tufik!" Aggie cried, running to him. "Did she—did she dare—Tish, look +at his cheek!" +</p> +<p> +"She is a bad woman!" Tufik said somberly. "I make my little prayer to +see Miss Tish, my mother, and she—I kill her!" +</p> +<p> +We had a hard time apologizing to him for Hannah. Tish got a basin of +cold water so he might bathe his face; and Aggie brought a tablespoonful +of blackberry cordial, which is soothing. When the poor boy was calmer +we met in Tish's bedroom and Tish was quite firm on one point—Hannah +must leave! +</p> +<p> +Now, this I must say in my own defense—I was sorry for Tufik; and it is +quite true I bought him a suit and winter flannels and a pair of yellow +shoes—he asked for yellow. He said he was homesick for a bit of +sunshine, and our so somber garb made him heart-sad. But I would never +have dismissed a cook like Hannah for him. +</p> +<p> +"I shall have to let her go," Tish said. "He is Oriental and passionate. +He has said he will kill her—and he'll do it. They hold life very +lightly." +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" I said. "Very well, Tish, that holding life lightly isn't a +Christian trait. It's Mohammedan—every Mohammedan wants to die and go +to his heaven, which is a sort of sublimated harem. The boy's probably a +Christian by training, but he's a Mohammedan by blood." +</p> +<p> +Aggie thought my remark immoral and said so. And just then Hannah solved +her own problem by stalking into the room with her things on and a +suitcase in her hand. +</p> +<p> +"I'm leaving, Miss Tish!" she said with her eye-rims red. "God knows I +never expected to be put out of this place by a dirty dago! You'll find +your woolen stockings on the stretchers, and you've got an appointment +with the dentist tomorrow morning at ten. And when that little +blackguard has sucked you dry, and you want him killed to get rid of +him, you'll find me at my sister's." +</p> +<p> +She picked up her suitcase and Tish flung open the door. "You're a +hard-hearted woman, Hannah Mackintyre!" Tish snapped. "Your sister can't +keep you. You'll have to work." +</p> +<p> +Hannah turned in the doorway and sneered at the three of us. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, no!" she said. "I'm going to hunt up three soft-headed old maids +and learn to kiss their hands and tell 'em I have nobody but them and +God!" +</p> +<p> +She slammed out at that, leaving us in a state of natural irritation. +But our rage soon faded. Tufik was not in the parlor; and Tish, +tiptoeing back, reported that he was in the kitchen and was mixing up +something in a bowl. +</p> +<p> +"He's a dear boy!" she said. "He feels responsible for Hannah's leaving +and he's getting luncheon! Hannah is a wicked and uncharitable woman!" +</p> +<p class="quote"> + "Man's inhumanity to man,<br /> + Makes countless thousands mourn!" +</p> +<p> +quoted Aggie softly. From the kitchen came the rhythmic beating of a +wooden spoon against the side of a bowl; a melancholy chant—quite +archaic, as Tish said—kept time with the spoon, and later a smell of +baking flour and the clatter of dishes told us that our meal was +progressing. +</p> +<p> +"'The Syrians,'" read Tish out of her book, "'are a peaceful and +pastoral people. They have not changed materially in nineteen centuries, +and the traveler in their country finds still the life of Biblical +times.' Something's burning!" +</p> +<p> +Shortly after, Tufik, beaming with happiness and Hannah clearly +forgotten, summoned us to the dining-room. Tufik was not a cook. We +realized that at once. He had made coffee in the Oriental way—strong +enough to float an egg, very sweet and full of grounds; and after a bite +of the cakes he had made, Tish remembered the dentist the next day and +refused solid food on account of a bad tooth. The cakes were made of +lard and flour, without any baking-powder or flavoring, and the tops +were sprinkled thick with granulated sugar. Little circles of grease +melted out of them on to the plate, and Tufik, wide-eyed with triumph, +sweetly wistful over Tish's tooth, humble and joyous in one minute, +stood by the cake plate and fed them to us! +</p> +<p> +I caught Aggie's agonized eye, but there was nothing else to do. Were we +not his friends? And had he not made this delicacy for us? On her third +cake, however, Aggie luckily turned blue round the mouth and had to go +and lie down. This broke up the meal and probably saved my life, though +my stomach has never been the same since. Tish says the cakes are +probably all right in the Orient, where it is hot and the grease does +not get a chance to solidify. She thinks that Tufik is probably a good +cook in his own country. But Aggie says that a good many things in the +Bible that she never understood are made plain to her if that is what +they ate in Biblical times—some of the things they saw in visions, and +all that. She dropped asleep on Tish's lounge and distinctly saw Tufik +murdering Hannah by forcing one of his cakes down her throat. +</p> +<p> +The next month was one of real effort. We had planned to go to Panama, +and had our passage engaged; but when we broke the news to Tufik he +turned quite pale. +</p> +<p> +"You go—away?" he said wistfully. +</p> +<p> +"Only for a month," Tish hastened to apologize. "You see, we—we are all +very tired, and the Panama Canal—" +</p> +<p> +"Canal? I know not a canal." +</p> +<p> +"It is for ships—" +</p> +<p> +"You go there in a ship?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes. A canal is a—" +</p> +<p> +"You go far—in a ship—and I—I stay here?" +</p> +<p> +"Only for a month," Aggie broke in. "We will leave you enough money to +live on; and perhaps when we come back you will have found something to +do—" +</p> +<p> +"For a month," he said brokenly. "I have no friends, no Miss Tish, no +Miss Liz, no Miss Pilk. I die!" +</p> +<p> +He got up and walked to the window. It was Aggie who realized the awful +truth. The poor lonely boy was weeping—and Charlie Sands may say what +he likes! He was really crying—when he turned, there were large tears +on his cheeks. What made it worse was that he was trying to smile. +</p> +<p> +"I wish you much happiness on the canal," he said. "I am wicked; but my +sad heart—it ache that my friends leave me. I am sad! If only my +seester—" +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +That was the first we had known of Tufik's sister, back in Beirut, +wearing a veil over her face and making lace for the bazaars. We were to +know more. +</p> +<p> +Well, between getting ready to go to Panama and trying to find something +Tufik could do, we were very busy for the next month. Tufik grew +reconciled to our going, but he was never cheerful about it; and finding +that it pained him we never spoke about it in his presence. +</p> +<p> +He was with us a great deal. In the morning he would go to Tish, who +would give him a list of her friends to see. Then Tish would telephone +and make appointments for him, and he would start off hopefully, +with his pasteboard suitcase. But he never sold anything—except a +shirt-waist pattern to Mrs. Ostermaier, the minister's wife. We took day +about giving him his carfare, but this was pauperizing and we knew it. +Besides, he was very sensitive and insisted on putting down everything +we gave him in a book, to be repaid later when he had made a success. +</p> +<p> +The allowance idea was mine and it worked well. We figured that, +allowing for his washing,—which was not much, as he seemed to prefer +the celluloid collar,—he could live in a sort of way on nine dollars a +week. We subscribed equally to this; and to save his pride we mailed it +to him weekly by check. +</p> +<p> +His failure to sell his things hurt him to the soul. More than once we +caught tears in his eyes. And he was not well—he could not walk any +distance at all and he coughed. At last Tish got Charlie Sands to take +him to a lung specialist, a stupid person, who said it was a cigarette +cough. This was absurd, as Tufik did not smoke. +</p> +<p> +At last the time came for the Panama trip. Tish called me up the day she +packed and asked me to come over. +</p> +<p> +"I can't. I'm busy, Tish," I said. +</p> +<p> +She was quite disagreeable. "This is your burden as well as mine," she +snapped. "Come over and talk to that wretched boy while I pack my trunk. +He stands and watches everything I put in, and I haven't been able to +pack a lot of things I need." +</p> +<p> +I went over that afternoon and found Tufik huddled on the top step of +the stairs outside Tish's apartment, with his head in his hands. +</p> +<p> +"She has put me out!" he said, looking up at me with tragic eyes. "My +mother has put me out! She does not love Tufik! No one loves Tufik! I am +no good. I am a dirty dago!" +</p> +<p> +I was really shocked. I rang the bell and Tish let me in. She had had no +maid since Hannah's departure and was taking her meals out. She saw +Tufik and stiffened. +</p> +<p> +"I thought I sent you away!" she said, glaring at him. +</p> +<p> +He looked at her pitifully. +</p> +<p> +"Where must I—go?" he asked, and coughed. +</p> +<p> +Tish sighed and flung the door wide open. "Bring him in," she said with +resignation, "but for Heaven's sake lock him in a closet until I get my +underwear packed. And if he weeps—slap him." +</p> +<p> +The poor boy was very repentant, and seeing that his cough worried us he +fought it back bravely. I mixed the white of an egg with lemon juice and +sugar, and gave it to him. He was pathetically grateful and kissed my +hand. At five o'clock we sent him away firmly, having given him +thirty-six dollars. He presented each of us with a roll of crocheted +lace to take with us and turned in the doorway to wave a wistful final +good-bye. +</p> +<p> +We met at Tish's that night so that we might all go together to the +train. Charlie Sands had agreed to see us off and to keep an eye on +Tufik during our absence. Aggie was in a palpitating travel ecstasy, +clutching a patent seasick remedy and a map of the Canal Zone; Tish was +seeing that the janitor shut off the gas and water in the apartment; and +Charlie Sands was jumping on top of a steamer trunk to close it. The +taxicab was at the door and we had just time to make the night train. +The steamer sailed early the next morning. +</p> +<p> +"All ready!" cried Charlie Sands, getting the lid down finally. "All off +for the Big Ditch!" +</p> +<p> +We all heard a noise in the hall—a sort of scuffling, with an +occasional groan. Tish rushed over and threw open the door. On the top +step, huddled and shivering, with streams of water running off his hair +down over his celluloid collar, pouring out of his sleeves and cascading +down the stairs from his trousers legs, was Tufik. The policeman on the +beat was prodding at him with his foot, trying to make him get up. When +he saw us the officer touched his hat. +</p> +<p> +"Evening, Miss Tish," he said, grinning. "This here boy of yours has +been committing suicide. Just fished him out of the lake in the park!" +</p> +<p> +"Get up!" snapped Charlie Sands. "You infernal young idiot! Get up and +stop sniveling!" +</p> +<p> +He stooped and took the poor boy by the collar. His brutality roused us +all out of our stupor. Tish and I rushed forward and commanded him to +stand back; and Aggie, with more presence of mind than we had given her +credit for, brought a glass containing a tablespoonful of blackberry +cordial into which she had poured ten drops of seasickness remedy. Tufik +was white and groaning, but he revived enough to sit up and stare at us +with his sad brown eyes. +</p> +<p> +"I wish to die!" he said brokenly. "Why you do not let me die? My +friends go on the canal! I am alone! My heart is empty!" +</p> +<p> +Tish wished to roll him on a barrel, but we had no barrel; so, with +Charlie Sands standing by with his watch in his hand, refusing to assist +and making unkind remarks, we got him to Tish's room and laid out on her +mackintosh on the bed. He did not want to live. We could hardly force +him to drink the hot coffee Tish made for him. He kept muttering things +about his loneliness and being only a dirty dago; and then he turned +bitter and said hard things about this great America, where he could +find no work and must be a burden on his three mothers, and could not +bring his dear sister to be company for him. Aggie quite broke down and +had to lie down on the sofa in the parlor and have a cracker and a cup +of tea. +</p> +<p> +When Tish and I had succeeded in making Tufik promise to live, and had +given him one of his own silk kimonos to put on until his clothing could +be dried—Charlie Sands having disagreeably refused to lend his +overcoat—and when we had given the officer five dollars not to arrest +the boy for attempting suicide, we met in the parlor to talk things +over. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands was sitting by the lamp in his overcoat. He had put our +railway and steamer tickets on the table, and was holding his cigarette +so that Aggie could inhale the fumes, she having hay fever and her +cubebs being on their way to Panama. +</p> +<p> +"I suppose you know," he said nastily, "that your train has gone and +that you cannot get the boat tomorrow?" +</p> +<p> +Tish was in an exalted mood—and she took off her things and flung them +on a chair. +</p> +<p> +"What is Panama," she demanded, "to saving a life? Charlie, we must plan +something for this boy. If you will take off your overcoat—" +</p> +<p> +"And see you put it on that little parasite? Not if I melt! Do you know +how deep the lake is? Three feet!" +</p> +<p> +"One can drown in three feet of water," said Aggie sadly, "if one is +very tired of life. People drown themselves in bathtubs." +</p> +<p> +Tish's furious retort to this was lost, Tufik choosing that moment to +appear in the doorway. He wore a purple-and-gold kimono that had given +Tish bronchitis early in the winter, and he had twisted a bath towel +round the waist. He looked very young, very sad, very Oriental. He +ignored Charlie Sands, but made at once for Tish and dropped on one knee +beside her. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish!" he begged. "Forgive, Miss Tish! Tufik is wicked. He has the +bad heart. He has spoil the going on the canal. No?" +</p> +<p> +"Get up!" said Tish. "Don't be a silly child. Go and take your shoes out +of the oven. We are not going to Panama. When you are better, I am going +to give you a good scolding." +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands put the cigarette on a book under Aggie's nose and stood +up. +</p> +<p> +"I guess I'll go," he said. "My nerves are not what they used to be and +my disposition feels the change." +</p> +<p> +Tufik had risen and the two looked at each other. I could not quite make +out Tufik's expression; had I not known his gentleness I would have +thought his expression a mixture of triumph and disdain. +</p> +<p> +"'The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were +gleaming in purple and gold!'" said Charlie Sands, and went out, +slamming the door. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0009" id="h2H_4_0009"></a> + III +</h3> +<p> +The next day was rainy and cold. Aggie sneezed all day and Tish had +neuralgia. Being unable to go out for anything to eat and the exaltation +of the night before having passed, she was in a bad humor. When I got +there she was sitting in her room holding a hot-water bottle to her +face, and staring bitterly at the plate containing a piece of burned +toast and Tufik's specialty—a Syrian cake crusted with sugar. +</p> +<p> +"I wish he had drowned!" she said. "My stomach's gone, Lizzie! I ate one +of those cakes for breakfast. You've got to eat this one." +</p> +<p> +"I'll do nothing of the sort! This is your doing, Tish Carberry. If it +hadn't been for you and your habit of picking up stray cats and dogs and +Orientals and imposing them on your friends we'd be on the ocean to-day, +on our way to a decent climate. The next time your duty to your brother +man overwhelms you, you'd better lock yourself in your room and throw +the key out the window." +</p> +<p> +Tish was not listening, however. Her eye and her mind both were on the +cake. +</p> +<p> +"If you would eat it and then take some essence of pepsin—" she +hazarded. But I looked her full in the eye and she had the grace to +color. "He loves to make them," she said—"he positively beamed when he +brought it. He has another kind he is making now—of pounded beans, or +something like that. Listen!" I listened. +</p> +<p> +From back in the kitchen came a sound of hammering and Tufik's voice +lifted in a low, plaintive chant. "He says that song is about the +valleys of Lebanon," said Tish miserably. "Lizzie, if you'll eat half of +it, I'll eat the rest." +</p> +<p> +My answer was to pick up the plate and carry it into the bathroom. +Heroic measures were necessary: Tish was not her resolute self; and, +indeed, through all the episode of Tufik, and the shocking denouement +that followed, Tish was a spineless individual who swayed to and fro +with every breeze. +</p> +<p> +She divined my purpose and followed me to the bathroom door. +</p> +<p> +"Leave some crumbs on the plate!" she whispered. "It will look more +natural. Get rid of the toast too." +</p> +<p> +I turned and faced her, the empty plate in my hands. +</p> +<p> +"Tish," I said sternly, "this is hypocrisy, which is just next door to +lying. It's the first step downward. I have a feeling that this boy is +demoralizing us! We shall have to get rid of him." +</p> +<p> +"As for instance?" she sarcastically asked. +</p> +<p> +"Send him back home," I said with firmness. "He doesn't belong here; he +isn't accustomed to anything faster than a camel. He doesn't know how to +work—none of them do. He comes from a country where they can eat food +like this because digestion is one of their occupations." +</p> +<p> +I was right and Tish knew it. Even Tufik was satisfied when we put it up +to him. He spread his hands in his Oriental way and shrugged his +shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"If my mothers think best," he said softly. "In my own land Tufik is +known—I sell in the bazaar the so fine lace my sister make. I drink +wine, not water. My stomach—I cannot eat in this America. But—I have +no money." +</p> +<p> +"We will furnish the money," Tish said gently. "But you must promise one +thing, Tufik. You must not become a Mohammedan." +</p> +<p> +"Before that I die!" he said proudly. +</p> +<p> +"And—there is something else, Tufik,—something rather personal. But I +want you to promise. You are only a boy; but when you are a man—" Tish +stopped and looked to me for help. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish means this," I put in, "you are to have only one wife, Tufik. +We are not sending you back to start a harem. We—we disapprove strongly +of—er—anything like that." +</p> +<p> +"Tufik takes but one wife," he said. "Our people—we have but one wife. +My first child—it is called Tish; my next, Lizzie; and my next, Aggie +Pilk. All for my so kind friends. And one I call Charlie Sands; and one +shall be Hannah. So that Tufik never forget America." +</p> +<p> +Aggie was rather put out when we told her what we had done; but after +eating one of the cakes made of pounded beans and sugar, under Tufik's +triumphant eyes, she admitted that it was probably for the best. That +evening, while Tufik took his shrunken and wrinkled clothing to be +pressed by a little tailor in the neighborhood who did Tish's repairing, +the three of us went back to the kitchen and tried to put it in order. +It was frightful—flour and burned grease over everything, every pan +dirty, dishes all over the place and a half-burned cigarette in the +sugar bin. But—it touched us all deeply—he had found an old photograph +of the three of us and had made a sort of shrine of the clock-shelf—the +picture in front of the clock and in front of the picture a bunch of red +geraniums. +</p> +<p> +While we were looking at the picture and Aggie was at the sink putting +water in the glass that held the geraniums, Tufik having forgotten to do +so, Tish's neighbor from the apartment below, an elderly bachelor, came +up the service staircase and knocked at the door. Tish opened it. +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" said the gentleman from below. "Gone is he?" +</p> +<p> +"Is who gone?" +</p> +<p> +"Your thieving Syrian, madam!" +</p> +<p> +Tish stiffened. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps," she said, "if you will explain—" +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps," snarled the visitor, "you will explain what you have done +with my geraniums! Why don't you raise your own flowers?" +</p> +<p> +Tish was quite stunned and so was I. After all, it was Aggie who came to +the rescue. She slammed the lid on to the teakettle and set it on the +stove with a bang. +</p> +<p> +"If you mean," she said indignantly, "that you think we have any +geraniums of yours—" +</p> +<p> +"Think! Didn't my cook see your thieving servant steal 'em off the box +on the fire-escape?" +</p> +<p> +"Then, perhaps," Aggie suggested, "you will look through the apartment +and see if they are here. You will please look everywhere!" +</p> +<p> +Tish and I gasped. It was not until the visitor had made the rounds of +the apartment, and had taken an apologetic departure, that Tish and I +understood. The teakettle was boiling and from its spout coming a spicy +and familiar odor. Aggie took it off the stove and removed the lid. The +geraniums, boiled to a pulp, were inside. +</p> +<p> +"Back to Syria that boy goes!" said Tish, viewing the floral remains. +"He did it out of love and we must not chide him. But we have our own +immortal souls to think of." +</p> +<p> +The next morning two things happened. We gave Tufik one hundred and +twenty dollars to buy a ticket back to Syria and to keep him in funds on +the way. And Tish got a note from Hannah:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Dear Miss Tish</i>: I here you still have the dago—or, as my sister's + husband says, he still has you. I am redy to live up to my bargen if + you are. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + HANNAH. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + P.S. I have lerned a new salud—very rich, but delissious. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + H. +</p> +<p> +In spite of herself, Tish looked haunted. It was the salad, no doubt. +She said nothing, but she looked round the untidy rooms, where +everything that would hold it had a linen cover with a Cluny-lace +edge—all of them soiled and wrinkled. She watched Tufik, chanting about +the plains of Lebanon and shoving the carpet-sweeper with a bang against +her best furniture; and, with Hannah's salad in mind, she sniffed a +warning odor from the kitchen that told of more Syrian experiments with +her digestion. Tish surrendered: that morning she wrote to Hannah that +Tufik was going back to Syria, and to come and bring the salad recipe +with her. +</p> +<p> +That was, I think, on a Monday. Tufik's steamer sailed on Thursday. On +Tuesday Aggie and I went shopping; and in a spirit of repentance—for we +felt we were not solving Tufik's question but getting rid of him—we +bought him a complete new outfit. He almost disgraced us by kissing +our hands in the store, and while we were buying him some ties he +disappeared—to come back later with the rims of his eyes red from +weeping. His gentle soul was touched with gratitude. Aggie had to tell +him firmly that if he kissed any more hands he would get his ears boxed. +</p> +<p> +The clerks in the store were all interested, and two or three cash-boys +followed us round and stood, open-mouthed, staring at us. Neither Aggie +nor I knew anything about masculine attire, and Tufik's idea was a suit, +with nothing underneath, a shirt-front and collar of celluloid, and a +green necktie already tied and hooking on to his collar-button. He was +dazed when we bought him a steamer trunk and a rug, and disappeared +again, returning in a few moments with a small paper bag full of +gumdrops. We were quite touched. +</p> +<p> +That, as I say, was on Tuesday. Tufik had been sleeping in Tish's +guest-room since his desperate attempt at suicide, and we sent his +things to Tish's apartment. That evening Tufik asked permission to spend +the night with a friend in the restaurant business—a Damascan. Tish let +him go against my advice. +</p> +<p> +"He'll eat a lot of that Syrian food," I objected, "and get sick and +miss his boat, and we'll have the whole thing over again!" +</p> +<p> +But Tish was adamant. "It's his last night," she said, "and he has +promised not to smoke any cigarettes and I've given him two pepsin +tablets. This is the land of the free, Lizzie." +</p> +<p> +We were to meet Tufik at the station next morning and we arranged a +lunch for him to eat on the train, Aggie bringing fried chicken and I +sandwiches and cake. Tish's domestic arrangements being upset, she +supplied fruit, figs and dates mostly, to make him think of home. +</p> +<p> +The train left early, and none of us felt very cheerful at having to be +about. Aggie sat in the station and sneezed; Tish had a pain above her +eye and sat by a heater. We had the luncheon in a large shoebox, wrapped +in oiled paper to keep it moist. +</p> +<p> +He never appeared! The train was called, filled up, and left. People +took to staring at us as we sat there. Aggie sneezed and Tish held her +eye. And no Tufik! In a sort of helpless, breakfastless rage we called a +taxicab and went to Tish's. No one said much. We were all thinking. +</p> +<p> +We were hungry; so we spread out the shoebox lunch on one of the +Cluny-lace covers and ate it, mostly in silence. The steamer trunk and +the rug had gone. We let them go. They might go to Jerusalem, as far as +we were concerned! After we had eaten,—about eleven o'clock, I +think,—Tish got up and surveyed the apartment. Then, with a savage +gleam in her eye, she whisked off all the fancy linens, the Cluny laces, +the hemstitched bedspreads, and piled them in a heap on the floor. Aggie +and I watched her in silence. She said nothing, but kicked the whole lot +into the bottom of a cupboard. When she had slammed the door, she turned +and faced us grimly. +</p> +<p> +"That roll of fiddle-de-dees has cost me about five hundred dollars," +she said. "It's been worth it if it teaches me that I'm an old fool and +that you are two others! If that boy shows his face here again, I'll +hand him over to the police." +</p> +<p> +However, as it happened, she did nothing of the sort. At four o'clock +that afternoon there was a timid ring at the doorbell and I answered it. +Outside was Tufik, forlorn and drooping, and held up by main force by a +tall, dark-skinned man with a heavy mustache. +</p> +<p> +"I bring your boy!" said the mustached person, smiling. "He has great +trouble—sorrow; he faint with grief." +</p> +<p> +I took a good look at Tufik then. He was pale and shaky, and his new +suit looked as if he had slept in it. His collar was bent and wilted, +and the green necktie had been taken off and exchanged for a ragged +black one. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Liz!" he said huskily. "I die; the heart is gone! My parent—" +</p> +<p> +He broke down again; and leaning against the door jamb he buried his +face in a handkerchief that I could not believe was one of the lot we +had bought only yesterday. I hardly knew what to do. Tish had said she +was through with the boy. I decided to close them out in the hallway +until we had held a council; but Tufik's foot was on the sill, and the +more I asked him to move it, the harder he wept. +</p> +<p> +The mustached person said it was quite true. Tufik's father had died of +the plague; the letter had come early that morning. Beirut was full of +the plague. He waved the letter at me; but I ordered him to burn it +immediately—on account of germs. I brought him a shovel to burn it on; +and when that was over Tufik had worked out his own salvation. He was at +the door of Tish's room, pouring out to Aggie and Tish his grief, and +offering the black necktie as proof. +</p> +<p> +We were just where we had started, but minus one hundred and twenty +dollars; for, the black-mustached gentleman having gone after trying to +sell Tish another silk kimono, I demanded Tufik's ticket—to be +redeemed—and was met with two empty hands, outstretched. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, my friends,—my Miss Tish, my Miss Liz, my Miss Ag,—what must I +say? I have not the ticket! I have been wikkid—but for my sister—only +for my sister! She must not die—she so young, so little girl!" +</p> +<p> +"Tufik," said Tish sternly, "I want you to tell us everything this +minute, and get it over." +</p> +<p> +"She ees so little!" he said wistfully. "And the body of my +parent—could I let it lie and rot in the so hot sun? Ah, no; Miss Tish, +Miss Liz, Miss Ag,—not so. To-day I take back my ticket, get the +money, and send it to my sister. She will bury my parent, and then—she +comes to this so great America, the land of my good friends!" +</p> +<p> +There was a moment's silence. Then Aggie sneezed! +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0010" id="h2H_4_0010"></a> + IV +</h3> +<p> +I shall pass over the next month, with its unpleasantnesses; over +Charlie Sands's coming one evening with a black tie and, on the strength +of having killed a dog with his machine, asking for money to bury it, +and bring another one from Syria! I shall not more than mention Hannah, +who kept Tish physically comfortable and well fed and mentally wretched, +having a teakettle of boiling water always ready if Tufik came to the +apartment; I shall say nothing of our success in getting him employment +in the foreign department of a bank, and his ending up by washing its +windows; or of the position Tish got him as elevator boy in her +hospital, where he jammed the car in some way and held up four surgeons +and three nurses and a patient on his way to the operating-room—until +the patient changed his mind and refused to be operated on. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had a brilliant idea about the census—that he could make the +census reports in the Syrian district. To this end she worked for some +time, coaching Tufik for the examination, only to have him fail—fail +absolutely and without hope. He was staying in the Syrian quarter at +that time, on account of Hannah; and he brought us various tempting +offers now and then—a fruit stand that could be bought for a hundred +dollars; a restaurant for fifty; a tailor's shop for twenty-five. But, +as he knew nothing of fruits or restaurants or tailoring, we refused to +invest. Tish said that we had been a good while getting to it, but that +we were being businesslike at last. We gave the boy nine dollars a week +and not a penny more; and we refused to buy any more of his silly linens +and crocheted laces. We were quite firm with him. +</p> +<p> +And now I come to the arriving of Tufik's little sister—not that she +was really little. But that comes later. +</p> +<p> +Tufik had decided at last on what he would be in our so great America. +Once or twice, when he was tired or discouraged, Tish had taken him out +in her machine, and he had been thrilled—really thrilled. He did not +seem able to learn how to crank it—Tish's car is hard to crank—but he +learned how to light the lamps and to spot a policeman two blocks away. +Several times, when we were going into the country, Tish took him +because it gave her a sense of security to have a man along. +</p> +<p> +Having come from a country where the general travel is by camel, +however, he had not the first idea of machinery. He thought Tish made +the engine go by pressing on the clutch with her foot, like a sewing +machine, and he regarded her strength with awe. And once, when we were +filling a tire from an air bottle and the tube burst and struck him, he +declared there was a demon in the air bottle and said a prayer in the +middle of the road. About that time Tish learned of a school for +chauffeurs, and the three of us decided to divide the expense and send +him. +</p> +<p> +"In three months," Tish explained, "we can get him a state license and +he can drive a taxicab. It will suit him, because he can sit to do it." +</p> +<p> +So Tufik went to an automobile school and stood by while some one drew +pictures of parts of the engine on a blackboard, and took home lists of +words that he translated into Arabic at the library, and learned +everything but why and how the engine of an automobile goes. He still +thought—at the end of two months—that the driver did it with his +foot! But we were ignorant of all that. He would drop round in the +evenings, when Hannah was out or in bed, and tell us what "magneto" was +in Arabic, and how he would soon be able to care for Tish's car and +would not take a cent for it, doing it at night when the taxicab was +resting. +</p> +<p> +At the end of six weeks we bought him a chauffeur's outfit. The next +day the sister arrived and Tufik brought her to Aggie's, where we were +waiting. We had not told Hannah about the sister; she would not have +understood. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands telephoned while we were waiting and asked if he might +come over and help receive the girl. We were to greet her and welcome +her to America; then she was to go to the home of the Syrian with the +large mustache. Charlie Sands came in and shook hands all round, +surveying each of us carefully. +</p> +<p> +"Strange!" he muttered. "Curious is no name for it! What do we know of +the vagaries of the human mind? Three minds and one obsession!" he said +with the utmost gentleness. "Three maiden ladies who have lived +impeccable lives for far be it from me to say how many years; and +now—this! Oh, Aunt Tish! Dear Aunt Tish!" +</p> +<p> +He got out his handkerchief and wiped his eyes. Tish was speechless with +rage, but I rose to our defense. +</p> +<p> +"We don't want to do it and you know it!" I said tartly. "But when the +Lord sends want and suffering to one's very door—" +</p> +<p> +"Want, with large brown eyes and a gentle voice!" he retorted. "My dear +ladies, it's your money; and I dare say it costs you less than bridge at +five cents a point, or the Gay White Way. But, for Heaven's sake, my +respected but foolish virgins, why not an American that wants a real +job? Why let a sticky Oriental pull your legs—" +</p> +<p> +"Charlie Sands!" cried Tish, rising in her wrath. "I will not endure +such vulgarity. And when Tufik takes you out in a taxicab—" +</p> +<p> +"God forbid!" said Charlie Sands, and sat down to wait for Tufik's +sister. +</p> +<p> +She did not look like Tufik and she was tired and dirty from the +journey; but she had big brown eyes and masses of dark hair and she +spoke not a single word of English. Tufik's joy was boundless; his soft +eyes were snapping with excitement; and Aggie, who is sentimental, was +obliged to go out and swallow half a glass of water without breathing to +keep from crying. Charlie Sands said nothing, but sat back in a corner +and watched us all; and once he took out his notebook and made a +memorandum of something. He showed it to us later. +</p> +<p> +Tufik's sister was the calmest of us all, I believe. She sat on a stiff +chair near the door and turned her brown eyes from one to the other. +Tish said that proper clothing would make her beautiful; and Aggie, +disappearing for a few minutes, came back with her last summer's foulard +and a jet bonnet. When the poor thing understood they were for her, she +looked almost frightened, the thing being unexpected; and Tufik, in a +paroxysm of delight, kissed all our hands and the girl on each cheek. +</p> +<p> +Tish says our vulgar lip-osculation is unknown in the Orient and that +they rub noses by way of greeting. I think, however, that she is +mistaken in this and that the Australians are the nose-rubbers. I recall +a returned missionary's telling this, but I cannot remember just where +he had been stationed. +</p> +<p> +Things were very quiet for a couple of weeks. Tufik came round only +once—to tell us that, having to pay car fare to get to the automobile +school, his nine dollars were not enough. We added a dollar a week under +protest; and Tish suggested with some asperity that as he was only busy +four hours a day he might find some light employment for the balance of +the day. He spread out his hands and drew up his shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"My friends are angry," he said sadly. "It is not enough that I study? I +must also work? Ver' well, I labor. I sell the newspaper. But, to buy +newspapers, one must have money—a dollar; two dollars. Ver' leetle; +only—I have it not." +</p> +<p> +We gave him another dollar and he went out smiling and hopeful. It +seemed that at last we had solved his problem. Tish recalled one of her +Sunday-school scholars who sold papers and saved enough to buy a +second-hand automobile and rear a family. But our fond hopes were dashed +to the ground when, the next morning, Hannah, opening the door at Tish's +to bring in the milk bottles, found a huge stack of the night-before's +newspapers and a note on top addressed to Tish, which said:- +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Deer Mother Tish</i>: You see now that I am no good. I wish to die! + I hav one papier sold, and newsboys kell me on sight. I hav but you + and God—and God has forget! +</p> +<p class="quote"> + TUFIK. +</p> +<p> +We were discouraged and so, clearly, was Tufik. For ten days we did not +hear from him, except that a flirty little Syrian boy called for the ten +dollars on Saturday and brought a pair of Tufik's shoes for us to have +resoled. But one day Tish telephoned in some excitement and said that +Tufik was there and wanted us to go to a wedding. +</p> +<p> +"His little sister's wedding!" she explained. "The dear child is all +excited. He says it has been going on for two days and this is the day +of the ceremony." +</p> +<p> +Aggie was spending the afternoon with me, and spoke up hastily. +</p> +<p> +"Ask her if I have time to go home and put on my broadcloth," she said. +"I'm not fixed for a wedding." +</p> +<p> +Tish said there was no time. She would come round with the machine and +we were to be ready in fifteen minutes. Aggie hesitated on account of +intending to wash her hair that night and so not having put up her +crimps; but she finally agreed to go and Tish came for us. Tufik was in +the machine. He looked very tidy and wore the shoes we had had repaired, +a pink carnation in his buttonhole, and an air of suppressed excitement. +</p> +<p> +"At last," he said joyously while Tish cranked the car—"at last my +friends see my three mothers! They think Tufik only talks—now they +see! And the priest will bless my mothers on this so happy day." +</p> +<p> +Tish having crawled panting from her exertion into the driver's seat and +taken the wheel, in sheer excess of boyish excitement he leaned over and +kissed the hand nearest him. +</p> +<p> +The janitor's small boy was on the curb watching, and at that he set up +a yell of joy. We left him calling awful things after us and Tish's face +was a study; but soon the care of the machine made her forget everything +else. +</p> +<p> +The Syrian quarter was not impressive. It was on a hillside above the +Russian Jewish colony, and consisted of a network of cobble-paved +alleys, indescribably dirty and incredibly steep. In one or two of these +alleys Tish was obliged to turn the car and go up backward, her machine +climbing much better on the reverse gear. Crowds of children followed +us; dogs got under the wheels and apparently died, judging by the +yelps—only to follow us with undiminished energy after they had picked +themselves up. We fought and won a battle with a barrel of ashes and +came out victorious but dusty; and at last, as Tufik made a lordly +gesture, we stopped at an angle of forty-five degrees and Tufik bowed us +out of the car. He stood by visibly glowing with happiness, while Tish +got a cobblestone and placed it under a wheel, and Aggie and I took in +our surroundings. +</p> +<p> +We were in an alley ten feet wide and paved indiscriminately with stones +and tin cans, babies and broken bottles. Before us was a two-story brick +house with broken windows and a high, railed wooden stoop, minus two +steps. Under the stoop was a door leading into a cellar, and from this +cellar was coming a curious stamping noise and a sound as of an animal +in its death throes. +</p> +<p> +Aggie caught my arm. "What's that?" she quavered. +</p> +<p> +I had no time to reply. Tufik had thrown open the door and stood aside +to let us pass. +</p> +<p> +"They dance," he said gravely. "There is always much dancing before a +wedding. The music one hears is of Damascus and he who dances now is a +sheik among his people." +</p> +<p> +Reassured as to the sounds, we stepped down into the basement. That was +at four o'clock in the afternoon. +</p> +<p> +I have never been fairly clear as to what followed and Aggie's memory +is a complete blank. I remember a long, boarded-in and floored cellar, +smelling very damp and lighted by flaring gas jets. The center was empty +save for a swarthy gentleman in a fez and his shirt-sleeves, wearing a +pair of green suspenders and dancing alone—a curious stamping dance +that kept time to a drum. I remember the musicians too—three of them +in a corner: one playing on a sort of pipes-of-Pan affair of reeds, +one on a long-necked instrument that looked like a guitar with zither +ambitions, and a drummer who chanted with his eyes shut and kept time +to his chants by beating on a sheepskin tied over the mouth of a brass +bowl. Round three sides of the room were long, oil cloth-covered tables; +and in preparation for the ceremony a little Syrian girl was sweeping up +peanut shells, ashes, and beer bottles, with absolute disregard of the +guests. +</p> +<p> +All round the wall, behind rows of beer bottles, dishes of bananas, +and plates of raw liver, were men,—soft-eyed Syrians with white +teeth gleaming and black hair plastered close and celluloid +collars,—gentle-voiced, urbane-mannered Orientals, who came up gravely +one by one and shook hands with us; who pressed on us beer and peanuts +and raw liver. +</p> +<p> +Aggie, speaking between sneezes and over the chanting and the drum, bent +toward me. "It's a breath of the Orient!" she said ecstatically. "Oh, +Lizzie, do you think I could buy that drum for my tabouret?" +</p> +<p> +"Orient!" observed Tish, coughing. "I'm going out and take the +switch-key out of that car. And I wish I'd brought Charlie Sands!" +</p> +<p> +It was in vain we reminded her that the Syrians are a pastoral people +and that they come from the land of the Bible. She looked round her +grimly. +</p> +<p> +"They look like a lot of bandits to me," she sniffed. "And there's +always a murder at a wedding of this sort. There isn't a woman here but +ourselves!" +</p> +<p> +She was exceedingly disagreeable and Aggie and I began to get +uncomfortable. But when Tufik brought us little thimble-sized glasses +filled with a milky stuff and assured us that the women had only gone to +prepare the bride, we felt reassured. He said that etiquette demanded +that we drink the milky white stuff. +</p> +<p> +Tish was inclined to demur. "Has it any alcohol in it?" she demanded. +Tufik did not understand, but he said it was harmless and given to all +the Syrian babies; and while we were still undecided Aggie sniffed it. +</p> +<p> +"It smells like paregoric, Tish," she said. "I'm sure it's harmless." +</p> +<p> +We took it then. It tasted sweet and rather spicy, and Aggie said it +stopped her sneezing at once. It was very mild and pleasant, and rather +medicinal in its flavor. We each had two little glasses—and Tish said +she would not bother about the switch-key. The car was insured against +theft. +</p> +<p> +A little later Aggie said she used to do a little jig step when she was +a girl, and if they would play slower she would like to see if she had +forgotten it. Tish did not hear this—she was talking to Tufik, and a +moment later she got up and went out. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had decided to ask the musicians to play a little slower and I had +my hands full with her; so it was with horror that, shortly after, I +heard the whirring of the engine and through the cellar window caught a +glimpse of Tish's machine starting off up the hill. I rose excitedly, +but Tufik was before me, smiling and bowing. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish has gone for the bride," he said softly. "The taxicab hav' +not come. Soon the priest arrive, and so great shame—the bride is not +here! Miss Tish is my mother, my heart's delight!" +</p> +<p> +When Aggie realized that Tish had gone, she was rather upset—she +depends a great deal on Tish—and she took another of the little glasses +of milky stuff to revive her. +</p> +<p> +I was a little bit nervous with Tish gone and the sun setting and +another tub of beer bottles brought in—though the people were orderly +enough and Tufik stood near. But Aggie began to feel very strange, +and declared that the man with the sheepskin drum was winking at her and +that her head was twitching round on her shoulders. And when a dozen or +so young Syrians formed a circle, their hands on each other's shoulders, +and sang a melancholy chant, stamping to beat time, she wept with sheer +sentiment. +</p> +<p> +"Ha! Hoo! Ta, Ta, Ta!" they chanted in unison; and Tufik bent over us, +his soft eyes beaming. +</p> +<p> +"They are shepherds and the sons of shepherds from Palestine," he +whispered. "That is the shepherd's call to his sheep. In my country many +are shepherds. Perhaps some day you go with me back to my country, and +we hear the shepherd call his sheep—'Ha! Hoo! Ta, Ta, Ta!'—and we hear +the sleepy sheep reply: 'Maaaa!'" +</p> +<p> +"It is too beautiful!" murmured Aggie. "It is the Holy Land all over +again! And we should never have known this but for you, Tufik!" +</p> +<p> +Just then some one near the door clapped his hands and all the noise +ceased. Those who were standing sat down. The little girl with the broom +swept the accumulations of the room under a chair and put the broom in a +corner. The music became loud and stirring. +</p> +<p> +Aggie swayed toward me. "I'm sick, Lizzie!" she gasped. "That paregoric +stuff has poisoned me. Air!" +</p> +<p> +I took one arm and Tufik the other, and we got her out and seated on one +of the wooden steps. She was a blue-green color and the whites of her +eyes were yellow. But I had little time for Aggie. Tufik caught my hand +and pointed. +</p> +<p> +Tish's machine was coming down the alley. Beside her sat Tufik's sister, +sobbing at the top of her voice and wearing Aggie's foulard, a pair of +cotton gloves, and a lace curtain over her head. Behind in the tonneau +were her maid of honor, a young Syrian woman with a baby in her arms and +four other black-eyed children about her. But that was not all. In front +of the machine, marching slowly and with dignity, were three bearded +gentlemen, two in coats and one in a striped vest, blowing on curious +double flutes and making a shrill wailing noise. And all round were +crowds of women and children, carrying tin pans and paper bags full of +parched peas, which they were flinging with all their might. +</p> +<p> +I caught Tish's eye as the procession stopped, and she looked +subdued—almost stunned. The pipers still piped. But the bride refused +to move. Instead, her wails rose higher; and Aggie, who had paid no +attention so far, but was sitting back with her eyes shut, looked up. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzhie," she said thickly, "Tish looks about the way I feel." And with +that she fell to laughing awful laughter that mingled with the bride's +cries and the wail of the pipes. +</p> +<p> +The bride, after a struggle, was taken by force from the machine and +placed on a chair against the wall. Her veil was torn and her wreath +crooked, and she observed a sulky silence. To our amazement, Tufik was +still smiling, urbane and cheerful. +</p> +<p> +"It is the custom of my country, my mothers," he said. "The bride leave +with tears the home of her good parents or of her friends; and she speak +no word—only weep—until she is marriaged. Ah—the priest!" +</p> +<p> +The rest of the story is short and somewhat blurred. Tish having broken +her glasses, Aggie being, as one may say, <i>hors de combat</i>, and I having +developed a frightful headache in the dust and bad air, the real meaning +of what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us. The priest +officiated from a table in the center of the room, on which he placed +two candles, an Arabic Bible, and a sacred picture, all of which he took +out of a brown valise. He himself wore a long black robe and a beard, +and looked, as Tish observed, for all the world as if he had stepped +from an Egyptian painting. Before him stood Tufik's sister, the maid of +honor with her baby, the black-mustached friend who had brought Tufik to +us after his tragic attempt at suicide, and Tufik himself. +</p> + +<div class="figure"> +<a name="image-0002"></a> +<img src="images/ill-03.jpg" width="100%" +alt="The real meaning of what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us" /><br /> +The real meaning of what was occurring did not penetrate to any of us +</div> + + +<p> +Everybody held lighted candles, and the heat was frightful. The music +ceased, there was much exhorting in Arabic, much reading from the book, +many soft replies indiscriminately from the four principals—and then +suddenly Tish turned and gripped my arm. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie," she said hoarsely, "that little thief and liar has done us +again! That isn't his sister at all. He's marrying her—for us to keep!" +</p> +<p> +Luckily Aggie grew faint again at that moment, and we led her out into +the open air. Behind us the ceremony seemed to be over; the drum was +beating, the pipes screaming, the lute thrumming. +</p> +<p> +Tish let in the clutch with a vicious jerk, and the whir of the engine +drowned out the beating of the drum and the clapping of the hands. +Twilight hid the tin cans and ash-barrels, and the dogs slept on the +cool pavements. In the doorways soft-eyed Syrian women rocked their +babies to drowsy chants. The air revived Aggie. She leaned forward and +touched Tish on the shoulder. +</p> +<p> +"After all," she said softly, "if he loves her very much, and there was +no other way—Do you remember that night she arrived—how he looked at +her?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," Tish snapped. "And I remember the way he looked at us every time +he wanted money. We've been a lot of sheep and we've been sheared good +and proper! But we needn't bleat with joy about it!" +</p> +<p> +As we drew up at my door, Tish pulled out her watch. +</p> +<p> +"It's seven o'clock," she said brusquely. "I am going to New York on the +nine-forty train and I shall take the first steamer outward bound—I +need a rest! I'll go anywhere but to the Holy Land!" +</p> +<p> +We went to Panama. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +Two months afterward, in the dusk of a late spring evening, Charlie +Sands met us at the station and took us to Tish's in a taxicab. We were +homesick, tired, and dirty; and Aggie, who had been frightfully seasick, +was clamoring for tea. +</p> +<p> +As the taxicab drew up at the curb, Tish clutched my arm and Aggie +uttered a muffled cry and promptly sneezed. Seated on the doorstep, +celluloid collar shining, the brown pasteboard suitcase at his feet, was +Tufik. He sat calmly smoking a cigarette, his eyes upturned in placid +and Oriental contemplation of the heavens. +</p> +<p> +"Drive on!" said Tish desperately. "If he sees us we are lost!" +</p> +<p> +"Drive where?" demanded Charlie. +</p> +<p> +Tufik's gaze had dropped gradually—another moment and his brown eyes +would rest on us. But just then a diversion occurred. A window overhead +opened with a slam and a stream of hot water descended. It had been +carefully aimed—as if with long practice. Tufik was apparently not +surprised. He side-stepped it with a boredom as of many repetitions, +and, picking up his suitcase, stood at a safe distance looking up. +First, in his gentle voice he addressed the window in Arabic; then from +a safer distance in English. +</p> +<p> +"You ugly old she-wolf!" he said softly. "When my three old women come +back I eat you, skin and bones,—and they shall say nothing! They love +me—Tufik! I am their child. Aye! And my child—which comes—will be +their grandchild!" +</p> +<p> +He kissed his fingers to the upper window which closed with a slam. +Tufik stooped, picked up his suitcase, and saw the taxi for the first +time. Even in the twilight we saw his face change, his brown eyes +brighten, his teeth show in his boyish smile. The taxicab driver had +stalled his engine and was cranking it. +</p> +<p> +"Sh!" I said desperately, and we all cowered back into the shadows. +</p> +<p> +Tufik approached, uncertainty changing to certainty. The engine was +started now. Oh, for a second of time! He was at the window now, peering +into the darkness. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish!" he said breathlessly. No one answered. We hardly breathed. +And then suddenly Aggie sneezed! "Miss Pilk!" he shouted in delight. "My +mothers! My so dear friends—" +</p> +<p> +The machine jerked, started, moved slowly off. He ran beside it, a hand +on the door. Tish bent forward to speak, but Charlie Sands put his hand +over her mouth. +</p> +<p> +And so we left him, standing in the street undecided, staring after us +wistfully, uncertainly—the suitcase, full of Cluny-lace centerpieces, +crocheted lace, silk kimonos, and embroidered bedspreads, in his hand. +</p> +<p> +That night we hid in a hotel and the next day we started for Europe. We +heard nothing from Tufik; but on the anniversary of Mr. Wiggins's death, +while we were in Berlin, Aggie received a small package forwarded from +home. It was a small lace doily, and pinned to it was a card. It read:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + For the sadness, Miss Pilk! +</p> +<p class="quote"> + TUFIK. +</p> + +<p> +Aggie cried over it. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_4_0011" id="h2H_4_0011"></a> + THE SIMPLE LIFERS +</h2> +<h3> + I +</h3> +<p> +I suppose there is something in all of us that harks back to the soil. +When you come to think of it, what are picnics but outcroppings of +instinct? No one really enjoys them or expects to enjoy them, but with +the first warm days some prehistoric instinct takes us out into the +woods, to fry potatoes over a strangling wood fire and spend the next +week getting grass stains out of our clothes. It must be instinct; every +atom of intelligence warns us to stay at home near the refrigerator. +</p> +<p> +Tish is really a child of instinct. She is intelligent enough, but in a +contest between instinct and brains, she always follows her instinct. +Aggie under the same circumstances follows her heart. As for me, I +generally follow Tish and Aggie, and they've led me into some curious +places. +</p> +<p> +This is really a sort of apology, because, whereas usually Tish leads +off and we follow her, in the adventure of the Simple Life we were all +equally guilty. Tish made the suggestion, but we needed no urging. As +you know, this summer two years ago was a fairly good one, as summers +go,—plenty of fair weather, only two or three really hot spells, and +not a great deal of rain. Charlie Sands, Tish's nephew, went over to +England in June to report the visit of the French President to London +for his newspaper, and Tish's automobile had been sent to the factory to +be gone over. She had been teaching Aggie to drive it, and owing to +Aggie's thinking she had her foot on the brake when it was really on the +gas, they had leaped a four-foot ditch and gone down into a deep ravine, +from which both Tish and Aggie had had to be pulled up with ropes. +</p> +<p> +Well, with no machine and Charlie Sands away, we hardly knew how to plan +the summer. Tish thought at first she would stay at home and learn to +ride. She thought her liver needed stirring up. She used to ride, she +said, and it was like sitting in a rocking-chair, only perhaps more so. +Aggie and I went out to her first lesson; but when I found she had +bought a divided skirt and was going to try a man's saddle, I could not +restrain my indignation. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going, Tish," I said firmly, when she had come out of the +dressing-room and I realized the situation. "I shan't attempt to +restrain you, but I shall not remain to witness your shame." +</p> +<p> +Tish eyed me coldly. "When you wish to lecture me," she snapped, "about +revealing to the public that I have two legs, if I do wear a skirt, +don't stand in a sunny doorway in that linen dress of yours. I am going +to ride; every woman should ride. It's good for the liver." +</p> +<p> +I think she rather wavered when they brought the horse, which looked +larger than usual and had a Roman nose. The instructor handed Tish four +lines and she grabbed them nervously in a bunch. +</p> +<p> +"Just a moment!" said the instructor, and slipped a line between each +two of her fingers. +</p> +<p> +Tish looked rather startled. "When I used to ride—" she began with +dignity. +</p> +<p> +But the instructor only smiled. "These two are for the curb," he +said—"if he bolts or anything like that, you know. Whoa, Viper! Still, +old man!" +</p> +<p> +"Viper!" Tish repeated, clutching at the lines. "Is—is he—er—nasty?" +</p> +<p> +"Not a bit of it," said the instructor, while he prepared to hoist her +up. "He's as gentle as a woman to the people he likes. His only fault is +that he's apt to take a little nip out of the stablemen now and then. +He's very fond of ladies." +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" said Tish. "He's looking at me rather strangely, don't you +think? Has he been fed lately?" +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps he sees that divided skirt," I suggested. +</p> +<p> +Tish gave me one look and got on the horse. They walked round the ring +at first and Tish seemed to like it. Then a stableman put a nickel into +a player-piano and that seemed to be a signal for the thing to trot. +Tish said afterward that she never hit the horse's back twice in the +same place. Once, she says, she came down on his neck, and several times +she was back somewhere about his tail. Every time she landed, wherever +it might be, he gave a heave and sent her up again. She tried to say +"Whoa," but it came out in pieces, so to speak, and the creature seemed +to be encouraged by it and took to going faster. By that time, she said, +she wasn't coming down at all, but was in the air all the time, with the +horse coming up at the rate of fifty revolutions a second. She had +presence of mind enough to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn't bite her +tongue off. +</p> +<p> +After four times round the music stopped and the horse did also. They +were just in front of us, and Tish looked rather dazed. +</p> +<p> +"You did splendidly!" said Aggie. "Honestly, Tish, I was frightened at +first, but you and that dear horse seemed one piece. Didn't they, +Lizzie?" +</p> +<p> +Tish straightened out the fingers of her left hand with her right and +extricated the lines. Then she turned her head slowly from right to left +to see if she could. +</p> +<p> +"Help me down, somebody," she said in a thin voice, "and call an +osteopath. There is something wrong with my spine!" +</p> +<p> +She was in bed three days, having massage and a vibrator and being +rubbed with chloroform liniment. At the end of that time she offered me +her divided skirt, but I refused. +</p> +<p> +"Riding would be good for your liver, Lizzie," she said, sitting up in +bed with pillows all about her. +</p> +<p> +"I don't intend to detach it to do it good," I retorted. "What your +liver and mine and most of the other livers need these days isn't to be +sent out in a divided skirt and beaten to a jelly: they need rest—less +food and simpler food. If instead of taking your liver on a horse you'd +put it in a tent and feed it nuts and berries, you wouldn't be the color +you are to-day, Tish Carberry." +</p> +<p> +That really started the whole thing, although at the time Tish said +nothing. She has a way of getting an idea and letting it simmer on the +back of her brain, as you may say, when nobody knows it's been cooking +at all, and then suddenly bringing it out cooked and seasoned and ready +to serve. +</p> +<p> +On the day Tish sat up for the first time, Aggie and I went over to see +her. Hannah, the maid, had got her out of bed to a window, and Tish was +sitting there with books all about her. It is in times of enforced +physical idleness that most of Tish's ideas come to her, and Aggie had +reminded me of that fact on the way over. +</p> +<p> +"You remember, Lizzie," she said, "how last winter when she was getting +over the grippe she took up that correspondence-school course in +swimming. If she's reading, watch her books. It'll probably be suffrage or +airships." +</p> +<p> +Tish always believes anything she reads. She had been quite sure she +could swim after six correspondence lessons. She had all the movements +exactly, and had worried her trained nurse almost into hysteria for a +week by turning on her face in bed every now and then and trying the +overhand stroke. She got very expert, and had decided she'd swim +regularly, and even had Charlie Sands show her the Australian crawl +business so she could go over some time and swim the Channel. It was a +matter of breathing and of changing positions, she said, and was up to +intelligence rather than muscle. +</p> +<p> +Then when she was quite strong, she had gone to the natatorium. Aggie +and I went along, not that we were any good in emergency, but because +Tish had convinced us there would be no emergency. And Tish went in at +the deep end of the pool, head first, according to diagram, and <i>did not +come up</i>. +</p> +<p> +Well, there seemed to be nothing threatening in what Tish was reading +this time. She had ordered some books for Maria Lee's children and was +looking them over before she sent them. The "Young Woods-man" was one +and "Camper Craft" was another. How I shudder when I recall those names! +</p> +<p> +Aggie had baked an angel cake and I had brought over a jar of cookies. +But Tish only thanked us and asked Hannah to take them out. Even then we +were not suspicious. Tish sat back among her pillows and said very +little. The conversation was something like this:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Aggie</i>: Well, you're up again: I hope to goodness it will be a lesson + to you. If you don't mind, I'd like Hannah to cut that cake. It fell + in the middle. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Tish</i>: Do you know that the Indians never sweetened their food and that + they developed absolutely perfect teeth? +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Aggie</i>: Well, they never had any automobiles either, but they didn't + develop wings. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Lizzie</i>: Don't you want that window closed? I'm in a draft. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Tish</i>: Air in motion never gave any one a cold. We do not catch cold; + we catch heat. It's ridiculous the way we shut ourselves up in houses + and expect to remain well. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Aggie</i>: Well, I'b catchig sobethig. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Lizzie</i> (<i>changing the subject</i>): Would you like me to help you dress? + It might rest your back to have your corset on. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Tish</i> (<i>firmly</i>): I shall never wear a corset again. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Aggie</i> (<i>sneezing</i>): Why? Didn't the Iddiads wear theb? +</p> +<p> +Tish is very sensitive to lack of sympathy and she shut up like a clam. +She was coldly polite to us for the remainder of our visit, but she did +not again refer to the Indians, which in itself was suspicious. +</p> +<p> +Fortunately for us, or unfortunately, Tish's new scheme was one she +could not very well carry out alone. I believe she tried to induce +Hannah to go with her, and only when Hannah failed her did she turn to +us. Hannah was frightened and came to warn us. +</p> +<p> +I remember the occasion very well. It was Mr. Wiggins's birthday +anniversary, and we usually dine at Aggie's and have a cake with thirty +candles on it. Tish was not yet able to be about, so Aggie and I ate +together. She always likes to sit until the last candle is burned out, +which is rather dispiriting and always leaves me low in my mind. +</p> +<p> +Just as it flickered and went out, Hannah came in. +</p> +<p> +"Miss Tish sent over Mr. Charlie's letter from London," said Hannah, and +put it in front of Aggie. Then she sat down on a chair and commenced to +cry. +</p> +<p> +"Why, Hannah!" said Aggie. "What in the world has happened?" +</p> +<p> +"She's off again!" sniveled Hannah; "and she's worse this time than she's +ever been. No sugar, no tea, only nuts and fruit, and her windows open +all night, with the curtains getting black. I wisht I had Mr. Charlie by +the neck." +</p> +<p> +I suppose it came over both of us at the same time—the "Young +Woodsman," and the "Camper Craft," and no stays, and all that. I reached +for Charlie Sands's letter, which was always sent to Tish and meant for +all of us. He wrote:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Dear Three of a Kind</i>: Well, the French President has came and went, + and London has taken down all the brilliant flags which greeted him, + such tactful bits as bore Cressy and Agincourt, and the pretty little + smallpox and "plague here" banners, and has gone back to such innocent + diversions as baiting cabinet ministers, blowing up public buildings, or + going out into the woods seeking the Simple Life. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + The Simple Lifers travel in bands—and little else. They go barefooted, + barearmed, bareheaded and barenecked. They wear one garment, I believe, + let their hair hang and their beards grow, eat only what Nature + provides, such as nuts and fruits, sleep under the stars, and drink + from Nature's pools. Rather bully, isn't it? They're a handsome lot + generally, brown as nuts. And I saw a girl yesterday—well, if you do + not hear from me for a time it will be because I have discarded the + pockets in which I carry my fountain pen and my stamps and am wandering + barefoot through the Elysian fields. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + Yours for the Simple Life, +</p> +<p class="quote"> + CHARLIE SANDS. +</p> +<p> +As I finished reading the letter aloud, I looked at Aggie in dismay. +"That settles it," I said hopelessly. "She had some such idea before, +and now this young idiot—" I stopped and stared across the table at +Aggie. She was sitting rapt, her eyes fixed on the smouldering wicks of +Mr. Wiggins's candles. +</p> +<p> +"Barefoot through the Elysian fields!" she said. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0012" id="h2H_4_0012"></a> + II +</h3> +<p> +I am not trying to defend myself. I never had the enthusiasm of the +other two, but I rather liked the idea. And I did restrain them. It was +my suggestion, for instance, that we wear sandals without stockings, +instead of going in our bare feet, which was a good thing, for the first +day out Aggie stepped into a hornet's nest. And I made out the lists. +</p> +<p> +The idea, of course, is not how much one can carry, but how little. The +"Young Woodsman" told exactly how to manage in the woods if one were +lost there and had nothing in the world but a bootlace and a wire +hairpin. +</p> +<p> +With the hairpin one could easily make a fair fish-hook—and with a +bootlace or a good hemp cord one could make a rabbit snare. +</p> +<p> +"So you see," Tish explained, "there's fish and meat with no trouble at +all. And there will be berries and nuts. That's a diet for a king." +</p> +<p> +I was making a list of the necessaries at the time and under bootlaces +and hairpins I put down "spade." +</p> +<p> +"What in Heaven's name is the spade for?" Tish demanded. +</p> +<p> +"You've got to dig bait, haven't you?" +</p> +<p> +Tish eyed me with disgust. +</p> +<p> +"Grasshoppers!" she said tersely. +</p> +<p> +There was really nothing Tish was not prepared for. I should never have +thought of grasshoppers. +</p> +<p> +"The idea is simply this," observed Tish: "We have surrounded ourselves +with a thousand and one things we do not need and would be better +without—houses, foolish clothing, electric light, idiotic +servants—Hannah, get away from that door!—rich foods, furniture and +crowds of people. We've developed and cared for our bodies instead of +our souls. What we want is to get out into the woods and think; to +forget those pampered bodies of ours and to let our souls grow and +assert themselves." +</p> +<p> +We decided finally to take a blanket apiece, rolled on our shoulders, +and Tish and I each took a strong knife. Aggie, instead of the knife, +took a pair of scissors. We took a small bottle of blackberry cordial +for emergencies, a cake of soap, a salt-cellar for seasoning the fish +and rabbits, two towels, a package of court-plaster, Aggie's hay-fever +remedy, a bottle of oil of pennyroyal to use against mosquitoes, and +a large piece of canvas, light but strong, cut like the diagram. +</p> + + +<div class="figure" style="width: 60%;"> +<a name="image-0003"></a> +<img src="images/blk-01.png" style="border: none; width: 100%;" +alt="" /><br /> + +</div> + +<p> +Tish said it was the regulation Indian tepee, and that a squaw could set +one up in an hour and have dinner cooked inside it in thirty minutes +after. She said she guessed we could do it if an Indian squaw could, and +that after we'd cut the poles once, we could carry them with us if we +wished to move. She said the tent ought to be ornamented, but she had +had no time, and we could paint designs on it with colored clay in the +woods when we had nothing more important to do! +</p> +<p> +It made a largish bundle, but we did not intend to travel much. We +thought we could find a good place by a lake somewhere and put up the +tent, and set a few snares, and locate the nearest berry-bushes and +mushroom-patches, and then, while the rabbits were catching themselves, +we should have time to get acquainted with our souls again. +</p> +<p> +Tish put it in her terse manner most intelligently. "We intend to +prove," she stated to Mrs. Ostermaier, the minister's wife, who came to +call and found us all sitting on the floor trying to get used to it, for +of course there would be no chairs, "we shall prove that the trappings +of civilization are a delusion and a snare. We shall bring back 'Mens +sana in corpore sano'." +</p> +<p> +The minister's wife thought this was a disease, for she said, "I hope +not, I'm sure," very hastily. +</p> +<p> +"We shall make our own fire and our own shelter," said Tish from the +floor. "We shall wear one garment, loose enough to allow entire freedom +of movement. We shall bathe in Nature's pools and come out cleansed. On +the Sabbath we shall attend divine service under the Gothic arches of +the trees, read sermons in stones, and instead of that whining tenor in +the choir we shall listen to the birds singing praise, overhead." +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Ostermaier looked rather bewildered. "I'm sure I hope so," she said +vaguely. "I don't like camping myself. There are so many bugs." +</p> +<p> +As Tish said, some ideas are so large that the average person cannot see +them at all. +</p> +<p> +We had fixed on Maine. It seemed to combine all the necessary qualities: +woods and lakes, rabbits, game and fish, and—solitude. Besides, +Aggie's hay fever is better the farther north she gets. On the day we +were leaving, Mr. Ostermaier came to see us. +</p> +<p> +"I—I really must protest, ladies," he said. "That sort of thing may be +all right for savages, but—" +</p> +<p> +"Are we not as intelligent as savages?" Tish demanded. +</p> +<p> +"Primitive people are inured to hardships, and besides, they have +methods of their own. They can make fire—" "So can I," retorted Tish. +"Any fool can make a fire with a rubbing-stick. It's been done in +thirty-one seconds." +</p> +<p> +"If you would only take some matches," he wailed, "and a good revolver, +Miss Letitia. And—you must pardon this, but I have your well-being at +heart—if I could persuade you to take along some—er—flannels and warm +clothing!" +</p> +<p> +"Clothing," said Tish loftily, "is a matter of habit, Mr. Ostermaier." +</p> +<p> +I think he got the idea from this that we intended to discard clothing +altogether, for he went away almost immediately, looking rather upset, +and he preached on the following Sunday from "Consider the lilies of the +field.... Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of +these." +</p> +<p> +We left on Monday evening, and by Tuesday at noon we were at our +destination, as far as the railroad was concerned. Tish had a map with +the lake we'd picked out, and we had figured that we'd drive out to +within ten miles or so of it and then send the driver back. The lake was +in an uninhabited neighborhood, with the nearest town twenty-five miles +away. We had one suitcase containing our blankets, sandals, short +dresses, soap, hairpins, salt-box, knives, scissors, and a compass, and +the leather thongs for rabbit snares that we had had cut at a harness +shop. In the other suitcase was the tepee. +</p> +<p> +We ate a substantial breakfast at Tish's suggestion, because we expected +to be fairly busy the first day, and there would be no time for hunting. +We had to walk ten miles, set up the tent, make a fire and gather nuts +and berries. It was about that time, I think, that I happened to recall +that it was early for nuts. Still there would be berries, and Tish had +added mushrooms to our menu. +</p> +<p> +We found a man with a spring wagon to drive us out and Tish showed him +the map. +</p> +<p> +"I guess I can get you out that way," he said, "but I ain't heard of no +camp up that direction." +</p> +<p> +"Who said anything about a camp?" snapped Tish. "How much to drive us +fifteen miles in that direction?" +</p> +<p> +"Fifteen miles! Well, about five dollars, but I think—" +</p> +<p> +"How much to drive us fifteen miles without thinking?" +</p> +<p> +"Ten dollars," said the man; and as he had the only wagon in the town we +had to pay it. +</p> +<p> +It was a lovely day, although very warm. The morning sun turned the +woods to fairylike glades. Tish sat on the front seat, erect and staring +ahead. +</p> +<p> +Aggie bent over and touched my arm lightly. "Isn't she wonderful!" she +whispered; "like some adventurer of old—Balboa discovering the Pacific +Ocean, or Joan of Arc leading the what-you-call-'ems." +</p> +<p> +But somehow my enthusiasm was dying. The sun was hot and there were no +berry-bushes to be seen. Aggie's fairy glades in the woods were filled, +not with dancing sprites, but with gnats. I wanted a glass of iced tea, +and some chicken salad, and talcum powder down my neck. The road was +bad, and the driver seemed to have a joke to himself, for every now and +then he chuckled, and kept his eyes on the woods on each side, as if he +expected to see something. His manner puzzled us all. +</p> +<p> +"You can trust me not to say anything, ladies," he said at last, "but +don't you think you're playing it a bit low down? This ain't quite up to +contract, is it?" +</p> +<p> +"You've been drinking!" said Tish shortly. +</p> +<p> +After that he let her alone, but soon after he turned round to me and +made another venture. +</p> +<p> +"In case you need grub, lady," he said,"—and them two suitcases don't +hold a lot,—I'll bring out anything you say: eggs and butter and garden +truck at market prices. I'm no phylanthropist," he said, glaring at +Tish, "but I'd be glad to help the girl, and that's the truth. I been +married to this here wife o' mine quite a spell, and to my first one for +twenty years, and I'm a believer in married life." +</p> +<p> +"What girl?" I asked. +</p> +<p> +He turned right round in the seat and winked at me. +</p> +<p> +"All right," he said. "I'll not butt in unless you need me. But I'd like +to know one thing: He hasn't got a mother, he says, so I take it you're +his aunts. Am I on, ladies?" +</p> +<p> +We didn't know what he was talking about, and we said so. But he only +smiled. A mile or so from our destination the horse scared up a rabbit, +and Tish could hardly be restrained from running after it with a leather +thong. Aggie, however, turned a little pale. +</p> +<p> +"I'll never be able to eat one, never!" she confided to me. "Did you see +its eyes? Lizzie, do you remember Mr. Wiggins's eyes? and the way he +used to move his nose, just like that?" +</p> +<p> +At the end of fifteen miles the driver drew up his horses and took a +fresh chew of tobacco. +</p> +<p> +"I guess this is about right," he said. "That trail there'll take you to +the lake. How long do you reckon it'll be before you'll need some fresh +eggs?" +</p> +<p> +"We are quite able to look after ourselves," said Tish with hauteur, and +got out of the wagon. She paid him off at once and sat down on her +suitcase until he had driven out of sight. He drove slowly, looking back +every now and then, and his last view of us must have been +impressive—three middle-aged and determined women ready to conquer the +wilderness, as Tish put it, and two suitcases. +</p> +<p> +It was as solitary a place as we could have wished. We had not seen a +house in ten miles, and when the last creak of the wagon had died away +there was a silence that made our city-broke ears fairly ache. Tish +waited until the wagon was out of sight; then she stood up and threw out +her arms. +</p> +<p> +"At last!" she said. "Free to have a lodge in some vast wilderness—to +think, to breathe, to expand! Lizzie, do you suppose if we go back we +can get that rabbit?" +</p> +<p> +I looked at my watch. It was one o'clock and there was not a berry-bush +in sight. The drive had made me hungry, and I'd have eaten a rabbit that +looked like Mr. Wiggins and called me by name if I'd had it. But there +was absolutely no use going back for the one we'd seen on our drive. +</p> +<p> +Aggie was opening her suitcase and getting out her costume, which was a +blue calico with short sleeves and a shoe-top skirt. +</p> +<p> +"Where'll I put it on?" she asked, looking about her. +</p> +<p> +"Right here!" Tish replied. "For goodness sake, Aggie, try to discard +false modesty and false shame. We're here to get close to the great +beating heart of Nature. Take off your switch before you do another +thing." +</p> +<p> +None of us looked particularly well, I admit; but it was wonderful how +much more comfortable we were. Aggie, who is very thin, discarded a part +of her figure, and each of us parted with some pet hypocrisy. But I +don't know that I have ever felt better. Only, of course we were hungry. +</p> +<p> +We packed our things in the suitcases and hid them in a hollow tree, and +Tish suggested looking for a spring. She said water was always the first +requisite and fire the second. +</p> +<p> +"Fire!" said Aggie. "What for? We've nothing to cook." +</p> +<p> +Well, that was true enough, so we sent Aggie to look for water and Tish +and I made a rabbit snare. We made a good many snares and got to be +rather quick at it. They were all made like this illustration. +</p> + +<div class="figure" style="width: 60%;"> +<a name="image-0004"></a> +<img src="images/blk-02.png" style="border: none; width: 100%;" +alt="" /><br /> +</div> + +<p> +First Tish, with her book open in front of her, made a running noose out +of one of the buckskin thongs. Next we bent down a sapling and tied the +noose to it, and last of all we bound the free part of the thong round a +snag and thus held the sapling down. The idea is that a rabbit, bounding +along, presumably with his eyes shut, will stick his head through the +noose, kick the line clear of the snag and be drawn violently into the +air. Tish figured that by putting up half a dozen snares we'd have +three or four rabbits at least each day. +</p> +<p> +It was about three when we finished, and we drew off to a safe distance +to watch the rabbit bound to his doom. But no rabbits came along. +</p> +<p> +I was very empty and rather faint, but Tish said she had never been able +to think so clearly, and that we were all overfed and stodgy and would +be better for fasting. +</p> +<p> +Aggie came in at three-thirty with a hornet sting and no water. She said +there were no springs, but that she had found a place where a spring had +existed before the dry spell, and there was a naked footprint in the +mud, quite fresh! We all went to look at it, and Tish was quite positive +it was not a man's footprint at all, but only a bear's. +</p> +<p> +"A bear!" said Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"What of it?" Tish demanded. "The 'Young Woodsman' says that no bear +attacks a human unless he is hungry, and at this time of the year with +the woods full of food—" +</p> +<p> +"Humph!"—I could not restrain myself—"I wish you would show me a +little of it. If no rabbit with acute melancholia comes along to commit +suicide by hanging on that gallows of yours, I think we'll starve to +death." +</p> +<p> +"There will be a rabbit," Tish said tersely; and we started back to the +snare. +</p> +<p> +I was never so astonished in my life. There was a rabbit! It seems we +had struck a runway without knowing it, although Tish said afterward +that she had recognized it at once from the rabbit tracks. Anyhow, +whether it died of design or curiosity, our supper was kicking at the +top of the sapling, and Tish pretended to be calm and to have known all +along that we'd get one. But it was not dead. +</p> +<p> +We got it down somehow or other and I held it by the ears while it +kicked and scratched. I was hungry enough to have eaten it alive, but +Aggie began to cry. +</p> +<p> +"You'll be murderers, nothing else," she wailed. "Look at his little +white tail and pitiful baby eyes!" +</p> +<p> +"Good gracious, Aggie," Tish snapped, "get a knife and cut its throat +while I make a fire. If it's any help to you, we're not going to eat +either its little white tail or its pitiful baby eyes." +</p> +<p> +As a matter of fact Aggie wouldn't touch the rabbit and I did not care +much about it myself. I do not like to kill things. My Aunt Sarah +Mackintosh once killed a white hen that lived twenty minutes without its +head; two weeks later she dreamed that that same hen, without a head, +was sitting on the footboard of the bed, and the next day she got word +that her cousin's husband in Sacramento had died of the hiccoughs. +</p> +<p> +It ended with Tish giving me the fire-making materials and stalking off +into the woods with the rabbit in one hand and the knife in the other. +</p> + +<div class="figure" style="width: 75%;"> +<a name="image-0005"></a> +<img src="images/ill-04.jpg" width="100%" +alt="It ended with tish stalking off into the woods with the +rabbit in one hand and the knife in the other" /><br /> +It ended with tish stalking off into the woods with the +rabbit in one hand and the knife in the other +</div> + +<p> +Tish is nothing if not thorough, but she seemed to me inconsistent. She +brought blankets and a canvas tepee and sandals and an aluminum kettle, +but she disdained matches. I rubbed with that silly drill and a sort of +bow arrangement until my wrists ached, but I did not get even a spark of +fire. When Tish came back with the rabbit there was no fire, and Aggie +had taken out her watch crystal and was holding it in the sun over a +pile of leaves. +</p> +<p> +Tish got out the "Young Woodsman" from the suitcase. It seems I had +followed cuts I and II, but had neglected cut III, which is: Hold the +left wrist against the left shin, and the left foot on the fireblock. I +had got my feet mixed and was trying to hold my left wrist against my +right shin, which is exceedingly difficult. Tish got a fire in fourteen +minutes and thirty-one seconds by Aggie's watch, and had to wear a +bandage on her hand for a week. +</p> +<p> +But we had a fire. We cooked the rabbit, which proved to be much older +than Aggie had thought, and ate what we could. Personally I am not fond +of rabbit, and our enjoyment was rather chastened by the fear that some +mushrooms Tish had collected and added to the stew were toadstools +<i>incognito</i>. To make things worse, Aggie saw some goldenrod nearby and +began to sneeze. +</p> +<p> +It was after five o'clock, but it seemed wisest to move on toward the +lake. +</p> +<p> +"Even if we don't make it," said Tish, "we'll be on our way, and while +that bear is likely harmless we needn't thrust temptation in his way." +</p> +<p> +We carried the fire with us in the kettle and we took turns with the +tepee, which was heavy. Our suitcases with our city clothes in them we +hid in a hollow tree, and one after the other, with Aggie last, we +started on. +</p> +<p> +The trail, which was a sort of wide wagon road at first, became a +footpath; as we went on even that disappeared at times under fallen +leaves. Once we lost it entirely, and Aggie, falling over a hidden root, +stilled the fire. She became exceedingly disagreeable at about that +time, said she was sure Tish's mushrooms were toadstools because she +felt very queer, and suddenly gave a yell and said she had seen +something moving in the bushes. +</p> +<p> +We all looked, and the bushes were moving. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0013" id="h2H_4_0013"></a> + III +</h3> +<p> +It was dusk by that time and the path was only a thread between masses +of undergrowth. Tish said if it was the bear he would be afraid of the +fire, so we put dry leaves in the kettle and made quite a blaze. By its +light Tish read that bears in the summer are full fed and really +frolicsome and that they are awful cowards. We felt quite cheered and +brave, and Tish said if he came near to throw the fire kettle at him and +he'd probably die of fright. +</p> +<p> +It was too late to put up the tepee, so we found a clearing near the +path and decided to spend the night there. Aggie still watched the +bushes and wanted to spend the night in a tree; but Tish's calmness was +a reproach to us both, and after we had emptied the kettle and made +quite a fire to keep off animals, we unrolled our blankets and prepared +for sleep. I could have slept anywhere, although I was still rather +hungry. My last view was of Tish in the firelight grimly bending down a +sapling and fastening a rabbit snare to it. +</p> +<p> +During the night I was wakened by somebody clutching my arm. It was +Aggie who lay next to me. When I raised my head she pointed off into the +woods to our left. At a height of perhaps four feet from the ground a +ghastly red glow was moving rapidly away from us. It was not a torch; it +was more a radiance, and it moved not evenly, but jerkily. I could feel +the very hair rising on my head and it was all I could do to call Tish. +When we had roused her, however, the glow had faded entirely and she +said we had had a nightmare. +</p> +<p> +The snare the next morning contained a skunk, and we moved on as quickly +as possible, without attempting to secure the thong, of which we had +several. We gathered some puffballs to soak for breakfast and in a +clearing I found some blackberry bushes. We were very cheerful that +morning, for if we could capture rabbits and skunks, we were sure of +other things, also, and soon we would be able to add fish to our menu. +True, we had not had much time to commune with our souls, and Aggie's +arms were so sunburned that she could not bend them at the elbows. But, +as Tish said, we had already proved our contention that we could get +along without men or houses or things. Things, she said, were the curse +of modern life; we filled our lives with things instead of thoughts. +</p> +<p> +It was when we were ready to cook the puffballs that we missed the +kettle! Tish was very angry; she said it was evident that the bear was +mischievous and that all bears were thieves. (See the "Young Woodsman.") +But I recalled the glow of the night before, and more than once I caught +Aggie's eyes on me, filled with consternation. For we had seen that +kettle leaving the camp with some of our fire in it, and bears are +afraid of fire! +</p> +<p> +We reached the lake at noon and it seemed as if we might soon have time +to sit down and rest. But there was a great deal to do. Aggie was of no +assistance on account of her arms, so Tish and I put up the tent. The +"Young Woodsman" said it was easy. First you tied three long poles +together near the top and stood them up so they made a sort of triangle. +Then you cut about a dozen and filled in between the three. That looked +easy, but it took an afternoon, and our first three looked like this +first cut. +</p> + + +<div class="figure" style="width: 60%;"> +<a name="image-0006"></a> +<img src="images/blk-03.png" style="border: none; width: 100%;" +alt="As the First Three Looked + As They Should Have Looked" /><br /> +<span style="float: left;" > As the First<br /> Three Looked </span> +<span style="float: right;"> As They Should<br /> Have Looked </span> +</div> + +<p style="clear: both;"> +We had caught a rabbit by noon, and Aggie being unfit for other work, +and the kettle being gone, Tish set her to roasting it. It was not +very good, but we ate some, being ravenous. The method was simplicity +itself—two forked sticks in the ground, one across to hang the rabbit +to and a fire beneath. It tasted rather smoky. +</p> +<p> +In the afternoon we finished putting up the tepee, and Tish made a +fishhook out of a hairpin and tied it to a strong creeper I had found. +But we caught no fish. We had more rabbit for supper, with some +puffballs smoked and a few huckleberries. But by that time the very +sight of a rabbit sickened me, and Aggie began to talk about broiled +beefsteak and fried spring chicken. +</p> +<p> +We had seen no sign of the bear, or whatever it was, all day, and it +seemed likely we were not to be again disturbed. But a most mysterious +thing occurred that very night. +</p> +<p> +As I have said, we had caught no fish. The lake was full of them. We sat +on a bank that evening and watched them playing leapfrog, and talked +about frying them on red-hot stones, but nothing came near the hairpin. +At last Tish made a suggestion. +</p> +<p> +"We need worms," she said. "A grasshopper loses all his spirit after +he's been immersed for an hour, but a worm will keep on wriggling and +attracting attention for half a day." +</p> +<p> +"I wanted to bring a spade," said I. +</p> +<p> +But Tish had read of a scheme for getting worms that she said the game +warden of some place or other had guaranteed officially. +</p> +<p> +"You stick a piece of wood about two feet into the ground in a likely +spot," she said, "and rub a rough piece of bark or plank across the top. +This man claims, and it sounds reasonable, that the worms think it is +raining and come up for water. All you have to do is to gather them up." +</p> +<p> +Tish found a pole for the purpose on the beach and set to work, while +Aggie and I prepared several hooks and lines. The fish were jumping +busily, and it seemed likely we should have more than we could do to +haul them in. +</p> +<p> +The experiment, however, failed entirely, for not a single worm +appeared. Tish laid it to the fact that it was very late and that the +worms were probably settled down for the night. It may have been that, +or it may have been the wrong kind of wood. +</p> +<p> +The mysterious happening was this: We rose quite early because the tepee +did not seem to be well anchored and fell down on us at daybreak. Tish +went down to the beach to examine the lines that had been out all night, +and found nothing. She was returning rather dispirited to tell us that +it would be rabbit again for breakfast, when she saw lying on a flat +stone half a dozen beautiful fish, one or two still gasping, in our lost +kettle! +</p> +<p> +Tish said she stood there, opening and shutting her mouth like the fish. +Then she gave a whoop and we came running. At first we thought they +might have been jumping and leaped out on to the beach by accident, but, +as Tish said, they would hardly have landed all together and into a +kettle that had been lost for two nights and a day. The queer thing was +that they had not been caught with a hook at all. They hadn't a mark on +them. +</p> +<p> +We were so hungry that we ate every one of them for breakfast. It was +only when we had eaten, and were sitting gorged and not caring whether +the tent was set up again or not, that we fell to wondering about the +fish. Tish fancied it might have been the driver of the spring wagon, +but decided he'd have sold us the fish at thirty cents a pound live +weight. +</p> +<p> +All day long we watched for a sign of our benefactor, but we saw +nothing. Tish set up more rabbit snares; not that she wanted rabbits, +but it had become a mania with her, and there were so many of them that +as they grew accustomed to us they sat round our camp in a ring and +criticized our housekeeping. She thought if she got a good many skins +she could have a fur robe made for her automobile. As a matter of fact +she found another use for them. +</p> +<p> +It was that night, then, that we were sitting round the camp-fire on +stones that we had brought up from the beach. We had seen nothing more +of the bear, and if we had been asked we should have said that the +nearest human being was twenty-five miles away. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly a voice came out of the woods just behind us, a man's voice. +</p> +<p> +"Please don't be alarmed," said the voice. "But may I have a little of +your fire? Mine has gone out again." +</p> +<p> +"G-g-g-good gracious!" said Aggie. "T-Tish, get your revolver!" +</p> +<p> +This was for effect. Tish had no revolver. +</p> +<p> +All of us had turned and were staring into the woods behind, but we +could see no one. After Aggie's speech about the revolver it was some +time before the voice spoke again. +</p> +<p> +"Never mind, Aggie," Tish observed, very loud. "The revolver is here and +loaded—as nice a little thirty-six as any one needs here in the woods." +</p> +<p> +She said afterward that she knew all the time there was no thirty-six +caliber revolver, but in the excitement she got it mixed with her bust +measure. Having replied to Aggie, Tish then turned in the direction of +the voice. +</p> +<p> +"Don't skulk back there," she called. "Come out, where we can see you. +If you look reliable, we'll give you some fire, of course." +</p> +<p> +There was another pause, as if the stranger were hesitating. Then:— +</p> +<p> +"I think I'd better not," he said with reluctance in his voice. "Can't +you toss a brand this way?" +</p> +<p> +By that time we had grown accustomed to the darkness, and I thought I +could see in the shadow of a tree a lightish figure. Aggie saw it at the +same instant and clutched my arm. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie!" she gasped. +</p> +<p> +It was at that moment that Tish tossed the brand. It fell far short, but +her movement caught the stranger unawares. He ducked behind the tree, +but the flare of light had caught him. With the exception of what looked +like a pair of bathing-trunks he was as bare as my hand! +</p> +<p> +There was a sort of astonished silence. Then the voice called out:—"Why +in the world didn't you warn me?" it said, aggrieved. "I didn't know you +were going to throw the blamed thing." +</p> +<p> +We had all turned our backs at once and Tish's face was awful. +</p> +<p> +"Take it and go," she said, without turning. "Take it and go." +</p> +<p> +From the crackling of leaves and twigs we judged that he had come out +and got the brand, and when he spoke again it was from farther back in +the woods. +</p> +<p> +"You know," he said, "I don't like this any more than you do. I've got +forty-two mosquito bites on my left arm." +</p> +<p> +He waited, as if for a reply; but getting none he evidently retreated. +The sound of rustling leaves and crackling twigs grew fainter, fainter +still, died away altogether. We turned then with one accord and gazed +through the dark arches of the forest. A glowing star was retreating +there—a smouldering fire, that seemed to move slowly and with an +appearance of dejection. +</p> +<p> +It was the second time Aggie and I had seen fire thus carried through +the wood; but whereas about the kettle there had been a glow and +radiance that was almost triumphant, the brand we now watched seemed +smouldering, dejected, ashamed. Even Tish felt it. +</p> +<p> +"The wretch!" she exclaimed. "Daring to come here like that! No wonder +he's ashamed." +</p> +<p> +But Aggie, who is very romantic, sat staring after the distant torch. +</p> +<p> +"Mr. Wiggins suffered so from mosquitoes," she said softly. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0014" id="h2H_4_0014"></a> + IV +</h3> +<p> +The next morning we found more fish awaiting us, and on the smooth sand +of the beach was a message written with a stick:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + If you will leave a wire hairpin or two on this stone I can get + bigger fish. What do you mean to do with all those rabbit skins? +</p> +<p class="quote"> + (Signed) P. +</p> +<p> +Tish was touched by the fish, I think. She smoothed off the sand +carefully and wrote a reply:— +</p> + +<p class="quote"> + Here are the hairpins. Thank you. Do you want the rabbit skins? +</p> +<p class="quote"> + L.C. +</p> + +<p> +All day we were in a state of expectancy. The mosquitoes were very bad, +and had it not been for the excitement of the P—— person I should have +given up and gone home. I wanted mashed potatoes and lima beans with +butter dressing, and a cup of hot tea, and muffins, and ice—in fact, +I cannot think of anything I did not want, except rabbits and fish and +puffballs and such blackberries as the birds did not fancy. Although we +were well enough—almost too well—the better I felt the hungrier I got. +</p> +<p> +Tish thought the time had now come to rest and invite our souls. She +set the example that day by going out on a flat rock in the lake and +preparing to think all the things she'd been waiting most of her life +to consider. +</p> +<p> +"I am ready to form my own opinions about some things," she said. +"I realize now that all my life the newspapers and stupid people and +books have formed my opinions. Now I'm going to think along my own +lines. Is there another life after this? Do I really desire the +suffrage? Why am I a Baptist?" +</p> +<p> +Aggie said she would like to invite her soul that day also, not to form +any opinions,—Tish always does that for her,—but she had to get some +clothes in September and she might as well think them out. +</p> +<p> +So it happened that I was alone when I met the P—— person's young +woman. +</p> +<p> +I had intended to wander only a short way along the trail, but after I +had gone a mile or two it occurred to me as likely that the spring-wagon +driver would come back that way before long out of curiosity, and I +thought I might leave a message for him to bring out some fresh eggs and +leave them there. I could tell Tish I had found a nest, or perhaps, +since that would be lying, I could put them in a nest and let her find +them. I'd have ordered tea, too, if I could have thought of any way to +account for it. +</p> +<p> +"I'm going to do some meditating myself to-day," I remarked, "but I +think better when I'm moving. If I don't come back in an hour or so +don't imagine I've been kidnaped." +</p> +<p> +Tish turned on her stone and looked at me. +</p> +<p> +"You will not be kidnaped," she said shortly. "I cannot imagine any one +safer than you are in that costume." +</p> +<p> +Well, I made my way along the trail as rapidly as I could. It was twenty +miles there and back and I've seen the day when two city blocks would +send me home to soak my feet in hot water. But the sandals were easy to +walk in and my calico skirt was short and light. +</p> +<p> +I had no paper to write my message on, of course, but on the way I +gathered a large white fungus and I scraped a note on it with a pin. +With the fungus under my arm I walked briskly along, planning an omelet +with the eggs, if we got any, and gathering mushrooms here and there. It +was the mushrooms that led me to the discovery of a camping-place that +was prehistoric in its primitiveness—a clearing, surrounded by low +bushes, and in the center a fireplace of stones with a fire smouldering. +At one side a heap of leaves and small twigs for a bed, a stump for a +seat, and lying on top of it a sort of stone axe, made by inserting a +sharp stone into the cleft of a sapling and tying it into place with a +wild-grape tendril. Pegged out on the ground to cure was a rabbit skin, +indifferently scraped. It made our aluminum kettle and canvas tepee look +like a marble-vestibuled apartment on Riverside Drive. +</p> +<p> +The whole thing looked pitiful, hungry. I thought of Tish sitting on a +stone inviting her soul, while rabbits came from miles round to stick +their heads through our nooses and hang themselves for our dinner; and +it seemed to me that we should share our plenty. I thought it probable +that the gentleman of the woods lived here, and from the appearance of +the place he carried all his possessions with him when he wore his +bathing-trunks. If I had been in any doubt, the sight of Aggie's wire +hairpin, sharpened and bent into a serviceable fishhook, decided me. I +scratched a message for him on another fungus and left it:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + If you need anything come to the Indian tepee at the lake. We have + no clothing to spare, but are always glad to help in time of trouble. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + (Signed) ONE OF THE SIMPLE LIFERS. +</p> +<p> +I went on after that and about noon reached our point of exodus from the +wagon. I was tired and hot and I kept thinking of my little dining-room +at home, with the electric fan going, and iced cantaloupe, and nobody +worrying about her soul or thinking her own thoughts, and no rabbits. +</p> +<p> +Our suitcases were safe enough in the hollow tree, and I thought the +spring wagon had been back already, for there were fresh tracks. This +discouraged me and I sat down on a log to rest. It was then that I heard +the girl crying. +</p> +<p> +She was crying softly, but in the woods sounds travel. I found her on +her face on the pine needles about twenty yards away, wailing her heart +out into a pink automobile veil, and she was so absorbed in her misery +that I had to stoop and touch her before she looked up. +</p> +<p> +"Don't cry," I said. "If you are lost, I can direct you to a +settlement." +</p> +<p> +She looked up at me, and from being very red and suffused she went quite +pale. It seems that with my bare legs and sandals and my hair down, +which was Tish's idea for making it come in thick and not gray, and what +with my being sunburned and stained with berries, she thought I was a +wild woman. I realized what was wrong. +</p> +<p> +"Don't be alarmed," I said somewhat grimly. "I'm rational enough; if I +hop about instead of walking, it's because I'm the tomb of more rabbits +than I care to remember, but aside from that I'm all right. Are you +lost?" +</p> +<p> +She sat up, still staring, and wiped her eyes. +</p> +<p> +"No. I have a machine over there among the trees. Are there—are there +plenty of rabbits in the woods?" +</p> +<p> +"Thousands." She was a pretty little thing, very young, and dressed in a +white motor coat with white shoes and hat. +</p> +<p> +"And—and berries?" +</p> +<p> +"There aren't many berries," I admitted. "The birds eat 'em. We get the +ones they don't fancy." +</p> +<p> +Now I didn't think for a moment that she was worried about my diet, but +she was worried about the food supply in the woods, that was sure. So I +sat down on a stump and told her about puffballs, and what Tish had read +about ants being edible but acid, and that wood mice, roasted and not +cooked too dry, were good food, but that Aggie had made us liberate the +only ones we had caught, because a man she was once engaged to used to +carry a pet mouse in his pocket. +</p> +<p> +Nothing had really appealed to her until I mentioned Mr. Wiggins. Then +unexpectedly she began to cry again. And after that I got the whole +story. +</p> +<p> +It seems she was in love with a young man who was everything a young man +ought to be and had money as well. But the money was the barrier really, +for the girl's father wouldn't believe that a youth who played polo, and +did not have to work for a living, and led cotillons, and paid calls in +the afternoon could have really good red blood in him. He had a man in +view for her, she said, one who had made his money himself, and had to +have his valet lay out his clothes for fear he'd make a mistake. Once +the valet had to go to have a tooth pulled and the man had to decline +a dinner. +</p> +<p> +"Father said," finished the little girl tearfully, "that if +Percy—that's his name, and it counted against him too—that if Percy +was a real man he'd do something. And then he hap-happened on a book of +my small brother's, telling how people used to live in the woods, and +kill their own food and make their own fire—" +</p> +<p> +"The 'Young Woodsman,' of course," I put in. +</p> +<p> +"And how the strong survived, but the weak succumbed, and he said if +Percy was a man, and not a t-tailor's dummy, he'd go out in the woods, +j-just primitive man, without anything but a pair of bathing trunks, +and keep himself alive for a month. If he s-stood the test father was +willing to forget the 'Percy.' He said that he knew Mr. Willoughby could +do it—that's the other man—and that he'd come in at the end of the +time with a deed for the forest and mortgages on all the surrounding +camps." +</p> +<p> +"And Percy agreed?" +</p> +<p> +"He didn't want to. He said it took mentality and physical endurance as +well as some courage to play polo. Father said it did—on the part of +the pony. Then s-some of the men heard of it, and there were bets on +it—ten to one he wouldn't do it and twenty to one he couldn't do it. So +Percy decided to try. Father was so afraid that some of the campers and +guides would help him that he had notices sent out at Mr. Willoughby's +suggestion offering a reward if Percy could be shown to have asked any +assistance. Oh, I know he's sick in there somewhere, or starving +or—dead!" +</p> +<p> +I had had a great light break over me, and now I stooped and patted the +girl on the shoulder. +</p> +<p> +"Dead! Certainly not," I said. "I saw him last night." +</p> +<p> +"Saw him!" +</p> +<p> +"Well, not exactly saw him—there wasn't much light. But he's alive and +well, and—do you really want him to win?" +</p> +<p> +"Do I?" She sat up with shining eyes. "I don't care whether he owns +anything in the world but the trunks. If I didn't think I'd add to his +troubles I'd go into the woods this minute and find him and suffer with +him." +</p> +<p> +"You'd have to be married to him first," I objected, rather startled. +</p> +<p> +But she looked at me with her cheeks as red strawberries. "Why?" she +demanded. "Father's crazy about primitive man—did primitive man take +his woman to church to be married, with eight bridesmaids and a +reception after the ceremony? Of course not. He grabbed her and carried +her off." +</p> +<p> +"Good Heavens! You're not in earnest?" "I think I am," she said slowly. +"I'd rather live in the woods with Percy and no ceremony than live +without him anywhere in the world. And I'll bet primitive man would have +been wiped off the earth if he hadn't had primitive woman to add her +wits to his strength. If Percy only had a woman to help him!" +</p> +<p> +"My dear," I said solemnly, "he has! He has, not one, but three!" +</p> +<p> +It took me some time to explain that Percy was not supporting a harem in +the Maine woods; but when at last she got my idea and that the other two +classed with me in beauty and attractiveness, she was overjoyed. +</p> +<p> +"But Percy promised not to ask for help," she said suddenly. +</p> +<p> +"He needn't. My dear, go away and stop worrying about Percy—he's all +right. When is the time up?" +</p> +<p> +"In three weeks." +</p> +<p> +"I suppose father and the Willoughby person will come to meet him?" +</p> +<p> +"Yes, and all the fellows from the club who have put money up on him. +We're going to motor over and father's bringing the physical director of +the athletic club. He's not only got to survive, but he's got to be in +good condition." +</p> +<p> +"He'll be in good condition," I said grimly. "Does he drink and smoke?" +</p> +<p> +"A little, not too much. Oh, yes, I had forgotten!" She opened up a +little gold cigarette case, which she took from her pocket, and +extracted a handful of cigarettes. +</p> +<p> +"If you are going to see him," she said, "you might put them where he'll +find them?" +</p> +<p> +"Certainly not." +</p> +<p> +"But that's not giving them to him." +</p> +<p> +"My dear child," I said sternly, "Percy is going to come out of these +woods so well and strong that he may not have to work, but he'll want +to. And he'll not smoke anything stronger than corn-silk, if we're to +take charge of this thing." +</p> +<p> +She understood quickly enough and I must say she was grateful. She was +almost radiant with joy when I told her how capable Tish was, and that +she was sure to be interested, and about Aggie's hay fever and Mr. +Wiggins and the rabbit snares. She leaned over and kissed me +impulsively. +</p> +<p> +"You dear old thing!" she cried. "I know you'll look after him and make +him comfortable and—how old is Miss Letitia?" +</p> +<p> +"Something over fifty and Aggie Pilkington's about the same, although +she won't admit it." +</p> +<p> +She kissed me again at that, and after looking at her wrist watch she +jumped to her feet. +</p> +<p> +"Heavens!" she said. "It's four o'clock and my engine has been running +all this time!" +</p> +<p> +She got a smart little car from somewhere up the road, and the last I +saw of her she was smiling back over her shoulder and the car running on +the edge of a ditch. +</p> +<p> +"You are three darlings!" she called back. "And tell Percy I love +him—love him—love him!" +</p> +<p> +I thought I'd never get back to the lake. I was tired to begin with, and +after I'd gone about four miles and was limping with a splinter in my +heel and no needle to get it out with, I found I still had the fungus +message to the spring-wagon person under my arm. +</p> +<p> +It was dark when I got back and my nerves were rather unstrung, what +with wandering from the path here and there, with nothing to eat since +morning, and running into a tree and taking the skin off my nose. When I +limped into camp at last, I didn't care whether Percy lived or died, and +the thought of rabbit stew made my mouth water. +</p> +<p> +It was not rabbit, however. Aggie was sitting alone by the fire, waving +a brand round her head to keep off mosquitoes, and in front of her, +dangling from the spit, were a dozen pairs of frogs' legs in a row. +</p> +<p> +I ate six pairs without a question and then I asked for Tish. +</p> +<p> +"Catching frogs," said Aggie laconically, and flourished the brand. +</p> +<p> +"Where?" +</p> +<p> +"Pulling them off the trees. Where do you think she gets them?" she +demanded. +</p> +<p> +A large mosquito broke through her guard at that moment and she flung +the torch angrily at the fire. +</p> +<p> +"I'm eaten alive!" she snapped. "I wish to Heaven I had smallpox or +something they could all take and go away and die." +</p> +<p> +The frogs' legs were heavenly, although in a restaurant I loathe the +things. I left Aggie wondering if her hay fever wasn't contagious +through the blood and hoping the mosquitoes would get it and sneeze +themselves to death, and went to find Tish. +</p> +<p> +She was standing in the margin of the lake up to her knees in water, +with a blazing torch in one hand and one of our tent poles in the other. +Tied to the end the pole was a grapevine line, and a fishing-hook made +of a hairpin was attached to it. +</p> +<p> +Her method, which it seems she'd heard from Charlie Sands and which was +not in the "Young Woodsman," was simple and effectual. +</p> +<p> +"Don't move," she said tensely when she heard me on the bank. "There's +one here as big as a chicken!" +</p> +<p> +She struck the flare forward, and I could see the frog looking at it and +not blinking. He sat in a sort of heavenly ecstasy, like a dog about to +bay at the moon, while the hook dangled just at his throat. +</p> +<p> +"I'm half-ashamed to do it, Lizzie, it's so easy," she said calmly, +still tickling the thing's throat with the hook. "Grab him as I throw +him at you. They slip off sometimes." +</p> +<p> +The next instant she jerked the hook up and caught the creature by the +lower jaw. It was the neatest thing I have ever seen. Tish came wading +over to where I stood and examined the frog. +</p> +<p> +"If we only had some Tartare sauce!" she said regretfully. "I wish you'd +look at my ankle, Lizzie. There's something stuck to it." +</p> +<p> +The something was a leech. It refused to come off, and so she carried +both frog and leech back to the camp. Aggie said on no account to pull a +leech off, it left its teeth in and the teeth went on burrowing, or laid +eggs or something. One must leave it on until it was full and round and +couldn't hold any more, and then it dropped off. +</p> +<p> +So all night Tish kept getting up and going to the fire to see if it was +swelling. But toward morning she fell asleep and it dropped off, and we +had a terrible feeling that it was somewhere in our blankets. +</p> +<p> +But the leech caused less excitement that evening than my story of Percy +and the little girl in the white coat. Aggie was entranced, and Tish had +made Percy a suit of rabbit skin with a cap to match and outlined a set +of exercises to increase his chest measure before I was half through +with my story. +</p> +<p> +But Percy did not appear, although we had an idea that he was not far +off in the woods. We could hear a crackling in the undergrowth, but when +we called there was no reply. Tish was eating a frog's leg when the idea +came to her. +</p> +<p> +"He'll never come out under ordinary circumstances in that—er—costume," +she said. "Suppose we call for help. He'll probably come bounding. +Help!" she yelled, between bites, as one may say. +</p> +<p> +"Help! Fire! Police!" +</p> +<p> +"Help!" cried Aggie. "Percy, help!" It sounded like "Mercy, help!" +</p> +<p> +It worked like a charm. The faint cracking became louder, nearer, turned +from a suspicion to a certainty and from a certainty to a fact. The +bushes parted and Percy stood before us. All he saw was three elderly +women eating frogs' legs round a fire under a cloud of mosquitoes. He +stopped, dumbfounded, and in that instant we saw that he didn't need the +physical exercises, but that, of course, he did need the rabbit-skin +suit. +</p> +<p> +"Great Scott!" he panted. "I thought I heard you calling for help." +</p> +<p> +"So we did," said Tish, "but we didn't need it. Won't you sit down?" +</p> +<p> +He looked dazed and backed toward the bushes. +</p> +<p> +"I—I think," he said, "if there's nothing wrong I'd better not—" +</p> +<p> +"Fiddlesticks!" Tish snapped. "Are you ashamed of the body the Lord +gave you? Don't you suppose we've all got skins? And didn't I thrash my +nephew, Charlie Sands, when he was almost as big as you and had less on, +for bathing in the river? Sit down, man, and don't be a fool." +</p> +<p> +He edged toward the fire, looking rather silly, and Aggie passed him a +frog's leg on a piece of bark. +</p> +<p> +"Try this, Percy," she said, smiling. +</p> +<p> +At the name he looked ready to run. "I guess you've seen the notices," +he said, "so you'll understand I cannot accept any food or assistance. +I'm very grateful to you, anyhow." +</p> +<p> +"You may take what food you find, surely," said Aggie. "If you find a +roasted frog's leg on the ground—so—there's nothing to prevent you +eating it, is there?" +</p> +<p> +"Nothing at all," said Percy, and picked it up. "Unless, of course—" +</p> +<p> +"It's not a trap, young man," said Tish. "Eat it and enjoy it. There are +lots more where it came from." +</p> +<p> +He relaxed at that, and on Tish's bringing out a blanket from the tent +to throw over his shoulders he became almost easy. He was much surprised +to learn that we knew his story, and when I repeated the "love him" +message, he seemed to grow a foot taller and his eyes glowed. +</p> +<p> +"I'm holding out all right," he said. "I'm fit physically. But the thing +that gets my goat is that I'm to come out clothed. Dorothea's father +says that primitive man, with nothing but his hands and perhaps a stone +club, fed himself, made himself a shelter, and clothed himself in skins. +Skins! I'm so big that two or three bears would hardly be enough. I did +find a hole that I thought a bear or two might fall into, and got almost +stung to death robbing a bee tree to bait the thing with honey. But +there aren't any bears, and if there were how'd I kill 'em? Wait until +they starve to death?" +</p> +<p> +"Rabbits!" said Tish. +</p> +<p> +He looked down at himself and he seemed very large in the firelight. +"Dear lady," he said, "there aren't enough rabbits in the county to +cover me, and how'd I put 'em together? I was a fool to undertake the +thing, that's all." +</p> +<p> +"But aren't you in love with her?" asked Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I guess I am. It isn't that, you know. I'm a good bit worse than +crazy about her. A man might be crazy about a mint julep or a power +boat, but—he'd hardly go into the woods in his skin and live on fish +until he's scaly for either of them. If I don't get her, I don't want to +live. That's all." +</p> +<p> +He looked so gloomy and savage that we saw he meant it, and Aggie was +perceptibly thrilled. Trish, however, was thinking hard, her eyes on the +leech. "Was there anything in the agreement to prevent your accepting +any suggestions?" +</p> +<p> +He pondered. "No, I was to be given no food, drink, shelter, or any +weapon. The old man forgot fire—that's how I came to beg some." +</p> +<p> +"Fire and brains," reflected Tish. "We've given you the first and we've +plenty of the second to offer. Now, young man, this is my plan. We'll +give you nothing but suggestions. If now and then you find a cooked meal +under that tree, that's accident, not design, and you'd better eat it. +Can you sew?" +</p> +<p> +"I'm like the Irishman and the fiddle—I never tried, but I guess I +can." He was much more cheerful. +</p> +<p> +"Do you have to be alone?" +</p> +<p> +"I believe he took that for granted, in this costume." +</p> +<p> +"Will it take you long to move over here?" +</p> +<p> +"I think I can move without a van," he said, grinning. "My sole worldly +possessions are a stone hatchet and a hairpin fishhook." +</p> +<p> +"Get them and come over," commanded Tish. "When you leave this forest at +the end of the time you are going to be fed and clothed and carry a +tent; you will have with you smoked meat and fish; you will carry under +your arm an Indian clock or sundial; you will have a lamp—if we can +find a clamshell or a broken bottle—and you will have a fire-making +outfit with your monogram on it." +</p> +<p> +"But, my dear friend," he said, "I am not supposed to have any +assistance and—" +</p> +<p> +"Assistance!" Tish snapped. "Who said assistance? I'm providing the +brains, but you'll do it all yourself." +</p> +<p> +He moved over an hour or so later and Tish and I went into the tent to +bed. Somewhat later, when she limped to the fire to see how the leech +was filling up, he and Aggie were sitting together talking, he of +Dorothea and Aggie of Mr. Wiggins. Tish said they were both talking at +the same time, neither one listening to the other, and that it sounded +like this:—"She's so sweet and trusting and honest—well, I'd believe +what she said if she—" +</p> +<p> +"—fell off a roof on a rainy day and was picked up by a man with a +horse and buggy quite unconscious." +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0015" id="h2H_4_0015"></a> + V +</h3> +<p> +The next three weeks were busy times for Percy. He wore Tish's blanket +for two days, and then, finding it in the way, he discarded it +altogether. Seen in daylight it was easy to understand why little +Dorothea was in love with him. He was a handsome young giant, although +much bitten by mosquitoes and scratched with briers. +</p> +<p> +The arrangement was a good one all round. He knew of things in the wood +we'd never heard of—wild onions and artichokes, and he had found a +clump of wild cherry trees. He made snares of the fibers of tree bark, +and he brought in turtles and made plates out of the shells. And all the +time he was working on his outfit, curing rabbit skins and sewing them +together with fibers under my direction. +</p> +<p> +When he'd made one sleeve of his coat we had a sort of celebration. +He'd found an empty bottle somewhere in the woods, and he had made a +wild-cherry decoction that he declared was cherry brandy, keeping it in +the sun to ferment. Well, he insisted on opening the brandy that day and +passing it round. We had cups made of leaves and we drank to his sleeve, +although the stuff was villainous. He had put the sleeve on, and it +looked rather inadequate. "Here's fun," he said joyously. "If my English +tailor could see this sleeve he'd die of envy. A sleeve's not all of a +coat, but what's a coat without a sleeve? Look at it—grace, ease of +line, and beauty of material." +</p> +<p> +Aggie lifted her leaf. +</p> +<p> +"To Dorothea!" she said. "And may the sleeve soon be about her." +</p> +<p> +Tish thought this toast was not delicate, but Percy was enchanted with +it. +</p> +<p> +It was on the evening of the fourth day of Percy's joining our camp that +the Willoughby person appeared. It happened at a most inauspicious time. +We had eaten supper and were gathered round the camp-fire and Tish had +put wet leaves on the blaze to make a smudge that would drive the +mosquitoes away. We were sitting there, Tish and I coughing and Aggie +sneezing in the smoke, when Percy came running through the woods and +stopped at the foot of a tree near by. +</p> +<p> +"Bring a club, somebody," he yelled. "I've treed the back of my coat." +</p> +<p> +Tish ran with one of the tent poles. A tepee is inconvenient for that +reason. Every time any one wants a fishing-pole or a weapon, the tent +loses part of its bony structure and sags like the face of a stout woman +who has reduced. And it turned out that Percy had treed a coon. He +climbed up after it, taking Tish's pole with him to dislodge it, and it +was at that moment that a man rode into the clearing and practically +fell off his horse. He was dirty and scratched with brambles, and his +once immaculate riding-clothes were torn. He was about to take off his +hat when he got a good look at us and changed his mind. +</p> +<p> +"Have you got anything to eat?" he asked. "I've been lost since noon +yesterday and I'm about all in." +</p> +<p> +The leaves caught fire suddenly and sent a glow into Percy's tree. I +shall never forget Aggie's agonized look or the way Tish flung on more +wet leaves in a hurry. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sorry," she said, "but supper's over." +</p> +<p> +"But surely a starving man—" +</p> +<p> +"You won't starve inside of a week," Tish snapped. "You've got enough +flesh on you for a month." +</p> +<p> +He stared at her incredulously. +</p> +<p> +"But, my good woman," he said, "I can pay for my food. Even you +itinerant folk need money now and then, don't you? Come, now, cook me a +fish; I'll pay for it. My name is Willoughby—J.K. Willoughby. Perhaps +you've heard of me." +</p> +<p> +Tish cast a swift glance into the tree. It was in shadow again and she +drew a long breath. She said afterward that the whole plan came to her +in the instant of that breath. +</p> +<p> +"We can give you something," she said indifferently. "We have a stewed +rabbit, if you care for it." +</p> +<p> +There was a wild scramble in the tree at that moment, and we thought all +was over. We learned later that Percy had made a move to climb higher, +out of the firelight, and the coon had been so startled that he almost +fell out. But instead of looking up to investigate, the stranger backed +toward the fire. +</p> +<p> +"Only a wildcat," said Tish. "They'll not come near the fire." +</p> +<p> +"Near!" exclaimed Mr. Willoughby. "If they came any nearer, they'd have +to get into it!" +</p> +<p> +"I think," said Tish, "that if you are afraid of them—although you are +safe enough if you don't get under the trees; they jump down, you +know—that you would better stay by the fire to-night. In the morning +we'll start you toward a road." +</p> +<p> +All night with Percy in the tree! I gave her a savage glance, but she +ignored me. +</p> +<p> +The Willoughby looked up nervously, and of course there were trees all +about. +</p> +<p> +"I guess I'll stay," he agreed. "What about that rabbit?" +</p> +<p> +I did not know Tish's plan at that time, and while Aggie was feeding the +Willoughby person and he was grumbling over his food, I took Tish aside. +</p> +<p> +"Are you crazy?" I demanded. "Just through your idiocy Percy will have +to stay in that tree all night—and he'll go to sleep, likely, and fall +out." +</p> +<p> +Tish eyed me coldly. +</p> +<p> +"You are a good soul, Lizzie," she observed, "but don't overwork your +mind. Go back and do something easy—let the Willoughby cross your palm +with silver, and tell his fortune. If he asks any questions I'm queen of +the gypsies, and give him to understand that we're in temporary hiding +from the law. The worse he thinks of us the better. Remember, we haven't +seen Percy." +</p> +<p> +"I'm not going to lie," I said sternly. +</p> +<p> +"Pooh!" Tish sneered. "That wretch came into the woods to gloat over his +rival's misery. The truth's too good for him." +</p> +<p> +I did my best, and I still have the silver dollar he gave me. I told him +I saw a small girl, who loved him but didn't realize it yet, and there +was another man. +</p> +<p> +"Good gracious," I said, "there must be something wrong with your palm. +I see the other man, but he seems to be in trouble. His clothing has +been stolen, for he has none, and he is hungry, very hungry." +</p> +<p> +"Ha!" said Mr. Willoughby, looking startled. "You old gypsies beat the +devil! Hungry, eh? Is that all?" +</p> +<p> +The light flared up again and I could see clearly the pale spot in the +tree, which was Percy. But Mr. Willoughby's eyes were on his palm. +</p> +<p> +"He has about decided to give up something—I cannot see just what," I +said loudly. "He seems to be in the air, in a tree, perhaps. If he +wishes to be safe he should go higher." +</p> +<p> +Percy took the hint and moved up, and I said that was all there was in +the palm. Soon after that Mr. Willoughby stretched out on the ground by +the fire, and before long he was asleep. +</p> +<p> +During the night I heard Tish moving stealthily about in the tepee and +she stepped on my ankle as she went out. I fell asleep again as soon as +it stopped aching. Just at dawn Tish came back and touched me on the +shoulder. +</p> +<p> +"Where's the blackberry cordial?" she whispered I sat up instantly. +</p> +<p> +"Has Percy fallen out of the tree?" +</p> +<p> +"No. Don't ask any questions, Lizzie. I want it for myself. That dratted +horse fell on me." +</p> +<p> +She refused to say any more and lay down groaning. But I was too worried +to sleep again. In the morning Percy was gone from the tree. Mr. +Willoughby had more rabbit and prepared to leave the forest. He offered +Tish a dollar for the two meals and a bed, and Tish, who was moving +about stiffly, said that she and her people took no money for their +hospitality. Telling fortunes was one thing, bread and salt was another. +She looked quite haughty, and the Willoughby person apologized and went +into the woods to get his horse. +</p> +<p> +The horse was gone! +</p> +<p> +It was rather disagreeable for a time. He plainly thought we'd taken it, +although Tish showed him that the end of the strap had been chewed +partly through and then jerked free. +</p> +<p> +"If the creature smelled a wildcat," she said, "nothing would hold it. +None of my people ever bring a horse into this part of the country." +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" said Mr. Willoughby. "Well, I'll bet they take a few out!" +</p> +<p> +He departed on foot shortly after, very disgusted and suspicious. We +showed him the trail, and the last we saw of him he was striding along, +looking up now and then for wildcats. +</p> +<p> +When he was well on his way, Percy emerged from the bushes. I had +thought that he had helped Tish to take the Willoughby horse, but it +seems he had not, and he was much amazed when Tish came through the wood +leading the creature by the broken strap. +</p> +<p> +"I'll turn it loose," she said to Percy, "and you can capture it. It +will make a good effect for you to emerge from the forest on horseback, +and anyhow, what with the rabbit skin, the tent, and the sundial and the +other things, you have a lot to carry. You can say you found it straying +in the woods and captured it." +</p> +<p> +Percy looked at her with admiration not unmixed with reverence. "Miss +Letitia," he said solemnly, "if it were not for Dorothea, I should ask +you to marry me. I'd like to have you in my family." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +I am very nearly to the end of my narrative. +</p> +<p> +Toward the last Percy was obliged to work far into the night, for of +course we could not assist him. He made a full suit of rabbit skins +sewed with fibers, and a cap and shoes of coonskin to match. The shoes +were cut from a bedroom-slipper pattern that Tish traced in the sand on +the beach, and the cap had an eagle feather in it. He made a birch-bark +knapsack to hold the fish he smoked and a bow and arrow that looked well +but would not shoot. When he had the outfit completed, he put it on, +with the stone hatchet stuck into a grapevine belt and the bow and arrow +over his shoulder, and he looked superb. +</p> +<p> +"The question is," he reflected, trying to view himself in the edge of +the lake: "Will Dorothea like it? She's very keen about clothes. And +gee, how she hates a beard!" +</p> +<p> +"You could shave as the Indians do," Tish said. +</p> +<p> +"How?" +</p> +<p> +"With a clamshell." +</p> +<p> +He looked dubious, but Tish assured him it was feasible. So he hunted a +clamshell, a double one, Tish requested, and brought it into camp. +</p> +<p> +"I'd better do it for you," said Tish. "It's likely to be slow, but it +is sure." +</p> +<p> +He was eyeing the clamshell and looking more and more uneasy. +</p> +<p> +"You're not going to scrape it off?" he asked anxiously. "You know, +pumice would be better for that, but somehow I don't like the idea." +</p> +<p> +"Nothing of the sort," said Tish. "The double clamshell merely forms a +pair of Indian nippers. I'm going to pull it out." +</p> +<p> +But he made quite a fuss about it, and said he didn't care whether the +Indians did it or not, he wouldn't. I think he saw how disappointed Tish +was and was afraid she would attempt it while he slept, for he threw the +Indian nippers into the lake and then went over and kissed her hand. +</p> +<p> +"Dear Miss Tish," he said; "no one realizes more than I your inherent +nobility of soul and steadfastness of purpose. I admire them both. But +if you attempt the Indian nipper business, or to singe me like a chicken +while I sleep, I shall be—forgive me, but I know my impulsiveness of +disposition—I shall be really vexed with you." +</p> +<p> +Toward the last we all became uneasy for fear hard work was telling on +him physically. He used to sit cross-legged on the ground, sewing for +dear life and singing Hood's "Song of the Shirt" in a doleful tenor. +</p> +<p> +"You know," he said, "I've thought once or twice I'd like to do +something—have a business like other fellows. But somehow dressmaking +never occurred to me. Don't you think the expression of this right pant +is good? And shall I make this gore bias or on the selvage?" +</p> +<p> +He wanted to slash one trouser leg. +</p> +<p> +"Why not?" he demanded when Tish frowned him down. "It's awfully +fetching, and beauty half-revealed, you know. Do you suppose my +breastbone will ever straighten out again? It's concave from stooping." +</p> +<p> +It was after this that Tish made him exercise morning and evening and +then take a swim in the lake. By the time he was to start back, he was +in wonderful condition, and even the horse looked saucy and shiny, owing +to our rubbing him down each day with dried grasses. +</p> +<p> +The actual leave-taking was rather sad. We'd grown to think a lot of the +boy and I believe he liked us. He kissed each one of us twice, once for +himself and once for Dorothea, and flushed a little over doing it, and +Aggie's eyes were full of tears. +</p> +<p> +He rode away down the trail like a mixture of Robinson Crusoe and Indian +brave, his rubbing-fire stick, his sundial with burned figures, and his +bow and arrow jingling, his eagle feather blowing back in the wind, and +his moccasined feet thrust into Mr. Willoughby's stirrups, and left us +desolate. Tish watched him out of sight with set lips and Aggie was +whimpering on a bank. +</p> +<p> +"Tish," she said brokenly, "does he recall anything to you?" +</p> +<p> +"Only my age," said Tish rather wearily, "and that I'm an elderly +spinster teaching children to defy their parents and committing larceny +to help them." +</p> +<p> +"To me," said Aggie softly, "he is young love going out to seek his +mate. Oh, Tish, do you remember how Mr. Wiggins used to ride by taking +his work horses to be shod!" +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +We went home the following day, which was the time the spring-wagon man +was to meet us. We started very early and were properly clothed and +hatted when we saw him down the road. +</p> +<p> +The spring-wagon person came on without hurry and surveyed us as he +came. +</p> +<p> +"Well, ladies," he said, stopping before us, "I see you pulled it off +all right." +</p> +<p> +"We've had a very nice time, thank you," said Tish, drawing on her +gloves. "It's been rather lonely, of course." +</p> +<p> +The spring-wagon person did not speak again until he had reached the +open road. Then he turned round. +</p> +<p> +"The horse business was pretty good," he said. "You ought to hev seen +them folks when he rode out of the wood. Flabbergasted ain't the word. +They was ding-busted." +</p> +<p> +Tish whispered to us to show moderate interest and to say as little as +possible, except to protest our ignorance. And we got the story at last +like this:— +</p> +<p> +It seems the newspapers had been full of the attempt Percy was to make, +and so on the day before quite a crowd had gathered to see him come out +of the wood. +</p> +<p> +"Ten of these here automobiles," said the spring-wagon person, "and a +hay-wagon full of newspaper fellows from the city with cameras, and +about half the village back home walked out or druv and brought their +lunches—sort of a picnic. I kep' my eye on the girl and on a Mr. +Willoughby. +</p> +<p> +"The story is that Willoughby who was the father's choice—Willoughby +was pale and twitching and kep' moving about all the time. But the girl, +she just kep' her eyes on the trail and waited. Noon was the time set, +or as near it as possible. +</p> +<p> +"The father talked to the newspaper men mostly. 'I don't think he'll +do it, boys!' he said. 'He's as soft as milk and he's surprised me by +sticking it out as long as he has. But mark my words, boys,' he said, +'he's been living on berries and things he could pick up off the ground, +and if his physical condition's bad he loses all bets!" +</p> +<p> +It seems that, just as he said it, somebody pulled out a watch and +announced "noon." And on the instant Percy was seen riding down the +trail and whistling. At first they did not know it was he, as they had +expected him to arrive on foot, staggering with fatigue probably. He +rode out into the sunlight, still whistling, and threw an unconcerned +glance over the crowd. +</p> +<p> +He looked at the trees, and located north by the moss on the trunks, the +S.-W.P. said, and unslinging his Indian clock he held it in front of +him, pointing north and south. It showed exactly noon. It was then, and +not until then, that Percy addressed the astonished crowd. +</p> +<p> +"Twelve o'clock, gentlemen," he said. "My watch is quite accurate." +</p> +<p> +Nobody said anything, being, as the S.-W.P. remarked, struck dumb. But +a moment afterward the hay-wagon started a cheer and the machines took +it up. Even the father "let loose," as we learned, and the little girl +sat back in her motor car and smiled through her tears. +</p> +<p> +But Willoughby was furious. It seems he had recognized the horse. +"That's my horse," he snarled. "You stole it from me." +</p> +<p> +"As a matter of fact," Percy retorted, "I found the beast wandering +loose among the trees and I'm perfectly willing to return him to you. I +brought him out for a purpose." +</p> +<p> +"To make a Garrison finish!" +</p> +<p> +"Not entirely. To prove that you violated the contract by going into the +forest to see if you could find me and gloat over my misery. Instead you +found—By the way, Willoughby, did you see any wild-cats?" +</p> +<p> +"Those three hags are in this!" said Willoughby furiously. "Are you +willing to swear you made that silly outfit?" +</p> +<p> +"I am, but not to you." +</p> +<p> +"And at that minute, if you'll believe me," said the S.-W.P., "the girl +got out of her machine and walked right up to the Percy fellow. I was +standing right by and I heard what she said. It was curious, seeing +he'd had no help and had gone in naked, as you may say, and came out +clothed head to foot, with a horse and weapons and a watch, and able to +make fire in thirty-one seconds, and a tent made of about a thousand +rabbit skins." +</p> +<p> +Tish eyed him coldly. +</p> +<p> +"What did she say?" she demanded severely. "She said: 'Those three dear +old things!'" replied the S.-W.P. "And she said: 'I hope you kissed +them for me.'" +</p> +<p> +"He did indeed," said Aggie dreamily, and only roused when Tish nudged +her in a rage. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +Charlie Sands came to have tea with us yesterday at Tish's. He is just +back from England and full of the subject. +</p> +<p> +"But after all," he said, "the Simple Lifers take the palm. Think of it, +my three revered and dearly beloved spinster friends; think of the +peace, the holy calm of it! Now, if you three would only drink less tea +and once in a while would get back to Nature a bit, it would be good for +you. You're all too civilized." +</p> +<p> +"Probably," said Tish, pulling down her sleeves to hide her sunburned +hands. "But do you think people have so much time in the—er—woods?" +</p> +<p> +"Time!" he repeated. "Why, what is there to do?" +</p> +<p> +Just then the doorbell rang and a huge box was carried in. Tish had a +warning and did not wish to open it, but Charlie Sands insisted and cut +the string. Inside were three sets of sable furs, handsomer than any in +the church, Tish says, and I know I've never seen any like them. +</p> +<p> +Tish and I hid the cards, but Aggie dropped hers and Charlie Sands +pounced on it. +</p> +<p> +"'The sleeve is now about Dorothea,'" he read aloud, and then, turning, +eyed us all sternly. +</p> +<p> +"Now, then," said Charlie Sands, "out with it! What have you been up to +this time?" +</p> +<p> +Tish returned his gaze calmly. "We have been in the Maine woods in the +holy calm," she said. "As for those furs, I suppose a body may buy a set +of furs if she likes." This, of course, was not a lie. "As for that +card, it's a mistake." Which it was indeed. +</p> +<p> +"But—Dorothea!" persisted Charlie Sands. +</p> +<p> +"Never in my life knew anybody named Dorothea. Did you, Aggie?" +</p> +<p> +"Never," said Aggie firmly. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands apologized and looked thoughtful. On Tish's remaining +rather injured, he asked us all out to dinner that night, and almost the +first thing he ordered was frogs' legs. Aggie got rather white about the +lips. +</p> +<p> +"I—I think I'll not take any," she said feebly. "I—I keep thinking of +Tish tickling their throats with the hairpin, and how Percy—" +</p> +<p> +We glared at her, but it was too late. Charlie Sands drew up his chair +and rested his elbows on the table. +</p> +<p> +"So there was a Percy as well as a Dorothea!" he said cheerfully. "I +might have known it. Now we'll have the story!" +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_4_0016" id="h2H_4_0016"></a> + TISH'S SPY +</h2> +<h3> +THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED-HEADED DETECTIVE, THE LADY CHAUFFEUR, AND THE +MAN WHO COULD NOT TELL THE TRUTH +</h3> +<h3> +I +</h3> +<p> +It is easy enough, of course, to look back on our Canadian experience +and see where we went wrong. What I particularly resent is the attitude +of Charlie Sands. +</p> +<p> +I am writing this for his benefit. It seems to me that a clean statement +of the case is due to Tish, and, in less degree, to Aggie and myself. +</p> +<p> +It goes back long before the mysterious cipher. Even the incident of our +abducting the girl in the pink tam-o'-shanter was, after all, the +inevitable result of the series of occurrences that preceded it. +</p> +<p> +It is my intention to give this series of occurrences in their proper +order and without bias. Herbert Spencer says that every act of one's +life is the unavoidable result of every act that has preceded it. +</p> +<p> +Naturally, therefore, I begin with the engagement by Tish of a girl as +chauffeur; but even before that there were contributing causes. There +was the faulty rearing of the McDonald youth, for instance, and Tish's +æsthetic dancing. And afterward there was Aggie's hay fever, which made +her sneeze and let go of a rope at a critical moment. Indeed, Aggie's +hay fever may be said to be one of the fundamental causes, being the +reason we went to Canada. +</p> +<p> +It was like this: Along in June of the year before last, Aggie suddenly +announced that she was going to spend the summer in Canada. +</p> +<p> +"It's the best thing in the world for hay fever," she said, avoiding +Tish's eye. "Mrs. Ostermaier says she never sneezed once last year. The +Northern Lights fill the air with ozone, or something like that." +</p> +<p> +"Fill the air with ozone!" Tish scoffed. "Fill Mrs. Ostermaier's skull +with ozone, instead of brains, more likely!" +</p> +<p> +Tish is a good woman—a sweet woman, indeed; but she has a vein of +gentle irony, which she inherited from her maternal grandfather, who was +on the Supreme Bench of his country. However, that spring she was +inclined to be irritable. She could not drive her car, and that was +where the trouble really started. +</p> +<p> +Tish had taken up æsthetic dancing in March, wearing no stays and a +middy blouse and short skirt; and during a fairy dance, where she was to +twirl on her right toes, keeping the three other limbs horizontal, she +twisted her right lower limb severely. Though not incapacitated, she +could not use it properly; and, failing one day to put on the brake +quickly, she drove into an open-front butter-and-egg shop. +</p> +<p> +[This was the time one of the newspapers headed the article: "Even the +Eggs Scrambled."] +</p> +<p> +When Tish decided to have a chauffeur for a time she advertised. There +were plenty of replies, but all of the applicants smoked cigarettes—a +habit Tish very properly deplores. The idea of securing a young woman +was, I must confess, mine. +</p> +<p> +"Plenty of young women drive cars," I said, "and drive well. And, at +least, they don't light a cigarette every time one stops to let a train +go by." +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" Tish commented. "And have a raft of men about all the time!" +</p> +<p> +Nevertheless, she acted on the suggestion, advertising for a young woman +who could drive a car and had no followers. Hutchins answered. +</p> +<p> +She was very pretty and not over twenty; but, asked about men, her face +underwent a change, almost a hardening. "You'll not be bothered with +men," she said briefly. "I detest them!" +</p> +<p> +And this seemed to be the truth. Charlie Sands, for instance, for whose +benefit this is being written, absolutely failed to make any impression +on her. She met his overtures with cold disdain. She was also adamant +to the men at the garage, succeeding in having the gasoline filtered +through a chamois skin to take out the water, where Tish had for years +begged for the same thing without success. +</p> +<p> +Though a dashing driver, Hutchins was careful. She sat on the small of +her back and hurled us past the traffic policemen with a smile. +</p> +<p> +[Her name was really Hutchinson; but it took so long to say it at the +rate she ran the car that Tish changed it to Hutchins.] +</p> +<p> +Really the whole experiment seemed to be an undoubted success, when +Aggie got the notion of Canada into her head. Now, as it happened, +owing to Tish's disapproval, Aggie gave up the Canada idea in favor +of Nantucket, some time in June; but she had not reckoned with Tish's +subconscious self. Tish was interested that spring in the subconscious +self. +</p> +<p> +You may remember that, only a year or so before, it had been the fourth +dimension. +</p> +<p> +[She became convinced that if one were sufficiently earnest one could go +through closed doors and see into solids. In the former ambition she was +unsuccessful, obtaining only bruises and disappointment; but she did +develop the latter to a certain extent, for she met the laundress going +out one day and, without a conscious effort, she knew that she had the +best table napkins pinned to her petticoat. She accused the woman +sternly—and she had six!] +</p> +<p> +"Nantucket!" said Tish. "Why Nantucket?" +</p> +<p> +"I have a niece there, and you said you hated Canada." +</p> +<p> +"On the contrary," Tish replied, with her eyes partly shut, "I find +that my subconscious self has adopted and been working on the Canadian +suggestion. What a wonderful thing is this buried and greater ego! +Worms, rifles, fishing-rods, 'The Complete Angler,' mosquito netting, +canned goods, and sleeping-bags, all in my mind and in orderly array!" +</p> +<p> +"Worms!" I said, with, I confess, a touch of scorn in my voice. "If you +will tell me, Tish Carberry—" +</p> +<p> +"Life preservers," chanted Tish's subconscious self, "rubber blankets, +small tent, folding camp-beds, a camp-stove, a meat-saw, a wood-saw, +and some beads and gewgaws for placating the Indians." Then she opened +her eyes and took up her knitting. "There are no worms in Canada, +Lizzie, just as there are no snakes in Ireland. They were all destroyed +during the glacial period." +</p> +<p> +"There are plenty of worms in the United States," I said with spirit. +"I dare say they could crawl over the border—unless, of course, they +object to being British subjects." +</p> +<p> +She ignored me, however, and, getting up, went to one of her bureau +drawers. We saw then that her subconscious self had written down +lists of various things for the Canadian excursion. There was one +headed Foodstuffs. Others were: Necessary Clothing; Camp Outfit; +Fishing-Tackle; Weapons of Defense; and Diversions. Under this last +heading it had placed binoculars, yarn and needles, life preservers, +a prayer-book, and a cribbage-board. +</p> +<p> +"Boats," she said, "we can secure from the Indians, who make them, I +believe, of hollow logs. And I shall rent a motor boat. Hutchins says +she can manage one. When she's not doing that she can wash dishes." +</p> +<p> +[We had been rather chary of motor boats, you may remember, since the +time on Lake Penzance, when something jammed on our engine, and we had +gone madly round the lake a number of times, with people on various +docks trying to lasso us with ropes.] +</p> +<p> +Considering that it was she who had started the whole thing, and got +Tish's subconscious mind to working, Aggie was rather pettish. +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" she said. "I can't swim, and you know it, Tish. Those canoe +things turn over if you so much as sneeze in them." +</p> +<p> +"You'll not sneeze," said Tish. "The Northern Lights fill the air with +ozone." +</p> +<p> +Aggie looked at me helplessly; but I could do nothing. Only the year +before, Tish, as you may recall, had taken us out into the Maine woods +without any outfit at all, and we had lived on snared rabbits, and +things that no Christian woman ought to put into her stomach. This time +we were at least to go provisioned and equipped. +</p> +<p> +"Where are we going?" Aggie asked. +</p> +<p> +"Far from a white man," said Tish. "Away from milk wagons and children +on velocipedes and the grocer calling up every morning for an order. +We'll go to the Far North, Aggie, where the red man still treads his +native forests; we'll make our camp by some lake, where the deer come at +early morning to drink and fish leap to see the sunset." +</p> +<p> +Well, it sounded rather refreshing, though I confess that, until Tish +mentioned it, I had always thought that fish leaped in the evening to +catch mosquitoes. +</p> +<p> +We sent for Hutchins at once. She was always respectful, but never +subservient. She stood in the doorway while Tish explained. +</p> +<p> +"How far north?" she said crisply. Tish told her. "We'll have no +cut-and-dried destination," she said. "There's a little steamer goes up +the river I have in mind. We'll get off when we see a likely place." +</p> +<p> +"Are you going for trout or bass?" +</p> +<p> +Tish was rather uncertain, but she said bass on a chance, and Hutchins +nodded her approval. +</p> +<p> +"If it's bass, I'll go," she said. "I'm not fond of trout-fishing." +</p> +<p> +"We shall have a motor boat. Of course I shall not take the car." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins agreed indifferently. "Don't you worry about the motor boat," +she said. "Sometimes they go, and sometimes they don't. And I'll help +round the camp; but I'll not wash dishes." +</p> +<p> +"Why not?" Tish demanded. +</p> +<p> +"The reason doesn't really matter, does it? What really concerns you is +the fact." +</p> +<p> +Tish stared at her; but instead of quailing before Tish's majestic eye +she laughed a little. +</p> +<p> +"I've camped before," she said. "I'm very useful about a camp. I like to +cook; but I won't wash dishes. I'd like, if you don't mind, to see the +grocery order before it goes." +</p> +<p> +Well, Aggie likes to wash dishes if there is plenty of hot water; and +Hannah, Tish's maid, refusing to go with us on account of Indians, it +seemed wisest to accept Hutchins's services. +</p> +<p> +Hannah's defection was most unexpected. As soon as we reached our +decision, Tish ordered beads for the Indians; and in the evenings we +strung necklaces, and so on, while one of us read aloud from the works +of Cooper. On the second evening thus occupied, Hannah, who is allowed +to come into Tish's sitting-room in the evening and knit, suddenly +burst into tears and refused to go. +</p> +<p> +"My scalp's as good to me as it is to anybody, Miss Tish," she said +hysterically; and nothing would move her. +</p> +<p> +She said she would run no risk of being cooked over her own camp-fire; +and from that time on she would gaze at Tish for long periods +mournfully, as though she wanted to remember how she looked when she was +gone forever. +</p> +<p> +Except for Hannah, everything moved smoothly. Tish told Charlie Sands +about the plan, and he was quite enthusiastic. +</p> +<p> +"Great scheme!" he said. "Eat a broiled black bass for me. And take the +advice of one who knows: don't skimp on your fishing-tackle. Get the +best. Go light on the canned goods, if necessary; but get the best reels +and lines on the market. Nothing in life hurts so much," he said +impressively, "as to get a three-pound bass to the top of the water and +have your line break. I've had a big fellow get away like that and chase +me a mile with its thumb on its nose." This last, of course, was purely +figurative. +</p> +<p> +He went away whistling. I wish he had been less optimistic. When we came +back and told him the whole story, and he sat with his mouth open and +his hair, as he said, crackling at the roots, I reminded him with some +bitterness that he had encouraged us. His only retort was to say that +the excursion itself had been harmless enough; but that if three elderly +ladies, church members in good standing, chose to become freebooters and +pirates the moment they got away from a corner policeman, they need not +blame him. +</p> +<p> +The last thing he said that day in June was about fishing-worms. +</p> +<p> +"Take 'em with you," he said. "They charge a cent apiece for them up +there, assorted colors, and there's something stolid and British about a +Canadian worm. The fish aren't crazy about 'em. On the other hand, our +worms here are—er—vivacious, animated. I've seen a really brisk and +on-to-its-job United States worm reach out and clutch a bass by the +gills." +</p> +<p> +I believe it was the next day that Tish went to the library and read +about worms. Aggie and I had spent the day buying tackle, according to +Charlie Sands's advice. We got some very good rods with nickel-plated +reels for two dollars and a quarter, a dozen assorted hooks for each +person, and a dozen sinkers. The man wanted to sell us what he called a +"landing net," but I took a good look at it and pinched Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"I can make one out of a barrel hoop and mosquito netting," I whispered; +so we did not buy it. +</p> +<p> +Perhaps he thought we were novices, for he insisted on showing us all +sorts of absurd things—trolling-hooks, he called them; gaff hooks for +landing big fish and a spoon that was certainly no spoon and did not +fool us for a minute, being only a few hooks and a red feather. He asked +a dollar and a quarter for it! +</p> +<p> +[I made one that night at home, using a bit of red feather from a +duster. It cost me just three cents. Of that, as of Hutchins, more +later.] +</p> +<p> +Aggie, whose idea of Canada had been the Hotel Frontenac, had grown +rather depressed as our preparations proceeded. She insisted that night +on recalling the fact that Mr. Wiggins had been almost drowned in +Canada. +</p> +<p> +"He went with the Roof and Gutter Club, Lizzie," she said, "and he was a +beautiful swimmer; but the water comes from the North Pole, freezing +cold, and the first thing he knew—" +</p> +<p> +The telephone bell rang just then. It was Tish. +</p> +<p> +"I've just come from the library, Lizzie," she said. "We'd better raise +the worms. We've got a month to do it in. Hutchins and I will be round +with the car at eight o'clock to-night. Night is the time to get them." +</p> +<p> +She refused to go into details, but asked us to have an electric flash +or two ready and a couple of wooden pails. Also she said to wear +mackintoshes and rubbers. Just before she rang off, she asked me to see +that there was a package of oatmeal on hand, but did not explain. When I +told Aggie she eyed me miserably. +</p> +<p> +"I wish she'd be either more explicit or less," she said. "We'll be +arrested again. I know it!" +</p> +<p> +[Now and then Tish's enthusiasms have brought us into collision with the +law—not that Tish has not every respect for law and order, but that she +is apt to be hasty and at times almost unconventional.] +</p> +<p> +"You remember," said Aggie, "that time she tried to shoot the sheriff, +thinking he was a train robber? She started just like this—reading up +about walking-tours, and all that. I—I'm nervous, Lizzie." +</p> +<p> +I was staying with Aggie for a few days while my apartment was being +papered. To soothe Aggie's nerves I read aloud from Gibbon's "Rome" +until dinner-time, and she grew gradually calmer. +</p> +<p> +"After all, Lizzie," she said, "she can't get us into mischief with two +wooden pails and a package of oatmeal." +</p> +<p> +Tish and Hutchins came promptly at eight and we got into the car. Tish +wore the intent and dreamy look that always preceded her enterprises. +There was a tin sprinkling-can, quite new, in the tonneau, and we placed +our wooden pails beside it and the oatmeal in it. I confess I was +curious, but to my inquiries Tish made only one reply:— +</p> +<p> +"Worms!" +</p> +<p> +Now I do not like worms. I do not like to touch them. I do not even like +to look at them. As the machine went along I began to have a creepy +loathing of them. Aggie must have been feeling the same way, for when my +hand touched hers she squealed. +</p> +<p> +Over her shoulder Tish told her plan. She said it was easy to get +fishing-worms at night and that Hutchins knew of a place a few miles out +of town where the family was away and where there would be plenty. +</p> +<p> +"We'll put them in boxes of earth," she said, "and feed them coffee or +tea grounds one day and oatmeal water the next. They propagate rapidly. +We'll have a million to take with us. If we only have a hundred thousand +at a cent apiece, that's a clear saving of a thousand dollars." +</p> +<p> +"We could sell some," I suggested sarcastically; for Tish's enthusiasms +have a way of going wrong. +</p> +<p> +But she took me seriously. "If there are any fishing clubs about," she +said, "I dare say they'll buy them; and we can turn the money over to +Mr. Ostermaier for the new organ." +</p> +<p> +Tish had bought the organ and had an evening concert with it before we +turned off the main road into a private drive. +</p> +<p> +"This is the place," Hutchins said laconically. +</p> +<p> +Tish got out and took a survey. There was shrubbery all round and a very +large house, quite dark, in the foreground. +</p> +<p> +"Drive onto the lawn, Hutchins," she said. "When the worms come up, the +lamps will dazzle them and they'll be easy to capture." +</p> +<p> +We bumped over a gutter and came to a stop in the middle of the lawn. +</p> +<p> +"It would be better if it was raining," Tish said. "You know, yourself, +Lizzie, how they come up during a gentle rain. Give me the +sprinkling-can." +</p> +<p> +I do not wish to lay undue blame on Hutchins, who was young; but it was +she who suggested that there would probably be a garden hose somewhere +and that it would save time. I know she went with Tish round the corner +of the house, and that they returned in ten minutes or so, dragging a +hose. +</p> +<p> +"I broke a tool-house window," Tish observed, "but I left fifty cents +on the sill to replace it. It's attached at the other end. Run back, +Hutchins, and turn on the water; but not too much. We needn't drown the +little creatures." +</p> +<p> +Well, I have never seen anything work better. Aggie, who had refused to +put a foot out of the car, stood up in it and held the hose. As fast as +she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails. I spread my +mackintosh out and knelt on it. +</p> + +<div class="figure" style="width: 75%;"> +<a name="image-0007"></a> +<img src="images/ill-05.jpg" width="100%" +alt="As fast as she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails" /><br /> +As fast as she wet a bit of lawn, we followed with the pails +</div> + +<p> +The thing took skill. The worms had a way of snapping back into their +holes like lightning. +</p> +<p> +Tish got about three to my one, and talked about packing them in moss +and ice, and feeding them every other day. Hutchins, however, stood on +the lawn, with her hands in her pockets, and watched the house. +</p> +<p> +Suddenly, without warning, Aggie turned the hose directly on my left ear +and held it there. +</p> +<p> +"There's somebody coming!" she cried. "Merciful Heavens, what'll I do +with the hose?" +</p> +<p> +"You can turn it away from me!" I snapped. +</p> +<p> +So she did, and at that instant a young man emerged from the shrubbery. +</p> +<p> +He did not speak at once. Probably he could not. I happened to look at +Hutchins, and, for all her usual <i>savoir-faire</i>, as Charlie Sands called +it, she was clearly uncomfortable. +</p> +<p> +Tish, engaged in a struggle at that moment and sitting back like a +robin, did not see him at once. +</p> +<p> +"Well!" said the young man; and again: "Well, upon my word!" +</p> +<p> +He seemed out of breath with surprise; and he took off his hat and +mopped his head with a handkerchief. And, of course, as though things +were not already bad enough, Aggie sneezed at that instant, as she +always does when she is excited; and for just a second the hose was +on him. +</p> +<p> +It was unexpected and he almost staggered. He looked at all of us, +including Hutchins, and ran his handkerchief round inside his collar. +Then he found his voice. +</p> +<p> +"Really," he said, "this is awfully good of you. We do need rain—don't +we?" +</p> +<p> +Tish was on her feet by that time, but she could not think of anything +to say. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sorry if I startled you," said the young man. "I—I'm a bit +startled myself." +</p> +<p> +"There is nothing to make a fuss about!" said Hutchins crisply. "We are +getting worms to go fishing." +</p> +<p> +"I see," said the young man. "Quite natural, I'm sure. And where are you +going fishing?" +</p> +<p> +Hutchins surprised us all by rudely turning her back on him. Considering +we were on his property and had turned his own hose on him, a little +tact would have been better. +</p> +<p> +Tish had found her voice by that time. "We broke a window in the +tool-house," she said; "but I put fifty cents on the sill." +</p> +<p> +"Thank you," said the young man. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins wheeled at that and stared at him in the most disagreeable +fashion; but he ignored her. +</p> +<p> +"We are trespassing," said Tish; "but I hope you understand. We thought +the family was away." +</p> +<p> +"I just happened to be passing through," he explained. "I'm awfully +attached to the place—for various reasons. Whenever I'm in town I spend +my evenings wandering through the shrubbery and remembering—er—happier +days." +</p> +<p> +"I think the lamps are going out," said Hutchins sharply. "If we're to +get back to town—" +</p> +<p> +"Ah!" he broke in. "So you have come out from the city?" +</p> +<p> +"Surely," said Hutchins to Tish, "it is unnecessary to give this +gentleman any information about ourselves! We have done no damage—" +</p> +<p> +"Except the window," he said. +</p> +<p> +"We've paid for that," she said in a nasty tone; and to Tish: "How do we +know this place is his? He's probably some newspaper man, and if you +tell him who you are this whole thing will be in the morning paper, like +the eggs." +</p> +<p> +"I give you my word of honor," he said, "that I am nothing of the sort; +in fact, if you will give me a little time I'd—I'd like to tell all +about myself. I've got a lot to say that's highly interesting, if you'll +only listen." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins, however, only gave him a cold glance of suspicion and put the +pails in the car. Then she got in and sat down. +</p> +<p> +"I take it," he said to her, "that you decline either to give or to +receive any information." +</p> +<p> +"Absolutely!" +</p> +<p> +He sighed then, Aggie declares. +</p> +<p> +"Of course," he said, "though I haven't really the slightest curiosity, +I could easily find out, you know. Your license plates—" +</p> +<p> +"Are under the cushion I'm sitting on," said Hutchins, and started the +engine. +</p> +<p> +"Really, Hutchins," said Tish, "I don't see any reason for being so +suspicious. I have always believed in human nature and seldom have I +been disappointed. The young man has done nothing to justify rudeness. +And since we are trespassing on his place—" +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" was all Hutchins said. +</p> +<p> +The young man sauntered over to the car, with his hands thrust into this +coat pockets. He was nice-looking, especially then, when he was smiling. +</p> +<p> +"Hutchins!" he said. "Well, that's a clue anyhow. It—it's an uncommon +name. You didn't happen to notice a large 'No-Trespassing!' sign by the +gate, did you?" +</p> +<p> +Hutchins only looked ahead and ignored him. As Tish said afterward, we +had a good many worms, anyhow; and, as the young man and Hutchins had +clearly taken an awful dislike to each other at first sight, the best +way to avoid trouble was to go home. So she got into the car. The young +man helped her and took off his hat. +</p> +<p> +"Come out any time you like," he said affably. "I'm not here at all in +the daytime, and the grounds are really rather nice. Come out and get +some roses. We've some pretty good ones—English importations. If you +care to bring some children from the tenements out for a picnic, please +feel free to do it. We're not selfish." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins rudely started the car before he had finished; but he ignored +her and waved a cordial farewell to the rest of us. +</p> +<p> +"Bring as many as you like," he called. "Sunday is a good day. Ask +Miss—Miss Hutchins to come out and bring some friends along." +</p> +<p> +We drove back at the most furious rate. Tish was at last compelled to +remonstrate with Hutchins. +</p> +<p> +"Not only are we going too fast," she said, "but you were really rude to +that nice young man." +</p> +<p> +"I wish I had turned the hose on him and drowned him!" said Hutchins +between her teeth. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0017" id="h2H_4_0017"></a> + II +</h3> +<p> +Hutchins brought a newspaper to Tish the next morning at breakfast, and +Tish afterwards said her expression was positively malevolent in such a +young and pretty woman. +</p> +<p> +The newspaper said that an attempt had been made to rob the Newcomb +place the night before, but that the thieves had apparently secured +nothing but a package of oatmeal and a tin sprinkling-can, which they +had abandoned on the lawn. Some color, however, was lent to the fear +that they had secured an amount of money, from the fact that a silver +half-dollar had been found on the window sill of a tool-house. The +Newcomb family was at its summer home on the Maine coast. +</p> +<p> +"You see," Hutchins said to Tish, "that man didn't belong there at all. +He was just impertinent and—laughing in his sleeve." +</p> +<p> +Tish was really awfully put out, having planned to take the Sunday +school there for a picnic. She was much pleased, however, at Hutchins's +astuteness. +</p> +<p> +"I shall take her along to Canada," she said to me. "The girl has +instinct, which is better than reason. Her subconsciousness is unusually +active." +</p> +<p> +Looking back, as I must, and knowing now all that was in her small head +while she whistled about the car, or all that was behind her smile, +one wonders if women really should have the vote. So many of them are +creatures of sex and guile. A word from her would have cleared up so +much, and she never spoke it! +</p> +<p> +Well, we spent most of July in getting ready to go. Charlie Sands said +the mosquitoes and black flies would be gone by August, and we were in +no hurry. +</p> +<p> +We bought a good tent, with a diagram of how to put it up, some folding +camp-beds, and a stove. The day we bought the tent we had rather a +shock, for as we left the shop the suburban youth passed us. We ignored +him completely, but he lifted his hat. Hutchins, who was waiting in +Tish's car, saw him, too, and went quite white with fury. +</p> +<p> +Shortly after that, Hannah came in one night and said that a man was +watching Tish's windows. We thought it was imagination, and Tish gave +her a dose of sulphur and molasses—her liver being sluggish. +</p> +<p> +"Probably an Indian, I dare say," was Tish's caustic comment. +</p> +<p> +In view of later developments, however, it is a pity we did not +investigate Hannah's story; for Aggie, going home from Tish's late one +night in Tish's car, had a similar experience, declaring that a small +machine had followed them, driven by a heavy-set man with a mustache. +She said, too, that Hutchins, swerving sharply, had struck the smaller +machine a glancing blow and almost upset it. +</p> +<p> +It was about the middle of July, I believe, that Tish received the +following letter:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + <i>Madam</i>: Learning that you have decided to take a fishing-trip in + Canada, I venture to offer my services as guide, philosopher, and + friend. I know Canada thoroughly; can locate bass, as nearly as it + lies in a mortal so to do; can manage a motor launch; am thoroughly + at home in a canoe; can shoot, swim, and cook—the last indifferently + well; know the Indian mind and my own—and will carry water and chop + wood. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + I do not drink, and such smoking as I do will, if I am engaged, be + done in the solitude of the woods. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + I am young and of a cheerful disposition. My object is not money, but + only expenses paid and a chance to forget a recent and still poignant + grief. I hope you will see the necessity for such an addition to your + party, and allow me to subscribe myself, madam, +</p> +<p class="quote"> + Your most obedient servant, +</p> +<p class="quote"> + J. UPDIKE. +</p> +<p> +Tish was much impressed; but Hutchins, in whose judgment she began to +have the greatest confidence, opposed the idea. +</p> +<p> +"I wouldn't think of it," she said briefly. +</p> +<p> +"Why? It's a frank, straightforward letter." +</p> +<p> +"He likes himself too much. And you should always be suspicious of +anything that's offered too cheap." +</p> +<p> +So the Updike application was refused. I have often wondered since what +would have been the result had we accepted it! +</p> +<p> +The worms were doing well, though Tish found that Hannah neglected them, +and was compelled to feed them herself. On the day before we started, we +packed them carefully in ice and moss, and fed them. That was the day +the European war was declared. +</p> +<p> +"Canada is at war," Tish telephoned. "The papers say the whole country +is full of spies, blowing up bridges and railroads." +</p> +<p> +"We can still go to the seashore," I said. "The bead things will do for +the missionary box to Africa." +</p> +<p> +"Seashore nothing!" Tish retorted. "We're going, of course,—just as we +planned. We'll keep our eyes open; that's all. I'm not for one side or +the other, but a spy's a spy." +</p> +<p> +Later that evening she called again to say there were rumors that the +Canadian forests were bristling with German wireless outfits. +</p> +<p> +"I've a notion to write J. Updike, Lizzie, and find out whether he knows +anything about wireless telegraphy," she said, "only there's so little +time. Perhaps I can find a book that gives the code." +</p> +<p> +[This is only pertinent as showing Tish's state of mind. As a matter of +fact, she did not write to Updike at all.] +</p> +<p> +Well, we started at last, and I must say they let us over the border +with a glance; but they asked us whether we had any firearms. Tish's +trunk contained a shotgun and a revolver; but she had packed over the +top her most intimate personal belongings, and they were not disturbed. +</p> +<p> +"Have you any weapons?" asked the inspector. +</p> +<p> +"Do we look like persons carrying weapons?" Tish demanded haughtily. And +of course we did not. Still, there was an untruth of the spirit and none +of us felt any too comfortable. Indeed, what followed may have been a +punishment on us for deceit and conspiracy. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had taken her cat along—because it was so fond of fish, she said. +And, between Tish buying ice for the worms and Aggie getting milk for +the cat, the journey was not monotonous; but on returning from one of +her excursions to the baggage-car, Tish put a heavy hand on my shoulder. +</p> +<p> +"That boy's on the train, Lizzie!" she said. "He had the impudence to +ask me whether I still drive with the license plates under a cushion. +English roses—importations!" said Tish, and sniffed. "You don't suppose +he went into that tent shop and asked about us?" +</p> +<p> +"He might," I retorted; "but, on the other hand, there's no reason why +our going to Canada should keep the rest of the United States at home!" +</p> +<p> +However, the thing did seem queer, somehow. Why had he told us things +that were not so? Why had he been so anxious to know who we were? Why, +had he asked us to take the Sunday-school picnic to a place that did not +belong to him? +</p> +<p> +"He may be going away to forget some trouble. You remember what he said +about happier days," said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"That was Updike's reason too," I relied. "Poignant grief!" +</p> +<p> +For just a moment our eyes met. The same suspicion had occurred to us +both. Well, we agreed to say nothing to Aggie or Hutchins, for fear of +upsetting them, and the next hour or so was peaceful. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins read and Aggie slept. Tish and I strung beads for the Indians, +and watched the door into the next car. And, sure enough, about the +middle of the afternoon he appeared and stared in at us. He watched us +for quite a time, smoking a cigarette as he did so. Then he came in and +bent down over Tish. +</p> +<p> +"You didn't take the children out for the picnic, did you?" he said. +</p> +<p> +"I did not!" Tish snapped. +</p> +<p> +"I'm sorry. Never saw the place look so well!" +</p> +<p> +"Look here," Tish said, putting down her beads; "what were you doing +there that night anyhow? You don't belong to the family." +</p> +<p> +He looked surprised and then grieved. +</p> +<p> +"You've discovered that, have you?" he said. "I did, you know—word of +honor! They've turned me off; but I love the old place still, and on +summer nights I wander about it, recalling happier days." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins closed her book with a snap, and he sighed. +</p> +<p> +"I perceive that we are overheard," he said. "Some time I hope to tell +you the whole story. It's extremely sad. I'll not spoil the beginning of +your holiday with it." +</p> +<p> +All the time he had been talking he held a piece of paper in his hand. +When he left us Tish went back thoughtfully to her beads. +</p> +<p> +"It just shows, Lizzie," she said, "how wrong we are to trust to +appearances. That poor boy—" +</p> +<p> +I had stooped into the aisle and was picking up the piece of paper which +he had accidentally dropped as he passed Hutchins. I opened it and read +aloud to Tish and Aggie, who had wakened:— +</p> +<p> +"'Afraid you'll not get away with it! The red-haired man in the car +behind is a plain-clothes man.'" +</p> +<p> +Tish has a large fund of general knowledge, gained through Charlie +Sands; so what Aggie and I failed to understand she interpreted at once. +</p> +<p> +"A plain-clothes man," she explained, "is a detective dressed as a +gentleman. It's as plain as pikestaff! The boy's received this warning +and dropped it. He has done something he shouldn't and is escaping to +Canada!" +</p> +<p> +I do not believe, however, that we should have thought of his being a +political spy but for the conductor of the train. He proved to be a very +nice person, with eight children and a toupee; and he said that Canada +was honeycombed with spies in the pay of the German Government. +</p> +<p> +"They're sending wireless messages all the time, probably from remote +places," he said. "And, of course, their play now is to blow up the +transcontinental railroads. Of course the railroads have an army of +detectives on the watch." +</p> +<p> +"Good Heavens!" Aggie said, and turned pale. +</p> +<p> +Well, our pleasure in the journey was ruined. Every time the whistle +blew on the engine we quailed, and Tish wrote her will then and there on +the back of an envelope. It was while she was writing that the truth +came to her. +</p> +<p> +"That boy!" she said. "Don't you see it all? That note was a warning to +him. He's a spy and the red-haired man is after him." +</p> +<p> +None of us slept that night though Tish did a very courageous thing +about eleven o'clock, when she was ready for bed. I went with her. We +had put our dressing-gowns over our nightrobes, and we went back to the +car containing the spy. +</p> +<p> +He had not retired, but was sitting alone, staring ahead moodily. The +red-haired man was getting ready for bed, just opposite. Tish spoke +loudly, so the detective should hear. +</p> +<p> +"I have come back," Tish said, "to say that we know everything. A word +to the wise, Mister Happier Days! Don't try any of your tricks!" +</p> +<p> +He sat, with his mouth quite open, and stared at us: but the red-haired +man pretended to hear nothing and took off his other shoe. +</p> +<p> +None of us slept at all except Hutchins. Though we had told her nothing, +she seemed inherently to distrust the spy. When, on arriving at the town +where we were to take the boat, he offered to help her off with Aggie's +cat basket, which she was carrying, she snubbed him. +</p> +<p> +"I can do it myself," she said coldly; "and if you know when you're well +off you'll go back to where you came from. Something might happen to you +here in the wilderness." +</p> +<p> +"I wish it would," he replied in quite a tragic manner. +</p> +<p> +[As Tish said then, a man is probably often forced by circumstances into +hateful situations. No spy can really want to be a spy with every brick +wall suggesting, as it must, a firing-squad.] +</p> +<p> +Well, to make a long story short, we took the little steamer that goes +up the river three times a week to take groceries and mail to the +logging-camps, and the spy and the red-haired detective went along. The +spy seemed to have quite a lot of luggage, but the detective had only a +suitcase. +</p> +<p> +Tish, watching the detective, said his expression grew more and more +anxious as we proceeded up the river. Cottages gave place to +logging-camps and these to rocky islands, with no sign of life; still, +the spy stayed on the steamer, and so, of course, did the detective. +</p> +<p> +Tish went down and examined the luggage. She reported that the spy was +traveling under the name of McDonald and that the detective's suitcase +was unmarked. Mr. McDonald had some boxes and a green canoe. The +detective had nothing at all. There were no other passengers. +</p> +<p> +We let Aggie's cat out on the boat and he caught a mouse almost +immediately, and laid it in the most touching manner at the detective's +feet; but he was in a very bad humor and flung it over the rail. Shortly +after that he asked Tish whether she intended to go to the Arctic +Circle. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know that that's any concern of yours," Tish said. "You're not +after me, you know." +</p> +<p> +He looked startled and muttered something into his mustache. +</p> +<p> +"It's perfectly clear what's wrong with him," Tish said. "He's got to +stick to Mr. McDonald, and he hasn't got a tent in that suitcase, or +even a blanket. I don't suppose he knows where his next meal's coming +from." +</p> +<p> +She was probably right, for I saw the crew of the boat packing a box or +two of crackers and an old comfort into a box; and Aggie overheard the +detective say to the captain that if he would sell him some fishhooks he +would not starve anyhow. +</p> +<p> +Tish found an island that suited her about three o'clock that afternoon, +and we disembarked. Mr. McDonald insisted on helping the crew with our +stuff, which they piled on a large flat rock; but the detective stood on +the upper deck and scowled down at us. Tish suggested that he was a +woman-hater. +</p> +<p> +"They know so many lawbreaking women," she said, "it's quite natural." +</p> +<p> +Having landed us, the boat went across to another island and deposited +Mr. McDonald and the green canoe. Tish, who had talked about a lodge in +some vast wilderness, complained at that; but when the detective got off +on a little tongue of the mainland, in sight of both islands, she said +the place was getting crowded and she had a notion to go farther. +</p> +<p> +The first thing she did was to sit on a box and open a map. The Canadian +Pacific was only a few miles away through the woods! +</p> +<p> +Hutchins proved herself a treasure. She could work all round the three +of us; she opened boxes and a can of beans for supper with the same +hatchet, and had tea made and the beans heated while Tish was selecting +a site for the tent. +</p> +<p> +But—and I remembered this later—she watched the river at intervals, +with her cheeks like roses from the exertion. She was really a pretty +girl—only, when no one was looking, her mouth that day had a way of +setting itself firmly, and she frowned at the water. +</p> +<p> +We, Hutchins and I, set up the stove against a large rock, and when the +teakettle started to boil it gave the river front a homey look. Sitting +on my folding-chair beside the stove, with a cup of tea in my hand and +a plate of beans on a doily on a packing-box beside me, I was entirely +comfortable. Through the glasses I could see the red-haired man on +the other shore sitting on a rock, with his head in his hands; but Mr. +McDonald had clearly located on the other side of his island and was +not in sight. +</p> +<p> +Aggie and Tish were putting up the tent, and Hutchins was feeding the +tea grounds to the worms, which had traveled comfortably, when I saw a +canoe coming up the river. I called to Tish about it. +</p> +<p> +"An Indian!" she said calmly. "Get the beads, Aggie; and put my shotgun +on that rock, where he can see it." She stood and watched him. +"Primitive man, every inch of him!" she went on. "Notice his uncovered +head. Notice the freedom, almost the savagery, of the way he uses that +paddle. I wish he would sing. You remember, in Hiawatha, how they sing +as they paddle along?" +</p> +<p> +She got the beads and went to the water's edge; but the Indian stooped +just then and, picking up a Panama hat, put it on his head. +</p> +<p> +"I have called," he said, "to see whether I can interest you in a set of +books I am selling. I shall detain you only a moment. Sixty-three steel +engravings by well-known artists; best hand-made paper; and the work +itself is of high educational value." +</p> +<p> +Tish suddenly put the beads behind her back and said we did not expect +to have any time to read. We had come into the wilderness to rest our +minds. +</p> +<p> +"You are wrong, I fear," said the Indian. "Personally I find that I can +read better in the wilds than anywhere else. Great thoughts in great +surroundings! I take Nietzsche with me when I go fishing." +</p> +<p> +Tish had the wretched beads behind her all the time; and, to make +conversation, more than anything else, she asked about venison. He +shrugged his shoulders. J. Fenimore Cooper had not prepared us for an +Indian who shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"We Indians are allowed to kill deer," he said; "but I fear you are +prohibited. I am not even permitted to sell it." +</p> +<p> +"I should think," said Tish sharply, "that, since we are miles from a +game warden, you could safely sell us a steak or two." +</p> +<p> +He gazed at her disapprovingly. "I should not care to break the law, +madam," he said. +</p> +<p> +Then he picked up his paddle and took himself and his scruples and his +hand-made paper and his sixty-three steel engravings down the river. +</p> +<p> +"Primitive man!" I said to Tish, from my chair. "Notice the freedom, +almost the savagery, with which he swings that paddle." +</p> +<p> +We had brought a volume of Cooper along, not so much to read as to +remind us how to address the Indians. Tish said nothing, but she got the +book and flung it far out into the river. +</p> +<p> +There were a number of small annoyances the first day or two. Hutchins +was having trouble with the motor launch, which the steamer had towed up +the day we came, and which she called the "Mebbe." And another civilized +Indian, with a gold watch and a cigarette case, had rented us a leaky +canoe for a dollar a day. +</p> +<p> +[We patched the leak with chewing gum, which Aggie always carried for +indigestion; and it did fairly well, so long as the gum lasted.] +</p> +<p> +Then, on the second night, there was a little wind, and the tent +collapsed on us, the ridgepole taking Aggie across the chest. It was +that same night, I think, when Aggie's cat found a porcupine in the +woods, and came in looking like a pincushion. +</p> +<p> +What with chopping firewood for the stove, and carrying water, and +bailing out the canoe, and with the motor boat giving one gasp and then +dying for every hundred times somebody turned over the engine, we had no +time to fish for two days. +</p> +<p> +The police agent fished all day from a rock, for, of course, he had +no boat; but he seemed to catch nothing. At times we saw him digging +frantically, as though for worms. What he dug with I do not know; but, +of course, he got no worms. Tish said if he had been more civil she +would have taken something to him and a can of worms; but he had been +rude, especially to Aggie's cat, and probably the boat would bring him +things. +</p> +<p> +What with getting settled and everything, we had not much time to think +about the spy. It was on the third day, I believe, that he brought his +green canoe to the open water in front of us and anchored there, just +beyond earshot. +</p> +<p> +He put out a line and opened a book; and from that time on he was a part +of the landscape every day from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. At noon he would eat +some sort of a lunch, reading as he ate. +</p> +<p> +He apparently never looked toward us, but he was always there. It was +the most extraordinary thing. At first we thought he had found a +remarkable fishing-place; but he seemed to catch very few fish. It was +Tish, I think, who found the best explanation. +</p> +<p> +"He's providing himself with an alibi," she stated. "How can he be a spy +when we see him all day long? Don't you see how clever it is?" +</p> +<p> +It was the more annoying because we had arranged a small cove for +soap-and-water bathing, hanging up a rod for bath-towels and suspending +a soap-dish and a sponge-holder from an overhanging branch. The cove was +well shielded by brush and rocks from the island, but naturally was open +to the river. +</p> +<p> +It was directly opposite this cove that Mr. McDonald took up his +position. +</p> +<p> +This compelled us to bathe in the early morning, while the water was +still cold, and resulted in causing Aggie a most uncomfortable half-hour +on the fourth morning of our stay. +</p> +<p> +She was the last one in the pool, and Tish absent-mindedly took her +bathrobe and slippers back to the camp when she went. Tish went out +in the canoe shortly after. She was learning to use one, with a life +preserver on—Tish, of course, not the canoe. And Mr. McDonald arriving +soon after, Aggie was compelled to sit in the water for two hours and +twenty minutes. When Hutchins found her she was quite blue. +</p> +<p> +This was the only disagreement we had all summer: Aggie's refusing to +speak to Tish that entire day. She said Mr. McDonald had seen her head +and thought it was some sort of swimming animal, and had shot at her. +</p> +<p> +Mr. McDonald said afterward he knew her all the time, and was uncertain +whether she was taking a cure for something or was trying to commit +suicide. He said he spent a wretched morning. At five o'clock that +evening we began to hear a curious tapping noise from the spy's island. +It would last for a time, stop, and go on. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins said it was woodpeckers; but Tish looked at me significantly. +</p> +<p> +"Wireless!" she said. "What did I tell you?" +</p> +<p> +That decided her next move, for that evening she put some tea and canned +corn and a rubber blanket into the canoe; and in fear and trembling I +went with her. +</p> +<p> +"It's going to rain, Lizzie," she said, "and after all, that detective +may be surly; but he's doing his duty by his country. It's just as +heroic to follow a spy up here, and starve to death watching him, as it +is to storm a trench—and less showy. And I've something to tell him." +</p> +<p> +The canoe tilted just then, and only by heroic effort, were we able to +calm it. +</p> +<p> +"Then why not go comfortably in the motor boat?" +</p> +<p> +Tish stopped, her paddle in the air. "Because I can't make that dratted +engine go," she said, "and because I believe Hutchins would drown us all +before she'd take any help to him. It's my belief that she's known him +somewhere. I've seen her sit on a rock and look across at him with +murder in her eyes." +</p> +<p> +A little wind had come up, and the wretched canoe was leaking, the +chewing gum having come out. Tish was paddling; so I was compelled to +sit over the aperture, thus preventing water from coming in. Despite my +best efforts, however, about three inches seeped in and washed about me. +It was quite uncomfortable. +</p> +<p> +The red-haired man was asleep when we landed. He had hung the comfort +over a branch, like a tent, and built a fire at the end of it. He had +his overcoat on, buttoned to the chin, and his head was on his +suit-case. He sat up and looked at us, blinking. +</p> +<p> +"We've brought you some tea and some canned corn," Tish said; "and a +rubber blanket. It's going to rain." +</p> +<p> +He slid out of the tent, feet first, and got up; but when he tried to +speak he sneezed. He had a terrible cold. +</p> +<p> +"I might as well say at once," Tish went on, "that we know why you are +here—" +</p> +<p> +"The deuce you do!" he said hoarsely. +</p> +<p> +"We do not particularly care about you, especially since the way you +acted to a friendly and innocent cat—one can always judge a man by the +way he treats dumb animals; but we sympathize with your errand. We'll +even help if we can." +</p> +<p> +"Then the—the person in question has confided in you?" +</p> +<p> +"Not at all," said Tish loftily. "I hope we can put two and two +together. Have you got a revolver?" +</p> +<p> +He looked startled at that. "I have one," he said; "but I guess I'll not +need it. The first night or two a skunk hung round; two, in fact—mother +and child—but I think they're gone." +</p> +<p> +"Would you like some fish?" +</p> +<p> +"My God, no!" +</p> +<p> +This is a truthful narrative. That is exactly what he said. +</p> +<p> +"I'll tell you what I do need, ladies," he went on: "If you've got +a spare suit of underwear over there, I could use it. It'd stretch, +probably. And I'd like a pen and some ink. I must have lost my fountain +pen out of my pocket stooping over the bank to wash my face." +</p> +<p> +"Do you know the wireless code?" Tish asked suddenly. +</p> +<p> +"Wireless?" +</p> +<p> +"I have every reason to believe," she said impressively, "that one of +the great trees on that island conceals a wireless outfit." +</p> +<p> +"I see!" He edged back a little from us both. +</p> +<p> +"I should think," Tish said, eyeing him, "that a knowledge of the +wireless code would be essential to you in your occupation." +</p> +<p> +"We—we get a smattering of all sorts of things," he said; but he was +uneasy—you could see that with half an eye. +</p> +<p> +He accompanied us down to the canoe; but once, when Tish turned +suddenly, he ducked back as though he had been struck and changed color. +He thanked us for the tea and corn, and said he wished we had a spare +razor—but, of course, he supposed not. Then:— +</p> +<p> +"I suppose the—the person in question will stay as long as you do?" he +asked, rather nervously. +</p> +<p> +"It looks like it," said Tish grimly. "I've no intention of being driven +away, if that's what you mean. We'll stay as long as the fishing's +good." +</p> +<p> +He groaned under his breath. "The whole d—d river is full of fish," he +said. "They crawled up the bank last night and ate all the crackers I'd +saved for to-day. Oh, I'll pay somebody out for this, all right! Good +gracious, ladies, your boat's full of water!" +</p> +<p> +"It has a hole in it," Tish replied and upturned it to empty it. +</p> +<p> +When he saw the hole his eyes stuck out. "You can't go out in that leaky +canoe! It's suicidal!" +</p> +<p> +"Not at all," Tish assured him. "My friend here will sit on the leak. +Get in quick, Lizzie. It's filling." +</p> +<p> +The last we saw of the detective that night he was standing on the bank, +staring after us. Afterward, when a good many things were cleared up, he +said he decided that he'd been asleep and dreamed the whole thing—the +wireless, and my sitting on the hole in the canoe, and the wind tossing +it about, and everything—only, of course, there was the tea and the +canned corn! +</p> +<p> +We did our first fishing the next day. Hutchins had got the motor boat +going, and I put over the spoon I had made from the feather duster. +After going a mile or so slowly I felt a tug, and on drawing my line in +I found I had captured a large fish. I wrapped the line about a part of +the engine and Tish put the barrel hoop with the netting underneath it. +The fish was really quite large—about four feet, I think—and it broke +through the netting. I wished to hit it with the oar, but Hutchins said +that might break the fin and free it. Unluckily we had not brought +Tish's gun, or we might have shot it. +</p> +<p> +At last we turned the boat round and went home, the fish swimming +alongside, with its mouth open. And there Aggie, who is occasionally +almost inspired, landed the fish by the simple expedient of getting out +of the boat, taking the line up a bank and wrapping it round a tree. By +all pulling together we landed the fish successfully. It was forty-nine +inches by Tish's tape measure. +</p> +<p> +Tish did not sleep well that night. She dreamed that the fish had a red +mustache and was a spy in disguise. When she woke she declared there was +somebody prowling round the tent. +</p> +<p> +She got her shotgun and we all sat up in bed for an hour or so. +</p> +<p> +Nothing happened, however, except that Aggie cried out that there was a +small animal just inside the door of the tent. We could see it, too, +though faintly. Tish turned the shotgun on it and it disappeared; but +the next morning she found she had shot one of her shoes to pieces. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0018" id="h2H_4_0018"></a> + III +</h3> +<p> +It was the day Tish began her diary that we discovered the red-haired +man's signal. Tish was compelled to remain at home most of the day, +breaking in another pair of shoes, and she amused herself by watching +the river and writing down interesting things. She had read somewhere of +the value of such records of impressions:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 10 A.M. Gull on rock. Very pretty. Frightened away by the McDonald + person, who has just taken up his customary position. Is he reading + or watching this camp? +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 10.22. Detective is breakfasting—through glasses, he is eating canned + corn. Aggie—pickerel, from bank. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 10.40. Aggie's cat, beside her, has caught a small fish. Aggie declares + that the cat stole one of her worms and held it in the water. I think + she is mistaken. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 11. Most extraordinary thing—Hutchins has asked permission to take pen + and ink across to the detective! Have consented. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 11.20. Hutchins is still across the river. If I did not know differently + I should say she and the detective are quarreling. He is whittling + something. Through glasses, she appears to stamp her foot. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 11.30. Aggie has captured a small sunfish. Hutchins is still across the + river. He seems to be appealing to her for something—possibly the + underwear. We have none to spare. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 11.40. Hutchins is an extraordinary girl. She hates men, evidently. She + has had some sort of quarrel with the detective and has returned flushed + with battle. Mr. McDonald called to her as she passed, but she ignored + him. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 12, noon. Really, there is something mysterious about all this. The + detective was evidently whittling a flagpole. He has erected it now, + with a red silk handkerchief at end. It hangs out over the water. + Aggie—bass, but under legal size. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 1.15 P.M. The flag puzzles Hutchins. She is covertly watching it. It is + evidently a signal—but to whom? Are the secret-service men closing in + on McDonald? +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 1. Aggie—pike! +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 2. On consulting map find unnamed lake only a few miles away. Shall + investigate to-morrow. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 3. Steamer has just gone. Detective now has canoe, blue in color. Also + food. He sent off his letter. +</p> +<p class="quote"> + 4. Fed worms. Lizzie thinks they know me. How kindness is its own + reward! Mr. McDonald is drawing in his anchor, which is a large stone + fastened to a rope. Shall take bath. +</p> +<p> +Tish's notes ended here. She did not take the bath after all, for Mr. +McDonald made us a call that afternoon. +</p> +<p> +He beached the green canoe and came up the rocks calmly and smilingly. +Hutchins gave him a cold glance and went on with what she was doing, +which was chopping a plank to cook the fish on. He bowed cheerfully to +all of us and laid a string of fish on a rock. +</p> +<p> +"I brought a little offering," he said, looking at Hutchins's back. +"The fishing isn't what I expected but if the young lady with the hatchet +will desist, so I can make myself heard, I've found a place where there +are fish! This biggest fellow is three and a quarter pounds." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins chopped harder than ever, and the plank flew up, striking her +in the chest; but she refused all assistance, especially from Mr. +McDonald, who was really concerned. He hurried to her and took the +hatchet out of her hand, but in his excitement he was almost uncivil. +</p> +<p> +"You obstinate little idiot!" he said. "You'll kill yourself yet." +</p> +<p> +To my surprise, Hutchins, who had been entirely unemotional right along, +suddenly burst into tears and went into the tent. Mr. McDonald took a +hasty step or two after her, realizing, no doubt, that he had said more +than he should to a complete stranger; but she closed the fly of the +tent quite viciously and left him standing, with his arms folded, +staring at it. +</p> +<p> +It was at that moment he saw the large fish, hanging from a tree. He +stood for a moment staring at it and we could see that he was quite +surprised. +</p> +<p> +"It is a fish, isn't it?" he said after a moment. "I—I thought for a +moment it was painted on something." +</p> +<p> +He sat down suddenly on one of our folding-chairs and looked at the +fish, and then at each of us in turn. +</p> +<p> +"You know," he said, "I didn't think there were such fish! I—you +mustn't mind my surprise." He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. +"Just kick those things I brought into the river, will you? I apologize +for them." +</p> +<p> +"Forty-nine inches," Tish said. "We expect to do better when we really +get started. This evening we shall go after its mate, which is probably +hanging round." +</p> +<p> +"Its mate?" he said, rather dazed. "Oh, I see. Of course!" +</p> +<p> +He still seemed to doubt his senses, for he went over and touched it +with his finger. "Ladies," he said, "I'm not going after the—the mate. +I couldn't land it if I did get it. I am going to retire from the +game—except for food; but I wish, for the sake of my reason, you'd tell +me what you caught it with." +</p> +<p> +Well, you may heartily distrust a person; but that is no reason why you +should not answer a simple question. So I showed him the thing I had +made—and he did not believe me! +</p> +<p> +"You're perfectly right," he said. "Every game has its secrets. I had no +business to ask. But you haven't caught me with that feather-duster +thing any more than you caught that fish with it. I don't mind your not +telling me. That's your privilege. But isn't it rather rubbing it in to +make fun of me?" +</p> +<p> +"Nothing of the sort!" Aggie said angrily. "If you had caught it—" +</p> +<p> +"My dear lady," he said, "I couldn't have caught it. The mere shock of +getting such a bite would have sent me out of my boat in a swoon." He +turned to Tish. "I have only one disappointment," he said, "that it +wasn't one of <i>our</i> worms that did the work." +</p> +<p> +Tish said afterward she was positively sorry for him, he looked so +crestfallen. So, when he started for his canoe she followed him. +</p> +<p> +"Look here," she said; "you're young, and I don't want to see you get +into trouble. Go home, young man! There are plenty of others to take +your place." +</p> +<p> +He looked rather startled. "That's it exactly," he said, after a moment. +"As well as I can make out there are about a hundred. If you think," he +said fiercely, raising his voice, "that I'm going to back out and let +somebody else in, I'm not. And that's flat." +</p> +<p> +"It's a life-and-death matter," said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"You bet it's a life-and-death matter." +</p> +<p> +"And—what about the—the red-headed man over there?" +</p> +<p> +His reply amazed us all. "He's harmless," he said. "I don't like him, +naturally; but I admire the way he holds on. He's making the best of a +bad business." +</p> +<p> +"Do you know why he's here?" +</p> +<p> +He looked uneasy for once. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I've got a theory," he replied; but, though his voice was calm, +he changed color. +</p> +<p> +"Then perhaps you'll tell me what that signal means?" +</p> +<p> +Tish gave him the glasses and he saw the red flag. I have never seen a +man look so unhappy. +</p> +<p> +"Holy cats!" he said, and almost dropped the glasses. "Why, he—he must +be expecting somebody!" +</p> +<p> +"So I should imagine," Tish commented dryly. "He sent a letter by the +boat to-day." +</p> +<p> +"The h—l he did!" And then: "That's ridiculous! You're mistaken. As +a—as a matter of fact, I went over there the other night and +commandeered his fountain pen." +</p> +<p> +So it had not fallen out of his pocket! +</p> +<p> +"I'll be frank, ladies," he said. "It's my object just now to keep that +chap from writing letters. It doesn't matter why, but it's vital." +</p> +<p> +He was horribly cast down when we told him about Hutchins and the pen +and ink. +</p> +<p> +"So that's it!" he said gloomily. "And the flag's a signal, of course. +Ladies, you have done it out of the kindness of your hearts, I know; but +I think you have wrecked my life." +</p> +<p> +He took a gloomy departure and left us all rather wrought up. Who were +we, as Tish said, to imperil a fellow man? And another thing—if there +was a reward on him, why should we give it to a red-haired detective, +who was rude to harmless animals and ate canned corn for breakfast? +</p> +<p> +With her customary acumen Tish solved the difficulty that very evening. +</p> +<p> +"The simplest thing," she said, "of course, would be to go over +during the night and take the flag away; but he may have more red +handkerchiefs. Then, too, he seems to be a light sleeper, and it would +be awkward to have him shoot at us." +</p> +<p> +She sat in thought for quite a while. Hutchins was watching the sunset, +and seemed depressed and silent. Tish lowered her voice. +</p> +<p> +"There's no reason why we shouldn't have a red flag, too," she said. "It +gives us an even chance to get in on whatever is about to happen. We can +warn Mr. McDonald, for one thing, if any one comes here. Personally I +think he is unjustly suspected." +</p> +<p> +[But Tish was to change her mind very soon.] +</p> +<p> +We made the flag that night, by lantern light, out of Tish's red silk +petticoat. Hutchins was curious, I am sure; but we explained nothing. +And we fastened it obliquely over the river, like the one on the other +side. +</p> +<p> +Tish's change of heart, which occurred the next morning, was due +to a most unfortunate accident that happened to her at nine o'clock. +Hutchins, who could swim like a duck, was teaching Tish to swim, and +she was learning nicely. Tish had put a life-preserver on, with a +clothes-line fastened to it, and Aggie was sitting on the bank holding +the rope while she went through the various gestures. +</p> +<p> +Having completed the lesson Hutchins went into the woods for red +raspberries, leaving Tish still practicing in the water with Aggie +holding the rope. Happening to sneeze, the line slipped out of her hand, +and she had the agonizing experience of seeing Tish carried away by the +current. +</p> +<p> +I was washing some clothing in the river a few yards down the stream +when Tish came floating past. I shall never forget her expression or my +own sense of absolute helplessness. +</p> +<p> +"Get the canoe," said Tish, "and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven." +</p> + + +<div class="figure" style="width: 75%;"> +<a name="image-0008"></a> +<img src="images/ill-06.jpg" width="100%" +alt="'Get the canoe and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven'" /><br /> +"Get the canoe and follow. I'm heading for Island Eleven" +</div> + +<p> +She was quite calm, though pale; but, in her anxiety to keep well above +the water, she did what was almost a fatal thing—she pushed the +life-preserver lower down round her body. And having shifted the +floating center, so to speak, without warning her head disappeared and +her feet rose in the air. +</p> +<p> +For a time it looked as though she would drown in that position; but +Tish rarely loses her presence of mind. She said she knew at once what +was wrong. So, though somewhat handicapped by the position, she replaced +the cork belt under her arms and emerged at last. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had started back into the woods for Hutchins; but, with one thing +and another, it was almost ten before they returned together. Tish by +that time was only a dot on the horizon through the binocular, having +missed Island Eleven, as she explained later, by the rope being caught +on a submerged log, which deflected her course. +</p> +<p> +We got into the motor boat and followed her, and, except for a most +unjust sense of irritation that I had not drowned myself by following +her in the canoe, she was unharmed. We got her into the motor boat and +into a blanket, and Aggie gave her some blackberry cordial at once. It +was some time before her teeth ceased chattering so she could speak. +When she did it was to announce that she had made a discovery. +</p> +<p> +"He's a spy, all right!" she said. "And that Indian is another. Neither +of them saw me as I floated past. They were on Island Eleven. Mr. +McDonald wrote something and gave it to the Indian. It wasn't a letter +or he'd have sent it by the boat. He didn't even put it in an envelope, +so far as I could see. It's probably in cipher." +</p> +<p> +Well, we took her home, and she had a boiled egg at dinner. +</p> +<p> +The rest of us had fish. It is one of Tish's theories that fish should +only be captured for food, and that all fish caught must be eaten. I do +not know when I have seen fish come as easy. Perhaps it was the worms, +which had grown both long and fat, so that one was too much for a hook; +and we cut them with scissors, like tape or ribbon. Aggie and I finally +got so sick of fish that while Tish's head was turned we dropped in our +lines without bait. But, even at that, Aggie, reeling in her line to go +home, caught a three-pound bass through the gills and could not shake +it off. +</p> +<p> +We tried to persuade Tish to lie down that afternoon, but she refused. +</p> +<p> +"I'm not sick," she said, "even if you two idiots did try to drown me. +And I'm on the track of something. If that was a letter, why didn't he +send it by the boat?" +</p> +<p> +Just then her eye fell on the flagpole, and we followed her horrified +gaze. The flag had been neatly cut away! +</p> +<p> +Tish's eyes narrowed. She looked positively dangerous; and within five +minutes she had cut another flag out of the back breadth of the +petticoat and flung it defiantly in the air. Who had cut away the +signal—McDonald or the detective? We had planned to investigate the +nameless lake that afternoon, Tish being like Colonel Roosevelt in her +thirst for information, as well as in the grim pugnacity that is her +dominant characteristic; but at the last minute she decided not to go. +</p> +<p> +"You and Aggie go, Lizzie," she said. "I've got something on hand." +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" Aggie wailed. "You'll drown yourself or something." +</p> +<p> +"Don't be a fool!" Tish snapped. "There's a portage, but you and Lizzie +can carry the canoe across on your heads. I've seen pictures of it. It's +easy. And keep your eyes open for a wireless outfit. There's one about, +that's sure!" +</p> +<p> +"Lots of good it will do to keep our eyes open," I said with some +bitterness, "with our heads inside the canoe!" +</p> +<p> +We finally started and Hutchins went with us. It was Hutchins, too, who +voiced the way we all felt when we had crossed the river and were +preparing for what she called the portage. +</p> +<p> +"She wants to get us out of the way, Miss Lizzie," she said. "Can you +imagine what mischief she's up to?" +</p> +<p> +"That is not a polite way to speak of Miss Tish, Hutchins," I said +coldly. Nevertheless, my heart sank. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins and I carried the canoe. It was a hot day and there was no +path. Aggie, who likes a cup of hot tea at five o'clock, had brought +along a bottle filled with tea, and a small basket containing sugar and +cups. +</p> +<p> +Personally I never had less curiosity about a lake. As a matter of fact +I wished there was no lake. Twice—being obliged, as it were, to walk +blindly and the canoe being excessively heavy—I, who led the way, ran +the front end of the thing against the trunk of a tree, and both +Hutchins and I sat down violently, under the canoe as a result of the +impact. +</p> +<p> +To add to the discomfort of the situation Aggie declared that we were +being followed by a bear, and at the same instant stepped into a swamp +up to her knees. She became calm at once, with the calmness of despair. +</p> +<p> +"Go and leave me, Lizzie!" she said. "He is just behind those bushes. I +may sink before he gets me—that's one comfort." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins found a log and, standing on it, tried to pull her up; but she +seemed firmly fastened. Aggie went quite white; and, almost beside +myself, I poured her a cup of hot tea, which she drank. I remember she +murmured Mr. Wiggins's name, and immediately after she yelled that the +bear was coming. +</p> +<p> +It was, however, the detective who emerged from the bushes. He got Aggie +out with one good heave, leaving both her shoes gone forever; and while +she collapsed, whimpering, he folded his arms and stared at all of us +angrily. +</p> +<p> +"What sort of damnable idiocy is this?" he demanded in a most unpleasant +tone. +</p> +<p> +Aggie revived and sat upright. +</p> +<p> +"That's our affair, isn't it?" said Hutchins curtly. +</p> +<p> +"Not by a blamed sight!" was his astonishing reply. +</p> +<p> +"The next time I am sinking in a morass, let me sink," Aggie said, with +simple dignity. +</p> +<p> +He did not speak another word, but gave each of us a glance of the most +deadly contempt, and finished up with Hutchins. +</p> +<p> +"What I don't understand," he said furiously, "is why you have to lend +yourself to this senile idiocy. Because some old women choose to sink +themselves in a swamp is no reason why you should commit suicide!" +</p> +<p> +Aggie said afterward only the recollection that he had saved her life +prevented her emptying the tea on him. I should hardly have known +Hutchins. +</p> +<p> +"Naturally," she said in a voice thick with fury, "you are in a position +to insult these ladies, and you do. But I warn you, if you intend to +keep on, this swamp is nothing. We like it here. We may stay for months. +I hope you have your life insured." +</p> +<p> +Perhaps we should have understood it all then. Of course Charlie Sands, +for whom I am writing this, will by this time, with his keen mind, +comprehend it all; but I assure you we suspected nothing. +</p> +<p> +How simple, when you line it up: The country house and the garden hose; +the detective, with no camp equipment; Mr. McDonald and the green +canoe; the letter on the train; the red flag; the girl in the pink +tam-o'-shanter—who has not yet appeared, but will shortly; Mr. +McDonald's incriminating list—also not yet, but soon. +</p> +<p> +How inevitably they led to what Charlie Sands has called our crime! +</p> +<p> +The detective, who was evidently very strong, only glared at her. Then +he swung the canoe up on his head and, turning about, started back the +way we had come. Though Hutchins and Aggie were raging, I was resigned. +My neck was stiff and my shoulders ached. We finished our tea in silence +and then made our way back to the river. +</p> +<p> +I have now reached Tish's adventure. It is not my intention in this +record to defend Tish. She thought her conclusions were correct. Charlie +Sands says she is like Shaw—she has got a crooked point of view, but +she believes she is seeing straight. And, after a while, if you look her +way long enough you get a sort of mental astigmatism. +</p> +<p> +So I shall confess at once that, at the time, I saw nothing immoral in +what she did that afternoon while we were having our adventure in the +swamp. +</p> +<p> +I was putting cloths wrung out of arnica and hot water on my neck when +she came home, and Hutchins was baking biscuit—she was a marvelous +cook, though Aggie, who washed the dishes, objected to the number of +pans she used. +</p> +<p> +Tish ignored both my neck and the biscuits, and, marching up the bank, +got her shotgun from the tent and loaded it. +</p> +<p> +"We may be attacked at any time," she said briefly; and, getting the +binocular, she searched the river with a splendid sweeping glance. "At +any time. Hutchins, take these glasses, please, and watch that we are +not disturbed." +</p> +<p> +"I'm baking biscuit, Miss Letitia." +</p> +<p> +"Biscuit!" said Tish scornfully. "Biscuit in times like these?" +</p> +<p> +She walked up to the camp stove and threw the oven door open; but, +though I believe she had meant to fling them into the river, she changed +her mind when she saw them. +</p> +<p> +"Open a jar of honey, Hutchins," she said, and closed the oven; but +her voice was abstracted. "You can watch the river from the stove, +Hutchins," she went on. "Miss Aggie and Miss Lizzie and I must confer +together." +</p> +<p> +So we went into the tent, and Tish closed and fastened it. +</p> +<p> +"Now," she said, "I've got the papers." +</p> +<p> +"Papers?" +</p> +<p> +"The ones Mr. McDonald gave that Indian this morning. I had an idea he'd +still have them. You can't hurry an Indian. I waited in the bushes until +he went in swimming. Then I went through his pockets." +</p> +<p> +"Tish Carberry!" cried Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"These are not times to be squeamish," Tish said loftily. "I'm neutral; +of course; but Great Britain has had this war forced on her and I'm +going to see that she has a fair show. I've ordered all my stockings +from the same shop in London, for twenty years, and squarer people never +lived. Look at these—how innocent they look, until one knows!" +</p> +<p> +She produced two papers from inside her waist. I must confess that, at +first glance, I saw nothing remarkable. +</p> +<p> +"The first one looks," said Tish, "like a grocery order. It's meant to +look like that. It's relieved my mind of one thing—McDonald's got no +wireless or he wouldn't be sending cipher messages by an Indian." +</p> +<p> +It was written on a page torn out of a pocket notebook and the page was +ruled with an inch margin at the left. This was the document:— +</p> +<p class="quote" style="float: left; text-align: right;"> + 1 <br /> + 20 <br /> + 1 pkg. <br /> + 1 doz. <br /> + 3 lbs. <br /> + 1 bot. <br /> + 3 <br /> + 1 <br /> +</p> +<p class="quote" style="float: left;"> +Dozen eggs.<br /> +Yards fishing-line.<br /> +Needles—anything to sew a button on.<br /> +A B C bass hooks.<br /> +Meat—anything so it isn't fish.<br /> +Ink for fountain pen.<br /> +Tins sardines.<br /> +Extractor.<br /> +</p> +<p style="clear: both;"> +Well, I could not make anything of it; but, of course, I have not Tish's +mind. Aggie was almost as bad. +</p> +<p> +"What's an extractor?" she asked. +</p> +<p> +"Exactly!" said Tish. "What is an extractor? Is the fellow going to pull +teeth? No! He needed an <i>e</i>; so he made up a word." +</p> +<p> +She ran her finger down the first letters of the second column. +"D-y-n-a-m-i-t-e!" she said triumphantly. "Didn't I tell you?" +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0019" id="h2H_4_0019"></a> + IV +</h3> +<p> +Well, there it was—staring at us. I felt positively chilled. He looked +so young and agreeable, and, as Aggie said, he had such nice teeth. And +to know him for what he was—it was tragic! But that was not all. +</p> +<p> +"Add the numbers!" said Tish. "Thirty-one tons, perhaps, of dynamite! +And that's only part," said Tish. "Here's the most damning thing of +all—a note to his accomplice!" +</p> +<p> +"Damning" is here used in the sense of condemnatory. We are none of us +addicted to profanity. +</p> +<p> +We read the other paper, which had been in a sealed envelope, but +without superscription. It is before me as I write, and I am copying it +exactly:— +</p> +<p class="quote"> + I shall have to see you. I'm going crazy! Don't you realize that this + is a matter of life and death to me? Come to Island Eleven to-night, + won't you? And give me a chance to talk, anyhow. Something has got to + be done and done soon. I'm desperate! +</p> +<p> +Aggie sneezed three times in sheer excitement; for anyone can see how +absolutely incriminating the letter was. It was not signed, but it was +in the same writing as the list. +</p> +<p> +Tish, who knows something about everything, said the writing denoted an +unscrupulous and violent nature. +</p> +<p> +"The <i>y</i> is especially vicious," she said. "I wouldn't trust a man who +made a <i>y</i> like that to carry a sick child to the doctor!" +</p> +<p> +The thing, of course, was to decide at once what measures to take. The +boat would not come again for two days, and to send a letter by it to +the town marshal or sheriff, or whatever the official is in Canada who +takes charge of spies, would be another loss of time. +</p> +<p> +"Just one thing," said Tish. "I'll plan this out and find some way to +deal with the wretch; but I wouldn't say anything to Hutchins. She's a +nice little thing, though she is a fool about a motor boat. There's no +use in scaring her." +</p> +<p> +For some reason or other, however, Hutchins was out of spirits that +night. +</p> +<p> +"I hope you're not sick, Hutchins?" said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"No, indeed, Miss Tish." +</p> +<p> +"You're not eating your fish." +</p> +<p> +"I'm sick of fish," she said calmly. "I've eaten so much fish that when +I see a hook I have a mad desire to go and hang myself on it." +</p> +<p> +"Fish," said Tish grimly, "is good for the brain. I do not care to +boast, but never has my mind been so clear as it is to-night." +</p> +<p> +Now certainly, though Tish's tone was severe, there was nothing in it to +hurt the girl; but she got up from the cracker box on which she was +sitting, with her eyes filled with tears. +</p> +<p> +"Don't mind me. I'm a silly fool," she said; and went down to the river +and stood looking out over it. +</p> +<p> +It quite spoiled our evening. Aggie made her a hot lemonade and, I +believe, talked to her about Mr. Wiggins, and how, when he was living, +she had had fits of weeping without apparent cause. But if the girl was +in love, as we surmised, she said nothing about it. She insisted that it +was too much fish and nervous strain about the Mebbe. +</p> +<p> +"I never know," she said, "when we start out whether we're going to get +back or be marooned and starve to death on some island." +</p> +<p> +Tish said afterward that her subconscious self must have taken the word +"marooned" and played with it; for in ten minutes or so her plan popped +into her head. +</p> +<p> +"'Full-panoplied from the head of Jove,' Lizzie," she said. "Really, it +is not necessary to think if one only has faith. The supermind does it +all without effort. I do not dislike the young man; but I must do my +duty." +</p> +<p> +Tish's plan was simplicity itself. We were to steal his canoe. +</p> +<p> +"Then we'll have him," she finished. "The current's too strong there for +him to swim to the mainland." +</p> +<p> +"He might try it and drown," Aggie objected. "Spy or no spy, he's +somebody's son." +</p> +<p> +"War is no time to be chicken-hearted," Tish replied. +</p> +<p> +I confess I ate little all that day. At noon Mr. McDonald came and +borrowed two eggs from us. +</p> +<p> +"I've sent over to a store across country, by my Indian guide, +philosopher, and friend," he said, "for some things I needed; but I dare +say he's reading Byron somewhere and has forgotten it." +</p> +<p> +"Guide, philosopher, and friend!" I caught Tish's eye. McDonald had +written the Updike letter! McDonald had meant to use our respectability +to take him across the border! +</p> +<p> +We gave him the eggs, but Tish said afterward she was not deceived for a +moment. +</p> +<p> +"The Indian has told him," she said, "and he's allaying our suspicions. +Oh, he's clever enough! 'Know the Indian mind and my own!'" she quoted +from the Updike letter. "'I know Canada thoroughly.' 'My object is not +money.' I should think not!" +</p> +<p> +Tish stole the green canoe that night. She put on the life preserver and +we tied the end of the rope that Aggie had let slip to the canoe. The +life-preserver made it difficult to paddle, Tish said, but she felt +more secure. If she struck a rock and upset, at least she would not +drown; and we could start after her at dawn with the Mebbe. +</p> +<p> +"I'll be somewhere down the river," she said, "and safe enough, most +likely, unless there are falls." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins watched in a puzzled way, for Tish did not leave until dusk. +</p> +<p> +"You'd better let me follow you with the launch, Miss Tish," she said. +"Just remember that if the canoe sinks you're tied to it." +</p> +<p> +"I'm on serious business to-night, Hutchins," Tish said ominously. "You +are young, and I refuse to trouble your young mind; but your ears are +sharp. If you hear any shooting, get the boat and follow me." +</p> +<p> +The mention of shooting made me very nervous. We watched Tish as long as +we could see her; then we returned to the tent, and Aggie and I +crocheted by the hanging lantern. Two hours went by. At eleven o'clock +Tish had not returned and Hutchins was in the motor boat, getting it +ready to start. +</p> +<p> +"I like courage, Miss Lizzie," she said to me; "but this thing of +elderly women, with some sort of bug, starting out at night in canoes is +too strong for me. Either she's going to stay in at night or I'm going +home." +</p> +<p> +"Elderly nothing!" I said, with some spirit. "She is in the prime of +life. Please remember, Hutchins, that you are speaking of your employer. +Miss Tish has no bug, as you call it." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, she's rational enough," Hutchins retorted: "but she is a woman of +one idea and that sort of person is dangerous." +</p> +<p> +I was breathless at her audacity. +</p> +<p> +"Come now, Miss Lizzie," she said, "how can I help when I don't know +what is being done? I've done my best up here to keep you comfortable +and restrain Miss Tish's recklessness; but I ought to know something." +</p> +<p> +She was right; and, Tish or no Tish, then and there I told her. She was +more than astonished. She sat in the motor boat, with a lantern at her +feet, and listened. +</p> +<p> +"I see," she said slowly. "So the—so Mr. McDonald is a spy and has sent +for dynamite to destroy the railroad! And—and the red-haired man is a +detective! How do you know he is a detective?" +</p> +<p> +I told her then about the note we had picked up from beside her in the +train, and because she was so much interested she really seemed quite +thrilled. I brought the cipher grocery list and the other note down to +her. +</p> +<p> +"It's quite convincing, isn't it?" she said. "And—and exciting! I don't +know when I've been so excited." +</p> +<p> +She really was. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked exceedingly pretty. +</p> +<p> +"The thing to do," she said, "is to teach him a lesson. He's young. He +mayn't always have had to stoop to such—such criminality. If we can +scare him thoroughly, it might do him a lot of good." +</p> +<p> +I said I was afraid Tish took a more serious view of things and would +notify the authorities. And at that moment there came two or three +shots—then silence. +</p> +<p> +I shall never forget the ride after Tish and how we felt when we failed +to find her; for there was no sign of her. The wind had come up, and, +what with seeing Tish tied to that wretched canoe and sinking with it or +shot through the head and lying dead in the bottom of it, we were about +crazy. As we passed Island Eleven we could see the spy's camp-fire and +his tent, but no living person. +</p> +<p> +At four in the morning we gave up and started back, heavy-hearted. +What, therefore, was our surprise to find Tish sitting by the fire in +her bathrobe, with a cup of tea in her lap and her feet in a foot-tub of +hot water! Considering all we had gone through and that we had obeyed +orders exactly, she was distinctly unjust. Indeed, at first she quite +refused to speak to any of us. +</p> +<p> +"I do think, Tish," Aggie said as she stood shivering by the fire, "that +you might at least explain where you have been. We have been going up +and down the river for hours, burying you over and over." +</p> +<p> +Tish took a sip of tea, but said nothing. +</p> +<p> +"You said," I reminded her, "that if there was shooting, we were to +start after you at once. When we heard the shots, we went, of course." +</p> +<p> +Tish leaned over and, taking the teakettle from the fire, poured more +water into the foot-tub. Then at last she turned to speak. +</p> +<p> +"Bring some absorbent cotton and some bandages, Hutchins," she said. "I +am bleeding from a hundred wounds. As for you"—she turned fiercely on +Aggie and me—"the least you could have done was to be here when I +returned, exhausted, injured, and weary; but, of course, you were +gallivanting round the lake in an upholstered motor boat." +</p> +<p> +Here she poured more water into the foot-tub and made it much too hot. +This thawed her rather, and she explained what was wrong. She was +bruised, scratched to the knees, and with a bump the size of an egg on +her forehead, where she had run into a tree. +</p> +<p> +The whole story was very exciting. It seems she got the green canoe +without any difficulty, the spy being sound asleep in his tent; but +about that time the wind came up and Tish said she could not make an +inch of progress toward our camp. +</p> +<p> +The chewing gum with which we had repaired our canoe came out at that +time and the boat began to fill, Tish being unable to sit over the leak +and paddle at the same time. So, at last, she gave up and made for the +mainland. +</p> +<p> +"The shooting," Tish said with difficulty, "was by men from the Indian +camp firing at me. I landed below the camp, and was making my way as +best I could through the woods when they heard me moving. I believe they +thought it was a bear." +</p> +<p> +I think Tish was more afraid of the Indians, in spite of their +sixty-three steel engravings and the rest of it, than she pretended, +though she said she would have made herself known, but at that moment +she fell over a fallen tree and for fifteen minutes was unable to speak +a word. When at last she rose the excitement was over and they had gone +back to their camp. +</p> +<p> +"Anyhow," she finished, "the green canoe is hidden a couple of miles +down the river, and I guess Mr. McDonald is safe for a time. Lizzie, you +can take a bath to-morrow safely." +</p> +<p> +Tish sat up most of the rest of the night composing a letter to the +authorities of the town, telling them of Mr. McDonald and enclosing +careful copies of the incriminating documents she had found. +</p> +<p> +During the following morning the river was very quiet. Through the +binocular we were able to see Mr. McDonald standing on the shore of his +island and looking intently in our direction, but naturally we paid no +attention to him. +</p> +<p> +The red-haired man went in swimming that day and necessitated our +retiring to the tent for an hour and a half; but at noon Aggie's +naturally soft heart began to assert itself. +</p> +<p> +"Spy or no spy," she said to Tish, "we ought to feed him." +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" was Tish's rejoinder. "There is no sense is wasting good food on +a man whose hours are numbered." +</p> +<p> +We were surprised, however, to find that Hutchins, who had detested Mr. +McDonald, was rather on Aggie's side. +</p> +<p> +"The fact that he has but a few more hours," she said to Tish, "is an +excellent reason for making those hours as little wretched as possible." +</p> +<p> +It was really due to Hutchins, therefore, that Mr. McDonald had a +luncheon. The problem of how to get it to him was a troublesome one, but +Tish solved it with her customary sagacity. +</p> +<p> +"We can make a raft," she said, "a small one, large enough to hold a +tray. By stopping the launch some yards above the island we can float +his luncheon to him quite safely." +</p> +<p> +That was the method we ultimately pursued and it worked most +satisfactorily. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins baked hot biscuits; and, by putting a cover over the pan, we +were enabled to get them to him before they cooled. +</p> +<p> +We prepared a really appetizing luncheon of hot biscuits, broiled ham, +marmalade, and tea, adding, at Aggie's instructions, a jar of preserved +peaches, which she herself had put up. +</p> +<p> +Tish made the raft while we prepared the food, and at exactly half-past +twelve o'clock we left the house. Mr. McDonald saw us coming and was +waiting smilingly at the upper end of the island. +</p> +<p> +"Great Scott!" he said. "I thought you were never going to hear me. +Another hour and I'd have made a swim for it, though it's suicidal with +this current. I'll show you where you can come in so you won't hit a +rock." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins had stopped the engine of the motor boat and we threw out the +anchor at a safe distance from the shore. +</p> +<p> +"We are not going to land," said Tish, "and I think you know perfectly +well the reason why." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, now," he protested; "surely you are going to land! I've had an +awfully uncomfortable accident—my canoe's gone." +</p> +<p> +"We know that," Tish said calmly. "As a matter of fact, we took it." +</p> +<p> +Mr. McDonald sat down suddenly on a log at the water's edge and looked +at us. +</p> +<p> +"Oh!" he said. +</p> +<p> +"You may not believe it," Tish said, "but we know everything—your +dastardly plot, who the red-haired man is, and all the destruction and +wretchedness you are about to cause." +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I say!" he said feebly. "I wouldn't go as far as that. I'm—I'm +not such a bad sort." +</p> +<p> +"That depends on the point of view," said Tish grimly. +</p> +<p> +Aggie touched her on the arm then and reminded her that the biscuits +were getting cold; but Tish had a final word with him. +</p> +<p> +"Your correspondence has fallen into my hands, young man," she said, +"and will be turned over to the proper authorities." +</p> +<p> +"It won't tell them anything they don't know," he said doggedly. "Look +here, ladies: I am not ashamed of this thing. I—I am proud of it. I am +perfectly willing to yell it out loud for everybody to hear. As a matter +of fact, I think I will." +</p> +<p> +Mr. McDonald stood up suddenly and threw his head back; but here +Hutchins, who had been silent, spoke for the first time. +</p> +<p> +"Don't be an idiot!" she said coldly. "We have something here for you to +eat if you behave yourself." +</p> +<p> +He seemed to see her then for the first time, for he favored her with a +long stare. +</p> +<p> +"Ah!" he said. "Then you are not entirely cold and heartless?" +</p> +<p> +She made no reply to this, being busy in assisting Aggie to lower the +raft over the side of the boat. +</p> +<p> +"Broiled ham, tea, hot biscuits, and marmalade," said Aggie gently. "My +poor fellow, we are doing what we consider our duty; but we want you to +know that it is hard for us—very hard." +</p> +<p> +When he saw our plan, Mr. McDonald's face fell; but he stepped out into +the water up to his knees and caught the raft as it floated down. +</p> +<p> +Before he said "Thank you" he lifted the cover of the pan and saw the +hot biscuits underneath. +</p> +<p> +"Really," he said, "it's very decent of you. I sent off a grocery order +yesterday, but nothing has come." +</p> +<p> +Tish had got Hutchins to start the engine by that time and we were +moving away. He stood there, up to his knees in water, holding the tray +and looking after us. He was really a pathetic figure, especially in +view of the awful fate we felt was overtaking him. +</p> +<p> +He called something after us. On account of the noise of the engine, we +could not be certain, but we all heard it the same way. +</p> +<p> +"Send for the whole d—d outfit!" was the way it sounded to us. "It +won't make any difference to me." +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0020" id="h2H_4_0020"></a> + V +</h3> +<p> +The last thing I recall of Mr. McDonald that day is seeing him standing +there in the water, holding the tray, with the teapot steaming under his +nose, and gazing after us with an air of bewilderment that did not +deceive us at all. +</p> +<p> +As I look back, there is only one thing we might have noticed at the +time. This was the fact that Hutchins, having started the engine, was +sitting beside it on the floor of the boat and laughing in the cruelest +possible manner. As I said to Aggie at the time: "A spy is a spy and +entitled to punishment if discovered; but no young woman should laugh +over so desperate a situation." +</p> +<p> +I come now to the denouement of this exciting period. It had been Tish's +theory that the red-haired man should not be taken into our confidence. +If there was a reward for the capture of the spy, we ourselves intended +to have it. +</p> +<p> +The steamer was due the next day but one. Tish was in favor of not +waiting, but of at once going in the motor boat to the town, some thirty +miles away, and telling of our capture; but Hutchins claimed there was +not sufficient gasoline for such an excursion. That afternoon we went in +the motor launch to where Tish had hidden the green canoe and, with a +hatchet, rendered it useless. +</p> +<p> +The workings of the subconscious mind are marvelous. In the midst of +chopping, Tish suddenly looked up. +</p> +<p> +"Have you noticed," she said, "that the detective is always watching our +camp?" +</p> +<p> +"That's all he has to do," Aggie suggested. +</p> +<p> +"Stuff and nonsense! Didn't he follow you into the swamp? Does Hutchins +ever go out in the canoe that he doesn't go out also? I'll tell you what +has happened: She's young and pretty, and he's fallen in love with her." +</p> +<p> +I must say it sounded reasonable. He never bothered about the motor +boat, but the instant she took the canoe and started out he was hovering +somewhere near. +</p> +<p> +"She's noticed it," Tish went on. "That's what she was quarreling about +with him yesterday." +</p> +<p> +"How are we to know," said Aggie, who was gathering up the scraps of the +green canoe and building a fire under them—"how are we to know they are +not old friends, meeting thus in the wilderness? Fate plays strange +tricks, Tish. I lived in the same street with Mr. Wiggins for years, and +never knew him until one day when my umbrella turned wrong side out in a +gust of wind." +</p> +<p> +"Fate fiddlesticks!" said Tish. "There's no such thing as fate in +affairs of this sort. It's all instinct—the instinct of the race to +continue itself." +</p> +<p> +This Aggie regarded as indelicate and she was rather cool to Tish the +balance of the day. +</p> +<p> +Our prisoner spent most of the day at the end of the island toward us, +sitting quietly, as we could see through the glasses. We watched +carefully, fearing at any time to see the Indian paddling toward him. +</p> +<p> +[Tish was undecided what to do in such an emergency, except to intercept +him and explain, threatening him also with having attempted to carry the +incriminating papers. As it happened, however, the entire camp had gone +for a two-days' deer hunt, and before they returned the whole thing had +come to its surprising end.] +</p> +<p> +Late in the afternoon Tish put her theory of the red-haired man to the +test. +</p> +<p> +"Hutchins," she said, "Miss Lizzie and I will cook the dinner if you +want to go in the canoe to Harvey's Bay for water-lilies." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins at once said she did not care a rap for water-lilies; but, +seeing a determined glint in Tish's eye, she added that she would go for +frogs if Tish wanted her out of the way. +</p> +<p> +"Don't talk like a child!" Tish retorted. "Who said I wanted you out of +the way?" +</p> +<p> +It is absolutely true that the moment Hutchins put her foot into the +canoe the red-haired man put down his fishing-rod and rose. And she had +not taken three strokes with the paddle before he was in the blue canoe. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins saw him just then and scowled. The last we saw of her she was +moving rapidly up the river and the detective was dropping slowly +behind. They both disappeared finally into the bay and Tish drew a long +breath. +</p> +<p> +"Typical!" she said curtly. "He's sent here to watch a dangerous man and +spends his time pursuing the young woman who hates the sight of him. +When women achieve the suffrage they will put none but married men in +positions of trust." +</p> +<p> +Hutchins and the detective were still out of sight when supper-time +came. The spy's supper weighed on us, and at last Tish attempted to +start the motor launch. We had placed the supper and the small raft +aboard, and Aggie was leaning over the edge untying the painter,—not a +man, but a rope,—when unexpectedly the engine started at the first +revolution of the wheel. +</p> +<p> +It darted out to the length of the rope, where it was checked abruptly, +the shock throwing Aggie entirely out and into the stream. Tish caught +the knife from the supper tray to cut us loose, and while Tish cut I +pulled Aggie in, wet as she was. The boat was straining and panting, +and, on being released, it sprang forward like a dog unleashed. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had swallowed a great deal of water and was most disagreeable; but +the Mebbe was going remarkably well, and there seemed to be every +prospect that we should get back to the camp in good order. Alas, for +human hopes! Mr. McDonald was not very agreeable. +</p> +<p> +"You know," he said as he waited for his supper to float within reach, +"you needn't be so blamed radical about everything you do! If you object +to my hanging round, why not just say so? If I'm too obnoxious I'll +clear out." +</p> +<p> +"Obnoxious is hardly the word," said Tish. +</p> +<p> +"How long am I to be a prisoner?" +</p> +<p> +"I shall send letters off by the first boat." +</p> +<p> +He caught the raft just then and examined the supper with interest. +</p> +<p> +"Of course things might be worse," he said; "but it's dirty treatment, +anyhow. And it's darned humiliating. Somebody I know is having a good +time at my expense. It's heartless! That's what it is—heartless!" +</p> +<p> +Well, we left him, the engine starting nicely and Aggie being wrapped in +a tarpaulin; but about a hundred yards above the island it began to slow +down, and shortly afterward it stopped altogether. As the current caught +us, we luckily threw out the anchor, for the engine refused to start +again. It was then we saw the other canoes. +</p> +<p> +The girl in the pink tam-o'-shanter was in the first one. +</p> +<p> +They glanced at us curiously as they passed, and the P.T.S.—that is the +way we grew to speak of the pink tam-o'-shanter—raised one hand in the +air, which is a form of canoe greeting, probably less upsetting to the +equilibrium than a vigorous waving of the arm. +</p> +<p> +It was just then, I believe, that they saw our camp and headed for it. +The rest of what happened is most amazing. They stopped at our landing +and unloaded their canoes. Though twilight was falling, we could see +them distinctly. And what we saw was that they calmly took +possession of the camp. +</p> +<p> +"Good gracious!" Tish cried. "The girls have gone into the tent! And +somebody's working at the stove. The impertinence!" +</p> +<p> +Our situation was acutely painful. We could do nothing but watch. We +called, but our voices failed to reach them. And Aggie took a chill, +partly cold and partly fury. We sat there while they ate the entire +supper! +</p> +<p> +They were having a very good time. Now and then somebody would go into +the tent and bring something out, and there would be shrieks of +laughter. +</p> +<p> +[We learned afterward that part of the amusement was caused by Aggie's +false front, which one of the wretches put on as a beard.] +</p> +<p> +It was while thus distracted that Aggie suddenly screamed, and a moment +later Mr. McDonald climbed over the side and into the boat, dripping. +</p> +<p> +"Don't be alarmed!" he said. "I'll go back and be a prisoner again just +as soon as I've fired the engine. I couldn't bear to think of the lady +who fell in sitting here indefinitely and taking cold." He was examining +the engine while he spoke. "Have visitors, I see," he observed, as +calmly as though he were not dripping all over the place. +</p> +<p> +"Intruders, not visitors!" Tish said angrily. "I never saw them before." +</p> +<p> +"Rather pretty, the one with the pink cap. May I examine the gasoline +supply?" There was no gasoline. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid +no amount of mechanical genius I intended to offer you will start her," +he said; "but the young lady—Hutchins is her name, I believe?—will +see you here and come after you, of course." +</p> +<p> +Well, there was no denying that, spy or no spy, his presence was a +comfort. He offered to swim back to the island and be a prisoner again, +but Tish said magnanimously that there was no hurry. On Aggie's offering +half of her tarpaulin against the wind, which had risen, he accepted. +</p> +<p> +"Your Miss Hutchins is reckless, isn't she?" he said when he was +comfortably settled. "She's a strong swimmer; but a canoe is uncertain +at the best." +</p> +<p> +"She's in no danger," said Tish. "She has a devoted admirer watching out +for her." +</p> +<p> +"The deuce she has!" His voice was quite interested. "Why, who on +earth—" +</p> +<p> +"Your detective," said Aggie softly. "He's quite mad about her. The way +he follows her and the way he looks at her—it's thrilling!" +</p> +<p> +Mr. McDonald said nothing for quite a while. The canoe party had +evidently eaten everything they could find, and somebody had brought out +a banjo and was playing. +</p> +<p> +Tish, unable to vent her anger, suddenly turned on Mr. McDonald. "If you +think," she said, "that the grocery list fooled us, it didn't!" +</p> +<p> +"Grocery list?" +</p> +<p> +"That's what I said." +</p> +<p> +"How did you get my grocery list?" +</p> +<p> +So she told him, and how she had deciphered it, and how the word +"dynamite" had only confirmed her early suspicions. +</p> +<p> +His only comment was to say, "Good Heavens!" in a smothered voice. +</p> +<p> +"It was the extractor that made me suspicious," she finished. "What were +you going to extract? Teeth?" +</p> +<p> +"And so, when my Indian was swimming, you went through his things! It's +the most astounding thing I ever—My dear lady, an extractor is used to +get the hooks out of fish. It was no cipher, I assure you. I needed an +extractor and I ordered it. The cipher you speak of is only a remarkable +coincidence." +</p> +<p> +"Huh!" said Tish. "And the paper you dropped in the train—was that a +coincidence?" +</p> +<p> +"That's not my secret," he said, and turned sulky at once. +</p> +<p> +"Don't tell me," Tish said triumphantly, "that any young man comes here +absolutely alone without a purpose!" +</p> +<p> +"I had a purpose, all right; but it was not to blow up a railroad +train." +</p> +<p> +Apparently he thought he had said too much, for he relapsed into silence +after that, with an occasional muttering. +</p> +<p> +It was eight o'clock when Hutchins's canoe came into sight. She was +paddling easily, but the detective was far behind and moving slowly. +</p> +<p> +She saw the camp with its uninvited guests, and then she saw us. The +detective, however, showed no curiosity; and we could see that he made +for his landing and stumbled exhaustedly up the bank. Hutchins drew up +beside us. "He'll not try that again, I think," she said in her crisp +voice. "He's out of training. He panted like a motor launch. Who are our +visitors?" +</p> +<p> +Here her eyes fell on Mr. McDonald and her face set in the dusk. +</p> +<p> +"You'll have to go back and get some gasoline, Hutchins." +</p> +<p> +"What made you start out without looking?" +</p> +<p> +"And send the vandals away. If they wait until I arrive, I'll be likely +to do them some harm. I have never been so outraged." +</p> +<p> +"Let me go for gasoline in the canoe," said Mr. McDonald. He leaned over +the thwart and addressed Hutchins. "You're worn out," he said. "I +promise to come back and be a perfectly well-behaved prisoner again." +</p> +<p> +"Thanks, no." +</p> +<p> +"I'm wet. The exercise will warm me." +</p> +<p> +"Is it possible," she said in a withering tone that was lost on us at +the time, "that you brought no dumb-bells with you?" +</p> +<p> +If we had had any doubts they should have been settled then; but we +never suspected. It is incredible, looking back. +</p> +<p> +The dusk was falling and I am not certain of what followed. It was, +however, something like this: Mr. McDonald muttered something angrily +and made a motion to get into the canoe. Hutchins replied that she would +not have help from him if she died for it. The next thing we knew she +was in the launch and the canoe was floating off on the current. Aggie +squealed; and Mr. McDonald, instead of swimming after the thing, merely +folded his arms and looked at it. +</p> +<p> +"You know," he said to Hutchins, "you have so unpleasant a disposition +that somebody we both know of is better off than he thinks he is!" +</p> +<p> +Tish's fury knew no bounds, for there we were marooned and two of us wet +to the skin. I must say for Hutchins, however, that when she learned +about Aggie she was bitterly repentant, and insisted on putting her own +sweater on her. But there we were and there we should likely stay. +</p> +<p> +It was quite dark by that time, and we sat in the launch, rocking +gently. The canoeing party had lighted a large fire on the beach, using +the driftwood we had so painfully accumulated. +</p> +<p> +We sat in silence, except that Tish, who was watching our camp, said +once bitterly that she was glad there were three beds in the tent. The +girls of the canoeing party would be comfortable. +</p> +<p> +After a time Tish turned on Mr. McDonald sharply. "Since you claim to be +no spy," she said, "perhaps you will tell us what brings you alone to +this place? Don't tell me it's fish—I've seen you reading, with a line +out. You're no fisherman." +</p> +<p> +He hesitated. "No," he admitted. "I'll be frank, Miss Carberry. I did +not come to fish." +</p> +<p> +"What brought you?" +</p> +<p> +"Love," he said, in a low tone. "I don't expect you to believe me, but +it's the honest truth." +</p> +<p> +"Love!" Tish scoffed. +</p> +<p> +"Perhaps I'd better tell you the story," he said. "It's long and—and +rather sad." +</p> +<p> +"Love stories," Hutchins put in coldly, "are terribly stupid, except to +those concerned." +</p> +<p> +"That," he retorted, "is because you have never been in love. You are +young and—you will pardon the liberty?—attractive; but you are totally +prosaic and unromantic." +</p> +<p> +"Indeed!" she said, and relapsed into silence. +</p> +<p> +"These other ladies," Mr. McDonald went on, "will understand the +strangeness of my situation when I explain that the—the young lady I +care for is very near; is, in fact, within sight." +</p> +<p> +"Good gracious!" said Aggie. "Where?" +</p> +<p> +"It is a long story, but it may help to while away the long night hours; +for I dare say we are here for the night. Did any one happen to notice +the young lady in the first canoe, in the pink tam-o'-shanter?" +</p> +<p> +We said we had—all except Hutchins, who, of course, had not seen her. +Mr. McDonald got a wet cigarette from his pocket and, finding a box of +matches on the seat, made an attempt to dry it over the flames; so his +story was told in the flickering light of one match after another. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0021" id="h2H_4_0021"></a> + VI +</h3> +<p> +"I am," Mr. McDonald said, as the cigarette steamed, "the son of poor +but honest parents. All my life I have been obliged to labor. You may +say that my English is surprisingly pure, under such conditions. As a +matter of fact, I educated myself at night, using a lantern in the top +of my father's stable." +</p> +<p> +"I thought you said he was poor," Hutchins put in nastily. "How did he +have a stable?" +</p> +<p> +"He kept a livery stable. Any points that are not clear I will explain +afterward. Once the thread of a narrative is broken, it is difficult to +resume, Miss Hutchins. Near us, in a large house, lived the lady of my +heart." +</p> +<p> +"The pink tam-o'-shanter girl!" said Aggie. "I begin to understand." +</p> +<p> +"But," he added, "near us also lived a red-headed boy. She liked him +very much, and even in the long-ago days I was fiercely jealous of him. +It may surprise you to know that in those days I longed—fairly +longed—for red hair and a red mustache." +</p> +<p> +"I hate to interrupt," said Hutchins; "but did he have a mustache as a +boy?" +</p> +<p> +He ignored her. "We three grew up together. The girl is +beautiful—you've probably noticed that—and amiable. The one thing I +admire in a young woman is amiability. It would not, for instance, have +occurred to her to isolate an entire party on the bosom of a northern +and treacherous river out of pure temper." +</p> +<p> +"To think," said Aggie softly, "that she is just over there by the +camp-fire! Don't you suppose, if she loves you, she senses your +nearness?" +</p> +<p> +"That's it exactly," he replied in a gloomy voice, "if she loves me! But +does she? In other words, has she come up the river to meet me or to +meet my rival? She knows we are here. Both of us have written her. The +presence of one or the other of us is the real reason for this excursion +of hers. But again the question is—which?" +</p> +<p> +Here the match he was holding under the cigarette burned his fingers and +he flung it overboard with a violent gesture. +</p> +<p> +"The detective, of course," said Tish. "I knew it from the beginning of +your story." +</p> +<p> +"The detective," he assented. "You see his very profession attracts. +There's an element of romance in it. I myself have kept on with my +father and now run the—er—livery stable. My business is a handicap +from a romantic point of view. +</p> +<p> +"I am aware," Mr. McDonald went on, "that it is not customary to speak +so frankly of affairs of this sort; but I have two reasons. It hurts me +to rest under unjust suspicion. I am no spy, ladies. And the second +reason is even stronger. Consider my desperate position: In the morning +my rival will see her; he will paddle his canoe to the great rock below +your camp and sing his love song from the water. In the morning I shall +sit here helpless—ill, possibly—and see all that I value in life slip +out of my grasp. And all through no fault of my own! Things are so +evenly balanced, so little will shift the weight of her favor, that +frankly the first one to reach her will get her." +</p> +<p> +I confess I was thrilled. And even Tish was touched; but she covered her +emotion with hard common sense. +</p> +<p> +"What's her name?" she demanded. +</p> +<p> +"Considering my frankness I must withhold that. Why not simply refer to +her as the pink tam-o'-shanter—or, better still and more briefly, the +P.T.S.? That may stand for pink tam-o'-shanter, or the Person That +Smiles,—she smiles a great deal,—or—or almost anything." +</p> +<p> +"It also stands," said Hutchins, with a sniff, "for Pretty Tall Story." +</p> +<p> +Tish considered her skepticism unworthy in one so young, and told her +so; on which she relapsed into a sulky silence. +</p> +<p> +In view of what we knew, the bonfire at our camp and the small figure +across the river took on a new significance. +</p> +<p> +As Aggie said, to think of the red-haired man sleeping calmly while his +lady love was so near and his rival, so to speak, <i>hors de combat!</i> +Shortly after finishing his story, Mr. McDonald went to the stern of the +boat and lifted the anchor rope. +</p> +<p> +"It is possible," he said, "that the current will carry us to my island +with a little judicious management. Even though we miss it, we'll hardly +be worse off than we are." +</p> +<p> +It was surprising we had not thought of it before, for the plan +succeeded admirably. By moving a few feet at a time and then anchoring, +we made slow but safe progress, and at last touched shore. We got out, +and Mr. McDonald built a large fire, near which we put Aggie to steam. +His supper, which he had not had time to eat, he generously divided, and +we heated the tea. Hutchins, however, refused to eat. +</p> +<p> +Warmth and food restored Tish's mind to its usual keenness. I recall now +the admiration in Mr. McDonald's eyes when she suddenly put down the +sandwich she was eating and exclaimed:— +</p> +<p> +"The flags, of course! He told her to watch for a red flag as she came +up the river; so when the party saw ours they landed. Perhaps they still +think it is his camp and that he is away overnight." +</p> +<p> +"That's it, exactly," he said. "Think of the poor wretch's excitement +when he saw your flag!" +</p> +<p> +Still, on looking back, it seems curious that we overlooked the way the +red-headed man had followed Hutchins about. True, men are polygamous +animals, Tish says, and are quite capable of following one woman about +while they are sincerely in love with somebody else. But, when you think +of it, the detective had apparently followed Hutchins from the start, +and had gone into the wilderness to be near her, with only a suitcase +and a mackintosh coat; which looked like a mad infatuation. +</p> +<p> +[Tish says she thought of this at the time, and that, from what she had +seen of the P.T.S., Hutchins was much prettier. But she says she decided +that men often love one quality in one girl and another in another; that +he probably loved Hutchins's beauty and the amiability of the P.T.S. +Also, she says, she reflected that the polygamy of the Far East is +probably due to this tendency in the male more than to a preponderance +of women.] +</p> +<p> +Tish called me aside while Mr. McDonald was gathering firewood. "I'm a +fool and a guilty woman, Lizzie," she said. "Because of an unjust +suspicion I have possibly wrecked this poor boy's life." +</p> +<p> +I tried to soothe her. "They might have been wretchedly unhappy +together, Tish," I said; "and, anyhow, I doubt whether he is able to +support a wife. There's nothing much in keeping a livery stable +nowadays." +</p> +<p> +"There's only one thing that still puzzles me," Tish observed: "granting +that the grocery order was a grocery order, what about the note?" +</p> +<p> +We might have followed this line of thought, and saved what occurred +later, but that a new idea suddenly struck Tish. She is curious in that +way; her mind works very rapidly at times, and because I cannot take her +mental hurdles, so to speak, she is often impatient. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie," she said suddenly, "did you notice that when the anchor was +lifted, we drifted directly to this island? Don't stare at me like that. +Use your wits." +</p> +<p> +When I failed instantly to understand, however, she turned abruptly and +left me, disappearing in the shadows. +</p> +<p> +For the next hour nothing happened. Tish was not in sight and Aggie +slept by the fire. Hutchins sat with her chin cupped in her hands, and +Mr. McDonald gathered driftwood. +</p> +<p> +Hutchins only spoke once. "I'm awfully sorry about the canoe, Miss +Lizzie," she said; "it was silly and—and selfish. I don't always act +like a bad child. The truth is, I'm rather upset and nervous. I hate to +be thwarted—I'm sorry I can't explain any further." +</p> +<p> +I was magnanimous. "I'm sure, until to-night, you've been perfectly +satisfactory," I said; "but it seems extraordinary that you should +dislike men the way you do." +</p> +<p> +She only eyed me searchingly. +</p> +<p> +It is my evening custom to prepare for the night by taking my switch off +and combing and braiding my hair; so, as we seemed to be settled for the +night, I asked Mr. McDonald whether the camp afforded an extra comb. He +brought out a traveling-case at once from the tent and opened it. +</p> +<p> +"Here's a comb," he said. "I never use one. I'm sorry this is all I can +supply." +</p> +<p> +My eyes were glued to the case. It was an English traveling-case, with +gold-mounted fittings. He saw me staring at it and changed color. +</p> +<p> +"Nice bag, isn't it?" he said. "It was a gift, of course. The—the +livery stable doesn't run much to this sort of thing." +</p> +<p> +But the fine edge of suspicion had crept into my mind again. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +Tish did not return to the fire for some time. Before she came back we +were all thoroughly alarmed. The island was small, and a short search +convinced us that she was not on it! +</p> +<p> +We wakened Aggie and told her, and the situation was very painful. The +launch was where we had left it. Mr. McDonald looked more and more +uneasy. +</p> +<p> +"My sane mind tells me she's perfectly safe," he said. "I don't know +that I've ever met a person more able to take care of herself; but it's +darned odd—that's all I can say." +</p> +<p> +Just as he spoke a volley of shots sounded from up the river near our +camp, two close together and then one; and somebody screamed. +</p> +<p> +It was very dark. We could see lanterns flashing at our camp and +somebody was yelling hoarsely. One lantern seemed to run up and down the +beach in mad excitement, and then, out of the far-off din, Aggie, whose +ears are sharp, suddenly heard the splash of a canoe paddle. +</p> +<p> +I shall tell Tish's story of what happened as she told it to Charlie +Sands two weeks or so later. +</p> +<p> +"It is perfectly simple," she said, "and it's stupid to make such a fuss +over it. Don't talk to me about breaking the law! The girl came; I +didn't steal her." +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands, I remember, interrupted at that moment to remind her that +she had shot a hole in the detective's canoe; but this only irritated +her. +</p> +<p> +"Certainly I did," she snapped; "but it's perfectly idiotic of him to +say that it took off the heel of his shoe. In that stony country it's +always easy to lose a heel." +</p> +<p> +But to return to Tish's story:— +</p> +<p> +"It occurred to me," she said, "that, if the launch had drifted to Mr. +McDonald's island, the canoe might have done so too; so I took a look +round. I'd been pretty much worried about having called the boy a spy +when he wasn't, and it worried me to think that he couldn't get away +from the place. I never liked the red-haired man. He was cruel to +Aggie's cat—but we've told you that. +</p> +<p> +"I knew that in the morning the detective would see the P.T.S., as we +called her, and he could get over and propose before breakfast. But when +I found the canoe—yes, I found it—I didn't intend to do anything more +than steal the detective's boat." +</p> +<p> +"Is that all?" said Charlie Sands sarcastically. "You disappoint me, +Aunt Letitia! With all the chances you had—to burn his pitiful little +tent, for instance, or steal his suitcase—" +</p> +<p> +"But on my way," Tish went on with simple dignity, "it occurred to me +that I could move things a step farther by taking the girl to Mr. +McDonald and letting him have his chance right away. Things went well +from the start, for she was standing alone, looking out over the river. +It was dark, except for the starlight, and I didn't know it was she. I +beached the canoe and she squealed a little when I spoke to her." +</p> +<p> +"Just what," broke in Charlie Sands, "does one say under such +circumstances? Sometime I may wish to abduct a young woman and it is +well to be prepared." +</p> +<p> +"I told her the young man she had expected was on Island Eleven and had +sent me to get her. She was awfully excited. She said they'd seen his +signal, but nothing of him. And when they'd found a number of feminine +things round they all felt a little—well, you can understand. She went +back to get a coat, and while she was gone I untied the canoes and +pushed them out into the river. I'm thorough, and I wasn't going to have +a lot of people interfering before we got things fixed." +</p> +<p> +It was here, I think, that Charlie Sands gave a low moan and collapsed +on the sofa. "Certainly!" he said in a stifled voice. "I believe in +being thorough. And, of course, a few canoes more or less do not +matter." +</p> +<p> +"Later," Tish said, "I knew I'd been thoughtless about the canoes; but, +of course, it was too late then." +</p> +<p> +"And when was it that you assaulted the detective?" +</p> +<p> +"He fired first," said Tish. "I never felt more peaceable in my life. +It's absurd for him to say that he was watching our camp, as he had +every night we'd been there. Who asked him to guard us? And the idea of +his saying he thought we were Indians stealing things, and that he fired +into the air! The bullets sang past me. I had hardly time to get my +revolver out of my stocking." +</p> +<p> +"And then?" asked Charlie Sands. +</p> +<p> +"And then," said Tish, "we went calmly down the river to Island Eleven. +We went rapidly, for at first the detective did not know I had shot a +hole in his canoe, and he followed us. It stands to reason that if I'd +shot his heel off he'd have known there was a hole in the boat. Luckily +the girl was in the bottom of the canoe when she fainted or we might +have been upset." +</p> +<p> +It was at this point, I believe, that Charlie Sands got his hat and +opened the door. +</p> +<p> +"I find," he said, "that I cannot stand any more at present, Aunt Tish. +I shall return when I am stronger." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +So I shall go back to my own narrative. Really my justification is +almost complete. Any one reading to this point will realize the +injustice of the things that have been said about us. +</p> +<p> +We were despairing of Tish, as I have said, when we heard the shots and +then the approach of a canoe. Then Tish hailed us. +</p> +<p> +"Quick, somebody!" she said. "I have a cramp in my right leg." +</p> +<p> +[The canoeing position, kneeling as one must, had been always very +trying for her. She frequently developed cramps, which only a hot +footbath relieved.] +</p> +<p> +Mr. McDonald waded out into the water. Our beach fire illuminated the +whole scene distinctly, and when he saw the P.T.S. huddled in the canoe +he stopped as though he had been shot. +</p> +<p> +"How interesting!" said Hutchins from the bank, in her cool voice. +</p> +<p> +I remember yet Tish, stamping round on her cramped limb and smiling +benevolently at all of us. The girl, however, looked startled and +unhappy, and a little dizzy. Hutchins helped her to a fallen tree. +</p> +<p> +"Where—where is he?" said the P.T.S. +</p> +<p> +Tish stared at her. "Bless the girl!" she said. "Did you think I meant +the other one?" +</p> +<p> +"I—What other one?" +</p> +<p> +Tish put her hand on Mr. McDonald's arm. "My dear girl," she said, "this +young man adores you. He's all that a girl ought to want in the man she +loves. I have done him a grave injustice and he has borne it nobly. Come +now—let me put your hand in his and say you will marry him." +</p> +<p> +"Marry him!" said the P.T.S. "Why, I never saw him in my life before!" +</p> +<p> +We had been so occupied with this astounding scene that none of us had +noticed the arrival of the detective. He limped rapidly up the +bank—having lost his heel, as I have explained—and, dripping with +water, confronted us. When a red-haired person is pale, he is very pale. +And his teeth showed. +</p> +<p> +He ignored all of us but the P.T.S., who turned and saw him, and went +straight into his arms in the most unmaidenly fashion. +</p> +<p> +"By Heaven," he said, "I thought that elderly lunatic had taken you off +and killed you!" +</p> +<p> +He kissed her quite frantically before all of us; and then, with one arm +round her, he confronted Tish. +</p> +<p> +"I'm through!" he said. "I'm done! There isn't a salary in the world +that will make me stay within gunshot of you another day." He eyed her +fiercely. "You are a dangerous woman, madam," he said. "I'm going to +bring a charge against you for abduction and assault with intent to +kill. And if there's any proof needed I'll show my canoe, full of water +to the gunwale." +</p> +<p> +Here he kissed the girl again. +</p> +<p> +"You—you know her?" gasped Mr. McDonald, and dropped on a tree-trunk, +as though he were too weak to stand. +</p> +<p> +"It looks like it, doesn't it?" +</p> +<p> +Here I happened to glance at Hutchins, and she was convulsed with mirth! +Tish saw her, too, and glared at her; but she seemed to get worse. Then, +without the slightest warning, she walked round the camp-fire and kissed +Mr. McDonald solemnly on the top of his head. +</p> +<p> +"I give it up!" she said. "Somebody will have to marry you and take care +of you. I'd better be the person." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +"But why was the detective watching Hutchins?" said Charlie Sands. "Was +it because he had heard of my Aunt Letitia's reckless nature? I am still +bewildered." +</p> +<p> +"You remember the night we got the worms?" +</p> +<p> +"I see. The detective was watching all of you because you stole the +worms." +</p> +<p> +"Stole nothing!" Tish snapped. "That's the girl's house. She's the Miss +Newcomb you read about in the papers. Now do you understand?" +</p> +<p> +"Certainly I do. She was a fugitive from justice because the cat found +dynamite in the woods. Or—perhaps I'm a trifle confused, but—Now I +have it! She had stolen a gold-mounted traveling-bag and given it to +McDonald. Lucky chap! I was crazy about Hutchins myself. You might tip +her the word that I'm badly off for a traveling-case myself. But what +about the P.T.S.? How did she happen on the scene?" +</p> +<p> +"She was engaged to the detective, and she was camping down the river. +He had sent her word where he was. The red flag was to help her find +him." +</p> +<p> +Tish knows Charlie Sands, so she let him talk. Then:— +</p> +<p> +"Mr. McDonald was too wealthy, Charlie," she said; "so when she wanted +him to work and be useful, and he refused, she ran off and got a +situation herself to teach him a lesson. She could drive a car. But her +people heard about it, and that wretched detective was responsible for +her safety. That's why he followed her about." +</p> +<p> +"I should like to follow her about myself," said Charlie Sands. "Do you +think she's unalterably decided to take McDonald, money and all? He's +still an idler. Lend me your car, Aunt Tish. There's a theory there; +and—who knows?" +</p> +<p> +"He is going to work for six months before she marries him," Tish said. +"He seems to like to work, now he has started." +</p> +<p> +She rang the bell and Hannah came to the door. +</p> +<p> +"Hannah," said Tish calmly, "call up the garage and tell McDonald to +bring the car round. Mr. Sands is going out." +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h2><a name="h2H_4_0022" id="h2H_4_0022"></a> + MY COUNTRY TISH OF THEE— +</h2> +<p> +We had meant to go to Europe this last summer, and Tish would have gone +anyhow, war or no war, if we had not switched her off onto something +else. "Submarines fiddlesticks!" she said. "Give me a good life +preserver, with a bottle of blackberry cordial fastened to it, and the +sea has no terrors for me." +</p> +<p> +She said the proper way to do, in case the ship was torpedoed, was to go +up on an upper deck, and let the vessel sink under one. +</p> +<p> +"Then without haste," she explained, "as the water rises about one, +strike out calmly. The life-belt supports one, but swim gently for the +exercise. It will prevent chilling. With a waterproof bag of crackers, +and mild weather, one could go on comfortably for a day or two." +</p> +<p> +I still remember the despairing face Aggie turned to me. It was December +then, and very cold. +</p> +<p> +However, she said nothing more until January. Early in that month +Charlie Sands came to Tish's to Sunday dinner, and we were all there. +The subject came up then. +</p> +<p> +It was about the time Tish took up vegetarianism, I remember that, +because the only way she could induce Charlie Sands to come to dinner +was to promise to have two chops for him. Personally I am not a +vegetarian. I am not and never will be. I took a firm stand except when +at Tish's home. But Aggie followed Tish's lead, of course, and I believe +lived up to it as far as possible, although it is quite true that, +stopping in one day unexpectedly to secure a new crochet pattern, I +smelled broiling steak. But Aggie explained that she merely intended to +use the juice from a small portion, having had one of her weak spells, +the balance to go to the janitor's dog. +</p> +<p> +However, this is a digression. +</p> +<p> +"Europe!" said Charlie Sands. "Forget it! What in the name of the +gastric juice is this I'm eating?" +</p> +<p> +It was a mixture of bran, raisins, and chopped nuts, as I recall it, +moistened with water and pressed into a compact form. It was Tish's own +invention. She called it "Bran-Nut," and was talking of making it in +large quantities for sale. +</p> +<p> +Charlie Sands gave it up with a feeble gesture. "I'm sorry, Aunt +Letitia," he said at last; "I'm a strong man ordinarily, but by the time +I've got it masticated I'm too weak to swallow it. If—if one could +have a stream of water playing on it while working, it would facilitate +things." +</p> +<p> +"The Ostermaiers," said Aggie, "are going West." +</p> +<p> +"Good for the Ostermaiers," said Charlie Sands. "Great idea. See America +first. 'My Country Tish of Thee,' etc. Why don't you three try it?" +</p> +<p> +Tish relinquished Europe slowly. +</p> +<p> +"One would think," Charlie Sands said, "that you were a German being +asked to give up Belgium." +</p> +<p> +"What part of the West?" she demanded. "It's all civilized, isn't it?" +</p> +<p> +"The Rocky Mountains," said Charlie Sands, "will never be civilized." +</p> +<p> +Tish broke off a piece of Bran-Nut, and when she thought no one was +looking poured a little tea over it. There was a gleam in her eye that +Aggie and I have learned to know. +</p> +<p> +"Mountains!" she said. "That ought to be good for Aggie's hay fever." +</p> +<p> +"I'd rather live with hay fever," Aggie put in sharply, "than cure it by +falling over a precipice." +</p> +<p> +"You'll have to take a chance on that, of course," Charlie Sands said. +"I'm not sure it will be safe, but I am sure it will be interesting." +</p> +<p> +Oh, he knew Tish well enough. Tell her a thing was dangerous, and no +power could restrain her. +</p> +<p> +I do not mind saying that I was not keen about the thing. I had my +fortune told years ago, and the palmist said that if a certain line had +had a bend in it I should have been hanged. But since it did not, to be +careful of high places. +</p> +<p> +"It's a sporting chance," said Charlie Sands, although I was prodding +him under the table. "With some good horses and a bag of +this—er—concentrated food, you would have the time of your young +lives." +</p> +<p> +This was figurative. We are all of us round fifty. +</p> +<p> +"The—the Bran-Nut," he said, "would serve for both food and ammunition. +I can see you riding along, now and then dropping a piece of it on the +head of some unlucky mountain goat, and watching it topple over into +eternity. I can see—" +</p> +<p> +"Riding!" said Aggie. "Then I'm not going. I have never been on a horse +and I never intend to be." +</p> +<p> +"Don't be a fool," Tish snapped. "If you've never been on a horse, it's +time and to spare you got on one." +</p> +<p> +Hannah had been clearing the table with her lips shut tight. Hannah is +an old and privileged servant and has a most unfortunate habit of +speaking her mind. So now she stopped beside Tish. +</p> +<p> +"You take my advice and go, Miss Tish," she said. "If you ride a horse +round some and get an appetite, you'll go down on your knees and +apologize to your Maker for the stuff we've been eating the last four +weeks." She turned to Charlie Sands, and positively her chin was +quivering. "I'm a healthy woman," she said, "and I work hard and need +good nourishing food. When it's come to a point where I eat the cat's +meat and let it go hungry," she said, "it's time either I lost my +appetite or Miss Tish went away." +</p> +<p> +Well, Tish dismissed Hannah haughtily from the room, and the +conversation went on. None of us had been far West, although Tish has a +sister-in-law in Toledo, Ohio. But owing to a quarrel over a pair of +andirons that had been in the family for a time, she had never visited +her. +</p> +<p> +"You'll like it, all of you," Charlie Sands said as we waited for the +baked apples. "Once get started with a good horse between your knees, +and—" +</p> +<p> +"I hope," Tish interrupted him, "that you do not think we are going to +ride astride!" +</p> +<p> +"I'm darned sure of it." +</p> +<p> +That was Charlie Sands's way of talking. He does not mean to be rude, +and he is really a young man of splendid character. But, as Tish says, +contact with the world, although it has not spoiled him, has roughened +his speech. +</p> +<p> +"You see," he explained, "there are places out there where the horses +have to climb like goats. It's only fair to them to distribute your +weight equally. A side saddle is likely to turn and drop you a mile or +two down a crack." +</p> +<p> +Aggie went rather white and sneezed violently. +</p> +<p> +But Tish looked thoughtful. "It sounds reasonable," she said. "I've felt +for a long time that I'd be glad to discard skirts. Skirts," she said, +"are badges of servitude, survivals of the harem, reminders of a time +when nothing was expected of women but parasitic leisure." +</p> +<p> +I tried to tell her that she was wrong about the skirts. Miss +MacGillicuddy, our missionary in India, had certainly said that the +women in harems wore bloomers. But Tish left the room abruptly, +returning shortly after with a volume of the encyclopædia, and looked up +the Rocky Mountains. +</p> +<p> +I remember it said that the highest ranges were, as compared with the +size and shape of the earth, only as the corrugations on the skin of an +orange. Either the man who wrote that had never seen an orange or he had +never seen the Rocky Mountains. Orange, indeed! If he had said the upper +end of a pineapple it would have been more like it. I wish the man who +wrote it would go to Glacier Park. I am not a vindictive woman, but I +know one or two places where I would like to place him and make him +swallow that orange. I'd like to see him on a horse, on the brink of a +cañon a mile deep, and have his horse reach over the edge for a stray +plant or two, or standing in a cloud up to his waist, so that, as Aggie +so plaintively observed, "The lower half of one is in a snowstorm while +the upper part is getting sunburned." +</p> +<p> +For we went. Oh, yes, we went. It is not the encyclopædia's fault that +we came back. But now that we are home, and nothing wrong except a touch +of lumbago that Tish got from sleeping on the ground, and, of course, +Aggie's unfortunate experience with her teeth, I look back on our +various adventures with pleasure. I even contemplate a return next year, +although Aggie says she will die first. But even that is not to be taken +as final. The last time I went to see her, she had bought a revolver +from the janitor and was taking lessons in loading it. +</p> +<p> +The Ostermaiers went also. Not with us, however. The congregation made +up a purse for the purpose, and Tish and Aggie and I went further, and +purchased a cigar-case for Mr. Ostermaier and a quantity of cigars. +Smoking is the good man's only weakness. +</p> +<p> +I must say, however, that it is absurd to hear Mrs. Ostermaier boasting +of the trip. To hear her talk, one would think they had done the whole +thing, instead of sitting in an automobile and looking up at the +mountains. I shall never forget the day they were in a car passing along +a road, and we crossed unexpectedly ahead of them and went on straight +up the side of a mountain. +</p> +<p> +Tish had a sombrero on the side of her head, and was resting herself in +the saddle by having her right leg thrown negligently over the horse's +neck. With the left foot she was kicking our pack-horse, a creature so +scarred with brands that Tish had named her Jane, after a cousin of hers +who had had so many operations that Tish says she is now entirely +unfurnished. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Ostermaier's face was terrible, and only two days ago Mrs. +Ostermaier came over to ask about putting an extra width in the skirt to +her last winter's suit. But it is my belief that she came to save Tish's +soul, and nothing else. +</p> +<p> +"I'm so glad wide skirts have come in," she said. "They're so modest, +aren't they, Miss Tish?" +</p> +<p> +"Not in a wind," Tish said, eying her coldly. +</p> +<p> +"I do think, dear Miss Tish," she went on with her eyes down, "that +to—to go about in riding-breeches before a young man is—well, it is +hardly discreet, is it?" +</p> +<p> +I saw Tish glancing about the room. She was pretty angry, and I knew +perfectly well what she wanted. I put my knitting-bag over Charlie +Sands's tobacco-pouch. +</p> +<p> +Tish had learned to roll cigarettes out in Glacier Park. Not that she +smoked them, of course, but she said she might as well know how. There +was no knowing when it would come in handy. And when she wishes to calm +herself she reaches instinctively for what Bill used to call, strangely, +"the makings." +</p> +<p> +"If," she said, her eye still roving,—"if it was any treat to a +twenty-four-year-old cowpuncher to see three elderly women in +riding-breeches, Mrs. Ostermaier,—and it's kind of you to think +so,—why, I'm not selfish." +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Ostermaier's face was terrible. She gathered up her skirt and rose. +"I shall not tell Mr. Ostermaier what you have just said," she observed +with her mouth set hard. "We owe you a great deal, especially the return +of my earrings. But I must request, Miss Tish, that you do not voice +such sentiments in the Sunday school." +</p> +<p> +Tish watched her out. Then she sat down and rolled eleven cigarettes for +Charlie Sands, one after the other. At last she spoke. +</p> +<p> +"I'm not sure," she said tartly, "that if I had it to do over again I'd +do it. That woman's not a Christian. I was thinking," she went on, "of +giving them a part of the reward to go to Asbury Park with. But she'd +have to wear blinders on the bathing-beach, so I'll not do it." +</p> +<p> +However, I am ahead of my recital. +</p> +<p> +For a few days Tish said nothing more, but one Sunday morning, walking +home from church, she turned to me suddenly and said:— +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie, you're fat." +</p> +<p> +"I'm as the Lord made me," I replied with some spirit. +</p> +<p> +"Fiddlesticks!" said Tish. "You're as your own sloth and overindulgence +has made you. Don't blame the Good Man for it." +</p> +<p> +Now, I am a peaceful woman, and Tish is as my own sister, and indeed +even more so. But I was roused to anger by her speech. +</p> +<p> +"I've been fleshy all my life," I said. "I'm no lazier than most, and +I'm a dratted sight more agreeable than some I know, on account of +having the ends of my nerves padded." +</p> +<p> +But she switched to another subject in her characteristic manner. +</p> +<p> +"Have you ever reflected, either of you," she observed, "that we know +nothing of this great land of ours? That we sing of loving 'thy rocks +and rills, thy woods and templed hills'—although the word 'templed' +savors of paganism and does not belong in a national hymn? And that it +is all balderdash?" +</p> +<p> +Aggie took exception to this and said that she loved her native land, +and had been south to Pinehurst and west to see her niece in +Minneapolis, on account of the baby having been named for her. +</p> +<p> +But Tish merely listened with a grim smile. "Travel from a car window," +she observed, "is no better than travel in a nickelodeon. I have done +all of that I am going to. I intend to become acquainted with my native +land, closely acquainted. State by State I shall wander over it, +refreshing soul and body and using muscles too long unused." +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" Aggie quavered. "You are not going on another walking-tour?" +</p> +<p> +Only a year or two before Tish had read Stevenson's "Travels with a +Donkey," and had been possessed to follow his example. I have elsewhere +recorded the details of that terrible trip. Even I turned pale, I fear, +and cast a nervous eye toward the table where Tish keeps her +reading-matter. +</p> +<p> +Tish is imaginative, and is always influenced by the latest book she has +read. For instance, a volume on "Nursing at the Front" almost sent her +across to France, although she cannot make a bed and never could, and +turns pale at the sight of blood; and another time a book on flying +machines sent her up into the air, mentally if not literally. I shall +never forget the time she secured some literature on the Mormon Church, +and the difficulty I had in smuggling it out under my coat. +</p> +<p> +Tish did not refute the walking-tour at once, but fell into a deep +reverie. +</p> +<p> +It is not her custom to confide her plans to us until they are fully +shaped and too far on to be interfered with, which accounts for our +nervousness. +</p> +<p> +On arriving at her apartment, however, we found a map laid out on the +table and the Rocky Mountains marked with pins. We noticed that whenever +she straightened from the table she grunted. +</p> +<p> +"What we want," Tish said, "is isolation. No people. No crowds. No +servants. If I don't get away from Hannah soon I'll murder her." +</p> +<p> +"It wouldn't hurt to see somebody now and then, Tish," Aggie objected. +</p> +<p> +"Nobody," Tish said firmly. "A good horse is companion enough." She +forgot herself and straightened completely, and she groaned. +</p> +<p> +"We might meet some desirable people, Tish," I put in firmly. "If we do, +I don't intend to run like a rabbit." +</p> +<p> +"Desirable people!" Tish scoffed. "In the Rocky Mountains! My dear +Lizzie, every desperado in the country takes refuge in the Rockies. Of +course, if you want to take up with that class—" +</p> +<p> +Aggie sneezed and looked wretched. As for me, I made up my mind then and +there that if Letitia Carberry was going to such a neighborhood, she was +not going alone. I am not much with a revolver, but mighty handy with a +pair of lungs. +</p> +<p> +Well, Tish had it all worked out. "I've found the very place," she said. +"In the first place, it's Government property. When our country puts +aside a part of itself as a public domain we should show our +appreciation. In the second place, it's wild. I'd as soon spend a +vacation in Central Park near the Zoo as in the Yellowstone. In the +third place, with an Indian reservation on one side and a national +forest on the other, it's bound to be lonely. Any tourist," she said +scornfully, "can go to the Yosemite and be photographed under a redwood +tree." +</p> +<p> +"Do the Indians stay on the reservation?" Aggie asked feebly. +</p> +<p> +"Probably not," Tish observed coldly. "Once for all, Aggie—if you are +going to run like a scared deer every time you see an Indian or a bear, +I wish you would go to Asbury Park." +</p> +<p> +She forgot herself then and sat down quickly, an action which was +followed by an agonized expression. +</p> +<p> +"Tish," I said sharply, "you have been riding a horse! +</p> +<p> +"Only in a cinder ring," she replied with unwonted docility. "The +teacher said I would be a trifle stiff." +</p> +<p> +"How long did you ride?" +</p> +<p> +"Not more than twenty minutes," she said. "The lesson was to be an hour, +but somebody put a nickel in a mechanical piano, and the creature I was +on started going sideways." +</p> +<p> +Well, she had fallen off and had to be taken home in a taxicab. When +Aggie heard it she simply took the pins out of the map and stuck them in +Tish's cushion. Her mouth was set tight. +</p> +<p> +"I didn't really fall," Tish said. "I sat down, and it was cinders, and +not hard. It has made my neck stiff, that's all." +</p> +<p> +"That's enough," said Aggie. "If I've got to seek pleasure by ramming my +spinal column up into my skull and crowding my brains, I'll stay at +home." +</p> +<p> +"You can't fall out of a Western saddle," Tish protested rather +bitterly. "And if I were you, Aggie, I wouldn't worry about crowding my +brains." +</p> +<p> +However, she probably regretted this speech, for she added more gently: +"A high altitude will help your hay fever, Aggie." +</p> +<p> +Aggie said with some bitterness that her hay fever did not need to be +helped. That, as far as she could see, it was strong and flourishing. At +that matters rested, except for a bit of conversation just before we +left. Aggie had put on her sweater vest and her muffler and the jacket +of her winter suit and was getting into her fur coat, when Tish said: +"Soft as mush, both of you!" +</p> +<p> +"If you think, Tish Carberry," I began, "that I—" +</p> +<p> +"Apple dumplings!" said Tish. "Sofa pillows! Jellyfish! Not a muscle to +divide between you!" +</p> +<p> +I drew on my woolen tights angrily. +</p> +<p> +"Elevators!" Tish went on scornfully. "Street cars and taxicabs! No +wonder your bodies are mere masses of protoplasm, or cellulose, or +whatever it is." +</p> +<p> +"Since when," said Aggie, "have you been walking to develop yourself, +Tish? I must say—" +</p> +<p> +Here anger brought on one of her sneezing attacks, and she was unable to +finish. +</p> +<p> +Tish stood before us oracularly. "After next September," she said, "you +will both scorn the sloth of civilization. You will move about for the +joy of moving about. You will have cast off the shackles of the flesh +and be born anew. That is, if a plan of mine goes through. Lizzie, you +will lose fifty pounds!" +</p> +<p> +Well, I didn't want to lose fifty pounds. After our summer in the Maine +woods I had gone back to find that my new tailor-made coat, which had +fitted me exactly, and being stiffened with haircloth kept its shape off +and looked as if I myself were hanging to the hook, had caved in on me +in several places. Just as I had gone to the expense of having it taken +in I began to put on flesh again, and had to have it let out. Besides, +no woman over forty should ever reduce, at least not violently. She +wrinkles. My face that summer had fallen into accordion plaits, and I +had the curious feeling of having enough skin for two. +</p> +<p> +Aggie had suggested at that time that I have my cheeks filled out with +paraffin, which I believe cakes and gives the appearance of youth. But +Mrs. Ostermaier knew a woman who had done so, and being hit on one side +by a snowball, the padding broke in half, one part moving up under her +eye and the second lodging at the angle of her jaw. She tried lying on a +hot-water bottle to melt the pieces and bring them together again, but +they did not remain fixed, having developed a wandering habit and +slipping unexpectedly now and then. Mrs. Ostermaier says it is painful +to watch her holding them in place when she yawns. +</p> +<p> +Strangely enough, however, a few weeks later Tish's enthusiasm for the +West had apparently vanished. When several weeks went by and the atlas +had disappeared from her table, and she had given up vegetarianism for +Swedish movements, we felt that we were to have a quiet summer after +all, and Aggie wrote to a hotel in Asbury Park about rooms for July and +August. +</p> +<p> +There was a real change in Tish. She stopped knitting abdominal bands +for the soldiers in Europe, for one thing, although she had sent over +almost a dozen very tasty ones. In the evenings, when we dropped in to +chat with her, she said very little and invariably dozed in her chair. +</p> +<p> +On one such occasion, Aggie having inadvertently stepped on the rocker +of her chair while endeavoring by laying a hand on Tish's brow to +discover if she was feverish, the chair tilted back and Tish wakened +with a jerk. +</p> +<p> +She immediately fell to groaning and clasped her hands to the small of +her back, quite ignoring poor Aggie, whom the chair had caught in the +epigastric region, and who was compelled for some time to struggle for +breath. +</p> +<p> +"Jumping Jehoshaphat!" said Tish in an angry tone. It is rare for Tish +to use the name of a Biblical character in this way, but she was clearly +suffering. "What in the world are you doing, Aggie?" +</p> +<p> +"T-t-trying to breathe," poor Aggie replied. +</p> +<p> +"Then I wish," Tish said coldly, "that you would make the effort some +place else than on the rocker of my chair. You jarred me, and I am in no +state to be jarred." +</p> +<p> +But she refused to explain further, beyond saying, in reply to a +question of mine, that she was not feverish and that she had not been +asleep, having merely closed her eyes to rest them. Also she affirmed +that she was not taking riding-lessons. We both noticed however, that +she did not leave her chair during the time we were there, and that she +was sitting on the sofa cushion I had made her for the previous +Christmas, and on which I had embroidered the poet Moore's beautiful +words: "Come, rest in this bosom." +</p> +<p> +As Aggie was still feeling faint, I advised her to take a mouthful of +blackberry cordial, which Tish keeps for emergencies in her bathroom +closet. Immediately following her departure the calm of the evening was +broken by a loud shriek. +</p> +<p> +It appeared, on my rushing to the bathroom, while Tish sat heartlessly +still, that Aggie, not seeing a glass, had placed the bottle to her lips +and taken quite a large mouthful of liniment, which in color resembled +the cordial. I found her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in a state +of collapse. +</p> +<p> +"I'm poisoned!" she groaned. "Oh, Lizzie, I am not fit to die!" +</p> +<p> +I flew with the bottle to Tish, who was very calm and stealthily rubbing +one of her ankles. +</p> +<p> +"Do her good," Tish said. "Take some of the stiffness out of her liver, +for one thing. But you might keep an eye on her. It's full of alcohol." +</p> +<p> +"What's the antidote?" I asked, hearing Aggie's low groans. +</p> +<p> +"The gold cure is the only thing I can think of at the moment," said +Tish coldly, and started on the other ankle. +</p> +<p> +I merely record this incident to show the change in Tish. Aggie was not +seriously upset, although dizzy for an hour or so and very talkative, +especially about Mr. Wiggins. +</p> +<p> +Tish was changed. Her life, which mostly had been an open book to us, +became filled with mystery. There were whole days when she was not to be +located anywhere, and evenings, as I have stated, when she dozed in her +chair. +</p> +<p> +As usual when we are worried about Tish, we consulted her nephew, +Charlie Sands. But like all members of the masculine sex he refused to +be worried. +</p> +<p> +"She'll be all right," he observed. "She takes these spells. But trust +the old lady to come up smiling." +</p> +<p> +"It's either Christian Science or osteopathy," Aggie said dolefully. +"She's not herself. The fruit cake she sent me the other day tasted very +queer, and Hannah thinks she put ointment in instead of butter." +</p> +<p> +"Ointments!" observed Charlie thoughtfully. "And salves! By George, I +wonder—I'll tell you," he said: "I'll keep an eye open for a few days. +The symptoms sound like—But never mind. I'll let you know." +</p> +<p> +We were compelled to be satisfied with this, but for several days we +lingered in anxiety. During that painful interval nothing occurred to +enlighten us, except one conversation with Tish. +</p> +<p> +We had taken dinner with her, and she seemed to be all right again and +more than usually active. She had given up the Bran-Nut after breaking +a tooth on it, and was eating rare beef, which she had heard was +digested in the spleen or some such place, thus resting the stomach for +a time. She left us, however, immediately after the meal, and Hannah, +her maid, tiptoed into the room. +</p> +<p> +"I'm that nervous I could scream," she said. "Do you know what she's +doing now? +</p> +<p> +"No, Hannah," I said with bitter sarcasm. "Long ago I learned never to +surmise what Miss Tish is doing." +</p> +<p> +"She's in the bathroom, standing on one foot and waving the other in the +air. She's been doing it," Hannah said, "for weeks. First one foot, then +the other. And that ain't all." +</p> +<p> +"You've been spying on Miss Tish," Aggie said. "Shame on you, Hannah!" +</p> +<p> +"I have, Miss Aggie. Spy I have and spy I will, while there's breath in +my body. Twenty years have I—Do you know what she does when she come +home from these sneakin' trips of hers? She sits in a hot bath until the +wonder is that her blood ain't turned to water. And after that she uses +liniment. Her underclothes is that stained up with it that I'm ashamed +to hang 'em out." +</p> +<p> +Here Tish returned and, after a suspicious glance at Hannah, sat down. +Aggie and I glanced at each other. She did not, as she had for some time +past, line the chair with pillows, and there was an air about her almost +of triumph. +</p> +<p> +She did not, however, volunteer any explanation. Aggie and I were driven +to speculation, in which we indulged on our way home, Aggie being my +guest at the time, on account of her janitor's children having measles, +and Aggie never having had them, although recalling a severe rash as a +child, with other measly symptoms. +</p> +<p> +"She has something in mind for next summer," said Aggie apprehensively, +"and she is preparing her strength for it. Tish is forehanded if nothing +else." +</p> +<p> +"Well," I remarked with some bitterness, "if we are going along it might +be well to prepare us too." +</p> +<p> +"Something," Aggie continued, "that requires landing on one foot with +the other in the air." +</p> +<p> +"Don't drivel," said I. "She's not likely going into the Russian ballet. +She's training her muscles, that's all." +</p> +<p> +But the mystery was solved the following morning when Charlie Sands +called me up. +</p> +<p> +"I've got it, beloved aunt," he said. +</p> +<p> +"Got what?" said I. +</p> +<p> +"What the old lady is up to. She's a wonder, and no mistake. Only I +think it was stingy of her not to let you and Aunt Aggie in." +</p> +<p> +He asked me to get Aggie and meet him at the office as soon as possible, +but he refused to explain further. And he continued to refuse until we +had arrived at our destination, a large brick building in the center of +the city. +</p> +<p> +"Now," he said, "take a long breath and go in. And mind—no excitement." +</p> +<p> +We went in. There was a band playing and people circling at a mile a +minute. In the center there was a cleared place, and Tish was there on +ice skates. An instructor had her by the arm, and as we looked she waved +him off, gave herself a shove forward with one foot, and then, with her +arms waving, she made a double curve, first on one foot and then on the +other. +</p> +<p> +"The outside edge, by George!" said Charlie Sands. "The old sport!" +</p> +<p> +Unluckily at that moment Tish saw us, and sat down violently on the ice. +And a quite nice-looking young man fell over her and lay stunned for +several seconds. We rushed round the arena, expecting to see them both +carried out, but Tish was uninjured, and came skating toward us with her +hands in her pockets. It was the young man who had to be assisted out. +</p> +<p> +"Well," she said, fetching up against the railing with a bang, "of +course you had to come before I was ready for you! In a week I'll really +be skating." +</p> +<p> +We said nothing, but looked at her, and I am afraid our glances showed +disapproval, for she straightened her hat with a jerk. +</p> +<p> +"Well?" she said. "You're not tongue-tied all of a sudden, are you? +Can't a woman take a little exercise without her family and friends +coming snooping round and acting as if she'd broken the Ten +Commandments?" +</p> +<p> +"Breaking the Ten Commandments!" I said witheringly. "Breaking a leg +more likely. If you could have seen yourself, Tish Carberry, sprawled on +that ice at your age, and both your arteries and your bones brittle, as the +specialist told you,—and I heard him myself,—you'd take those things +off your feet and go home and hide your head." +</p> +<p> +"I wish I had your breath, Lizzie," Tish said. "I'd be a submarine +diver." +</p> +<p> +Saying which she skated off, and did not come near us again. A young +gentleman went up to her and asked her to skate, though I doubt if she +had ever seen him before. And as we left the building in disapproval +they were doing fancy turns in the middle of the place, and a crowd was +gathering round them. +</p> +<p> +Owing to considerable feeling being roused by the foregoing incident, +we did not see much of Tish for a week. If a middle-aged woman wants to +make a spectacle of herself, both Aggie and I felt that she needed to be +taught a lesson. Besides, we knew Tish. With her, to conquer a thing is +to lose interest. +</p> +<p> +On the anniversary of the day Aggie became engaged to Mr. Wiggins, Tish +asked us both to dinner, and we buried the hatchet, or rather the +skates. It was when dessert came that we realized how everything that +had occurred had been preparation for the summer, and that we were not +going to Asbury Park, after all. +</p> +<p> +"It's like this," said Tish. "Hannah, go out and close the door, and +don't stand listening. I have figured it all out," she said, when Hannah +had slammed out. "The muscles used in skating are the ones used in +mountain-climbing. Besides, there may be times when a pair of skates +would be handy going over the glaciers. It's not called Glacier Park for +nothing, I dare say. When we went into the Maine woods we went +unprepared. This time I intend to be ready for any emergency." +</p> +<p> +But we gave her little encouragement. We would go along, and told her +so. But further than that I refused to prepare. I would not skate, and +said so. +</p> +<p> +"Very well, Lizzie," she said. "Don't blame me if you find yourself +unable to cope with mountain hardships. I merely felt this way: if each +of us could do one thing well it might be helpful. There's always snow, +and if Aggie would learn to use snowshoes it might be valuable." +</p> +<p> +"Where could I practice?" Aggie demanded. +</p> +<p> +But Tish went on, ignoring Aggie's sarcastic tone. "And if you, Lizzie, +would learn to throw a lasso, or lariat,—I believe both terms are +correct,—it would be a great advantage, especially in case of meeting +ferocious animals. The park laws will not allow us to kill them, and it +would be mighty convenient, Lizzie. Not to mention that it would be an +accomplishment few women possess." +</p> +<p> +I refused to make the attempt, although Tish sent for the clothesline, +and with the aid of the encyclopædia made a loop in the end of it. +Finally she became interested herself, and when we left rather +downhearted at ten o'clock she had caught the rocking-chair three times +and broken the clock. +</p> +<p> +Aggie and I prepared with little enthusiasm, I must confess. We had as +much love for the rocks and rills of our great country as Tish, but, as +Aggie observed, there were rocks and rocks, and one could love them +without climbing up them or falling off them. +</p> +<p> +The only comfort we had was that Charlie Sands said that we should ride +ponies, and not horses. My niece's children have a pony which is very +gentle and not much larger than a dog, which comes up on the porch for +lumps of sugar. We were lured to a false sense of security, I must say. +</p> +<p> +As far as we could see, Tish was making few preparations for the trip. +She said we could get everything we needed at the park entrance, and +that the riding was merely sitting in a saddle and letting the pony do +the rest. But on the 21st of June, the anniversary of the day Aggie was +to have been married, we went out to decorate Mr. Wiggins's last +resting-place, and coming out of the cemetery we met Tish. +</p> +<p> +She was on a horse, astride! +</p> +<p> +She was not alone. A gentleman was riding beside her, and he had her +horse by a long leather strap. +</p> +<p> +She pretended not to see us, and Aggie unfortunately waved her red +parasol at her. The result was most amazing. The beast she was on jerked +itself free in an instant, and with the same movement, apparently, +leaped the hedge beside the road. One moment there was Tish, in a derby +hat and breeches, and the next moment there was only the gentleman, with +his mouth open. +</p> +<p> +Aggie collapsed, moaning, in the road, and beyond the hedge we could +hear the horse leaping tombstones in the cemetery. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Tish!" Aggie wailed. +</p> +<p> +I broke my way through the hedge to find what was left of her, while the +riding-master bolted for the gate. But to my intense surprise Tish was +not on the ground. Then I saw her. She was still on the creature, and +she was coming back along the road, with her riding-hat on the back of +her head and a gleam in her eye that I knew well enough was a gleam of +triumph. +</p> +<p> +She halted the thing beside me and looked down with a patronizing air. +</p> +<p> +"He's a trifle nervous this morning," she said calmly. "Hasn't been +worked enough. Good horse, though,—very neat jump." +</p> +<p> +Then she rode on and out through the gates, ignoring Aggie's pitiful +wail and scorning the leading-string the instructor offered. +</p> +<p> +We reached Glacier Park without difficulty, although Tish insisted on +talking to the most ordinary people on the train, and once, losing her, +we found her in the drawing-room learning to play bridge, although not a +card-player, except for casino. Though nothing has ever been said, I +believe she learned when too late that they were playing for money, as +she borrowed ten dollars from me late in the afternoon and was looking +rather pale. +</p> +<p> +"What do you think?" she said, while I was getting the money from the +safety pocket under my skirt. "The young man who knocked me down on the +ice that day is on the train. I've just exchanged a few words with him. +He was not much hurt, although unconscious for a short time. His name is +Bell—James C. Bell." +</p> +<p> +Soon after that Tish brought him to us, and we had a nice talk. He said +he had not been badly hurt on the ice, although he got a cut on the +forehead from Tish's skate, requiring two stitches. +</p> +<p> +After a time he and Aggie went out on the platform, only returning when +Aggie got a cinder in her eye. +</p> +<p> +"Just think," she said as he went for water to use in my eye-cup, "he +is going to meet the girl he is in love with out at the park. She has +been there for four weeks. They are engaged. He is very much in love. He +didn't talk of anything else." +</p> +<p> +She told him she had confided his tender secret to us, and instead of +looking conscious he seemed glad to have three people instead of one to +talk to about her. +</p> +<p> +"You see, it's like this," he said: "She is very good looking, and in +her town a moving-picture company has its studio. That part's all right. +I suppose we have to have movies. But the fool of a director met her at +a party, and said she would photograph well and ought to be with them. +He offered her a salary, and it went to her head. She's young," he +added, "and he said she could be as great a hit as Mary Pickford." +</p> +<p> +"How sad!" said Aggie. "But of course she refused?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, no, she liked the idea. It got me worried. Worried her people +too. Her father's able to give her a good home, and I'm expecting to +take that job off his hands in about a year. But girls are queer. She +wanted to try it awfully." +</p> +<p> +It developed that he had gone to her folks about it, and they'd offered +her a vacation with some of her school friends in Glacier Park. +</p> +<p> +"It's pretty wild out there," he went on, "and we felt that the air, and +horseback riding and everything, would make her forget the movies. I +hope so. She's there now. But she's had the bug pretty hard. Got so she +was always posing, without knowing it." +</p> +<p> +But he was hopeful that she would be cured, and said she was to meet him +at the station. +</p> +<p> +"She's an awfully nice girl, you understand," he finished. "It's only +that this thing got hold of her and needed driving out." +</p> +<p> +Well, we were watching when the train drew in at Glacier Park Station, +and she was there. She was a very pretty girl, and it was quite touching +to see him look at her. But Aggie observed something and remarked on it. +</p> +<p> +"She's not as glad to see him as he is to see her," she said. "He was +going to kiss her, and she moved back." +</p> +<p> +In the crowd we lost sight of them, but that evening, sitting in the +lobby of the hotel, we saw Mr. Bell wandering round alone. He looked +depressed, and Aggie beckoned to him. +</p> +<p> +"How is everything?" she asked. "Is the cure working?" +</p> +<p> +He dropped into a chair and looked straight ahead. +</p> +<p> +"Not so you could notice it!" he said bitterly. "Would you believe that +there's a moving-picture outfit here, taking scenes in the park?" +</p> +<p> +"No!" +</p> +<p> +"There is. They've taken two thousand feet of her already, dressed like +an Indian," he said in a tone of suppressed fury. "It makes me sick. I +dare say if we tied her in a well some fool would lower a camera on a +rope." +</p> +<p> +Just at that moment she sauntered past us with a reddish-haired young +man. Mr. Bell ignored her, although I saw her try to catch his eye. +</p> +<p> +"That's the moving-picture man with her," he said in a low, violent tone +when they had passed. "Name's Oliver." He groaned. "He's told her she +ought to go in for the business. She'd be a second Mary Pickford! I'd +like to kill him!" He rose savagely and left us. +</p> +<p> +We spent the night in the hotel at the park entrance, and I could not +get to sleep. Tish was busy engaging a guide and going over our +supplies, and at eleven o'clock Aggie came into my room and sat down on +the bed. +</p> +<p> +"I can't sleep, Lizzie," she said. "That poor Mr. Bell is on my mind. +Besides, did you see those ferocious Indians hanging round?" +</p> +<p> +Well, I had seen them, but said nothing. +</p> +<p> +"They would scalp one as quick as not," Aggie went on. "And who's to +know but that our guide will be in league with them? I've lost my +teeth," she said with a flash of spirit, "but so far I've kept my hair, +and mean to if possible. That old Indian has a scalp tied to the end of +a stick. Lizzie, I'm nervous." +</p> +<p> +"If it is only hair they want, I don't mind their taking my switch," I +observed, trying to be facetious, although uneasy. As to the switch, it +no longer matched my hair, and I would have parted from it without a +pang. +</p> +<p> +"And another thing," said Aggie: "Tish can talk about ponies until she +is black in the face. The creatures are horses. I've seen them." +</p> +<p> +Well, I knew that, too, by that time. As we walked to the hotel from the +train I had seen one of them carrying on. It was arching its back like a +cat that's just seen a strange dog, and with every arch it swelled its +stomach. At the third heave it split the strap that held the saddle on, +and then it kicked up in the rear and sent saddle and rider over its +head. So far as I had seen, no casualty had resulted, but it had set me +thinking. Given a beast with an India-rubber spine and no sense of +honor, I felt I would be helpless. +</p> +<p> +Tish came in just then and we confronted her. +</p> + +<div class="figure"> +<a name="image-0009"></a> +<img src="images/ill-07.jpg" width="100%" +alt="'It's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk about +gripping a horse with your knees'" /><br /> +"It's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk about +gripping a horse with your knees" +</div> + +<p> +"Ponies!" I said bitterly. "They are horses, if I know a horse. And, +moreover, it's well enough for you, Tish Carberry, to talk about +gripping a horse with your knees. I'm not built that way, and you know +it. Besides, no knee grip will answer when a creature begins to act like +a cat in a fit." +</p> +<p> +Aggie here had a bright idea. She said that she had seen pictures of +pneumatic jackets to keep people from drowning, and that Mr. McKee, a +buyer at one of the stores at home, had taken one, fully inflated, when +he crossed to Paris for autumn suits. +</p> +<p> +"I would like to have one, Tish," she finished. "It would break the +force of a fall anyhow, even if it did puncture." +</p> +<p> +Tish, who was still dressed, went out to the curio shop in the lobby, +and returned with the sad news that there was nothing of the sort on +sale. +</p> +<p> +We were late in getting started the next morning owing partly to Aggie's +having put her riding-breeches on wrong, and being unable to sit down +when once in the saddle. But the main reason was the guide we had +engaged. Tish heard him using profane language to one of the horses and +dismissed him on the spot. +</p> +<p> +The man who was providing our horses and outfit, however, understood, +and in a short time returned with another man. +</p> +<p> +"I've got a good one for you now, Miss Carberry," he said. "Safe and +perfectly gentle, and as mild as milk. Only has one fault, and maybe you +won't mind that. He smokes considerably." +</p> +<p> +"I don't object, as long as it's in the open air," Tish said. +</p> +<p> +So that was arranged. But I must say that the new man did not look mild. +He had red hair, although a nice smile with a gold tooth, and his +trousers were of white fur, which looked hot for summer. +</p> +<p> +"You are sure that you don't use strong language?" Tish asked. +</p> +<p> +"No, ma'am," he said. "I was raised strict, and very particular as to +swearing. Dear, dear now, would you look at that cinch! Blow up their +little tummies, they do, when they're cinched, and when they breathe it +out, the saddle's as loose as the tongues of some of these here +tourists." +</p> +<p> +Tish swung herself up without any trouble, but owing to a large canvas +bag on the back of my saddle I was unable to get my leg across, and +was compelled to have it worked over, a little at a time. At last, +however, we were ready. A white pack-horse, carrying our tents and +cooking-utensils, was led by Bill, which proved to be the name of our +cowboy guide. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Bell came to say good-bye and to wish us luck. But he looked +unhappy, and there was no sign whatever of the young lady, whose name we +had learned was Helen. +</p> +<p> +"I may see you on the trail," he said sadly. "I'm about sick of this +place, and I'm thinking of clearing out." +</p> +<p> +Aggie reminded him that faint heart never won fair lady, but he only +shook his head. +</p> +<p> +"I'm not so sure that I want to win," he said. "Marriage is a serious +business, and I don't know that I'd care to have a wife that followed a +camera like a street kid follows a brass band. It wouldn't make for a +quiet home." +</p> +<p> +We left him staring wistfully into the distance. +</p> +<p> +Tish sat in her saddle and surveyed the mountain peaks that rose behind +the hotel. +</p> +<p> +"Twenty centuries are looking down upon us!" she said. "The crest of our +native land lies before us. We will conquer those beetling crags, or die +trying. All right, Bill. Forward!" +</p> +<p> +Bill led off, followed by the pack-horse, then Tish, Aggie and myself. +We kept on in this order for some time, which gave me a chance to +observe Aggie carefully. I am not much of a horsewoman myself, having +never been on a horse before. But my father was fond of riding, and I +soon adapted myself to the horse's gait, especially when walking. On +level stretches, however, where Bill spurred his horse to a trot, I was +not so comfortable, and Aggie appeared to strike the saddle in a +different spot every time she descended. +</p> +<p> +Once, on her turning her profile to me in a glance of despair, I was +struck by the strange and collapsed appearance of her face. This was +explained, however, when my horse caught up to hers on a wider stretch +of road, and I saw that she had taken out her teeth and was holding them +in her hand. +</p> +<p> +"Al-almost swallowed them," she gasped. "Oh, Lizzie, to think of a +summer of this!" +</p> +<p> +At last we left the road and turned onto a footpath, which instantly +commenced to rise. Tish called back something about the beauties of +nature and riding over a carpet of flowers, but my horse was fording a +small stream at the time and I was too occupied to reply. The path—or +trail, which is what Bill called it—grew more steep, and I let go of +the lines and held to the horn of my saddle. The horses were climbing +like goats. +</p> +<p> +"Tish," Aggie called desperately, "I can't stand this. I'm going back! +I'm—Lordamighty!" +</p> +<p> +Fortunately Tish did not hear this. We had suddenly emerged on the brink +of a precipice. A two-foot path clung to the cliff, and along the very +edge of this the horses walked, looking down in an interested manner now +and then. My blood turned to water and I closed my eyes. +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" Aggie shrieked. +</p> +<p> +But the only effect of this was to start her horse into a trot. I had +closed my eyes, but I opened them in time to see Aggie give a wild +clutch and a low moan. +</p> +<p> +In a few moments the trail left the edge, and Aggie turned in her saddle +and looked back at me. +</p> +<p> +"I lost my lower set back there," she said. "They went over the edge. I +suppose they're falling yet." +</p> +<p> +"It's a good thing it wasn't the upper set," I said, to comfort her. "As +far as appearance goes—" +</p> +<p> +"Appearance!" she said bitterly. "Do you suppose we'll meet anybody but +desperadoes and Indians in a place like this? And not an egg with us, of +course." +</p> +<p> +The eggs referred to her diet, as at different times, when having her +teeth repaired, she can eat little else. +</p> +<p> +"Ham," she called back in a surly tone, "and hard tack, I suppose! I'll +starve, Lizzie, that's all. If only we had brought some junket tablets!" +</p> +<p> +With the exception of this incident the morning was quiet. Tish and Bill +talked prohibition, which he believed in, and the tin pans on the +pack-horse clattered, and we got higher all the time, and rode through +waterfalls and along the edge of death. By noon I did not much care if +the horses fell over or not. The skin was off me in a number of places, +and my horse did not like me, and showed it by nipping back at my leg +here and there. +</p> +<p> +At eleven o'clock, riding through a valley on a trail six inches wide, +Bill's horse stepped on a hornets' nest. The insects were probably dazed +at first, but by the time Tish's horse arrived they were prepared, and +the next thing we knew Tish's horse was flying up the mountain-side as +if it had gone crazy, and Bill was shouting to us to stop. +</p> +<p> +The last we saw of Tish for some time was her horse leaping a mountain +stream, and jumping like a kangaroo, and Bill was following. +</p> +<p> +"She'll be killed!" Aggie cried. "Oh, Tish, Tish!" +</p> +<p> +"Don't yell," I said. "You'll start the horses. And for Heaven's sake, +Aggie," I added grimly, "remember that this is a pleasure trip." +</p> +<p> +It was a half-hour before Tish and Bill returned. Tish was a chastened +woman. She said little or nothing, but borrowed some ointment from me +for her face, where the branches of trees had scraped it, while Bill led +the horses round the fatal spot. I recall, however, that she said she +wished now that we had brought the other guide. +</p> +<p> +"Because I feel," she observed, "that a little strong language would be +a relief." +</p> +<p> +We had luncheon at noon in a sylvan glade, and Aggie was pathetic. She +dipped a cracker in a cup of tea, and sat off by herself under a tree. +Tish, however, had recovered her spirits. +</p> +<p> +"Throw out your chests, and breathe deep of this pure air unsullied by +civilization," she cried. "Aggie, fill yourself with ozone." +</p> +<p> +"Humph!" said Aggie. "It's about all I will fill myself with." +</p> +<p> +"Think," Tish observed, "of the fools and dolts who are living under +roofs, struggling, contending, plotting, while all Nature awaits them." +</p> +<p> +"With stings," Aggie said nastily, "and teeth, and horns, and claws, and +every old thing! Tish, I want to go back. I'm not happy, and I don't +enjoy scenery when I'm not happy. Besides, I can't eat the landscape." +</p> +<p> +As I look back, I believe it would have been better if we had returned. +I think of that day, some time later, when we made the long descent from +the Piegan Pass under such extraordinary circumstances, and I realize +that, although worse for our bodies, which had grown strong and agile, +so that I have, later on, seen Aggie mount her horse on a run, it would +have been better for our nerves had we returned. +</p> +<p> +We were all perfectly stiff after luncheon, and Aggie was sulking also. +Bill was compelled to lift us into our saddles, and again we started up +and up. The trail was now what he called a "switchback." Halfway up +Aggie refused to go farther, but on looking back decided not to return +either. +</p> +<p> +"I shall not go another step," she called. "Here I am, and here I stay +till I die." +</p> +<p> +"Very well," Tish said from overhead. "I suppose you don't expect us all +to stay and die with you. I'll tell your niece when I see her." +</p> +<p> +Aggie thought better of it, however, and followed on, with her eyes +closed and her lips moving in prayer. She happened to open them at a bad +place, although safe enough, according to Bill, and nothing to what we +were coming to a few days later. Opening them as she did on a ledge of +rock which sloped steeply for what appeared to be several miles down +on each side, she uttered a piercing shriek, followed by a sneeze. As +before, her horse started to run, and Aggie is, I believe Bill said, +the only person in the world who ever took that place at a canter. +</p> +<p> +We were to take things easy the first day, Bill advised. "Till you get +your muscles sort of eased up, ladies," he said. "If you haven't been +riding astride, a horse's back seems as wide as the roof of a church. +But we'll get a rest now. The rest of the way is walking." +</p> +<p> +"I can't walk," Aggie said. "I can't get my knees together." +</p> +<p> +"Sorry, ma'am," said Bill. "We're going down now, and the animals has to +be led. That's one of the diversions of a trip like this. First you ride +and than you walk. And then you ride again. This here's one of the show +places, although easy of access from the entrance. Be a good place for a +holdup, I've always said." +</p> +<p> +"A holdup?" Tish asked. Her enthusiasm seemed to have flagged somewhat, +but at this she brightened up. +</p> +<p> +"Yes'm. You see, we're near the Canadian border, and it would be easy +for a gang to slip over and back again. Don't know why we've never had +one. Yellowstone can boast of a number." +</p> +<p> +I observed tartly that I considered it nothing to boast of, but Bill did +not agree with me. +</p> +<p> +"It doesn't hurt a neighborhood none," he observed. "Adds romance, as +you might say." +</p> +<p> +He went on and, happening to slide on a piece of shale at that moment, I +sat down unexpectedly and the horse put its foot on me. +</p> +<p> +I felt embittered and helpless, but the others kept on. +</p> +<p> +"Very well," I said, "go on. Don't mind me. If this creature wants to +sit in my lap, well and good. I expect it's tired." +</p> +<p> +But as they went on callously, I was obliged to shove the creature off +and to hobble on. Bill was still babbling about holdups, and Aggie was +saying that he was sunstruck, but of course it did not matter. +</p> +<p> +We made very slow progress, owing to taking frequent rests, and late in +the afternoon we were overtaken by Mr. Bell, on foot and carrying a +pack. He would have passed on without stopping, but Aggie hailed him. +</p> +<p> +"Not going to hike, are you?" she said pleasantly. Aggie is fond of +picking up the vernacular of a region. +</p> +<p> +"No," he said in a surly tone quite unlike his former urbane manner, +"I'm merely taking this pack out for a walk." +</p> +<p> +But he stopped and mopped his face. +</p> +<p> +"To tell you the truth, ladies," he said, "I'm working off a little +steam, that's all. I was afraid, if I stayed round the hotel, I'd do +something I'd be sorry for. There are times when I am not a fit +companion for any one, and this is one of them." +</p> +<p> +We invited him to join us, but he refused. +</p> +<p> +"No, I'm better alone," he said. "When things get too strong for me on +the trail I can sling things about. I've been throwing boulders down the +mountain every now and then. I'd just as soon they hit somebody as not. +Also," he added, "I'm safer away from any red-headed men." +</p> +<p> +We saw him glance at Bill, and understood. Mr. Oliver was red-headed. +</p> +<p> +"Love's an awful thing," said Bill as the young man went on, kicking +stones out of his way. "I'm glad I ain't got it." +</p> +<p> +Tish turned and eyed him. "True love is a very beautiful thing," she +rebuked him. "Although a single woman myself, I believe in it. 'Come +live with me and be my love,'" she quoted, sitting down to shake a stone +out of her riding-boot. +</p> +<p> +Bill looked startled. "I might say," he said hastily, "that I may have +misled you, ladies. I'm married." +</p> +<p> +"You said you had never been in love," Tish said sharply. +</p> +<p> +"Well, not to say real love," he replied. "She was the cook of an outfit +I was with and it just came about natural. She was going to leave, which +meant that I'd have to do the cooking, which I ain't much at, especially +pastry. So I married her." +</p> +<p> +Tish gave him a scornful glance but said nothing and we went on. +</p> +<p> +We camped late that afternoon beside Two Medicine Lake, and while Bill +put up the tents the three of us sat on a log and soaked our aching feet +in the water which was melted glacier, and naturally cold. +</p> +<p> +What was our surprise, on turning somewhat, to see the angry lover +fishing on a point near by. While we stared he pulled out a large trout, +and stalked away without a glance in our direction. As Tish, with her +usual forethought, had brought a trout rod, she hastily procured it, but +without result. +</p> +<p> +"Of course," Aggie said, "no fish! I could eat a piece of broiled fish. +I dare say I shall be skin and bone at the end of this trip—and not +much skin." +</p> +<p> +Bill had set up the sleeping-tent and built a fire, and it looked cozy +and comfortable. But Tish had the young man on her mind, and after +supper she put on a skirt which she had brought along and went to see +him. +</p> +<p> +"I'd take him some supper, Bill," she said, "but you are correct: you +are no cook." +</p> +<p> +She disappeared among the bushes, only to return in a short time, +jerking off her skirt as she came. +</p> +<p> +"He says all he wants is to be let alone," she said briefly. "I must say +I'm disappointed in him. He was very agreeable before." +</p> +<p> +I pass without comment over the night. Bill had put up the tent over the +root of a large tree, and we disposed ourselves about it as well as we +could. In the course of the night one of the horses broke loose and put +its head inside the tent. Owing to Aggie's thinking it was a bear, Tish +shot at it, fortunately missing it. +</p> +<p> +But the frightened animal ran away, and Bill was until noon the next day +finding it. We cooked our own breakfast, and Tish made some gems, having +brought the pan along. But the morning dragged, although the scenery was +lovely. +</p> +<p> +At twelve Bill brought the horse back and came over to us. +</p> +<p> +"If you don't mind my saying it, Miss Carberry," he observed, "you're a +bit too ready with that gun. First thing you know you'll put a hole +through me, and then where will you be?" +</p> +<p> +"I've got along without men most of my life," Tish said sharply. "I +reckon we'd manage." +</p> +<p> +"Well," he said, "there's another angle to it. Where would I be?" +</p> +<p> +"That's between you and your Creator," Tish retorted. +</p> +<p> +We went on again that afternoon, and climbed another precipice. We saw +no human being except a mountain goat, although Bill claimed to have +seen a bear. Tish was quite calm at all times, and had got so that she +could look down into eternity without a shudder. But Aggie and I were +still nervous, and at the steepest places we got off and walked. +</p> +<p> +The unfortunate part was that the exercise and the mountain air made +Aggie hungry, and there was little that she could eat. +</p> +<p> +"If any one had told me a month ago," she said, mopping her forehead, +"that I would be scaling the peaks of my country on crackers and tea, I +wouldn't have believed it. I'm done out, Lizzie. I can't climb another +inch." +</p> +<p> +Bill was ahead with the pack horse, and Tish, overhearing her, called +back some advice. +</p> +<p> +"Take your horse's tail and let him pull you up, Aggie," she said. "I've +read it somewhere." +</p> +<p> +Aggie, although frequently complaining, always does as Tish suggests. So +she took the horse's tail, when a totally unexpected thing happened. +Docile as the creature generally was, it objected at once, and kicked +out with both rear feet. In a moment, it seemed to me, Aggie was gone, +and her horse was moving on alone. +</p> +<p> +"Aggie!" I called in a panic. +</p> +<p> +Tish stopped, and we both looked about. Then we saw her, lying on a +ledge about ten feet below the trail. She was flat on her back, and her +riding-hat was gone. But she was uninjured, although shaken, for as we +looked she sat up, and an agonized expression came over her face. +</p> +<p> +"Aggie!" I cried. "Is anything broken?" +</p> +<p> +"Damnation!" said Aggie in an awful voice. "The upper set is gone!" +</p> +<p> +I have set down exactly what Aggie said. I admit that the provocation +was great. But Tish was not one to make allowances, and she turned and +went on, leaving us alone. She is not without feeling, however, for from +the top of the pass she sent Bill down with a rope, and we dragged poor +Aggie to the trail again. Her nerves were shaken and she was repentant +also, for when she found that her hat was gone she said nothing, +although her eyes took on a hunted look. +</p> +<p> +At the top of the pass Tish was sitting on a stone. She had taken her +mending-box from the saddle, where she always kept it handy, and was +drawing up a hole in her stocking. I observed to her pleasantly that it +was a sign of scandal to mend clothing while still on, but she ignored +me, although, as I reflected bitterly, I had not been kicked over the +cliff. +</p> +<p> +It was a subdued and speechless Aggie who followed us that afternoon +along the trail. As her hat was gone, I took the spare dish towel and +made a turban for her, with an end hanging down to protect the back of +her neck. But she expressed little gratitude, beyond observing that as +she was going over the edge piecemeal, she'd better have done it all at +once and be through with it. +</p> +<p> +The afternoon wore away slowly. It seemed a long time until we reached +our camping-place, partly because, although a small eater ordinarily, +the air and exercise had made me feel famished. But the disagreement +between Tish and Aggie, owing to the latter's unfortunate exclamation +while kicked over the cliff, made the time seem longer. There was not +the usual exchange of pleasant nothings between us. +</p> +<p> +But by six o'clock Tish was more amiable, having seen bear scratches on +trees near the camp, and anticipating the sight of a bear. She mixed up +a small cup cake while Bill was putting up our tent, and then, taking +her rod, proceeded to fish, while Aggie and I searched for grasshoppers. +These were few, owing to the altitude, but we caught four, which we +imprisoned in a match-box. +</p> +<p> +With them Tish caught four trout and, broiling them nicely, she offered +one to poor Aggie. It was a peace offering, and taken as such, so that +we were soon on our former agreeable footing, and all forgotten. +</p> +<p> +The next day it rained, and we were obliged to sit in the tent. Bill sat +with us, and talked mainly of desperadoes. +</p> +<p> +"As I observed before," he said, "there hasn't been any tourist holdup +yet. But it's bound to come. Take the Yellowstone, now,—one holdup a +year's the average, and it's full of soldiers at that." +</p> +<p> +"It's a wonder people keep on going," I observed, moving out of a puddle. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I don't know," he said. "In one way it's good business. I take it +this way: When folks come West they want the West they've read about. +What do they care for irrigation and apple orchards? What they like is +danger and a little gunplay, the sort of thing they see in these here +moving pictures." +</p> +<p> +"I'm sure I don't," Aggie remarked. It was growing dusk, and she peered +out into the forest round us. "There is something crackling out there +now," she said. +</p> +<p> +"Only a bear, likely," Bill assured her. "We have a sight of bears here. +No, ma'am, they want danger. And every holdup's an advertisement. You +see, the Government can't advertise these here parks; not the way it +should, anyhow. But a holdup's news, so the papers print it, and it sets +people to thinking about the park. Maybe they never thought of the place +and are arranging to go elsewhere. Then along comes a gang and raises +h—, raises trouble, and the park's in every one's mouth, so to speak. +We'd get considerable business if there was one this summer." +</p> +<p> +At that moment the crackling outside increased, and a shadowy form +emerged from the bushes. Even Bill stood up, and Aggie screamed. +</p> +<p> +It was, however, only poor Mr. Bell. +</p> +<p> +"Mind if I borrow some matches?" he said gruffly. +</p> +<p> +"We can't lend matches," Tish replied. "At least, I don't see the use of +sending them back after they've been lighted. We can give you some." +</p> +<p> +"My mistake," he said. +</p> +<p> +That was all he said, except the word "Thanks" when I reached him a box. +</p> +<p> +"He's a surly creature," Tish observed as he crackled through the brush +again. "More than likely that girl's better off without him." +</p> +<p> +"He looks rather downhearted," Aggie remarked. "Much that we think is +temper is due to unhappiness." +</p> +<p> +"Much of your charitable view is due to a good dinner too," Tish said. +"Here we are, in the center of the wilderness, with great peaks on every +hand, and we meet a fellow creature who speaks nine words, and begrudges +those. If he's as stingy with money as with language she's had a narrow +escape." +</p> +<p> +"He's had kind of a raw deal," Bill put in. "The girl was stuck on him +all right, until this moving-picture chap came along. He offered to take +some pictures with her in them, and it was all off. They're making up a +play now, and she's to be in it." +</p> +<p> +"What sort of a play?" Tish demanded. +</p> +<p> +"Sorry not to oblige," Bill replied. "Can't say the nature of it." +</p> +<p> +But all of us felt that Bill knew and would not say. +</p> +<p> +Tish, to whom a mystery is a personal affront, determined to find out +for herself; and when later in the evening we saw the light of Bell's +camp-fire, it was Tish herself who suggested that we go over and visit +with him. +</p> +<p> +"We can converse about various things," she said, "and take his mind +from his troubles. But it would be better not to mention affairs of the +heart. He's probably sensitive." +</p> +<p> +So we left Bill to look after things, and went to call on Mr. Bell. It +was farther to his camp than it had appeared, and Tish unfortunately ran +into a tree and bruised her nose badly. When it had stopped bleeding, +however, we went on, and at last arrived. +</p> +<p> +He was sitting on a log by the fire, smoking a pipe and looking very +sad. Behind him was a bit of a tent not much larger than an umbrella. +</p> +<p> +Aggie touched my arm. "My heart aches for him," she said. "There is +despair in his very eyes." +</p> +<p> +I do not believe that at first he was very glad to see us, but he +softened somewhat when Tish held out the cake she had brought. +</p> +<p> +"That's very nice of you," he said, rising. "I'm afraid I can't ask you +to sit down. The ground's wet and there is only this log." +</p> +<p> +"I've sat on logs before," Tish replied. "We thought we'd call, seeing +we are neighbors. As the first comers it was our place to call first, of +course." +</p> +<p> +"I see," he said, and poked up the fire with a piece of stick. +</p> +<p> +"We felt that you might be lonely," said Aggie. +</p> +<p> +"I came here to be lonely," he replied gloomily. "I want to be lonely." +</p> +<p> +Tish, however, was determined to be cheerful, and asked him, as a safe +subject, how he felt about the war. +</p> +<p> +"War?" he said. "That's so, there is a war. To tell the truth, I had +forgotten about it. I've been thinking of other things." +</p> +<p> +We saw that it was going to be difficult to cheer him. Tish tried the +weather, which brought us nowhere, as he merely grunted. But Aggie +broached the subject of desperadoes, and he roused somewhat. +</p> +<p> +"There are plenty of shady characters in the park," he said shortly. +"Wolves in sheep's clothing, that's what they are." +</p> +<p> +"Bill, our guide, says there may be a holdup at any time." +</p> +<p> +"Sure there is," he said calmly. "There's one going to be pulled off in +the next day or two." +</p> +<p> +We sat petrified, and Aggie's eyes were starting out of her head. +</p> +<p> +"All the trimmings," he went on, staring at the fire. "Innocent and +unsuspecting tourists, lunch, laughter, boiled coffee, and cold ham. +Ambush. The whole business—followed by highwaymen in flannel shirts and +revolvers. Dead tourist or two, desperate resistance—everything." +</p> +<p> +Aggie rose, pale as an aspen. "You—you are joking!" she cried. +</p> +<p> +"Do I look like it?" he demanded fiercely. "I tell you there is going to +be the whole thing. At the end the lovely girl will escape on horseback +and ride madly for aid. She will meet the sheriff and a posse, who are +out for a picnic or some such damfool nonsense, and—" +</p> +<p> +"Young man," Tish said coldly, "if you know all this, why are you +sitting here and not alarming the authorities?" +</p> +<p> +"Pooh!" he said disagreeably. "It's a put-up scheme, to advertise the +park. Yellowstone's got ahead of them this year, and has had its +excitement, with all the papers ringing with it. That was a gag, too, +probably." +</p> +<p> +"Do you mean—" +</p> +<p> +"I mean considerable," he said. "That red-headed movie idiot will be on +a rise, taking the tourists as they ride through. Of course he doesn't +expect the holdup—not in the papers anyhow. He happens to have the +camera trained on the party, and gets it all. Result—a whacking good +picture, revolvers firing blank cartridges, everything which people will +crowd to see. Oh, it's good business all right. I don't mind admitting +that." +</p> +<p> +Tish's face expressed the greatest rage. She rose, drawing herself to +her full height. +</p> +<p> +"And the tourists?" she demanded. "They lend themselves to this +imposition? To this infamy? To this turpitude?" +</p> +<p> +"Certainly not. They think it's the real thing. The whole business hangs +on that. And as the sheriff, or whoever it is in the fool plot, captures +the bandits, the party gets its money back, and has material for +conversation for the next twenty years." +</p> +<p> +"To think," said Tish, "of our great National Government lending itself +to such a scheme!" +</p> +<p> +"Wrong," said the young man. "It's a combination of Western railroads +and a movie concern acting together." +</p> +<p> +"I trust," Tish observed, setting her lips firmly, "that the tourists +will protest." +</p> +<p> +"The more noise, the better." The young man, though not more cheerful as +to appearance, was certainly more talkative. "Trust a clergyman for +yelling when his pocket's picked." +</p> +<p> +With one voice the three of us exclaimed: "Mr. Ostermaier!" +</p> +<p> +He was not sure of the name, but "Helen" had pointed the clergyman out +to him, and it was Mr. Ostermaier without a doubt. +</p> +<p> +We talked it over with Bill when we got back, and he was not as +surprised as we'd expected. +</p> +<p> +"Knew they were cooking up something. They've got some Indians in it +too. Saw them rehearsing old Thunder Mountain the other day in nothing +but a breech-clout." +</p> +<p> +Tish reproved him for a lack of delicacy of speech, and shortly +afterward we went to bed. Owing to the root under the tent, and puddles +here and there, we could not go to sleep for a time, and we discussed +the "nefarious deed," as Tish aptly termed it, that was about to take +place. +</p> +<p> +"Although," Tish observed, "Mr. Ostermaier has been receiving for so +many years that it might be a good thing, for his soul's sake, to have +him give up something, even if to bandits." I dozed off after a time, +but awakened to find Tish sitting up, wide awake. +</p> +<p> +"I've been thinking that thing over, Lizzie," she said in a low tone. "I +believe it's our duty to interfere." +</p> +<p> +"Of course," I replied sarcastically; "and be shown all over the country +in the movies making fools of ourselves." +</p> +<p> +"Did you notice that that young man said they would be firing blank +cartridges?" +</p> +<p> +Well, even a blank cartridge can be a dangerous thing. Then and there I +reminded her of my niece's boy, who was struck on the Fourth of July by +a wad from one, and had to be watched for lockjaw for several weeks. +</p> +<p> +It was at that moment that we heard Bill, who had no tent, by choice, +and lay under a tree, give a loud whoop, followed by what was +unmistakably an oath. +</p> +<p> +"Bear!" he yelled. "Watch out, he's headed for the tent! It's a +grizzly." +</p> +<p> +Tish felt round wildly for her revolver, but it was gone! And the bear +was close by. We could hear it snuffing about, and to add to the +confusion Aggie wakened and commenced to sneeze with terror. +</p> +<p> +"Bill!" Tish called. "I've lost my revolver!" +</p> +<p> +"I took it, Miss Carberry. But I've been lying in a puddle, and it won't +go off." +</p> +<p> +All hope seemed gone. The frail walls of our tent were no protection +whatever, and as we all knew, even a tree was no refuge from a bear, +which, as we had seen in the Zoological Garden at home, can climb like a +cat, only swifter. Besides, none of us could climb a tree. +</p> +<p> +It was at that moment that Tish had one of those inspirations that make +her so dependable in emergencies. Feeling round in the tent for a +possible weapon, she touched a large ham, from which we had broiled a +few slices at supper. In her shadowy form there was both purpose and +high courage. With a single sweeping gesture she flung the ham at the +bear so accurately that we heard the thud with which it struck. +</p> +<p> +"What the hell are you doing?" Bill called from a safe distance. Even +then we realized that his restraint of speech was a pose, pure and +simple. "If you make him angry he'll tear up the whole place." +</p> +<p> +But Tish did not deign to answer. The rain had ceased, and suddenly the +moon came out and illuminated the whole scene. We saw the bear sniffing +at the ham, which lay on the ground. Then he picked it up in his jaws +and stood looking about. +</p> +<p> +Tish said later that the moment his teeth were buried in the ham she +felt safe. I can still see the majestic movement with which she walked +out of the tent and waved her arms. +</p> +<p> +"Now, scat with you!" she said firmly. "Scat!" +</p> +<p> +He "scatted." Snarling through his nose, for fear of dropping the ham, +he turned and fled up the mountainside. In the open space Tish stood the +conqueror. She yawned and glanced about. +</p> +<p> +"Going to be a nice night, after all," she said. "Now, Bill, bring me +that revolver, and if I catch you meddling with it again I'll put that +pair of fur rugs you are so proud of in the fire." +</p> +<p> +Bill, who was ignorant of the ham, emerged sheepishly into the open. +"Where the—where the dickens did you hit him, Miss Tish?" he asked. +</p> +<p> +"In the stomach," Tish replied tartly, and taking her revolver went back +to the tent. +</p> +<p> +All the next day Tish was quiet. She rode ahead, hardly noticing the +scenery, with her head dropped on her chest. At luncheon she took a +sardine sandwich and withdrew to a tree, underneath which she sat, a +lonely and brooding figure. +</p> +<p> +When luncheon was over and Aggie and I were washing the dishes and +hanging out the dish towels to dry on a bush, Tish approached Bill, who +was pouring water on the fire to extinguish it. +</p> +<p> +"Bill," she stated, "you came to us under false pretenses. You swear, +for one thing." +</p> +<p> +"Only under excitement, Miss Tish," he said. "And as far as that goes, +Miss Aggie herself said—" +</p> +<p> +"Also," Tish went on hastily, "you said you could cook. You cannot +cook." +</p> +<p> +"Now, look here, Miss Tish," he said in a pleading tone, "I can cook. I +didn't claim to know the whole cookbook. I can make coffee and fry +bacon. How'd I know you ladies wanted pastry? As for them canned salmon +croquettes with white sauce, I reckon to make them with a little +showing, and—" +</p> +<p> +"Also," said Tish, cutting in sternly, "you took away my revolver, and +left us helpless last night, and in peril of wild beasts." +</p> +<p> +"Tourists ain't allowed to carry guns." +</p> +<p> +He attempted to look injured, but Tish ignored him. +</p> +<p> +"Therefore," she said, "if I am not to send you back—which I have been +considering all day, as I've put up a tent myself before this, and you +are only an extra mouth to feed, which, as we are one ham short, is +inconvenient—you will have to justify my keeping you." +</p> +<p> +"If you will just show me once about them gems, Miss Tish—" he began. +</p> +<p> +But Tish cut him off. "No," she said firmly, "you are too casual about +cooking. And you are no dish-washer. Setting a plate in a river and +letting the current wash it may satisfy cow-punchers. It doesn't go with +me. The point is this: You know all about the holdup that is going to +take place. Don't lie. I know you know. Now, you take us there and tell +us all you know about it." +</p> +<p> +He scratched his head reflectively. "I'll tell you," he said. "I'm a +slow thinker. Give me about twenty minutes on it, will you? It's a sort +of secret, and there's different ways of looking at it." +</p> +<p> +Tish took out her watch. "Twenty minutes," she said. "Start thinking +now." +</p> +<p> +He wandered off and rolled a cigarette. Later on, as I have said, he +showed Tish how to do it—not, of course, that she meant to smoke, but +Tish is fond of learning how to do things. She got so she could roll +them with one hand, and she does it now in the winter evenings, instead +of rolling paper spills as formerly. When Charlie Sands comes, she +always has a supply ready for him, although occasionally somewhat dry +from waiting for a few weeks. +</p> +<p> +At the end of twenty minutes Tish snapped her watch shut. +</p> +<p> +"Time!" she called, and Bill came back. +</p> +<p> +"Well, I'll do it," he said. "I don't know as they'll put you in the +picture, but I'll see what I can do." +</p> +<p> +"Picture nothing!" Tish snapped. "You take us there and hide us. That's +the point. There must be caves round to put us in, although I don't +insist on a cave. They're damp usually." +</p> +<p> +Well, he looked puzzled, but he agreed. I caught Aggie's eye, and we +exchanged glances. There was trouble coming, and we knew it. Our long +experience with Tish had taught us not to ask questions. "Ours but to do +and die," as Aggie later said. But I confess to a feeling of uneasiness +during the remainder of that day. +</p> +<p> +We changed our course that afternoon, turning off at Saint Mary's and +spending the night near the Swiss Chalet at Going-to-the-Sun. Aggie and +I pleaded to spend the night in the chalet, but Tish was adamant. +</p> +<p> +"When I am out camping, I camp," she said. "I can have a bed at home, +but I cannot sleep under the stars, on a bed of pine needles, and be +lured to rest by the murmur of a mountain stream." +</p> +<p> +Well, we gave it up and went with her. I must say that the trip had +improved us already. Except when terrified or kicked by a horse, Aggie +was not sneezing at all, and I could now climb into the saddle +unassisted. My waistbands were much looser, too, and during a short rest +that afternoon I put a dart in my riding-breeches, during the absence +of Bill after the pack-horse, which had strayed. +</p> +<p> +It was on that occasion that Tish told us as much of her plan as she +thought it wise for us to know. +</p> +<p> +"The holdup," she explained, "is to be the day after to-morrow on the +Piegan Pass. Bill says there is a level spot at the top with rocks all +about. That is the spot. The Ostermaiers and their party leave the +automobiles at Many Glaciers and take horses to the pass. It will be +worth coming clear to Montana to see Mrs. Ostermaier on a horse." +</p> +<p> +"I still don't see," Aggie observed in a quavering voice, "what we have +to do with it." +</p> +<p> +"Naturally not," said Tish. "You'll know as soon as is good for you." +</p> +<p> +"I don't believe it will ever be good for me," said poor Aggie. "It +isn't good for anybody to be near a holdup. And I don't want to be in a +moving picture with no teeth. I'm not a vain woman," she said, "but I +draw the line at that." +</p> +<p> +But Tish ignored her. "The only trouble," she said, "is having one +revolver. If we each had one—Lizzie, did you bring any ink?" +</p> +<p> +Well, I had, and said so, but that I needed it for postcards when we +struck a settlement. +</p> +<p> +Tish waved my objection aside. "I guess it can be managed," she +observed. "Bill has a knife. Yes, I think it can be done." +</p> +<p> +She and Bill engaged in an earnest conference that afternoon. At first +Bill objected. I could see him shaking his head. Then Tish gave him +something which Aggie said was money. I do not know. She had been short +of cash on the train, but she may have had more in her trunk. Then I saw +Bill start to laugh. He laughed until he had to lean against a tree, +although Tish was quite stern and serious. +</p> +<p> +We reached Piegan Pass about three that afternoon, and having inspected +it and the Garden Wall, which is a mile or two high at that point, we +returned to a "bench" where there were some trees, and dismounted. +</p> +<p> +Here, to our surprise, we found Mr. Bell again. As Tish remarked, he was +better at walking than at talking. He looked surprised at seeing us, and +was much more agreeable than before. +</p> +<p> +"I'm afraid I was pretty surly the other night," he said. "The truth is, +I was so blooming unhappy that I didn't give a damn for anything." +</p> +<p> +But when he saw that Bill was preparing to take the pack off the horse +he looked startled. +</p> +<p> +"I say," he said, "you don't mean to camp here, do you?" +</p> +<p> +"Such is my intention," Tish observed grimly. +</p> +<p> +"But look here. Just beyond, at the pass, is where the holdup is to take +place to-morrow." +</p> +<p> +"So I believe," said Tish. "What has that to do with us? What are you +going to do?" +</p> +<p> +"Oh, I'm going to hang round." +</p> +<p> +"Well, we intend to hang round also." +</p> +<p> +He stood by and watched our preparations for camp. Tish chose a small +grove for the tent, and then left us, clambering up the mountain-side. +She finally disappeared. Aggie mixed some muffins for tea, and we +invited the young man to join us. But he was looking downhearted again +and refused. +</p> +<p> +However, when she took them out of the portable oven, nicely browned, +and lifting the tops of each one dropped in a teaspoonful of grape +jelly, he changed his mind. +</p> +<p> +"I'll stay, if you don't mind," he said. "Maybe some decent food will +make me see things clearer." +</p> +<p> +When Tish descended at six o'clock, she looked depressed. "There is no +cave," she said, "although I have gone where a mountain goat would get +dizzy. But I have found a good place to hide the horses, where we can +get them quickly when we need them." +</p> +<p> +Aggie was scooping the inside out of her muffin, being unable to eat the +crust, but she went quite pale. +</p> +<p> +"Tish," she said, "you have some desperate plan in view, and I am not +equal to it. I am worn with travel and soft food, and am not as young as +I once was." +</p> +<p> +"Desperate nothing!" said Tish, pouring condensed milk into her tea. "I +am going to teach a lot of idiots a lesson, that's all. There should be +one spot in America free from the advertising man and his schemes, and +this is going to be it. Commercialism," she went on, growing oratorical, +"does not belong here among these mighty mountains. Once let it start, +and these towering cliffs will be defaced with toothpowder and +intoxicating-liquor signs." +</p> +<p> +The young man knew the plans for the holdup even better than Bill. He +was able to show us the exact spot which had been selected, and to tell +us the hour at which the Ostermaier party was to cross the pass. +</p> +<p> +"They'll lunch on the pass," he said, "and, of course, they suspect +nothing. The young lady of whom I spoke to you will be one of their +party. She, however, knows what is coming, and is, indeed, a party to +it. The holdup will take place during luncheon." +</p> +<p> +Here his voice broke, and he ate an entire muffin before he went on: +"The holdup will take place on the pass, the bandits having been hidden +on this 'bench' right here. Then the outlaws, having robbed the +tourists, will steal the young lady and escape down the trail on the +other side. The guide, who is in the plot, will ride ahead in this +direction and raise the alarm. You understand," he added, "that as it's +a put-up job, the tourists will get all their stuff back. I don't know +how that's to be arranged." +</p> +<p> +"But the girl?" Tish asked. +</p> +<p> +"She's to make her escape later," Mr. Bell said grimly, "and will be +photographed galloping down the trail, by another idiot with a camera, +who, of course, just happens to be on the spot. She'll do it too," he +added with a pathetic note of pride in his voice. "She's got nerve +enough for anything." +</p> +<p> +He drew a long breath, and Aggie poured him a third cup of tea. +</p> +<p> +"I dare say this will finish everything," he said dejectedly. "I can't +offer her any excitement like this. We live in a quiet suburb, where +nobody ever fires a revolver except on the Fourth of July." +</p> +<p> +"What she needs," Tish said, bending forward, "is a lesson, Mr. +Bell—something to make her hate the very thought of a moving picture +and shudder at the sound of a shot." +</p> +<p> +"Exactly," said Mr. Bell. "I've thought of that. Something to make her +gun-shy and camera-shy. It's curious about her. In some ways she's a +timid girl. She's afraid of thunder, for one thing." +</p> +<p> +Tish bent forward. "Do you know," she said, "the greatest weapon in the +world?" +</p> +<p> +"Weapon? Well, I don't know. These new German guns—" +</p> +<p> +"The greatest weapon in the world," Tish explained, "is ridicule. Man is +helpless against it. To be absurd is to be lost. When the bandits take +the money, where do they go?" +</p> +<p> +"Down the other side from the pass. A photographer will photograph them +there, making their escape with the loot." +</p> +<p> +"And the young lady?" +</p> +<p> +"I've told you that," he said bitterly. "She is to be captured by the +attacking party." +</p> +<p> +"They will all be armed?" +</p> +<p> +"Sure, with blanks. The Indians have guns and arrows, but the arrows +have rubber tips." +</p> +<p> +Tish rose majestically. "Mr. Bell," she said, "you may sleep to-night +the sleep of peace. When I undertake a thing, I carry it through. My +friends will agree with me. I never fail, when my heart is set on it. By +the day after to-morrow the young lady in the case will hate the sight +of a camera." +</p> +<p> +Although not disclosing her plan, she invited the young man to join us. +But his face fell and he shook his head. +</p> +<p> +Tish said that she did not expect to need him, but that, if the time +came, she would blow three times on a police whistle, which she had, +with her usual foresight, brought along. He agreed to that, although +looking rather surprised, and we parted from him. +</p> +<p> +"I would advise," Tish said as he moved away, "that you conceal yourself +in the valley below the pass on the other side." +</p> +<p> +He agreed to this, and we separated for the night. But long after Aggie +and I had composed ourselves to rest Tish sat on a stone by the +camp-fire and rolled cigarettes. +</p> +<p> +At last she came into the tent and wakened us by prodding us with her +foot. +</p> +<p> +"Get all the sleep you can," she said. "We'll leave here at dawn +to-morrow, and there'll be little rest for any of us to-morrow night." +</p> +<p> +At daylight next morning she roused us. She was dressed, except that she +wore her combing-jacket, and her hair was loose round her face. +</p> +<p> +"Aggie, you make an omelet in a hurry, and, Lizzie, you will have to get +the horses." +</p> +<p> +"I'll do nothing of the sort," I said, sitting up on the ground. "We've +got a man here for that. Besides, I have to set the table." +</p> +<p> +"Very well," Tish replied, "we can stay here, I dare say. Bill's busy at +something I've set him to doing." +</p> +<p> +"Whose fault is it," I demanded, "that we are here in 'Greenland's Icy +Mountains'? Not mine. I'd never heard of the dratted place. And those +horses are five miles away by now, most likely." +</p> +<p> +"Go and get a cup of tea. You'll have a little sense then," said Tish, +not unkindly. "And as for what Bill's doing, he's making revolvers. +Where's your writing ink?" +</p> +<p> +<i>I had none!</i> I realized it that moment. I had got it out at the first +camp to record in my diary the place, weather, temperature, and my own +pulse rate, which I had been advised to watch, on account of the effect +of altitude on the heart, and had left the bottle sitting on a stone. +</p> +<p> +When I confessed this to Tish, she was unjustly angry and a trifle +bitter. +</p> +<p> +"It's what I deserve, most likely, for bringing along two incompetents," +was her brief remark. "Without ink we are weaponless." +</p> +<p> +But she is a creature of resource, and a moment later she emerged from +the tent and called to Bill in a cheerful tone. +</p> +<p> +"No ink, Bill," she said, "but we've got blackberry cordial, and by +mixing it with a little soot we may be able to manage." +</p> +<p> +Aggie demurred loudly, as there are occasions when only a mouthful of +the cordial enables her to keep doing. But Tish was firm. When I went to +the fire, I found Bill busily carving wooden revolvers, copying Tish's, +which lay before him. He had them done well enough, and could have gone +for the horses as easy as not, but he insisted on trimming them up. +Mine, which I still have, has a buffalo head carved on the handle, and +Aggie's has a wreath of leaves running round the barrel. +</p> +<p> +In spite of Aggie's wails Tish poured a large part of the blackberry +cordial into a biscuit pan, and put in a chip of wood. +</p> +<p> +"It makes it red," she said doubtfully. "I never saw a red revolver, +Bill." +</p> +<p> +"Seems like an awful waste," Bill said. But having now completed the +wreath he placed all three weapons—he had made one for himself—in the +pan. The last thing I saw, as I started for the horses, was the three of +them standing about, looking down, and Aggie's face was full of misery. +</p> +<p> +I was gone for a half-hour. The horses had not wandered far, and having +mounted mine, although without a saddle, I copied as well as I could the +whoop Bill used to drive them in, and rounded them up. When I returned, +driving them before me, the pack was ready, and on Tish's face was a +look of intense satisfaction. I soon perceived the reason. +</p> +<p> +Lying on a stone by the fire were three of the shiniest black revolvers +any one could want. I eyed Tish and she explained. +</p> +<p> +"Stove polish," she said. "Like a fool I'd forgot it. Gives a true +metallic luster, as it says on the box." +</p> +<p> +Tish is very particular about a stove, and even on our camping-trips we +keep the portable stove shining and clean. +</p> +<p> +"Does it come off?" +</p> +<p> +"Well, more or less," she admitted. "We can keep the box out and renew +when necessary. It is a great comfort," she added, "to feel that we are +all armed. We shall need weapons." +</p> +<p> +"In an emergency," I observed rather tartly, "I hope you will not depend +on us too much. While I don't know what you intend to do, if it is +anything desperate, just remember that the only way Aggie or I can do +any damage with these things is to thrust them down somebody's throat +and strangle him to death." +</p> +<p> +She ignored my remark, however, and soon we were on our horses and +moving along the trail toward the pass. +</p> + + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div> + +<h3><a name="h2H_4_0023" id="h2H_4_0023"></a> + II +</h3> +<p> +It will be unnecessary to remind those familiar with Glacier Park of the +trail which hugs the mountain above timber-line, and extends toward the +pass for a mile or so, in a long semicircle which curves inward. +</p> +<p> +At the end it turns to the right and mounts to an acre or so of level +ground, with snow and rocks but no vegetation. This is the Piegan Pass. +Behind it is the Garden Wall, that stupendous mass of granite rising to +incredible heights. On the other side the trail drops abruptly, by means +of stepladders which I have explained. +</p> +<p> +Tish now told us of her plan. +</p> +<p> +"The unfortunate part is," she said, "that the Ostermaiers will not see +us. I tried to arrange it so they could, but it was impossible. We must +content ourselves with the knowledge of a good deed done." +</p> +<p> +Her plan, in brief, was this: The sham attacking party was to turn and +ride away down the far side of the pass, up which the Ostermaiers had +come. They were, according to the young man, to take the girl with them, +with the idea of holding her for ransom. She was to escape, however, +while they were lunching in some secluded fastness, and, riding back to +the pass, was to meet there a rescue party, which the Ostermaiers were +to meet on the way down to Gunsight Chalet. +</p> +<p> +Tish's idea was this: We would ride up while they were lunching, pretend +to think them real bandits, paying no attention to them if they fired at +us, as we knew they had only blank cartridges, and, having taken them +prisoners, make them walk in ignominy to the nearest camp, some miles +farther. +</p> +<p> +"Then," said Tish, "either they will confess the ruse, and the country +will ring with laughter, or they will have to submit to arrest and much +unpleasantness. It will be a severe lesson." +</p> +<p> +We reached the pass safely, and on the way down the other side we passed +Mr. Oliver, the moving-picture man, with his outfit on a horse. He +touched his hat politely and moved out on a ledge to let us by. +</p> +<p> +"Mind if I take you as you go down the mountain?" he called. "It's a +bully place for a picture." He stared at Aggie, who was muffled in a +cape and had the dish towel round her head. "I'd particularly like to +get your Arab," he said. "The Far East and the Far West, you know." +</p> +<p> +Aggie gave him a furious glance. "Arab nothing!" she snapped. "If you +can't tell a Christian lady from a heathen, on account of her having +lost her hat, then you belong in the dirty work you're doing." +</p> +<p> +"Aggie, be quiet!" Tish said in an awful voice. +</p> +<p> +But wrath had made Aggie reckless. "'Dirty work' was what I said," she +repeated, staring at the young man. +</p> +<p> +"I beg your pardon. I'm sure I—" +</p> +<p> +"Don't think," Aggie went on, to Tish's fury, "that we don't know a few +things. We do." +</p> +<p> +"I see," he said slowly. "All right. Although I'd like to know—" +</p> +<p> +"Good-morning," said Aggie, and kicked her horse to go on. +</p> +<p> +I shall never forget Tish's face. Round the next bend she got off her +horse and confronted Aggie. +</p> + +<div class="figure"> +<a name="image-0010"></a> +<img src="images/ill-08.jpg" width="100%" +alt="'The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, the more I realize +that to take you anywhere means ruin.'" /><br /> +"The older I get, Aggie Pilkington, the more I realize +that to take you anywhere means ruin." +</div> + +<p> +"The older I get, Aggie Pilkington," she said, "the more I realize that +to take you anywhere means ruin. We are done now. All our labor is for +nothing. There will be no holdup, no nothing. They are scared off." +</p> +<p> +But Aggie was still angry. "Just let some one take you for a lousy +Bedouin, Tish," she said, "and see what you would do. I'm not sorry +anyhow. I never did like the idea." +</p> +<p> +But Tish dislikes relinquishing an idea, once it has taken hold. And, +although she did not speak to Aggie again for the next hour, she went +ahead with her preparations. +</p> +<p> +"There's still a chance, Lizzie," she said. "It's not likely they'll +give up easy, on account of hiring the Indians and everything." +</p> +<p> +About a mile and a half down the trail, she picked out a place to hide. +This time there was a cave. We cleared our saddles for action, as Tish +proposed to let them escape past us with the girl, and then to follow +them rapidly, stealing upon them if possible while they were at +luncheon, and covering them with the one real revolver and the three +wooden ones. +</p> +<p> +The only thing that bothered us was Bill's attitude. He kept laughing to +himself and muttering, and when he was storing things in the cave, Tish +took me aside. +</p> +<p> +"I don't like his attitude, Lizzie," she said. "He's likely to giggle or +do something silly, just at the crucial moment. I cannot understand why +he thinks it is funny, but he does. We'd be much better without him." +</p> +<p> +"You'd better talk to him, Tish," I said. "You can't get rid of him +now." +</p> +<p> +But to tell Tish she cannot do a thing is to determine her to do it. +</p> +<p> +It was still early, only half-past eight, when she came to me with an +eager face. +</p> +<p> +"I've got it, Lizzie," she said. "I'll send off Mona Lisa, and he will +have to search for her. The only thing is, she won't move unless she's +driven. If we could only find a hornet's nest again, we could manage. It +may be cruel, but I understand that a hornet's sting is not as painful +to a horse as to a human being." +</p> +<p> +Mona Lisa, I must explain, was the pack-horse. Tish had changed her name +from Jane to Mona Lisa because in the mornings she was constantly +missing, and having to be looked for. +</p> +<p> +Tish disappeared for a time, and we settled down to our long wait. Bill +put another coat of stove polish on the weapons, and broke now and then +into silent laughter. On my giving him a haughty glance, however, he +became sober and rubbed with redoubled vigor. +</p> +<p> +In a half-hour, however, I saw Tish beckoning to me from a distance, and +I went to her. I soon saw that she was holding her handkerchief to one +cheek, but when I mentioned the fact she ignored me. +</p> +<p> +"I have found a nest, Lizzie," she cried. "Slip over and unfasten Mona +Lisa. She's not near the other horses, which is fortunate." +</p> +<p> +I then perceived that Tish's yellow slicker was behind her on the ground +and tied into a bundle, from which emerged a dull roaring. I was +wondering how Tish expected to open it, when she settled the question by +asking me to cut a piece from the mosquito netting which we put in the +doorway of the tent at night, and to bring her riding-gloves. +</p> +<p> +Aggie was darning a hole in the tablecloth when I went back and Bill was +still engaged with the weapons. Having taken what she required to Tish, +under pretense of giving Mona Lisa a lump of sugar, I untied her. What +followed was exactly as Tish had planned. Mona Lisa, not realizing her +freedom, stood still while Tish untied the slicker and freed its furious +inmates. She then dropped the whole thing under the unfortunate animal, +and retreated, not too rapidly, for fear of drawing Bill's attention. +For possibly sixty seconds nothing happened, except that Mona Lisa +raised her head and appeared to listen. Then, with a loud scream, she +threw up her head and bolted. By the time Bill had put down the stove +brush she was out of sight among the trees, but we could hear her +leaping and scrambling through the wood. +</p> +<p> +"Jumping cats!" said Bill, and ran for his horse. "Acts as though she'd +started for the Coast!" he yelled to me, and flung after her. +</p> +<p> +When he had disappeared, Tish came out of the woods, and, getting a +kettle of boiling water, poured it over the nest. In spite of the +netting, however, she was stung again, on the back of the neck, and +spent the rest of the morning holding wet mud to the affected parts. +</p> +<p> +Her brain, however, was as active as ever, and by half-past eleven, +mounting a boulder, she announced that she could see the Ostermaier +party far down the trail, and that in an hour they would probably be at +the top. She had her field-glasses, and she said that Mrs. Ostermaier +was pointing up to the pass and shaking her head, and that the others +were arguing with her. +</p> + + +<div class="figure" style="width: 75%;"> +<a name="image-0011"></a> +<img src="images/ill-09.jpg" width="100%" +alt="'It would be just like the woman, to refuse to come any +farther and spoil everything'" /><br /> +"It would be just like the woman, to refuse to come any +farther and spoil everything" +</div> + +<p> +"It would be just like the woman," Tish said bitterly, "to refuse to +come any farther and spoil everything." +</p> +<p> +But a little later she announced that the guide was leading Mrs. +Ostermaier's horse and that they were coming on. +</p> +<p> +We immediately retreated to the cave and waited, it being Tish's +intention to allow them to reach the pass without suspecting our +presence, and only to cut off the pseudo-bandits in their retreat, as I +have explained. +</p> +<p> +It was well that we had concealed the horses also, for the party stopped +near the cave, and Mrs. Ostermaier was weeping. "Not a step farther!" +she said. "I have a family to consider, and Mr. Ostermaier is a man of +wide usefulness and cannot be spared." +</p> +<p> +We did not dare to look out, but we heard the young lady speaking, and +as Aggie remarked later, no one would have thought, from the sweetness +of her voice, that she was a creature of duplicity. +</p> +<p> +"But it is perfectly safe, dear Mrs. Ostermaier," she said "And think, +when you go home, of being able to say that you have climbed a mountain +pass." +</p> +<p> +"Pass!" sniffed Mrs. Ostermaier. "Pass nothing! I don't call a wall a +mile high a pass." +</p> +<p> +"Think," said the girl, "of being able to crow over those three old +women who are always boasting of the things they do. Probably you are +right, and they never do them at all, but you—there's a moving-picture +man waiting, remember, and you can show the picture before the Dorcas +Society. No one can ever doubt that you have done a courageous thing. +You'll have the proof." +</p> +<p> +"George," said Mrs. Ostermaier in a small voice, "if anything happens, I +have told you how I want my things divided." +</p> +<p> +"Little devil!" whispered Aggie, referring to the girl. "If that young +man knows when he is well off, he'll let her go." +</p> +<p> +But beyond rebuking her for the epithet, Tish made no comment, and the +party moved on. We lost them for a time among the trees, but when they +moved out above timber-line we were able to watch them, and we saw that +Mrs. Ostermaier got off her horse, about halfway up, and climbed slowly +on foot. Tish, who had the glasses, said that she looked purple and +angry, and that she distinctly saw the guide give her something to drink +out of a bottle. It might, however, have been vichy or some similar +innocent beverage, and I believe in giving her the benefit of the doubt. +</p> +<p> +When at last they vanished over the edge of the pass, we led out our +horses and prepared for what was to come. Bill had not returned, and, +indeed, we did not see him until the evening of the second day after +that, when, worn but triumphant, we emerged from the trail at the Many +Glaciers Hotel. That, however, comes later in this narrative. +</p> +<p> +With everything prepared, Tish judged it best to have luncheon. I made a +few mayonnaise-and-lettuce sandwiches, beating the mayonnaise in the +cool recesses of the cave, and we drank some iced tea, to which Aggie +had thoughtfully added sliced lemon and a quantity of ginger ale. +Feeling much refreshed, we grasped our weapons and waited. +</p> +<p> +At half-past twelve we heard a loud shriek on the pass, far overhead, +followed almost immediately by a fusillade of shots. Then a silence, +followed by more shots. Then a solitary horseman rode over the edge of +the pass and, spurring his horse, rode recklessly down the precipitous +trail. Aggie exclaimed that it was Mr. Ostermaier, basely deserting his +wife in her apparent hour of need. But Tish, who had the glasses, +reported finally that it was the moving-picture man. +</p> +<p> +We were greatly surprised, as it had not occurred to us that this would +be a part of the program. +</p> +<p> +As he descended, Tish announced that there must be another photographer +on top, as he was "registering" signs of terror—a moving-picture +expression which she had acquired from Charlie Sands—and looking back +frequently over his shoulder. +</p> +<p> +We waited until he reached timber-line, and then withdrew to a group of +trees. It was not our intention to allow him to see us and spoil +everything. But when he came near, through the woods, and his horse +continued at unabated speed, Tish decided that the animal, frightened by +the shots, was running away. +</p> +<p> +She therefore placed herself across the trail to check its headlong +speed, but the animal merely rushed round her. Mr. Oliver yelled +something at us, which we were, however, unable to hear, and kept madly +on. +</p> +<p> +Almost immediately four men, firing back over their shoulders, rode into +sight at the pass and came swiftly down toward us. +</p> +<p> +"Where's the girl?" Tish cried with her glasses to her eyes. "The idiots +have got excited and have forgotten to steal her." +</p> +<p> +That was plainly what had happened, but she was determined to be stolen +anyhow, for the next moment she rode into view, furiously following the +bandits. +</p> +<p> +"She's kept her head anyhow," Tish observed with satisfaction. "Trust a +lot of men to go crazy and do the wrong thing. But they'll have to +change the story and make her follow them." +</p> +<p> +At timber-line the men seemed to realize that she was behind them, and +they turned and looked up. They seemed to be at a loss to know what to +do, in view of the picture. But they were quick thinkers, too, we +decided. Right then and there they took her prisoner, surrounding her. +</p> +<p> +She made a desperate resistance, even crying out, as we could plainly +see. But Tish was irritated. She said she could not see how the story +would hold now. Either the girl should have captured them, they being +out of ammunition, or the whole thing should have been done again, +according to the original plan. However, as she said, it was not our +affair. Our business was to teach them a lesson not to impose on +unsuspecting tourists, for although not fond of Mrs. Ostermaier, we had +been members of Mr. Ostermaier's church, and liked him, although his +sermons were shorter than Tish entirely approved of. +</p> +<p> +We withdrew again to seclusion until they had passed, and Tish gave them +ten minutes to get well ahead. Then we rode out. +</p> +<p> +Tish's face was stern as she led off. The shriek of Mrs. Ostermaier was +still, as she said in a low tone, ringing in her ears. But before we had +gone very far, Tish stopped and got off her horse. "We've got to pad the +horses' feet," she said. "How can we creep up on them when on every +stony place we sound like an artillery engagement?" +</p> +<p> +Here was a difficulty we had not anticipated. But Tish overcame it with +her customary resource, by taking the blanket from under her saddle and +cutting it into pieces with her scissors, which always accompany her. We +then cut the leather straps from our saddles at her direction, and each +of us went to work. Aggie, however, protested. +</p> +<p> +"I never expected," she said querulously, "to be sitting on the Rocky +Mountains under a horse, tying a piece of bed quilt on his feet. I +wouldn't mind," she added, "if the creature liked me. But the way he +feels toward me he's likely to haul off and murder me at any moment." +</p> +<p> +However, it was done at last, and it made a great change. We moved along +silently, and all went well except that, having neglected to draw the +cinch tight, and the horse's back being slippery without the padding, my +saddle turned unexpectedly, throwing me off into the trail. I bruised my +arm badly, but Tish only gave me a glance of scorn and went on. +</p> +<p> +Being above carelessness herself, she very justly resents it in others. +</p> +<p> +We had expected, with reason, that the so-called highwaymen, having +retreated to a certain distance, would there pause and very possibly +lunch before returning. It was, therefore, a matter of surprise to find +that they had kept on. +</p> +<p> +Moreover, they seemed to have advanced rapidly, and Tish, who had read a +book on signs of the trail, examined the hoofprints of their horses in a +soft place beside a stream, and reported that they had been going at a +lope. +</p> +<p> +"Now, remember," she said as she prepared to mount again, "to all +intents and purposes these are real bandits and to be treated +accordingly. Our motto is 'No quarter.' I shall be harsh, and I expect +no protest from either of you. They deserve everything they get." +</p> +<p> +But when, after another mile or two, we came to a side trail, leading, +by Tish's map, not to Many Glaciers, but up a ravine to another pass, +and Tish saw that they had taken that direction, we were puzzled. +</p> +<p> +But not for long. +</p> +<p> +"I understand now," she said. "It is all clear. The photographer was +riding ahead to get them up this valley somewhere. They've probably got +a rendezvous all ready, with another camera in place. I must say," she +observed, "that they are doing it thoroughly." +</p> +<p> +We rode for two hours, and no sign of them. The stove polish had come +off the handles of our revolvers by that time, and Aggie, having rubbed +her face ever and anon to remove perspiration, presented under her +turban a villainous and ferocious expression quite at variance with her +customary mildness. +</p> +<p> +I urged her to stop and wash, but Tish, after a glance, said to keep on. +</p> +<p> +"Your looking like that's a distinct advantage, Aggie," she said. "Like +as not they'll throw up their hands the minute they see you. I know I +should. You'd better ride first when we get near." +</p> +<p> +"Like as not they'll put a hole in me," Aggie objected. "And as to +riding first, I will not. This is your doing, Tish Carberry, and as for +their having blank cartridges—how do we know someone hasn't made a +mistake and got a real one?" +</p> +<p> +Tish reflected on that. "It's a possibility," she agreed. "If we find +that they're going to spend the night out, it might be better to wait +until they've taken off all the hardware they're hung with." +</p> +<p> +But we did not come up with them. We kept on finding traces of the party +in marshy spots, and once Tish hopped off her horse and picked up a +small handkerchief with a colored border and held it up to us. +</p> +<p> +"It's hers," she said. "Anybody would know she is the sort to use +colored borders. They're ahead somewhere." +</p> +<p> +But it seemed strange that they would go so far, and I said so. +</p> +<p> +"We're far enough off the main trail, Tish," I said. "And it's getting +wilder every minute. There's nothing I can see to prevent a mountain +lion dropping on us most any time." +</p> +<p> +"Not if it gets a good look at Aggie!" was Tish's grim response. +</p> +<p> +It began to grow dark in the valley, and things seemed to move on either +side of the trail. Aggie called out once that we had just passed a +grizzly bear, but Tish never faltered. The region grew more and more +wild. The trail was broken with mudholes and crossed by fallen logs. +With a superb disdain Tish rode across all obstacles, not even glancing +at them. But Aggie and I got off at the worst places and led our horses. +At one mudhole I was unfortunate enough to stumble. A horse with a +particle of affection for a woman who had ridden it and cared for it for +several days would have paused. +</p> +<p> +Not so my animal. With a heartlessness at which I still shudder the +creature used me as a bridge, and stepped across, dryfoot, on my back. +Owing to his padded feet and to the depth of the mud—some eight feet, I +believe—I was uninjured. But it required ten minutes of hard labor on +the part of both Tish and Aggie to release me from the mud, from which I +was finally raised with a low, hissing sound. +</p> +<p> +"Park!" said Aggie as she scraped my obliterated features with a small +branch. "Park, indeed! It's a howling wilderness. I'm fond of my native +land," she went on, digging out my nostrils, so I could breathe, "but I +don't calculate to eat it. As for that unfeeling beast of yours, Lizzie, +I've never known a horse to show such selfishness. Never." +</p> +<p> +Well, we went on at last, but I was not so enthusiastic about teaching +people lessons as I had been. It seemed to me that we might have kept on +along the trail and had a mighty good time, getting more and more nimble +and stopping now and then to bake a pie and have a decent meal, and +putting up our hair in crimps at night, without worrying about other +folks' affairs. +</p> +<p> +Late in the afternoon of that day, when so far as I could see Tish was +lost, and not even her gathering a bunch of wild flowers while the +horses rested could fool me, I voiced my complaint. +</p> +<p> +"Let me look at the map, Tish," I suggested. "I'm pretty good at maps. +You know how I am at charades and acrostics. At the church supper—" +</p> +<p> +"Nonsense, Lizzie," she returned. "You couldn't make head or tail of +this map. It's my belief that the man who made it had never been here. +Either that or there has been an earthquake since. But," she went on, +more cheerfully, "if we are lost, so are the others." +</p> +<p> +"If we even had Bill along!" +</p> +<p> +"Bill!" Tish said scornfully. "It's my belief Bill is in the whole +business, and that if we hadn't got rid of him we'd have been the next +advertising dodge. As far as that goes," she said thoughtfully, "it +wouldn't surprise me a particle to find that we've been taken, without +our knowing it, most any time. Your horse just now, walking across that +bridge of size, for one thing." +</p> +<p> +Tish seldom makes a pun, which she herself has said is the lowest form +of humor. The dig at my figure was unkind, also, and unworthy of her. I +turned and left her. +</p> +<p> +At last, well on in the evening, I saw Tish draw up her horse and point +ahead. +</p> +<p> +"The miscreants!" she said. +</p> +<p> +True enough, up a narrow side cañon we could see a camp-fire. It was a +small one, and only noticeable from one point. But Tish's keen eye had +seen it. She sat on her horse and gazed toward it. +</p> +<p> +"What a shameful thing it is," she said, "to prostitute the beauties of +this magnificent region to such a purpose. To make of these beetling +crags a joke! To invade these vast gorges with the spirit of +commercialism and to bring a pack of movie actors to desecrate the +virgin silence with ribald jests and laughter! Lizzie, I wish you +wouldn't wheeze!" +</p> +<p> +"You would wheeze, too, Tish Carberry," I retorted, justly indignant, +"if a horse had just pressed your spinal column into your breast bone. +Goodness knows," I said, "where my lungs are. I've missed them ever +since my fall." +</p> +<p> +However, she was engrossed with larger matters, and ignored my +petulance. She is a large-natured woman and above pettiness. +</p> +<p> +We made our way slowly up the cañon. The movie outfit was securely +camped under an overhanging rock, as we could now see. At one point +their position commanded the trail, which was hardly more than a track +through the wilderness, and before we reached this point we dismounted +and Tish surveyed the camp through her glasses. +</p> +<p> +"We'd better wait until dark," Tish said. "Owing to the padding they +have not heard us, but it looks to me as if one of them is on a rock, +watching." +</p> +<p> +It seemed rather strange to me that they were keeping a lookout, but +Tish only shrugged her shoulders. +</p> +<p> +"If I know anything of that red-headed Oliver man," she said, "he hates +to let a camera rest. Like as not he's got it set up among the trees +somewhere, taking flashlights of wild animals. It's rather a pity," she +said, turning and surveying Aggie and myself, "that he cannot get you +two. If you happen to see anything edible lying on the ground, you'd +better not pick it up. It's probably attached to the string that sets +off the flash." +</p> +<p> +We led our horses into the woods, which were very thick at that point, +and tied them. My beast, however, lay down and rolled, saddle and all, +thus breaking my mirror—a most unlucky omen—and the bottle of olive +oil which we had brought along for mayonnaise dressing. Tish is fond of +mayonnaise, and, besides, considers olive oil most strengthening. +However, it was gone, and although Aggie comforted me by suggesting that +her boiled salad dressing is quite tasty, I was disconsolate. +</p> +<p> +It was by that time seven o'clock and almost dark. We held a conference. +Tish was of the opinion that we should first lead off their horses, if +possible. +</p> +<p> +"I intend," she said severely, "to make escape impossible. If they fire, +when taken by surprise, remember that they have only blank cartridges. I +must say," she added with a confession of unusual weakness, "that I am +glad the Indians escaped the other way. I would hardly know what to do +with Indians, even quite tame ones. While I know a few letters of the +deaf-and-dumb language, which I believe all tribes use in common, I fear +that in a moment of excitement I would forget what I know." +</p> +<p> +The next step, she asserted, was to secure their weapons. +</p> +<p> +"After all," she said, "the darkness is in our favor. I intend to fire +once, to show them that we are armed and dangerous. And if you two will +point the guns Bill made, they cannot possibly tell that they are not +real." +</p> +<p> +"But we will know it," Aggie quavered. Now that the quarry was in sight +she was more and more nervous, sneezing at short intervals in spite of +her menthol inhaler. "I am sorry, Tish, but I cannot feel the same about +that wooden revolver as I would about a real one. And even when I try to +forget that it is only wood the carving reminds me." +</p> +<p> +But Tish silenced her with a glance. She had strangely altered in the +last few minutes. All traces of fatigue had gone, and when she struck a +match and consulted her watch I saw in her face that high resolve, that +stern and matchless courage, which I so often have tried to emulate and +failed. +</p> +<p> +"Seven o'clock," she announced. "We will dine first. There is nothing +like food to restore failing spirits." +</p> +<p> +But we had nothing except our sandwiches, and Tish suggested snaring +some of the stupid squirrels with which the region abounded. +</p> +<p> +"Aggie needs broth," she said decidedly. "We have sandwiches, but Aggie +is frail and must be looked to." +</p> +<p> +Aggie was pathetically grateful, although sorry for the squirrels, which +were pretty and quite tame. But Tish was firm in her kindly intent, and +proceeded at once to set a rabbit snare, a trick she had learned in the +Maine woods. Having done this, and built a small fire, well hidden, we +sat down to wait. +</p> +<p> +In a short time we heard terrible human cries proceeding from the snare, +and, hurrying thither, found in it a young mountain lion. It looked +dangerous, and was biting in every direction. I admit that I was +prepared to leave in haste, but not so Tish. She fetched her umbrella, +without which she never travels, and while the animal set its jaws in +it—a painful necessity, as it was her best umbrella—Tish hit it on the +head—not the umbrella, but the lion—with a large stone. +</p> +<p> +Tish's satisfaction was unbounded. She stated that the flesh of the +mountain lion was much like veal, and so indeed it proved. We made a +nourishing soup of it, with potatoes and a can of macédoine vegetables, +and within an hour and a half we had dined luxuriously, adding to our +repast what remained of the sandwiches, and a tinned plum pudding of +English make, very nutritious and delicious. +</p> +<p> +For twenty minutes after the meal we all stood. Tish insists on this, as +aiding digestion. Then we prepared for the night's work. +</p> +<p> +I believe that our conduct requires no defense. But it may be well again +to explain our position. These people, whose camp-fire glowed so +brazenly against the opposite cliff, had for purely mercenary motives +committed a cruel hoax. They had posed as bandits, and as bandits they +deserved to be treated. They had held up our own clergyman, of a nervous +temperament, on a mountain pass, and had taken from him a part of his +stipend. It was heartless. It was barbarous. It was cruel. +</p> +<p> +My own courage came back with the hot food, which I followed by a +charcoal tablet. And the difference in Aggie was marked. Possibly some +of the courage of the mountain lion, that bravest of wild creatures, had +communicated itself to her through the homely medicine of digestion. +</p> +<p> +"I can hardly wait to get after them," she said. +</p> +<p> +However, it was still too early for them to have settled for the night. +We sat down, having extinguished our fire, and I was just dozing off +when Tish remembered the young man who was to have listened for the +police whistle. +</p> +<p> +"I absolutely forgot him," she said regretfully. "I suppose he is +hanging round the foot of Piegan's Pass yet. I'm sorry to have him miss +this. I shall tell him, when I see him, that no girl worth having would +be sitting over there at supper with four moving-picture actors without +a chaperon. The whole proceeding is scandalous. I have noticed," she +added, "that it is the girls from quiet suburban towns who are really +most prone to defy the conventions when the chance comes." +</p> +<p> +We dozed for a short time. +</p> +<p> +Then Tish sat up suddenly. "What's that?" she said. +</p> +<p> +We listened and distinctly heard the tramp of horses' feet. We started +up, but Tish was quite calm. +</p> +<p> +"They've turned their horses out," she said. "Fortune is with us. They +are coming this way." +</p> +<p> +But at first it did not seem so fortunate, for we heard one of the men +following them, stumbling along, and, I regret to say, using profane +language. They came directly toward us, and Aggie beside me trembled. But +Tish was equal to the emergency. +</p> +<p> +She drew us behind a large rock, where, spreading out a raincoat to +protect us from the dampness, we sat down and waited. +</p> +<p> +When one of the animals loomed up close to the rock Aggie gave a low +cry, but Tish covered her mouth fiercely with an ungentle hand. +</p> +<p> +"Be still!" she hissed. +</p> +<p> +It was now perfectly dark, and the man with the horses was not far off. +We could not see him, but at last he came near enough so that we could +see the flare of a match when he lighted a cigarette. I put my hand on +Aggie, and she was shaking with nervousness. +</p> +<p> +"I am sure I am going to sneeze, Lizzie," she gasped. +</p> +<p> +And sneeze she did. She muffled it considerably, however, and we were +not discovered. But, Tish, I knew, was silently raging. +</p> +<p> +The horses came nearer. +</p> +<p> +One of them, indeed, came quite close, and took a nip at the toe of my +riding-boot. I kicked at it sharply, however, and it moved away. +</p> +<p> +The man had gone on. We watched the light of his cigarette, and thus, as +he now and then turned his head, knew where he was. It was now that I +felt, rather than heard, that Tish was crawling out from the shelter of +the rock. At the same time we heard, by the crunching of branches, that +the man had sat down near at hand. +</p> +<p> +Tish's progress was slow but sure. For a half-hour we sat there. Then +she returned, still crawling, and on putting out my hand I discovered +that she had secured the lasso from her saddle and had brought it back. +How true had been her instinct when she practiced its use! How my own +words, that it was all foolishness, came back and whispered lessons of +humility in my ear! +</p> +<p> +At this moment a deep, resonant sound came from the tree where the movie +actor sat. At the same moment a small creature dropped into my lap from +somewhere above, and ran up my sleeve. I made frantic although +necessarily silent efforts to dislodge it, and it bit me severely. +</p> +<p> +The necessity for silence taxed all my strength, but managing finally to +secure it by the tail, I forcibly withdrew it and flung it away. +Unluckily it struck Aggie in the left eye and inflicted a painful +bruise. +</p> +<p> +Tish had risen to her feet and was standing, a silent and menacing +figure, while this event transpired. The movements of the horses as they +grazed, the soft breeze blowing through the pines, were the only sounds. +Now she took a step forward. +</p> +<p> +"He's asleep!" she whispered. "Aggie, sit still and watch the horses. +Lizzie, come with me." +</p> +<p> +As I advanced to her she thrust her revolver into my hand. +</p> +<p> +"When I give the word," she said in a whisper, "hold it against his +neck. But keep your finger off the trigger. It's loaded." +</p> +<p> +We advanced slowly, halting now and then to listen. Although brush +crackled under our feet, the grazing horses were making a similar +disturbance, and the man slept on. Soon we could see him clearly, +sitting back against a tree, his head dropped forward on his breast. +Tish surveyed the scene with her keen and appraising eye, and raised +the lasso. +</p> +<p> +The first result was not good. The loaded end struck a branch, and, +being deflected, the thing wrapped itself perhaps a dozen times round my +neck. Tish, being unconscious of what had happened, drew it up with a +jerk, and I stood helpless and slowly strangling. At last, however, she +realized the difficulty and released me. I was unable to breathe +comfortably for some time, and my tongue felt swollen for several hours. +</p> +<p> +Through all of this the movie actor had slept soundly. At the second +effort Tish succeeded in lassoing him without difficulty. We had feared +a loud outcry before we could get to him, but owing to Tish's swiftness +in tightening the rope he was able to make, at first, only a low, +gurgling sound. I had advanced to him, and was under the impression that +I was holding the revolver to his neck. On discovering, however, that I +was pressing it to the trunk of the tree, to which he was now secured by +the lariat, I corrected the error and held it against his ear. +</p> +<p> +He was now wide awake and struggling violently. Then, I regret to say, +he broke out into such language as I have never heard before. At Tish's +request I suppress his oaths, and substitute for them harmless +expressions in common use. +</p> +<p> +"Good gracious!" he said. "What in the world are you doing anyhow? +Jimminy crickets, take that thing away from my neck! Great Scott and +land alive, I haven't done anything! My word, that gun will go off if +you aren't careful!" +</p> +<p> +I am aware that much of the strength of what he said is lost in this +free translation. But it is impossible to repeat his real language. +</p> +<p> +"Don't move," Tish said, "and don't call out. A sound, and a bullet goes +crashing through your brain." +</p> +<p> +"A woman!" he said in most unflattering amazement. "Great Jehoshaphat, a +woman!" +</p> +<p> +This again is only a translation of what he said. +</p> +<p> +"Exactly," Tish observed calmly. She had cut the end off the lasso with +her scissors, and was now tying his feet together with it. "My friend, +we know the whole story, and I am ashamed, ashamed," she said +oratorically, "of your sex! To frighten a harmless and well-meaning +preacher and his wife for the purpose of publicity is not a joke. Such +hoaxes are criminal. If you must have publicity, why not seek it in some +other way?" +</p> +<p> +"Crazy!" he groaned to himself. "In the hands of lunatics! Oh, my +goodness!" Again these were not exactly his words. +</p> +<p> +Having bound him tightly, hand and foot, and taken a revolver from his +pocket, Tish straightened herself. +</p> +<p> +"Now we'll gag him, Lizzie," she said. "We have other things to do +to-night than to stand here and converse." Then she turned to the man +and told him a deliberate lie. I am sorry to record this. But a tendency +to avoid the straight and narrow issues of truth when facing a crisis is +one of Tish's weaknesses, the only flaw in an otherwise strong and +perfect character. +</p> +<p> +"We are going to leave you here," she said. "But one of our number, +fully armed, will be near by. A sound from you, or any endeavor to call +for succor, will end sadly for you. A word to the wise. Now, Lizzie, +take that bandanna off his neck and tie it over his mouth." +</p> +<p> +Tish stood, looking down at him, and her very silhouette was scornful. +</p> +<p> +"Think, my friend," she said, "of the ignominy of your position! Is any +moving picture worth it? Is the pleasure of seeing yourself on the +screen any reward for such a shameful position as yours now is? No. A +thousand times no." +</p> +<p> +He made a choking sound in his throat and writhed helplessly. And so we +left him, a hopeless and miserable figure, to ponder on his sins. +</p> +<p> +"That's one," said Tish briskly. "There are only three left. Come, +Aggie," she said cheerfully—"to work! We have made a good beginning." +</p> +<p> +It is with modesty that I approach that night's events, remembering +always that Tish's was the brain which conceived and carried out the +affair. We were but her loyal and eager assistants. It is for this +reason that I thought, and still think, that the money should have been +divided so as to give Tish the lion's share. But she, dear, magnanimous +soul, refused even to hear of such a course, and insisted that we share +it equally. +</p> +<p> +Of that, however, more anon. +</p> +<p> +We next proceeded to capture their horses and to tie them up. We +regretted the necessity for this, since the unfortunate animals had +traveled far and were doubtless hungry. It went to my heart to drag them +from their fragrant pasture and to tie them to trees. But, as Tish said, +"Necessity knows no law," not even kindness. So we tied them up. Not, +however, until we had moved them far from the trail. +</p> +<p> +Tish stopped then, and stared across the cañon to the enemy's camp-fire. +</p> +<p> +"No quarter, remember," she said. "And bring your weapons." +</p> +<p> +We grasped our wooden revolvers and, with Tish leading, started for the +camp. Unluckily there was a stream between us, and it was necessary to +ford it. It shows Tish's true generalship that, instead of removing her +shoes and stockings, as Aggie and I were about to do, she suggested +getting our horses and riding across. This we did, and alighted on the +other side dryshod. +</p> +<p> +It was, on consulting my watch, nine o'clock and very dark. A few drops +of rain began to fall also, and the distant camp-fire was burning low. +Tish gave us each a little blackberry cordial, for fear of dampness, and +took some herself. The mild glow which followed was very comforting. +</p> +<p> +It was Tish, naturally, who went forward to reconnoiter. She returned in +an hour, to report that the three men were lying round the fire, two +asleep and one leaning on his elbow with a revolver handy. She did not +see Mr. Oliver, and it was possible that it was he we had tied to the +tree. The girl, she said, was sitting on a log, with her chin propped in +her hands. +</p> +<p> +"She looked rather low-spirited," Tish said. "I expect she liked the +first young man better than she thought she did. I intend to give her a +piece of my mind as soon as I get a chance. This playing hot and cold +isn't maidenly, to say the least." +</p> +<p> +We now moved slowly forward, after tying our horses. Toward the last, +following Tish's example, we went on our hands and knees, and I was +thankful then for no skirts. It is wonderful the freedom a man has. I +was never one to approve of Doctor Mary Walker, but I'm not so sure she +isn't a wise woman and the rest of us fools. I haven't put on a skirt +braid since that time without begrudging it. +</p> +<p> +Well, as I have stated, we advanced, and at last we were in full sight +of the camp. I must say I'd have thought they'd have a tent. We expected +something better, I suppose, because of the articles in the papers about +movie people having their own limousines, and all that. But there they +were, open to the wrath of the heavens, and deserving it, if I do say +so. +</p> +<p> +The girl was still sitting, as Tish had described her. Only now she was +crying. My heart was downright sore for her. It is no comfort, having +made a wrong choice, to know that it is one's own fault. +</p> +<p> +Having now reached the zone of firelight Tish gave the signal, and we +rose and pointed our revolvers at them. Then Tish stepped forward and +said:— +</p> +<p> +"Hands up!" +</p> +<p> +I shall never forget the expression on the man's face. +</p> +<p> +He shouted something, but he threw up his hands also, with his eyes +popping out of his head. The others scrambled to their feet, but he +warned them. +</p> +<p> +"Careful, boys!" he yelled. "They're got the drop on us." +</p> +<p> +Just then his eyes fell on Aggie, and he screeched:— +</p> +<p> +"Two women and a Turk, by ——." The blank is mine. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie," said Tish sternly, as all of them, including the girl, held +their hands up, "just give me your weapon and go over them." +</p> +<p> +"Go over them?" I said, not understanding. +</p> +<p> +"Search them," said Tish. "Take everything out of their pockets. And +don't move," she ordered them sternly. "One motion, and I fire. Go on, +Lizzie." +</p> +<p> +Now I have never searched a man's pockets, and the idea was repugnant to +me. I am a woman of delicate instincts. But Tish's face was stern. I did +as commanded, therefore, the total result being:— +</p> +<p> +Four revolvers. +</p> +<p> +Two large knives. +</p> +<p> +One small knife. +</p> +<p> +One bunch of keys. +</p> +<p> +One plug of chewing-tobacco. +</p> +<p> +Four cartridge belts. +</p> +<p> +Two old pipes. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Ostermaier's cigar-case, which I recognized at once, being the one +we had presented to him. +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Ostermaier's wedding-ring and gold bracelet, which her sister gave +her on her last birthday. +</p> +<p> +A diamond solitaire, unknown, as Mrs. Ostermaier never owned one, +preferring instead earrings as more showy. +</p> +<p> +And a considerable sum of money, which I kept but did not count. +</p> +<p> +There were other small articles, of no value. +</p> +<p> +"Is that all the loot you secured during the infamous scene on Piegan +Pass?" Tish demanded. "You need not hide anything from us. We know the +facts, and the whole story will soon be public." +</p> +<p> +"That's all, lady," whined one of the men. "Except a few boxes of lunch, +and that's gone. Lady, lemme take my hands down. I've got a stiff +shoulder, and I—" +</p> +<p> +"Keep them up," Tish snapped. "Aggie, see that they keep them up." +</p> +<p> +Until that time we had been too occupied to observe the girl, who merely +stood and watched in a disdainful sort of way. But now Tish turned and +eyed her sternly. +</p> +<p> +"Search her, Lizzie," she commanded. +</p> +<p> +"Search me!" the girl exclaimed indignantly. "Certainly not!" +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie," said Tish in her sternest manner, "go over that girl. Look in +her riding-boots. I haven't come across Mrs. Ostermaier's earrings yet." +</p> +<p> +At that the girl changed color and backed off. +</p> +<p> +"It's an outrage," she said. "Surely I have suffered enough." +</p> +<p> +"Not as much," Tish observed, "as you are going to suffer. Go over her, +Lizzie." +</p> +<p> +While I searched her, Tish was lecturing her. +</p> +<p> +"You come from a good home, I understand," she said, "and you ought +to know better. Not content with breaking an honest heart, you join a +moving-picture outfit and frighten a prominent divine—for Mr. Ostermaier +is well known—into what may be an illness. You cannot deny," she +accused her, "that it was you who coaxed them to the pass. At least you +needn't. We heard you." +</p> +<p> +"How was I to know—" the girl began sullenly. +</p> +<p> +But at that moment I found Mrs. Ostermaier's chamois bag thrust into her +riding-boot, and she suddenly went pale. +</p> +<p> +Tish held it up before her accusingly. "I dare say you will not deny +this," she exclaimed, and took Mrs. Ostermaier's earrings out of it. +</p> +<p> +The men muttered, but Aggie was equal to the occasion. "Silence!" she +said, and pointed the revolver at each in turn. +</p> +<p> +The girl started to speak. Then she shrugged her shoulders. "I could +explain," she said, "but I won't. If you think I stole those hideous +earrings you're welcome to." +</p> +<p> +"Of course not," said Tish sarcastically. "No doubt she gave them to +you—although I never knew her to give anything away before." +</p> +<p> +The girl stood still, thinking. Suddenly she said "There's another one, +you know. Another man." +</p> +<p> +"We have him. He will give no further trouble," Tish observed grimly. "I +think we have you all, except your Mr. Oliver." +</p> +<p> +"He is not my Mr. Oliver," said the girl. "I never want to see him +again. I—I hate him." +</p> +<p> +"You haven't got much mind or you couldn't change it so quickly." +</p> +<p> +She looked sulky again, and said she'd thank us for the ring, which was +hers and she could prove it. +</p> +<p> +But Tish sternly refused. "It's my private opinion," she observed, "that +it is Mrs. Ostermaier's, and she has not worn it openly because of the +congregation talking quite considerably about her earrings, and not +caring for jewelry on the minister's wife. That's what I think." +</p> +<p> +Shortly after that we heard a horse loping along the road. It came +nearer, and then left the trail and came toward the fire. Tish picked up +one of the extra revolvers and pointed it. It was Mr. Oliver! +</p> +<p> +"Throw up your hands!" Tish called. And he did it. He turned a sort of +blue color, too, when he saw us, and all the men with their hands up. +But he looked relieved when he saw the girl. +</p> +<p> +"Thank Heaven!" he said. "The way I've been riding this country—" +</p> +<p> +"You rode hard enough away from the pass," she replied coldly. +</p> +<p> +We took a revolver away from him and lined him up with the others. All +the time he was paying little attention to us and none at all to the +other men. But he was pleading with the girl. +</p> +<p> +"Honestly," he said, "I thought I could do better for everybody by doing +what I did. How did I know," he pleaded, "that you were going to do such +a crazy thing as this?" +</p> +<p> +But she only stared at him as if she hated the very ground he stood on. +</p> +<p> +"It's a pity," Tish observed, "that you haven't got your camera along. +This would make a very nice picture. But I dare say you could hardly +turn the crank with your hands in the air." +</p> +<p> +We searched him carefully, but he had only a gold watch and some money. +On the chance, however, that the watch was Mr. Ostermaier's, although +unlikely, we took it. +</p> +<p> +I must say he was very disagreeable, referring to us as highwaymen and +using uncomplimentary language. But, as Tish observed, we might as well +be thorough while we were about it. +</p> +<p> +For the nonce we had forgotten the other man. But now I noticed that the +pseudo-bandits wore a watchful and not unhopeful air. And suddenly one +of them whistled—a thin, shrill note that had, as Tish later remarked, +great penetrative power without being noisy. +</p> +<p> +"That's enough of that," she said. "Aggie, take another of these guns +and point them both at these gentlemen. If they whistle again, shoot. +As to the other man, he will not reply, nor will he come to your +assistance. He is gagged and tied, and into the bargain may become at +any time the victim of wild beasts." +</p> +<p> +The moment she had said it, Tish realized that it was but too true, and +she grew thoughtful. Aggie, too, was far from comfortable. She said +later that she was uncertain what to do. Tish had said to fire if they +whistled again. The question in her mind was, had it been said purely +for effect or did Tish mean it? After all, the men were not real +bandits, she reflected, although guilty of theft, even if only for +advertising purposes. She was greatly disturbed, and as agitation always +causes a return of her hay fever, she began to sneeze violently. +</p> +<p> +Until then the men had been quiet, if furious. But now they fell into +abject terror, imploring Tish, whom they easily recognized as the +leader, to take the revolvers from her. +</p> +<p> +But Tish only said: "No fatalities, Aggie, please. Point at an arm or a +leg until the spasm subsides." +</p> +<p> +Her tone was quite gentle. +</p> +<p> +Heretofore this has been a plain narrative, dull, I fear, in many +places. But I come now to a not unexciting incident—which for a time +placed Tish and myself in an unpleasant position. +</p> +<p> +I refer to the escape of the man we had tied. +</p> +<p> +We held a brief discussion as to what to do with our prisoners until +morning, a discussion which Tish solved with her usual celerity by +cutting from the saddles which lay round the fire a number of those +leather thongs with which such saddles are adorned and which are used in +case of necessity to strap various articles to the aforesaid saddles. +</p> +<p> +With these thongs we tied them, not uncomfortably, but firmly, their +hands behind them and their feet fastened together. Then, as the night +grew cold, Tish suggested that we shove them near the fire, which we +did. +</p> +<p> +The young lady, however, offered a more difficult problem. We +compromised by giving her her freedom, but arranging for one of our +number to keep her covered with a revolver. +</p> +<p> +"You needn't be so thoughtful," she said angrily, and with a total lack +of appreciation of Tish's considerate attitude. "I'd rather be tied, +especially if the Moslem with the hay fever is going to hold the gun." +</p> +<p> +It was at that moment that we heard a whistle from across the stream, +and each of the prostrate men raised his head eagerly. Before Tish could +interfere one of them had whistled three times sharply, probably a +danger signal. +</p> +<p> +Without a word Tish turned and ran toward the stream, calling to me to +follow her. +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" I heard Aggie's agonized tone. "Lizzie! Come back. Don't leave +me here alone. I—" +</p> +<p> +Here she evidently clutched the revolver involuntarily, for there was a +sharp report, and a bullet struck a tree near us. +</p> +<p> +Tish paused and turned. "Point that thing up into the air, Aggie," she +called back. "And stay there. I hold you responsible." +</p> +<p> +I heard Aggie give a low moan, but she said nothing, and we kept on. +</p> +<p> +The moon had now come up, flooding the valley with silver radiance. We +found our horses at once, and Tish leaped into the saddle. Being heavier +and also out of breath from having stumbled over a log, I was somewhat +slower. +</p> +<p> +Tish was therefore in advance of me when we started, and it was she who +caught sight of him first. +</p> +<p> +"He's got a horse, Lizzie," she called back to me. "We can get him, I +think. Remember, he is unarmed." +</p> +<p> +Fortunately he had made for the trail, which was here wider than +ordinary and gleamed white in the moonlight. We had, however, lost some +time in fording the stream, and we had but the one glimpse of him as the +trail curved. +</p> +<p> +Tish lashed her horse to a lope, and mine followed without urging. +I had, unfortunately, lost a stirrup early in the chase, and was +compelled, being unable to recover it, to drop the lines and clutch +the saddle. +</p> +<p> +Twice Tish fired into the air. She explained afterward that she did this +for the moral effect on the fugitive, but as each time it caused my +horse to jump and almost unseat me, at last I begged her to desist. +</p> +<p> +We struck at last into a straight piece of trail, ending in a wall of +granite, and up this the trail climbed in a switchback. Tish turned to +me. +</p> +<p> +"We have him now," she said. "When he starts up there he is as much gone +as a fly on the wall. As a matter of fact," she said as calmly as though +we had been taking an afternoon stroll, "his taking this trail shows +that he is a novice and no real highwayman. Otherwise he would have +turned off into the woods." +</p> +<p> +At that moment the fugitive's horse emerged into the moonlight and Tish +smiled grimly. +</p> +<p> +"I see why now," she exclaimed. "The idiot has happened on Mona Lisa, +who must have returned and followed us. And no pack-horse can be made to +leave the trail unless by means of a hornet. Look, he's trying to pull +her off and she won't go." +</p> +<p> +It was true, as we now perceived. He saw his danger, but too late. Mona +Lisa, probably still disagreeable after her experience with the hornets, +held straight for the cliff. +</p> +<p> +The moon shone full on it, and when he was only thirty feet up its face +Tish fired again, and the fugitive stopped. +</p> +<p> +"Come down," said Tish quietly. +</p> +<p> +He said a great many things which, like his earlier language, I do not +care to repeat. But after a second shot he began to descend slowly. +</p> +<p> +Tish, however, approached him warily, having given her revolver to me. +</p> +<p> +"He might try to get it from me, Lizzie," she observed. "Keep it pointed +in our direction, but not at us. I'm going to tie him again." +</p> +<p> +This she proceeded to do, tying his hands behind him and fastening his +belt also to the horn of the saddle, but leaving his feet free. All this +was done to the accompaniment of bitter vituperation. She pretended to +ignore this, but it made an impression evidently, for at last she +replied. +</p> +<p> +"You have no one to blame but yourself," she said. "You deserve your +present humiliating position, and you know it. I've made up my mind to +take you all in and expose your cruel scheme, and I intend to do it. I'm +nothing if I am not thorough," she finished. +</p> +<p> +He made no reply to this, and, in fact, he made only one speech on the +way back, and that, I am happy to say, was without profanity. +</p> +<p> +"It isn't being taken in that I mind so much," he said pathetically. +"It's all in the game, and I can stand up as well under trouble as any +one. It's being led in by a crowd of women that makes it painful." +</p> +<p> +I have neglected to say that Tish was leading Mona Lisa, while I +followed with the revolver. +</p> +<p> +It was not far from dawn when we reached the camp again. Aggie was as we +had left her, but in the light of the dying fire she looked older and +much worn. As a matter of fact, it was some weeks before she looked like +her old self. +</p> +<p> +The girl was sitting where we had left her, and sulkier than ever. She +had turned her back to Mr. Oliver, and Aggie said afterward that the way +they had quarreled had been something terrible. +</p> +<p> +Aggie said she had tried to make conversation with the girl, and had, +indeed, told her of Mr. Wiggins and her own blasted life. But she had +remained singularly unresponsive. +</p> +<p> +The return of our new prisoner was greeted by the other men with brutal +rage, except Mr. Oliver, who merely glanced at him and then went back to +his staring at the fire. It appeared that they had been counting on him +to get assistance, and his capture destroyed their last hope. Indeed, +their language grew so unpleasant that at last Tish hammered sharply on +a rock with the handle of her revolver. +</p> +<p> +"Please remember," she said, "that you are in the presence of ladies!" +</p> +<p> +They jeered at her, but she handled the situation with her usual +generalship. +</p> +<p> +"Lizzie," she said calmly, "get the tin basin that is hanging to my +saddle, and fill it with the water from that snowbank. On the occasion +of any more unseemly language, pour it over the offender without mercy." +</p> +<p> +It became necessary to do it, I regret to state. They had not yet +learned that Tish always carries out her threats. It was the one who we +felt was the leader who offended, and I did as I had been requested to. +But Aggie, ever tender-hearted, feared that it would give the man a +severe cold, and got Tish's permission to pour a little blackberry +cordial down his throat. +</p> +<p> +Far from this kindness having a salubrious effect, it had the contrary. +They all fell to bad language again, and, realizing that they wished the +cordial, and our supply being limited, we were compelled to abandon the +treatment. +</p> +<p> +It had been an uncomfortable night, and I confess to a feeling of relief +when "the rift of dawn" broke the early skies. +</p> +<p> +We were, Tish calculated, some forty miles from breakfast, and Aggie's +diet for some days had been light at the best, even the mountain-lion +broth having been more stimulating than staying. We therefore +investigated the camp, and found behind a large stone some flour, +baking-powder, and bacon. With this equipment and a frying-pan or two we +were able to make some very fair pancakes—or flapjacks, as they are +called in the West. +</p> +<p> +Tish civilly invited the girl to eat with us, but she refused curtly, +although, on turning once, I saw her eyeing us with famished eyes. I +think, however, that on seeing us going about the homely task of getting +breakfast, she realized that we were not the desperate creatures she had +fancied during the night, but three gentlewomen on a holiday—simple +tourists, indeed. +</p> +<p> +"I wish," she said at last almost wistfully—"I wish that I could +understand it all. I seem to be all mixed up. You don't suppose I want +to be here, do you?" +</p> +<p> +But Tish was not in a mood to make concessions. "As for what you want," +she said, "how are we to know that? You are here, aren't you?—here as +a result of your own cold-heartedness. Had you remained true to the very +estimable young man you jilted you would not now be in this position." +</p> +<p> +"Of course he would talk about it!" said the girl darkly. +</p> +<p> +"I am convinced," Tish went on, dexterously turning a pancake by a swift +movement of the pan, "that sensational movies are responsible for much +that is wrong with the country to-day. They set false standards. +Perfectly pure-minded people see them and are filled with thoughts of +crime." +</p> +<p> +Although she had ignored him steadily, the girl turned now to Mr. +Oliver. +</p> +<p> +"They don't believe anything I tell them. Why don't you explain?" she +demanded. +</p> +<p> +"Explain!" he said in a furious voice. "Explain to three lunatics? +What's the use?" +</p> +<p> +"You got me into this, you know." +</p> +<p> +"I did! I like that! What in the name of Heaven induced you to ride off +the way you did?" +</p> +<p> +Tish paused, with the frying-pan in the air. "Silence!" she commanded. +"You are both only reaping what you have sowed. As far as quarreling +goes, you can keep that until you are married, if you intend to be. I +don't know but I'd advise it. It's a pity to spoil two houses." +</p> +<p> +But the girl said that she wouldn't marry him if he was the last man on +earth, and he fell back to sulking again. +</p> +<p> +As Aggie observed later, he acted as if he had never cared for her, +while Mr. Bell, on the contrary, could not help his face changing when +he so much as mentioned her name. +</p> +<p> +We made some tea and ate a hearty breakfast, while the men watched us. +And as we ate, Tish held the moving-picture business up to contumely and +scorn. +</p> +<p> +"Lady," said one of the prostrate men, "aren't you going to give us +anything to eat?" +</p> +<p> +"People," Tish said, ignoring him, "who would ordinarily cringe at the +sight of a wounded beetle sit through bloody murders and go home with +the obsession of crime." +</p> +<p> +"I hope you won't take it amiss," said the man again, "if I say that, +seeing it's our flour and bacon, you either ought to feed us or take it +away and eat it where we can't see you." +</p> +<p> +"I take it," said Tish to the girl, pouring in more batter, "that you +yourself would never have thought of highway robbery had you not been +led to it by an overstimulated imagination." +</p> +<p> +"I wish," said the girl rudely, "that you wouldn't talk so much. I've +got a headache." +</p> +<p> +When we had finished Tish indicated the frying-pan and the batter. +"Perhaps," she said, "you would like to bake some cakes for these +friends of yours. We have a long trip ahead of us." +</p> +<p> +But the girl replied heartlessly that she hoped they would starve to +death, ignoring their pitiful glances. In the end it was our own +tender-hearted Aggie who baked pancakes for them and, loosening their +hands while I stood guard, saw that they had not only food but the +gentle refreshment of fresh tea. Tish it was, however, who, not to be +outdone in magnanimity, permitted them to go, one by one, to the stream +to wash. Escape, without horses or weapons, was impossible, and they +realized it. +</p> +<p> +By nine o'clock we were ready to return. And here a difficulty presented +itself. There were six prisoners and only three of us. The men, fed now, +were looking less subdued, although they pretended to obey Tish's +commands with alacrity. +</p> +<p> +Aggie overheard a scrap of conversation, too, which seemed to indicate +that they had not given up hope. Had Tish not set her heart on leading +them into the great hotel at Many Glaciers, and there exposing them to +the taunts of angry tourists, it would have been simpler for one of us +to ride for assistance, leaving the others there. +</p> +<p> +In this emergency Tish, putting her hand into her pocket for her +scissors to trim a hangnail, happened to come across the policeman's +whistle. +</p> +<p> +"My gracious!" she said. "I forgot my promise to that young man!" +</p> +<p> +She immediately put it to her lips and blew three shrill blasts. To our +surprise they were answered by a halloo, and a moment later the young +gentleman himself appeared on the trail. He was no longer afoot, but was +mounted on a pinto pony, which we knew at once for Bill's. +</p> +<p> +He sat on his horse, staring as if he could not believe his eyes. Then +he made his way across the stream toward us. +</p> +<p> +"Good Heavens!" he said. "What in the name of—" Here his eyes fell on +the girl, and he stiffened. +</p> +<p> +"Jim!" cried the girl, and looked at him with what Aggie afterward +characterized as a most touching expression. +</p> +<p> +But he ignored her. "Looks as though you folks have been pretty busy," +he observed, glancing at our scowling captives. "I'm a trifle surprised. +You don't mind my being rather breathless, do you?" +</p> +<p> +"My only regret," Tish said loftily, "is that we have not secured the +Indians. They too should be taught a lesson. I am sure that the red man +is noble until led away by civilized people who might know better." +</p> +<p> +It was at this point that Mr. Bell's eyes fell on Mr. Oliver, who with +his hands tied behind him was crouching over the fire. +</p> +<p> +"Well!" he said. "So you're here too! But of course you would be." This +he said bitterly. +</p> +<p> +"For the love of Heaven, Bell," Mr. Oliver said, "tell those mad women +that I'm not a bandit." +</p> +<p> +"We know that already," Tish observed. +</p> +<p> +"And untie my hands. My shoulders are about broken." +</p> +<p> +But Mr. Bell only looked at him coldly. "I can't interfere with these +ladies," he said. "They're friends of mine. If they think you are better +tied, it's their business. They did it." +</p> +<p> +"At least," Mr. Oliver said savagely, "you can tell them who I am, can't +you?" +</p> +<p> +"As to that," Mr. Bell returned, "I can only tell them what you say you +are. You must remember that I know nothing about you. Helen knows much +more than I do." +</p> +<p> +"Jim," cried the girl, "surely you are going to tell these women that we +are not highway robbers. Tell them the truth. Tell them I am not a +highway robber. Tell them that these men are not my accomplices, that I +never saw them before." +</p> +<p> +"You must remember," he replied in an icy tone, "that I no longer know +your friends. It is some days since you and I parted company. And you +must admit that one of them is a friend of yours—as well as I can +judge, a very close friend." +</p> +<p> +She was almost in tears, but she persisted. "At least," she said, "you +can tell them that I did not rob that woman on the pass. They are going +to lead us in to Many Glaciers, and—Jim, you won't let them, will you? +I'll die of shame." +</p> +<p> +But he was totally unmoved. As Aggie said afterward, no one would have +thought that, but a day or two before, he had been heartbroken because +she was in love with someone else. +</p> +<p> +"As to that," he said, "it is questionable, according to Mrs. +Ostermaier, that nothing was taken from you, and that as soon as the +attack was over you basely deserted her and followed the bandits. A full +description of you, which I was able to correct in one or two trifling +details, is now in the hands of the park police." +</p> +<p> +She stared at him with fury in her eyes. "I hope you will never speak to +me again," she cried. +</p> +<p> +"You said that the last time I saw you, Helen. If you will think, you +will remember that you addressed me first just now." +</p> +<p> +She stamped her foot. +</p> +<p> +"Of course," he said politely, "you can see my position. You maintain +and possibly believe that these—er—acquaintances of yours"—he +indicated the men—"are not members of the moving-picture outfit. Also +that your being with them is of an accidental nature. But, on the other +hand—" +</p> +<p> +She put her fingers in her ears and turned her back on him. +</p> +<p> +"On the other hand," he went on calmly, "I have the word of these three +respectable ladies that they are the outfit, or part of it, that they +have just concluded a cruel hoax on unsuspecting tourists, and that they +justly deserve to be led in as captives and exposed to the full ignominy +of their position." +</p> +<p> +Here she faced him again, and this time she was quite pale. "Ask +those—those women where they found my engagement ring," she said. "One +of those wretches took it from me. That ought to be proof enough that +they are not from the moving-picture outfit." +</p> +<p> +Tish at once produced the ring and held it out to him. But he merely +glanced at it and shook his head. +</p> +<p> +"All engagement rings look alike," he observed. "I cannot possibly say, +Helen, but I think it is unlikely that it is the one I gave you, as you +told me, you may recall, that you had thrown it into a crack in a +glacier. It may, of course, be one you have recently acquired." +</p> +<p> +He glanced at Mr. Oliver, but the latter only shrugged his shoulders. +</p> +<p> +Well, she shed a few tears, but he was adamant, and helped us saddle the +horses, ignoring her utterly. It was our opinion that he no longer cared +for her, and that, having lost him, she now regretted it. I know that +she watched him steadily when he was not looking her way. But he went +round quite happily, whistling a bit of tune, and not at all like the +surly individual we had at first thought him. +</p> +<p> +The ride back was without much incident. Our prisoners rode with their +hands tied behind them, except the young lady. +</p> +<p> +"We might as well leave her unfastened," the young man said casually. +"While I dare say she would make her escape if possible, and +particularly if there was any chance of getting filmed while doing it, +I will make myself personally responsible." +</p> +<p> +As a matter of fact she was exceedingly rude to all of us, and during +our stop for luncheon, which was again bacon and pancakes, she made a +dash for her horse. The young man saw her, however, in time, and brought +her back. From that time on she was more civil, but I saw her looking at +him now and then, and her eyes were positively terrified. +</p> +<p> +It was Aggie, at last, who put in a plea for her with him, drawing him +aside to do so. "I am sure," she said, "that she is really a nice girl, +and has merely been led astray by the search for adventure. Naturally my +friends, especially Miss Tish, have small sympathy with such a state of +mind. But you are younger—and remember, you loved her once." +</p> +<p> +"Loved her once!" he replied. "Dear lady, I'm so crazy about her at this +minute that I can hardly hold myself in." +</p> +<p> +"You are not acting much like it." +</p> +<p> +"The fact is," he replied, "I'm afraid to let myself go. And if she's +learned a lesson, I have too. I've been her doormat long enough. I tried +it and it didn't work. She's caring more for me now, at this minute, +than she has in eleven months. She needs a strong hand, and, by George! +I've got it—two of them, in fact." +</p> +<p> +We reached Many Glaciers late that afternoon, and Tish rode right up to +the hotel. Our arrival created the most intense excitement, and Tish, +although pleased, was rather surprised. It was not, however, until a +large man elbowed his way through the crowd and took possession of the +prisoners that we understood. +</p> +<p> +"I'll take them now," he said. "Well, George, how are you?" +</p> +<p> +This was to the leader, who merely muttered in reply. +</p> +<p> +"I'd like to leave them here for a short time," Tish stated. "They +should be taught a severe lesson and nothing stings like ridicule. After +that you can turn them free, but I think they ought to be discharged." +</p> +<p> +"Turn them free!" he said in a tone of amazement. "Discharged! My dear +madam, they will get fifteen years' hard labor, I hope. And that's too +good for them." +</p> +<p> +Then suddenly the crowd began to cheer. It was some time before Tish +realized that they were cheering us. And even then, I shall have to +confess, we did not understand until the young man explained to me. +</p> +<p> +"You see," he said, "I didn't like to say anything sooner, for fear of +making you nervous. You'd done it all so well that I wanted you to +finish it. You've been in the right church all along, but the wrong +pew. Those fellows aren't movie actors, except Oliver, who will be +freed now, and come after me with a gun, as like as not! They're real +dyed-in-the-wool desperadoes and there's a reward of five thousand +dollars for capturing them." +</p> +<p> +Tish went rather white, but said nothing. Aggie, however, went into a +paroxysm of sneezing, and did not revive until given aromatic ammonia +to inhale. +</p> +<p> +"I was fooled at first too," the young man said. "We'd been expecting a +holdup and when it came we thought it was the faked one. But the +person"—he paused and looked round—"the person who had the real jolt +was Helen. She followed them, since they didn't take her for ransom, as +had been agreed in the plot. +</p> +<p> +"Then, when she found her mistake, they took her along, for fear she'd +ride off and raise the alarm. All in all," he said reflectively, "it has +been worth about a million dollars to me." +</p> +<p> +We went into the hotel, with the crowd following us, and the first thing +we saw was Mrs. Ostermaier, sitting dejectedly by the fire. When she saw +us, she sprang to her feet and came to meet us. +</p> +<p> +"Oh, Miss Tish, Miss Tish!" she said. "What I have been through! +Attacked on a lonely mountain-top and robbed of everything. My reason is +almost gone. And my earrings, my beautiful earrings!" +</p> +<p> +Tish said nothing, but, reaching into her reticule, which she had taken +from the horn of her saddle, she drew out a number of things. +</p> +<p> +"Here," she said. "Are your earrings. Here also is Mr. Ostermaier's +cigar-case, but empty. Here is some money too. I'll keep that, however, +until I know how much you lost." +</p> +<p> +"Tish!" screeched Mrs. Ostermaier. "You found them!" +</p> +<p> +"Yes," Tish said somewhat wearily, "we found them. We found a number of +things, Mrs. Ostermaier,—four bandits, and two lovers, or rather three, +but so no longer, and your things, and a reward of five thousand +dollars, and an engagement ring. I think," she said, "that I'd like a +hot bath and something to eat." +</p> +<p> +Mrs. Ostermaier was gloating over her earrings, but she looked up at +Tish's tired and grimy face, at the mud encrusted on me from my accident +the day before, at Aggie in her turban. +</p> +<p> +"Go and wash, all of you," she said kindly, "and I'll order some hot +tea." +</p> +<p> +But Tish shook her head. "Tea nothing!" she said firmly. "I want a +broiled sirloin steak and potatoes. And"—she looked Mrs. Ostermaier +full in the eye—"I am going to have a cocktail. I need it." +</p> +<p> +Late that evening Aggie came to Tish's room, where I was sitting with +her. Tish was feeling entirely well, and more talkative than I can +remember her in years. But the cocktail, which she felt, she said, in no +other way, had gone to her legs. +</p> +<p> +"It is not," she observed, "that I cannot walk. I can, perfectly well. +But I am obliged to keep my eyes on my feet, and it might be noticed." +</p> +<p> +"I just came in," Aggie said, "to say that Helen and her lover have made +it up. They are down by the lake now, and if you will look out you can +see them." +</p> +<p> +I gave Tish an arm to the window, and the three of us stood and looked +out. The moon was rising over the snow-capped peaks across the lake, and +against its silver pathway the young people stood outlined. As we looked +he stooped and kissed her. But it was a brief caress, as if he had just +remembered the strong hand and being a doormat long enough. +</p> +<p> +Tish drew a long breath. +</p> +<p> +"What," she said, "is more beautiful than young love? It will be a +comfort to remember that we brought them together. Let go of me now, +Lizzie. 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