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diff --git a/old/60580-h/60580-h.htm b/old/60580-h/60580-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 7b85c7c..0000000 --- a/old/60580-h/60580-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5077 +0,0 @@ -<!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=iso-8859-1" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Big Blue Soldier, by Grace Livingston Hill. - </title> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; page-break-after: always;} -div.titlepage p {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 2em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.pagenum { - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} - -.ph1 {text-align: center; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph2 {text-align: center; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold;} -.ph3 {text-align: center; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;} - -.gapright {padding-right: 10em;} -.gap {padding-left: 1em;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.xxlarge {font-size: 175%;} -.large {font-size: 125%;} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -2.5em; padding-left: 3em;} -.poetry .indent {text-indent: 1.5em;} - -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Big Blue Soldier, by Grace Livingston Hill - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Big Blue Soldier - -Author: Grace Livingston Hill - -Release Date: October 27, 2019 [EBook #60580] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIG BLUE SOLDIER *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. Brown, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - - -<h1>THE BIG BLUE SOLDIER</h1> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<p class="ph1"><i>GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL’S</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Charming and Wholesome Romances</i></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">The City of Fire</div> -<div class="verse">The Tryst</div> -<div class="verse">Cloudy Jewel</div> -<div class="verse">Exit Betty</div> -<div class="verse">The Search</div> -<div class="verse">The Red Signal</div> -<div class="verse">The Enchanted Barn</div> -<div class="verse">The Finding of Jasper Holt</div> -<div class="verse">The Obsession of Victoria Gracen</div> -<div class="verse">Miranda</div> -<div class="verse">The Best Man</div> -<div class="verse">Lo, Michael!</div> -<div class="verse">Marcia Schuyler</div> -<div class="verse">Phoebe Deane</div> -<div class="verse">Dawn of the Morning</div> -<div class="verse">The Mystery of Mary</div> -<div class="verse">The Girl from Montana</div> -</div></div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/i_title.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<p><span class="xxlarge">THE<br /> -BIG BLUE<br /> -SOLDIER</span></p> - -<p><i>BY</i><br /> -<span class="large">GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL</span><br /> - -<small>AUTHOR OF “THE CITY OF FIRE,” “MARCIA SCHUYLER,” ETC.</small></p> - -<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/titlelogo.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<p><span class="large">PHILADELPHIA & LONDON<br /> -J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY<br /> -1923</span></p> -</div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p class="center"> -COPYRIGHT, 1920, 1921, BY THE GOLDEN RULE COMPANY<br /> -COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY<br /> -<br /> -PRINTED BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY<br /> -AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS<br /> -PHILADELPHIA, U. S. A.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> - - - -<p class="ph2">THE BIG BLUE<br /> -SOLDIER</p> - - - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">“And</span> you don’t think maybe I ought -to have had lemon custard to go with -the pumpkin instead of the mince?”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla Chadwick turned from -her anxious watching at the kitchen -window to search Mary Amber’s clear -young eyes for the truth, the whole -truth, and nothing but the truth.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, I think mince is much better. -All men like mince-pie, it’s so—sort -of comprehensive, you know.”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla turned back to her window, -satisfied.</p> - -<p>“Well, now, if he came on that train, -he ought to be in sight around the bend -of the road in about three minutes,” she -said tensely. “I’ve timed it often when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -folks were coming out from town, and -it always takes just six minutes to get -around the bend of the road.”</p> - -<p>All through the months of the Great -War Miss Marilla had knit and bandaged -and emergencied and canteened -with an eager, wistful look in her -dreamy gray eyes, and many a sweater -had gone to some needy lad with the -little thrilling remark as she handed it -over to the committee:</p> - -<p>“I keep thinking, what if my nephew -Dick should be needing one, and this -just come along in time?”</p> - -<p>But when the war was over, and most -people had begun to use pink and blue -wool on their needles, or else cast them -aside altogether and tried to forget -there ever had been such a thing as war, -and the price of turkeys had gone up so -high that people forgot to be thankful -the war was over, Miss Marilla still held -that wistful look in her eyes, and still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -spoke of her nephew Dick with bated -breath and a sigh. For was not Dick -among those favored few who were to -remain and do patrol work for an indefinite -time in the land of the enemy, -while others were gathered to their waiting -homes and eager loved ones? Miss -Marilla spoke of Dick as of one who -still lingered on the border-land of terror, -and who laid his young life a continuous -sacrifice for the good of the -great world.</p> - -<p>A neat paragraph to that effect appeared -in <i>The Springhaven Chronicle</i>, a -local sheet that offered scant news items -and fat platitudes at an ever-increasing -rate to a gullible and conceited populace, -who supported it because it was -really the only way to know what one’s -neighbors were doing. The paragraph -was the reluctant work of Mary Amber, -the young girl who lived next door to -Miss Marilla and had been her devoted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -friend since the age of four, when Miss -Marilla used to bake sugar cookies for -her in the form of stogy men with currant -eyes and outstretched arms.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber remembered Nephew -Dick as a young imp of nine who made -a whole long, beautiful summer ugly -with his torments. She also knew that -the neighbors all round about had memories -of that summer when Dick’s -parents went on a Western trip and left -him with his Aunt Marilla. Mary -Amber shrank from exposing her dear -friend to the criticisms of such of the -readers of <i>The Springhaven Chronicle</i> -as had memories of their cats tortured, -their chickens chased, their flower-beds -trampled, their children bullied, and -their windows broken by the youthful -Dick.</p> - -<p>But time had softened the memories -of that fateful summer in Miss Marilla’s -mind, and, besides, she was sorely in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -need of a hero. Mary Amber had not -the heart to refuse to write the paragraph, -but she made it as conservative as -the circumstances allowed.</p> - -<p>But now, at last, among the latest to -be sent back, Lieutenant Richard -Chadwick’s division was coming home!</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla read in the paper what -day they would sail, and that they were -expected to arrive not later than the -twenty-ninth; and, as she read, she conceived -a wild and daring plan. Why -should not she have a real, live hero herself? -A bit belated, of course, but all -the more distinguished for that. And -why should not Mary Amber have a -whole devoted soldier boy of her own for -the village to see and admire? Not that -she told Mary Amber that, oh, no! But -in her mind’s vision she saw herself, -Mary Amber, and Dick all going together -to church on Sunday morning, -the bars on his uniform gleaming like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -the light in Mary Amber’s hazel eyes. -Miss Marilla had one sudden pang of -fear when she thought that perhaps he -would not wear his uniform home, now -that everybody else was in citizen’s -clothing; then her sweet faith in the -wholesomeness of all things came to her -rescue, and she smiled in relief. Of -course he would wear it to come home; -that would be too outrageous not to, -when he had been a hero. Of course he -would wear it the first few days. And -that was a good reason why she must -invite him at once to visit her instead of -waiting until he had been to his home -and been demobilized. She <i>must</i> have -him in his uniform. She wanted the -glory of it for her own brief share in that -great time of uplifting and sacrifice that -was so fast going into history.</p> - -<p>So Miss Marilla had hastened into the -city to consult a friend who worked in -the Red Cross and went out often to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -wharves to meet the incoming boats. -This friend promised to find out just -when Dick’s division was to land, to -hunt him up herself, and to see that he -had the invitation at once. “See that he -<i>came</i>,” she put it, with a wise reservation -in her heart that the dear, loving -soul should not be disappointed.</p> - -<p>And now, the very night before, this -friend had called Miss Marilla on the -telephone to say that she had information -that Dick’s ship would dock at eight -in the morning. It would probably be -afternoon before he could get out to -Springhaven; so she had better arrange -to have dinner about half past five. So -Miss Marilla, with shining eyes and -heart that throbbed like a young girl’s, -had thrown her cape over her shoulders -and hastened in the twilight through the -hedge to tell Mary Amber.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber, trying to conceal her -inward doubts, had congratulated Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -Marilla and promised to come over the -first thing in the morning to help get -dinner. Promised also, after much -urging, almost with tears on the part of -Miss Marilla, to stay and help eat the -dinner afterward in company with Miss -Marilla and the young lieutenant. -From this part of her promise Mary -Amber’s soul recoiled, for she had no -belief that the young leopard with whom -she had played at the age of ten could -have changed his spots in the course of -a few years, or even covered them with -a silver bar. But Mary Amber soon -saw that her presence at that dinner was -an intrinsic part of Miss Marilla’s joy -in the anticipation of the dinner; and, -much as she disliked the position of -being flung at the young lieutenant in -this way, she promised. After all, what -did it matter what he thought of her -anyway, since she had no use for him? -And then, she could always quietly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -freeze him whenever Miss Marilla’s -back was turned. And Mary Amber -<i>could</i> freeze with her hazel eyes when -she tried.</p> - -<p>So quite early in the morning Miss -Marilla and Mary Amber began a -cheerful stir in Miss Marilla’s big sunny -kitchen, and steadily, appetizingly, -there grew an array of salads and pies -and cakes and puddings and cookies and -doughnuts and biscuits and pickles and -olives and jellies; while a great bird -stuffed to bursting went through the -seven stages of its final career to -the oven.</p> - -<p>But now it was five o’clock. The -bird with brown and shining breast was -waiting in the oven, “done to a turn;” -mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, -succotash, and onions had received the -finishing-touches, and had only to be -“taken up.” Cranberries and pickles -and celery and jelly gave the final<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -touches to a perfect table, and the sideboard -fairly groaned under its load of -pies and cake. One might have thought -a whole regiment were to dine with -Miss Marilla Chadwick that day, from -the sights and smells that filled the -house. Up in the spare room the fire -glowed in a Franklin heater, and a geranium -glowed in a west window between -spotless curtains to welcome the -guest; and now there was nothing left -for the two women to do but the final -anxiety.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber had her part in that, -perhaps even more than her hostess and -friend; for Mary Amber was jealous -for Miss Marilla, and Mary Amber -was youthfully incredulous. She had -no trust in Dick Chadwick, even -though he was an officer and had patrolled -an enemy country for a few months -after the war was over.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber had slipped over to her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -own house when she finished mashing -the potatoes, and changed her gown. -She was putting little squares of butter -on the bread-and-butter plates now, -and the setting sun cast a halo of burnished -light over her gold hair, and -brightened up the silk of her brown -gown with its touches of wood-red. -Mary Amber was beautiful to look -upon as she stood with her butterknife -deftly cutting the squares and dropping -them in just the right spot on the -plates. But there was a troubled look -in her eyes as she glanced from time -to time at the older woman over by the -window. Miss Marilla had given over -all thought of work, and was intent -only on the road toward the station. It -would seem as if not until this moment -had her great faith failed her, and the -thought come to her that perhaps he -might not come.</p> - -<p>“You know, of course, he might not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -get that train,” she said meditatively. -“The other leaves only half an hour -later. But she said she’d tell him to -take this one.”</p> - -<p>“That’s true, too,” said Mary Amber -cheerily. “And nothing will be hurt by -waiting. I’ve fixed those mashed potatoes -so they won’t get soggy by being -too hot, and I’m sure they’ll keep hot -enough.”</p> - -<p>“You’re a good, dear girl, Mary Amber,” -said Miss Marilla, giving her a -sudden impulsive kiss. “I only wish I -could do something great and beautiful -for you.”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla caught up her cape, and -hurried toward the door.</p> - -<p>“I’m going out to the gate to meet -him,” she said with a smile. “It’s time -he was coming in a minute now, and I -want to be out there without hurrying.”</p> - -<p>She clambered down the steps, her -knees trembling with excitement. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -hoped Mary Amber had not looked out -of the window. A boy was coming -on a bicycle; and, if he should be a boy -with a telegram or a special-delivery -letter, she wanted to read it before -Mary Amber saw her. Oh, how awful -if anything had happened that he -couldn’t come to-day! Of course, he -might come later to-night, or to-morrow; -and a turkey would keep, though -it was never so good as the minute it -was taken out of the oven.</p> - -<p>The boy was almost to the gate now, -and—yes, he was going to stop. He -was swinging one leg out with that -long movement that meant slowing up. -She panted forward with a furtive -glance back at the house. She hoped -Mary Amber was looking at the turkey -and not out of the window.</p> - -<p>It seemed that her fingers had suddenly -gone tired while she was writing -her name in that boy’s book, and they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -almost refused to tear open the envelope -as the boy swung on his wheel -again and vanished down the road. She -had presence of mind enough to keep -her back to the house and the telegram -in front of her as she opened it covertly, -trying to keep the attitude of still looking -eagerly down the road, while the -typewritten brief message got itself -across to her tumultuous mind.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Impossible to accept invitation. Have other -engagements. Thanks just the same.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gapright">“(Signed)</span></p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Lieutenant Richard H. Chadwick</span>.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Miss Marilla tore the yellow paper -hastily, and crumpled it into a ball in -her hands as she stared down the road -through brimming tears. She managed -an upright position; but her -knees were shaking under her, and a -gone feeling came in her stomach. -Across the sunset skies in letters of accusing -size there seemed to blaze the -paragraphs from <i>The Springhaven -Chronicle</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> copied afterwards in the -county <i>Gazette</i>, about Miss Marilla -Chadwick’s nephew, Lieutenant -Richard H. Chadwick, who was expected -at his aunt’s home as soon as he -landed in this country after a long -and glorious career in other lands, and -who would spend the week-end with -his aunt, and “doubtless be heard from -at the Springhaven Club House before -he left.” Her throat caught with a -queer little sound like a groan. Still, -with her hand grasping the front gate -convulsively, Miss Marilla stood and -stared down the road, trying to think -what to do, how to word a paragraph -explaining why he did not come, how -to explain to Mary Amber so that that -look of sweet incredulousness should -not come into her eyes.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly, as she stared -through her blur of tears, there appeared -a straggling figure, coming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -around the bend of the road by the -Hazard house; and Miss Marilla, with -nothing at all in her mind but to escape -from the watchful, loving eyes of Mary -Amber for a moment longer, till she -could think what to say to her, -staggered out the gate and down the -road toward the person, whoever it was, -that was coming slowly up the road.</p> - -<p>On stumbled Miss Marilla, nearer -and nearer to the oncoming man, till -suddenly through a blur of tears she -noticed that he wore a uniform. Her -heart gave a leap, and for a moment she -thought it must be Dick; that he had -been playing her a joke by the telegram, -and was coming on immediately -to surprise her before she had a chance -to be disappointed. It was wonderful -how the years had done their halo work -for Dick with Miss Marilla.</p> - -<p>She stopped short, trembling, one -hand to her throat. Then, as the man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -drew nearer and she saw his halting -gait, saw, too, his downcast eyes and -whole dejected attitude, she somehow -knew it was not Dick. Never would he -have walked to her home in that way. -There had been a swagger about little -Dick that could not be forgotten. The -older Dick, crowned now with many -honors, would not have forgotten to -hold his head high.</p> - -<p>Unconscious of her attitude of intense -interest she stood with hand still -fluttering at her throat, and eyes -brightly on the man as he advanced.</p> - -<p>When he was almost opposite to her, -he looked up. He had fine eyes and -good features; but his expression was -bitter for one so young, and in the eyes -there was a look of pain.</p> - -<p>“Oh! excuse me,” said Miss Marilla, -looking around furtively to be sure -Mary Amber could not see them so far -away. “Are you in a very great hurry?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>The young man looked surprised, -amused, and slightly bored, but paused -politely.</p> - -<p>“Not specially,” he said; and there -was a tone of dry sarcasm in his voice. -“Is there anything I can do for you?”</p> - -<p>He lifted the limp little trench-cap, -and paused to rest his lame knee.</p> - -<p>“Why, I was wondering if you -would mind coming in and eating dinner -with me,” spoke Miss Marilla -eagerly from a dry throat of embarrassment. -“You see my nephew’s a returned -soldier, and I’ve just got word -he can’t come. The dinner’s all ready -to be dished up, and it needn’t take you -long.”</p> - -<p>“Dinner sounds good to me,” said -the young man with a grim glimmer of -a smile. “I guess I can accommodate -you, madam. I haven’t had anything -to eat since I left the camp last night.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>“Oh! You poor child!” said Miss Marilla, -beaming on him with a welcoming -smile. “Now isn’t it fortunate I -should have asked <i>you</i>?” as if there had -been a throng of passing soldiers from -which she might have chosen. “But -are you sure I’m not keeping you from -some one else who is waiting for you?”</p> - -<p>“If there’s any one else waiting anywhere -along this road for me, it’s all -news to me, madam; and anyhow you -got here first, and I guess you have first -rights.”</p> - -<p>He had swung into the easy, familiar -vernacular of the soldier now; and for -the moment his bitterness was held in -abeyance, and the really nice look in his -eyes shone forth.</p> - -<p>“Well, then, we’ll just go along in,” -said Miss Marilla, casting another -quick glance toward the house. “And -I think I’m most fortunate to have -found you. It’s so disappointing to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -get dinner ready for company and then -not have any.”</p> - -<p>“Must be almost as disappointing as -to get all ready for dinner and then not -have any,” said the soldier affably.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla smiled wistfully.</p> - -<p>“I suppose your name doesn’t happen -to be Richard, does it?” she asked -with that childish appeal in her eyes -that had always kept her a young -woman and good company for Mary -Amber, even though her hair had long -been gray.</p> - -<p>“Might just as well be that as anything -else,” he responded, affably, willing -to drop into whatever rôle was set -for him in this most unexpected byplay.</p> - -<p>“And you wouldn’t mind if I should -call you Dick?” she asked with a wistful -look in her blue eyes.</p> - -<p>“Like nothing better,” he assented -glibly, and found his own heart warming -to this confiding stranger lady.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>“That’s beautiful of you!” She put -out a shy hand, and laid it lightly on the -edge of his cuff. “You don’t know how -much obliged I am. You see, Mary -Amber hasn’t ever quite believed he was -coming—Dick, I mean—and she’s -been so kind, and helped me get the -dinner and all. I just couldn’t bear to -tell her he wasn’t coming.”</p> - -<p>The young soldier stopped short in -the middle of the road, and whistled.</p> - -<p>“Horrors!” he exclaimed in dismay -“Are there other guests? Who is Mary -Amber?”</p> - -<p>“Why, she’s just my neighbor, who -played with you—I mean with Dick -when he was here visiting as a child a -good many years ago. I’m afraid he -wasn’t always as polite to her then as a -boy ought to be to a little girl; and—well, -she’s never liked him very well. I -was afraid she would say, ‘I told you -so’ if she thought he didn’t come. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -won’t be necessary for me to tell any -lies, you know. I’ll just say, ‘Dick, -this is Mary Amber; I suppose you -don’t remember her,’ and that’ll be all. -You don’t mind, do you? It won’t take -long to eat dinner.”</p> - -<p>“But I’m a terrible mess to meet a -girl!” he exclaimed uneasily, looking -down deprecatingly at himself. “I -thought it was just you. This uniform’s -three sizes too large, and needs -a drink. Besides,” he passed a speculative -hand over his smoothly shaven -chin, “I—don’t <i>care</i> for girls!” There -was a deep frown between his eyes, and -the bitter look had come back on his -face. Miss Marilla thought he looked -as if he might be going to run away.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right!” said Miss Marilla -anxiously. “Neither does Mary -Amber like men. She says they’re all a -selfish conceited lot. You needn’t have -much to do with her. Just eat your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -dinner and tell anything you want to -about the war. We won’t bother you to -talk much. Come; this is the house, and -the turkey must be on the table getting -cold by now.”</p> - -<p>She swung open the gate, and laid a -persuasive hand on the shabby sleeve; -and the young man reluctantly followed -her up the path to the front door.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER II</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Lyman Gage set sail for -France three years before, he left behind -him a modest interest in a promising -business enterprise, a girl who -seemed to love him dearly, and a debt -of several thousand dollars to her -father, who had advised him to go into -the enterprise and furnished the funds -for his share in the capital.</p> - -<p>When he had returned from France -three days before, he had been met with -news that the business enterprise had -gone to smash during the war, the girl -had become engaged to a dashing -young captain with a well-feathered -nest, and the debt had become a galling -yoke.</p> - -<p>“Father says, tell you you need not -worry about the money you owe him,” -wrote the girl sweetly, concluding her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -revelations. “You can pay it at your -leisure when you get started again.”</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage lost no time in gathering -together every cent he could scrape -up. This was more than he had at first -hoped, because of the fact that he -owned two houses in the big city in -which he had landed; and these houses, -though old and small, happened to be -located in the vicinity of a great industrial -plant that had sprung up since the -end of the war, and houses were going -at soaring prices. They were snapped -up at once at a sum that was fabulous -in comparison with their real value. -This, with what he had brought home -and the bonus he received on landing, -exactly covered his indebtedness to the -man who was to have been his father-in-law; -and, when he turned away from -the window where he had been telegraphing -the money to his lawyer in a -far State with instructions to pay the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -loan at once, he had just forty-six cents -left in his pocket.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, as he reflected that he had -done the last thing there was left that -he now cared to do on earth, the noises -of the great city got hold upon his -nerve, and tore and racked it.</p> - -<p>He was filled with a great desire to -get out and away from it, he cared not -where, only so that the piercing sounds -and rumbling grind of the traffic of the -city should not press upon the raw -nerves and torture them.</p> - -<p>With no thought of getting anything -to eat or providing for a shelterless -night that was fast coming on, he wandered -out into the train-area of the -great station, and idly read the names -up over the train-gates. One caught -his fancy, “<span class="smcap">Purling Brook</span>.” It -seemed as if it might be quiet there, -and a fellow could think. He followed -the impulse, and strode through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -gates just as they were about to be -closed. Dropping into the last seat in -the car as the train was about to start, -he flung his head back, and closed his -eyes wearily. He did not care whether -he ever got anywhere or not. He was -weary in heart and spirit. He wished -that he might just sink away into nothingness. -He was too tired to think, to -bemoan his fate, to touch with torturing -finger of memory all the little beautiful -hopes that he had woven about the -girl he thought he loved better than any -one else on earth. Just passingly he -had a wish that he had a living mother -to whom he could go with his sick heart -for healing. But she had been gone -long years, and his father even longer. -There was really no one to whom he -cared to show his face, now that all -he had counted dear on earth had been -suddenly taken from him.</p> - -<p>The conductor roused him from a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -profound sleep, demanding a ticket, -and he had the good fortune to remember -the name he had seen over the gate: -“Purling Brook. How much?”</p> - -<p>“Fifty-six cents.”</p> - -<p>Gage reached into his pocket, and -displayed the coins on his palm with -a wry smile.</p> - -<p>“Guess you better put me off here, -and I’ll walk,” he said, stumbling -wearily to his feet.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, son. Sit down,” -said the conductor half roughly. “You -pay me when you come back sometime. -I’ll make it good.” And he glanced at -the uniform kindly.</p> - -<p>Gage looked down at his shabby self -helplessly. Yes, he was still a soldier, -and people had not got over the habit -of being kind to the uniform. He -thanked the conductor, and sank into -sleep again, to be roused by the same -kindly hand a few minutes later at Purling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -Brook. He stumbled off, and -stood looking dazedly about him at the -trig little village. The sleep was not -yet gone from his eyes, nor the ache -from his nerves; but the clear quiet -of the little town seemed to wrap -him about soothingly like salve, and -the crisp air entered into his lungs, and -gave him heart. He realized that he -was hungry.</p> - -<p>It seemed to have been a popular -afternoon train that he had travelled -upon. He looked beyond the groups -of happy home-comers to where it hurried -away gustily down the track, even -then preparing to stop at the next near -suburban station to deposit a few more -home-comers. There on that train -went the only friend he felt he had in -the world at present, that grizzly conductor -with his kindly eyes looking -through great bifocals like a pleasant -old grasshopper.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>Well, he could not remain here any -longer. The air was biting, and the sun -was going down. Across the road the -little drug-store even then was twinkling -out with lights behind its blue and -green glass urns. Two boys and a girl -were drinking something at the soda-fountain -through straws, and laughing -a great deal. It somehow turned him -sick, he could not tell why. He had -done things like that many a time -himself.</p> - -<p>There was a little stone church down -the street, with a spire and bells. The -sun touched the bells with burnished -crimson till they looked like Christmas -cards. A youthful rural football team -went noisily across the road, discoursing -about how they would come out that -night if their mothers would let them; -and the station cab came down the -street full of passengers, and waited for -a lady at the meat-market. He could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -see the legs of a chicken sticking out -of the basket as the driver helped her in.</p> - -<p>He began to wonder why he hadn’t -stayed in the city and spent his forty-six -cents for something to eat. It -would have bought a great many -crackers, say, or even bananas. He -passed the bakery, and a whiff of fresh-baked -bread greeted his nostrils. He -cast a wistful eye at the window. Of -course he might go in and ask for a -job in payment for his supper. There -were his soldier’s clothes. But no. -That was equivalent to begging. He -could not quite do that. Here in town -they would have all the help they -wanted. Perhaps, farther out in the -country—perhaps—he didn’t know -what; only he couldn’t bring himself to -ask for food, even with the offer to -work. He didn’t care enough for that. -What was hunger, anyway? A thing -to be satisfied and come again. What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> -would happen if he didn’t satisfy it? -Die, of course, but what did it matter? -What was there to live for, anyway?</p> - -<p>He passed a house all windows, -where children were gathered about a -piano with one clumsily playing an accompaniment. -There was an open fire, -and the long windows came down to the -piazza floor. They were singing at the -top of their lungs, the old, time-worn -song made familiar to them by community -sing-songs, still good to them -because they all knew it so well,</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“There’s a long, long trail a-winding</div> -<div class="indent">Until my dreams all come true;”</div> -</div></div> - -<p>and it gripped his heart like a knife. He -had sung that song with <i>her</i> when it was -new and tender, just before he sailed -away; and the trail had seemed so long! -And now he had reached the end of it, -and she had not been there to meet him! -It was incredible! She so fair! And -false! After all those months of waiting!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -That was the hardest part of it, -that she could have done it, and then explained -so lightly that he had been -away so long she was sure he would -understand, and they both must have -got over their childish attachment; and -so on, through the long, nauseating -sentences of her repeal. He shuddered -as he said them over to his tired heart, -and then shuddered again with the keen -air; for his uniform was thin, and he -had no overcoat.</p> - -<p>What was that she had said about -the money? He needn’t worry about -it. A sort of bone to toss to the lone -dog after he was kicked out. Ah, well! -It was paid. He was glad of that. He -was even grimly glad for his own destitution. -It gave a kind of sense of satisfaction -to have gone hungry and homeless -to pay it all in one grand lump, and -to have paid it at once, and through his -lawyer, without any word to her or her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -father either. They should not be even -distant witnesses of his humiliation. -He would never cross their path again -if he had his way. They should be as -completely wiped out of his existence -and he out of theirs as if the same universe -did not hold them.</p> - -<p>He passed down the broad, pleasant -street in the crisp air, and every home -on either hand gave him a thrust of -memory that stabbed him to the heart. -It was such a home as one of these that -he had hoped to have some day, although -it would have been in the city, -perhaps, for she always liked the city. -He had hoped in the depths of his heart -to persuade her to the country, though. -Now he saw as in a revelation how futile -such hopes had been. She would never -have come to love sweet, quiet ways -such as he loved. She couldn’t ever -have really loved him, or she would have -waited, would not have changed.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>Over and over again he turned the -bitter story, trying to get it settled in -his heart so that the sharp edges would -not hurt so, trying to accustom himself -to the thought that she whom he had -cherished through the blackness of the -years that were past was not what he -had thought her. He stopped in the -road beside a tall hedge that hid the -Hazard house from view, and snatched -out her picture that he had carried in -his breast pocket till now; snatched it -out, gazed upon it with a look that was -not good to see on a young face, and -tore it across! He took a step forward, -and every step he tore a tiny fragment -from the picture and flung it into the -road bit by bit till the lovely face was -mutilated in the dust where the feet of -passers-by would grind upon it and -where those great blue eyes that had -gazed back at him from the picture so -long would be destroyed forever. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -was the last thread that bound him to -her, that picture; and, when the last -scrap of picture had fluttered away -from him, he put his head down and -strode forward like one who has cast -away from him his last hope.</p> - -<p>The voice of Miss Marilla roused him -like a homely, pleasant sound about the -house of a morning when one has had -an unhappy dream; and he lifted his -head, and, soldier-like, dropped into the -old habit of hiding his emotions.</p> - -<p>Her kindly face somehow comforted -him, and the thought of dinner was a -welcome one. The ugly tragedy of his -life seemed to melt away for the moment, -as if it could not stand the light -of the setting sun and her wholesome -presence. There was an appeal in her -eyes that reached him; and somehow he -didn’t feel like turning down her naïve, -childlike proposition. Besides, he was -used to being cared for because he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -a soldier, and why not once more now -when everything else had gone so rotten? -It was an adventure, anyway, -and what was there left for him but adventure? -he asked himself with a little -bitter sneer.</p> - -<p>But, when she mentioned a <i>girl</i>, that -was a different thing! Girls were all -treacherous. It was a new conviction -with him; but it had gone deep, so deep -that it had extended not only to a certain -girl or class of girls, but to all girls -everywhere. He had become a woman-hater. -He wanted nothing more to do -with any of them. And yet at that -moment his tired, disappointed, hurt -man’s soul was really crying out for -the woman of the universe to comfort -him, to explain to him this awful circumstance -that had come to all his -bright dreams. A mother, that was -what he thought he wanted; and Miss -Marilla looked as if she might make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -a nice mother. So he turned like a tired -little hungry boy, and followed her, at -least until she said “girl.” Then he -almost turned and fled.</p> - -<p>Yet, while Miss Marilla coaxed and -explained about Mary Amber, he stood -facing again the lovely vision of the girl -he had left behind at the beginning of -the long, long trail, and whose picture -he had just trampled underfoot on this -end of the trail, which it now seemed to -him would wind on forever alone for -him. As he paused on Miss Marilla’s -immaculate front steps, he was preparing -himself to face the enemy of his life -in the form of woman. The one thing -really that made him go into that house -and meekly submit to be Miss Marilla’s -guest was that his soul had risen to battle. -He would fight Girl in the concrete! -She should be his enemy from -henceforth. And this strange, unknown -girl, who hated men and thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> -them conceited and selfish, this cold, inhuman -creature, was likely false-hearted -too, like the one he had loved -and who had not loved him. He would -show her what he thought of such girls, -of all girls; what all men who knew anything -about it thought of all girls! And, -thus reasoning, he followed Miss Marilla -into the pleasant oilcloth-covered -hall, and up the front stairs to the spare -room, where she smilingly showed him -the towels and brushes prepared for his -comfort, and left him, calling cheerily -back that dinner would be on the table -as soon as he was ready to come down.</p> - -<p>All the time he was bathing his tired, -dirty face and cold, rough hands in the -warm, sweet-scented soap-suds, and -wiping them on the fragrant towel, -even while he stood in front of the mirror -all polished to reflect the visage of -Lieutenant Richard H. Chadwick, and -brushed his close-cropped curls till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -there was not a hint of wave left in -them, he was hardening himself to meet -Girl in the concrete and get back a return -for what she had done to his life.</p> - -<p>Then, with a last final polish of the -brush and a flick of the whisk-broom -over his discouraged-looking uniform, -he set his lips grimly, and went down-stairs, -taking the precaution to fold his -cap and put it into his pocket, for he -might want to escape at any minute, -and it was best to be prepared.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER III</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mary Amber</span> was bearing in the -great platter of golden-brown turkey -when he first saw her, and had not heard -him come down. She was entirely off -her guard, with a sweet, serious intentness -upon her work and a stray wisp -of gold hair set afloat across the -kitchen-flushed cheek. She looked so -sweet and serviceable and true, with -her lips parted in the pleasure of the -final completion of her task, that the -soldier was taken by surprise and -thrown entirely off his guard. Was this -the false-hearted creature he had come -to fight?</p> - -<p>Then Mary Amber felt his eyes upon -her as he stood staring from the open -hall door, and, lifting her own clear -ones, froze into the opponent at once. -A very polite opponent, it is true, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -all the grace of a young queen, but -nevertheless an opponent, cold as a -young icicle.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla with bright eyes and -preternaturally pink cheeks spoke into -the vast pause that suddenly surrounded -them all, and her voice sounded -strangely unnatural to herself.</p> - -<p>“Dick, this is Mary Amber; I suppose -you don’t remember her.”</p> - -<p>And the young soldier, not yet quite -recovered from that first sweet vision of -Mary Amber, went forward with his -belligerence to woman somewhat held -in abeyance.</p> - -<p>“You—have changed a good deal -since then, haven’t you?” he managed -to ask with his native quickness to say -the right thing in an emergency.</p> - -<p>“A good many years have passed,” -she said, coolly putting out a reluctant -hand to please Miss Marilla. “You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -don’t look at all as you did. I never -should have known you.”</p> - -<p>The girl was looking keenly at him, -studying his face closely. If a soldier -just home from an ocean trip could get -any redder, his face would have grown -so under her scrutiny. Also, now he -was face to face with her, he felt his -objection to Girl in general receding -before the fact of his own position. -How had that ridiculous old woman expected -him to carry off a situation like -this without giving it away? How was -he supposed to converse with a girl he -had never seen before, about things he -had never done,—with a girl with whom -he was supposed to have played in his -youth? Why had he been such a fool -as to get into this corner just for the -sake of one more dinner? Why, to-morrow -he would need another dinner, -and all the to-morrows through which -he might have to live. What was one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> -dinner more or less? He felt in his hip -pocket for the comforting assurance of -his cap, and gave a furtive glance toward -the hall door. It wouldn’t be far -to bolt back to the road, and what would -be the difference? He would never see -either of the two again.</p> - -<p>Then the sweet, anxious eyes of his -hostess met his with an appealing smile -and he felt himself powerless to move.</p> - -<p>The girl’s eyes had swept over his ill-fitting -uniform and he seemed to feel -every crease and stain.</p> - -<p>“I thought they told us you were an -officer, but I don’t see your bars.” She -laughed mockingly, and searched his -face again accusingly.</p> - -<p>“This is another fellow’s uniform,” -he answered lamely. “Mine got shrunk -so I could hardly get into it, and another -fellow who was going home -changed with me.”</p> - -<p>He lifted his eyes frankly, for it was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -the truth that he told, and he looked -into her eyes, but saw that she did not -believe him. Her dislike and distrust -of the little boy Dick had come to the -front. He saw that she believed that -Dick had been boasting to his aunt of -honors that were not his. A wave of -anger swept over his face; yet somehow -he could not summon his defiance. -Somehow he wanted her to believe him.</p> - -<p>They sat down at the beautiful table, -and the turkey got in its work on his -poor human sensibilities. The delicate -perfume of the hot meat as it fell in -large, flaky slices from Miss Marilla’s -sharp knife, the whiff of the summer -savory and sage and sweet marjoram in -the stuffing, the smoothness of the -mashed potatoes, the brownness of the -candied sweet potatoes, all cried out to -him and held him prisoner. The odor of -the food brought a giddiness to his -head, and the faintness of hunger attacked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -him. A pallor grew under the -tan of his face, and there were dark -shadows under his nice eyes that quite -touched Miss Marilla, and almost softened -the hard look of distrust that had -been growing around Mary Amber’s -gentle lips.</p> - -<p>“This certainly is great!” he murmured. -“I don’t deserve to get in on -anything like this, but I’m no end -grateful.”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber’s questioning eyes recalled -him in confusion to his rôle of -nephew in the house, and he was glad of -the chance to bend his head while Miss -Marilla softly asked a blessing on the -meal. He had been wont to think he -could get away with any situation; but -he began to feel now as if his recent -troubles had unnerved him, and he -might make a mess of this one. Somehow -that girl seemed as if she could see -into a fellow’s heart. Why couldn’t he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -show her how he despised the whole race -of false-hearted womankind?</p> - -<p>They heaped his plate with good -things, poured him amber coffee rich -with cream, gave him cranberry sauce -and pickles and olives, and passed little -delicate biscuits, and butter with the -fragrance of roses. With all this before -him he suddenly felt as if he could -not swallow a mouthful. He lifted his -eyes to the opposite wall, and a neatly -framed sentence in quaint old English -lettering met his eye, “Who crowneth -thee with loving-kindness and tender -mercies, so that thy youth is renewed -like the eagle’s.”</p> - -<p>An intense desire to put his head -down on the table and cry came over -him. The warmth of the room, the -fragrance of the food, had made him -conscious of an ache in every part of -his body. His head was throbbing too, -and he wondered what was the matter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -with him. After all the harshness of -the world, and the bitterness, to meet -a kindness like this seemed to unnerve -him. But gradually the food got in its -work, and the hot coffee stimulated -him. He rose to the occasion greatly. -He described France, spoke of the -beautiful cathedrals he had seen, the -works of art, the little children, the -work of reconstruction that was going -on, spoke of Germany too, when he saw -they expected him to have been there, -although this was a shoal on which he -almost wrecked his rôle before he realized. -He told of the voyage over and -the people he had met, and he kept most -distinctly away from anything personal, -at least as far away as Mary -Amber would let him. She with her -keen, questioning eyes was always -bringing up some question that was almost -impossible for him to answer directly -without treading on dangerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -ground, and it required skill indeed to -turn her from it. Mary listened and -marvelled, trying continually to trace -in his face the lines of the fat-faced, arrogant -child who used to torment her.</p> - -<p>Mary rose to take the plates, and the -young soldier insisted on helping. Miss -Marilla, pleased to see them getting -on so nicely, sat smiling in her place, -reaching out to brush away a stray -crumb on the table-cloth. Mary, lingering -in the kitchen for a moment, to -be sure the fire was not being neglected, -lifted the stove-lid, and with the -draught a little flame leaped up around -a crumpled, smoldering yellow paper -with the familiar “Western Union Telegraph” -heading. Three words stood -out distinctly for a second, “Impossible -to accept,” and then were -enveloped by the flame. Mary stood -and stared with the stove-lid in her hand, -and then, as the flame curled the paper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -over, she saw “Lieutenant Richard—” -revealed and immediately licked up by -the flame.</p> - -<p>It lay, a little crisp, black fabric -with its message utterly illegible, but -still Mary stood and stared and wondered. -She had seen the boy on the -bicycle ride up and go away. She had -also seen the approaching soldier almost -immediately, and the thought of -the telegram had been at once erased. -Now it came back forcefully. Dick, -then, had sent a telegram, and it looked -as if he had declined the invitation. -Who, then, was this stranger at the -table? Some comrade working Miss -Marilla for a dinner, or Dick himself, -having changed his mind or playing a -practical joke? In any case Mary felt -she ought to disapprove of him utterly. -It was her duty to show him up to Miss -Marilla; and yet how could she do it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -when she did not know anything -herself?</p> - -<p>“Hurry, Mary, and bring the pie,” -called Miss Marilla. “We’re waiting.”</p> - -<p>Mary put the stove-lid down, and -went slowly, thoughtfully back to the -dining-room bearing a pie. She studied -the face of the young soldier intently -as she passed him his pie, but he seemed -so young and pleasant and happy she -hadn’t the heart to say anything just -yet. She would bide her time. Perhaps -somehow it was all explainable. -So she set to asking him questions.</p> - -<p>“By the way, Dick, what ever became -of Barker?” she requested, fixing -her clear eyes on his face.</p> - -<p>“Barker?” said Lyman Gage, puzzled -and polite, then, remembering his -rôle, “Oh, yes, <i>Barker</i>!” He laughed. -“Great old Barker, wasn’t he?” He -turned in troubled appeal to Miss -Marilla.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>“Barker certainly was the cutest little -guinea-pig I ever saw,” beamed -Miss Marilla, “although at the time I -really wasn’t as fond of it as you were. -You would have it around in the -kitchen so much.”</p> - -<p>There was covert apology in Miss -Marilla’s voice for the youthful character -of the young man he was supposed -to be.</p> - -<p>“I should judge I must have been a -good deal of a nuisance in those days,” -hazarded the soldier, feeling that he -was treading on dangerous ground.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no!” sighed Miss Marilla, trying -to be truthful and at the same time -polite. “Children will be children, you -know.”</p> - -<p>“All children are not alike.” It was -as near to snapping as sweet Mary Amber -ever came. She had memories -which time had not dimmed.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>“Was it as bad as that?” laughed the -young man. “I’m sorry!”</p> - -<p>Mary had to laugh. His frankness -certainly was disarming. But there -was that telegram! And Mary grew -serious again. She did not intend to -have her gentle old friend deceived.</p> - -<p>Mary insisted on clearing off the -table and washing the dishes, and the -soldier insisted on helping her; so Miss -Marilla, much disturbed that domestic -duties should interfere with the evening, -put everything away, and made the -task as brief as possible, looking anxiously -at Mary Amber every trip -back from the refrigerator and pantry -to see how she was getting on with the -strange soldier, and how the strange -soldier was getting on with her. At -first she was a little troubled lest he -shouldn’t be the kind of man she would -want to introduce to Mary Amber; but -after she had heard him talk and express<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> -such thoroughly wholesome -views on politics and national subjects -she almost forgot he was not the real -Dick, and her doting heart could not -help wanting Mary Amber to like him. -He was, in fact, the personification of -the Dick she had dreamed out for her -own, as different in fact from the real -Dick as could have been imagined, and -a great deal better. His frank eyes, his -pleasant manner, his cultured voice, all -pleased her; and she couldn’t help feeling -that he was Dick come back as she -would have liked him to be all the time.</p> - -<p>“I’d like to have a little music, just -a little before Mary has to go home,” -Miss Marilla said wistfully as Mary -Amber hung up the dish-towel with an -air that said plainly without words that -she felt her duty toward the stranger -was over and she was going to depart -at once.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>“Sure!” said the stranger. “You -sing, don’t you, Miss Mary?”</p> - -<p>There was nothing for it, and Mary -resigned herself to another half hour. -They went into the parlor; and Mary -sat down at the old square piano, and -touched its asthmatic keys that sounded -the least bit tin-panny even under such -skilled fingers as hers.</p> - -<p>“What shall I play?” questioned -Mary. “‘The long, long trail’?” -There was a bit of sarcasm in her tone. -Mary was a real musician, and hated -rag-time.</p> - -<p>“No! <i>Never!</i>” said the soldier -quickly. “I mean—not that, <i>please</i>;” -and a look of such bitter pain swept -over his face that Mary glanced up surprised, -and forgot to be disagreeable -for several minutes while she pondered -his expression.</p> - -<p>“Excuse me,” he said. “But I loathe -it. Give us something else; sing something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -<i>real</i>. I’m sure you can.” There -was a hidden compliment in his tone, -and Mary was surprised. The soldier -had almost forgotten that he did not belong -there. He was acting as he might -have acted in his own social sphere.</p> - -<p>Mary struck a few chords tenderly -on the piano, and then broke into the -delicious melody of “The Spirit -Flower;” and Lyman Gage forgot that -he was playing a part in a strange -home with a strange girl, forgot that he -hadn’t a cent in the world, and his girl -was gone, and sat watching her face -as she sang. For Mary had a voice -like a thrush in the summer evening, -that liquid appeal that always reminds -one of a silver spoon dropped into a -glass of water; and Mary had a face -like the spirit flower itself. As she -sang she could not help living, breathing, -being the words she spoke.</p> - -<p>There was nothing, absolutely nothing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -about Mary to remind him of the -girl he had lost; and there was something -in her sweet, serious demeanor as -she sang to call to his better nature; a -wholesome, serious sweetness that was -in itself a kind of antiseptic against bitterness -and sweeping denunciation. -Lyman Gage as he listened was lifted -out of himself and set in a new world -where men and women thought of -something besides money and position -and social prestige. He seemed to be -standing off apart from himself and -seeing himself from a new angle, an -angle in which he was not the only one -that mattered in this world, and in -which he got a hint that his plans might -be only hindrances to a larger life for -himself and every one else. Not that he -exactly thought these things in so many -words. It was more as if while Mary -sang a wind blew freshly from a place -where such thoughts were crowding,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> -and made him seem smaller in his own -conceit than he had thought he was.</p> - -<p>“And now sing ‘Laddie,’” pleaded -Miss Marilla.</p> - -<p>A wave of annoyance swept over -Mary Amber’s face. It was plain she -did not wish to sing that song. Nevertheless, -she sang it, forgetting herself -and throwing all the pathos and tenderness -into her voice that belonged to -the beautiful words. Then she turned -from the piano decidedly, and rose. -“I must go home at once,” was written -in every line of her attitude. Miss Marilla -rose nervously, and looked from -one of her guests to the other.</p> - -<p>“Dick, I wonder if you haven’t -learned to sing.”</p> - -<p>Her eyes were so pathetic that they -stirred the young man to her service. -Besides, there was something so contemptuous -in the attitude of that human -spirit flower standing on the wing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> -as it were in that done-with-him-forever -attitude that spurred him into a -faint desire to show her what he -could do.</p> - -<p>“Why, sure!” he answered lazily, and -with a stride transferred himself to the -piano-stool and struck a deep, strong -chord or two. Suddenly there poured -forth a wondrous barytone such as was -seldom heard in Purling Brook, and -indeed is not common anywhere. He -had a feeling that he was paying for his -wonderful dinner, and must do his best. -The first song that had come to his -mind was a big, blustery French patriotic -song; and the very spirit of the -march was in its cadence. Out of the -corner of his eye he could see Mary -Amber still poised, but waiting in her -astonishment. He felt that he had already -scored a point. When he came -to the grand climax, she cried out with -pleasure and clapped her hands. Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -Marilla had sunk into the mahogany -rocker, but was sitting on the edge, -alert to prolong this gala evening; and -two bright spots of colorful delight -shone on her faded cheeks.</p> - -<p>He did not wait for them to ask him -for another; he dashed into a minor key, -and began to sing a wild, sweet, sobbing -song of love and loss till Mary, -entranced, softly slipped into a chair, -and sat breathless with clasped hands -and shining eyes. It was such an artistic, -perfect thing, that song, that she -forgot everything else while it was -going on.</p> - -<p>When the last sob died away, and -the little parlor was silent with deep -feeling, he whirled about on the piano-stool, -and rose briskly.</p> - -<p>“Now I’ve done my part, am I to -be allowed to see the lady home?”</p> - -<p>He looked at Miss Marilla instead of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -Mary for permission, and she smiled, -half frightened.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t necessary at all,” spoke -Mary crisply, rising and going for a -wrap. “It’s only a step.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I think so, surely!” answered -Miss Marilla as if a great point of etiquette -had been decided. She gave him -a look of perfect trust.</p> - -<p>“It’s only across the garden and -through the hedge, you know,” she said -in a low tone; “but I think she would -appreciate it.”</p> - -<p>“Certainly,” he said, and turned with -perfect courtesy as Mary looked in at -the door and called, “Good night.”</p> - -<p>He did not make a fuss about attending -her. He simply was there close beside -her as she sped through the dark -without a word to him.</p> - -<p>“It’s been very pleasant to meet you,” -he said as she turned with a motion of -dismissal at her own steps, “again,” he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -added lamely. “I—I’ve enjoyed the -evening more than you can understand. -I enjoyed your singing.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! <i>My</i> singing!” flung back Mary. -“Why, I was like a sparrow beside a -nightingale. It wasn’t quite fair of you -to let me sing first without knowing -you had a voice. It’s strange. You -know you never used to sing.”</p> - -<p>It seemed to him her glance went -deep as she looked at him through the -shadows of the garden. He thought -about it as he crept back through the -hedge, shivering now, for the night was -keen and his uniform was thin. Well, -what did it matter what she thought? -He would soon be far away from her -and never likely to see her again. Yet -he was glad he had scored a point, one -point against Girl in the concrete.</p> - -<p>Now he must go in and bid his hostess -good-by, and then away to—where?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER IV</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">As Lyman Gage</span> went up the steps -to Miss Marilla’s front porch a sick -thrill of cold and weariness passed over -his big frame. Every joint and muscle -seemed to cry out in protest, and his -very vitals seemed sore and racked. The -bit of bright evening was over, and he -was facing his own gray life again with -a future that was void and empty.</p> - -<p>But the door was not shut. Miss -Marilla was hovering anxiously inside -with the air of just having retreated -from the porch. She gave a little relieved -gasp as he entered.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I was afraid you wouldn’t -come back,” she said eagerly. “And I -did so want to thank you and tell you -how we—how I—yes, I mean <i>we</i>, for -I know she loved that singing—how -very much we have enjoyed it. I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -always thank God that He sent you -along just then.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I certainly have cause to -thank you for that wonderful dinner,” -he said earnestly, as he might have -spoken to a dear relation, “and for all -this”—he waved his big hand toward -the bright room—“this pleasantness. -It was like coming home, and I haven’t -any home to come to now.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Haven’t you?” said Miss Marilla -caressingly. “Oh, <i>haven’t</i> you?” -she said again wistfully. “I wonder -why I can’t keep you a little while, then. -You seem just like my own nephew—as -I had hoped he would be—I haven’t -seen him in a long time. Where were -you going when I stopped you?”</p> - -<p>The young man lifted heavy eyes -that were bloodshot and sore to the -turning, and tried to smile. To save -his life he couldn’t lie blithely when it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -seemed so good to be in that warm -room.</p> - -<p>“Why—I was—I don’t know—I -guess I just wasn’t going anywhere. -To tell you the truth, I was all in, and -down on my luck, and as blue as indigo -when you met me. I was just tramping -anywhere to get away from it.”</p> - -<p>“You poor boy!” said Miss Marilla, -putting out her fine little blue-veined -hands and caressing the old khaki -sleeve. “Well, then you’re just going -to stay with me and get rested. There’s -no reason in the world why you -shouldn’t.”</p> - -<p>“No, indeed!” said Lyman Gage, -drawing himself up bravely, “I couldn’t -think of it. It wouldn’t be right. But -I certainly thank you with all my heart -for what you have done for me to-night. -I really must go at once.”</p> - -<p>“But where?” she asked pathetically, -as if he belonged to her, sliding her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> -hands detainingly down to his big -rough ones.</p> - -<p>“Oh, anywhere, it doesn’t matter!” -he said, holding her delicate little old -hand in his with a look of sacred respect -as if a nice old angel had offered to hold -hands with him. “I’m a soldier, you -know; and a few storms more or less -won’t matter. I’m used to it. Good -night.”</p> - -<p>He clasped her hands a moment, and -was about to turn away; but she held -his fingers eagerly.</p> - -<p>“You shall not go that way!” she -declared. “Out into the cold without -any overcoat, and no home to go to! -Your hands are hot, too. I believe you -have a fever. You’re going to stay -here to-night and have a good sleep -and a warm breakfast; and then, if you -must go, all right. My spare bed is all -made up, and there’s a fire in the -Franklin heater. The room’s as warm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -as toast, and Mary put a big bouquet -of chrysanthemums up there. If you -don’t sleep there, it will all be wasted. -You <i>must</i> stay.”</p> - -<p>“No, it wouldn’t be right.” He -shook his head again, and smiled wistfully. -“What would people say?”</p> - -<p>“Say! Why, they’ve got it in the -paper that you’re to be here—at least, -that Dick’s to be here. They’ll think -you’re my nephew and think nothing -else about it. Besides, I guess I have -a right to have company if I like.”</p> - -<p>“If there was any way I could pay -you,” said the young man. “But I -haven’t a cent to my name, and no telling -how long before I will have anything. -I really couldn’t accept any -such hospitality.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Miss Marilla -cheerily. “You can pay me if you -like, sometime when you get plenty; or -perhaps you’ll take me in when I’m<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> -having a hard time. Anyhow, you’re -going to stay. I won’t take no for an -answer. I’ve been disappointed and -disappointed about Dick’s coming, and -me having no one to show for all the -years of the war, just making sweaters -for the world, it seemed like, with no -one belonging to me; and now I’ve got -a soldier, and I’m going to keep him at -least for one night. Nobody’s to know -but you’re my own nephew, and I -haven’t got to go around the town, -have I, telling that Dick didn’t care -enough for his old country aunt to come -out and take dinner with her? It’s nothing -to them, is it, if they think he -came and stayed overnight too? Or -even a few days. Nobody’ll be any the -wiser, and I’ll take a lot more comfort.”</p> - -<p>“I’d like to accommodate you,” faltered -the soldier; “but you know I -really ought—” Suddenly the big fellow -was seized with a fit of sneezing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -and the sick sore thrills danced all -down his back, and slapped him in the -face, and pricked him in the throat, and -banged against his head. He dropped -weakly down in a chair, and got out the -discouragedest-looking handkerchief -that ever a soldier carried. It looked -as if it might have washed the decks on -the way over, or wiped off shoes, as -doubtless it had; and it left a dull streak -of olive-drab dust on his cheek and -chin when he had finished polishing off -the last sneeze and lifted his suffering -eyes to his hostess.</p> - -<p>“You’re sick!” declared Miss Marilla -with a kind of satisfaction, as if now -she had got something she could really -take hold of. “I’ve thought it all the -evening. I first laid it to the wind in -your face, for I knew you weren’t the -drinking kind; and then I thought -maybe you’d had to be up all night last -night or something; lack of sleep makes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> -eyes look that way; but I believe you’ve -got the grippe, and I’m going to put -you to bed and give you some homeopathic -medicine. Come, tell me the -truth. Aren’t you chilly?”</p> - -<p>With a half-sheepish smile the soldier -admitted that he was, and a big involuntary -shudder ran over his tall -frame with the admission.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s high time we got to work. -There’s plenty of hot water; and you -go up to the bathroom, and take a hot -bath. I’ll put a hot-water bag in the -bed, and get it good and warm; and -I’ve got a long, warm flannel nightgown -I guess you can get on. It was -made for grandmother, and she was a -big woman. Come, we’ll go right up-stairs. -I can come down and shut up -the house while you’re taking your -bath.”</p> - -<p>The soldier protested, but Miss Marilla -swept all before her. She locked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -the front door resolutely, and put the -chain on. She turned out the parlor -light, and shoved the young man before -her to the stairs.</p> - -<p>“But I oughtn’t to,” he protested -again with one foot on the first step. -“I’m an utter stranger.”</p> - -<p>“Well, what’s that?” said Miss Marilla -crisply. “‘I was a stranger, and -ye took me in.’ When it comes to that, -we’re all strangers. Come, hurry up; -you ought to be in bed. You’ll feel -like a new man when I get you -tucked up.”</p> - -<p>“You’re awfully good,” he murmured, -stumbling up the stairs, with a sick -realization that he was giving way to -the little imps of chills and thrills that -were dancing over him, that he was all -in, and in a few minutes more he would -be a contemptible coward, letting a -lone, old woman fuss over him this way.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla turned up the light,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -and threw back the covers of the spare -bed, sending a whiff of lavender -through the room. The Franklin -heater glowed cheerfully, and the place -was warm as toast. There was something -sweet and homelike in the old-fashioned -room with its queer, ancient -framed photographs of people long -gone, and its plain but fine old mahogany. -The soldier raised his bloodshot -eyes, and looked about with a thankful -wish that he felt well enough to appreciate -it all.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla had pulled open a -drawer, and produced a long, fine flannel -garment of nondescript fashion; -and from a closet she drew forth a long -pink bathrobe and a pair of felt -slippers.</p> - -<p>“There! I guess you can get those -on.”</p> - -<p>She bustled into the bathroom, turned -on the hot water, and heaped big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -white bath-towels and sweet-scented -soap upon him. In a kind of daze of -thankfulness he stumbled into the bathroom, -and began his bath. He hadn’t -had a bath like that in—was it two -years? Somehow the hot water held -down the nasty little sick thrills, and -cut out the chills for the time. It was -wonderful to feel clean and warm, and -smell the freshness of the towels and -soap. He climbed into the big nightgown -which also smelled of lavender, -and came forth presently with the felt -slippers on the front of his feet, and the -pink bathrobe trailing around his -shoulders. There was a meek, conquered -expression on his face; and he -crept gratefully into the warm bed according -to directions, and snuggled -down with that sick, sore thrill of -thankfulness that everybody who has -ever had grippe knows.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla bustled up from down-stairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -with a second hot-water bag in -one hand and a thermometer in the -other.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to take your temperature,” -she said briskly, and stuck the -thermometer into his unresisting mouth. -Somehow it was wonderfully sweet to -be fussed over this way, almost like -having a mother. He hadn’t had such -care since he was a little fellow in the -hospital at prep school.</p> - -<p>“I thought so!” said Miss Marilla, -casting a practised eye at the thermometer -a moment later. “You’ve got -quite a fever; and you’ve got to lie right -still, and do as I say, or you’ll have a -time of it. I hate to think what would -have happened to you if I’d been weak -enough to let you go off into the cold -without any overcoat to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’d have walked it off likely,” -faintly spoke the old Adam in the -sleepy, sick soldier; but he knew as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> -spoke that he was lying, and he knew -Miss Marilla knew it also. He would -have laughed if it hadn’t been too much -trouble. It was wonderful to be in a -bed like this, and be warm, and that -ache in his back against the hot-water -bag! It almost made his head stop -aching.</p> - -<p>In almost no time at all he was asleep. -He never realized when Miss Marilla -brought a glass, and fed him medicine. -He opened his mouth obediently when -she told him, and went right on sleeping.</p> - -<p>“Bless his heart!” she said. “He -must have been all worn out;” and she -turned the light low, and gathering up -his chairful of clothes, slipped away to -the bathroom, where presently they -were all, except the shoes, soaking in -strong, hot soap-suds, and Miss Marilla -had gone down-stairs to stir up the fire -and put on irons. But she took the precaution -to close all the blinds on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -Amber side of the house, and pull down -the shades. Mary had no need ever to -find out what she was doing.</p> - -<p>The night wore on, and Miss Marilla -wrought with happy heart and willing -hands. She was doing something for -somebody who really needed it, and who -for the time being had no one else to do -for him. He was hers exclusively to be -served this night. It was years since -she had had anybody of her own to care -for, and she luxuriated in the service.</p> - -<p>Every hour she slipped up to feel -his forehead, listen to his breathing, -and give him his medicine, and then -slipped down to the kitchen again to her -ironing. Garment by garment the soldier’s -meagre outfit came from the -steaming suds, was conveyed to the -kitchen, where it hung on an improvised -line over the range, and got itself dry -enough to be ironed and patched. It -was a work of love, and therefore it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -was done perfectly. When morning -dawned the soldier’s outfit, thoroughly -renovated and pressed almost beyond -recognition, lay on a chair by the spare-room -window, and Miss Marilla in her -dark-blue serge morning-dress lay -tidily down on the outside of her bed to -take “forty winks.” But even then she -could hardly get to sleep, she was so excited -thinking about her guest and wondering -whether he would feel better -when he awoke or whether she ought to -send for a doctor.</p> - -<p>A hoarse cough roused her an hour -later, and she went with speed to her -patient, and found him tossing and battling -in his sleep with some imaginary -foe.</p> - -<p>“I don’t owe you a cent any longer!” -he declared fiercely. “I’ve paid it all, -even to the interest while I was in -France; and there’s no reason why I -shouldn’t tell you just what I think of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -you. You can go to thunder with your -kind offers. I’m off <i>you</i> for life!” And -then the big fellow turned with a groan -of anguish, and buried his face in -his pillow.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla paused in horror, thinking -she had intruded upon some secret -meditation; but, as she waited on tiptoe -and breathless in the hall, she heard -the steady hoarse breathing keep on, -and knew that he was still asleep. He -did not rouse, more than to open bloodshot, -unseeing eyes and close them -again when she loudly stirred his medicine -in the glass and held the spoon to -his lips. As before, he obediently -opened his mouth and swallowed, and -went on sleeping.</p> - -<p>She stood a moment anxiously watching -him. She did not know just what -she ought to do. Perhaps he was going -to have pneumonia! Perhaps she ought -to send for the doctor, and yet there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -were complications about that. She -would be obliged to explain a lot—or -else lie to the neighborhood! And he -might not like it for her to call a doctor -while he was asleep. If she only had -some one with whom to advise! On ordinary -questions she always consulted -Mary Amber, but by the very nature -of the case Mary Amber was out of -this. Besides, in half an hour Mary -Amber very discreetly put herself beyond -a question outside of any touch -with Miss Marilla’s visitor by taking -herself off in her little runabout for a -short visit to a college friend over in the -next county. It was plain that Mary -Amber did not care to subject herself -to further contact with the young soldier. -He might be Dick or he might -not be Dick. It was none of her business -while she was visiting Jeannette -Clark; so she went away quite hurriedly. -Miss Marilla heard the purr of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -engine as the little brown car started -down the hedged driveway, and -watched the flight with a sense of satisfaction. -She had an intuition that -Mary Amber was not in favor of her -soldier, and she had a guilty sense of -hiding the truth from her dear young -friend that made her breathe more -freely as she watched Mary Amber’s -flight. Moreover, it was with a certain -self-reproachful relief that she noted -the little brown suitcase that lay at -Mary Amber’s feet as she slid past Miss -Marilla’s house without looking up. -Mary Amber was going away for the -day at least, probably overnight; and -by that time the question of the soldier -would be settled one way or the other -without Mary Amber’s having to -worry about it.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla ordered a piece of beef, -and brewed a cup of the most delicious -beef-tea, which she took up-stairs. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> -managed to get her soldier awake -enough to swallow it; but it was plain -that he did not in the least realize -where he was, and seemed well content -to close his eyes and drowse away once -more. Miss Marilla was deeply troubled. -Some pricks from the old, time-worn -adage beginning, “O what a tangled -web we weave,” began to stab her -conscience. If only she had not allowed -those paragraphs to go into the county -paper! No, that was not the real -trouble at all. If only she had not -dragged in another soldier, and made -Mary Amber believe he was her -nephew! Such an old fool! Just because -she couldn’t bear the mortification -of having people know her nephew -hadn’t cared enough for her to come and -see her when he was close at hand! But -she was well punished. Here she had a -strange sick man on her hands, and no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -end of responsibility! Oh, if only she -hadn’t asked him in!</p> - -<p>Yet, as she stood watching the quick -little throb in his neck above the old -flannel nightgown, and the long, curly -sweep of the dark lashes on his hot -cheek as he slept, her heart cried out -against that wish. No, a thousand -times no. If she had not asked him in, -he might have been in some hospital by -this time, cared for by strangers; and -she would have been alone, with empty -hands, getting her own solitary dinner, -or sewing on the aprons for the orphanage, -with nothing in the world to do -that really mattered for anybody. -Somehow her heart went out to this -stranger boy with a great yearning, and -he had come to mean her own—or -what her own ought to have been to her. -She wouldn’t have him otherwhere for -anything. She wanted him right where -he was for her to care for, something at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -last that needed her, something she -could love and tend, even if it were only -for a few days.</p> - -<p>And she was sure she could care for -him. She knew a lot about sickness. -People sent for her to help them out, -and her wonderful nursing had often -saved a life where the doctor’s remedies -had failed. She felt sure this was only -a severe case of grippe that had taken -fierce hold on the system. Thorough -rest, careful nursing, nourishing broth, -and some of her homeopathic remedies -would work the charm. She would try -it a little longer and see. If his temperature -wasn’t higher than the last -time, it would be perfectly safe to get -along without a doctor.</p> - -<p>She put the thermometer between -his relaxed lips, and held them firmly -round it until she was sure it had been -there long enough. Then she carried it -softly over to the front window, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -studied it. No, it had not risen; in fact, -it might be a fifth of a degree lower.</p> - -<p>Well, she would venture it a little -while longer.</p> - -<p>For two days Miss Marilla cared for -her strange soldier as only a born nurse -like herself could care, and on the third -morning he rewarded her by opening -his eyes and looking about; then, meeting -her own anxious gaze, he gave her -a weak smile.</p> - -<p>“I’ve been sick!” he said as if stating -an astonishing fact to himself. “I -must have given you a lot of trouble.”</p> - -<p>“Not a bit of it, you dear child,” -said Miss Marilla, and then stooped and -brushed his forehead with her lips in a -motherly kiss. “I’m so glad you’re -better!”</p> - -<p>She passed her hand like soft old -fallen rose-leaves over his forehead, and -it was moist. She felt of his hands, and -they were moist too. She took his temperature,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -and it had gone down almost -to normal. Her eyes were shining with -more than professional joy and relief. -He had become to her in these hours of -nursing and anxiety as her own child.</p> - -<p>But at the kiss the boy’s eyelashes -had swept down upon his cheek; and, -when she looked up from reading the -thermometer, she saw a tear glisten unwillingly -beneath the lashes.</p> - -<p>The next two days were a time of -untold joy to Miss Marilla while she -petted and nursed her soldier boy back -to some degree of his normal strength. -She treated him just as if he were a -little child who had dropped from the -skies to her loving ministrations. She -bathed his face, and puffed up his pillows, -and took his temperature, and -dosed him, and fed him, and read him to -sleep—and Miss Marilla could read -well, too; she was always asked to read -the chapter at the Fortnightly Club<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -whenever the regular reader whose turn -it was failed. And while he was asleep -she cooked dainty, appetizing little -dishes for him. They had a wonderful -time together, and he enjoyed it as -much as she did. The fact was he was -too weak to object, for the little red -devils that get into the blood and kick -up the fight commonly entitled grippe -had done a thorough work with him; -and he was, as he put it, “all in and -<i>then</i> some.”</p> - -<p>He seemed to have gone back to the -days of his childhood since the fever began -to abate, and he lay in a sweet daze -of comfort and rest. His troubles and -perplexities and loneliness had dropped -away from him, and he felt no desire -to think of them. He was having the -time of his life.</p> - -<p>Then suddenly, wholly unannounced -and not altogether desired at the present -stage of the game, Mary Amber arrived -on the scene.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER V</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Mary</span> was radiant as the sunny -morning in a little red tam, and her -cheeks as red as her hat from the drive -across country. She appeared at the -kitchen door quite in her accustomed -way just as Miss Marilla was lifting -the dainty tray to carry her boy’s breakfast -up-stairs, and she almost dropped -it in her dismay.</p> - -<p>“I’ve had the grandest time!” -breezed Mary gayly. “You don’t -know how beautiful the country is, all -wonderful bronze and brown with a -purple haze, and a frost like silver lace -this morning when I started. You’ve -simply got to put on your wraps and -come with me for a little while. I know -a place where the shadows melt slowly, -and the frost will not be gone yet. -Come quick! I want you to see it before<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -it’s too late. You’re not just eating -your breakfast, Auntie Rill! And -on a tray, too! Are you sick?”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla glanced guiltily down -at the tray, too transparent even to -evade the question.</p> - -<p>“No, why—I—he—my neph——” -then she stopped in hopeless confusion, -remembering her resolve not to tell a -lie about the matter, whatever came.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber stood up and looked at -her, her keen young eyes searching and -finding the truth.</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean to tell me <i>that man</i> -is here yet? And you waiting on him!”</p> - -<p>There were both sorrow and scorn in -the fine young voice.</p> - -<p>In the upper hall the sick soldier in a -bathrobe was hanging over the banisters -in a panic, wishing some kind fairy -would arrive and waft him away on a -breath. All his perfidy in getting sick -on a strange gentlewoman’s hands and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -lying lazily in bed, letting her wait on -him, was shown up in Mary Amber’s -voice. It found its echo in his own -strong soul. He had known all along -that he had no business there, that he -ought to have gone out on the road to -die rather than betray the sweet hospitality -of Miss Marilla by allowing himself -to be a selfish, lazy slob—that was -what he called himself as he hung over -the banisters.</p> - -<p>“Mary! Why, he has been very -<i>sick</i>!”</p> - -<p>“Sick?” There was a covert sneer -in Mary Amber’s incredulous young -voice; and then the conversation was -suddenly blanketed by the closing of -the hall door, and the sick soldier padded -disconsolately back to bed, weak -and dizzy, but determined. This was -as good a time as any. He ought to -have gone before!</p> - -<p>He trailed across the room in the big<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -flannel nightgown that hung out from -him with the outlines of a fat old auntie -and dragged down from one bronzed -shoulder rakishly. His hair was sticking -up wildly, and he felt of his chin -fiercely, and realized that he was wearing -a growth of several days.</p> - -<p>In a neat pile on a chair he found his -few clean garments, and struggled into -them. His carefully ironed uniform -hung in the closet; and he braced himself, -and struggled into the trousers. It -seemed a tremendous effort. He longed -to drop back on the pillows, but -wouldn’t. He sat with his head in his -hands, his elbows on his knees, trying -to get courage to totter to the bathroom -and subdue his hair and beard, when he -heard Miss Marilla coming hastily up -the stairs, the little coffee-pot sending -on a delicious odor, and the glass of milk -tinkling against the silver spoons as -she came.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>He had managed his leggings by this -time, and looked up with an attempt at -a smile, trying to pass it off in a jocular -way.</p> - -<p>“I thought it was high time I was -getting about,” he said, and broke -down coughing.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla paused in distress, and -looked at his hollow eyes. Everything -seemed to be going wrong this morning. -Oh, why hadn’t Mary Amber stayed -away just one day longer? But of -course he had not heard her.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you’re not fit to be up yet!” -she exclaimed. “Do lie down and rest -till you’ve had your breakfast.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t be a baby having you wait -on me any longer,” he said. “I’m -ashamed of myself. I ought not to -have stayed here at all!” His tone was -savage, and he reached for his coat, and -jammed it on with a determined air in -spite of his weakness and the sore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> -shivers that crept shakily up his back. -“I’m perfectly all right, and you’ve -been wonderful; but it’s time I was -moving on.”</p> - -<p>He pushed past her hurriedly to the -bathroom, feeling that he must get out -of her sight before his head began to -swim. The water on his face would -steady him. He dashed it on, and shivered -sickly, longing to plunge back to -bed, yet keeping on with his ablutions.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla put down her tray, and -stood with tears in her eyes, waiting for -him to return, trying to think what she -could say to persuade him back to -bed again.</p> - -<p>Her anxious expression softened him -when he came back, and he agreed to -eat his breakfast before he went anywhere, -and sank gratefully into the big -chair in front of the Franklin heater, -where she had laid out his breakfast on -a little table. She had lined the chair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> -with a big comfortable, which she drew -unobtrusively about his shoulders now, -slipping a cushion under his feet, and -quietly coddling him into comfort again. -He looked at her gratefully, and, setting -down his coffee-cup, reached out -and patted her hair as she rose from -tucking up his feet.</p> - -<p>“You’re just like a mother to me!” -he choked, trying to keep back the -emotion from his voice. “It’s been -great! I can’t tell you!”</p> - -<p>“You’ve been just like a dear son,” -she beamed, touching the dark hair -over his forehead shyly. “It’s like getting -my own back again to have you -come for this little while, and to be able -to do for you. You see it wasn’t as if I -really had anybody. Dick never cared -for me. I used to hope he would when -he grew up. I used to think of him -over there in danger, and pray for him, -and love him, and send him sweaters;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -but now I know it was really you I -thought of and prayed for. Dick never -cared.”</p> - -<p>He looked at her tenderly, and -pressed her hand gratefully.</p> - -<p>“You’re wonderful!” he said. “I -shall never forget it.”</p> - -<p>That little precious time while he was -eating his breakfast made it all the -harder for what he meant to do. He saw -that he could never hope to do it openly, -either; for she would fling herself in -his path to prevent him from going out -until he was well; so he let her tuck him -up carefully on the spread-up bed, and -pull down the shades for him to take a -nap after the exertion of getting -dressed; and he caught her hand, and -kissed it fervently as she was leaving -him; and cherished her murmured -“Dear child!” and the pressure of her -old-rose-leaf fingers in parting. Then -he closed his eyes, and let her slip away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -to the kitchen where he knew she would -be some time preparing something -delicious for his dinner.</p> - -<p>When she was safely out of hearing, -rattling away at the kitchen stove, he -threw back the covers vigorously, set -his grim determination against the -swimming head, stalked over to the -little desk, and wrote a note on the fine -note-paper he found there.</p> - -<p>“Dear, wonderful little mother,” he -wrote, “I can’t stay here any longer. It -isn’t right. But I’ll be back some day -to thank you if everything goes all -right. Sincerely, <span class="smcap">Your Boy</span>.”</p> - -<p>He tiptoed over, and laid it on the -pillow; then he took his old trench-cap, -which had been nicely pressed and was -hanging on the corner of the looking-glass, -and stealthily slid out of the -pleasant, warm room, down the carpeted -stairs, and out the front door into -the crisp, cold morning. The chill air<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> -met him with a challenge as he closed -the front door, and dared him not to -cough; but with an effort he held his -breath, and crept down the front walk -to the road, holding in control as well -the long, violent shivers that seized him -in their grasp. The sun met him, and -blinded his sensitive eyes; and the wind -with a tang of winter jeered at his thin -uniform, and trickled up his sleeves -and down his collar, penetrating every -seam. But he stuffed his hands into -his pockets, and strode grimly ahead -on the way he had been going when -Miss Marilla met him, passing the tall -hedge where Mary Amber lived, and -trying to hold his head high. He hoped -Mary Amber saw him <i>going away</i>!</p> - -<p>For perhaps half a mile past Mary -Amber’s house his courage and his -pride held him, for he was a soldier, -who had slept in a muck-pile under the -rain, and held his nerve under fire, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -gone on foot ten miles to the hospital -after he was wounded. What was a -little grippe and a walk in the cold to -the neighboring village? He wished -he knew how far it was, but he had to -go, for it would never do to send the -telegram he must send from the town -where Miss Marilla lived.</p> - -<p>The second half-mile he lagged and -shivered, with not energy enough to -keep up a circulation; the third half -mile and the fourth were painful, and -the fifth was completed in a sick daze -of weakness; for the cold, though stimulating -at first, had been getting in -its work through his uniform, and he -felt chilled to the very soul of him. His -teeth were chattering, and he was blue -around the lips when he staggered into -the telegraph-office of Little Silverton. -His fingers were almost too stiff to -write, and his thoughts seemed to have -congealed also, though he had been repeating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> -the message all the way, word -for word, with a vague feeling that he -might forget it forever if he did not -keep it going.</p> - -<p>“Will you send that collect?” he -asked the operator when he had finished -writing.</p> - -<p>The girl took the blank, and read it -carefully.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Arthur J. Watkins, Esq.,</p> - -<p><span class="gap">“LaSalle Street, Chicago, Ill.</span></p> - -<p>“Please negotiate a loan of five hundred dollars -for me, using old house as collateral. Wire money -immediately Little Silverton. Entirely out of funds. -Have been sick.</p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Lyman Gage.</span>”</p></blockquote> - -<p>The girl read it through again, and -then eyed him cautiously.</p> - -<p>“What’s your address?” she asked, -giving a slow speculative chew to her -gum.</p> - -<p>“I’ll wait here,” said the big blue -soldier, sinking into a rush-bottomed -chair by the desk.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>“It might be some wait,” said the girl -dryly, giving him another curious -“once-over.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll wait!” he repeated fiercely, and -dropped his aching head into his hands.</p> - -<p>The little instrument clicked away -vigorously. In his fevered brain he -fancied it writing on a typewriter at -the other end of the line, and felt a -curious impatience for his lawyer to -read it and reply. How he wished it -would hurry!</p> - -<p>The morning droned on, the telegraph -instrument chattered breezily, -with the monotony of a sunny child that -knows no larger world and is happy. -Sometimes it seemed to Gage as if -every click pierced his head and he was -going crazy. The shivers were keeping -in time running up and down his back, -and chilling his very heart. The room -was cold, cold, <i>cold</i>! How did that -fool of a girl stand it in a pink transparent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -blouse, showing her fat arms -huskily? He shivered. Oh, for one -of Miss Marilla’s nice thick blankets, -and a hot-water bag! Oh, for the soft, -warm bed, the quiet room, and Miss -Marilla keeping guard! But he was a -man—and a soldier! And every now -and then would come Mary Amber’s -keen accusing voice: “<i>Is that man</i> here -yet? And you <i>waiting on him</i>!” It -was that that kept him up when he -might have given way. He <i>must</i> show -her he was a man, after all. “<i>That -man!</i>” What had she meant? Did -she, then, suspect him of being a fraud -and not the real nephew? Well—shiver, -shiver—what did he care? Let -Mary Amber go to thunder! Or, if -she didn’t want to go, he would go to -thunder himself. He felt himself there -already.</p> - -<p>Two hours went by. Now and then -some one came in with a message, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> -went out again. The girl behind the -desk got out a pink sweater she was -knitting, and chewed gum in time to -her needles. Sometimes she eyed her -companion curiously, but he did not -stir nor look up. If there hadn’t been -prohibition, she might have thought him -drunk. She began to think about his -message and weave a crude little romance -around him. She wondered -whether he had been wounded. If he -had given her half a chance, she would -have asked him questions; but he sat -there with his head in his hands like a -stone image, and never seemed to know -she was in the room. After a while it -got on her nerves; and she took up her -telephone, and carried on a gallery conversation -with a fellow laborer somewhere -up the line, giggling a good deal -and telling about a movie she went to -the night before. She used rare slang, -with a furtive glance at the soldier for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -developments; but he did not stir. Finally -she remarked loudly that it was -getting noontime, and “so-longed” her -friend, clicking the receiver into place.</p> - -<p>“I gotta go to lunch now,” she remarked -in an impersonal tone. “I have -a hour off. This office is closed all -noontime.”</p> - -<p>He did not seem to hear her; so she -repeated it, and Gage looked up with -bloodshot, heavy eyes.</p> - -<p>“What becomes of the message if it -comes while you’re away?” he asked -feverishly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’ll be repeated,” she replied -easily. “You c’n cumbback bime-by, -’bout two o’clock er later,’n’ mebbe -it’ll be here. I gotta lock up now.”</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage dragged himself to his -feet, and looked dazedly about him; -then he staggered out on the street.</p> - -<p>The sun hit him a clip in the eyes -again that made him sick, and the wind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> -caught at his sleeves, and ran down his -collar gleefully. The girl shut the door -with a click, and turned the key, eyeing -him doubtfully. He seemed to her very -stupid for a soldier. If he had given her -half a chance, she would have been -friendly to him. She watched him drag -down the street with an amused contempt, -then turned to her belated lunch.</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage walked on down the -road a little way, and then began to feel -as if he couldn’t stand the cold a second -longer, though he knew he must. His -heart was behaving queerly, seeming to -be absent from his body for whole seconds -at a time, and then returning with -leaps and bounds that almost suffocated -him. He paused and looked around for -a place to sit down, and, finding none, -dropped down on the frozen ground at -the roadside. It occurred to him that he -ought to go back now while he was able,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -for he was fast getting where from sheer -weakness he couldn’t walk.</p> - -<p>He rested a moment, and then -stumbled up and back toward Little -Silverton. Automobiles passed him, -and he remembered thinking that, if he -weren’t so sick and queer in his head, he -would try to stand in the road and stop -one, and get them to carry him somewhere. -He had often done that in -France, or even in this country during -the war. But just now it seemed that -he couldn’t do that, either. He had -set out to prove to Mary Amber that he -was a man and a soldier, and holding up -automobiles wouldn’t be compatible -with that idea. Then he realized that -all this was crazy thinking, that Mary -Amber had gone to thunder, and so had -he, and it didn’t matter, anyway. All -that mattered was for him to get that -money and go back and pay Miss Marilla -for taking care of him; and then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -for him to take the next train back to -the city, and get to a hospital. If he -could only hold out long enough for -that. But things were fast getting -away from him. His head was hot and -in a whirl, and his feet were so cold he -thought they must be dead.</p> - -<p>Without realizing it he walked by the -telegraph-office and on down the road -toward Purling Brook again.</p> - -<p>The telegraph-girl watched him from -the window of the tiny bakery where -she ate her lunch.</p> - -<p>“There goes that poor boob <i>now</i>!” -she said with her mouthful of pie a la -mode. “He gets my goat! I hope he -doesn’t come back. He’ll never get no -answer to that telegram he sent. People -ain’t goin’ round pickin’ up five hundred -dollarses to send to broke soldiers -these days. They got’um all in Liberty -Bonds. Say, Jess, gimme one more o’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -them chocolate éclairs, won’t you? I -gotta get back.”</p> - -<p>About that time Lyman Gage had -found a log by the wayside, and sunk -down permanently upon it. He had -no more breath to carry him on, and no -more ambition. If Mary Amber had -gone to thunder, why should he care -whether he got an answer to his telegram -or not? She was only another -girl, anyway, GIRL, his enemy! And -he sank into a blue stupor, with his -elbows on his cold, cold knees and his -face hidden in his hands. He had forgotten -the shivers now. They had -taken possession of him, and made him -one with them. It might be, after all, -that he was too hot and not too cold; -and there was a strange burning pain in -his chest when he tried to breathe, so he -wouldn’t breathe. What was the use?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VI</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Miss Marilla</span> tiptoed softly up the -hall, and listened at the door of the -spare bedroom. It was time her soldier-boy -woke up and had some dinner. She -had a beautiful little treat for him to-day, -chicken broth with rice, and some -little bits of tender breast-meat on toast, -with a quivering spoonful of currant -jelly.</p> - -<p>It was very still in the spare room, -so still that a falling coal from the grate -of the Franklin heater made a hollow -sound when it fell into the pan below. -If the boy was asleep, she could usually -tell by his regular breathing; but, -though she listened with a keen ear, she -could not hear it to-day. Perhaps he -was awake, sitting up. She pushed the -door open, and looked in. Why! The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -bed was empty! She glanced around -the room, and <i>it was empty too</i>!</p> - -<p>She passed her hand across her eyes -as if they had deceived her, and went -over to look at the bed. Surely he must -be there somewhere! And then she saw -the note.</p> - -<p>“Dear wonderful little mother!”</p> - -<p>Her eyes were too blurred with quick -tears and apprehension to read any further. -“Mother!” He had called her -that. She could never feel quite alone -in the world again. But where was he? -She took the corner of her white apron, -and wiped the tears away vigorously to -finish the note. Then, without pausing -to think, and even in the midst of her -great gasp of apprehension, she turned -swiftly, and went down-stairs, out the -front door, across the frozen lawn, and -through the hedge to Mary Amber’s -house.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>“Mary! Mary Amber!” she called as -she panted up the steps, the note -grasped tightly in her trembling hand. -She hoped, oh, she hoped Mary Amber’s -mother would not come to the door and -ask questions. Mary’s mother was so -sensible, and Miss Marilla always felt -as if Mrs. Amber disapproved of her -just a little whenever she was doing -anything for anybody. Not that Mary -Ambers’ mother was not kind herself -to people, but she was always so very -sensible in her kindness, and did things -in the regular way, and wasn’t impulsive -like Miss Marilla.</p> - -<p>But Mary Amber herself came to the -door, with pleasant forgetfulness of her -old friend’s recent coolness, and tried to -draw her into the hall. This Miss Marilla -firmly declined, however. She -threw her apron over her head and -shoulders as a concession to Mary’s -fears for her health, and broke out:</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>“Oh, don’t talk about me, Mary. -Talk about <i>him</i>. He’s gone! I thought -he was asleep; and I went up to see if -he was ready for his dinner, and he’s -<i>gone</i>! And he’s sick, Mary. He’s not -able to stand up. Why, he’s had a fever. -It was a hundred and three for two -days, and only got down to below normal -this morning for the first time. He -isn’t fit to be out, either, and that little -thin uniform with no overcoat!”</p> - -<p>The tears were streaming down Miss -Marilla’s sweet Dresden-china face, -and Mary Amber’s heart was touched in -spite of her.</p> - -<p>She came and put her arm around -Miss Marilla’s shoulder, and drew her -down the steps and over to her own -home, closing the door carefully first -so that her mother need not be troubled -about it. Mary Amber always had tact -when she wanted to use it.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>“Where was he going, dear?” she -asked sympathetically, with a view to -making out a good case for the soldier -without Miss Marilla’s bothering further -about him.</p> - -<p>“I—do-don’t know!” sobbed Miss -Manila. “He just thought he ought -not to stay and bother me. Here! See -his note.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I’m glad he had some sense,” -said Mary Amber with satisfaction. -“He was perfectly right about not staying -to bother you.” She took the little -crumpled note and smoothed it out.</p> - -<p>“O my dear, you don’t understand,” -sobbed Miss Marilla. “He’s been such -a good, dear boy, and so ashamed he -had troubled me! And really, Mary, -he’ll not be able to stand it. Why, you -ought to see how little clothes he had! -So thin, and cotton underwear! I -washed them and mended them, but he -ought to have had an overcoat.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>“Oh, well, he’ll go to the city and get -something warm, and go to a hospital if -he feels sick,” said Mary Amber comfortably. -“I wouldn’t worry about him. -He’s a soldier. He’s stood lots worse -things than a little cold. He’ll look out -for himself.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t!” said Miss Marilla fiercely. -“Don’t say that, Mary! You don’t understand. -He is <i>sick</i>, and he’s all the -soldier-boy I’ve got; and I’ve <i>got</i> to go -after him. He can’t be gone very far, -and he really isn’t able to walk. He’s -weak. I just can’t stand it to have -him go this way.”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber looked at her with a -curious light in her eyes.</p> - -<p>“And yet, Auntie Rill, you know it -was fine of him to do it,” she said with a -dancing dimple in the corner of her -mouth. “Well, I see what you want; -and, much as I hate to, I’ll take my car<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -and scour the country for him. What -time did you say he left?”</p> - -<p>“O Mary Amber!” smiled Miss Marilla -through her tears. “You’re a good -girl. I knew you’d help me. I’m sure -you can find him if you try. He can’t -have been gone over an hour, not much; -for I’ve only fixed the chicken and put -my bread in the pans since I left him.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose he went back to the village, -but there hasn’t been any train -since ten, and you say he was still there -at ten. He’s likely waiting at the station -for the twelve o’clock. I’ll speed -up and get there before it comes. I -have fifteen minutes. I”—glancing at -her wrist-watch—“I guess I can -make it.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure he went that way,” -said Miss Marilla, looking up the road -past Mary Amber’s house. “He was -on his way up that way when—” and -then Miss Marilla suddenly shut her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -mouth, and did not finish the sentence. -Mary Amber gave her another curious, -discerning look, and nodded brightly.</p> - -<p>“You go in and get warm, Auntie -Rill. Leave that soldier to me; I’ll -bring him home.” Then she sped back -through the hedge to the little garage, -and in a few minutes was speeding -down the road toward the station. Miss -Marilla watched her in troubled silence, -and then, putting on her cape that always -hung handy by the hall-door, -walked a little distance up the road, -straining her old eyes, but seeing nothing. -Finally in despair she turned -back; and presently, just as she reached -her own steps again, she saw Mary’s car -come flying back with only Mary in it. -But Mary did not stop nor even look toward -the house. She sped on up the -road this time, and the purring of the -engine was sweet music to Miss Marilla’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -ears. Dear Mary Amber, how -she loved her!</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The big blue soldier, cold to the soul -of him, and full of pain that reminded -him of the long horror of the war, was -still sitting by the roadside with his head -in his hands when Mary Amber’s car -came flying down the road. She stopped -before him with a little triumphant -purr of the engine, so close to him that -it roused him from his lethargy to -look up.</p> - -<p>“I should think you’d be ashamed of -yourself, running away from Miss Marilla -like this, and making her worry -herself sick!” Mary Amber’s voice was -keen as icicles, and the words went -through him like red-hot needles. He -straightened up, and the light of battle -came back to his eyes. This was GIRL -again, his enemy. His firm upper lip -moved sensitively, and came down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -straight and strong against the lower -one, showing the nice line of character -that made his mouth beautiful.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” he said coldly. “I’m -only ashamed that I stayed so long.” -His tone further added that he did not -know what business of hers it was.</p> - -<p>“Well, she sent me for you; and you’ll -please to get in quickly, for she’s very -much worked up about you.”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber’s tone stated that she -herself was not in the least worked up -about a great, hulking soldier that -would let a woman wait on him for several -days hand and foot, and then run -away when her back was turned.</p> - -<p>“Kindly tell her that I am sorry I -troubled her, but that it is not possible -for me to return at present,” he answered -stiffly. “I came down to send -a business telegram, and I am waiting -for an answer.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>A sudden shiver seized him, and rippled -involuntarily over his big frame. -Mary Amber was eying him contemptuously, -but a light of pity stole into -her eyes as she saw him shiver.</p> - -<p>“You are cold!” said Mary Amber as -if she were charging him with an -offence.</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s not strange—is it—on -a day like this? I haven’t made -connections yet with an overcoat and -gloves; that’s all.”</p> - -<p>“Look here; if you are cold, you’ve -simply got to get into this car and let -me take you back to Miss Marilla. -You’ll catch your death of cold sitting -there like that.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I may be cold; but I don’t -<i>have</i> to let you take me anywhere. -When I get ready to go, I’ll walk. As -for catching my death of cold, that’s -strictly my own affair. There’s nobody -in the world would care if I did.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>The soldier had blue lights like steel -in his eyes, and his mouth looked very -soldier-like indeed. His whole manner -showed that there wasn’t the least use -in the world trying to argue with him.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber eyed him with increasing -interest and thoughtfulness.</p> - -<p>“You’re mistaken,” she said grudgingly. -“There’s one. There’s Miss -Marilla. She’d break her heart. She’s -like that; and she hasn’t much to care -for in the world, either. Which makes -it all the worse what you’ve done. Oh, -I don’t see how you <i>could</i> deceive her.”</p> - -<p>“Deceive her?” said the astonished -soldier. “I never deceived her.”</p> - -<p>“Why, you let her think you were -Dick Chadwick, her nephew; and you -<i>know</i> you’re not! <i>I</i> knew you weren’t -the minute I saw you, even before I -found Dick’s telegram in the stove saying -he couldn’t come. And then I -asked you a lot of questions to find out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -for sure, and you couldn’t answer one -of them right.” Her eyes were sparkling, -and there was an eager look in her -face, like an appeal, almost as if she -wanted him to prove what she was saying -was not true.</p> - -<p>“No, I’m not Dick Chadwick,” said -the young man with fine dignity. “But -I never deceived Miss Marilla.”</p> - -<p>“Well, who did then?” There were -disappointment and unbelief in Mary -Amber’s voice.</p> - -<p>“Nobody. She isn’t deceived. It -was she who tried to deceive you.”</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“I mean she wanted you to think I -was her nephew. She was mortified, I -guess, because he didn’t turn up, and -she didn’t want you to know. So she -asked me to dinner to fill in. I didn’t -know anybody was there till just as I -was going in the door. Then I had to -go and get sick in the night, and dish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -the whole thing. I was a fool to give -in to her, of course, and stay that night, -but it did sound good to have a real -night’s sleep in a bed. I didn’t think -I was such a softie as to get out of my -head and be on her hands like that. But -you needn’t worry. I intend to make -it up to her fully just as soon as I can -lay hands on some funds—”</p> - -<p>He suddenly broke into a fit of -coughing so hoarse and croupy as to -alarm even Mary Amber’s cool contempt. -She reached back in the car, -and, grasping a big fur coat, sprang out -on the hard ground, and threw the coat -about him, tucking it around his neck -and trying to fasten a button under his -chin against his violent protest.</p> - -<p>“You’re very kind,” he gasped -loftily, as soon as he could recover his -breath. “But I can’t put that on, and -I’m going down to the telegraph-office -now to see if my wire has come yet.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>“Look here,” said Mary Amber in -quite a different tone, “I’m sorry I was -so suspicious. I see I didn’t understand. -I ask your pardon, and won’t -you please put on this coat, and get -into this car, and let me take you home -quick? I’m really very much troubled -about you.”</p> - -<p>The soldier looked up in surprise at -the gentleness, and almost his heart -melted. The snarly look around his -mouth and eyes disappeared, and he -seemed a bit confounded.</p> - -<p>“Thank you,” he said simply. “I appreciate -that. But I can’t let you help -me, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, please!” she said, a kind of -little-girl alarm springing into her eyes. -“I sha’n’t know what to say to Miss -Marilla. I promised her to bring you -back, you know.”</p> - -<p>His eyes and lips were hardening -again. She saw he did not mean to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -yield, and Mary Amber was not used to -being balked in her purposes. She -glanced down the road; and a sudden -light came into her eyes, and brought -a dimple of mischief into her cheek.</p> - -<p>“You’ll have to for my sake,” she -said hurriedly in a lower tone. “There’s -a car coming with some people in it I -know; and they will think it awfully -queer for me to be standing here on a -lonely roadside talking to a strange soldier -sitting on a log on a day like this. -Hurry!”</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage glanced up, saw the car -coming swiftly; saw, too, the dimple of -mischief; but with an answering light of -gallantly in his own eyes he sprang up -and helped her into the car. The effort -brought on another fit of coughing, but -as soon as he could speak he said:</p> - -<p>“You can take me down to that little -telegraph-office if you please, and drop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -me there. Then nobody will think anything -about it.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll take you to the telegraph-office -if you’ll be good and put that coat on -right, and button it,” said Mary Amber -commandingly. She had him in the -car now, and she knew that she could -go so fast he could not get out. “But -I shall not stop there until you promise -me on your honor as a soldier that you -will not get out or make any more -trouble about my taking you back to -Miss Marilla.”</p> - -<p>The soldier looked very balky indeed, -and his firm mouth got itself into fine -shape again, till he looked into Mary -Amber’s eyes and saw the saucy, beautiful -lights there; and then he broke -down laughing.</p> - -<p>“Well, you’ve caught me by guile,” -he said; “and I guess we’re about even. -I’ll go back and make my adieus myself -to Miss Marilla.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>A little curve of satisfaction settled -about Mary Amber’s mouth.</p> - -<p>“Put that coat on, please,” she said, -and the soldier put it on gratefully. He -was beginning to feel a reaction from -his battle with Mary Amber, and now -that he was defeated the coat seemed -most desirable.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think it would be a good -idea if you would tell me who you really -are?” asked Mary Amber. “It might -save some embarrassment.”</p> - -<p>“Why, certainly!” said the soldier in -surprise. “It hadn’t occurred to me; -that’s all. I’m Lyman Gage, of Chicago.” -He named also his rank and -regiment in the army. Then, looking -at her curiously, he said, hesitating:</p> - -<p>“I’m—perfectly respectable, you -know. I don’t really make a practice of -going around sponging on unprotected -ladies.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>Her cheeks flamed a gorgeous scarlet, -and her eyes looked rebuked.</p> - -<p>“I suppose I ought to apologize,” she -said. “But really, you know, it looked -rather peculiar to me—” She stopped -suddenly, for he was seized with another -fit of coughing, which had so shrill a -sound that she involuntarily turned to -look at him with anxious eyes.</p> - -<p>“I s’pose it did look queer,” he managed -to say at last; “but you know that -day when I came in I didn’t care a -hang.” He dropped his head wearily -against the car, and closed his eyes for -just a second, as if the keeping of them -open was a great effort.</p> - -<p>“You’re all in now!” she said sharply. -“And you’re shivering! You ought to -be in bed this minute.” Her voice held -deep concern. “Where is that telegraph-office? -We’ll just leave word -for them to forward the message if it -hasn’t come and then we’ll fly back.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>“Oh, I must wait for that message,” -he said, straightening up with a hoarse -effort and opening his eyes sharply. “It -is really imperative.”</p> - -<p>She stopped the car in front of the -telegraph-office. The little operator, -scenting a romance, scuttled out of the -door with an envelope in her hand and -a different look on her face from the one -she had worn when she went to her -lunch. To tell the truth, she had not -had much faith in that soldier nor in the -message he had sent “collect.” She -hadn’t believed any answer would come, -or at least any favorable one.</p> - -<p>Now she hurried across the pavement -to the car, studying Mary Amber’s red -tam as she talked, and wondering -whether she couldn’t make one like it -out of the red lining of an old army cape -she had.</p> - -<p>“Yer message’s come,” she announced -affably. “Come just after I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> -got back. An’ I got yer check all made -out fer yah. You sign here. See? Got -anybody to ’dentify yah? ’Tain’t necessary, -see? I c’n waive identification.”</p> - -<p>“I can identify him,” spoke up Mary -Amber with cool dignity; and the soldier -looked at her wonderingly. That -was a very different tone from the one -she had used when she came after him. -After all, what did Mary Amber know -about him?</p> - -<p>He looked at the check half wonderingly -as if it were not real. His head -felt very queer. The words of the message -seemed all jumbled. He crumpled -it in his hand.</p> - -<p>“Ain’t yah going to send an answer?” -put in the little operator aggrievedly, -hugging the thin muslin sleeves of her -little soiled shirt-waist to keep from -shivering. “He says to wire him immediately. -He says it’s important. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -guess you didn’t take notice to the -message.”</p> - -<p>The soldier tried to smooth out the -crumpled paper with his numb fingers; -and Mary Amber, seeing that he was -feeling very miserable, took it from -him, and capably put it before him.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Am sending you a thousand. Wire me your -post-office address immediately. Good news. Important.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gapright">“(Signed)</span></p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Arthur J. Watkins.</span>”</p></blockquote> - -<p>“I guess I can’t answer that now,” -said the soldier, trying his best to keep -his teeth from chattering. “I don’t -just know—”</p> - -<p>“Here, I’ll write it for you,” said -Mary with sudden understanding. -“You better have it sent in Aunt Rill’s -care; and then you can have it forwarded -anywhere, you know. I’ll write -it for you;” and she took a silver pencil -from the pocket of her coat, and wrote -the telegram rapidly on a corner she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> -tore from the first message, handing it -out for his inspection and then passing -it on to the operator, who gathered it -in capably.</p> - -<p>“Send this c’lect too, I s’pose,” she -called after the car as it departed.</p> - -<p>“Yes, all right, anything,” answered -Lyman Gage, wearily sinking back in -the seat. “It doesn’t matter, anyway.”</p> - -<p>“You are sick!” said Mary Amber -anxiously; “and we are going to get -right home. Miss Marilla will be wild.”</p> - -<p>The soldier sat up holding his precious -check.</p> - -<p>“I’ll have to ask you to let me out,” -he said, trying to be dignified under the -heavy stupor of weariness that was -creeping over him. “I’ve got to get to -a bank.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, must you, to-day? Couldn’t we -wait till to-morrow or till you feel better?” -asked Mary anxiously.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>“No, I must go now,” he insisted -doggedly.</p> - -<p>“Well, there’s a bank on the next -corner,” she said; “and it must be about -closing-time.” She shoved her sleeve -back, and glanced at her watch. “Just -five minutes of three. We’ll stop, but -you’ll promise to hurry, won’t you? I -want to get you home. I’m worried -about you.”</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage cast her another of -those wondering looks like a child unused -to kindness suddenly being petted. -It made her feel as if she wanted to cry. -All the mother in her came to her eyes. -She drew up in front of the bank, and -got out after him.</p> - -<p>“I’ll go in with you,” she said. “They -know me over here, and it may save -you trouble.”</p> - -<p>“You’re very kind,” he said almost -curtly. “I dislike to make you so much -trouble——”</p> - -<p>Perhaps it was owing to Mary’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -presence that the transaction went -through without question, and in a few -minutes more they were back in the car -again, Mary tucking up her big patient -fussily.</p> - -<p>“You’re going to put this around -your neck,” she said, drawing a bright -woolly scarf from her capacious coat-pocket, -“and around your head,” she -added, drawing a fold comfortingly up -around his ears and the back of his -head. “And keep it over your nose -and mouth. Breathe through it; don’t -let this cold air get into your lungs,” -she finished with a businesslike air as -if she were a nurse.</p> - -<p>She drew the ends of the scarf -around, completely hiding everything -but his eyes, and tucked the ends into -the neck of the fur coat. Then she produced -another lap-robe from some region -beneath her feet, and tucked that -carefully around him. It was wonderful -being taken care of in this way; if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -he only had not been so cold, so tired, -and so sore all over he could have enjoyed -it. The scarf had a delicate -aroma of spring and violets, something -that reminded him of pleasant things in -the past; but it all seemed like a dream.</p> - -<p>They were skimming along over the -road up which he had come at so laborious -a pace, and the icy wind cut his -eyeballs. He closed his eyes, and a hot -curtain seemed to shut him out from a -weary world. Almost he seemed to be -spinning away into space. He tried to -open his mouth under the woollen fragrance -and speak; but his companion -ordered him sharply to be still till he -got where it was warm, and a sharp -cough like a knife caught him. So he -sank back again into the perfumed -silence of the fierce heat and cold that -seemed to be raging through his body, -and continued the struggle to keep from -drifting into space. It did not seem -quite gallant or gentlemanly to say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -nothing, nor soldierly to drift away like -that when she was being so kind. And -then a curious memory of the other girl -drifted around in the frost of his breath -mockingly, as if she were laughing at -his situation, almost as if she had put -him there and was glad. He tried to -shake this off by opening his eyes and -concentrating them on Mary Amber as -she sat sternly at her wheel, driving her -little machine for all it was worth, her -eyes anxious, and the flush on her cheek -bright and glowing. The fancy came -to him that she was in league with him -against the other girl. He knew it was -foolish, and he tried to drive the idea -away; but it stayed till she passed her -own hedge and stopped the car at Miss -Marilla’s gate.</p> - -<p>Then it seemed to clear away, and -common sense reigned for a few brief -moments while he stumbled out of the -car and staggered into Miss Marilla’s -parlor and into the warmth and cheer of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -that good woman’s almost tearful, -affectionate welcome.</p> - -<p>“I want you to take that,” he said, -hoarsely pressing into her hand the roll -of bills he had got at the bank; and then -he slid down into a big chair, and everything -whirled away again.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla stood aghast, looking -at the money and then at the sick soldier, -till Mary Amber took command. -He never remembered just what happened, -nor knew how he got up-stairs -and into the great warm, kind bed -again, with hot-broth being fed him, and -hot-water bags in places needing them. -He did not hear them call the doctor -on the telephone, nor know just when -Mary Amber slipped away down to her -car again and rode away.</p> - -<p>But Mary Amber knew that this was -the afternoon when <i>The Purling Brook -Chronicle</i> went to press, and she had -an item that must get in. Quite demurely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -she handed the envelope to the -woman editor just as she was preparing -to mail the last of her copy to the -printer in the city. The item read: -“Miss Marilla Chadwick, of Shirley -Road, is entertaining over the week-end -Sergeant Lyman Gage, of Chicago, but -just returned from France. Sergeant -Gage is a member of the same division -and came over in the same ship with -Miss Chadwick’s nephew, Lieutenant -Richard Chadwick, of whom mention -has been made in a former number, and -has seen long and interesting service -abroad.”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber was back at the house -almost before she had been missed and -just as the doctor arrived, ready to -serve in any capacity whatever.</p> - -<p>“Do you think I ought to introduce -him to the doctor?” asked Miss Marilla -of Mary in an undertone at the head of -the stairs, while the doctor was divesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -himself of his big fur overcoat. She -had a drawn anxious look like one about -to be found out in a crime.</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t look to me as if he were -able to acknowledge the introduction,” -said Mary with a glance in at the spare -bed, where the young man lay sleeping -heavily and breathing noisily.</p> - -<p>“But—ought I to tell him his name?”</p> - -<p>“That’s all right, Auntie Rill,” said -Mary easily; “I told him his name was -Gage when I phoned, and said he was -in the same division with your nephew. -It isn’t necessary for you to say anything -about it.”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla paused, and eyed Mary -strangely with a frightened, appealing -look, and then with growing relief. So -Mary knew! She sighed, and turned -back to the sick-room with a comforted -expression growing round her mouth.</p> - -<p>But the comforted expression -changed once more to anxiety, and self<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -was forgotten utterly when Miss Marilla -began to watch the doctor’s face as -the examination progressed.</p> - -<p>“What has this young man been doing?” -he growled, rising from a position -on his knees where he had been listening -to the soldier’s breathing with an -ever-increasing frown. Miss Marilla -looked at Mary quite frightened, and -Mary stepped into the breach.</p> - -<p>“He had a heavy cold when he came -here, and Miss Chadwick nursed him, -and he was doing nicely; but he ran -away this morning. He had some business -to attend to, and slipped away before -anybody could stop him. He got -very much chilled, I think.”</p> - -<p>“I should say he did!” ejaculated the -doctor. “Young fool! I suppose he -thought he could stand anything because -he went through the war. Well, -he’ll get his now. He’s in for pneumonia. -I’m sorry, Miss Chadwick, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -I’m afraid you’ve got a bad case on your -hands. Would you like to have me -phone for an ambulance and get him to -the hospital? I think it can be done at -once with a minimum of risk.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, no!” said Miss Marilla, -clasping one white hand and then the -other nervously. “I couldn’t think of -that—at least, not unless you think it’s -necessary—not unless you think it’s a -risk to stay here. You see he’s my—that -is, he’s almost—like—my own -nephew.” She lifted appealing eyes.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I beg your pardon!” he said -with a look of relief. “In that case he’s -to be congratulated. But, madam, you’ll -have your hands full before you are -through. He’s made a very bad start—a -very bad start indeed. When these -big, husky fellows get sick, they do it -thoroughly, you know. Now, if you’ll -just step over here, Miss Mary, I’ll explain -to you both about this medicine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> -Give this every half-hour till I get -back. I’ll run up here again in about -two hours. I’ve got to drive over to -the Plush Mills now, to an accident -case; but I’ll be back as quick as I can. -I want to watch this fellow pretty -closely for the first few hours.”</p> - -<p>When the doctor was gone, Mary -Amber and Miss Marilla stood one on -each side of the bed, and looked at each -other, making silent covenant together -over the sick soldier.</p> - -<p>“Now,” said Mary Amber softly, -“I’m going down into the kitchen to -look after things. You just sit here -and watch him. I’ll run over first to -put the car away and tell mother I’ll -stay with you to-night.”</p> - -<p>“O Mary Amber, you mustn’t do -that,” said Miss Marilla anxiously. “I -never meant to get you into all this -scrape. Your mother won’t like it at -all. I’ll get along all right; and anyway,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -if I find I can’t, I’ll get Molly -Poke to come and help me.”</p> - -<p>“Mother will be perfectly satisfied to -have me help you in any way I can,” -said Mary Amber with a light in her -eyes; “and as for Molly Poke, if I can’t -look after you better than she can, I’ll -go and hide my head. You can get -Molly Poke when I fail, but not till -then. Now, Auntie Rill, go sit down -in the rockingchair and rest. Didn’t I -tell you I’d help get that turkey dinner? -Well, the dinner isn’t over yet; that’s -all; and I owe the guest an apology for -misjudging him. He’s all right, and -we’ve got to pull him through, Auntie -Rill; so here goes.”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber gave Miss Marilla a -loving squeeze, and sped down the -stairs. Miss Marilla sat down to listen -to the heavy breathing of the sick soldier, -and watch the long, dark lashes on -the sunken, tanned cheeks.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER VII</h2></div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">For</span> three weeks the two women -nursed Lyman Gage, with now and then -the help of Molly Poke in the kitchen. -There were days when they came and -went silently, looking at each other with -stricken glances and at the sick man -with pity; and Mary Amber went and -looked at the letter lying on the bureau, -and wondered whether she ought to telegraph -that man who had sent the soldier -the money that day. Another letter arrived, -and then a telegram, all from Chicago. -Then Mary Amber and Miss Marilla -talked it over, and decided to make -some reply.</p> - -<p>By that time the doctor had said that -Lyman Gage would pull through; and -he had opened his eyes once or twice -and smiled weakly upon them. Mary -Amber went to the telegraph-office, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> -sent a message to the person in Chicago -whose name was written at the left-hand -corner of the envelopes, the same -that had been signed to that first -telegram.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Lyman Gage very ill at my home, pneumonia, -not able to read letters or telegram. Slight improvement -to-day.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gapright">“(Signed)</span></p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Marilla Chadwick.</span>”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Within three hours an answer arrived.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Much distressed at news of Gage’s illness. Cannot -come on account of fractured bone, automobile -accident. Please keep me informed, and let me know -if there is anything I can do.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gapright">“(Signed)</span></p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Arthur J. Watkins.</span>”</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mary wrote a neat little note that -night before she went on duty in the -sick-room, stating that the invalid had -smiled twice that day and asked what -day of the week it was. The doctor felt -that he was on the high road to recovery -now, and there was nothing to -do but be patient. They would show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -him his mail as soon as the doctor was -willing, which would probably be in a -few days now.</p> - -<p>The day they gave Lyman Gage his -mail to read the sun was shining on a -new fall of snow, and the air was crisp -and clear. There were geraniums blossoming -in the spare-room windows between -the sheer white curtains, and the -Franklin heater was glowing away and -filling the place with the warmth of -summer.</p> - -<p>The patient had been fed what he -called “a real breakfast,” milk toast and -a soft-boiled egg, and the sun was -streaming over the foot of the bed gayly -as if to welcome him back to life. He -seemed so much stronger that the doctor -had given permission for him to be -bolstered up with an extra pillow while -he read his mail.</p> - -<p>He had not seemed anxious to read -the mail, nor at all curious, even when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -they told him it was postmarked Chicago. -Miss Marilla carried it to him -gayly as if she were bringing him a -bouquet, but Mary eyed him with a -curious misgiving. Perhaps, after all, -there would not be good news. He -seemed so very apathetic. She watched -him furtively as she tidied the room, -putting away the soap and towels, and -pulling a dry leaf or two from the geraniums. -He was so still, and it took -him so long to make up his mind to tear -open the envelopes after he had them -in his thin white hand. It almost -seemed as if he dreaded them like a -blow, and was trying to summon courage -to meet them. Once, as she looked -at him, his eye met hers with a deprecatory -smile, and to cover her confusion -she spoke impulsively.</p> - -<p>“You don’t seem deeply concerned -about the news,” she said gayly.</p> - -<p>He smiled again almost sadly.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>“Well, no!” he said thoughtfully. “I -can’t say I am. There really isn’t anything -much left in which to be interested. -You see about the worst things -that could happen have happened, and -there’s no chance for anything else.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t always tell,” said Mary -Amber cheerfully, as she finished dusting -the bureau and took herself down-stairs -for his morning glass of milk -and egg.</p> - -<p>Slowly Lyman Gage tore the envelope -of the topmost letter, and took -out the written sheet. In truth he had -little curiosity. It was likely an account -of how his lawyer friend had paid -back the money to Mr. Harrower, or -else the details of the loan on the old -Chicago house. Houses and loans and -such things seemed far from his world -just now. He was impatient for Mary -Amber to come back with that milk and -egg. Not so much for the milk and egg<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -as for the comfort it gave, and the -cheeriness of her presence. Presently -Miss Marilla would come up and tell -over some little incident of Mary’s -childhood exactly as if he were Dick, -the real nephew; and he liked it. Not -that he liked Dick, the villain! He -found himself hopelessly jealous of him -sometimes. Yet he knew in a feeble -far-away sense that this was only a -foolish foible of an invalid, and he -would get over it and laugh at himself -when he got well.</p> - -<p>He smiled at the pleasantness of it -all, this getting-well business, and then -turned his indifferent attention to -the letter.</p> - -<p>“Dear Gage,” it read, “what in the -world did you hide yourself away in -that remote corner of the world for? -I’ve scoured the country to get trace of -you without a single result till your telegram -came. There’s good news to tell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> -you. The unexpected has happened, -and you are a rich man, old fellow. -Don’t let it turn your head, for there’s -plenty of business to occupy you as -soon as you are able to return.</p> - -<p>“To make a long story short, the old -tract of land in which you put all you -had and a good deal more has come to -the front in great shape at last. You -will remember that the ore was found -to be in such shape when they came to -the mining of it that it would cost fabulous -sums for the initial operations, and -it fell through because your company -couldn’t afford to get the proper machinery. -Well, the Government has -taken over the whole tract, and is working -it. I am enclosing the details on -another paper, and you will perceive, -when you have looked it over, how very -much you are needed at home just now -to decide numerous questions which have -taxed my ingenuity to the limit to know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -just what you would want done. There -is a great deal of timber on those lands -also, very valuable timber, it seems; and -that is another source of wealth for you. -Oh, this war has been a great thing for -you, young man; and you certainly -ought to give extra thanks that you -came out alive to enjoy it all. Properly -managed, your property ought to -keep you on Easy Street for the rest of -your life, and then some.</p> - -<p>“I took pains to let Mr. Harrower -know how the wind blew when I paid -him the money you had borrowed from -him. He certainly was one surprised -man; and of course I don’t speak officially, -but from what he said I should -judge that this might make a big difference -with Miss Elinore. So you better -hurry home, old man, and get busy. -The sun is shining, and the war is over.</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="gapright">“Yours fraternally as well as officially,</span></p> - -<p class="right">“<span class="smcap">Arthur J. Watkins</span>.”</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>Over the first part of the letter -Lyman Gage dallied comfortably as -he might have done with his grapefruit -or the chicken on toast that they had -promised him for lunch. He had lost -his sense of world values for the time -being, and just now a fortune was no -more than a hot-water bag when one’s -feet were cold. It merely gave him a -sense that he needn’t be in a hurry getting -well, that he could take things easy -because he could pay for everything -and give his friends a good time after -he was on his feet again. In short, he -was no longer a beggar on Miss Marilla’s -bounty with only a thousand dollars -between him and debt or even the -poorhouse.</p> - -<p>But, when he came to that last paragraph, -his face suddenly hardened, and -into his eyes there came a glint of steel -as of old, while his jaw set sternly, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -lines came around his mouth, hard, bitter -lines.</p> - -<p>So it was that that had been the matter -with Elinore, was it? She had not -grown tired of <i>him</i> so much, but had -wanted more money than she thought -he would be able to furnish for a long -time? He stared off into the room not -seeing its cozy details for the first time -since he began to get well. He was -looking at the vision of the past trying -to conjure up a face whose loveliness -had held for him no imperfections. He -was looking at it squarely now as it -rose dimly in vision against the gray of -Miss Marilla’s spare-room wall; and -for the first time he saw the petted -under lip with the selfish droop at its -corners, the pout when she could not -have her own way, the frown of the -delicate brows, the petulant tapping of -a dainty foot, the proud lifted shoulder, -the haughty stare, the cold tones and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -crushing contempt that were hers -sometimes. These had seldom been for -him; and, when he had seen them, he -had called them beautiful, had gloried -in them, fool that he was! Why had -he been so blind, when there were girls -in the world like—well—say like Mary -Amber?</p> - -<p>Misjudging Elinore? Well, perhaps, -but somehow he did not believe -he was. Something had cleared his -vision. He began to remember things -in Elinore Harrower that he had never -called by their true names before. It -appeared more than likely that Elinore -had deliberately left him for a richer -man, and that it was entirely possible -under the changed circumstances that -she might leave the richer man for him -if he could prove that he was the richer -of the two. Bah! What a thing to -get well to! Why did there have to be -things like that in the world? Well, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> -mattered very little to him what Elinore -did. It might make a difference with -her, but it would make no difference to -him. There were things in that letter of -hers that had cut too deep. He could -never forget them, no, never, not even -if she came crawling to his feet and begging -him to come back to her. As for -going back to Chicago, business be -hanged! He was going to stay right -here and get well. A smile melted out -on his lips, and comfort settled down -about him as he heard Mary Amber’s -step on the stairs and the soothing clink -of the spoon in the glass of egg and milk.</p> - -<p>“Good news?” asked Mary Amber as -she shoved up the little serving-table -and prepared to administer the egg and -milk.</p> - -<p>“Oh, so-so!” he answered with a -smile, sweeping the letters away from -him and looking at the foaming glass -with eager eyes.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>“Why! You haven’t opened them -all!” laughed Mary Amber.</p> - -<p>“Oh! Haven’t I?” he said impatiently, -sweeping them up and tearing -them open wholesale with only a glance -at each, then throwing them back on -the coverlet again.</p> - -<p>“Nothing but the same old thing. -Hounding me back to Chicago,” he -grinned. “I’m having much too good a -time to get well too fast, you may -be sure.”</p> - -<p>Somehow the room seemed cozier -after that, and his sleep the sweeter -when he took his nap. He ate his -chicken on toast slowly to prolong the -happy time; and he listened and smiled -with deep relish at the little stories Miss -Marilla told of Mary Amber’s childhood, -the gingerbread men with currant -eyes, and the naughty Dick who -stole them. This world he was in now -was such a happy, clean little world,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> -so simple and so good! Oh, if he could -have known a world like this earlier in -his life! If only he could have been the -hapless Dick in reality!</p> - -<p>Molly Poke was established in the -kitchen down-stairs now, and Miss Marilla -hovered over her anxiously, leaving -the entertaining of the invalid much -to Mary Amber, who wrote neat business -letters for him, telling his lawyer -friend to do just as he pleased with -everything till he got back; and who -read stories and bits of poems, and -played chess with him as soon as the -doctor allowed. Oh, they were having -a happy time, the three of them! Miss -Marilla hovered over the two as if they -had been her very own children.</p> - -<p>And then one lovely winter afternoon, -when they were just discussing -how perhaps they might take the invalid -out for a ride in the car some day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> -next week, the fly dropped into the -ointment!</p> - -<p>It was as lovely a fly as ever walked -on tiny French heels, and came in a -limousine lined with gray duvetyn and -electrically heated and graced with -hothouse rosebuds in a slender glass behind -the chauffeur’s right ear. She -picked her way daintily up the snowy -walk, surveyed the house and grounds -critically as far as the Amber hedge, -and rang the bell peremptorily.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla herself went to the -front door, for Molly Poke was busy -making cream-puffs and couldn’t stop; -and, when she saw the little fly standing -haughtily on the porch, swathed in a -gorgeous moleskin cloak with a voluminous -collar of tailless ermine, and a -little toque made of coral velvet embroidered -in silver, she thought right -away of a spider. A very beautiful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -spider, it is true, but all the same a -spider.</p> - -<p>And, when the beautiful red lips -opened and spoke, she thought so all -the more.</p> - -<p>“I have come to see Lyman Gage,” -she announced freezingly, looking at -Miss Marilla with the glance one gives -to a servant. Miss Marilla cast a -frightened glance of discernment over -the beautiful little face. For it was -beautiful, there was no mistaking that, -very perfectly beautiful, though it -might have been only superficially so. -Miss Marilla was not used to seeing a -skin that looked like soft rose-leaves -in baby perfection on a person of that -age. Great baby eyes of blue, set wide, -with curling dark lashes, eyebrows that -seemed drawn by a fairy brush, lips -of such ruby-red pout, and nose chiselled -in warm marble. Peaches and cream -floated through her startled mind, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -it never occurred to her it was not -natural. Oh, the vision was beautiful; -there was no doubt about that.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla closed the door, and -stood with her back to the stairs and a -look of defence upon her face. She had -a fleeting thought of Mary and whether -she ought to be protected. She had a -spasm of fierce jealousy, and a frenzy -as to what she should do.</p> - -<p>“You can step into the parlor,” she -said in a tone that she hoped was calm, -although she knew it was not cordial. -“I’ll go up and see if he’s able to see -you. He’s been very sick. The doctor -hasn’t let him see any”—she paused, -and eyed the girl defiantly—“any -<i>strangers</i>.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’ll be all right,” laughed -the girl with a disagreeable tinkle. “I’m -not a stranger. I’m only his fiancée.” -But she pronounced “fiancée” in a way -that Miss Marilla didn’t recognize at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> -all, and she looked at her hard. It -wasn’t “wife,” anyway; and it hadn’t -sounded like “sister” or “cousin.” Miss -Marilla looked at the snip—that was -what she began to call her in her mind—and -decided that she didn’t want her -to see Lyman Gage at all; but of course -Lyman Gage must be the one to decide -that.</p> - -<p>“What did you say your name was?” -she asked bluntly.</p> - -<p>For answer the girl brought out a -ridiculous little silk bag with a clattering -clasp and chain, and took therefrom -a tiny gold card-case, from which she -handed Miss Marilla a card. Miss Marilla -adjusted her spectacles, and -studied it a moment with one foot on -the lower stairs.</p> - -<p>“Well,” she said reluctantly, “he -hasn’t seen any one yet; but I’ll go and -find out if you can see him. You can -sit in the parlor.” She waved her hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> -again toward the open door, and started -up-stairs.</p> - -<p>The blood was beating excitedly -through her ears, and her heart pounded -in pitiful thuds. If this “snip” belonged -to her soldier boy, she was sure -she could never mother him again. She -wouldn’t feel at home. And her -thoughts were so excited that she did -not know that the fur-clad snip was following -her close behind until she was -actually within the spare bedroom, and -holding out the card to her boy with a -trembling little withered-rose-leaf hand.</p> - -<p>The boy looked up with his wide, -pleasant smile like a benediction, and -reached out for the card interestedly. -He caught the look of panic on Miss -Marilla’s face and the inscrutable one -on Mary Amber’s. Mary had heard the -strange voice below and arisen from -her reading aloud to glance out of the -window. She now beat a precipitate retreat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> -into the little sewing-room just -off the spare bedroom. Then Lyman -Gage realized another presence in the -room, and looked beyond to the door -where stood Elinore Harrower, her big -eyes watching him jealously from her -swathing of gorgeous furs, while he -slowly took in the situation.</p> - -<p>It had been a common saying among -his friends that no situation however unexpected -ever found Lyman Gage off -his guard, or ever saw him give away -his own emotions. Like lightning there -flitted over his face now a sudden cloud -like a curtain, shutting out all that he -had been the moment before, putting -under lock and seal any like or dislike -he might be feeling, allowing only the -most cool courtesy to appear in his expression. -Miss Marilla, watching him -like a cat, could not tell whether he was -glad or sorry, surprised or indignant or -pleased. He seemed none of these. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -glanced with cool indifference toward -the lovely vision smiling in the doorway -now and ready to gush over him, -and a stern dignity grew in the set of -his jaws; but otherwise he did not seem -to have changed, and most casually, as -if he had seen her but the week before, -he remarked:</p> - -<p>“Oh! Is that you, Elinore? Seems to -me you have chosen a cold day to go -out. Won’t you sit down?” He motioned -toward a stiff little chair that -stood against the wall, though Mary -Amber’s rocker was still waving back -and forth from her hasty retreat.</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla simply faded out of the -room, although Gage said politely, -“don’t leave us, please.” But she was -gone before the words were out of his -mouth, and with a sudden feeling of -weakness he glanced around the room -wildly, and realized that Mary Amber -was gone too.</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>Mary Amber stood in the sewing-room, -and wondered what she ought to -do. For the other door of the sewing-room -was closed and barred by a heavy -iron bed that had been put up for convenience -during the soldier’s illness, and -the only spot that was long enough to -hold it was straight across the hall door. -Obviously Mary Amber could not get -out of the sewing-room without moving -that bed, and she knew by experience -of making it every morning that it -squeaked most unmercifully when it -was moved. Neither could she go out -through the spare bedroom, for she felt -that her appearance would cause no end -of explanations; and equally of course -she dared not shut the door because it -would make a noise and call attention to -her presence.</p> - -<p>So Mary Amber tiptoed softly to the -farthest end of the little room, and stood -rigidly silent, trying not to listen, yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> -all the more attuned and sensitive to -whatever was going on in the next room. -She fairly held her breath lest they -should hear her, and pressed her fingers -upon her hot eyeballs as if that would -shut out the sound.</p> - -<p>“That’s scarcely the way I expected -you to meet me, Lyme,” in the sweet -lilt of Elinore Harrower’s petted voice.</p> - -<p>“I was scarcely expecting you, you -know, after what has happened,” came -chillingly in Lyman Gage’s voice, a bit -high and hollow from his illness, and all -the cooler for that.</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t stay away when I knew -you were ill, Lyme, dear!” The voice -was honeyed sweet now.</p> - -<p>“What had that to do with it?” The -tone was almost vicious. “You wrote -that we had grown apart, and it was -true. You are engaged to another -man.”</p> - -<p>“Well, can’t I change my mind?” The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> -tone was playful, kittenish. It smote -Lyman Gage’s memory that he had -been wont to call it teasing and enjoy -it in her once upon a time.</p> - -<p>“You’ve changed your mind once too -often!” The sick man’s voice was tense -in his weakness, and his brow was dark.</p> - -<p>“Why, Lyme Gage! I think you are -<i>horrid</i>!” cried the girl with a hint of indignant -tears in her voice. “Here I -come a long journey to see you when -you’re sick; and you meet me that way, -and <i>taunt</i> me. It’s not like you. You -don’t seem a bit glad to see me! Perhaps -there’s some one else.” The voice -had a taunt in it now, and an assurance -that expected to win out in the end, no -matter to what she might have to descend -to gain her point.</p> - -<p>But she had reckoned without knowledge, -for Lyman Gage remembered the -picture he had torn to bits in the dying -light of the sunset and trampled in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -the road; those same brilliant eyes, that -soft tinted cheek, those painted lips, had -smiled impudently up to him that way -as he had ground them beneath his heel; -and this was GIRL, his natural enemy, -who would play with him at her pleasure, -and toss him away when he was no -longer profitable to her, expecting to -find him ready at a word again when -circumstances changed. He straightened -up with sudden strength, and -caught her words with a kind of joyful -triumph.</p> - -<p>“Yes, there is <i>some one else</i>! Mary! -Mary <i>Amber</i>!”</p> - -<p>Mary Amber, trying not to hear, had -caught her name, heard the sound in his -voice like to the little chick that calls -its mother when the hawk appears; and -suddenly her fear vanished. She -turned, and walked with steady step -and bright eyes straight into the spare -bedroom, a smile upon her lips and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> -rose upon her cheek that needed no cosmetics -to enhance its beauty.</p> - -<p>“Did you call me—Lyman?” she -said, looking straight at him with rescue -in her eyes.</p> - -<p>He put out his hand to her, and she -went and stood by the bed over across -from the visitor, who had turned and -was staring amazedly, insolently at her -now.</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage put out his big, wasted -hand, and gathered Mary Amber’s -hand in his, and <i>she let him</i>!</p> - -<p>“Mary,” said Lyman Gage possessively, -and there were both boldness and -appeal in his eyes as he looked at her, -“I want Miss Harrower to know you; -Miss Amber, Miss Harrower.”</p> - -<p>Elinore Harrower had risen with one -hand on the back of her chair; and her -crimson lips parted, a startled expression -in her eyes. Her rich furs had -fallen back, and revealed a rich and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> -vampish little frock beneath; but she -was not thinking of her frock just then. -She was looking from one to the other -of the two before her.</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand!” she said -haughtily. “Did you know her before?”</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage flashed a look at Mary -for indulgence, and answered happily.</p> - -<p>“Our friendship dates back to when -we were children and I spent a summer -with my Aunt Marilla teasing Mary, -and letting the sawdust out of her -dolls.” He gave a daring glance at -Mary, and found the twinkles in her -eyes playing with the dimples at the corner -of her mouth; and his fingers clung -more warmly around hers.</p> - -<p>The two were so absorbedly interested -in this little comedy they were -enacting that they had quite failed to -notice its effect upon the audience. -Elinore Harrower had gathered her fur -robes about her, and was fastening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> -them proudly at her throat. Her dark -eyes were two points of steel, and the -little white teeth that bit into the pouting -crimson under lip looked vicious -and suggestive.</p> - -<p>“I did not understand,” said Elinore -haughtily. “I thought you were among -strangers, and needed some one. I will -leave you to your friends. You always -did like simple country ways, I remember;” -and she cast a withering -glance around.</p> - -<p>“Why, where is Aunt Rilla, Mary?” -asked Lyman, innocently ignoring the -sneer of his guest. “Aunt Marilla!” -he raised his voice, looking toward the -door. “Aunt Marilla, won’t you please -come here?”</p> - -<p>Miss Marilla, her heart a perfect -tumult of joy to hear him call her that -way, straightened up from her ambush -outside the door, and entered precipitately, -just as the haughty guest was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -about to stalk from the room, if one so -small and exquisite as Elinore can be -said to stalk. The result was a collision -that quite spoiled the effect of the exit, -and the two ladies looked at each -other for a brief instant much as -two cats might have done under similar -circumstances.</p> - -<p>Mary Amber’s eyes were dancing, -and Lyman Gage wanted to laugh, but -he controlled his voice.</p> - -<p>“Aunt Marilla, this is Miss Harrower, -a girl who used to be an old friend -of mine, and she thinks she can’t stay -any longer. Would you mind taking -her down to the door? Good-by, -Elinore. Congratulations! And I -hope you’ll be very happy!” He held out -his free hand—the other still held Mary -Amber’s, and the smile upon his lips -was full of merriment. But Elinore -Harrower ignored the hand and the -congratulations; and, drawing her fur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -mantle once more about her small -haughty shoulders, she sailed from the -room, her coral and silver toque held -high, and her little red mouth drooping -with scorn and defeat. Miss Marilla, -all hospitality now that she understood, -offered tea and cake, but was vouchsafed -no answer whatever; and so in -joyous, wondering silence she attended -her soldier’s guest to the door.</p> - -<p>Lyman Gage lay back on his pillows, -his face turned away from Mary Amber, -listening; but his hand still held Mary -Amber’s. And Mary Amber, standing -quietly by his side, listening too, -seemed to understand that the curtain -had not fallen yet, not quite, upon the -little play; for a smile wove in and out -among the dimples near her lips, and her -eyes were dancing little happy lights of -mirth. It was not until the front door -shut upon the guest and they heard the -motor’s soft purr as the car left the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -house that they felt the tenseness of the -moment relax, and consciousness of -their position stole upon them.</p> - -<p>“Mary, Mary Amber!” whispered -Lyman Gage softly, looking up into her -face, “can you ever forgive me for all -this?”</p> - -<p>He held her hand, and his eyes -pleaded for him.</p> - -<p>“But it is all true. There <i>is</i> another -one. <i>I love you!</i> And oh, I’m so tired. -Mary Amber, can you forgive me—and—and -love me, just a little bit?”</p> - -<p>Down upon her knees went Mary -Amber beside that bed, and gathered -her soldier boy within her strong young -arms, drawing his tired head upon her -firm, sweet shoulder.</p> - -<p>When Miss Marilla trotted back up-stairs -on her weary, glad feet, and put -her head in at the door fearfully, to see -how her boy had stood the strain of the -visitor—and to berate herself for having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> -allowed a stranger to come up without -warning, she found them so, with -Mary Amber soothing her patient to -sleep by kisses on his tired eyelids, and -the soldier’s big white hand enfolding -Mary’s little one contentedly, while the -man’s low voice growled tenderly:</p> - -<p>“Mary, you are the only girl I ever -really loved. I didn’t know there was a -girl like you when I knew her.”</p> - -<p>So Miss Marilla drew the door to -softly lest Molly Poke should come -snooping round that way, and trotted -off to the kitchen to see about some charlotte -russe for supper, a great thankful -gladness growing in her heart, for—oh! -suppose it had been that other—hussy!</p> - - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The End</span></p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="ph3">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:</p> - - -<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.</p> - -<p>The cover image for this eBook was created by the transcriber and is placed into the public domain.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Big Blue Soldier, by Grace Livingston Hill - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIG BLUE SOLDIER *** - -***** This file should be named 60580-h.htm or 60580-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/5/8/60580/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell, David E. 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