diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 4 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-0.txt | 12778 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-0.zip | bin | 212771 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-h.zip | bin | 895945 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-h/68273-h.htm | 15105 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 470311 -> 0 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/68273-h/images/i_title.jpg | bin | 204164 -> 0 bytes |
9 files changed, 17 insertions, 27883 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ab5b09c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #68273 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/68273) diff --git a/old/68273-0.txt b/old/68273-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f77af3a..0000000 --- a/old/68273-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12778 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Love’s bitterest cup, by Emma -Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Love’s bitterest cup - A sequel to “Her Mother’s Secret” - -Author: Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth - -Release Date: June 9, 2022 [eBook #68273] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP *** - - - - - - _LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP_ - A Sequel to “Her Mother’s Secret” - - _By_ - MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH - - AUTHOR OF - - “The Lost Lady of Lone,” “The Trail of the Serpent,” “Nearest and - Dearest,” “A Leap in the Dark,” “A Beautiful Fiend,” Etc. - -[Illustration] - - A. L. BURT COMPANY - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - POPULAR BOOKS - - By MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH - - In Handsome Cloth Binding - - Price per volume, 60 Cents - - * * * * * - - Beautiful Fiend, A - Brandon Coyle’s Wife - Sequel to A Skeleton in the Closet - Bride’s Fate, The - Sequel to The Changed Brides - Bride’s Ordeal, The - Capitola’s Peril - Sequel to the Hidden Hand - Changed Brides, The - Cruel as the Grave - David Lindsay - Sequel to Gloria - Deed Without a Name, A - Dorothy Harcourt’s Secret - Sequel to A Deed Without a Name - “Em” - Em’s Husband - Sequel to “Em” - Fair Play - For Whose Sake - Sequel to Why Did He Wed Her? - For Woman’s Love - Fulfilling Her Destiny - Sequel to When Love Commands - Gloria - Her Love or Her life - Sequel to The Bride’s Ordeal - Her Mother’s Secret - Hidden Hand, The - How He Won Her - Sequel to Fair Play - Ishmael - Leap in the Dark, A - Lilith - Sequel to the Unloved Wife - Little Nea’s Engagement - Sequel to Nearest and Dearest - Lost Heir, The - Lost Lady of Lone, The - Love’s Bitterest Cup - Sequel to Her Mother’s Secret - Mysterious Marriage, The - Sequel to A Leap in the Dark - Nearest and Dearest - Noble Lord, A - Sequel to The Lost Heir - Self-Raised - Sequel to Ishmael - Skeleton in the Closet, A - Struggle of a Soul, The - Sequel to The Lost Lady of Lone - Sweet Love’s Atonement - Test of Love, The - Sequel to A Tortured Heart - To His Fate - Sequel to Dorothy Harcourt’s Secret - Tortured Heart, A - Sequel to The Trail of the Serpent - Trail of the Serpent, The - Tried for Her life - Sequel to Cruel as the Grave - Unloved Wife, The - Unrequited Love, An - Sequel to For Woman’s Love - Victor’s Triumph - Sequel to A Beautiful Fiend - When Love Commands - When Shadows Die - Sequel to Love’s Bitterest Cup - Why Did He Wed Her? - Zenobia’s Suitors - Sequel to Sweet Love’s Atonement - - * * * * * - - For Sale by all Booksellers or will be sent postpaid on receipt of - price. - A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS - - New York - - Copyright, 1882, 1889 - By ROBERT BONNER - - Renewal granted to Mrs. Charlotte Southworth Lawrence, 1910 - - “LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP” - - Printed by special arrangement with STREET & SMITH - - - - - LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP - - - - - CHAPTER I - A WEDDING FROLIC AT FOREST REST - - -The good folk of our county always seized with gladness any fair excuse -for merry-making, especially in the dead of winter, when farm work was -slack. - -Now the marriage of the popular young doctor with the well-liked young -teacher was one of the best of excuses for general outbreak into gayety. - -True, the newly married pair wished to settle down at once in their -pretty cottage home, and be quiet. - -But they were not to be permitted to do so. - -Every family to whom the young doctor stood in the relation of attendant -physician gave either a dinner or a dancing party. - -Judge Paul McCann, an old bachelor, who was one of his most valuable -patients—a chronic patient dying of good living, and taking a long, long -time to do it in—gave a heavy dinner party, to which he invited only -married or middle-aged people—such as the elder Forces, Grandieres, -Elks, and—Miss Bayard, who did not attend. - -This dinner came off on the Monday after the marriage, and was a great -success. - -Every one was pleased, except the young people who had nothing to do -with it. - -“Selfish old rhinoceros! Wouldn’t give a dancing party because he’s got -the gout! And Natty so fond of dancing, too!” growled Wynnette, over her -disappointment on that occasion. - -But the Grandieres consoled her and all the young people by giving a -dancing party at Oldfields on the following Wednesday, and inviting all -the members, young and old, of every family in the neighborhood. - -This party was but a repetition, with improvements, on the New Year’s -Eve party, just four weeks previous; for again there was a full moon, a -deep, level snow, frozen over, and fine sleighing, and all circumstances -combined to make the entertainment a most enjoyable one. - -This frolic was followed on Friday with a dancing party given by the -Elks at Grove Hill, to which the same people were invited, and where -they talked, laughed and danced as merrily as before. - -And do you think that the descendant of the “Dook of England” was one to -neglect her social duties, or to be left behind in the competition of -hospitable attentions to the bride and groom because her house was small -and her means were even smaller? - -Not at all! So she determined to give a dancing party on the next -Tuesday evening, and invite all the neighborhood with his wife and -children, and “his sisters, aunts and cousins.” - -“But, great Jehosophat, Aunt Sibby, if you ask all these people, what -are you going to do with them? They can’t all get into the house, you -know!” exclaimed Roland Bayard, while his aunt and himself were forming -a committee of ways and means. - -“That’s _their_ business! _My_ business is to invite them to a party, -and to open the door. _Their_ business is to get in the house—if they -can. Do your duty, sez I! Without fear or favor, sez I! Do the proper -thing, sez I! unregardless of consequences, sez I! _My_ duty is to give -a party to the bride and groom, and I’m a-going to do it! Take your own -share of the world’s play, sez I, as well as the world’s work, sez I! We -can’t live our lives over again, sez I! - - “‘Live while you live, the sacred preachers say, - And seize the pleasures of the passing day.’” - -“I think you have got that quotation wrong, auntie,” said Roland. - -“’Tain’t quotation, you ignomanners! It’s verses out of the ‘English -Reader’ as I used to study when I went to school to young Luke Barriere, -when he was young Luke, and before he left off teaching and divested all -his yearnings into a grocery.” - -“Well, you have got the lines wrong, anyway, Aunt Sibby.” - -“I tell you I ain’t! What do you know about it? I’ve read more verse -books than ever you knew the names of! But that ain’t nothing to the -point! What I want you to do is to take the mule cart and drive round -the neighborhood, and invite all the company—everybody that we saw at -all the other parties! Every one of ’em—childun and all! When you do a -thing, sez I, do it well, sez I! What’s worth a-doing of at all, sez I, -is worth doing well, sez I!” - -“I might as well start at once, as it will take me all day to go the -rounds. I’ll go harness up the mule now.” - -“Yes, go; and wherever you happen to be at dinner time there you stop -and get your dinner. I shan’t expect you home till night, because after -you have given out all the invitations, you know, I want you to call at -old Luke Barriere’s grocery store and fetch me——Stop! have you got a -pencil in your pocket?” - -“Yes, Aunt Sibby.” - -“Well, then, put down—Lord! where shall I get a piece of writing paper? -Hindrances, the first thing! It’s always the way, sez I!” - -“It need not be writing paper. This will do,” said Roland, tearing off a -scrap of brown wrapper from a parcel that lay on the table. - -“Now, then, write,” said Miss Sibby. - -And she gave him a list for sugar, spices, candies, “reesins” and -“ammuns,” “orringes” and “lemmuns.” - -“Is this all?” inquired Roland. - -“Yes, and tell Luke Barriere he must charge it to me, and tell him I’ll -pay him as soon as I get paid for that last hogshead of tobacco I -shipped to Barker’s.” - -“All right, auntie.” - -“And, mind, as I told you before, I shan’t expect you home to dinner. -You won’t have time to come. And I shan’t get no dinner, neither, ’cause -all the fireplace will be took up baking cakes. Soon’s ever you’re gone, -me and Mocka is a-going right at making of ’em. Thanks be to goodness as -we have got a-plenty of our own flour, and eggs, and milk, and butter! -And when you have got plenty of flour, and eggs, and milk, and butter, -sez I, you’ll get along, sez I!” - -“Very well, Aunt Sibby.” - -“And don’t you forget to invite Luke Barriere to the party, mind you! -You mustn’t forget old friends, sez I!” - -“Oh! And must I invite Judge Paul McCann?” inquired the sailor, with a -twinkle in his eye, for you see - - “They had been friends in youth.” - -“No!” emphatically replied the old lady. “No! Them as has the least to -do with old Polly McCann, sez I, comes the best off, sez I! There! Now -go! You ain’t got a minute more to lose!” - -The young man went out to the little stable behind the house, and put -the mule to the cart, and drove around to the front door, to come in and -get his overcoat and cap. - -“Oh! I forgot to tell you, Roland! Hire the nigger fiddlers while you -are out,” said Miss Sibby. - -“I’ll remember, aunt,” replied the young man, drawing on his “surtout,” -and, with cap and gloves in hand, hurrying out to the cart. - -In another moment Miss Sibby heard the mule cart rattle away on its -rounds. - -She then tied on a large apron, rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, -and went into the kitchen to make cakes. - -And all that day her two servants, Mocka and Gad, had a time of it! - -Late in the evening Roland came back with a cargo of groceries, and the -report that all the neighborhood had been invited to her party, and had -accepted the invitation. - -“And now, Aunt Sibby, it is getting awfully serious! If they all -come—and they will all come—where are you going to put them? Here are -only three rooms on this floor—the kitchen, the parlor and the parlor -bedroom,” said Roland, in real concern. - -“Le’s see,” mused the old lady, looking around. “‘Where there’s a will -there’s a way,’ sez I! And, Lord knows, as I have got the will, I must -find the way! The party is given to the young bride and groom, and for -the sake of the dancers, and they must have the preference. Le’s see, -now: The bed must be took out’n the parlor bedroom and put upstairs. The -folks as don’t dance must sit in the parlor bedroom, with the door open, -so as they may see the dancing and hear the music. Then the dancers must -dance in this parlor, and the nigger fiddlers can play in the kitchen, -with the door open, so the music can be heard all over the house. The -two rooms upstairs can be used for the ladies’ and gentlemen’s dressing -rooms. Oh, there’s ample space! ample! And we shall have a grand time, -Roland!” said the old lady of sixty-one with the heart of sixteen. - -And her words came true. Everything was propitious. To be sure, the -moonlight was gone; but the sky was clear and cold, and the stars -sparkling with the brilliancy that is only to be seen in just such -winter weather, and the snow was deep and frozen hard, and the sleighing -was “hevvingly,” as the lady from Wild Cats’ described it. - -And when all the company were assembled in Miss Sibby’s little, -hospitable house, and divided into rooms according to her plan, there -was really no uncomfortable crowd at all. - -Roland Bayard received all the guests at the door. - -Gad showed the gentlemen upstairs into the little north bedroom, and -Mocka conducted the ladies up into the little south bedroom. - -Both these small attic chambers had been neatly prepared as dressing -rooms. - -As the guests came down, Miss Sibby, in her only black silk dress and -Irish gauze cap, received them at the foot of the stairs, and took them -in turn to their appointed places. - -The negro fiddlers were seated in the kitchen near the door, which was -opened into the parlor. - -The young people formed a double set on the parlor floor. - -The elders sat on comfortable seats in the parlor bedroom, with the door -open, so that they could see the dancers and hear the music, while -gossiping with each other. - - “The fun grew fast and furious” - -as the witches’ dance at Kirk Alloway. - -“Miss Sibby!” cried Wynnette, in one of the breathless pauses of the -whirling reel—“Miss Sibby, for downright roaring fun and jollification -your party does whip the shirt off the back of every party given this -winter.” - -“I’m proud you like it; but, oh, my dear Miss Wynnette Force, do not put -it that there way! Wherever did you pick up sich expressions? It must a -been from them niggers,” said Miss Sibby, deprecatingly. - -“I reckon it was from the niggers I ‘picked up sich expressions,’ Miss -Sibby, for the words and phrases they let fall are often very -expressive—and I take to them so naturally that I sometimes think I must -have been a nigger myself in some stage of pre-existence,” laughed -Wynnette. - -“I don’t know what you are talking about, child; but I do know as you -sartainly ought to break yourself of that there habit of speaking.” - -“I do try to, Miss Sibby! I correct myself almost every time,” said -Wynnette, and then craning her neck with dignity, she added—“What I -meant to say about your entertainment, Miss Bayard, was that it is far -the most enjoyable I have attended this season.” - -“Thank y’, honey, that’s better! A young lady can’t be too particular, -sez I!” concluded Miss Sibby. But before she finished speaking the whirl -of the reel had carried Wynnette off to the other end of the room. - -The dancing continued until ten o’clock. - -The fiddlers rested from their labors and took their grog. - -The dancers sat down to recover their breath and to partake of -refreshments in the form of every sort of cake, candy, nut and raisin, -to say nothing of apple toddy, lemon punch and eggnogg. - -When all had been refreshed the music and dancing recommenced and -continued until midnight, when they wound up the ball with the giddy -Virginia reel. - -The hot mulled port wine was handed round and drunk amid much laughing, -talking and jesting. - -Then the company put on their wraps, took leave of their happy hostess, -re-entered their sleighs and started merrily for their homes. - -The lady from the gold diggings had partaken so heartily of all the good -things provided by Miss Sibby, and had tested so conscientiously the -rival merits of apple toddy, lemon punch, eggnogg and mulled port, that -she went sound asleep in the sleigh and slept all the way to Mondreer -and on being roused up to enter the house she addressed the dignified -squire as Joe Mullins, and remarked that she thought the lead was -running out at Wild Cats’, and they had better vamose the gulch and go -prospecting some’eres else. - -However, she slept off the effects of the party and was her own happy -and hearty self at breakfast the next morning. - - - - - CHAPTER II - ODALITE - - -Among all the merry-makers there was one sad face—Odalite’s—which no -effort of self-control could make otherwise than sad. - -Odalite, for the sake of her young sisters, had joined every party, but -she took no pleasure in them. - -Now that all the distracting excitement was over, and she could think -calmly of the circumstances, they all combined to distress, mortify and -humiliate her. The remembrance of that scene in the church, of which at -the time it transpired she was but half conscious, was to her so -shameful and degrading that she secretly shrank from the eyes of friends -and neighbors whom she was obliged to meet at the various gatherings in -the neighborhood. - -Then the doubt of her real relations to the Satan who had entered her -Eden, the uncertainty of her true position, and the instability of her -circumstances, all gathered around her like heavy clouds and darkened, -saddened and oppressed her spirits. - -That Anglesea had no moral claim on her she was perfectly well assured. -That her father would protect her against him she felt equally certain. -But that the man might have a legal claim upon her—supposing his -marriage with the Widow Wright to have been an irregular one—and that he -might give her dear mother and herself trouble through that claim, she -was sorely afraid. - -And then there was Le—her dear, noble, generous Le—who had pardoned her -apparent defection and had sworn to be faithful to her and share her -fate to the end of life, even though that fate should oblige them to -live apart in celibacy forever. Her heart ached for Le. She had had but -one letter from him since he left the house, a month before. In it he -told her that he had reached his ship only six hours before she was to -sail, and that he had only time to write a few farewell lines on the eve -of departure. But these lines were, indeed, full of love, faith and -hope. He told her that he should keep a diary for her, and send it in -sections by every opportunity. And he renewed all his vows of fidelity -to her through life. - -That was his first and last letter up to this time. But now she was -looking for another. - -This daily expectation and the weekly visits to Greenbushes helped to -occupy her mind, and enabled her to endure life. - -Old Molly, the housekeeper there, who did not understand, and could not -appreciate, the comfort and consolation that Odalite derived from these -weekly inspections, remonstrated on the subject, saying: - -“’Deed, Miss Odalite, ’tain’t no use for you to take all dis yere -trouble for to come ober yere ebery week to see as de rooms is all -opened and aired and dried—’deed it ain’t. You can trust me—’deed you -can. Now did you eber come ober yere on a Wednesday morning, and not -find a fire kindled into ebery room in de house, and de windows all -opened, ef it was clear? And likewise, if you war to come at night, -you’d find the fires all out, and the windows all shut, and the rooms -all dry as a toast.” - -“I know I can trust you thoroughly, Molly, but you see I like to come. -It seems to bring me nearer Le, you know,” Odalite replied, in her -gentle and confiding way. - -“Yes, honey, so it do, indeed. Well, it was a awful set-down to us w’en -dat forriner come yere an’ cut Marse Le out, an’ him a married man, too, -Lord save us!” - -“Hush, Molly. You must not speak of that person to me,” said Odalite, -sternly. - -“Lord, honey, I ain’t a-blamin’ of you. Well I knows as you couldn’t -help it. Well I knows as he give you witch powders, or summut, to make -you like him whedder or no. W’ite people don’t believe nuffin ’bout dese -witch powders, but we dem colored people we knows, honey. But now he is -foun’ out an’ druv away, we dem all sees as you is a fo’gettin’ de -nonsense, honey, ’cause he can’t give you no mo’ witch powders. Lor’! -why, if it had been true love you feeled for him, you couldn’t a got -ober it as soon as you has, eben if yer had foun’ him out to be de gran’ -vilyun as he is, ’cause it would a took time. But as it war not true -love, but only witch powders, you see you got ober it eber since he went -away. Lor’! I knows about witch powders.” - -“Please, Mollie,” pleaded Odalite. - -But the negro woman, having mounted her hobby, rocked on: - -“Neber mind, honey. You and Marse Le is young ’nough to spare t’ree -years, an’ next time he come home, please de Lord, we’ll all ’joy a -merry marridge, an’ you an’ him to come to housekeeping ’long of us.” - -Odalite took leave, and went home. That was the only way in which she -could escape the painful subject. - -She found a letter from Le on her return. It was dated last from Rio de -Janeiro. It contained the daily record of the young midshipman’s life on -the man-of-war, and no end to the vows of love and constancy. - -This letter came under cover to her mother. It cheered Odalite up for -days. - -But again her spirits sank. - -At length her health began to suffer, and then her parents took into -consideration a plan that had been discussed a month before. This was to -leave the plantation under the competent direction of their long-known -overseer and their family solicitor, and to take a furnished house in -Washington City for three years, during which time they could place -their two younger daughters at a good finishing school, and introduce -their eldest into society. - -It was Mrs. Force who had first proposed the plan, and it was she who -now recurred to it. - -“You know, dear Abel,” she said to her husband, while they were sitting -together one morning in her little parlor, “you know that two -considerations press on us now—the health of Odalite and the education -of Wynnette and Elva. I really fear for Odalite, and so does Dr. Ingle, -if she should be permitted to remain in this neighborhood, where -everything reminds her of the distress and mortification she has -suffered. Odalite must have a thorough change. And no better change can -be thought of for her than a winter in Washington. The gay season is -just commencing in that city, and with all that we could do for her -there Odalite would be sure to improve. Think what a contrast Washington -in its season—Washington with its splendid official receptions, its -operas and concerts, every day and night—would be to the secluded life -we all lead here. And especially what a contrast in the conception of -Odalite, who will see the city for the first time.” - -“I appreciate all that; but, my love, your simple wish to go to the city -would be quite sufficient for me,” said the squire. - -Mrs. Force turned away her head and breathed a sigh, as she often did at -any especial mark of love or trust from her good husband. - -“I should not express the wish on my own account, dear Abel. I have -always been well content with our retired life and your society alone. I -spoke only for the children’s sake. I have told you why Odalite needs -the change, and now I wish to tell you how our residence in Washington -will benefit her younger sisters. Wynnette and Elva must go on with -their education. We would not like to engage a stranger to come and take -charge of them here, just after such a public event as that of the -broken marriage, even if we could get one to replace Natalie Meeke, or -suit us as well as she did, which I am sure we could not. Nor, on the -other hand, could we consent to send our children away from us. So I see -no better plan for them, as well as for all, than that we should all go -to Washington, where we can give our Odalite the social life that she so -much needs just now, and where we can enter Wynnette and Elva as day -pupils in a first-class school.” - -“My dear, I see that you are right,” said Mr. Force. “You are quite -right in regard to the wisdom of going to Washington, so far as the -benefit of our children is concerned; nor do I see any hindrance to our -leaving this place without our care. Barnes is an invaluable farm -manager, and Copp is as capable an agent as any proprietor could desire. -We will leave the place in their care. We can go at once, or just as -soon as you can pack up. If we cannot secure a furnished house at once -we can go to a hotel and stay until we can get one.” - -“But—what shall we do with Mrs. Anglesea?” demanded Mrs. Force, in -sudden dismay as the vision of the lady from Wild Cats’ arose in her -mind’s eye. - -Abel Force gave a long, low whistle, and then answered: - -“We must invite her to go with us to Washington.” - -“To——Invite Mrs. Anglesea to join our party to Washington?” gasped the -lady. - -“Yes. She will be charmed to accept, I am sure,” replied the gentleman, -with a twinkle of humor in his eye. - -“But, good heavens, Abel! how could we introduce that woman into -Washington society?” - -“Very well, indeed. Very much better than we could into any other -society on the face of the earth. The wives of the high officers of the -government are the leaders of society; the latter are under the dominion -of the sovereign people, who flock to the city in great numbers, and -from all parts of the country, and all ranks and grades of the social -scale; and you will find the drawing rooms of cabinet ministers and -foreign ambassadors filled with companies more mixed than you could find -elsewhere in the world. Our lady from the gold mines will find plenty to -keep her in countenance.” - -“For all that,” said Mrs. Force, “I shall try to evade the necessity of -taking her with us.” - -“My dear, we cannot, in decency, turn our guest out of doors; so the -only alternative we have is to take her with us or stay at home.” - -“I think—she is so simple, good-humored and unconventional—that I think -I may explain to her the necessity of our going to Washington for the -sake of the children, and then give her a choice to go with us or to -remain here.” - -“That’s it!” exclaimed Mr. Force. “And let us hope that she will elect -to remain.” - -A little later in the day Mrs. Force had an explanation with her guest, -and put the alternative before her. - -“You will understand, dear Mrs. Anglesea, the cruel necessity that -obliges us to leave our home at this juncture; and now I wish you to be -guided by your own impulses whether to go with us to Washington or to -remain here as long as it may suit you to do so,” said the lady, in -conclusion. - -“You say you’re all a-gwine to a hotel?” inquired the visitor. - -“Yes.” - -“Well, then, you don’t catch me leavin’ of a comfortable home like this, -where there’s plenty of turkeys, and canvas-back ducks, and game of all -sorts, as the niggers shoot and sell for a song, and feather beds, and -good roaring fires, and cupboards full of preserves and sweetmeats, to -go to any of your hotels to get pizened by their messes, or catch my -death in damp sheets. No, ma’am, no hotels for me, if you please. I got -enough of ’em at the Hidalgo. I know beans, I do; and I stays here.” - -“Very well. I shall be glad to think of you here; and I shall leave Lucy -and Jacob in the house to take care of it, and they will wait on you,” -said the well-pleased lady of the manor. - -“I’ll make myself comfortable, you bet, ole ’oman! and I’ll take good -care of the house while you’re gone—you may stake your pile on that!” - -And so this matter was satisfactorily settled. - -Preparations for departure immediately began, and soon the news got -abroad in the neighborhood that the Forces were going to leave Mondreer -and live in Washington. - - - - - CHAPTER III - ROSEMARY - - -“Rosemary, my dear, I wish you would not dance all the time with young -Roland Bayard when you happen to be at a party with him,” said the grave -and dignified Miss Susannah Grandiere to the fair little niece who sat -at her feet, both literally and figuratively. - -The early tea was over at Grove Hill, and the aunt and niece sat before -the fire, with their maid Henny in attendance. - -Miss Grandiere was knitting a fine white lamb’s wool stocking; Rosemary -was sewing together pieces for a patchwork quilt; and Henny, seated on a -three-legged stool in the chimney corner, was carding wool. - -“Why not, Aunt Sukey?” inquired the child, pushing the fine, silky black -curls from her dainty forehead and looking up from her work. - -“Because, my dear, though you are but a little girl, and he is almost a -young man, yet these intimate friendships, formed in early youth, may -become very embarrassing in later years,” gravely answered the lady, -drawing out her knitting needle from the last taken off stitch and -beginning another round. - -“But how, Aunt Sukey?” questioned the little one. - -“In this way. No one knows who Roland Bayard is! He was cast up from the -wreck of the _Carrier Pigeon_, the only life saved. He was adopted and -reared by Miss Sibby Bayard, and I think, but am not sure, he was -educated at the expense of Abel Force, who never lets his left hand know -what his right hand does in the way of charity. But Miss Sibby has -hinted as much to me.” - -“Aunt Sukey, he may be the son of a lord, or a duke, or a prince,” -suggested romantic Rosemary. - -“Or of a thief, or pirate, or convict,” added Miss Grandiere, severely. - -“Oh, Aunt Sukey! Never! Never! Dear Roland! Aunt Sukey, I like Roland so -much! And I have good reason to like him, too, whatever he may be!” -exclaimed the child, with more than usual earnestness. - -“Oh! oh! oh!” moaned Miss Grandiere, sadly, shaking her head. - -“Aunt Sukey, no one ever has the kindness to ask a little girl like me -to dance except dear Roland. Other gentlemen ask young ladies; but dear -Roland always asks me, and he never lets me be neglected. And I shall -never forget him for it, but shall always like him.” - -“Um, um, um!” softly moaned the stately lady to herself. - -“And Roland told me he was named after a knight who was ‘without fear -and without reproach,’ and that he meant always to deserve his name, and -to be my knight—mine.” - -“Dear, dear, dear!” murmured Miss Grandiere. - -“What is the matter, Aunt Sukey?” inquired Rosemary, again pushing back -her silky, black curls, and lifting her large, light blue eyes to the -lady’s troubled face. - -“Rosemary, my child,” began Miss Grandiere, with out replying to the -little girl’s question, “Rosemary, you know the Forces are going to -Washington next week?” - -“Oh! yes; everybody knows that now.” - -“And Wynnette and Elva are going to be put to school there?” - -“Yes, everybody knows that, too, Aunt Sukey.” - -“Well, how would you like to be put to the same school that they are -going to attend?” - -“Oh, so much! So very much, Aunt Sukey! I never dreamed of such -happiness as that! I do so much want to get a good education!” exclaimed -the little girl, firing with enthusiasm. - -“Well, my dear child, I think the opportunity of sending you to school -with Wynnette and Elva, and under the protection of Mr. and Mrs. Force, -is such an excellent one that it ought not to be lost. I will speak to -my sister Hedge about it, and if she will consent to your going I will -be at the cost of sending you,” said the lady, as she began to roll up -her knitting, for the last gleam of the winter twilight had faded out of -the sky and it was getting too dark even to knit. - -For once in her life Rosemary had forgotten to call for the curtains to -be let down and the candle to be lit and the novel brought forth. For -once the interests of real life had banished the memory of romance. - -But Henny knew what was expected of her, and so she put up her cards, -went and lighted the tallow candle, pulled down the window blinds, -replenished the fire, and reseated herself on her three-legged stool in -the chimney corner. - -Rosemary, recalled to the interests of the evening, went and brought -forth the “treasured volume” from the upper bureau drawer and gave it to -her aunt to read. Then she settled herself in her low chair to listen. - -It was still that long romance of “The Children of the Abbey” that was -the subject of their evening readings. And they had now reached a most -thrilling crisis, where the heroine was in the haunted castle; when -suddenly the sound of wheels was heard to grate on the gravel outside, -accompanied by girlish voices. - -And soon there came a knock at the door. - -“Who in the world can that be at this hour, after dark?” inquired Miss -Grandiere, as Henny arose and opened the door. - -Odalite, Wynnette and Elva came in, in their poke bonnets and buttoned -coats. - -“Oh, Miss Grandiere, excuse us, but yours was the only light we saw -gleaming around the edges of the blinds, and so we knocked at your -door,” said Wynnette, who always took the initiative in speaking, as in -other things. - -“My dear child! how is it that you children are out, after dark?” -inquired the lady. - -“We have been making the rounds to bid good-by to the neighbors. Mamma -and papa went out yesterday, and we to-day. We are going to Washington -next week, and we have come to bid you good-by now,” said Wynnette, -still speaking for all the others. - -“But who is with you for protection? Who drove the carriage?” - -“Jake drove and Joshua came as bodyguard; but we are so late that I am -afraid Mr. and Mrs. Elk and the girls are asleep.” - -“They are, my dears; and it is so late that I do not think it right for -you three children to be driving through the country with no better -protection than Jake and the dog. You must send them home and stay all -night here. Then you will have an opportunity of bidding good-by to -William and Molly and the children to-morrow morning.” - -“Oh, Miss Grandiere, how jolly! I have not spent a night from home for -ages and ages and ages!” exclaimed Wynnette. - -“But what will mamma say?” doubtfully inquired Elva. - -“I fear, Miss Grandiere, that we ought to return home to-night,” -suggested Odalite. - -“Nonsense, my dear child! You must do nothing of the sort. I will write -a note to your mother and send it by Jake,” replied Miss Grandiere, who -immediately arose and went to get her portfolio. - -“If it hadn’t been for Miss Sibby Bayard keeping us so long talking -about her ancestor the ‘Duke of England’—she means the Duke of Norfolk -all the time, but flouts us when we hint as much—we should have been -here two hours ago, and been home by this time,” said Wynnette. - -Miss Grandiere finished her note, put a shawl over her head and went out -herself to speak to the coachman and send him home to Mondreer with her -written message. - -“Now take off your hats and coats, and tell me if you have had tea,” she -said, when she came back into the room and closed the door. - -“Oh, yes! we took tea with Miss Sibby while she told us how a certain -‘Duke of England’ lost his head for wanting to marry a certain Queen of -Scotland,” replied Wynnette. - -That question settled, the girls drew chairs around the fire, and began -to make themselves comfortable. - -Rosemary could not bear to give up her reading, just at that particular -crisis, too! So she thought she would entice her company into listening -to the story. - -“We were reading—oh! such a beautiful book!” she said. “Just hear how -lovely it begins!” - -And she took the book up, turned it to the first page and commenced -after this manner: - -“‘Hail! sweet asylum of my infancy! Content and innocence abide beneath -your humble roof!—hail! ye venerable trees! My happiest hours of -childish gayety——’” - -“What’s all that about?” demanded Wynnette, the vandal, ruthlessly -interrupting the reader. - -“It is Amanda Fitzallan, coming back to the Welsh cottage where she was -nursed, and catching sight of it, you know, raises fluttering emotions -in her sensitive bosom,” Rosemary explained, with an injured air. - -“Oh! it does, does it? But she wouldn’t hold forth in that way, you -know, even if she were badly stage struck or very crazy,” said Wynnette. - -“Oh! I thought it was such elegant language!” pleaded Rosemary. - -“But she wouldn’t use it! Look here! Do you suppose, when I come back -from school, years hence, and catch sight of Mondreer, I should hold -forth in that hifaluting style?” - -“But what would you say?” - -“Nothing, probably; or if I did, it would be: ‘There’s the blessed old -barn now, looking as dull and humdrum as it did when we used to go -blackberrying and get our ankles full of chego bites. Lord! how many -dull days we have passed in that dreary old jail, especially in rainy -weather!’ I think that would be about my talk.” - -“Oh, Wynnette! you have no sentiment, no reverence, no——” - -“Nonsense!” good-humoredly replied the girl, finishing Rosemary’s -halting sentence. - -The little girl sighed, closed the book and laid it on the table. - -“The style of that work is very elegant and refined; and it is better to -err on the side of elegance and refinement than on their opposites,” -said Miss Grandiere, with her grandest air. - -“As I do every time I open my mouth. But I can’t help it, Miss Susannah. -‘I am as Heaven made me,’ as somebody or other said—or ought to have -said, if they didn’t,” retorted Wynnette. - -As it was now bedtime it became necessary to attend to the sleeping -accommodations of these unexpected guests. But first it was in order to -offer them some refreshments. Henny was not required to draw a jug of -hard cider, or to make and bake hoe cakes in the bedroom that night. -Such “orgies” were only enacted by the aunt and niece in the seclusion -of their private life. - -But the corner cupboard was unlocked, and a store of rich cake and pound -cake, with a cut-glass decanter of cherry bounce, all of which was kept -for company, was brought forth and served to the visitors. - -Meanwhile, Henny went upstairs to kindle a fire in the large, -double-bedded spare room, just over Miss Sukey’s chamber. - -“Miss Susannah,” said Odalite, while the group sat around the fire -nibbling their cake and sipping their bounce, “I have a favor to ask of -you.” - -“Anything in the world that I can do for you, Odalite, shall be done -with the greatest pleasure,” earnestly replied the elder lady. - -“I thank you very much, dear friend; and now I will explain: I promised -Le, before we went away, that I would go to Greenbushes once a week to -see that the rooms were regularly opened, aired and dried. I have kept -the promise up to the present; but now, you know, I have to go with the -family to Washington. I have no alternative, and for that reason I would -like you to be my proxy.” - -“I will, with great pleasure, my dear.” - -“I could not ask you to go every week, that would be too much; but if -you can go occasionally and see that all is right, and drop me a note to -that effect, it will—well, it will relieve my conscience,” concluded -Odalite, with a wan smile. - -“I certainly will go every week, unless prevented by circumstances; and -I will write to you as often as I go, to let you know how all is getting -on there.” - -“Oh, you are very kind, Miss Susannah; but I fear you will find it a tax -upon your time and patience.” - -“Not at all. I shall have plenty of time, and little that is interesting -to fill it up with. For let me tell you a secret. I intend to avail -myself of the opportunity of your parents being in Washington to send my -little Rosemary to the same school that Wynnette and Elva will attend.” - -“Oh, that will be jolly!” “Oh, that will be lovely!” exclaimed Wynnette -and Elva, in the same instant. - -“That is, if Mr. and Mrs. Force will not consider the addition of -Rosemary to their party an intrusion.” - -“Why, Miss Susannah! How dare you slander my father and mother right -before my two looking eyes?” exclaimed Wynnette. “They will be just set -up to have Rosemary! Besides, where’s the intrusion, I’d like to know? -The railroad and the hotel and the boarding school are just as free for -you as for me, I should think.” - -“Rosemary would board at the school, of course,” continued Miss -Grandiere. - -“So shall Elva and I. If papa could have got a furnished house we should -have lived at home, and entered the academy as day pupils; but, you see, -as papa could not get a house he and mamma and Odalite will live at one -of the West End hotels, and Elva and I at the academy.” - -“And, oh! won’t it be lovely to have dear Rosemary with us? We should -not feel half so strange,” said little Elva. - -“You will speak to your father and mother on the subject when you go -home, Odalite, my child; and I will call on them later. If they will -take charge of Rosemary on the journey, and enter her at the same school -with yourselves, I will be at all the charges, of course, and I shall -feel very much obliged,” said Miss Susannah. - -“You may rest assured that papa and mamma will be very glad to take -charge of dear little Rosemary; not only for her sake and for your sake, -but for our sakes, so that we may have an old playmate from our own -neighborhood to be our schoolmate in the new home,” said Wynnette. - -“There is something in that,” remarked Miss Grandiere. - -As for Elva and Rosemary, they were sitting close together on one chair, -with their arms locked around each other’s waist, in fond anticipation -of their coming intimacy. - -Henny now came in and said that the spare room was all ready for the -young ladies. - -Miss Grandiere lighted a fresh candle, and conducted her visitors to the -upper chamber, saw that all their wants were supplied, and bade them -good-night. - -Soon after, aunt and niece also retired to bed; but Rosemary could not -sleep for the happiness of thinking about going to boarding school in -the city along with Wynnette and Elva. - -Early in the morning William and Molly Elk, their little girls, and in -fact the whole household, with the exception of Miss Sukey, her niece -and her maid, were astonished to hear that there were visitors in the -house who had arrived late on the night before. - -They prepared a better breakfast than usual in their honor, and gave -them a warm welcome. - -Soon after breakfast, Jake arrived with the family carriage to fetch the -young people home, and also with a message from Mr. and Mrs. Force, -thanking Miss Grandiere for having detained their imprudent children all -night. - -“You and Rosemary go home with us, Miss Susannah. There’s plenty of room -inside the carriage for six people, and we would only be five. Do, now! -And let us have this matter of going to school settled at once,” urged -Wynnette. - -Miss Grandiere hesitated, even though Elva joined in the invitation. But -when Odalite, the eldest and grown-up sister, added her entreaties to -those of the others, Miss Sukey yielded, because she wanted to yield. - -The girls then took leave of all their friends at Grove Hill and entered -the capacious carriage, accompanied by Miss Grandiere and Rosemary—that -is, two of them did. One was missing. - -“Where is Wynnette?” inquired Miss Grandiere, as she sank into the -cushions. - -“She is on the box, driving, while Jacob is sitting with folded arms -beside her,” answered Odalite. - -“It is highly improper.” - -“You cannot do anything with Wynnette, Miss Susannah. She will drive as -often as she can. And Jacob’s presence beside her makes it safe, at -least. He is ready to seize the reins at any emergency.” - -“Yes, but really—really—my dear Odalite——” - -The sudden starting of the horses at a spanking pace jerked Miss -Grandiere’s words from her lips, and herself forward into little Elva’s -arms. - -However, they arrived safely at Mondreer, where they were very cordially -welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Force. - -When Miss Grandiere proposed her plan of sending Rosemary with them, to -go to school with their own children, the lady and gentleman responded -promptly and cordially. - -“We have not selected our school yet,” Mr. Force explained. “We wish to -get the circulars and personally inspect the schools before we make our -choice, but if you leave your niece in our hands, we shall do by her -exactly as by our own.” - -“I am sure you will. And I thank you from my soul for the trouble you -take. I shall sign some blank checks, for you to fill out, for any funds -that may be required for Rosemary,” gratefully responded Miss Grandiere. - -The aunt and niece, at the cordial invitation of the Forces, stayed to -dinner, and were afterward sent home in a wide buggy driven by Jacob. - -One day later Miss Grandiere broached to Mrs. Hedge the subject of -sending Rosemary to school with Wynnette and Elva Force, at her own—Miss -Grandiere’s—expense. - -This consultation with the mother was a mere form, Miss Susannah knowing -full well that it was the great ambition of Mistress Dolly’s heart to -send her daughter to a good boarding school, and that she would consider -the present opportunity most providential. - -All the arrangements were most satisfactorily concluded, and by the end -of the following week, the Forces, with little Rosemary in their charge, -had left Mondreer. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - AFTER A LAPSE OF TIME - - -It was three years after the Forces left Mondreer, and they had never -returned to it. - -The farm was managed by Jesse Barnes, the capable overseer, and the -sales were arranged by Mr. Copp, the family agent, who remitted the -revenues of the estate in quarterly installments to Mr. Force. - -The lady from the gold mines remained in the house, taking such -excellent care of the rooms and the furniture that she had gradually -settled down as a permanent inmate, in the character of a salaried -housekeeper. - -“I’m a-getting too old to be bouncing round prospecting with the boys, -and so I reckon I had better sit down in this comfortable sitiwation for -the rest of my life,” she confided to Miss Bayard, one February morning, -when that descendant of the great duke honored her by coming to spend -the day at Mondreer. - -“That’s just what I sez myself. When you knows you’re well enough off, -sez I, you’d better let well enough alone, sez I. And not take after -them unsettled people as are allus changing about from place to place, -doing no good,” assented Miss Bayard. - -“It’s a habit dey gibs deirselves. ’Deed it is, ole mist’ess. Nuffin’ ’t -all but a habit dey gibs deirselves,” remarked Luce, who had just come -in with a waiter, on which was a plate of caraway-seed cake and a -decanter of blackberry cordial to refresh the visitor. - -“Just like my neffy, Roland. He was restless enough after Le went to -sea, but after the Forces left the neighborhood and took Rosemary Hedge -with ’em, ropes nor chains wouldn’t hold that feller, but he must go off -to Baltimore to get a berth, as he called it. Thanks be to goodness, he -got in ’long of Capt. Grandiere as first mate; but Lord knows when I’ll -ever see him ag’in, for he is gone to the East Indies,” sighed Miss -Sibby. And then she stopped to nibble her seed cake and sip her -blackberry cordial. - -“It’s a habit he gibs hisself, ole mist’ess. ’Deed it is. Nuffin’ ’t all -but a habit he gibs hisself, and you ought to try to break him of it,” -said Luce, as she set the waiter down on the table and left the room. - -“Do you expect Abel Force ever to come home to his own house again?” -inquired Miss Sibby, between her sips and nibbles. - -“Oh, yes, I reckon so, when the gals have finished their edication, but -not till then. You see they have a lovely house in Washington, according -to what Miss Grandiere and little Rosemary Hedge tells us, and the -children are at a fine school, so they live there all the year until the -three months summer vacation comes round, and then when Miss Grandiere -goes to Washington to fetch her little niece home to spend the holidays -here, why, then Mr. and Mrs. Force takes their three daughters and go -traveling. And this next summer they do talk about going to Europe, but -I don’t know that they will do it.” - -“What I sez is that they ought to spend their summers at Mondreer. When -a family is blessed with the blessing of a good, healthy country home, -sez I, they ought to stay in it, and be thankful for it, sez I.” - -Even while the two cronies spoke the door opened, and Jacob came in, -with a letter in his hand. - -“There! That’s from the ole ’oman now. I know her handwriting across the -room. And now we shall hear some news,” said Mrs. Anglesea, with her -mouth full of cake. - -And she took the letter from the negro’s hands, and opened it without -ceremony, and began to read it to herself, without apology. - -“Is it anything confidential?” demanded Miss Sibby, who was full of -curiosity. - -“No. I will read it all to you as soon as ever I have spelled it out -myself. I never was good at reading writing, particularly fine hand, -and, if I must say it, the ole ’oman do write the scrimble-scramblest -fine hand as ever I see,” said Mrs. Anglesea, peering at the letter, and -turning it this way and that, and almost upside down. - -Presently she began to read, making comments between the words and -phrases of the letter. - -“Well, it’s ‘Washington City, P Street, N. W., and February 8th.’ Why, -it’s been four days coming. Here you, Jake! When did you get this letter -out’n the post office?” She paused to call the negro messenger, who -stood, hat in hand, at the door. - -“W’y, dis mornin’, in course, ole mist’ess,” replied the man. - -“Don’t ‘ole mist’ess’ me, you scalawag! Are you sartain you didn’t get -it Saturday, and forget all about it, and leave it in your pocket until -to-day?” - -“Hi, ole—young—mist’ess, how I gwine to forget w’en you always ax me? -No, ’deed. I took it out’n de pos’ office dis blessed mornin’, ole—young -mist’ess.” - -“How dare you call me young mist’ess, you——” - -“What mus’ I call you, den?” inquired the puzzled negro. - -“Ma’am. Call me ma’am.” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -“That’s better. Well, now the next time you go to the village, Jake, you -just tell that postmaster if he keeps back another letter of mine four -days, I’ll have him turned out. Do ye hear?” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -“Well, now you may go about your business, and I will go on with my -letter.” - -“Yes, ma’am.” - -The man left the room, and the housekeeper resumed her reading: - - “‘MY DEAR MRS. ANGLESEA’: I wish she wouldn’t pile that name upon me - so! If she knowed how I hated it she wouldn’t. ‘I write to ask you to - have the house prepared for our reception on the eighth of June. You - will know what is necessary to be done, and you may draw on Mr. Copp - for the needful funds. He has instructions to honor your drafts. - - “‘The girls expect to grad—grat—gral—gual——’ - -“Lord ’a’ mercy! what is this word? Can you make it out, Miss Sibby?” -inquired the reader, holding the letter under the nose of the visitor. - -Miss Bayard, who had resumed her knitting after moderately partaking of -cake and cordial, dropped her work, adjusted her spectacles and -inspected the word. - -“It’s graduate, ma’am. That means finish their edication, honorable. -Young Le Force graduated offen the Naval ’Cademy before he ever went to -sea as a midshipman, and my scamp, Roland Bayard, graduated offen the -Charlotte Hall ’Cademy before he ran away and went to sea as a common -sailor. I s’pose these girls is a-going to graduate offen the ‘cademy -where they are getting their edication, and I hope they will do -theirselves credit. When your parents do the best they can for you, sez -I, you ought to try to do the best you can for yourself, sez I, which is -the best return you can make them, sez I.” - -“To do the best you can for them, I should think would be the first -thing to think about, and, likewise, best return to make them. But now -I’ll go on with my letter: - - “‘The girls expect to graduate at the academic commencement, on the - first of June’—graduate at the commencement! I thought pupils - graduated at the end!—‘after which we expect to come down to Mondreer - for the summer, previous to going to Europe. I have much news of - importance to tell you, which concerns yourself as much as it affects - us; but it is of such a nature that it had best be reserved for the - present. Expecting to see you, I remain your friend, - - ELFRIDA FORCE.’” - -“So they are actually coming home at last,” said Miss Sibby. - -“Yes, actially coming home at last,” assented the housekeeper. “But, -look here. What does she mean by that news as she has got to tell me -which concerns she and I both? I reckon it must be news of my rascal. -Lord! I wonder if it is? I wonder if he’s been hung or anything? I hope -to gracious he has! And then she wouldn’t mention it in a letter, but -wait until she could tell me all about it! It must be that, ole ’oman—my -rascal’s hung!” - -“I reckon it is! When a man lives a bad life, sez I, he must expect to -die a bad death, sez I.” - -“Well, I shan’t go in mourning for him, that’s certain, whether he’s -hung or drowned. But we shall hear all about it when the folks come -home. Lord! why, the place will be like another house, with all them -young gals in it!” - -“I might ’a’ knowed somethin’ was up t’other Sunday, when I heard Miss -Grandiere tell Parson Peters, at All Faith Church, how she and Mrs. -Hedge were both going to Washington on the first of June. Of course, it -is to the commencement they’re going, to see Rosemary graduate along -with the others.” - -“But to hear ’em call the end of a thing its commencement, takes me,” -said Mrs. Anglesea. - -“So it do me. And if people don’t know what they’re a-talking about, sez -I, they’d better hold their tongues, sez I.” - -“Young Mrs. Ingle will be mighty proud to have the old folks and the -gals back. Lord! how fond she was of them two little gals. To think of -her naming her two babies after them—the first Wynnette and the second -Elva. Let’s see; the first one must be two years old.” - -“Wynnie is twenty-three months old, and Ellie is nine months; but they -are both sich smart, lively, sensible children that any one might think -as they was older than that. But I don’t hold with children being took -so much notice of, and stimmerlated in their intellects so much. Fair -an’ easy, sez I; slow and sure, sez I, goes a long way, sez I.” - -So, talking about their neighbors, as usual, but not uncharitably, the -gossips passed the day. At sunset they had tea together; and then Gad -brought around the mule cart—the only equipage owned by the descendant -of the great duke—who put on her bonnet and shawl, bid good-by to her -crony, got into her seat and drove homeward. - -“Well, the ole ’oman has give me long enough notice to get ready for -’em; but she knows there’s a good deal to be done, and country workmen -is slow, let alone the niggers, who is slowest of all,” ruminated Mrs. -Anglesea, who resolved to begin operations next day. - - - - - CHAPTER V - THE FORTUNES OF ODALITE - - -To explain the mysterious letter written by Elfrida Force to her -housekeeper, we must condense the family history of the last three -years, which had passed without any incident worth recording, and bring -it up to the time when events full of importance for good or evil -followed each other in rapid succession. - -Mr. Force, on removing his family to Washington, in the month of -February three years before, took apartments in one of the best hotels -for himself, his wife, and their eldest daughter, while he placed his -two younger daughters and his little ward at a first-class boarding -school. - -The Forces had some friends and acquaintances in the city, and to these -they sent cards, which were promptly honored by calls. - -For the sake of Odalite, Mrs. Force chose to enter the gay society for -which she herself had little heart. - -The trousseau prepared for the girl’s luckless, broken marriage came -well into use as an elegant outfit for the fashionable season in the gay -capital. - -Mr. Force escorted his wife and daughter to all the receptions, -concerts, balls and dinners to which they were invited, and everywhere -he felt pride and pleasure in the general admiration bestowed upon his -beautiful wife and their lovely daughter. - -But the instinct of caste was strong in the breast of Elfrida Force. She -and her daughter were recipients of many elegant entertainments, and she -wished to reciprocate, but could not do so while living at a hotel. - -His wife’s wishes, joined to his own longing for the freedom of domestic -life, added zeal to Abel Force’s quest of a house. - -But it was at the end of the session of Congress before his desire was -gratified. Then a United States senator, whose term of office had -expired, offered his handsome and elegantly furnished house for rent. - -Mr. and Mrs. Force inspected the premises, and leased them for three -years. - -They did not wish to go in at once, as the season was at an end, and the -summer at hand. - -But as soon as the retiring statesman and his family had vacated the -house Mr. Force sent in a squad of housecleaners to prepare the place -for the new tenants. - -When the schools closed for the long summer vacation he gave little -Rosemary Hedge into the hands of Miss Grandiere, who had come to -Washington to fetch her home, and with his wife and three daughters left -the city for an extensive summer tour. - -After three months of varied travel the family returned to Washington in -September, and took possession of the beautiful town house, near the P -Street circle, in the northwest section of the city. - -Then they replaced their daughters and their little ward at the same -school—not as boarders, however, but as day pupils, for Mr. and Mrs. -Force wished to have their girls as much as possible under their own -care, believing home education to be the most influential for good—or -for evil—of all possible training. - -When Congress met, and the season began, Mrs. Force took the lead by -giving a magnificent ball, to which all the beauty, fashion, wealth and -celebrity of the national capital were invited, to which they nearly all -came. - -The ball was a splendid success. - -The beautiful Elfrida Force became an acknowledged queen of society, and -her lovely young daughter was the belle of the season. - -Had no one in the city then heard of her disastrous wedding broken up at -the altar? - -Not a soul had heard of it. Not one of those friends and acquaintances -of Mrs. Force whom she had met in Washington, for, be it remembered, she -had written to no one of her daughter’s approaching marriage, and had -bid to the wedding only the nearest neighbors and oldest friends of her -family. - -Odalite was saved this unmerited humiliation, at least—though many who -admired the beautiful girl wondered that the lovely, dark eyes never -sparkled, the sweet lips never smiled. - -In this season she had several “eligible” offers of marriage—one from a -young officer in the army; another from a middle-aged banker; another -from an aged cabinet minister; a fourth from a foreign secretary of -legation; a fifth from a distinguished lawyer; a sixth from a brilliant -congressman; a seventh from a fashionable preacher; and so on and so on. - -All these were declined with courtesy. - -Odalite took very little pleasure in the gay life of Washington, and -very little pride in her conquests. - -Her sole delight was in Le’s letters, which came to her under cover to -her mother; but were read and enjoyed by the whole family. - -Le certainly was a faithful servant of the great republic, and never -neglected his duty; but yet his “most chiefest occupation” must have -been writing to Odalite, for his letters came by every possible -opportunity, and they were not only letters, but huge parcels of -manuscript, containing the journal of his thoughts, feelings, hopes and -purposes from day to day. And all these might have been summed in one -word—“Odalite.” - -She also sent letters as bulky and as frequently; and all that she wrote -might have been condensed into a monosyllable—“Le.” - -These parcels were always directed in the hand of her mother. - -Ah! mother and daughter ever felt that the eyes of an implacable enemy -were secretly watching them, so that they must be on their guard against -surprise and treachery. - -They suffered this fear, although they never heard one word from, or of, -Angus Anglesea. He might be dead, living, or imprisoned, for aught they -knew of his state, condition, or whereabouts. - -In the distractions of society, however, they forgot their secret fears, -for indeed they had no time for reflection. This was one of the gayest -seasons ever known in the gay capital; reception, ball and concert -followed ball, concert and reception in a dizzy round; and the Forces -were seen at all! If they had purposely intended to make up for all the -long years of seclusion at Mondreer they certainly and completely -succeeded. - -At the end of the season they took a rest; but they did not leave -Washington until June, when the schools closed, and then they placed -little Rosemary Hedge in the hands of Miss Grandiere, who came to the -city to receive her, and they went to Canada for the summer. - -As this first year passed, so passed the second and nearly the whole of -the third. - -It was in September of the third year that the monotony of winter -society and summer travel was broken by something of vital interest to -all their lives. - -They had just returned to Washington; replaced their youngest daughters -and their ward at school, and settled themselves, with their eldest -daughter, in their town house, which had been renovated during their -absence. - -It was a season of repose coming between the summer travel and the -winter’s dissipations. They were receiving no calls, making no visits, -but just resting. - -One morning the father, mother and daughter were seated in the back -piazza which faced the west, and was therefore, on this warm morning in -September, cool and shady. The piazza looked down upon a little back -yard, such as city lots can afford. But every inch of the ground had -been utilized, for a walk covered with an arbor of latticework and -grapevines led down to a back gate and to the stables in the rear. On -the right hand of this walk was a green plot, with a pear tree and a -plum tree growing in the midst, and a border of gorgeous autumn flowers -blooming all around. On the other side of the walk was another plot with -a peach tree and an apple tree growing in the midst, and a border of -roses all around. And the grapevine and the fruit trees were all in full -fruition now, and supplied the dessert every day. - -Mr., Mrs. and Miss Force were all seated in the pleasant Quaker -rocking-chairs with which this back piazza was furnished. - -Mr. Force had the morning paper in his hands and he was reading aloud to -the two ladies, who were both engaged in crochet work, when the back -door opened and a manservant came out and handed an enveloped newspaper -to his master, saying: - -“The postmaster has just left it, sir.” - -“And nothing else?” inquired the gentleman. - -“Nothing else, sir—only that.” - -“Only a newspaper,” said Mr. Force, laying it down carelessly, without -examination, as he resumed the _Union_ and the article he had been -engaged in reading. - -No one felt the slightest interest in the paper that lay neglected on -the little stand beside Mr. Force’s chair. Many newspapers came by mail, -and but few of them were opened. Mr. Force went on with his reading, and -Mrs. and Miss Force with their embroidery. And the neglected newspaper, -with its tremendous news, lay there unnoticed and forgotten with the -prospect of being thrown, unopened, into the dust barrel; which must -certainly have been its fate, had not Odalite chanced to cast her eye -upon it and to observe something unfamiliar in its style and character. -In idle curiosity she took it up, looked at it, and gave a cry. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - NEWS FROM COL. ANGLESEA - - -“What is it, my dear?” inquired her father, as Odalite, with trembling -fingers, tore off the envelope and opened the paper. - -“It—it is—it is postmarked Angleton,” she faltered. - -“Angleton! Give it to me!” peremptorily exclaimed Abel Force, reaching -his hand and taking the sheet from his daughter, who yielded it up and -then covered her eyes with her hands, while her father examined the -paper and her mother looked on with breathless interest. - -“Thank Heaven!” exclaimed Abel Force, as his eyes were riveted on a -paragraph he had found there. - -“What—what is it?” demanded Elfrida Force, in extreme anxiety, while -Odalite uncovered her eyes, and gazed with eager look and lips apart. - -“A scoundrel has gone to his account! The earth is rid of an incubus! -Listen! This is the Angleton _Advertiser_ of August 20th, and it -contains a notice of the death of Angus Anglesea.” - -“Anglesea—dead!” exclaimed mother and daughter, in a breath, and in -tones that expressed almost every other emotion under the sun, except -sorrow. - -“Yes, dead and gone to—his desserts!” exclaimed Abel Force, -triumphantly; but catching himself up short, before he ended in a word -that must never be mentioned, under any circumstances. “Here is a notice -of his death.” - -“Read it,” said Mrs. Force, while Odalite looked the eager interest, -which she did not express in words. - -Abel Force read this paragraph at the head of the death list: - - “DIED.—On Monday, August 10th, at Anglewood Manor, in the forty-fourth - year of his age, after a long and painful illness, which he bore with - heroic patience and fortitude, Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea.” - -“Dead!” muttered Elfrida Force, thoughtfully. - -“Dead!” echoed Odalite, gravely. - -“Yes! dead and—doomed!” exclaimed Abel Force, catching himself up before -he had used an inadmissible word. - -“Then, thank Heaven, I am free! Oh! I hope it was no sin to say that!” -exclaimed Odalite. - -Her father stared at her for a moment, and then said: - -“My dear, you were always free!” - -“I could not feel so while that man lived,” she said. - -“Why, what claim could the husband of another woman set up on you?” -demanded Mr. Force, in surprise. - -“None whatever,” replied Elfrida Force, answering for her daughter; “but -after all that she has gone through, it is perfectly natural that a -delicate and sensitive girl, like Odalite, should have felt ill at ease -so long as her artful and unscrupulous enemy lived, and should feel a -sense of relief at his departure.” - -“I suppose so,” said Abel Force, who was scanning the first page of the -Angleton paper. “And I suppose, also, that none of us exactly share ‘the -profound gloom’ which, according to this sheet, ‘has spread like an -eclipse over all the land, on the death of her illustrious son.’ The -leading article here is on the death of Anglesea, with a brief sketch of -his life and career, and such a high eulogium as should only have been -pronounced upon the memory of some illustrious hero, martyr, Christian, -or philanthropist. But, then, this Angleton paper was, of course, his -own organ, and in his own interests, and in those of his family, or it -would never have committed itself to such fulsome flatteries, even of -the dead, whom it seems lawful to praise and justifiable to overpraise.” - -“Read it, Abel,” said Mrs. Force. - -“Yes, do, papa, dear,” added Odalite. - -Mr. Force read: - - “THE GREAT SOLDIER OF INDIA IS NO MORE - - “A profound gloom, a vast pall of darkness, like some ‘huge eclipse of - sun and moon,’ has fallen upon the land at the death of her - illustrious son. Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea died yesterday at his - manor of Anglewood. - - “The Hon. Angus Anglesea was born at Anglewood Manor, on November 21, - 181—. He entered Eton at the early age of twelve years and Oxford at - seventeen. He graduated with the highest honors, at the age of - twenty-two. He succeeded his father on December 23, 182—. His tastes - led him to a military career, and he entered the army as cornet in the - Honorable East India Company’s service, in his twenty-fifth year. His - distinguished military talents, his heroism and gallantry, his - invaluable services during the Indian campaign, are matters that have - passed into national history; and become so familiar to all that it - would be impertinent to attempt to recapitulate them here. - - “Col. Anglesea married, firstly, on October 13, 184—, Lady Mary - Merland, eldest daughter of the sixth Earl of Middlemoor; by whom he - has one son, Alexander, born September 1, 184—, now at Eton. Her - ladyship died August 31, 185—. Col. Anglesea married, secondly, - December 20, 185—, Odalite, eldest daughter of Abel Force, Esq., of - Mondreer, Maryland, United States, by Lady Elfrida Glennon, eldest - daughter of the late Earl of Enderby, who survives him. There is no - issue by the second marriage.” - -Abel Force finished reading, dropped the paper and stared at his wife -and daughter, who were also staring at him. All three seemed struck dumb -with astonishment at the audacity of the last paragraph. - -“Who is responsible for that?” demanded Mrs. Force, who was the first to -find her voice. - -“The reckless braggart who has gone to the devil, I suppose! No one else -could be,” said Abel Force, indignantly. - -“You are right. No one but Anglesea could have been the originator of -such a falsehood.” - -“And here is no mention made at all of the real second marriage and of -the real widow; whom, by the way, he must have married within a few -weeks after the death of his wife. Yet! let us see! Great Heaven! unless -there is a misprint, there has been an infamous crime committed, and a -heinous wrong done to that Californian widow, whose marriage with Col. -Anglesea was registered to have taken place on August 1, 185—, full six -weeks before the death of Anglesea’s wife, which took place on August -25th! And in that case—yes, in that case the diabolical villain had the -legal right, if not the moral right, to marry our daughter! Great -Heaven! how imperfect are the laws of our highest civilization, when men -have the legal right to do that which is morally wrong!” - -“Oh! oh! I will never acknowledge the validity of that marriage -ceremony! I will never call myself that man’s widow, or wear a thread of -mourning for him!” exclaimed Odalite, who could be very brave now that -her mother’s great enemy was dead, and her mother forever safe from his -malignity. - -“You need not, my dear. Nor need the poor Californian woman ever suspect -that any darker wrong than the robbery of her money has been done her. -Why, either, should we be so excited over this discovery? It is no new -villainy that has come to light. It is simply that he really wronged the -Californian widow instead of you. The man is dead. Let us not harbor -malice against the dead. He can harm us no more,” said Abel, in his wish -to soothe the excited feelings of his wife and daughter. But ah! he knew -nothing of the greater cause those two unhappy ladies had had for their -detestation of their deadly enemy. - -But now he was gone forever, and they were delivered from his -deviltries. It was - - “The thrill of a great deliverance” - -that so deeply moved them both. All felt it, even Mr. Force, who soon -arose and went out for a walk to reflect coolly over the news of the -morning. - -Elfrida and Odalite went into the house and tried to occupy themselves -with the question of luncheon and other household matters, but they -could not interest themselves in any work; they could think of nothing -but of the blessed truth that a great burden had been lifted from their -hearts, a great darkness had passed away from their minds. - -Late in the afternoon Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary came in from school. - -Odalite told them that Col. Anglesea was dead, and showed them the paper -containing the notice of his death and the sketch of his life. - -At first the children received the news in silent incredulity, to be -succeeded by the reverential awe with which the young and happy hear of -death and the grave. - -Wynnette was the first to recover herself. - -“Oh! Odalite, I am glad, for your sake, that you are freed from the -incubus of that man’s life. I hope it is no sin to say this, for I -cannot help feeling so,” she said. - -“I hope the poor sinner truly repented of his iniquity and found grace -even at the eleventh hour,” breathed the pitiful little Elva. - -“I don’t know,” sighed quaint little Rosemary, folding her mites of -hands with sad solemnity. “I don’t know. It is an awful risk for any -one, more particularly for a man like Col. Anglesea.” - -“‘The vilest sinner may return,’ you know,” pleaded Elva. - -“Yes, he may, but he don’t often do it,” said Wynnette, putting in her -word. - -“Let me read the notice of his death and the sketch of his life,” -suggested Odalite, for she had only shown them the paper containing -these articles. - -“Yes, do, Odalite,” said Wynnette. - -Odalite read the brief notice, and then she turned to the sketch and -said: - -“This is longer, and I need not read the whole of it, you know.” - -“No. Just pick out the plums from the pudding. I never read the whole of -anything. Life is too short,” said Wynnette. - -The other two girls seemed to agree with her, and so Odalite began and -read the highly inflated eulogium on Col. Anglesea’s character and -career. - -The three younger ones listened with eyes and mouths open with -astonishment. - -“Why, they seem to think he was a good, wise, brave man!” gasped little -Elva. - -“That’s because they knew nothing about him,” exclaimed Wynnette. - -“Isn’t there something in the Bible about a man being a good man among -his own people, but turning into a very bad man when he gets into a -strange city where the people don’t know who he is?” inquired Rosemary, -very gravely. - -“I believe there is, in the Old Testament somewhere, but I don’t know -where,” answered Elva. - -“That was the way with Anglesea, I suspect. He was a hypocrite in his -own country; but as soon as he came abroad he cut loose and kicked up -his heels—I mean he threw off all the restraints of honor and -conscience,” explained Wynnette. - -Odalite resumed her task, and read of Anglesea’s birth, his entrance -into Eton, and afterward at Oxford, his succession to his estates, his -entrance into the army, his marriage to Lady Mary Merland, the birth of -his son, and the death of his wife. - -There she stopped. She did not see fit to read the paragraph relating to -herself; and to prevent her sisters from seeing it, she rolled up the -paper and put it into her pocket. - -They did not suspect that there had been any mention made of his -attempted marriage to Odalite, far less that it had been recorded there -as an accomplished fact; but they wondered why his marriage to the lady -of ‘Wild Cats’ had not been mentioned. - -“And is there not a word said about his Californian nuptials?” demanded -Wynnette. - -“No, not a word,” replied Odalite. - -“Ah! you see, he wasn’t proud of that second wife! She wasn’t an earl’s -daughter!” - -“I wonder how Mrs. Anglesea will take the news of her husband’s death, -when she hears of it,” mused Elva. - -“Ah!” breathed Wynnette. - -Their talk was interrupted by the entrance of their father, who had just -come in from his long walk. - -“Oh, papa!” exclaimed Wynnette, “we have just heard the news! Oh! won’t -Le be glad when he hears it?” - -“My dear children,” said Mr. Force, very solemnly and also a little -inconsistently, “we should never rejoice at any good that may come to us -through the death or misfortune of a fellow creature.” - -“But, oh, papa! in this case we can’t help it.” - -“There’s the dinner bell,” said Abel Force, irrelevantly. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - THE EARL OF ENDERBY - - -Washington City in the month of September is very quiet and sleepy. The -torrid heat of the summer is passing away, but has not passed. - -It returns in hot waves when the incense of its burning seems to rise to -heaven. - -No one goes out in the sun who is not obliged to go, or does anything -else he or she is not obliged to do. - -The Forces lived quietly in their city home during this month, neither -making nor receiving calls. - -The subject of Col. Anglesea’s death and of Le’s return very naturally -occupied much of their thought. - -Le was expected home at the end of the three years voyage—then, or -thereabouts, no one knew exactly the day, or even the week. - -Letters notifying him of the death of Angus Anglesea were promptly -written to him by every member of the family, so eager were they all to -convey the news and express themselves on the subject. - -Even little Elva wrote, and her letter contained a characteristic -paragraph: - - “I am almost afraid it is a sin to be so very glad, as I am that - Odalite is now entirely free from the fear that has haunted her and - oppressed her spirits and darkened her mind for nearly three years. I - cannot help feeling glad when I see Odalite looking so bright, happy - and hopeful, just as she used to look before that man bewitched her. - But I know I ought to be sorry for him, and indeed I am, just a - little. Maybe he couldn’t help being bad—maybe he didn’t have - Christian parents. I do hope he repented and found grace before he - died. But Rosemary shakes her head and sighs over him. But, then, you - know, Rosemary is such a solemn little thing over anything - serious—though she can be funny enough at times. Oh, how I wish it was - lawful to pray for the dead! Then I would pray for that man every hour - in the day. And now I will tell you a secret, or—make you a - confession: I do pray for him every night, and then I pray to the Lord - that if it is a sin for me to pray for the dead He will forgive me for - praying for that man. Oh, Le! how we that call ourselves Christians - should try to save sinners while they live!” - -It was on a Saturday, near the middle of October, when answering letters -came from Le—a large packet—directed to Mr. Force, but containing -letters for each one. They were jubilant letters, filled full of life, -and love, and hope. Not one regret for the dead man! not one hope that -he had repented and found grace, as little Elva expressed it. Clearly, -Le was one of those Christians who can rejoice in the just perdition of -the lost. - -His ship was at Rio Janeiro, on her return voyage, he wrote, and he -expected to be home to eat his Christmas dinner with the uncle, aunt and -cousins who were soon to be his father, mother, wife and sisters. The -New Year’s wedding that was to have come off three years ago should be -celebrated on the coming New Year with more éclat than had ever attended -a wedding before. Now he would resign from the navy, and settle down -with his dear Odalite at Greenbushes, where it would be in no man’s -power to disturb their peace. - -Le wrote in very much the same vein to every member of the family, for, -as has been seen in the first part of this story, there never was such a -frank, simple and confiding pair of lovers as these two who had been -brought up together, and whose letters were read by father, mother and -sisters, aunt, uncle and cousins. - -To Elva, in addition to other things, he wrote: “Don’t trouble your -gentle heart about the fate of Anglesea. Leave him to the Lord. No man -is ever removed from this earth until it is best for him and everybody -else that he should go. Then he goes and he cannot go before.” - -“That is all very well to say,” murmured poor Elva; “but, all the same, -when I remember how much I wished—something would happen to him—for -Odalite’s sake, I cannot help feeling as if I had somehow helped to kill -him.” - -“Well, perhaps you did,” said Wynnette. “I believe the most gentle and -tender angels are all unconsciously the most terrible destroyers of the -evil. I have read somewhere or other that the most malignant and furious -demon from the deepest pit will turn tail and—no, I mean will fly, -howling in pain, wrath and terror, from before the face of a naked -infant! Ah! there are wonderful influences in the invisible world around -us. You may have been his Uriel.” - -“But I didn’t want to be—I didn’t want to be!” said Elva, almost in -tears. - -“No, you didn’t want to be while you were awake and in your natural -state; but how do you know, now, what you wanted to be when you were -asleep and in your spiritual condition?” - -Elva opened her large, blue eyes with such amazement that Wynnette burst -out laughing. - -And nothing more was said on the subject at that time, because Mr. -Force, who had left a pile of other unopened letters on the table while -they read and discussed Le’s, now took up one from the pile, looked at -it, and exclaimed: - -“Why, Elfrida, my dear, here is a letter from England for you. It is -sealed with the Enderby crest. From your brother, no doubt.” - -“The first I have had for years,” said the lady, as she took the letter -from her husband’s hands. - -It was directed in the style that would have been used had the earl’s -sister lived in England: - - “LADY ELFRIDA FORCE, - “Mondreer, Maryland, U. S.” - -It had been forwarded from the country post office to the city: - -Elfrida opened it and read: - - “ENDERBY CASTLE, October 1, 186— - - “MY DEAR AND ONLY SISTER: I have no apology to offer you for my long - neglect of your regular letters, except that of the sad _vis inertia_ - of the confirmed invalid. That I know you will accept with charity and - sympathy. - - “I am lower in health, strength and spirits than ever before. I employ - an amanuensis to write all my letters, except those to you. - - “I shrink from having a stranger intermeddling with a correspondence - between an only brother and sister, and so, because I was not able to - write with my own hand, your letters have been unanswered. - - “In none of them, however, have you mentioned any present or - prospective establishment of any of your girls, except that, years - ago, you spoke of an early, very early betrothal of your eldest - daughter to a young naval officer. You have not alluded to that - arrangement lately. Has that come to nothing? It was scarcely a match - befitting one who will some day, should she live, be my successor - here. - - “Your girls must have grown up in all these years. Let us see. Odalite - must be nineteen, Wynnette seventeen, and little Elva fifteen. Two of - them, therefore, must be marriageable, according to Maryland notions. - Write and tell me all about them. And tell me whether you will come - into my views that I am about to open to you. - - “I am lonely, very lonely, not having a near relative in the world, - except yourself and your family. I want you all to come over and make - me a long visit, and then try to make up your minds to the magnanimity - of leaving one of your girls with me for so long as I may have to - live; or, if one girl would feel lonesome, leave two, to keep each - other company. You and your husband might be quite happy with one - daughter at home. - - “So I think. What do you? - - “My plan may be only the selfish wish of a chronic sufferer, who is - nearly always sure to be an egotist. Consult your husband, and write - to me. - - “Give my love to my nieces, and kindest regards to Mr. Force, and - believe me, ever, dear Elfrida, - - “Your affectionate brother, - “ENDERBY.” - -Mrs. Force having read the letter to herself, passed it over without a -word of comment to her husband. - -Mr. Force also read it in silence, and then returned it to his wife, -saying: - -“This matter requires mature deliberation. We will think over it -to-night, and decide to-morrow.” - -“Or, as to-morrow is the Sabbath, we will write and give my brother our -answer on Monday,” amended the lady. - -“Yes, that will be better. It will give us more time to mature our -plans,” assented Mr. Force. - -“What is it?” inquired Wynnette, drawing near her parents, while Elva -and Rosemary looked the interest that they did not put into words. - -“A letter from your Uncle Enderby, my dears, inviting us all to come -over and make him a long visit.” - -“Oh! that would be delightful, mamma. Can we not go?” eagerly inquired -Wynnette. - -“Perhaps. You will all graduate at the end of this current term, and -then, perhaps, we can go with advantage, but not before.” - -“Oh, that will be joyful, joyful, joyful!” sang Wynnette, in the words -of a revival hymn. - -“But what will Le and Odalite do?” inquired little Elva, who always -thought of everybody. - -“Why, if Le and Odalite are to be married in January they can go over -there for the bridal trip, you know,” said Wynnette. “They will have to -go somewhere on a wedding tour—all brides and grooms have to—and the -reason why is because for the first few weeks after marriage they are -such insupportable idiots that no human beings can possibly endure their -presence. My private opinion is that they ought to be sent to a lunatic -asylum to spend the honeymoon; but as that cannot be done, we can send -our poor idiots over to Uncle Enderby. Maybe by the time they have -crossed the ocean seasickness may have brought them to their senses.” - -“Thank you, for myself and Le,” said Odalite, laughing. - -“Without joking, I really think your plan is a good one,” said Mrs. -Force. “Whether we all follow in June or not, it will be an acceptable -attention to my brother to send our son and daughter over to spend their -honeymoon at Enderby Castle.” - -There was more conversation, that need not be reported here, except to -say that all agreed to the plan of the wedding trip. - -On the following Monday, Mr. and Mrs. Force, having come to a decision, -wrote a joint letter to the Earl of Enderby, cordially thanking him for -his invitation, gladly accepting it, and explaining that the marriage of -their daughter, Odalite, with Mr. Leonidas Force, would probably come -off in January, after which the young pair would sail for England on a -visit to Enderby Castle. That if all should go well, after the two -younger girls should have graduated from their academy, the whole family -would follow in June, and join at the castle. - -It would be curious, at the moment we close a letter to some distant -friend, could we look in and see what, at that moment, the friend might -be doing. - -At the instant that Mr. Force sealed the envelope to the Earl of -Enderby, could he have been clairvoyant, he might have looked in upon -the library of Enderby Castle and seen the sunset light streaming -through a richly stained oriel window upon the thin, pale, patrician -face and form of a man of middle age, who sat wrapped in an Indian silk -dressing gown, reclining in a deeply cushioned easy-chair, and reading a -newspaper—the London _Evening Telegram_. - -And this is what the Earl of Enderby read: - - “We take pleasure in announcing that Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea has - been appointed deputy lieutenant governor of the county.” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - ANTICIPATIONS - - -With the assembling of Congress, in the first week of December, the -usual crowd of officials, pleasure-seekers, fortune hunters, adventurers -and adventuresses poured into Washington. Hotels, boarding houses and -private dwellings were full. - -The serious business of fashion and the light recreation of legislation -began. - -Mr. Force went down to the capitol every day to listen to the disputes -in the House or in the Senate. - -Mrs. Force and Odalite drove out to call on such of their friends and -acquaintances as had arrived in the city, and to leave cards for the -elder lady’s “day”—the Wednesday of each week during the season. - -Letters came from Le. His ship was still delayed for an indefinite time -at Rio de Janeiro, waiting sailing orders, which seemed to be slow in -coming. - -Le’s letters betrayed the fact that he was fretting and fuming over the -delay. - - “Don’t know what the navy department means,” he wrote, “keeping us - here for no conceivable purpose under the sun. But I know what I mean. - I mean to resign as soon as ever I get home. - - “If there should come a war I will serve my country, of course; but in - these ‘piping times of peace’ I will not stay in the service to be - anybody’s nigger, even Uncle Sam’s!” - -Odalite, Wynnette and Elva cheered him up with frequent letters. - -Christmas is rather a quiet interlude in the gay life of Washington. - -Congress adjourns until after New Year. - -Most of the government officials—members of the administration and of -both houses of Congress, and many of the civil service brigade, leave -the city to spend their holidays in their distant homesteads. - -In fact, there is an exodus until after New Year. - -The gay season in Washington does not really begin until after the first -of January. - -The public receptions by the President and by the members of the cabinet -take the initiative. - -Then follow receptions by members of the diplomatic corps, by prominent -senators and representatives, and by wealthy or distinguished private -citizens. - -Mr., Mrs. and Miss Force went everywhere, and received everybody—within -the limits of their social circle. - -Odalite, for the first time in her short life, enjoyed society with a -real youthful zest. - -There was no drawback now. Her mother’s deadly enemy had passed to his -account, and could trouble her no more, she thought. Le was coming home, -and they were to be married soon, and go to Europe and see all the -beauties and splendors and glories of the Old World, which she so longed -to view. They were to sojourn in the old, ancestral English home which -had been the scene of her mother’s childhood—ah! and the scene of so -many exploits of her ancestors—sieges, defenses, captures, recoveries, -confiscations by this ruler, restorations by that—events which had -passed into history and helped to make it. She would see -London—wonderful, mighty London!—St. Paul’s, the Tower. Oh! and Paris, -and the old Louvre!—Rome! St. Peter’s! the Coliseum! the -Catacombs!—places which the facilities of modern travel have made as -common as a market house to most of the educated world, but which, to -this imaginative, country girl, were holy ground, sacred monuments, -wonderful, most wonderful relics of a long since dead and gone world. - -And Le would be her companion in all these profound enjoyments! And, -after all, they should return home and settle down at Greenbushes, never -to part again, but to be near neighbors to father, mother, sisters and -friends; to give and receive all manner of neighborly kindnesses, -courtesies, hospitalities. - -Odalite’s heart was as full of happy thoughts as is a hive of honey -bees. Her happiness beamed from her face, shining on all who approached -her. - -If Odalite had been admired during the two past seasons when she was -pale, quiet and depressed, how much more was she admired now in her -fair, blooming beauty, that seemed to bring sunshine, life and light -into every room she entered. - -Mrs. Force felt all a mother’s pride in the social success of her -daughter. - -But to Odalite herself the proudest and happiest day of the whole season -was that on which she received a letter from Le, announcing his -immediate return home. - - “This letter,” he wrote, “will go by the steamer that leaves this port - on the thirteenth of January. We have our sailing orders for the first - of February. On that day we leave this blessed port homeward bound. - Winds and waves propitious, we shall arrive early in March, and - then—and then, Odalite——” - -And then the faithful lover and prospective bridegroom went off into the -extravagances that were to be expected, even of him. - -Odalite received this letter on the first of February, and knew that on -that day Le had sailed, homeward bound. - -“He will be here some time in the first week of March,” said Mrs. Force, -in talking over the letter with her daughter. “Congress will have -adjourned by the fourth. All strangers will have left. The city will be -quiet. It will be in the midst of Lent also. I think, Odalite, that, -under all the circumstances, we had better have a very private wedding, -here in our city home, with none but our family and most intimate -friends present. Then you and Le will sail for Europe, make the grand -tour, and after that shall be finished, go to my brother at Enderby -Castle, where we—your father, and sisters, and myself—will join you in -the autumn. What do you think?” - -“I think as you do, mamma, and would much prefer the marriage to be as -quiet as possible,” Odalite assented. - -“After you and Le leave us we shall still remain in the city until the -girls shall have graduated. Then we will go down to the dear old home -for a few weeks, and then sail for Liverpool, to join you at Enderby -Castle.” - -“That is an enchanting program, mamma! Oh! I hope we may be able to -carry it through!” exclaimed Odalite. - -“There is no reason in the world why we should not, my dear,” replied -the lady. - -Odalite sighed, with a presentiment of evil which she could neither -comprehend nor banish. - -“And now,” said her mother, “I must sit down and write to Mrs. Anglesea -and to Mr. Copp. The house at Mondreer will need to be prepared for us. -It wanted repairs badly enough when we left it. It must be in a worse -condition now; so I must write at once to give them time enough to have -the work done well.” - -And she retired to her own room to go about her task. - -When Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary came home in the afternoon, and heard -that Le had sailed from Rio de Janeiro, and would certainly be home -early in March, they were wild with delight. - -When, upon much cross-examination of Odalite, they found out that the -marriage of the young lovers was to be quietly performed in the parlor -of their father’s house, and that the newly married pair would -immediately sail for Europe in advance of the family, who were to join -them at Enderby Castle later on, their ecstasies took forms strongly -suggestive of Darwin’s theory concerning the origin of the species. In -other words, they danced and capered all over the drawing room. - -“We want Rosemary to go with us, papa, dear,” said Elva. - -“We must have Rosemary to go with us, you know, mamma,” added Wynnette. - -“That is not for us to say,” replied Mr. Force. - -“It is a question for her mother and her aunt,” added Mrs. Force. - -But the little girls did not yield the point. Rosemary’s three years’ -association with them had made her as dear to Wynnette and Elva as a -little sister. And when they found out that Rosemary was heartbroken at -the prospect of parting from them, and “wild” to accompany them, they -stuck to their point with the pertinacity of little terriers. - -Now what could Abel Force—the kindest-hearted man on the face of the -earth, perhaps—do but yield to the children’s innocent desire? - -He wrote to Mrs. Hedge and to Miss Grandiere, proposing to those ladies -to take Rosemary with his daughters to Europe, to give her the -educational advantage of the tour. - -In due time came the answer of the sisters, full of surprise and -gratitude for the generous offer, which they accepted in the simple -spirit in which it was made. - -And when Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary were informed of the decision there -were not three happier girls in the whole world than themselves. - -The same mail brought a letter from the housekeeper at Mondreer, who was -ever a very punctual correspondent. - -She informed Mrs. Force that such internal improvements as might be made -in bad weather were already progressing at Mondreer—that all the -bedsteads were down, and all the carpets up, the floors had been -scrubbed, and the windows and painting washed, and the kalsominers were -at work. - -But she wanted to know immediately, if Mrs. Force pleased, what that -news was that she was saving for a personal interview. If it concerned -her own “beat,” she would like to know it at once. - -“Why, I thought you had told her, mamma,” said Odalite, when she had -read this letter. - -“No, my dear. I did not wish to excite any new talk of Angus Anglesea -until you and Le should be married and off to Europe. I shrink from the -subject, Odalite. I am sorry now that I hinted to the woman having -anything to tell her.” - -“But, mamma, ought she not be told that he is dead?” - -“He has been dead to her since he left her. In good time she shall know -that he is dead to us also. And, my dear, remember that he was not her -husband, after all, but——” - -“Oh! don’t finish the sentence, mamma! What will Le say?” sighed -Odalite. - -“Nothing. This will make no difference to you or to Le. That ceremony -performed at All Faith, three years ago, whether legal or illegal, was -certainly incomplete—the marriage rites arrested before the registry was -made. You have never seen or spoken to the would-be bridegroom since -that hour; and now the man is dead, and you are free, even if you were -ever bound. Let us hear no more on that subject, my dear. Now I shall -have to answer this letter, and—as I have been so unlucky as to have -raised the woman’s suspicions and set her to talking—I must tell her the -facts, I suppose. And—as for her sake as well as for our own, I choose -to consider her the widow of Angus Anglesea—I shall send with the letter -a widow’s outfit,” concluded the lady, as she left the room. - -The whole remainder of that day was spent by Mrs. Force in driving along -Pennsylvania Avenue and up Seventh Street, selecting from the best -stores an appropriate outfit in mourning goods for the colonel’s widow. - -These were all sent home in the evening, carefully packed in a large -deal box, which, with a letter at its bottom, was dispatched by express -to Mrs. Angus Anglesea, Charlotte Hall, Maryland. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - VALENTINES AT MONDREER - - -It was the fourteenth of February, St. Valentine’s Feast and All Birds’ -Wedding Day! - -It was a bright morning, with a sunny blue sky, and a soft breeze giving -a foretaste of early spring. - -Miss Sibby Bayard had come by special invitation to dine, and take tea -with the housekeeper at Mondreer. - -The two ladies were seated in Mrs. Force’s favorite sitting room, whose -front window looked east upon the bay, and whose side window looked -north into the woods. - -A bright, open wood fire was burning in the wide fireplace, at which -they sat in two rocking-chairs with their feet upon the brass fender. - -Mrs. Anglesea had the edge of her skirt drawn up as usual, for, as she -often declared, she would rather toast her shins before the fire than -eat when she was hungry, or sleep when she was sleepy. - -Miss Sibby was knitting one of a pair of white lamb’s-wool socks for her -dear Roland. - -Mrs. Anglesea was letting out the side seams of her Sunday basque. - -“It is the most aggravating thing in this world that I seem to be always -a-letting out of seams, and yet always a-having my gown bodies split -somewhere or other when I put them on!” said the widow, apropos of her -work, as she laid the open seam over her knee and began smoothing it out -with her chubby fingers. - -“You’re gettin’ too fat, that’s where it is. You’re gettin’ a great deal -too fat,” remarked plain-spoken Miss Sibby. - -“Well! That’s just what I’m complaining of! I’m getting so fat that the -people make fun of me behind my back; they’d better not try it on before -my face, I can tell them that!” - -“How do you know they make fun of you at all?” - -“By instick! I know it. And besides, this very morning, when Jake came -from the post office, what did he fetch me? Not the letter from the old -’oman, as I was a-hoping and a-praying for! No! but a big onwelope with -a impident walentine in it!” - -“A walentine!” - -“Yes, ma’am! A most impident one! A woman—no—a haystack dressed up like -me, with impident verses under it! I wish I knowed who sent it! I’d give -’em walentines and haystacks, too, for their impidence.” - -“Oh, don’t yer mind that! It was some boys or other! Boys is the devil, -sez I, and you need never to expect nothing better from them, sez I! You -can’t get blood out’n a turnip, sez I! nor likewise make a silk purse -out’n a sow’s ear, sez I, and no more can’t you expect nothing out’n -boys but the devil. Why, la! I got a wuss walentine than yourn! Found it -tucked underneath of the front door this morning. Jest look at it!” said -Miss Sibby, drawing a folded paper out of her pocket, opening and -displaying it to her companion. - -“See here,” she continued, pointing out its features as she spread it on -her knee. “Here a tower, with a man on the top of it and a crown on the -head of him, and his arms stretched out just as he has chucked an old -’oman over the wall! And here’s the old ’oman halfway down to the ground -with her hands and feet flying. And onderneath of it all is wrote, -‘Descended from a duke.’ That’s meant for me, you know! It’s a harpoon -on me and the Duke of England! But I don’t mind it! Not I! It’s nothing -but their envy, sez I. The birds will pick at the highest fruit, sez I!” - -“I think they ought to be well thrashed! Wish I had hold of ’em!” - -“Lemme see yourn!” said Miss Sibby. - -Mrs. Anglesea stood up and took a folded paper from under one of the -silver candlesticks on the mantelpiece and handed it to her visitor. - -A haystack, dressed in Mrs. Anglesea’s style and crowned with her head, -and not a very violent caricature of her face. Evidently, like Miss -Sibby’s valentine, the work of some waggish amateur. - -“It’s the truth of the thing that gets me. I am getting to be a -haystack,” said Mrs. Anglesea. - -“Well, what do you do it for?” inquired Miss Sibby. - -“How can I help it?” demanded her companion. - -“Reggerlate your habits. Do by yourself as you do by the animyles, sez -I!” - -“I don’t understand you.” - -“Well, I’ll try to ’splain. When we want to fatten fowl, we shut ’em up -in coops so they can’t move round much; and we feed ’em full, don’t we?” - -“Yes.” - -“And when we want to fatten pigs, we shut ’em up in pens so they can’t -run round much, and we feed ’em full, don’t we?” - -“Yes! But what of that?” - -“Well, them innicent fowls and quadruples are our kinfolks in the flesh, -if they ain’t in the spirit anyways, and what’s law to them is law to -us.” - -“You’re too deep for me, ole ’oman!” - -“Well, then, to come to the p’int——” - -“Yes, down to hard pan.” - -“If you want to get fatter and fatter, till you can’t pass through ne’er -a door in this house, you keep eating as much as you can, and sitting -into rocking-chairs as long as possible!” - -“Oh, Lord!” - -“And you’ll keep on a-getting fatter and fatter, until—until you’d do to -go round the country in a show.” - -“Oh, Lord! Next time I see young Dr. Ingle I’ll ask him wot sort o’ -vittels produces fat and wot’ll make only skin and bone and muscle,” -said the widow, in dismay. - -“Yes, I reckon you’d better do that! It’s getting dangerous in your -case, you know! As for me, I am fat enough; but never too fat. I always -wariate betwixt a hund’ed and twenty-five to a hund’ed and thirty. But I -never go beyond a hund’ed and thirty. Moderation is a jewel, sez I! -Lord! here’s somebody a-coming! Who is it, I wonder?” exclaimed Miss -Sibby, breaking off in her discourse and going to the front window. -“Why, it’s Tommy Grandiere! And he and Jake a-bringin’ in of a big box!” -she continued, as the “carryall” stopped before the door, and the farmer -and the servant lifted down a box. - -“It’s new curtains, or rugs, or something for the house. They’re alluss -a-coming,” observed Mrs. Anglesea. - -As she spoke the door opened, and Jake’s head appeared, while Jake’s -voice said: - -“’Ere’s Marse Tom Grander, mum.” - -Mr. Grandiere entered the room. - -“Good-day, Mrs. Anglesea! Miss Sibby, glad to see you! I was up at -Charlotte’s Hall this morning, and saw a box at the express office for -you. As I was coming down this way, and thought maybe it would be a -convenience to you for me to fetch it along, I just gave a receipt for -it and fetched it. So here it is in the hall.” - -“I thank you, sir, which it is a convenience! Not knowing as there was a -box there for me, I might have left it for a week. Thanky’, sir! Won’t -you sit down?” inquired Mrs. Anglesea, placing a chair for the newcomer. - -“No, I thank you, ma’am. I have to go. But I would like to ask: Have you -heard from Mr. and Mrs. Force lately?” - -“Not for ’most a fortnight. But they are coming down in June.” - -“In June? Yes, so I heard. Good-morning, Mrs. Anglesea. Good-morning, -Miss Sibby.” - -And the visitor hurried away. - -“What’s in that box, do you think?” inquired Miss Sibby. - -“Oh, curtains, or stair carpet, or rugs, or something for the house! -They are allus a-coming! Only I ’most in general get a letter first to -tell me where to send for them,” said Mrs. Anglesea. - -“I would like to see the pattern o’ them rugs and curtains and things! -Fashions do change so much, I would ralely like to see what the present -fashion is! Ef you don’t keep up with the times, sez I, the times will -leave you behind, sez I!” - -“Well, we’ll open the box after dinner, Miss Sibby, but we can’t before. -Dinner is ready to go on the table now, and it mustn’t be spoiled by -keeping. It’s spring lamb and spinach, raised under glass——” - -“Spring lamb and spinach the fourteenth of February! Never!” exclaimed -the descendant of the Howards. - -“Yes, but it is. Having the conveniences to do it with, I don’t see why -we shouldn’t have the luxuries. Having the hotbeds, why not the spinach? -That’s what I say to Jake and to Luce. And let me tell you them niggers -live just as well as I do.” - -“Lamb and spinach!” gasped Miss Sibby. - -“And that ain’t all. Fresh fish, caught in the bay this morning, to -begin with. And meringo pudding to finish off with. And a good bottle of -wine to go all the way through with it. It isn’t often as I meddle with -the wine cellar, though the ole man and ’oman did tell me to help -myself—give me _carte wheel_, as they called it, to do as I please with -what’s left in the vault. Most of it, to be sure, was took to -Washington. Still I never makes free with the wine, ‘cept on high days -and holidays. And there’s the bell, so now we’ll go in to dinner.” - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE BOX - - -The _tête-à-tête_ dinner was greatly enjoyed by these gossips. They -lingered over it as long as it was possible to do so. - -“Talkin’ o’ walentines,” said Miss Sibby, apropos of nothing, “when I -was young there wa’n’t no walentines made to sell. They was only made by -ladies with fine taste for the work. They were cut out of fine paper, -heart-shaped when folded, and scalloped circle when open, and finified -off with ‘lilies and roses and other fine posies,’ and with written -verses. Ah! I have known old Mrs. Grandiere—Miss Susannah’s mother—spend -days and days cutting out and decorating walentines for the young people -to send to their sweethearts. And they was all complimentary, and never -impident. No sich thing as buying of a walentine ever heard of. And now -they’ve got ’em in every shop window. But times changes, sez I, and them -as lives the longest, sez I, sees the most, sez I.” - -“I don’t think as your valentine or mine came out of the shops, Miss -Sibby. I never seen any like them in shops. I think they was handmade by -some young vilyun or other.” - -“That is so. And the same scamp as made yourn, sez I, likewise made -mine, sez I. And now as we’ve got done our dinner, hadn’t we might as -well go and see them new-fashioned rugs and things in the box? If you -have got anything to do, sez I, why, go and do it at once, sez I. Ain’t -that so?” - -“Yes, and we will go and open the box. Jake, bring a chisel and a -clawhammer here, and life that big box out o’ the hall into the little -parlor,” said the widow, calling to the one manservant, and then leading -the way back to the sitting room. - -Jake soon appeared with the box—a heavy deal case, four feet square—on -his shoulder, and carefully lowered it to the floor. - -“Now rip off the lid,” said the widow. - -Jake, with considerable labor, opened the box. - -“And now we shall see them new-fashioned rugs. And if I like ’em, I’ll -send to Baltimore by Mark Truman’s schooner, and buy one to lay before -my fireplace, soon’s ever I get paid for that last hogshead of tobacco,” -said Miss Sibby, as the lid of the box flew up under Jake’s vigorous -applications of the clawhammer. - -The two women stooped over the open case. - -First came a roll of coarse brown paper; then a layer of finer paper; -then a large, folded parcel of bombazine and crape, which, on being -unwrapped, turned out to be a made-up, deep mourning dress. - -“Oh, this must be a mistake!” said Mrs. Anglesea. “This box must have -been intended for somebody else.” - -And she turned up the lid and read the direction again. - -“No! It is directed to me, sure enough, but it must be a mistake, all -the same. And I reckon the mistake was made at the store where all the -things was bought, and they misdirected the box, and sent me these -things, and sent them rugs to the party these was intended for. Lord! -how careless people is, to be sure! But now let us see for curiosity -what is in the box.” - -And while Miss Sibby looked on with the greatest curiosity, Mrs. -Anglesea unpacked the case. - -More tissue paper; then a folded mantle of bombazine, trimmed with -crape; then a black merino shawl; then half a dozen pair of black kid -gloves; then another dress of black cashmere; then half a dozen pairs of -black hose; then an inner wooden box, which, being lifted out and -opened, was found to contain two compartments. In one was a widow’s -black crape bonnet, with long, heavy black crape veil; and in the other -a widow’s cap of _crêpe lisse_, and another of fine, white organdie. - -When all these were laid out on the table the two women stood on either -side of it, looking at each other and at the articles before them. - -“Well, I reckon I’d better put ’em all back again, and wait till I hear -from the owner,” said Mrs. Anglesea. - -“I reckon maybe you better read this letter first. I think it must have -been flung out accidental when the paper was took off the top of the -things in the box,” said Miss Sibby, as she stooped and picked up a -white envelope from among the waste paper under the table, and which had -just caught her eye. - -“To be sure! This is directed to me, too, and in the handwriting of the -ole ’oman, too. Now I wonder I didn’t see this before. I do reckon now -she has sent these here things down to me to give to some one who is -going in mourning.” - -So saying, Mrs. Anglesea opened the letter, and being a frank soul, -spelled it out aloud: - - “WASHINGTON, February 12, 1882. - - “MY DEAR MRS. ANGLESEA: I received your letter, and hasten to reply. I - should have preferred to give you my serious news in person, but since - you insist on it, I give it you now in writing. Under all the - circumstances, I need not fear even to give you a shock, when I tell - you that Col. Angus Anglesea died at——” - -“Good Lord! then the man is dead, sure enough!” exclaimed the widow, -breaking off from her readings and looking up at her companion. - -“Lord ’a’ mercy! So he is! But read on! Don’t stop! Let’s hear all about -it!” exclaimed Miss Sibby. - -“Oh, I can’t! I can’t! It seems so strange! He was so strong and healthy -I thought he’d live forever almost! I thought he’d outlive me, anyways. -And now he’s dead! It don’t seem possible, you know,” said the widow, -with a total change of manner. - -“Why, Lord! I thought you suspicioned as it was your husband’s death as -Mrs. Force was a-keeping from you.” - -“No, I didn’t. It was all my nonsense. I hadn’t a notion as he could -die, and he the perfect pictor of life and health. And to be cut off in -his prime!” - -“Why, woman, you seem like you was sorry for the man as robbed and -deserted you!” - -“Don’t speak of that now, Miss Sibby. It’s mean to speak ill of the -dead, who can’t answer you back again!” said the widow. - -“And now I know you are sorry for him. And yet you ’lowed if he was dead -you would not go into mourning for him!” - -“Yes, but I didn’t think he was dead then, or that he would ever die in -my lifetime. I—I didn’t know,” said the widow, in a breaking voice that -she tried hard to steady. - -“Well! them as would understand a widdy, sez I, need to have a long -head, sez I! I knowed as you was awful tender-hearted and pitiful, Mrs. -Anglesea. But I ralely didn’t think as you’d take on about him.” - -“I’m not taken on about nobody. But a woman needn’t be a wild Indian, or -a heathen, or cannibal, I reckon. A Christian’s ’lowed to have some sort -o’ feelin’s. Now let me read the rest of my letter.” - -And she resumed the perusal of her epistle, but in silence. She read all -the particulars of Anglesea’s death as they were given by Mrs. Force in -her own writing, and also in the slips cut from the Angleton -_Advertiser_ and inclosed in the letter. All except the concluding -paragraph of the eulogy, giving the statement of his two marriages. -These were cut off, in kindness to her, who thought herself his lawful -wife. - -When she had finished she gave all into Miss Sibby’s hands, and sat and -watched in moody silence while the old lady adjusted her spectacles and -slowly read them through. - -“They speak very highly of the poor man in that there newspaper. He must -have repented of his sins and made a good end, after all,” said Miss -Sibby, very solemnly, as she returned letters and papers into Mrs. -Anglesea’s hands. - -“It was very thoughtful of Mrs. Force to send me down this box of -mourning—very thoughtful. And I am very thankful to her for it,” -murmured the widow, as if speaking to herself. - -“Then you will go in mourning for him?” said Miss Sibby. - -“Of course I shall.” - -No more was said just then. - -Miss Bayard stayed to tea. And then, seeing that her friend was very -much depressed in spirits, she volunteered to stay with her all night; a -favor for which the widow was really very grateful. - -The next morning, however, the elastic spirits of the lady from the -mines had risen to their normal elevation, and Miss Sibby, with relieved -feelings, left Mondreer to spread the news of Angus Anglesea’s death far -and wide through the neighborhood. - -And it is perfectly safe to say that the woman whom he had so deeply -wronged was the only individual in the whole community who felt the -least pity for his premature departure. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - “MERRY AS A MARRIAGE BELL” - - -Congress adjourned on the fourth of March, and within a week from that -time the crowd that always follows in their wake left Washington, and -the city dropped into comparative repose; for not only were all the -receptions over, the multitude departed, but the season of Lent was on. - -The Forces enjoyed this time of rest from the world. They attended old -St. John’s Church three times a week, and lived quietly between whiles, -looking forward with pleasant anticipations to the arrival of Le, and to -all the delights that were expected to follow that event. - -Le arrived on Easter Sunday morning. His ship had reached New York on -the day before. He had obtained leave of absence, and he had only time -to catch the latest train to Washington, “on the run,” leaving all his -luggage behind him and having not a moment to telegraph his friends of -his approach. - -He reached the city at twelve o’clock midnight, and not wishing to wake -the family up at that hour, he took a room at a hotel. - -But by sunrise the next morning he was up and dressed, had paid his -bill, taken a hack from the sidewalk, and was on his way to P Street -Circle, to look up his uncle’s city house. - -That Easter Sunday the family were assembled around the table in the -pleasant breakfast room of their house, which looked out upon the -circle, where already the parterres were brilliant and fragrant with the -earliest spring flowers—hyacinths, pink, blue and white; daffodils -golden; tulips flame and fire color; jonquils, like golden cups in -silver saucers; bridal wreath; yellow currant burning bush—all budding, -but not yet blooming. All the grass of a tender emerald green. All the -trees just bursting into leaf. Birds singing only as they sing on a -spring morning. - -“What a beautiful Easter Sunday is this! Not a cloud in all the sky!” -said Odalite, as she turned from the window to take her seat at the -table. - -Mr. Force stood up to ask a blessing, but the doorbell rang sharply and -he sat down again. - -And before any one could put a question the door flew open and Le rushed -in like the wind. - -Every one jumped so suddenly from the table that chairs were overturned -in their haste to welcome the wanderer. - -There followed much handshaking, hugging and kissing, rather mixed and -confused, until Le found Odalite in his arms. Then he came to a stop and -held her there while he answered questions. - -“Hadn’t an idea your ship was near port. When did you get in?” inquired -Mr. Force. - -“Anchored yesterday at half-past two, got leave, and caught the three -train. Hadn’t time to telegraph, or even to pack a portmanteau. Can any -one lend me the loan of a clean change of linen?” inquired Le, with a -look of distress. - -“Of course! You shall go to my room and help yourself. But you don’t -look much in want,” replied his uncle. - -“Now sit down, Le. We were just about to begin breakfast when you came -in,” said Mrs. Force, as the manservant in attendance placed another -chair at the table for the newcomer. - -There was silence for a few moments while Mr. Force said the grace. - -Then the confusion of Babel began again. All asked questions, and -without waiting for them to be answered, asked others. Wynnette and -Elva, who were home for the Easter holidays, seemed to run a race with -their tongues as to which could talk fastest and most. Mr. and Mrs. -Force had much to ask and to tell. Odalite, and even quaint, little -Rosemary, put in a word when they could get a chance. - -It is always so when a sailor returns from a long voyage to his family -circle. - -There was but little breakfast eaten that morning, though they lingered -long at the table—so long that, at length, Mrs. Force felt obliged to -ask the question: - -“Are you going to church with us this morning, Le?” - -“Of course I am, auntie. I should be worse than a heathen not to go, if -it were only to give thanks for my safe and joyful arrival at home,” -replied the young man. - -“That is right, my boy. I like to see you hold fast to the faith and -practice of your forefathers in this untoward generation,” said Mr. -Force. - -“Well, then, since you are going with us, Le, dear, you had better get -ready. We have but little time,” advised the lady. - -“Come with me to my room, Le. My underclothing will fit you well enough, -I am sure. Bless you, my boy! you have caught up to me in size,” said -Mr. Force, as he arose from the table to conduct the midshipman. - -The ladies of the circle also went to their chambers to get ready for -church. - -And this was Le’s welcome home. - -Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary had a week’s holiday with which they were -all the more delighted because of their dear Le’s presence. - -Although, as in love and duty bound, he devoted himself almost -exclusively to Odalite, yet he found time to take a little notice of his -younger friends—to tell them how much they had grown, how greatly they -had improved, how womanly they had become since he saw them three years -before, and so on and so on. - -During this week the preparations for Leonidas and Odalite’s marriage -were discussed. - -It was decided that the wedding should take place on the first of April. - -“All Fools’ Day! What a commentary!” exclaimed Wynnette, when she -learned the decision. - -No one had thought of its being All Fools’ Day when the date was fixed; -and now that it was so fixed, the circumstance was somewhat too trivial -to warrant any change in the time. So on the first of April the happy -event was appointed to come off. - -“I should like to ask Roland Bayard to come up to be my groomsman,” said -Le, to no one in particular, since he spoke in full family council. - -“Why, I thought he was at sea!” said Mr. Force. - -“No, uncle, he has just got home. I had a letter from him this morning. -He had seen the arrival of my ship in the papers and naturally addressed -his letters here. I suppose his aunt gave him your address.” - -“Quite likely. She knew it.” - -“Queer, isn’t it?” ruminated Le. “Roland and I do happen to make our -voyages and returns simultaneously, or nearly so, and without any -possibility of intended concert of action.” - -“Well, if you happen to start about the same time for a voyage of the -same length, you will be apt to return about the same time, I suppose!” - -“Yes, I suppose so.” - -“And now, Le, my boy, in regard to inviting young Bayard here, do so, by -all means. Ask any of your particular friends. And ask them to come a -day or so beforehand, so as to be ready for the occasion.” - -“Thank you, Uncle Abel; but I think Roland is the only one whom I care -to invite.” - -“Does the liberty you have given Le include us all, papa, dear?” -inquired Wynnette. - -“In what respect, my dear? I don’t understand you.” - -“May each of us invite one or more very particular friends?” Wynnette -inquired. - -“You must consult your mother and Odalite about that,” replied Mr. -Force, good-humoredly. - -“Whom do you wish to ask, Wynnette?” inquired her mother. - -“Why, only the Grandieres and the Elks.” - -“You mean the young people, of course?” - -“Yes, mamma, dear.” - -“Let me see. There are about eight of them, all counted—six girls and -two boys. Well, my dear, you know this wedding is to be a private one, -in our own parlor, and no company is to be specially invited to the -wedding. But you may write and ask your young friends to come and make -us a visit for a week or two, so that they may be in the house about -that time.” - -“Oh, thank you, mamma, dear! that will be best of all!” exclaimed -Wynnette, in delight. - -And that same day she wrote to Oldfield and to Hill Grove to ask the -young Grandieres and Elks to come up to Washington about the last of -March to make a visit, mentioning that Leonidas had got home from sea, -and that he and Odalite were to be married on the first of April, and -hoping that they would come in time to witness the wedding, which was to -be a very quiet one in their own parlor. - -Wynnette knew that such letters as these would insure a visit from those -to whom they were written. And she was right. In a very few days came -answers from Oldfield and Grove Hill. All the invited accepted the -invitations, and would report in Washington on the thirtieth of March, -two days before the wedding. - -“Let us see,” again reflected Mrs. Force. “There are nine guests coming -in all—counting six Grandieres, two Elks and young Bayard. Of them six -are young girls, and three are young men. How shall we dispose of them?” - -“Oh, mamma, dear, we must pack, like we used to do in the country. Elva -and Rosemary and myself can sleep in one room. The four Grandiere girls -can sleep in the large double-bedded room. The two little Elks can have -the little hall chamber and sleep together. And Roland Bayard and the -Grandiere boys and Le can have the large attic room, and sleep on cots. -Never mind where you put young men and boys, you know!” said this little -household strategist. - -“Well, we must do the best we can for them,” replied the lady, and she -turned her attention to other matters—to the details of Odalite’s simple -trousseau, which was only to consist now in a white silk wedding dress, -a gray poplin traveling dress, a navy-blue cloth suit for the voyage -across the ocean, and a few plain, home dresses and wrappers, with -plenty of underclothing. - -All the preparations were completed on the morning of the thirtieth. -Even Odalite’s trunk was packed, nothing being left out but her bridal -dress and traveling suits. - -Just before tea on the afternoon of the thirtieth, there was the -expected inroad of the Goths and Vandals, in the forms of the young -people from Oldfield, Grove Hill and Forest Rest. - -They all traveled by the same train and arrived at the same hour—a -laughing, talking, hilarious, uproarious troupe. - -They were met with a joyous and affectionate welcome. - -“And where is my little Rosemary? Where is my quaint, small, young -woman?” inquired Roland, when he had shaken hands with all the rest. - -“Why, here she is! Here she has been all the while!” exclaimed Wynnette, -dragging the shy girl forward. - -“What! not that tall young lady? Miss Hedge, I beg ten thousand pardons. -I was looking for a little girl I used to ride on my shoulder!” -exclaimed Roland, in affected dismay, as he took her tiny hand and -raised it to his lips. - -Now, Rosemary was not tall, except in comparison to what she had once -been. Rosemary was still small and slight—“a mere slip of a girl,” as -every one called her. She colored and cast down her eyes when her old -friend pretended to treat her as a young lady. - -He saw her slight distress and vexation, and immediately changed his -tune. - -“Why!—yes!—sure enough! This is my little Rosemary, after all!” he -exclaimed. - -And then she looked up shyly and smiled. - -“Come! Let me show you your rooms, girls. And you, Leonidas, convey -these young men heavenward. You young Shanghais will have to roost in -the loft at the top of the house. Beg pardon. I mean you young gentlemen -will be required to repose in the attic chambers of the mansion. Indeed, -we shall all have to be packed like herrings in a barrel. Beg pardon, -again. I mean like guests at a hotel on Inauguration Day. But the more -the merrier, my dears,” sang Wynnette, as she danced upstairs in advance -of her party. - -Have you ever been in the aviary at the zoo, when all the birds have -been singing, chattering and screaming at once? - -If you have, you will have some idea of the condition of Mrs. Force’s -house on this first evening of their young guests’ arrival. - -They chattered in their rooms, they chattered all the way down the -stairs, and they chattered around the tea table. - -The extension table in the dining room had been drawn out to its full -length to accommodate the party of sixteen that sat down to tea. - -All these young people sitting opposite each other at the long board, -and under the full blaze of the chandeliers, showed how much they had -grown, changed and improved during the three years which had elapsed -since their last meeting and parting in the country. - -Odalite was the most beautiful of the group. She was now nineteen years -of age; her elegant form was rather more rounded, her pure complexion -brighter, her eyes darker, and her hair richer; her voice was deeper and -sweeter; and all her motions more graceful than before. - -Wynnette was seventeen; tall, thin and dark; with the same mischievous -eyes, snub nose, full, ripe lips, and short, curly, black hair. - -Elva was fifteen, tall for her age, thin, fair, with soft, blue eyes, -and light, flaxen hair. - -Rosemary Hedge was also fifteen years old, but very tiny for her age, -with slender limbs and little mites of hands and feet, a small head -covered with fine, silky black hair, a fair, clear, bright complexion, -and large, soft, tender blue eyes. - -The four Grandiere girls—Sophy, Nanny, Polly and Peggy—whose ages ranged -from fourteen to twenty, were all of the same type, with well-grown and -well-rounded forms, fair complexions, red cheeks and lips, blue eyes, -and brown hair; except for difference in age and size, never were four -sisters more alike. - -The two Grandiere boys, whose ages were nineteen and twenty-two, were -like the girls, with the same well-knit forms, blooming complexions, -blue eyes and brown hair—only their features were on a larger and -coarser scale, and their faces were freckled and sunburned. - -The two Elk girls, Melina and Erina, were respectively thirteen and -sixteen years old, and both bore a certain family likeness to Rosemary -Hedge, except that they were not so tiny in form or dainty and delicate -in features and complexion. They had the large blue eyes and the fine -black hair, but their faces were thin and their complexions sallow. - -Perhaps the most improved of all these young people during the preceding -three years were the two gallant young sailors, Leonidas Force and -Roland Bayard, with their tall forms, broad shoulders, deep chests, fine -heads, handsome faces and full beards—only with a difference; for Le’s -hair and beard were of a rich, silky brown, while Roland’s, alas! were -of a rough, fierce red. - -Upon the whole, the group of young folk around the table was very fair. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE MARRIAGE MORN - - - Up, up, fair bride, and call - Thy stars from out their several spheres—take - Thy rubies, pearls and diamonds forth, and make - Thyself a constellation of them all.—DONNE. - -The first of April was a perfect day. The sky was a canopy of deepest, -clearest blue. The sun shone in cloudless splendor. The trees in all the -parks were in full leaf or blossom. The grass was of that fresh and -tender green only to be seen at this season. The spring flowers were all -in bloom, with radiance of color and richness of fragrance. Birds were -singing rapturously from every bush and branch. - -“A lovely day! Just the day for a wedding!” said Nanny Grandiere, as she -threw open the shutters of her bedroom window, that looked out upon one -of the most beautiful parks of the city. - -Her three sisters, who occupied the same double-bedded room with -herself, sleeping two in a bed, jumped up and ran across the room to -join her. - -“Yes, a beautiful day! ‘Blessed is the bride that the sun shines on,’ -you know. Oh! I am so glad we all came here!” said Polly. - -“And I am glad it is going to be a quiet wedding, with only ourselves. -Oh, girls! I should not have wanted to come if they had been going to -have a grand wedding, after the manner of these fashionable city people. -I should have been scared to death among so many fine strangers. But now -it will be real jolly!” said Peggy. - -“And Mr. Force says that as there are enough of us we may have a dance, -after the bride and groom have gone,” chimed in Sophy. - -“‘After the bride and groom have gone!’” echoed Nanny. “That will be -‘Hamlet’ without the _Prince of Denmark_.” - -“Well, it can’t be helped. We must have the dance without them or not at -all. You know the ceremony is to be performed at half-past seven, the -refreshments served at eight o’clock, and the bride and groom will leave -the house at nine to catch the nine-thirty train to Baltimore, where -they will stop. To-morrow morning they go on to New York, and the day -after that they sail for Liverpool,” exclaimed Sophy. - -“Yes, I know; but I don’t know why it should be so. I think they might -just as well stay here and dance all night with us, and take an early -train straight through to New York, as to start from here this evening -and stop all night in Baltimore. I think it would be kinder in them, -considering how far they are going, and how long they will be away.” - -“But it would be so fatiguing to Odalite. At least, Mrs. Force said so. -This is her plan,” Polly explained. - -“Well, we had better hurry and dress. It is very warm in this room. -Think of feeling summer heat on the first of April in a room where there -is no visible fire! Oh! this heating by steam and lighting by gas is -just wonderful!” exclaimed Sophy. - -“I like open wood fires and astral lamps best,” said Nanny. - -“Oh! but the modern improvements are so clean and tidy!” put in Peggy. - -“I wonder what our colored servants would say to them,” mused Polly, -aloud. - -“And even others—Miss Sibby, for instance. What would Miss Sibby say to -gas and steam?” suggested Sophy. - -“Oh! I can tell you what she would say,” exclaimed Wynnette, who -suddenly entered the room, and mimicked the old lady. “She would say: -‘Them as has the least to do with gas and steam, sez I, comes the best -off, sez I.’ That would be her _ipse dixit_, for she don’t believe in -newfangled notions, as she calls our boasted modern improvements.” - -“Oh, Wynnette! Already dressed! and we not half ready! We shall be late, -I fear,” exclaimed Sophy. - -“You will that, if you don’t stir your stumps—I mean accelerate your -action,” replied frank Wynnette. - -“Well, don’t wait for us. You go down to breakfast, and don’t let them -wait. I always lose my senses when I try to dress in a hurry,” said -Nanny, sitting down on a hassock to put on her gaiters. “There! I said -so! I have gone and put my right foot on my left boot!—I mean, my left -foot on my right boot!—I mean——I don’t know what I mean! Please go down, -and don’t bother!” - -“Don’t go crazy; there’s time enough. Breakfast won’t be ready for half -an hour yet,” laughed Wynnette, as she danced out of the room. - -The flurried girls composed themselves as well as they could, and -completed their toilets. Then they went downstairs to the parlor. - -They found all the family and guests assembled. - -“I hope we did not keep you waiting,” said Sophy, the eldest sister, -after the morning greeting had been exchanged. - -“Now, papa, don’t flunk. Beg pardon. I mean, don’t sacrifice truth to -politeness. Let me reply. Yes, Miss Grandiere, you did keep us waiting -just one minute and a half,” said Wynnette, pointing to the clock on the -mantelpiece. - -But Mr. Force had already given his arm to Miss Grandiere, and was -leading the way to the breakfast room. - -The others followed. - -It was a merry breakfast. Yet the two happiest ones at the table were -the most silent. Leonidas and Odalite neither originated a joke nor -laughed at the joke of any other. - -“Such is selfishness of love and joy,” whispered Wynnette to Rosemary, -who was her next neighbor at the breakfast table. - -When the meal was over, the young people—with the exception of the -betrothed pair, who were away somewhere mooning by themselves—returned -to the parlor, to discuss the duties and pleasures of the day. - -“We must decorate the drawing room,” said Wynnette. “No, Messrs. -Grandiere and Bayard, you are not to go to the capitol, or the -departments, or to the White House, or to the patent office, or to the -Smithsonian, or to the arsenal, or to the Navy Yard, or to the United -States jail, or to the National Insane Asylum—that, I think, includes -‘the whole unbounded continent’—nor to any other public institution; no, -nor on any other sightseeing expedition. You are just to get a -Washington directory for your guide, and you are to make the round of -all the conservatories in the city, and you are to bring us loads and -loads and loads of the very best flowers to be had, and you are to order -a marriage bell in orange flowers, with ropes of orange flowers, and you -are to order——Take out your tablets, if you have any; if not, tear the -margin off the morning paper, and make a memorandum, for I know the -weakness of your minds and memories. Now, then you are to order the most -æsthetic bouquet in the world for the bride, and you are to order nine -of the next most utterly utter for the bridesmaids—for the Lord forbid -that the bridesmaids’ bouquets should be equal to that of the bride!” - -“Ten bouquets! Nine bridesmaids, you say! Why, I thought—I thought—this -was to be a private wedding,” said Roland Bayard, driving his fingers -through his red hair. - -“And so it is, my dear. We are a very small company of family friends, -and that is the very reason why every man-jack and woman-jenny in the -company must be an officer. Like the village militia, don’t you see?” - -“No, I don’t see, and I don’t understand.” - -“Well, then, to come down to the level of your poor little wits, here -are ten of us girls—Odalite, Wynnette, Elva, Rosemary, Melina, Erina, -Sophy, Nanny, Polly and Peggy. Only one of us—Odalite, to wit—can be the -bride, or the captain, say, but all the rest of us mean to be -bridesmaids or officers, say!” - -“Ah! And where are your rank and file?” - -“Oh, the outside world, who are not invited to this entertainment. The -officers must not be too familiar with the privates. And we are going to -have an exclusive jollification. And now I hope you understand. And you -had better be off at once, because we want all the flowers delivered by -noon. And don’t attempt to go anywhere or do anything until you have -executed this order,” said Wynnette, in conclusion. - -Roland Bayard and the two Grandieres walked off. - -Then little Elva whispered to her sister: - -“Oh, Wynnette, those flowers will cost from thirty to fifty dollars. You -know what awful prices mamma had to pay for decorating her rooms every -time she had a party.” - -“Well, what then?” inquired the thoughtless one. - -“Why, those poor fellows will have to pay for them, and I don’t believe -they have five dollars apiece.” - -“Oh!” exclaimed Wynnette. “What a scatter-brain I am!” - -And she ran out without bonnet or shawl, and was so fortunate as to -catch the three young men, who had stopped at the gate to buy a paper -from a newsboy. - -“Say!” called Wynnette. “Come here, you Roland!” - -And he came. - -“I forgot to tell you. Have those flowers charged to my father. Mr. Abel -Force, you know. They will understand. They have all supplied mamma for -all her parties. You understand?” - -“Yes, I understand. All right,” said Roland. - -And Wynnette ran into the house, and Roland walked on and joined his -companions. - -But the deceitful, double-dealing young spendthrift never had bud or -blossom charged to his host, but paid cash for all the flowers, thus -making a deep hole in his savings of three years. - -The day was spent in making the small final preparations for the -wedding. - -At noon the flowers came, fresh and blooming and fragrant, because just -taken from their stalks. Besides the bouquets, there were—according to -orders—“loads and loads and loads” of flowers to decorate the drawing -room and the supper table. - -The girls carefully laid away the bouquets, and went to work to decorate -the rooms. - -In the sliding doors between the front and rear drawing rooms they made -an arch with festoons of orange blossoms, and from the middle of the -arch hung a beautiful wedding bell of orange flowers. Under this they -meant that the marriage ceremony should be performed. They meant to have -everything their own way, or, to tell the literal truth, Wynnette meant -to have everything her way, and to have every girl back her in that -determination. - -The arch finished, they decorated every available part of the room with -flowers, until the place looked less like an apartment in a dwelling -house than a bower in fairyland. - -When their labor of love was completed the girls joined the family at an -early dinner. - -And when this was over they flew away to dress for the evening. - -Still Wynnette had everything her own way. It was she who had decided -that the six girls from the country should be enlisted as extra -bridesmaids, “because,” she said, “it will please them, and give them -something pleasant to talk about for a long time to come.” - -She had said to her mother: - -“They are going to be Odalite’s bridesmaids.” - -And Mrs. Force had not objected. It was a matter of such little import. - -She had said to Odalite: - -“These girls have all brought their white organdie dresses, white roses, -white gloves, and the rest, to wear to the wedding! And they want to -stand up with you and smile every time you smile, and sigh every time -you sigh, and howl every time you cry! You know! they want to back you -in this game! I mean they wish to be and—they are to be your -supernumerary bridesmaids!” said Wynnette, emphasizing the last clause, -so there might be no possible misunderstanding. - -Odalite was so happy that in answer to this she only quoted from Edmund -Lear’s delicious “Book of Nonsense”: - - “I don’t care, - All the birds in the air - Are welcome to roost in my bonnet.” - -And so it was settled that there were to be one groomsman and nine -bridesmaids. A most unheard-of arrangement; but as Wynnette emphatically -declared—there was no law against it. - -And now the girls were off to their rooms to dress for the occasion. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - “A QUIET WEDDING” - - -At seven o’clock they were all assembled in Mrs. Force’s room, waiting -for the summons to go down. - -They were all dressed with the simple elegance that became the occasion. - -Odalite wore a white silk-trained dress, with a lace overdress looped -with lilies of the valley, and a lace veil fastened to her hair by a -spray of the same delicate flower. She wore no jewelry. It was a whim of -the bride to wear nothing on this occasion that she had worn on that of -her first broken bridal—not even the same sort of materials for her -dress, or the same sort of flowers for ornaments. Her bridal was very -plain and inexpensive. But no flowers could have bloomed more -beautifully than her cheeks and lips, and no diamonds shone more -brilliantly than her eyes. The light of happiness irradiated her face -and form—her whole presence and atmosphere. - -The nine bridesmaids were all dressed very nearly alike. - -Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary had white tulle dresses trimmed with -rose-colored ribbon. - -Sophy, Nanny, Polly and Peggy Grandiere wore white organdie dresses -trimmed with light blue ribbon; and Erny and Milly Elk, white swiss -muslin suits trimmed with bright yellow ribbon. - -Mrs. Force wore a pale mauve damasse silk. - -No one except the young bride wore any headdress but their own -tastefully arranged hair. - -It was to be a quiet wedding, you know—a very quiet wedding, with none -but the family friends. - -There came a rap at the door. - -Wynnette, who was nearest at hand, opened it. - -“Tell your mother, my dear, that the Rev. Dr. Priestly has come,” said -Mr. Force, who stood without. - -But Mrs. Force had heard the voice, and answered for herself: - -“We are ready and waiting. Come in.” - -He entered, smiling on the bevy of beauties that met his eyes. - -He singled out his daughter, kissed her on the forehead, and drew her -arm in his to take her downstairs, mentally applying to her the pretty -line of Tennyson: - - “Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls.” - -He led her down and the others followed in pairs. - -He led her into the parlor, where stood the portly form of the Rev. Dr. -Priestly, in full canonicals, and surrounded by a small group of four -young men—to wit: Leonidas Force, the bridegroom; Roland Bayard, his -best man; and Messrs. Ned and Sam Grandiere, nothing in particular. - -The bridegroom advanced, bowed and received the bride from her father’s -hand and led her up before the minister, who now stood under the floral -arch between the front and rear drawing rooms, and from which the floral -wedding bell hung. - -The bridegroom and the bride stood before the minister—Roland Bayard, -best man, stood on his right; Wynnette, first bridesmaid, stood on her -left; behind them the eight white-robed girls formed a semicircle. Mr. -Force stood on their right, with Mrs. Force on his arm. She was pale and -trembling. He perceived her state, and whispered: - -“I suppose every mother suffers something in seeing her daughter -married, even under the most auspicious circumstances! But look at -Odalite and Le! See how happy those children are, and recover your -spirits.” - -She glanced up in her husband’s kind face and smiled. - -The doorbell rang sharply. Perhaps it was the utter stillness of the -house—in the solemn pause of expectancy, as the minister opened his -book—which made that sound reverberate through the air like a sudden and -peremptory summons. - -Mrs. Force looked up anxiously. - -“It is of no consequence, my dear. Some chance caller, who does not know -what is going on here. But I prepared for such an event by giving orders -to the hall boy not to admit any one, but to tell all and sundry who -might come that we are engaged,” whispered Mr. Force. - -“Hush!” she murmured, but she looked relieved. “Hush! Dr. Priestly is -about to begin.” - -The minister, in fact, began, in a very impressive manner, to read the -opening exhortation, and every eye was fixed upon him and every ear bent -to hear him. - -There was some movement in the hall outside. Mrs. Force started and -turned her head. Her husband stooped and murmured low: - -“Don’t tremble so, my dear! It is only the servants pressing close to -the door to steal a look at the wedding. They would not let any visitors -in. And even if they should make such a mistake, it would be no great -matter!” - -“Hush!” she answered, in the lowest murmur. “Do not talk! Attend to the -ceremony.” - -Uninterrupted by the inaudible whisper between husband and wife, the -ceremony was proceeding. And no one moved or spoke, until the minister, -lifting his eyes from the book in his hands, inquired gravely: - -“‘Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?’” - -“‘I do,’” answered Abel Force, stepping forward, taking his daughter’s -hand with tender solemnity and placing it in that of Leonidas, who bowed -with deep reverence as he received it. - -Then Abel Force retreated to the side of his pale and agitated wife, -whispered with a smile: - -“Just what your father did for me, my love! Just what Leonidas may have -to do for Odalite’s daughters some twenty years hence! The order of -nature, dear wife! And we must smile and not cry over it.” - -But Elfrida Force was not grieving over the marriage of her daughter. -There was nothing in that marriage to give her pain; everything to give -her satisfaction. Odalite was marrying no stranger, but Leonidas, who -had been brought up in her home, who loved her, and was beloved by her -as an only son. And Odalite was not to be taken away from her, but was -to live on the adjoining plantation to their own, where, if they -pleased, mother and daughter might meet every day. Altogether a most -perfectly satisfactory marriage, in which her soul would have delighted -but for a nameless dread of approaching evil—a dread which she could -neither comprehend nor conquer—a dread of impeding ill which was fast -growing into terror of an immediate death blow. - -“Oh!” she breathed. “When it is entirely over—‘finished, done and -sealed’—and they are off at sea, then, and then only, shall I be able to -breathe freely.” - -Meanwhile the solemn rites went on to the conclusion, and once more -Odalite, with her hand safely clasped in that of her bridegroom, heard -spoken over them the awful warning: “Those whom God hath joined -together, let not man put asunder.” - -There was a pause, but no interruption on this occasion—a short pause, -and then the solemn, pathetic, beautiful benediction was pronounced upon -the newly married and indeed happy pair. - -And then Leonidas took his bride by her hand, to give her the sacred, -sealing kiss, when—before his lips could meet hers—he was suddenly -seized from behind and violently hurled to the other end of the room. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - A MEAN RETALIATION - - - Revenge is now my joy. She’s not for me, - And I’ll make sure, she ne’er shall be for thee. - —DRYDEN. - -The intruder was Col. Angus Anglesea, who caught Odalite to his breast, -and with his arm firmly clasping her waist, stood, haughty, insolent and -defiant, in the midst of the thunderstruck group. - -A scene of indescribable confusion followed. The bride fainted, the -bridesmaids shrieked, the old minister dropped his book, and fell back -in the nearest chair, in a state bordering on apoplexy. - -The men, panic-stricken by amazement for a moment, now pressed forward. - -Anglesea glared at them. - -“This woman is my wife!” he said. - -Le instantly recovered himself, and dashed madly forward. - -Heaven only knows what he might have done, but he was intercepted, and -held as in a vise by Mr. Force, who sternly said: - -“Le, there must be no violence here. This madman must be dealt with by -law, not by violence.” - -“‘This madman!’” shouted the infuriated youth, struggling desperately to -free himself. “‘This madman,’ is it? This scoundrel, steeped to the lips -in vice and crime! This——” - -“Le, be quiet! Would you murder, or be murdered?” demanded Mr. Force, -holding the young maniac firmly. Then turning to the intruder, he said, -in a calm, commanding tone: “Col. Anglesea, leave the house.” - -“When I have accomplished that for which I came here,” answered the -intruder, smiling superior. - -Young Bayard made a dash at him. - -“Roland!” exclaimed Mr. Force, in a peremptory tone that arrested the -steps of the young man. “Stop! I will have no struggle in my house. If -the man does not leave quietly, he shall be taken off by a policeman.” - -But now all Abel Force’s attention and energy were required to control -the young lion whom he held. - -“Let me get at him! The thief, who married a rich widow only to rob and -desert her! The bigamist, who, having a living wife, tried to deceive -and marry a wealthy, betrothed maiden, only to rob and ruin her! The -forger, who invented and published a false account of his own death that -he might entrap his victim into another marriage, and take a mean -revenge by coming here with pretended claims to stop it! Oh! but he -shall die for this!” roared the youth, foaming with rage and struggling -fiercely to free himself. - -“Le! Le! be quiet, I say! You are stark, staring mad!” exclaimed Abel -Force, holding the young man fast, though it took all his strength to do -it. - -He might as well have talked to a cyclone. - -“This felon!” thundered the youth—“this felon, who has broken every law -of God and man! This felon, I say, who should have been in the State -prison twenty years ago, serving out a life term! And you see him with -my wife in his arms, and you will not let me go! Oh!” - -Here Mrs. Force, commanding herself by a great effort, went up to where -Col. Anglesea stood holding Odalite to his bosom, and clasped her hands, -raised her eyes to him, and pleaded: - -“Oh! for dear mercy’s sake, give me my poor child! Don’t you see that -she is fainting, dying?” - -Somewhat to her surprise, Anglesea placed Odalite in her arms, saying, -lightly: - -“So that you do not take her out of the room! You know that she is my -wife! And——” - -“Edward Grandiere! Be kind enough to step and bring in a policeman—two -of them, if possible,” said Mr. Force, who had all he could do to hold -Leonidas. - -“Uncle! uncle! I don’t want to hurt you, but, by my soul, if you don’t -let me go, I shall be compelled to hurt you!” exclaimed the maddened and -writhing youth. - -But the strong, mature man held him in arms that were like iron cable -chains. - -“I tell you I shall hurt you, uncle!” - -“Very well, Le! Hurt me! But I shall hold you all the same.” - -“Why won’t you let me kill him?” yelled Le. - -“Because, though he deserves death, you would commit a crime.” - -“Oh, Heaven! must I bear this?” - -“Be patient, Le! Let the law deal with this man! Edward Grandiere, I -asked you to go for a policeman!” - -“Yes, sir! I only stopped to ask Roland where I should find one,” said -the young countryman, apologetically, as he hurried away. - -At this point Mrs. Force had led Odalite to an easy-chair, where she -recovered from her fainting fit only to fall into a paroxysm of -hysterical sobs and tears. Her heartbroken mother sat by her side. Her -bridesmaids stood all around her, too much frightened to offer the least -comfort or assistance. - -Col. Anglesea approached this group. - -Odalite, who was sobbing convulsively, shuddered, and covered her eyes -with her hands. - -The bridesmaids, who all knew him, for he had dined often at the tables -of their parents, regarded him in fear and horror, and cast down their -eyes to avoid looking at him. - -But Angus Anglesea ignored them all, passed them, and, addressing Mrs. -Force, said, almost apologetically: - -“I did not wish or intend to make a scene. But it was more than even my -self-possession could endure to see my wife in the arms of another man, -who was about to kiss her. I only want my just and lawful rights. You, -madam, know that your eldest daughter is my lawful wife. Knowing this, I -would ask you why you permitted your daughter to commit a felony that -exposes her to the penalty of the laws for such cases made and -provided?” - -“We thought that Odalite was free to marry. We thought that you were -dead,” said Elfrida Force, who had suddenly grown superstitiously afraid -of this man, who seemed to be a Satan in strength, subtlety and -unscrupulous wickedness. - -“You thought I was dead! Upon what ground? I am in the prime of life, -and in the height of health.” - -“We saw the notice of your death in a paper sent to us.” - -“Really? Well, that is rather startling. I should like to see that -paper.” - -At this moment Dr. Priestly came up, and said: - -“This is all very terrible. I—I do not understand it in the least.” - -“It is easily explained, sir. A false report of my death reached my wife -there. She, believing herself to be a widow, contracted marriage with -that young gentleman yonder, who seems to be executing a war dance in -the arms of my father-in-law!” replied Col. Anglesea. - -“Oh, Dr. Priestly! will you be so kind as to go and assist Mr. Force in -bringing Leonidas to reason?” pleaded the lady. - -“Ye-yes! Of course! Oh, this is terrible, terrible! In the whole course -of my ministry I never met anything so terrible. But, sir,” he said, -suddenly breaking off in his discourse and turning to Col. Anglesea, -“you said that this young lady believed herself to be a widow when she -contracted marriage with Mr. Force. But she was never known here as wife -or widow. I have known her for more than three years as Miss Force.” - -“That certainly requires explanation, as our marriage was not a secret -one, but was solemnized in the face of day and before a large -congregation——” - -“And then knocked as high as the sky by the dropping down upon you of -your Californian wife! Oh, you hoofed and horned devil!” said Wynnette, -suddenly joining the group and unable longer to restrain herself. - -The Rev. Dr. Priestly stared. - -“Oh! what am I saying? I mean, reverend sir”—Wynnette began, -apologetically—“I mean that this gentleman’s attempted marriage with my -elder sister was arrested at the very altar by the appearance of a lady -from St. Sebastian, who claimed to be, and proved herself to be, his -lawful wife.” - -The old minister looked perplexed and helplessly from the earnest girl -to the scornful man. - -“After that my sister went from the church to my father’s house, and -lived under our parents’ protection. Of course, she was still Miss -Force. The unfinished ceremony could not have changed her name or -condition, even if the Californian had been an impostor, which she was -not. This cowardly dead beat and mean skala——Oh! I beg pardon, I am -sure, Dr. Priestly. I should have said: Col. Anglesea, here present, -knows that she was not an impostor, and he knows that he has no claim on -Odalite. He only comes here to make a scene. His marriage was broken off -at the altar by the appearance of his wife, and he is determined that -Odalite’s shall be broken off, for the day at least, by the appearance -of himself, with the claim that he is her husband. It is ‘tit for tat,’ -you know. ‘What’s good for the gander is good for the goose,’ you see. -Oh, dear! Excuse me! I mean it is his revenge, reprisal, commending back -of the poisoned chalice, don’t you know?” - -“Madam, is this true?” inquired the bewildered minister. - -Mrs. Force did not reply. She dared not. She was so utterly subdued by -the appearance of her archenemy, under such inexplicable circumstances, -she could only ignore his question and repeat her request: - -“Oh! Dr. Priestly, you are a man of peace. Pray go and help my husband -to bring our young relative to reason.” - -The old minister unwillingly trotted off and arrived on the scene of -action in good time, for Mr. Force’s strength was beginning to give way -under the struggles of his prisoner to escape without hurting his -captor. - -“You see that man standing among the ladies, whom his presence insults -and contaminates, and you will not let me get at him!” cried Le. - -“My dear boy, I will not have a fight in my parlor, and in the presence -of women and children, do you understand? Wait for the police. We will -have him peaceably arrested and taken off. Then our interruption will be -over. The marriage ceremony was concluded, you know. As soon as we get -rid of this madman—for of course he is a madman—you can get ready and -take the train for Baltimore, just as if nothing unpleasant had -happened.” - -Mr. Force spoke in a clear and ringing voice, and was heard by Col. -Anglesea, who laughed out aloud and derisively. - -At that moment Roland Bayard and Grandiere came in, convoying two -policemen. - -So rapidly had the events occurred which take so long to report, that -ten minutes had not elapsed since the first appearance of Col. Anglesea -on the scene, nor three since the departure of the young men in search -of the policemen. - -“Ah! here you are!” exclaimed Abel Force, in a tone of relief. - -“Yes, sir!” said Roland Bayard. “We were so fortunate as to meet the two -officers at the corner of the street!” - -“And strangely enough, they were on their way to the house,” added Ned -Grandiere. - -“Some of the servants must have had the discretion to go for them. Well, -officers, I am glad that you are here, and I hope you will be able to do -your unpleasant duty quietly,” said Mr. Force. And pointing directly to -the intruder, he added: “I give that man, there, Angus Anglesea, in -charge for a violent breach of the peace. Take him away at once.” - -The policemen stared at the speaker, and then at Col. Anglesea, in a -very unofficial sort of way, and finally walked up to the colonel, and -one of them said: - -“I don’t understand it, sir! What does it mean?” - -“He’s drunk, I guess! But that need not hinder your duty. Go and serve -the papers on him at once.” - -The policeman came back to Mr. Force and offered him a folded document. - -“What is this? What nonsense is this?” inquired Mr. Force, without -taking the paper, because both his hands were still engaged in holding -Le. - -“Take it and read it, sir, if you please,” said the officer who had -served it. “It is addressed to yourself.” - -“Roland,” said Mr. Force, addressing young Bayard, “I don’t want to get -you into a fight with your brother-in-arms, by asking you to hold Le; -but will you please open that paper and hold it up before my eyes that I -may read it?” - -Roland bowed in silence, took the paper, opened it and stared at it for -a moment, before he held it up to his host to be read. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS - - -Abel Force began to peruse the document and frowned as he went on. And -well he might! - -For it was no less than a writ of _habeas corpus_, issued by a judge of -the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, ordering Abel Force to -produce the body of Odalite Anglesea, otherwise Odalite Force, before -him the next morning, April 2, at 10 o’clock. - -Abel Force, as has been seen, was a law-abiding man. On this trying -occasion, under this galling insult, he commanded himself with wonderful -power. - -“Very well,” he said. “You have done your duty. I will obey the order. -Take that man away with you. He has committed a gross breach of the -peace; but let that pass for the present.” - -At this moment Col. Anglesea came up and said: - -“I will meet you before the judge to-morrow morning. For the present, -having seen the writ of _habeas corpus_ served upon you, I withdraw. -Good-evening, sir. Ladies, good-evening.” - -And with as courtly a bow as if he were leaving the drawing room of a -duchess, Col. Anglesea went out, followed by the policemen. - -“Now be still, Le! This shall be settled equitably to-morrow. For the -present nothing more can be done,” said Mr. Force, as with a long breath -of relief he at length released his prisoner. - -But Le was no sooner free than he dashed out of the room and out of the -house in pursuit of his enemy. - -“Let him go!” said Abel Force, in desperation. “Let him go. But I do not -think he will catch Anglesea. He has probably taken a carriage, for I -heard wheels roll away from the door before I released Le.” - -“Sir, can I be of any further service here?” inquired the aged minister, -coming forward. - -“No, reverend sir, you cannot; but you will perhaps take some -refreshments before you leave,” replied Mr. Force. - -“Not any, I thank you. This has been a most agitating evening. If I can -serve you in any manner, at this trying crisis, pray command me.” - -“We thank you very much.” - -“If my presence to-morrow can avail in any way——” - -“I do not think it can, yet I should be glad to have you come.” - -“I will meet you,” said the rector. And after shaking hands all around -he left the room. - -Mr. Force stepped quickly over to where his wife sat by his daughter’s -easy-chair, holding her hand. - -Odalite’s violent paroxysm of distress was over, but she still sobbed -with a low, gasping breath as she lay back in a state of exhaustion. - -He looked at the girl and sighed. He would have spoken to her, but his -wife raised her hand in warning and said, in a low tone: - -“Leave her alone for a little while. She is very much prostrated, but -will rally presently.” - -“Elfrida,” he said then, bending over the lady’s chair, “Elfrida! can -there be any truth in that man’s pretended claim to our child? Not that -it will make any difference in the end, for I swear by all that is -sacred, he shall never possess her! But you remember when we read that -sketch of his life in the Angleton _Advertiser_, we noticed that the -date of the death of his first wife, as given there, was some weeks -later than the date of his marriage with the California widow.” - -“I remember,” said the lady, faintly, for her heart, her mother heart, -seemed dying within her. - -“And such being the case, we should be thankful that Odalite’s marriage -with Le was stopped just where it was. It would have been most -disastrous if the man had reappeared and set up his claim to Odalite -weeks or months after the marriage had been consummated.” - -“Indeed it would!” replied the lady. “And yet, Abel, it may all be a -fraud. He may have no claim on her whatever. If he could contrive to -have published a false obituary of himself, could he not even more -easily have inserted in the sketch of his life attached to it a false -date of the death of his wife?” - -“Indeed he could. The whole question of his right to Odalite hangs upon -the true date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s demise. If she died before his -Californian marriage, then is the Californian woman his lawful wife, and -Odalite is free. If, on the contrary, as is made to appear in that -fraudulent obituary notice, Lady Mary Anglesea died since the marriage -with the Californian, then was that second marriage a felony, laying him -liable to prosecution for bigamy, and to imprisonment at hard labor in -the State’s prison, and his third incomplete marriage ceremony with our -daughter only an awkward entanglement, which affords him a false excuse -to lay claim to her, and which it may require the wisdom of the law -courts to unravel. I have no doubt as to the final issue. We must be -prepared to meet the villain in court to-morrow. We must prove the -arrest of the marriage ceremony at All Faith Church, three years ago, by -the appearance of the would-be bridegroom’s wife. Fortunately we have ‘a -cloud of witnesses’ to that fact. Besides ourselves, all the young -people who are our guests were present at the church on that occasion. -Cheer up, my love!” he said, going over to the other side of Odalite’s -chair, and bending over her. “Your perfect freedom and happiness is but -a question of time. And meanwhile you will remain under my protection.” - -“Dear papa! I cause you much trouble, do I not?” she inquired, tenderly, -putting her hand in his. - -“No, dearest! You never caused me any trouble in all your life! A -scoundrel has given us both trouble; but it cannot last long. If the -hearing should not be decisive to-morrow, I must ask for time and get -the California lady up here. Also, later, that will take more time, I -must send a trusty messenger over to England to ascertain from parish -registers and tombstones the exact date of the death of Lady Mary -Anglesea. But through all, as you are a minor, you must and shall remain -under my protection. Take courage, love!” - -“There is Le!” exclaimed Mrs. Force, as the hall doorbell rang, and the -door opened, and a hurried step was heard approaching the drawing room. - -Mr. Force started up, and went to meet the midshipman. - -“I could not find the poltroon! He has run away, as he did on that first -occasion, when I sent Roland to him!” exclaimed the youth. “But yet he -shall not escape me!” - -“Come here, Le,” said Odalite, in a gentle voice. - -And the boy crossed the room and knelt before her, placing both his -hands in hers. - -It was the old, instinctive, knightly gesture of allegiance and loyalty. - -“What is it, Odalite?” he inquired. - -She bent and kissed his forehead, and then she said: - -“My lover and husband, you would do anything for me to-night? Would you -not?” - -“Anything, Odalite! my love and queen! anything! I would live or die for -you! I would forego the dearest wish of my heart for you!” he exclaimed, -lifting her hands and pressing them to his lips, and then placing them -on his head—another old knightly gesture of allegiance and loyalty. - -“Kiss me, Le! Kiss me with the kiss that seals our marriage vows,” she -said. - -He started up, and caught her to his bosom, and kissed her fondly, -fervently, reverentially. - -“Now, Le, I wish you to promise me to forego vengeance on your ‘dearest -foe.’ To use no violence toward the wicked man who has caused all our -trouble; because, dearest dear, there can be no violence without -lawbreaking, and no lawbreaking without such consequences as would -inflict the deepest sorrow, the fiercest anguish on me. And I have -already suffered so much, you would not have me suffer more. You will -promise me, Le?” - -“Yes, my best beloved! Yes, my sovereign lady! I will promise all you -ask—even to the renouncing of my just vengeance and the leaving of that -incarnate fiend to the law. I wish it could hang him! I hope, at the -least, it will send him to the State prison! I will do all that my -queen——” - -“Your wife, Le.” - -“My angel wife requires me to do. And I will endure all that she -requires me to endure.” - -“Meantime—although we must have patience until this case is decided, as -it must be decided, in our favor—we are husband and wife. Never dream -that I can consider myself in any other light than as your wife, or that -I could think of you in any other way than as my husband. We shall not -be separated, but remain, as lately, members of the same family, inmates -of the same house; living as a betrothed couple, or as brother and -sister, until this cloud from the depths of Tartarus has been cleared -away from between us. Do you promise, Le?” - -“Everything! Everything you wish, Odalite.” - -“That is my dear, brave, loyal Le!” - -There was something in this interview—that had been held in the sight -and hearing of all the little company—that so touched all hearts that -the boys and girls gathered around the young couple with looks of -heartfelt sympathy. The girls kissed Odalite and pressed the hands of -Le. The boys shook hands with Le, and looked “unutterable things” at -Odalite. - -“My dear,” said Mr. Force to his wife, “I think you had better take our -daughter off to your own apartment. It grows late, and she is tired. And -we have a trying day before us to-morrow.” - -This was the signal for the dispersion of the little group. And they all -bade good-night and retired. - -So ended Odalite’s second wedding day. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE NEXT MORNING - - -It was a drizzling, chilly, cheerless day—one of those relapses into -winter into which early spring sometimes falls. - -Not one of the family had been able to sleep well after such a harassing -evening as they had passed. - -They assembled around the breakfast table with pale faces and careworn -looks. - -The table was full, and even crowded, with family and guests—sixteen in -all. - -Odalite was the last to come in. Her face was deathly white, and showed -signs of an anxious and sleepless night. Yet she greeted the whole party -with a wan smile and a slight bow as she took her seat. - -Not one word was said of the ordeal soon to be passed through. Neither -Mr. nor Mrs. Force would allude to it, and no one else durst. - -The conversation went on, or, rather, failed to go on, in abortive jets. - -Subjects were started, but fell. - -Some one said it was a horrid day, so different from yesterday, and more -like November than April. - -And several others said yes, or some word to the same effect, and that -subject dropped dead. - -Some one mentioned that the “English Opera Troupe” would perform the -“Bride of Lammermoor” that evening. - -No one answered that venture except Mr. Force, who, as a mere matter of -form and politeness, said he believed so. - -Ned Grandiere said it was good growing weather for the crops. - -But no one complimented him by a reply. - -And at length the dull repast was over, and all arose from the table. - -It was now nine o’clock, and raining hard. At ten Mr. Force and Odalite -were required to arrive before the judge. - -As the party left the breakfast room, the guests dispersed to parlor, -library, or chambers, as their inclinations led them. - -Mrs. Force called Odalite, and went upstairs, followed by all her -daughters, to prepare for her drive to the courthouse. - -Le followed his uncle into a little smoking room at the back of the -hall. Neither of the men went there to smoke. Mr. Force went there to be -alone while he waited for his wife and daughter, and Le to speak to his -uncle. - -“Uncle Abel, can I have a word with you?” - -“As many as you please, or as time will permit, my boy. Come in.” - -They entered the room, and took seats at the little round table, on -which stood pipes of every description, cigar cases, tobacco pots, -tapers, ash saucers and all the paraphernalia of smoking. - -“Uncle Abel,” inquired Le, as soon as they were seated, “have you -secured counsel?” - -“No, Le, nor shall I do so. To engage counsel would be to give the case -more importance than I choose to give it. It is a simple _habeas -corpus_. A very informal matter, and, in this instance, a very -impertinent one—an abuse of the privilege of _habeas corpus_. I do not -need counsel, and shall not have any. I shall tell my story to the -judge. I do not even know that I shall call a witness. That is all that -will be necessary. I have no fears of the result.” - -“Uncle Abel, I must go with you before the judge this morning.” - -“No, Le!” emphatically objected Mr. Force. “No, Le! I cannot have my -daughter, my young and innocent child, exposed to the ignominy of -standing between two men, each of whom claims her as his wife.” - -The young man was shocked at the presentation of the case from a point -of view he had never contemplated before, and too greatly confused for a -moment to make any reply. At length he said: - -“But, Uncle Abel, we know who has the right to her! We know that she is -my wife!” - -“No, Le, we do not know that. We only think we know it. We thought we -knew that Angus Anglesea was dead and in Hades. But you see he is alive, -and in Washington.” - -“That is a nuisance; but his being here gives him no claim on Odalite.” - -“None as you and I think. But we do not know what the law may decide, -Le. It is of no use going over the whole situation again. You know it, -as well as I do. Angus Anglesea married Ann Maria Wright, August 1, 18—. -Of that transaction we have abundant proof. If Anglesea were then free -to contract that marriage, then is he the lawful husband of Ann Maria -Anglesea, his second wife. But, on the other hand, if his first wife, -Lady Mary Anglesea, did not die until the twenty-fifth of that same -August, then his marriage with Ann Maria Wright, on the first of the -said month, is null and void, and he was free to contract marriage at -the time that he married my daughter, and Odalite Force is his legal -second wife.” - -“Oh, Heaven! oh, Heaven! oh, Heaven! What shall I do?” exclaimed the -youth, starting up in a frenzy. - -“‘We must be wise as serpents and harmless as doves,’” said Mr. Force; -“for, Le, we have to deal with one who has the malice and subtlety of a -demon from the deepest abyss. He is absolutely unscrupulous. I do not -know, mind you, but I firmly believe he has falsified dates to suit his -own base purposes. I believe also that he designedly laid a trap for us -by which he could satiate his vengeance.” - -“I—I shall kill him, and hang for it!” burst forth the boy. - -“No, you won’t, Le. You came of Christian parents, and have had a -Christian training. You will do nothing unworthy of your race and -education,” calmly replied Mr. Force. - -“Uncle!” exclaimed the youth, “how came that false publication of his -death, with time, place and circumstances all complete, in the newspaper -of his own village? It is amazing. It is incredible that such a fraud -could have been perpetrated.” - -“Yes, it is amazing and incredible. And yet we know that it is a fraud, -since the man is alive and well. How it was done I do not know. Why it -was done I can well understand. It was done as a trap to catch us, and -place us in a false and humiliating position. I have no doubt that, from -the hour of his ejection from our house and his ignominious retreat from -the neighborhood, he meditated vengeance. I have no doubt he lay in -wait, watching us for these three years past, giving no sign of his -existence, leaving us to suppose that we were finally rid of him, but -all the while watching and waiting for your return, Le, to see what -would come of it. I believe that he knew the course of your ship as well -as you did yourself—knew where she went and when she was ordered home. -Then he manufactured this false evidence of his death, with time, place -and circumstances all complete, as you said, with obituary eulogy, -sketch of his life and career, and including his marriage with Lady Mary -Merland, the date of her death, August 25, 18—, and his second marriage -with Odalite Force——” - -“I—I—uncle, I am quite anxious to hang for that man!” panted the youth. - -“But we are not willing to let you, Le. Your execution would be of no -sort of comfort to Odalite, or any of us. Now let me go on. All these -concocted and published falsehoods had but one end—to entrap us all into -a false sense of security, and to allow you and Odalite to contract -marriage on your return from sea. I have no doubt that within ten days -after your ship sailed from Rio de Janeiro, homeward bound, he sailed -from Liverpool to New York, under an assumed name, and that he has been -in the country ever since, and lately in the city, watching for your -wedding day, so that he might turn the tables, and snatch your bride -from your possession at the very altar, as it were, and so humiliate us -all in retaliation for his exposure at All Faith Church.” - -“Oh, the demon! the demon! Any fate would be cheaply bought at the cost -of sending him to——” - -“Le! Le! control yourself! Remember your Christian parentage and -training, and do not speak and act like any border ruffian. Remember -also that we do not know the man has falsified the date of his wife’s -death. We only think so.” - -“Uncle, suppose the judge to-day should decide against us—should adjudge -Odalite to be the wife of that devil, and give her to him—what then?” - -“I do not for a moment anticipate any such decision,” said Mr. Force. - -“Yet, it is possible,” muttered Le. - -“But most improbable. The case, I think, from every point of view, is -too clearly in our favor.” - -“You think, but you do not know. Our thoughts have misled us up to this -moment, and may be misleading us now. But admitting the possibility that -the decision may be against us—that Odalite may be given into the -custody of Anglesea——” - -The father’s face darkened and flushed. - -“I would not give my child up to the scoundrel!” - -“But suppose the court were to order you to do so?” - -“I would resist, and take the consequences. I would never give my child -to that devil! I would sooner—Heaven knows that I would sooner throw her -alive into that lion’s cage in the circus at the Smithsonian Park over -there!” - -“But, uncle, suppose, in case of your resistance, the officers were -ordered to do their duty and take the woman from you by force, to give -her to the man. You know such might be the effect of your resistance. -What then?” - -The father’s face darkened like a thundercloud. His eyes, under their -black brows, flashed like lightning. - -“Le,” he said, “why do you torture me by such improbable suppositions? -In such a case I should—I could be another Virginius, and give my child -instant death to save her.” - -“No, uncle, you would not. You came of Christian parents, and you have -had a Christian training. You would do nothing unworthy of your race and -your education. Uncle, remember your Christian parentage and training, -and do not speak and act like a heathen Roman,” said Le, solemnly. - -The two men looked at each other in comic embarrassment almost -approaching laughter, had not the matter been so serious. - -“We have been letting imagination run away with us, Le. You and I have -been getting ourselves into unnecessary heroics. There will be nothing -to justify it. It is true that we have the most infernal villain to deal -with that ever disgraced the human form, but he must be dealt with by -law, and not by violence. All will be well,” said the elder man. - -“Uncle, it was I who got into heroics first, and then stung you into the -same state. But really now, I do not think that I shall have any -occasion to murder Anglesea and swing for it, or that you will have any -cause to enact the Roman father and slay your daughter to save her. Wait -for my _coup_.” - -“If I had been that same Roman father, it would not have been my own kid -I’d have killed, you bet. It would have been t’other I’d have gone for. -I mean, I never could see the sense of Virginius slaying his own -daughter, and running amuck through the streets of Rome, instead of -doing execution on the minion of Appius Claudius in the first place. It -was wrong end foremost, like most of the heroic dodges.” - -Of course it was Wynnette who spoke. She was standing within the open -door. - -“What do you want, my dear?” inquired her father. - -“Mamma sent me to look for you, and tell you that it is half-past nine. -She and Odalite are ready, and the carriage is at the door.” - -“Thank you, dear. Tell mamma that I will be with her in a moment,” said -Mr. Force, as he arose from his seat. - -Wynnette ran off with her message. - -“So, uncle, you will not allow me to go with you to the examination?” -inquired Le. - -“By no means! On no account, dear boy! You yourself should not wish it -under the circumstances.” - -“All right. Who is going with Odalite besides yourself?” - -“Her mother, her two sisters, Rosemary Hedge, and the four Misses -Grandiere.” - -“They can’t all go in one carriage.” - -“No; no one but Odalite, her mother and the eldest Miss Grandiere will -go in our carriage; the others will go by the street cars, under the -escort of Roland Bayard. I take a crowd of ladies with me not only as -witnesses to the broken marriage at All Faith Church—for the young men -could have answered that purpose—but as the most fitting, proper and -delicate support to my daughter. I take only one man, Roland Bayard, not -only as the most important witness, who brought Anglesea’s Californian -wife from San Francisco to St. Mary’s, but also as a proper escort for -the young ladies in the street car. But you, Le, should, in delicacy, -absent yourself.” - -“At least, I will not press my company on you, uncle. But perhaps I may -be there later. Don’t let anything discourage you, no matter how the -case seems to be going. Wait for my _coup_,” said Le. - -Mr. Force was drawing on his light overcoat in the hall, to which they -had walked during this conversation, and he scarcely heard or heeded the -youth’s last words, which seemed to be so significant. - -They met Mrs. Force and Odalite at the front door. - -“The girls have gone on in the cars before. Roland is with them. I told -them to wait in the vestibule of the City Hall until we should join -them,” said the elder lady. - -Odalite said nothing. She was white and still, as she had been at the -breakfast table. - -It was pouring rain. - -When the front door was opened Mr. Force and Leonidas both took large -umbrellas from the hall rack and held them over the heads of the two -ladies as they passed from the house to the carriage. - -When the two latter had entered and taken their seats, Mr. Force -followed them, and Le closed the door. - -“I shall bring her back with me,” said the elder man. - -“I am sure that you will,” replied the younger. - -The carriage drove off, and Le re-entered the house, muttering to -himself: - -“Let them wait for my _coup_!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - BEFORE THE JUDGE - - -Mr. Force with his party drove directly to the City Hall. - -It was still raining hard, when they arrived—so hard that when the -carriage drew up before the broad flight of steps leading up to the main -entrance of the building, Mr. Force, upon alighting upon the pavement, -had to take out one lady at a time, and lead her under the shelter of a -large umbrella up into the hall. - -They found Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, with the three younger Grandiere -girls, all under the escort of Roland Bayard, waiting for them in the -vestibule. - -When all the party were assembled, they mustered quite a formidable -company—eleven in number. - -“I never was in a courthouse in all my life before! I feel just as if I -was going to be tried for murder or larceny, or something, myself! I -know I shall never be able to hold up my head again!” whispered Elva, in -a frightened voice, to Wynnette. - -“And I reckon I shall be tried for murder, if ever I get a good chance -to let daylight through that foreign beat!” replied Wynnette, too mad to -mend her phrases as she usually did. - -“Don’t be distressed, Elva, dear! We are not going into court. This is a -case to be heard in chambers,” Roland explained. - -“Chambers!” echoed, in a breath, all the girls, whose only idea of -chambers was bedrooms. - -Before Roland could explain further, Mr. Force had come in with Odalite -on his arm, and hurried the whole party up another flight of stairs and -along another passage, until they reached a door at which a bailiff -stood. - -The latter opened the door, in silence. - -The whole party entered a large and well-furnished room, where, on this -cold and rainy second of April, a bright coal fire was burning in the -grate. The floor was covered with a dark red carpet, the windows shaded -with buff blinds, now drawn three-quarters up, because the day was dark, -and the walls were lined with tall bookcases, filled with well-worn -volumes, mostly bound in calf. Several library tables, loaded with -folios and stationery, occupied the middle of the spacious apartment. - -In a large leathern chair, at one of these tables, sat a venerable man, -with white hair and a benign countenance, a judge of the Supreme Court -of the District of Columbia, whom, for convenience, we will call Judge -Blank. - -There was a grave young man standing near him, who might have been clerk -or private secretary. - -And seated in another armchair, at some little distance, was Col. -Anglesea, looking as careless as if he were making a morning call. - -He, too, seemed to be without counsel or witnesses. - -Mr. Force came forward with his party, bowed to the dignitary, whom he -frequently met in social life and knew very well, and saluted him with -a— - -“Good-morning, judge,” as if he, too, had just dropped in to make a -morning call. - -“Good-morning, Mr. Force,” replied his honor, rising and looking about -him. - -Seeing the large party who had entered the room, he turned to the young -man in attendance, and said: - -“O’Brien, find seats for these ladies.” - -When they were all seated, Mr. Force remained standing before the judge, -with only the table between them. - -Col. Anglesea sat back at ease in his chair, with his chin a little -elevated, playing carelessly with the charms attached to his watch -chain. - -There was a short pause, and then Mr. Force, laying a document on the -table, said: - -“Your honor, I return the writ with which I have been served. My -daughter, Odalite Force, is present.” - -“Take a seat, Mr. Force,” said the judge, and then, turning to the young -man whom he had called O’Brien, he took from his hand a paper and began -to read it to himself. - -There was silence in the quiet room. - -“This is not a bit like I thought it was going to be. I don’t feel at -all scared now! Why, I know Judge Blank! He used to pat me on the head -every time he saw me!” whispered Elva to Wynnette. - -“Hush, hush! you mustn’t talk here. Yes, it is quiet enough here, for -that matter! Executions are quiet nearly always. We read, ‘The execution -was conducted in a quiet and orderly manner,’ and yet a man has been -hung and choked to death, or perhaps a woman,” whispered Wynnette, most -inconsistently talking more than the sister whom she had rebuked for -breaking silence. - -“Oh, Wynnette! why will you talk of such horrid, horrid things?” -demanded Elva, in a frightened tone. - -“Because I am thinking of the price. I am counting the cost of sending -that earthworm to Hades——Hush!” - -The judge had finished reading the document in his hand, and turning -slowly to the respondent, said: - -“Mr. Force, you are charged herein, under oath, by Col. Angus Anglesea, -of Anglewood Manor, England, with having, on the twentieth of December, -18—, forcibly abducted, and for three years past and up to this present, -illegally detained the person of his wife, Odalite Anglesea—otherwise -Odalite Force. What have you to say to this charge?” - -“I say that it is absolutely false and malicious from beginning to end! -The young lady here present, to whom he so insolently refers, is my -daughter, Odalite Force, a maiden and a minor, under my own immediate -protection,” replied Abel Force. - -“Col. Angus Anglesea will step forward,” said the venerable judge. - -The colonel arose, bowed and came up to the table. - -O’Brien handed him the New Testament. - -He bowed again with hypocritical devotion and took the formal oath to -speak “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” - -“Col. Anglesea, will you now state the grounds upon which you claim this -lady here present, Odalite Force, or Anglesea, as your wife, and charge -Abel Force, her father, with forcibly abducting and illegally detaining -her?” said the judge. - -“I will,” replied the colonel. And he began his statement: - -“Three years and four months ago, on the twentieth of December, 18—, in -the Church of All Faith, in the Parish of All Faith, in the State of -Maryland, I married Odalite Force, here present, daughter of Abel Force, -also here present. The Rev. Dr. Peters, rector of All Faith, performed -the marriage. Mr. Abel Force gave away the bride. At the end of the -ceremony a madwoman burst into the church, forced her way to the altar -and created a disgraceful disturbance, into the details of which I need -not go. Mr. Force, with the help of some of his neighbors, seized his -daughter, tore her from my arms and conveyed her to his home, where he -has forcibly and illegally detained her ever since. I see one man and -several young women who were witnesses of the whole transaction, and may -be put upon the stand to corroborate my testimony,” concluded the -colonel. - -“Oh, Lord!” muttered one and all of the girls, aghast at the -proposition. - -“Col. Anglesea,” questioned the judge, “you say that this happened more -than three years ago. Why has not this complaint been made sooner?” - -“Imperative business summoned me immediately to England and detained me -there. I wrote many letters to my wife, imploring her to come over to -me—letters which perhaps never reached her, for she never replied to -them. I then sent a messenger, the Rev. Dr. Pratt, to see her in person, -and try to induce her to come over to England under his escort and join -me at Anglewood, where I impatiently awaited her. But my reverend -courier failed to find her where I had left her, at her father’s country -seat, Mondreer, and heard that she was with her family in Washington. He -came here in search of my wife, but again failed to meet her. He was -told that she was traveling with her family in Canada. In short, my -agent failed to find her, and returned to England from his fruitless -errand.” - -“Lord! how that man can lie!—I mean, what reckless assertions he can -make!” said Wynnette, in a low tone, to Roland. - -“I like your first way of putting it best,” muttered young Bayard. - -Col. Anglesea was going on with his statement: - -“I was bound to England by business, which was at the same time a most -sacred duty. It is needless to go into the description of that business -and duty. It has nothing to do with this case further than it held me -fast from coming to this country in search of my wife; from whom I had -never heard directly since our violent parting in the church. Nor did I -hear any news of her until last March, when a rumor reached me that she -was on the eve of marriage with a cousin of hers, a Mr. Leonidas Force, -a midshipman in the United States Navy. I took measures to find out the -truth about this report, and having satisfied myself of it, I set sail -for New York, where I arrived only three days since. I took the first -train to Washington, and reached the city yesterday morning. I inquired -the address of Mr. Abel Force and went directly to his house. I was -refused admittance. I asked to see my wife, but was refused the -privilege.” - -“Oh, Lord! how that man can lie! I mean, how he can falsify the sacred -truth!” panted Wynnette. - -“Stick to the first form, my dear! The terse Saxon is the strongest,” -muttered Roland. - -Col. Anglesea continued: - -“Knowing the desperate character of the man I had to deal with——” - -“Oh! just hear him talking about our gentle, lovely papa!” whispered -Elva. - -“Never mind! I’m putting it all down! He’s only piling up ‘wrath against -a day of wrath.’ Spinning out rope enough to hang himself. I’ll give it -to him! He’ll catch it!” panted Wynnette. - -“Knowing, I say, the character of the man I had to deal with,” concluded -Anglesea; “knowing from bitter experience that not even the holy ground -of the house of God was sacred from his murderous violence——” - -“Rosemary Hedge! make Roland Bayard kick that man out of the courthouse -and horsewhip him in the public streets!” fiercely whispered Wynnette. - -“Hush, hush, dear child! We are in the presence of the judge. Wait. I -will deal with him later,” murmured young Bayard. - -“Rosemary Hedge! tell Roland Bayard if he don’t kick that man out and -lash him, you will never marry him!” hissed Wynnette, through her -clenched teeth. - -“He never asked me to,” replied Rosemary, in her tiny voice. - -“Silence,” said the judge, noticing for the first time the excited -whispering in the corner. - -“There! I told you so! Next thing we’ll be kicked out,” muttered -Wynnette, most unreasonably, since she herself had caused all the -disturbance. - -A dead silence fell among the group of girls while Anglesea went on with -his statement: - -“I applied for, and obtained, the writ of _habeas corpus_ from your -honor, ordering the abductor of my wife to bring her before you. So -armed with the power of the law, I went to the house of Abel Force last -night and entered it, and not a moment too soon. I found my wife -standing with a young man whom I at once recognized as Mr. Midshipman -Force, before a minister of the Gospel who had just pronounced the -marriage benediction. I saw the writ served, and then left the house. I -have no more to say but this, that I might have brought a criminal -charge against her!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE OTHER SIDE - - -The venerable judge now turned his face, impassive as that of the -Sphinx, toward Abel Force, who throughout the trying ordeal of -Anglesea’s false testimony and insulting demeanor had maintained his -self-possession and commanded his temper. - -He now arose and came forward, took the prescribed oath, and began his -statement: - -“My daughter, Odalite Force, was never married to Angus Anglesea. On the -twentieth of December, 18—, at All Faith Church, in Maryland, she went -through a portion of the marriage ritual with him; but that ceremony was -never completed. Before the final declaration was delivered, before the -benediction was pronounced, the further proceedings were interrupted by -the entrance of a lady who claimed to be the wife of Angus Anglesea, the -would-be bridegroom——” - -“An impostor! An adventuress!” exclaimed Col. Anglesea. - -“And who proved herself to be the wife of Angus Anglesea, to the -satisfaction of all present, by producing her marriage certificate.” - -“Forgery! forgery!” exclaimed the colonel. - -“I took charge of the certificate at the time and have it with me. Will -your honor examine it?” - -And Abel Force drew from his breast pocket a folded paper which he -handed to the judge. - -“A clever forgery, your honor!” said Anglesea, while the judge unfolded -and read the document. - -“This,” said the judge, slowly reading the paper, “appears to be the -certificate of the marriage of Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood, Lancashire, -England, colonel in the Honorable East India Service, with Ann Maria -Wright, widow, of Wild Cats’ Gulch, California. It is signed by Paul -Minitree as officiating clergyman, and by several other persons as -witnesses. What is the meaning of this, Col. Anglesea?” - -“It is a forgery, your honor!” impudently replied the colonel. - -The judge turned and looked at Abel Force. - -“So he said when it was first produced by his wife in church,” replied -the latter; “but we telegraphed to St. Sebastian and got the record of -the marriage from the parish register of St. Sebastian telegraphed back -to us, word for word. I have preserved that telegram. Will your honor -examine it?” - -And Mr. Force drew from his pocket a roll of what seemed measuring tape, -which he handed to the judge, who patiently unwound and carefully read -the long dispatch. - -“This appears to be a full corroboration. What have you to say about it, -Col. Anglesea?” - -“I say that it is a forgery! I say that there is a conspiracy between -the woman and the priest. I deny in toto the authenticity of the -marriage certificate and of the telegram that seems to support it. They -are both the work of the same hands. Any one who can write may fill in -the printed form of a marriage certificate. Any one may send a telegram -to any effect they please. I repeat that I deny in toto the truth of the -certificate and of the telegram. They may be easily proven to be false. -Let an accredited agent be sent to St. Sebastian to examine the -register. It will take time, but I am willing to wait for justice,” said -the colonel, with an appearance of candor and moderation calculated to -deceive any one who did not know him. - -The judge turned again and looked at Mr. Force. - -“Certainly. I am perfectly willing, nay, extremely anxious, that this -matter should be sifted to the very bottom. I have no doubt or fear of -the result,” said Abel Force. - -“In the meantime,” said Anglesea, “I shall pray your honor that my wife -will be taken from the custody of her father and delivered into my -keeping.” - -“That cannot be done while this question is in doubt,” said the judge, -with the same impassive face. - -“Then I will pray that my wife be taken from the custody of her father, -whom I cannot trust, and placed in that of the sheriff, or of some third -party, with whom my rights will be safe,” persisted the man. - -“We will consider.” - -“If your honor will adjourn the case for twenty-four hours I will -undertake to bring this man’s wife into court. She is at present living -at my country seat, Mondreer, in the capacity of housekeeper.” - -An insolent, insulting laugh from Anglesea interrupted the speaker for a -moment. - -“She is in the service of Mrs. Force, and in charge of our country home -during our absence,” continued Abel Force, controlling his temper, and -speaking quietly. - -“You may adjourn the case, your honor, for the sake of producing this -woman; but when she shall be produced she will be nothing more than an -impostor—an adventuress. The only true test of this question will be to -send an accredited agent to California to search the parish register of -Sebastian. Two agents may be sent, for that matter; one on my part, one -on the part of Mr. Force. That will secure fair play; but they will find -no record of any marriage between me and any woman whatever. How should -they? Why, your honor, I was, in that August, 18—, not in California, -nor in any part of America; not on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, but -on the other side, in England, at Anglewood Manor, attending on my -invalid first wife, Lady Mary Anglesea, who died suddenly on the -twenty-fifth of that same August. How, then, could I have been in -California, and married to this adventuress who has been brought forward -as my wife? Here is the notice of my first wife’s death. You will see -that it occurred on the twenty-fifth of August, just twenty-four days -after I am stated to have married this California widow. Will your honor -be pleased to examine it?” - -And Anglesea drew the little printed slip from his pocketbook, and -passed it to the judge. - -That venerable dignitary read it, and looked somewhat puzzled. In fact, -the case was growing more involved at every turn. - -“Your honor must perceive that if I were in attendance on my invalid -first wife, who died on the twenty-fifth of August, at Anglewood Manor, -England, I could not well have been in St Sebastian, California, -courting and marrying that impostor who claimed me.” - -The judge looked exceedingly perplexed. - -“Or if I could by any possibility have married this Californian woman on -the first of August, as the false certificate states, that marriage -would not have been legal because my first wife was then living, and -lived until the twenty-fifth, when she died. And, consequently, in -either case, I am the husband of this young lady, Odalite Anglesea, here -present.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - LE’S “COUP” - - -At this moment there was a slight movement at the door, and Leonidas -Force entered the room, advanced and bowed to the judge, and then handed -a written paper to the father of Odalite. - -Mr. Force took the paper, read it, started, and passed it on to the -judge. - -His honor took it, read it slowly, and laid it on the table before him. - -Mr. Force had resumed his seat. - -Col. Anglesea remained standing immediately in front of the judge. - -Le stood a little to the right, near the end of the table. - -There was silence for a few moments. - -Col. Anglesea was the first to speak again. - -“In view of the evidence that I have offered to prove that I am the -legal husband of Odalite Anglesea, here present, I pray your honor that -my wife be delivered into my custody, or if such may not be, then into -that of the sheriff, or of some other person whom I can trust.” - -“Col. Anglesea,” began the judge, speaking very slowly and deliberately, -“what did you say was the date of your first wife’s death?” - -“The twenty-fifth of August, as you may see by the obituary notice in -your possession.” - -“Ah! but in what year?” - -The colonel’s well-guarded face changed. He seemed disturbed, but -quickly recovered himself, and answered: - -“Oh! why, in the year 18—, the same year, of course, as well as the same -month, in which I have been accused of having married the California -widow—which, as I am not endowed with ubiquity, is impossible.” - -“You say, then, that your first wife died on August 25, 18—?” - -“Yes, your honor.” - -“On what date was this notice inserted, and in what paper?” - -“In the London _Times_ of the twenty-sixth. It is usual, I believe, to -publish the obituary notice on the day after the death,” said the -colonel, with great dignity, as if he considered this cross-examination -rather irrelevant, if not even impertinent. - -“London _Times_ of the twenty-sixth of August, 18—?” - -“Of course. Yes, your honor,” replied the colonel, scarcely able to -control his annoyance. - -At that moment Le drew from his breast pocket a folded newspaper, which -he passed to Mr. Force, who, in turn, submitted it to the judge, saying -respectfully: - -“Here, your honor, is a copy of the London _Times_ to which reference -has been made. If your honor will examine the obituary column, you will -see that the notice of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death is ‘conspicuous by its -absence.’” - -Col. Anglesea flushed and paled visibly while the judge turned over the -paper and examined it. - -“I hold here a copy of the London _Times_ of August 25, 18—, the date -you mentioned as containing the obituary notice of your wife’s death; -but I fail to find it in the list of such notices,” said the judge. - -“Will your honor allow me to look at that paper?” inquired Anglesea, -struggling, and partly succeeding, in recovering his self-control. - -“Certainly,” replied the judge, and he handed it over. - -“Where did this paper come from?” frowningly inquired Anglesea of Mr. -Force. - -The latter gentleman replied by a wave of his hand toward Leonidas -Force, who still stood near the right-hand end of the table before the -judge. - -“I procured it from Mr. Henry Herbert, an English gentleman, whose -acquaintance I made since my return from sea, and who, as I casually -found out, takes the London _Times_, and keeps a file of it.” - -“Ah!” said Col. Anglesea. “I was certainly under the strong impression -that the notice of my wife’s death was inserted in the _Times_ of the -day after the occurrence; but, as I really had nothing to do with the -matter myself—such matters are usually attended to by the family -solicitor, minister, or some other than the chief mourner—I could not -have been certain, and should not have undertaken to give the precise -date, as to which I must have been mistaken. And now that I reflect upon -the matter, I remember that Lady Mary Anglesea died at Anglewood Manor -at precisely 11:53 P.M., on the twenty-fifth, and, of course, the notice -could not have reached London in time for insertion in the issue of the -_Times_ of the twenty-sixth. It may have first appeared in the issue of -the twenty-seventh, or even of the twenty-eighth, and it may have never -appeared in the _Times_ at all, but in some other paper. I do not know. -I fear I took the matter so for granted that the notice appeared in the -_Times_ on the day after the death, that I spoke hastily and -unadvisedly,” concluded the colonel, with that air of candor he could so -well assume. - -“But you must remember from what paper you cut the notice that you have -so carefully preserved,” suggested the judge. - -“I did not cut it from any. There, again, is another reason why I cannot -be sure of the date, or even of the name of the paper in which it was -inserted. A thoughtful friend of the family—I do not remember who, -whether it was our rector or some other—cut it out and gave it to me as -a memento some days after the funeral. But, your honor, it seems to me -that the date of the publication of the notice of the death is of very -little consequence, as the fact remains that the event occurred on the -twenty-fifth of August, 18—, while the marriage with which I am charged -is said to have taken place on the first of the same month, which, if it -did, was clearly illegal and of no effect, and constitutes no barrier to -the marriage with Odalite, my present wife, which was solemnized at All -Faith in the December following. But I say, on the contrary, that the -marriage which I myself witnessed and arrested in the house of Mr. Abel -Force, yesterday, April 1st, between Odalite Anglesea and Leonidas -Force, was illegal, criminal and felonious; and I might now bring my -wife before the criminal court on the charge of bigamy.” - -“Col. Anglesea, you will do well to remember that this is not a criminal -court, nor are we investigating a criminal charge. And govern yourself -accordingly,” said the judge, speaking for the first time with great -severity in tone and look. - -Angus Anglesea bowed and was silent. - -“As this question of my daughter’s freedom to contract marriage has been -raised, your honor, I will crave your indulgence while I call your -attention to this paper which I hold in my hand. It is a copy of the -Angleton _Advertiser_, of August 20th, and contains an obituary notice -to the ‘late Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood, colonel,’ etc., etc., with a -sketch of his life and career, and a high eulogium of his character. -This paper appears to be the organ of his family, published in his own -town of Angleton, and on his manor of Anglewood, and should be some -authority in their affairs. And yet it publishes the death of the master -of the manor, who stands living before us. Even if my daughter had been, -as she certainly never was, the wife of Angus Anglesea, such evidence as -this—appearing to be true, though it was false—of the death of the man -whom she had not seen for more than three years, or since her incomplete -marriage with him was broken off at the altar by the appearance of his -wife, would have seemed to leave her free to contract marriage without a -shade of reproach. This paper was sent to me through the English mails, -in duplicates, the first of which reached me in September, and was soon -after forwarded to his wife, Mrs. Ann Maria Anglesea, at Mondreer. The -second came three days later. Will your honor look at it?” - -The judge took it, slowly examined the obituary notice and glowing -eulogium of the late Col. Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood Manor, etc., -etc., looked in amazement from the death notice to the living subject, -and then laying down the sheet, with a frown, said: - -“Mr. Force, this extraordinary publication has nothing whatever to do -with the case in hand.” - -Abel Force bowed in submission and sat down. His point, however, was -gained. The judge had seen the paper, and could not help drawing his own -conclusions. - -Judge Blank then arose to give his decision, and said: - -“Col. Angus Anglesea, it is not necessary to enter very deeply into the -merits of this case. You have failed to prove any marital rights over -the person of Odalite Anglesea, otherwise Odalite Force. I, therefore, -remand her, as a minor, into the custody of her father, and I dismiss -the case. Mr. Force, you can take your daughter away.” - -Abel Force bowed deeply to the judge, and walked toward the group of -ladies who were anxiously awaiting him. - -Col. Anglesea stepped aside to let him pass, but hissed in his ear: - -“There are other tribunals. And yet I will have my wife!” - -Abel Force disdained reply, but gave his arm to Odalite, and told Le to -give his to Mrs. Force. - -And so they left the presence of the judge. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - AFTER THE ORDEAL - - -The capricious April weather had changed for the better. The rain had -ceased. The sky was clear. The sun was shining. - -As our party stood on the steps of the City Hall, waiting for their -carriage to come up, Le spoke aside to the father of Odalite: - -“Uncle, it is but two o’clock. Can we not drive immediately to St. -John’s rectory, and have the interrupted marriage of yesterday -completed? I suppose we would have to begin again at the beginning and -have it all over again. Still that would give ample time to catch the -New York express train, and reach the city in time to secure the _Russ -a_ for Liverpool.” - -While Le spoke Mr. Force regarded him with amazement. When Le ceased Mr. -Force replied: - -“No, certainly not, my dear boy. No such plan can be entertained for a -single moment. We do not know, since that scoundrel’s return, whether -Odalite is free to marry. Nor shall we ever know until the date of Lady -Mary Anglesea’s death is definitely ascertained. If she did not die -until the twenty-fifth of August, 18—, as the fellow insists that she -did not, then was the ceremony he went through with the Widow Wright no -marriage at all, and the rites performed at All Faith between himself -and Odalite legal and binding. You know that as well as I do, Le.” - -The young man’s face grew dark with despair. - -“In any case you will never give her up to him!” he cried. - -“Never, so help me Heaven! Nor can I give her to you, Le, until she -shall be proved to be free.” - -“I thought, when the judge remanded her to your custody and dismissed -the case, it was—his action was equivalent to declaring her free.” - -“He had no power to do that. But in a doubtful case, when the -self-styled ‘husband’ cannot prove his right to the woman in question, -who is claimed by her father as his unmarried daughter and a minor, it -is clearly the proper course to deliver her into the keeping of her -father, always providing the father be a proper man to take the charge. -No, Le, the judge has simply left the case where he found it. You might -have noticed, too, that he referred to my daughter as Odalite Anglesea, -otherwise Odalite Force.’” - -“I thought he quoted that from the writ.” - -“He did, yet his doing so was significant.” - -“Oh, Uncle Abel, is there no way out of all this misery? Uncle Abel, it -is worse than death! Is there no help for us under the sun?” demanded -the youth, with a gesture of despair. - -“Yes, Le. Be patient.” - -“I have been patient for three long years, only to be grievously -disappointed at the end!” bitterly exclaimed the boy. - -“Come, Le, listen to my plan. You know that we are all invited over to -England to pay a long-promised visit to my brother-in-law, the Earl of -Enderby. You know that you and Odalite were to have gone there after -your marriage tour to join us at Castle Enderby.” - -“And that plan has all fallen through with the rest,” complained Le. - -“Not entirely, my boy. You cannot have a honeymoon anywhere just now. -But we can go abroad together, and spend the summer in England. We can -take advantage of our visit to investigate the particulars of Lady Mary -Anglesea’s death. If we find that she died previous to the marriage of -that villain with the Widow Wright, then was that marriage legal, and -Mrs. Ann Anglesea is Angus Anglesea’s lawful wife, and our Odalite is -free. If this should be the case, Le, I would offer no obstacle, suggest -no delay, to your immediate marriage. By the way, Le, was that file of -the _Times_ you spoke of a complete one?” - -“Oh, no, sir. Nor could I find a complete file in the city. From Mr. -Herbert’s file the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth and thirtieth of August -were missing, and there was no notice of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death in -any that remained.” - -“Well, we can find a perfect file in London. We can also find the -Anglesea parish register, and possibly some monument or tablet or -memorial window of the deceased lady which will give us the true date of -her death. We cannot possibly fail to find it, Le. We shall be sure to -do so. And if the discovery proves Odalite to be free, you shall have -her the next hour, or as soon as a minister can be found to marry you.” - -“And, on the other hand, uncle, if the facts do not show her to be -legally free, still you will never, never yield her to that man?” -anxiously persisted Le. - -“I have told you no—never! I would see her dead first. Be assured of -that. Why, Le, that scoundrel knows that he can never touch a hair of my -daughter’s head.” - -“Then why did he enact the villainy of last night and this morning if it -were not in the hope of getting her into his possession?” demanded the -youth. - -“He acted from a low malice, to annoy us; if possible, to humiliate us. -He knew that that was all he could do, and he did it. There, Le. There -is your car, and the other young folks are going to board it. Follow -them, my boy.” - -“But may I not go in the carriage with you and Odalite?” pleaded the -youth. - -“No, dear boy. There is no room for you. Miss Grandiere goes with us. We -are four, and fill the four seats. Hurry, or you will miss the car.” - -Le ran down the steps, and saved the car. - -All this time Odalite had been standing in the rear of her father, and -between her mother and her friend Sophie Grandiere. Her veil was down, -and it was so doubled as to hide her face. All three of the ladies were -silent. - -When Le had left his side, Mr. Force turned toward them, and said: - -“I ordered the carriage to come for us at about a quarter after two. I -had no idea we should be out before that hour, and have to wait.” - -“Well, we have not had long to wait, and here it comes,” replied Mrs. -Force. - -And the party walked down the steps, entered the carriage, and drove -homeward. - -The Forces, except when they gave a dinner, always kept up their -old-fashioned, wholesome habit of dining in the middle of the day. Their -usual dinner hour was half-past two, and they reached home just in time -to take off their bonnets before sitting down to the table. - -After dinner Mr. Force called a consultation of Mrs. Force, Odalite, -Leonidas, Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, in the library, for he said that -all who were interested in the question about to be raised should have a -voice in the discussion. - -When they were all seated he began, and said: - -“Mrs. Force and myself have called you here, my children, to help us to -decide whether, under the circumstances that have lately arisen, we -shall go to England as soon as we can get off, or whether we shall carry -out our first intention of waiting until June for the school -commencement at which you three younger ones expect to graduate. -Court-martial fashion, we will begin with our youngest. Little Rosemary, -what do you think about it? Shall we wait two months longer, until you -graduate, or shall we go at once? You are to go with us whenever we go, -and so you are an interested party, you know. Come, speak up, without -fear or favor!” - -But it was no easy matter to get the tiny creature to speak at all. - -Looking down, fingering her apron, she managed at last to express her -opinion that Mr. and Mrs. Force ought to decide for them all. - -“No, no! That won’t do at all! No shirking your duty, Liliputian! Tell -us what you think,” laughed the master of the house. - -“Well—then—I—think—it would be nice to go at once.” - -“And miss your scholastic honors?” - -“Yes,” muttered the child, looking shyly up from her long eyelashes. “I -would rather miss them than miss going to England.” - -“All right. One for the immediate voyage. Now, Elva?” - -“Papa, I wish you would let Odalite settle the question. We all would -like Odalite to have her own way,” said the affectionate little sister. - -“Quite right; we shall come to Odalite presently; but, in the meantime, -we want your own unbiased feeling about it.” - -“Indeed, indeed, my feeling is to do just what Odalite wants me to do! -Please, please, let me hear what Odalite says before I decide.” - -“Very well, then, so you shall. Now, Wynnette?” - -“Papa, I think we had best go at once. It is very warm here in the -latter part of May, and all through June, and it will be so delightful -on the ocean——” - -“But your graduation, Wynnette?” - -“Oh, papa! we shall not lose anything by losing those exercises. We are -learning nothing new now. We are going over and over the old ground to -make ourselves verbally perfect for the examination. So, indeed, by -leaving school at once we shall lose nothing but the parade of the -commencement.” - -“We score two votes for the immediate voyage. Odalite, my dear, you have -the floor.” - -“Papa, if I could go to Europe immediately without detriment to the -education of these girls, I should be very glad to go. But I think -everything should yield to the interests of their education,” said -Odalite. - -“You have heard what Wynnette says, my dear—that they are adding nothing -to their stock of knowledge in the last two months at school. Only -perfecting themselves, in parrot-like verbiage, to answer questions at -the coming examination. They will lose nothing but the pageantry of the -exhibition.” - -“Then, papa, I think I would like to go very soon.” - -“And now, so would I, papa,” put in Elva. - -“Quite so! Four in favor of the voyage. Now, Le?” - -“Uncle, you know my anxiety that we be off. I would go by telegraph, if -I could.” - -“Five! Well, my dears, Mrs. Force and myself are already agreed that, -upon all accounts, it is best that we should sail by the first Liverpool -steamship on which we can procure staterooms for so large a party as -ours is likely to be. I will write to the agent of the Cunard line by -to-night’s mail. It is very necessary that we should go to England, -without delay, not only to see our relative, Lord Enderby, whose health -is in a very precarious condition, but also to investigate matters in -which Odalite’s and Le’s welfare and happiness are deeply concerned. -Rosemary, my dear, write and tell your aunt of our changed plans in -regard to the time of the voyage. Children, this is the second of April. -I think we will be able to sail by the twenty-third, at furthest. So you -may all begin to get ready for your voyage,” said Mr. Force, rising to -break up the conference. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - PREPARING TO LEAVE - - -Mr. Force went at once to his writing desk to write letters—one to the -New York agent of the Cunard line of ocean steamers; another to his -overseer at Mondreer, and a third to Miss Grandiere. - -When all these were dispatched he joined his family circle in the -parlor. - -The talk ran on events of the day. - -“The proceedings were much less formal than I had supposed they would -be,” Mrs. Force remarked. - -Mr. Force laughed, and said: - -“This reminds me of the first _habeas corpus_ case I ever witnessed. In -my youth I was traveling in the far West, and stopped, to get over an -attack of chills, at the first house that would take me in. It was a -better sort of log cabin, on the farm of Judge Starr, one of the judges -of the Supreme Court of the State; and it was occupied by the judge, his -wife and a hired boy. I had to sleep in the loft with the hired boy. The -judge and his wife occupied the room below as parlor, bedroom, dining -room and kitchen——” - -“Oh, what living for civilized and enlightened human beings!” exclaimed -Mrs. Force. - -“He lives in a five-hundred-thousand-dollar house now, my dear, and if -it were not irreverent to say so, I might almost add that his ‘cattle’ -are ‘upon a thousand hills.’ But that is not the point now. On the -morning after my arrival I heard the judge say to his wife—for you could -hear through the gaping planks of the loft floor every word that was -spoken in the room below—I heard him say: - -“‘That case of little Valley Henley will come up to-day.’ - -“‘Will it?’ she replied. ‘Well, I’ll tell you what to do, Nick! You -leave it to the child herself.’ - -“‘I will,’ said the judge.” - -“And yet they say women have no power! And here was the wife of one of -the judges of the supreme court of the State, ordering him what to do!” -exclaimed Wynnette. - -“Well,” continued Mr. Force, “about ten o’clock, having taken a warm cup -of coffee, brought up to me by Mrs. Judge, and having got over the fever -that followed the chill, I arose and dressed and went downstairs. But -Mrs. Judge was ‘in the suds,’ and the room was full of hot steam; so I -walked out into the back yard, where I found the judge in his red shirt -sleeves, sawing wood. Almost before I could say good-morning, came the -hired boy and proclaimed: - -“‘They’re come.’ - -“‘Bring them right in here,’ said the judge, and he threw down his saw -and seated himself astraddle the log on the wood horse. - -“And then came half a dozen or more of men with a pale, scared little -girl among them. An orphan child, she was, with plenty of money, and she -was claimed by two uncles, one of whom had taken out a writ of _habeas -corpus_, to compel the other to bring her before the judge, to decide -who should have her. - -“Well, there was a lawyer on each side, and witnesses on each side, and -plenty of hard swearing and bold lying on both sides. And the judge sat -in his red flannel shirt sleeves, astride the log on the wood horse, and -stroked his stubble beard of a week’s growth, and listened patiently. -The poor little object of dispute stood and trembled, until the judge -noticed her and lifted her upon his knees, put his arm around her waist -and held her there, saying: - -“‘Don’t be afraid, little woman. No one shall hurt you in any way.’ - -“And the child plucked up her little spirits, and the judge listened -first to one lawyer and then to the other, while they each exhausted all -their law on the case, without affecting the issue in the least -degree—for the result lay in the will of that helpless, orphan child, -whose little head lay against the judge’s red shirt. While they all -talked themselves hoarse, the judge listened gravely, but spoke never a -word. - -“And Mrs. Judge came in and out of the yard, hanging her clothes on the -line. - -“When they could talk no longer they were obliged to be silent, and then -the judge lifted the child’s head from his bosom, sat her up straight, -and asked her: - -“‘Now, my little woman, let us hear what you have got to say, as you are -the most interested party. Which uncle had you rather go and live with?’ - -“It was some time before the frightened child found courage to open her -lips, but when, reassured by the manner of the judge, she did speak, it -was to the purpose. - -“‘Oh, sir, please, I want to go back to dear Uncle Ben! Mamma did leave -me to Uncle Ben; indeed, indeed, the Lord knows that she did! And I -don’t know Mr. Holloway! And no more did she! I never saw Mr. Holloway -till he came here after me to take me away off to Portland.’ - -“‘Very well, you shall go back to Uncle Ben,’ said the judge, and -raising his voice, he continued: ‘Mr. Benjamin Truman, here is your -niece and ward. Take her, and take care of her.’ - -“A rough backwoodsman came forward and took the little maiden in his -arms and kissed her, and then touched his hat to the judge on the wood -horse and led the happy child away. - -“And then a polished gentleman threw himself into a passion, and used -objectionable language that might have subjected him to fine and -imprisonment, had the law been administered to him in its severity. But -the good judge only said: - -“‘If you are not satisfied, there’s the orphans’ court—though, I have no -doubt, that also would leave the child in the custody of her present -guardian.’ - -“And with this the judge got off his ‘bench,’ took up his saw and -resumed his work. - -“And half the crowd went off swearing and threatening, and the other -half laughing and cheering. That was my first experience in _habeas -corpus_. Judge Starr has risen to wealth, power and position since then; -children came to him among other good gifts, and his eldest daughter has -lately married an English nobleman, who is quite as noble ‘in nature as -in rank.’” - -“Oh, I like that judge! I am glad he rose in the world!” exclaimed -little Elva. - -“I would like to see him,” murmured poor Odalite, won for the moment -from the contemplation of her own woes. - -“My love, for the last three years you have met him many, many times,” -said her father. - -“Met him!—here, in Washington? But I don’t remember any Judge Starr.” - -“That was a fictitious name. I could not use his real name in telling -such a story—though I don’t know why, either. But, my dear, he is now -one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States. You cannot -fail to identify him.” - -“Oh, I know! I know!” exclaimed Odalite, with a bright smile. - -“Who was it? Which was it? What was his name?” came in a dozen tones -from the young people present. - -“No; since papa has not named him, I must not,” said Odalite. - -And then the sound of the supper bell summoned them to the table. - -Two days after that Mr. Force received a letter from the New York agent -of the Cunard line of steamers, telling him that the first steamer on -which they could accommodate so large a party as the Forces’ would be -the _Persia_, which would sail on the twenty-eighth of May. There were -not so many ocean steamers then as now, and people had to secure their -passages a long way beforehand. - -“The twenty-eighth of may! Nearly two months! What a nuisance! But it is -because there are so many of us! Seven cabin passengers for the first, -and two for the second cabin! However, wife, I will tell you what we -will do: We will go down to Mondreer to spend the intervening time; and -we will give up this house at once. You know our lease expired on the -first of April—two days ago—and we are only staying here a few days on -sufferance, because the house is not wanted at this season. Yes; we will -go down to Mondreer. What do you say?” inquired Abel Force of his wife, -to whom he had just read the agent’s letter. - -“We will go down to Mondreer as soon as the Grandieres have finished -their visit. We invited them for a week, you know, and they have been -here but three days, and have seen but little of the city. And as to the -house, I suppose we will pay at the same rate at which we leased it, so -long as we shall stay,” replied Mrs. Force. - -The evening mail brought a letter from Beever, the overseer at Mondreer, -giving good accounts of the estate; and also a letter from Miss -Grandiere, acquiescing in Mr. Force’s plans, and begging on the part of -her sister, Mrs. Hedge, as well as on her own, that Mr. and Mrs. Force -would use their own judgment in all matters connected with Rosemary and -the voyage; only stipulating that the child should be sent home to visit -her friends before going abroad. - -Mr. Force wrote and mailed three letters that afternoon. One to the New -York agent of the Cunard steamships, engaging accommodations for his -whole party for the _Persia_, on the twenty-eighth of May; another to -Beever, expressing satisfaction at the report of affairs at Mondreer, -and announcing his speedy return with his family to their country home; -and a third to Miss Grandiere, telling her that Rosemary would be with -her in a few days. - -Then Mr. Force turned his attention to the young guests of the family, -and put himself out a little to show them around Washington City and its -suburbs. - -Mrs. Force, meanwhile, at the head of her household, was busy with her -packing and other preparations for their removal to Mondreer and their -after voyage to Europe. - -Every day she sent off boxes by express to Mondreer. - -And so the week passed. - -Nothing, meantime, had been heard of Col. Anglesea, until Mr. Force put -a private detective upon his track, who reported, at the end of the -week, that the colonel had left Washington for Quebec. - -That was a relief, at least. - -It was the tenth of April before the Grandieres finally concluded to -return home, and then Mrs. Force, supported by her own girls, begged -that they would remain until the whole family were ready to go to -Mondreer, that all might travel together; for the lady did not wish that -the news of Odalite’s second interrupted wedding should reach the -neighborhood and get distorted by gossip before their own return to -their country home. - -It was, therefore, on a fine day, the twelfth of April, that the large -party of family and guests left the city home in the care of the janitor -sent by the landlord, and took the train en route for Mondreer. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - FAREWELL VISIT TO MONDREER - - -It was a long day’s ride, and it was dark when their train ran into the -little station where it stopped for half a minute. - -The large party got out, and they found a much larger party collected to -meet them. - -There was old Tom Grandiere—as the master of Oldfield was beginning to -be called—with an ox cart to carry his tribe of sons and daughters home. - -There was William Elk, with an old barouche which he had brought to meet -his niece. - -There was Miss Sibby Bayard in her mule cart, come to fetch Roland. - -Lastly, there was Mrs. Anglesea, in the capacious break, driven by -Jacob, come to fetch the whole Force family home from the station to -Mondreer. - -And there were such hearty, cordial greetings as are seldom heard in -this world. - -“Welcome home, neighbors!” - -“We have missed you!” - -“Thank Heaven you have come back!” - -And so on and so on! All speaking at once, so that it was difficult to -tell who said what, or to reply distinctly to anything. - -Yet the Forces all responded in the most cordial manner to these -effusive greetings, in which Mrs. Force and Odalite detected an -undertone of sadness and sympathy which both mother and daughter -understood too well. - -“They have heard of our new humiliation, although we have never written -of it! Yes, they have all heard of it, though no one alludes to it,” was -the unuttered thought of mother and daughter. - -“Lord’s sake, ole man, hoist them children up here and get in! Don’t -stand palavering with them people all night! I’m gwine to drive you all -home myself. I only brought him for show! I wouldn’t trust him to take -us home safe over bad roads in the dark,” said Mrs. Anglesea, from her -seat on the box beside the coachman. - -“Well, my girls and boys, have you been so spoiled by your gay city life -that you will never be content with your dull, country home again?” -demanded Thomas Grandiere, as he helped his big daughters to tumble up -into the ox cart. - -“Oh, dad, it was perfectly delightful! But we are glad to get home and -see you, for all that!” answered Sophie. - - “‘There’s no place like home,’” - -sentimentally sighed Peggy. And all the other sisters and the brothers -chimed in with her. - -“Washington is well enough, but they are all too indifferent about the -crops ever to amount to much, I think,” said Sam Grandiere, and his -brother Ned seconded the motion. And so that party waved a last adieu to -the Forces and drove off. - -“Your mother and your aunt are both at our house, Rosemary, and so I -came to fetch you over there,” said William Elk, as he helped his little -mite of a niece into the old barouche. “You don’t grow a bit, child! Are -you never going to be a woman?” he further inquired, as he settled her -into her seat. - -“Nature puts her finest essences into her tiniest receptacles, Uncle -Elk!” said Roland, who called everybody else’s uncle his own. - -But William Elk had driven off without receiving the benefit of the -young man’s words. - -“Roland, come here and get into this cart afore this here brute goes to -sleep and drops down. There’s a time for all things, sez I, and the time -to stand staring after a young gal, sez I, isn’t nine o’clock at night -when there’s an ole ’oman and wicious mule on a cart waitin’ for you, -and a mighty dark night and a rough road afore you, sez I!” called Miss -Sibby, from her seat. - -“All right, aunty, I’m coming.” - -And the young fellow jumped into the cart, took the reins from the old -lady, and started the mule at a speed that made the animal cock his ears -and meditate rebellion. - -By this time Mr. and Mrs. Force, their three daughters and Leonidas were -seated in the break. - -Mrs. Anglesea was on the box, driving. This she so insisted on doing -that there was no preventing her except by enacting a scene. - -“Jake’s getting old, and blind, and stupid. I’m not going to trust my -precious neck to him, you bet! I have lost a good deal, but I want to -keep my head on my shoulders,” she had said, as she took the reins from -Jake, who immediately folded his arms, closed his eyes and resigned -himself to sleep. - -“You had better let me drive if you are afraid to trust Jake, Mrs. -Anglesea,” suggested Mr. Force. - -“You!” said the lady from Wild Cats’, in a tone of ineffable contempt. -“Not much! I’d a heap rather trust Jake than you! Why, ole man, you -never were a good whip since I knowed you, and you’ve been out of -practice three years! Sit still and make yourself comfortable, and I’ll -land you safe at Mondreer. Old Luce will have a comfortable tea there -for you, and strawberry shortcake, too. Think of strawberries on the -twelfth of April! But I raised ’em under glass. And so my beat wasn’t -dead, after all! And I in mourning for him ever since the fourteenth of -February! Well, my beat beats all! I shall never believe him dead until -I see him strung up by a hangman and cut up by the doctors—of which I -live in hopes! No, you needn’t worry. Jake’s fast asleep, and he -wouldn’t hear thunder, nor even the dinner horn, much less my talk!” - -“How did you hear that Col. Anglesea had turned up again?” inquired Mr. -Force. - -“Why, Lord! ole man, it’s all over the whole country. You couldn’t cork -up and seal down news like that! It would bu’st the bottle! I believe -some one fetched it down from Washington to the Calvert House, and then -it got all over the country; and Lord love you, Jake heard it at the -post office and fetched it home to the house. And then—when Beever got -your letter, and not a word was said about the wedding, and Miss -Grandiere got two—one from you and one from Rosemary—and nothing said -neither about no brides nor grooms, we felt to see how it was. And now -there’s lynching parties sworn in all over the neighborhood to put an -end to that beat if ever he dares to show his face here again. Oh! the -whole neighborhood is up in arms, I tell you!” - -“I am very sorry my good neighbors’ sympathy demonstrates itself in that -way,” said Mr. Force. - -“You can’t help it, though!” triumphantly exclaimed the lady from the -diggings, as she gave the off horse a sharp cut that started the whole -team in a gallop, and jerked all the party out of their seats and into -them again. - -“As a magistrate, it is my bounden duty to help it,” returned Mr. Force, -as soon as he recovered from the jolt. - -“Look here, ole man! You take a fool’s advice and lay low and say -nothing when lynch law is going round seeking whom it may devour! For -when it has feasted on one wictim it licks its chops and looks round for -another, and wouldn’t mind gobbling up a magistrate or two any more than -you would so many oysters! Leastways that is how it was at Wild Cats’. -And I tell you, our boys out there woudn’t have let a beat like him -cumber the face of the earth twenty-four hours after his first -performance, if they could have got hold of him. It’s a word and a blow -with them, and the blow comes first! Now, for goodness’ sake, do stop -talking, ole man! I can’t listen to you and drive down this steep hill -at the same time without danger of upsetting! Whoa, Jessie! What y’re -’bout, Jack? Stea—dee!” - -And the lady on the box gave her whole attention to taking her team -safely down Chincapin Hill and across the bridge over Chincapin Creek. - -“Oh! how glad I am to see the dear old woods and the creek and the -bridge once more!” said little Elva, fervently. - -“‘See!’ Why, you can’t see a mite of it! It is as dark here as the -bottom of a shaft at midnight. No moon. And what light the stars might -give hid by the meeting of the trees overhead. ‘See,’ indeed! There’s -imagination for you!” replied Mrs. Anglesea. - -“Well, anyhow I know we are on the dear old bridge, and going over the -creek, because I can hear the sound of the wheels on the planks and the -gurgle of the water running through the rocks and stones,” deprecatingly -replied Elva. - -“Why don’t you say ecstatically— - - “‘Hail! blest scenes of my childhood!’ - -That’s the way to go on if you mean to do it up brown!” chaffed -Wynnette. - -“Oh, how can you be such a mocker! Are you not glad to get home?” -pleaded Elva. - -“Rather; but I’m not in raptures over it.” - -“Look here, young uns! Stop talking; you distract me. I can’t listen and -drive at the same time. And if you will keep on jawing you’ll get upset. -These roads are awful bad washed by the spring rains, and if we get home -safe it will be all owing to my good driving! Only you mustn’t distract -me by jawing!” said Mrs. Anglesea. And having silenced every tongue but -her own, she drove on slowly by the light of the carriage lanterns, -which only shed a little stream directly in front of her, talking all -the time about the negligence of the supervisors and the carelessness of -the farmers in suffering the roads to be in such a condition at that -time of the year. - -“This could never a been the case if you’d been home, ole man! You’d a -been after them supervisors with a sharp stick, you would! But, Lord! -the don’t-care-ishness of the men about here!” she concluded, as she -drew up at the first broad gate across the road leading into the -Mondreer grounds. - -Her passengers thought, but did not say, that if the lady on the box -could not listen and drive at the same time, she could certainly drive -and talk pretty continuously at the same time. - -“Here, you lazy nigger, Jake! Wake up and jump down and open this here -gate!” exclaimed Mrs. Anglesea, giving the old sleeper such a sharp grip -and hard shake that he yelled before he woke and said he dreamed a limb -of a tree had caught him and knocked him out of his seat. - -However, he soon came to a sense of the situation, half climbed and half -tumbled down to the ground and opened the gate to let the break pass -through. - -The house was now in sight and lighted up from garret to basement. - -“Oh, how pretty!” cried Elva. - -And Wynnette mocked her good-humoredly. - -“I told Luce to do it and leave all the window shutters open so you -could see through. Lord! tallow candles are cheap enough, ’specially -when you make ’em yourself. And there was an awful lot of beef tallow -last killing to render down. I couldn’t tell you how many candles I -run—about five hundred, I reckon! Well, here we are at the house, -and——Oh, Lord! Jake, jump down and hold that dog, or he’ll break his -chain and jump through the carriage windows!” cried Mrs. Anglesea, as -they stopped before the house. - -Indeed, Joshua was making “the welkin ring” with his joyous barks and -his frantic efforts to get at the returning friends, whose presence he -had scented. - -“Let him loose this instant, Jake! Unchain him, I say!” exclaimed -Wynnette. And without waiting for her orders to be obeyed, she sprang -from the carriage, fell upon the dog’s neck, and covered him with -caresses. - -“Oh, you dear, good, true, trusty old fellow! To know us all again after -so many years! To be so glad to see us! And to forgive us at once for -going away and leaving you behind. You would never have left us, would -you, my dog? Ah! dogs are a great deal more faithful than human beings.” - -While Wynnette with her own hands unloosed the chain, the other members -of the family alighted from the break. - -And Joshua, released from restraint, dashed into the midst of the group, -barking in frantic raptures, and darting from one to another trying to -turn himself into a half a dozen dogs to worship at once a half a dozen -false gods in the form of his returning friends. - -They all responded to Joshua’s demonstrations, and then entered the -house, closely followed by the dog, who did not mean to lose sight of -them again. - -In the lighted hall they found all the family servants gathered to -welcome them home. - -“Oh, dear mist’ess, we-dem all frought as you-dem had forsook us forever -and ever, amen!” said Luce, bursting into tears, as she took and kissed -the hand her mistress offered. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - LE’S PLAN - - -When all the greetings were over the family were allowed to go -upstairs—still in custody of the dog, who kept his eye on them—and take -off their traveling suits. - -Mrs. Anglesea walked ahead to see that every one was comfortable. - -Every bedroom was perfectly ready for its occupant, well lighted by -candles in silver candlesticks on the mantelpiece and on the dressing -bureau, and well warmed by a bright little wood fire in the open -fireplace, which this chilly April evening rendered very pleasant. - -“One thing I do grieve to part with, even in the lovely spring, and that -is our beautiful open wood fires!” said Elva, as she sat down on the -rug, with Joshua lying beside her, before the fire in the bedroom -occupied by Wynnette and herself. - -“So do I! I am always glad when a real cool evening comes to give us an -excuse to kindle one,” Wynnette assented. - -But the tea bell rang, and they had to leave the bright attraction, and, -closely attended by Joshua, who resolved to keep them in view, go down -to the dining room, where all the family were assembled. - -This apartment was also brightly lighted by a chandelier, which hung -from the ceiling over the well-spread table, and warmed by a clear -little wood fire in the open chimney. - -“Strawberries and wood fires! The charms of summer and winter meeting in -spring!” exclaimed Wynnette, glancing from the open chimney to the -piled-up glass bowl of luscious fruit that stood as the crowning glory -of the table. - -“Raised under glass, honey. And a time I had to keep the little niggers -from stealing them! Children may be little angels, but I never seed one -yet as wouldn’t steal fruit when it could get a chance.” - -“I think they instinctively believe that all the fruit that grows -belongs to them, or at least, as much of it as ever they want, and—maybe -they are right,” said Mr. Force. - -“That’s pretty morality to teach the young uns! You ought to be ashamed -of yourself, ole man. That’s not my way, nohow. I spanked every one of -them little niggers with a fine new shingle until they roared again, -every time I caught ’em at the strawberries; and, providentially, there -were plenty of new shingles handy—left by the carpenters who put the new -roof on the back porch,” said the lady from the mines. - -But no one replied; and as Mrs. Force had taken her seat at the head of -the table, all the party gathered around, while the dog stretched -himself on the rug before the fire and watched his family. They wouldn’t -get away again for parts unknown, and stay three years—not if he knew -it! - -It was late when they sat down to tea, but as they were all very hungry, -and this was their first meal at home after years of absence, they -lingered long around the table. - -And when at last they arose and went into the drawing room, still -“dogged” by Joshua, it was only for a short chat around the fire, and -then a separation for the night. - -“Jake, put that dog out,” said Mrs. Anglesea, who could not all at once -forget to give orders in the house she had ruled for three years, even -now when the mistress was present. - -Jake advanced toward the brute, but Joshua laid himself down at -Wynnette’s feet and showed all his fangs in deadly fashion. - -“’Deed, missis, it’s as much as my life’s worf to tech dat dorg now,” -pleaded Jake. - -“Let Joshua alone,” said Wynnette; “he shall sleep on the rug in my -room, shan’t you, good dog?” - -Joshua growled a reply that was perfectly well understood by Wynnette to -mean that he certainly should do that very thing in spite of all the -wildcat women in creation. - -And so when all went upstairs, the dog trotted up soberly after his -little mistress, and when the latter reached their room, he laid himself -down contentedly on the rug, and watched until he saw them abed and -asleep. Then he resigned himself to rest. - -“Oh! the rapture of being at home again!” breathed little Elva, standing -on the rose-wreathed front piazza, and looking forth upon the splendid -April morning, when the sky was blue, and the bay was blue, and the -forest trees of tenderest green, and the orchard trees with apple -blossoms, peach blossoms, all like one vast parterre of blossoming -flowers; and the tulips, hyacinths, jonquils, daffodils, pansies, -japonicas, and all the wealth and splendor of spring bloom on the flower -beds on the lawn were radiant with color and redolent of perfume. - -“Oh! the rapture of being at home!” said little Elva, softly to herself, -as she gazed on the scene. - -“‘Hail, blest scenes of my childhood!’” sentimentally murmured a voice -behind her. - -Elva turned quickly, and saw, as she expected to see, the mocking face -of Wynnette. - -“Oh, Wynnette! how can you make such fun of me!” inquired Elva, in an -aggrieved tone. - -“To prevent other things making a fool of you. Come in, now, to -breakfast. They are all down, and I came out to look for you.” - -The girls went in together, and took their places at the table. - -When the breakfast was over, Le asked his uncle for the loan of a horse -to ride over to Greenbushes. - -“I want to take a look at the little place, which I have not seen for -three years and more,” he explained. - -“Why, certainly, Le. Take any horse you like. And never think it -necessary to ask me. Are you not as a son to me?” said Abel Force. - -“I did hope to be your son, sir, in every possible sense of the word, -but that hope seems dead now,” sighed the young man. - -“Not at all, Le! We have only to prove a fraud in the alteration of the -date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death to set aside every imaginary barrier -between you and Odalite.” - -“But, sir, he denies that there ever was any marriage between himself -and this Californian lady. He declares that it is all a conspiracy -between the woman and the priest, that the marriage certificate is a -forgery, and the telegram a fraud, and he defied us to go or send to St. -Sebastian to test the matter. Now if this Californian lady is not -Anglesea’s wife——” Le paused. He could not bring himself to conclude the -sentence. - -“If the Californian is not his wife, Odalite is, no matter at which date -the first wife died,” said Mr. Force, finishing the unspoken argument. - -“Yes, that is what I meant to say—only I could not.” - -“My dear Le, have you the least doubt as to the reality of that St. -Sebastian marriage, whatever may be said of its legality?” - -“No, none in the world. Still I want further proof of it. I want to go -to St. Sebastian and search the parish register, as he challenged us to -do!” - -“Bah! He only did that out of bravado, to annoy us and to gain time. He -no more believed that we would either go or send to St. Sebastian than -he believed that he would ever be permitted to touch the tip of -Odalite’s finger as long as he should live in this world! He acted from -a low spite, without the slightest hope of any other success.” - -“Notwithstanding that, Uncle Abel, upon reflection, I shall go to -California and search that parish register and bring back with me -absolute, unquestionable proof of that marriage to take with us to -England. Then, when we can prove that Lady Mary Anglesea’s death -occurred before Col. Anglesea’s second marriage, we shall know Odalite -to be free to become my wife. Don’t you see?” - -“Yes, Le; but when do you propose to go to California on this quest? You -know we sail for England in six weeks from this.” - -“I shall start to-morrow, and lose no time! travel express! do my work -as quickly as it can be done thoroughly—for to do it most thoroughly -must be my first care—then I shall travel express coming home, and so be -back again as soon as possible.” - -“Well, my boy, go!” said Mr. Force. “I approve your earnestness, and may -Heaven speed you.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - WHAT FOLLOWED THE RETURN - - -“Now, ole ’oman, I want you to go all over the house ’long o’ me, to see -for yourself how I’ve done my duty,” said the lady from Wild Cats’, as -she followed Mrs. Force from the breakfast room on the day after the -return of the family to Mondreer. - -“Indeed, Mrs. Anglesea, I have no doubt you have done perfectly well,” -replied the mistress of the house, deprecatingly. - -“Yes, but I want you to see that I have. Now come into the storeroom,” -said the housekeeper, resolutely leading the way, while Mrs. Force -obediently followed. - -“Now look at them there rows of pickles and preserves, and jams and -jellies, on them there shelves. All made by my own hands. Them on the -top shelf is three years old, and all the better for their age. Them on -the middle shelf was made last year, and is very good. Them on the -bottom shelf is the newest, and wants a little more age on ’em.” - -“I’m afraid you worked too hard in making up these things, and also -denied yourself the use of them, since the shelves are so full.” - -“Who? Me? Not much! I own I did work hard. I like work. But as to -denying myself anything good to eat, jest you catch yours to command at -it, if you can; and if you do, jest let me know, so I can consult a mad -doctor to find out what’s the matter with my thinking machine. No, -ma’am. I don’t deny myself nothing good to eat. You bet your pile on -that. Fasting never was no means of grace to me. I had plenty of pickles -and preserves at all the three meals of the day. And so had the two -niggers. Lord! why, next to eating myself, I love dearly to see other -people eat.” - -“I am very glad you enjoyed yourself,” said Mrs. Force. - -“You bet! And now look into this closet, and see the dried yerbs and -roots and berries I have got here. See now!” - -“A great store, indeed.” - -“All gathered by my own hands, and with the dew on ’em, before the sun -was up, and shaken and dried in the shade by me. And now look here at -this shelf full of boxes of honey. I ’tended to it all myself. I hived -eleven swarms of bees since you have been gone. And I did want to -complete the dozen so much. But, Lord! it is always so. Just because I -wanted to, they got away while I was at church one Sunday morning. You -can’t beat any religion into bees. They didn’t mind breaking the Sabbath -no more than a wild Indian. But I’ll more than make up that dozen next -season, you bet.” - -“You have done admirably well to have saved so many.” - -“Think so? Well, now come out into the meat house, and see the barrels -of salt pork and beef, all corned by my own hands, and the sugar-cured -hams and the smoked tongues. Oh, I tell you!” - -Mrs. Force followed her manager out of a back door into a paved yard and -across it, to a small detached building of stone, set apart for the -purpose to which the able housekeeper had put it. - -We cannot follow the two women through all the round of inspection, into -the smoke houses, meat houses, poultry yards, etc., but will only add -that the lady was gratified by all she saw, and was liberal in -commendation of her deputy. - -“Now come into the house, and we’ll go upstairs into the linen room, and -then up into the garret to look at the carpet and woolen curtains, and -blankets and things, laid up in lavender for the summer, and if you find -a hole unmended in anything whatsoever, or a patch put on crooked, jest -you let me know it, will you, and I’ll go right straight off and consult -that same mad doctor I mentioned before, to see if anything’s the matter -with my headpiece.” - -When the inspection of the house was entirely over Mrs. Force was very -earnest in her expressions of satisfaction and gratitude to the faithful -and capable manager. - -“You are a much better housekeeper than I ever was, Mrs. Anglesea,” she -said, as they came downstairs together. - -“Why wouldn’t I be? Gifts is divers. You’ve got a gift of working in -silks and worsteds, and beads and things, and playing on the pianoforty, -and speaking in all the lingoes of the Tower of Babel. But you can’t -keep house worth a cent. And the Lord knows what would a-become of you -all if it had not been for ole Aunt Lucy. Now she’s a fairish sort of a -manager, though she can’t come up to me. No, ma’am! I never graduated -from no college. I can’t play on nothing but the Jew’s-harp, and I can’t -speak any language but what I learned at my ole mother’s knee. But, -Lord! as for good housekeeping and downright useful hard working, I can -whip the coat offen the back of any man or any woman going.” - -“I think that few can excel you,” said Mrs. Force, as they entered the -little parlor. - -“You bet!” said the lady from the diggings, as she dropped heavily into -an armchair and panted. “And I didn’t learn to keep house at Wild Cats’, -neither! Lord, no; there wasn’t much chance to keep house in a log cabin -with a dirt floor, and not even a loft or a lean-to! It was from my good -ole mother I learned all I know! And little use it was to me at Wild -Cats’. And, oh! when I think of the gold diggings, and my poor ole man -leaving of a comfortable home to go and live in a poor shanty, and dig -in the bowels of the earth for nigh eleven years to make his pile, and -then to die and leave it all behind for that grand vilyan to rob me -of——But there! Lord, what’s the use of thinking of it when I’ve got as -fine a goose in the roaster before the kitchen fire as ever swam upon a -pond, as rich a green gooseberry pie in the oven as ever was baked! And -so, ole ’oman, I’ll leave yer now, ’cause I can’t trust ole Luce! She -ain’t the ’oman she used to be by a long shot. She’s sort o’ getting -blind, I think,” concluded the housekeeper, as she arose and left the -room. - -Mrs. Force sat back in her chair to rest after her tour of the house and -yard. - -While thus resting she heard the sound of carriage wheels, and then a -gay bustle before the front door, the voices of Wynnette and Elva -mingled with the voices of a lady and gentleman, the laughing of a -child, the crowing of a baby, and the barking of a dog. - -Presently the hall door opened and all this merry confusion of sounds -rolled into the hall and into the drawing room. - -And before Mrs. Force could arise from her chair to go and see what -could be the matter, her door was suddenly thrown open and Wynnette, all -aglow with excitement, burst into the room, exclaiming: - -“Oh, mamma! It is Natalie! Dear Natalie and—and two babies! Dr. Ingle -brought them in his gig, and he is only waiting to speak to you, to -leave them here while he goes his round among his patients, and then he -will call and take them home! But, oh, mamma, I want you to make him -promise to come back and stay to dinner and spend the evening—will you? -Oh, mamma, Natty is looking so lovely, and her babies are just -heavenly!” - -“My dear, impetuous Wynnette, stop and take breath! Of course Natalie -and her children must spend the day, and the doctor must return to -dinner. Come! I will go to them,” said Mrs. Force, as she arose and went -into the drawing room, followed by the delighted Wynnette. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - THE FIRST VISITORS - - -As soon as Mrs. Force opened the door Dr. Ingle stepped rapidly to meet -her, with both hands extended. - -“Welcome back to us! Dear friend! Only this morning we heard of your -arrival through Ned Grandiere, who came to my office early to ask me to -call and see one of the colored folks on his farm; but Natalie -immediately took a fit, and declared that I must bring her and the -babies here before going anywhere else! So here they are, and now I must -be off to Oldfields.” - -Before the doctor had half finished this speech Natalie herself was in -Mrs. Force’s arms, laughing and crying for joy. - -“Well, well! I must say good-by, madam!” exclaimed the doctor, rather -impatiently, as he held out his hands to the lady of the house. - -“I suppose I must not detain you from your patients; but I cannot let -you go until you have promised to return to dinner, and to spend the -evening with us,” said Mrs. Force. - -“I thank you! I promise! Good-morning!” And the doctor bowed himself out -of the drawing room. - -“Oh, you sweet little thing! You lovely, lovely little thing!” cooed -Elva, seated upon a hassock, with the few months old baby across her -lap. - -“These are your children, Natalie? What fine children they are,” said -Mrs. Force, as they all resumed their seats. - -“Do you think so? I am glad you think so,” replied the proud young -mother. “Come here, Effie, and speak to this lady,” she continued, -taking a little, white-robed toddler by the hand and leading her up to -Mrs. Force. - -The little one stood before the lady, with her chin down on her bosom, -and her soft brown eyes turned shyly up to her hostess. - -“Make your courtesy now to the lady,” said her mother. - -The little creature obeyed and dropped her courtesy, still turning her -soft brown eyes, full of reverence and admiration, up to her hostess’ -face. - -“So this is my little namesake?” said Mrs. Force, lifting the child upon -her lap. - -“Yes, named Elfrida, for you and Elva; but we call her Effie, and she -calls herself Essie,” said the young mother. - -“Ah! is that your name, little one?” inquired the lady, stroking the -child’s curls. - -“Es, ma’am—Essie,” replied the baby. - -“And what else besides Essie?” - -“Essie—Indy, ma’am.” - -“Oh, Essie Ingle—is that it?” - -“Es, ma’am; Essie—Indy.” - -“And how old are you, Essie?” - -“Me—two—doin’ on fee.” - -Mrs. Force looked at the mother for a translation of these words. - -“She is two years, going on three,” laughed little Mrs. Ingle. - -Mrs. Force continued her catechism of the child, who answered in broken -baby language, but with rare intelligence, and still with such simple -reverence and admiration as touched the lady’s heart. - -“Oh, Natalie!” she said, “can there be anything more spirit-searching to -a grown-up sinner than the innocent reverence and trust of a child! Lo! -they think us so wise and so good, while we know ourselves to be so -foolish and evil! Ah me, Natalie!” - -Young Mrs. Ingle made no reply, but looked puzzled and distressed while -little Essie put up her hand timidly—reverentially, and stroked the fair -cheek of the lady, with some vague instinct of tenderness and sympathy. - -“Oh, mamma, look at little Wynnie! sweet, little Wynnie! You have not -noticed her yet!” said Elva, reproachfully, as she arose, and brought -the infant to her mother. - -“Wynnie?” inquired Mrs. Force, looking up into Natalie Ingle’s face, as -she sat Essie on the carpet and took the babe on her lap. - -“Yes, we have named her Wynnette, and we call her Wynnie. She is not -christened yet. We waited for you to come home,” Natalie explained. - -They were interrupted by other visitors. - -The Rev. Dr. Peters and Mrs. Peters came to welcome their old friends to -the neighborhood. - -“Three years and three months since you left the neighborhood, madam,” -said the rector, when the first greetings were over. “And dear, dear, -what changes three years have made! Your two younger daughters have -grown so much! Wynnette is a young lady. Elva soon will be one. And -Odalite, madam? I hope she is well.” - -“Odalite is quite well, thank you, Dr. Peters. She has gone over to -Greenbushes, but she will be back to dinner. You and Mrs. Peters, I -hope, will give us the happiness of your company for the day,” said the -lady. - -“Thank you, very much; but on this first day after your return home——” - -“Now, doctor, I will take no denial. Wynnette, my love, go and tell -Jacob to put up the doctor’s carriage and horse. Mrs. Peters, will you -lay off your bonnet here, or will you go to a room?” - -“I will go upstairs, if you please, dear. You see I have my cap in this -little bandbox,” replied the rector’s wife. - -So they had come to stay! And, of course, Mrs. Force knew that well -enough when she invited them. - -An old couple, like the good rector and his wife, could not be expected -to come so long a drive only to make a short call. - -Mrs. Force conducted her latest guest upstairs to a spare room, where -the old lady took off her black Canton crape shawl, and her black silk -bonnet, and put on her lace cap with white satin ribbons. - -And then they went down together. - -When they returned to the drawing room they found the place deserted. - -Wynnette had carried off young Mrs. Ingle and the two babies to her own -and Elva’s room, which was now converted into a day nursery, where -Natalie, seated in a low rocking-chair, was putting her baby to sleep, -while Elva, with a picture book, was quietly amusing Essie. - -“Now, Natty, dear, as you know you are quite at home, you must excuse -me, and let me go down to Dr. Peters, who is alone in the drawing room,” -said Wynnette, as she kissed her ex-governess and dear friend and left -the chamber. - -But when she reached the hall below she found that the good rector was -well taken care of. - -Through the open hall door she saw him and her father walking up and -down the piazza, enjoying the fine spring day, and smoking some of the -squire’s fine cigars. - -So Wynnette went into the drawing room, where she found her mother and -the rector’s wife, who had just entered the place. - -More visitors. - -The gallop and halt of a horse was heard without, and soon after Mr. Sam -Grandiere, escorted by Mr. Force and Dr. Peters, entered the drawing -room, and made his bow to the lady of the house and her guest, and then -shook hands with Wynnette and sat down, looking as red-headed, -freckle-faced, bashful and awkward as ever. - -He remarked that it was a fine day, though bad for the wheat crop, which -wanted rain; and then he hoped that Mrs. Force and the young ladies felt -rested after their journey. - -Mrs. Force thanked him, and replied that the whole family were quite -recovered from any little fatigue they might have felt. - -The rector, to help the bashful young fellow out, inquired how he had -enjoyed his trip to Washington, and what he thought of the city. - -Young Sam was not to be “improved” in that way. He made a characteristic -reply. Ignoring every object of interest within the city’s bounds, he -answered that he thought the land about Washington very poor indeed, and -very badly farmed, and crops looked very unpromising. He thought the -soil had been too hard worked, and too little manured, and that it -wanted rest and food, so to speak. - -“But the city, my dear boy, the city! What do you think of the city, the -great capital of a great nation?” persisted the minister. - -“The city!” Well, Mr. Sam Grandiere didn’t think much of the city. There -didn’t seem to be much downright, solid, earnest business going on -there, like there was in Baltimore; and, for his part, he didn’t see how -the people lived, except such as were in the service of the government. -No, bad as the country was round about Washington, the city was even -worse—even less productive. - -The rector took up cudgels in defense of the national seat of -government; spoke of the public buildings—the capitol, the departments, -the patent office, the navy yard—and so on. - -But Mr. Sam Grandiere could not see any profit or “produce” in any of -them. - -So the rector gave him over to a reprobate spirit. - -Presently Mrs. Ingle—having left both her babies asleep upstairs, with -Elva lovingly watching over them—came down into the drawing room and -greeted the minister and his wife, and also Mr. Force, whom she had not -earlier seen. - -“You have grown plumper and rosier in the last three years, my dear. I -should scarcely recognize in you the pale, delicate young bride whom I -gave away to the worthy doctor. Ah! I see how it is! He has enforced the -laws of health,” said the squire, as he warmly shook her hand. - -“Yes; that is it,” replied Natalie. “He makes my life a burden to me -with _régime_ and hygiene.” - -At this moment Le and Odalite walked into the room. - -Le shook hands with the rector and his wife, while Odalite literally -threw herself into the arms of Natalie. - -And a few minutes later, when she had greeted all her parents’ guests, -she went upstairs with young Mrs. Ingle to feast her eyes on the -sleeping babies over which Elva was proudly and tenderly watching. - -There the two friends sat down and had a good, long talk—all about the -young doctor’s prospects, the young couple’s home, the neighbors, and so -forth; but not once did they speak of Odalite’s trials. Odalite herself -never alluded to the subject, nor did Natalie dare to do so. - -And it may here be said that the reticence which was observed in the -seclusion of the bedchamber was practiced in the social circle of the -drawing room. - -Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Force mentioned the subject of their family -troubles, nor could their guests venture to do so. - -Elfrida dreaded the indiscreet tongue of the lady from Wild Cats’; so -she was greatly relieved, when she went out to caution Mrs. Anglesea, to -hear that honest woman say: - -“Let’s try to be jolly this one day, and forget all about my rascal and -our troubles! ’Deed, do you know I have told everybody in this county -how he treated me, so that they all know it as well as their a b c? And -that’s a rhyme come out of time. I didn’t intend it, but I can’t mend -it. I say! hold on here! there is something the matter with my -headpiece! I never composed no poetry before and didn’t mean to do it -now! It come out so itself! But you needn’t be afeard of me talking -about Skallawag Anglesea! I’m sick to death of the name of him!” -concluded the lady from the mines. - -Mrs. Force then turned to receive young Dr. Ingle, who had just driven -up in his gig and was now entering the front door, while old Jake took -his equipage around to the stables. - -Half an hour later dinner was served. And, in spite of all drawbacks, it -proved a happy reunion of old friends. - -After dinner the carriages were ordered, and the visitors departed. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - LE’S DEPARTURE - - -One day Le spent in going around the neighborhood to see the old friends -and neighbors, whom he had not seen for more than three years. The next -day he stayed home at Mondreer, and spent nearly the whole of it in -company of Odalite. - -At night the squire drove him to the railway station, accompanied by -Odalite, Wynnette and Elva, as once before. Also, Le was permitted to -sit on the back seat beside Odalite, and when there he held her hand in -his as on the previous occasion. - -They reached the railway station in such good time that they had about -fifteen minutes to wait in the little sitting room; and there the last -adieus were made, when the train came in. - -“It is not for a three years’ absence at sea this time, my dear! It is -scarcely for three weeks. Before the middle of May I shall be with you -again—please Heaven,” said Le, as he pressed Odalite to his heart in a -last embrace, before he jumped into the car to be whirled out of sight. - -Mr. Force with his daughters waited until the sound of the rushing train -died away in the distance, and then took them back to the carriage and -drove homeward. - -Again, as before, they reached home about ten o’clock, to find Mrs. -Force and the lady from the diggings waiting up for them—only on this -occasion they were not sitting over a blazing hickory wood fire, in the -dead of winter and night, with a jug of mulled wine steaming on the -hearth; but they were sitting on the front piazza, on a fine spring -evening, with a little table, on which was arranged a pitcher of iced -sherbet, with glasses and a plate of wafer cakes. - -“Well, he went off gay and happy as a lark, and we have come home chirp -and merry as grigs!” said Wynnette, as she tore off and threw down her -straw hat and seated herself at the table. - -“Oh, I hope he will have a pleasant journey and a good time altogether! -He can’t fail to get all the evidence he wants, ’cause it’s right there, -you know! And I give him a letter to Joe Mullins, at Wild Cats’, as one -of the witnesses to the marriage, though he wasn’t asked to sign the -register! How should he, when he couldn’t read? I hope he’ll have time -to run out to Wild Cats’ to see Joe! Though, come to think of it, I -don’t know as he’ll find anything there but dark shafts and empty -shanties. The leads was running out, and the boys was talking of leaving -when I came away. Ah! I hope he will find some of the poor, dear boys! I -should love to hear from them direct, once more.” - -“How far is Wild Cats’ from St. Sebastian, Mrs. Anglesea?” rather -anxiously inquired Wynnette. - -“Oh, only a step—le’s see, now; ’bout a hundred and seventy-seven miles, -I think they said it was.” - -“Is there a railroad?” - -“A what? A railroad? Oh, Lord! Why, child, when I was out there, which -was less than four years ago, there was not even a turnpike road within -a hundred miles of it. There’s a trail, though!” - -“What do you mean by a trail?” - -“Well, I mean a mule track.” - -“Then I do not think that Le can go there. It must be a long and tedious -journey, and he will not have time.” - -“Oh, yes he will! And opportunity also. There’ll be mule trains, you -know. He can pack on one of them. He can rough it! You bet! He’s every -inch a man, is Le Force!” - -“He must not risk losing his passage on our steamer,” said Odalite. - -“Do not be anxious, my dear; he will not run any risks of losing the -steamer. I think, also, that he will have time to do our friend’s -commission. There has been a road made over that section since Mrs. -Anglesea left it. And, now I think, we had better go indoors. The night -air is too cold to remain out longer.” - -They went into the house and soon after retired to bed. - -The days that followed Le’s departure were active, cheerful, full of -life. - -The old friends and neighbors of the Forces received them back into -their midst with not only the earnest love of time-honored friendship, -but with the distinction due to illustrious visitors. - -They called on them promptly. - -They got up dinner and tea parties for their entertainment. - -They would have nominated Mr. Force as their representative in Congress -for the ensuing year, but that he was going abroad with his family for a -year. - -The Forces entered heartily into all the schemes of pleasure and -hospitality set on foot in the community. - -They accepted all the invitations given to them, and in return they gave -dinner and tea parties until they had also entertained all their friends -and neighbors. - -And so the last weeks of April passed and May was on hand. - -Letters from Le came by every Californian mail. - -He had reached St. Sebastian; he had found the Rev. Father Minitree; he -had searched the parish register; found the marriage between Angus -Anglesea and Ann Maria Wright duly recorded, signed and witnessed; he -had hunted out the living witnesses, and he had procured attested copies -of the marriage record, further indorsed by the written and sworn -statements of the officiating priest and of the surviving witnesses. And -so, with evidence as strong as evidence could be, he wrote that he was -ready to come home, only that he wished to oblige Mrs. Anglesea by going -out to Wild Cats’ Gulch to inquire after her boys. The journey there and -back, he thought, might occupy him four days. After that he should start -for home, which he hoped to reach about the fifteenth of May. - -Letters also came from the Earl of Enderby in answer to Mrs. Force’s -missive that had announced the time of the family’s sailing for -Europe—letters saying that the very near prospect and the anticipation -of seeing his dear and only sister and her children had made him feel so -much better in spirits that his health had improved under it. - -Among the most constant visitors at Mondreer was Mr. Sam Grandiere, -whose visits could not be mistaken as to their meaning, and whose -attentions to Wynnette on all occasions of their meetings in other -companies had attracted the observation of the whole neighborhood and -caused much talk. - -“Mr. Force is such a practical sort of man that so long as he knows -young Grandiere comes of a good old Maryland family, and that his -character is beyond reproach, he will not mind his roughness of manner -or plainness of speech, or his want of a collegiate education, or refuse -him his daughter on that account,” said young Dr. Ingle to his wife one -evening when they were talking over the affair. - -“No, perhaps not; but how could our brilliant Wynnette ever fancy such a -lout!” exclaimed Natalie, indignantly. - -“Oh, indeed, you are too severe on the poor fellow! And you, coming from -the North, do not understand our Maryland ways. In your State it is the -farmers’ boys who are sent to school and college in preference to the -girls, if any are to go; but in Maryland it is always the farmers’ girls -who are put to boarding school in preference to the boys; as in your -State you find learned statesmen, lawyers and clergymen belonging to -families of very plainly educated women, so in our State you will find -refined and accomplished women in the same families with very plain, -simply schooled men. It is queer, but it is so. Our Maryland men will -make any sacrifice, even that of their own mental culture, in order to -educate their women, and I think in that they show the very spirit of -generosity.” - -But among all the people who observed and criticized the growing -intimacy between Wynnette and young Grandiere, none was more interested -than quaint little Rosemary Hedge. - -Rosemary was poetic, romantic and sentimental to a degree. She was -devoted to Wynnette and Elva Force; and she could not bear the idea of -Wynnette “throwing herself away” on such a rustic. - -“He is my own dear cousin, Wynnette, and I love him dearly as a cousin; -but, indeed, I could not marry him to save my soul! And though he is a -good boy, I do not think he is a proper match for you,” said Rosemary, -one morning, when she had come to spend the day at Mondreer, and the two -girls were _tête-à-tête_ in Wynnette’s room, where she had taken her -visitor to lay off her bonnet. - -“Why not?” curtly demanded Wynnette, who did not like these criticisms -upon her lover. - -But worse was to come. - -“Why not?” echoed Rosemary. “Why, because dear Sam is so rough and -ungainly. He has red hair and a freckled face——” - -“So has the Duke of Argyll and all the princely Campbells!” - -“And he has a club nose!” - -“So have I. ‘Pot can’t call kettle black.’” - -“And such big hands and feet——” - -“So much the better for useful work.” - -“But, oh! Wynnette, he—he——” - -“What now?” - -“He has no education to speak of—nothing but a common-school education!” - -“Like any number of our great men who have risen to high rank, wealth -and fame in the army, navy, civil service, or learned professions.” - -“Yes, but he’ll never rise above his station. He hasn’t intellect -enough.” - -“Neither had any of the grand, brave, simple heroes and warriors of old -whose deeds stir our hearts, even now.” - -“But, Wynnette, Sam Grandiere is nothing like that! He would not even -understand you if you were to talk to him as you do to me. His thoughts -run all on crops and cattle and——” - -“Whatever is really useful and beneficial to his folks.” - -“In meeting their material wants only, Wynnette. But it is vain to argue -with you. If you are determined to throw yourself away on Sam -Grandiere——” - -“Now, Rosemary, stow that, or the fat will be in the fire!” exclaimed -the girl, flushing with a blaze of short-lived anger. “I mean I cannot -bear to hear you depreciate the excellence of Samuel Grandiere. He is -honest, true, and tender. He is as brave as a lion, and as magnanimous -as a king—ought to be!” - -“Yes, I know, but——” - -“And where would you find such a lineage in the State as his?” -vehemently interrupted Wynnette. “His pedigree can be traced back, step -by step, to the Sieur Louis de Grandiere, who came over to England in -the year 1420, in the suit of Katherine of Valois, queen of Henry the -Fifth; though, of course, that tells but little. He was probably a -gentleman in waiting, though he might have been a horse boy!” - -“He was a gentleman in waiting on the queen. He was a nobleman of -Provence,” replied quaint little Rosemary, craning her neck in defense -of her ancestor. - -“Oh, he was! Well, I always thought so! But that is more than can be -said of Mr. Roland Bayard!” said Wynnette, maliciously. - -Rosemary flushed to the edges of her curly black hair. - -“I do not know what he has to do with the question,” she murmured. - -“Only this, my love: that while we are taking sweet counsel together, -and you are giving me the benefit of your wisdom in regard to Mr. Samuel -Elk Grandiere, I might reciprocate by giving you a friendly warning in -respect to Mr. Roland Bayard!” - -“Oh, Wynnette!” cried Rosemary, deprecatingly, while the color deepened -all over her face and neck. - -“Nobody knows who he is! He was washed ashore from the wreck of the -_Carrier Pigeon_, the only one saved. He was adopted by Miss Sibby, good -soul, and he was educated at the expense of Mr. Force, generous man! -Why, he was not only homeless, friendless and penniless, but he was -nameless until the name of Roland Bayard was given him by Mr. Force and -Miss Sibby, who were his sponsors in baptism!” - -“Oh! oh! Wynnette! No one can look at Roland Bayard without seeing that -he must be of princely lineage! He is very handsome, and graceful and -accomplished! He is refined, cultured, intellectual!” pleaded Rosemary. - -“Don’t see it! He has been through college and he has plenty of modest -assurance, which prevents him from being bashful and awkward, as some of -his betters are. But all the same, he is nobody’s son!” - -“Oh, Wynnette! that is not generous of you! Can dear—can Roland help his -misfortune? Is he to blame for being wrecked on our shore in his -infancy, and losing everything, even his name? Oh, Wynnette!” said -Rosemary, with tears in her eyes. - -“No! I am not generous! I am a little catamount, and worse than that! It -is not true, either, what I said about him! Roland is a fine fellow. And -of course he must have been somebody’s son! Don’t cry, Rosie. I didn’t -mean it, dear! Only the devil does get in me sometimes!” said the -generous girl, stooping and kissing her quaint little friend. - -Rosemary smiled through her tears; and then they went downstairs -together. - -And as this was the first, so it was the last time that the subject in -dispute was mentioned between the two girls. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - LUCE’S DISCOVERY - - -As Wynnette and Rosemary approached the drawing room they heard a sweet -confusion of laughing and talking within; which was explained as soon as -Wynnette had opened the door. - -Le had just arrived, and was in the midst of his friends shaking hands, -hugging and kissing, asking and answering questions, all at once. - -He rushed to Wynnette and Rosemary “at sight,” and gave them each a -hearty, brotherly embrace. - -“Yes,” he continued, with something that he had been saying when the -girls came in—“yes, I have brought all the evidence we can possibly want -or use—an overwhelming mass of evidence as to the marriage of Angus -Anglesea and Ann Maria Wright at St. Sebastian, on August 1, 18—. That -is proved and established beyond all doubt or question.” - -“As if anybody ever did doubt it. The Lord knows if ever I had thought -as any of you misdoubted as I was Anglesea’s lawful wedded wife, I -wouldn’t a-stayed in this house one hour. Not I!” indignantly protested -Mrs. Anglesea. - -“No one ever did or ever could doubt that fact, my good lady,” said Mr. -Force, soothingly; “but there are captious people who will contest -things that they cannot doubt. And it is to meet such as these that we -must be armed with overwhelming evidence.” - -Mrs. Anglesea was mollified, and presently inquired if Le had seen her -boys. - -“I did not go to Wild Cats’ Gulch, dear Mrs. Anglesea,” replied Le. - -“‘Didn’t go!’ But you wrote as you was a-going!” exclaimed the lady from -that section. - -“Yes, and so I was. But on the very day when I proposed to start -thither, on inquiring the best way to get there, I was referred to a man -who was said to have once lived at the place. So I went, and found the -referee to be a Mr. Joe Mullins, in the jewelry line of business.” - -“Joe Mullins! My Joe! He in St. Sebastian! Do tell me now!” exclaimed -Mrs. Anglesea. - -“Yes, there he was, healthy, happy and prosperous, keeping a jeweler’s -store, and living over it with his wife and two children!” - -“Lord a mercy! Married, too!” - -“Yes, and prosperous.” - -“Well, well! And the other boys?” - -Le looked solemn. - - “‘Some gone east; - Some gone west; - And some rest - At Crow’s Nest,’” - -ruefully answered the young man. - -“And the camp’s broke up, as I thought it would be.” - -“Yes, two years ago.” - -“Well, it is some satisfaction to hear about Joe. And so now I won’t -interrupt of you no longer, as I dessay you have a heap to talk about -among your ownselves,” said Mrs. Anglesea, as she left the drawing room. - -As soon as she was gone the family fell into more confidential -conversation. - -“We shall sail for England in ten days,” said Mr. Force, “and with this -complete evidence of the Californian marriage in our possession we will, -on our arrival in the old country, seek out authentic evidence of the -exact date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s demise, which I fully believe to have -occurred in the August of some year previous to that of Col. Anglesea’s -marriage with the Widow Wright. When we shall find such evidence, as I -feel sure we shall, then there will be nothing wanting to prove that Ann -Maria Anglesea is the lawful wife of Angus Anglesea, and that Odalite -Force is, and has always been, free, and there need be nothing to -prevent your immediate union, my dear children.” - -“May Heaven speed the day!” earnestly aspirated Le. - -Much more was said on the subject that need not be repeated here. - -Preparations for their voyage had been so long and systematically in -progress that the Forces had perfect leisure in the last week of their -stay at home. - -The last day was devoted to the friends they were about to leave behind. - -They started early on the morning of the twenty-third of May, and made a -round of farewell visits to all their old neighbors. - -The last call they made was at Forest Rest, to take leave of Miss Sibby -Bayard. - -“So you are ralely a-going to cross the high seas? I hardly believed it -on you, Abel Force!” she said, as she shook hands in turn with Mr. and -Mrs. Force, Le and the three girls, and gave them seats. “I thought as -you had more sense, Abel Force! I did that! Them as has the least to do -with the sea, sez I, comes the best off, sez I!” - -“But, my good lady, necessity has no law, you know. We are obliged to -go,” laughed Mr. Force. - -“What have you been up and doing of, old Abel, that you are obliged to -run away from your own native country? Nobody but outlaws, sez I, is -obliged to go off to furrin parts, sez I!” - -Mr. Force found nothing to say to this. - -Wynnette came to her father’s assistance. - -“We shall visit, among other interesting places, Arundel Castle, the -seat of your ancestors for centuries past, Miss Sibby.” - -“Hush, honey! You don’t say as you’ll go there?” - -“As sure as the Lord permits us, we will, Miss Sibby.” - -“And see it?” - -“Yes, and see it.” - -“With your own eyes?” - -“Well, no,” gravely replied Wynnette, “not with our own eyes, because we -might have to stretch them too wide to take in a view of the great -stronghold of the great ducal house. We propose to hire some stout, -able-bodied eyes for the occasion!” - -“And now you are laughing at me, Miss Wynnette! You are always laughing -heartiest inside when you’re a looking solemnest outside! But you ralely -are gwine to visit ’Rundel Cassil?” - -“Yes. All tourists go there.” - -“Well, well, well! Them as lives the longest, sez I, sees the most, sez -I. But little did I think as I should live to see any of my neighbors -going to visit ’Rundel Cassil!” - -“We will bring you a guidebook with illustrations, descriptive of the -castle, and some relics and curiosities of the place. They are to be -had, I think.” - -“Do, my child! I should prize ’em above everything. And now, Miss -Wynnette, you take a ole ’oman’s advice. Them as follows my advice, sez -I, never comes to no harm, sez I. Mind that, honey.” - -“All right, Miss Sibby; fire away!—I mean proceed with your good -counsel.” - -“Well, then, honey, I ain’t been that blind but I could see what was -a-goin’ on between a certain young gentleman and a certain young lady.” - -Wynnette tacitly pleaded guilty by a deep blush. - -“Now, honey, don’t you take it anyways amiss what I am a-gwine to say. -You’re gwine off to furrin parts. Now, honey, don’t you let any of them -there furrin colonels and counts and things fashionate you away from you -own dear sweetheart. He’s a good, true man, is Sam Grandiere, and a ole -neighbor’s son. Now you take my advice and be true to him, as he is sure -to be true to you. Them as breaks faith, sez I, is sure to pay for it, -sez I. There, now, I won’t say no more. When you’ve said all you’ve got -to say, sez I, it is time to stop, sez I.” - -Mrs. Force now arose to take leave. - -All her party kissed Miss Sibby good-by. - -The old lady cried a little, and prayed: “God bless them.” - -And so they parted. - -Early the next morning the Forces left Mondreer, taking the dog, Joshua, -with them. - -Wynnette had insisted on his coming. - -“I promised him, papa,” she said—“I promised him; and it would be -playing it too low to go back on a dumb brute—oh! I mean, dear papa, -that it would seem base to break faith with a poor, confiding dog.” - -So Joshua went. - -“Look yere, ole woman,” said the lady from Wild Cats’, “I’m gwine to -take the best of care of your house while you’re gone, and I want you to -keep an eye on my rascal over yonder, while I keep a sharp lookout for -him over here. He can’t be in both places at once; but wherever he is he -will be at some deviltry—you may bet your pile on that.” - -This was the lady’s last good-by to the departing family. - -She watched the procession of three carriages that took them and all -their luggage to the railway station, where Rosemary Hedge was to be -brought by her mother and aunt to join them. - -She watched them cross the lawn, and go out through the north gate, and -disappear up the wooded road. - -And then she turned into the house to face the howling Luce. - -“What on earth ails the woman?” demanded the housekeeper. - -“Oh! dey’s gone ag’in!—dey’s gone ag’in! An’ dis time dey’s gone across -de ocean! I shall nebber see ’em ag’in!—nebber no mo’!—nebber no mo’!” -sobbed Lucy, sitting flat on the hall floor, and rocking her body back -and forth. - -“Oh, yes you will. Don’t be a fool! Get up and go to work. Work’s the -best cure for trouble. Indeed, work’s the best cure for most -things—poverty, for instance.” - -“It didn’t use to be so! It didn’t use to be so!” said Luce, continuing -to rock herself. “Dey nebber use to go ’way from year’s end to year’s -end! But now it’s got to be a habit dey gibs deirselbes—a berry habit -dey gibs deirselbes!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - FORBIDDEN LOVE - - -The three carriages conveying the large party from the old manor house -rolled on through the familiar woods, so often traversed by the young -people of the household in going to and fro between Mondreer and -Greenbushes. - -In the foremost carriage rode Mr. and Mrs. Force, Wynnette and Elva. - -In the second, Odalite and Le. - -In the third, Dickon and Gipsy, the valet and lady’s maid, in charge of -all the lighter luggage. - -Joshua, the dog, raced on before in the highest state of ecstasy, but -occasionally raced back again, as if to be sure that his large family -were following him safely without disappearing in the woods to the right -or the left. - -Mr. Force knew perfectly well that that dog was going to give him more -trouble and embarrassment on land and sea than all his party twice told; -that it would be the unfailing cause of rows and rumpuses, on trains and -boats, and that might end in Joshua being cast off, or lost, or killed. - -But what could he do? - -Talk of your henpecked husband, indeed! He is not half so common, or -half so helpless, as your chickpecked father. - -Wynnette had promised Joshua that he should never be left behind again, -and she said that it would be base to deceive and betray a poor dog. -Wynnette said the dog must come, and he came. - -When they came in sight of Chincapin Creek little Elva put her head out -of the window and gazed, and continued to gaze, fondly, if silently, on -the spot so full of pleasant, childish memories, until they had crossed -the bridge, and left the place behind. Then, with a little, involuntary -sigh, she drew in her head and sat back in her seat. - -Wynnette mocked her. - -“Why don’t you say, ‘Adieu, blest scenes of my innocent infancy! Virtue -and simplicity,’ and so on and so on!” - -“Oh, Wynnette! How can you?” exclaimed Elva, almost in tears. - -“I can’t! I never could! It isn’t in my line! But why don’t you?” mocked -the girl, raising her black eyebrows. - -They reached the station in full time, and had twenty minutes to wait. -Mr. Force had engaged a whole compartment for his party by telegraph the -day before. - -In the waiting room they found all the Grandieres, all the Elks, and -little Rosemary Hedge, with her luggage. - -There followed an animating scene—a little laughing, more crying and -much talking. - -Mrs. Hedge implored Mrs. Force to be a mother to her fatherless child, -and to bring her back safe and well at the end of the year. - -Mrs. Force promised all that a woman could, under the circumstances. - -And Roland Bayard, who sat beside little Rosemary holding her hand in -his, spoke up and said: - -“Dear Mrs. Hedge, don’t grieve about the little maiden. If, at any time, -you should be pining to have her back, you can let me know and I will -just run over and fetch her.” - -There was something very comforting in this promise, because Mrs. Hedge -knew that Roland Bayard meant what he said; and very cheering in the -manner in which he put it—“Just run over and fetch her!” Why, it sounded -like such a mere trifle to cross the ocean, in these days of steam. But -Roland was still talking. - -“And, Rosemary, if you get homesick before our friends are ready to -return, write to me, darling, and I’ll come and fetch you back.” - -“Oh, Mr. Bayard! you don’t know how you have consoled me!” said Mrs. -Hedge, wiping her eyes. - -“I will write to you every week, Roland. And I will keep a journal for -you, and send it in monthly parts, so that you may seem to be traveling -with us! Oh, how I wish you were!” sighed Rosemary. - -“Do you, darling? Well, perhaps you may see me sooner than you expect,” -replied Roland, mysteriously. - -“Oh! oh! will you be coming over? Does the _Kitty_ ever go to England?” - -“I don’t know, dear; but if the _Kitty_ don’t, there will be one or two -other little craft crossing—perhaps. Let us live in hope.” - -While Rosemary and Roland chatted together, Mrs. Hedge turned to Mrs. -Force, saying: - -“Oh, you happy woman! You are going to Europe with all you love at your -side—husband, children and nephew! While I stay home, widowed, -practically childless and alone! Talk of the compensations of life! -There is no compensation in mine.” - -“‘The heart knoweth its own bitterness!’” murmured Elfrida Force to -herself. - -“Mother! Mother! I won’t go! I won’t leave you!” cried Rosemary, jumping -up and throwing herself into the widow’s arms. - -“Hush, my child, hush! I wish you to go, and you must do so. It is for -your own profit and instruction,” replied Mrs. Hedge. - -“Then, my own dear mother, won’t you just think that I have only gone -back to school in Washington, and that I shall be home as usual to spend -the Christmas holidays? Mr. Force expects to bring us all home in -December.” - -“Yes, yes, I shall be comforted, child,” replied the widow, and she held -her daughter on her lap, against her bosom, with Rosemary’s arms clasped -around her neck, until they heard the sound of the approaching train. - -The train never stopped longer than three minutes at this station. - -All arose to bid their last good-bys. - -Among the rest, Joshua came out from behind Wynnette’s skirts, and shook -himself, and very nearly shook the building. All alert was he to see -that his eccentric family did not escape him again. - -“Gracious goodness, Mr. Force! Here is that dog followed you all the way -from Mondreer! What’s to be done with him? Shall I take him home? Will -he follow me?” inquired Sam Grandiere, eager to be useful. - -“He is to go abroad with us,” groaned the squire, who was hastily -shaking hands right and left with the friends who had come to see him -and his family off. - -“But will they allow——” - -There was no time to finish his question, for— - -“Good-by, Sam,” said Wynnette, holding out her hand. “Remember the -advice I gave you about taking a course at Charlotte Hall College.” - -“I will, Wynnette, I will!” earnestly answered the young fellow, with -tears brimming in his honest blue eyes. - -“You will write to me as often as you can, and I will answer every one -of your letters. And—listen here, Sam,” she added, in a whisper that the -long-legged boy had to stoop to catch, “I won’t marry a royal duke if I -can resist the temptation! Good-by.” - -The whole party hurried out of the building to the platform, where the -train had just stopped, with its puffing and blowing engine. - -Mr. Force showed his tickets, and the party were conducted to their car. -In the confusion of a final leave-taking, then and there, between two -such large parties, Joshua, who did not at all like the looks of things -in general, with the long train of cars, the panting engine, the steam, -the smoke, the crowd, the baggage heavers, the excitement, and the -general “hullabuloo,” and who feared that he might lose sight of his -family in this crash of worlds, managed to slip into the car, between -Wynnette’s duster and Gipsy’s arms full of shawls, and to ensconce -himself under the broad lounge in the compartment. - -The last kisses were given, the last “God bless you” spoken, and the -travelers were seated in their compartment not ten seconds before the -train started. - -“Now!” exclaimed Wynnette, triumphantly. “Have we had the least trouble -with Joshua?” - -“Not yet,” curtly replied her father. “Where is he?” - -“Under the sofa—and Rosemary, Elva and myself, by sitting here, hide him -from view.” - -“Very well. Keep him quiet, if you can.” - -The train was rushing on at express speed, when the conductor came along -to collect the tickets. He entered their compartment. Joshua considered -his appearance an unwarrantable intrusion, and told him so in a low, -thunderous growl. - -“What’s that?” suddenly demanded the conductor, looking around. - -“Urr-rr-rr-rr,” remarked Joshua. - -“It is a valuable dog of ours. I am quite willing to pay his fare,” -replied Mr. Force, taking out his pocketbook. - -“He can’t be allowed in the passenger car, sir,” replied the conductor. - -“Not in the compartment that we have taken for our own convenience, and -where he cannot possibly annoy anybody else?” - -“No, sir; it is against the rules.” - -“Oh, Mr. Conductor! please! please! He is such a good dog, and we love -him so much! Indeed, he will not bite when he knows you don’t mean to -hurt us! Please, Mr. Conductor, let him stay!” pleaded Elva. - -“’Gainst the rules, miss. Very sorry.” - -“Papa, tip that fellow with a V, and stop this row!—I mean, papa, pray -offer this officer the consideration of a five-dollar note, and conclude -this controversy.” - -Of course, it was Wynnette who uttered this insolence. - -“Hush, my dear, hush! This is quite inadmissible. The conductor must do -his duty.” - -“If he gets put off the train I’ll go, too! He’ll never find his way -home!” said Wynnette. - -Elva began to cry. - -The conductor was in a hurry. - -“If this young gentleman will bring the dog after me to the freight car, -the baggage master will take charge of him for a trifle,” suggested the -conductor, who was more moved to pity by Elva’s tears than to anger by -Wynnette’s insolence. - -“Go, Le,” said Mr. Force, opening his pocketbook and taking from it a -note, which he put into the midshipman’s hands. “Give this to the man, -and tell him if he will take care of the dog he shall have another at -the end of this journey.” - -“And introduce Joshua to the baggage master, and tell him what a -cultivated and gentlemanly dog he is! And don’t you leave them together -until you are sure that they are good friends! Do you hear me, Leonidas -Force?” - -“All right, Wynnette,” said good-humored Le, taking Joshua by the collar -and trying to pull him from under the sofa. - -But the dog declined to leave his retreat. He did not recognize Mr. -Midshipman Force as his master. - -“Bother! I shall have to take him myself. You can come with us if you -like, Le; but you needn’t if you don’t,” said Wynnette. And she whistled -for the dog, who immediately came out and put his gray paws upon her -lap. - -She arose and called him to follow her. Le and the conductor escorted -her. - -“I know we are going to have no end of trouble with that dog,” said Mr. -Force. - -“Oh, I think not, when we learn how to manage. We must always give him -in charge of the baggage master at the start,” replied Mrs. Force. - -Wynnette and Le were gone nearly an hour. At last they returned. - -“What kept you so long? Did the dog prove intractable, or the baggage -master unaccommodating?” inquired Odalite of Le. - -“Not at all!” exclaimed Wynnette, answering for her companion. “That -baggage man’s a good sort. He and Joshua became pals at once. He loves -dogs, and dogs love him. As soon as ever I presented Joshua to him he -held out his hand, and said: - -“‘Hello, old pard! how are you? Shall we be pals?’ or words to that -effect. And said Joshua slapped his paw into the open palm, and— - -“‘It’s a whack!’ or barks to the same purpose.” - -“But what kept you so long? What were you doing all that time?” - -“Talking to the baggage master. I do like to talk to real men much -better than to the curled and scented la-da-da things we meet in -society. His name is Kirby. He came from Lancashire, England, where he -has an old father living, to whom he sends a part of his wages every -month. He is forty-five years old, and has been married twenty years, -and has eleven children, the oldest eighteen and the youngest one. I -told him we were going to Lancashire, and would take anything he might -like to send to his dad.” - -“But, my dear, Lancashire is a large county, and we may not be anywhere -near his native place.” - -“We could make a point of going there to oblige such a man as he is, -papa. Think of his bringing up a large family and helping his old -father, too, on such small wages as he must get. Oh, he is a downright -real man. And, indeed, I have a warm place in my heart for real men.” - -“That is why you like Sa——” - -“Shut up, Rosemary!” - -And Rosemary obeyed. - -The remainder of the journey was made without disturbance. - -They reached Washington about 3 P.M., dined and rested for an hour at -their favorite hotel, and took the afternoon train to New York, where -they arrived very late at night. - -They had no more trouble with the dog, now that they knew how to manage. - -Mr. Force went down to the steamer to see about the passage of the -animal, and found that there was a place in the steerage of the great -ship where the creature could be accommodated. - -Ah, what a chickpecked father that man was! - -“If they had wanted to fetch a favorite cow, I should have been obliged -to bring her somehow,” he said to himself. - -On the next morning Mr. Force took his family to Central Park and to the -menagerie. - -In the evening he took them to the opera to hear Kellogg. That was their -last night in the city. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - “ONCE MORE UPON THE WATERS” - - -Saturday, the twenty-eighth of May, was a very fine day. As early as -seven in the morning the hacks engaged to take our travelers to the -steamer were standing before the ladies’ entrance of the Metropolitan -Hotel. - -Their luggage had been sent aboard ship on the day before. - -A little after seven the whole party came down and entered the -carriages, and were driven off toward the pier where the _Persia_ lay. - -They arrived amid the bustle and confusion that always attends the -sailing of an ocean steamer—crowds of carriages and drags of all sorts; -crowds of men, women and children of all sorts; crowds of passengers -going on; crowds of friends seeing them off; here and there a -heartrending parting; a bedlam of sights; a babel of sounds, deafening -noises, suffocating scents. - -Such was the scene on the pier and such was the scene on the deck when -Mr. Force had succeeded in navigating his party from the first to the -last. - -“For Heaven’s sake keep close together! Are we all here?” he anxiously -inquired. - -“All!” answered a score of voices. - -“Where’s that dog?” - -“Here, papa. I have him by the collar,” answered Wynnette. - -“Keep hold of him, then. And sit down, all of you, and be quiet until -this crowd leaves the deck. We cannot attempt to get to our staterooms -at present.” - -His party complied with this order. - -“All ashore!” called out a voice in authority. - -The words were magical. - -Hurried embraces; laughing good-bys; weeping good-bys; fervent God bless -yous; agonized partings; and then a pressure over the gang plank to the -pier. - -Five minutes later and the valedictory gun was fired, and the _Persia_ -stood out to sea. - -“Oh,” said little Elva, as she observed the sad faces of some passengers -who were leaning over the sides of the ship and waving handkerchiefs to -friends on the pier—“oh, I am glad we are all going together and have -not left any one behind to cry after—no, not even our dog.” - -A little later on our passengers sought their staterooms below. -Dickon—than whom no blacker boy ever was born—took the dog to that part -of the ship for such four-footed passengers made and provided, and then -went to look up his own berth in the second cabin. - -Never was finer weather, a clearer sky, a calmer sea, or a swifter -voyage than blessed the _Persia_, which sailed on that Saturday morning -of May 28th. - -Only those of the most bilious temperaments suffered from seasickness. -None of our party were affected. - -All the passengers rejoiced at the prosperity of the voyage—all except -Wynnette, who longed to see a storm at sea. - -She was disgusted. - -“I had just as lief travel in a canal boat!” she growled, when they were -about halfway across the Atlantic. - -She was bound to be disappointed to the last. The voyage was continued -in the finest early summer weather, until in the dead of a moonlight -night the steamer anchored in the Cove of Cork. - -Early the next morning all the passengers were out on deck to see the -beautiful bay with its lovely hilly shores, and its picturesque little -port of Queenstown. - -The ship remained at anchor only long enough to deliver mails and -freight, and then she put to sea again and headed for the mouth of the -Mersey. - -Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary remained on deck all day feasting their eyes -on the shores of England, the isles of the channel, and later on the -green banks of the Mersey with its pretty towns and villages, castles -and cottages. - -Early in the afternoon the ship reached Liverpool. - -When the bustle of the debarkation and the nuisance of the custom house -was over, and Mr. Force was handing the ladies of his party into a -capacious carriage to convey them to the Adelphi Hotel, he inquired: - -“Well, shall we take rooms there for the night, or only supper, and -leave by the evening express for Cumberland?” - -“Oh, let us go on, if you please! What time does our train leave?” -inquired Mrs. Force. - -“Ten-fifty.” - -“Then we can reach Nethermost, the nearest station to Enderby Castle, by -morning. If you telegraph to Enderby my brother will send carriages -there to meet us.” - -“Very well,” said Mr. Force, as he shut the carriage door and gave the -coachman the address to which he was to drive. - -Mr. Force then sent his two servants with the dog and the lighter -luggage in another conveyance after his family, while he and Leonidas -Force attended to the duty of having their trunks transferred from the -custom house to the Lime Street Railroad Station. - -An hour after this the whole family were gathered around the tea table -in their private parlor at the Adelphi. The dog, stretched on a Russian -rug before the sofa, was making himself at home. - -“What do you think of all this, Rosie?” kindly inquired Mr. Force of -little Rosemary Hedge. - -“I—I—feel as if I were reading it all in a novel by Aunt Sukey’s evening -fire at Grove Hill,” replied the quaint little creature. - -“And you, Elva?” - -“Oh, I feel so very much at home, as if I had come back from somewhere -to grandmother’s house. A very strange, pleasant feeling of old -familiarity,” said weird little Elva. - -“As for me,” said Wynnette, “I see ghosts!” - -“Ghosts!” exclaimed all the company in chorus. - -“Yes, ghosts! ‘This isle is full of spirits.’ I see ghosts! All sorts of -ghosts! Ghosts of savages in skins! These must be spirits of the ancient -Britons! Ghosts of men in armor! These must be the medieval knights and -men-at-arms! Ghosts of gentlemen in velvet and satin tunic and lace -collars and pointed shoes! These must be the courtiers of Queen -Elizabeth’s time! And now come the hideous powdered wigs, broad-bottomed -coats, and long silk stockings of——Say, papa! give me some of those -strawberries, or I shall see his Satanic majesty presently.” - -Mr. Force gravely passed along the cut-glass bowl of the luscious fruit. - -Immediately after supper the travelers left the hotel for the railway -station. - -There Abel Force engaged a whole compartment for his family, and took -tickets in the second-class carriage for his two servants. - -“And how can I carry a valuable dog?” inquired the squire of the guard. - -“Take him in your own compartment, if you like, sir,” replied that -officer, staring a little. - -Joshua didn’t wait for permission, but jumped into the carriage after -Wynnette. - -The three other ladies followed. Last of all Abel Force and Le entered -and took their seats, though the train was not yet quite ready to start. - -Compartments on English trains differ from those on our own, in being -entirely separated by a solid partition from other compartments on the -same carriage, and they are thereby quite private for those who engage a -whole one. This compartment taken by the Forces resembled the inside of -a large coach, having eight cushioned seats, four being in front and -four behind. - -The train started at ten-fifty, and whirled on through the twilight of -the summer night, which in England never seems to grow quite dark. - -At the first station at which the train stopped, the guard came along -and put his head into the window. - -“Tickets, please, sir.” - -Mr. Force handed over seven tickets for his party. - -Guard counted them, and touched his hat. - -“Dog ticket, please, sir.” - -“What?” demanded the astonished squire. - -“Dog ticket, please, sir.” - -“Dog ticket? I have none. Didn’t know one would be required. Never heard -of such a thing. But I will pay his fare.” - -“Couldn’t take it, sir. ’Gainst the rules.” - -“Then what shall I do?” exclaimed the distressed squire. - -“Uncle, I will jump out and buy a dog ticket at the station here,” said -Le; and without waiting a second he sprang from the carriage and -vanished into the ticket office. - -“Look sharp, young gent, or you’ll be left. Train starts again in two -minutes,” called the guard. - -Le did look sharp, and the next minute reappeared, flourishing the -prize. - -He jumped in, and the train moved on. - -Everybody went to sleep except Wynnette, who went off into a waking -dream, and saw the ghosts of all her ancestors, from the Druids down, -pass in procession before her. A weird, unreal, magical night journey -this seemed to the travelers. The night express stopped at fewer -stations than any other train of the twenty-four hours. - -Whenever it did stop, our passengers waked up and looked out upon the -strange and beautiful land—old, but always new—dotted with its country -towns and villages, its castles, farmhouses and cottages, dimly seen in -the soft haze of the summer night, where evening and morning twilight -seemed to meet so that it was never dark. - -On the whole, it was a pleasant, charming journey, the last few miles -being along the rough and rocky coast. The dawn was reddening in the -east, and the northern morning air felt fresh and invigorating, when the -train stopped at Nethermost, a picturesque little hamlet built up and -down the sides of the cliff wherever there was room for a sea-bird’s -nest. - -“Oh, what a charming place!” exclaimed Rosemary, looking out upon it. -The line of railway ran along under the cliff, and the little station -was built against the rocks. - -The guard came and opened the door. - -Mr. Force jumped off, and then handed out the ladies of his party, one -by one. - -The porters were at the same time throwing off their luggage. - -In another minute the train had moved on, and the travelers were left -standing on the platform, with the sea on the west, the cliffs on the -east, and the hamlet of Nethermost scattered at random on the sides of -the latter. - -“There are the carriages,” said Mr. Force, as he described three -vehicles grouped together at a short distance. - -At the same time a servant in livery approached, touched his hat, and -respectfully inquired: - -“Party for Enderby Castle, sir?” - -“Yes,” replied Mr. Force. - -“This way, if you please, sir.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - ENDERBY CASTLE - - -There were two spacious open barouches and one large wagon. - -“My lord ordered me, sir, if the weather should be fine, to bring the -barouches for the ladies, as they would be so much pleasanter,” the man -explained, touching his hat, as he held the door of the first carriage -open for Mrs. Force. - -The travelers were soon seated—Mr. and Mrs. Force, Wynnette and Elva in -the first barouche, Le, Odalite and Rosemary in the second, and the two -servants, with the dog and the luggage, in the wagon. - -“Oh, how jolly!” exclaimed Wynnette, looking about her. - -By this time it was light enough to see their surroundings—the hoary -cliffs and the picturesque fishing village on their right; the -far-spread rocky beach, with the fishing boats drawn up, on their left; -the expanse of ocean beyond, dotted at long distances with sails; and -right near them the only street of the hamlet that ran from the beach up -through a natural cleft in the rocks, and looked something like a rude, -broad staircase of flagstones, which were paved on edge to afford a hold -to horses’ feet in climbing up the steep ascent. - -By this time, too, the denizens of the village were out before their -doors to stare at the unusual sight of three carriages and a large party -of visitors for Enderby Castle. - -For, of course, as his lordship’s carriages and liveried servants were -there to meet the party of travelers, they must be visitors to the -castle. - -The men took off their hats and the women courtesied as the open -carriages passed slowly up the steep street to the top of the cliff, -where it joined the road leading northward along the sea toward Enderby -Castle. - -Now the travelers in the open carriages had a grand view of land and -water. - -On the east, moorland rolling into hills in the mid distance and rising -into mountains on the far horizon. The newly risen sun shining above -them and tinting all their tops with the soft and varied hues of the -opal stone. Here and there at long distances could be seen the ruined -tower of some ancient stronghold, or the roof and chimneys of some old -farmstead. Everything looked old or ancient on this wild coast of -Cumberland. - -On the west the ocean rolled out until lost to view in the mists of the -horizon. - -Before them northward the road stretched for many a mile. - -Far ahead they saw a mighty promontory stretching out to sea. At its -base the waves dashed, leaped, roared, tumbled like raging wild beasts -clawing at the rocks. On the extreme edge of its point arose a mass of -gray stone buildings scarcely to be distinguished from the foundation on -which they were built. - -“How far is it to Enderby Castle?” inquired Mr. Force of the coachman -who drove his carriage. - -“Ten miles from the station, sir,” replied the man, touching his hat. - -“That is the castle,” said Mrs. Force, pointing to the pile of buildings -on the edge of the promontory, and handing the field glass with which -she had been taking a view of her birthplace and first home. - -“That! It is a fine, commanding situation, but it scarcely looks to be -more than five miles from here.” - -“It is not, if we could take a bee line over land and sea, but the road -has to follow the bend of the estuary,” replied the lady. - -All the occupants of both carriages, which had come to a standstill, -were now on their feet gazing at that hoary headland, capped with its -ancient stronghold. - -The field glass was passed from one to another, while the carriages -paused long enough for all to take a view. - -“So that was the home of my grandparents and of our forefathers for—how -long, dear mamma?” inquired Odalite. - -“Eight centuries, my dear. The round tower that you see is the oldest -part of the edifice, and was built by Kedrik of Enderbee in the year -950.” - -“Lord, what a fine time the rats, mice, bats, owls, rooks and ghosts -must have in it!” remarked Wynnette. - -“It is like a picture in a Christmas ghost story,” said Elva. - -“It seems like Aunt Sukey was reading it all to me out of a novel by the -evening fire at Grove Hill,” mused Rosemary. - -“Go on,” said Mr. Force. - -And the carriages started again. - -The road, still running along the top of the cliff, turned gradually -more and more to the left until its course verged from the north to the -northwest, and then to the west, as it entered upon the long, high point -of land upon which stood the castle. The road now began to ascend -another steep, paved with stones on edge to make a hold for the horses’ -feet in climbing, and at length entered a sort of alley between huge -stone walls that rose higher and higher on either side as the road -ascended, until it reached a heavy gateway flanked with towers, between -which, and over the gateway, hung the spiked and rusting iron -portcullis, looking as if it were ready, at the touch of a spring, to -fall and impale any audacious intruder who might pass beneath it. But it -was fast rusted into its place, where it had been stationary for ages. - -“I wonder who was the last warder that raised this portcullis?” mused -Wynnette. - -“I cannot tell you, my dear. It has not been moved in the memory of -man,” replied Mrs. Force. - -“I see ghosts again!” exclaimed Wynnette—“men-at-arms on yonder -battlements! Knights, squires and pursuivants in the courtyard here! Oh, -what a haunted hole is this!” - -They entered a quadrangular courtyard paved with flagstones, inclosed by -stone buildings, and having at each of the four corners a strong tower. - -The front building, through which they had passed by the ascending road, -was the most ancient part of the castle and faced the sea. But in the -rear of that was the more recent structure, used as the dwelling of the -earl and his household. This modern building also faced the sea, on the -other side, but it could not be approached from the cliff road except -through the front. These buildings were not used at all. They were given -over to the denizens objected to by Wynnette—to rats, mice, bats, owls -and rooks, and—perhaps ghosts. - -On either side the buildings were used as quarters for the servants and -offices for the household. - -They drove through the courtyard, under an archway in the wall of the -modern building, and out to the front entrance, facing the open sea. - -Many steps led from the pavement up to the massive oaken doors, flanked -by huge pillars of stone, that gave admittance to the building. - -The coachman left his box, went up these stairs and knocked. - -The double doors swung open. - -Mr. Force alighted and handed out his wife and two elder daughters, -while Le performed the same service for Elva and Rosemary, and the party -walked up the stairs to the open door. - -A footman in the gray livery of Enderby bowed them in. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - MRS. FORCE’S BROTHER - - -A tall, fair, delicate-looking patrician of about forty years of age, -clothed in an India silk dressing gown, leaning on the arm of his -gray-haired valet, and further supporting himself by a gold-headed cane, -approached to welcome them. - -“My sister—I am glad to see you, Elfrida,” he said, passing his cane -over to his valet and taking the lady by the hand to give her his -brotherly kiss. “Now present me to your husband and daughters, and to -these—young friends of yours. I am glad to see them all. Very glad.” - -Mrs. Force introduced Mr. Force, Leonidas and the girls in turn. - -Lord Enderby shook hands with each in succession, and heartily welcomed -them all to Enderby. - -“You must take your place at the head of my bachelor household, Elfrida. -In the meantime, my housekeeper, Mrs. Kelsy here, will show you to your -rooms.” - -As he spoke, an elderly woman, in her Sunday dress of black silk, with a -white net shoulder shawl and a white net cap, came from the rear of the -hall, courtesied, and said: - -“My lady, this way, if you please.” - -“Breakfast will be served as soon as you are ready for it, Elfrida,” -said the host, as, still leaning on the arm of his valet and supporting -himself by his cane, he turned and passed through a door on the right, -into his own sanctum. - -Widely yawned the foot of the broad staircase, up which Mrs. Kelsy led -the guests of the house, to a vast upper hall, flanked with oaken doors -leading into a suit of apartments on either side. - -The housekeeper opened a door on the right, saying: - -“Here is a suit of five rooms, my lady, fitted up for yourself and the -young ladies. And here, on the opposite side, is a large room, with -dressing room attached, for the young gentlemen—Good Lord!!” - -This sudden exclamation from the housekeeper was called forth by the -unexpected apparition of Gipsy, the negro maid, than whom no blacker -human being ever saw the light. Gipsy was as black as ink, as black as -ebony. Wynnette declared that charcoal made a light-colored mark on her. -But aside from her complexion, Gipsy was a good-looking girl, with -laughing black eyes, and laughing lips that disclosed fine white teeth. - -“This is my maid, Zipporah, but we call her Gipsy for convenience,” said -Mrs. Force. - -“Oh, my lady! Will it bite? Can’t it talk? Is it vicious?” inquired the -Cumberland woman, who had never seen and scarcely ever heard of a negro, -and had the vaguest idea of dark-colored savages in distant parts of the -world, who were pagans and cannibals. - -“She is a very good girl, and can read and write as well as any of us; -and she is, besides, a member of the Episcopal church at home, which is -the same as your Church of England here,” Mrs. Force explained. - -“Yes, my lady. Certainly, my lady. I beg pardon, my lady, I am sure,” -said the housekeeper, in profuse apology; but still she did not seem -satisfied, but gave Gipsy a wide berth while she eyed her suspiciously. - -Now Gipsy resented this sort of treatment; besides, she was a bit of a -wag; so every time her mistress’ back was turned she rolled up the -whites of her big eyes, curled up her large red lips, and snapped her -teeth together, in a way that made Kelsy’s blood run cold. - -As soon as it was possible to do so, she made an excuse and left the -room. - -“Where is Dickon?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“He’s round at the kennel with the dog. Joshua won’t make friends ’long -o’ none of the grooms, nor likewise none o’ the doogs, so Dickon have to -stay ’long o’ him to keep him quiet,” said Gipsy. - -Mr. Force groaned. - -“Now everything is going to be laid on that poor dog! Gipsy, I won’t -give you my crimson silk dress when I have done with it, just for that. -Papa, I can help you to dress just as well as Dickon can—and a great -deal better, too. I can fix your shaving things and hair brushes, and -lay out your clothes myself!” exclaimed Wynnette. - -“My dear, I think you had better prepare for breakfast,” said her -mother. - -“Mother, we can’t do much preparing, as our trunks have not been brought -up.” - -“Take off your duster, my dear, and wash your face and hands, and brush -your hair,” suggested Mrs. Force. - -“I suppose these two rooms are yours and papa’s, but which are ours?” - -Mrs. Force walked through the whole suit, and finally assigned a room -next to her own to Wynnette and Odalite, and another to Elva and -Rosemary. - -What struck all these visitors was the heavy and rather gloomy character -of their apartments. Thick Brussels carpets, thick moreen window -curtains, and bed curtains of dull colors and dingy appearance, massive -bedsteads, bureaus, presses and chairs. - -“And they call this the modern part of the castle! Oh, I know I shall -see ghosts!” said Wynnette. - -When they were all ready, they went downstairs to the hall, all hung -with suits of armor, and decorated with arms, shields, spears, banners, -battle-axes, and so on, and with stags’ heads and other trophies of the -battlefield and the chase. - -Here a footman showed them into the breakfast room, where the earl sat -waiting for them. Breakfast was served in a very few minutes. - -After breakfast the whole party adjourned to the drawing room, a vast, -gloomy apartment with walls lined with old oil paintings, windows hung -with heavy, dark curtains; floor covered with a thick, dull carpet, and -filled up with massive furniture. - -After they had been seated for a while, the earl arose, taking his cane -in one hand and the arm of his brother-in-law with the other, and said: - -“I hope you will amuse yourselves as you please, my dears, and excuse -me: I wish to have a talk on family matters with your parents in the -library. If you would like to go over the house, call one of the maids -or the housekeeper to be your guide,” he concluded, as he left the room, -accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Force. - -Odalite acted on her uncle’s suggestion, rang the bell, and requested to -see the housekeeper. - -Mrs. Kelsy came, and on being requested, expressed her willingness to -show the young ladies over the house. - -“And to the picture gallery first, if you please,” she said, as she led -the way across the hall to a long room on the opposite side. - -Here were the family portraits. - -“Odalite, here are the originals of all the ghosts I saw with my eyes -shut, on last night’s journey, and of all the ghosts I saw here on the -battlements and in the courtyard—all, all, all—men-at-arms, squires, -knights, lords and ladies. If they would but talk, what interesting -shades they would be!” - -“Which, Wynnette? The ghosts or the pictures?” - -“Either. Both. This, you say, Mrs. Kelsy, was Elfrida, Lady Enderby, my -mother’s mother? Why, I should have known it. How much she is like my -mother, and like Elva. And this is the second and last Lady Enderby? How -lovely, yet how fragile. She was mamma’s stepmother, and she died young, -leaving one delicate little boy, our uncle, the present earl. _Sic -transit_, and so forth.” - -They spent an hour in the picture gallery, and then the housekeeper -proposed that they go into the library. - -“But we cannot go there. Papa, mamma and uncle are shut up there, in -close council,” said Odalite. - -“Ah! Well, we will go upstairs, if you please, miss,” said Kelsy. - -And upstairs they went. And all over the vast building they went, -finding only gloomy rooms, each one more depressing than the others. - -“And now show me the room Queen Elizabeth slept in when on a visit to -Baron Ealon, of Enderby,” said Wynnette. - -“Queen Elizabeth, miss! I never heard that Queen Elizabeth was ever in -this part of the country!” the housekeeper exclaimed. - -Wynnette laughed. - -“Oh, well, then,” she said, “show me the room that Alexander the Great, -or Julius Cæsar, or Napoleon Bonaparte, or George Washington slept in.” - -“I—do not think I ever heard of any of these grandees stopping at -Enderby. But there is a room——” - -“Yes, yes!” eagerly exclaimed Wynnette. - -“Where the Young Pretender was hidden for days before he escaped to -France,” said the housekeeper. - -“Oh, show us that room, Mrs. Kelsy,” said a chorus of voices. - -The housekeeper took them down a long flight of stairs and along a dark -passage, and up another flight of stairs, and through a suit of -unfurnished apartments, to a large room in the rear of the main -building, whose black oak floor and whose paneled walls were bare, and -whose windows were curtainless. - -In the middle of this room stood a huge bedstead, whose four posts were -the dragon supporters of the arms of Enderby and whose canopy was -surmounted by an earl’s coronet. The velvet hangings of this bedstead, -the brocade quilt and satin pillow cases had almost gone the way of all -perishable things. - -“And the Young Pretender occupied this room?” inquired Rosemary, -reverently. - -“Yes, miss, and it is kept just as he left it, except that the curtains -have been taken from the windows, because they had fallen into rags.” - -“And he slept in this bed?” said Elva, timidly laying her hand upon the -sacred relic. - -“Yes, miss, but I wouldn’t touch the quilt, if I was you. Bless you, it -would go to pieces if you were to handle it!” - -“I would make a bonfire of every unhealthy mess in this room, if it were -mine!” said Wynnette. - -The housekeeper looked at her in silent horror. - -They lingered some time in “the pretender’s room.” - -As they were leaving it, Wynnette said, at random: - -“And now show us the haunted chamber, please.” - -The housekeeper stopped short, turned pale and stared at the speaker. - -“Who told you anything about the haunted room?” she inquired. - -“Nobody did,” replied Wynnette, staring in her turn. - -“How, then, did you know anything about it?” - -“By inference. Given an old castle, inferred a haunted room. Come, now, -show it to us, dear Mrs. Kelsy.” - -“No, you cannot see the haunted chamber, young miss. It has not been -opened for ten years or more.” - -“Come! This is getting to be exciting, and I declare I will see it, if I -die for it,” said Wynnette. - -“Not through my means, you will not, young lady. But there is the -luncheon bell, and we had better go down.” - -They returned to the inhabited parts of the house, and were shown by the -housekeeper to the morning room, where the luncheon table was spread. - -There they found Mr. and Mrs. Force. Their host had not yet joined them. - -“My dear,” said Mr. Force, in a low voice, addressing Odalite, “we have -had a consultation in the library. It is almost certain that Lady Mary -Anglesea died one year before the time stated as that of her death. It -is best, however, that we go down to Angleton and search for evidence in -the church and mausoleum. Therefore, it is decided that Leonidas and -myself go to Lancashire to-morrow to investigate the facts, leaving your -mother, sisters, and self here. We shall only be absent for a few days.” - -“Oh, papa! then you will take poor John Kirby’s letter and parcel to his -old father there? You see, they live only a few miles from Angleton,” -said Wynnette. - -“Yes, dear, I will take them,” assented the squire. “And, Odalite, my -love,” he added, turning to his eldest daughter, “if all goes well we -shall have a merry marriage here at Enderby.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXXII - AN ANXIOUS SEARCH - - -Early the next morning Mr. Force, Leonidas and Wynnette, who begged to -make one of the party, left Enderby Castle for Lancashire. - -The gray-haired coachman drove them in an open carriage to the -Nethermost Railway Station. - -On this drive they retraced the road on the top of the cliffs which they -had traversed on the previous day. - -They reached Nethermost just in time to jump on board the -“parliamentary,” a slow train—none but slow trains ever did stop at this -obscure and unfrequented station. - -Mr. Force secured a first-class compartment for himself and party, and -they were soon comfortably seated and being whirled onward toward -Lancaster. - -For some miles the road followed the line of the coast in a southerly -direction, and then diverged a little to the eastward until it reached -the ancient and picturesque town of Lancaster, perched upon its own hill -and crowned with its old castle, which dates back to the time of John of -Gaunt. - -Here they left their train, and on consulting the local time-table in -the ticket office found that the next train on the branch line going to -the station nearest Angleton did not start until 3 P.M. - -This, as it was now but 11 A.M., gave the party an opportunity of seeing -the town, as well as of getting a luncheon. - -A chorus of voices offered cabs; but Mr. Force, waving them all away, -walked up the street of antiquated houses and brought his party to the -ancient inn of “The Royal Oak.” - -Here he ordered luncheon, to be ready at two, and then set out with his -young people to walk through the town. - -They climbed the hill and viewed the castle, now fallen from its ancient -glory of a royal fortress—not into ruin, but into deeper degradation as -the county jail. But the donjon keep, King John’s Tower, and John of -Gaunt’s Gate remain as of old. - -They next visited the old parish church of St. Mary’s, where they saw -some wonderful stained glass windows, brass statuary, and oak carvings -of a date to which the memory of man reached not back. - -They could only gaze upon the outside of the cotton and silk factories -and the iron foundries before the clock in the church tower struck two, -and they returned to the hotel for lunch. - -At three o’clock they took the train for Angleton. - -Their course now lay eastward through many a mile of the manufacturing -districts, and then entered a moorland, waste and sparsely inhabited, -stretching eastward to the range of mountains known in local phraseology -as “England’s Backbone.” - -It was six o’clock on a warm June afternoon when the slow train stopped -at a little, lonely station, in the midst of a moor, where there was not -another house anywhere in sight. - -Here our travelers left their compartment and came out upon the -platform, carpetbags in hand; and the train went on its way. - -Our party paused on the platform, looking about them. - -On their right hand stood the station, a small, strong building of stone -with two rooms and a ticket office. Behind that the moor stretched out -in unbroken solitude to the horizon. - -On their left hand was the track of the railroad, and beyond that the -moor rolling into low hills, toward the distant range of mountains. - -There was not a vehicle of any sort in sight; and there were but two -human beings besides themselves on the spot—one was the ticket agent and -the other the railway porter. - -Mr. Force spoke to the latter. - -“Where can I get a carriage to take my party on to Angleton?” - -The man, a red, shock-haired rustic, stared at the questioner a minute -before answering. - -“Noa whurr, maister, leaf it be at t’ Whoit Coo.” - -“And where is the White Cow?” inquired the gentleman. - -The rustic stretched his arm out and pointed due east. - -Mr. Force strained his eyes in that direction, but at first could see -nothing but the moor stretching out in the distance and rolling into -hills as it reached the range of mountains. - -“Papa,” said Wynnette, who was straining her eyes also, “I think I see -the place. I know I see a curl of smoke and the top of a chimney, and -the peak of a gable-end roof. I think the rise of the ground prevents -our seeing more.” - -“Oie, oie, yon’s t’ Whoit Coo,” assented the porter. - -“How far is it from here?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“Taw mulls, maister.” - -“Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some sort? I will pay you -well for your trouble,” said Mr. Force. - -“Naw, maister. Oi’ mawn’t leave t’ stution.” - -“Uncle!” exclaimed Le, “I can go and bring you a carriage in no time. -You take Wynnette into the house and wait for me.” - -And without more ado Le ran across the track and strode off across the -moor. - -Mr. Force took Wynnette into the waiting room of the little wayside -station, where they sat down. - -There was no carpet on the floor, no paper on the walls, no shades at -the windows, but against the walls were rows of wooden benches, and on -them large posters of railway and steamboat routes, hotels, watering -places, and so forth, and one picture of the winner of the last Derby. - -They had scarcely time to get tired of waiting before Le came back with -the most wretched-looking turnout that ever tried to be a useful -conveyance. - -It was a long cart covered with faded and torn black leather, and -furnished with wooden seats without cushions. Its harness was worn and -patched. But there was one comfort in the whole equipage—the horse was -in very good condition. It was a strong draught horse. - -“I shall not have to cry for cruelty to animals, at any rate,” said -Wynnette, as her father helped her up into a seat. - -“How far is it to Angleton?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver. - -“Sux mulls, surr,” answered the man. “Sux mulls, if yur tek it cross t’ -moor, but tun, ’round b’ t’ rood.” - -“Is it very rough across the moor?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“Muddlin’, maister,” replied the man. - -“Go across the moor,” said the gentleman, as he stepped up into the -carriage. - -Le followed him. The horse started and trudged on, jolting them over the -irons on the railway track and striking into the very worst country road -they had ever known. - -Yes. It was rough riding across that moor, sitting on hard benches, in a -cart without springs, and drawn by a strong, hard-trotting horse. - -Our travelers were jolted until their bones were sore before they -reached the first stopping place. - -This was “‘The White Cow,” an old-fashioned inn, in a dip of the moor, -where the ground began to roll in hills and hollows toward the distant -mountains. - -The house fronted east, and, as it lay basking in the late afternoon -summer sun, was very picturesque. Its steep, gable roof was of red -tiles, with tall, twisted chimneys, and projecting dormer windows; its -walls were of some dark, gray stone, with broad windows and doors, and a -great archway leading into the stable yard. A staff, with a swinging -sign, stood before the door. - -The declining sun threw the shadow of the house in front of it; and in -this shade a pair of country laborers sat on a bench, with a table -before them. They were smoking short pipes and drinking beer, which -stood in pewter pots on the board. - -This was the only sign of life and business about the still place. - -As the cart drew up Mr. Force got out of it and helped his daughter to -alight. - -Le followed them. - -“I think we will go in the house and rest a while, and see if we can get -a decent cup of tea, my dear. We have had nothing since we left -Lancaster, at three o’clock, and it is now half-past seven. You must be -both tired and hungry,” said the squire, leading her in. - - “‘I’m killed, sire,’” - -responded Wynnette, misapplying a line from Browning, as she limped -along on her father’s arm. - -The man who had driven them from the railway station, and whom after -developments proved to be waiter, hostler, groom and bootblack rolled -into one for the guests of the White Cow, left his horse and cart -standing and ran before Mr. Force to show the travelers into the house. - -It was needless; but he did it. - -They entered a broad hall paved with flagstones. - -On the left of this an open door revealed the taproom, half full of -rustic workingmen, who were smoking, drinking, laughing and talking, and -whose forms loomed indistinctly through the thick smoke, tinted in one -corner like a golden mist by the horizontal rays of the setting sun that -streamed obliquely through the end window. - -On the right another open door revealed a large low-ceiled parlor, with -whitewashed walls and sanded floor, a broad window in front filled with -flowering plants in pots, and a broad fireplace at the back filled with -evergreen boughs and cut paper flowers. On the walls were cheap colored -pictures, purporting to be portraits of the queen and members of the -royal family. Against the walls were ranged Windsor chairs. On the -mantelpiece stood an eight-day clock, flanked by a pair of sperm -candles, in brass candlesticks. - -In the middle of the floor stood a square table, covered with a damask -cloth as white as new fallen snow, and so smooth and glossy, with such -sharp lines where it had been folded, that proved it to have been just -taken from the linen press and spread upon the table. - -The house might be old-fashioned and somewhat dilapidated, not to say -tumble-down, as to its outward appearance; but this large, low-ceiled -room was clean, neat, fresh and fragrant as it was possible for a room -to be. - -“This is pleasant, isn’t it, papa?” said Wynnette, as she stood by the -flowery window, threw off her brown straw hat, pulled off her gloves, -drew off her duster, put them all upon one chair and dropped herself -into another. - -“Yes. If the tea proves as good as the room, we shall be content,” -replied Mr. Force. - -The man-of-all-work, who had slipped out and put on a clean apron, and -taken up a clean towel, with magical expedition, now reappeared to take -orders. - -“What would you please to have, sir?” - -“Tea for the party, and anything else you have in the house that is good -to eat with it.” - -“Yes, sir.” - -And the waiter pulled the white tablecloth this way and that and -smoothed it with the palms of his hands, apparently for no other reason -than to prove his zeal, for he did not improve the cloth. - -Mr. Force and Le walked out “to look around,” they said. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIII - A CLEW - - -The one maid-of-all-work came in and asked the young lady if she would -not like to go to a room and wash her face and hands. - -Wynnette decidedly would like it, and said so. - -The girl was a fresh, wholesome-looking English lass, with rosy cheeks -and rippling red hair. She wore a dark blue dress of some cheap woolen -material, with a white apron and white collar. - -She led the young lady out into the hall again, and up a flight of broad -stone steps to an upper hall, and thence into a front bed chamber, -immediately over the parlor. - -Here again were the whitewashed walls, clean bare floor, the broad, -white-shaded window, the open fireplace filled with evergreens, the -polished wooden chairs, ranged along the walls, and all the dainty -neatness of the room below. There were, besides, a white-curtained bed, -with a strip of carpet on each side of it; a white-draped dressing table -with an oval glass, and a white-covered washstand, with white china -basin and ewer. In a word, it was a pure, fresh, dainty, and fragrant -white room. - -“Oh, what a nice place! Oh, how I should like to stay here to-night, -instead of going further!” exclaimed Wynnette, appreciatively. - -The girl made no reply, but began to lay out towels on the washstand, -and to pour water from the ewer into the basin. - -“This is a very lonesome country, though, isn’t it?” inquired Wynnette, -who was bound to talk. - -“There’s not a many gentry, ma’am. There be mill hands and pitmen mostly -about here,” said the girl. - -“Mill hands and pitmen! I saw no mills nor mines, either, as we drove -along.” - -“No, ma’am; but they beant far off. The hills do hide them just about -here; but you might seen the high chimneys—I mean the tops of ’em and -the smoke.” - -“Are they pitmen down there in the barroom?” - -“In the taproom? Yes, ma’am. Mill hands, and farm hands, too. They do -come in at this hour for their beer and ’bacco.” - -“Do you have many more customers besides these men?” - -“Not ivery day, ma’am; but we hev the farmers on their way to Middlemoor -market stop here; and—and the gentry coming and going betwixt the -station and Fell Hall, or Middlemoor Court, or Anglewood Manor, ma’am.” - -“How far is Anglewood Manor from this?” - -“About five miles, ma’am.” - -“‘Five!’ Why, I thought it wasn’t more than four. The coachman told us -it was only six from the station and we have come two.” - -“That was Anglewood village, I reckon, ma’am. That is only four miles -from here; but Anglewood Manor is a short mile beyant that.” - -“Ah! Who keeps this inn? There is no name on the sign.” - -“No, ma’am. It’s ‘T’ Whoit Coo.’ It allers hev been ‘T’ Whoit Coo,’ -ma’am.” - -“But who keeps it?” persisted inquisitive Wynnette. - -“Oo! Me mawther keeps it, iver sin’ feyther deed, ma’am. Mawther tends -bar hersen, and Jonah waits and waters horses, and cleans boots, and -does odd jobs, and I be chambermaid.” - -“Ah! and who is Jonah?” - -“Me brawther.” - -“Ah! And so your mother, your brother, and yourself do all the work and -run the hotel?” - -“Yes, ma’am. It would no pay us else,” replied the “Maid of the Inn,” -who seemed to be as much inclined to be communicative as Wynnette was to -be inquisitive. - -“Oh, well, it is lucky that you are all able to do so. But you have not -told me your name yet.” - -“Mine be Hetty Kirby, ma’am. Brawther Jonah’s be Jonah, and mawther’s be -the Widow Kirby,” definitely replied the girl. - -“‘Kirby!’ Oh—why——Tell me, did you have a relation named John Kirby go -to America once upon a time?” - -“Yes, ma’am, a long time ago, before I can remember, me Oncle John -Kirby, me feyther’s yo’ngest brawther, went there and never come back.” - -“Oh! And—is your grandfather living?” - -The “Maid of the Inn” stared. What was all this to the young lady? -Wynnette interpreted her look and explained: - -“Because, if he is living, I have got a letter and a bundle for him from -his son in New York.” - -“Oh, Law! hev you, though, ma’am? Look at thet, noo! What wonders in -this world. The grandfeyther is living, ma’am, but not in Moorton. He be -lately coom to dwell wi’ ‘is son Job, me Oncle Job, who be sexton at -Anglewood church.” - -“Sexton at Anglewood church! Is your uncle sexton at Anglewood church? -And does your grandfather, old Mr. Kirby, live with him?” - -The maid of the inn stared again. Why should this strange young lady -take so much interest in the Kirbys? - -Again Wynnette interpreted her look, and explained: - -“Because if your grandfather does live there, it will save us a journey -to Moorton, as we are going to Anglewood, and can give him the letter -and parcel without turning out of our way,” she said; but she was also -thinking that if this old Kirby, to whom she was bringing letters and -presents from his son in America, was the father of the sexton at -Anglewood church, an inmate of his cottage, and probably assistant in -his work, these circumstances might greatly facilitate their admission -into vaults and mausoleums which the party had come to see, but which -might otherwise have been closed to them. - -“Oh, ma’am,” said Hetty, “would you mind letting mawther see the letter -and parcel?” - -“No, certainly not; but I have no right to let her open either of them, -you know.” - -“She shawnt, ma’am; but it wull do the mawther good to see the outside -’n ’em. And o’ Sunday, when she goes to church, she can see the -grandfeyther, and get to read t’ letter. And there be t’ bell, ma’am. -And we mun goo doon to tea.” - -Wynnette was ready, and went downstairs, attended by the girl. - -A dainty and delicious repast was spread upon the table. Tea, whose rich -aroma filled the room and proved its excellence, muffins, sally-lunns, -biscuits, buttered toast, rich milk, cream and butter, fried chicken, -poached eggs, sliced tongue and ham, radishes, pepper grass, cheese, -marmalade, jelly, pound cake and plum cake. - -Wynnette’s eyes danced as she saw the feast. - -“It is as good as a St. Mary’s county spread! And I couldn’t say more -for it if I were to talk all day!” she exclaimed, as she took her place -at the head of the table to pour out the tea. - -Mr. Force asked a blessing, just as he would have done if he had been at -home, and then the three hungry travelers “fell to.” - -“Father,” said Wynnette, when she had poured out the tea, which Hetty -began to hand around, “do you know the Widow Kirby who keeps this -hotel——” - -“Inn, my dear—inn,” amended the squire. “I am so happy to find myself in -an old-fashioned inn that I protest against its being insulted with the -name of hotel.” - -“All right, squire,” said Wynnette. - - “‘A sweet by any other smell would name as rose,’ - -or words to that effect. The landlady of this hostelry—I should say -tavern—I mean inn—the landlady of this inn is the Widow Kirby, -sister-in-law to the baggage master who took care of Joshua, and from -whom we brought the letter and parcel, you know. And this young person -is his niece, and the man who drove us here is his nephew. And his -brother is sexton at Anglewood Church, and his father lives there. Now! -What do you think of that?” - -“We knew from the baggage master that the Kirbys lived in Lancashire, so -we need not be surprised to find them here.” - -“But, papa, Lancashire is a large place.” - -“My love, it has been said that the habitable globe is but a small -place, and we are always sure to meet some of the same people -everywhere.” - -“Now, the widow wants to see the letter and the parcel—the outside of -them, I mean.” - -“Well, there is no objection,” said the squire. And he made a move to -reach his valise. - -But Le hastily anticipated him and brought it. - -The kind-hearted squire unlocked the case, found the letter and the -parcel, and gave them into the hands of the young waitress. - -“Oo! Thanky’, sir. Thanky’, ma’am. Thanky’,” she said, and continued to -say, bobbing courtesies, and turning over and staring at the letter and -the parcel as she took them out of the room. - -“Wynnette, my dear, you find out everything; but you have missed your -vocation. You ought to have been a newspaper correspondent or a -detective.” - -“I know it, papa. I know it!” exclaimed the girl, with a very -demonstrative sigh. “And that’s the complaint with most of us. We’re -nearly all out of place, and therefore in pain, like dislocated limbs. -And that’s what’s the matter with humanity. Almost all its members are -put out of joint.” - -The rich glow of the summer sunset was slowly fading from the west. - -Lights were brought in by the factotum, Jonah, who placed two on the tea -table, and then proceeded to light the two that stood upon the -mantelpiece. - -Having done this, the man stood waiting orders. - -“Have you put up the carriage?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“Naw, maister. The carriage be waiting.” - -“Well, then, you may just as well put it up. It is growing dark, and I -do not feel like crossing the moor at this time of night. We will stay -here, if you can let us have bedrooms.” - -“Surely, maister, we ha’ rooms enough. I’ll call Hetty.” - -The chambermaid was called, and bringing the letter and parcel, still -unopened, and her “mawther’s” duty and thanks to the gentlefolks for -letting her see the outside of them. - -Hetty, on being interviewed on the subject of sleeping accommodations, -declared in effect that “The White Cow” could provide comfortable -quarters for the whole party, for if the two gentlemen would share the -double-bedded chamber over the taproom, the young lady could have the -large single-bedded chamber over the parlor. - -“That will be perfectly lovely. I did long to sleep in that very room, -at least for one night,” said Wynnette, without waiting for any one else -to speak. - -“All right, then. That will do. We will stay. Eh, Le?” said the squire, -turning to his young companion. - -“Certainly, uncle. The half of a large bedded chamber is ample space for -one used to a hammock,” replied Le. - -So it was settled, and as the travelers were fatigued, they retired -early. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIV - ANGLEWOOD MANOR - - -Early the next morning our three travelers were astir. - -They met in the neat parlor, where the air was delicious with the -fragrance of fresh white, pink and blue hyacinths that filled the flower -pots in the broad window. - -They sat around the table, on which was arranged a breakfast that quite -equaled in excellence the tea of the evening before. - -Jonah waited on the party. - -“Is that elegant and commodious equipage which brought us here yesterday -the best thing in the way of a carriage that the White Cow can turn -out?” inquired Mr. Force, as he sipped his coffee. - -“Beg pardon, maister?” said the man, with a puzzled look. - -“Can’t you trot out a better trap than that old hurdle on wheels which -jolted us from the railway station yesterday?” demanded Wynnette. - -“Beg pardon, ma’am?” said the man, with a bewildered look. - -“We wish to know if you have not a better carriage than the one in which -we came here,” Le tried to explain. - -“Naw, maister, t’ Whoit Coo hev naw much demand fo’ ’m. T’ gentry do -most come and go in their own, and send t’ same for or call t’ friends -in visiting,” the man replied, in a tone of apology. - -“Very well. Have the cart at the door as soon as it can be brought here, -and bring me my bill.” - -“Yes, maister.” - -They all got up from the table. - -“Papa,” said Wynnette, who was too well inclined to take the initiative -in most matters, “papa, I think if we can get our business done at the -manor to-day, we had better come back here to take supper and to sleep. -It seems to me that it would be much nicer than to stop at Angleton.” - -“Wait until you see Angleton before you decide, my dear. You may find -the ‘Anglesea Arms’ as attractive as this inn,” replied the squire, who -was drawing on his railway duster—a needless operation, since there was -no more dust on the moor than could have been found on the sea. - -“‘The Anglesea Arms,’ papa? No, thank you. The name is enough for me. I -would rather sit in the old cart all day and eat bread and cheese, and -sleep in the cart all night, gypsy fashion, than take rest or -refreshment at the Anglesea Arms,” exclaimed Wynnette. - -“But, my dear, you are unjust. The inn has nothing to do with the man, -beyond the accident of having been on the land of his ancestors -centuries ago, and handed down the name from generation to generation.” - -“Can’t help it, papa! I should feel—disgraced—there if I were to find -myself by any accident under the roof of the—Anglesea Arms.” - -“Whe-ew-ew! Poor, old inn,” whistled Mr. Force. - -Oh, no doubt he ought to have lectured his wilful little daughter; but -he did not. He was a child-spoiler, a chickpecked papa. - -By this time they were ready to start. - -Jonah brought the bill. - -Mr. Force paid it, and gave the waiter half a crown. - -Wynnette pulled his sleeve and whispered: - -“Papa, give me half a sov. to tip the chambermaid. It’s the regular -thing, you know. I mean, papa, dear, that it is usual for ladies to -offer some such modest recognition of such young persons’ services.” - -“What, my dear, have you no money?” inquired her father, looking at her -in some surprise. - - “‘Oh, sir, you see me here, - A most poor woman, though a queen,’” - -sighed Wynnette, in a very humble air, as she held out her open hand. - -The squire poured into her palm some loose silver and one piece of -gold—the whole not amounting to so much as five dollars. - -Wynnette thanked him and skipped out of the parlor to find Hetty. - -She found her waiting just outside the door. Hetty was a very good girl -in her way; but she profited by the traditions of her class, and -generally was to be found waiting when ladies were leaving the inn. - -Wynnette pressed the half sovereign into the hand of the girl. Wynnette -was a generous and extravagant little wretch, without the slightest idea -of the value of money, and therefore likely, in some opinions, to come -to poverty. - -This half sovereign was about four times as much as the maid ever got -from the richest of the inn’s guests; and she courtesied about four -times as often in return. - -“Small favors gratefully acknowledged, large ones in proportion,” seemed -to be her just and simple rule. - -“Come, Wynnette. Come, my dear,” called her father, who was already in -the hall waiting for her. - -In another minute the whole party were in the dilapidated carryall, and -the driver turned the horse’s head eastward into an almost invisible -roadway over the moor. - -It was a splendid June morning. The sky was of a deep, clear sapphire -blue so seldom seen even on the sunniest days in England. The moor took -a darker shade of color from the sky, and the heather with which it was -thickly overgrown seemed of a deep, intense green. The ground rolled in -hills and dales, gradually rising higher and higher toward the range of -mountains on the eastern horizon, where the highest ridges were capped -with soft, snow-white clouds. As the sun rose higher, these clouds, as -well as the mountain sides, became tinted with the most delicate and -beautiful hues of rose, azure, emerald and gold, melting into each other -and forming the loveliest varieties of color, light and shade. - -Yet in the vast solitude of the moor no human being or human dwelling -was to be seen. - -The first sign of habitation was a thin spire which seemed to rise in -mid distance before them. - -“What is that?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver. - -“Thet, maister, be the steeple of old Anglewood Church.” - -“Are we so near the manor, then?” - -“Naw, sir. It be better’n three mulls off yet. You would naw see it, -only for the air is so clear the day.” - -Wynnette craned her neck to look forward. But there was nothing to be -seen but the thin spire, as if drawn with pen and ink from the dark blue -heath to the deep blue sky. - -As they went on, the spire became a steeple, and the steeple a tower, -and the tower a church. - -As yet nothing but the church—darkly outlined against the background of -hills—was visible. They were now on the top of one of the rolling hills, -and could see it clearly. - -“Is that church in the village of Angleton or in the manor of -Anglewood?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver. - -“It be on t’ manor, maister. The village it be nearer t’ us, but being -in t’ hollow you can’t see it yet.” - -“Ah!” - -They went down the hill and through the hollow, came up the side of -another higher hill, and then looked down on the village of Angleton in -the vale at its foot. - -On the top of the next hill stood the Old Church of Anglewood in full -view. - -The driver stopped his horse while they looked at the village in the -vale and the church on the hill beyond. - -“Wull I drive to the Anglesea Arms, maister?” inquired the driver, as he -set his horse in motion again. - -“No,” replied the squire, in deference to Wynnette. He had “won his -spurs elsewhere,” no doubt, but the chickpecked papa was a little afraid -of his baby. “No; but I want to stop at the village for a few minutes. -Is there a newspaper published at Angleton?” - -“Yes, sir. T’ Angleton _’Wertiser_ it be,” replied the man. - -“Very well, then. Drive to the office of that paper.” - -“Yes, maister.” - -They were now descending a steep road, between low stone walls, leading -down into the main street of the village and past the one public house, -the one general store, the doctor’s office and surgery, the lawyer’s -office, and finally the printing and publishing office of the Angleton -_Advertiser_. - -It was a two-storied stone building, evidently a dwelling house as well -as a printing office; for there were two doors—one apparently a private -door, leading into a narrow hall; the other the public door, broad and -rough, and leading into the business rooms. Besides the upper windows -were hung with Norfolk lace curtains and adorned with pots of geraniums, -while the lower windows were shaded with dust and draped with cobwebs, -and sustained above them the broad signboard—Angleton _Advertiser_. - -When the carriage drew up before this building the three travelers -alighted and went in. - -The driver of the vehicle remained in his seat in charge. - -The party of three found themselves in a very dingy room, with a counter -on their right hand, at the nearest end of which a man stood writing at -a desk. At the furthest end a boy stood folding and wrapping papers. - -“Is this the office of the Angleton _Advertiser_?” needlessly inquired -Mr. Force of the gentleman behind the desk. - -“It is. What can I have the pleasure of doing for you, sir?” inquired -the latter. - -“You are the proprietor?” half asserted, half inquired the squire. - -“Proprietor, editor, printer and publisher,” answered the man, reaching -behind him and taking from a shelf a copy of his paper, which he offered -to his visitor, saying: “Out to-day, sir; and there’s my name.” - -“Ah!” said Mr. Force, spreading the paper before him, and looking first -at the prospectus for the name of his new acquaintance. - -“Can I be of any service to you, sir?” inquired the proprietor. - -“Well, Mr. Purdy, I would like to have a few minutes talk with you, if -you are not too busy.” - -“I am directing papers for the mail, but I am not pressed for time, as -the mail does not go until to-night.” - -“Thank you,” said the squire, as a mere form, for there did not appear -to be any particular cause for gratitude. And he drew from his breast -pocket a certain copy of the Angleton _Advertiser_ and handed it to the -man, saying again: “Thank you, Mr. Purdy. My name is Force. I only wish -to ask you—and I hope without offense—what is the meaning of the -obituary notice of a living man that is published in the first column of -this paper?” - -Purdy took the paper in a slow and dazed manner, and looked at the -column which Mr. Force pointed out to him. - -And as he looked he stared and stared. - -“I—I—don’t understand!” he said at last, looking from the paper up to -the face of his strange visitor. - -“Neither do I understand, Mr. Purdy; but if we put our heads together -perhaps we may be able to do so,” replied Abel Force. - -The printer turned the paper over and over, in and out, up and down, -and, lastly, back to the front page; and then he stared at the obituary -notice of his landlord. - -“What do you make of it?” inquired Abel Force. - -“I can’t make anything of it. But I think it will make a lunatic of me! -This is certainly my paper! I know my paper as well as I know my -children. This is certainly my paper—though it is an old one—and this is -the obituary notice of Col. Anglesea, who was alive and well at that -very time, and is so at this present, as I think.” - -“How do you account for that?” - -“I can’t account for it! If I weren’t a sound man, and a sober man, and -a wide-awake one, I should think I was drunk, or dreaming, or deranged. -It is quite beyond me, Mr. Force. This is my paper—I see it, and know -it—and this is an obituary notice of a living man that I never put in -there! I see and know that as well! But how to reconcile these two -contradictory facts, I don’t know. How did you come by that paper, if -you please?” - -“It was sent to me by mail!” - -“Well, well, well!” - -“Have you a file of the Angleton _Advertiser_?” - -“Of course I have, sir.” - -“Let us look at it, then, and compare this paper with the paper of that -same date on the file.” - -“Why, that is a good idea. And I shall only have to look at the copy of -August 20th in last year’s file. I’ll do it at once.” - -The editor turned and took down a roller full of papers from the two -wooden pins on the wall behind him, and laid it upon the counter and -began to turn over the sheets. - -“Here it is!” exclaimed Purdy, pulling out a paper and spreading it out -on the counter. “August 20th—and appears to be a facsimile of the one -you brought here, sir. Now let us lay them on the board side by side and -compare them.” - -He took the file and hung it up again on the wall, to make room on the -counter. Then he spread out the two papers side by side, with their -first pages uppermost. - -As he did so the boy who had been folding and wrapping papers at the -other end of the counter left his work and crept toward the two men. - -“Oh! see this!” exclaimed the proprietor—“see this! The two papers are -facsimile in every letter and line, except in two places! See this! The -first column on the first page of the paper from the file is occupied by -the report of an agricultural fair at Middlemoor, and the same column in -the same edition of the paper, in the copy you brought, is filled with -the obituary of Col. Anglesea! And here! In the list of deaths on -another page, the first paragraph in this paper from the file is a -notice of the death of the Rev. Mr. Orton, our old vicar; and in the -copy of the same paper that you brought me the same space is taken up -with the notice of the death of Col. Anglesea. This is a very great -mystery!” - -“Perhaps if you could recall all the incidents of the day on which this -paper was issued we might come to some solution of the problem,” -suggested Mr. Force. - -“I don’t know that I could,” replied Purdy. - -“Father,” said the boy—“father, I remember something queer about that -very day—I do.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXXV - A SECRET WITNESS - - -“You do? Come here, my son.” - -The lad came up to the counter. He was a fine, wholesome-looking boy of -about fifteen years of age, with a fresh complexion, blue eyes, and -closely cut, light brown hair. - -He bowed to the visitors and stood waiting for his father’s questions. - -“You say you remember something about the twentieth of last August?” - -“Why, I ought to, father, because it was something that happened -unexpectedly that day that caused me to be promoted from being a mere -’prentice in the printing room to being your helper here.” - -“Oh! Ah! Let me see! That was—yes—the day I took you into the office was -the day Norton absconded, for his sudden desertion left me in the lurch. -And so, Mr. Force,” said the editor, turning to his visitor, “I took my -lad here, who had been learning to be a printer, on to help me. It was -only as a temporary accommodation of myself to circumstances that I took -him, for I intended to look up another assistant, but he proved himself -so capable that I have kept him on ever since, and saved the expense of -a journeyman.” - -“Ah!” breathed Mr. Force, while Wynnette and Leonidas bent eagerly -forward to listen for further developments of the mystery. - -“Won’t the young lady take a chair?” said Mr. Purdy; for the party had -been standing the whole time. - -Leonidas drew the only chair in sight from the back of the passage -between the counter and the wall, and Wynnette bowed, and seated -herself. - -“Could there have been any connection between the insertion of that -fraudulent notice and the sudden flight of your foreman?” inquired Mr. -Force. - -“Looks like it,” said the editor, still being much puzzled. Then, -turning to his son, he inquired: - -“Obed, do you think you can throw any light on this mystery? You know -what we are talking about, of course. You heard what this gentleman has -been telling me.” - -“Yes, father.” - -“Well, do you remember anything more about the events of that day—the -last that Norton was here?” - -“Yes, father. And the more I think about it now, the better I understand -things that I didn’t think much of at the time.” - -“What were these things, Obed?” - -“Yes!” involuntarily muttered Mr. Force. “What?” - -Wynnette and Leonidas almost held their breath. - -Obed told his story: - -“You know, father, when the last paper was taken off the press that -twentieth of August, Norton and I didn’t go to distributing the type, -either of us, but both came into the front office at your call to help -to fold and direct the papers, because the edition was a large one on -account of the agricultural fair. You remember that, father?” - -“Yes, now you remind me of it.” - -“And when the papers were all dispatched it was nearly dark, and you -went home, leaving Norton and myself to close up. The type was not -distributed, but left, as it often was, till the next day.” - -“Our paper is a weekly, as you, perhaps, know, sir,” interpolated the -editor. - -Mr. Force bowed. - -The boy continued, now addressing the whole party: - -“After father went out Norton said to me—and I remembered how surprised -I was at his sudden kindness, though it did not arouse my suspicion of -anything wrong—he said to me: - -“‘You needn’t stop to-night, old man. I reckon I can clear up the -counter and shut up the office.’ - -“So I went home to supper, and told father that Norton had let me off. -You remember that, father?” - -“Y-y-yes, now you remind me of it. But I don’t think I should remember -it even now if the event were not marked by the fact that I never saw -Norton from that night.” - -“After supper,” continued the boy, “I went out to walk. The village -street is always very gay on Saturday night. All the mill hands have got -their week’s wages and are abroad, buying for Sunday, and the shops are -gay. I stayed out just to see them until the custom began to drop off -and the shutters to be put up. And then I started for home.” - -“You needn’t think, sir, by that that my lad is the least bit wild. Obed -is as steady as a lamp-post, but after being shut up in the office all -day he must pull himself out a little by taking a walk, even though it -is night. I tell him to,” Mr. Purdy explained. - -“Quite right,” assented Mr. Force. - -Obed continued: - -“Now, father, comes the strange part, which I didn’t think much of at -the time, but a great deal of now!” - -“Go on, my boy.” - -“When I came in sight of our printing office it was all closed up, the -heavy shutters up and the iron bars across them; but I saw a glimmer of -light through the chinks, and my first thought was fire, and I ran -around to the back and climbed over the wall and looked through a hole -that I knew was in the shutter of the back window, and there I saw——” - -“Yes! yes!” exclaimed the editor, impatiently, as the boy had only -stopped to clear his throat. - -“There I saw Norton as busy setting type as if the making up of the -paper was behindhand and he was working against time.” - -“Ah!” breathed Abel Force. - -“The gas jet was burning right in front of him, shining on his face and -on his work so I could see him quite plainly. I thought maybe he had -some job to do, and so it was all right; but just then a man came out of -the shadows of the room somewhere and leaned over him.” - -“Who was it? Col. Anglesea?” hastily demanded Abel Force. - -Obed stared, and then replied, somewhat indignantly: - -“Col. Anglesea? Not likely, sir.” - -“What sort of a man was it?” inquired Mr. Purdy, by way of diversion -from the Anglesea question. - -“He was a gentleman, I should think, though,” said the boy, -apologetically. “He was a rather short, stout man with a red face and -light hair. I saw that much, for when he went up to Norton the gas jet -shone on him also, and I could see him plainly. He spoke with Norton for -a few minutes, and then went back somewhere into the darkness. I thought -maybe it was some one who wanted some little job of labels printed and -Norton was doing it for him. So I came away and went home.” - -“Was that all?” - -“Not quite. When we went to the office on Monday we found it closed, -though it was Norton’s place to have opened it an hour before. Father -and I opened it, and I went to the press to begin to distribute the -type, and found——” - -The boy stopped to clear his throat again. - -“Yes, yes, what did you find, my lad?” - -“Why, that the first two columns of the first page were distributed.” - -“Oh!” - -“I wasn’t surprised at that a bit, and I never thought anything else -about it but that he—Norton—had already begun to distribute the type, -and had got that far and stopped. The rest of the type looked just as it -had been set. Father and I distributed the rest.” - -“See how it is now, so far as the act goes; but I can see no motive for -it,” said the editor. - -“I do not know much about printing,” remarked Abel Force; “but was it -not likely that on the Saturday night, when you and your son had gone -home, leaving the press and the type just as the last copy of the paper -had been taken from it, was it not possible that this man Norton may -have distributed the type that had been set up for the report of the -agricultural fair which had been struck off, and then set up this -fraudulent obituary notice and substituted it for the distributed -matter, and then struck off a few more copies of the paper?” - -“Yes, sir; and that is just what has been done. But the motive, the -motive, that’s what puzzles me,” exclaimed the editor. - -“The motive was to spread a false report of Col. Anglesea’s death in -America, where he had incurred some personal liabilities,” replied Mr. -Force. - -John Purdy stared. - -“In America—Col. Anglesea—liabilities? I think you must be mistaken, -sir.” - -“Perhaps.” Mr. Force did not wish to get into a discussion; he wished to -get information. “Have you any idea who the man could have been who was -in your printing office on that night?” he inquired. - -“Not the least in the world, sir, except that it was not Col. Anglesea. -You take my word of honor for that.” Mr. Force bowed. He thought the -boy’s description of the man who was in the office with the printer that -night tallied perfectly with the personal appearance of Anglesea as he -had known him, but he did not say so; he shunned disputes, so as to get -facts. - -“Where was Col. Anglesea at this time?” he inquired. - -“Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood Manor, was at his home. He -was soon after appointed deputy lieutenant of the county,” replied -Purdy, with some vicarious dignity. - -“Where is he now?” - -“Abroad—traveling for his health, I think.” - -“And—this man Norton, who must have set up the fraudulent obituary, -where is he?” - -“Nobody knows. He never returned to the office. I never saw him, or -heard of him again. His was one of the cases of ‘Mysterious -Disappearance,’ and as such it was noticed in all the local papers. All -had different theories. The Middlemoor _Messenger_ thought that he had -been made away with by pitmen. The wretched pitmen get blamed for all -the undiscovered crime in the county. They live mostly in darkness, and -so people seem to believe that they ‘love darkness rather than light -because their deeds are evil.’ But this is not so.” - -“And no clew was ever discovered to the fate of Norton?” - -“None, sir. You see he was a single man, without any near relations, and -so the affair was soon forgotten.” - -“Well,” said Abel Force, straightening himself up, “I thank you for the -information you have given me, and the opportunity you have afforded us -of comparing the fraudulent paper with that of the same date on your -file. This is your mailing day, and I must not detain you.” - -“Come in at any time, sir; we shall be glad to see you. Making any stay -in this place, sir?” - -“Thank you. No, only over the Sabbath. Good-day.” - -“Good-day, sir.” - -“Le,” said Mr. Force, as they re-entered the carriage, “we are on the -track of the fraud, but need not pursue it in the direction of that man -and boy. Now we will see what the tombstones have to tell us.” - -“Where to now, maister?” inquired the driver, from his seat. - -“To Anglewood Church, Anglewood Manor,” said Mr. Force. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVI - ANGLEWOOD OLD CHURCH - - -Leaving the office of the Angleton _Advertiser_, and turning up the -village street, they repassed the blacksmith’s, the general dealer’s, -the doctor’s surgery, the lawyer’s office, the post office, the news -agency, and finally the Angleton Arms—an ancient hostelry, built of -stone, with strong walls, peaked roof, high chimney and low, broad, -latticed windows—which stood as on guard at the entrance of the hamlet. - -Leaving the place at this point, they entered the road leading to -Anglewood Manor. - -No pleasant, shady, grass-bordered country road was this, with vistas of -woods and waters, fields and farms. It was a white and arid highway, -running between gray stone walls, whose dread monotony was varied only -by the occasional branch of a tree over their tops, or of an iron gate, -or oaken door, in the sides. - -“Whose property is this on the right and left of us?” inquired Mr. Force -of the driver. - -“Thet on t’ roight, maister, be Middlemoor, t’ seat o’ t’ Arl o’ -Middlemoor. Thet on t’ left be Fell Hall, t’ seat o’ Squoire Ogden,” -replied the man. - -“What hateful roads!” exclaimed Wynnette. “I feel exactly as if we were -driving on between a madhouse and a jail!” - -They were slowly going uphill now, and presently came to a lane on the -left, into which the carriage turned. Still on the left of the new way -was the low stone wall, but behind and above it was a green hedge of -Osage orange bushes, while opposite, on the right, was a lovely green -hedge of all the variety of bushes and brambles that grow outdoors in -that part of England. - -“This is better,” said Wynnette, as they drove slowly on between the -green hedges. - -“We be noo at back o’ Fell Hall. And yon’s t’ steeple o’ t’ church,” the -coachman volunteered to explain, as he pointed to the spire which rose -above a clump of trees on their left. - -They soon reached the entrance of the churchyard and passed in. - -The church stood on an eminence, which they had been gradually climbing -all the way from Angleton. - -It was a very picturesque building of ancient English type—moss-grown -and ivy-covered from base to pinnacle, until not a bit of its walls or -roof could be seen. Many ancient gravestones, gray with age, sunk in -long grass and covered with moss, clustered around it. - -“Is the church open to visitors?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver, as -they drew up to the closed and formidable-looking, iron-bound oaken -doors. - -“Oy, maister! It be t’ show o’ t’ place, be Anglewood Old Church.” - -They all alighted from the rough carriage and stood on the flagstones of -the church porch, and looked around them. The sun was in the west now, -and shining on the grass-grown yard and the moss-covered gravestones. - -“Are any of the Anglesea family buried out here?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“Oot here? Laird, no, maister! They be all in t’ vault. And none ha’ -been put into t’ groond here, even of t’ common folk, in my toime! They -be took to t’ simitry.” - -“To the cemetery?” - -“Oy, maister, on t’ hill, over by yonder.” - -“Ah! well! how are we to get into this building?” - -“I’ll rin and get the key fra’ m’ oncle, Silas Kirby, t’ sexton.” - -“And don’t you know, papa, we have got that letter and parcel from John -Kirby to his father?” said Wynnette. - -“Yes, yes, my dear, I know.” - -“Well, then, may we not go to the sexton ourselves?” - -“I will see. How far is your uncle’s home from here?” inquired Mr. Force -of the driver. - -“Whoy, joost by t’other gate o’ the churchyard,” replied the man. - -“Then we will leave the carriage here and go across to his house, to -take something we have brought for your grandfather,” said Mr. Force. - -“Oy, oy! t’ letter Oi heerd t’ mawther talk aboot. Coom along wi’ Oi, -maister. This be the way.” - -Leaving the old carriage standing before the church door, the driver led -the way through the long grass, and in and out among the tombstones, -taking care not to step upon the graves, and so reached another gate -opening upon a sequestered lane and flanked by two buildings, one of -which was the sexton’s cottage, built of stone, with a steep roof, tall -chimneys and latticed windows, and, like the church, so moss-grown and -ivy-covered that only its doors and windows escaped the veil. - -A tall, venerable, white-haired man, with a long white beard, sat in the -door, smoking, and apparently meditating. - -“Grandfeyther,” said Jonah Kirby, addressing this patriarch, “here be a -gentleman from foreign pairts a bringing of a letter and news from Uncle -John.” - -“Eh! eh! then, what be ye talking aboot, lad?” inquired the old man, -rising with difficulty, balancing himself, and bowing to the strangers. - -Jonah Kirby repeated his introduction. - -“Eh! My service to you, gentlefolks. A letter fra m’ lad in ’Merica! Eh! -Laird bless us!—a letter fra m’ lad, quotha?” - -“Yes, Mr. Kirby, my little girl here has brought you a letter from your -son, John Kirby, who is a baggage master on a prosperous railroad in the -United States. She made his acquaintance on the train. Here, Wynnette, -my dear, give the old man his letter and parcel.” - -The young girl handed both. - -“Thanky, me leddy! Thanky koindly!” said the patriarch, sinking back in -his armchair; for between age, weakness and emotion he was no longer -able to stand. - -“And ’ee saw me lad? And ’ee brought me this letter fra him? God bless -’ee, me leddy! God bless ’ee!” said the old man, in an earnest voice -which trembled with agitation, as he took the girl’s hand, made as if he -would have kissed it, but pressed it to his forehead and to his wet eyes -instead—“God bless ’ee, me leddy!” - -“It was all through the dog,” said Wynnette. “He took care of my dear -dog for me, and fed him on the journey, and kept him from jumping off -the train and out of all danger.” - -“Oy! oy! John was ever good to animals, and varry fond of dogs, was -John. And t’ lad’s doing well, ye say, me leddy?” - -“Oh, yes. Read his letter,” said Wynnette. - -“Oy, oy, to be sure. Here, Silas—Silas, lad—here be a letter fra furrin -pairts, fra your brawther John. Come hither, Silas—and bring chairs for -t’ gentlefolks. Ah! bad manners of me to be sitting while t’ gentlefolks -stand!” said the patriarch, striving to get upon his feet, but failing, -and sinking back. - -“Pray do not disturb yourself,” said Mr. Force. “We do not wish to sit -down. We would like to see the inside of the old church, if your son, -the sexton, can show it to us.” - -“Of coorse he can, and thet just noo. Silas, Silas, where be ye, and t’ -gentlefolks waiting on ye?” - -A tall, robust, tawny-headed and bearded man came out. - -“Here’s a letter fra your brawther as t’ gentlefolks ha’ brought fra -furrin pairts. But ’ee can read it when ’ee coom back. Gae, noo, and -show t’ gentlefolks to Old Church. Coom here, Katie, me lass, and read -this letter to thy auld grandad.” - -This last speech was addressed to a fair-haired girl of about sixteen, -who appeared at the door and courtesied to the strangers. - -Silas Kirby, the sexton, bowed to the visitors, and in a few muffled -words intimated his readiness to oblige them, and walked on before, -swinging a large key in his hand. - -When he reached the church door he put the key in the ponderous lock, -turned it with a great twist, and unlocked it with a loud noise. - -The travelers entered an obscurity of rich light and shade from stained -glass windows, half-hidden in ivy, and glowing down upon dark oaken pews -and tessellated floor. - -When their eyes became accustomed to the semidarkness, the travelers -went up toward the chancel, and saw the recumbent effigy of the founder -of the family of Anglesea, and memorial tablets of many of their -descendants. - -Some little time was spent in reading the inscriptions upon these -monuments, and examining the paintings on the walls between the windows; -and then Mr. Force inquired: - -“Is the monument of the late Lady Mary Anglesea in this church?” - -“Noa, maister; not in the church.” - -“Are her remains in the vault?” - -“Loikely they be, maister. I ha’ not had occasion to go into t’ vault -since I coom to t’ parish.” - -“Then you were no here when Lady Mary Anglesea died, then?” - -“Noa, maister, I were not. That were in Goodman Prout’s time. But her -leddyship will be loikely i’ t’ vault.” - -Saying this, the sexton took a key from his pocket and unlocked a door -on the right-hand side of the chancel, revealing a narrow flight of -stone steps leading into the crypt below. - -All the party approached the opening. - -“Wynnette, my dear, you had better not venture down. The air must be -very bad,” said Mr. Force. - -“Nay, maister, none so bad as you think. There be many a gentleman’s -cellar far worse. There be windys—open windys—wi’ airn bars on each side -of the wall, and on each end of the wall even wi’ the ground, and though -they be some of ’em well choked up, yet for all that there be enough o’ -them open to keep the air fresh i’ the vault. There be na fear, -maister,” said the sexton. - -Mr. Force, standing at the head of the steps leading down into the -vault, felt for himself that there was no fear of foul air; the -atmosphere was as fresh, though a little damper, than that of the church -above. - -The sexton unhooked a lantern that hung on a nail within the door, took -a match from his pocket, lighted the little lamp and walked before the -visitors down the steps. - -The vault occupied all the space under the church, and it was provided -with stone tables ranged around the four walls. - -The place was dimly visible by the daylight which struggled through the -ivy that half choked up the barred windows. This was strongest from the -west, from which the declining sun shot rays of golden light through -bars and ivy leaves, whose shadows flickered dimly on the stone tables -and on the leaden caskets they supported. - -But it needed the additional light of the lantern by which to read the -inscription on the latter. - -Mr. Force began at the casket nearest the foot of the stairs and read -the name—Alexander d’Anglesay, 1250; Malcolm d’Anglesay, A. D.—the rest -worn out; Dame Margery d’An—the rest illegible—see, 1090—the rest gone. - -“On this side must be the oldest caskets; let us try the other,” said -Mr. Force, crossing over to the opposite row, followed by the sexton -carrying the lantern, and beginning to read the inscriptions: - -“Ah! Richard Anglesea, born July 1, 1801, died January 31, 1850; aged 49 -years. Ah! that was the father of an unworthy son! Fell gallantly at the -head of his regiment in the battle of——What is that you say, Le?” Mr. -Force broke off from his remarks to attend to the words of his young -companion. - -“I have looked at every casket, uncle! That of Lady Mary Anglesea is not -in the vault,” said the young man, with a sigh of disappointment. - -“Not, Le! Are you sure?” - -“Quite sure, uncle.” - -“It is not here, papa! I have looked at every one with Le, and it is not -among them,” added Wynnette. - -Yet Mr. Force would not be satisfied, but went round to every casket, -attended by the sexton carrying the lantern, by the light of which they -read every inscription, or what was left of the inscription; but found -no trace of Lady Mary Anglesea. - -“We had as well give up the search here,” said Mr. Force. - -“And where else should we look?” inquired Le, with a face of despair. - -“The only other possible place will be the churchyard.” - -“Oh, her leddyship will not be there, maister! Nabody has been interred -there this many a year. T’ parish officers will na’ allow it! They all -go to t’ simitry on t’ hill. Let alone one o’ t’ great family as never -was buried in t’ open churchyard! Oh! But noo I moind me, maister!” -exclaimed the man, with a sudden lightening of his face. - -“What?” demanded Abel Force. - -“And what a gey coote I was to forget it!” - -“What?” again inquired Mr. Force. - -“But it was all along of my thinking as you wanted to see t’ auld -church, and not the leddy’s munniment, as put me off the track,” -continued the man. - -Mr. Force said no more, but waited for the sexton to explain himself in -his own way. - -“Her leddyship’s body must be in t’ grand new musselman as the squire -had built to her memory. Eh, maister, I were not i’ the parish when t’ -bootiful leddy deed; but the folk do say he took on a soight! Shet -himself up in t’ hoose after t’ funeral and wouldn’t see a soul! Had the -foine musselman built in the park and her laid in it! And then he betook -hisself to furrin pairts and never come home for years! Bother my wooden -head for not telling you first off; but you see, maister, I thought it -was t’ auld church you wanted and not the leddy’s munnimint.” - -“Where is”—Abel Force could scarcely bring himself to utter the detested -name—“where is Col. Anglesea now?” - -“Traveling, maister, in furrin lands. He coom home aboot a year ago, and -he was ’pointed leevetinint o’ t’ county. But he couldn’t abide the -manor since her leddyship deed, and so he resigned and went away again. -Eh, but he loved the ground she walked on, and couldn’t abear it after -she deed.” - -Mr. Force, Wynnette and Leonidas listened to this with surprise and -incredulity. This was, indeed, a new view of Angus Anglesea’s character. - -“Can the mausoleum in the park be seen?” inquired Abel Force. - -“Varry loikely, maister. T’ whole place can be seen, for t’ matter of -that. T’ squoire let open t’ whole manor, hall and a’, to a’ that loike -to look at it. A free-hairted and free-handed gentleman be our squoire.” - -Here was another revelation. - -“Will you be our guide to the new mausoleum?” inquired Abel Force. - -“Ay, maister. I’ll walk over and speak to the keeper, Proby, and meet -you at t’ musselman. Jonah will drive you over, maister. He knows t’ way -as well as I do myself.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVII - THE TOMB’S EVIDENCE - - -They crossed the churchyard again and entered the carriage. Jonah -mounted the box. - -“Noo drive the gentlefolks to t’ east o’ t’ park, and roond by the -musselman. I’ll cut across through t’ brush and speak to t’ keeper, and -meet you there. It will be all roight, maister.” - -With this the sexton struck off through the bushes that stood between -the church and the manor house. - -The old carriage left the churchyard by the way it had come and entered -once more upon the lane, and turning eastward, drove on between green -hedges for about a quarter of a mile, when it reached a massive gate of -oak and iron, guarded by a porter’s lodge of stone in the same strong -style of building as the sexton’s cottage at the churchyard wall. - -A tidy woman come out of the lodge, and seeing the old carriage, with -Jonah on the box, she smiled and nodded, and at once opened wide the -gates. - -“Any one at the manor house, Mistress Dillon?” inquired Jonah. - -“Noa, lad; none but t’ housekeeper and t’ servants,” replied the woman, -courtesying to “the gentlefolks” as the old carriage passed through the -gate and entered the long avenue leading through the park to the house. - -This avenue was shaded by rows of gigantic old oak trees on each side, -whose branches met and intermingled overhead, so arching the way with a -thick roof of foliage. - -“Oh, what a beautiful—what a majestic vista!” exclaimed Wynnette, with -more enthusiasm than she usually bestowed upon any object. - -“It is very fine,” said her father. “There is nothing finer in their way -than these old English parks.” - -Presently the carriage turned with the avenue in a curve, and suddenly -drew up before the manor house, which until that moment had been -concealed by the lofty trees around it. - -Anglesea Manor was a huge oblong building of some gray stone, supported -at its corners by four square towers, each further strengthened by four -turrets, all of which added to the architectural beauty of the edifice. -There were three rows of lofty windows in the front. The lowest row was -divided in the middle by massive oaken doors, opening upon a stone -platform reached by seven stone steps. - -“Oh-h-h!” breathed Wynnette, as she gazed on the fine old house. “To -think that such a palace as this should be the inheritance of such a -villain as he!” - -The driver turned and looked at her with astonishment and some -indignation. Then checking himself, he said, in perfect simplicity: - -“Oo! you don’t know, young leddy, I reckon—this place belongs to our -landlord, Col. Angus Anglesea.” - -Then drawing up his horse, he inquired: - -“Will you get out and go through the house, sir?” - -“For Heaven’s sake, uncle, no—not yet. Let us go directly to the -mausoleum, and see the date that is on the tomb, and solve this doubt -that is intolerable,” pleaded Le. - -“Very well, my dear boy; very well. Kirby, drive at once to the -mausoleum. We will see the house later,” said Mr. Force. - -The man touched his hat and started his horse. - -They turned into a grass-grown road winding in and out among magnificent -oaks that seemed the growth of many centuries, and that were probably -once parts of the primeval forest of Britain. - -Presently they came upon the mausoleum. It stood between two fine oak -trees, and in front of a third, which formed its background. It was -built in the form of a Grecian temple and surrounded by a silver-plated -iron railing. - -The carriage stopped and our tourists got out. - -Le pushed on impetuously, opened the little gate, and stepped up to read -the inscription on the marble. He read it attentively, stopped, gazed at -it, read it again, and then turned away in silence. - -“What is it, Le?” anxiously inquired Abel Force. - -“It is—read it, uncle,” replied the young man, breaking down and turning -away. - -Mr. Force entered the inclosure and read the inscription on the -mausoleum: - - MARY, - Beloved Wife of ANGUS ANGLESEA, - Died August 25, 18—, - AGED 49. - -Mr. Force turned away without a word. - -Wynnette entered the inclosure, read the inscription and came out in -perfect silence. - -The driver of the old carriage and the sexton of the church, who had -only just now kept his promise and come up to join the party, stood a -little apart, not understanding the emotion of the strangers, attributed -it all to sympathy with the bereaved husband. - -“Oo, ay, maister, it was a sorrowful day when her leddyship departed -this loife,” said Jonah Kirby, shaking his head—“a sorrowful day! I was -at t’ funeral, as in duty bound. T’ squoire were first mourner, and hed -to be present, though he were far from fit to stand. Laird Middlemoor, -his feyther-in-law, hed to hold him up. I never saw t’ squoire from the -day of t’ funeral until the day he took t’ train for Lunnun, when he -were going abroad to furrin pairts. And then he had gone away to nothing -but skin and bone! He came back about a year ago; but he couldn’t abear -the place, and went away again. Ah, poor gentleman!” - -Le and his uncle looked at each other in wonder. Was this Angus Anglesea -of whom the man was speaking? who had reared this monument to the memory -of his “beloved wife”? Was this Angus Anglesea, whom every one praised? -And yet, who had gone abroad and deceived, betrayed, and robbed and -deserted the poor Californian widow? And how, indeed, could he have -married the Californian woman in St. Sebastian, on the first of August, -as Le had unquestionable evidence that he had done, and be present at -the death of his wife in the English manor house on the twenty-fifth of -the same month, as these people declared that he had been; and, again, -meet the Force family at Niagara early in the following September? It -might have been just possible by almost incredibly rapid transits. - -“Had Col. Anglesea been abroad just before his wife’s death?” inquired -Abel Force of the driver, who knew more about the affairs of Anglewood -than the sexton, because the former had always lived at Angleton, and -the latter had only lately come to the parish. - -“Oo, ay, maister, thet was the pity o’ ’t. The squoire hed been away a -month or more. He coom home only a week before her leddyship deed. And -he went away again after t’ funeral. He coom back again a year ago, but -he couldn’t abear to stay. So he put up t’ musselman to her memory and -went his way again. Ah, poor gentleman! He were a good gentleman, and a -wise and a brave one!” - -“I cannot make it out,” murmured Abel Force. - -“The man is drawing a long bow, papa! that’s all there is in it—I mean -he is telling romances in praise of his landlord. There cannot be a word -of truth in what he says,” said Wynnette. - -Le said nothing. He seemed utterly crushed by the blow that had fallen -on him. - -The carriage driver seemed not to hear or understand the murmured talk -between the father and daughter, but when it ceased he touched his hat -and asked: - -“Wull I drive you to t’ manor house, noo, maister?” - -“Yes, if you please,” returned Mr. Force, as he helped Wynnette to climb -up into the dilapidated “trap.” - -“And what do your honor think o’ t’ musselman, maister?” inquired the -sexton, coming up and taking off his cap. - -“It is a very fine specimen of both architecture and sculpture,” replied -Mr. Force. - -The sexton smiled satisfaction, bowed and withdrew. - -“I am puzzled, Le, and I think by going through the manor house I may -come to understand things better,” whispered Mr. Force to his young -companion. - -But Le was too much depressed to answer, or to take any further interest -in the events of the day. - -They turned and drove back through the beautiful park to the front of -the manor house, where the carriage drew up. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXVIII - TALE TOLD BY THE PORTRAITS - - -“If you will give me leave, maister, I’ll go roond and speak to Mistress -Bolton, t’ hoosekeeper, and get her to coom and open t’ great door,” -said Jonah Kirby, as he got down from his seat and struck into a flagged -walk that led to the rear of the house. - -“Le! Le! don’t look so down-hearted, dear boy! Remember, come what may, -my daughter shall never be the wife of Angus Anglesea! Come, come, cheer -up, lad!” said Abel Force, clapping his young companion on the back. - -But Le’s only answer was a profound sigh. - -“I think the best and shortest way out of our difficulty will be to go -back to America, have that man prosecuted for bigamy and robbery, and -sent to the State prison, and then have him divorced, if, indeed, he has -any claim whatever on Odalite. And I don’t see why you don’t take that -way,” said Wynnette. - -“Because, my dearest dear,” answered her father, “to prosecute the man -would be to bring our darling Odalite’s name into too much publicity. -And, as for divorce, the very word is an offense to right-minded -people.” - -“It is better than——” - -But whatever Wynnette was about to say was cut short by the loud, harsh -turning of a key, and the noisy opening of the great door of Anglewood -Manor House. - -Jonah Kirby appeared, accompanied by altogether the very largest woman -our travelers had ever seen in their lives, even at a traveling circus. - -She appeared to be about forty years old, and was dressed in a very -full, light blue calico skirt, and loose basque of the same, that made -her look even larger than she was. She wore a high-crowned, book-muslin -cap, with a broad, blue ribbon around it. She carried in her hand a -formidable bunch of keys. - -“She’s ‘fearfully and wonderfully’ huge, papa. And she will expect a -crown, and, maybe, half a guinea, for showing the house,” said Wynnette, -in a low tone. - -By this time Jonah Kirby had come down the steps and up to the side of -the carriage. - -“Mrs. Bolton, maister, and she’ll show t’ hoose with pleasure. She -always loikes to oblige t’ gentlefolks, she bed me say.” - -“Papa, it must be half a guinea, and don’t you forget!” whispered -Wynnette, as she gave her hand to Kirby and allowed him to help her out -of the carriage. - -Mr. Force and Le followed, and they all walked up the steps, to be met -by the enormous woman in blue, with many courtesies. - -She led them at once into a vast stone hall, whose walls were hung with -ancient armor, battle-axes, crossbows, lances and other insignia of war; -and with horns, bugles, antlers, weapons and trophies of the chase, and -whose tessellated floor was covered with the skins of wild animals. From -the center of this hall a magnificent flight of stairs ascended, in -large, spiral circles, to the stained glass skylight in the roof. - -There were handsome doors of solid oak on either side. - -Mrs. Bolton paused in the middle of the hall and said: - -“The doors on the right lead into the justice room, and the long dining -room; those on the left into the ballroom, which is the largest room, -three times told, in the house. There is nothing on this floor very -interesting except the antique furniture and the curiously carved -woodwork of the chimney pieces and doors.” - -She spoke like a guide book, but presently added: - -“Some gentlefolks, if they have a heap of time, like to look through -them, but many prefer the picture gallery and the library, and the -drawing rooms, which are all on the floor above and all very handsome.” - -“We will go upstairs first, if you please; later, if we have time, we -will see the rooms down here,” said Abel Force. - -The housekeeper led the way upstairs to the next landing, where they -came out upon the hall, whose walls were hung with antique tapestry, and -whose oaken floor was covered here and there with Persian rugs. - -On every side handsome mahogany double doors led into apartments. Before -every door lay a rich Persian rug. - -Mrs. Bolton opened a door on the left. - -“The picture gallery, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, using her -formula, though there was but one lady present. - -They entered a long, lofty room lighted from the roof. The walls were -hung with many pictures, so dark and dim with age that even the good -light failed to make their meanings intelligible to the spectators. Yet -these were considered the most valuable in the whole collection, and the -housekeeper, with great pride, gave the history of each, in something -like this style: - -“Martyrdom of St. Stephen, ladies and gentlemen—painted by Leonardo da -Vinci, in the year of our Lord 1480, purchased at Milan in 1700 for five -thousand guineas, by Ralph d’Anglesea of Anglewood. A very rare picture, -no copy of it being in existence.” - -Our party looked up and saw in a heavy, gilded frame, about five feet -square, a very dark, murky canvas, with a small smirch in the -middle—nothing more. - -This was only a sample of a score of other priceless paintings, -invisible as to forms and unintelligible as to meanings, which the -housekeeper introduced to the visitors with much pride in the showing. - -“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the family portraits,” said Mrs. -Bolton, passing under a lofty archway adorned by the Anglesea arms, and -leading the visitors into another compartment of the same gallery. - -“Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a portrait of Kenneth d’Anglesea, year -800; very old.” - -Our party looked at it and thought it was “very old”—a long brown smudge -crowned with an oval yellow smudge, all in a very dark ground, and -supposed to represent a human form—no more. - -“And here, ladies and gentlemen, is Ethus d’Anglesea, year 950—also -old.” - -Again the visitors agreed with the housekeeper. The figure was old and -almost invisible. - -And so she went through a dozen or more of these earlier family -portraits, and came down at last to later periods, to crusaders in the -reign of Richard the Lion-hearted, by gradations down to courtiers in -the reign of Elizabeth, to cavaliers in the reigns of the unfortunate -Stuarts, to gallants in the reigns of the Georges, and finally down to -the ladies and gentlemen of the reign of Queen Victoria. - -“Here, sir, is an excellent portrait of our present master, Col. Angus -Anglesea, and of his late lamented lady,” said the housekeeper, pausing -before two full length portraits that hung side by side, like companion -pictures, at the end of the gallery. - -Our travelers paused before the pictures and gazed at them in silence -for some moments. - -The portrait of Col. Anglesea was a very striking likeness. All our -party recognized it at once as such. - -But how was this? Here was the form, face and complexion, perfect to a -curve of figure, perfect to a shade of color; yet the expression was -different. For whereas the expression of Anglesea’s face, as our friends -had known it, was either joyous, morose, or defiant, the character of -this face was grave, thoughtful and benevolent. Yet it was certainly the -portrait of Angus Anglesea. - -Wynnette perceived the perplexity on the brows of her companions and -whispered: - -“A two-faced, double-dealing as well as double-dyed, villain, papa! A -sanctimonious hypocrite at home and a brawling ruffian abroad!” - -“I should scarcely take this to be the face of a hypocrite, my dear, or -of any other than of a good, wise and brave man; yet—yet it is all very -strange.” - -Then they looked at the portrait of Lady Mary Anglesea, at which they -had only glanced before. - -It was the counterfeit presentment of a lady whose beauty, or rather the -special character of whose beauty, at once riveted attention. - -It was that of a tall, well-formed though rather delicate woman, with -sweet, pale, oval face, tender, serious brown eyes, and soft, rippling -brown hair that strayed in little, careless ringlets about her forehead -and temples, adding to the exquisite sweetness and pathos of the whole -presence. - -“What a beautiful, beautiful creature! What lovely, lovely eyes!” -breathed Wynnette, gazing at the picture. - -“Yes, young lady,” said the housekeeper, “and as good and wise as she -was beautiful. And when the lovely eyes closed on this world, be sure -they opened in heaven. And when the beautiful form was laid in the tomb -all the light seemed to have gone out of this world for us! It nearly -killed the master. And no wonder—no wonder!” said Mrs. Bolton, drawing a -large pocket handkerchief, that would have answered for a small -tablecloth, from her pocket and wiping her eyes. - -Again Abel Force and Leonidas looked at each other. - -“Ah, yes! They were a handsome pair!” said the housekeeper, with a sigh -that raised her mighty bosom as the wind raises the ocean—“a very -handsome pair, and the parting of ’em has been nigh the death of the -colonel,” she added, as she replaced her handkerchief in her pocket. - -“And yet I have heard that he married again while he was abroad,” Mr. -Force could not refrain from saying. - -“He!” exclaimed Mrs. Bolton, in a tone of indignant astonishment. - -“Yes; there is no law against a widower marrying, is there?” replied -Abel Force, quietly. - -“He! he marry again! Oh, sir, you are mistaken! He was more likely to -die than to marry! Whoever told you so, sir—begging your pardon—told a -most haynious falsehood!” - -“I really hope he never did marry again.” - -“He never did, sir, and he never will. He is true to her memory, and he -lives only for their son, who is at Eton. Now, sir, shall I show you the -library and the drawing rooms?” - -Mr. Force bowed, and with his party followed the housekeeper from the -picture gallery to the hall and through that to the drawing rooms, into -which they only looked, for the apartment was fitted up in modern style -and all the furniture shrouded in brown holland. - -The library was more interesting, and contained many rare black-letter -tomes, into which Abel Force would have liked to look, had time allowed. - -The sun was setting and it was growing dusk in this grand and gloomy -mansion. - -“We must go now, I think, my dear,” said Mr. Force, in a low voice, to -his daughter. - -Wynnette drew him quite away from the group into the light of the great -oriel window of the library and whispered: - -“Not a crown, nor a half sov., but a guinea, papa! a whole guinea for -all those thundering bouncers—I mean those romances she has told us -about the jolly old smoke-dried window shades and fire screens hung up -in frames for pictures of the ancestors, and called Kenneths and Ethuses -and things! Why, papa, those couldn’t have been portraits! There were no -painters in Britain at the time those are said to have lived. And then -about the Leonardo da Vinci picture! If he ever painted that it would be -in one of the great art galleries of the world! Not in a private -collection! Give her a guinea, papa! She can’t afford to lie so much for -less!” - -“My dear, the woman only repeats what she has heard,” said Mr. Force. - -They rejoined Le and the housekeeper. - -Mr. Force thanked the good woman for her attention and left a generous -remuneration in her hand. - -She courtesied and then saw them downstairs. - -In the hall below she pointed out the full suits of armor worn by this -or that knight in such or such a battle; and the antlers of the stag -killed by this or that huntsman, in such or such a chase. - -“Would your honor now like to look into the ballroom, or the long dining -room, or justice room?” - -“No, thank you; it is getting late. We have to return to Angleton,” -replied Mr. Force. - -And then each of the party, in turn, again thanked the housekeeper for -the pleasure she had given them and took leave of her. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXIX - “SMUGGLERY” - - -“Papa, dear,” said Wynnette as she re-entered the dilapidated carriage, -“we must go to the sexton’s cottage to bid good-by to the old man.” - -“Yes, my dear. Kirby, go back to your father’s cottage before we turn -into the highroad,” said Mr. Force. - -The carriage rattled on, and in a short time drew up before the sexton’s -lodge at the great gate of the churchyard. - -The old man still sat before the door; but he was smoking, and his bald -head and long white beard were enveloped in smoke. - -He took the pipe from his mouth the instant he heard the sound of wheels -and he held out his hand to welcome Wynnette as she ran up to him. - -“Ah, my little leddy; I ha’ read the lad’s letter! Ah! I do get a letter -by mail fra’ ’m coome the first week on every month! But a letter -brought by a leddy’s hand and she ha’ seen him face to face mayhap -within a month! Ah! but that’s better!” - -“I have seen your son and shaken hands with him, and talked to him for -hours, within twenty-three days,” said Wynnette, after making a rapid -calculation. - -“Eh, now! is thet possible?” - -“I rode on his train all day on the twenty-sixth of May, two days before -we sailed for England. And this, you know, is the eighteenth of June.” - -“Eh, then! look at thet, noo! Only in twenty-three days! He’s not thet -far away, after all, is he, me leddy?” - -“Oh, no. Why, it’s nothing! Only across ‘the big herring pond,’ you -know.” - -The old man stared helplessly. - -“That is what they call it for fun, because it is such a little matter -to go across it. Why, people say to each other when they meet on the -deck of a steamer: ‘Going across?’ And another will say: ‘Not to-day.’ -So you see what a trifle it is.” - -“So it must be, indeed, me little leddy. And your words ha’ comforted me -more than the counsels of his reverence. Such a little thing! ‘Go -across?’ ‘Not to-day.’ Yes, that is a comfort. And the good ’bacco is -another comfort. The ’bacco was in the parcel you brought me, me leddy; -and you couldn’t get such ’bacco as this—no, not for love, nor yet for -money—not if you was a dying for ’t! Why, the Yarl o’ Middlemoor would -be proud to smoke sich ’bacco—I know he would! It must ha’ cost a power -o’ money! I reckon my lad be getting rich over yonder, to send his -feyther sich ’bacco as this. And the duty on’t must a been staggering -loike!” - -Here Wynnette started. She had not seen any duty paid on that tobacco; -nor, indeed, had the custom house officers at Liverpool seen the -tobacco; but she had not even thought of this before. - -“And yet I ha’ a greater comfort even than this ’bacco as is fit for the -Turkey of All Constantinople to smoke. My lad writes as he is coming -over with his missus to see me next autumn. Thet’s the crooning comfort, -me leddy—thet’s the crooning comfort!” - -Wynnete now took leave of the old man, and returned to her seat in the -carriage. - -He arose with difficulty and stood up, bowing to the party, while Mr. -Force and Le raised their hats as the carriage drove off. - -They returned upon their way, repassed the front of the old manor house, -now again closed up and gloomy, turned into the oak avenue, and in a few -minutes came to the great gate, which was opened by Mrs. Dillon, the -keeper of the lodge. - -She smiled and courtesied as the old carriage passed. - -Le, who was nearest to her, reached out his hand and dropped a piece of -silver in her palm. - -She courtesied again. The carriage turned into the highroad and began -the journey back to Angleton. - -The sun had set, and even the afterglow had faded from the western -horizon; yet still the long twilight of summer nights in these latitudes -prevailed, and the greater stars shone out one by one as they rattled -on, uphill and downhill, over the rolling moor, until at last they came -in view of the lights in the quiet village. - -In ten minutes they entered the street, and passed under the archway of -the Anglesea Arms, the hungriest and weariest set of travelers who had -ever entered that ancient hostelry. - -Jonah jumped from his seat and secured his horse. - -Mr. Force alighted and handed out Wynnette. Le followed them. He had -scarcely spoken a word since leaving the mausoleum. - -The landlady came out to meet them, in her Sunday gown of black silk, -and a new cap. - -“I hope as you’ve hed a pleasant day, sir,” she said to Mr. Force, who -was the first to meet her. - -“Thank you, madam. We have had a very hungry day, at any rate; and, if -you please, we would like just such a spread as you gave us last -evening,” replied Abel Force. - -“You shall have it, sir. It will be on the table in twenty minutes.” - -By this time they had reached the parlor and Mr. Force was pulling off -his gloves, when Wynnette said: - -“Papa, I shall run up to my room and take off my things, and wash my -face, but I will be back in a little while.” - -“Very well, my dear.” - -Wynnette vanished. - -Mr. Force sat down in the large armchair. - -Le stood at the window and stared out at nothing whatever. - -Jonah, in a clean white apron, and the official towel thrown over his -arm, came in, offered Mr. Force the Angleton _Advertiser_, and then -began to pull and stretch the perfectly smooth tablecloth this way and -that to show his zeal. - -Presently he went out, and Wynnette returned to the room. - -She glanced around, and, seeing no one present but her two companions, -drew a chair to her father’s side, threw herself into it and exclaimed: - -“Oh, papa! I have been aching and burning and throbbing to tell you -something, but could not get a chance, because that man was always -present, and I was afraid he might inform on us and get us arrested, and -I didn’t know what the penalty might be—imprisonment and penal -servitude, perhaps. But, for all that, I am delighted—perfectly beside -myself with delight!” - -“What are you talking of, Wynnette, my dear?” - -“Here comes that man again. We must be cautious, though I could dance in -triumph,” said Wynnette. - -At this moment Jonah re-entered the parlor with an ample waiter, on -which were piled the china, glass and cutlery, with which he hastened to -set the table. - -When he had left the room again Wynnette continued in a mysterious -whisper: - -“Papa, I have committed smugglery.” - -“‘Smugglery,’ my dear. There’s no such word.” - -“Well, then, there ought to be, and henceforth there is. I was born to -enrich the language, and—to commit smugglery. And I am proud and -delighted! But I should have been ever so much prouder and no end to be -delighted if I had intended to commit. But, ah me! It was an accident. -‘Some are born great; some achieve greatness; and some have greatness -thrust upon them,’ and others become great by accident. Such is my -case.” - -“You rattle-trap, what are you talking about?” - -“Smuggling, papa! That parcel I brought to old Mr. Kirby contained a tin -box of choice tobacco, and the duty is higher, and the excise law -stringent, and we never paid a cent!” - -Mr. Force looked aghast, and then burst into a laugh. - -“How did it happen, Wynnette?” he inquired, when he had done laughing. -“I did not know the thing was tobacco.” - -“No more did I! I wish I had! But I didn’t. And the officer searched all -our trunks, and all our bags, and I carried that parcel in my hand, and -he never even looked at it! Oh! I am so proud of having smuggled that -tobacco! I wish I had intended it! But, henceforth, I do intend it! I -mean to smuggle every time I can get a chance—not for any profit to -myself, but for the principle of the thing! The Lord never made the -excise laws and so my conscience is not bound by them. And I never -helped to make them, and so my honor is not bound by them. But you, -papa, must keep them, because you have been a lawmaker.” - -Wynnette’s discourse was cut short by the entrance of the waiter with -the supper, which he proceeded to arrange on the table. - -“All ready, maister,” he said, with a flourish. - -Wynnette took her seat at the head of the table to pour out the tea. - -Mr. Force and Le sat down at opposite sides. - -Jonah stayed until Mr. Force told him he need not wait. Then he went -out, and was met at the door by his sister Hester, who inquired: - -“Wot was in t’ parcels t’ leddy carried to grandfeyther?” - -“’Bacco, sent by Uncle John.” - -“Oh! nawthing but ’bacco!” said the girl, in a tone of disappointment. - -“There ain’t nothing better in this world nor ’bacco,” replied the boy, -as their voices passed out of hearing. - -The travelers finished their supper and soon after retired for the -night. - - - - - CHAPTER XL - LE’S DESPAIR - - -It was a bright June morning when our small party of travelers, having -breakfasted well at the Anglesea Arms, and settled with the landlady, -once more entered the dilapidated one-horse carriage, to be driven to -the railway station. - -As the front of the carriage was open, and every word spoken by the -travelers could be heard by the driver, there was but little -conversation indulged in except what related to the weather or the -scenery. - -The drive over the moors, although, in the springless vehicle on the -rough up-and-down hill, it shook the passengers severely, was, in other -respects, very pleasant. - -They reached the little way station in good time, and had only a few -moments to wait before the train came up. - -Mr. Force was fortunate in securing a compartment for himself and his -companions; and it was not until they were all three seated within it -and the train was in motion again that any opportunity for private -conversation was given. - -“Well, we have spent three days—I had nearly said we have lost three -days on our quest—and what have we gained?” gloomily inquired Mr. Force. -“Nothing apparently but the knowledge that the deepest-dyed villain in -the whole world enjoys in his own neighborhood the reputation of a -saint, a sage, a hero and a philanthropist rolled into one! It is very -curious that a man may be such an accomplished hypocrite all his life as -to deceive all his neighbors, and then to go off into a foreign country -and give reins to his evil nature and reveal himself as a pure devil! -Clearly he must have been in California when his wife was taken ill. -Clearly he married the Widow Wright during his wife’s lifetime, robbed -the dupe and fled back to England in time to play the hypocrite at Lady -Mary’s deathbed, and act chief mourner at her funeral; then, under -pretense that he could not bear the house where he missed her every -hour, hastened back to America, but, giving his dupe a wide berth, went -to the North instead of the South, and honored with his presence Niagara -Falls, where we——” - -“‘Foregathered wi’ the de’il,’” put in Wynnette. - -“True, my dear! We did! And we all suffered in consequence.” Then -turning to the young midshipman, who sat buried in his bitter thoughts, -he said: “Le, my dear boy, do not be so utterly cast down. There must be -some way out of this trouble, and we will try to find it. Let us do our -best and trust in Providence.” - -The young man shrugged his shoulders impatiently at this well-meant -piece of commonplace philosophy, as he replied: - -“Yes, uncle, there is a way out of it, if you would only take it.” - -“What way, Le?” - -“The divorce court.” - -“Le! The very word, divorce, is an offense to decent ears.” - -“Uncle! the most straitlaced of all the Christian sects permit divorce -under certain circumstances. The Westminster Catechism, that strictest -of all moral and religious codes, provides for it.” - -“If all the world’s church and state were to meet in convention and -provide for it I would have none of it—except—except—as the very last -resort; and then, Le, I should feel it as the very greatest humiliation -of my life.” - -“Oh, uncle!” - -“Listen, Le: Now that we know that Anglesea’s wife was living at the -time of his marriage with the Widow Wright, we also know that marriage -was unlawful; and now that we furthermore know that his wife was dead at -the time of his marriage with Odalite Force we also know that this last -marriage was lawful.” - -“Uncle! uncle! I cannot bear——” - -“One moment, Le. Do not be so impetuous. I said lawful—however wicked -and immoral. And because it was lawful, Le, my dear daughter is bound by -it, to a certain extent, and cannot form any matrimonial engagement -while this bond exists.” - -“But, good Heaven, sir——” - -“Patience, Le. Hear me out. But, because that marriage was wicked and -immoral, it shall never go a step further—it shall never be completed. -That villain shall never see or speak to my daughter again. I swear it -before high heaven! I shall keep Odalite at home under my own immediate -protection. If the scoundrel is not hanged or sent to the devil in some -other way before many years, I suppose I shall be compelled to advise my -daughter to seek relief from the law. She could get it without the -slightest difficulty.” - -“But why not now?” pleaded the young man. - -“Because of the humiliation. It will seem a less matter years hence.” - -“And in the meantime,” said Le, bitterly, “I am to cherish murder in my -heart day and night by wishing that man dead!” - -“Hush, Le, hush! Such thought is sin and leads to crime.” - -Le said no more, but fell into a gloomy silence that lasted until the -train ran into Lancaster station. - -They went to dine at the Royal Oak, and from that point Mr. Force -telegraphed to Enderby Castle for a carriage to meet the party in the -evening at Nethermost. - -Then they took the afternoon train and started on their homeward -journey. - -The sun was setting when they ran into the little wayside station. - -A handsome open carriage, driven by the earl’s old coachman, awaited -them. - -They entered it at once, and the coachman turned the horses’ heads and -began to ascend the graded and winding road that led up to the top of -the cliff, and then drove all along the edge of the precipice in the -direction of the castle. - -It was a magnificent prospect, with the moors rolling off in hill and -vale, but always rising toward the range of mountains on the east; and -the ocean rolling away toward the western horizon, where the sky was -still aflame with the afterglow of the sunset; while straight before -them, though many miles distant up the coast, stretched out into the sea -the mighty promontory of Enderby Cliff, with the ruined border castle -standing on its crest, and the ocean beating at its base, while a few -yards nearer inland stood the latter building, which was the dwelling of -the earl and his household. - -Wynnette had never been accused of artistic, poetic or romantic -tendencies, yet, gazing on that scene, she fell into thought, thence -into dream, finally into vision; and she saw passing before her, in a -long procession, tall and brawny, yellow-haired savages, clad in the -skins of wild beasts, and armed with heavy clubs, which they carried -over their shoulders; then barbarians in leathern jerkins, armed with -bows and arrows; rude soldiers with battle-axes and shields of tough -hide; then a splendid procession of mounted knights in helmets, shining -armor and gorgeous accouterments; ladies in long gowns of richest stuffs -and high headgear, that looked like long veils hoisted above the head on -a clothes prop; then trains of courtiers in plumed hats, full ruffs, -rich doublets and trunk hose; and ladies in close velvet caps and -cupid’s bow borders, large ruffs, long waists and enormous fardingales; -next a train of cavaliers, with flapping bonnets, flowing locks, velvet -coats and— - -“Wynnette!” - -It was the voice of her father that broke the spell and dispersed the -visionary train. - -“Are you asleep, my dear?” - -“N-n-no, papa; only dreaming dreams and seeing visions,” replied the -girl, rousing herself. - -“Well, my dear, we are entering the castle courtyard.” - -Wynnette looked out and saw that they were crossing the drawbridge that -had been down for centuries over a moat that had been dry for nearly as -long a period, and which was now thickly grown up in brushwood, and were -entering under the arch of the great portcullis, which had been up for -as many years as the drawbridge had been down and the moat had been dry. - -They were in the middle of the hollow square that formed the courtyard -of the castle. They had entered on the north side. On the same side were -the stables, the kennels and the quarters for the outdoor servants. -Opposite to them, on the south side, were the conservatories and forcing -beds, protected by high walls. On the east side was the modern Enderby -Castle, where the earl and his household lived in modest comfort. But on -the west side, overhanging the terrible cliff, was the ancient Castle of -Enderby, not quite a ruin, but deserted and desolate, abandoned to wind -and wave, given over to bats and owls. At the foot of the awful rock the -thunder of the sea was heard day and night. Those who lived habitually -at the castle grew accustomed to it, but to temporary sojourners at -Enderby there was something weird and terrible in the unceasing thunder -of the sea against the rock. There was said to be a whirlpool through an -enormous cavern at the foot of the cliff, having many inlets and -outlets, and that the sea was drawn in and thrown out as by the sunken -head of a many-mouthed monster. However that might be, it is certain -that even in the finest weather, when the sea was calm everywhere else, -the tempest raged against Enderby Cliff. - -“The very, very first thing that I do to-morrow shall be to explore that -old castle from top to bottom,” said Wynnette to herself, as the turning -of the carriage hid it from her view. - - - - - CHAPTER XLI - THE EARL’S PERPLEXITY - - -A footman was lighting the lamps in the hall when the party entered. - -“Are all well in the house, Prout?” inquired Mr. Force. - -“All well, sir. My lord is taking his afternoon nap. The ladies are not -down yet. The first dinner bell has just rung,” replied the man. - -“Mamma and the girls are dressing for dinner, papa. I will just run up -and see,” said Wynnette, flying up the stairs. - -“Then we had better go to our rooms at once, Le, and get some of the -dust of travel off us before we go to dinner,” said Mr. Force, as he -followed Wynnette upstairs, though in a more leisurely fashion. Perhaps -he was willing to put off, even for a few minutes, the painful task of -communicating his discouraging news to Odalite. - -When Mr. Force reached his apartment he found Wynnette standing in the -middle of the room, under the hands of her mother’s ebony maid, Gipsy, -who was helping her off with her duster. - -“Where is your mother, my dear?” he inquired. - -“Oh, they are all gone down to the drawing room. Prout was mistaken in -thinking that they were not there. But, papa, I am not sorry! Bad news -will keep; because being already spoiled, it cannot spoil any more. And -now we must hurry and dress, or the porridge will be cold—I mean dinner -will be kept waiting,” and saying this, Wynnette caught up her hat and -duster, and, followed by Gipsy, passed into her own room, which she -occupied jointly with Odalite. - -Mr. Force used such dispatch in dressing that he was the first one of -the three returning travelers who entered the drawing room. - -He found no one present but Mrs. Force, Odalite, Elva and Rosemary. - -Mrs. Force hurried to meet him, while Odalite stood pale and waiting, -and the two younger girls looked eagerly expectant. - -“What news? What news?” anxiously inquired the lady. “Prout has just -told us of your return! What news? Oh, why don’t you answer, Abel?” - -“My dear, because I have no good news to tell you,” he gravely replied. - -Mrs. Force let go the hand she had seized and sank down upon the nearest -sofa. - -Odalite turned away and bowed her head upon her hands. - -Rosemary and Elva were both too much awed by the grief of their elders -even to come forward and greet the returned father and friend. - -Nor did Mr. Force even observe the omission. His mind was absorbed by -thoughts of his daughter’s distress. - -Mrs. Force was the first one to break the painful silence. - -“Then it was all true as to the date of Anglesea’s first wife’s death?” -she inquired, in a faint voice. - -“The date on Lady Mary’s tombstone is August 25, 18—,” gloomily replied -Mr. Force. - -“Then the man’s marriage with Mrs. Wright on the first of the same -August is invalid?” - -“As a matter of course.” - -“And the ceremony begun, but not completed, with our daughter in the -following December gives Anglesea a shadow of a claim on Odalite?” - -“A shadow of a claim only; yet a sufficiently dark and heavy and -oppressive shadow. And now, dear Elfrida, let us talk of something -else,” said Mr. Force, gravely. - -“First, tell me about that fraudulent obituary notice in the Angleton -_Advertiser_. Did you find out how it was effected?” inquired the lady. - -“Yes. On the evening of the twentieth of August, after the last copy of -the paper had been printed, and the whole edition sent off to its -various subscribers, the editor and proprietor, one Purdy, went home, -leaving the type undistributed on the press, and his pressman, one -Norton, in charge of the office. There was, besides, the editor’s young -son, whom Norton sent away. Later in the evening this Norton distributed -the type on the first two columns of the first page, and then was joined -by Angus Anglesea, who had furnished the manuscript for the false -obituary notice, and had bribed the printer to set it up and print it -off. So then several copies of the paper were thrown off, in all -respects like unto the regular edition of the day, with the exception of -the first two columns, in which the false obituary notice and memoir -were substituted for the report of an agricultural fair, or something of -the sort. And these last fraudulent copies were mailed at different -times to me. You see the motive! It was to entrap and humiliate us. The -same night, or the next morning, Norton absconded with the bribe he had -taken from Anglesea.” - -“You know this to be true?” - -“As well as I can know anything that I have not been an eye and ear -witness to. I will tell you how I unraveled the mystery when we have -more time. I wish to speak to Odalite now, my dear,” said Abel Force. - -And he crossed to where his daughter stood, put his arm around her -waist, drew her to his heart, and said: - -“Cheer up, my darling girl. You shall be as safe from all future -persecution by that scoundrel as if he were in the convict settlement of -Norfolk Island—where he ought to be. Try to forget all about him, my -dear, and remember only how much we all love you, and how much we are -anxious to do for your happiness.” - -Odalite put her arms around her father’s neck, and kissed him in -silence, and smiled through her tears. - -Rosemary and Elva now came up, and put out their hands to welcome the -travelers home. - -Le came in, and almost in silence shook hands with his aunt and the two -younger girls, and then took the hand of Odalite, pressed it, dropped -it, and turned away to conceal his emotion. - -Lastly entered the earl, leaning on the arm of his secretary. - -He smilingly greeted the returning travelers, and hoped that they had -had a pleasant journey. - -Fortunately the announcement of dinner prevented the necessity of a -reply. The earl gave his arm to his sister, smiling warmly, as he said: - -“But it is you who must support me, my dear.” - -And they led the way to the dining room. - -Almost immediately after dinner, when the party returned to the drawing -room, Lord Enderby excused himself, and retired to his own apartments, -attended by his secretary and his valet. - -Mr. and Mrs. Force, and the young people, remained in the drawing room, -where Mr. Force gave a more detailed account of his journey into -Lancashire, his researches at Anglewood, and all the circumstances that -led to the detection of the perpetrators of the obituary fraud. - -“That is the way—or, rather, one way—in which false evidence can be -manufactured,” he said, in conclusion. - -It was late before the excited family party retired to rest. - -It was not until after breakfast the next morning, when the young people -had gone to take a walk on the edge of the cliff, and the three elders -were seated together in the library of the castle, that Mr. Force told -Lord Enderby the story of his journey into Lancashire, and its results. - -The poor earl looked the image of distress and perplexity; his face, -that was always pale, grew paler; his frame, that was always infirm, -grew shaky; and his voice, always weak, became tremulous, as he said: - -“I am amazed beyond all measure. I am grieved to the very soul. And—I am -all but incredulous. Angus Anglesea, my comrade in India! My -‘brother-in-arms,’ as I used fondly to call him. Angus Anglesea, the -very soul of truth and honor. Not overwise or prudent, but brave and -good to his heart’s core. I have not seen him for years, it is true; but -I had lost no faith in or affection for him. Circumstances have -separated us; but neither coldness nor distrust had estranged us. And -now you tell me, Force, that this man has radically, fundamentally -changed his very nature—his very self—that the man of pure truth, honor -and heroism has turned into an utter villain—a thief, a forger, a -bigamist, an unequaled scoundrel!” - -The earl paused and groaned as in pain. - -“I am sorry to grieve you, my lord, but I have brought unquestionable -proofs of the charges that I have made,” said Mr. Force. - -“I admit the proofs; but, great heavens, that a man could so change in -so few years! My comrade in India! My friend, whom I loved as a brother! -Who could have thought it of him? Elfrida, you knew him in your youth. -Could you have believed this of him?” - -“Not when I first met him in your company, my brother; but then I was a -very young girl, scarcely fifteen years of age, and the judgment of such -a girl on the merits of a young man, especially when he is a young -officer in a brilliant uniform, and with a more brilliant military -record, is not infallible, you know,” replied Mrs. Force, evasively. - -“Yet you could not have believed this infamy of him.” - -“No, certainly not,” replied the lady, more to soothe the nervous -invalid than to express her own convictions. - -“Believe me, I am deeply grieved to have been the instrument of giving -you so much pain. I would not have told you had I not deemed it my duty -to do so; nor even under that impression had I supposed it would have -distressed you so much.” - -“My dear Force, you were right to tell me, though the hearing gives me -sorrow—sorrow and perplexity, for I cannot reconcile the story you have -told and proved with all my previous knowledge of Anglesea. I wonder, -has he become insane? I did hear that he had been terribly affected by -the death of his wife, whom he adored. I was in Switzerland at the time, -and when I returned to England, in the autumn, I heard that he had gone -abroad. I think, perhaps, he may have become insane.” - -“Perhaps so,” said Mr. Force, but he mentally added: “As much insane as, -and no more, than every criminal is insane—morally insane, but not, -therefore, irresponsible.” - -“Force,” said the earl, “whatever may have been the cause of Anglesea’s -fall, your daughter Odalite must be released from her bonds.” - - - - - CHAPTER XLII - ENDERBY CASTLE - - -While their elders consulted together in the library the four young -girls, Odalite, Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, accompanied by Le and -escorted by Joshua, walked across the courtyard, and entered the old -castle to explore its interior. - -Le had in his hands a little guidebook to the castle and town of -Enderby, to which he referred from time to time. - -Climbing over piles of rubbish, of fallen stones, covered with moss and -lichen, and half buried in rank growth of thistles and briers, they -entered an arched doorway, and found themselves upon the stone floor of -the great feudal castle hall, which had once re-echoed to the orgies of -the feudal baron and his rude retainers after a hunt, a foray, or a -battle, but now silent and abandoned to the birds of night and prey. - -At one end of this hall was a great chimney—a chimney so vast that -within its walls, from foundation stone to roof, a modern New York -apartment house of seven floors might have been built, with full suits -of family rooms on every floor. - -“And this is only the hall fireplace,” said Le. “The kitchen fireplace -is immediately below this, and still broader and deeper than this, but -we cannot get to it because it is buried in fallen stones and mortar. At -least, I mean, all entrance to that part of the castle is.” - -They now noticed that the cavity of the deep chimney place was furnished -on each side with stone benches, built in with the masonry. - -“Here,” said Le, “the wandering minstrel or the holy pilgrim, of the -olden time found warm seats in winter to thaw out their frozen limbs.” - -Next they noticed that the hearth of the fireplace, raised about a foot -above the level of the floor, extended about a quarter of the length of -the hall itself. - -“This,” said Le, “must be the dais for the upper portion of the table, -at which sat my lord baron, his family, his knights, and his guests, -while on each side of the lower part sat the retainers. But say! Here is -a trapdoor. Immediately under here must have stood my lord baron’s -chair. Let us look at that.” - -Le referred to the guidebook, and read: - - “‘Immediately before the hall fireplace and on the elevated dais is a - trapdoor connected with a walled-in shaft, descending through the - castle kitchen under the hall, and into the ‘Dungeon of the Dark - Death,’ under the foundations of the castle. In the rude days of the - feudal system prisoners taken in war, or criminals convicted of high - crime, were let down through that trapdoor into the Dungeon of the - Dark Death, and never heard of more. And the lord of the castle held - high festival above while his crushed victims perished below.’” - -“Ur-r-r-r-r-r-r!” cried Wynnette, with a shudder. “That accounts for my -murderous instincts against Anglesea and other culprits. I inherit it -through my mother—from all these vindictive old vampires.” - -“Oh, Le! let us go away. I don’t like it. I don’t like it!” pleaded -little Elva. - -“No more do I,” said Rosemary. - -“Stay,” said Le. “Here is something more about the place.” And he read: - - “‘This trapdoor has not been opened for more than fifty years. - Tradition says that early in the last century a groom in the service - of the lords of Enderby secretly married my lady’s maid, and as - secretly murdered her and threw her body, together with that of her - infant, down the shaft, for which crimes he was tried, condemned, and - executed, and afterward hung in chains outside the wall of Carlisle - Castle. The trapdoor was ordered to be riveted down by the then ruling - Lord of Enderby, and has never since been raised.’” - -“Ur-r-r-r-r-r-r!” again muttered Wynnette. “That’s worse than the -other.” - -“Let us go away. Oh, I want to go away!” wailed Elva, trembling. - -“Oh, please, please come away, Le,” pleaded Rosemary. - -“Now just wait one moment, dears. You will not mind looking out of these -windows, loopholes, or whatever they are, that open through the -twelve-foot thickness of the outer wall. Great pyramids of Egypt, what -mighty builders were these men of old!” exclaimed Wynnette, walking off -toward the east side of the hall, where there were a row of windows six -feet high and four feet wide on the inner side, but diminishing into -mere slits on the outer side. - -“Here the baron’s retainers could safely draw their bows and speed their -arrows through these loopholes at the besiegers without,” said Wynnette, -curiously examining the embrasures. “But, ah me, in times of peace what -a dark hall for the dame and her maidens.” - -“Well, let us go on now,” said Le. “There is no means of entering the -lower portions of the building from the outside, but I suppose there -must be from the inside.” - -So they left the hall by the side door and entered a corridor of solid -masonry, so dark that Le had to take a match and a coil of taper from -his pocket and strike a light. - -This led them at last into a large circular room, with lofty but narrow -windows, through which the morning sun streamed, leaving oblong patches -of sunshine on the stone floor. A door on the side of the room, between -two of the windows, had fallen from its strong hinges, and the opening -was dark. - -Le approached it, and discovered the top of a narrow flight of stairs -built in the thickness of the wall. - -Le referred to his guidebook, and read: - - “‘Strong chamber in the round tower west of the great hall, ancient - guardroom for men-at-arms. A secret staircase in the wall whose door - was in former times concealed by the leathern hangings of the room, - leads down to the torture chamber below.’ - -“Who will go down with me?” inquired Le. - -“I will,” promptly answered Wynnette. - -“And I,” added Odalite. - -Elva and Rosemary would have shrunk from the adventure, but partly -driven by the fear of being left alone, and partly drawn by curiosity, -they consented to descend into the depths. - -Le preceded the party with his lighted taper, and they followed him down -the steep and narrow stairs, and found themselves last in a dark, -circular room, with strong, iron-bound doors around its walls. Some of -these had fallen from their hinges, showing openings into still darker -recesses. - -Le, with his taper, crept along the wall exploring these, and found them -to be dark cells, scarcely with space enough to hold a well-grown human -being. Many of them had rusting staples in the walls, with fragments of -broken iron chains attached. - -Even the young midshipman shuddered and refrained from calling the -attention of his companions to the horror. - -But he made more discoveries than these. Groping about the gloomy place -with his wax taper, he came upon various rusted and broken instruments -of torture, the thumbscrew, the iron boot, the rack, all of which he -recognized from the descriptions he had read of these articles -elsewhere; and there were other instruments that he had read of, yet -knew at sight to be of the same sort; so that at last, when he came upon -the grim headsman’s block, it was with a feeling of relief. - -“What are those things, Le?” inquired Odalite, following him. - -“Oh, rubbish, dear. Be careful where you step, you might fall over -them,” he replied. “And I think we had better leave this place and go to -the upper air now,” he added, groping along the walls to find the door -at the foot of the stairs down which they had come. - -He found the place, but found also something that had escaped his -notice. It was a niche in the wall beside the door. The niche was about -six feet high and two feet broad; the opening was rough and ragged at -the sides, and there was a pile of rubbish at the foot, which on -examination proved to be fallen stones and mortar. - -Le trimmed his taper until it gave a brighter light, and then referred -to his guidebook and unadvisedly read aloud from it: - - “‘In the Torture Chamber. Cunigunda. At the foot of the stairs leading - down to this dreadful theater of mediæval punishment stands, in the - right side of the wall, a curious niche, high and narrow, which was - once the living grave of a lovely woman. About fifty years ago the - closing front wall of this sepulcher fell and revealed a secret of - centuries. A tradition of the castle tells of the sudden disappearance - of the Lady Cunigunda of Enderby, the eldest daughter of the baron and - the most beautiful woman of her time, for whose hand princes and - nobles had sued in vain, because her affections had become fixed on a - yeoman of my lord’s guard. In the spring of her youth and beauty she - was mysteriously lost to the world. Her fate would never have been - discovered had not the closing wall of the niche at the foot of the - stairs in the torture chamber fallen and disclosed the upright - skeleton and the stone tablet, upon which was cut, in old English - letters, the following inscription: - - CUNIGUNDA, - - Who, for dishonoring her noble family - By a secret marriage with a common yeoman, - Was immured alive in the 20th year of her age, - January 24th, 1236. - - _Requiescat in Pace._ - - The poor bones, after six centuries, were coffined and consigned, with - Christian rites, to the family vault at Enderby Church.’” - -“I say, Le, what a perfectly devilish lot those old nobles were! I proud -of my ancestry! I would much rather know myself to be descended in a -direct line from Darwin’s monkeys,” said Wynnette. - -“But, my dear, these men lived in a rude and barbarous age. Their -descendants in every generation have become more civilized and -enlightened, you know.” - -“No, I don’t know. And I like the monkeys a great deal better as -forefathers!” - -“Shall we try to find our way to the ‘Dungeon of the Dark Death’? You -know, it is under the kitchen which is under the great hall. But stop a -minute,” said Le: and he referred again to the guidebook, and then -added: “No, we cannot go there. There is no reaching it. The only -entrance into that deep perdition is by the trapdoor, on my lord baron’s -dais, and down the hollow, brick-walled shaft that runs through the -middle of the kitchen into the abyss below.” - -“I am glad of it. Let us go to the upper light. Look at Elva!” said -Odalite, in an anxious tone. - -Le turned the light of the taper on the little girl, and saw her -leaning, pale and faint and dumb, on the bosom of her sister. - -“My poor, little frightened dove. Why, Elva, darling, what is the -matter?” tenderly inquired the midshipman. - -The kind sympathy broke down the last remnant of the child’s -self-possession, and she broke into a gush of sobs and tears. - -Le handed his taper to Wynnette and took Elva up in his arms, laid her -head over his shoulder, and carried her upstairs, followed by Odalite, -Wynnette and Rosemary. - -In the sun and air Elva recovered herself, and the little party left the -ruins to return to the new castle. - -“I wonder my Uncle Enderby does not have that dreadful old thing pulled -down,” piped Elva, in a pleading tone. - -“Pulled down!” exclaimed Wynnette. “Why, that ancient castle is the -pride of his life. The modern one is nothing to be compared with it in -value. The oldest part of the ruin is said to be eight hundred years -old, while the modern castle is only a poor hundred and fifty. Why, he -would just as soon destroy his own pedigree and have it wiped out of the -royal and noble stud-book—I mean, omitted from ‘Burke’s Peerage’—as pull -down that ancient fortress. Why, child, you do not dream of its value. -You have not seen a quarter part of its historical attractions. If you -hadn’t flunked—I mean fainted, you poor, little soul—we should have gone -up the broad staircase leading from the hall to the staterooms -above—many of them in good preservation—and seen the chamber where King -Edward the First and Queen Eleanor slept, when resting on their journey -to Scotland. Also the other chamber where William Wallace was confined -under a strong guard when he was brought a prisoner to England. Well, I -don’t believe a word of it myself. I suppose all these old battle-ax -heroes that ever crossed the border are reported to have slept in every -border castle, from Solway Firth to the North Sea. Still, the old ruin -is very interesting indeed. And if the makers of the guidebooks like to -tell these stories, why, I like to look at the historical rooms.” - -Wynnette’s last words brought them to the new castle, which they entered -just in time for luncheon, in the morning room. - - - - - CHAPTER XLIII - WYNNETTE’S STRANGE ADVENTURE - - -What ailed Wynnette? - -That evening, while the family were all assembled in the drawing room -after dinner, she stole away and went to find the housekeeper. - -The old woman was in her own sitting room, joining the servants’ hall. - -Mrs. Kelsy welcomed the little lady, who had already become a great -favorite with her. - -“I hope I don’t disturb you,” said Wynnette, deprecatingly. - -“Dearie me, no, miss,” replied the housekeeper, rising and placing a -chair for her young visitor. - -Wynnette thanked her and sat down. - -“You have been over the old castle, I hear, Miss Wynnette,” said the old -woman. - -“Yes, and I came here to get you to tell me all you know of that ancient -ruin. You have been housekeeper here for a long time, and you must know -lots about it.” - -“Yes, my dear young lady, I have been here, girl and woman, for fifty -years. My mother was housekeeper here before me. I was still-room-maid -under until she died about twenty years ago, and I got her place, -through the kindness of the earl.” - -“That must have been very agreeable to you, as you were so used to the -house.” - -“It was, my dear young lady, it was.” - -“And you must know lots of stories about the old castle.” - -The housekeeper suddenly became silent and grave. - -“And your mother must have known lots more than you did and told them to -you.” - -The housekeeper looked solemn and reticent. - -“Didn’t she, now? You might as well tell me. I am the niece of the earl, -and my mother is his heiress-presumptive.” - -“Yes. I know that, young lady,” said Mrs. Kelsy, speaking at last. - -“Well, then, you needn’t make a mystery of the matter to one of the -family, you know.” - -“What is it that you wish to hear, Miss Wynnette?” - -“Oh, any story of the old ruin, so that it is a really marrow-freezing, -blood-curdling, hair-raising story.” - -“There is the guide to Enderby Castle, Miss Wynnette.” - -“Oh, I know; but that contains only outlines—outlines traced in blood -and fire, to be sure, but still only outlines. I want a story with more -body in it. Come, now, that story of the Lady Cunigunda of Enderby, who -was the greatest beauty of her time, for whom kings and princes were -vainly breaking their hearts, and who was immured alive for marrying a -handsome soldier. Come, tell me all about her. That’s a darling.” - -“My dear Miss Wynnette, I know no more about her than you do. Not a bit -more than what is printed in the guide. No, nor yet did my old mother, -rest her soul.” - -“But, now, tell the truth. Does not the ghost of Lady Cunigunda haunt -the Round Tower in which she was immured?” - -“Not as ever I heard of, my dear. Not as ever I heard of.” - -“But, Mrs. Kelsy,” said Wynnette, solemnly, “I thought the old castle -was a venerable, historical building.” - -“So it is, my dear. So it is. Nobody can gainsay that.” - -“But, Mrs. Kelsy, no castle, however ancient, and however full of -legends of kings and princes and heroes and saints, can be even -respectable, much less venerable, unless it has its ghost.” - -“Enderby Old Castle has its ghost, Miss Wynnette,” retorted the old -housekeeper, drawing herself up with dignity. - -“Ah, I thought so! I knew so. Tell me about it, Mrs. Kelsy!” eagerly -exclaimed Wynnette. - -“My dear, I cannot, especially to-night—especially to-night.” - -“Why not to-night?” - -“Because, my dear, this very night of the twentieth of June is the -anniversary of the murder of that poor young woman and her baby, when -her spirit always revisits the scene of her murder,” said the old woman, -solemnly. - -“Do you mean—are you talking of the lady’s maid who was murdered by the -coachman, and whose body was thrown down the shaft in the castle hall?” -gravely inquired Wynnette. - -“Hush, my dear. Hush! Don’t talk of it, or you may draw that perturbed -spirit even here.” - -“You know all about that tragedy, then?” persisted Wynnette. - -“My mother did, and told me. And people enough have seen the ghost in -the castle hall on this anniversary.” - -“Have you ever seen it?” - -“Hush! Yes, once; and I never want to see it again. So that’s the last -word I will speak about it to-night. Some other time I’ll tell you all, -but not now. Not while her troubled spirit is abroad. Hush! What was -that?” - -“Nothing but a sough of the wind.” - -“Oh, I thought it was the sob of a woman. I thought it was her sob. Oh, -my dear, for the Lord’s sake, drop the subject,” pleaded the old woman. - -“I will drop it this instant if you will promise to tell me all you know -some day soon,” whispered Wynnette. - -“Yes, yes, I promise. Let a Sunday and a church service come between -this night and the story, and I will tell you on Monday,” said the -housekeeper, whom Wynnette’s persistence had brought to a state of great -nervous excitement. - -The young girl then arose and bade the old woman good-night, and -returned to the drawing room, where she found all the family circle -about to separate and retire. - -Wynnette went to the room which she shared with her eldest sister. - -Odalite got ready and went to bed. - -“Have you done with the light?” inquired Wynnette. - -“Yes. Why?” inquired the elder sister. - -“Because I want to turn it down low.” - -“But are you not coming to bed?” - -“Not yet. I wish to open the shutters and look out at the old castle by -moonlight. I will draw the curtains at the foot of your bed, so that the -beams may not keep you awake.” - -“Oh, the moonlight would never disturb my slumbers, Wynnette,” said -Odalite. - -Nevertheless, the younger girl went and drew the white dimity curtains -across the foot of the bed, which was facing the west window. Then -Wynnette turned down the light to a mere glow-worm size, and opened the -folding shutters of the window and sat down to look out at the prospect. - -The moon was in its third quarter, had passed the meridian, and was now -halfway down the western hemisphere, and hung over the sea, above the -ruined castle on the cliff, illumining the scene with a weird light. - -Wynnette looked down on the great square inclosure of the courtyard, -shut in by strong walls of mighty buildings on all four sides, the walls -of the ancient ruin being on the western side, directly opposite her -window. The courtyard was as secure and as clean as the carefully kept -interior of a barracks. And it was so quiet at this hour that the sound -of the sea, beating against the rocks at the base of the old ruin, was -heard as deafening thunder. - -But Wynnette’s eyes were fixed on that row of ancient windows in the -ruined hall and looked like mere slits in the wall. - -And now happened to the girl a very marvelous event. As she gazed on -these narrow openings they became illumined from within by a strange -light. - -It was not from the moon, for the moon was far above, and would have to -be an hour lower to shed that light. Besides, it was a dark, red light, -like nothing on this earth. - -Wynnette gazed and wondered—wondered and gazed. It was a steady light; -it never wavered or flickered, never brightened or faded. - -Wynnette gazed and wondered—wondered and gazed, until, drawn by an -irresistible fascination, she arose slowly and turned from the window, -went past her sister’s bed, stooped over, saw that Odalite was fast -asleep, and then she softly opened the chamber door, passed out and -closed it behind her. - -In the upper hall lights were always left burning low through the night. - -By these Wynnette found her way down the grand staircase to the armorial -hall below. - -Here, also, lights were burning low. - -By these she found her way to the great west door in front, took down -the bars, unhooked the chain, drew back the bolts, and turned the heavy -key in the huge lock—all so noiselessly as to make her wonder, until she -remembered how well-oiled every lock, key, bolt and hinge was, to save -the nerves of the invalid earl. - -She drew open the heavy doors and went out into the night. - -The courtyard was bathed in moonlight, except where the old ruin some -yards in front cast its black shadow, for the moon was now behind it. - -Everything was as still as death except the sea that thundered at the -foot of the cliff. - -Wynnette felt no fear of material dangers. She knew that she was as safe -from harm as though she were in a fortress. - -She went straight across the courtyard, drawing nearer and nearer to the -haunted castle; and as she approached it she gazed more intently at -those luridly lighted loopholes. And then, oh strange! the lights seemed -not to come from torch or candle, but from spectral eyes glaring forth -into the night, and drawing her on with an irresistible power. Wynnette -could not turn and fly; she was under a mighty spell, she must move -on—on—on—until she reached the pile of fallen stones around the castle -walls; and over these, climbing with difficulty and danger, still moving -on and on, until she reached the portals. - -The great iron-bound oaken doors seemed now to be closed and secured -from within against intrusion, yet she was still drawn on so powerfully -that she pushed with all her strength against those mighty doors, but -with as little effect as if she had tried to move a mountain. When— - -Suddenly the door opened, a cold hand seized her wrist, drew her in, and -the door closed. - - - - - CHAPTER XLIV - AT MIDNIGHT IN THE HAUNTED CASTLE - - - A horrid specter rises on my sight - Close to my side, plain and palpable - In all clear seeming and close circumstance. - What form is this? Oh, speak if voice thou hast! - Tell me what sacrifice can soothe thy spirit, - Can still the unquiet sleeper of the grave; - For this most awful visitation is - beyond endurance of the bravest soul - In flesh and blood enrobed.—JOANNA BAILLIE. - -Wynnette’s blood curdled. She would have cried out, but her organs of -speech seemed paralyzed. She would have struggled to free herself, but -the icy hand closed on her wrist like a fetter, and drew her on. She -could only pray mutely and hard. - -She could see nothing before her, not even the fingers of frost that -closed around her wrist, and drew her on and on through the black -darkness. - -Again she tried to cry out, but the sound of her voice died in her -throat. Again she tried to struggle, but the cold hand drew her on and -on with irresistible power. - -Where was it taking her? Perhaps to the terrible trap opening into the -shaft leading down to the dread Dungeon of the Dark Death, under the -foundations of the castle. - -Oh, if she could only cry out. Oh, if she could only tear herself away -from her horrible invisible captor. Oh, if she could but see where she -was. But her voice seemed palsied and her limbs paralyzed, while she was -drawn on and on through deepest darkness by an icy, invisible, -irresistible hand. On and on, now to the right, now to the left, now up -a few rugged steps, and now down and down into deeper depths of -darkness, if that were possible. - -Once more Wynnette tried to cry out, but failed; tried to escape, but -failed; strained her eyes to see, but failed utterly in all attempts. - -“It is a dream! It is a nightmare! Oh, if I could only scream so they -would hear me and come to me. Oh, father! Oh, mother! Oh, Lord, have -mercy on me!” her spirit cried, in her agony of terror, but no word came -from her frozen lips. - -Down—down—down—into profounder abysms of blackness. - -Where were they going? Under the foundations of the castle? Under the -bed of the sea? To the very center of the earth? Would they never stop -descending? - -“Oh, what a fool I was to come here at midnight. Shall I ever get out of -this alive? Oh, no—never. Oh, what a horrible fate. Will they ever find -me or my body? Oh, no—never. How could they? Oh, my dear mother! Oh, my -dear father! What ever will you think has become of me—your wilful -Wynnette? My whole arm is freezing from the clasp of that icy hand -around my wrist. What is it going to do with me? But it is only a dream. -I know it is only a dream. A cruel, deadly nightmare. Oh, if I could -only scream. If I could only struggle and wake up. But I shall die in my -sleep here, and they will find me dead in the morning. Oh, Lord, forgive -my sins and save my soul. What was that?” - -Suddenly the silence of that utter darkness was broken by a sound that -became a noise, a roar, a deafening thunder, and Wynnette, in the -anguish of her utter terror and helplessness, heard and knew the thunder -of the sea against the rocks. But the air was growing close, fetid, -sulphurous, suffocating. - -“It is no nightmare. I hear the sea. It is breaking in mighty waves over -my head. Ah, my limbs are numb—my breath is gone—my brain is going. Oh, -if I could only cry out once. Mother! Mother!” - -Then the darkness and the coldness as of death closed in, wrapped -around, and settled down upon her with the weight of the grave. - -And for the time being Wynnette was dead and buried to all life, sense -and consciousness. - -When Wynnette breathed again and opened her eyes she could not at once -recover her consciousness. The shock and strain upon her nervous system -had been too severe and protracted. She heard and saw as one half -asleep. She heard the awful reverberations of the thunder of the sea. -She saw around her blackness of darkness, relieved just in one spot, a -few yards distant from where she lay, by a small fire on the ground, -that smoldered in the foul air, and cast a lurid light but a few feet -around, and fell upon the face and form of a crouching figure squatted -near it. - -It was a Rembrandt picture. - -Wynnette watched it in weak, dull, stupid despair. Whether it was man, -woman, or even human being, she neither knew, nor cared, nor questioned. -Nor could any one else, even in the full possession of their senses, -have, at sight, classified the strange figure squatted by the low fire -in the subterranean abyss. - -Wynnette was too stunned, dazed and weakened even to fear it. - -And yet it was a dread, a frightful, a terrible form, tall and gaunt as -could be well known, even in that crouching attitude, by the length of -legs and arms. Its skin was like wrinkled parchment, and clung close to -its bones. Its face and features were strong and bony and sharp. The -eagle nose and the pointed chin nearly met over the sunken mouth. -Burning black eyes flashed and flamed under beetling brows. White hair, -parted over the top of the head, rolled in silver waves down over -shoulders and back. It wore but one garment, a dark red gown, with -sleeves that only reached to the elbow, and a skirt that only reached to -the knees. It was squatting, as we said before. Its knees were drawn up; -its long, gaunt, dark arms were around them, and the great claw-like -fingers were clasped upon them. The head was bent, but the blazing eyes -were fixed in a burning gaze upon the face of the recumbent girl. - -As memory slowly awoke in the mind of the stupefied girl, she began to -recall some of the phases of her night’s adventure. When had it -happened? How long ago? An hour ago? A day? A year? A century? How long? -And where was she now? She dimly remembered when she died, and how she -died—how the faintness of death crept upon her; how her breath went and -then her sense, and then—nothingness. - -But how long was that ago? - -She could not think. - -Where was she now? - -She could not say. - -Only one thing was certain. She had died, and she had come to a bad -place for her sins. She was in darkness. She was in—that awful pit of -utter despair whose name she could not bear to breathe to her own -spirit. - -And that thing by the smoldering fire was her demon jailer! - -Thus much was certainly true, she thought. And yet so dull and stupid -was she still that she did not care very much where she was, or even -wonder at her own insensibility. - -At last, seeing that the creature by the fire still glared at her, she -tried to speak, and at length muttered the question: - -“Who are you?” - -“Nobody,” was the slow, soft answer, in a tone strangely sad and sweet -to come from such dried and withered lips. - -“Are you—alive?” breathed Wynnette, in fearsome tones. - -“Alive? Nay, babe, nor are you,” replied the same slow, sweet voice. - -“I thought so; that is, I knew I was dead. But I thought maybe you -and—and—and—the other dev—I mean the other—I mean I thought the natives -of this place might be alive,” faltered Wynnette. - -“Nay, child, I am dead as well as thou. We are both dead. But I have -been dead longer than thou! Ay, ay, many years than thou, I reckon; for -thou cannot be older than sixteen or seventeen, and I be ninety-seven. -Ay, ay, I ha’ been dead a long time.” - -The voice that spoke those words was as tender and plaintive as the -notes of an Eolian harp. - -“Are—we—are—we—in h—I mean, are we in the woeful place?” - -“Yes, babe, we are in the woeful place. You and I and many, many, many -millions, and millions and millions of others are dead and buried, and -in the woeful place.” - -“I feel as if I were alive, though. No, not quite; but almost alive,” -said Wynnette, first pinching her own arm and then setting her teeth in -it, and biting so hard that she only escaped breaking the skin. - -“That’s a delusion, my baby. You are not alive, neither am I. But—they -are alive!” she cried, lifting and waving her arm. - -“They? Who?” demanded Wynnette. - -“They—the victims of hate, power, cruelty and despotism, whose ruined -earthly tabernacles lie all around us. All around us, like the broken -shells upon the seashore. They are alive! They are the martyrs of love -and truth; the martyrs of faith and freedom, of humanity. They are -alive, baby. They stand among that ‘great multitude, which no man could -number, of all nations and peoples and kindreds and tongues—before the -throne—clothed with white robes and palms in their hands.’ Ay, ay! They -are alive! But you and I—we are dead.” - -“I—I think I understand,” said Wynnette, who was beginning to regain her -mental faculties and to recognize in her surroundings some subterranean -cave of the cliff, or crypt of the castle, and in her companion some -harmless lunatic. “We are in a sense dead and buried, and in a woeful -state; but where, in all this woeful state, are we now sitting?” - -“Don’t ye ken, bairnie, we are in the place the tyrants called the -Dungeon of the Dark Death? And the heaps of gray and white lime that ye -see here—or ye might see, gin it were light enough—be the moldering -bones of their victims. And the latest victim of all was my lass! my -lass! But death could not hold her, nor darkness, nor coldness. She came -to life and ascended. She is a fair angel now—one of the fairest of -angels. But though she is alive and we are dead, she has not forgotten -us; but she comes on this day every year and visits our graves. I always -see her when she comes. I can see her through all the clods of the grave -that lie so heavy on my heart. Mayhap you may see her, too, baby; but I -don’t know, I don’t know,” murmured the plaintive voice, as the old -creature slowly shook her head. - -“Does she—does she come here?” breathed Wynnette, in an awe-struck tone. - -“Ay, she does; and every time she comes she shows me how her body was -murdered, and how herself came out of it alive. Look! look!” The woman -suddenly started up, crossed to the side of the girl, and clasped her -hand and held it fast, saying again: “Look! Listen!” and she pointed up -to the upper end of the cavern. - -Now by what psychological law this weird old creature impressed her own -visions on the imagination of the girl, let the occult scientists -explain. I cannot pretend to do so. - -But as Wynnette looked and listened, there came a whir-r-r-r through the -air, and a thud-d-d upon the distant ground, and the form of a young -woman and a child lay there. - -Wynnette tried to shriek, but her voice died in her throat. - -“You see her?” murmured the old woman. - -Wynnette tried to speak, but failed. - -“Watch!” said the crone. - -Wynnette watched, breathlessly, her senses reeling. The shape presently -began to change as clouds change, from form to form, and presently to -arise like a pillar of mist, and take the form of a woman, young, fair, -angelic, with an infant pressed to her bosom, and with heavenward gaze, -slowly ascending in a path of light, which faded as she disappeared. - -“There, she has gone! and we will go,” said the crone, as she tightened -her grasp on the girl’s hand and drew her away. - -No longer terrified, but awed, confused, bewildered, Wynnette allowed -herself to be passively drawn away, and they began to toil up from the -depths. Wynnette thought of Dante’s return from the Inferno, when he -“saw the stars again.” - -At length, more dead than alive, she began to realize, that though they -were still in darkness, they were creeping over level ground or a stone -floor. They were stealing along a dark and narrow passage, as she -thought; for once when she stretched out her hand at arm’s length she -felt the damp stone wall. - -Presently, far off ahead of them, she saw the faint glimmer of a red -light. As they drew nearer to this, she saw that it came through the -chinks of an ill-fitting door. - -When they reached the door the crone opened it, and Wynnette recognized, -with feelings of relief, the great hall of the castle, and knew that -they were above ground. - -A fire of faggots burned on the flagstones, and burned more clearly in -the freer air than had that smoldering, smoking heap of rubbish in the -subterranean dungeon below. - -The beldame drew the girl toward the fire, where there lay near by a -pile of rushes. - -“Sit ye down here, lass, and rest,” she said, as she herself dropped in -a heap upon the rushes. - -“I—I want to go home,” whimpered Wynnette, in the tone of a frightened -child. - -“Nay, bairn, thou wants to hear the story of my lass, and none but I can -tell it. Not yon woman up in the new castle, for she but repeats the -lies she has been told, and she believes. None but I can tell the true -story. Sit ye down, bairn, and hear.” - -“But—it is so late—so late—I ought to go home,” said Wynnette, divided -between curiosity and uneasiness. - -“It is not late. It is not yet one hour past midnight; and thou art a -brave bairn, and there be none to harm thee. Besides, I must tell thee -the true story.” - -Wynnette drew some of the rushes into a heap, and sat down upon them. - - - - - CHAPTER XLV - TOLD IN THE OLD HALL - - -“It was fifty years ago, my bairnie—fifty years ago. Earl Hardston ruled -at Enderby. Distant cousin he was to yon present Earl Francis——What was -that? Eh! nothing but the flap of the owl’s wing as it passed. - -“Earl Hardston ruled at Enderby. A handsome devil he were. Tall, -broad-shouldered, straight-backed, strong-limbed. His hair was black and -glossy as the raven’s wing; his eyes were black and fiery as the hawk’s, -and sometimes soft as the dove’s. Ah, a taking rascal he were. - -“His lady mother and his lady sisters lived at the castle, and were to -live there until my lord should marry, when they would all go to Kedge -Hall, the dower-house of the Widows of Enderby. Kedge Hall was no to be -compared to Enderby Castle, and so my lady and her daughters were no -minded that my lord should take a wife. - -“Ah, but they were wicked! - -“Handsome jades they were, every one. Black-a-vized, like me lord, but -not one of them to hold a candle to my lass, though she were the -hen-wife’s child, and her feyther the undergardener. - -“Oh, but she were the beauty of the world! - -“I ha’e seen the Venus in the castle gallery, but it was no to be -compared to my lass’ form. And her features were small and fine and -clean-cut, and her skin was like the wild rose leaf. Her eyes were blue -as violets, and her hair was yellow and soft and silky as the fringe of -the young maize corn. - -“Oh, but she was the beauty of the world! - -“Everybody was in love with her. Every servant in the castle, from the -old bachelor-butler down to the boy in buttons, which they called the -page, was half mad for the love of my lass. Every laborer in the -grounds, from the widowed gamekeeper down to the youngest stableboy, was -half dying for the love of my lass. - -“No, bairnie, she did not scorn any of them—not the lowliest. She had a -smile and a gentle glance, and a kind word for every one—even for the -freckle-faced and red-haired young groom, who always had a cold in his -head and a swelled nose, and used to follow her about like a dog, until -he lost his place for neglecting his business. She was kind and good to -all. - -“Oh, but she was the angel of the world, was my lassie. She were sweet -and tender to every one, but she would ha’e none o’ them i’ the way o’ -marriage. That were too much to ask, she thought. - -“So time went on, till my lass was twenty years old, and she had never -lo’ed a man. And my lord were thirty, and he had never married a wife. - -“Ane autumn my lord had a company of friends staying at the -castle—gentlemen friends, the lot of them. Sorrow a lady was ever asked -to the castle barring it was some old lady without daughters, or nieces, -or any women at all. It was not my lady countess who would throw -temptation to matrimony in the way of her son, the earl. - -“Oh, but she was the devil of the world. You shall hear, my bairn. You -shall hear. Among the company at the castle was ane painter lad, which -even the king made much of—so ’twas said—so fine was his paintings. - -“My lady countess had noticed my lass, my Phebe. Ane day she sent a -lackey down to my cottage, with orders for me to bring my girl up to the -castle. So I obeyed my lady. - -“We were showed to a room full of pictures, and images, and rubbish, -which I soon found out was the painter lad’s workshop. My lady was -there, sitting in the only easy-chair. And the painter lad was there, -standing before a queer prop, with a picture on it. - -“As soon as the lackey said, ‘The young woman, my lady,’ and shut the -door, the countess looked at us without speaking, and then turned to the -painter, and said, ‘Here is your model, Mr. Fordyce,’ as if my Phebe had -been nothing but a bundle of lumber. - -“The painter lad was an ugly little mug as ever was seen, but a great -painter he were, and a civil man. He looked at my Phebe, and I could see -the surprise and delight in his ill-favored little face, and he bowed to -her, and handed both of us to seats. My lady frowned, and he blushed, -and said something very softly, which I thought was asking pardon for -his civility to us. - -“Aweel, bairnie, that were the beginning o’ the end. Fra that day my -lass went up to the castle every day, in obedience to my lady’s orders. -I do not know, I cannot tell when it was, or how it was, that my lord -first began to be present at the ‘sittings,’ as they called them. Maybe -he heard the painter lad praising the beauty of my lass, for, bairnie, -though she was born and brought up on his land, he had never seen her, -for he never showed his face down in such low places as his laborers’ -huts. So, maybe, he heard the painter lad praising her beauty, and for -curiosity went in to take a look at her. - -“But sometimes I think my lady countess planned it all—to amuse my lord, -and keep him at home. What did she care for a peasant girl’s heart, or -her soul, or her good name, either, if she could amuse my lord and keep -him from going off and getting married, and bringing a wife home to send -her and her lady daughter to Kedge Hall? - -“Oh, but she was the devil of the world! - -“Ah me! ah me! ah me! I did not know what was going on. You see, I -didn’t go with my lass to the castle after that first time. My lady’s -maid, an aul wife, always came and fetched her. No, I did not know what -was going on. And why should I tell you of wickedness that is not for -you to hear? - -“No, no, I will pack the whole peck into a pint cup, and make an end of -it. - -“Oh, such an old tale. Oh, such a common tale. It is heard in every -hamlet, on every hillside. Oh, but it comes home to one when it’s one’s -ain child. Ah me! ah me! - -“Late in the autumn the pictures were finished and the sittings were -over, and the painter lad went his way back to London. And my lass -stayed hame with me and only went out sometimes in the gloaming. I never -thought ill. I used to go to look after the poultry yard by the castle -stables every day, and sometimes, with the gathering and sorting of -eggs, and other matters, I would be kept at work all day long. - -“One day I got on wi’ my work so weel that I cam’ hame airlier than -common. And there, i’ the hut, was my lord, wi’ Phebe on his knee and -his arm around her waist. Before I could weel tak’ in the whole, my lord -had risen, and, with a ‘Good-e’en, dame,’ he passed me, and went out. -And I sat down on the floor and covered my head wi’ my apun. I could -speak no word of blame to my lass; my heart, it was broken. - -“Presently she came to me and put her sweet arms around my neck, and -said to me, in her ain sweet voice, ‘Minnie, minnie, I canna see you -grieve and not tell you the truth, though I must break my word to do it. -Minnie, yon great earl is my husband and your son, and I love him as I -love my life! - -“Bairnie, ye may think I were surprised at what I heard, but, indeed, I -were not. I were very pleased, and that’s the truth, but not surprised. -I thought my lass the beauty of the whole world. And the angel of the -whole world, and our folk-lore were full of tales of how noble lords, -and even royal princes, did love and marry peasant girls for their -beauty and for their goodness. And who so beautiful and who so good as -my ain lass? - -“No. I was not surprised, but I was proud and pleased. I only asked her -the how and the when, and the where, and when she had told me I believed -in her, as I had a right to believe in her, but I also believed in him, -as I had no right to believe in any man. - -“And then she begged me to keep the secret, because she had broken her -promise to keep it from everybody, and had told me, from love of me. - -“I swore that I would keep her secret, and I kissed her, and petted her, -and loved her. And she said, ‘Now I am completely happy, dear minnie, as -I never was when I kept a secret from mine ain minnie.’ Ah me! ah me! -But, there. She is still happy. I only am miserable. She is alive! I -only am dead! But some time or other I shall come to life and be happy -with her. Where was I, bairnie? What was I telling you last?” - -“Of your dear daughter’s secret marriage with the earl, and of your -promise to keep the secret,” said Wynnette. - -“Ay, ay! And we were happy that night. Phebe and I. And I hugged her to -my heart as we slept together, and I called her ‘My little countess! My -little countess!’ Ah, I was drunk with pride and vanity. Not for myself, -but for my beauty and angel of the world. I could not sleep for thinking -of her and of her grandeur. Only I did think that mayhap if the king had -chanced to come by our way and see her the king himself might ha’ -married her and made her a queen. And I did not care for the earl so -much but that I was sorry it was not the king who had seen her. - -“Next morning Phebe went back to her spinning and I went to the -henhouse. I quieted down and began to go over the tales in our -folk-lore—and I thought, with uneasiness, how King Cœphutas, who married -the beggar girl, and the other king that married the nut-brown maid, and -all other kings and princes and nobles who had married good and -beautiful peasant maids, had wedded them in open day before all the -world, with a great flourish of trumpets and blowing of horns, and -flaunting of flags, in honor of the wedding, and all the neighboring -kings, and princes, and lords, and nobles invited to the feast. And here -was this earl, who was neither king nor prince and nobody but an earl -had married the beauty and the angel of the world, in the dark behind -the door, as it were, and keeping his marriage a secret as if he was -ashamed of it. I wondered what he meant. I thought if it had been the -king who had married my lass he would not have done so. - -“When I came hame that night I asked my girl how it was. And she told me -it was from fear of his mother, who had set her heart on his marrying -the daughter of a duke. The daughter of a duke, indeed. What was the -daughter of a duke compared to the beauty and the angel of the whole -world, as kings and princes would ha’ fought for, if they had only seen -her? But it was all a lie, for my lady countess, she had set her heart -on his never marrying anybody so long as she should live. - -“I thought the earl was unworthy to be compared with the kings and -princes of our folk-lore. And I feared my lass had thrown herself away -on an ungrateful earl—a mere common earl—when she might have married a -king or an emperor if she had only waited until one passed by and saw -her. - -“But it was done, and he was her husband, so I would not say anything to -set her against him.” - - - - - CHAPTER XLVI - A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM - - -“Ah, well, as the days and the weeks passed I got mortal tired of -waiting for him to own my girl his wife, and take her to the great house -with blowing of trumpets, and waving of banners, and flaunting of flags, -and prancing of steeds, like I had heard of. What was the use of my girl -being the wife of a great lord, if she had to wear a linsey gown, and -sit in the hut and spin all day long while I was away to the henhouse? -Why, none at all. - -“Oh, bairn, it is such a help to my poor heart telling you all this. And -you believe me, don’t you?” - -“I believe every word you say—tell me more,” earnestly replied Wynnette. - -“At long last my lady countess and her young lady daughters went up to -London town. And now I thought, while they are gone, my lord will take -his wife hame to the great house; but he didn’t, bairn; he didn’t. Oh, -he didn’t. He was abroad somewhere, to France, maybe, or to Paris, or -some other furrin country thereaway. And my lass gave herself up to -weeping, and never showed herself abroad, but stayed in the hut. One day -I laid a baby boy in her arms and told her to be comforted, for that her -son was the little Lord Glennon and the heir to the Earldom of Enderby. - -“And then I had to tell my neighbors the secret, for I could not bear -they should think ill o’ my ain lass. But nane o’ them would believe me. -Not one. They laughed me to scorn—me and my lass. It is an old tale—oh, -such an old tale, such a common old tale! Only it comes hame when it’s -one’s ain bairn. - -“One day my lord came hame and heard the report, and a fine passion he -was in with my lass and me. He denied her and her child. He pretended it -was Andy, the stableboy, she had married. And he scorned her, and -threatened to turn us both out of the hut if we ever so much as named -his name again. - -“Oh, but he was the devil of the whole world! - -“After that, in many long nights that my lass and I lay awake, we -talked, and I got to know why the great earl had married my beauty and -angel of the whole world. First he tried to win her love without her -hand; but my girl was good and firm; and then he grew so mad for her -love that he took her before a priest and married her. - -“One day we did hear that the earl was to wed the duke’s daughter, and -all the cottagers said I was a mad crone to think my lord had stooped to -my lass. Ah, my lass! She was fading away before my very eyes. But not -fast enough for my lord. - -“One day there was a fair at Enderby Town, and all the laborers on the -estate and all the servants at the castle had a holiday to go to the -fair. All went but me and my lass. We ne’er left hame in those days. We -could no bear that any should look on us and scorn us. - -“So that day I left my lass spinning at the hut door, and the baby was -sleeping in the basket by her side, and I went to my duty in the -hen-houses. I had the old nests to clean out and fresh straw to put in -them. I got done about twelve of the clock and come hame. - -“But my girl was not in the house, nor the babe. I had no misgiving. I -went in and waited for her. But she came no more. She never came again. -When it grew dark I began to be so uneasy that I went out to look for -her, but could no find her. There was no one as I could ask; all the -world was gone to the fair, and nane would be hame till late, maybe not -till morning. - -“Well, bairn, when I had walked till my limbs were ready to sink under -me I went hame and laid down, just as I was, on the outside of my bed. I -was not asleep. Nay, bairnie, I was not asleep. I did no dream what -followed. I saw it. My eyes were shut and all the world was still; for -it was long after midnight, and even drawing near the morning; but still -it was pitch-dark, when—no, I wasn’t asleep, and I didn’t dream it—when -I felt a light through my shut eyelids. I opened them and saw the room -was full of light that did not come from sun, or moon, or star, or -candle, or lamp, or fire, but from a bright form that stood in the midst -of the place and beckoned me to come to it. - -“In an awe that was not a fright, I got up and went to it and said -‘Phebe!’ for I knew it was my lass that stood there, with her child in -her arms, and clothed, not in the white raiment of the blest, but in -what I thought was lovelier, a clear, soft, rosy gown that fell from her -shoulders down to her feet. She had no crown on her head, but her silky, -yellow hair streamed down around her form like sunbeams. I knew she was -a spirit. - -“‘Phebe!’ I said again—‘Phebe!’ She did not speak, but holding her child -on her right arm, she raised her left hand and beckoned me, and pointed -to the door, and went out. I followed her. She led me by ways I had -never gone before, but have gone every year since that night. The same -way I took you to-night, my bairn. The secret passage to the deep -caverns under the foundations of the castle, the only way to them except -through the trapdoor and shaft that runs two hundred feet down in a -straight line—a way that is now known to none but me. Even you could no -find it again. She led me through the secret passage and down the many, -many steps cut in the solid rock, down, down, down, her light making the -steep path light before me until we reached the Dungeon of the Dark -Death—and even that she lighted up. - -“She led me to a spot where her dead body lay on the ground, just under -the bottom of the shaft, that reached only to the ceiling or roof above. -Her body lay with the body of her babe, just as if they both had dropped -down there and fallen asleep. I knew they were dead. I knew every bone -in both was broken, though that did not appear on the outside. It was -under where they struck the ground that the horror of death was. I knew -also, as if I had seen it all, how she had died—how she had been -entrapped to her sudden death—how she had not even suffered. There had -been a swift fall, a shock, nothing, and then a wonderful coming to life -in a new form. - -“I tell you, lass, it was no dream, no dream! but a real seeing. And it -was wonderful to stand there by the two crushed, dead bodies and see the -two living souls. I thought of the chrysalis and the butterfly, the worm -and the moth, the eggshell and the bird, as I stood there between life -and death, and seeing both. - -“And without any speech at all, my lass made me know how she had been -betrayed to death—how, every one being gone off the place, and she alone -in her hut, my lord had come to her and pretended to make it all up with -her, and had asked her to walk with him in the hall of the old castle. -And she had gone. And they walked up and down, up and down, until -suddenly, when she was passing with her babe over the trapdoor they had -passed so many times, he suddenly stepped back, the door fell in, and -she shot down, struck the ground two hundred feet below, and knew no -more until she woke up in her new form—not dead, but living, never more -to die. - -“Presently she beckoned to me again, and walking before me, a form of -rosy light, led me back again by the way we had come, up, up, up, to the -upper air again. Nor did she leave me until we were back in the hut. She -waved her arm and signed for me to lie down on the bed; and I minded her -and did what she said. Then she stood by my bed waving her hand to and -fro, to and fro, until I went to sleep. And I slept so deep and so long -that it was broad daylight, with the sun shining in at the bare window, -when I waked. - -“No, it was no dream, bairn. Soon as I waked I minded all that had -passed in the night, and I knowed it was no dream. - -“I went no more out that day. At noon my lord came to the hut, the first -time he had come for many a day. And he asked me, in a careless way: - -“‘Where is that wench of yours, goody?’ And I looked him straight in the -face, and answered him: - -“‘Her body and her babe’s lie crushed to death on the stone floor of the -deep dungeon where you cast her down; but she and her child—they are in -Paradise.’ - -“He turned white as a sheet and he reeled in his saddle; but he quickly -put on a bold face and said: - -“‘You are a mad old beast, and before twenty-four hours are over your -head you shall be committed to the County Lunatic Asylum.’ - -“And with that he struck spurs into his horse and dashed wildly away. - -“Not too often, lass, does punishment follow fast on crime, but it did -in this case. He dashed wildly off in a state of mind, I reckon, that -made him unable to guide his young horse as he ought. - -“Half an hour later he was carried hame to the castle on a shutter. The -horse had thrown him and broken his neck. - -“The title and estates, they went to a distant cousin, great-grandfather -of the present Earl Francis. Earl Godfrey was good to me—he and his -children and his children’s children have been good to me—always good to -me, although they call me mad. - -“When my girl was missed and the trapdoor was found open, they had it -that she had trodden on it and it had gin way under her weight, and her -death was a accident and nobody to blame. They wouldn’t listen to me—no -one word. They said I was a poor, harmless creetur, crazed by the loss -of my lass. They got a windlass and great chains and ropes, and then let -down men and they took up my birds’ broken shells and gave them -Christian burial. - -“Everybody was kind to me, only they wouldn’t believe me. They said I -was mad. They would have it as it was the poor stableboy as wronged my -girl. And now I hear, after more than fifty years, some un have made -another story and got it into a book, how the stableboy killed my girl -and threw her body down the shaft, and was hanged for it at Carlisle. -All lies, bairn! All lies! My story is the only true one.” - -“I believe you,” said Wynnette. - - - - - CHAPTER XLVII - THE END OF THE NIGHT - - -“The sky is red in the east. Go now, my bairn. Thou art a good child, -and brave to dare the ghosts of the old hall and to hear the tale of an -old crone. And it is true, bairn; it is true. Do not you give faith to -any who tell you it is not and tell you I am mad.” - -“I will not. I will believe only you. But before I go tell me—can I do -anything for you?” - -“Nay, bairn. Nothing, bless ’ee.” - -“Where do you live?” - -“In the old hut—the hut outside the south wall, open to the lane.” - -“I can find it. May I come to see you there?” - -“Ay, ay, bairn. Bless ’ee for the kind thought. Come when thou like, but -dinna bring ony other with ’ee. Na other might hear me sa kind and mind -me sa well as ye do.” - -“Do you—are you—have you—will you——” - -Wynnette hesitated and blushed. - -“Speak out, bairn. Dinna be feared. Speak out.” - -“Then—will you have—a good breakfast ready for you when you go home?” -hesitatingly inquired practical Wynnette. - -“I shall have all I want, bairnie. Earl Francis has provided for me. Go -your ways to the house now, bairnie. Your friends will be speiring after -ye.” - -Wynnette took the shriveled hand of the creature and pressed it kindly -before she left the old castle hall. - -The early June morning was breaking brightly and beautifully over land -and sea as Wynnette went down the half-ruined steps that led from the -castle hall to the courtyard below. - -She climbed over the piles of rubbish, and at length found herself on -the flagged walk that led up to the west entrance of the new castle. - -Not a soul was yet astir. It could not have been more than half-past -four o’clock, and the servants of the castle were not accustomed to rise -before six. - -She went up the broad stone stairs and opened the door, which she found, -as she had left it at midnight, unfastened. - -She passed in silently, quietly replaced all the fastenings, and -ascended noiselessly to her room. Her sister was still sleeping soundly. -She felt no disposition to sleep. She resumed her seat at the west -window, and looked out upon the morning view, as she had looked on the -night scene, trying to understand the adventure she had passed through. - -Was the old crone who had talked with her really mad? Had her only child -been ruined and murdered by the wicked earl? Had she, Wynnette, really -witnessed that wonderful vision in the dungeon under the castle, or had -she been so psychologized by the crone as to have been the subject of an -optical illusion? - -She could not tell! She could make nothing of her night’s experience. -While she was musing over it all her thoughts grew confused, her vision -obscured, and perhaps she fell asleep; for she was presently roused as -from profound unconsciousness by the voice of Odalite calling out to -her: - -“Wynnette! Wynnette! Child! you have never slept at that open window all -night? How imprudent!” - -The girl roused herself and tried to recall her faculties. - -“I believe I did fall asleep, Odalite,” she replied; but she shuddered -as she remembered her night’s adventure. - -“And you are shivering now. And you are pale and heavy-eyed. Oh, my -dear, what an indiscreet thing to do—to sleep with your head on the sill -of an open window! You have caught cold.” - -“Ah! if you only knew what I have caught,” thought Wynnette; but she -answered: - -“Oh, no, I have not, Odalite. I am going to take a bath now and dress -for breakfast. I am all right. How could I take cold on such a lovely -night in June?” - -“But you must not repeat this,” said Odalite. - -“I don’t mean to!” significantly replied Wynnette. - -An hour later they met the family at breakfast. - -Wynnette was so unusually grave and silent that at length her uncle -noticed her manner and inquired: - -“What is the matter with our Little Pickle this morning?” - -“She sat in the chair at the open window all night, and fell asleep -there. That is the matter,” replied Odalite for her sister. - -“Ah! ah! that will never do! We must put a stop to that sort of -practice!” replied the earl. - -And then Mr. and Mrs. Force both fell upon their daughter with rebuke -and admonition, but were soothed and mollified when Wynnette assured -them not only that she had taken no harm on this occasion, but that she -never meant to repeat the last night’s performance again so long as she -should live. - -When breakfast was over the family party adjourned to a pleasant morning -room looking out upon the sea, and occupied themselves with opening and -reading their letters, which had come in by the morning’s mail. - -Mr. Force had letters from his farm manager and from his attorney, -giving satisfactory accounts of affairs at Mondreer. - -Leonidas had equally good news from Beeves concerning his little estate -of Greenbushes. - -Mrs. Force received a short note, ill-spelled and worse written, from -her housekeeper, but it gave good account of domestic affairs. - -Rosemary Hedge had a joint letter from her mother and aunt, saying that -they were both in good health, and giving their child plenty of good -counsel. - -Wynnette received an old-fashioned letter from young Grandiere, which -she laughed over and refused to show to any one. - -In the midst of this occupation they were interrupted by the opening of -the door, and the entrance of a footman, who touched his forehead with a -grave air and stood in silence. - -“What is it?” inquired the earl. - -“If you please, my lord, it is Old Silly,” solemnly replied the man. - -“Old Zillah?” - -“Yes, my lord.” - -“What of her?” - -“If you please, my lord, she is dead.” - -“Dead!” - -“Yes, my lord.” - -“Old Zillah! Why—when did she die?” - -“If you please, my lord, we don’t know. Kato, the under scullery maid, -who carried her some breakfast this morning, found her dead on her bed.” - -“It was to have been expected. She was nearly a century old. It is -well!” - - - - - CHAPTER XLVIII - OLD ZILLAH - - -“She has come to life,” said Wynnette, quoting the words of the departed -woman. - -All looked at the girl in some surprise. With all her oddities, Wynnette -was not used to make such speeches as that. And now, for the first time, -they noticed that Wynnette’s face was very pale, with dark circles under -her eyes. - -“What is the matter with you, my dear?” inquired her mother. - -“Nothing at all, mamma,” answered the girl. - -“She sat by the open window late last night and fell asleep there, and -slept until I woke her up this morning. That was quite enough to make -her ill,” Odalite explained. - -“Nay, my dear; in such fine June weather as the present, and in such -pure air as ours, it would hardly have hurt her had she slept outdoors,” -said the earl. “But what do you mean, my dear, by saying that our poor -Old Zillah ‘has come to life’?” he inquired, as he turned to the girl. - -“Nothing heterodox, uncle. Nothing but what we hear from our pulpits on -every Easter Sunday morning,” she replied. - -“Oh!” he exclaimed. - -“Only in this case the truth seems to be very marked. A woman nearly a -hundred years old must have been nearly dead for many years and now has -certainly come to life.” - -“Ah!” - -“Nothing new, uncle, please. I never said anything new in my life.” - -“Then you put old truths in a very new way.” - -“Eternal truth, uncle, eternal truth; plain to gentle and simple, to -young and old; plain as the sunshine to all who can see; hidden only -from them who are blind, or who choose to keep their eyes shut.” - -“Hum! Truth that neither the aged, the invalid nor the bereaved can -afford to disregard, at least. And now, my dear, I must leave you, to -inquire into the cause of Old Zillah’s sudden death. Will you come with -me, gentlemen?” - -Mr. Force and Leonidas arose to attend him. - -Le gave the invalid the support of his strong young arm. - -And so the three men passed out of the room. - -“Mamma, did you know anything about this wonderful old woman?” inquired -Wynnette. - -“Very little, my dear. Only the years of my earliest childhood were -passed here. Old Zillah was an object of terror to me. Partly, perhaps, -because she wore a man’s coat over her skirt, and a man’s hat on her -head, and partly because she had the reputation of being a wise woman or -a witch. She never came to the castle, and I never saw her except by -chance, when I went with my nursery governess to walk or ride. She never -came near me or spoke to me. I think I should have gone into fits if she -had.” - -“How old were you then, mamma?” she inquired. - -“I do not know when I first began to hear of Old Zillah, or when I first -saw her. She was the shadow and the terror of my dawn of life. I was but -four years old when I lost my mother, and then my father left this -place, taking me with him; and he went to his estate in -Ireland—Weirdwaste, on the west coast.” - -“‘Weirdwaste!’ What a name! Did you live long at Weirdwaste, mamma, -dear?” - -“Yes, many years alone there with my governess. My father was traveling -on the continent.” - -“What sort of a place was it, mamma?” inquired Wynnette. And Rosemary -and Elva drew their chairs nearer to the sofa on which their mother sat -to hear her answer. - -“It was an old manor house on the inland end of a long, flat, dreary -point of land stretching into the Atlantic Ocean. At high tide the -entire cape, to within a few rods of the manor wall, was covered by the -sea, and day and night the swash of the sea was heard.” - -“How lonely you must have been, mamma, with no one but your governess -and the servants,” said Elva. “But perhaps you had neighbors,” she -added. - -“No; no neighbors at all. There was no one within miles of us but the -poorest Irish peasants, who were tenants of my father. The estate was -vast in extent of territory, but poor in soil. The land steward lived in -the manor house, to take care of it and of me. They kept two old -servants—a man and a woman—an old horse, and older jaunting car. That is -how I lived at Weirdwaste.” - -“Oh! what a lonely life! How long did you live there, mamma?” - -“Until I was nearly fifteen years of age, when my health failed, and the -surgeon from the nearest town was called to see me, and thought my case -so serious that he wrote to my father, who was in Paris. My father then -came to see me, took me and my governess to Brighton, and established us -in elegant lodgings on the King’s Road.” - -“That must have been a most delightful change. How long did you stay in -Brighton, mamma? And where did you go next? Not back to Weirdwaste, I -hope,” said Wynnette. - -“No, not back to Weirdwaste. I have never seen the dreary place since I -left it,” replied the lady, in a low voice, but with paling cheeks and -troubled brow. - -“Mamma, love,” said Odalite, rising, “will you come with me into the -library now and help me to translate the passage in Camoëns we were -talking about yesterday?” - -“Yes, dear,” replied the lady, rising to follow her eldest daughter. - -“Well, I’m blest if that isn’t playing it rather too low down on a -fellow, Odalite—I mean it is very inconsiderate in you to carry off -mamma just as she is telling about the days of her youth, for the very -first time, too! Bah! bother! what a nuisance!” - -But Mrs. Force and her eldest daughter had passed out of the room. - -The death of Old Zillah caused quite a commotion in the castle and its -neighborhood. Notwithstanding her age, or, perhaps, because of her great -age, her death came as a surprise, not to say as a shock, to the -community. She had lived so long that it almost seemed as if she must -always continue to live. - -“Why, it’s like as if the old tower of the ruined castle itself had -fallen!” said one to another. - -People came from far and near to see the remains of the centenarian, and -to get her real age, and hear some facts of her life. And all the cruel -old legends were raked up again, until the whole air of the place was -full of fetor, fire and brimstone. The people reveled in the moral -malaria. - -The mortal body of the oldest retainer of the House of Enderby at length -found a peaceful resting place in Enderby churchyard. - -No peeress of the realm ever had a larger funeral than this pauper, at -least so far as the number of followers went. - -It was not until night on the day after the funeral that Wynnette -slipped away from the family circle and went to the housekeeper’s room -to hear the promised story. - -“I will hear both sides,” she said to herself, “though I do believe Old -Zillah’s version to be the true one.” - -She found the good woman seated at a small worktable and engaged in -knitting. - -“Well, Mrs. Kelsy, how are you to-night?” inquired Wynnette, as she took -the offered seat beside the dame. - -“Thanky’, miss, I’m none the better for the worriment of this week,” -replied the housekeeper. - -“You mean the funeral?” - -“The whole on’t, miss! The greatest crowd as ever was every day this -week, not even honoring the Sabbath itself, but coming more on that day -than any other! And the talk, and the gossip, and the raking up of old -scandals, until I was soul sick of it all. And all because a wise woman, -over a hundred years old, was found dead in her bed. Warraloo! How else -and where else should she ha’ been found dead, I’d like to know!” - -“But you have had a night and day of rest, and I hope you feel -recovered.” - -“Rest, is it, miss? Recovered, is it? Not very much of either! It is -dead beat I am!” - -“I am sorry to hear that. I was hoping that you would feel well to-night -and be inclined to tell me the story of the pretty maiden you promised.” - -“Oh, ay, well, there is not so much to tell. And now the old creature as -hung on so long is gone, I don’t mind telling it so much. The girl’s -soul may have rest now that her mither doesn’t harry it up.” - -“Yes, I hope it will,” said Wynnette, in a conciliating tone. “You will -tell me the story now?” - -“Yes! and whatever other story you may hear about it will be false, for -I know that you will hear other stories, if you haven’t heard ’em -already. There’s plenty of ’em going around, I tell you, and no two -alike. But only I have the truth, for I have it straight from my mother, -who had it from her’n! So it must be true! And no other story could be!” - -“But I suppose if Old Zillah were alive she also could give the real -facts,” ventured Wynnette. - -“She? Least of all in this world could she tell it! For not only did she -fail to tell the truth, but she told a many mad fancies; for she was -about as mad as a March hare! Saw visions and talked with departed -spirits, prophesied future events, and all that, she did! Yes, miss. She -has been that a way ever since I knowed her, and as I have heard tell, -was that a way ever since she lost her daughter.” - -“Tell me about her daughter.” - -“I’m a-gwine to. Well, you see, it seems the feyther had been -undergardener, and he died, and then the widow was given the use of a -little hut in the outside of the old castle wall, on the lane. And there -she lived and brought up her only child, Phebe. They were both employed -in the poultry yard. - -“Phebe grew up beautiful as an angel—so beautiful that everybody who -happened to meet her stopped to look at her—so beautiful, that her -beauty turned her own head, as well as her mother’s. While she was yet a -child all the gentry that met her gave her half crowns, and even half -guineas, for the love of her fair face. At least so ’twas said, and so -’twas handed down. And people used to make such foolish speeches about -her as that she was lovely enough to turn the head of a king. - -“These speeches did turn her mother’s head, and her own as well. All the -young men were in love with her, but she scorned them all for a poor -little imp of a stableboy, an orphan as had been her playmate all her -life.” - -“I did hear that it was for the sake of the young earl she flouted the -others,” said Wynnette. - -“Oh, yes, I dare say—that was one of the stories that went round! That -was false. The young earl did come down to celebrate his coming of age, -and his mother and sisters came with him, and made up their minds to -stay with him, which they might do until he should marry, in which case -they would have to go to Kedge Hall, an old manor house on the moors. So -my lady seemed to think the longer she could keep my lord, her son, from -getting a wife, the better it would be for her and her girls. - -“Among the men staying at the castle was an artist. He was to paint a -picture of St. Cecelia for the countess, but he wanted a model. One day -my lady, out driving, happened to see Phebe, and had her up to the -castle to sit to the artist. And then the mischief began. My lord fell -in love with her. Fairly went out of his senses for love of this -beautiful creature, who didn’t even know how to read. - -“And my lady encouraged the folly and wickedness. Eh, my dear, -gentlefolks were not particular in those days. ‘Here,’ she said, ‘was a -beauty right on his own land, the child of his tenant, one of his own -born slaves, bound to do his will, who might amuse his fancy and keep -him from marriage for many a year.’ She never feared such a thing as my -lord marrying the girl. Such folly was not to be thought, and never was -thought of by either of them.” - -“But,” said Wynnette, “I heard that the earl had married her.” - -“Stuff and nonsense! He never dreamed of such a thing! He was the -proudest man alive! And he was engaged to a duke’s daughter! But the -crazy old mother and the silly young girl fancied that he even might do -that for love of Phebe’s fair face. So the poor stableboy was thrown -over, and the young earl was received. The boy got madly jealous, and -so—months after, when the hapless girl was found dead at the bottom of -the shaft in the old castle—the stableboy was arrested on suspicion of -the murder.” - -“I know,” said Wynnette, “and the guide to Enderby Castle says that he -was tried and convicted and hanged at Carlisle. But I have heard that -contradicted.” - -“Yes, it is contradicted. I do not know the truth. It has been so long -ago that no living person can remember it, now that Old Zillah is gone.” - -“She could,” said Wynnette. - -“Oh, yes! she could! But she got facts and fancies so mixed up in her -poor old brain that no one would dream of trusting to her stories. If -you could ever have had the chance to see her, miss, you would have seen -how very mad she was.” - -Wynnette did not think it necessary to explain that she had seen Old -Zillah and heard her story. - -To no one could the girl breathe one word of her terrible night in the -old castle. Sometimes she was half inclined to believe that she had -really fallen asleep on the window sill and dreamed it all—from the -moment of horror and amazement when the spectral eyes lighted up the -loopholes of the old wall, to the moment when she was awakened by the -voice of her sister. - -Wynnette was more bewildered than she liked to own herself to -be—bewildered as to the dream, or the reality of her terrible night! -Bewildered as to the relative truth or falsehood of the two conflicting -stories she had heard of the beautiful peasant girl’s fate. - -“What is dream and what is reality? What is fact and what is fable?” she -asked herself continually. - - - - - CHAPTER XLIX - BROTHER AND SISTER - - -Meanwhile there was another member of the family circle fully as much -perplexed as was Wynnette, though upon another subject. - -The Earl of Enderby could not reconcile all his knowledge—his lifelong -knowledge of Angus Anglesea, his schoolmate at Harrow; his classmate at -Oxford, his brother-in-arms in India, the brave, tender, faithful friend -and comrade of many years and many lands—with this thief, forger, -bigamist, described under his name by Elfrida Force and all her family. - -“Elf,” he said to her one day, as the two sat _tête-à-tête_ in the -library—all the other members of the family circle having gone out for a -stroll on the top of the cliffs—“Elf, my dear, I have had some trials in -my time—not the least among them, my inherited malady, dooming me to an -early death and barring me from marriage——” - -“Oh, Francis, don’t say that! Medical science has reached such -perfection, you may be restored to health; and you are yet not -middle-aged—you may marry and be happy,” said the lady, almost in tears. - -“No, Elf! No, dear! It is impossible! But it is not of my infirmities I -wish to speak now. I would rather never mention them—much rather forget -them, if that were possible! I only meant to say that of all the trials -I have ever suffered, that of hearing such news of Anglesea as you have -told me is the most painful! I cannot forget it! I think of it -constantly, by day and by night.” - -“I am very sorry that we had to tell you, Francis.” - -“Elf! You knew Anglesea in those early days when we both came down to -spend our holidays at Brighton with you.” - -“Yes; I remember.” - -“You knew him then. Could you have believed such villainies of him?” - -“No, not then.” - -“Nor could I then, nor can I now. I wish the man were in England. I -would go to him and make these charges face to face, and put him on his -defense. I shall never rest until I put him on his defense.” - -“Do you not believe what we have told you and proved to you—that this -man is a thief, a forger and a bigamist, even on his own showing?” - -“I believe that you believe it, my dear. And I believe as much of it as -I can believe in the absence of the accused. And when a man is accused -of crime he should be present and be put upon his defense. I wish to -charge Anglesea to his face with these felonies and to hear what he has -to say.” - -Elfrida Force looked so coldly on her brother in answer to these words -that he hastened to say: - -“See here, my dear. Consider how I loved and trusted that man from my -youth up. He was older than myself. He was my mentor, my guide, -philosopher and friend. I could no more have doubted his honor than I -could have doubted yours.” - -The lady winced. - -“Think of it, my dear. Do you wonder that I am sorely perplexed at what -I hear of him? Or that I wish to hear what he has to say for himself? -Suppose any one—Anglesea, for instance, before I had heard a word -against him, when I loved and trusted him most—had come to me and said: -‘Your sister, whom you love and honor so much, has forfeited both love -and honor——’ Elfrida! Heavens! What is the matter?” suddenly exclaimed -the earl, as the lady sank back pallid and fainting in her chair. - -“It is——Go on,” said the sister, recovering herself with an effort. -“Nothing is the matter. You were saying that if Anglesea had come to you -with slanders of your sister——What would you have done?” - -“I should have knocked him down and kicked him out, first of all, as a -preliminary to challenging him. Be sure I should not have believed his -story told behind your back. And I am certain you would not wish me to -be less just to Anglesea than to you.” - -“Very well. I do not believe he will ever dare to show his face in -England again; but if he should, and you should meet him, make the -charge that we have made and see how he will meet it. Of course he will -deny all and accuse his accusers of conspiracy.” - -“It is all very painful and very perplexing, but do not think otherwise -than that I will stand by you and yours, Elfrida, under all -circumstances.” - -“I am quite sure that you will, dear Francis,” replied the lady; and -their talk drifted to other topics. - -“I shall miss you very much, sister, when you go abroad,” he said at -length. - -“But I shall not go, Francis. I shall remain with you. I have been over -the continent so often that I do not care to see it again,” replied the -lady. - -“What do you say, Elfrida? You will not go on this tour with your -husband and children? You will stay here with your invalid brother? That -is good news to me, but what will your husband say to such a plan?” - -“Of course I had a talk with Mr. Force before making up my mind. We -talked it over last night. He thinks just as I do—that it is best for me -to stay with you.” - -“He is very kind; very, very kind. But you will both give up much for -the sake of a poor, sick man.” - -“No, indeed. I really do not care for the continental tour, I have made -it so often.” - -“But there are so many changes since you made it last.” - -“Yes, there is gas instead of lamplight in all the cities; railway -trains instead of diligences on all the highways; and sons on the -thrones of their fathers. I am content to know of these things. I do not -care to see them.” - -“But Mr. Force? He will miss you.” - -“Dear brother, our honeymoon was passed twenty-two years ago. Young love -has matured to old love, or rather to love that never can know age nor -absence. It is not necessary that we should always be looking into each -other’s eyes to make sure that we are happy in our union.” - -“Yet I dare say you never tried it. I dare swear you were never apart -from each other for twenty-four hours in your married life.” - -“No; we never were.” - -“That is why you talk so glibly of a separation for months. You had -better not try it, Elfrida. You had better go with your husband and -party, or make them stay here with you.” - -“Not so, Francis. I will not leave you, now that I have come to you -after so many years of separation. And, on the other hand, I will not -keep the other members of our family party from their travel. It is -necessary that young people should have the advantage of this -continental tour, and it is desirable that they should have the -protection of their father, as well as of their cousin. So I must stay -here, and they must go. If Mr. Force or myself should grow lonesome -during the season of separation he can come here to me. Neither Abel nor -myself should feel the slightest hesitation in leaving our young girls -in the care of their cousin, Leonidas.” - -“My dear, you have some strange, new, and, I suppose, American ideas of -the liberty allowable to young people.” - -“To our own young people, who certainly may be trusted with liberty,” -replied Elfrida Force, with a smile. - -“Well, of course—of course. I am human and selfish enough to be very -glad that you are to stay with me instead of going with your party.” - -The brother and sister then talked of some details relating to the -intended tour, until the _tête-à-tête_ was broken into by the return of -the walking party. - -It was the first of July that the tourists, consisting of Abel, -Leonidas, Odalite, Wynnette and Elva Force and Rosemary Hedge, set out -from Enderby to London, en route for Dover and Paris. - -They were to have a three months’ travel over the continent, and were to -return on the first of October, unless they should receive advices from -the earl to meet him and his sister at Baden-Baden, where he often went -in the autumn for the benefit of his health. - -And with this understanding, and with the promise of an incessant fire -of letters from both sides, the friends parted. - -Leonidas, it should have been explained, on account of his six years -active service at sea—serving double turns, as he put it—had got a six -months furlough, beginning from the first of May. He would, therefore, -not be due at the navy department to report for orders until the first -of November. - -When the large party had left the castle, life at Enderby settled down -to the calmest, not to say the dullest, routine. - -Elfrida Force spent her time in waiting on her invalid brother, reading -the old black-letter tomes in the library, and in writing letters to her -absent family and reading their letters to herself. Sometimes she walked -or rode abroad, but always in company with her brother. - -Sometimes the Vicar of Enderby came and dined with them, and played a -game of chess in the evening with the earl. Two or three times a week -the village doctor looked in to see his chronic patient, and once, on -his advice, a telegram to London brought down a titled court physician -to see the invalid. - -Beyond these no company came to Enderby, and no visits were made by the -earl or his sister. - -The castle was too remote and too difficult of approach for mere visits -of ceremony; and the sick earl was too much of a recluse to encourage or -enjoy the visits of his neighbors. So the lives of the brother and -sister, in the absence of their relatives, passed in almost monastic -seclusion. - -And so July, August and half of September passed. - -It was on the sixteenth of the last-mentioned month that the village -practitioner, after a long visit and talk with his patient, sent a -telegram to the London physician, who came to Enderby by the night’s -express. - -The result of the consultation by the sofa of the invalid patient was -this—that the earl must depart for Baden-Baden as soon as possible. - -Preparations were immediately made for departure. - -Among other precautions, Elfrida Force did not forget Wynnette’s dear -dog. She made a visit to the kennels, where Joshua had found friends -among his canine as well as his human companions, and there she spoke -with the grooms and gave them some money in advance and promised them -more on her return if she should find Joshua well and hearty. - -“I think if anything were to happen to the dog my daughter Wynnette -would almost break her heart,” she said. - -“Bless ’ee, my lady, nothing shall happen the brute but good treatment. -He’s a dog as any one might grow fond on; and as for we, why, we fairly -dotes on him, my lady. And so do him on we. Look, my lady! Hi! Joshway!” - -The dog came bounding from some distant spot and jumped upon the groom -with every demonstration of joy until he saw his mistress, when the old -love and loyalty immediately asserted itself, and he sprang from the -groom to the lady. - -Elfrida Force caressed him to his heart’s content, and then to divert -his attention she emptied a small basket of cold meat that she had -brought for the purpose, and while he was busy with a well-covered beef -bone she patted his head and slipped away. - -On the morning of the same day the earl sent off a telegram to Mr. -Force, at the Hotel d’Angleterre, St. Petersburg, merely saying: “We -leave to-morrow for Baden-Baden. Write to us at the Hotel d’Amerique.” - -Late in the evening he received the following answer: - -“We shall join you at the Hotel d’Amerique.” - -The earl handed the telegram to his sister, saying: - -“I told you the bridegroom would be impatient. The bridal honeymoon was -sweet, no doubt. But what was that to be compared to the honeymoon of -the silver wedding, eh, Elf?” - -She was about to retort by asking him what he could know about it; but -remembering in time the pathos of her brother’s life, and not quite -knowing what else to say, she remarked that the twenty-fifth anniversary -of her wedding was yet three years off. And then she kissed her brother -and bade him good-night. - -Fraught with destiny, the Civil War brought great changes and brought -with misery final happiness to the Forces, as will be related in the -third and final volume of this series, under the title of “When Shadows -Die.” This is published in uniform style and price with this volume. - - - THE END - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - Good Fiction Worth Reading. - - - * * * * * - -A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the -field of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and -diplomacy that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest. - - * * * * * - -=A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE.= A story of American Colonial Times. By Chauncey -C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. -Price, $1.00. - - A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary - scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the true - American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter, - until the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The love - story is a singularly charming idyl. - -=THE TOWER OF LONDON.= A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady Jane -Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four -illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. - - This romance of the “Tower of London” depicts the Tower as palace, - prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is the - middle of the sixteenth century. - - The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, - and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable - characters of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of the - reader in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerably - over a half a century. - -=IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING.= A Romance of the American Revolution. By -Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00. - - Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, - and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit of - the Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves taking - a part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is so - absorbing that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a - love romance it is charming. - -=GARTHOWEN.= A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo. -with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - “This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare - before us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some - strong points of Welsh character—the pride, the hasty temper, the - quick dying out of wrath.... We call this a well-written story, - interesting alike through its romance and its glimpses into another - life than ours. A delightful and clever picture of Welsh village life. - The result is excellent.”—Detroit Free Press. - -=MIFANWY.= The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, 12mo. -with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - “This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to - read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, it - is apparent at once, are as true to life as though the author had - known them all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story is - worked up in that touching and quaint strain which never grows - wearisome, no matter how often the lights and shadows of love are - introduced. It rings true, and does not tax the imagination.”—Boston - Herald. - -=DARNLEY.= A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. By -G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davies. Price, $1.00. - - In point of publication, “Darnley” is that work by Mr. James which - follows “Richelieu,” and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to - the advice and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we are - indebted primarily for the story, the young author questioning whether - he could properly paint the difference in the characters of the two - great cardinals. And it is not surprising that James should have - hesitated; he had been eminently successful in giving to the world the - portrait of Richelieu as a man, and by attempting a similar task with - Wolsey as the theme, was much like tempting fortune. Irving insisted - that “Darnley” came naturally in sequence, and this opinion being - supported by Sir Walter Scott, the author set about the work. - - As a historical romance “Darnley” is a book that can be taken up - pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm - which those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have - claimed was only to be imparted by Dumas. - - If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial - attention, the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic - “field of the cloth of gold” would entitle the story to the most - favorable consideration of every reader. - - There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author - has taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom - history has credited with having entertained the tender passion one - for another, and he succeeds in making such lovers as all the world - must love. - -=CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE.= By Lieut. Henry A. Wise, -U. S. N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarns - who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come - through the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea - and those “who go down in ships” been written by one more familiar - with the scenes depicted. - - The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and which - will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is “Captain Brand,” - who, as the author states on his title page, was a “pirate of eminence - in the West Indies.” As a sea story pure and simple, “Captain Brand” - has never been excelled, and as a story of piratical life, told - without the usual embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no - equal. - -=NICK OF THE WOODS.= A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By -Robert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life in - Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long - out of print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic - presentation of Indian and frontier life in the early days of - settlement in the South, narrated in the tale with all the art of a - practiced writer. A very charming love romance runs through the story. - This new and tasteful edition of “Nick of the Woods” will be certain - to make many new admirers for this enchanting story from Dr. Bird’s - clever and versatile pen. - -=GUY FAWKES.= A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. Harrison -Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. -Price, $1.00. - - The “Gunpowder Plot” was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, the - King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, was - weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of - extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. In - their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spirits - concluded to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters were - arrested, and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other - prisoners with royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through the - entire romance. - -=THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER.= A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio -Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00. - - A book rather out of the ordinary is this “Spirit of the Border.” The - main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian - missionaries in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given - details of the frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke the - wilderness for the planting of this great nation. Chief among these, - as a matter of course, is Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and - at the same time the most admirable of all the brave men who spent - their lives battling with the savage foe, that others might dwell in - comparative security. - - Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian “Village - of Peace” are given at some length, and with minute description. The - efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never have - been before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leaders - of the several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will be - of interest to the student. - - By no means least among the charms of the story are the vivid - word-pictures of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings - of the beauties of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests. - - It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by - it, perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly - braved every privation and danger that the westward progress of the - star of empire might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, - simple and tender, runs through the book. - -=RICHELIEU.= A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By -G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. -Price, $1.00. - - In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, “Richelieu,” and was - recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft. - - In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great - cardinal’s life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while it - was yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic - outbursts which overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost - wave of prosperity. One of the most striking portions of the story is - that of Cinq Mar’s conspiracy; the method of conducting criminal - cases, and the political trickery resorted to by royal favorites; - affording a better insight into the statecraft of that day than can be - had even by an exhaustive study of history. It is a powerful romance - of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling and absorbing - interest has never been excelled. - -=ROB OF THE BOWL.= A Story of the Early Days of Maryland. By John P. -Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, -$1.00. - - This story is an authentic exposition of the manners and customs - during Lord Baltimore’s rule. The greater portion of the action takes - place in St. Mary’s—the original capital of the State. - - The quaint character of Rob, the loss of whose legs was supplied by a - wooden bowl strapped to his thighs, his misfortunes and mother wit, - far outshine those fair to look upon. Pirates and smugglers did Rob - consort with for gain, and it was to him that Blanche Werden owed her - life and her happiness, as the author has told us in such an - enchanting manner. - - As a series of pictures of early colonial life in Maryland, “Rob of - the Bowl” has no equal. The story is full of splendid action, with a - charming love story, and a plot that never loosens the grip of its - interest to its last page. - -=TICONDEROGA.= A Story of Early Frontier Life in the Mohawk Valley. By -G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. -Price, $1.00. - - The setting of the story is decidedly more picturesque than any ever - evolved by Cooper. The story is located on the frontier of New York - State. The principal characters in the story include an English - gentleman, his beautiful daughter, Lord Howe, and certain Indian - sachems belonging to the Five Nations, and the story ends with the - Battle of Ticonderoga. - - The character of Captain Brooks, who voluntarily decides to sacrifice - his own life in order to save the son of the Englishman, is not among - the least of the attractions of this story, which holds the attention - of the reader even to the last page. - - Interwoven with the plot is the Indian “blood” law, which demands a - life for a life, whether it be that of the murderer or one of his - race. A more charming story of mingled love and adventure has never - been written than “Ticonderoga.” - -=MARY DERWENT.= A tale of the Wyoming Valley in 1778. By Mrs. Ann S. -Stephens. Cloth, 12mo. Four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, -$1.00. - - The scene of this fascinating story of early frontier life is laid in - the Valley of Wyoming. Aside from Mary Derwent, who is of course the - heroine, the story deals with Queen Esther’s son, Giengwatah, the - Butlers of notorious memory, and the adventures of the Colonists with - the Indians. - - Though much is made of the Massacre of Wyoming, a great portion of the - tale describes the love making between Mary Derwent’s sister, Walter - Butler, and one of the defenders of Forty Fort. - - This historical novel stands out bright and pleasing, because of the - mystery and notoriety of several of the actors, the tender love - scenes, descriptions of the different localities, and the struggles of - the settlers. It holds the attention of the reader even to the last - page. - -=WINDSOR CASTLE.= A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., -Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00. - - “Windsor Castle” is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne - Boleyn. “Bluff King Hal,” although a well-loved monarch, was none too - good a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable - acts, none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, and - his marriage to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King’s love was as - brief as it was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, - attracted him, and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make room - for her successor. This romance is one of extreme interest to all - readers. - -=HORSESHOE ROBINSON.= A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina in -1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historical - fiction, there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans - than Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story which - depicts with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonists - in South Carolina to defend their homes against the brutal oppression - of the British under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton. - - The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread of - the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning - those times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, is - never overdrawn, but painted faithfully and honestly by one who spared - neither time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming love - story all that price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid as - their share in the winning of the republic. - - Take it all in all, “Horseshoe Robinson” is a work which should be - found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining - story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning - the colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once - more, well illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to - thousands who have long desired an opportunity to read the story - again, and to the many who have tried vainly in these latter days to - procure a copy that they might read it for the first time. - -=THE PEARL OF ORR’S ISLAND.= A story of the Coast of Maine. By Harriet -Beecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. - - Written prior to 1862, the “Pearl of Orr’s Island” is ever new; a book - filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves anew - each time one reads them. One sees the “sea like an unbroken mirror - all around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr’s Island,” and - straightway comes “the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, - like the wild angry howl of some savage animal.” - - Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which - came into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel’s wings, - without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud - blossomed? Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the - character of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid - the angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother’s breast. - - There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that - which Mrs. Stowe gives in “The Pearl of Orr’s Island.” - -=THE LAST TRAIL.= A story of early days in the Ohio Valley. By Zane -Grey. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, -$1.00. - - “The Last Trail” is a story of the border. The scene is laid at Fort - Henry, where Col. Ebenezer Zane with his family have built up a - village despite the attacks of savages and renegades. The Colonel’s - brother and Wetzel, known as Deathwind by the Indians, are the - bordermen who devote their lives to the welfare of the white people. A - splendid love story runs through the book. - - That Helen Sheppard, the heroine, should fall in love with such a - brave, skilful scout as Jonathan Zane seems only reasonable after his - years of association and defense of the people of the settlement from - savages and renegades. - - If one has a liking for stories of the trail, where the white man - matches brains against savage cunning, for tales of ambush and - constant striving for the mastery, “The Last Trail” will be greatly to - his liking. - -=THE KNIGHTS OF THE HORSESHOE.= A traditionary tale of the Cocked Hat -Gentry in the Old Dominion. By Dr. Wm. A. Caruthers. Cloth, 12mo. Four -page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00. - - Many will hail with delight the re-publication of this rare and justly - famous story of early American colonial life and old-time Virginian - hospitality. - - Much that is charmingly interesting will be found in this tale that so - faithfully depicts early American colonial life, and also here is - found all the details of the founding of the Tramontane Order, around - which has ever been such a delicious flavor of romance. - - Early customs, much love making, plantation life, politics, intrigues, - and finally that wonderful march across the mountains which resulted - in the discovery and conquest of the fair Valley of Virginia. A rare - book filled with a delicious flavor of romance. - -=BY BERWEN BANKS.= A Romance of Welsh Life. By Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo. -Four page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price $1.00. - - It is a tender and beautiful romance of the idyllic. A charming - picture of life in a Welsh seaside village. It is something of a - prose-poem, true, tender and graceful. - - * * * * * - -For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the -publishers, A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52–58 Duane St., New York. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. P. 195, changed “Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some - ?” to “Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some - sort?” [Wild guess.] - 2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - 5. Enclosed bold font in =equals=. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where - you are located before using this eBook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that: - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without -widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/68273-0.zip b/old/68273-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bb46531..0000000 --- a/old/68273-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68273-h.zip b/old/68273-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a1a1178..0000000 --- a/old/68273-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68273-h/68273-h.htm b/old/68273-h/68273-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index f2674be..0000000 --- a/old/68273-h/68273-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15105 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta charset="utf-8" /> - <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Love’s Bitterest Cup, by Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth</title> - <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> - <style> /* <![CDATA[ */ - body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } - h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; } - h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; } - .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; - text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; - border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; font-style: normal; - font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; } - p { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; text-align: justify; } - .fss { font-size: 75%; } - .sc { font-variant: small-caps; } - .large { font-size: large; } - .xlarge { font-size: x-large; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .lg-container-b { text-align: center; } - .x-ebookmaker .lg-container-b { clear: both; } - .lg-container-r { text-align: right; } - .x-ebookmaker .lg-container-r { clear: both; } - .linegroup { display: inline-block; text-align: justify; } - .x-ebookmaker .linegroup { display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; } - .linegroup .group { margin: 1em auto; } - .linegroup .line { text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em; } - div.linegroup > :first-child { margin-top: 0; } - .linegroup .in16 { padding-left: 11.0em; } - .linegroup .in2 { padding-left: 4.0em; } - .linegroup .in24 { padding-left: 15.0em; } - .linegroup .in38 { padding-left: 22.0em; } - .linegroup .in6 { padding-left: 6.0em; } - .linegroup .in8 { padding-left: 7.0em; } - .ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; } - ol.ol_1 {padding-left: 0; margin-left: 2.78%; margin-top: .5em; - margin-bottom: .5em; list-style-type: decimal; } - div.pbb { page-break-before: always; } - hr.pb { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 1em; } - .x-ebookmaker hr.pb { display: none; } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .figcenter { clear: both; max-width: 100%; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; } - .figcenter img { max-width: 100%; height: auto; } - .id001 { width:10%; } - .x-ebookmaker .id001 { margin-left:45%; width:10%; } - .ig001 { width:100%; } - .nf-center { text-align: center; } - .nf-center-c0 { text-align: justify; margin: 0.5em 0; } - .c000 { margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } - .c001 { page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em; } - .c002 { margin-top: 1em; } - .c003 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-top: 0.8em; - margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-left: 35%; margin-right: 35%; width: 30%; } - .c004 { text-align: right; } - .c005 { margin-top: 4em; } - .c006 { page-break-before:auto; margin-top: 4em; } - .c007 { margin-top: 2em; text-indent: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c008 { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c009 { margin-top: 1em; font-size: .9em; } - .c010 { text-indent: 0; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c011 { font-size: .9em; text-indent: 1em; margin-top: 0.25em; - margin-bottom: 0.25em; } - .c012 { font-size: .9em; } - .c013 { margin-top: 2em; font-size: .9em; } - .c014 { text-indent: 0; font-size: .9em; margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom: 0.25em; - } - .c015 { margin-top: 2em; } - .c016 { border: none; border-bottom: thin solid; margin-bottom: 0.8em; - margin-left: 35%; margin-right: 35%; width: 30%; margin-top: 2em; } - div.tnotes { padding-left:1em;padding-right:1em;background-color:#E3E4FA; - border:thin solid silver; margin:2em 10% 0 10%; font-family: Georgia, serif; - clear: both; } - .covernote { visibility: hidden; display: none; } - div.tnotes p { text-align: justify; } - .x-ebookmaker .covernote { visibility: visible; display: block; } - .figcenter {font-size: .9em; page-break-inside: avoid; max-width: 100%; } - .x-ebookmaker img {max-height: 30em; max-width: 100%; } - p,h1,h2,h3 { clear: both; } - .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } - .ol_1 li {font-size: .9em; } - .x-ebookmaker .ol_1 li {padding-left: 1em; text-indent: 0em; } - body {font-family: Georgia, serif; text-align: justify; } - table {font-size: .9em; padding: 1.5em .5em 1em; page-break-inside: avoid; - clear: both; } - div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; } - div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } - .ph1 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: xx-large; - margin: .67em auto; page-break-before: always; } - .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; - page-break-before: always; } - .border {border-style: solid;border-width: 1px; } - .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } - /* ]]> */ </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Love’s bitterest cup, by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Love’s bitterest cup</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>A sequel to “Her Mother’s Secret”</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 9, 2022 [eBook #68273]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'><em><span class='sc'>Love’s Bitterest Cup</span></em><br /> <span class='large'>A Sequel to “Her Mother’s Secret”</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='xlarge'><em>By</em></span></div> - <div><span class='xlarge'>MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>AUTHOR OF</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>“The Lost Lady of Lone,” “The Trail of the Serpent,” “Nearest and Dearest,” “A Leap in the Dark,” “A Beautiful Fiend,” Etc.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>A. L. BURT COMPANY</div> - <div><span class='sc'>Publishers</span>       <span class='sc'>New York</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='border'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>POPULAR BOOKS</div> - <div class='c002'>By MRS. E. D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH</div> - <div class='c002'>In Handsome Cloth Binding</div> - <div class='c002'>Price per volume,       60 Cents</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c003' /> -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Beautiful Fiend, A</div> - <div class='line'>Brandon Coyle’s Wife</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to A Skeleton in the Closet</span></div> - <div class='line'>Bride’s Fate, The</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to The Changed Brides</span></div> - <div class='line'>Bride’s Ordeal, The</div> - <div class='line'>Capitola’s Peril</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to the Hidden Hand</span></div> - <div class='line'>Changed Brides, The</div> - <div class='line'>Cruel as the Grave</div> - <div class='line'>David Lindsay</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Gloria</span></div> - <div class='line'>Deed Without a Name, A</div> - <div class='line'>Dorothy Harcourt’s Secret</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to A Deed Without a Name</span></div> - <div class='line'>“Em”</div> - <div class='line'>Em’s Husband</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to “Em”</span></div> - <div class='line'>Fair Play</div> - <div class='line'>For Whose Sake</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Why Did He Wed Her?</span></div> - <div class='line'>For Woman’s Love</div> - <div class='line'>Fulfilling Her Destiny</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to When Love Commands</span></div> - <div class='line'>Gloria</div> - <div class='line'>Her Love or Her life</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to The Bride’s Ordeal</span></div> - <div class='line'>Her Mother’s Secret</div> - <div class='line'>Hidden Hand, The</div> - <div class='line'>How He Won Her</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Fair Play</span></div> - <div class='line'>Ishmael</div> - <div class='line'>Leap in the Dark, A</div> - <div class='line'>Lilith</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to the Unloved Wife</span></div> - <div class='line'>Little Nea’s Engagement</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Nearest and Dearest</span></div> - <div class='line'>Lost Heir, The</div> - <div class='line'>Lost Lady of Lone, The</div> - <div class='line'>Love’s Bitterest Cup</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Her Mother’s Secret</span></div> - <div class='line'>Mysterious Marriage, The</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to A Leap in the Dark</span></div> - <div class='line'>Nearest and Dearest</div> - <div class='line'>Noble Lord, A</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to The Lost Heir</span></div> - <div class='line'>Self-Raised</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Ishmael</span></div> - <div class='line'>Skeleton in the Closet, A</div> - <div class='line'>Struggle of a Soul, The</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to The Lost Lady of Lone</span></div> - <div class='line'>Sweet Love’s Atonement</div> - <div class='line'>Test of Love, The</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to A Tortured Heart</span></div> - <div class='line'>To His Fate</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Dorothy Harcourt’s Secret</span></div> - <div class='line'>Tortured Heart, A</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to The Trail of the Serpent</span></div> - <div class='line'>Trail of the Serpent, The</div> - <div class='line'>Tried for Her life</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Cruel as the Grave</span></div> - <div class='line'>Unloved Wife, The</div> - <div class='line'>Unrequited Love, An</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to For Woman’s Love</span></div> - <div class='line'>Victor’s Triumph</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to A Beautiful Fiend</span></div> - <div class='line'>When Love Commands</div> - <div class='line'>When Shadows Die</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Love’s Bitterest Cup</span></div> - <div class='line'>Why Did He Wed Her?</div> - <div class='line'>Zenobia’s Suitors</div> - <div class='line in2'><span class='small'>Sequel to Sweet Love’s Atonement</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c003' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>For Sale by all Booksellers or will be sent postpaid on receipt of price.</div> - <div>A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c004'>New York</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Copyright, 1882, 1889</div> - <div>By <span class='sc'>Robert Bonner</span></div> - <div class='c002'>Renewal granted to Mrs. Charlotte Southworth Lawrence, 1910</div> - <div class='c002'>“LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP”</div> - <div class='c002'>Printed by special arrangement with <span class='sc'>Street & Smith</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'>A WEDDING FROLIC AT FOREST REST</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The good folk of our county always seized with gladness -any fair excuse for merry-making, especially in the -dead of winter, when farm work was slack.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now the marriage of the popular young doctor with -the well-liked young teacher was one of the best of excuses -for general outbreak into gayety.</p> - -<p class='c008'>True, the newly married pair wished to settle down -at once in their pretty cottage home, and be quiet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But they were not to be permitted to do so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every family to whom the young doctor stood in the -relation of attendant physician gave either a dinner or a -dancing party.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Judge Paul McCann, an old bachelor, who was one of -his most valuable patients—a chronic patient dying of -good living, and taking a long, long time to do it in—gave -a heavy dinner party, to which he invited only married -or middle-aged people—such as the elder Forces, -Grandieres, Elks, and—Miss Bayard, who did not attend.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This dinner came off on the Monday after the marriage, -and was a great success.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every one was pleased, except the young people who -had nothing to do with it.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>“Selfish old rhinoceros! Wouldn’t give a dancing -party because he’s got the gout! And Natty so fond of -dancing, too!” growled Wynnette, over her disappointment -on that occasion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the Grandieres consoled her and all the young -people by giving a dancing party at Oldfields on the following -Wednesday, and inviting all the members, young -and old, of every family in the neighborhood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This party was but a repetition, with improvements, -on the New Year’s Eve party, just four weeks previous; -for again there was a full moon, a deep, level snow, -frozen over, and fine sleighing, and all circumstances -combined to make the entertainment a most enjoyable -one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This frolic was followed on Friday with a dancing -party given by the Elks at Grove Hill, to which the same -people were invited, and where they talked, laughed and -danced as merrily as before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And do you think that the descendant of the “Dook of -England” was one to neglect her social duties, or to be -left behind in the competition of hospitable attentions to -the bride and groom because her house was small and -her means were even smaller?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not at all! So she determined to give a dancing -party on the next Tuesday evening, and invite all the -neighborhood with his wife and children, and “his sisters, -aunts and cousins.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, great Jehosophat, Aunt Sibby, if you ask all -these people, what are you going to do with them? They -can’t all get into the house, you know!” exclaimed Roland -Bayard, while his aunt and himself were forming -a committee of ways and means.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s <em>their</em> business! <em>My</em> business is to invite them -to a party, and to open the door. <em>Their</em> business is to -get in the house—if they can. Do your duty, sez I! -Without fear or favor, sez I! Do the proper thing, sez -I! unregardless of consequences, sez I! <em>My</em> duty is to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>give a party to the bride and groom, and I’m a-going to -do it! Take your own share of the world’s play, sez I, -as well as the world’s work, sez I! We can’t live our -lives over again, sez I!</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Live while you live, the sacred preachers say,</div> - <div class='line'>And seize the pleasures of the passing day.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“I think you have got that quotation wrong, auntie,” -said Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Tain’t quotation, you ignomanners! It’s verses out -of the ‘English Reader’ as I used to study when I went -to school to young Luke Barriere, when he was young -Luke, and before he left off teaching and divested all his -yearnings into a grocery.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, you have got the lines wrong, anyway, Aunt -Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I tell you I ain’t! What do you know about it? -I’ve read more verse books than ever you knew the names -of! But that ain’t nothing to the point! What I want -you to do is to take the mule cart and drive round the -neighborhood, and invite all the company—everybody -that we saw at all the other parties! Every one of ’em—childun -and all! When you do a thing, sez I, do it -well, sez I! What’s worth a-doing of at all, sez I, is -worth doing well, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I might as well start at once, as it will take me all -day to go the rounds. I’ll go harness up the mule now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, go; and wherever you happen to be at dinner -time there you stop and get your dinner. I shan’t expect -you home till night, because after you have given -out all the invitations, you know, I want you to call at -old Luke Barriere’s grocery store and fetch me——Stop! -have you got a pencil in your pocket?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Aunt Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, put down—Lord! where shall I get a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>piece of writing paper? Hindrances, the first thing! -It’s always the way, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It need not be writing paper. This will do,” said -Roland, tearing off a scrap of brown wrapper from a -parcel that lay on the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, then, write,” said Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she gave him a list for sugar, spices, candies, -“reesins” and “ammuns,” “orringes” and “lemmuns.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is this all?” inquired Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and tell Luke Barriere he must charge it to me, -and tell him I’ll pay him as soon as I get paid for that -last hogshead of tobacco I shipped to Barker’s.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, auntie.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And, mind, as I told you before, I shan’t expect you -home to dinner. You won’t have time to come. And I -shan’t get no dinner, neither, ’cause all the fireplace will -be took up baking cakes. Soon’s ever you’re gone, me -and Mocka is a-going right at making of ’em. Thanks -be to goodness as we have got a-plenty of our own flour, -and eggs, and milk, and butter! And when you have -got plenty of flour, and eggs, and milk, and butter, sez -I, you’ll get along, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, Aunt Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And don’t you forget to invite Luke Barriere to the -party, mind you! You mustn’t forget old friends, sez -I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! And must I invite Judge Paul McCann?” inquired -the sailor, with a twinkle in his eye, for you see</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“They had been friends in youth.”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“No!” emphatically replied the old lady. “No! -Them as has the least to do with old Polly McCann, sez -I, comes the best off, sez I! There! Now go! You -ain’t got a minute more to lose!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young man went out to the little stable behind -the house, and put the mule to the cart, and drove -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>around to the front door, to come in and get his overcoat -and cap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! I forgot to tell you, Roland! Hire the nigger -fiddlers while you are out,” said Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’ll remember, aunt,” replied the young man, drawing -on his “surtout,” and, with cap and gloves in hand, -hurrying out to the cart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In another moment Miss Sibby heard the mule cart -rattle away on its rounds.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She then tied on a large apron, rolled up her sleeves, -washed her hands, and went into the kitchen to make -cakes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And all that day her two servants, Mocka and Gad, -had a time of it!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Late in the evening Roland came back with a cargo -of groceries, and the report that all the neighborhood -had been invited to her party, and had accepted the -invitation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now, Aunt Sibby, it is getting awfully serious! -If they all come—and they will all come—where are -you going to put them? Here are only three rooms on -this floor—the kitchen, the parlor and the parlor bedroom,” -said Roland, in real concern.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le’s see,” mused the old lady, looking around. -“‘Where there’s a will there’s a way,’ sez I! And, Lord -knows, as I have got the will, I must find the way! The -party is given to the young bride and groom, and for the -sake of the dancers, and they must have the preference. -Le’s see, now: The bed must be took out’n the parlor -bedroom and put upstairs. The folks as don’t dance -must sit in the parlor bedroom, with the door open, so -as they may see the dancing and hear the music. Then -the dancers must dance in this parlor, and the nigger -fiddlers can play in the kitchen, with the door open, so -the music can be heard all over the house. The two -rooms upstairs can be used for the ladies’ and gentlemen’s -dressing rooms. Oh, there’s ample space! ample! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>And we shall have a grand time, Roland!” said the old -lady of sixty-one with the heart of sixteen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And her words came true. Everything was propitious. -To be sure, the moonlight was gone; but the -sky was clear and cold, and the stars sparkling with the -brilliancy that is only to be seen in just such winter -weather, and the snow was deep and frozen hard, and -the sleighing was “hevvingly,” as the lady from Wild -Cats’ described it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And when all the company were assembled in Miss -Sibby’s little, hospitable house, and divided into rooms -according to her plan, there was really no uncomfortable -crowd at all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Roland Bayard received all the guests at the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gad showed the gentlemen upstairs into the little -north bedroom, and Mocka conducted the ladies up into -the little south bedroom.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Both these small attic chambers had been neatly prepared -as dressing rooms.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As the guests came down, Miss Sibby, in her only -black silk dress and Irish gauze cap, received them at -the foot of the stairs, and took them in turn to their -appointed places.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The negro fiddlers were seated in the kitchen near -the door, which was opened into the parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young people formed a double set on the parlor -floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The elders sat on comfortable seats in the parlor bedroom, -with the door open, so that they could see the -dancers and hear the music, while gossiping with each -other.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“The fun grew fast and furious”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>as the witches’ dance at Kirk Alloway.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Miss Sibby!” cried Wynnette, in one of the breathless -pauses of the whirling reel—“Miss Sibby, for downright -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>roaring fun and jollification your party does whip -the shirt off the back of every party given this winter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’m proud you like it; but, oh, my dear Miss Wynnette -Force, do not put it that there way! Wherever -did you pick up sich expressions? It must a been from -them niggers,” said Miss Sibby, deprecatingly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I reckon it was from the niggers I ‘picked up sich -expressions,’ Miss Sibby, for the words and phrases they -let fall are often very expressive—and I take to them -so naturally that I sometimes think I must have been a -nigger myself in some stage of pre-existence,” laughed -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t know what you are talking about, child; but -I do know as you sartainly ought to break yourself of -that there habit of speaking.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do try to, Miss Sibby! I correct myself almost -every time,” said Wynnette, and then craning her neck -with dignity, she added—“What I meant to say about -your entertainment, Miss Bayard, was that it is far the -most enjoyable I have attended this season.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank y’, honey, that’s better! A young lady can’t -be too particular, sez I!” concluded Miss Sibby. But -before she finished speaking the whirl of the reel had -carried Wynnette off to the other end of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The dancing continued until ten o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fiddlers rested from their labors and took their -grog.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The dancers sat down to recover their breath and to -partake of refreshments in the form of every sort of -cake, candy, nut and raisin, to say nothing of apple -toddy, lemon punch and eggnogg.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When all had been refreshed the music and dancing -recommenced and continued until midnight, when they -wound up the ball with the giddy Virginia reel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hot mulled port wine was handed round and -drunk amid much laughing, talking and jesting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then the company put on their wraps, took leave of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>their happy hostess, re-entered their sleighs and started -merrily for their homes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The lady from the gold diggings had partaken so -heartily of all the good things provided by Miss Sibby, -and had tested so conscientiously the rival merits of -apple toddy, lemon punch, eggnogg and mulled port, -that she went sound asleep in the sleigh and slept all the -way to Mondreer and on being roused up to enter the -house she addressed the dignified squire as Joe Mullins, -and remarked that she thought the lead was running out -at Wild Cats’, and they had better vamose the gulch -and go prospecting some’eres else.</p> - -<p class='c008'>However, she slept off the effects of the party and -was her own happy and hearty self at breakfast the next -morning.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'>ODALITE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Among all the merry-makers there was one sad face—Odalite’s—which -no effort of self-control could make -otherwise than sad.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite, for the sake of her young sisters, had joined -every party, but she took no pleasure in them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now that all the distracting excitement was over, and -she could think calmly of the circumstances, they all -combined to distress, mortify and humiliate her. The -remembrance of that scene in the church, of which at -the time it transpired she was but half conscious, was to -her so shameful and degrading that she secretly shrank -from the eyes of friends and neighbors whom she was -obliged to meet at the various gatherings in the neighborhood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then the doubt of her real relations to the Satan who -had entered her Eden, the uncertainty of her true position, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>and the instability of her circumstances, all gathered -around her like heavy clouds and darkened, saddened -and oppressed her spirits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That Anglesea had no moral claim on her she was perfectly -well assured. That her father would protect her -against him she felt equally certain. But that the man -might have a legal claim upon her—supposing his marriage -with the Widow Wright to have been an irregular -one—and that he might give her dear mother and herself -trouble through that claim, she was sorely afraid.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then there was Le—her dear, noble, generous Le—who -had pardoned her apparent defection and had -sworn to be faithful to her and share her fate to the end -of life, even though that fate should oblige them to live -apart in celibacy forever. Her heart ached for Le. She -had had but one letter from him since he left the house, -a month before. In it he told her that he had reached -his ship only six hours before she was to sail, and that -he had only time to write a few farewell lines on the -eve of departure. But these lines were, indeed, full of -love, faith and hope. He told her that he should keep a -diary for her, and send it in sections by every opportunity. -And he renewed all his vows of fidelity to her -through life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That was his first and last letter up to this time. -But now she was looking for another.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This daily expectation and the weekly visits to Greenbushes -helped to occupy her mind, and enabled her to -endure life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Old Molly, the housekeeper there, who did not understand, -and could not appreciate, the comfort and consolation -that Odalite derived from these weekly inspections, -remonstrated on the subject, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Deed, Miss Odalite, ’tain’t no use for you to take all -dis yere trouble for to come ober yere ebery week to see -as de rooms is all opened and aired and dried—’deed it -ain’t. You can trust me—’deed you can. Now did you -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>eber come ober yere on a Wednesday morning, and not -find a fire kindled into ebery room in de house, and de -windows all opened, ef it was clear? And likewise, if -you war to come at night, you’d find the fires all out, and -the windows all shut, and the rooms all dry as a toast.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know I can trust you thoroughly, Molly, but you -see I like to come. It seems to bring me nearer Le, you -know,” Odalite replied, in her gentle and confiding way.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, honey, so it do, indeed. Well, it was a awful -set-down to us w’en dat forriner come yere an’ cut Marse -Le out, an’ him a married man, too, Lord save us!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, Molly. You must not speak of that person to -me,” said Odalite, sternly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord, honey, I ain’t a-blamin’ of you. Well I knows -as you couldn’t help it. Well I knows as he give you -witch powders, or summut, to make you like him whedder -or no. W’ite people don’t believe nuffin ’bout dese -witch powders, but we dem colored people we knows, -honey. But now he is foun’ out an’ druv away, we dem -all sees as you is a fo’gettin’ de nonsense, honey, ’cause -he can’t give you no mo’ witch powders. Lor’! why, if -it had been true love you feeled for him, you couldn’t -a got ober it as soon as you has, eben if yer had foun’ -him out to be de gran’ vilyun as he is, ’cause it would -a took time. But as it war not true love, but only witch -powders, you see you got ober it eber since he went away. -Lor’! I knows about witch powders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Please, Mollie,” pleaded Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the negro woman, having mounted her hobby, -rocked on:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Neber mind, honey. You and Marse Le is young -’nough to spare t’ree years, an’ next time he come home, -please de Lord, we’ll all ’joy a merry marridge, an’ you -an’ him to come to housekeeping ’long of us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite took leave, and went home. That was the -only way in which she could escape the painful subject.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She found a letter from Le on her return. It was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>dated last from Rio de Janeiro. It contained the daily -record of the young midshipman’s life on the man-of-war, -and no end to the vows of love and constancy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This letter came under cover to her mother. It -cheered Odalite up for days.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But again her spirits sank.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At length her health began to suffer, and then her -parents took into consideration a plan that had been -discussed a month before. This was to leave the plantation -under the competent direction of their long-known -overseer and their family solicitor, and to take a furnished -house in Washington City for three years, during -which time they could place their two younger -daughters at a good finishing school, and introduce their -eldest into society.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was Mrs. Force who had first proposed the plan, -and it was she who now recurred to it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You know, dear Abel,” she said to her husband, -while they were sitting together one morning in her little -parlor, “you know that two considerations press on us -now—the health of Odalite and the education of Wynnette -and Elva. I really fear for Odalite, and so does -Dr. Ingle, if she should be permitted to remain in this -neighborhood, where everything reminds her of the distress -and mortification she has suffered. Odalite must -have a thorough change. And no better change can be -thought of for her than a winter in Washington. The -gay season is just commencing in that city, and with all -that we could do for her there Odalite would be sure -to improve. Think what a contrast Washington in its -season—Washington with its splendid official receptions, -its operas and concerts, every day and night—would be -to the secluded life we all lead here. And especially -what a contrast in the conception of Odalite, who will -see the city for the first time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I appreciate all that; but, my love, your simple wish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>to go to the city would be quite sufficient for me,” said -the squire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force turned away her head and breathed a sigh, -as she often did at any especial mark of love or trust -from her good husband.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I should not express the wish on my own account, -dear Abel. I have always been well content with our -retired life and your society alone. I spoke only for the -children’s sake. I have told you why Odalite needs the -change, and now I wish to tell you how our residence -in Washington will benefit her younger sisters. Wynnette -and Elva must go on with their education. We -would not like to engage a stranger to come and take -charge of them here, just after such a public event as -that of the broken marriage, even if we could get one to -replace Natalie Meeke, or suit us as well as she did, -which I am sure we could not. Nor, on the other hand, -could we consent to send our children away from us. -So I see no better plan for them, as well as for all, than -that we should all go to Washington, where we can give -our Odalite the social life that she so much needs just -now, and where we can enter Wynnette and Elva as day -pupils in a first-class school.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, I see that you are right,” said Mr. Force. -“You are quite right in regard to the wisdom of going -to Washington, so far as the benefit of our children is -concerned; nor do I see any hindrance to our leaving -this place without our care. Barnes is an invaluable -farm manager, and Copp is as capable an agent as any -proprietor could desire. We will leave the place in their -care. We can go at once, or just as soon as you can -pack up. If we cannot secure a furnished house at once -we can go to a hotel and stay until we can get one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But—what shall we do with Mrs. Anglesea?” demanded -Mrs. Force, in sudden dismay as the vision of -the lady from Wild Cats’ arose in her mind’s eye.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>Abel Force gave a long, low whistle, and then answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We must invite her to go with us to Washington.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To——Invite Mrs. Anglesea to join our party to -Washington?” gasped the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes. She will be charmed to accept, I am sure,” -replied the gentleman, with a twinkle of humor in his -eye.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, good heavens, Abel! how could we introduce -that woman into Washington society?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, indeed. Very much better than we could -into any other society on the face of the earth. The -wives of the high officers of the government are the leaders -of society; the latter are under the dominion of the -sovereign people, who flock to the city in great numbers, -and from all parts of the country, and all ranks and -grades of the social scale; and you will find the drawing -rooms of cabinet ministers and foreign ambassadors -filled with companies more mixed than you could find -elsewhere in the world. Our lady from the gold mines -will find plenty to keep her in countenance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For all that,” said Mrs. Force, “I shall try to evade -the necessity of taking her with us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, we cannot, in decency, turn our guest out -of doors; so the only alternative we have is to take her -with us or stay at home.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think—she is so simple, good-humored and unconventional—that -I think I may explain to her the necessity -of our going to Washington for the sake of the -children, and then give her a choice to go with us or to -remain here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s it!” exclaimed Mr. Force. “And let us hope -that she will elect to remain.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A little later in the day Mrs. Force had an explanation -with her guest, and put the alternative before her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will understand, dear Mrs. Anglesea, the cruel -necessity that obliges us to leave our home at this juncture; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>and now I wish you to be guided by your own impulses -whether to go with us to Washington or to remain -here as long as it may suit you to do so,” said the lady, -in conclusion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You say you’re all a-gwine to a hotel?” inquired the -visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, you don’t catch me leavin’ of a comfortable -home like this, where there’s plenty of turkeys, and -canvas-back ducks, and game of all sorts, as the niggers -shoot and sell for a song, and feather beds, and good -roaring fires, and cupboards full of preserves and sweetmeats, -to go to any of your hotels to get pizened by their -messes, or catch my death in damp sheets. No, ma’am, -no hotels for me, if you please. I got enough of ’em at -the Hidalgo. I know beans, I do; and I stays here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well. I shall be glad to think of you here; and -I shall leave Lucy and Jacob in the house to take care -of it, and they will wait on you,” said the well-pleased -lady of the manor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’ll make myself comfortable, you bet, ole ’oman! -and I’ll take good care of the house while you’re gone—you -may stake your pile on that!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so this matter was satisfactorily settled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Preparations for departure immediately began, and -soon the news got abroad in the neighborhood that the -Forces were going to leave Mondreer and live in Washington.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'>ROSEMARY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“Rosemary, my dear, I wish you would not dance all -the time with young Roland Bayard when you happen -to be at a party with him,” said the grave and dignified -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>Miss Susannah Grandiere to the fair little niece who sat -at her feet, both literally and figuratively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The early tea was over at Grove Hill, and the aunt -and niece sat before the fire, with their maid Henny in -attendance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Grandiere was knitting a fine white lamb’s wool -stocking; Rosemary was sewing together pieces for a -patchwork quilt; and Henny, seated on a three-legged -stool in the chimney corner, was carding wool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why not, Aunt Sukey?” inquired the child, pushing -the fine, silky black curls from her dainty forehead and -looking up from her work.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because, my dear, though you are but a little girl, -and he is almost a young man, yet these intimate friendships, -formed in early youth, may become very embarrassing -in later years,” gravely answered the lady, drawing -out her knitting needle from the last taken off stitch -and beginning another round.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But how, Aunt Sukey?” questioned the little one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In this way. No one knows who Roland Bayard is! -He was cast up from the wreck of the <em>Carrier Pigeon</em>, -the only life saved. He was adopted and reared by Miss -Sibby Bayard, and I think, but am not sure, he was -educated at the expense of Abel Force, who never lets -his left hand know what his right hand does in the way -of charity. But Miss Sibby has hinted as much to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Aunt Sukey, he may be the son of a lord, or a duke, -or a prince,” suggested romantic Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Or of a thief, or pirate, or convict,” added Miss -Grandiere, severely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Aunt Sukey! Never! Never! Dear Roland! -Aunt Sukey, I like Roland so much! And I have good -reason to like him, too, whatever he may be!” exclaimed -the child, with more than usual earnestness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! oh! oh!” moaned Miss Grandiere, sadly, shaking -her head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Aunt Sukey, no one ever has the kindness to ask a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>little girl like me to dance except dear Roland. Other -gentlemen ask young ladies; but dear Roland always -asks me, and he never lets me be neglected. And I shall -never forget him for it, but shall always like him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Um, um, um!” softly moaned the stately lady to herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Roland told me he was named after a knight -who was ‘without fear and without reproach,’ and that -he meant always to deserve his name, and to be my -knight—mine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dear, dear, dear!” murmured Miss Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is the matter, Aunt Sukey?” inquired Rosemary, -again pushing back her silky, black curls, and -lifting her large, light blue eyes to the lady’s troubled -face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rosemary, my child,” began Miss Grandiere, with -out replying to the little girl’s question, “Rosemary, you -know the Forces are going to Washington next week?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! yes; everybody knows that now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Wynnette and Elva are going to be put to school -there?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, everybody knows that, too, Aunt Sukey.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, how would you like to be put to the same -school that they are going to attend?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, so much! So very much, Aunt Sukey! I never -dreamed of such happiness as that! I do so much want -to get a good education!” exclaimed the little girl, firing -with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, my dear child, I think the opportunity of sending -you to school with Wynnette and Elva, and under -the protection of Mr. and Mrs. Force, is such an excellent -one that it ought not to be lost. I will speak to my -sister Hedge about it, and if she will consent to your -going I will be at the cost of sending you,” said the lady, -as she began to roll up her knitting, for the last gleam -of the winter twilight had faded out of the sky and it -was getting too dark even to knit.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>For once in her life Rosemary had forgotten to call -for the curtains to be let down and the candle to be lit -and the novel brought forth. For once the interests of -real life had banished the memory of romance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Henny knew what was expected of her, and so -she put up her cards, went and lighted the tallow candle, -pulled down the window blinds, replenished the fire, and -reseated herself on her three-legged stool in the chimney -corner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary, recalled to the interests of the evening, -went and brought forth the “treasured volume” from -the upper bureau drawer and gave it to her aunt to read. -Then she settled herself in her low chair to listen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was still that long romance of “The Children of -the Abbey” that was the subject of their evening readings. -And they had now reached a most thrilling crisis, -where the heroine was in the haunted castle; when suddenly -the sound of wheels was heard to grate on the -gravel outside, accompanied by girlish voices.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And soon there came a knock at the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who in the world can that be at this hour, after -dark?” inquired Miss Grandiere, as Henny arose and -opened the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite, Wynnette and Elva came in, in their poke -bonnets and buttoned coats.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Miss Grandiere, excuse us, but yours was the -only light we saw gleaming around the edges of the -blinds, and so we knocked at your door,” said Wynnette, -who always took the initiative in speaking, as in other -things.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear child! how is it that you children are out, -after dark?” inquired the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have been making the rounds to bid good-by to -the neighbors. Mamma and papa went out yesterday, -and we to-day. We are going to Washington next week, -and we have come to bid you good-by now,” said Wynnette, -still speaking for all the others.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>“But who is with you for protection? Who drove the -carriage?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Jake drove and Joshua came as bodyguard; but we -are so late that I am afraid Mr. and Mrs. Elk and the -girls are asleep.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They are, my dears; and it is so late that I do not -think it right for you three children to be driving -through the country with no better protection than Jake -and the dog. You must send them home and stay all -night here. Then you will have an opportunity of bidding -good-by to William and Molly and the children -to-morrow morning.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Miss Grandiere, how jolly! I have not spent a -night from home for ages and ages and ages!” exclaimed -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But what will mamma say?” doubtfully inquired -Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I fear, Miss Grandiere, that we ought to return home -to-night,” suggested Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nonsense, my dear child! You must do nothing of -the sort. I will write a note to your mother and send it -by Jake,” replied Miss Grandiere, who immediately arose -and went to get her portfolio.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If it hadn’t been for Miss Sibby Bayard keeping us -so long talking about her ancestor the ‘Duke of England’—she -means the Duke of Norfolk all the time, but flouts -us when we hint as much—we should have been here -two hours ago, and been home by this time,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Grandiere finished her note, put a shawl over her -head and went out herself to speak to the coachman and -send him home to Mondreer with her written message.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now take off your hats and coats, and tell me if you -have had tea,” she said, when she came back into the -room and closed the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes! we took tea with Miss Sibby while she told -us how a certain ‘Duke of England’ lost his head for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>wanting to marry a certain Queen of Scotland,” replied -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That question settled, the girls drew chairs around -the fire, and began to make themselves comfortable.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary could not bear to give up her reading, just -at that particular crisis, too! So she thought she would -entice her company into listening to the story.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We were reading—oh! such a beautiful book!” she -said. “Just hear how lovely it begins!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she took the book up, turned it to the first page -and commenced after this manner:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Hail! sweet asylum of my infancy! Content and -innocence abide beneath your humble roof!—hail! ye -venerable trees! My happiest hours of childish gayety——’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What’s all that about?” demanded Wynnette, the -vandal, ruthlessly interrupting the reader.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is Amanda Fitzallan, coming back to the Welsh -cottage where she was nursed, and catching sight of it, -you know, raises fluttering emotions in her sensitive -bosom,” Rosemary explained, with an injured air.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! it does, does it? But she wouldn’t hold forth -in that way, you know, even if she were badly stage -struck or very crazy,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! I thought it was such elegant language!” -pleaded Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But she wouldn’t use it! Look here! Do you suppose, -when I come back from school, years hence, and -catch sight of Mondreer, I should hold forth in that -hifaluting style?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But what would you say?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing, probably; or if I did, it would be: ‘There’s -the blessed old barn now, looking as dull and humdrum -as it did when we used to go blackberrying and get our -ankles full of chego bites. Lord! how many dull days -we have passed in that dreary old jail, especially in rainy -weather!’ I think that would be about my talk.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>“Oh, Wynnette! you have no sentiment, no reverence, -no——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nonsense!” good-humoredly replied the girl, finishing -Rosemary’s halting sentence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The little girl sighed, closed the book and laid it on -the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The style of that work is very elegant and refined; -and it is better to err on the side of elegance and refinement -than on their opposites,” said Miss Grandiere, with -her grandest air.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As I do every time I open my mouth. But I can’t -help it, Miss Susannah. ‘I am as Heaven made me,’ as -somebody or other said—or ought to have said, if they -didn’t,” retorted Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As it was now bedtime it became necessary to attend -to the sleeping accommodations of these unexpected -guests. But first it was in order to offer them some -refreshments. Henny was not required to draw a jug -of hard cider, or to make and bake hoe cakes in the -bedroom that night. Such “orgies” were only enacted -by the aunt and niece in the seclusion of their private -life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the corner cupboard was unlocked, and a store -of rich cake and pound cake, with a cut-glass decanter -of cherry bounce, all of which was kept for company, -was brought forth and served to the visitors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Meanwhile, Henny went upstairs to kindle a fire in -the large, double-bedded spare room, just over Miss -Sukey’s chamber.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Miss Susannah,” said Odalite, while the group sat -around the fire nibbling their cake and sipping their -bounce, “I have a favor to ask of you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Anything in the world that I can do for you, Odalite, -shall be done with the greatest pleasure,” earnestly -replied the elder lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thank you very much, dear friend; and now I will -explain: I promised Le, before we went away, that I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>would go to Greenbushes once a week to see that the -rooms were regularly opened, aired and dried. I have -kept the promise up to the present; but now, you know, -I have to go with the family to Washington. I have -no alternative, and for that reason I would like you to -be my proxy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will, with great pleasure, my dear.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could not ask you to go every week, that would -be too much; but if you can go occasionally and see that -all is right, and drop me a note to that effect, it will—well, -it will relieve my conscience,” concluded Odalite, -with a wan smile.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I certainly will go every week, unless prevented by -circumstances; and I will write to you as often as I go, -to let you know how all is getting on there.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, you are very kind, Miss Susannah; but I fear -you will find it a tax upon your time and patience.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not at all. I shall have plenty of time, and little -that is interesting to fill it up with. For let me tell you -a secret. I intend to avail myself of the opportunity of -your parents being in Washington to send my little Rosemary -to the same school that Wynnette and Elva will -attend.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, that will be jolly!” “Oh, that will be lovely!” -exclaimed Wynnette and Elva, in the same instant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is, if Mr. and Mrs. Force will not consider the -addition of Rosemary to their party an intrusion.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, Miss Susannah! How dare you slander my -father and mother right before my two looking eyes?” -exclaimed Wynnette. “They will be just set up to have -Rosemary! Besides, where’s the intrusion, I’d like to -know? The railroad and the hotel and the boarding -school are just as free for you as for me, I should -think.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rosemary would board at the school, of course,” continued -Miss Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So shall Elva and I. If papa could have got a furnished -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>house we should have lived at home, and entered -the academy as day pupils; but, you see, as papa could -not get a house he and mamma and Odalite will live at -one of the West End hotels, and Elva and I at the -academy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And, oh! won’t it be lovely to have dear Rosemary -with us? We should not feel half so strange,” said little -Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will speak to your father and mother on the -subject when you go home, Odalite, my child; and I -will call on them later. If they will take charge of -Rosemary on the journey, and enter her at the same -school with yourselves, I will be at all the charges, of -course, and I shall feel very much obliged,” said Miss -Susannah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You may rest assured that papa and mamma will be -very glad to take charge of dear little Rosemary; not -only for her sake and for your sake, but for our sakes, -so that we may have an old playmate from our own -neighborhood to be our schoolmate in the new home,” -said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is something in that,” remarked Miss Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As for Elva and Rosemary, they were sitting close -together on one chair, with their arms locked around -each other’s waist, in fond anticipation of their coming -intimacy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Henny now came in and said that the spare room was -all ready for the young ladies.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Grandiere lighted a fresh candle, and conducted -her visitors to the upper chamber, saw that all their -wants were supplied, and bade them good-night.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Soon after, aunt and niece also retired to bed; but -Rosemary could not sleep for the happiness of thinking -about going to boarding school in the city along with -Wynnette and Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Early in the morning William and Molly Elk, their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>little girls, and in fact the whole household, with the -exception of Miss Sukey, her niece and her maid, were -astonished to hear that there were visitors in the house -who had arrived late on the night before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They prepared a better breakfast than usual in their -honor, and gave them a warm welcome.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Soon after breakfast, Jake arrived with the family -carriage to fetch the young people home, and also with a -message from Mr. and Mrs. Force, thanking Miss Grandiere -for having detained their imprudent children all -night.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You and Rosemary go home with us, Miss Susannah. -There’s plenty of room inside the carriage for six people, -and we would only be five. Do, now! And let us have -this matter of going to school settled at once,” urged -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Grandiere hesitated, even though Elva joined in -the invitation. But when Odalite, the eldest and grown-up -sister, added her entreaties to those of the others, -Miss Sukey yielded, because she wanted to yield.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girls then took leave of all their friends at Grove -Hill and entered the capacious carriage, accompanied by -Miss Grandiere and Rosemary—that is, two of them -did. One was missing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is Wynnette?” inquired Miss Grandiere, as -she sank into the cushions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She is on the box, driving, while Jacob is sitting with -folded arms beside her,” answered Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is highly improper.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You cannot do anything with Wynnette, Miss Susannah. -She will drive as often as she can. And -Jacob’s presence beside her makes it safe, at least. He -is ready to seize the reins at any emergency.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, but really—really—my dear Odalite——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sudden starting of the horses at a spanking pace -jerked Miss Grandiere’s words from her lips, and herself -forward into little Elva’s arms.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>However, they arrived safely at Mondreer, where -they were very cordially welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Miss Grandiere proposed her plan of sending -Rosemary with them, to go to school with their own -children, the lady and gentleman responded promptly -and cordially.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have not selected our school yet,” Mr. Force explained. -“We wish to get the circulars and personally -inspect the schools before we make our choice, but if -you leave your niece in our hands, we shall do by her -exactly as by our own.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am sure you will. And I thank you from my soul -for the trouble you take. I shall sign some blank checks, -for you to fill out, for any funds that may be required -for Rosemary,” gratefully responded Miss Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The aunt and niece, at the cordial invitation of the -Forces, stayed to dinner, and were afterward sent home -in a wide buggy driven by Jacob.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One day later Miss Grandiere broached to Mrs. Hedge -the subject of sending Rosemary to school with Wynnette -and Elva Force, at her own—Miss Grandiere’s—expense.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This consultation with the mother was a mere form, -Miss Susannah knowing full well that it was the great -ambition of Mistress Dolly’s heart to send her daughter -to a good boarding school, and that she would consider -the present opportunity most providential.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the arrangements were most satisfactorily concluded, -and by the end of the following week, the Forces, -with little Rosemary in their charge, had left Mondreer.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'>AFTER A LAPSE OF TIME</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>It was three years after the Forces left Mondreer, -and they had never returned to it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The farm was managed by Jesse Barnes, the capable -overseer, and the sales were arranged by Mr. Copp, the -family agent, who remitted the revenues of the estate -in quarterly installments to Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The lady from the gold mines remained in the house, -taking such excellent care of the rooms and the furniture -that she had gradually settled down as a permanent -inmate, in the character of a salaried housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’m a-getting too old to be bouncing round prospecting -with the boys, and so I reckon I had better sit down -in this comfortable sitiwation for the rest of my life,” -she confided to Miss Bayard, one February morning, -when that descendant of the great duke honored her by -coming to spend the day at Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s just what I sez myself. When you knows -you’re well enough off, sez I, you’d better let well enough -alone, sez I. And not take after them unsettled people -as are allus changing about from place to place, doing -no good,” assented Miss Bayard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It’s a habit dey gibs deirselves. ’Deed it is, ole mist’ess. -Nuffin’ ’t all but a habit dey gibs deirselves,” remarked -Luce, who had just come in with a waiter, on -which was a plate of caraway-seed cake and a decanter -of blackberry cordial to refresh the visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Just like my neffy, Roland. He was restless enough -after Le went to sea, but after the Forces left the neighborhood -and took Rosemary Hedge with ’em, ropes nor -chains wouldn’t hold that feller, but he must go off to -Baltimore to get a berth, as he called it. Thanks be to -goodness, he got in ’long of Capt. Grandiere as first -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>mate; but Lord knows when I’ll ever see him ag’in, for -he is gone to the East Indies,” sighed Miss Sibby. And -then she stopped to nibble her seed cake and sip her -blackberry cordial.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It’s a habit he gibs hisself, ole mist’ess. ’Deed it is. -Nuffin’ ’t all but a habit he gibs hisself, and you ought -to try to break him of it,” said Luce, as she set the -waiter down on the table and left the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you expect Abel Force ever to come home to -his own house again?” inquired Miss Sibby, between -her sips and nibbles.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes, I reckon so, when the gals have finished -their edication, but not till then. You see they have a -lovely house in Washington, according to what Miss -Grandiere and little Rosemary Hedge tells us, and the -children are at a fine school, so they live there all the -year until the three months summer vacation comes -round, and then when Miss Grandiere goes to Washington -to fetch her little niece home to spend the holidays -here, why, then Mr. and Mrs. Force takes their three -daughters and go traveling. And this next summer they -do talk about going to Europe, but I don’t know that -they will do it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What I sez is that they ought to spend their summers -at Mondreer. When a family is blessed with the -blessing of a good, healthy country home, sez I, they -ought to stay in it, and be thankful for it, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even while the two cronies spoke the door opened, and -Jacob came in, with a letter in his hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There! That’s from the ole ’oman now. I know -her handwriting across the room. And now we shall -hear some news,” said Mrs. Anglesea, with her mouth -full of cake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she took the letter from the negro’s hands, and -opened it without ceremony, and began to read it to -herself, without apology.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>“Is it anything confidential?” demanded Miss Sibby, -who was full of curiosity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No. I will read it all to you as soon as ever I have -spelled it out myself. I never was good at reading writing, -particularly fine hand, and, if I must say it, the ole -’oman do write the scrimble-scramblest fine hand as ever -I see,” said Mrs. Anglesea, peering at the letter, and -turning it this way and that, and almost upside down.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently she began to read, making comments between -the words and phrases of the letter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, it’s ‘Washington City, P Street, N. W., and -February 8th.’ Why, it’s been four days coming. Here -you, Jake! When did you get this letter out’n the post -office?” She paused to call the negro messenger, who -stood, hat in hand, at the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“W’y, dis mornin’, in course, ole mist’ess,” replied the -man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t ‘ole mist’ess’ me, you scalawag! Are you sartain -you didn’t get it Saturday, and forget all about it, -and leave it in your pocket until to-day?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hi, ole—young—mist’ess, how I gwine to forget -w’en you always ax me? No, ’deed. I took it out’n de -pos’ office dis blessed mornin’, ole—young mist’ess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How dare you call me young mist’ess, you——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What mus’ I call you, den?” inquired the puzzled -negro.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ma’am. Call me ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s better. Well, now the next time you go to the -village, Jake, you just tell that postmaster if he keeps -back another letter of mine four days, I’ll have him -turned out. Do ye hear?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, now you may go about your business, and I -will go on with my letter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>The man left the room, and the housekeeper resumed -her reading:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘<span class='sc'>My Dear Mrs. Anglesea</span>’: I wish she wouldn’t -pile that name upon me so! If she knowed how I hated -it she wouldn’t. ‘I write to ask you to have the house -prepared for our reception on the eighth of June. You -will know what is necessary to be done, and you may -draw on Mr. Copp for the needful funds. He has instructions -to honor your drafts.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘The girls expect to grad—grat—gral—gual——’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord ’a’ mercy! what is this word? Can you make -it out, Miss Sibby?” inquired the reader, holding the -letter under the nose of the visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Bayard, who had resumed her knitting after -moderately partaking of cake and cordial, dropped her -work, adjusted her spectacles and inspected the word.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It’s graduate, ma’am. That means finish their edication, -honorable. Young Le Force graduated offen -the Naval ’Cademy before he ever went to sea as a midshipman, -and my scamp, Roland Bayard, graduated -offen the Charlotte Hall ’Cademy before he ran away -and went to sea as a common sailor. I s’pose these girls -is a-going to graduate offen the ‘cademy where they are -getting their edication, and I hope they will do theirselves -credit. When your parents do the best they can -for you, sez I, you ought to try to do the best you can -for yourself, sez I, which is the best return you can -make them, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To do the best you can for them, I should think -would be the first thing to think about, and, likewise, -best return to make them. But now I’ll go on with my -letter:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘The girls expect to graduate at the academic commencement, -on the first of June’—graduate at the commencement! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>I thought pupils graduated at the end!—‘after -which we expect to come down to Mondreer for -the summer, previous to going to Europe. I have much -news of importance to tell you, which concerns yourself -as much as it affects us; but it is of such a nature that -it had best be reserved for the present. Expecting to -see you, I remain your friend,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Elfrida Force</span>.’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>“So they are actually coming home at last,” said Miss -Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, actially coming home at last,” assented the -housekeeper. “But, look here. What does she mean by -that news as she has got to tell me which concerns she -and I both? I reckon it must be news of my rascal. -Lord! I wonder if it is? I wonder if he’s been hung -or anything? I hope to gracious he has! And then she -wouldn’t mention it in a letter, but wait until she could -tell me all about it! It must be that, ole ’oman—my -rascal’s hung!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I reckon it is! When a man lives a bad life, sez I, -he must expect to die a bad death, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, I shan’t go in mourning for him, that’s certain, -whether he’s hung or drowned. But we shall hear -all about it when the folks come home. Lord! why, the -place will be like another house, with all them young -gals in it!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I might ’a’ knowed somethin’ was up t’other Sunday, -when I heard Miss Grandiere tell Parson Peters, at All -Faith Church, how she and Mrs. Hedge were both going -to Washington on the first of June. Of course, it is -to the commencement they’re going, to see Rosemary -graduate along with the others.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But to hear ’em call the end of a thing its commencement, -takes me,” said Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So it do me. And if people don’t know what they’re -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>a-talking about, sez I, they’d better hold their tongues, -sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Young Mrs. Ingle will be mighty proud to have the -old folks and the gals back. Lord! how fond she was -of them two little gals. To think of her naming her -two babies after them—the first Wynnette and the second -Elva. Let’s see; the first one must be two years -old.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnie is twenty-three months old, and Ellie is nine -months; but they are both sich smart, lively, sensible -children that any one might think as they was older than -that. But I don’t hold with children being took so much -notice of, and stimmerlated in their intellects so much. -Fair an’ easy, sez I; slow and sure, sez I, goes a long -way, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>So, talking about their neighbors, as usual, but not -uncharitably, the gossips passed the day. At sunset they -had tea together; and then Gad brought around the -mule cart—the only equipage owned by the descendant -of the great duke—who put on her bonnet and shawl, -bid good-by to her crony, got into her seat and drove -homeward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, the ole ’oman has give me long enough notice -to get ready for ’em; but she knows there’s a good deal -to be done, and country workmen is slow, let alone the -niggers, who is slowest of all,” ruminated Mrs. Anglesea, -who resolved to begin operations next day.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER V<br /> <span class='large'>THE FORTUNES OF ODALITE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>To explain the mysterious letter written by Elfrida -Force to her housekeeper, we must condense the family -history of the last three years, which had passed without -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>any incident worth recording, and bring it up to the time -when events full of importance for good or evil followed -each other in rapid succession.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force, on removing his family to Washington, in -the month of February three years before, took apartments -in one of the best hotels for himself, his wife, -and their eldest daughter, while he placed his two -younger daughters and his little ward at a first-class -boarding school.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Forces had some friends and acquaintances in -the city, and to these they sent cards, which were -promptly honored by calls.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For the sake of Odalite, Mrs. Force chose to enter the -gay society for which she herself had little heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The trousseau prepared for the girl’s luckless, broken -marriage came well into use as an elegant outfit for the -fashionable season in the gay capital.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force escorted his wife and daughter to all the -receptions, concerts, balls and dinners to which they -were invited, and everywhere he felt pride and pleasure -in the general admiration bestowed upon his beautiful -wife and their lovely daughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the instinct of caste was strong in the breast of -Elfrida Force. She and her daughter were recipients -of many elegant entertainments, and she wished to reciprocate, -but could not do so while living at a hotel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His wife’s wishes, joined to his own longing for the -freedom of domestic life, added zeal to Abel Force’s -quest of a house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But it was at the end of the session of Congress before -his desire was gratified. Then a United States -senator, whose term of office had expired, offered his -handsome and elegantly furnished house for rent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. and Mrs. Force inspected the premises, and -leased them for three years.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They did not wish to go in at once, as the season was -at an end, and the summer at hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>But as soon as the retiring statesman and his family -had vacated the house Mr. Force sent in a squad of -housecleaners to prepare the place for the new tenants.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the schools closed for the long summer vacation -he gave little Rosemary Hedge into the hands of -Miss Grandiere, who had come to Washington to fetch -her home, and with his wife and three daughters left -the city for an extensive summer tour.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After three months of varied travel the family returned -to Washington in September, and took possession -of the beautiful town house, near the P Street circle, -in the northwest section of the city.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then they replaced their daughters and their little -ward at the same school—not as boarders, however, but -as day pupils, for Mr. and Mrs. Force wished to have -their girls as much as possible under their own care, -believing home education to be the most influential for -good—or for evil—of all possible training.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Congress met, and the season began, Mrs. -Force took the lead by giving a magnificent ball, to -which all the beauty, fashion, wealth and celebrity of the -national capital were invited, to which they nearly all -came.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The ball was a splendid success.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The beautiful Elfrida Force became an acknowledged -queen of society, and her lovely young daughter was the -belle of the season.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Had no one in the city then heard of her disastrous -wedding broken up at the altar?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not a soul had heard of it. Not one of those friends -and acquaintances of Mrs. Force whom she had met in -Washington, for, be it remembered, she had written to -no one of her daughter’s approaching marriage, and had -bid to the wedding only the nearest neighbors and oldest -friends of her family.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite was saved this unmerited humiliation, at least—though -many who admired the beautiful girl wondered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>that the lovely, dark eyes never sparkled, the -sweet lips never smiled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In this season she had several “eligible” offers of marriage—one -from a young officer in the army; another -from a middle-aged banker; another from an aged cabinet -minister; a fourth from a foreign secretary of -legation; a fifth from a distinguished lawyer; a sixth -from a brilliant congressman; a seventh from a fashionable -preacher; and so on and so on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All these were declined with courtesy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite took very little pleasure in the gay life of -Washington, and very little pride in her conquests.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her sole delight was in Le’s letters, which came to -her under cover to her mother; but were read and enjoyed -by the whole family.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le certainly was a faithful servant of the great republic, -and never neglected his duty; but yet his “most -chiefest occupation” must have been writing to Odalite, -for his letters came by every possible opportunity, and -they were not only letters, but huge parcels of manuscript, -containing the journal of his thoughts, feelings, -hopes and purposes from day to day. And all these -might have been summed in one word—“Odalite.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She also sent letters as bulky and as frequently; and -all that she wrote might have been condensed into a monosyllable—“Le.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>These parcels were always directed in the hand of her -mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ah! mother and daughter ever felt that the eyes of an -implacable enemy were secretly watching them, so that -they must be on their guard against surprise and -treachery.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They suffered this fear, although they never heard -one word from, or of, Angus Anglesea. He might be -dead, living, or imprisoned, for aught they knew of his -state, condition, or whereabouts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the distractions of society, however, they forgot -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>their secret fears, for indeed they had no time for -reflection. This was one of the gayest seasons ever -known in the gay capital; reception, ball and concert followed -ball, concert and reception in a dizzy round; and -the Forces were seen at all! If they had purposely intended -to make up for all the long years of seclusion at -Mondreer they certainly and completely succeeded.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the end of the season they took a rest; but they -did not leave Washington until June, when the schools -closed, and then they placed little Rosemary Hedge in -the hands of Miss Grandiere, who came to the city to -receive her, and they went to Canada for the summer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As this first year passed, so passed the second and -nearly the whole of the third.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was in September of the third year that the monotony -of winter society and summer travel was broken by -something of vital interest to all their lives.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They had just returned to Washington; replaced their -youngest daughters and their ward at school, and settled -themselves, with their eldest daughter, in their town -house, which had been renovated during their absence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a season of repose coming between the summer -travel and the winter’s dissipations. They were receiving -no calls, making no visits, but just resting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One morning the father, mother and daughter were -seated in the back piazza which faced the west, and -was therefore, on this warm morning in September, cool -and shady. The piazza looked down upon a little back -yard, such as city lots can afford. But every inch of -the ground had been utilized, for a walk covered with -an arbor of latticework and grapevines led down to a -back gate and to the stables in the rear. On the right -hand of this walk was a green plot, with a pear tree and -a plum tree growing in the midst, and a border of gorgeous -autumn flowers blooming all around. On the other -side of the walk was another plot with a peach tree and -an apple tree growing in the midst, and a border of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>roses all around. And the grapevine and the fruit trees -were all in full fruition now, and supplied the dessert -every day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr., Mrs. and Miss Force were all seated in the pleasant -Quaker rocking-chairs with which this back piazza -was furnished.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force had the morning paper in his hands and -he was reading aloud to the two ladies, who were both -engaged in crochet work, when the back door opened and -a manservant came out and handed an enveloped newspaper -to his master, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The postmaster has just left it, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And nothing else?” inquired the gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing else, sir—only that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Only a newspaper,” said Mr. Force, laying it down -carelessly, without examination, as he resumed the -<cite>Union</cite> and the article he had been engaged in reading.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one felt the slightest interest in the paper that lay -neglected on the little stand beside Mr. Force’s chair. -Many newspapers came by mail, and but few of them -were opened. Mr. Force went on with his reading, and -Mrs. and Miss Force with their embroidery. And the -neglected newspaper, with its tremendous news, lay -there unnoticed and forgotten with the prospect of being -thrown, unopened, into the dust barrel; which must certainly -have been its fate, had not Odalite chanced to -cast her eye upon it and to observe something unfamiliar -in its style and character. In idle curiosity she took it -up, looked at it, and gave a cry.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <span class='large'>NEWS FROM COL. ANGLESEA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“What is it, my dear?” inquired her father, as Odalite, -with trembling fingers, tore off the envelope and -opened the paper.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>“It—it is—it is postmarked Angleton,” she faltered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Angleton! Give it to me!” peremptorily exclaimed -Abel Force, reaching his hand and taking the sheet from -his daughter, who yielded it up and then covered her -eyes with her hands, while her father examined the -paper and her mother looked on with breathless interest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank Heaven!” exclaimed Abel Force, as his eyes -were riveted on a paragraph he had found there.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What—what is it?” demanded Elfrida Force, in extreme -anxiety, while Odalite uncovered her eyes, and -gazed with eager look and lips apart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A scoundrel has gone to his account! The earth is -rid of an incubus! Listen! This is the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite> -of August 20th, and it contains a notice of the -death of Angus Anglesea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Anglesea—dead!” exclaimed mother and daughter, -in a breath, and in tones that expressed almost every -other emotion under the sun, except sorrow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, dead and gone to—his desserts!” exclaimed Abel -Force, triumphantly; but catching himself up short, before -he ended in a word that must never be mentioned, -under any circumstances. “Here is a notice of his -death.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Read it,” said Mrs. Force, while Odalite looked the -eager interest, which she did not express in words.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force read this paragraph at the head of the -death list:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“<span class='sc'>Died.</span>—On Monday, August 10th, at Anglewood -Manor, in the forty-fourth year of his age, after a long -and painful illness, which he bore with heroic patience -and fortitude, Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dead!” muttered Elfrida Force, thoughtfully.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dead!” echoed Odalite, gravely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes! dead and—doomed!” exclaimed Abel Force, -catching himself up before he had used an inadmissible -word.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>“Then, thank Heaven, I am free! Oh! I hope it was -no sin to say that!” exclaimed Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her father stared at her for a moment, and then -said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, you were always free!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could not feel so while that man lived,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, what claim could the husband of another -woman set up on you?” demanded Mr. Force, in surprise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“None whatever,” replied Elfrida Force, answering -for her daughter; “but after all that she has gone -through, it is perfectly natural that a delicate and sensitive -girl, like Odalite, should have felt ill at ease so -long as her artful and unscrupulous enemy lived, and -should feel a sense of relief at his departure.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I suppose so,” said Abel Force, who was scanning -the first page of the Angleton paper. “And I suppose, -also, that none of us exactly share ‘the profound gloom’ -which, according to this sheet, ‘has spread like an -eclipse over all the land, on the death of her illustrious -son.’ The leading article here is on the death of Anglesea, -with a brief sketch of his life and career, and such -a high eulogium as should only have been pronounced -upon the memory of some illustrious hero, martyr, -Christian, or philanthropist. But, then, this Angleton -paper was, of course, his own organ, and in his own interests, -and in those of his family, or it would never -have committed itself to such fulsome flatteries, even -of the dead, whom it seems lawful to praise and justifiable -to overpraise.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Read it, Abel,” said Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, do, papa, dear,” added Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force read:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“THE GREAT SOLDIER OF INDIA IS NO MORE</p> - -<p class='c011'>“A profound gloom, a vast pall of darkness, like -some ‘huge eclipse of sun and moon,’ has fallen upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>the land at the death of her illustrious son. Col. the -Hon. Angus Anglesea died yesterday at his manor of -Anglewood.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“The Hon. Angus Anglesea was born at Anglewood -Manor, on November 21, 181—. He entered Eton at -the early age of twelve years and Oxford at seventeen. -He graduated with the highest honors, at the age of -twenty-two. He succeeded his father on December 23, -182—. His tastes led him to a military career, and he -entered the army as cornet in the Honorable East India -Company’s service, in his twenty-fifth year. His distinguished -military talents, his heroism and gallantry, his -invaluable services during the Indian campaign, are -matters that have passed into national history; and become -so familiar to all that it would be impertinent to -attempt to recapitulate them here.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“Col. Anglesea married, firstly, on October 13, 184—, -Lady Mary Merland, eldest daughter of the sixth Earl -of Middlemoor; by whom he has one son, Alexander, -born September 1, 184—, now at Eton. Her ladyship -died August 31, 185—. Col. Anglesea married, secondly, -December 20, 185—, Odalite, eldest daughter of -Abel Force, Esq., of Mondreer, Maryland, United -States, by Lady Elfrida Glennon, eldest daughter of the -late Earl of Enderby, who survives him. There is no -issue by the second marriage.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force finished reading, dropped the paper and -stared at his wife and daughter, who were also staring -at him. All three seemed struck dumb with astonishment -at the audacity of the last paragraph.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who is responsible for that?” demanded Mrs. Force, -who was the first to find her voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The reckless braggart who has gone to the devil, I -suppose! No one else could be,” said Abel Force, indignantly.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>“You are right. No one but Anglesea could have been -the originator of such a falsehood.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And here is no mention made at all of the real second -marriage and of the real widow; whom, by the way, -he must have married within a few weeks after the death -of his wife. Yet! let us see! Great Heaven! unless -there is a misprint, there has been an infamous crime -committed, and a heinous wrong done to that Californian -widow, whose marriage with Col. Anglesea was -registered to have taken place on August 1, 185—, full -six weeks before the death of Anglesea’s wife, which -took place on August 25th! And in that case—yes, in -that case the diabolical villain had the legal right, if -not the moral right, to marry our daughter! Great -Heaven! how imperfect are the laws of our highest civilization, -when men have the legal right to do that which -is morally wrong!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! oh! I will never acknowledge the validity of -that marriage ceremony! I will never call myself that -man’s widow, or wear a thread of mourning for him!” -exclaimed Odalite, who could be very brave now that her -mother’s great enemy was dead, and her mother forever -safe from his malignity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You need not, my dear. Nor need the poor Californian -woman ever suspect that any darker wrong than the -robbery of her money has been done her. Why, either, -should we be so excited over this discovery? It is no -new villainy that has come to light. It is simply that -he really wronged the Californian widow instead of you. -The man is dead. Let us not harbor malice against the -dead. He can harm us no more,” said Abel, in his -wish to soothe the excited feelings of his wife and -daughter. But ah! he knew nothing of the greater cause -those two unhappy ladies had had for their detestation -of their deadly enemy.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>But now he was gone forever, and they were delivered -from his deviltries. It was</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The thrill of a great deliverance”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>that so deeply moved them both. All felt it, even Mr. -Force, who soon arose and went out for a walk to reflect -coolly over the news of the morning.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida and Odalite went into the house and tried to -occupy themselves with the question of luncheon and -other household matters, but they could not interest -themselves in any work; they could think of nothing but -of the blessed truth that a great burden had been lifted -from their hearts, a great darkness had passed away -from their minds.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Late in the afternoon Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary -came in from school.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite told them that Col. Anglesea was dead, and -showed them the paper containing the notice of his death -and the sketch of his life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At first the children received the news in silent incredulity, -to be succeeded by the reverential awe with -which the young and happy hear of death and the grave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was the first to recover herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! Odalite, I am glad, for your sake, that you are -freed from the incubus of that man’s life. I hope it is -no sin to say this, for I cannot help feeling so,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope the poor sinner truly repented of his iniquity -and found grace even at the eleventh hour,” breathed the -pitiful little Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t know,” sighed quaint little Rosemary, folding -her mites of hands with sad solemnity. “I don’t -know. It is an awful risk for any one, more particularly -for a man like Col. Anglesea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘The vilest sinner may return,’ you know,” pleaded -Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, he may, but he don’t often do it,” said Wynnette, -putting in her word.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>“Let me read the notice of his death and the sketch -of his life,” suggested Odalite, for she had only shown -them the paper containing these articles.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, do, Odalite,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite read the brief notice, and then she turned to -the sketch and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is longer, and I need not read the whole of it, -you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No. Just pick out the plums from the pudding. I -never read the whole of anything. Life is too short,” -said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The other two girls seemed to agree with her, and so -Odalite began and read the highly inflated eulogium on -Col. Anglesea’s character and career.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The three younger ones listened with eyes and mouths -open with astonishment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, they seem to think he was a good, wise, brave -man!” gasped little Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s because they knew nothing about him,” exclaimed -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Isn’t there something in the Bible about a man being -a good man among his own people, but turning into a -very bad man when he gets into a strange city where the -people don’t know who he is?” inquired Rosemary, very -gravely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe there is, in the Old Testament somewhere, -but I don’t know where,” answered Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That was the way with Anglesea, I suspect. He was -a hypocrite in his own country; but as soon as he came -abroad he cut loose and kicked up his heels—I mean he -threw off all the restraints of honor and conscience,” explained -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite resumed her task, and read of Anglesea’s -birth, his entrance into Eton, and afterward at Oxford, -his succession to his estates, his entrance into the army, -his marriage to Lady Mary Merland, the birth of his -son, and the death of his wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>There she stopped. She did not see fit to read the -paragraph relating to herself; and to prevent her sisters -from seeing it, she rolled up the paper and put it into -her pocket.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They did not suspect that there had been any mention -made of his attempted marriage to Odalite, far less that -it had been recorded there as an accomplished fact; but -they wondered why his marriage to the lady of ‘Wild -Cats’ had not been mentioned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And is there not a word said about his Californian -nuptials?” demanded Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, not a word,” replied Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! you see, he wasn’t proud of that second wife! -She wasn’t an earl’s daughter!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wonder how Mrs. Anglesea will take the news of -her husband’s death, when she hears of it,” mused Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!” breathed Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Their talk was interrupted by the entrance of their -father, who had just come in from his long walk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, papa!” exclaimed Wynnette, “we have just -heard the news! Oh! won’t Le be glad when he hears -it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear children,” said Mr. Force, very solemnly -and also a little inconsistently, “we should never rejoice -at any good that may come to us through the death or -misfortune of a fellow creature.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, oh, papa! in this case we can’t help it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There’s the dinner bell,” said Abel Force, irrelevantly.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <span class='large'>THE EARL OF ENDERBY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Washington City in the month of September is very -quiet and sleepy. The torrid heat of the summer is passing -away, but has not passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>It returns in hot waves when the incense of its burning -seems to rise to heaven.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one goes out in the sun who is not obliged to go, -or does anything else he or she is not obliged to do.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Forces lived quietly in their city home during -this month, neither making nor receiving calls.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The subject of Col. Anglesea’s death and of Le’s return -very naturally occupied much of their thought.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le was expected home at the end of the three years -voyage—then, or thereabouts, no one knew exactly the -day, or even the week.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Letters notifying him of the death of Angus Anglesea -were promptly written to him by every member of -the family, so eager were they all to convey the news -and express themselves on the subject.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even little Elva wrote, and her letter contained a -characteristic paragraph:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“I am almost afraid it is a sin to be so very glad, as -I am that Odalite is now entirely free from the fear that -has haunted her and oppressed her spirits and darkened -her mind for nearly three years. I cannot help feeling -glad when I see Odalite looking so bright, happy and -hopeful, just as she used to look before that man bewitched -her. But I know I ought to be sorry for him, -and indeed I am, just a little. Maybe he couldn’t help -being bad—maybe he didn’t have Christian parents. I -do hope he repented and found grace before he died. -But Rosemary shakes her head and sighs over him. But, -then, you know, Rosemary is such a solemn little thing -over anything serious—though she can be funny enough -at times. Oh, how I wish it was lawful to pray for the -dead! Then I would pray for that man every hour in -the day. And now I will tell you a secret, or—make -you a confession: I do pray for him every night, and -then I pray to the Lord that if it is a sin for me to pray -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>for the dead He will forgive me for praying for that -man. Oh, Le! how we that call ourselves Christians -should try to save sinners while they live!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was on a Saturday, near the middle of October, -when answering letters came from Le—a large packet—directed -to Mr. Force, but containing letters for each -one. They were jubilant letters, filled full of life, and -love, and hope. Not one regret for the dead man! not -one hope that he had repented and found grace, as little -Elva expressed it. Clearly, Le was one of those Christians -who can rejoice in the just perdition of the lost.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His ship was at Rio Janeiro, on her return voyage, -he wrote, and he expected to be home to eat his Christmas -dinner with the uncle, aunt and cousins who were -soon to be his father, mother, wife and sisters. The -New Year’s wedding that was to have come off three -years ago should be celebrated on the coming New Year -with more éclat than had ever attended a wedding before. -Now he would resign from the navy, and settle -down with his dear Odalite at Greenbushes, where it -would be in no man’s power to disturb their peace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le wrote in very much the same vein to every member -of the family, for, as has been seen in the first part -of this story, there never was such a frank, simple and -confiding pair of lovers as these two who had been -brought up together, and whose letters were read by -father, mother and sisters, aunt, uncle and cousins.</p> - -<p class='c008'>To Elva, in addition to other things, he wrote: “Don’t -trouble your gentle heart about the fate of Anglesea. -Leave him to the Lord. No man is ever removed from -this earth until it is best for him and everybody else that -he should go. Then he goes and he cannot go before.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is all very well to say,” murmured poor Elva; -“but, all the same, when I remember how much I wished—something -would happen to him—for Odalite’s sake, I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>cannot help feeling as if I had somehow helped to kill -him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, perhaps you did,” said Wynnette. “I believe -the most gentle and tender angels are all unconsciously -the most terrible destroyers of the evil. I have read -somewhere or other that the most malignant and furious -demon from the deepest pit will turn tail and—no, -I mean will fly, howling in pain, wrath and terror, from -before the face of a naked infant! Ah! there are wonderful -influences in the invisible world around us. You -may have been his Uriel.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But I didn’t want to be—I didn’t want to be!” said -Elva, almost in tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, you didn’t want to be while you were awake and -in your natural state; but how do you know, now, what -you wanted to be when you were asleep and in your -spiritual condition?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elva opened her large, blue eyes with such amazement -that Wynnette burst out laughing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And nothing more was said on the subject at that -time, because Mr. Force, who had left a pile of other -unopened letters on the table while they read and discussed -Le’s, now took up one from the pile, looked at it, -and exclaimed:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, Elfrida, my dear, here is a letter from England -for you. It is sealed with the Enderby crest. -From your brother, no doubt.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The first I have had for years,” said the lady, as -she took the letter from her husband’s hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was directed in the style that would have been used -had the earl’s sister lived in England:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Lady Elfrida Force</span>,</div> - <div class='line in8'>“Mondreer, Maryland, U. S.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>It had been forwarded from the country post office to -the city:</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida opened it and read:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>“<span class='sc'>Enderby Castle</span>, October 1, 186—</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>“<span class='sc'>My Dear and Only Sister</span>: I have no apology to -offer you for my long neglect of your regular letters, -except that of the sad <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">vis inertia</span></i> of the confirmed invalid. -That I know you will accept with charity and -sympathy.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“I am lower in health, strength and spirits than ever -before. I employ an amanuensis to write all my letters, -except those to you.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“I shrink from having a stranger intermeddling with -a correspondence between an only brother and sister, -and so, because I was not able to write with my own -hand, your letters have been unanswered.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“In none of them, however, have you mentioned any -present or prospective establishment of any of your girls, -except that, years ago, you spoke of an early, very early -betrothal of your eldest daughter to a young naval officer. -You have not alluded to that arrangement lately. -Has that come to nothing? It was scarcely a match befitting -one who will some day, should she live, be my successor -here.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“Your girls must have grown up in all these years. -Let us see. Odalite must be nineteen, Wynnette seventeen, -and little Elva fifteen. Two of them, therefore, -must be marriageable, according to Maryland notions. -Write and tell me all about them. And tell me whether -you will come into my views that I am about to open to -you.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“I am lonely, very lonely, not having a near relative -in the world, except yourself and your family. I want -you all to come over and make me a long visit, and then -try to make up your minds to the magnanimity of leaving -one of your girls with me for so long as I may have -to live; or, if one girl would feel lonesome, leave two, to -keep each other company. You and your husband might -be quite happy with one daughter at home.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“So I think. What do you?</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>“My plan may be only the selfish wish of a chronic -sufferer, who is nearly always sure to be an egotist. Consult -your husband, and write to me.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“Give my love to my nieces, and kindest regards to -Mr. Force, and believe me, ever, dear Elfrida,</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Your affectionate brother,</div> - <div class='line in24'>“<span class='sc'>Enderby</span>.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force having read the letter to herself, passed -it over without a word of comment to her husband.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force also read it in silence, and then returned -it to his wife, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This matter requires mature deliberation. We will -think over it to-night, and decide to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Or, as to-morrow is the Sabbath, we will write and -give my brother our answer on Monday,” amended the -lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, that will be better. It will give us more time -to mature our plans,” assented Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is it?” inquired Wynnette, drawing near her -parents, while Elva and Rosemary looked the interest -that they did not put into words.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A letter from your Uncle Enderby, my dears, inviting -us all to come over and make him a long visit.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! that would be delightful, mamma. Can we not -go?” eagerly inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps. You will all graduate at the end of this -current term, and then, perhaps, we can go with advantage, -but not before.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, that will be joyful, joyful, joyful!” sang Wynnette, -in the words of a revival hymn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But what will Le and Odalite do?” inquired little -Elva, who always thought of everybody.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, if Le and Odalite are to be married in January -they can go over there for the bridal trip, you know,” -said Wynnette. “They will have to go somewhere on a -wedding tour—all brides and grooms have to—and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>reason why is because for the first few weeks after marriage -they are such insupportable idiots that no human -beings can possibly endure their presence. My private -opinion is that they ought to be sent to a lunatic asylum -to spend the honeymoon; but as that cannot be done, -we can send our poor idiots over to Uncle Enderby. -Maybe by the time they have crossed the ocean seasickness -may have brought them to their senses.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you, for myself and Le,” said Odalite, laughing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Without joking, I really think your plan is a good -one,” said Mrs. Force. “Whether we all follow in June -or not, it will be an acceptable attention to my brother -to send our son and daughter over to spend their honeymoon -at Enderby Castle.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was more conversation, that need not be reported -here, except to say that all agreed to the plan of -the wedding trip.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the following Monday, Mr. and Mrs. Force, having -come to a decision, wrote a joint letter to the Earl -of Enderby, cordially thanking him for his invitation, -gladly accepting it, and explaining that the marriage of -their daughter, Odalite, with Mr. Leonidas Force, would -probably come off in January, after which the young -pair would sail for England on a visit to Enderby Castle. -That if all should go well, after the two younger girls -should have graduated from their academy, the whole -family would follow in June, and join at the castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It would be curious, at the moment we close a letter -to some distant friend, could we look in and see what, -at that moment, the friend might be doing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the instant that Mr. Force sealed the envelope to -the Earl of Enderby, could he have been clairvoyant, he -might have looked in upon the library of Enderby Castle -and seen the sunset light streaming through a richly -stained oriel window upon the thin, pale, patrician face -and form of a man of middle age, who sat wrapped in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>an Indian silk dressing gown, reclining in a deeply cushioned -easy-chair, and reading a newspaper—the London -<cite>Evening Telegram</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And this is what the Earl of Enderby read:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“We take pleasure in announcing that Col. the Hon. -Angus Anglesea has been appointed deputy lieutenant -governor of the county.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <span class='large'>ANTICIPATIONS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>With the assembling of Congress, in the first week of -December, the usual crowd of officials, pleasure-seekers, -fortune hunters, adventurers and adventuresses poured -into Washington. Hotels, boarding houses and private -dwellings were full.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The serious business of fashion and the light recreation -of legislation began.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force went down to the capitol every day to listen -to the disputes in the House or in the Senate.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force and Odalite drove out to call on such of -their friends and acquaintances as had arrived in the -city, and to leave cards for the elder lady’s “day”—the -Wednesday of each week during the season.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Letters came from Le. His ship was still delayed for -an indefinite time at Rio de Janeiro, waiting sailing -orders, which seemed to be slow in coming.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le’s letters betrayed the fact that he was fretting and -fuming over the delay.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“Don’t know what the navy department means,” he -wrote, “keeping us here for no conceivable purpose under -the sun. But I know what I mean. I mean to resign -as soon as ever I get home.</p> - -<p class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>“If there should come a war I will serve my country, -of course; but in these ‘piping times of peace’ I will not -stay in the service to be anybody’s nigger, even Uncle -Sam’s!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite, Wynnette and Elva cheered him up with frequent -letters.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Christmas is rather a quiet interlude in the gay life of -Washington.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Congress adjourns until after New Year.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Most of the government officials—members of the administration -and of both houses of Congress, and many -of the civil service brigade, leave the city to spend their -holidays in their distant homesteads.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In fact, there is an exodus until after New Year.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The gay season in Washington does not really begin -until after the first of January.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The public receptions by the President and by the -members of the cabinet take the initiative.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then follow receptions by members of the diplomatic -corps, by prominent senators and representatives, and by -wealthy or distinguished private citizens.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr., Mrs. and Miss Force went everywhere, and received -everybody—within the limits of their social circle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite, for the first time in her short life, enjoyed -society with a real youthful zest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was no drawback now. Her mother’s deadly -enemy had passed to his account, and could trouble her -no more, she thought. Le was coming home, and they -were to be married soon, and go to Europe and see all -the beauties and splendors and glories of the Old World, -which she so longed to view. They were to sojourn in -the old, ancestral English home which had been the scene -of her mother’s childhood—ah! and the scene of so many -exploits of her ancestors—sieges, defenses, captures, recoveries, -confiscations by this ruler, restorations by that—events -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>which had passed into history and helped to -make it. She would see London—wonderful, mighty -London!—St. Paul’s, the Tower. Oh! and Paris, and -the old Louvre!—Rome! St. Peter’s! the Coliseum! the -Catacombs!—places which the facilities of modern -travel have made as common as a market house to most -of the educated world, but which, to this imaginative, -country girl, were holy ground, sacred monuments, wonderful, -most wonderful relics of a long since dead and -gone world.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Le would be her companion in all these profound -enjoyments! And, after all, they should return home -and settle down at Greenbushes, never to part again, but -to be near neighbors to father, mother, sisters and -friends; to give and receive all manner of neighborly -kindnesses, courtesies, hospitalities.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite’s heart was as full of happy thoughts as is a -hive of honey bees. Her happiness beamed from her -face, shining on all who approached her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>If Odalite had been admired during the two past seasons -when she was pale, quiet and depressed, how much -more was she admired now in her fair, blooming beauty, -that seemed to bring sunshine, life and light into every -room she entered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force felt all a mother’s pride in the social success -of her daughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But to Odalite herself the proudest and happiest day -of the whole season was that on which she received a -letter from Le, announcing his immediate return home.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“This letter,” he wrote, “will go by the steamer that -leaves this port on the thirteenth of January. We have -our sailing orders for the first of February. On that -day we leave this blessed port homeward bound. Winds -and waves propitious, we shall arrive early in March, -and then—and then, Odalite——”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>And then the faithful lover and prospective bridegroom -went off into the extravagances that were to be -expected, even of him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite received this letter on the first of February, -and knew that on that day Le had sailed, homeward -bound.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He will be here some time in the first week of -March,” said Mrs. Force, in talking over the letter with -her daughter. “Congress will have adjourned by the -fourth. All strangers will have left. The city will be -quiet. It will be in the midst of Lent also. I think, -Odalite, that, under all the circumstances, we had better -have a very private wedding, here in our city home, -with none but our family and most intimate friends -present. Then you and Le will sail for Europe, make -the grand tour, and after that shall be finished, go to my -brother at Enderby Castle, where we—your father, and -sisters, and myself—will join you in the autumn. What -do you think?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think as you do, mamma, and would much prefer -the marriage to be as quiet as possible,” Odalite assented.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After you and Le leave us we shall still remain in -the city until the girls shall have graduated. Then we -will go down to the dear old home for a few weeks, and -then sail for Liverpool, to join you at Enderby Castle.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is an enchanting program, mamma! Oh! I -hope we may be able to carry it through!” exclaimed -Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is no reason in the world why we should not, -my dear,” replied the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite sighed, with a presentiment of evil which she -could neither comprehend nor banish.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now,” said her mother, “I must sit down and -write to Mrs. Anglesea and to Mr. Copp. The house at -Mondreer will need to be prepared for us. It wanted -repairs badly enough when we left it. It must be in a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>worse condition now; so I must write at once to give -them time enough to have the work done well.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she retired to her own room to go about her task.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary came home in -the afternoon, and heard that Le had sailed from Rio de -Janeiro, and would certainly be home early in March, -they were wild with delight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When, upon much cross-examination of Odalite, they -found out that the marriage of the young lovers was to -be quietly performed in the parlor of their father’s -house, and that the newly married pair would immediately -sail for Europe in advance of the family, who -were to join them at Enderby Castle later on, their -ecstasies took forms strongly suggestive of Darwin’s -theory concerning the origin of the species. In other -words, they danced and capered all over the drawing -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We want Rosemary to go with us, papa, dear,” said -Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We must have Rosemary to go with us, you know, -mamma,” added Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is not for us to say,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a question for her mother and her aunt,” added -Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the little girls did not yield the point. Rosemary’s -three years’ association with them had made her -as dear to Wynnette and Elva as a little sister. And -when they found out that Rosemary was heartbroken -at the prospect of parting from them, and “wild” to -accompany them, they stuck to their point with the pertinacity -of little terriers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now what could Abel Force—the kindest-hearted -man on the face of the earth, perhaps—do but yield to -the children’s innocent desire?</p> - -<p class='c008'>He wrote to Mrs. Hedge and to Miss Grandiere, proposing -to those ladies to take Rosemary with his daughters -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>to Europe, to give her the educational advantage -of the tour.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In due time came the answer of the sisters, full of -surprise and gratitude for the generous offer, which -they accepted in the simple spirit in which it was made.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And when Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary were informed -of the decision there were not three happier girls -in the whole world than themselves.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The same mail brought a letter from the housekeeper -at Mondreer, who was ever a very punctual correspondent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She informed Mrs. Force that such internal improvements -as might be made in bad weather were already -progressing at Mondreer—that all the bedsteads were -down, and all the carpets up, the floors had been -scrubbed, and the windows and painting washed, and -the kalsominers were at work.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But she wanted to know immediately, if Mrs. Force -pleased, what that news was that she was saving for a -personal interview. If it concerned her own “beat,” she -would like to know it at once.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, I thought you had told her, mamma,” said -Odalite, when she had read this letter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, my dear. I did not wish to excite any new talk -of Angus Anglesea until you and Le should be married -and off to Europe. I shrink from the subject, Odalite. -I am sorry now that I hinted to the woman having -anything to tell her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, mamma, ought she not be told that he is dead?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He has been dead to her since he left her. In good -time she shall know that he is dead to us also. And, -my dear, remember that he was not her husband, after -all, but——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! don’t finish the sentence, mamma! What will -Le say?” sighed Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing. This will make no difference to you or to -Le. That ceremony performed at All Faith, three years -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>ago, whether legal or illegal, was certainly incomplete—the -marriage rites arrested before the registry was made. -You have never seen or spoken to the would-be bridegroom -since that hour; and now the man is dead, and -you are free, even if you were ever bound. Let us hear -no more on that subject, my dear. Now I shall have to -answer this letter, and—as I have been so unlucky as to -have raised the woman’s suspicions and set her to talking—I -must tell her the facts, I suppose. And—as for her -sake as well as for our own, I choose to consider her -the widow of Angus Anglesea—I shall send with the -letter a widow’s outfit,” concluded the lady, as she left -the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The whole remainder of that day was spent by Mrs. -Force in driving along Pennsylvania Avenue and up -Seventh Street, selecting from the best stores an appropriate -outfit in mourning goods for the colonel’s widow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>These were all sent home in the evening, carefully -packed in a large deal box, which, with a letter at its -bottom, was dispatched by express to Mrs. Angus Anglesea, -Charlotte Hall, Maryland.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER IX<br /> <span class='large'>VALENTINES AT MONDREER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>It was the fourteenth of February, St. Valentine’s -Feast and All Birds’ Wedding Day!</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a bright morning, with a sunny blue sky, and -a soft breeze giving a foretaste of early spring.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Sibby Bayard had come by special invitation to -dine, and take tea with the housekeeper at Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two ladies were seated in Mrs. Force’s favorite -sitting room, whose front window looked east upon the -bay, and whose side window looked north into the woods.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>A bright, open wood fire was burning in the wide fireplace, -at which they sat in two rocking-chairs with their -feet upon the brass fender.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea had the edge of her skirt drawn up as -usual, for, as she often declared, she would rather toast -her shins before the fire than eat when she was hungry, -or sleep when she was sleepy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Sibby was knitting one of a pair of white lamb’s-wool -socks for her dear Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea was letting out the side seams of her -Sunday basque.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is the most aggravating thing in this world that I -seem to be always a-letting out of seams, and yet always -a-having my gown bodies split somewhere or other when -I put them on!” said the widow, apropos of her work, -as she laid the open seam over her knee and began -smoothing it out with her chubby fingers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You’re gettin’ too fat, that’s where it is. You’re -gettin’ a great deal too fat,” remarked plain-spoken Miss -Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well! That’s just what I’m complaining of! I’m -getting so fat that the people make fun of me behind my -back; they’d better not try it on before my face, I can -tell them that!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How do you know they make fun of you at all?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“By instick! I know it. And besides, this very morning, -when Jake came from the post office, what did he -fetch me? Not the letter from the old ’oman, as I was -a-hoping and a-praying for! No! but a big onwelope -with a impident walentine in it!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A walentine!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am! A most impident one! A woman—no—a -haystack dressed up like me, with impident verses -under it! I wish I knowed who sent it! I’d give ’em -walentines and haystacks, too, for their impidence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, don’t yer mind that! It was some boys or -other! Boys is the devil, sez I, and you need never to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>expect nothing better from them, sez I! You can’t get -blood out’n a turnip, sez I! nor likewise make a silk -purse out’n a sow’s ear, sez I, and no more can’t you expect -nothing out’n boys but the devil. Why, la! I got a -wuss walentine than yourn! Found it tucked underneath -of the front door this morning. Jest look at it!” -said Miss Sibby, drawing a folded paper out of her -pocket, opening and displaying it to her companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See here,” she continued, pointing out its features as -she spread it on her knee. “Here a tower, with a man -on the top of it and a crown on the head of him, and -his arms stretched out just as he has chucked an old -’oman over the wall! And here’s the old ’oman halfway -down to the ground with her hands and feet flying. And -onderneath of it all is wrote, ‘Descended from a duke.’ -That’s meant for me, you know! It’s a harpoon on me -and the Duke of England! But I don’t mind it! Not -I! It’s nothing but their envy, sez I. The birds will -pick at the highest fruit, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think they ought to be well thrashed! Wish I had -hold of ’em!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lemme see yourn!” said Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea stood up and took a folded paper from -under one of the silver candlesticks on the mantelpiece -and handed it to her visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A haystack, dressed in Mrs. Anglesea’s style and -crowned with her head, and not a very violent caricature -of her face. Evidently, like Miss Sibby’s valentine, the -work of some waggish amateur.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It’s the truth of the thing that gets me. I am getting -to be a haystack,” said Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, what do you do it for?” inquired Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How can I help it?” demanded her companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Reggerlate your habits. Do by yourself as you do -by the animyles, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t understand you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, I’ll try to ’splain. When we want to fatten -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>fowl, we shut ’em up in coops so they can’t move round -much; and we feed ’em full, don’t we?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And when we want to fatten pigs, we shut ’em up -in pens so they can’t run round much, and we feed ’em -full, don’t we?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes! But what of that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, them innicent fowls and quadruples are our -kinfolks in the flesh, if they ain’t in the spirit anyways, -and what’s law to them is law to us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You’re too deep for me, ole ’oman!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, to come to the p’int——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, down to hard pan.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you want to get fatter and fatter, till you can’t -pass through ne’er a door in this house, you keep eating -as much as you can, and sitting into rocking-chairs as -long as possible!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Lord!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And you’ll keep on a-getting fatter and fatter, until—until -you’d do to go round the country in a show.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Lord! Next time I see young Dr. Ingle I’ll ask -him wot sort o’ vittels produces fat and wot’ll make only -skin and bone and muscle,” said the widow, in dismay.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I reckon you’d better do that! It’s getting dangerous -in your case, you know! As for me, I am fat -enough; but never too fat. I always wariate betwixt a -hund’ed and twenty-five to a hund’ed and thirty. But I -never go beyond a hund’ed and thirty. Moderation is a -jewel, sez I! Lord! here’s somebody a-coming! Who is -it, I wonder?” exclaimed Miss Sibby, breaking off in her -discourse and going to the front window. “Why, it’s -Tommy Grandiere! And he and Jake a-bringin’ in of a -big box!” she continued, as the “carryall” stopped before -the door, and the farmer and the servant lifted -down a box.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It’s new curtains, or rugs, or something for the house. -They’re alluss a-coming,” observed Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>As she spoke the door opened, and Jake’s head appeared, -while Jake’s voice said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Ere’s Marse Tom Grander, mum.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Grandiere entered the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-day, Mrs. Anglesea! Miss Sibby, glad to see -you! I was up at Charlotte’s Hall this morning, and -saw a box at the express office for you. As I was coming -down this way, and thought maybe it would be a -convenience to you for me to fetch it along, I just gave -a receipt for it and fetched it. So here it is in the hall.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thank you, sir, which it is a convenience! Not -knowing as there was a box there for me, I might have -left it for a week. Thanky’, sir! Won’t you sit down?” -inquired Mrs. Anglesea, placing a chair for the newcomer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, I thank you, ma’am. I have to go. But I -would like to ask: Have you heard from Mr. and Mrs. -Force lately?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not for ’most a fortnight. But they are coming -down in June.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In June? Yes, so I heard. Good-morning, Mrs. -Anglesea. Good-morning, Miss Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the visitor hurried away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What’s in that box, do you think?” inquired Miss -Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, curtains, or stair carpet, or rugs, or something -for the house! They are allus a-coming! Only I ’most -in general get a letter first to tell me where to send for -them,” said Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would like to see the pattern o’ them rugs and curtains -and things! Fashions do change so much, I would -ralely like to see what the present fashion is! Ef you -don’t keep up with the times, sez I, the times will leave -you behind, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, we’ll open the box after dinner, Miss Sibby, -but we can’t before. Dinner is ready to go on the table -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>now, and it mustn’t be spoiled by keeping. It’s spring -lamb and spinach, raised under glass——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Spring lamb and spinach the fourteenth of February! -Never!” exclaimed the descendant of the Howards.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, but it is. Having the conveniences to do it -with, I don’t see why we shouldn’t have the luxuries. -Having the hotbeds, why not the spinach? That’s what -I say to Jake and to Luce. And let me tell you them -niggers live just as well as I do.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lamb and spinach!” gasped Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And that ain’t all. Fresh fish, caught in the bay -this morning, to begin with. And meringo pudding to -finish off with. And a good bottle of wine to go all the -way through with it. It isn’t often as I meddle with -the wine cellar, though the ole man and ’oman did tell -me to help myself—give me <em>carte wheel</em>, as they called -it, to do as I please with what’s left in the vault. Most -of it, to be sure, was took to Washington. Still I never -makes free with the wine, ‘cept on high days and holidays. -And there’s the bell, so now we’ll go in to dinner.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER X<br /> <span class='large'>THE BOX</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i> dinner was greatly enjoyed by these -gossips. They lingered over it as long as it was possible -to do so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Talkin’ o’ walentines,” said Miss Sibby, apropos of -nothing, “when I was young there wa’n’t no walentines -made to sell. They was only made by ladies with fine -taste for the work. They were cut out of fine paper, -heart-shaped when folded, and scalloped circle when -open, and finified off with ‘lilies and roses and other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>fine posies,’ and with written verses. Ah! I have known -old Mrs. Grandiere—Miss Susannah’s mother—spend -days and days cutting out and decorating walentines for -the young people to send to their sweethearts. And they -was all complimentary, and never impident. No sich -thing as buying of a walentine ever heard of. And now -they’ve got ’em in every shop window. But times -changes, sez I, and them as lives the longest, sez I, sees -the most, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t think as your valentine or mine came out -of the shops, Miss Sibby. I never seen any like them in -shops. I think they was handmade by some young -vilyun or other.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is so. And the same scamp as made yourn, sez -I, likewise made mine, sez I. And now as we’ve got -done our dinner, hadn’t we might as well go and see -them new-fashioned rugs and things in the box? If you -have got anything to do, sez I, why, go and do it at once, -sez I. Ain’t that so?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and we will go and open the box. Jake, bring -a chisel and a clawhammer here, and life that big box -out o’ the hall into the little parlor,” said the widow, -calling to the one manservant, and then leading the way -back to the sitting room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jake soon appeared with the box—a heavy deal case, -four feet square—on his shoulder, and carefully lowered -it to the floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now rip off the lid,” said the widow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jake, with considerable labor, opened the box.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now we shall see them new-fashioned rugs. And -if I like ’em, I’ll send to Baltimore by Mark Truman’s -schooner, and buy one to lay before my fireplace, soon’s -ever I get paid for that last hogshead of tobacco,” said -Miss Sibby, as the lid of the box flew up under Jake’s -vigorous applications of the clawhammer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two women stooped over the open case.</p> - -<p class='c008'>First came a roll of coarse brown paper; then a layer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>of finer paper; then a large, folded parcel of bombazine -and crape, which, on being unwrapped, turned out to be -a made-up, deep mourning dress.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, this must be a mistake!” said Mrs. Anglesea. -“This box must have been intended for somebody else.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she turned up the lid and read the direction -again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No! It is directed to me, sure enough, but it must -be a mistake, all the same. And I reckon the mistake -was made at the store where all the things was bought, -and they misdirected the box, and sent me these things, -and sent them rugs to the party these was intended for. -Lord! how careless people is, to be sure! But now let -us see for curiosity what is in the box.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And while Miss Sibby looked on with the greatest -curiosity, Mrs. Anglesea unpacked the case.</p> - -<p class='c008'>More tissue paper; then a folded mantle of bombazine, -trimmed with crape; then a black merino shawl; -then half a dozen pair of black kid gloves; then another -dress of black cashmere; then half a dozen pairs of -black hose; then an inner wooden box, which, being -lifted out and opened, was found to contain two compartments. -In one was a widow’s black crape bonnet, -with long, heavy black crape veil; and in the other a -widow’s cap of <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">crêpe lisse</span></i>, and another of fine, white -organdie.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When all these were laid out on the table the two -women stood on either side of it, looking at each other -and at the articles before them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, I reckon I’d better put ’em all back again, and -wait till I hear from the owner,” said Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I reckon maybe you better read this letter first. I -think it must have been flung out accidental when the -paper was took off the top of the things in the box,” said -Miss Sibby, as she stooped and picked up a white envelope -from among the waste paper under the table, and -which had just caught her eye.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>“To be sure! This is directed to me, too, and in the -handwriting of the ole ’oman, too. Now I wonder I -didn’t see this before. I do reckon now she has sent -these here things down to me to give to some one who -is going in mourning.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>So saying, Mrs. Anglesea opened the letter, and being -a frank soul, spelled it out aloud:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-r c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“<span class='sc'>Washington</span>, February 12, 1882.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c011'>“<span class='sc'>My Dear Mrs. Anglesea</span>: I received your letter, -and hasten to reply. I should have preferred to give -you my serious news in person, but since you insist on -it, I give it you now in writing. Under all the circumstances, -I need not fear even to give you a shock, when -I tell you that Col. Angus Anglesea died at——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good Lord! then the man is dead, sure enough!” -exclaimed the widow, breaking off from her readings -and looking up at her companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord ’a’ mercy! So he is! But read on! Don’t -stop! Let’s hear all about it!” exclaimed Miss Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I can’t! I can’t! It seems so strange! He was -so strong and healthy I thought he’d live forever almost! -I thought he’d outlive me, anyways. And now -he’s dead! It don’t seem possible, you know,” said the -widow, with a total change of manner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, Lord! I thought you suspicioned as it was -your husband’s death as Mrs. Force was a-keeping from -you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, I didn’t. It was all my nonsense. I hadn’t a -notion as he could die, and he the perfect pictor of life -and health. And to be cut off in his prime!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, woman, you seem like you was sorry for the -man as robbed and deserted you!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t speak of that now, Miss Sibby. It’s mean to -speak ill of the dead, who can’t answer you back again!” -said the widow.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>“And now I know you are sorry for him. And yet -you ’lowed if he was dead you would not go into mourning -for him!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, but I didn’t think he was dead then, or that he -would ever die in my lifetime. I—I didn’t know,” said -the widow, in a breaking voice that she tried hard to -steady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well! them as would understand a widdy, sez I, -need to have a long head, sez I! I knowed as you -was awful tender-hearted and pitiful, Mrs. Anglesea. -But I ralely didn’t think as you’d take on about him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’m not taken on about nobody. But a woman -needn’t be a wild Indian, or a heathen, or cannibal, I -reckon. A Christian’s ’lowed to have some sort o’ feelin’s. -Now let me read the rest of my letter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she resumed the perusal of her epistle, but in -silence. She read all the particulars of Anglesea’s death -as they were given by Mrs. Force in her own writing, -and also in the slips cut from the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite> -and inclosed in the letter. All except the concluding -paragraph of the eulogy, giving the statement of his -two marriages. These were cut off, in kindness to her, -who thought herself his lawful wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When she had finished she gave all into Miss Sibby’s -hands, and sat and watched in moody silence while the -old lady adjusted her spectacles and slowly read them -through.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They speak very highly of the poor man in that there -newspaper. He must have repented of his sins and made -a good end, after all,” said Miss Sibby, very solemnly, -as she returned letters and papers into Mrs. Anglesea’s -hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was very thoughtful of Mrs. Force to send me -down this box of mourning—very thoughtful. And I -am very thankful to her for it,” murmured the widow, -as if speaking to herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>“Then you will go in mourning for him?” said Miss -Sibby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course I shall.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>No more was said just then.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Miss Bayard stayed to tea. And then, seeing that her -friend was very much depressed in spirits, she volunteered -to stay with her all night; a favor for which the -widow was really very grateful.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The next morning, however, the elastic spirits of the -lady from the mines had risen to their normal elevation, -and Miss Sibby, with relieved feelings, left Mondreer to -spread the news of Angus Anglesea’s death far and wide -through the neighborhood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And it is perfectly safe to say that the woman whom -he had so deeply wronged was the only individual in the -whole community who felt the least pity for his premature -departure.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XI<br /> <span class='large'>“MERRY AS A MARRIAGE BELL”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Congress adjourned on the fourth of March, and -within a week from that time the crowd that always -follows in their wake left Washington, and the city -dropped into comparative repose; for not only were all -the receptions over, the multitude departed, but the season -of Lent was on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Forces enjoyed this time of rest from the world. -They attended old St. John’s Church three times a week, -and lived quietly between whiles, looking forward with -pleasant anticipations to the arrival of Le, and to all -the delights that were expected to follow that event.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le arrived on Easter Sunday morning. His ship had -reached New York on the day before. He had obtained -leave of absence, and he had only time to catch the latest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>train to Washington, “on the run,” leaving all his luggage -behind him and having not a moment to telegraph -his friends of his approach.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He reached the city at twelve o’clock midnight, and -not wishing to wake the family up at that hour, he -took a room at a hotel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But by sunrise the next morning he was up and -dressed, had paid his bill, taken a hack from the sidewalk, -and was on his way to P Street Circle, to look up -his uncle’s city house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That Easter Sunday the family were assembled -around the table in the pleasant breakfast room of their -house, which looked out upon the circle, where already -the parterres were brilliant and fragrant with the earliest -spring flowers—hyacinths, pink, blue and white; -daffodils golden; tulips flame and fire color; jonquils, -like golden cups in silver saucers; bridal wreath; yellow -currant burning bush—all budding, but not yet blooming. -All the grass of a tender emerald green. All the -trees just bursting into leaf. Birds singing only as they -sing on a spring morning.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What a beautiful Easter Sunday is this! Not a -cloud in all the sky!” said Odalite, as she turned from -the window to take her seat at the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force stood up to ask a blessing, but the doorbell -rang sharply and he sat down again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And before any one could put a question the door flew -open and Le rushed in like the wind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every one jumped so suddenly from the table that -chairs were overturned in their haste to welcome the -wanderer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There followed much handshaking, hugging and kissing, -rather mixed and confused, until Le found Odalite -in his arms. Then he came to a stop and held her there -while he answered questions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hadn’t an idea your ship was near port. When did -you get in?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>“Anchored yesterday at half-past two, got leave, and -caught the three train. Hadn’t time to telegraph, or -even to pack a portmanteau. Can any one lend me the -loan of a clean change of linen?” inquired Le, with a -look of distress.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course! You shall go to my room and help yourself. -But you don’t look much in want,” replied his -uncle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now sit down, Le. We were just about to begin -breakfast when you came in,” said Mrs. Force, as the -manservant in attendance placed another chair at the -table for the newcomer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was silence for a few moments while Mr. Force -said the grace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then the confusion of Babel began again. All asked -questions, and without waiting for them to be answered, -asked others. Wynnette and Elva, who were home for -the Easter holidays, seemed to run a race with their -tongues as to which could talk fastest and most. Mr. -and Mrs. Force had much to ask and to tell. Odalite, -and even quaint, little Rosemary, put in a word when -they could get a chance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is always so when a sailor returns from a long voyage -to his family circle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was but little breakfast eaten that morning, -though they lingered long at the table—so long that, -at length, Mrs. Force felt obliged to ask the question:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are you going to church with us this morning, Le?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course I am, auntie. I should be worse than a -heathen not to go, if it were only to give thanks for my -safe and joyful arrival at home,” replied the young man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is right, my boy. I like to see you hold fast to -the faith and practice of your forefathers in this untoward -generation,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, since you are going with us, Le, dear, -you had better get ready. We have but little time,” -advised the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>“Come with me to my room, Le. My underclothing -will fit you well enough, I am sure. Bless you, my boy! -you have caught up to me in size,” said Mr. Force, as he -arose from the table to conduct the midshipman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The ladies of the circle also went to their chambers to -get ready for church.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And this was Le’s welcome home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary had a week’s holiday -with which they were all the more delighted because of -their dear Le’s presence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Although, as in love and duty bound, he devoted himself -almost exclusively to Odalite, yet he found time to -take a little notice of his younger friends—to tell them -how much they had grown, how greatly they had improved, -how womanly they had become since he saw -them three years before, and so on and so on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>During this week the preparations for Leonidas and -Odalite’s marriage were discussed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was decided that the wedding should take place -on the first of April.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All Fools’ Day! What a commentary!” exclaimed -Wynnette, when she learned the decision.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one had thought of its being All Fools’ Day when -the date was fixed; and now that it was so fixed, the -circumstance was somewhat too trivial to warrant any -change in the time. So on the first of April the happy -event was appointed to come off.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I should like to ask Roland Bayard to come up to be -my groomsman,” said Le, to no one in particular, since -he spoke in full family council.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, I thought he was at sea!” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, uncle, he has just got home. I had a letter from -him this morning. He had seen the arrival of my ship -in the papers and naturally addressed his letters here. I -suppose his aunt gave him your address.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Quite likely. She knew it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Queer, isn’t it?” ruminated Le. “Roland and I do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>happen to make our voyages and returns simultaneously, -or nearly so, and without any possibility of intended -concert of action.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, if you happen to start about the same time for -a voyage of the same length, you will be apt to return -about the same time, I suppose!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I suppose so.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now, Le, my boy, in regard to inviting young -Bayard here, do so, by all means. Ask any of your particular -friends. And ask them to come a day or so -beforehand, so as to be ready for the occasion.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you, Uncle Abel; but I think Roland is the -only one whom I care to invite.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Does the liberty you have given Le include us all, -papa, dear?” inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In what respect, my dear? I don’t understand you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“May each of us invite one or more very particular -friends?” Wynnette inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You must consult your mother and Odalite about -that,” replied Mr. Force, good-humoredly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whom do you wish to ask, Wynnette?” inquired her -mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, only the Grandieres and the Elks.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You mean the young people, of course?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, mamma, dear.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let me see. There are about eight of them, all -counted—six girls and two boys. Well, my dear, you -know this wedding is to be a private one, in our own -parlor, and no company is to be specially invited to the -wedding. But you may write and ask your young -friends to come and make us a visit for a week or two, so -that they may be in the house about that time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, thank you, mamma, dear! that will be best of -all!” exclaimed Wynnette, in delight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And that same day she wrote to Oldfield and to Hill -Grove to ask the young Grandieres and Elks to come -up to Washington about the last of March to make a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>visit, mentioning that Leonidas had got home from sea, -and that he and Odalite were to be married on the first -of April, and hoping that they would come in time to -witness the wedding, which was to be a very quiet one -in their own parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette knew that such letters as these would insure -a visit from those to whom they were written. And -she was right. In a very few days came answers from -Oldfield and Grove Hill. All the invited accepted the -invitations, and would report in Washington on the thirtieth -of March, two days before the wedding.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let us see,” again reflected Mrs. Force. “There are -nine guests coming in all—counting six Grandieres, two -Elks and young Bayard. Of them six are young girls, -and three are young men. How shall we dispose of -them?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, mamma, dear, we must pack, like we used to do -in the country. Elva and Rosemary and myself can -sleep in one room. The four Grandiere girls can sleep -in the large double-bedded room. The two little Elks -can have the little hall chamber and sleep together. And -Roland Bayard and the Grandiere boys and Le can have -the large attic room, and sleep on cots. Never mind -where you put young men and boys, you know!” said -this little household strategist.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, we must do the best we can for them,” replied -the lady, and she turned her attention to other matters—to -the details of Odalite’s simple trousseau, which was -only to consist now in a white silk wedding dress, a gray -poplin traveling dress, a navy-blue cloth suit for the voyage -across the ocean, and a few plain, home dresses and -wrappers, with plenty of underclothing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the preparations were completed on the morning -of the thirtieth. Even Odalite’s trunk was packed, nothing -being left out but her bridal dress and traveling -suits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Just before tea on the afternoon of the thirtieth, there -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>was the expected inroad of the Goths and Vandals, in -the forms of the young people from Oldfield, Grove Hill -and Forest Rest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They all traveled by the same train and arrived at the -same hour—a laughing, talking, hilarious, uproarious -troupe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were met with a joyous and affectionate welcome.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And where is my little Rosemary? Where is my -quaint, small, young woman?” inquired Roland, when -he had shaken hands with all the rest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, here she is! Here she has been all the while!” -exclaimed Wynnette, dragging the shy girl forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What! not that tall young lady? Miss Hedge, I beg -ten thousand pardons. I was looking for a little girl I -used to ride on my shoulder!” exclaimed Roland, in -affected dismay, as he took her tiny hand and raised it -to his lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now, Rosemary was not tall, except in comparison to -what she had once been. Rosemary was still small and -slight—“a mere slip of a girl,” as every one called her. -She colored and cast down her eyes when her old friend -pretended to treat her as a young lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He saw her slight distress and vexation, and immediately -changed his tune.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why!—yes!—sure enough! This is my little Rosemary, -after all!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then she looked up shyly and smiled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come! Let me show you your rooms, girls. And -you, Leonidas, convey these young men heavenward. -You young Shanghais will have to roost in the loft at -the top of the house. Beg pardon. I mean you young -gentlemen will be required to repose in the attic chambers -of the mansion. Indeed, we shall all have to be -packed like herrings in a barrel. Beg pardon, again. -I mean like guests at a hotel on Inauguration Day. But -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>the more the merrier, my dears,” sang Wynnette, as -she danced upstairs in advance of her party.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Have you ever been in the aviary at the zoo, when all -the birds have been singing, chattering and screaming -at once?</p> - -<p class='c008'>If you have, you will have some idea of the condition -of Mrs. Force’s house on this first evening of their young -guests’ arrival.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They chattered in their rooms, they chattered all the -way down the stairs, and they chattered around the tea -table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The extension table in the dining room had been -drawn out to its full length to accommodate the party -of sixteen that sat down to tea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All these young people sitting opposite each other -at the long board, and under the full blaze of the chandeliers, -showed how much they had grown, changed -and improved during the three years which had elapsed -since their last meeting and parting in the country.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite was the most beautiful of the group. She was -now nineteen years of age; her elegant form was rather -more rounded, her pure complexion brighter, her eyes -darker, and her hair richer; her voice was deeper and -sweeter; and all her motions more graceful than before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was seventeen; tall, thin and dark; with the -same mischievous eyes, snub nose, full, ripe lips, and -short, curly, black hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elva was fifteen, tall for her age, thin, fair, with -soft, blue eyes, and light, flaxen hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary Hedge was also fifteen years old, but very -tiny for her age, with slender limbs and little mites of -hands and feet, a small head covered with fine, silky -black hair, a fair, clear, bright complexion, and large, -soft, tender blue eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The four Grandiere girls—Sophy, Nanny, Polly and -Peggy—whose ages ranged from fourteen to twenty, -were all of the same type, with well-grown and well-rounded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>forms, fair complexions, red cheeks and lips, -blue eyes, and brown hair; except for difference in age -and size, never were four sisters more alike.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two Grandiere boys, whose ages were nineteen -and twenty-two, were like the girls, with the same well-knit -forms, blooming complexions, blue eyes and brown -hair—only their features were on a larger and coarser -scale, and their faces were freckled and sunburned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two Elk girls, Melina and Erina, were respectively -thirteen and sixteen years old, and both bore a -certain family likeness to Rosemary Hedge, except that -they were not so tiny in form or dainty and delicate in -features and complexion. They had the large blue eyes -and the fine black hair, but their faces were thin and -their complexions sallow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Perhaps the most improved of all these young people -during the preceding three years were the two gallant -young sailors, Leonidas Force and Roland Bayard, with -their tall forms, broad shoulders, deep chests, fine heads, -handsome faces and full beards—only with a difference; -for Le’s hair and beard were of a rich, silky brown, -while Roland’s, alas! were of a rough, fierce red.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Upon the whole, the group of young folk around the -table was very fair.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XII<br /> <span class='large'>THE MARRIAGE MORN</span></h2> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Up, up, fair bride, and call</div> - <div class='line'>Thy stars from out their several spheres—take</div> - <div class='line'>Thy rubies, pearls and diamonds forth, and make</div> - <div class='line'>Thyself a constellation of them all.—<span class='sc'>Donne.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The first of April was a perfect day. The sky was a -canopy of deepest, clearest blue. The sun shone in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>cloudless splendor. The trees in all the parks were in -full leaf or blossom. The grass was of that fresh and -tender green only to be seen at this season. The spring -flowers were all in bloom, with radiance of color and -richness of fragrance. Birds were singing rapturously -from every bush and branch.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A lovely day! Just the day for a wedding!” said -Nanny Grandiere, as she threw open the shutters of her -bedroom window, that looked out upon one of the most -beautiful parks of the city.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her three sisters, who occupied the same double-bedded -room with herself, sleeping two in a bed, jumped -up and ran across the room to join her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, a beautiful day! ‘Blessed is the bride that the -sun shines on,’ you know. Oh! I am so glad we all -came here!” said Polly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I am glad it is going to be a quiet wedding, -with only ourselves. Oh, girls! I should not have wanted -to come if they had been going to have a grand wedding, -after the manner of these fashionable city people. I -should have been scared to death among so many fine -strangers. But now it will be real jolly!” said Peggy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Mr. Force says that as there are enough of us -we may have a dance, after the bride and groom have -gone,” chimed in Sophy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘After the bride and groom have gone!’” echoed -Nanny. “That will be ‘Hamlet’ without the <em>Prince of -Denmark</em>.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, it can’t be helped. We must have the dance -without them or not at all. You know the ceremony is -to be performed at half-past seven, the refreshments -served at eight o’clock, and the bride and groom will -leave the house at nine to catch the nine-thirty train to -Baltimore, where they will stop. To-morrow morning -they go on to New York, and the day after that they -sail for Liverpool,” exclaimed Sophy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I know; but I don’t know why it should be so. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>I think they might just as well stay here and dance all -night with us, and take an early train straight through -to New York, as to start from here this evening and stop -all night in Baltimore. I think it would be kinder in -them, considering how far they are going, and how long -they will be away.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But it would be so fatiguing to Odalite. At least, -Mrs. Force said so. This is her plan,” Polly explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, we had better hurry and dress. It is very -warm in this room. Think of feeling summer heat on -the first of April in a room where there is no visible -fire! Oh! this heating by steam and lighting by gas is -just wonderful!” exclaimed Sophy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I like open wood fires and astral lamps best,” said -Nanny.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! but the modern improvements are so clean and -tidy!” put in Peggy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wonder what our colored servants would say to -them,” mused Polly, aloud.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And even others—Miss Sibby, for instance. What -would Miss Sibby say to gas and steam?” suggested -Sophy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! I can tell you what she would say,” exclaimed -Wynnette, who suddenly entered the room, and mimicked -the old lady. “She would say: ‘Them as has the -least to do with gas and steam, sez I, comes the best -off, sez I.’ That would be her <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">ipse dixit</span></i>, for she don’t -believe in newfangled notions, as she calls our boasted -modern improvements.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette! Already dressed! and we not half -ready! We shall be late, I fear,” exclaimed Sophy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will that, if you don’t stir your stumps—I mean -accelerate your action,” replied frank Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, don’t wait for us. You go down to breakfast, -and don’t let them wait. I always lose my senses when -I try to dress in a hurry,” said Nanny, sitting down on -a hassock to put on her gaiters. “There! I said so! I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>have gone and put my right foot on my left boot!—I -mean, my left foot on my right boot!—I mean——I -don’t know what I mean! Please go down, and don’t -bother!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t go crazy; there’s time enough. Breakfast -won’t be ready for half an hour yet,” laughed Wynnette, -as she danced out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The flurried girls composed themselves as well as they -could, and completed their toilets. Then they went -downstairs to the parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They found all the family and guests assembled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope we did not keep you waiting,” said Sophy, -the eldest sister, after the morning greeting had been -exchanged.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, papa, don’t flunk. Beg pardon. I mean, don’t -sacrifice truth to politeness. Let me reply. Yes, Miss -Grandiere, you did keep us waiting just one minute and -a half,” said Wynnette, pointing to the clock on the -mantelpiece.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Mr. Force had already given his arm to Miss -Grandiere, and was leading the way to the breakfast -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The others followed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a merry breakfast. Yet the two happiest ones -at the table were the most silent. Leonidas and Odalite -neither originated a joke nor laughed at the joke of any -other.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Such is selfishness of love and joy,” whispered Wynnette -to Rosemary, who was her next neighbor at the -breakfast table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the meal was over, the young people—with the -exception of the betrothed pair, who were away somewhere -mooning by themselves—returned to the parlor, -to discuss the duties and pleasures of the day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We must decorate the drawing room,” said Wynnette. -“No, Messrs. Grandiere and Bayard, you are not -to go to the capitol, or the departments, or to the White -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>House, or to the patent office, or to the Smithsonian, or -to the arsenal, or to the Navy Yard, or to the United -States jail, or to the National Insane Asylum—that, I -think, includes ‘the whole unbounded continent’—nor to -any other public institution; no, nor on any other sightseeing -expedition. You are just to get a Washington -directory for your guide, and you are to make the round -of all the conservatories in the city, and you are to bring -us loads and loads and loads of the very best flowers -to be had, and you are to order a marriage bell in orange -flowers, with ropes of orange flowers, and you are to order——Take -out your tablets, if you have any; if not, -tear the margin off the morning paper, and make a -memorandum, for I know the weakness of your minds -and memories. Now, then you are to order the most -æsthetic bouquet in the world for the bride, and you are -to order nine of the next most utterly utter for the -bridesmaids—for the Lord forbid that the bridesmaids’ -bouquets should be equal to that of the bride!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ten bouquets! Nine bridesmaids, you say! Why, I -thought—I thought—this was to be a private wedding,” -said Roland Bayard, driving his fingers through his red -hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And so it is, my dear. We are a very small company -of family friends, and that is the very reason why -every man-jack and woman-jenny in the company must -be an officer. Like the village militia, don’t you see?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, I don’t see, and I don’t understand.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, to come down to the level of your poor -little wits, here are ten of us girls—Odalite, Wynnette, -Elva, Rosemary, Melina, Erina, Sophy, Nanny, Polly -and Peggy. Only one of us—Odalite, to wit—can be -the bride, or the captain, say, but all the rest of us mean -to be bridesmaids or officers, say!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! And where are your rank and file?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, the outside world, who are not invited to this -entertainment. The officers must not be too familiar with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>the privates. And we are going to have an exclusive -jollification. And now I hope you understand. And -you had better be off at once, because we want all the -flowers delivered by noon. And don’t attempt to go -anywhere or do anything until you have executed this -order,” said Wynnette, in conclusion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Roland Bayard and the two Grandieres walked off.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then little Elva whispered to her sister:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette, those flowers will cost from thirty to -fifty dollars. You know what awful prices mamma had -to pay for decorating her rooms every time she had a -party.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, what then?” inquired the thoughtless one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, those poor fellows will have to pay for them, -and I don’t believe they have five dollars apiece.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh!” exclaimed Wynnette. “What a scatter-brain I -am!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And she ran out without bonnet or shawl, and was -so fortunate as to catch the three young men, who had -stopped at the gate to buy a paper from a newsboy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Say!” called Wynnette. “Come here, you Roland!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And he came.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I forgot to tell you. Have those flowers charged to -my father. Mr. Abel Force, you know. They will -understand. They have all supplied mamma for all her -parties. You understand?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I understand. All right,” said Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Wynnette ran into the house, and Roland walked -on and joined his companions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the deceitful, double-dealing young spendthrift -never had bud or blossom charged to his host, but paid -cash for all the flowers, thus making a deep hole in his -savings of three years.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The day was spent in making the small final preparations -for the wedding.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At noon the flowers came, fresh and blooming and -fragrant, because just taken from their stalks. Besides -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>the bouquets, there were—according to orders—“loads -and loads and loads” of flowers to decorate the -drawing room and the supper table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girls carefully laid away the bouquets, and went -to work to decorate the rooms.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the sliding doors between the front and rear drawing -rooms they made an arch with festoons of orange -blossoms, and from the middle of the arch hung a beautiful -wedding bell of orange flowers. Under this they -meant that the marriage ceremony should be performed. -They meant to have everything their own way, or, to -tell the literal truth, Wynnette meant to have everything -her way, and to have every girl back her in that determination.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The arch finished, they decorated every available part -of the room with flowers, until the place looked less like -an apartment in a dwelling house than a bower in fairyland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When their labor of love was completed the girls -joined the family at an early dinner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And when this was over they flew away to dress for -the evening.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Still Wynnette had everything her own way. It was -she who had decided that the six girls from the country -should be enlisted as extra bridesmaids, “because,” she -said, “it will please them, and give them something -pleasant to talk about for a long time to come.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She had said to her mother:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They are going to be Odalite’s bridesmaids.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Mrs. Force had not objected. It was a matter -of such little import.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She had said to Odalite:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“These girls have all brought their white organdie -dresses, white roses, white gloves, and the rest, to wear -to the wedding! And they want to stand up with you -and smile every time you smile, and sigh every time you -sigh, and howl every time you cry! You know! they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>want to back you in this game! I mean they wish to be -and—they are to be your supernumerary bridesmaids!” -said Wynnette, emphasizing the last clause, so there -might be no possible misunderstanding.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite was so happy that in answer to this she only -quoted from Edmund Lear’s delicious “Book of Nonsense”:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'>“I don’t care,</div> - <div class='line'>All the birds in the air</div> - <div class='line'>Are welcome to roost in my bonnet.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>And so it was settled that there were to be one groomsman -and nine bridesmaids. A most unheard-of arrangement; -but as Wynnette emphatically declared—there -was no law against it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And now the girls were off to their rooms to dress -for the occasion.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIII<br /> <span class='large'>“A QUIET WEDDING”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>At seven o’clock they were all assembled in Mrs. -Force’s room, waiting for the summons to go down.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were all dressed with the simple elegance that -became the occasion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite wore a white silk-trained dress, with a lace -overdress looped with lilies of the valley, and a lace veil -fastened to her hair by a spray of the same delicate -flower. She wore no jewelry. It was a whim of the -bride to wear nothing on this occasion that she had worn -on that of her first broken bridal—not even the same -sort of materials for her dress, or the same sort of -flowers for ornaments. Her bridal was very plain and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>inexpensive. But no flowers could have bloomed more -beautifully than her cheeks and lips, and no diamonds -shone more brilliantly than her eyes. The light of happiness -irradiated her face and form—her whole presence and atmosphere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The nine bridesmaids were all dressed very nearly -alike.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary had white tulle dresses -trimmed with rose-colored ribbon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sophy, Nanny, Polly and Peggy Grandiere wore -white organdie dresses trimmed with light blue ribbon; -and Erny and Milly Elk, white swiss muslin suits -trimmed with bright yellow ribbon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force wore a pale mauve damasse silk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one except the young bride wore any headdress -but their own tastefully arranged hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was to be a quiet wedding, you know—a very quiet -wedding, with none but the family friends.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There came a rap at the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette, who was nearest at hand, opened it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell your mother, my dear, that the Rev. Dr. -Priestly has come,” said Mr. Force, who stood without.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Mrs. Force had heard the voice, and answered for -herself:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We are ready and waiting. Come in.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He entered, smiling on the bevy of beauties that met -his eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He singled out his daughter, kissed her on the forehead, -and drew her arm in his to take her downstairs, -mentally applying to her the pretty line of Tennyson:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Queen rose of the rosebud garden of girls.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>He led her down and the others followed in pairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He led her into the parlor, where stood the portly -form of the Rev. Dr. Priestly, in full canonicals, and -surrounded by a small group of four young men—to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>wit: Leonidas Force, the bridegroom; Roland Bayard, -his best man; and Messrs. Ned and Sam Grandiere, -nothing in particular.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bridegroom advanced, bowed and received the -bride from her father’s hand and led her up before the -minister, who now stood under the floral arch between -the front and rear drawing rooms, and from which the -floral wedding bell hung.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bridegroom and the bride stood before the minister—Roland -Bayard, best man, stood on his right; Wynnette, -first bridesmaid, stood on her left; behind them -the eight white-robed girls formed a semicircle. Mr. -Force stood on their right, with Mrs. Force on his arm. -She was pale and trembling. He perceived her state, -and whispered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I suppose every mother suffers something in seeing -her daughter married, even under the most auspicious -circumstances! But look at Odalite and Le! See how -happy those children are, and recover your spirits.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She glanced up in her husband’s kind face and smiled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The doorbell rang sharply. Perhaps it was the utter -stillness of the house—in the solemn pause of expectancy, -as the minister opened his book—which made that -sound reverberate through the air like a sudden and -peremptory summons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force looked up anxiously.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is of no consequence, my dear. Some chance -caller, who does not know what is going on here. But I -prepared for such an event by giving orders to the hall -boy not to admit any one, but to tell all and sundry who -might come that we are engaged,” whispered Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush!” she murmured, but she looked relieved. -“Hush! Dr. Priestly is about to begin.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The minister, in fact, began, in a very impressive -manner, to read the opening exhortation, and every eye -was fixed upon him and every ear bent to hear him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was some movement in the hall outside. Mrs. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>Force started and turned her head. Her husband -stooped and murmured low:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t tremble so, my dear! It is only the servants -pressing close to the door to steal a look at the wedding. -They would not let any visitors in. And even if they -should make such a mistake, it would be no great matter!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush!” she answered, in the lowest murmur. “Do -not talk! Attend to the ceremony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Uninterrupted by the inaudible whisper between husband -and wife, the ceremony was proceeding. And no -one moved or spoke, until the minister, lifting his eyes -from the book in his hands, inquired gravely:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Who giveth this woman to be married to this -man?’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘I do,’” answered Abel Force, stepping forward, -taking his daughter’s hand with tender solemnity and -placing it in that of Leonidas, who bowed with deep reverence -as he received it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then Abel Force retreated to the side of his pale and -agitated wife, whispered with a smile:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Just what your father did for me, my love! Just -what Leonidas may have to do for Odalite’s daughters -some twenty years hence! The order of nature, dear -wife! And we must smile and not cry over it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Elfrida Force was not grieving over the marriage -of her daughter. There was nothing in that marriage to -give her pain; everything to give her satisfaction. Odalite -was marrying no stranger, but Leonidas, who had -been brought up in her home, who loved her, and was -beloved by her as an only son. And Odalite was not to -be taken away from her, but was to live on the adjoining -plantation to their own, where, if they pleased, mother -and daughter might meet every day. Altogether a most -perfectly satisfactory marriage, in which her soul would -have delighted but for a nameless dread of approaching -evil—a dread which she could neither comprehend nor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>conquer—a dread of impeding ill which was fast growing -into terror of an immediate death blow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh!” she breathed. “When it is entirely over—‘finished, -done and sealed’—and they are off at sea, then, -and then only, shall I be able to breathe freely.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Meanwhile the solemn rites went on to the conclusion, -and once more Odalite, with her hand safely clasped in -that of her bridegroom, heard spoken over them the -awful warning: “Those whom God hath joined together, -let not man put asunder.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a pause, but no interruption on this occasion—a -short pause, and then the solemn, pathetic, beautiful -benediction was pronounced upon the newly married -and indeed happy pair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then Leonidas took his bride by her hand, to -give her the sacred, sealing kiss, when—before his lips -could meet hers—he was suddenly seized from behind -and violently hurled to the other end of the room.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIV<br /> <span class='large'>A MEAN RETALIATION</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Revenge is now my joy. She’s not for me,</div> - <div class='line'>And I’ll make sure, she ne’er shall be for thee.</div> - <div class='line in38'>—<span class='sc'>Dryden.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>The intruder was Col. Angus Anglesea, who caught -Odalite to his breast, and with his arm firmly clasping -her waist, stood, haughty, insolent and defiant, in the -midst of the thunderstruck group.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A scene of indescribable confusion followed. The -bride fainted, the bridesmaids shrieked, the old minister -dropped his book, and fell back in the nearest chair, in -a state bordering on apoplexy.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>The men, panic-stricken by amazement for a moment, -now pressed forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Anglesea glared at them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This woman is my wife!” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le instantly recovered himself, and dashed madly forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Heaven only knows what he might have done, but he -was intercepted, and held as in a vise by Mr. Force, -who sternly said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le, there must be no violence here. This madman -must be dealt with by law, not by violence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘This madman!’” shouted the infuriated youth, -struggling desperately to free himself. “‘This madman,’ -is it? This scoundrel, steeped to the lips in vice -and crime! This——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le, be quiet! Would you murder, or be murdered?” -demanded Mr. Force, holding the young maniac firmly. -Then turning to the intruder, he said, in a calm, commanding -tone: “Col. Anglesea, leave the house.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When I have accomplished that for which I came -here,” answered the intruder, smiling superior.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Young Bayard made a dash at him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Roland!” exclaimed Mr. Force, in a peremptory -tone that arrested the steps of the young man. “Stop! -I will have no struggle in my house. If the man does -not leave quietly, he shall be taken off by a policeman.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But now all Abel Force’s attention and energy were -required to control the young lion whom he held.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let me get at him! The thief, who married a rich -widow only to rob and desert her! The bigamist, who, -having a living wife, tried to deceive and marry a -wealthy, betrothed maiden, only to rob and ruin her! -The forger, who invented and published a false account -of his own death that he might entrap his victim into -another marriage, and take a mean revenge by coming -here with pretended claims to stop it! Oh! but he shall -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>die for this!” roared the youth, foaming with rage and -struggling fiercely to free himself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le! Le! be quiet, I say! You are stark, staring -mad!” exclaimed Abel Force, holding the young man -fast, though it took all his strength to do it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He might as well have talked to a cyclone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This felon!” thundered the youth—“this felon, who -has broken every law of God and man! This felon, I -say, who should have been in the State prison twenty -years ago, serving out a life term! And you see him -with my wife in his arms, and you will not let me go! -Oh!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here Mrs. Force, commanding herself by a great effort, -went up to where Col. Anglesea stood holding Odalite -to his bosom, and clasped her hands, raised her eyes -to him, and pleaded:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! for dear mercy’s sake, give me my poor child! -Don’t you see that she is fainting, dying?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Somewhat to her surprise, Anglesea placed Odalite -in her arms, saying, lightly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So that you do not take her out of the room! You -know that she is my wife! And——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Edward Grandiere! Be kind enough to step and -bring in a policeman—two of them, if possible,” said -Mr. Force, who had all he could do to hold Leonidas.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle! uncle! I don’t want to hurt you, but, by my -soul, if you don’t let me go, I shall be compelled to hurt -you!” exclaimed the maddened and writhing youth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the strong, mature man held him in arms that -were like iron cable chains.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I tell you I shall hurt you, uncle!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, Le! Hurt me! But I shall hold you all -the same.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why won’t you let me kill him?” yelled Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because, though he deserves death, you would commit -a crime.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Heaven! must I bear this?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>“Be patient, Le! Let the law deal with this man! -Edward Grandiere, I asked you to go for a policeman!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, sir! I only stopped to ask Roland where I -should find one,” said the young countryman, apologetically, -as he hurried away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At this point Mrs. Force had led Odalite to an easy-chair, -where she recovered from her fainting fit only to -fall into a paroxysm of hysterical sobs and tears. Her -heartbroken mother sat by her side. Her bridesmaids -stood all around her, too much frightened to offer the -least comfort or assistance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea approached this group.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite, who was sobbing convulsively, shuddered, -and covered her eyes with her hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bridesmaids, who all knew him, for he had dined -often at the tables of their parents, regarded him in -fear and horror, and cast down their eyes to avoid looking -at him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Angus Anglesea ignored them all, passed them, -and, addressing Mrs. Force, said, almost apologetically:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did not wish or intend to make a scene. But it -was more than even my self-possession could endure to -see my wife in the arms of another man, who was about -to kiss her. I only want my just and lawful rights. -You, madam, know that your eldest daughter is my lawful -wife. Knowing this, I would ask you why you permitted -your daughter to commit a felony that exposes -her to the penalty of the laws for such cases made and -provided?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We thought that Odalite was free to marry. We -thought that you were dead,” said Elfrida Force, who -had suddenly grown superstitiously afraid of this man, -who seemed to be a Satan in strength, subtlety and unscrupulous -wickedness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You thought I was dead! Upon what ground? I -am in the prime of life, and in the height of health.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>“We saw the notice of your death in a paper sent -to us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Really? Well, that is rather startling. I should -like to see that paper.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>At this moment Dr. Priestly came up, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is all very terrible. I—I do not understand it -in the least.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is easily explained, sir. A false report of my -death reached my wife there. She, believing herself to -be a widow, contracted marriage with that young gentleman -yonder, who seems to be executing a war dance in -the arms of my father-in-law!” replied Col. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Dr. Priestly! will you be so kind as to go and -assist Mr. Force in bringing Leonidas to reason?” -pleaded the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ye-yes! Of course! Oh, this is terrible, terrible! -In the whole course of my ministry I never met anything -so terrible. But, sir,” he said, suddenly breaking -off in his discourse and turning to Col. Anglesea, “you -said that this young lady believed herself to be a widow -when she contracted marriage with Mr. Force. But she -was never known here as wife or widow. I have known -her for more than three years as Miss Force.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That certainly requires explanation, as our marriage -was not a secret one, but was solemnized in the face of -day and before a large congregation——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And then knocked as high as the sky by the dropping -down upon you of your Californian wife! Oh, -you hoofed and horned devil!” said Wynnette, suddenly -joining the group and unable longer to restrain herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Rev. Dr. Priestly stared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! what am I saying? I mean, reverend sir”—Wynnette -began, apologetically—“I mean that this gentleman’s -attempted marriage with my elder sister was -arrested at the very altar by the appearance of a lady -from St. Sebastian, who claimed to be, and proved herself -to be, his lawful wife.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>The old minister looked perplexed and helplessly from -the earnest girl to the scornful man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After that my sister went from the church to my -father’s house, and lived under our parents’ protection. -Of course, she was still Miss Force. The unfinished -ceremony could not have changed her name or condition, -even if the Californian had been an impostor, which she -was not. This cowardly dead beat and mean skala——Oh! -I beg pardon, I am sure, Dr. Priestly. I should -have said: Col. Anglesea, here present, knows that she -was not an impostor, and he knows that he has no claim -on Odalite. He only comes here to make a scene. His -marriage was broken off at the altar by the appearance -of his wife, and he is determined that Odalite’s shall be -broken off, for the day at least, by the appearance of -himself, with the claim that he is her husband. It is -‘tit for tat,’ you know. ‘What’s good for the gander is -good for the goose,’ you see. Oh, dear! Excuse me! -I mean it is his revenge, reprisal, commending back of -the poisoned chalice, don’t you know?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Madam, is this true?” inquired the bewildered minister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force did not reply. She dared not. She was -so utterly subdued by the appearance of her archenemy, -under such inexplicable circumstances, she could only -ignore his question and repeat her request:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! Dr. Priestly, you are a man of peace. Pray go -and help my husband to bring our young relative to -reason.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old minister unwillingly trotted off and arrived on -the scene of action in good time, for Mr. Force’s strength -was beginning to give way under the struggles of his -prisoner to escape without hurting his captor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You see that man standing among the ladies, whom -his presence insults and contaminates, and you will not -let me get at him!” cried Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear boy, I will not have a fight in my parlor, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>and in the presence of women and children, do you understand? -Wait for the police. We will have him -peaceably arrested and taken off. Then our interruption -will be over. The marriage ceremony was concluded, -you know. As soon as we get rid of this madman—for -of course he is a madman—you can get ready -and take the train for Baltimore, just as if nothing unpleasant -had happened.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force spoke in a clear and ringing voice, and -was heard by Col. Anglesea, who laughed out aloud and -derisively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At that moment Roland Bayard and Grandiere came -in, convoying two policemen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So rapidly had the events occurred which take so long -to report, that ten minutes had not elapsed since the first -appearance of Col. Anglesea on the scene, nor three -since the departure of the young men in search of the -policemen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! here you are!” exclaimed Abel Force, in a tone -of relief.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, sir!” said Roland Bayard. “We were so fortunate -as to meet the two officers at the corner of the -street!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And strangely enough, they were on their way to the -house,” added Ned Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Some of the servants must have had the discretion to -go for them. Well, officers, I am glad that you are here, -and I hope you will be able to do your unpleasant duty -quietly,” said Mr. Force. And pointing directly to the -intruder, he added: “I give that man, there, Angus -Anglesea, in charge for a violent breach of the peace. -Take him away at once.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The policemen stared at the speaker, and then at Col. -Anglesea, in a very unofficial sort of way, and finally -walked up to the colonel, and one of them said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t understand it, sir! What does it mean?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>“He’s drunk, I guess! But that need not hinder your -duty. Go and serve the papers on him at once.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The policeman came back to Mr. Force and offered -him a folded document.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is this? What nonsense is this?” inquired -Mr. Force, without taking the paper, because both his -hands were still engaged in holding Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take it and read it, sir, if you please,” said the officer -who had served it. “It is addressed to yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Roland,” said Mr. Force, addressing young Bayard, -“I don’t want to get you into a fight with your brother-in-arms, -by asking you to hold Le; but will you please -open that paper and hold it up before my eyes that I -may read it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Roland bowed in silence, took the paper, opened it -and stared at it for a moment, before he held it up to his -host to be read.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XV<br /> <span class='large'>THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Abel Force began to peruse the document and -frowned as he went on. And well he might!</p> - -<p class='c008'>For it was no less than a writ of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i>, issued -by a judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, -ordering Abel Force to produce the body of Odalite -Anglesea, otherwise Odalite Force, before him the -next morning, April 2, at 10 o’clock.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force, as has been seen, was a law-abiding man. -On this trying occasion, under this galling insult, he -commanded himself with wonderful power.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well,” he said. “You have done your duty. I -will obey the order. Take that man away with you. He -has committed a gross breach of the peace; but let that -pass for the present.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>At this moment Col. Anglesea came up and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will meet you before the judge to-morrow morning. -For the present, having seen the writ of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas -corpus</span></i> served upon you, I withdraw. Good-evening, sir. -Ladies, good-evening.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And with as courtly a bow as if he were leaving the -drawing room of a duchess, Col. Anglesea went out, followed -by the policemen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now be still, Le! This shall be settled equitably to-morrow. -For the present nothing more can be done,” -said Mr. Force, as with a long breath of relief he at -length released his prisoner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Le was no sooner free than he dashed out of the -room and out of the house in pursuit of his enemy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let him go!” said Abel Force, in desperation. “Let -him go. But I do not think he will catch Anglesea. He -has probably taken a carriage, for I heard wheels roll -away from the door before I released Le.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sir, can I be of any further service here?” inquired -the aged minister, coming forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, reverend sir, you cannot; but you will perhaps -take some refreshments before you leave,” replied Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not any, I thank you. This has been a most agitating -evening. If I can serve you in any manner, at -this trying crisis, pray command me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We thank you very much.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If my presence to-morrow can avail in any way——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do not think it can, yet I should be glad to have -you come.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will meet you,” said the rector. And after shaking -hands all around he left the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force stepped quickly over to where his wife sat -by his daughter’s easy-chair, holding her hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite’s violent paroxysm of distress was over, but -she still sobbed with a low, gasping breath as she lay -back in a state of exhaustion.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>He looked at the girl and sighed. He would have -spoken to her, but his wife raised her hand in warning -and said, in a low tone:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Leave her alone for a little while. She is very much -prostrated, but will rally presently.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Elfrida,” he said then, bending over the lady’s chair, -“Elfrida! can there be any truth in that man’s pretended -claim to our child? Not that it will make any -difference in the end, for I swear by all that is sacred, -he shall never possess her! But you remember when we -read that sketch of his life in the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>, -we noticed that the date of the death of his first wife, -as given there, was some weeks later than the date of his -marriage with the California widow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I remember,” said the lady, faintly, for her heart, -her mother heart, seemed dying within her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And such being the case, we should be thankful that -Odalite’s marriage with Le was stopped just where it -was. It would have been most disastrous if the man -had reappeared and set up his claim to Odalite weeks or -months after the marriage had been consummated.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Indeed it would!” replied the lady. “And yet, Abel, -it may all be a fraud. He may have no claim on her -whatever. If he could contrive to have published a -false obituary of himself, could he not even more easily -have inserted in the sketch of his life attached to it a -false date of the death of his wife?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Indeed he could. The whole question of his right to -Odalite hangs upon the true date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s -demise. If she died before his Californian marriage, -then is the Californian woman his lawful wife, -and Odalite is free. If, on the contrary, as is made to -appear in that fraudulent obituary notice, Lady Mary -Anglesea died since the marriage with the Californian, -then was that second marriage a felony, laying him -liable to prosecution for bigamy, and to imprisonment at -hard labor in the State’s prison, and his third incomplete -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>marriage ceremony with our daughter only an -awkward entanglement, which affords him a false excuse -to lay claim to her, and which it may require the -wisdom of the law courts to unravel. I have no doubt -as to the final issue. We must be prepared to meet the -villain in court to-morrow. We must prove the arrest -of the marriage ceremony at All Faith Church, three -years ago, by the appearance of the would-be bridegroom’s -wife. Fortunately we have ‘a cloud of witnesses’ -to that fact. Besides ourselves, all the young -people who are our guests were present at the church -on that occasion. Cheer up, my love!” he said, going -over to the other side of Odalite’s chair, and bending -over her. “Your perfect freedom and happiness is but -a question of time. And meanwhile you will remain -under my protection.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dear papa! I cause you much trouble, do I not?” -she inquired, tenderly, putting her hand in his.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, dearest! You never caused me any trouble in -all your life! A scoundrel has given us both trouble; -but it cannot last long. If the hearing should not be -decisive to-morrow, I must ask for time and get the -California lady up here. Also, later, that will take -more time, I must send a trusty messenger over to England -to ascertain from parish registers and tombstones -the exact date of the death of Lady Mary Anglesea. But -through all, as you are a minor, you must and shall remain -under my protection. Take courage, love!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is Le!” exclaimed Mrs. Force, as the hall -doorbell rang, and the door opened, and a hurried step -was heard approaching the drawing room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force started up, and went to meet the midshipman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could not find the poltroon! He has run away, -as he did on that first occasion, when I sent Roland to -him!” exclaimed the youth. “But yet he shall not -escape me!”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>“Come here, Le,” said Odalite, in a gentle voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the boy crossed the room and knelt before her, -placing both his hands in hers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the old, instinctive, knightly gesture of allegiance -and loyalty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is it, Odalite?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She bent and kissed his forehead, and then she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My lover and husband, you would do anything for -me to-night? Would you not?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Anything, Odalite! my love and queen! anything! -I would live or die for you! I would forego the dearest -wish of my heart for you!” he exclaimed, lifting her -hands and pressing them to his lips, and then placing -them on his head—another old knightly gesture of allegiance -and loyalty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Kiss me, Le! Kiss me with the kiss that seals our -marriage vows,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He started up, and caught her to his bosom, and kissed -her fondly, fervently, reverentially.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, Le, I wish you to promise me to forego vengeance -on your ‘dearest foe.’ To use no violence toward -the wicked man who has caused all our trouble; -because, dearest dear, there can be no violence without -lawbreaking, and no lawbreaking without such consequences -as would inflict the deepest sorrow, the fiercest -anguish on me. And I have already suffered so much, -you would not have me suffer more. You will promise -me, Le?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my best beloved! Yes, my sovereign lady! I -will promise all you ask—even to the renouncing of my -just vengeance and the leaving of that incarnate fiend -to the law. I wish it could hang him! I hope, at the -least, it will send him to the State prison! I will do all -that my queen——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your wife, Le.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My angel wife requires me to do. And I will endure -all that she requires me to endure.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>“Meantime—although we must have patience until -this case is decided, as it must be decided, in our favor—we -are husband and wife. Never dream that I can -consider myself in any other light than as your wife, or -that I could think of you in any other way than as my -husband. We shall not be separated, but remain, as -lately, members of the same family, inmates of the same -house; living as a betrothed couple, or as brother and -sister, until this cloud from the depths of Tartarus has -been cleared away from between us. Do you promise, -Le?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Everything! Everything you wish, Odalite.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is my dear, brave, loyal Le!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was something in this interview—that had been -held in the sight and hearing of all the little company—that -so touched all hearts that the boys and girls gathered -around the young couple with looks of heartfelt -sympathy. The girls kissed Odalite and pressed the -hands of Le. The boys shook hands with Le, and looked -“unutterable things” at Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear,” said Mr. Force to his wife, “I think you -had better take our daughter off to your own apartment. -It grows late, and she is tired. And we have a trying -day before us to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>This was the signal for the dispersion of the little -group. And they all bade good-night and retired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So ended Odalite’s second wedding day.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XVI<br /> <span class='large'>THE NEXT MORNING</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>It was a drizzling, chilly, cheerless day—one of those -relapses into winter into which early spring sometimes -falls.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>Not one of the family had been able to sleep well after -such a harassing evening as they had passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They assembled around the breakfast table with pale -faces and careworn looks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The table was full, and even crowded, with family -and guests—sixteen in all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite was the last to come in. Her face was deathly -white, and showed signs of an anxious and sleepless -night. Yet she greeted the whole party with a wan -smile and a slight bow as she took her seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not one word was said of the ordeal soon to be passed -through. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Force would allude to -it, and no one else durst.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The conversation went on, or, rather, failed to go on, -in abortive jets.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Subjects were started, but fell.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some one said it was a horrid day, so different from -yesterday, and more like November than April.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And several others said yes, or some word to the same -effect, and that subject dropped dead.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some one mentioned that the “English Opera Troupe” -would perform the “Bride of Lammermoor” that evening.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one answered that venture except Mr. Force, who, -as a mere matter of form and politeness, said he believed -so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ned Grandiere said it was good growing weather for -the crops.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But no one complimented him by a reply.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And at length the dull repast was over, and all arose -from the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was now nine o’clock, and raining hard. At ten -Mr. Force and Odalite were required to arrive before -the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As the party left the breakfast room, the guests dispersed -to parlor, library, or chambers, as their inclinations -led them.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>Mrs. Force called Odalite, and went upstairs, followed -by all her daughters, to prepare for her drive to -the courthouse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le followed his uncle into a little smoking room at -the back of the hall. Neither of the men went there to -smoke. Mr. Force went there to be alone while he -waited for his wife and daughter, and Le to speak to his -uncle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle Abel, can I have a word with you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As many as you please, or as time will permit, my -boy. Come in.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They entered the room, and took seats at the little -round table, on which stood pipes of every description, -cigar cases, tobacco pots, tapers, ash saucers and all the -paraphernalia of smoking.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle Abel,” inquired Le, as soon as they were -seated, “have you secured counsel?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, Le, nor shall I do so. To engage counsel would -be to give the case more importance than I choose to -give it. It is a simple <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i>. A very informal -matter, and, in this instance, a very impertinent one—an -abuse of the privilege of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i>. I do not -need counsel, and shall not have any. I shall tell my -story to the judge. I do not even know that I shall call -a witness. That is all that will be necessary. I have no -fears of the result.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle Abel, I must go with you before the judge -this morning.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, Le!” emphatically objected Mr. Force. “No, -Le! I cannot have my daughter, my young and innocent -child, exposed to the ignominy of standing between -two men, each of whom claims her as his wife.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young man was shocked at the presentation of -the case from a point of view he had never contemplated -before, and too greatly confused for a moment to make -any reply. At length he said:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>“But, Uncle Abel, we know who has the right to her! -We know that she is my wife!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, Le, we do not know that. We only think we -know it. We thought we knew that Angus Anglesea was -dead and in Hades. But you see he is alive, and in -Washington.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is a nuisance; but his being here gives him no -claim on Odalite.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“None as you and I think. But we do not know what -the law may decide, Le. It is of no use going over the -whole situation again. You know it, as well as I do. -Angus Anglesea married Ann Maria Wright, August 1, -18—. Of that transaction we have abundant proof. If -Anglesea were then free to contract that marriage, then -is he the lawful husband of Ann Maria Anglesea, his -second wife. But, on the other hand, if his first wife, -Lady Mary Anglesea, did not die until the twenty-fifth -of that same August, then his marriage with Ann Maria -Wright, on the first of the said month, is null and void, -and he was free to contract marriage at the time that he -married my daughter, and Odalite Force is his legal second -wife.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Heaven! oh, Heaven! oh, Heaven! What shall -I do?” exclaimed the youth, starting up in a frenzy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘We must be wise as serpents and harmless as -doves,’” said Mr. Force; “for, Le, we have to deal with -one who has the malice and subtlety of a demon from -the deepest abyss. He is absolutely unscrupulous. I -do not know, mind you, but I firmly believe he has falsified -dates to suit his own base purposes. I believe also -that he designedly laid a trap for us by which he could -satiate his vengeance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I shall kill him, and hang for it!” burst forth the -boy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, you won’t, Le. You came of Christian parents, -and have had a Christian training. You will do nothing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>unworthy of your race and education,” calmly replied -Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle!” exclaimed the youth, “how came that false -publication of his death, with time, place and circumstances -all complete, in the newspaper of his own village? -It is amazing. It is incredible that such a fraud -could have been perpetrated.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, it is amazing and incredible. And yet we know -that it is a fraud, since the man is alive and well. How -it was done I do not know. Why it was done I can well -understand. It was done as a trap to catch us, and place -us in a false and humiliating position. I have no doubt -that, from the hour of his ejection from our house and -his ignominious retreat from the neighborhood, he meditated -vengeance. I have no doubt he lay in wait, watching -us for these three years past, giving no sign of his -existence, leaving us to suppose that we were finally rid -of him, but all the while watching and waiting for your -return, Le, to see what would come of it. I believe that -he knew the course of your ship as well as you did yourself—knew -where she went and when she was ordered -home. Then he manufactured this false evidence of his -death, with time, place and circumstances all complete, -as you said, with obituary eulogy, sketch of his life and -career, and including his marriage with Lady Mary -Merland, the date of her death, August 25, 18—, and -his second marriage with Odalite Force——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I—uncle, I am quite anxious to hang for that -man!” panted the youth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But we are not willing to let you, Le. Your execution -would be of no sort of comfort to Odalite, or any -of us. Now let me go on. All these concocted and published -falsehoods had but one end—to entrap us all into -a false sense of security, and to allow you and Odalite -to contract marriage on your return from sea. I have -no doubt that within ten days after your ship sailed from -Rio de Janeiro, homeward bound, he sailed from Liverpool -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>to New York, under an assumed name, and that he -has been in the country ever since, and lately in the -city, watching for your wedding day, so that he might -turn the tables, and snatch your bride from your possession -at the very altar, as it were, and so humiliate us -all in retaliation for his exposure at All Faith Church.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, the demon! the demon! Any fate would be -cheaply bought at the cost of sending him to——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le! Le! control yourself! Remember your Christian -parentage and training, and do not speak and act -like any border ruffian. Remember also that we do not -know the man has falsified the date of his wife’s death. -We only think so.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle, suppose the judge to-day should decide -against us—should adjudge Odalite to be the wife of -that devil, and give her to him—what then?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do not for a moment anticipate any such decision,” -said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet, it is possible,” muttered Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But most improbable. The case, I think, from every -point of view, is too clearly in our favor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You think, but you do not know. Our thoughts have -misled us up to this moment, and may be misleading -us now. But admitting the possibility that the decision -may be against us—that Odalite may be given into the -custody of Anglesea——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The father’s face darkened and flushed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would not give my child up to the scoundrel!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But suppose the court were to order you to do so?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would resist, and take the consequences. I would -never give my child to that devil! I would sooner—Heaven -knows that I would sooner throw her alive into -that lion’s cage in the circus at the Smithsonian Park -over there!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, uncle, suppose, in case of your resistance, the -officers were ordered to do their duty and take the -woman from you by force, to give her to the man. You -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>know such might be the effect of your resistance. What -then?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The father’s face darkened like a thundercloud. His -eyes, under their black brows, flashed like lightning.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le,” he said, “why do you torture me by such improbable -suppositions? In such a case I should—I -could be another Virginius, and give my child instant -death to save her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, uncle, you would not. You came of Christian -parents, and you have had a Christian training. You -would do nothing unworthy of your race and your education. -Uncle, remember your Christian parentage and -training, and do not speak and act like a heathen Roman,” -said Le, solemnly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The two men looked at each other in comic embarrassment -almost approaching laughter, had not the matter -been so serious.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have been letting imagination run away with -us, Le. You and I have been getting ourselves into unnecessary -heroics. There will be nothing to justify it. -It is true that we have the most infernal villain to deal -with that ever disgraced the human form, but he must -be dealt with by law, and not by violence. All will be -well,” said the elder man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle, it was I who got into heroics first, and then -stung you into the same state. But really now, I do not -think that I shall have any occasion to murder Anglesea -and swing for it, or that you will have any cause to -enact the Roman father and slay your daughter to save -her. Wait for my <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup</span></i>.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If I had been that same Roman father, it would not -have been my own kid I’d have killed, you bet. It would -have been t’other I’d have gone for. I mean, I never -could see the sense of Virginius slaying his own daughter, -and running amuck through the streets of Rome, instead -of doing execution on the minion of Appius Claudius -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>in the first place. It was wrong end foremost, like -most of the heroic dodges.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Of course it was Wynnette who spoke. She was -standing within the open door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you want, my dear?” inquired her father.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mamma sent me to look for you, and tell you that it -is half-past nine. She and Odalite are ready, and the -carriage is at the door.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you, dear. Tell mamma that I will be with -her in a moment,” said Mr. Force, as he arose from his -seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette ran off with her message.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So, uncle, you will not allow me to go with you to -the examination?” inquired Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“By no means! On no account, dear boy! You yourself -should not wish it under the circumstances.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right. Who is going with Odalite besides yourself?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Her mother, her two sisters, Rosemary Hedge, and -the four Misses Grandiere.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They can’t all go in one carriage.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No; no one but Odalite, her mother and the eldest -Miss Grandiere will go in our carriage; the others will -go by the street cars, under the escort of Roland Bayard. -I take a crowd of ladies with me not only as witnesses -to the broken marriage at All Faith Church—for the -young men could have answered that purpose—but as -the most fitting, proper and delicate support to my -daughter. I take only one man, Roland Bayard, not -only as the most important witness, who brought Anglesea’s -Californian wife from San Francisco to St. Mary’s, -but also as a proper escort for the young ladies in the -street car. But you, Le, should, in delicacy, absent -yourself.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“At least, I will not press my company on you, uncle. -But perhaps I may be there later. Don’t let anything -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>discourage you, no matter how the case seems to be -going. Wait for my <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup</span></i>,” said Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force was drawing on his light overcoat in the -hall, to which they had walked during this conversation, -and he scarcely heard or heeded the youth’s last words, -which seemed to be so significant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They met Mrs. Force and Odalite at the front door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The girls have gone on in the cars before. Roland is -with them. I told them to wait in the vestibule of the -City Hall until we should join them,” said the elder -lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite said nothing. She was white and still, as she -had been at the breakfast table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was pouring rain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the front door was opened Mr. Force and Leonidas -both took large umbrellas from the hall rack and -held them over the heads of the two ladies as they passed -from the house to the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the two latter had entered and taken their seats, -Mr. Force followed them, and Le closed the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall bring her back with me,” said the elder man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am sure that you will,” replied the younger.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The carriage drove off, and Le re-entered the house, -muttering to himself:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let them wait for my <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">coup</span></i>!”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XVII<br /> <span class='large'>BEFORE THE JUDGE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Mr. Force with his party drove directly to the City -Hall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was still raining hard, when they arrived—so hard -that when the carriage drew up before the broad flight -of steps leading up to the main entrance of the building, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>Mr. Force, upon alighting upon the pavement, had to -take out one lady at a time, and lead her under the shelter -of a large umbrella up into the hall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They found Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, with the -three younger Grandiere girls, all under the escort of -Roland Bayard, waiting for them in the vestibule.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When all the party were assembled, they mustered -quite a formidable company—eleven in number.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I never was in a courthouse in all my life before! -I feel just as if I was going to be tried for murder or -larceny, or something, myself! I know I shall never be -able to hold up my head again!” whispered Elva, in a -frightened voice, to Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I reckon I shall be tried for murder, if ever I -get a good chance to let daylight through that foreign -beat!” replied Wynnette, too mad to mend her phrases -as she usually did.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t be distressed, Elva, dear! We are not going -into court. This is a case to be heard in chambers,” -Roland explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Chambers!” echoed, in a breath, all the girls, whose -only idea of chambers was bedrooms.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before Roland could explain further, Mr. Force had -come in with Odalite on his arm, and hurried the whole -party up another flight of stairs and along another passage, -until they reached a door at which a bailiff stood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The latter opened the door, in silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The whole party entered a large and well-furnished -room, where, on this cold and rainy second of April, a -bright coal fire was burning in the grate. The floor was -covered with a dark red carpet, the windows shaded with -buff blinds, now drawn three-quarters up, because the -day was dark, and the walls were lined with tall bookcases, -filled with well-worn volumes, mostly bound in -calf. Several library tables, loaded with folios and stationery, -occupied the middle of the spacious apartment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In a large leathern chair, at one of these tables, sat a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>venerable man, with white hair and a benign countenance, -a judge of the Supreme Court of the District of -Columbia, whom, for convenience, we will call Judge -Blank.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a grave young man standing near him, -who might have been clerk or private secretary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And seated in another armchair, at some little distance, -was Col. Anglesea, looking as careless as if he -were making a morning call.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He, too, seemed to be without counsel or witnesses.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force came forward with his party, bowed to the -dignitary, whom he frequently met in social life and -knew very well, and saluted him with a—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-morning, judge,” as if he, too, had just -dropped in to make a morning call.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-morning, Mr. Force,” replied his honor, rising -and looking about him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Seeing the large party who had entered the room, he -turned to the young man in attendance, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“O’Brien, find seats for these ladies.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they were all seated, Mr. Force remained standing -before the judge, with only the table between them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea sat back at ease in his chair, with his -chin a little elevated, playing carelessly with the charms -attached to his watch chain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a short pause, and then Mr. Force, laying -a document on the table, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your honor, I return the writ with which I have -been served. My daughter, Odalite Force, is present.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take a seat, Mr. Force,” said the judge, and then, -turning to the young man whom he had called O’Brien, -he took from his hand a paper and began to read it to -himself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was silence in the quiet room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is not a bit like I thought it was going to be. I -don’t feel at all scared now! Why, I know Judge -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>Blank! He used to pat me on the head every time he -saw me!” whispered Elva to Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, hush! you mustn’t talk here. Yes, it is quiet -enough here, for that matter! Executions are quiet -nearly always. We read, ‘The execution was conducted -in a quiet and orderly manner,’ and yet a man has been -hung and choked to death, or perhaps a woman,” whispered -Wynnette, most inconsistently talking more than -the sister whom she had rebuked for breaking silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette! why will you talk of such horrid, -horrid things?” demanded Elva, in a frightened tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because I am thinking of the price. I am counting -the cost of sending that earthworm to Hades——Hush!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judge had finished reading the document in his -hand, and turning slowly to the respondent, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mr. Force, you are charged herein, under oath, by -Col. Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood Manor, England, -with having, on the twentieth of December, 18—, -forcibly abducted, and for three years past and up to -this present, illegally detained the person of his wife, -Odalite Anglesea—otherwise Odalite Force. What -have you to say to this charge?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I say that it is absolutely false and malicious from -beginning to end! The young lady here present, to -whom he so insolently refers, is my daughter, Odalite -Force, a maiden and a minor, under my own immediate -protection,” replied Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Angus Anglesea will step forward,” said the -venerable judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The colonel arose, bowed and came up to the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>O’Brien handed him the New Testament.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He bowed again with hypocritical devotion and took -the formal oath to speak “the truth, the whole truth, -and nothing but the truth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Anglesea, will you now state the grounds upon -which you claim this lady here present, Odalite Force, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>or Anglesea, as your wife, and charge Abel Force, her -father, with forcibly abducting and illegally detaining -her?” said the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will,” replied the colonel. And he began his statement:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Three years and four months ago, on the twentieth -of December, 18—, in the Church of All Faith, in the -Parish of All Faith, in the State of Maryland, I married -Odalite Force, here present, daughter of Abel -Force, also here present. The Rev. Dr. Peters, rector -of All Faith, performed the marriage. Mr. Abel Force -gave away the bride. At the end of the ceremony a -madwoman burst into the church, forced her way to the -altar and created a disgraceful disturbance, into the -details of which I need not go. Mr. Force, with the help -of some of his neighbors, seized his daughter, tore her -from my arms and conveyed her to his home, where he -has forcibly and illegally detained her ever since. I see -one man and several young women who were witnesses -of the whole transaction, and may be put upon the stand -to corroborate my testimony,” concluded the colonel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Lord!” muttered one and all of the girls, aghast -at the proposition.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Anglesea,” questioned the judge, “you say that -this happened more than three years ago. Why has not -this complaint been made sooner?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Imperative business summoned me immediately to -England and detained me there. I wrote many letters -to my wife, imploring her to come over to me—letters -which perhaps never reached her, for she never replied -to them. I then sent a messenger, the Rev. Dr. Pratt, -to see her in person, and try to induce her to come over -to England under his escort and join me at Anglewood, -where I impatiently awaited her. But my reverend -courier failed to find her where I had left her, at her -father’s country seat, Mondreer, and heard that she was -with her family in Washington. He came here in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>search of my wife, but again failed to meet her. He -was told that she was traveling with her family in -Canada. In short, my agent failed to find her, and returned -to England from his fruitless errand.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord! how that man can lie!—I mean, what reckless -assertions he can make!” said Wynnette, in a low tone, -to Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I like your first way of putting it best,” muttered -young Bayard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea was going on with his statement:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I was bound to England by business, which was at -the same time a most sacred duty. It is needless to go -into the description of that business and duty. It has -nothing to do with this case further than it held me fast -from coming to this country in search of my wife; from -whom I had never heard directly since our violent parting -in the church. Nor did I hear any news of her until -last March, when a rumor reached me that she was -on the eve of marriage with a cousin of hers, a Mr. -Leonidas Force, a midshipman in the United States -Navy. I took measures to find out the truth about this -report, and having satisfied myself of it, I set sail for -New York, where I arrived only three days since. I -took the first train to Washington, and reached the city -yesterday morning. I inquired the address of Mr. Abel -Force and went directly to his house. I was refused -admittance. I asked to see my wife, but was refused -the privilege.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Lord! how that man can lie! I mean, how he -can falsify the sacred truth!” panted Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stick to the first form, my dear! The terse Saxon -is the strongest,” muttered Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea continued:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Knowing the desperate character of the man I had -to deal with——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! just hear him talking about our gentle, lovely -papa!” whispered Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>“Never mind! I’m putting it all down! He’s only -piling up ‘wrath against a day of wrath.’ Spinning out -rope enough to hang himself. I’ll give it to him! He’ll -catch it!” panted Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Knowing, I say, the character of the man I had to -deal with,” concluded Anglesea; “knowing from bitter -experience that not even the holy ground of the house of -God was sacred from his murderous violence——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rosemary Hedge! make Roland Bayard kick that -man out of the courthouse and horsewhip him in the -public streets!” fiercely whispered Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, hush, dear child! We are in the presence of -the judge. Wait. I will deal with him later,” murmured -young Bayard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rosemary Hedge! tell Roland Bayard if he don’t -kick that man out and lash him, you will never marry -him!” hissed Wynnette, through her clenched teeth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He never asked me to,” replied Rosemary, in her -tiny voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Silence,” said the judge, noticing for the first time -the excited whispering in the corner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There! I told you so! Next thing we’ll be kicked -out,” muttered Wynnette, most unreasonably, since she -herself had caused all the disturbance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A dead silence fell among the group of girls while -Anglesea went on with his statement:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I applied for, and obtained, the writ of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i> -from your honor, ordering the abductor of my wife -to bring her before you. So armed with the power of -the law, I went to the house of Abel Force last night -and entered it, and not a moment too soon. I found my -wife standing with a young man whom I at once recognized -as Mr. Midshipman Force, before a minister of -the Gospel who had just pronounced the marriage benediction. -I saw the writ served, and then left the house. -I have no more to say but this, that I might have brought -a criminal charge against her!”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> <span class='large'>THE OTHER SIDE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The venerable judge now turned his face, impassive -as that of the Sphinx, toward Abel Force, who throughout -the trying ordeal of Anglesea’s false testimony and -insulting demeanor had maintained his self-possession -and commanded his temper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He now arose and came forward, took the prescribed -oath, and began his statement:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My daughter, Odalite Force, was never married to -Angus Anglesea. On the twentieth of December, 18—, -at All Faith Church, in Maryland, she went through a -portion of the marriage ritual with him; but that ceremony -was never completed. Before the final declaration -was delivered, before the benediction was pronounced, -the further proceedings were interrupted by -the entrance of a lady who claimed to be the wife of -Angus Anglesea, the would-be bridegroom——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“An impostor! An adventuress!” exclaimed Col. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And who proved herself to be the wife of Angus -Anglesea, to the satisfaction of all present, by producing -her marriage certificate.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Forgery! forgery!” exclaimed the colonel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I took charge of the certificate at the time and have -it with me. Will your honor examine it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Abel Force drew from his breast pocket a folded -paper which he handed to the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A clever forgery, your honor!” said Anglesea, while -the judge unfolded and read the document.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This,” said the judge, slowly reading the paper, “appears -to be the certificate of the marriage of Angus -Anglesea, of Anglewood, Lancashire, England, colonel -in the Honorable East India Service, with Ann Maria -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>Wright, widow, of Wild Cats’ Gulch, California. It is -signed by Paul Minitree as officiating clergyman, and -by several other persons as witnesses. What is the -meaning of this, Col. Anglesea?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a forgery, your honor!” impudently replied the -colonel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judge turned and looked at Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So he said when it was first produced by his wife in -church,” replied the latter; “but we telegraphed to St. -Sebastian and got the record of the marriage from the -parish register of St. Sebastian telegraphed back to us, -word for word. I have preserved that telegram. Will -your honor examine it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Mr. Force drew from his pocket a roll of what -seemed measuring tape, which he handed to the judge, -who patiently unwound and carefully read the long dispatch.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This appears to be a full corroboration. What have -you to say about it, Col. Anglesea?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I say that it is a forgery! I say that there is a conspiracy -between the woman and the priest. I deny in -toto the authenticity of the marriage certificate and of -the telegram that seems to support it. They are both -the work of the same hands. Any one who can write -may fill in the printed form of a marriage certificate. -Any one may send a telegram to any effect they please. -I repeat that I deny in toto the truth of the certificate -and of the telegram. They may be easily proven to be -false. Let an accredited agent be sent to St. Sebastian -to examine the register. It will take time, but I am -willing to wait for justice,” said the colonel, with an -appearance of candor and moderation calculated to deceive -any one who did not know him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judge turned again and looked at Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Certainly. I am perfectly willing, nay, extremely -anxious, that this matter should be sifted to the very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>bottom. I have no doubt or fear of the result,” said -Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the meantime,” said Anglesea, “I shall pray your -honor that my wife will be taken from the custody of -her father and delivered into my keeping.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That cannot be done while this question is in doubt,” -said the judge, with the same impassive face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then I will pray that my wife be taken from the -custody of her father, whom I cannot trust, and placed -in that of the sheriff, or of some third party, with whom -my rights will be safe,” persisted the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will consider.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If your honor will adjourn the case for twenty-four -hours I will undertake to bring this man’s wife into -court. She is at present living at my country seat, Mondreer, -in the capacity of housekeeper.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>An insolent, insulting laugh from Anglesea interrupted -the speaker for a moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She is in the service of Mrs. Force, and in charge -of our country home during our absence,” continued -Abel Force, controlling his temper, and speaking quietly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You may adjourn the case, your honor, for the sake -of producing this woman; but when she shall be produced -she will be nothing more than an impostor—an -adventuress. The only true test of this question will be -to send an accredited agent to California to search the -parish register of Sebastian. Two agents may be sent, -for that matter; one on my part, one on the part of Mr. -Force. That will secure fair play; but they will find no -record of any marriage between me and any woman -whatever. How should they? Why, your honor, I was, -in that August, 18—, not in California, nor in any part -of America; not on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, but -on the other side, in England, at Anglewood Manor, attending -on my invalid first wife, Lady Mary Anglesea, -who died suddenly on the twenty-fifth of that same -August. How, then, could I have been in California, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>and married to this adventuress who has been brought -forward as my wife? Here is the notice of my first -wife’s death. You will see that it occurred on the -twenty-fifth of August, just twenty-four days after I am -stated to have married this California widow. Will -your honor be pleased to examine it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Anglesea drew the little printed slip from his -pocketbook, and passed it to the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That venerable dignitary read it, and looked somewhat -puzzled. In fact, the case was growing more involved -at every turn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your honor must perceive that if I were in attendance -on my invalid first wife, who died on the twenty-fifth -of August, at Anglewood Manor, England, I could -not well have been in St Sebastian, California, courting -and marrying that impostor who claimed me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judge looked exceedingly perplexed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Or if I could by any possibility have married this -Californian woman on the first of August, as the false -certificate states, that marriage would not have been -legal because my first wife was then living, and lived -until the twenty-fifth, when she died. And, consequently, -in either case, I am the husband of this young -lady, Odalite Anglesea, here present.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XIX<br /> <span class='large'>LE’S “COUP”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>At this moment there was a slight movement at the -door, and Leonidas Force entered the room, advanced -and bowed to the judge, and then handed a written -paper to the father of Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force took the paper, read it, started, and passed -it on to the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>His honor took it, read it slowly, and laid it on the -table before him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force had resumed his seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea remained standing immediately in -front of the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le stood a little to the right, near the end of the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was silence for a few moments.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea was the first to speak again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In view of the evidence that I have offered to prove -that I am the legal husband of Odalite Anglesea, here -present, I pray your honor that my wife be delivered -into my custody, or if such may not be, then into that of -the sheriff, or of some other person whom I can trust.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Anglesea,” began the judge, speaking very -slowly and deliberately, “what did you say was the date -of your first wife’s death?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The twenty-fifth of August, as you may see by the -obituary notice in your possession.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! but in what year?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The colonel’s well-guarded face changed. He seemed -disturbed, but quickly recovered himself, and answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! why, in the year 18—, the same year, of course, -as well as the same month, in which I have been accused -of having married the California widow—which, as I -am not endowed with ubiquity, is impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You say, then, that your first wife died on August -25, 18—?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, your honor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“On what date was this notice inserted, and in what -paper?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the London <cite>Times</cite> of the twenty-sixth. It is -usual, I believe, to publish the obituary notice on the day -after the death,” said the colonel, with great dignity, as -if he considered this cross-examination rather irrelevant, -if not even impertinent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“London <cite>Times</cite> of the twenty-sixth of August, 18—?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>“Of course. Yes, your honor,” replied the colonel, -scarcely able to control his annoyance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At that moment Le drew from his breast pocket a -folded newspaper, which he passed to Mr. Force, who, -in turn, submitted it to the judge, saying respectfully:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, your honor, is a copy of the London <cite>Times</cite> to -which reference has been made. If your honor will examine -the obituary column, you will see that the notice -of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death is ‘conspicuous by its -absence.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea flushed and paled visibly while the -judge turned over the paper and examined it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hold here a copy of the London <cite>Times</cite> of August -25, 18—, the date you mentioned as containing the -obituary notice of your wife’s death; but I fail to find it -in the list of such notices,” said the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will your honor allow me to look at that paper?” -inquired Anglesea, struggling, and partly succeeding, in -recovering his self-control.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Certainly,” replied the judge, and he handed it over.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where did this paper come from?” frowningly inquired -Anglesea of Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The latter gentleman replied by a wave of his hand -toward Leonidas Force, who still stood near the right-hand -end of the table before the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I procured it from Mr. Henry Herbert, an English -gentleman, whose acquaintance I made since my return -from sea, and who, as I casually found out, takes the -London <cite>Times</cite>, and keeps a file of it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!” said Col. Anglesea. “I was certainly under -the strong impression that the notice of my wife’s death -was inserted in the <cite>Times</cite> of the day after the occurrence; -but, as I really had nothing to do with the matter -myself—such matters are usually attended to by the -family solicitor, minister, or some other than the chief -mourner—I could not have been certain, and should not -have undertaken to give the precise date, as to which I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>must have been mistaken. And now that I reflect upon -the matter, I remember that Lady Mary Anglesea died -at Anglewood Manor at precisely 11:53 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span>, on the -twenty-fifth, and, of course, the notice could not have -reached London in time for insertion in the issue of the -<cite>Times</cite> of the twenty-sixth. It may have first appeared -in the issue of the twenty-seventh, or even of the twenty-eighth, -and it may have never appeared in the <cite>Times</cite> at -all, but in some other paper. I do not know. I fear I -took the matter so for granted that the notice appeared -in the <cite>Times</cite> on the day after the death, that I spoke -hastily and unadvisedly,” concluded the colonel, with -that air of candor he could so well assume.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But you must remember from what paper you cut -the notice that you have so carefully preserved,” suggested -the judge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did not cut it from any. There, again, is another -reason why I cannot be sure of the date, or even of the -name of the paper in which it was inserted. A thoughtful -friend of the family—I do not remember who, -whether it was our rector or some other—cut it out and -gave it to me as a memento some days after the funeral. -But, your honor, it seems to me that the date of the -publication of the notice of the death is of very little -consequence, as the fact remains that the event occurred -on the twenty-fifth of August, 18—, while the marriage -with which I am charged is said to have taken place on -the first of the same month, which, if it did, was clearly -illegal and of no effect, and constitutes no barrier to the -marriage with Odalite, my present wife, which was -solemnized at All Faith in the December following. -But I say, on the contrary, that the marriage which I -myself witnessed and arrested in the house of Mr. Abel -Force, yesterday, April 1st, between Odalite Anglesea -and Leonidas Force, was illegal, criminal and felonious; -and I might now bring my wife before the criminal -court on the charge of bigamy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>“Col. Anglesea, you will do well to remember that -this is not a criminal court, nor are we investigating a -criminal charge. And govern yourself accordingly,” -said the judge, speaking for the first time with great -severity in tone and look.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Angus Anglesea bowed and was silent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As this question of my daughter’s freedom to contract -marriage has been raised, your honor, I will crave -your indulgence while I call your attention to this paper -which I hold in my hand. It is a copy of the Angleton -<cite>Advertiser</cite>, of August 20th, and contains an obituary -notice to the ‘late Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood, -colonel,’ etc., etc., with a sketch of his life and career, -and a high eulogium of his character. This paper appears -to be the organ of his family, published in his own -town of Angleton, and on his manor of Anglewood, and -should be some authority in their affairs. And yet it -publishes the death of the master of the manor, who -stands living before us. Even if my daughter had been, -as she certainly never was, the wife of Angus Anglesea, -such evidence as this—appearing to be true, though it -was false—of the death of the man whom she had not -seen for more than three years, or since her incomplete -marriage with him was broken off at the altar by the -appearance of his wife, would have seemed to leave her -free to contract marriage without a shade of reproach. -This paper was sent to me through the English mails, -in duplicates, the first of which reached me in September, -and was soon after forwarded to his wife, Mrs. -Ann Maria Anglesea, at Mondreer. The second came -three days later. Will your honor look at it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The judge took it, slowly examined the obituary notice -and glowing eulogium of the late Col. Angus Anglesea, -of Anglewood Manor, etc., etc., looked in amazement -from the death notice to the living subject, and -then laying down the sheet, with a frown, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>“Mr. Force, this extraordinary publication has nothing -whatever to do with the case in hand.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force bowed in submission and sat down. His -point, however, was gained. The judge had seen the -paper, and could not help drawing his own conclusions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Judge Blank then arose to give his decision, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Angus Anglesea, it is not necessary to enter -very deeply into the merits of this case. You have -failed to prove any marital rights over the person of -Odalite Anglesea, otherwise Odalite Force. I, therefore, -remand her, as a minor, into the custody of her -father, and I dismiss the case. Mr. Force, you can take -your daughter away.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force bowed deeply to the judge, and walked -toward the group of ladies who were anxiously awaiting -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Col. Anglesea stepped aside to let him pass, but hissed -in his ear:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There are other tribunals. And yet I will have my -wife!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Abel Force disdained reply, but gave his arm to Odalite, -and told Le to give his to Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so they left the presence of the judge.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XX<br /> <span class='large'>AFTER THE ORDEAL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The capricious April weather had changed for the -better. The rain had ceased. The sky was clear. The -sun was shining.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As our party stood on the steps of the City Hall, -waiting for their carriage to come up, Le spoke aside -to the father of Odalite:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle, it is but two o’clock. Can we not drive immediately -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>to St. John’s rectory, and have the interrupted -marriage of yesterday completed? I suppose -we would have to begin again at the beginning and have -it all over again. Still that would give ample time to -catch the New York express train, and reach the city -in time to secure the <em>Russ a</em> for Liverpool.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>While Le spoke Mr. Force regarded him with amazement. -When Le ceased Mr. Force replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, certainly not, my dear boy. No such plan can -be entertained for a single moment. We do not know, -since that scoundrel’s return, whether Odalite is free to -marry. Nor shall we ever know until the date of Lady -Mary Anglesea’s death is definitely ascertained. If she -did not die until the twenty-fifth of August, 18—, as -the fellow insists that she did not, then was the ceremony -he went through with the Widow Wright no marriage -at all, and the rites performed at All Faith between -himself and Odalite legal and binding. You -know that as well as I do, Le.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young man’s face grew dark with despair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In any case you will never give her up to him!” he -cried.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Never, so help me Heaven! Nor can I give her to -you, Le, until she shall be proved to be free.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thought, when the judge remanded her to your -custody and dismissed the case, it was—his action was -equivalent to declaring her free.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He had no power to do that. But in a doubtful case, -when the self-styled ‘husband’ cannot prove his right to -the woman in question, who is claimed by her father as -his unmarried daughter and a minor, it is clearly the -proper course to deliver her into the keeping of her -father, always providing the father be a proper man to -take the charge. No, Le, the judge has simply left the -case where he found it. You might have noticed, too, -that he referred to my daughter as Odalite Anglesea, -otherwise Odalite Force.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>“I thought he quoted that from the writ.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He did, yet his doing so was significant.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Uncle Abel, is there no way out of all this misery? -Uncle Abel, it is worse than death! Is there no -help for us under the sun?” demanded the youth, with -a gesture of despair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Le. Be patient.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have been patient for three long years, only to be -grievously disappointed at the end!” bitterly exclaimed -the boy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come, Le, listen to my plan. You know that we are -all invited over to England to pay a long-promised visit -to my brother-in-law, the Earl of Enderby. You know -that you and Odalite were to have gone there after your -marriage tour to join us at Castle Enderby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And that plan has all fallen through with the rest,” -complained Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not entirely, my boy. You cannot have a honeymoon -anywhere just now. But we can go abroad together, -and spend the summer in England. We can take -advantage of our visit to investigate the particulars of -Lady Mary Anglesea’s death. If we find that she died -previous to the marriage of that villain with the Widow -Wright, then was that marriage legal, and Mrs. Ann -Anglesea is Angus Anglesea’s lawful wife, and our Odalite -is free. If this should be the case, Le, I would -offer no obstacle, suggest no delay, to your immediate -marriage. By the way, Le, was that file of the <cite>Times</cite> -you spoke of a complete one?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, no, sir. Nor could I find a complete file in the -city. From Mr. Herbert’s file the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth -and thirtieth of August were missing, and -there was no notice of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death in -any that remained.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, we can find a perfect file in London. We can -also find the Anglesea parish register, and possibly some -monument or tablet or memorial window of the deceased -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>lady which will give us the true date of her -death. We cannot possibly fail to find it, Le. We shall -be sure to do so. And if the discovery proves Odalite -to be free, you shall have her the next hour, or as soon -as a minister can be found to marry you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And, on the other hand, uncle, if the facts do not -show her to be legally free, still you will never, never -yield her to that man?” anxiously persisted Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have told you no—never! I would see her dead -first. Be assured of that. Why, Le, that scoundrel -knows that he can never touch a hair of my daughter’s -head.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then why did he enact the villainy of last night and -this morning if it were not in the hope of getting her -into his possession?” demanded the youth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He acted from a low malice, to annoy us; if possible, -to humiliate us. He knew that that was all he -could do, and he did it. There, Le. There is your car, -and the other young folks are going to board it. Follow -them, my boy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But may I not go in the carriage with you and Odalite?” -pleaded the youth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, dear boy. There is no room for you. Miss -Grandiere goes with us. We are four, and fill the four -seats. Hurry, or you will miss the car.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le ran down the steps, and saved the car.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All this time Odalite had been standing in the rear -of her father, and between her mother and her friend -Sophie Grandiere. Her veil was down, and it was so -doubled as to hide her face. All three of the ladies were -silent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Le had left his side, Mr. Force turned toward -them, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I ordered the carriage to come for us at about a -quarter after two. I had no idea we should be out before -that hour, and have to wait.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>“Well, we have not had long to wait, and here it -comes,” replied Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the party walked down the steps, entered the -carriage, and drove homeward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Forces, except when they gave a dinner, always -kept up their old-fashioned, wholesome habit of dining -in the middle of the day. Their usual dinner hour was -half-past two, and they reached home just in time to -take off their bonnets before sitting down to the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After dinner Mr. Force called a consultation of Mrs. -Force, Odalite, Leonidas, Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, -in the library, for he said that all who were interested -in the question about to be raised should have a -voice in the discussion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they were all seated he began, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mrs. Force and myself have called you here, my -children, to help us to decide whether, under the circumstances -that have lately arisen, we shall go to England -as soon as we can get off, or whether we shall carry out -our first intention of waiting until June for the school -commencement at which you three younger ones expect -to graduate. Court-martial fashion, we will begin with -our youngest. Little Rosemary, what do you think -about it? Shall we wait two months longer, until you -graduate, or shall we go at once? You are to go with -us whenever we go, and so you are an interested party, -you know. Come, speak up, without fear or favor!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But it was no easy matter to get the tiny creature -to speak at all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Looking down, fingering her apron, she managed at -last to express her opinion that Mr. and Mrs. Force -ought to decide for them all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, no! That won’t do at all! No shirking your -duty, Liliputian! Tell us what you think,” laughed the -master of the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well—then—I—think—it would be nice to go at -once.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>“And miss your scholastic honors?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes,” muttered the child, looking shyly up from her -long eyelashes. “I would rather miss them than miss -going to England.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right. One for the immediate voyage. Now, -Elva?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, I wish you would let Odalite settle the question. -We all would like Odalite to have her own way,” -said the affectionate little sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Quite right; we shall come to Odalite presently; but, -in the meantime, we want your own unbiased feeling -about it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Indeed, indeed, my feeling is to do just what Odalite -wants me to do! Please, please, let me hear what -Odalite says before I decide.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, then, so you shall. Now, Wynnette?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, I think we had best go at once. It is very -warm here in the latter part of May, and all through -June, and it will be so delightful on the ocean——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But your graduation, Wynnette?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, papa! we shall not lose anything by losing those -exercises. We are learning nothing new now. We are -going over and over the old ground to make ourselves -verbally perfect for the examination. So, indeed, by -leaving school at once we shall lose nothing but the -parade of the commencement.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We score two votes for the immediate voyage. Odalite, -my dear, you have the floor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, if I could go to Europe immediately without -detriment to the education of these girls, I should be -very glad to go. But I think everything should yield -to the interests of their education,” said Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have heard what Wynnette says, my dear—that -they are adding nothing to their stock of knowledge -in the last two months at school. Only perfecting themselves, -in parrot-like verbiage, to answer questions at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>the coming examination. They will lose nothing but the -pageantry of the exhibition.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then, papa, I think I would like to go very soon.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now, so would I, papa,” put in Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Quite so! Four in favor of the voyage. Now, Le?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle, you know my anxiety that we be off. I -would go by telegraph, if I could.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Five! Well, my dears, Mrs. Force and myself are -already agreed that, upon all accounts, it is best that we -should sail by the first Liverpool steamship on which -we can procure staterooms for so large a party as ours is -likely to be. I will write to the agent of the Cunard -line by to-night’s mail. It is very necessary that we -should go to England, without delay, not only to see -our relative, Lord Enderby, whose health is in a very -precarious condition, but also to investigate matters in -which Odalite’s and Le’s welfare and happiness are -deeply concerned. Rosemary, my dear, write and tell -your aunt of our changed plans in regard to the time -of the voyage. Children, this is the second of April. I -think we will be able to sail by the twenty-third, at -furthest. So you may all begin to get ready for your -voyage,” said Mr. Force, rising to break up the conference.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXI<br /> <span class='large'>PREPARING TO LEAVE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Mr. Force went at once to his writing desk to write -letters—one to the New York agent of the Cunard line -of ocean steamers; another to his overseer at Mondreer, -and a third to Miss Grandiere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When all these were dispatched he joined his family -circle in the parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The talk ran on events of the day.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>“The proceedings were much less formal than I had -supposed they would be,” Mrs. Force remarked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force laughed, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This reminds me of the first <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i> case I -ever witnessed. In my youth I was traveling in the far -West, and stopped, to get over an attack of chills, at the -first house that would take me in. It was a better sort -of log cabin, on the farm of Judge Starr, one of the -judges of the Supreme Court of the State; and it was -occupied by the judge, his wife and a hired boy. I had -to sleep in the loft with the hired boy. The judge -and his wife occupied the room below as parlor, bedroom, -dining room and kitchen——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, what living for civilized and enlightened human -beings!” exclaimed Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He lives in a five-hundred-thousand-dollar house -now, my dear, and if it were not irreverent to say so, -I might almost add that his ‘cattle’ are ‘upon a thousand -hills.’ But that is not the point now. On the morning -after my arrival I heard the judge say to his wife—for -you could hear through the gaping planks of the loft -floor every word that was spoken in the room below—I -heard him say:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘That case of little Valley Henley will come up to-day.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Will it?’ she replied. ‘Well, I’ll tell you what to -do, Nick! You leave it to the child herself.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘I will,’ said the judge.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And yet they say women have no power! And -here was the wife of one of the judges of the supreme -court of the State, ordering him what to do!” exclaimed -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well,” continued Mr. Force, “about ten o’clock, having -taken a warm cup of coffee, brought up to me by -Mrs. Judge, and having got over the fever that followed -the chill, I arose and dressed and went downstairs. -But Mrs. Judge was ‘in the suds,’ and the room was full -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>of hot steam; so I walked out into the back yard, where -I found the judge in his red shirt sleeves, sawing wood. -Almost before I could say good-morning, came the hired -boy and proclaimed:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘They’re come.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Bring them right in here,’ said the judge, and he -threw down his saw and seated himself astraddle the -log on the wood horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And then came half a dozen or more of men with a -pale, scared little girl among them. An orphan child, -she was, with plenty of money, and she was claimed by -two uncles, one of whom had taken out a writ of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas -corpus</span></i>, to compel the other to bring her before the judge, -to decide who should have her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, there was a lawyer on each side, and witnesses -on each side, and plenty of hard swearing and bold lying -on both sides. And the judge sat in his red flannel shirt -sleeves, astride the log on the wood horse, and stroked -his stubble beard of a week’s growth, and listened patiently. -The poor little object of dispute stood and trembled, -until the judge noticed her and lifted her upon his -knees, put his arm around her waist and held her there, -saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Don’t be afraid, little woman. No one shall hurt -you in any way.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And the child plucked up her little spirits, and the -judge listened first to one lawyer and then to the other, -while they each exhausted all their law on the case, without -affecting the issue in the least degree—for the result -lay in the will of that helpless, orphan child, whose little -head lay against the judge’s red shirt. While they all -talked themselves hoarse, the judge listened gravely, but -spoke never a word.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Mrs. Judge came in and out of the yard, hanging -her clothes on the line.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When they could talk no longer they were obliged to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>be silent, and then the judge lifted the child’s head from -his bosom, sat her up straight, and asked her:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Now, my little woman, let us hear what you have -got to say, as you are the most interested party. Which -uncle had you rather go and live with?’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was some time before the frightened child found -courage to open her lips, but when, reassured by the -manner of the judge, she did speak, it was to the purpose.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Oh, sir, please, I want to go back to dear Uncle -Ben! Mamma did leave me to Uncle Ben; indeed, indeed, -the Lord knows that she did! And I don’t know -Mr. Holloway! And no more did she! I never saw -Mr. Holloway till he came here after me to take me -away off to Portland.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Very well, you shall go back to Uncle Ben,’ said -the judge, and raising his voice, he continued: ‘Mr. -Benjamin Truman, here is your niece and ward. Take -her, and take care of her.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A rough backwoodsman came forward and took the -little maiden in his arms and kissed her, and then -touched his hat to the judge on the wood horse and led -the happy child away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And then a polished gentleman threw himself into a -passion, and used objectionable language that might -have subjected him to fine and imprisonment, had the -law been administered to him in its severity. But the -good judge only said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘If you are not satisfied, there’s the orphans’ court—though, -I have no doubt, that also would leave the -child in the custody of her present guardian.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And with this the judge got off his ‘bench,’ took up -his saw and resumed his work.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And half the crowd went off swearing and threatening, -and the other half laughing and cheering. That -was my first experience in <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i>. Judge Starr -has risen to wealth, power and position since then; children -<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>came to him among other good gifts, and his eldest -daughter has lately married an English nobleman, who -is quite as noble ‘in nature as in rank.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I like that judge! I am glad he rose in the -world!” exclaimed little Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would like to see him,” murmured poor Odalite, -won for the moment from the contemplation of her own -woes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My love, for the last three years you have met him -many, many times,” said her father.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Met him!—here, in Washington? But I don’t remember -any Judge Starr.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That was a fictitious name. I could not use his real -name in telling such a story—though I don’t know why, -either. But, my dear, he is now one of the judges of -the Supreme Court of the United States. You cannot -fail to identify him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I know! I know!” exclaimed Odalite, with a -bright smile.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who was it? Which was it? What was his name?” -came in a dozen tones from the young people present.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No; since papa has not named him, I must not,” said -Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then the sound of the supper bell summoned -them to the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Two days after that Mr. Force received a letter from -the New York agent of the Cunard line of steamers, telling -him that the first steamer on which they could accommodate -so large a party as the Forces’ would be the -<em>Persia</em>, which would sail on the twenty-eighth of May. -There were not so many ocean steamers then as now, -and people had to secure their passages a long way beforehand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The twenty-eighth of may! Nearly two months! -What a nuisance! But it is because there are so many -of us! Seven cabin passengers for the first, and two for -the second cabin! However, wife, I will tell you what -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>we will do: We will go down to Mondreer to spend the -intervening time; and we will give up this house at -once. You know our lease expired on the first of April—two -days ago—and we are only staying here a few -days on sufferance, because the house is not wanted at -this season. Yes; we will go down to Mondreer. What -do you say?” inquired Abel Force of his wife, to whom -he had just read the agent’s letter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will go down to Mondreer as soon as the Grandieres -have finished their visit. We invited them for a -week, you know, and they have been here but three days, -and have seen but little of the city. And as to the house, -I suppose we will pay at the same rate at which we -leased it, so long as we shall stay,” replied Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The evening mail brought a letter from Beever, the -overseer at Mondreer, giving good accounts of the estate; -and also a letter from Miss Grandiere, acquiescing -in Mr. Force’s plans, and begging on the part of her -sister, Mrs. Hedge, as well as on her own, that Mr. and -Mrs. Force would use their own judgment in all matters -connected with Rosemary and the voyage; only stipulating -that the child should be sent home to visit her -friends before going abroad.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force wrote and mailed three letters that afternoon. -One to the New York agent of the Cunard steamships, -engaging accommodations for his whole party for -the <em>Persia</em>, on the twenty-eighth of May; another to -Beever, expressing satisfaction at the report of affairs -at Mondreer, and announcing his speedy return with his -family to their country home; and a third to Miss Grandiere, -telling her that Rosemary would be with her in a -few days.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then Mr. Force turned his attention to the young -guests of the family, and put himself out a little to show -them around Washington City and its suburbs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force, meanwhile, at the head of her household, -was busy with her packing and other preparations for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>their removal to Mondreer and their after voyage to -Europe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every day she sent off boxes by express to Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so the week passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nothing, meantime, had been heard of Col. Anglesea, -until Mr. Force put a private detective upon his track, -who reported, at the end of the week, that the colonel -had left Washington for Quebec.</p> - -<p class='c008'>That was a relief, at least.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the tenth of April before the Grandieres finally -concluded to return home, and then Mrs. Force, supported -by her own girls, begged that they would remain -until the whole family were ready to go to Mondreer, -that all might travel together; for the lady did not wish -that the news of Odalite’s second interrupted wedding -should reach the neighborhood and get distorted by gossip -before their own return to their country home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was, therefore, on a fine day, the twelfth of April, -that the large party of family and guests left the city -home in the care of the janitor sent by the landlord, and -took the train en route for Mondreer.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXII<br /> <span class='large'>FAREWELL VISIT TO MONDREER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>It was a long day’s ride, and it was dark when their -train ran into the little station where it stopped for half -a minute.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The large party got out, and they found a much -larger party collected to meet them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was old Tom Grandiere—as the master of Oldfield -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>was beginning to be called—with an ox cart to -carry his tribe of sons and daughters home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was William Elk, with an old barouche which -he had brought to meet his niece.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was Miss Sibby Bayard in her mule cart, come -to fetch Roland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Lastly, there was Mrs. Anglesea, in the capacious -break, driven by Jacob, come to fetch the whole Force -family home from the station to Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And there were such hearty, cordial greetings as are -seldom heard in this world.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Welcome home, neighbors!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have missed you!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank Heaven you have come back!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so on and so on! All speaking at once, so that it -was difficult to tell who said what, or to reply distinctly -to anything.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yet the Forces all responded in the most cordial manner -to these effusive greetings, in which Mrs. Force and -Odalite detected an undertone of sadness and sympathy -which both mother and daughter understood too well.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They have heard of our new humiliation, although -we have never written of it! Yes, they have all heard -of it, though no one alludes to it,” was the unuttered -thought of mother and daughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord’s sake, ole man, hoist them children up here -and get in! Don’t stand palavering with them people all -night! I’m gwine to drive you all home myself. I only -brought him for show! I wouldn’t trust him to take -us home safe over bad roads in the dark,” said Mrs. -Anglesea, from her seat on the box beside the coachman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, my girls and boys, have you been so spoiled by -your gay city life that you will never be content with -your dull, country home again?” demanded Thomas -Grandiere, as he helped his big daughters to tumble up -into the ox cart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, dad, it was perfectly delightful! But we are -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>glad to get home and see you, for all that!” answered -Sophie.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“‘There’s no place like home,’”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>sentimentally sighed Peggy. And all the other sisters -and the brothers chimed in with her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Washington is well enough, but they are all too indifferent -about the crops ever to amount to much, I -think,” said Sam Grandiere, and his brother Ned seconded -the motion. And so that party waved a last adieu -to the Forces and drove off.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your mother and your aunt are both at our house, -Rosemary, and so I came to fetch you over there,” said -William Elk, as he helped his little mite of a niece into -the old barouche. “You don’t grow a bit, child! Are -you never going to be a woman?” he further inquired, -as he settled her into her seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nature puts her finest essences into her tiniest receptacles, -Uncle Elk!” said Roland, who called everybody -else’s uncle his own.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But William Elk had driven off without receiving the -benefit of the young man’s words.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Roland, come here and get into this cart afore this -here brute goes to sleep and drops down. There’s a time -for all things, sez I, and the time to stand staring after -a young gal, sez I, isn’t nine o’clock at night when -there’s an ole ’oman and wicious mule on a cart waitin’ -for you, and a mighty dark night and a rough road afore -you, sez I!” called Miss Sibby, from her seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, aunty, I’m coming.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the young fellow jumped into the cart, took the -reins from the old lady, and started the mule at a speed -that made the animal cock his ears and meditate rebellion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By this time Mr. and Mrs. Force, their three daughters -and Leonidas were seated in the break.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea was on the box, driving. This she so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>insisted on doing that there was no preventing her except -by enacting a scene.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Jake’s getting old, and blind, and stupid. I’m not -going to trust my precious neck to him, you bet! I have -lost a good deal, but I want to keep my head on my -shoulders,” she had said, as she took the reins from -Jake, who immediately folded his arms, closed his eyes -and resigned himself to sleep.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You had better let me drive if you are afraid to -trust Jake, Mrs. Anglesea,” suggested Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You!” said the lady from Wild Cats’, in a tone of ineffable -contempt. “Not much! I’d a heap rather trust -Jake than you! Why, ole man, you never were a good -whip since I knowed you, and you’ve been out of practice -three years! Sit still and make yourself comfortable, -and I’ll land you safe at Mondreer. Old Luce will have -a comfortable tea there for you, and strawberry shortcake, -too. Think of strawberries on the twelfth of April! -But I raised ’em under glass. And so my beat wasn’t -dead, after all! And I in mourning for him ever since -the fourteenth of February! Well, my beat beats all! -I shall never believe him dead until I see him strung -up by a hangman and cut up by the doctors—of which -I live in hopes! No, you needn’t worry. Jake’s fast -asleep, and he wouldn’t hear thunder, nor even the dinner -horn, much less my talk!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How did you hear that Col. Anglesea had turned up -again?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, Lord! ole man, it’s all over the whole country. -You couldn’t cork up and seal down news like that! It -would bu’st the bottle! I believe some one fetched it -down from Washington to the Calvert House, and then -it got all over the country; and Lord love you, Jake -heard it at the post office and fetched it home to the -house. And then—when Beever got your letter, and -not a word was said about the wedding, and Miss Grandiere -got two—one from you and one from Rosemary—and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>nothing said neither about no brides nor grooms, we -felt to see how it was. And now there’s lynching parties -sworn in all over the neighborhood to put an end to that -beat if ever he dares to show his face here again. Oh! -the whole neighborhood is up in arms, I tell you!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am very sorry my good neighbors’ sympathy -demonstrates itself in that way,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You can’t help it, though!” triumphantly exclaimed -the lady from the diggings, as she gave the off horse a -sharp cut that started the whole team in a gallop, and -jerked all the party out of their seats and into them -again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As a magistrate, it is my bounden duty to help it,” -returned Mr. Force, as soon as he recovered from the -jolt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Look here, ole man! You take a fool’s advice and -lay low and say nothing when lynch law is going round -seeking whom it may devour! For when it has feasted -on one wictim it licks its chops and looks round for another, -and wouldn’t mind gobbling up a magistrate or -two any more than you would so many oysters! Leastways -that is how it was at Wild Cats’. And I tell you, -our boys out there woudn’t have let a beat like him cumber -the face of the earth twenty-four hours after his first -performance, if they could have got hold of him. It’s -a word and a blow with them, and the blow comes first! -Now, for goodness’ sake, do stop talking, ole man! I -can’t listen to you and drive down this steep hill at the -same time without danger of upsetting! Whoa, Jessie! -What y’re ’bout, Jack? Stea—dee!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the lady on the box gave her whole attention to -taking her team safely down Chincapin Hill and across -the bridge over Chincapin Creek.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! how glad I am to see the dear old woods and the -creek and the bridge once more!” said little Elva, fervently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘See!’ Why, you can’t see a mite of it! It is as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>dark here as the bottom of a shaft at midnight. No -moon. And what light the stars might give hid by the -meeting of the trees overhead. ‘See,’ indeed! There’s -imagination for you!” replied Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, anyhow I know we are on the dear old bridge, -and going over the creek, because I can hear the sound -of the wheels on the planks and the gurgle of the water -running through the rocks and stones,” deprecatingly -replied Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why don’t you say ecstatically—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Hail! blest scenes of my childhood!’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>That’s the way to go on if you mean to do it up brown!” -chaffed Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, how can you be such a mocker! Are you not -glad to get home?” pleaded Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rather; but I’m not in raptures over it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Look here, young uns! Stop talking; you distract -me. I can’t listen and drive at the same time. And if -you will keep on jawing you’ll get upset. These roads -are awful bad washed by the spring rains, and if we get -home safe it will be all owing to my good driving! Only -you mustn’t distract me by jawing!” said Mrs. Anglesea. -And having silenced every tongue but her own, she -drove on slowly by the light of the carriage lanterns, -which only shed a little stream directly in front of her, -talking all the time about the negligence of the supervisors -and the carelessness of the farmers in suffering -the roads to be in such a condition at that time of the -year.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This could never a been the case if you’d been home, -ole man! You’d a been after them supervisors with a -sharp stick, you would! But, Lord! the don’t-care-ishness -of the men about here!” she concluded, as she drew -up at the first broad gate across the road leading into -the Mondreer grounds.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>Her passengers thought, but did not say, that if the -lady on the box could not listen and drive at the same -time, she could certainly drive and talk pretty continuously -at the same time.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, you lazy nigger, Jake! Wake up and jump -down and open this here gate!” exclaimed Mrs. Anglesea, -giving the old sleeper such a sharp grip and hard -shake that he yelled before he woke and said he dreamed -a limb of a tree had caught him and knocked him out -of his seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>However, he soon came to a sense of the situation, half -climbed and half tumbled down to the ground and -opened the gate to let the break pass through.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The house was now in sight and lighted up from garret -to basement.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, how pretty!” cried Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Wynnette mocked her good-humoredly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I told Luce to do it and leave all the window shutters -open so you could see through. Lord! tallow candles are -cheap enough, ’specially when you make ’em yourself. -And there was an awful lot of beef tallow last killing to -render down. I couldn’t tell you how many candles I -run—about five hundred, I reckon! Well, here we are -at the house, and——Oh, Lord! Jake, jump down and -hold that dog, or he’ll break his chain and jump through -the carriage windows!” cried Mrs. Anglesea, as they -stopped before the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Indeed, Joshua was making “the welkin ring” with -his joyous barks and his frantic efforts to get at the -returning friends, whose presence he had scented.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let him loose this instant, Jake! Unchain him, I -say!” exclaimed Wynnette. And without waiting for -her orders to be obeyed, she sprang from the carriage, -fell upon the dog’s neck, and covered him with caresses.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, you dear, good, true, trusty old fellow! To know -us all again after so many years! To be so glad to see -us! And to forgive us at once for going away and leaving -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>you behind. You would never have left us, would -you, my dog? Ah! dogs are a great deal more faithful -than human beings.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>While Wynnette with her own hands unloosed the -chain, the other members of the family alighted from -the break.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Joshua, released from restraint, dashed into the -midst of the group, barking in frantic raptures, and -darting from one to another trying to turn himself into -a half a dozen dogs to worship at once a half a dozen -false gods in the form of his returning friends.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They all responded to Joshua’s demonstrations, and -then entered the house, closely followed by the dog, who -did not mean to lose sight of them again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the lighted hall they found all the family servants -gathered to welcome them home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, dear mist’ess, we-dem all frought as you-dem -had forsook us forever and ever, amen!” said Luce, -bursting into tears, as she took and kissed the hand her -mistress offered.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> <span class='large'>LE’S PLAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>When all the greetings were over the family were -allowed to go upstairs—still in custody of the dog, who -kept his eye on them—and take off their traveling suits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea walked ahead to see that every one was -comfortable.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Every bedroom was perfectly ready for its occupant, -well lighted by candles in silver candlesticks on the mantelpiece -and on the dressing bureau, and well warmed -by a bright little wood fire in the open fireplace, which -this chilly April evening rendered very pleasant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One thing I do grieve to part with, even in the lovely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>spring, and that is our beautiful open wood fires!” said -Elva, as she sat down on the rug, with Joshua lying -beside her, before the fire in the bedroom occupied by -Wynnette and herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So do I! I am always glad when a real cool evening -comes to give us an excuse to kindle one,” Wynnette -assented.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the tea bell rang, and they had to leave the bright -attraction, and, closely attended by Joshua, who resolved -to keep them in view, go down to the dining room, where -all the family were assembled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This apartment was also brightly lighted by a chandelier, -which hung from the ceiling over the well-spread -table, and warmed by a clear little wood fire in the open -chimney.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Strawberries and wood fires! The charms of summer -and winter meeting in spring!” exclaimed Wynnette, -glancing from the open chimney to the piled-up -glass bowl of luscious fruit that stood as the crowning -glory of the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Raised under glass, honey. And a time I had to -keep the little niggers from stealing them! Children -may be little angels, but I never seed one yet as wouldn’t -steal fruit when it could get a chance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think they instinctively believe that all the fruit -that grows belongs to them, or at least, as much of it as -ever they want, and—maybe they are right,” said Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s pretty morality to teach the young uns! You -ought to be ashamed of yourself, ole man. That’s not -my way, nohow. I spanked every one of them little -niggers with a fine new shingle until they roared again, -every time I caught ’em at the strawberries; and, providentially, -there were plenty of new shingles handy—left -by the carpenters who put the new roof on the back -porch,” said the lady from the mines.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But no one replied; and as Mrs. Force had taken her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>seat at the head of the table, all the party gathered -around, while the dog stretched himself on the rug before -the fire and watched his family. They wouldn’t -get away again for parts unknown, and stay three years—not -if he knew it!</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was late when they sat down to tea, but as they -were all very hungry, and this was their first meal at -home after years of absence, they lingered long around -the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And when at last they arose and went into the drawing -room, still “dogged” by Joshua, it was only for a -short chat around the fire, and then a separation for the -night.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Jake, put that dog out,” said Mrs. Anglesea, who -could not all at once forget to give orders in the house -she had ruled for three years, even now when the mistress -was present.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jake advanced toward the brute, but Joshua laid himself -down at Wynnette’s feet and showed all his fangs -in deadly fashion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Deed, missis, it’s as much as my life’s worf to tech -dat dorg now,” pleaded Jake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let Joshua alone,” said Wynnette; “he shall sleep -on the rug in my room, shan’t you, good dog?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Joshua growled a reply that was perfectly well understood -by Wynnette to mean that he certainly should do -that very thing in spite of all the wildcat women in -creation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so when all went upstairs, the dog trotted up -soberly after his little mistress, and when the latter -reached their room, he laid himself down contentedly on -the rug, and watched until he saw them abed and asleep. -Then he resigned himself to rest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! the rapture of being at home again!” breathed -little Elva, standing on the rose-wreathed front piazza, -and looking forth upon the splendid April morning, -when the sky was blue, and the bay was blue, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>forest trees of tenderest green, and the orchard trees -with apple blossoms, peach blossoms, all like one vast -parterre of blossoming flowers; and the tulips, hyacinths, -jonquils, daffodils, pansies, japonicas, and all the wealth -and splendor of spring bloom on the flower beds on the -lawn were radiant with color and redolent of perfume.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! the rapture of being at home!” said little Elva, -softly to herself, as she gazed on the scene.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Hail, blest scenes of my childhood!’” sentimentally -murmured a voice behind her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elva turned quickly, and saw, as she expected to see, -the mocking face of Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette! how can you make such fun of me!” -inquired Elva, in an aggrieved tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To prevent other things making a fool of you. Come -in, now, to breakfast. They are all down, and I came -out to look for you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girls went in together, and took their places at -the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the breakfast was over, Le asked his uncle for -the loan of a horse to ride over to Greenbushes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want to take a look at the little place, which I have -not seen for three years and more,” he explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, certainly, Le. Take any horse you like. And -never think it necessary to ask me. Are you not as a son -to me?” said Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did hope to be your son, sir, in every possible sense -of the word, but that hope seems dead now,” sighed the -young man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not at all, Le! We have only to prove a fraud in -the alteration of the date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death -to set aside every imaginary barrier between you and -Odalite.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, sir, he denies that there ever was any marriage -between himself and this Californian lady. He declares -that it is all a conspiracy between the woman and the -priest, that the marriage certificate is a forgery, and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>telegram a fraud, and he defied us to go or send to St. -Sebastian to test the matter. Now if this Californian -lady is not Anglesea’s wife——” Le paused. He could -not bring himself to conclude the sentence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If the Californian is not his wife, Odalite is, no matter -at which date the first wife died,” said Mr. Force, -finishing the unspoken argument.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, that is what I meant to say—only I could not.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear Le, have you the least doubt as to the reality -of that St. Sebastian marriage, whatever may be said of -its legality?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, none in the world. Still I want further proof -of it. I want to go to St. Sebastian and search the -parish register, as he challenged us to do!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bah! He only did that out of bravado, to annoy us -and to gain time. He no more believed that we would -either go or send to St. Sebastian than he believed that -he would ever be permitted to touch the tip of Odalite’s -finger as long as he should live in this world! He acted -from a low spite, without the slightest hope of any other -success.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Notwithstanding that, Uncle Abel, upon reflection, -I shall go to California and search that parish register -and bring back with me absolute, unquestionable proof -of that marriage to take with us to England. Then, -when we can prove that Lady Mary Anglesea’s death -occurred before Col. Anglesea’s second marriage, we -shall know Odalite to be free to become my wife. Don’t -you see?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Le; but when do you propose to go to California -on this quest? You know we sail for England in -six weeks from this.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall start to-morrow, and lose no time! travel -express! do my work as quickly as it can be done thoroughly—for -to do it most thoroughly must be my first -care—then I shall travel express coming home, and so -be back again as soon as possible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>“Well, my boy, go!” said Mr. Force. “I approve -your earnestness, and may Heaven speed you.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> <span class='large'>WHAT FOLLOWED THE RETURN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“Now, ole ’oman, I want you to go all over the house -’long o’ me, to see for yourself how I’ve done my duty,” -said the lady from Wild Cats’, as she followed Mrs. -Force from the breakfast room on the day after the -return of the family to Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Indeed, Mrs. Anglesea, I have no doubt you have -done perfectly well,” replied the mistress of the house, -deprecatingly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, but I want you to see that I have. Now come -into the storeroom,” said the housekeeper, resolutely -leading the way, while Mrs. Force obediently followed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now look at them there rows of pickles and preserves, -and jams and jellies, on them there shelves. All -made by my own hands. Them on the top shelf is three -years old, and all the better for their age. Them on the -middle shelf was made last year, and is very good. -Them on the bottom shelf is the newest, and wants a -little more age on ’em.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’m afraid you worked too hard in making up these -things, and also denied yourself the use of them, since -the shelves are so full.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who? Me? Not much! I own I did work hard. -I like work. But as to denying myself anything good to -eat, jest you catch yours to command at it, if you can; -and if you do, jest let me know, so I can consult a mad -doctor to find out what’s the matter with my thinking -machine. No, ma’am. I don’t deny myself nothing -good to eat. You bet your pile on that. Fasting never -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>was no means of grace to me. I had plenty of pickles -and preserves at all the three meals of the day. And so -had the two niggers. Lord! why, next to eating myself, -I love dearly to see other people eat.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am very glad you enjoyed yourself,” said Mrs. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You bet! And now look into this closet, and see the -dried yerbs and roots and berries I have got here. See -now!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A great store, indeed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All gathered by my own hands, and with the dew on -’em, before the sun was up, and shaken and dried in the -shade by me. And now look here at this shelf full of -boxes of honey. I ’tended to it all myself. I hived -eleven swarms of bees since you have been gone. And I -did want to complete the dozen so much. But, Lord! it -is always so. Just because I wanted to, they got away -while I was at church one Sunday morning. You can’t -beat any religion into bees. They didn’t mind breaking -the Sabbath no more than a wild Indian. But I’ll more -than make up that dozen next season, you bet.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have done admirably well to have saved so -many.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Think so? Well, now come out into the meat house, -and see the barrels of salt pork and beef, all corned by -my own hands, and the sugar-cured hams and the smoked -tongues. Oh, I tell you!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force followed her manager out of a back door -into a paved yard and across it, to a small detached -building of stone, set apart for the purpose to which the -able housekeeper had put it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>We cannot follow the two women through all the -round of inspection, into the smoke houses, meat houses, -poultry yards, etc., but will only add that the lady was -gratified by all she saw, and was liberal in commendation -of her deputy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now come into the house, and we’ll go upstairs into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>the linen room, and then up into the garret to look at the -carpet and woolen curtains, and blankets and things, -laid up in lavender for the summer, and if you find a -hole unmended in anything whatsoever, or a patch put -on crooked, jest you let me know it, will you, and I’ll go -right straight off and consult that same mad doctor I -mentioned before, to see if anything’s the matter with -my headpiece.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the inspection of the house was entirely over -Mrs. Force was very earnest in her expressions of satisfaction -and gratitude to the faithful and capable manager.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are a much better housekeeper than I ever was, -Mrs. Anglesea,” she said, as they came downstairs together.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why wouldn’t I be? Gifts is divers. You’ve got a -gift of working in silks and worsteds, and beads and -things, and playing on the pianoforty, and speaking in -all the lingoes of the Tower of Babel. But you can’t -keep house worth a cent. And the Lord knows what -would a-become of you all if it had not been for ole Aunt -Lucy. Now she’s a fairish sort of a manager, though -she can’t come up to me. No, ma’am! I never graduated -from no college. I can’t play on nothing but the -Jew’s-harp, and I can’t speak any language but what I -learned at my ole mother’s knee. But, Lord! as for -good housekeeping and downright useful hard working, -I can whip the coat offen the back of any man or any -woman going.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think that few can excel you,” said Mrs. Force, as -they entered the little parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You bet!” said the lady from the diggings, as she -dropped heavily into an armchair and panted. “And I -didn’t learn to keep house at Wild Cats’, neither! Lord, -no; there wasn’t much chance to keep house in a log -cabin with a dirt floor, and not even a loft or a lean-to! -It was from my good ole mother I learned all I know! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>And little use it was to me at Wild Cats’. And, oh! -when I think of the gold diggings, and my poor ole man -leaving of a comfortable home to go and live in a poor -shanty, and dig in the bowels of the earth for nigh eleven -years to make his pile, and then to die and leave it all -behind for that grand vilyan to rob me of——But -there! Lord, what’s the use of thinking of it when I’ve -got as fine a goose in the roaster before the kitchen fire -as ever swam upon a pond, as rich a green gooseberry pie -in the oven as ever was baked! And so, ole ’oman, I’ll -leave yer now, ’cause I can’t trust ole Luce! She ain’t -the ’oman she used to be by a long shot. She’s sort o’ -getting blind, I think,” concluded the housekeeper, as -she arose and left the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force sat back in her chair to rest after her tour -of the house and yard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>While thus resting she heard the sound of carriage -wheels, and then a gay bustle before the front door, the -voices of Wynnette and Elva mingled with the voices of -a lady and gentleman, the laughing of a child, the crowing -of a baby, and the barking of a dog.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently the hall door opened and all this merry confusion -of sounds rolled into the hall and into the drawing -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And before Mrs. Force could arise from her chair to -go and see what could be the matter, her door was suddenly -thrown open and Wynnette, all aglow with excitement, -burst into the room, exclaiming:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, mamma! It is Natalie! Dear Natalie and—and -two babies! Dr. Ingle brought them in his gig, and -he is only waiting to speak to you, to leave them here -while he goes his round among his patients, and then he -will call and take them home! But, oh, mamma, I -want you to make him promise to come back and stay to -dinner and spend the evening—will you? Oh, mamma, -Natty is looking so lovely, and her babies are just -heavenly!”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>“My dear, impetuous Wynnette, stop and take breath! -Of course Natalie and her children must spend the day, -and the doctor must return to dinner. Come! I will -go to them,” said Mrs. Force, as she arose and went into -the drawing room, followed by the delighted Wynnette.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXV<br /> <span class='large'>THE FIRST VISITORS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>As soon as Mrs. Force opened the door Dr. Ingle -stepped rapidly to meet her, with both hands extended.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Welcome back to us! Dear friend! Only this morning -we heard of your arrival through Ned Grandiere, -who came to my office early to ask me to call and see -one of the colored folks on his farm; but Natalie immediately -took a fit, and declared that I must bring her -and the babies here before going anywhere else! So -here they are, and now I must be off to Oldfields.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before the doctor had half finished this speech Natalie -herself was in Mrs. Force’s arms, laughing and crying -for joy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, well! I must say good-by, madam!” exclaimed -the doctor, rather impatiently, as he held out his -hands to the lady of the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I suppose I must not detain you from your patients; -but I cannot let you go until you have promised to return -to dinner, and to spend the evening with us,” said -Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thank you! I promise! Good-morning!” And -the doctor bowed himself out of the drawing room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, you sweet little thing! You lovely, lovely little -thing!” cooed Elva, seated upon a hassock, with the few -months old baby across her lap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“These are your children, Natalie? What fine children -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>they are,” said Mrs. Force, as they all resumed -their seats.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you think so? I am glad you think so,” replied -the proud young mother. “Come here, Effie, and speak -to this lady,” she continued, taking a little, white-robed -toddler by the hand and leading her up to Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The little one stood before the lady, with her chin -down on her bosom, and her soft brown eyes turned -shyly up to her hostess.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Make your courtesy now to the lady,” said her -mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The little creature obeyed and dropped her courtesy, -still turning her soft brown eyes, full of reverence and -admiration, up to her hostess’ face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So this is my little namesake?” said Mrs. Force, -lifting the child upon her lap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, named Elfrida, for you and Elva; but we call -her Effie, and she calls herself Essie,” said the young -mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! is that your name, little one?” inquired the -lady, stroking the child’s curls.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Es, ma’am—Essie,” replied the baby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what else besides Essie?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Essie—Indy, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Essie Ingle—is that it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Es, ma’am; Essie—Indy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And how old are you, Essie?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Me—two—doin’ on fee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force looked at the mother for a translation of -these words.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She is two years, going on three,” laughed little Mrs. -Ingle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force continued her catechism of the child, who -answered in broken baby language, but with rare intelligence, -and still with such simple reverence and admiration -as touched the lady’s heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Natalie!” she said, “can there be anything more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>spirit-searching to a grown-up sinner than the innocent -reverence and trust of a child! Lo! they think us so -wise and so good, while we know ourselves to be so foolish -and evil! Ah me, Natalie!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Young Mrs. Ingle made no reply, but looked puzzled -and distressed while little Essie put up her hand timidly—reverentially, -and stroked the fair cheek of the -lady, with some vague instinct of tenderness and sympathy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, mamma, look at little Wynnie! sweet, little -Wynnie! You have not noticed her yet!” said Elva, -reproachfully, as she arose, and brought the infant to -her mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnie?” inquired Mrs. Force, looking up into -Natalie Ingle’s face, as she sat Essie on the carpet and -took the babe on her lap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, we have named her Wynnette, and we call her -Wynnie. She is not christened yet. We waited for you -to come home,” Natalie explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were interrupted by other visitors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Rev. Dr. Peters and Mrs. Peters came to welcome -their old friends to the neighborhood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Three years and three months since you left the -neighborhood, madam,” said the rector, when the first -greetings were over. “And dear, dear, what changes -three years have made! Your two younger daughters -have grown so much! Wynnette is a young lady. Elva -soon will be one. And Odalite, madam? I hope she is -well.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Odalite is quite well, thank you, Dr. Peters. She -has gone over to Greenbushes, but she will be back to -dinner. You and Mrs. Peters, I hope, will give us the -happiness of your company for the day,” said the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you, very much; but on this first day after -your return home——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, doctor, I will take no denial. Wynnette, my -love, go and tell Jacob to put up the doctor’s carriage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>and horse. Mrs. Peters, will you lay off your bonnet -here, or will you go to a room?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will go upstairs, if you please, dear. You see I -have my cap in this little bandbox,” replied the rector’s -wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So they had come to stay! And, of course, Mrs. -Force knew that well enough when she invited them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>An old couple, like the good rector and his wife, could -not be expected to come so long a drive only to make a -short call.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force conducted her latest guest upstairs to a -spare room, where the old lady took off her black Canton -crape shawl, and her black silk bonnet, and put on -her lace cap with white satin ribbons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then they went down together.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they returned to the drawing room they found -the place deserted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette had carried off young Mrs. Ingle and the -two babies to her own and Elva’s room, which was now -converted into a day nursery, where Natalie, seated in -a low rocking-chair, was putting her baby to sleep, while -Elva, with a picture book, was quietly amusing Essie.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, Natty, dear, as you know you are quite at -home, you must excuse me, and let me go down to Dr. -Peters, who is alone in the drawing room,” said Wynnette, -as she kissed her ex-governess and dear friend and -left the chamber.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But when she reached the hall below she found that -the good rector was well taken care of.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Through the open hall door she saw him and her -father walking up and down the piazza, enjoying the fine -spring day, and smoking some of the squire’s fine cigars.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So Wynnette went into the drawing room, where she -found her mother and the rector’s wife, who had just -entered the place.</p> - -<p class='c008'>More visitors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The gallop and halt of a horse was heard without, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>soon after Mr. Sam Grandiere, escorted by Mr. Force -and Dr. Peters, entered the drawing room, and made -his bow to the lady of the house and her guest, and then -shook hands with Wynnette and sat down, looking as -red-headed, freckle-faced, bashful and awkward as ever.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He remarked that it was a fine day, though bad for -the wheat crop, which wanted rain; and then he hoped -that Mrs. Force and the young ladies felt rested after -their journey.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force thanked him, and replied that the whole -family were quite recovered from any little fatigue they -might have felt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The rector, to help the bashful young fellow out, inquired -how he had enjoyed his trip to Washington, and -what he thought of the city.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Young Sam was not to be “improved” in that way. -He made a characteristic reply. Ignoring every object -of interest within the city’s bounds, he answered that he -thought the land about Washington very poor indeed, -and very badly farmed, and crops looked very unpromising. -He thought the soil had been too hard worked, -and too little manured, and that it wanted rest and food, -so to speak.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But the city, my dear boy, the city! What do you -think of the city, the great capital of a great nation?” -persisted the minister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The city!” Well, Mr. Sam Grandiere didn’t think -much of the city. There didn’t seem to be much downright, -solid, earnest business going on there, like there -was in Baltimore; and, for his part, he didn’t see how -the people lived, except such as were in the service of -the government. No, bad as the country was round -about Washington, the city was even worse—even less -productive.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The rector took up cudgels in defense of the national -seat of government; spoke of the public buildings—the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>capitol, the departments, the patent office, the navy yard—and -so on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Mr. Sam Grandiere could not see any profit or -“produce” in any of them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So the rector gave him over to a reprobate spirit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently Mrs. Ingle—having left both her babies -asleep upstairs, with Elva lovingly watching over them—came -down into the drawing room and greeted the -minister and his wife, and also Mr. Force, whom she had -not earlier seen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have grown plumper and rosier in the last three -years, my dear. I should scarcely recognize in you the -pale, delicate young bride whom I gave away to the -worthy doctor. Ah! I see how it is! He has enforced -the laws of health,” said the squire, as he warmly shook -her hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes; that is it,” replied Natalie. “He makes my -life a burden to me with <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">régime</span></i> and hygiene.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>At this moment Le and Odalite walked into the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le shook hands with the rector and his wife, while -Odalite literally threw herself into the arms of Natalie.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And a few minutes later, when she had greeted all -her parents’ guests, she went upstairs with young Mrs. -Ingle to feast her eyes on the sleeping babies over which -Elva was proudly and tenderly watching.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There the two friends sat down and had a good, long -talk—all about the young doctor’s prospects, the young -couple’s home, the neighbors, and so forth; but not once -did they speak of Odalite’s trials. Odalite herself never -alluded to the subject, nor did Natalie dare to do so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And it may here be said that the reticence which was -observed in the seclusion of the bedchamber was practiced -in the social circle of the drawing room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Force mentioned the subject of -their family troubles, nor could their guests venture to -do so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida dreaded the indiscreet tongue of the lady -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>from Wild Cats’; so she was greatly relieved, when she -went out to caution Mrs. Anglesea, to hear that honest -woman say:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let’s try to be jolly this one day, and forget all about -my rascal and our troubles! ’Deed, do you know I have -told everybody in this county how he treated me, so -that they all know it as well as their a b c? And that’s -a rhyme come out of time. I didn’t intend it, but I can’t -mend it. I say! hold on here! there is something the -matter with my headpiece! I never composed no poetry -before and didn’t mean to do it now! It come out so -itself! But you needn’t be afeard of me talking about -Skallawag Anglesea! I’m sick to death of the name of -him!” concluded the lady from the mines.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force then turned to receive young Dr. Ingle, -who had just driven up in his gig and was now entering -the front door, while old Jake took his equipage around -to the stables.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Half an hour later dinner was served. And, in spite -of all drawbacks, it proved a happy reunion of old -friends.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After dinner the carriages were ordered, and the visitors -departed.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXVI<br /> <span class='large'>LE’S DEPARTURE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>One day Le spent in going around the neighborhood -to see the old friends and neighbors, whom he had not -seen for more than three years. The next day he stayed -home at Mondreer, and spent nearly the whole of it in -company of Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At night the squire drove him to the railway station, -accompanied by Odalite, Wynnette and Elva, as once -before. Also, Le was permitted to sit on the back seat -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>beside Odalite, and when there he held her hand in his -as on the previous occasion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached the railway station in such good time -that they had about fifteen minutes to wait in the little -sitting room; and there the last adieus were made, when -the train came in.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not for a three years’ absence at sea this time, -my dear! It is scarcely for three weeks. Before the -middle of May I shall be with you again—please -Heaven,” said Le, as he pressed Odalite to his heart in a -last embrace, before he jumped into the car to be whirled -out of sight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force with his daughters waited until the sound -of the rushing train died away in the distance, and then -took them back to the carriage and drove homeward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again, as before, they reached home about ten o’clock, -to find Mrs. Force and the lady from the diggings waiting -up for them—only on this occasion they were not -sitting over a blazing hickory wood fire, in the dead of -winter and night, with a jug of mulled wine steaming on -the hearth; but they were sitting on the front piazza, on -a fine spring evening, with a little table, on which was -arranged a pitcher of iced sherbet, with glasses and a -plate of wafer cakes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, he went off gay and happy as a lark, and we -have come home chirp and merry as grigs!” said Wynnette, -as she tore off and threw down her straw hat and -seated herself at the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I hope he will have a pleasant journey and a -good time altogether! He can’t fail to get all the evidence -he wants, ’cause it’s right there, you know! And -I give him a letter to Joe Mullins, at Wild Cats’, as one -of the witnesses to the marriage, though he wasn’t asked -to sign the register! How should he, when he couldn’t -read? I hope he’ll have time to run out to Wild Cats’ -to see Joe! Though, come to think of it, I don’t know -as he’ll find anything there but dark shafts and empty -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>shanties. The leads was running out, and the boys was -talking of leaving when I came away. Ah! I hope he -will find some of the poor, dear boys! I should love to -hear from them direct, once more.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How far is Wild Cats’ from St. Sebastian, Mrs. -Anglesea?” rather anxiously inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, only a step—le’s see, now; ’bout a hundred -and seventy-seven miles, I think they said it was.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is there a railroad?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A what? A railroad? Oh, Lord! Why, child, -when I was out there, which was less than four years -ago, there was not even a turnpike road within a hundred -miles of it. There’s a trail, though!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you mean by a trail?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, I mean a mule track.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then I do not think that Le can go there. It must -be a long and tedious journey, and he will not have -time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes he will! And opportunity also. There’ll -be mule trains, you know. He can pack on one of them. -He can rough it! You bet! He’s every inch a man, is -Le Force!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He must not risk losing his passage on our steamer,” -said Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not be anxious, my dear; he will not run any -risks of losing the steamer. I think, also, that he will -have time to do our friend’s commission. There has -been a road made over that section since Mrs. Anglesea -left it. And, now I think, we had better go indoors. -The night air is too cold to remain out longer.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They went into the house and soon after retired to -bed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The days that followed Le’s departure were active, -cheerful, full of life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old friends and neighbors of the Forces received -them back into their midst with not only the earnest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>love of time-honored friendship, but with the distinction -due to illustrious visitors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They called on them promptly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They got up dinner and tea parties for their entertainment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They would have nominated Mr. Force as their representative -in Congress for the ensuing year, but that he -was going abroad with his family for a year.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Forces entered heartily into all the schemes of -pleasure and hospitality set on foot in the community.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They accepted all the invitations given to them, and -in return they gave dinner and tea parties until they -had also entertained all their friends and neighbors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so the last weeks of April passed and May was -on hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Letters from Le came by every Californian mail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He had reached St. Sebastian; he had found the Rev. -Father Minitree; he had searched the parish register; -found the marriage between Angus Anglesea and Ann -Maria Wright duly recorded, signed and witnessed; he -had hunted out the living witnesses, and he had procured -attested copies of the marriage record, further -indorsed by the written and sworn statements of the -officiating priest and of the surviving witnesses. And -so, with evidence as strong as evidence could be, he -wrote that he was ready to come home, only that he -wished to oblige Mrs. Anglesea by going out to Wild -Cats’ Gulch to inquire after her boys. The journey -there and back, he thought, might occupy him four days. -After that he should start for home, which he hoped to -reach about the fifteenth of May.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Letters also came from the Earl of Enderby in answer -to Mrs. Force’s missive that had announced the time of -the family’s sailing for Europe—letters saying that the -very near prospect and the anticipation of seeing his -dear and only sister and her children had made him feel -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>so much better in spirits that his health had improved -under it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Among the most constant visitors at Mondreer was -Mr. Sam Grandiere, whose visits could not be mistaken -as to their meaning, and whose attentions to Wynnette -on all occasions of their meetings in other companies had -attracted the observation of the whole neighborhood and -caused much talk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mr. Force is such a practical sort of man that so -long as he knows young Grandiere comes of a good old -Maryland family, and that his character is beyond reproach, -he will not mind his roughness of manner or -plainness of speech, or his want of a collegiate education, -or refuse him his daughter on that account,” said young -Dr. Ingle to his wife one evening when they were talking -over the affair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, perhaps not; but how could our brilliant Wynnette -ever fancy such a lout!” exclaimed Natalie, indignantly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, indeed, you are too severe on the poor fellow! -And you, coming from the North, do not understand -our Maryland ways. In your State it is the farmers’ -boys who are sent to school and college in preference -to the girls, if any are to go; but in Maryland it is -always the farmers’ girls who are put to boarding school -in preference to the boys; as in your State you find -learned statesmen, lawyers and clergymen belonging to -families of very plainly educated women, so in our -State you will find refined and accomplished women in -the same families with very plain, simply schooled men. -It is queer, but it is so. Our Maryland men will make -any sacrifice, even that of their own mental culture, in -order to educate their women, and I think in that they -show the very spirit of generosity.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But among all the people who observed and criticized -the growing intimacy between Wynnette and young -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>Grandiere, none was more interested than quaint little -Rosemary Hedge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary was poetic, romantic and sentimental to a -degree. She was devoted to Wynnette and Elva Force; -and she could not bear the idea of Wynnette “throwing -herself away” on such a rustic.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is my own dear cousin, Wynnette, and I love him -dearly as a cousin; but, indeed, I could not marry him to -save my soul! And though he is a good boy, I do not -think he is a proper match for you,” said Rosemary, one -morning, when she had come to spend the day at Mondreer, -and the two girls were <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i> in Wynnette’s -room, where she had taken her visitor to lay off her -bonnet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why not?” curtly demanded Wynnette, who did not -like these criticisms upon her lover.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But worse was to come.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why not?” echoed Rosemary. “Why, because -dear Sam is so rough and ungainly. He has red hair -and a freckled face——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So has the Duke of Argyll and all the princely -Campbells!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And he has a club nose!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So have I. ‘Pot can’t call kettle black.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And such big hands and feet——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So much the better for useful work.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, oh! Wynnette, he—he——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What now?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He has no education to speak of—nothing but a common-school -education!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Like any number of our great men who have risen -to high rank, wealth and fame in the army, navy, civil -service, or learned professions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, but he’ll never rise above his station. He hasn’t -intellect enough.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Neither had any of the grand, brave, simple heroes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>and warriors of old whose deeds stir our hearts, even -now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, Wynnette, Sam Grandiere is nothing like that! -He would not even understand you if you were to talk -to him as you do to me. His thoughts run all on crops -and cattle and——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whatever is really useful and beneficial to his folks.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In meeting their material wants only, Wynnette. -But it is vain to argue with you. If you are determined -to throw yourself away on Sam Grandiere——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, Rosemary, stow that, or the fat will be in the -fire!” exclaimed the girl, flushing with a blaze of short-lived -anger. “I mean I cannot bear to hear you depreciate -the excellence of Samuel Grandiere. He is honest, -true, and tender. He is as brave as a lion, and as magnanimous -as a king—ought to be!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I know, but——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And where would you find such a lineage in the -State as his?” vehemently interrupted Wynnette. “His -pedigree can be traced back, step by step, to the Sieur -Louis de Grandiere, who came over to England in the -year 1420, in the suit of Katherine of Valois, queen of -Henry the Fifth; though, of course, that tells but little. -He was probably a gentleman in waiting, though he -might have been a horse boy!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He was a gentleman in waiting on the queen. He -was a nobleman of Provence,” replied quaint little Rosemary, -craning her neck in defense of her ancestor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, he was! Well, I always thought so! But that -is more than can be said of Mr. Roland Bayard!” said -Wynnette, maliciously.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary flushed to the edges of her curly black hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do not know what he has to do with the question,” -she murmured.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Only this, my love: that while we are taking sweet -counsel together, and you are giving me the benefit of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>your wisdom in regard to Mr. Samuel Elk Grandiere, -I might reciprocate by giving you a friendly warning -in respect to Mr. Roland Bayard!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette!” cried Rosemary, deprecatingly, -while the color deepened all over her face and neck.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nobody knows who he is! He was washed ashore -from the wreck of the <em>Carrier Pigeon</em>, the only one -saved. He was adopted by Miss Sibby, good soul, and -he was educated at the expense of Mr. Force, generous -man! Why, he was not only homeless, friendless and -penniless, but he was nameless until the name of Roland -Bayard was given him by Mr. Force and Miss -Sibby, who were his sponsors in baptism!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! oh! Wynnette! No one can look at Roland -Bayard without seeing that he must be of princely -lineage! He is very handsome, and graceful and accomplished! -He is refined, cultured, intellectual!” pleaded -Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t see it! He has been through college and he -has plenty of modest assurance, which prevents him from -being bashful and awkward, as some of his betters are. -But all the same, he is nobody’s son!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette! that is not generous of you! Can -dear—can Roland help his misfortune? Is he to blame -for being wrecked on our shore in his infancy, and losing -everything, even his name? Oh, Wynnette!” said -Rosemary, with tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No! I am not generous! I am a little catamount, -and worse than that! It is not true, either, what I said -about him! Roland is a fine fellow. And of course he -must have been somebody’s son! Don’t cry, Rosie. I -didn’t mean it, dear! Only the devil does get in me -sometimes!” said the generous girl, stooping and kissing -her quaint little friend.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary smiled through her tears; and then they -went downstairs together.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>And as this was the first, so it was the last time that -the subject in dispute was mentioned between the two -girls.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXVII<br /> <span class='large'>LUCE’S DISCOVERY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>As Wynnette and Rosemary approached the drawing -room they heard a sweet confusion of laughing and -talking within; which was explained as soon as Wynnette -had opened the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le had just arrived, and was in the midst of his -friends shaking hands, hugging and kissing, asking and -answering questions, all at once.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He rushed to Wynnette and Rosemary “at sight,” and -gave them each a hearty, brotherly embrace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes,” he continued, with something that he had been -saying when the girls came in—“yes, I have brought all -the evidence we can possibly want or use—an overwhelming -mass of evidence as to the marriage of Angus -Anglesea and Ann Maria Wright at St. Sebastian, on -August 1, 18—. That is proved and established beyond -all doubt or question.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As if anybody ever did doubt it. The Lord knows -if ever I had thought as any of you misdoubted as I was -Anglesea’s lawful wedded wife, I wouldn’t a-stayed in -this house one hour. Not I!” indignantly protested Mrs. -Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No one ever did or ever could doubt that fact, my -good lady,” said Mr. Force, soothingly; “but there are -captious people who will contest things that they cannot -doubt. And it is to meet such as these that we must be -armed with overwhelming evidence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Anglesea was mollified, and presently inquired -if Le had seen her boys.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>“I did not go to Wild Cats’ Gulch, dear Mrs. Anglesea,” -replied Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Didn’t go!’ But you wrote as you was a-going!” -exclaimed the lady from that section.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and so I was. But on the very day when I proposed -to start thither, on inquiring the best way to get -there, I was referred to a man who was said to have once -lived at the place. So I went, and found the referee to -be a Mr. Joe Mullins, in the jewelry line of business.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Joe Mullins! My Joe! He in St. Sebastian! Do -tell me now!” exclaimed Mrs. Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, there he was, healthy, happy and prosperous, -keeping a jeweler’s store, and living over it with his wife -and two children!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord a mercy! Married, too!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and prosperous.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, well! And the other boys?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le looked solemn.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘Some gone east;</div> - <div class='line'>Some gone west;</div> - <div class='line'>And some rest</div> - <div class='line'>At Crow’s Nest,’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>ruefully answered the young man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And the camp’s broke up, as I thought it would be.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, two years ago.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, it is some satisfaction to hear about Joe. And -so now I won’t interrupt of you no longer, as I dessay -you have a heap to talk about among your ownselves,” -said Mrs. Anglesea, as she left the drawing room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As soon as she was gone the family fell into more -confidential conversation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We shall sail for England in ten days,” said Mr. -Force, “and with this complete evidence of the Californian -marriage in our possession we will, on our arrival -in the old country, seek out authentic evidence of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>exact date of Lady Mary Anglesea’s demise, which I -fully believe to have occurred in the August of some -year previous to that of Col. Anglesea’s marriage with -the Widow Wright. When we shall find such evidence, -as I feel sure we shall, then there will be nothing wanting -to prove that Ann Maria Anglesea is the lawful wife -of Angus Anglesea, and that Odalite Force is, and has -always been, free, and there need be nothing to prevent -your immediate union, my dear children.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“May Heaven speed the day!” earnestly aspirated Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Much more was said on the subject that need not be -repeated here.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Preparations for their voyage had been so long and -systematically in progress that the Forces had perfect -leisure in the last week of their stay at home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The last day was devoted to the friends they were -about to leave behind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They started early on the morning of the twenty-third -of May, and made a round of farewell visits to all -their old neighbors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The last call they made was at Forest Rest, to take -leave of Miss Sibby Bayard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So you are ralely a-going to cross the high seas? I -hardly believed it on you, Abel Force!” she said, as she -shook hands in turn with Mr. and Mrs. Force, Le and -the three girls, and gave them seats. “I thought as you -had more sense, Abel Force! I did that! Them as has -the least to do with the sea, sez I, comes the best off, -sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, my good lady, necessity has no law, you know. -We are obliged to go,” laughed Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What have you been up and doing of, old Abel, that -you are obliged to run away from your own native country? -Nobody but outlaws, sez I, is obliged to go off to -furrin parts, sez I!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force found nothing to say to this.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette came to her father’s assistance.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>“We shall visit, among other interesting places, Arundel -Castle, the seat of your ancestors for centuries past, -Miss Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, honey! You don’t say as you’ll go there?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As sure as the Lord permits us, we will, Miss Sibby.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And see it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and see it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“With your own eyes?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, no,” gravely replied Wynnette, “not with our -own eyes, because we might have to stretch them too -wide to take in a view of the great stronghold of the -great ducal house. We propose to hire some stout, able-bodied -eyes for the occasion!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now you are laughing at me, Miss Wynnette! -You are always laughing heartiest inside when you’re a -looking solemnest outside! But you ralely are gwine to -visit ’Rundel Cassil?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes. All tourists go there.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, well, well! Them as lives the longest, sez I, -sees the most, sez I. But little did I think as I should -live to see any of my neighbors going to visit ’Rundel -Cassil!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will bring you a guidebook with illustrations, descriptive -of the castle, and some relics and curiosities of -the place. They are to be had, I think.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do, my child! I should prize ’em above everything. -And now, Miss Wynnette, you take a ole ’oman’s advice. -Them as follows my advice, sez I, never comes to no -harm, sez I. Mind that, honey.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, Miss Sibby; fire away!—I mean proceed -with your good counsel.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, honey, I ain’t been that blind but I could -see what was a-goin’ on between a certain young gentleman -and a certain young lady.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette tacitly pleaded guilty by a deep blush.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, honey, don’t you take it anyways amiss what I -am a-gwine to say. You’re gwine off to furrin parts. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>Now, honey, don’t you let any of them there furrin -colonels and counts and things fashionate you away from -you own dear sweetheart. He’s a good, true man, is -Sam Grandiere, and a ole neighbor’s son. Now you take -my advice and be true to him, as he is sure to be true to -you. Them as breaks faith, sez I, is sure to pay for it, -sez I. There, now, I won’t say no more. When you’ve -said all you’ve got to say, sez I, it is time to stop, sez I.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force now arose to take leave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All her party kissed Miss Sibby good-by.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old lady cried a little, and prayed: “God bless -them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so they parted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Early the next morning the Forces left Mondreer, -taking the dog, Joshua, with them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette had insisted on his coming.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I promised him, papa,” she said—“I promised him; -and it would be playing it too low to go back on a dumb -brute—oh! I mean, dear papa, that it would seem base -to break faith with a poor, confiding dog.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>So Joshua went.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Look yere, ole woman,” said the lady from Wild -Cats’, “I’m gwine to take the best of care of your house -while you’re gone, and I want you to keep an eye on my -rascal over yonder, while I keep a sharp lookout for him -over here. He can’t be in both places at once; but -wherever he is he will be at some deviltry—you may bet -your pile on that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>This was the lady’s last good-by to the departing -family.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She watched the procession of three carriages that -took them and all their luggage to the railway station, -where Rosemary Hedge was to be brought by her -mother and aunt to join them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She watched them cross the lawn, and go out through -the north gate, and disappear up the wooded road.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>And then she turned into the house to face the howling -Luce.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What on earth ails the woman?” demanded the -housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! dey’s gone ag’in!—dey’s gone ag’in! An’ dis -time dey’s gone across de ocean! I shall nebber see ’em -ag’in!—nebber no mo’!—nebber no mo’!” sobbed Lucy, -sitting flat on the hall floor, and rocking her body back -and forth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes you will. Don’t be a fool! Get up and go -to work. Work’s the best cure for trouble. Indeed, -work’s the best cure for most things—poverty, for instance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It didn’t use to be so! It didn’t use to be so!” said -Luce, continuing to rock herself. “Dey nebber use to go -’way from year’s end to year’s end! But now it’s got -to be a habit dey gibs deirselbes—a berry habit dey gibs -deirselbes!”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXVIII<br /> <span class='large'>FORBIDDEN LOVE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The three carriages conveying the large party from -the old manor house rolled on through the familiar -woods, so often traversed by the young people of the -household in going to and fro between Mondreer and -Greenbushes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the foremost carriage rode Mr. and Mrs. Force, -Wynnette and Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the second, Odalite and Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the third, Dickon and Gipsy, the valet and lady’s -maid, in charge of all the lighter luggage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Joshua, the dog, raced on before in the highest state -of ecstasy, but occasionally raced back again, as if to -be sure that his large family were following him safely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>without disappearing in the woods to the right or the -left.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force knew perfectly well that that dog was -going to give him more trouble and embarrassment on -land and sea than all his party twice told; that it would -be the unfailing cause of rows and rumpuses, on trains -and boats, and that might end in Joshua being cast off, -or lost, or killed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But what could he do?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Talk of your henpecked husband, indeed! He is not -half so common, or half so helpless, as your chickpecked -father.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette had promised Joshua that he should never -be left behind again, and she said that it would be base -to deceive and betray a poor dog. Wynnette said the -dog must come, and he came.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they came in sight of Chincapin Creek little -Elva put her head out of the window and gazed, and -continued to gaze, fondly, if silently, on the spot so full -of pleasant, childish memories, until they had crossed -the bridge, and left the place behind. Then, with a little, -involuntary sigh, she drew in her head and sat back in -her seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette mocked her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why don’t you say, ‘Adieu, blest scenes of my innocent -infancy! Virtue and simplicity,’ and so on and -so on!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Wynnette! How can you?” exclaimed Elva, -almost in tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I can’t! I never could! It isn’t in my line! But -why don’t you?” mocked the girl, raising her black eyebrows.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached the station in full time, and had twenty -minutes to wait. Mr. Force had engaged a whole compartment -for his party by telegraph the day before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the waiting room they found all the Grandieres, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>all the Elks, and little Rosemary Hedge, with her luggage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There followed an animating scene—a little laughing, -more crying and much talking.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Hedge implored Mrs. Force to be a mother to -her fatherless child, and to bring her back safe and well -at the end of the year.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force promised all that a woman could, under -the circumstances.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Roland Bayard, who sat beside little Rosemary -holding her hand in his, spoke up and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dear Mrs. Hedge, don’t grieve about the little -maiden. If, at any time, you should be pining to have -her back, you can let me know and I will just run over -and fetch her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was something very comforting in this promise, -because Mrs. Hedge knew that Roland Bayard meant -what he said; and very cheering in the manner in which -he put it—“Just run over and fetch her!” Why, it -sounded like such a mere trifle to cross the ocean, in -these days of steam. But Roland was still talking.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And, Rosemary, if you get homesick before our -friends are ready to return, write to me, darling, and -I’ll come and fetch you back.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Mr. Bayard! you don’t know how you have consoled -me!” said Mrs. Hedge, wiping her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will write to you every week, Roland. And I will -keep a journal for you, and send it in monthly parts, so -that you may seem to be traveling with us! Oh, how I -wish you were!” sighed Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you, darling? Well, perhaps you may see me -sooner than you expect,” replied Roland, mysteriously.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! oh! will you be coming over? Does the <em>Kitty</em> -ever go to England?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t know, dear; but if the <em>Kitty</em> don’t, there will -be one or two other little craft crossing—perhaps. Let -us live in hope.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>While Rosemary and Roland chatted together, Mrs. -Hedge turned to Mrs. Force, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, you happy woman! You are going to Europe -with all you love at your side—husband, children and -nephew! While I stay home, widowed, practically -childless and alone! Talk of the compensations of life! -There is no compensation in mine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘The heart knoweth its own bitterness!’” murmured -Elfrida Force to herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mother! Mother! I won’t go! I won’t leave you!” -cried Rosemary, jumping up and throwing herself into -the widow’s arms.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, my child, hush! I wish you to go, and you -must do so. It is for your own profit and instruction,” -replied Mrs. Hedge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then, my own dear mother, won’t you just think -that I have only gone back to school in Washington, and -that I shall be home as usual to spend the Christmas -holidays? Mr. Force expects to bring us all home in -December.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes, I shall be comforted, child,” replied the -widow, and she held her daughter on her lap, against -her bosom, with Rosemary’s arms clasped around her -neck, until they heard the sound of the approaching -train.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The train never stopped longer than three minutes at -this station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All arose to bid their last good-bys.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Among the rest, Joshua came out from behind Wynnette’s -skirts, and shook himself, and very nearly shook -the building. All alert was he to see that his eccentric -family did not escape him again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gracious goodness, Mr. Force! Here is that dog -followed you all the way from Mondreer! What’s to be -done with him? Shall I take him home? Will he follow -me?” inquired Sam Grandiere, eager to be useful.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is to go abroad with us,” groaned the squire, who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>was hastily shaking hands right and left with the friends -who had come to see him and his family off.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But will they allow——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was no time to finish his question, for—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-by, Sam,” said Wynnette, holding out her -hand. “Remember the advice I gave you about taking -a course at Charlotte Hall College.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will, Wynnette, I will!” earnestly answered the -young fellow, with tears brimming in his honest blue -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will write to me as often as you can, and I will -answer every one of your letters. And—listen here, -Sam,” she added, in a whisper that the long-legged boy -had to stoop to catch, “I won’t marry a royal duke if I -can resist the temptation! Good-by.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The whole party hurried out of the building to the -platform, where the train had just stopped, with its -puffing and blowing engine.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force showed his tickets, and the party were conducted -to their car. In the confusion of a final leave-taking, -then and there, between two such large parties, -Joshua, who did not at all like the looks of things in -general, with the long train of cars, the panting engine, -the steam, the smoke, the crowd, the baggage heavers, the -excitement, and the general “hullabuloo,” and who -feared that he might lose sight of his family in this -crash of worlds, managed to slip into the car, between -Wynnette’s duster and Gipsy’s arms full of shawls, and -to ensconce himself under the broad lounge in the compartment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The last kisses were given, the last “God bless you” -spoken, and the travelers were seated in their compartment -not ten seconds before the train started.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now!” exclaimed Wynnette, triumphantly. “Have -we had the least trouble with Joshua?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not yet,” curtly replied her father. “Where is he?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>“Under the sofa—and Rosemary, Elva and myself, -by sitting here, hide him from view.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well. Keep him quiet, if you can.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The train was rushing on at express speed, when the -conductor came along to collect the tickets. He entered -their compartment. Joshua considered his appearance -an unwarrantable intrusion, and told him so in a low, -thunderous growl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What’s that?” suddenly demanded the conductor, -looking around.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Urr-rr-rr-rr,” remarked Joshua.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a valuable dog of ours. I am quite willing to -pay his fare,” replied Mr. Force, taking out his pocketbook.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He can’t be allowed in the passenger car, sir,” replied -the conductor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not in the compartment that we have taken for our -own convenience, and where he cannot possibly annoy -anybody else?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, sir; it is against the rules.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Mr. Conductor! please! please! He is such a -good dog, and we love him so much! Indeed, he will -not bite when he knows you don’t mean to hurt us! -Please, Mr. Conductor, let him stay!” pleaded Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Gainst the rules, miss. Very sorry.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, tip that fellow with a V, and stop this row!—I -mean, papa, pray offer this officer the consideration of -a five-dollar note, and conclude this controversy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Of course, it was Wynnette who uttered this insolence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, my dear, hush! This is quite inadmissible. -The conductor must do his duty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If he gets put off the train I’ll go, too! He’ll never -find his way home!” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elva began to cry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The conductor was in a hurry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If this young gentleman will bring the dog after me -to the freight car, the baggage master will take charge of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>him for a trifle,” suggested the conductor, who was more -moved to pity by Elva’s tears than to anger by Wynnette’s -insolence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Go, Le,” said Mr. Force, opening his pocketbook and -taking from it a note, which he put into the midshipman’s -hands. “Give this to the man, and tell him if he -will take care of the dog he shall have another at the -end of this journey.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And introduce Joshua to the baggage master, and -tell him what a cultivated and gentlemanly dog he is! -And don’t you leave them together until you are sure -that they are good friends! Do you hear me, Leonidas -Force?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, Wynnette,” said good-humored Le, taking -Joshua by the collar and trying to pull him from under -the sofa.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the dog declined to leave his retreat. He did -not recognize Mr. Midshipman Force as his master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bother! I shall have to take him myself. You can -come with us if you like, Le; but you needn’t if you -don’t,” said Wynnette. And she whistled for the dog, -who immediately came out and put his gray paws upon -her lap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She arose and called him to follow her. Le and the -conductor escorted her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know we are going to have no end of trouble with -that dog,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I think not, when we learn how to manage. We -must always give him in charge of the baggage master -at the start,” replied Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette and Le were gone nearly an hour. At last -they returned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What kept you so long? Did the dog prove intractable, -or the baggage master unaccommodating?” inquired -Odalite of Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not at all!” exclaimed Wynnette, answering for her -companion. “That baggage man’s a good sort. He and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>Joshua became pals at once. He loves dogs, and dogs -love him. As soon as ever I presented Joshua to him -he held out his hand, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Hello, old pard! how are you? Shall we be pals?’ -or words to that effect. And said Joshua slapped his -paw into the open palm, and—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘It’s a whack!’ or barks to the same purpose.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But what kept you so long? What were you doing -all that time?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Talking to the baggage master. I do like to talk to -real men much better than to the curled and scented -la-da-da things we meet in society. His name is Kirby. -He came from Lancashire, England, where he has an old -father living, to whom he sends a part of his wages every -month. He is forty-five years old, and has been married -twenty years, and has eleven children, the oldest eighteen -and the youngest one. I told him we were going -to Lancashire, and would take anything he might like -to send to his dad.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, my dear, Lancashire is a large county, and we -may not be anywhere near his native place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We could make a point of going there to oblige such -a man as he is, papa. Think of his bringing up a large -family and helping his old father, too, on such small -wages as he must get. Oh, he is a downright real man. -And, indeed, I have a warm place in my heart for real -men.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is why you like Sa——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Shut up, Rosemary!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And Rosemary obeyed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The remainder of the journey was made without disturbance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached Washington about 3 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span>, dined and -rested for an hour at their favorite hotel, and took the -afternoon train to New York, where they arrived very -late at night.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>They had no more trouble with the dog, now that they -knew how to manage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force went down to the steamer to see about the -passage of the animal, and found that there was a place -in the steerage of the great ship where the creature could -be accommodated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ah, what a chickpecked father that man was!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If they had wanted to fetch a favorite cow, I should -have been obliged to bring her somehow,” he said to -himself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the next morning Mr. Force took his family to -Central Park and to the menagerie.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the evening he took them to the opera to hear Kellogg. -That was their last night in the city.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXIX<br /> <span class='large'>“ONCE MORE UPON THE WATERS”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Saturday, the twenty-eighth of May, was a very fine -day. As early as seven in the morning the hacks engaged -to take our travelers to the steamer were standing -before the ladies’ entrance of the Metropolitan Hotel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Their luggage had been sent aboard ship on the day -before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A little after seven the whole party came down and -entered the carriages, and were driven off toward the -pier where the <em>Persia</em> lay.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They arrived amid the bustle and confusion that always -attends the sailing of an ocean steamer—crowds -of carriages and drags of all sorts; crowds of men, -women and children of all sorts; crowds of passengers -going on; crowds of friends seeing them off; here and -there a heartrending parting; a bedlam of sights; a -babel of sounds, deafening noises, suffocating scents.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>Such was the scene on the pier and such was the scene -on the deck when Mr. Force had succeeded in navigating -his party from the first to the last.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For Heaven’s sake keep close together! Are we all -here?” he anxiously inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All!” answered a score of voices.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where’s that dog?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, papa. I have him by the collar,” answered -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Keep hold of him, then. And sit down, all of you, -and be quiet until this crowd leaves the deck. We cannot -attempt to get to our staterooms at present.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His party complied with this order.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All ashore!” called out a voice in authority.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The words were magical.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hurried embraces; laughing good-bys; weeping good-bys; -fervent God bless yous; agonized partings; and -then a pressure over the gang plank to the pier.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Five minutes later and the valedictory gun was fired, -and the <em>Persia</em> stood out to sea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh,” said little Elva, as she observed the sad faces -of some passengers who were leaning over the sides of -the ship and waving handkerchiefs to friends on the pier—“oh, -I am glad we are all going together and have not -left any one behind to cry after—no, not even our dog.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A little later on our passengers sought their staterooms -below. Dickon—than whom no blacker boy ever was -born—took the dog to that part of the ship for such -four-footed passengers made and provided, and then -went to look up his own berth in the second cabin.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Never was finer weather, a clearer sky, a calmer sea, -or a swifter voyage than blessed the <em>Persia</em>, which sailed -on that Saturday morning of May 28th.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Only those of the most bilious temperaments suffered -from seasickness. None of our party were affected.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the passengers rejoiced at the prosperity of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>voyage—all except Wynnette, who longed to see a storm -at sea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was disgusted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I had just as lief travel in a canal boat!” she -growled, when they were about halfway across the Atlantic.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was bound to be disappointed to the last. The -voyage was continued in the finest early summer weather, -until in the dead of a moonlight night the steamer anchored -in the Cove of Cork.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Early the next morning all the passengers were out -on deck to see the beautiful bay with its lovely hilly -shores, and its picturesque little port of Queenstown.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The ship remained at anchor only long enough to deliver -mails and freight, and then she put to sea again -and headed for the mouth of the Mersey.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary remained on deck all -day feasting their eyes on the shores of England, the -isles of the channel, and later on the green banks of the -Mersey with its pretty towns and villages, castles and -cottages.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Early in the afternoon the ship reached Liverpool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the bustle of the debarkation and the nuisance -of the custom house was over, and Mr. Force was handing -the ladies of his party into a capacious carriage to -convey them to the Adelphi Hotel, he inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, shall we take rooms there for the night, or -only supper, and leave by the evening express for Cumberland?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, let us go on, if you please! What time does our -train leave?” inquired Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ten-fifty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then we can reach Nethermost, the nearest station -to Enderby Castle, by morning. If you telegraph to -Enderby my brother will send carriages there to meet -us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well,” said Mr. Force, as he shut the carriage -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>door and gave the coachman the address to which he -was to drive.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force then sent his two servants with the dog and -the lighter luggage in another conveyance after his family, -while he and Leonidas Force attended to the duty of -having their trunks transferred from the custom house -to the Lime Street Railroad Station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>An hour after this the whole family were gathered -around the tea table in their private parlor at the Adelphi. -The dog, stretched on a Russian rug before the -sofa, was making himself at home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you think of all this, Rosie?” kindly inquired -Mr. Force of little Rosemary Hedge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I—feel as if I were reading it all in a novel by -Aunt Sukey’s evening fire at Grove Hill,” replied the -quaint little creature.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And you, Elva?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I feel so very much at home, as if I had come -back from somewhere to grandmother’s house. A very -strange, pleasant feeling of old familiarity,” said weird -little Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As for me,” said Wynnette, “I see ghosts!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ghosts!” exclaimed all the company in chorus.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ghosts! ‘This isle is full of spirits.’ I see -ghosts! All sorts of ghosts! Ghosts of savages in skins! -These must be spirits of the ancient Britons! Ghosts of -men in armor! These must be the medieval knights and -men-at-arms! Ghosts of gentlemen in velvet and satin -tunic and lace collars and pointed shoes! These must -be the courtiers of Queen Elizabeth’s time! And now -come the hideous powdered wigs, broad-bottomed coats, -and long silk stockings of——Say, papa! give me some -of those strawberries, or I shall see his Satanic majesty -presently.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force gravely passed along the cut-glass bowl of -the luscious fruit.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>Immediately after supper the travelers left the hotel -for the railway station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There Abel Force engaged a whole compartment for -his family, and took tickets in the second-class carriage -for his two servants.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And how can I carry a valuable dog?” inquired the -squire of the guard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take him in your own compartment, if you like, -sir,” replied that officer, staring a little.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Joshua didn’t wait for permission, but jumped into -the carriage after Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The three other ladies followed. Last of all Abel -Force and Le entered and took their seats, though the -train was not yet quite ready to start.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Compartments on English trains differ from those on -our own, in being entirely separated by a solid partition -from other compartments on the same carriage, and they -are thereby quite private for those who engage a whole -one. This compartment taken by the Forces resembled -the inside of a large coach, having eight cushioned seats, -four being in front and four behind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The train started at ten-fifty, and whirled on through -the twilight of the summer night, which in England -never seems to grow quite dark.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the first station at which the train stopped, the -guard came along and put his head into the window.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tickets, please, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force handed over seven tickets for his party.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Guard counted them, and touched his hat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dog ticket, please, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What?” demanded the astonished squire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dog ticket, please, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dog ticket? I have none. Didn’t know one would -be required. Never heard of such a thing. But I will -pay his fare.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Couldn’t take it, sir. ’Gainst the rules.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>“Then what shall I do?” exclaimed the distressed -squire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle, I will jump out and buy a dog ticket at the -station here,” said Le; and without waiting a second he -sprang from the carriage and vanished into the ticket -office.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Look sharp, young gent, or you’ll be left. Train -starts again in two minutes,” called the guard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le did look sharp, and the next minute reappeared, -flourishing the prize.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He jumped in, and the train moved on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everybody went to sleep except Wynnette, who went -off into a waking dream, and saw the ghosts of all her -ancestors, from the Druids down, pass in procession before -her. A weird, unreal, magical night journey this -seemed to the travelers. The night express stopped at -fewer stations than any other train of the twenty-four -hours.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Whenever it did stop, our passengers waked up and -looked out upon the strange and beautiful land—old, but -always new—dotted with its country towns and villages, -its castles, farmhouses and cottages, dimly seen in the -soft haze of the summer night, where evening and morning -twilight seemed to meet so that it was never dark.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the whole, it was a pleasant, charming journey, -the last few miles being along the rough and rocky coast. -The dawn was reddening in the east, and the northern -morning air felt fresh and invigorating, when the train -stopped at Nethermost, a picturesque little hamlet built -up and down the sides of the cliff wherever there was -room for a sea-bird’s nest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, what a charming place!” exclaimed Rosemary, -looking out upon it. The line of railway ran along -under the cliff, and the little station was built against -the rocks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The guard came and opened the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>Mr. Force jumped off, and then handed out the ladies -of his party, one by one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The porters were at the same time throwing off their -luggage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In another minute the train had moved on, and the -travelers were left standing on the platform, with the -sea on the west, the cliffs on the east, and the hamlet -of Nethermost scattered at random on the sides of the -latter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There are the carriages,” said Mr. Force, as he described -three vehicles grouped together at a short distance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At the same time a servant in livery approached, -touched his hat, and respectfully inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Party for Enderby Castle, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This way, if you please, sir.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXX<br /> <span class='large'>ENDERBY CASTLE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>There were two spacious open barouches and one -large wagon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My lord ordered me, sir, if the weather should be -fine, to bring the barouches for the ladies, as they would -be so much pleasanter,” the man explained, touching his -hat, as he held the door of the first carriage open for -Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The travelers were soon seated—Mr. and Mrs. Force, -Wynnette and Elva in the first barouche, Le, Odalite and -Rosemary in the second, and the two servants, with the -dog and the luggage, in the wagon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, how jolly!” exclaimed Wynnette, looking about -her.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>By this time it was light enough to see their surroundings—the -hoary cliffs and the picturesque fishing -village on their right; the far-spread rocky beach, with -the fishing boats drawn up, on their left; the expanse -of ocean beyond, dotted at long distances with sails; and -right near them the only street of the hamlet that ran -from the beach up through a natural cleft in the rocks, -and looked something like a rude, broad staircase of -flagstones, which were paved on edge to afford a hold -to horses’ feet in climbing up the steep ascent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By this time, too, the denizens of the village were -out before their doors to stare at the unusual sight of -three carriages and a large party of visitors for Enderby -Castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For, of course, as his lordship’s carriages and liveried -servants were there to meet the party of travelers, they -must be visitors to the castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The men took off their hats and the women courtesied -as the open carriages passed slowly up the steep street -to the top of the cliff, where it joined the road leading -northward along the sea toward Enderby Castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now the travelers in the open carriages had a grand -view of land and water.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the east, moorland rolling into hills in the mid distance -and rising into mountains on the far horizon. The -newly risen sun shining above them and tinting all their -tops with the soft and varied hues of the opal stone. -Here and there at long distances could be seen the ruined -tower of some ancient stronghold, or the roof and chimneys -of some old farmstead. Everything looked old or -ancient on this wild coast of Cumberland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the west the ocean rolled out until lost to view -in the mists of the horizon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before them northward the road stretched for many -a mile.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Far ahead they saw a mighty promontory stretching -out to sea. At its base the waves dashed, leaped, roared, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>tumbled like raging wild beasts clawing at the rocks. -On the extreme edge of its point arose a mass of gray -stone buildings scarcely to be distinguished from the -foundation on which they were built.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How far is it to Enderby Castle?” inquired Mr. -Force of the coachman who drove his carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ten miles from the station, sir,” replied the man, -touching his hat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is the castle,” said Mrs. Force, pointing to the -pile of buildings on the edge of the promontory, and -handing the field glass with which she had been taking -a view of her birthplace and first home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That! It is a fine, commanding situation, but it -scarcely looks to be more than five miles from here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not, if we could take a bee line over land and -sea, but the road has to follow the bend of the estuary,” -replied the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the occupants of both carriages, which had come -to a standstill, were now on their feet gazing at that -hoary headland, capped with its ancient stronghold.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The field glass was passed from one to another, while -the carriages paused long enough for all to take a view.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So that was the home of my grandparents and of -our forefathers for—how long, dear mamma?” inquired -Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eight centuries, my dear. The round tower that you -see is the oldest part of the edifice, and was built by -Kedrik of Enderbee in the year 950.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord, what a fine time the rats, mice, bats, owls, -rooks and ghosts must have in it!” remarked Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is like a picture in a Christmas ghost story,” said -Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seems like Aunt Sukey was reading it all to me -out of a novel by the evening fire at Grove Hill,” mused -Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Go on,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the carriages started again.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>The road, still running along the top of the cliff, -turned gradually more and more to the left until its -course verged from the north to the northwest, and then -to the west, as it entered upon the long, high point of -land upon which stood the castle. The road now began -to ascend another steep, paved with stones on edge to -make a hold for the horses’ feet in climbing, and at -length entered a sort of alley between huge stone walls -that rose higher and higher on either side as the road -ascended, until it reached a heavy gateway flanked with -towers, between which, and over the gateway, hung the -spiked and rusting iron portcullis, looking as if it were -ready, at the touch of a spring, to fall and impale any -audacious intruder who might pass beneath it. But it -was fast rusted into its place, where it had been stationary -for ages.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wonder who was the last warder that raised this -portcullis?” mused Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I cannot tell you, my dear. It has not been moved -in the memory of man,” replied Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I see ghosts again!” exclaimed Wynnette—“men-at-arms -on yonder battlements! Knights, squires and pursuivants -in the courtyard here! Oh, what a haunted -hole is this!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They entered a quadrangular courtyard paved with -flagstones, inclosed by stone buildings, and having at -each of the four corners a strong tower.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The front building, through which they had passed by -the ascending road, was the most ancient part of the -castle and faced the sea. But in the rear of that was -the more recent structure, used as the dwelling of the -earl and his household. This modern building also -faced the sea, on the other side, but it could not be approached -from the cliff road except through the front. -These buildings were not used at all. They were given -over to the denizens objected to by Wynnette—to rats, -mice, bats, owls and rooks, and—perhaps ghosts.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>On either side the buildings were used as quarters for -the servants and offices for the household.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They drove through the courtyard, under an archway -in the wall of the modern building, and out to the front -entrance, facing the open sea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Many steps led from the pavement up to the massive -oaken doors, flanked by huge pillars of stone, that gave -admittance to the building.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The coachman left his box, went up these stairs and -knocked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The double doors swung open.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force alighted and handed out his wife and two -elder daughters, while Le performed the same service -for Elva and Rosemary, and the party walked up the -stairs to the open door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A footman in the gray livery of Enderby bowed -them in.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXI<br /> <span class='large'>MRS. FORCE’S BROTHER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>A tall, fair, delicate-looking patrician of about forty -years of age, clothed in an India silk dressing gown, -leaning on the arm of his gray-haired valet, and further -supporting himself by a gold-headed cane, approached -to welcome them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My sister—I am glad to see you, Elfrida,” he said, -passing his cane over to his valet and taking the lady -by the hand to give her his brotherly kiss. “Now present -me to your husband and daughters, and to these—young -friends of yours. I am glad to see them all. -Very glad.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force introduced Mr. Force, Leonidas and the -girls in turn.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>Lord Enderby shook hands with each in succession, -and heartily welcomed them all to Enderby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You must take your place at the head of my bachelor -household, Elfrida. In the meantime, my housekeeper, -Mrs. Kelsy here, will show you to your rooms.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>As he spoke, an elderly woman, in her Sunday dress -of black silk, with a white net shoulder shawl and a -white net cap, came from the rear of the hall, courtesied, -and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My lady, this way, if you please.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Breakfast will be served as soon as you are ready for -it, Elfrida,” said the host, as, still leaning on the arm of -his valet and supporting himself by his cane, he turned -and passed through a door on the right, into his own -sanctum.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Widely yawned the foot of the broad staircase, up -which Mrs. Kelsy led the guests of the house, to a vast -upper hall, flanked with oaken doors leading into a suit -of apartments on either side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper opened a door on the right, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here is a suit of five rooms, my lady, fitted up for -yourself and the young ladies. And here, on the opposite -side, is a large room, with dressing room attached, -for the young gentlemen—Good Lord!!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>This sudden exclamation from the housekeeper was -called forth by the unexpected apparition of Gipsy, the -negro maid, than whom no blacker human being ever -saw the light. Gipsy was as black as ink, as black as -ebony. Wynnette declared that charcoal made a light-colored -mark on her. But aside from her complexion, -Gipsy was a good-looking girl, with laughing black eyes, -and laughing lips that disclosed fine white teeth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is my maid, Zipporah, but we call her Gipsy -for convenience,” said Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, my lady! Will it bite? Can’t it talk? Is it -vicious?” inquired the Cumberland woman, who had -never seen and scarcely ever heard of a negro, and had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>the vaguest idea of dark-colored savages in distant parts -of the world, who were pagans and cannibals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She is a very good girl, and can read and write as -well as any of us; and she is, besides, a member of the -Episcopal church at home, which is the same as your -Church of England here,” Mrs. Force explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my lady. Certainly, my lady. I beg pardon, -my lady, I am sure,” said the housekeeper, in profuse -apology; but still she did not seem satisfied, but gave -Gipsy a wide berth while she eyed her suspiciously.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now Gipsy resented this sort of treatment; besides, -she was a bit of a wag; so every time her mistress’ -back was turned she rolled up the whites of her big eyes, -curled up her large red lips, and snapped her teeth together, -in a way that made Kelsy’s blood run cold.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As soon as it was possible to do so, she made an excuse -and left the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is Dickon?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He’s round at the kennel with the dog. Joshua -won’t make friends ’long o’ none of the grooms, nor -likewise none o’ the doogs, so Dickon have to stay ’long -o’ him to keep him quiet,” said Gipsy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force groaned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now everything is going to be laid on that poor dog! -Gipsy, I won’t give you my crimson silk dress when I -have done with it, just for that. Papa, I can help you -to dress just as well as Dickon can—and a great deal -better, too. I can fix your shaving things and hair -brushes, and lay out your clothes myself!” exclaimed -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, I think you had better prepare for breakfast,” -said her mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mother, we can’t do much preparing, as our trunks -have not been brought up.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take off your duster, my dear, and wash your face -and hands, and brush your hair,” suggested Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>“I suppose these two rooms are yours and papa’s, but -which are ours?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force walked through the whole suit, and finally -assigned a room next to her own to Wynnette and Odalite, -and another to Elva and Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>What struck all these visitors was the heavy and -rather gloomy character of their apartments. Thick -Brussels carpets, thick moreen window curtains, and -bed curtains of dull colors and dingy appearance, massive -bedsteads, bureaus, presses and chairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And they call this the modern part of the castle! -Oh, I know I shall see ghosts!” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they were all ready, they went downstairs to -the hall, all hung with suits of armor, and decorated -with arms, shields, spears, banners, battle-axes, and so -on, and with stags’ heads and other trophies of the battlefield -and the chase.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here a footman showed them into the breakfast room, -where the earl sat waiting for them. Breakfast was -served in a very few minutes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After breakfast the whole party adjourned to the -drawing room, a vast, gloomy apartment with walls lined -with old oil paintings, windows hung with heavy, dark -curtains; floor covered with a thick, dull carpet, and -filled up with massive furniture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After they had been seated for a while, the earl arose, -taking his cane in one hand and the arm of his brother-in-law -with the other, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope you will amuse yourselves as you please, my -dears, and excuse me: I wish to have a talk on family -matters with your parents in the library. If you would -like to go over the house, call one of the maids or the -housekeeper to be your guide,” he concluded, as he left -the room, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite acted on her uncle’s suggestion, rang the bell, -and requested to see the housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>Mrs. Kelsy came, and on being requested, expressed -her willingness to show the young ladies over the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And to the picture gallery first, if you please,” she -said, as she led the way across the hall to a long room -on the opposite side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here were the family portraits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Odalite, here are the originals of all the ghosts I saw -with my eyes shut, on last night’s journey, and of all the -ghosts I saw here on the battlements and in the courtyard—all, -all, all—men-at-arms, squires, knights, lords -and ladies. If they would but talk, what interesting -shades they would be!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Which, Wynnette? The ghosts or the pictures?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Either. Both. This, you say, Mrs. Kelsy, was Elfrida, -Lady Enderby, my mother’s mother? Why, I -should have known it. How much she is like my -mother, and like Elva. And this is the second and last -Lady Enderby? How lovely, yet how fragile. She was -mamma’s stepmother, and she died young, leaving one -delicate little boy, our uncle, the present earl. <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sic transit</span></i>, -and so forth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They spent an hour in the picture gallery, and then -the housekeeper proposed that they go into the library.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But we cannot go there. Papa, mamma and uncle -are shut up there, in close council,” said Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! Well, we will go upstairs, if you please, miss,” -said Kelsy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And upstairs they went. And all over the vast building -they went, finding only gloomy rooms, each one more -depressing than the others.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now show me the room Queen Elizabeth slept -in when on a visit to Baron Ealon, of Enderby,” said -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Queen Elizabeth, miss! I never heard that Queen -Elizabeth was ever in this part of the country!” the -housekeeper exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette laughed.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>“Oh, well, then,” she said, “show me the room that -Alexander the Great, or Julius Cæsar, or Napoleon -Bonaparte, or George Washington slept in.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—do not think I ever heard of any of these grandees -stopping at Enderby. But there is a room——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes!” eagerly exclaimed Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where the Young Pretender was hidden for days -before he escaped to France,” said the housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, show us that room, Mrs. Kelsy,” said a chorus -of voices.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper took them down a long flight of -stairs and along a dark passage, and up another flight of -stairs, and through a suit of unfurnished apartments, to -a large room in the rear of the main building, whose -black oak floor and whose paneled walls were bare, and -whose windows were curtainless.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the middle of this room stood a huge bedstead, -whose four posts were the dragon supporters of the arms -of Enderby and whose canopy was surmounted by an -earl’s coronet. The velvet hangings of this bedstead, the -brocade quilt and satin pillow cases had almost gone the -way of all perishable things.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And the Young Pretender occupied this room?” inquired -Rosemary, reverently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, miss, and it is kept just as he left it, except -that the curtains have been taken from the windows, -because they had fallen into rags.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And he slept in this bed?” said Elva, timidly laying -her hand upon the sacred relic.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, miss, but I wouldn’t touch the quilt, if I was -you. Bless you, it would go to pieces if you were to -handle it!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would make a bonfire of every unhealthy mess in -this room, if it were mine!” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper looked at her in silent horror.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They lingered some time in “the pretender’s room.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>As they were leaving it, Wynnette said, at random:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And now show us the haunted chamber, please.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper stopped short, turned pale and -stared at the speaker.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who told you anything about the haunted room?” -she inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nobody did,” replied Wynnette, staring in her turn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How, then, did you know anything about it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“By inference. Given an old castle, inferred a -haunted room. Come, now, show it to us, dear Mrs. -Kelsy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, you cannot see the haunted chamber, young -miss. It has not been opened for ten years or more.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come! This is getting to be exciting, and I declare -I will see it, if I die for it,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not through my means, you will not, young lady. -But there is the luncheon bell, and we had better go -down.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They returned to the inhabited parts of the house, -and were shown by the housekeeper to the morning room, -where the luncheon table was spread.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There they found Mr. and Mrs. Force. Their host -had not yet joined them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear,” said Mr. Force, in a low voice, addressing -Odalite, “we have had a consultation in the library. It -is almost certain that Lady Mary Anglesea died one -year before the time stated as that of her death. It is -best, however, that we go down to Angleton and search -for evidence in the church and mausoleum. Therefore, -it is decided that Leonidas and myself go to Lancashire -to-morrow to investigate the facts, leaving your mother, -sisters, and self here. We shall only be absent for a -few days.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, papa! then you will take poor John Kirby’s letter -and parcel to his old father there? You see, they -live only a few miles from Angleton,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, dear, I will take them,” assented the squire. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>“And, Odalite, my love,” he added, turning to his eldest -daughter, “if all goes well we shall have a merry marriage -here at Enderby.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXII<br /> <span class='large'>AN ANXIOUS SEARCH</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Early the next morning Mr. Force, Leonidas and -Wynnette, who begged to make one of the party, left -Enderby Castle for Lancashire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The gray-haired coachman drove them in an open carriage -to the Nethermost Railway Station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On this drive they retraced the road on the top of the -cliffs which they had traversed on the previous day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached Nethermost just in time to jump on -board the “parliamentary,” a slow train—none but slow -trains ever did stop at this obscure and unfrequented -station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force secured a first-class compartment for himself -and party, and they were soon comfortably seated -and being whirled onward toward Lancaster.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For some miles the road followed the line of the coast -in a southerly direction, and then diverged a little to -the eastward until it reached the ancient and picturesque -town of Lancaster, perched upon its own hill and -crowned with its old castle, which dates back to the time -of John of Gaunt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here they left their train, and on consulting the local -time-table in the ticket office found that the next train -on the branch line going to the station nearest Angleton -did not start until 3 <span class='fss'>P.M.</span></p> - -<p class='c008'>This, as it was now but 11 <span class='fss'>A.M.</span>, gave the party -an opportunity of seeing the town, as well as of getting -a luncheon.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>A chorus of voices offered cabs; but Mr. Force, waving -them all away, walked up the street of antiquated -houses and brought his party to the ancient inn of “The -Royal Oak.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here he ordered luncheon, to be ready at two, and -then set out with his young people to walk through the -town.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They climbed the hill and viewed the castle, now -fallen from its ancient glory of a royal fortress—not -into ruin, but into deeper degradation as the county jail. -But the donjon keep, King John’s Tower, and John of -Gaunt’s Gate remain as of old.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They next visited the old parish church of St. Mary’s, -where they saw some wonderful stained glass windows, -brass statuary, and oak carvings of a date to which the -memory of man reached not back.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They could only gaze upon the outside of the cotton -and silk factories and the iron foundries before the -clock in the church tower struck two, and they returned -to the hotel for lunch.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At three o’clock they took the train for Angleton.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Their course now lay eastward through many a mile -of the manufacturing districts, and then entered a moorland, -waste and sparsely inhabited, stretching eastward -to the range of mountains known in local phraseology -as “England’s Backbone.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was six o’clock on a warm June afternoon when -the slow train stopped at a little, lonely station, in the -midst of a moor, where there was not another house -anywhere in sight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here our travelers left their compartment and came -out upon the platform, carpetbags in hand; and the -train went on its way.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Our party paused on the platform, looking about -them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On their right hand stood the station, a small, strong -building of stone with two rooms and a ticket office. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>Behind that the moor stretched out in unbroken solitude -to the horizon.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On their left hand was the track of the railroad, and -beyond that the moor rolling into low hills, toward the -distant range of mountains.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was not a vehicle of any sort in sight; and there -were but two human beings besides themselves on the -spot—one was the ticket agent and the other the railway -porter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force spoke to the latter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where can I get a carriage to take my party on to -Angleton?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man, a red, shock-haired rustic, stared at the -questioner a minute before answering.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Noa whurr, maister, leaf it be at t’ Whoit Coo.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And where is the White Cow?” inquired the gentleman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The rustic stretched his arm out and pointed due -east.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force strained his eyes in that direction, but at -first could see nothing but the moor stretching out in -the distance and rolling into hills as it reached the range -of mountains.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa,” said Wynnette, who was straining her eyes -also, “I think I see the place. I know I see a curl of -smoke and the top of a chimney, and the peak of a -gable-end roof. I think the rise of the ground prevents -our seeing more.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oie, oie, yon’s t’ Whoit Coo,” assented the porter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How far is it from here?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Taw mulls, maister.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some sort?<a id='t195'></a> -I will pay you well for your trouble,” said Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Naw, maister. Oi’ mawn’t leave t’ stution.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle!” exclaimed Le, “I can go and bring you a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>carriage in no time. You take Wynnette into the house -and wait for me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And without more ado Le ran across the track and -strode off across the moor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force took Wynnette into the waiting room of -the little wayside station, where they sat down.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was no carpet on the floor, no paper on the -walls, no shades at the windows, but against the walls -were rows of wooden benches, and on them large posters -of railway and steamboat routes, hotels, watering places, -and so forth, and one picture of the winner of the last -Derby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They had scarcely time to get tired of waiting before -Le came back with the most wretched-looking turnout -that ever tried to be a useful conveyance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a long cart covered with faded and torn black -leather, and furnished with wooden seats without cushions. -Its harness was worn and patched. But there -was one comfort in the whole equipage—the horse was -in very good condition. It was a strong draught horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall not have to cry for cruelty to animals, at any -rate,” said Wynnette, as her father helped her up into -a seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How far is it to Angleton?” inquired Mr. Force of -the driver.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sux mulls, surr,” answered the man. “Sux mulls, -if yur tek it cross t’ moor, but tun, ’round b’ t’ rood.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is it very rough across the moor?” inquired Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Muddlin’, maister,” replied the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Go across the moor,” said the gentleman, as he -stepped up into the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le followed him. The horse started and trudged on, -jolting them over the irons on the railway track and -striking into the very worst country road they had ever -known.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yes. It was rough riding across that moor, sitting on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>hard benches, in a cart without springs, and drawn by a -strong, hard-trotting horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Our travelers were jolted until their bones were sore -before they reached the first stopping place.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This was “‘The White Cow,” an old-fashioned inn, in -a dip of the moor, where the ground began to roll in -hills and hollows toward the distant mountains.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The house fronted east, and, as it lay basking in the -late afternoon summer sun, was very picturesque. Its -steep, gable roof was of red tiles, with tall, twisted -chimneys, and projecting dormer windows; its walls -were of some dark, gray stone, with broad windows and -doors, and a great archway leading into the stable yard. -A staff, with a swinging sign, stood before the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The declining sun threw the shadow of the house in -front of it; and in this shade a pair of country laborers -sat on a bench, with a table before them. They were -smoking short pipes and drinking beer, which stood in -pewter pots on the board.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This was the only sign of life and business about the -still place.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As the cart drew up Mr. Force got out of it and -helped his daughter to alight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le followed them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think we will go in the house and rest a while, and -see if we can get a decent cup of tea, my dear. We -have had nothing since we left Lancaster, at three -o’clock, and it is now half-past seven. You must be -both tired and hungry,” said the squire, leading her in.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>“‘I’m killed, sire,’”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>responded Wynnette, misapplying a line from Browning, -as she limped along on her father’s arm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man who had driven them from the railway -station, and whom after developments proved to be -waiter, hostler, groom and bootblack rolled into one for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>the guests of the White Cow, left his horse and cart -standing and ran before Mr. Force to show the travelers -into the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was needless; but he did it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They entered a broad hall paved with flagstones.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the left of this an open door revealed the taproom, -half full of rustic workingmen, who were smoking, -drinking, laughing and talking, and whose forms -loomed indistinctly through the thick smoke, tinted in -one corner like a golden mist by the horizontal rays of -the setting sun that streamed obliquely through the end -window.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the right another open door revealed a large low-ceiled -parlor, with whitewashed walls and sanded floor, -a broad window in front filled with flowering plants in -pots, and a broad fireplace at the back filled with evergreen -boughs and cut paper flowers. On the walls were -cheap colored pictures, purporting to be portraits of the -queen and members of the royal family. Against the -walls were ranged Windsor chairs. On the mantelpiece -stood an eight-day clock, flanked by a pair of sperm -candles, in brass candlesticks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the middle of the floor stood a square table, covered -with a damask cloth as white as new fallen snow, -and so smooth and glossy, with such sharp lines where -it had been folded, that proved it to have been just taken -from the linen press and spread upon the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The house might be old-fashioned and somewhat -dilapidated, not to say tumble-down, as to its outward -appearance; but this large, low-ceiled room was clean, -neat, fresh and fragrant as it was possible for a room -to be.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is pleasant, isn’t it, papa?” said Wynnette, as -she stood by the flowery window, threw off her brown -straw hat, pulled off her gloves, drew off her duster, -put them all upon one chair and dropped herself into another.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>“Yes. If the tea proves as good as the room, we -shall be content,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man-of-all-work, who had slipped out and put -on a clean apron, and taken up a clean towel, with magical -expedition, now reappeared to take orders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What would you please to have, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tea for the party, and anything else you have in the -house that is good to eat with it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And the waiter pulled the white tablecloth this way -and that and smoothed it with the palms of his hands, -apparently for no other reason than to prove his zeal, -for he did not improve the cloth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force and Le walked out “to look around,” they -said.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXIII<br /> <span class='large'>A CLEW</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The one maid-of-all-work came in and asked the -young lady if she would not like to go to a room and -wash her face and hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette decidedly would like it, and said so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl was a fresh, wholesome-looking English lass, -with rosy cheeks and rippling red hair. She wore a -dark blue dress of some cheap woolen material, with a -white apron and white collar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She led the young lady out into the hall again, and -up a flight of broad stone steps to an upper hall, and -thence into a front bed chamber, immediately over the -parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here again were the whitewashed walls, clean bare -floor, the broad, white-shaded window, the open fireplace -filled with evergreens, the polished wooden chairs, -ranged along the walls, and all the dainty neatness of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>the room below. There were, besides, a white-curtained -bed, with a strip of carpet on each side of it; a white-draped -dressing table with an oval glass, and a white-covered -washstand, with white china basin and ewer. -In a word, it was a pure, fresh, dainty, and fragrant -white room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, what a nice place! Oh, how I should like to -stay here to-night, instead of going further!” exclaimed -Wynnette, appreciatively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl made no reply, but began to lay out towels -on the washstand, and to pour water from the ewer into -the basin.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is a very lonesome country, though, isn’t it?” -inquired Wynnette, who was bound to talk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There’s not a many gentry, ma’am. There be mill -hands and pitmen mostly about here,” said the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mill hands and pitmen! I saw no mills nor mines, -either, as we drove along.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, ma’am; but they beant far off. The hills do -hide them just about here; but you might seen the high -chimneys—I mean the tops of ’em and the smoke.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are they pitmen down there in the barroom?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the taproom? Yes, ma’am. Mill hands, and -farm hands, too. They do come in at this hour for their -beer and ’bacco.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you have many more customers besides these -men?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not ivery day, ma’am; but we hev the farmers on -their way to Middlemoor market stop here; and—and -the gentry coming and going betwixt the station and -Fell Hall, or Middlemoor Court, or Anglewood Manor, -ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How far is Anglewood Manor from this?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“About five miles, ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Five!’ Why, I thought it wasn’t more than four. -The coachman told us it was only six from the station -and we have come two.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>“That was Anglewood village, I reckon, ma’am. That -is only four miles from here; but Anglewood Manor is -a short mile beyant that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! Who keeps this inn? There is no name on -the sign.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, ma’am. It’s ‘T’ Whoit Coo.’ It allers hev been -‘T’ Whoit Coo,’ ma’am.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But who keeps it?” persisted inquisitive Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oo! Me mawther keeps it, iver sin’ feyther deed, -ma’am. Mawther tends bar hersen, and Jonah waits -and waters horses, and cleans boots, and does odd jobs, -and I be chambermaid.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! and who is Jonah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Me brawther.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! And so your mother, your brother, and yourself -do all the work and run the hotel?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am. It would no pay us else,” replied the -“Maid of the Inn,” who seemed to be as much inclined -to be communicative as Wynnette was to be inquisitive.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, well, it is lucky that you are all able to do so. -But you have not told me your name yet.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mine be Hetty Kirby, ma’am. Brawther Jonah’s -be Jonah, and mawther’s be the Widow Kirby,” definitely -replied the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Kirby!’ Oh—why——Tell me, did you have a -relation named John Kirby go to America once upon a -time?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, ma’am, a long time ago, before I can remember, -me Oncle John Kirby, me feyther’s yo’ngest brawther, -went there and never come back.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! And—is your grandfather living?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The “Maid of the Inn” stared. What was all this -to the young lady? Wynnette interpreted her look and -explained:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because, if he is living, I have got a letter and a -bundle for him from his son in New York.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Law! hev you, though, ma’am? Look at thet, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>noo! What wonders in this world. The grandfeyther -is living, ma’am, but not in Moorton. He be lately -coom to dwell wi’ ‘is son Job, me Oncle Job, who be sexton -at Anglewood church.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sexton at Anglewood church! Is your uncle sexton -at Anglewood church? And does your grandfather, old -Mr. Kirby, live with him?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The maid of the inn stared again. Why should this -strange young lady take so much interest in the Kirbys?</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Wynnette interpreted her look, and explained:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because if your grandfather does live there, it will -save us a journey to Moorton, as we are going to Anglewood, -and can give him the letter and parcel without -turning out of our way,” she said; but she was also -thinking that if this old Kirby, to whom she was bringing -letters and presents from his son in America, was -the father of the sexton at Anglewood church, an inmate -of his cottage, and probably assistant in his work, these -circumstances might greatly facilitate their admission -into vaults and mausoleums which the party had come -to see, but which might otherwise have been closed to -them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, ma’am,” said Hetty, “would you mind letting -mawther see the letter and parcel?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, certainly not; but I have no right to let her open -either of them, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She shawnt, ma’am; but it wull do the mawther -good to see the outside ’n ’em. And o’ Sunday, when -she goes to church, she can see the grandfeyther, and -get to read t’ letter. And there be t’ bell, ma’am. And -we mun goo doon to tea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was ready, and went downstairs, attended -by the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A dainty and delicious repast was spread upon the -table. Tea, whose rich aroma filled the room and proved -its excellence, muffins, sally-lunns, biscuits, buttered -toast, rich milk, cream and butter, fried chicken, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>poached eggs, sliced tongue and ham, radishes, pepper -grass, cheese, marmalade, jelly, pound cake and plum -cake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette’s eyes danced as she saw the feast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is as good as a St. Mary’s county spread! And -I couldn’t say more for it if I were to talk all day!” she -exclaimed, as she took her place at the head of the table -to pour out the tea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force asked a blessing, just as he would have -done if he had been at home, and then the three hungry -travelers “fell to.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Father,” said Wynnette, when she had poured out -the tea, which Hetty began to hand around, “do you -know the Widow Kirby who keeps this hotel——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Inn, my dear—inn,” amended the squire. “I am so -happy to find myself in an old-fashioned inn that I -protest against its being insulted with the name of -hotel.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, squire,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“‘A sweet by any other smell would name as rose,’</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>or words to that effect. The landlady of this hostelry—I -should say tavern—I mean inn—the landlady of this -inn is the Widow Kirby, sister-in-law to the baggage -master who took care of Joshua, and from whom we -brought the letter and parcel, you know. And this -young person is his niece, and the man who drove us -here is his nephew. And his brother is sexton at Anglewood -Church, and his father lives there. Now! What -do you think of that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We knew from the baggage master that the Kirbys -lived in Lancashire, so we need not be surprised to find -them here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, papa, Lancashire is a large place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My love, it has been said that the habitable globe is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>but a small place, and we are always sure to meet some -of the same people everywhere.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, the widow wants to see the letter and the -parcel—the outside of them, I mean.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, there is no objection,” said the squire. And -he made a move to reach his valise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Le hastily anticipated him and brought it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The kind-hearted squire unlocked the case, found the -letter and the parcel, and gave them into the hands of -the young waitress.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oo! Thanky’, sir. Thanky’, ma’am. Thanky’,” she -said, and continued to say, bobbing courtesies, and turning -over and staring at the letter and the parcel as she -took them out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnette, my dear, you find out everything; but -you have missed your vocation. You ought to have been -a newspaper correspondent or a detective.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know it, papa. I know it!” exclaimed the girl, -with a very demonstrative sigh. “And that’s the complaint -with most of us. We’re nearly all out of place, -and therefore in pain, like dislocated limbs. And that’s -what’s the matter with humanity. Almost all its members -are put out of joint.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The rich glow of the summer sunset was slowly fading -from the west.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Lights were brought in by the factotum, Jonah, who -placed two on the tea table, and then proceeded to light -the two that stood upon the mantelpiece.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Having done this, the man stood waiting orders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Have you put up the carriage?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Naw, maister. The carriage be waiting.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, you may just as well put it up. It is -growing dark, and I do not feel like crossing the moor -at this time of night. We will stay here, if you can let -us have bedrooms.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely, maister, we ha’ rooms enough. I’ll call -Hetty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>The chambermaid was called, and bringing the letter -and parcel, still unopened, and her “mawther’s” duty -and thanks to the gentlefolks for letting her see the outside -of them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hetty, on being interviewed on the subject of sleeping -accommodations, declared in effect that “The White -Cow” could provide comfortable quarters for the whole -party, for if the two gentlemen would share the double-bedded -chamber over the taproom, the young lady could -have the large single-bedded chamber over the parlor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That will be perfectly lovely. I did long to sleep -in that very room, at least for one night,” said Wynnette, -without waiting for any one else to speak.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All right, then. That will do. We will stay. Eh, -Le?” said the squire, turning to his young companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Certainly, uncle. The half of a large bedded chamber -is ample space for one used to a hammock,” replied -Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>So it was settled, and as the travelers were fatigued, -they retired early.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXIV<br /> <span class='large'>ANGLEWOOD MANOR</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Early the next morning our three travelers were -astir.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They met in the neat parlor, where the air was delicious -with the fragrance of fresh white, pink and blue -hyacinths that filled the flower pots in the broad window.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They sat around the table, on which was arranged a -breakfast that quite equaled in excellence the tea of the -evening before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah waited on the party.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is that elegant and commodious equipage which -brought us here yesterday the best thing in the way of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>a carriage that the White Cow can turn out?” inquired -Mr. Force, as he sipped his coffee.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Beg pardon, maister?” said the man, with a puzzled -look.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can’t you trot out a better trap than that old hurdle -on wheels which jolted us from the railway station yesterday?” -demanded Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Beg pardon, ma’am?” said the man, with a bewildered -look.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We wish to know if you have not a better carriage -than the one in which we came here,” Le tried to explain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Naw, maister, t’ Whoit Coo hev naw much demand -fo’ ’m. T’ gentry do most come and go in their own, -and send t’ same for or call t’ friends in visiting,” the -man replied, in a tone of apology.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well. Have the cart at the door as soon as it -can be brought here, and bring me my bill.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, maister.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They all got up from the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa,” said Wynnette, who was too well inclined to -take the initiative in most matters, “papa, I think if we -can get our business done at the manor to-day, we had -better come back here to take supper and to sleep. It -seems to me that it would be much nicer than to stop at -Angleton.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wait until you see Angleton before you decide, my -dear. You may find the ‘Anglesea Arms’ as attractive -as this inn,” replied the squire, who was drawing on his -railway duster—a needless operation, since there was -no more dust on the moor than could have been found -on the sea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘The Anglesea Arms,’ papa? No, thank you. The -name is enough for me. I would rather sit in the old -cart all day and eat bread and cheese, and sleep in the -cart all night, gypsy fashion, than take rest or refreshment -at the Anglesea Arms,” exclaimed Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>“But, my dear, you are unjust. The inn has nothing -to do with the man, beyond the accident of having been -on the land of his ancestors centuries ago, and handed -down the name from generation to generation.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can’t help it, papa! I should feel—disgraced—there -if I were to find myself by any accident under the roof -of the—Anglesea Arms.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whe-ew-ew! Poor, old inn,” whistled Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Oh, no doubt he ought to have lectured his wilful -little daughter; but he did not. He was a child-spoiler, -a chickpecked papa.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By this time they were ready to start.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah brought the bill.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force paid it, and gave the waiter half a crown.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette pulled his sleeve and whispered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, give me half a sov. to tip the chambermaid. -It’s the regular thing, you know. I mean, papa, dear, -that it is usual for ladies to offer some such modest recognition -of such young persons’ services.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What, my dear, have you no money?” inquired her -father, looking at her in some surprise.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c009'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in6'>“‘Oh, sir, you see me here,</div> - <div class='line'>A most poor woman, though a queen,’”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c010'>sighed Wynnette, in a very humble air, as she held out -her open hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The squire poured into her palm some loose silver and -one piece of gold—the whole not amounting to so much -as five dollars.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette thanked him and skipped out of the parlor -to find Hetty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She found her waiting just outside the door. Hetty -was a very good girl in her way; but she profited by -the traditions of her class, and generally was to be found -waiting when ladies were leaving the inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette pressed the half sovereign into the hand of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>the girl. Wynnette was a generous and extravagant -little wretch, without the slightest idea of the value of -money, and therefore likely, in some opinions, to come -to poverty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This half sovereign was about four times as much as -the maid ever got from the richest of the inn’s guests; -and she courtesied about four times as often in return.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Small favors gratefully acknowledged, large ones in -proportion,” seemed to be her just and simple rule.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come, Wynnette. Come, my dear,” called her -father, who was already in the hall waiting for her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In another minute the whole party were in the dilapidated -carryall, and the driver turned the horse’s head -eastward into an almost invisible roadway over the moor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a splendid June morning. The sky was of a -deep, clear sapphire blue so seldom seen even on the -sunniest days in England. The moor took a darker -shade of color from the sky, and the heather with which -it was thickly overgrown seemed of a deep, intense -green. The ground rolled in hills and dales, gradually -rising higher and higher toward the range of mountains -on the eastern horizon, where the highest ridges were -capped with soft, snow-white clouds. As the sun rose -higher, these clouds, as well as the mountain sides, became -tinted with the most delicate and beautiful hues of -rose, azure, emerald and gold, melting into each other -and forming the loveliest varieties of color, light and -shade.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yet in the vast solitude of the moor no human being -or human dwelling was to be seen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The first sign of habitation was a thin spire which -seemed to rise in mid distance before them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is that?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thet, maister, be the steeple of old Anglewood -Church.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are we so near the manor, then?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>“Naw, sir. It be better’n three mulls off yet. You -would naw see it, only for the air is so clear the day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette craned her neck to look forward. But there -was nothing to be seen but the thin spire, as if drawn -with pen and ink from the dark blue heath to the deep -blue sky.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As they went on, the spire became a steeple, and the -steeple a tower, and the tower a church.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As yet nothing but the church—darkly outlined -against the background of hills—was visible. They -were now on the top of one of the rolling hills, and could -see it clearly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is that church in the village of Angleton or in the -manor of Anglewood?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It be on t’ manor, maister. The village it be nearer -t’ us, but being in t’ hollow you can’t see it yet.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They went down the hill and through the hollow, -came up the side of another higher hill, and then looked -down on the village of Angleton in the vale at its foot.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the top of the next hill stood the Old Church of -Anglewood in full view.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The driver stopped his horse while they looked at the -village in the vale and the church on the hill beyond.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wull I drive to the Anglesea Arms, maister?” inquired -the driver, as he set his horse in motion again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No,” replied the squire, in deference to Wynnette. -He had “won his spurs elsewhere,” no doubt, but the -chickpecked papa was a little afraid of his baby. “No; -but I want to stop at the village for a few minutes. Is -there a newspaper published at Angleton?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, sir. T’ Angleton <cite>’Wertiser</cite> it be,” replied the -man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, then. Drive to the office of that paper.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, maister.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were now descending a steep road, between low -stone walls, leading down into the main street of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>village and past the one public house, the one general -store, the doctor’s office and surgery, the lawyer’s office, -and finally the printing and publishing office of the -Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a two-storied stone building, evidently a dwelling -house as well as a printing office; for there were -two doors—one apparently a private door, leading into -a narrow hall; the other the public door, broad and -rough, and leading into the business rooms. Besides the -upper windows were hung with Norfolk lace curtains -and adorned with pots of geraniums, while the lower -windows were shaded with dust and draped with cobwebs, -and sustained above them the broad signboard—Angleton -<cite>Advertiser</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the carriage drew up before this building the -three travelers alighted and went in.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The driver of the vehicle remained in his seat in -charge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The party of three found themselves in a very dingy -room, with a counter on their right hand, at the nearest -end of which a man stood writing at a desk. At the -furthest end a boy stood folding and wrapping papers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is this the office of the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>?” needlessly -inquired Mr. Force of the gentleman behind the -desk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is. What can I have the pleasure of doing for -you, sir?” inquired the latter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are the proprietor?” half asserted, half inquired -the squire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Proprietor, editor, printer and publisher,” answered -the man, reaching behind him and taking from a shelf a -copy of his paper, which he offered to his visitor, saying: -“Out to-day, sir; and there’s my name.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!” said Mr. Force, spreading the paper before -him, and looking first at the prospectus for the name of -his new acquaintance.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>“Can I be of any service to you, sir?” inquired the -proprietor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, Mr. Purdy, I would like to have a few minutes -talk with you, if you are not too busy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am directing papers for the mail, but I am not -pressed for time, as the mail does not go until to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you,” said the squire, as a mere form, for -there did not appear to be any particular cause for gratitude. -And he drew from his breast pocket a certain -copy of the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite> and handed it to the -man, saying again: “Thank you, Mr. Purdy. My -name is Force. I only wish to ask you—and I hope -without offense—what is the meaning of the obituary -notice of a living man that is published in the first -column of this paper?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Purdy took the paper in a slow and dazed manner, and -looked at the column which Mr. Force pointed out to -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And as he looked he stared and stared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I—don’t understand!” he said at last, looking -from the paper up to the face of his strange visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Neither do I understand, Mr. Purdy; but if we put -our heads together perhaps we may be able to do so,” -replied Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The printer turned the paper over and over, in and -out, up and down, and, lastly, back to the front page; -and then he stared at the obituary notice of his landlord.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you make of it?” inquired Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I can’t make anything of it. But I think it will -make a lunatic of me! This is certainly my paper! I -know my paper as well as I know my children. This is -certainly my paper—though it is an old one—and this is -the obituary notice of Col. Anglesea, who was alive and -well at that very time, and is so at this present, as I -think.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How do you account for that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I can’t account for it! If I weren’t a sound man, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>and a sober man, and a wide-awake one, I should think -I was drunk, or dreaming, or deranged. It is quite beyond -me, Mr. Force. This is my paper—I see it, and -know it—and this is an obituary notice of a living man -that I never put in there! I see and know that as well! -But how to reconcile these two contradictory facts, I -don’t know. How did you come by that paper, if you -please?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was sent to me by mail!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, well, well!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Have you a file of the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course I have, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let us look at it, then, and compare this paper with -the paper of that same date on the file.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, that is a good idea. And I shall only have to -look at the copy of August 20th in last year’s file. I’ll -do it at once.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The editor turned and took down a roller full of -papers from the two wooden pins on the wall behind -him, and laid it upon the counter and began to turn -over the sheets.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here it is!” exclaimed Purdy, pulling out a paper -and spreading it out on the counter. “August 20th—and -appears to be a facsimile of the one you brought -here, sir. Now let us lay them on the board side by side -and compare them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He took the file and hung it up again on the wall, to -make room on the counter. Then he spread out the two -papers side by side, with their first pages uppermost.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As he did so the boy who had been folding and wrapping -papers at the other end of the counter left his work -and crept toward the two men.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! see this!” exclaimed the proprietor—“see this! -The two papers are facsimile in every letter and line, -except in two places! See this! The first column on -the first page of the paper from the file is occupied by -the report of an agricultural fair at Middlemoor, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>the same column in the same edition of the paper, in the -copy you brought, is filled with the obituary of Col. -Anglesea! And here! In the list of deaths on another -page, the first paragraph in this paper from the file is -a notice of the death of the Rev. Mr. Orton, our old -vicar; and in the copy of the same paper that you -brought me the same space is taken up with the notice -of the death of Col. Anglesea. This is a very great -mystery!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps if you could recall all the incidents of the -day on which this paper was issued we might come to -some solution of the problem,” suggested Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t know that I could,” replied Purdy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Father,” said the boy—“father, I remember something -queer about that very day—I do.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXV<br /> <span class='large'>A SECRET WITNESS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“You do? Come here, my son.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The lad came up to the counter. He was a fine, wholesome-looking -boy of about fifteen years of age, with a -fresh complexion, blue eyes, and closely cut, light brown -hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He bowed to the visitors and stood waiting for his -father’s questions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You say you remember something about the twentieth -of last August?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, I ought to, father, because it was something -that happened unexpectedly that day that caused me to -be promoted from being a mere ’prentice in the printing -room to being your helper here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! Ah! Let me see! That was—yes—the day I -took you into the office was the day Norton absconded, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>for his sudden desertion left me in the lurch. And so, -Mr. Force,” said the editor, turning to his visitor, “I -took my lad here, who had been learning to be a printer, -on to help me. It was only as a temporary accommodation -of myself to circumstances that I took him, for I -intended to look up another assistant, but he proved himself -so capable that I have kept him on ever since, and -saved the expense of a journeyman.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!” breathed Mr. Force, while Wynnette and -Leonidas bent eagerly forward to listen for further developments -of the mystery.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Won’t the young lady take a chair?” said Mr. -Purdy; for the party had been standing the whole time.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leonidas drew the only chair in sight from the back -of the passage between the counter and the wall, and -Wynnette bowed, and seated herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Could there have been any connection between the -insertion of that fraudulent notice and the sudden flight -of your foreman?” inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Looks like it,” said the editor, still being much -puzzled. Then, turning to his son, he inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Obed, do you think you can throw any light on this -mystery? You know what we are talking about, of -course. You heard what this gentleman has been telling -me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, do you remember anything more about the -events of that day—the last that Norton was here?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, father. And the more I think about it now, -the better I understand things that I didn’t think much -of at the time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What were these things, Obed?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes!” involuntarily muttered Mr. Force. “What?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette and Leonidas almost held their breath.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Obed told his story:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You know, father, when the last paper was taken off -the press that twentieth of August, Norton and I didn’t -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>go to distributing the type, either of us, but both came -into the front office at your call to help to fold and direct -the papers, because the edition was a large one on account -of the agricultural fair. You remember that, -father?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, now you remind me of it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And when the papers were all dispatched it was -nearly dark, and you went home, leaving Norton and -myself to close up. The type was not distributed, but -left, as it often was, till the next day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Our paper is a weekly, as you, perhaps, know, sir,” -interpolated the editor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force bowed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy continued, now addressing the whole party:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After father went out Norton said to me—and I -remembered how surprised I was at his sudden kindness, -though it did not arouse my suspicion of anything -wrong—he said to me:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘You needn’t stop to-night, old man. I reckon I can -clear up the counter and shut up the office.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So I went home to supper, and told father that Norton -had let me off. You remember that, father?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Y-y-yes, now you remind me of it. But I don’t -think I should remember it even now if the event were -not marked by the fact that I never saw Norton from -that night.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After supper,” continued the boy, “I went out to -walk. The village street is always very gay on Saturday -night. All the mill hands have got their week’s -wages and are abroad, buying for Sunday, and the shops -are gay. I stayed out just to see them until the custom -began to drop off and the shutters to be put up. And -then I started for home.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You needn’t think, sir, by that that my lad is the -least bit wild. Obed is as steady as a lamp-post, but -after being shut up in the office all day he must pull -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>himself out a little by taking a walk, even though it is -night. I tell him to,” Mr. Purdy explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Quite right,” assented Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Obed continued:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, father, comes the strange part, which I didn’t -think much of at the time, but a great deal of now!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Go on, my boy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When I came in sight of our printing office it was -all closed up, the heavy shutters up and the iron bars -across them; but I saw a glimmer of light through the -chinks, and my first thought was fire, and I ran around -to the back and climbed over the wall and looked through -a hole that I knew was in the shutter of the back window, -and there I saw——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes! yes!” exclaimed the editor, impatiently, as -the boy had only stopped to clear his throat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There I saw Norton as busy setting type as if the -making up of the paper was behindhand and he was -working against time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!” breathed Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The gas jet was burning right in front of him, shining -on his face and on his work so I could see him -quite plainly. I thought maybe he had some job to do, -and so it was all right; but just then a man came out of -the shadows of the room somewhere and leaned over -him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who was it? Col. Anglesea?” hastily demanded -Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Obed stared, and then replied, somewhat indignantly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. Anglesea? Not likely, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What sort of a man was it?” inquired Mr. Purdy, -by way of diversion from the Anglesea question.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He was a gentleman, I should think, though,” said -the boy, apologetically. “He was a rather short, stout -man with a red face and light hair. I saw that much, -for when he went up to Norton the gas jet shone on him -also, and I could see him plainly. He spoke with Norton -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>for a few minutes, and then went back somewhere -into the darkness. I thought maybe it was some one -who wanted some little job of labels printed and Norton -was doing it for him. So I came away and went home.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Was that all?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not quite. When we went to the office on Monday -we found it closed, though it was Norton’s place to have -opened it an hour before. Father and I opened it, and -I went to the press to begin to distribute the type, and -found——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy stopped to clear his throat again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes, what did you find, my lad?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, that the first two columns of the first page -were distributed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wasn’t surprised at that a bit, and I never thought -anything else about it but that he—Norton—had already -begun to distribute the type, and had got that far -and stopped. The rest of the type looked just as it had -been set. Father and I distributed the rest.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See how it is now, so far as the act goes; but I can -see no motive for it,” said the editor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do not know much about printing,” remarked Abel -Force; “but was it not likely that on the Saturday night, -when you and your son had gone home, leaving the press -and the type just as the last copy of the paper had been -taken from it, was it not possible that this man Norton -may have distributed the type that had been set up for -the report of the agricultural fair which had been struck -off, and then set up this fraudulent obituary notice and -substituted it for the distributed matter, and then struck -off a few more copies of the paper?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, sir; and that is just what has been done. But -the motive, the motive, that’s what puzzles me,” exclaimed -the editor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The motive was to spread a false report of Col. Anglesea’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>death in America, where he had incurred some -personal liabilities,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>John Purdy stared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In America—Col. Anglesea—liabilities? I think -you must be mistaken, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps.” Mr. Force did not wish to get into a -discussion; he wished to get information. “Have you -any idea who the man could have been who was in your -printing office on that night?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not the least in the world, sir, except that it was not -Col. Anglesea. You take my word of honor for that.” -Mr. Force bowed. He thought the boy’s description -of the man who was in the office with the printer that -night tallied perfectly with the personal appearance of -Anglesea as he had known him, but he did not say so; -he shunned disputes, so as to get facts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where was Col. Anglesea at this time?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Col. the Hon. Angus Anglesea, of Anglewood -Manor, was at his home. He was soon after appointed -deputy lieutenant of the county,” replied Purdy, with -some vicarious dignity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is he now?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Abroad—traveling for his health, I think.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And—this man Norton, who must have set up the -fraudulent obituary, where is he?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nobody knows. He never returned to the office. I -never saw him, or heard of him again. His was one of -the cases of ‘Mysterious Disappearance,’ and as such it -was noticed in all the local papers. All had different -theories. The Middlemoor <cite>Messenger</cite> thought that he -had been made away with by pitmen. The wretched pitmen -get blamed for all the undiscovered crime in the -county. They live mostly in darkness, and so people -seem to believe that they ‘love darkness rather than light -because their deeds are evil.’ But this is not so.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And no clew was ever discovered to the fate of Norton?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>“None, sir. You see he was a single man, without -any near relations, and so the affair was soon forgotten.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well,” said Abel Force, straightening himself up, -“I thank you for the information you have given me, -and the opportunity you have afforded us of comparing -the fraudulent paper with that of the same date on your -file. This is your mailing day, and I must not detain -you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come in at any time, sir; we shall be glad to see -you. Making any stay in this place, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you. No, only over the Sabbath. Good-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-day, sir.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le,” said Mr. Force, as they re-entered the carriage, -“we are on the track of the fraud, but need not pursue -it in the direction of that man and boy. Now we will -see what the tombstones have to tell us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where to now, maister?” inquired the driver, from -his seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To Anglewood Church, Anglewood Manor,” said -Mr. Force.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXVI<br /> <span class='large'>ANGLEWOOD OLD CHURCH</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Leaving the office of the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>, -and turning up the village street, they repassed the -blacksmith’s, the general dealer’s, the doctor’s surgery, -the lawyer’s office, the post office, the news agency, and -finally the Angleton Arms—an ancient hostelry, built of -stone, with strong walls, peaked roof, high chimney and -low, broad, latticed windows—which stood as on guard -at the entrance of the hamlet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leaving the place at this point, they entered the road -leading to Anglewood Manor.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>No pleasant, shady, grass-bordered country road was -this, with vistas of woods and waters, fields and farms. -It was a white and arid highway, running between gray -stone walls, whose dread monotony was varied only by -the occasional branch of a tree over their tops, or of an -iron gate, or oaken door, in the sides.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whose property is this on the right and left of us?” -inquired Mr. Force of the driver.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thet on t’ roight, maister, be Middlemoor, t’ seat o’ -t’ Arl o’ Middlemoor. Thet on t’ left be Fell Hall, t’ -seat o’ Squoire Ogden,” replied the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What hateful roads!” exclaimed Wynnette. “I feel -exactly as if we were driving on between a madhouse -and a jail!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were slowly going uphill now, and presently -came to a lane on the left, into which the carriage -turned. Still on the left of the new way was the low -stone wall, but behind and above it was a green hedge -of Osage orange bushes, while opposite, on the right, was -a lovely green hedge of all the variety of bushes and -brambles that grow outdoors in that part of England.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is better,” said Wynnette, as they drove slowly -on between the green hedges.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We be noo at back o’ Fell Hall. And yon’s t’ steeple -o’ t’ church,” the coachman volunteered to explain, as -he pointed to the spire which rose above a clump of trees -on their left.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They soon reached the entrance of the churchyard -and passed in.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The church stood on an eminence, which they had -been gradually climbing all the way from Angleton.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a very picturesque building of ancient English -type—moss-grown and ivy-covered from base to pinnacle, -until not a bit of its walls or roof could be seen. -Many ancient gravestones, gray with age, sunk in long -grass and covered with moss, clustered around it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is the church open to visitors?” inquired Mr. Force -<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>of the driver, as they drew up to the closed and formidable-looking, -iron-bound oaken doors.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oy, maister! It be t’ show o’ t’ place, be Anglewood -Old Church.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They all alighted from the rough carriage and stood -on the flagstones of the church porch, and looked around -them. The sun was in the west now, and shining on the -grass-grown yard and the moss-covered gravestones.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are any of the Anglesea family buried out here?” -inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oot here? Laird, no, maister! They be all in t’ -vault. And none ha’ been put into t’ groond here, even -of t’ common folk, in my toime! They be took to t’ -simitry.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To the cemetery?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oy, maister, on t’ hill, over by yonder.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! well! how are we to get into this building?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’ll rin and get the key fra’ m’ oncle, Silas Kirby, t’ -sexton.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And don’t you know, papa, we have got that letter -and parcel from John Kirby to his father?” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes, my dear, I know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, may we not go to the sexton ourselves?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will see. How far is your uncle’s home from -here?” inquired Mr. Force of the driver.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whoy, joost by t’other gate o’ the churchyard,” replied -the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then we will leave the carriage here and go across to -his house, to take something we have brought for your -grandfather,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oy, oy! t’ letter Oi heerd t’ mawther talk aboot. -Coom along wi’ Oi, maister. This be the way.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leaving the old carriage standing before the church -door, the driver led the way through the long grass, and -in and out among the tombstones, taking care not to step -upon the graves, and so reached another gate opening -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>upon a sequestered lane and flanked by two buildings, -one of which was the sexton’s cottage, built of stone, with -a steep roof, tall chimneys and latticed windows, and, -like the church, so moss-grown and ivy-covered that only -its doors and windows escaped the veil.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A tall, venerable, white-haired man, with a long white -beard, sat in the door, smoking, and apparently meditating.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Grandfeyther,” said Jonah Kirby, addressing this -patriarch, “here be a gentleman from foreign pairts a -bringing of a letter and news from Uncle John.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eh! eh! then, what be ye talking aboot, lad?” inquired -the old man, rising with difficulty, balancing himself, -and bowing to the strangers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah Kirby repeated his introduction.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eh! My service to you, gentlefolks. A letter fra m’ -lad in ’Merica! Eh! Laird bless us!—a letter fra m’ -lad, quotha?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Mr. Kirby, my little girl here has brought you -a letter from your son, John Kirby, who is a baggage -master on a prosperous railroad in the United States. -She made his acquaintance on the train. Here, Wynnette, -my dear, give the old man his letter and parcel.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young girl handed both.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thanky, me leddy! Thanky koindly!” said the -patriarch, sinking back in his armchair; for between -age, weakness and emotion he was no longer able to -stand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And ’ee saw me lad? And ’ee brought me this letter -fra him? God bless ’ee, me leddy! God bless ’ee!” -said the old man, in an earnest voice which trembled -with agitation, as he took the girl’s hand, made as if he -would have kissed it, but pressed it to his forehead and -to his wet eyes instead—“God bless ’ee, me leddy!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was all through the dog,” said Wynnette. “He -took care of my dear dog for me, and fed him on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>journey, and kept him from jumping off the train and -out of all danger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oy! oy! John was ever good to animals, and varry -fond of dogs, was John. And t’ lad’s doing well, ye say, -me leddy?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes. Read his letter,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oy, oy, to be sure. Here, Silas—Silas, lad—here -be a letter fra furrin pairts, fra your brawther John. -Come hither, Silas—and bring chairs for t’ gentlefolks. -Ah! bad manners of me to be sitting while t’ gentlefolks -stand!” said the patriarch, striving to get upon his feet, -but failing, and sinking back.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Pray do not disturb yourself,” said Mr. Force. “We -do not wish to sit down. We would like to see the inside -of the old church, if your son, the sexton, can show -it to us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of coorse he can, and thet just noo. Silas, Silas, -where be ye, and t’ gentlefolks waiting on ye?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A tall, robust, tawny-headed and bearded man came -out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here’s a letter fra your brawther as t’ gentlefolks ha’ -brought fra furrin pairts. But ’ee can read it when ’ee -coom back. Gae, noo, and show t’ gentlefolks to Old -Church. Coom here, Katie, me lass, and read this letter -to thy auld grandad.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>This last speech was addressed to a fair-haired girl of -about sixteen, who appeared at the door and courtesied -to the strangers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Silas Kirby, the sexton, bowed to the visitors, and in -a few muffled words intimated his readiness to oblige -them, and walked on before, swinging a large key in -his hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When he reached the church door he put the key in -the ponderous lock, turned it with a great twist, and -unlocked it with a loud noise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The travelers entered an obscurity of rich light and -shade from stained glass windows, half-hidden in ivy, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>and glowing down upon dark oaken pews and tessellated -floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When their eyes became accustomed to the semidarkness, -the travelers went up toward the chancel, and saw -the recumbent effigy of the founder of the family of -Anglesea, and memorial tablets of many of their descendants.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some little time was spent in reading the inscriptions -upon these monuments, and examining the paintings on -the walls between the windows; and then Mr. Force inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is the monument of the late Lady Mary Anglesea in -this church?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Noa, maister; not in the church.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are her remains in the vault?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Loikely they be, maister. I ha’ not had occasion to -go into t’ vault since I coom to t’ parish.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then you were no here when Lady Mary Anglesea -died, then?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Noa, maister, I were not. That were in Goodman -Prout’s time. But her leddyship will be loikely i’ t’ -vault.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Saying this, the sexton took a key from his pocket -and unlocked a door on the right-hand side of the chancel, -revealing a narrow flight of stone steps leading into -the crypt below.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the party approached the opening.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnette, my dear, you had better not venture down. -The air must be very bad,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, maister, none so bad as you think. There be -many a gentleman’s cellar far worse. There be windys—open -windys—wi’ airn bars on each side of the wall, -and on each end of the wall even wi’ the ground, and -though they be some of ’em well choked up, yet for all -that there be enough o’ them open to keep the air fresh -i’ the vault. There be na fear, maister,” said the sexton.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force, standing at the head of the steps leading -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>down into the vault, felt for himself that there was no -fear of foul air; the atmosphere was as fresh, though a -little damper, than that of the church above.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sexton unhooked a lantern that hung on a nail -within the door, took a match from his pocket, lighted -the little lamp and walked before the visitors down the -steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The vault occupied all the space under the church, -and it was provided with stone tables ranged around the -four walls.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The place was dimly visible by the daylight which -struggled through the ivy that half choked up the barred -windows. This was strongest from the west, from which -the declining sun shot rays of golden light through bars -and ivy leaves, whose shadows flickered dimly on the -stone tables and on the leaden caskets they supported.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But it needed the additional light of the lantern by -which to read the inscription on the latter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force began at the casket nearest the foot of the -stairs and read the name—Alexander d’Anglesay, 1250; -Malcolm d’Anglesay, A. D.—the rest worn out; Dame -Margery d’An—the rest illegible—see, 1090—the rest -gone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“On this side must be the oldest caskets; let us try the -other,” said Mr. Force, crossing over to the opposite row, -followed by the sexton carrying the lantern, and beginning -to read the inscriptions:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! Richard Anglesea, born July 1, 1801, died -January 31, 1850; aged 49 years. Ah! that was the -father of an unworthy son! Fell gallantly at the head -of his regiment in the battle of——What is that you -say, Le?” Mr. Force broke off from his remarks to attend -to the words of his young companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have looked at every casket, uncle! That of Lady -Mary Anglesea is not in the vault,” said the young man, -with a sigh of disappointment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not, Le! Are you sure?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>“Quite sure, uncle.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not here, papa! I have looked at every one -with Le, and it is not among them,” added Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Yet Mr. Force would not be satisfied, but went round -to every casket, attended by the sexton carrying the lantern, -by the light of which they read every inscription, -or what was left of the inscription; but found no trace -of Lady Mary Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We had as well give up the search here,” said Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And where else should we look?” inquired Le, with -a face of despair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The only other possible place will be the churchyard.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, her leddyship will not be there, maister! Nabody -has been interred there this many a year. T’ parish -officers will na’ allow it! They all go to t’ simitry on -t’ hill. Let alone one o’ t’ great family as never was -buried in t’ open churchyard! Oh! But noo I moind -me, maister!” exclaimed the man, with a sudden lightening -of his face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What?” demanded Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what a gey coote I was to forget it!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What?” again inquired Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But it was all along of my thinking as you wanted -to see t’ auld church, and not the leddy’s munniment, -as put me off the track,” continued the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force said no more, but waited for the sexton to -explain himself in his own way.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Her leddyship’s body must be in t’ grand new musselman -as the squire had built to her memory. Eh, -maister, I were not i’ the parish when t’ bootiful leddy -deed; but the folk do say he took on a soight! Shet himself -up in t’ hoose after t’ funeral and wouldn’t see a -soul! Had the foine musselman built in the park and -her laid in it! And then he betook hisself to -furrin pairts and never come home for years! Bother -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>my wooden head for not telling you first off; but you see, -maister, I thought it was t’ auld church you wanted and -not the leddy’s munnimint.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is”—Abel Force could scarcely bring himself -to utter the detested name—“where is Col. Anglesea -now?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Traveling, maister, in furrin lands. He coom home -aboot a year ago, and he was ’pointed leevetinint o’ t’ -county. But he couldn’t abide the manor since her -leddyship deed, and so he resigned and went away -again. Eh, but he loved the ground she walked on, and -couldn’t abear it after she deed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force, Wynnette and Leonidas listened to this -with surprise and incredulity. This was, indeed, a new -view of Angus Anglesea’s character.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can the mausoleum in the park be seen?” inquired -Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Varry loikely, maister. T’ whole place can be seen, -for t’ matter of that. T’ squoire let open t’ whole manor, -hall and a’, to a’ that loike to look at it. A free-hairted -and free-handed gentleman be our squoire.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here was another revelation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will you be our guide to the new mausoleum?” inquired -Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ay, maister. I’ll walk over and speak to the keeper, -Proby, and meet you at t’ musselman. Jonah will drive -you over, maister. He knows t’ way as well as I do -myself.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXVII<br /> <span class='large'>THE TOMB’S EVIDENCE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>They crossed the churchyard again and entered the -carriage. Jonah mounted the box.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Noo drive the gentlefolks to t’ east o’ t’ park, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>roond by the musselman. I’ll cut across through t’ -brush and speak to t’ keeper, and meet you there. It -will be all roight, maister.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>With this the sexton struck off through the bushes -that stood between the church and the manor house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old carriage left the churchyard by the way it -had come and entered once more upon the lane, and turning -eastward, drove on between green hedges for about -a quarter of a mile, when it reached a massive gate of -oak and iron, guarded by a porter’s lodge of stone in the -same strong style of building as the sexton’s cottage at -the churchyard wall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A tidy woman come out of the lodge, and seeing the -old carriage, with Jonah on the box, she smiled and -nodded, and at once opened wide the gates.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Any one at the manor house, Mistress Dillon?” inquired -Jonah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Noa, lad; none but t’ housekeeper and t’ servants,” -replied the woman, courtesying to “the gentlefolks” as -the old carriage passed through the gate and entered the -long avenue leading through the park to the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This avenue was shaded by rows of gigantic old oak -trees on each side, whose branches met and intermingled -overhead, so arching the way with a thick roof of foliage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, what a beautiful—what a majestic vista!” exclaimed -Wynnette, with more enthusiasm than she -usually bestowed upon any object.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is very fine,” said her father. “There is nothing -finer in their way than these old English parks.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently the carriage turned with the avenue in a -curve, and suddenly drew up before the manor house, -which until that moment had been concealed by the -lofty trees around it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Anglesea Manor was a huge oblong building of some -gray stone, supported at its corners by four square towers, -each further strengthened by four turrets, all of -which added to the architectural beauty of the edifice. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>There were three rows of lofty windows in the front. -The lowest row was divided in the middle by massive -oaken doors, opening upon a stone platform reached by -seven stone steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh-h-h!” breathed Wynnette, as she gazed on the fine -old house. “To think that such a palace as this should -be the inheritance of such a villain as he!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The driver turned and looked at her with astonishment -and some indignation. Then checking himself, he -said, in perfect simplicity:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oo! you don’t know, young leddy, I reckon—this -place belongs to our landlord, Col. Angus Anglesea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then drawing up his horse, he inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will you get out and go through the house, sir?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For Heaven’s sake, uncle, no—not yet. Let us go -directly to the mausoleum, and see the date that is on -the tomb, and solve this doubt that is intolerable,” -pleaded Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, my dear boy; very well. Kirby, drive at -once to the mausoleum. We will see the house later,” -said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man touched his hat and started his horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They turned into a grass-grown road winding in and -out among magnificent oaks that seemed the growth of -many centuries, and that were probably once parts of -the primeval forest of Britain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently they came upon the mausoleum. It stood -between two fine oak trees, and in front of a third, which -formed its background. It was built in the form of a -Grecian temple and surrounded by a silver-plated iron -railing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The carriage stopped and our tourists got out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le pushed on impetuously, opened the little gate, and -stepped up to read the inscription on the marble. He -read it attentively, stopped, gazed at it, read it again, -and then turned away in silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is it, Le?” anxiously inquired Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>“It is—read it, uncle,” replied the young man, breaking -down and turning away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force entered the inclosure and read the inscription -on the mausoleum:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Mary</span>,</div> - <div>Beloved Wife of <span class='sc'>Angus Anglesea</span>,</div> - <div>Died August 25, 18—,</div> - <div><span class='sc'>Aged</span> 49.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force turned away without a word.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette entered the inclosure, read the inscription -and came out in perfect silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The driver of the old carriage and the sexton of the -church, who had only just now kept his promise and -come up to join the party, stood a little apart, not understanding -the emotion of the strangers, attributed it all -to sympathy with the bereaved husband.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oo, ay, maister, it was a sorrowful day when her -leddyship departed this loife,” said Jonah Kirby, shaking -his head—“a sorrowful day! I was at t’ funeral, as -in duty bound. T’ squoire were first mourner, and hed -to be present, though he were far from fit to stand. -Laird Middlemoor, his feyther-in-law, hed to hold him -up. I never saw t’ squoire from the day of t’ funeral until -the day he took t’ train for Lunnun, when he were -going abroad to furrin pairts. And then he had gone -away to nothing but skin and bone! He came back -about a year ago; but he couldn’t abear the place, and -went away again. Ah, poor gentleman!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le and his uncle looked at each other in wonder. Was -this Angus Anglesea of whom the man was speaking? -who had reared this monument to the memory of his -“beloved wife”? Was this Angus Anglesea, whom -every one praised? And yet, who had gone abroad and -deceived, betrayed, and robbed and deserted the poor -Californian widow? And how, indeed, could he have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>married the Californian woman in St. Sebastian, on the -first of August, as Le had unquestionable evidence that -he had done, and be present at the death of his wife in -the English manor house on the twenty-fifth of the same -month, as these people declared that he had been; and, -again, meet the Force family at Niagara early in the -following September? It might have been just possible -by almost incredibly rapid transits.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Had Col. Anglesea been abroad just before his wife’s -death?” inquired Abel Force of the driver, who knew -more about the affairs of Anglewood than the sexton, -because the former had always lived at Angleton, and -the latter had only lately come to the parish.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oo, ay, maister, thet was the pity o’ ’t. The squoire -hed been away a month or more. He coom home only a -week before her leddyship deed. And he went away -again after t’ funeral. He coom back again a year ago, -but he couldn’t abear to stay. So he put up t’ musselman -to her memory and went his way again. Ah, poor -gentleman! He were a good gentleman, and a wise and -a brave one!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I cannot make it out,” murmured Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The man is drawing a long bow, papa! that’s all -there is in it—I mean he is telling romances in praise -of his landlord. There cannot be a word of truth in -what he says,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le said nothing. He seemed utterly crushed by the -blow that had fallen on him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The carriage driver seemed not to hear or understand -the murmured talk between the father and daughter, -but when it ceased he touched his hat and asked:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wull I drive you to t’ manor house, noo, maister?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, if you please,” returned Mr. Force, as he helped -Wynnette to climb up into the dilapidated “trap.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what do your honor think o’ t’ musselman, -maister?” inquired the sexton, coming up and taking off -his cap.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>“It is a very fine specimen of both architecture and -sculpture,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sexton smiled satisfaction, bowed and withdrew.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am puzzled, Le, and I think by going through the -manor house I may come to understand things better,” -whispered Mr. Force to his young companion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Le was too much depressed to answer, or to take -any further interest in the events of the day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They turned and drove back through the beautiful -park to the front of the manor house, where the carriage -drew up.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXVIII<br /> <span class='large'>TALE TOLD BY THE PORTRAITS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“If you will give me leave, maister, I’ll go roond and -speak to Mistress Bolton, t’ hoosekeeper, and get her to -coom and open t’ great door,” said Jonah Kirby, as he -got down from his seat and struck into a flagged walk -that led to the rear of the house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le! Le! don’t look so down-hearted, dear boy! Remember, -come what may, my daughter shall never be -the wife of Angus Anglesea! Come, come, cheer up, -lad!” said Abel Force, clapping his young companion on -the back.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Le’s only answer was a profound sigh.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think the best and shortest way out of our difficulty -will be to go back to America, have that man prosecuted -for bigamy and robbery, and sent to the State prison, -and then have him divorced, if, indeed, he has any claim -whatever on Odalite. And I don’t see why you don’t -take that way,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because, my dearest dear,” answered her father, “to -prosecute the man would be to bring our darling Odalite’s -name into too much publicity. And, as for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>divorce, the very word is an offense to right-minded people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is better than——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But whatever Wynnette was about to say was cut -short by the loud, harsh turning of a key, and the noisy -opening of the great door of Anglewood Manor House.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah Kirby appeared, accompanied by altogether -the very largest woman our travelers had ever seen in -their lives, even at a traveling circus.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She appeared to be about forty years old, and was -dressed in a very full, light blue calico skirt, and loose -basque of the same, that made her look even larger than -she was. She wore a high-crowned, book-muslin cap, -with a broad, blue ribbon around it. She carried in her -hand a formidable bunch of keys.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She’s ‘fearfully and wonderfully’ huge, papa. And -she will expect a crown, and, maybe, half a guinea, for -showing the house,” said Wynnette, in a low tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By this time Jonah Kirby had come down the steps -and up to the side of the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mrs. Bolton, maister, and she’ll show t’ hoose with -pleasure. She always loikes to oblige t’ gentlefolks, she -bed me say.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, it must be half a guinea, and don’t you forget!” -whispered Wynnette, as she gave her hand to -Kirby and allowed him to help her out of the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force and Le followed, and they all walked up -the steps, to be met by the enormous woman in blue, -with many courtesies.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She led them at once into a vast stone hall, whose -walls were hung with ancient armor, battle-axes, crossbows, -lances and other insignia of war; and with horns, -bugles, antlers, weapons and trophies of the chase, and -whose tessellated floor was covered with the skins of -wild animals. From the center of this hall a magnificent -flight of stairs ascended, in large, spiral circles, -to the stained glass skylight in the roof.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>There were handsome doors of solid oak on either -side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Bolton paused in the middle of the hall and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The doors on the right lead into the justice room, -and the long dining room; those on the left into the ballroom, -which is the largest room, three times told, in the -house. There is nothing on this floor very interesting -except the antique furniture and the curiously carved -woodwork of the chimney pieces and doors.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She spoke like a guide book, but presently added:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Some gentlefolks, if they have a heap of time, like -to look through them, but many prefer the picture gallery -and the library, and the drawing rooms, which are -all on the floor above and all very handsome.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will go upstairs first, if you please; later, if we -have time, we will see the rooms down here,” said Abel -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper led the way upstairs to the next landing, -where they came out upon the hall, whose walls were -hung with antique tapestry, and whose oaken floor was -covered here and there with Persian rugs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On every side handsome mahogany double doors led -into apartments. Before every door lay a rich Persian -rug.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Bolton opened a door on the left.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The picture gallery, ladies and gentlemen,” she said, -using her formula, though there was but one lady present.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They entered a long, lofty room lighted from the roof. -The walls were hung with many pictures, so dark and -dim with age that even the good light failed to make -their meanings intelligible to the spectators. Yet these -were considered the most valuable in the whole collection, -and the housekeeper, with great pride, gave the -history of each, in something like this style:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Martyrdom of St. Stephen, ladies and gentlemen—painted -by Leonardo da Vinci, in the year of our Lord -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>1480, purchased at Milan in 1700 for five thousand -guineas, by Ralph d’Anglesea of Anglewood. A very -rare picture, no copy of it being in existence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Our party looked up and saw in a heavy, gilded -frame, about five feet square, a very dark, murky canvas, -with a small smirch in the middle—nothing more.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This was only a sample of a score of other priceless -paintings, invisible as to forms and unintelligible as to -meanings, which the housekeeper introduced to the visitors -with much pride in the showing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the family -portraits,” said Mrs. Bolton, passing under a lofty archway -adorned by the Anglesea arms, and leading the -visitors into another compartment of the same gallery.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, ladies and gentlemen, is a portrait of Kenneth -d’Anglesea, year 800; very old.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Our party looked at it and thought it was “very old”—a -long brown smudge crowned with an oval yellow -smudge, all in a very dark ground, and supposed to -represent a human form—no more.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And here, ladies and gentlemen, is Ethus d’Anglesea, -year 950—also old.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again the visitors agreed with the housekeeper. The -figure was old and almost invisible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so she went through a dozen or more of these -earlier family portraits, and came down at last to later -periods, to crusaders in the reign of Richard the Lion-hearted, -by gradations down to courtiers in the reign of -Elizabeth, to cavaliers in the reigns of the unfortunate -Stuarts, to gallants in the reigns of the Georges, and -finally down to the ladies and gentlemen of the reign of -Queen Victoria.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, sir, is an excellent portrait of our present master, -Col. Angus Anglesea, and of his late lamented lady,” -said the housekeeper, pausing before two full length portraits -that hung side by side, like companion pictures, -at the end of the gallery.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>Our travelers paused before the pictures and gazed -at them in silence for some moments.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The portrait of Col. Anglesea was a very striking -likeness. All our party recognized it at once as such.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But how was this? Here was the form, face and complexion, -perfect to a curve of figure, perfect to a shade -of color; yet the expression was different. For whereas -the expression of Anglesea’s face, as our friends had -known it, was either joyous, morose, or defiant, the -character of this face was grave, thoughtful and benevolent. -Yet it was certainly the portrait of Angus Anglesea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette perceived the perplexity on the brows of her -companions and whispered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A two-faced, double-dealing as well as double-dyed, -villain, papa! A sanctimonious hypocrite at home and -a brawling ruffian abroad!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I should scarcely take this to be the face of a hypocrite, -my dear, or of any other than of a good, wise and -brave man; yet—yet it is all very strange.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then they looked at the portrait of Lady Mary Anglesea, -at which they had only glanced before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the counterfeit presentment of a lady whose -beauty, or rather the special character of whose beauty, -at once riveted attention.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was that of a tall, well-formed though rather delicate -woman, with sweet, pale, oval face, tender, serious -brown eyes, and soft, rippling brown hair that strayed -in little, careless ringlets about her forehead and temples, -adding to the exquisite sweetness and pathos of the -whole presence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What a beautiful, beautiful creature! What lovely, -lovely eyes!” breathed Wynnette, gazing at the picture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, young lady,” said the housekeeper, “and as good -and wise as she was beautiful. And when the lovely -eyes closed on this world, be sure they opened in heaven. -And when the beautiful form was laid in the tomb all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>the light seemed to have gone out of this world for us! -It nearly killed the master. And no wonder—no wonder!” -said Mrs. Bolton, drawing a large pocket handkerchief, -that would have answered for a small tablecloth, -from her pocket and wiping her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Abel Force and Leonidas looked at each other.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, yes! They were a handsome pair!” said the -housekeeper, with a sigh that raised her mighty bosom -as the wind raises the ocean—“a very handsome pair, -and the parting of ’em has been nigh the death of the -colonel,” she added, as she replaced her handkerchief -in her pocket.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And yet I have heard that he married again while -he was abroad,” Mr. Force could not refrain from saying.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He!” exclaimed Mrs. Bolton, in a tone of indignant -astonishment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes; there is no law against a widower marrying, is -there?” replied Abel Force, quietly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He! he marry again! Oh, sir, you are mistaken! -He was more likely to die than to marry! Whoever told -you so, sir—begging your pardon—told a most haynious -falsehood!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I really hope he never did marry again.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He never did, sir, and he never will. He is true to -her memory, and he lives only for their son, who is at -Eton. Now, sir, shall I show you the library and the -drawing rooms?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force bowed, and with his party followed the -housekeeper from the picture gallery to the hall and -through that to the drawing rooms, into which they only -looked, for the apartment was fitted up in modern style -and all the furniture shrouded in brown holland.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The library was more interesting, and contained -many rare black-letter tomes, into which Abel Force -would have liked to look, had time allowed.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>The sun was setting and it was growing dusk in this -grand and gloomy mansion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We must go now, I think, my dear,” said Mr. Force, -in a low voice, to his daughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette drew him quite away from the group into -the light of the great oriel window of the library and -whispered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not a crown, nor a half sov., but a guinea, papa! -a whole guinea for all those thundering bouncers—I -mean those romances she has told us about the jolly old -smoke-dried window shades and fire screens hung up in -frames for pictures of the ancestors, and called Kenneths -and Ethuses and things! Why, papa, those -couldn’t have been portraits! There were no painters -in Britain at the time those are said to have lived. And -then about the Leonardo da Vinci picture! If he ever -painted that it would be in one of the great art galleries -of the world! Not in a private collection! Give her a -guinea, papa! She can’t afford to lie so much for less!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, the woman only repeats what she has -heard,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They rejoined Le and the housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force thanked the good woman for her attention -and left a generous remuneration in her hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She courtesied and then saw them downstairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the hall below she pointed out the full suits of -armor worn by this or that knight in such or such a battle; -and the antlers of the stag killed by this or that -huntsman, in such or such a chase.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Would your honor now like to look into the ballroom, -or the long dining room, or justice room?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, thank you; it is getting late. We have to return -to Angleton,” replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then each of the party, in turn, again thanked -the housekeeper for the pleasure she had given them and -took leave of her.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XXXIX<br /> <span class='large'>“SMUGGLERY”</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“Papa, dear,” said Wynnette as she re-entered the dilapidated -carriage, “we must go to the sexton’s cottage -to bid good-by to the old man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my dear. Kirby, go back to your father’s cottage -before we turn into the highroad,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The carriage rattled on, and in a short time drew up -before the sexton’s lodge at the great gate of the churchyard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old man still sat before the door; but he was -smoking, and his bald head and long white beard were -enveloped in smoke.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He took the pipe from his mouth the instant he heard -the sound of wheels and he held out his hand to welcome -Wynnette as she ran up to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, my little leddy; I ha’ read the lad’s letter! Ah! -I do get a letter by mail fra’ ’m coome the first week on -every month! But a letter brought by a leddy’s hand -and she ha’ seen him face to face mayhap within a -month! Ah! but that’s better!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have seen your son and shaken hands with him, -and talked to him for hours, within twenty-three days,” -said Wynnette, after making a rapid calculation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eh, now! is thet possible?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I rode on his train all day on the twenty-sixth of -May, two days before we sailed for England. And this, -you know, is the eighteenth of June.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eh, then! look at thet, noo! Only in twenty-three -days! He’s not thet far away, after all, is he, me -leddy?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, no. Why, it’s nothing! Only across ‘the big -herring pond,’ you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old man stared helplessly.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>“That is what they call it for fun, because it is such -a little matter to go across it. Why, people say to each -other when they meet on the deck of a steamer: ‘Going -across?’ And another will say: ‘Not to-day.’ So you -see what a trifle it is.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So it must be, indeed, me little leddy. And your -words ha’ comforted me more than the counsels of his -reverence. Such a little thing! ‘Go across?’ ‘Not to-day.’ -Yes, that is a comfort. And the good ’bacco is -another comfort. The ’bacco was in the parcel you -brought me, me leddy; and you couldn’t get such ’bacco -as this—no, not for love, nor yet for money—not if you -was a dying for ’t! Why, the Yarl o’ Middlemoor -would be proud to smoke sich ’bacco—I know he would! -It must ha’ cost a power o’ money! I reckon my lad be -getting rich over yonder, to send his feyther sich ’bacco -as this. And the duty on’t must a been staggering -loike!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here Wynnette started. She had not seen any duty -paid on that tobacco; nor, indeed, had the custom house -officers at Liverpool seen the tobacco; but she had not -even thought of this before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And yet I ha’ a greater comfort even than this ’bacco -as is fit for the Turkey of All Constantinople to smoke. -My lad writes as he is coming over with his missus to -see me next autumn. Thet’s the crooning comfort, me -leddy—thet’s the crooning comfort!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnete now took leave of the old man, and returned -to her seat in the carriage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He arose with difficulty and stood up, bowing to the -party, while Mr. Force and Le raised their hats as the -carriage drove off.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They returned upon their way, repassed the front of -the old manor house, now again closed up and gloomy, -turned into the oak avenue, and in a few minutes came -to the great gate, which was opened by Mrs. Dillon, the -keeper of the lodge.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>She smiled and courtesied as the old carriage passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le, who was nearest to her, reached out his hand and -dropped a piece of silver in her palm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She courtesied again. The carriage turned into the -highroad and began the journey back to Angleton.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sun had set, and even the afterglow had faded -from the western horizon; yet still the long twilight of -summer nights in these latitudes prevailed, and the -greater stars shone out one by one as they rattled on, -uphill and downhill, over the rolling moor, until at last -they came in view of the lights in the quiet village.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In ten minutes they entered the street, and passed -under the archway of the Anglesea Arms, the hungriest -and weariest set of travelers who had ever entered that -ancient hostelry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah jumped from his seat and secured his horse.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force alighted and handed out Wynnette. Le -followed them. He had scarcely spoken a word since -leaving the mausoleum.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The landlady came out to meet them, in her Sunday -gown of black silk, and a new cap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope as you’ve hed a pleasant day, sir,” she said to -Mr. Force, who was the first to meet her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thank you, madam. We have had a very hungry -day, at any rate; and, if you please, we would like just -such a spread as you gave us last evening,” replied Abel -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You shall have it, sir. It will be on the table in -twenty minutes.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>By this time they had reached the parlor and Mr. -Force was pulling off his gloves, when Wynnette said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, I shall run up to my room and take off my -things, and wash my face, but I will be back in a little -while.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well, my dear.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette vanished.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force sat down in the large armchair.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>Le stood at the window and stared out at nothing -whatever.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah, in a clean white apron, and the official towel -thrown over his arm, came in, offered Mr. Force the -Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>, and then began to pull and stretch -the perfectly smooth tablecloth this way and that to show -his zeal.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently he went out, and Wynnette returned to the -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She glanced around, and, seeing no one present but -her two companions, drew a chair to her father’s side, -threw herself into it and exclaimed:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, papa! I have been aching and burning and -throbbing to tell you something, but could not get a -chance, because that man was always present, and I was -afraid he might inform on us and get us arrested, and I -didn’t know what the penalty might be—imprisonment -and penal servitude, perhaps. But, for all that, I am -delighted—perfectly beside myself with delight!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What are you talking of, Wynnette, my dear?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here comes that man again. We must be cautious, -though I could dance in triumph,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At this moment Jonah re-entered the parlor with an -ample waiter, on which were piled the china, glass and -cutlery, with which he hastened to set the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When he had left the room again Wynnette continued -in a mysterious whisper:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Papa, I have committed smugglery.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Smugglery,’ my dear. There’s no such word.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, there ought to be, and henceforth there -is. I was born to enrich the language, and—to commit -smugglery. And I am proud and delighted! But I -should have been ever so much prouder and no end to -be delighted if I had intended to commit. But, ah me! -It was an accident. ‘Some are born great; some achieve -greatness; and some have greatness thrust upon them,’ -and others become great by accident. Such is my case.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>“You rattle-trap, what are you talking about?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Smuggling, papa! That parcel I brought to old Mr. -Kirby contained a tin box of choice tobacco, and the -duty is higher, and the excise law stringent, and we never -paid a cent!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force looked aghast, and then burst into a laugh.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How did it happen, Wynnette?” he inquired, when -he had done laughing. “I did not know the thing was -tobacco.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No more did I! I wish I had! But I didn’t. And -the officer searched all our trunks, and all our bags, and -I carried that parcel in my hand, and he never even -looked at it! Oh! I am so proud of having smuggled -that tobacco! I wish I had intended it! But, henceforth, -I do intend it! I mean to smuggle every time I -can get a chance—not for any profit to myself, but for -the principle of the thing! The Lord never made the -excise laws and so my conscience is not bound by them. -And I never helped to make them, and so my honor is -not bound by them. But you, papa, must keep them, -because you have been a lawmaker.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette’s discourse was cut short by the entrance of -the waiter with the supper, which he proceeded to arrange -on the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All ready, maister,” he said, with a flourish.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette took her seat at the head of the table to -pour out the tea.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force and Le sat down at opposite sides.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Jonah stayed until Mr. Force told him he need not -wait. Then he went out, and was met at the door by -his sister Hester, who inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wot was in t’ parcels t’ leddy carried to grandfeyther?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“’Bacco, sent by Uncle John.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! nawthing but ’bacco!” said the girl, in a tone -of disappointment.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>“There ain’t nothing better in this world nor ’bacco,” -replied the boy, as their voices passed out of hearing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The travelers finished their supper and soon after -retired for the night.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XL<br /> <span class='large'>LE’S DESPAIR</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>It was a bright June morning when our small party -of travelers, having breakfasted well at the Anglesea -Arms, and settled with the landlady, once more entered -the dilapidated one-horse carriage, to be driven to the -railway station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As the front of the carriage was open, and every word -spoken by the travelers could be heard by the driver, -there was but little conversation indulged in except what -related to the weather or the scenery.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The drive over the moors, although, in the springless -vehicle on the rough up-and-down hill, it shook the passengers -severely, was, in other respects, very pleasant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached the little way station in good time, and -had only a few moments to wait before the train came -up.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force was fortunate in securing a compartment -for himself and his companions; and it was not until -they were all three seated within it and the train was -in motion again that any opportunity for private conversation -was given.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, we have spent three days—I had nearly said -we have lost three days on our quest—and what have we -gained?” gloomily inquired Mr. Force. “Nothing apparently -but the knowledge that the deepest-dyed villain -in the whole world enjoys in his own neighborhood the -reputation of a saint, a sage, a hero and a philanthropist -rolled into one! It is very curious that a man may be -such an accomplished hypocrite all his life as to deceive -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>all his neighbors, and then to go off into a foreign country -and give reins to his evil nature and reveal himself -as a pure devil! Clearly he must have been in California -when his wife was taken ill. Clearly he married -the Widow Wright during his wife’s lifetime, robbed -the dupe and fled back to England in time to play the -hypocrite at Lady Mary’s deathbed, and act chief -mourner at her funeral; then, under pretense that he -could not bear the house where he missed her every -hour, hastened back to America, but, giving his dupe a -wide berth, went to the North instead of the South, and -honored with his presence Niagara Falls, where we——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Foregathered wi’ the de’il,’” put in Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“True, my dear! We did! And we all suffered in -consequence.” Then turning to the young midshipman, -who sat buried in his bitter thoughts, he said: “Le, my -dear boy, do not be so utterly cast down. There must -be some way out of this trouble, and we will try to find -it. Let us do our best and trust in Providence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young man shrugged his shoulders impatiently at -this well-meant piece of commonplace philosophy, as he -replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, uncle, there is a way out of it, if you would -only take it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What way, Le?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The divorce court.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Le! The very word, divorce, is an offense to decent -ears.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle! the most straitlaced of all the Christian -sects permit divorce under certain circumstances. The -Westminster Catechism, that strictest of all moral and -religious codes, provides for it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If all the world’s church and state were to meet in -convention and provide for it I would have none of it—except—except—as -the very last resort; and then, Le, -I should feel it as the very greatest humiliation of my -life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>“Oh, uncle!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Listen, Le: Now that we know that Anglesea’s wife -was living at the time of his marriage with the Widow -Wright, we also know that marriage was unlawful; and -now that we furthermore know that his wife was dead -at the time of his marriage with Odalite Force we also -know that this last marriage was lawful.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Uncle! uncle! I cannot bear——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One moment, Le. Do not be so impetuous. I said -lawful—however wicked and immoral. And because it -was lawful, Le, my dear daughter is bound by it, to a -certain extent, and cannot form any matrimonial engagement -while this bond exists.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, good Heaven, sir——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Patience, Le. Hear me out. But, because that marriage -was wicked and immoral, it shall never go a step -further—it shall never be completed. That villain shall -never see or speak to my daughter again. I swear it -before high heaven! I shall keep Odalite at home under -my own immediate protection. If the scoundrel is not -hanged or sent to the devil in some other way before -many years, I suppose I shall be compelled to advise my -daughter to seek relief from the law. She could get it -without the slightest difficulty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But why not now?” pleaded the young man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because of the humiliation. It will seem a less matter -years hence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And in the meantime,” said Le, bitterly, “I am to -cherish murder in my heart day and night by wishing -that man dead!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, Le, hush! Such thought is sin and leads to -crime.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le said no more, but fell into a gloomy silence that -lasted until the train ran into Lancaster station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They went to dine at the Royal Oak, and from that -point Mr. Force telegraphed to Enderby Castle for a -carriage to meet the party in the evening at Nethermost.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>Then they took the afternoon train and started on -their homeward journey.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The sun was setting when they ran into the little wayside -station.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A handsome open carriage, driven by the earl’s old -coachman, awaited them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They entered it at once, and the coachman turned the -horses’ heads and began to ascend the graded and winding -road that led up to the top of the cliff, and then -drove all along the edge of the precipice in the direction -of the castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a magnificent prospect, with the moors rolling -off in hill and vale, but always rising toward the range -of mountains on the east; and the ocean rolling away -toward the western horizon, where the sky was still -aflame with the afterglow of the sunset; while straight -before them, though many miles distant up the coast, -stretched out into the sea the mighty promontory of -Enderby Cliff, with the ruined border castle standing on -its crest, and the ocean beating at its base, while a few -yards nearer inland stood the latter building, which -was the dwelling of the earl and his household.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette had never been accused of artistic, poetic -or romantic tendencies, yet, gazing on that scene, she -fell into thought, thence into dream, finally into vision; -and she saw passing before her, in a long procession, tall -and brawny, yellow-haired savages, clad in the skins of -wild beasts, and armed with heavy clubs, which they -carried over their shoulders; then barbarians in leathern -jerkins, armed with bows and arrows; rude soldiers -with battle-axes and shields of tough hide; then a splendid -procession of mounted knights in helmets, shining -armor and gorgeous accouterments; ladies in long gowns -of richest stuffs and high headgear, that looked like long -veils hoisted above the head on a clothes prop; then -trains of courtiers in plumed hats, full ruffs, rich -doublets and trunk hose; and ladies in close velvet caps -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>and cupid’s bow borders, large ruffs, long waists and -enormous fardingales; next a train of cavaliers, with -flapping bonnets, flowing locks, velvet coats and—</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnette!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the voice of her father that broke the spell and -dispersed the visionary train.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are you asleep, my dear?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“N-n-no, papa; only dreaming dreams and seeing -visions,” replied the girl, rousing herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, my dear, we are entering the castle courtyard.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette looked out and saw that they were crossing -the drawbridge that had been down for centuries over a -moat that had been dry for nearly as long a period, and -which was now thickly grown up in brushwood, and -were entering under the arch of the great portcullis, -which had been up for as many years as the drawbridge -had been down and the moat had been dry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were in the middle of the hollow square that -formed the courtyard of the castle. They had entered -on the north side. On the same side were the stables, -the kennels and the quarters for the outdoor servants. -Opposite to them, on the south side, were the conservatories -and forcing beds, protected by high walls. On the -east side was the modern Enderby Castle, where the earl -and his household lived in modest comfort. But on the -west side, overhanging the terrible cliff, was the ancient -Castle of Enderby, not quite a ruin, but deserted and -desolate, abandoned to wind and wave, given over to -bats and owls. At the foot of the awful rock the thunder -of the sea was heard day and night. Those who -lived habitually at the castle grew accustomed to it, but -to temporary sojourners at Enderby there was something -weird and terrible in the unceasing thunder of the -sea against the rock. There was said to be a whirlpool -through an enormous cavern at the foot of the cliff, having -many inlets and outlets, and that the sea was drawn -in and thrown out as by the sunken head of a many-mouthed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>monster. However that might be, it is certain -that even in the finest weather, when the sea was calm -everywhere else, the tempest raged against Enderby -Cliff.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The very, very first thing that I do to-morrow shall -be to explore that old castle from top to bottom,” said -Wynnette to herself, as the turning of the carriage hid -it from her view.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLI<br /> <span class='large'>THE EARL’S PERPLEXITY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>A footman was lighting the lamps in the hall when -the party entered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are all well in the house, Prout?” inquired Mr. -Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All well, sir. My lord is taking his afternoon nap. -The ladies are not down yet. The first dinner bell has -just rung,” replied the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mamma and the girls are dressing for dinner, papa. -I will just run up and see,” said Wynnette, flying up -the stairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then we had better go to our rooms at once, Le, and -get some of the dust of travel off us before we go to -dinner,” said Mr. Force, as he followed Wynnette upstairs, -though in a more leisurely fashion. Perhaps he -was willing to put off, even for a few minutes, the painful -task of communicating his discouraging news to -Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Mr. Force reached his apartment he found -Wynnette standing in the middle of the room, under -the hands of her mother’s ebony maid, Gipsy, who was -helping her off with her duster.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is your mother, my dear?” he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, they are all gone down to the drawing room. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>Prout was mistaken in thinking that they were not -there. But, papa, I am not sorry! Bad news will keep; -because being already spoiled, it cannot spoil any more. -And now we must hurry and dress, or the porridge will -be cold—I mean dinner will be kept waiting,” and saying -this, Wynnette caught up her hat and duster, and, -followed by Gipsy, passed into her own room, which she -occupied jointly with Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force used such dispatch in dressing that he was -the first one of the three returning travelers who entered -the drawing room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He found no one present but Mrs. Force, Odalite, -Elva and Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force hurried to meet him, while Odalite stood -pale and waiting, and the two younger girls looked -eagerly expectant.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What news? What news?” anxiously inquired the -lady. “Prout has just told us of your return! What -news? Oh, why don’t you answer, Abel?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, because I have no good news to tell you,” -he gravely replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force let go the hand she had seized and sank -down upon the nearest sofa.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite turned away and bowed her head upon her -hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary and Elva were both too much awed by the -grief of their elders even to come forward and greet the -returned father and friend.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nor did Mr. Force even observe the omission. His -mind was absorbed by thoughts of his daughter’s distress.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force was the first one to break the painful -silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then it was all true as to the date of Anglesea’s first -wife’s death?” she inquired, in a faint voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The date on Lady Mary’s tombstone is August 25, -18—,” gloomily replied Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>“Then the man’s marriage with Mrs. Wright on the -first of the same August is invalid?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As a matter of course.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And the ceremony begun, but not completed, with -our daughter in the following December gives Anglesea -a shadow of a claim on Odalite?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A shadow of a claim only; yet a sufficiently dark and -heavy and oppressive shadow. And now, dear Elfrida, -let us talk of something else,” said Mr. Force, gravely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“First, tell me about that fraudulent obituary notice -in the Angleton <cite>Advertiser</cite>. Did you find out how it -was effected?” inquired the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes. On the evening of the twentieth of August, -after the last copy of the paper had been printed, and -the whole edition sent off to its various subscribers, the -editor and proprietor, one Purdy, went home, leaving -the type undistributed on the press, and his pressman, -one Norton, in charge of the office. There was, besides, -the editor’s young son, whom Norton sent away. Later -in the evening this Norton distributed the type on the -first two columns of the first page, and then was joined -by Angus Anglesea, who had furnished the manuscript -for the false obituary notice, and had bribed the printer -to set it up and print it off. So then several copies of -the paper were thrown off, in all respects like unto the -regular edition of the day, with the exception of the -first two columns, in which the false obituary notice and -memoir were substituted for the report of an agricultural -fair, or something of the sort. And these last -fraudulent copies were mailed at different times to me. -You see the motive! It was to entrap and humiliate -us. The same night, or the next morning, Norton absconded -with the bribe he had taken from Anglesea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You know this to be true?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As well as I can know anything that I have not been -an eye and ear witness to. I will tell you how I unraveled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>the mystery when we have more time. I wish to -speak to Odalite now, my dear,” said Abel Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And he crossed to where his daughter stood, put his -arm around her waist, drew her to his heart, and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Cheer up, my darling girl. You shall be as safe -from all future persecution by that scoundrel as if he -were in the convict settlement of Norfolk Island—where -he ought to be. Try to forget all about him, my -dear, and remember only how much we all love you, and -how much we are anxious to do for your happiness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite put her arms around her father’s neck, and -kissed him in silence, and smiled through her tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary and Elva now came up, and put out their -hands to welcome the travelers home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le came in, and almost in silence shook hands with -his aunt and the two younger girls, and then took the -hand of Odalite, pressed it, dropped it, and turned away -to conceal his emotion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Lastly entered the earl, leaning on the arm of his -secretary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He smilingly greeted the returning travelers, and -hoped that they had had a pleasant journey.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Fortunately the announcement of dinner prevented -the necessity of a reply. The earl gave his arm to his -sister, smiling warmly, as he said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But it is you who must support me, my dear.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>And they led the way to the dining room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Almost immediately after dinner, when the party returned -to the drawing room, Lord Enderby excused himself, -and retired to his own apartments, attended by his -secretary and his valet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. and Mrs. Force, and the young people, remained -in the drawing room, where Mr. Force gave a more -detailed account of his journey into Lancashire, his researches -at Anglewood, and all the circumstances that -led to the detection of the perpetrators of the obituary -fraud.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>“That is the way—or, rather, one way—in which -false evidence can be manufactured,” he said, in conclusion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was late before the excited family party retired to -rest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was not until after breakfast the next morning, -when the young people had gone to take a walk on the -edge of the cliff, and the three elders were seated together -in the library of the castle, that Mr. Force told -Lord Enderby the story of his journey into Lancashire, -and its results.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The poor earl looked the image of distress and perplexity; -his face, that was always pale, grew paler; his -frame, that was always infirm, grew shaky; and his voice, -always weak, became tremulous, as he said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am amazed beyond all measure. I am grieved to -the very soul. And—I am all but incredulous. Angus -Anglesea, my comrade in India! My ‘brother-in-arms,’ -as I used fondly to call him. Angus Anglesea, the very -soul of truth and honor. Not overwise or prudent, but -brave and good to his heart’s core. I have not seen him -for years, it is true; but I had lost no faith in or affection -for him. Circumstances have separated us; but -neither coldness nor distrust had estranged us. And -now you tell me, Force, that this man has radically, -fundamentally changed his very nature—his very self—that -the man of pure truth, honor and heroism has -turned into an utter villain—a thief, a forger, a bigamist, -an unequaled scoundrel!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The earl paused and groaned as in pain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am sorry to grieve you, my lord, but I have -brought unquestionable proofs of the charges that I have -made,” said Mr. Force.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I admit the proofs; but, great heavens, that a man -could so change in so few years! My comrade in India! -My friend, whom I loved as a brother! Who could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>have thought it of him? Elfrida, you knew him in your -youth. Could you have believed this of him?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not when I first met him in your company, my -brother; but then I was a very young girl, scarcely fifteen -years of age, and the judgment of such a girl on -the merits of a young man, especially when he is a young -officer in a brilliant uniform, and with a more brilliant -military record, is not infallible, you know,” replied -Mrs. Force, evasively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet you could not have believed this infamy of him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, certainly not,” replied the lady, more to soothe -the nervous invalid than to express her own convictions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Believe me, I am deeply grieved to have been the instrument -of giving you so much pain. I would not -have told you had I not deemed it my duty to do so; -nor even under that impression had I supposed it would -have distressed you so much.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear Force, you were right to tell me, though -the hearing gives me sorrow—sorrow and perplexity, for -I cannot reconcile the story you have told and proved -with all my previous knowledge of Anglesea. I wonder, -has he become insane? I did hear that he had been -terribly affected by the death of his wife, whom he -adored. I was in Switzerland at the time, and when I -returned to England, in the autumn, I heard that he -had gone abroad. I think, perhaps, he may have become -insane.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps so,” said Mr. Force, but he mentally added: -“As much insane as, and no more, than every criminal -is insane—morally insane, but not, therefore, irresponsible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Force,” said the earl, “whatever may have been the -cause of Anglesea’s fall, your daughter Odalite must -be released from her bonds.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLII<br /> <span class='large'>ENDERBY CASTLE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>While their elders consulted together in the library -the four young girls, Odalite, Wynnette, Elva and Rosemary, -accompanied by Le and escorted by Joshua, -walked across the courtyard, and entered the old castle -to explore its interior.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le had in his hands a little guidebook to the castle -and town of Enderby, to which he referred from time to -time.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Climbing over piles of rubbish, of fallen stones, covered -with moss and lichen, and half buried in rank -growth of thistles and briers, they entered an arched -doorway, and found themselves upon the stone floor of -the great feudal castle hall, which had once re-echoed -to the orgies of the feudal baron and his rude retainers -after a hunt, a foray, or a battle, but now silent and -abandoned to the birds of night and prey.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At one end of this hall was a great chimney—a chimney -so vast that within its walls, from foundation stone -to roof, a modern New York apartment house of seven -floors might have been built, with full suits of family -rooms on every floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And this is only the hall fireplace,” said Le. “The -kitchen fireplace is immediately below this, and still -broader and deeper than this, but we cannot get to it -because it is buried in fallen stones and mortar. At -least, I mean, all entrance to that part of the castle is.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They now noticed that the cavity of the deep chimney -place was furnished on each side with stone benches, -built in with the masonry.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here,” said Le, “the wandering minstrel or the holy -pilgrim, of the olden time found warm seats in winter -to thaw out their frozen limbs.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>Next they noticed that the hearth of the fireplace, -raised about a foot above the level of the floor, extended -about a quarter of the length of the hall itself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This,” said Le, “must be the dais for the upper portion -of the table, at which sat my lord baron, his family, -his knights, and his guests, while on each side of the -lower part sat the retainers. But say! Here is a trapdoor. -Immediately under here must have stood my lord -baron’s chair. Let us look at that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le referred to the guidebook, and read:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘Immediately before the hall fireplace and on the -elevated dais is a trapdoor connected with a walled-in -shaft, descending through the castle kitchen under the -hall, and into the ‘Dungeon of the Dark Death,’ under -the foundations of the castle. In the rude days of the -feudal system prisoners taken in war, or criminals convicted -of high crime, were let down through that trapdoor -into the Dungeon of the Dark Death, and never -heard of more. And the lord of the castle held high -festival above while his crushed victims perished below.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ur-r-r-r-r-r-r!” cried Wynnette, with a shudder. -“That accounts for my murderous instincts against Anglesea -and other culprits. I inherit it through my -mother—from all these vindictive old vampires.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Le! let us go away. I don’t like it. I don’t -like it!” pleaded little Elva.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No more do I,” said Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stay,” said Le. “Here is something more about the -place.” And he read:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘This trapdoor has not been opened for more than -fifty years. Tradition says that early in the last century -a groom in the service of the lords of Enderby -secretly married my lady’s maid, and as secretly murdered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>her and threw her body, together with that of her -infant, down the shaft, for which crimes he was tried, -condemned, and executed, and afterward hung in chains -outside the wall of Carlisle Castle. The trapdoor was -ordered to be riveted down by the then ruling Lord of -Enderby, and has never since been raised.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ur-r-r-r-r-r-r!” again muttered Wynnette. “That’s -worse than the other.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let us go away. Oh, I want to go away!” wailed -Elva, trembling.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, please, please come away, Le,” pleaded Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now just wait one moment, dears. You will not -mind looking out of these windows, loopholes, or whatever -they are, that open through the twelve-foot thickness -of the outer wall. Great pyramids of Egypt, what -mighty builders were these men of old!” exclaimed -Wynnette, walking off toward the east side of the hall, -where there were a row of windows six feet high and -four feet wide on the inner side, but diminishing into -mere slits on the outer side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here the baron’s retainers could safely draw their -bows and speed their arrows through these loopholes at -the besiegers without,” said Wynnette, curiously examining -the embrasures. “But, ah me, in times of -peace what a dark hall for the dame and her maidens.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, let us go on now,” said Le. “There is no -means of entering the lower portions of the building -from the outside, but I suppose there must be from the -inside.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>So they left the hall by the side door and entered a -corridor of solid masonry, so dark that Le had to take -a match and a coil of taper from his pocket and strike -a light.</p> - -<p class='c008'>This led them at last into a large circular room, with -lofty but narrow windows, through which the morning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>sun streamed, leaving oblong patches of sunshine on the -stone floor. A door on the side of the room, between -two of the windows, had fallen from its strong hinges, -and the opening was dark.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le approached it, and discovered the top of a narrow -flight of stairs built in the thickness of the wall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le referred to his guidebook, and read:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘Strong chamber in the round tower west of the -great hall, ancient guardroom for men-at-arms. A secret -staircase in the wall whose door was in former times -concealed by the leathern hangings of the room, leads -down to the torture chamber below.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who will go down with me?” inquired Le.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will,” promptly answered Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I,” added Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elva and Rosemary would have shrunk from the adventure, -but partly driven by the fear of being left alone, -and partly drawn by curiosity, they consented to descend -into the depths.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le preceded the party with his lighted taper, and they -followed him down the steep and narrow stairs, and -found themselves last in a dark, circular room, with -strong, iron-bound doors around its walls. Some of -these had fallen from their hinges, showing openings -into still darker recesses.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le, with his taper, crept along the wall exploring -these, and found them to be dark cells, scarcely with -space enough to hold a well-grown human being. Many -of them had rusting staples in the walls, with fragments -of broken iron chains attached.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Even the young midshipman shuddered and refrained -from calling the attention of his companions to the -horror.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But he made more discoveries than these. Groping -about the gloomy place with his wax taper, he came upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>various rusted and broken instruments of torture, the -thumbscrew, the iron boot, the rack, all of which he -recognized from the descriptions he had read of these -articles elsewhere; and there were other instruments -that he had read of, yet knew at sight to be of the same -sort; so that at last, when he came upon the grim headsman’s -block, it was with a feeling of relief.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What are those things, Le?” inquired Odalite, following -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, rubbish, dear. Be careful where you step, you -might fall over them,” he replied. “And I think we -had better leave this place and go to the upper air now,” -he added, groping along the walls to find the door at -the foot of the stairs down which they had come.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He found the place, but found also something that -had escaped his notice. It was a niche in the wall beside -the door. The niche was about six feet high and -two feet broad; the opening was rough and ragged at -the sides, and there was a pile of rubbish at the foot, -which on examination proved to be fallen stones and -mortar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le trimmed his taper until it gave a brighter light, -and then referred to his guidebook and unadvisedly -read aloud from it:</p> - -<p class='c011'>“‘In the Torture Chamber. Cunigunda. At the foot -of the stairs leading down to this dreadful theater of -mediæval punishment stands, in the right side of the -wall, a curious niche, high and narrow, which was once -the living grave of a lovely woman. About fifty years -ago the closing front wall of this sepulcher fell and revealed -a secret of centuries. A tradition of the castle -tells of the sudden disappearance of the Lady Cunigunda -of Enderby, the eldest daughter of the baron and -the most beautiful woman of her time, for whose hand -princes and nobles had sued in vain, because her affections -had become fixed on a yeoman of my lord’s guard. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>In the spring of her youth and beauty she was mysteriously -lost to the world. Her fate would never have -been discovered had not the closing wall of the niche at -the foot of the stairs in the torture chamber fallen and -disclosed the upright skeleton and the stone tablet, upon -which was cut, in old English letters, the following inscription:</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c012'> - <div>CUNIGUNDA,</div> - <div class='c002'>Who, for dishonoring her noble family</div> - <div>By a secret marriage with a common yeoman,</div> - <div>Was immured alive in the 20th year of her age,</div> - <div>January 24th, 1236.</div> - <div class='c002'><i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Requiescat in Pace.</span></i></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c014'>The poor bones, after six centuries, were coffined and -consigned, with Christian rites, to the family vault at -Enderby Church.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I say, Le, what a perfectly devilish lot those old -nobles were! I proud of my ancestry! I would much -rather know myself to be descended in a direct line from -Darwin’s monkeys,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, my dear, these men lived in a rude and barbarous -age. Their descendants in every generation have -become more civilized and enlightened, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, I don’t know. And I like the monkeys a great -deal better as forefathers!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Shall we try to find our way to the ‘Dungeon of the -Dark Death’? You know, it is under the kitchen which -is under the great hall. But stop a minute,” said Le: -and he referred again to the guidebook, and then added: -“No, we cannot go there. There is no reaching it. The -only entrance into that deep perdition is by the trapdoor, -on my lord baron’s dais, and down the hollow, -brick-walled shaft that runs through the middle of the -kitchen into the abyss below.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>“I am glad of it. Let us go to the upper light. Look -at Elva!” said Odalite, in an anxious tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le turned the light of the taper on the little girl, -and saw her leaning, pale and faint and dumb, on the -bosom of her sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My poor, little frightened dove. Why, Elva, darling, -what is the matter?” tenderly inquired the midshipman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The kind sympathy broke down the last remnant of -the child’s self-possession, and she broke into a gush of -sobs and tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le handed his taper to Wynnette and took Elva up in -his arms, laid her head over his shoulder, and carried -her upstairs, followed by Odalite, Wynnette and Rosemary.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the sun and air Elva recovered herself, and the -little party left the ruins to return to the new castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wonder my Uncle Enderby does not have that -dreadful old thing pulled down,” piped Elva, in a pleading -tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Pulled down!” exclaimed Wynnette. “Why, that -ancient castle is the pride of his life. The modern one -is nothing to be compared with it in value. The oldest -part of the ruin is said to be eight hundred years old, -while the modern castle is only a poor hundred and fifty. -Why, he would just as soon destroy his own pedigree -and have it wiped out of the royal and noble stud-book—I -mean, omitted from ‘Burke’s Peerage’—as pull -down that ancient fortress. Why, child, you do not -dream of its value. You have not seen a quarter part -of its historical attractions. If you hadn’t flunked—I -mean fainted, you poor, little soul—we should have gone -up the broad staircase leading from the hall to the staterooms -above—many of them in good preservation—and -seen the chamber where King Edward the First and -Queen Eleanor slept, when resting on their journey to -Scotland. Also the other chamber where William Wallace -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>was confined under a strong guard when he was -brought a prisoner to England. Well, I don’t believe -a word of it myself. I suppose all these old battle-ax -heroes that ever crossed the border are reported to have -slept in every border castle, from Solway Firth to the -North Sea. Still, the old ruin is very interesting indeed. -And if the makers of the guidebooks like to tell these -stories, why, I like to look at the historical rooms.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette’s last words brought them to the new castle, -which they entered just in time for luncheon, in the -morning room.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLIII<br /> <span class='large'>WYNNETTE’S STRANGE ADVENTURE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>What ailed Wynnette?</p> - -<p class='c008'>That evening, while the family were all assembled in -the drawing room after dinner, she stole away and went -to find the housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old woman was in her own sitting room, joining -the servants’ hall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Kelsy welcomed the little lady, who had already -become a great favorite with her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope I don’t disturb you,” said Wynnette, deprecatingly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dearie me, no, miss,” replied the housekeeper, rising -and placing a chair for her young visitor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette thanked her and sat down.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have been over the old castle, I hear, Miss Wynnette,” -said the old woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, and I came here to get you to tell me all you -know of that ancient ruin. You have been housekeeper -here for a long time, and you must know lots about it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my dear young lady, I have been here, girl and -woman, for fifty years. My mother was housekeeper -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>here before me. I was still-room-maid under until she -died about twenty years ago, and I got her place, through -the kindness of the earl.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That must have been very agreeable to you, as you -were so used to the house.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was, my dear young lady, it was.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And you must know lots of stories about the old -castle.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper suddenly became silent and grave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And your mother must have known lots more than -you did and told them to you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The housekeeper looked solemn and reticent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Didn’t she, now? You might as well tell me. I am -the niece of the earl, and my mother is his heiress-presumptive.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes. I know that, young lady,” said Mrs. Kelsy, -speaking at last.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, then, you needn’t make a mystery of the matter -to one of the family, you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is it that you wish to hear, Miss Wynnette?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, any story of the old ruin, so that it is a really -marrow-freezing, blood-curdling, hair-raising story.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is the guide to Enderby Castle, Miss Wynnette.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I know; but that contains only outlines—outlines -traced in blood and fire, to be sure, but still only -outlines. I want a story with more body in it. Come, -now, that story of the Lady Cunigunda of Enderby, who -was the greatest beauty of her time, for whom kings and -princes were vainly breaking their hearts, and who was -immured alive for marrying a handsome soldier. Come, -tell me all about her. That’s a darling.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear Miss Wynnette, I know no more about her -than you do. Not a bit more than what is printed in -the guide. No, nor yet did my old mother, rest her -soul.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, now, tell the truth. Does not the ghost of Lady -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>Cunigunda haunt the Round Tower in which she was -immured?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not as ever I heard of, my dear. Not as ever I -heard of.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, Mrs. Kelsy,” said Wynnette, solemnly, “I -thought the old castle was a venerable, historical building.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So it is, my dear. So it is. Nobody can gainsay -that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, Mrs. Kelsy, no castle, however ancient, and -however full of legends of kings and princes and heroes -and saints, can be even respectable, much less venerable, -unless it has its ghost.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Enderby Old Castle has its ghost, Miss Wynnette,” -retorted the old housekeeper, drawing herself up with -dignity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, I thought so! I knew so. Tell me about it, -Mrs. Kelsy!” eagerly exclaimed Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, I cannot, especially to-night—especially -to-night.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why not to-night?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because, my dear, this very night of the twentieth -of June is the anniversary of the murder of that poor -young woman and her baby, when her spirit always revisits -the scene of her murder,” said the old woman, -solemnly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you mean—are you talking of the lady’s maid -who was murdered by the coachman, and whose body -was thrown down the shaft in the castle hall?” gravely -inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, my dear. Hush! Don’t talk of it, or you -may draw that perturbed spirit even here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You know all about that tragedy, then?” persisted -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My mother did, and told me. And people enough -have seen the ghost in the castle hall on this anniversary.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>“Have you ever seen it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush! Yes, once; and I never want to see it again. -So that’s the last word I will speak about it to-night. -Some other time I’ll tell you all, but not now. Not -while her troubled spirit is abroad. Hush! What was -that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing but a sough of the wind.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I thought it was the sob of a woman. I thought -it was her sob. Oh, my dear, for the Lord’s sake, drop -the subject,” pleaded the old woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will drop it this instant if you will promise to tell -me all you know some day soon,” whispered Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes, I promise. Let a Sunday and a church -service come between this night and the story, and I -will tell you on Monday,” said the housekeeper, whom -Wynnette’s persistence had brought to a state of great -nervous excitement.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The young girl then arose and bade the old woman -good-night, and returned to the drawing room, where -she found all the family circle about to separate and -retire.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette went to the room which she shared with -her eldest sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Odalite got ready and went to bed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Have you done with the light?” inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes. Why?” inquired the elder sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because I want to turn it down low.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But are you not coming to bed?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not yet. I wish to open the shutters and look out -at the old castle by moonlight. I will draw the curtains -at the foot of your bed, so that the beams may not keep -you awake.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, the moonlight would never disturb my slumbers, -Wynnette,” said Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Nevertheless, the younger girl went and drew the -white dimity curtains across the foot of the bed, which -was facing the west window. Then Wynnette turned -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>down the light to a mere glow-worm size, and opened the -folding shutters of the window and sat down to look -out at the prospect.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The moon was in its third quarter, had passed the -meridian, and was now halfway down the western hemisphere, -and hung over the sea, above the ruined castle on -the cliff, illumining the scene with a weird light.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette looked down on the great square inclosure -of the courtyard, shut in by strong walls of mighty -buildings on all four sides, the walls of the ancient ruin -being on the western side, directly opposite her window. -The courtyard was as secure and as clean as the carefully -kept interior of a barracks. And it was so quiet -at this hour that the sound of the sea, beating against the -rocks at the base of the old ruin, was heard as deafening -thunder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Wynnette’s eyes were fixed on that row of ancient -windows in the ruined hall and looked like mere slits in -the wall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And now happened to the girl a very marvelous event. -As she gazed on these narrow openings they became -illumined from within by a strange light.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was not from the moon, for the moon was far above, -and would have to be an hour lower to shed that light. -Besides, it was a dark, red light, like nothing on this -earth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette gazed and wondered—wondered and gazed. -It was a steady light; it never wavered or flickered, -never brightened or faded.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette gazed and wondered—wondered and gazed, -until, drawn by an irresistible fascination, she arose -slowly and turned from the window, went past her sister’s -bed, stooped over, saw that Odalite was fast asleep, -and then she softly opened the chamber door, passed -out and closed it behind her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the upper hall lights were always left burning -low through the night.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>By these Wynnette found her way down the grand -staircase to the armorial hall below.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Here, also, lights were burning low.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By these she found her way to the great west door -in front, took down the bars, unhooked the chain, drew -back the bolts, and turned the heavy key in the huge -lock—all so noiselessly as to make her wonder, until she -remembered how well-oiled every lock, key, bolt and -hinge was, to save the nerves of the invalid earl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She drew open the heavy doors and went out into -the night.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The courtyard was bathed in moonlight, except where -the old ruin some yards in front cast its black shadow, -for the moon was now behind it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everything was as still as death except the sea that -thundered at the foot of the cliff.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette felt no fear of material dangers. She knew -that she was as safe from harm as though she were in a -fortress.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She went straight across the courtyard, drawing -nearer and nearer to the haunted castle; and as she approached -it she gazed more intently at those luridly -lighted loopholes. And then, oh strange! the lights -seemed not to come from torch or candle, but from -spectral eyes glaring forth into the night, and drawing -her on with an irresistible power. Wynnette could not -turn and fly; she was under a mighty spell, she must -move on—on—on—until she reached the pile of fallen -stones around the castle walls; and over these, climbing -with difficulty and danger, still moving on and on, until -she reached the portals.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The great iron-bound oaken doors seemed now to be -closed and secured from within against intrusion, yet she -was still drawn on so powerfully that she pushed with -all her strength against those mighty doors, but with as -little effect as if she had tried to move a mountain. -When—</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>Suddenly the door opened, a cold hand seized her -wrist, drew her in, and the door closed.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLIV<br /> <span class='large'>AT MIDNIGHT IN THE HAUNTED CASTLE</span></h2> -</div> -<div class='lg-container-b c013'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A horrid specter rises on my sight</div> - <div class='line'>Close to my side, plain and palpable</div> - <div class='line'>In all clear seeming and close circumstance.</div> - <div class='line'>What form is this? Oh, speak if voice thou hast!</div> - <div class='line'>Tell me what sacrifice can soothe thy spirit,</div> - <div class='line'>Can still the unquiet sleeper of the grave;</div> - <div class='line'>For this most awful visitation is</div> - <div class='line'>beyond endurance of the bravest soul</div> - <div class='line'>In flesh and blood enrobed.—<span class='sc'>Joanna Baillie.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette’s blood curdled. She would have cried -out, but her organs of speech seemed paralyzed. She -would have struggled to free herself, but the icy hand -closed on her wrist like a fetter, and drew her on. She -could only pray mutely and hard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She could see nothing before her, not even the fingers -of frost that closed around her wrist, and drew her on -and on through the black darkness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again she tried to cry out, but the sound of her voice -died in her throat. Again she tried to struggle, but the -cold hand drew her on and on with irresistible power.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Where was it taking her? Perhaps to the terrible -trap opening into the shaft leading down to the dread -Dungeon of the Dark Death, under the foundations of -the castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Oh, if she could only cry out. Oh, if she could only -tear herself away from her horrible invisible captor. -Oh, if she could but see where she was. But her voice -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>seemed palsied and her limbs paralyzed, while she was -drawn on and on through deepest darkness by an icy, -invisible, irresistible hand. On and on, now to the right, -now to the left, now up a few rugged steps, and now -down and down into deeper depths of darkness, if that -were possible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Once more Wynnette tried to cry out, but failed; -tried to escape, but failed; strained her eyes to see, but -failed utterly in all attempts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a dream! It is a nightmare! Oh, if I could -only scream so they would hear me and come to me. -Oh, father! Oh, mother! Oh, Lord, have mercy on -me!” her spirit cried, in her agony of terror, but no -word came from her frozen lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Down—down—down—into profounder abysms of -blackness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Where were they going? Under the foundations of -the castle? Under the bed of the sea? To the very -center of the earth? Would they never stop descending?</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, what a fool I was to come here at midnight. -Shall I ever get out of this alive? Oh, no—never. Oh, -what a horrible fate. Will they ever find me or my -body? Oh, no—never. How could they? Oh, my dear -mother! Oh, my dear father! What ever will you -think has become of me—your wilful Wynnette? My -whole arm is freezing from the clasp of that icy hand -around my wrist. What is it going to do with me? But -it is only a dream. I know it is only a dream. A cruel, -deadly nightmare. Oh, if I could only scream. If I -could only struggle and wake up. But I shall die in -my sleep here, and they will find me dead in the morning. -Oh, Lord, forgive my sins and save my soul. -What was that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Suddenly the silence of that utter darkness was -broken by a sound that became a noise, a roar, a deafening -thunder, and Wynnette, in the anguish of her utter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>terror and helplessness, heard and knew the thunder of -the sea against the rocks. But the air was growing close, -fetid, sulphurous, suffocating.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is no nightmare. I hear the sea. It is breaking -in mighty waves over my head. Ah, my limbs are numb—my -breath is gone—my brain is going. Oh, if I could -only cry out once. Mother! Mother!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Then the darkness and the coldness as of death closed -in, wrapped around, and settled down upon her with -the weight of the grave.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And for the time being Wynnette was dead and -buried to all life, sense and consciousness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Wynnette breathed again and opened her eyes -she could not at once recover her consciousness. The -shock and strain upon her nervous system had been too -severe and protracted. She heard and saw as one half -asleep. She heard the awful reverberations of the thunder -of the sea. She saw around her blackness of darkness, -relieved just in one spot, a few yards distant from -where she lay, by a small fire on the ground, that smoldered -in the foul air, and cast a lurid light but a few -feet around, and fell upon the face and form of a -crouching figure squatted near it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a Rembrandt picture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette watched it in weak, dull, stupid despair. -Whether it was man, woman, or even human being, she -neither knew, nor cared, nor questioned. Nor could any -one else, even in the full possession of their senses, have, -at sight, classified the strange figure squatted by the low -fire in the subterranean abyss.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was too stunned, dazed and weakened even -to fear it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And yet it was a dread, a frightful, a terrible form, -tall and gaunt as could be well known, even in that -crouching attitude, by the length of legs and arms. Its -skin was like wrinkled parchment, and clung close to its -bones. Its face and features were strong and bony and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>sharp. The eagle nose and the pointed chin nearly met -over the sunken mouth. Burning black eyes flashed and -flamed under beetling brows. White hair, parted over -the top of the head, rolled in silver waves down over -shoulders and back. It wore but one garment, a dark -red gown, with sleeves that only reached to the elbow, -and a skirt that only reached to the knees. It was -squatting, as we said before. Its knees were drawn up; -its long, gaunt, dark arms were around them, and the -great claw-like fingers were clasped upon them. The -head was bent, but the blazing eyes were fixed in a burning -gaze upon the face of the recumbent girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As memory slowly awoke in the mind of the stupefied -girl, she began to recall some of the phases of her night’s -adventure. When had it happened? How long ago? -An hour ago? A day? A year? A century? How -long? And where was she now? She dimly remembered -when she died, and how she died—how the faintness -of death crept upon her; how her breath went and -then her sense, and then—nothingness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But how long was that ago?</p> - -<p class='c008'>She could not think.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Where was she now?</p> - -<p class='c008'>She could not say.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Only one thing was certain. She had died, and she -had come to a bad place for her sins. She was in -darkness. She was in—that awful pit of utter despair -whose name she could not bear to breathe to her own -spirit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And that thing by the smoldering fire was her demon -jailer!</p> - -<p class='c008'>Thus much was certainly true, she thought. And -yet so dull and stupid was she still that she did not care -very much where she was, or even wonder at her own -insensibility.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At last, seeing that the creature by the fire still glared -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>at her, she tried to speak, and at length muttered the -question:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who are you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nobody,” was the slow, soft answer, in a tone -strangely sad and sweet to come from such dried and -withered lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are you—alive?” breathed Wynnette, in fearsome -tones.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Alive? Nay, babe, nor are you,” replied the same -slow, sweet voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thought so; that is, I knew I was dead. But I -thought maybe you and—and—and—the other dev—I -mean the other—I mean I thought the natives of this -place might be alive,” faltered Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, child, I am dead as well as thou. We are both -dead. But I have been dead longer than thou! Ay, ay, -many years than thou, I reckon; for thou cannot be older -than sixteen or seventeen, and I be ninety-seven. Ay, -ay, I ha’ been dead a long time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The voice that spoke those words was as tender and -plaintive as the notes of an Eolian harp.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are—we—are—we—in h—I mean, are we in the -woeful place?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, babe, we are in the woeful place. You and I -and many, many, many millions, and millions and millions -of others are dead and buried, and in the woeful -place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I feel as if I were alive, though. No, not quite; but -almost alive,” said Wynnette, first pinching her own -arm and then setting her teeth in it, and biting so hard -that she only escaped breaking the skin.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That’s a delusion, my baby. You are not alive, -neither am I. But—they are alive!” she cried, lifting -and waving her arm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They? Who?” demanded Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They—the victims of hate, power, cruelty and despotism, -whose ruined earthly tabernacles lie all around -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>us. All around us, like the broken shells upon the seashore. -They are alive! They are the martyrs of love -and truth; the martyrs of faith and freedom, of humanity. -They are alive, baby. They stand among that -‘great multitude, which no man could number, of all -nations and peoples and kindreds and tongues—before -the throne—clothed with white robes and palms in their -hands.’ Ay, ay! They are alive! But you and I—we -are dead.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I think I understand,” said Wynnette, who was -beginning to regain her mental faculties and to recognize -in her surroundings some subterranean cave of the cliff, -or crypt of the castle, and in her companion some harmless -lunatic. “We are in a sense dead and buried, and -in a woeful state; but where, in all this woeful state, are -we now sitting?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t ye ken, bairnie, we are in the place the tyrants -called the Dungeon of the Dark Death? And the heaps -of gray and white lime that ye see here—or ye might -see, gin it were light enough—be the moldering bones of -their victims. And the latest victim of all was my lass! -my lass! But death could not hold her, nor darkness, -nor coldness. She came to life and ascended. -She is a fair angel now—one of the fairest of angels. -But though she is alive and we are dead, she has not -forgotten us; but she comes on this day every year and -visits our graves. I always see her when she comes. I -can see her through all the clods of the grave that lie so -heavy on my heart. Mayhap you may see her, too, baby; -but I don’t know, I don’t know,” murmured the plaintive -voice, as the old creature slowly shook her head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Does she—does she come here?” breathed Wynnette, -in an awe-struck tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ay, she does; and every time she comes she shows -me how her body was murdered, and how herself came -out of it alive. Look! look!” The woman suddenly -started up, crossed to the side of the girl, and clasped -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>her hand and held it fast, saying again: “Look! Listen!” -and she pointed up to the upper end of the cavern.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Now by what psychological law this weird old creature -impressed her own visions on the imagination of -the girl, let the occult scientists explain. I cannot pretend -to do so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But as Wynnette looked and listened, there came a -whir-r-r-r through the air, and a thud-d-d upon the distant -ground, and the form of a young woman and a -child lay there.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette tried to shriek, but her voice died in her -throat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You see her?” murmured the old woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette tried to speak, but failed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Watch!” said the crone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette watched, breathlessly, her senses reeling. -The shape presently began to change as clouds change, -from form to form, and presently to arise like a pillar -of mist, and take the form of a woman, young, fair, -angelic, with an infant pressed to her bosom, and with -heavenward gaze, slowly ascending in a path of light, -which faded as she disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There, she has gone! and we will go,” said the crone, -as she tightened her grasp on the girl’s hand and drew -her away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No longer terrified, but awed, confused, bewildered, -Wynnette allowed herself to be passively drawn away, -and they began to toil up from the depths. Wynnette -thought of Dante’s return from the Inferno, when he -“saw the stars again.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>At length, more dead than alive, she began to realize, -that though they were still in darkness, they were creeping -over level ground or a stone floor. They were stealing -along a dark and narrow passage, as she thought; -for once when she stretched out her hand at arm’s length -she felt the damp stone wall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently, far off ahead of them, she saw the faint -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>glimmer of a red light. As they drew nearer to this, -she saw that it came through the chinks of an ill-fitting -door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When they reached the door the crone opened it, and -Wynnette recognized, with feelings of relief, the great -hall of the castle, and knew that they were above ground.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A fire of faggots burned on the flagstones, and burned -more clearly in the freer air than had that smoldering, -smoking heap of rubbish in the subterranean dungeon -below.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The beldame drew the girl toward the fire, where -there lay near by a pile of rushes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sit ye down here, lass, and rest,” she said, as she herself -dropped in a heap upon the rushes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I want to go home,” whimpered Wynnette, in the -tone of a frightened child.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, bairn, thou wants to hear the story of my lass, -and none but I can tell it. Not yon woman up in the -new castle, for she but repeats the lies she has been told, -and she believes. None but I can tell the true story. -Sit ye down, bairn, and hear.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But—it is so late—so late—I ought to go home,” -said Wynnette, divided between curiosity and uneasiness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not late. It is not yet one hour past midnight; -and thou art a brave bairn, and there be none to harm -thee. Besides, I must tell thee the true story.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette drew some of the rushes into a heap, and -sat down upon them.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLV<br /> <span class='large'>TOLD IN THE OLD HALL</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“It was fifty years ago, my bairnie—fifty years ago. -Earl Hardston ruled at Enderby. Distant cousin he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>was to yon present Earl Francis——What was that? -Eh! nothing but the flap of the owl’s wing as it passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Earl Hardston ruled at Enderby. A handsome devil -he were. Tall, broad-shouldered, straight-backed, -strong-limbed. His hair was black and glossy as the -raven’s wing; his eyes were black and fiery as the hawk’s, -and sometimes soft as the dove’s. Ah, a taking rascal he -were.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“His lady mother and his lady sisters lived at the -castle, and were to live there until my lord should marry, -when they would all go to Kedge Hall, the dower-house -of the Widows of Enderby. Kedge Hall was no to be -compared to Enderby Castle, and so my lady and her -daughters were no minded that my lord should take a -wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, but they were wicked!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Handsome jades they were, every one. Black-a-vized, -like me lord, but not one of them to hold a candle to my -lass, though she were the hen-wife’s child, and her -feyther the undergardener.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but she were the beauty of the world!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I ha’e seen the Venus in the castle gallery, but it -was no to be compared to my lass’ form. And her features -were small and fine and clean-cut, and her skin -was like the wild rose leaf. Her eyes were blue as -violets, and her hair was yellow and soft and silky as the -fringe of the young maize corn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but she was the beauty of the world!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Everybody was in love with her. Every servant in -the castle, from the old bachelor-butler down to the boy -in buttons, which they called the page, was half mad for -the love of my lass. Every laborer in the grounds, from -the widowed gamekeeper down to the youngest stableboy, -was half dying for the love of my lass.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, bairnie, she did not scorn any of them—not the -lowliest. She had a smile and a gentle glance, and a -kind word for every one—even for the freckle-faced -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>and red-haired young groom, who always had a cold in -his head and a swelled nose, and used to follow her about -like a dog, until he lost his place for neglecting his business. -She was kind and good to all.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but she was the angel of the world, was my -lassie. She were sweet and tender to every one, but she -would ha’e none o’ them i’ the way o’ marriage. That -were too much to ask, she thought.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So time went on, till my lass was twenty years old, -and she had never lo’ed a man. And my lord were -thirty, and he had never married a wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ane autumn my lord had a company of friends staying -at the castle—gentlemen friends, the lot of them. -Sorrow a lady was ever asked to the castle barring it -was some old lady without daughters, or nieces, or any -women at all. It was not my lady countess who would -throw temptation to matrimony in the way of her son, -the earl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but she was the devil of the world. You shall -hear, my bairn. You shall hear. Among the company -at the castle was ane painter lad, which even the king -made much of—so ’twas said—so fine was his paintings.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My lady countess had noticed my lass, my Phebe. -Ane day she sent a lackey down to my cottage, with -orders for me to bring my girl up to the castle. So I -obeyed my lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We were showed to a room full of pictures, and -images, and rubbish, which I soon found out was the -painter lad’s workshop. My lady was there, sitting in -the only easy-chair. And the painter lad was there, -standing before a queer prop, with a picture on it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As soon as the lackey said, ‘The young woman, my -lady,’ and shut the door, the countess looked at us without -speaking, and then turned to the painter, and said, -‘Here is your model, Mr. Fordyce,’ as if my Phebe had -been nothing but a bundle of lumber.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The painter lad was an ugly little mug as ever was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>seen, but a great painter he were, and a civil man. He -looked at my Phebe, and I could see the surprise and -delight in his ill-favored little face, and he bowed to -her, and handed both of us to seats. My lady frowned, -and he blushed, and said something very softly, which I -thought was asking pardon for his civility to us.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Aweel, bairnie, that were the beginning o’ the end. -Fra that day my lass went up to the castle every day, in -obedience to my lady’s orders. I do not know, I cannot -tell when it was, or how it was, that my lord first began -to be present at the ‘sittings,’ as they called them. -Maybe he heard the painter lad praising the beauty of -my lass, for, bairnie, though she was born and brought -up on his land, he had never seen her, for he never -showed his face down in such low places as his laborers’ -huts. So, maybe, he heard the painter lad praising her -beauty, and for curiosity went in to take a look at her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But sometimes I think my lady countess planned it -all—to amuse my lord, and keep him at home. What -did she care for a peasant girl’s heart, or her soul, or -her good name, either, if she could amuse my lord and -keep him from going off and getting married, and bringing -a wife home to send her and her lady daughter to -Kedge Hall?</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but she was the devil of the world!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah me! ah me! ah me! I did not know what was -going on. You see, I didn’t go with my lass to the -castle after that first time. My lady’s maid, an aul -wife, always came and fetched her. No, I did not know -what was going on. And why should I tell you of wickedness -that is not for you to hear?</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, no, I will pack the whole peck into a pint cup, -and make an end of it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, such an old tale. Oh, such a common tale. It -is heard in every hamlet, on every hillside. Oh, but it -comes home to one when it’s one’s ain child. Ah me! -ah me!</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>“Late in the autumn the pictures were finished and -the sittings were over, and the painter lad went his way -back to London. And my lass stayed hame with me -and only went out sometimes in the gloaming. I never -thought ill. I used to go to look after the poultry -yard by the castle stables every day, and sometimes, with -the gathering and sorting of eggs, and other matters, I -would be kept at work all day long.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day I got on wi’ my work so weel that I cam’ -hame airlier than common. And there, i’ the hut, was -my lord, wi’ Phebe on his knee and his arm around her -waist. Before I could weel tak’ in the whole, my lord -had risen, and, with a ‘Good-e’en, dame,’ he passed me, -and went out. And I sat down on the floor and covered -my head wi’ my apun. I could speak no word of -blame to my lass; my heart, it was broken.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Presently she came to me and put her sweet arms -around my neck, and said to me, in her ain sweet voice, -‘Minnie, minnie, I canna see you grieve and not tell you -the truth, though I must break my word to do it. Minnie, -yon great earl is my husband and your son, and I -love him as I love my life!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bairnie, ye may think I were surprised at what I -heard, but, indeed, I were not. I were very pleased, and -that’s the truth, but not surprised. I thought my lass -the beauty of the whole world. And the angel of the -whole world, and our folk-lore were full of tales of how -noble lords, and even royal princes, did love and marry -peasant girls for their beauty and for their goodness. -And who so beautiful and who so good as my ain lass?</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No. I was not surprised, but I was proud and -pleased. I only asked her the how and the when, and -the where, and when she had told me I believed in her, -as I had a right to believe in her, but I also believed in -him, as I had no right to believe in any man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And then she begged me to keep the secret, because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>she had broken her promise to keep it from everybody, -and had told me, from love of me.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I swore that I would keep her secret, and I kissed -her, and petted her, and loved her. And she said, ‘Now -I am completely happy, dear minnie, as I never was -when I kept a secret from mine ain minnie.’ Ah me! ah -me! But, there. She is still happy. I only am miserable. -She is alive! I only am dead! But some time or -other I shall come to life and be happy with her. Where -was I, bairnie? What was I telling you last?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of your dear daughter’s secret marriage with the -earl, and of your promise to keep the secret,” said -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ay, ay! And we were happy that night. Phebe -and I. And I hugged her to my heart as we slept together, -and I called her ‘My little countess! My little -countess!’ Ah, I was drunk with pride and vanity. Not -for myself, but for my beauty and angel of the world. I -could not sleep for thinking of her and of her grandeur. -Only I did think that mayhap if the king had chanced -to come by our way and see her the king himself might -ha’ married her and made her a queen. And I did not -care for the earl so much but that I was sorry it was not -the king who had seen her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Next morning Phebe went back to her spinning and -I went to the henhouse. I quieted down and began to -go over the tales in our folk-lore—and I thought, with -uneasiness, how King Cœphutas, who married the beggar -girl, and the other king that married the nut-brown -maid, and all other kings and princes and nobles who -had married good and beautiful peasant maids, had -wedded them in open day before all the world, with a -great flourish of trumpets and blowing of horns, and -flaunting of flags, in honor of the wedding, and all the -neighboring kings, and princes, and lords, and nobles -invited to the feast. And here was this earl, who was -neither king nor prince and nobody but an earl had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>married the beauty and the angel of the world, in the -dark behind the door, as it were, and keeping his marriage -a secret as if he was ashamed of it. I wondered -what he meant. I thought if it had been the king who -had married my lass he would not have done so.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When I came hame that night I asked my girl how -it was. And she told me it was from fear of his mother, -who had set her heart on his marrying the daughter of -a duke. The daughter of a duke, indeed. What was -the daughter of a duke compared to the beauty and the -angel of the whole world, as kings and princes would -ha’ fought for, if they had only seen her? But it was -all a lie, for my lady countess, she had set her heart on -his never marrying anybody so long as she should live.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I thought the earl was unworthy to be compared -with the kings and princes of our folk-lore. And I -feared my lass had thrown herself away on an ungrateful -earl—a mere common earl—when she might have -married a king or an emperor if she had only waited -until one passed by and saw her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But it was done, and he was her husband, so I would -not say anything to set her against him.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLVI<br /> <span class='large'>A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“Ah, well, as the days and the weeks passed I got -mortal tired of waiting for him to own my girl his wife, -and take her to the great house with blowing of trumpets, -and waving of banners, and flaunting of flags, and -prancing of steeds, like I had heard of. What was the -use of my girl being the wife of a great lord, if she had -to wear a linsey gown, and sit in the hut and spin all -day long while I was away to the henhouse? Why, -none at all.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>“Oh, bairn, it is such a help to my poor heart telling -you all this. And you believe me, don’t you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe every word you say—tell me more,” earnestly -replied Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“At long last my lady countess and her young lady -daughters went up to London town. And now I thought, -while they are gone, my lord will take his wife hame to -the great house; but he didn’t, bairn; he didn’t. Oh, he -didn’t. He was abroad somewhere, to France, maybe, -or to Paris, or some other furrin country thereaway. -And my lass gave herself up to weeping, and never -showed herself abroad, but stayed in the hut. One day -I laid a baby boy in her arms and told her to be comforted, -for that her son was the little Lord Glennon and -the heir to the Earldom of Enderby.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And then I had to tell my neighbors the secret, for I -could not bear they should think ill o’ my ain lass. But -nane o’ them would believe me. Not one. They laughed -me to scorn—me and my lass. It is an old tale—oh, -such an old tale, such a common old tale! Only it -comes hame when it’s one’s ain bairn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day my lord came hame and heard the report, -and a fine passion he was in with my lass and me. He -denied her and her child. He pretended it was Andy, -the stableboy, she had married. And he scorned her, -and threatened to turn us both out of the hut if we ever -so much as named his name again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, but he was the devil of the whole world!</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After that, in many long nights that my lass and -I lay awake, we talked, and I got to know why the great -earl had married my beauty and angel of the whole -world. First he tried to win her love without her hand; -but my girl was good and firm; and then he grew so mad -for her love that he took her before a priest and married -her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day we did hear that the earl was to wed the -duke’s daughter, and all the cottagers said I was a mad -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>crone to think my lord had stooped to my lass. Ah, my -lass! She was fading away before my very eyes. But -not fast enough for my lord.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day there was a fair at Enderby Town, and all -the laborers on the estate and all the servants at the -castle had a holiday to go to the fair. All went but me -and my lass. We ne’er left hame in those days. We -could no bear that any should look on us and scorn us.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So that day I left my lass spinning at the hut door, -and the baby was sleeping in the basket by her side, and -I went to my duty in the hen-houses. I had the old -nests to clean out and fresh straw to put in them. I -got done about twelve of the clock and come hame.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But my girl was not in the house, nor the babe. I -had no misgiving. I went in and waited for her. But -she came no more. She never came again. When it -grew dark I began to be so uneasy that I went out to -look for her, but could no find her. There was no one -as I could ask; all the world was gone to the fair, and -nane would be hame till late, maybe not till morning.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, bairn, when I had walked till my limbs were -ready to sink under me I went hame and laid down, just -as I was, on the outside of my bed. I was not asleep. -Nay, bairnie, I was not asleep. I did no dream what -followed. I saw it. My eyes were shut and all the -world was still; for it was long after midnight, and even -drawing near the morning; but still it was pitch-dark, -when—no, I wasn’t asleep, and I didn’t dream it—when -I felt a light through my shut eyelids. I opened them -and saw the room was full of light that did not come -from sun, or moon, or star, or candle, or lamp, or fire, -but from a bright form that stood in the midst of the -place and beckoned me to come to it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In an awe that was not a fright, I got up and went to -it and said ‘Phebe!’ for I knew it was my lass that stood -there, with her child in her arms, and clothed, not in -the white raiment of the blest, but in what I thought -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>was lovelier, a clear, soft, rosy gown that fell from her -shoulders down to her feet. She had no crown on her -head, but her silky, yellow hair streamed down around -her form like sunbeams. I knew she was a spirit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Phebe!’ I said again—‘Phebe!’ She did not speak, -but holding her child on her right arm, she raised her -left hand and beckoned me, and pointed to the door, and -went out. I followed her. She led me by ways I had -never gone before, but have gone every year since that -night. The same way I took you to-night, my bairn. -The secret passage to the deep caverns under the foundations -of the castle, the only way to them except through -the trapdoor and shaft that runs two hundred feet -down in a straight line—a way that is now known to -none but me. Even you could no find it again. She led -me through the secret passage and down the many, many -steps cut in the solid rock, down, down, down, her light -making the steep path light before me until we reached -the Dungeon of the Dark Death—and even that she -lighted up.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She led me to a spot where her dead body lay on -the ground, just under the bottom of the shaft, that -reached only to the ceiling or roof above. Her body lay -with the body of her babe, just as if they both had -dropped down there and fallen asleep. I knew they -were dead. I knew every bone in both was broken, -though that did not appear on the outside. It was -under where they struck the ground that the horror of -death was. I knew also, as if I had seen it all, how she -had died—how she had been entrapped to her sudden -death—how she had not even suffered. There had been -a swift fall, a shock, nothing, and then a wonderful coming -to life in a new form.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I tell you, lass, it was no dream, no dream! but a -real seeing. And it was wonderful to stand there by -the two crushed, dead bodies and see the two living -souls. I thought of the chrysalis and the butterfly, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>worm and the moth, the eggshell and the bird, as I stood -there between life and death, and seeing both.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And without any speech at all, my lass made me -know how she had been betrayed to death—how, every -one being gone off the place, and she alone in her hut, -my lord had come to her and pretended to make it all -up with her, and had asked her to walk with him in the -hall of the old castle. And she had gone. And they -walked up and down, up and down, until suddenly, when -she was passing with her babe over the trapdoor they -had passed so many times, he suddenly stepped back, -the door fell in, and she shot down, struck the ground -two hundred feet below, and knew no more until she -woke up in her new form—not dead, but living, never -more to die.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Presently she beckoned to me again, and walking -before me, a form of rosy light, led me back again by -the way we had come, up, up, up, to the upper air again. -Nor did she leave me until we were back in the hut. -She waved her arm and signed for me to lie down on -the bed; and I minded her and did what she said. Then -she stood by my bed waving her hand to and fro, to and -fro, until I went to sleep. And I slept so deep and so -long that it was broad daylight, with the sun shining in -at the bare window, when I waked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, it was no dream, bairn. Soon as I waked I -minded all that had passed in the night, and I knowed -it was no dream.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I went no more out that day. At noon my lord came -to the hut, the first time he had come for many a day. -And he asked me, in a careless way:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Where is that wench of yours, goody?’ And I -looked him straight in the face, and answered him:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Her body and her babe’s lie crushed to death on the -stone floor of the deep dungeon where you cast her down; -but she and her child—they are in Paradise.’</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>“He turned white as a sheet and he reeled in his saddle; -but he quickly put on a bold face and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘You are a mad old beast, and before twenty-four -hours are over your head you shall be committed to the -County Lunatic Asylum.’</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And with that he struck spurs into his horse and -dashed wildly away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not too often, lass, does punishment follow fast on -crime, but it did in this case. He dashed wildly off in -a state of mind, I reckon, that made him unable to guide -his young horse as he ought.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Half an hour later he was carried hame to the castle -on a shutter. The horse had thrown him and broken -his neck.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The title and estates, they went to a distant cousin, -great-grandfather of the present Earl Francis. Earl -Godfrey was good to me—he and his children and his -children’s children have been good to me—always good -to me, although they call me mad.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When my girl was missed and the trapdoor was -found open, they had it that she had trodden on it and -it had gin way under her weight, and her death was a -accident and nobody to blame. They wouldn’t listen to -me—no one word. They said I was a poor, harmless -creetur, crazed by the loss of my lass. They got a windlass -and great chains and ropes, and then let down men -and they took up my birds’ broken shells and gave them -Christian burial.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Everybody was kind to me, only they wouldn’t believe -me. They said I was mad. They would have it as -it was the poor stableboy as wronged my girl. And now -I hear, after more than fifty years, some un have made -another story and got it into a book, how the stableboy -killed my girl and threw her body down the shaft, -and was hanged for it at Carlisle. All lies, bairn! All -lies! My story is the only true one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe you,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLVII<br /> <span class='large'>THE END OF THE NIGHT</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“The sky is red in the east. Go now, my bairn. -Thou art a good child, and brave to dare the ghosts of -the old hall and to hear the tale of an old crone. And -it is true, bairn; it is true. Do not you give faith to -any who tell you it is not and tell you I am mad.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will not. I will believe only you. But before I -go tell me—can I do anything for you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, bairn. Nothing, bless ’ee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where do you live?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the old hut—the hut outside the south wall, open -to the lane.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I can find it. May I come to see you there?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ay, ay, bairn. Bless ’ee for the kind thought. Come -when thou like, but dinna bring ony other with ’ee. Na -other might hear me sa kind and mind me sa well as -ye do.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you—are you—have you—will you——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette hesitated and blushed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speak out, bairn. Dinna be feared. Speak out.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then—will you have—a good breakfast ready for -you when you go home?” hesitatingly inquired practical -Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall have all I want, bairnie. Earl Francis has -provided for me. Go your ways to the house now, -bairnie. Your friends will be speiring after ye.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette took the shriveled hand of the creature and -pressed it kindly before she left the old castle hall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The early June morning was breaking brightly and -beautifully over land and sea as Wynnette went down -the half-ruined steps that led from the castle hall to the -courtyard below.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She climbed over the piles of rubbish, and at length -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>found herself on the flagged walk that led up to the west -entrance of the new castle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Not a soul was yet astir. It could not have been more -than half-past four o’clock, and the servants of the castle -were not accustomed to rise before six.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She went up the broad stone stairs and opened the -door, which she found, as she had left it at midnight, -unfastened.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She passed in silently, quietly replaced all the fastenings, -and ascended noiselessly to her room. Her sister -was still sleeping soundly. She felt no disposition to -sleep. She resumed her seat at the west window, and -looked out upon the morning view, as she had looked on -the night scene, trying to understand the adventure she -had passed through.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Was the old crone who had talked with her really -mad? Had her only child been ruined and murdered -by the wicked earl? Had she, Wynnette, really witnessed -that wonderful vision in the dungeon under the -castle, or had she been so psychologized by the crone as -to have been the subject of an optical illusion?</p> - -<p class='c008'>She could not tell! She could make nothing of her -night’s experience. While she was musing over it all -her thoughts grew confused, her vision obscured, and -perhaps she fell asleep; for she was presently roused as -from profound unconsciousness by the voice of Odalite -calling out to her:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wynnette! Wynnette! Child! you have never slept -at that open window all night? How imprudent!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl roused herself and tried to recall her faculties.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe I did fall asleep, Odalite,” she replied; but -she shuddered as she remembered her night’s adventure.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And you are shivering now. And you are pale and -heavy-eyed. Oh, my dear, what an indiscreet thing to -do—to sleep with your head on the sill of an open window! -You have caught cold.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>“Ah! if you only knew what I have caught,” thought -Wynnette; but she answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, no, I have not, Odalite. I am going to take a -bath now and dress for breakfast. I am all right. How -could I take cold on such a lovely night in June?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But you must not repeat this,” said Odalite.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I don’t mean to!” significantly replied Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>An hour later they met the family at breakfast.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was so unusually grave and silent that at -length her uncle noticed her manner and inquired:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is the matter with our Little Pickle this morning?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She sat in the chair at the open window all night, -and fell asleep there. That is the matter,” replied Odalite -for her sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! ah! that will never do! We must put a stop to -that sort of practice!” replied the earl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And then Mr. and Mrs. Force both fell upon their -daughter with rebuke and admonition, but were soothed -and mollified when Wynnette assured them not only that -she had taken no harm on this occasion, but that she -never meant to repeat the last night’s performance again -so long as she should live.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When breakfast was over the family party adjourned -to a pleasant morning room looking out upon the sea, -and occupied themselves with opening and reading their -letters, which had come in by the morning’s mail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force had letters from his farm manager and -from his attorney, giving satisfactory accounts of affairs -at Mondreer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leonidas had equally good news from Beeves concerning -his little estate of Greenbushes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mrs. Force received a short note, ill-spelled and worse -written, from her housekeeper, but it gave good account -of domestic affairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Rosemary Hedge had a joint letter from her mother -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>and aunt, saying that they were both in good health, -and giving their child plenty of good counsel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette received an old-fashioned letter from young -Grandiere, which she laughed over and refused to show -to any one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the midst of this occupation they were interrupted -by the opening of the door, and the entrance of a footman, -who touched his forehead with a grave air and -stood in silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is it?” inquired the earl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you please, my lord, it is Old Silly,” solemnly -replied the man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Old Zillah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my lord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What of her?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you please, my lord, she is dead.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dead!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, my lord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Old Zillah! Why—when did she die?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you please, my lord, we don’t know. Kato, the -under scullery maid, who carried her some breakfast -this morning, found her dead on her bed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was to have been expected. She was nearly a century -old. It is well!”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLVIII<br /> <span class='large'>OLD ZILLAH</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>“She has come to life,” said Wynnette, quoting the -words of the departed woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All looked at the girl in some surprise. With all her -oddities, Wynnette was not used to make such speeches -as that. And now, for the first time, they noticed that -Wynnette’s face was very pale, with dark circles under -her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>“What is the matter with you, my dear?” inquired -her mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing at all, mamma,” answered the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She sat by the open window late last night and fell -asleep there, and slept until I woke her up this morning. -That was quite enough to make her ill,” Odalite explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, my dear; in such fine June weather as the -present, and in such pure air as ours, it would hardly -have hurt her had she slept outdoors,” said the earl. -“But what do you mean, my dear, by saying that our -poor Old Zillah ‘has come to life’?” he inquired, as he -turned to the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing heterodox, uncle. Nothing but what we -hear from our pulpits on every Easter Sunday morning,” -she replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh!” he exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Only in this case the truth seems to be very marked. -A woman nearly a hundred years old must have been -nearly dead for many years and now has certainly come -to life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nothing new, uncle, please. I never said anything -new in my life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then you put old truths in a very new way.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Eternal truth, uncle, eternal truth; plain to gentle -and simple, to young and old; plain as the sunshine to -all who can see; hidden only from them who are blind, -or who choose to keep their eyes shut.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hum! Truth that neither the aged, the invalid nor -the bereaved can afford to disregard, at least. And -now, my dear, I must leave you, to inquire into the -cause of Old Zillah’s sudden death. Will you come -with me, gentlemen?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mr. Force and Leonidas arose to attend him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Le gave the invalid the support of his strong young -arm.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>And so the three men passed out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mamma, did you know anything about this wonderful -old woman?” inquired Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very little, my dear. Only the years of my earliest -childhood were passed here. Old Zillah was an object -of terror to me. Partly, perhaps, because she wore a -man’s coat over her skirt, and a man’s hat on her head, -and partly because she had the reputation of being a -wise woman or a witch. She never came to the castle, -and I never saw her except by chance, when I went with -my nursery governess to walk or ride. She never came -near me or spoke to me. I think I should have gone -into fits if she had.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How old were you then, mamma?” she inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I do not know when I first began to hear of Old Zillah, -or when I first saw her. She was the shadow and -the terror of my dawn of life. I was but four years old -when I lost my mother, and then my father left this -place, taking me with him; and he went to his estate in -Ireland—Weirdwaste, on the west coast.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“‘Weirdwaste!’ What a name! Did you live long -at Weirdwaste, mamma, dear?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, many years alone there with my governess. My -father was traveling on the continent.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What sort of a place was it, mamma?” inquired -Wynnette. And Rosemary and Elva drew their chairs -nearer to the sofa on which their mother sat to hear -her answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was an old manor house on the inland end of a -long, flat, dreary point of land stretching into the Atlantic -Ocean. At high tide the entire cape, to within -a few rods of the manor wall, was covered by the sea, -and day and night the swash of the sea was heard.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How lonely you must have been, mamma, with no -one but your governess and the servants,” said Elva. -“But perhaps you had neighbors,” she added.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No; no neighbors at all. There was no one within -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>miles of us but the poorest Irish peasants, who were -tenants of my father. The estate was vast in extent of -territory, but poor in soil. The land steward lived in -the manor house, to take care of it and of me. They -kept two old servants—a man and a woman—an old -horse, and older jaunting car. That is how I lived at -Weirdwaste.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh! what a lonely life! How long did you live -there, mamma?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Until I was nearly fifteen years of age, when my -health failed, and the surgeon from the nearest town -was called to see me, and thought my case so serious that -he wrote to my father, who was in Paris. My father -then came to see me, took me and my governess to -Brighton, and established us in elegant lodgings on the -King’s Road.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That must have been a most delightful change. How -long did you stay in Brighton, mamma? And where -did you go next? Not back to Weirdwaste, I hope,” -said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, not back to Weirdwaste. I have never seen the -dreary place since I left it,” replied the lady, in a low -voice, but with paling cheeks and troubled brow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mamma, love,” said Odalite, rising, “will you come -with me into the library now and help me to translate -the passage in Camoëns we were talking about yesterday?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, dear,” replied the lady, rising to follow her eldest -daughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, I’m blest if that isn’t playing it rather too low -down on a fellow, Odalite—I mean it is very inconsiderate -in you to carry off mamma just as she is telling -about the days of her youth, for the very first time, too! -Bah! bother! what a nuisance!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>But Mrs. Force and her eldest daughter had passed -out of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The death of Old Zillah caused quite a commotion in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>the castle and its neighborhood. Notwithstanding her -age, or, perhaps, because of her great age, her death -came as a surprise, not to say as a shock, to the community. -She had lived so long that it almost seemed -as if she must always continue to live.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, it’s like as if the old tower of the ruined castle -itself had fallen!” said one to another.</p> - -<p class='c008'>People came from far and near to see the remains of -the centenarian, and to get her real age, and hear some -facts of her life. And all the cruel old legends were -raked up again, until the whole air of the place was full -of fetor, fire and brimstone. The people reveled in the -moral malaria.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The mortal body of the oldest retainer of the House -of Enderby at length found a peaceful resting place in -Enderby churchyard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>No peeress of the realm ever had a larger funeral than -this pauper, at least so far as the number of followers -went.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was not until night on the day after the funeral -that Wynnette slipped away from the family circle and -went to the housekeeper’s room to hear the promised -story.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will hear both sides,” she said to herself, “though -I do believe Old Zillah’s version to be the true one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She found the good woman seated at a small worktable -and engaged in knitting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, Mrs. Kelsy, how are you to-night?” inquired -Wynnette, as she took the offered seat beside the dame.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thanky’, miss, I’m none the better for the worriment -of this week,” replied the housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You mean the funeral?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The whole on’t, miss! The greatest crowd as ever -was every day this week, not even honoring the Sabbath -itself, but coming more on that day than any other! -And the talk, and the gossip, and the raking up of old -scandals, until I was soul sick of it all. And all because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>a wise woman, over a hundred years old, was found dead -in her bed. Warraloo! How else and where else should -she ha’ been found dead, I’d like to know!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But you have had a night and day of rest, and I -hope you feel recovered.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Rest, is it, miss? Recovered, is it? Not very much -of either! It is dead beat I am!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am sorry to hear that. I was hoping that you -would feel well to-night and be inclined to tell me the -story of the pretty maiden you promised.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, ay, well, there is not so much to tell. And now -the old creature as hung on so long is gone, I don’t mind -telling it so much. The girl’s soul may have rest now -that her mither doesn’t harry it up.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I hope it will,” said Wynnette, in a conciliating -tone. “You will tell me the story now?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes! and whatever other story you may hear about -it will be false, for I know that you will hear other -stories, if you haven’t heard ’em already. There’s -plenty of ’em going around, I tell you, and no two alike. -But only I have the truth, for I have it straight from -my mother, who had it from her’n! So it must be true! -And no other story could be!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But I suppose if Old Zillah were alive she also could -give the real facts,” ventured Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She? Least of all in this world could she tell it! -For not only did she fail to tell the truth, but she told -a many mad fancies; for she was about as mad as a -March hare! Saw visions and talked with departed -spirits, prophesied future events, and all that, she did! -Yes, miss. She has been that a way ever since I knowed -her, and as I have heard tell, was that a way ever since -she lost her daughter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell me about her daughter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I’m a-gwine to. Well, you see, it seems the feyther -had been undergardener, and he died, and then the -widow was given the use of a little hut in the outside of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>the old castle wall, on the lane. And there she lived -and brought up her only child, Phebe. They were both -employed in the poultry yard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Phebe grew up beautiful as an angel—so beautiful -that everybody who happened to meet her stopped to -look at her—so beautiful, that her beauty turned her -own head, as well as her mother’s. While she was yet -a child all the gentry that met her gave her half crowns, -and even half guineas, for the love of her fair face. At -least so ’twas said, and so ’twas handed down. And -people used to make such foolish speeches about her as -that she was lovely enough to turn the head of a king.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“These speeches did turn her mother’s head, and her -own as well. All the young men were in love with her, -but she scorned them all for a poor little imp of a stableboy, -an orphan as had been her playmate all her life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did hear that it was for the sake of the young earl -she flouted the others,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes, I dare say—that was one of the stories that -went round! That was false. The young earl did come -down to celebrate his coming of age, and his mother and -sisters came with him, and made up their minds to stay -with him, which they might do until he should marry, -in which case they would have to go to Kedge Hall, an -old manor house on the moors. So my lady seemed to -think the longer she could keep my lord, her son, from -getting a wife, the better it would be for her and her -girls.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Among the men staying at the castle was an artist. -He was to paint a picture of St. Cecelia for the countess, -but he wanted a model. One day my lady, out driving, -happened to see Phebe, and had her up to the castle to -sit to the artist. And then the mischief began. My lord -fell in love with her. Fairly went out of his senses for -love of this beautiful creature, who didn’t even know -how to read.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And my lady encouraged the folly and wickedness. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>Eh, my dear, gentlefolks were not particular in those -days. ‘Here,’ she said, ‘was a beauty right on his own -land, the child of his tenant, one of his own born slaves, -bound to do his will, who might amuse his fancy and -keep him from marriage for many a year.’ She never -feared such a thing as my lord marrying the girl. Such -folly was not to be thought, and never was thought of -by either of them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But,” said Wynnette, “I heard that the earl had -married her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stuff and nonsense! He never dreamed of such a -thing! He was the proudest man alive! And he was -engaged to a duke’s daughter! But the crazy old mother -and the silly young girl fancied that he even might do -that for love of Phebe’s fair face. So the poor stableboy -was thrown over, and the young earl was received. -The boy got madly jealous, and so—months after, -when the hapless girl was found dead at the bottom of -the shaft in the old castle—the stableboy was arrested -on suspicion of the murder.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know,” said Wynnette, “and the guide to Enderby -Castle says that he was tried and convicted and hanged -at Carlisle. But I have heard that contradicted.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, it is contradicted. I do not know the truth. -It has been so long ago that no living person can remember -it, now that Old Zillah is gone.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She could,” said Wynnette.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, yes! she could! But she got facts and fancies -so mixed up in her poor old brain that no one would -dream of trusting to her stories. If you could ever have -had the chance to see her, miss, you would have seen -how very mad she was.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette did not think it necessary to explain that -she had seen Old Zillah and heard her story.</p> - -<p class='c008'>To no one could the girl breathe one word of her terrible -night in the old castle. Sometimes she was half -inclined to believe that she had really fallen asleep on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>the window sill and dreamed it all—from the moment -of horror and amazement when the spectral eyes lighted -up the loopholes of the old wall, to the moment when -she was awakened by the voice of her sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wynnette was more bewildered than she liked to own -herself to be—bewildered as to the dream, or the reality -of her terrible night! Bewildered as to the relative -truth or falsehood of the two conflicting stories she had -heard of the beautiful peasant girl’s fate.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is dream and what is reality? What is fact -and what is fable?” she asked herself continually.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c006'>CHAPTER XLIX<br /> <span class='large'>BROTHER AND SISTER</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Meanwhile there was another member of the family -circle fully as much perplexed as was Wynnette, though -upon another subject.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Earl of Enderby could not reconcile all his -knowledge—his lifelong knowledge of Angus Anglesea, -his schoolmate at Harrow; his classmate at Oxford, his -brother-in-arms in India, the brave, tender, faithful -friend and comrade of many years and many lands—with -this thief, forger, bigamist, described under his -name by Elfrida Force and all her family.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Elf,” he said to her one day, as the two sat <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i> -in the library—all the other members of the family -circle having gone out for a stroll on the top of the -cliffs—“Elf, my dear, I have had some trials in my -time—not the least among them, my inherited malady, -dooming me to an early death and barring me from -marriage——”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Francis, don’t say that! Medical science has -reached such perfection, you may be restored to health; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>and you are yet not middle-aged—you may marry and -be happy,” said the lady, almost in tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, Elf! No, dear! It is impossible! But it is -not of my infirmities I wish to speak now. I would -rather never mention them—much rather forget them, -if that were possible! I only meant to say that of all -the trials I have ever suffered, that of hearing such -news of Anglesea as you have told me is the most painful! -I cannot forget it! I think of it constantly, by -day and by night.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am very sorry that we had to tell you, Francis.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Elf! You knew Anglesea in those early days when -we both came down to spend our holidays at Brighton -with you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes; I remember.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You knew him then. Could you have believed such -villainies of him?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, not then.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nor could I then, nor can I now. I wish the man -were in England. I would go to him and make these -charges face to face, and put him on his defense. I shall -never rest until I put him on his defense.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you not believe what we have told you and proved -to you—that this man is a thief, a forger and a bigamist, -even on his own showing?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe that you believe it, my dear. And I believe -as much of it as I can believe in the absence of the accused. -And when a man is accused of crime he should -be present and be put upon his defense. I wish to charge -Anglesea to his face with these felonies and to hear what -he has to say.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida Force looked so coldly on her brother in answer -to these words that he hastened to say:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See here, my dear. Consider how I loved and -trusted that man from my youth up. He was older than -myself. He was my mentor, my guide, philosopher and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>friend. I could no more have doubted his honor than I -could have doubted yours.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The lady winced.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Think of it, my dear. Do you wonder that I am -sorely perplexed at what I hear of him? Or that I wish -to hear what he has to say for himself? Suppose any -one—Anglesea, for instance, before I had heard a word -against him, when I loved and trusted him most—had -come to me and said: ‘Your sister, whom you love and -honor so much, has forfeited both love and honor——’ -Elfrida! Heavens! What is the matter?” suddenly exclaimed -the earl, as the lady sank back pallid and fainting -in her chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is——Go on,” said the sister, recovering herself -with an effort. “Nothing is the matter. You were saying -that if Anglesea had come to you with slanders of -your sister——What would you have done?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I should have knocked him down and kicked him out, -first of all, as a preliminary to challenging him. Be -sure I should not have believed his story told behind -your back. And I am certain you would not wish me to -be less just to Anglesea than to you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well. I do not believe he will ever dare to show -his face in England again; but if he should, and you -should meet him, make the charge that we have made -and see how he will meet it. Of course he will deny all -and accuse his accusers of conspiracy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is all very painful and very perplexing, but do not -think otherwise than that I will stand by you and yours, -Elfrida, under all circumstances.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am quite sure that you will, dear Francis,” replied -the lady; and their talk drifted to other topics.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall miss you very much, sister, when you go -abroad,” he said at length.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But I shall not go, Francis. I shall remain with -you. I have been over the continent so often that I do -not care to see it again,” replied the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>“What do you say, Elfrida? You will not go on this -tour with your husband and children? You will stay -here with your invalid brother? That is good news to -me, but what will your husband say to such a plan?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course I had a talk with Mr. Force before making -up my mind. We talked it over last night. He -thinks just as I do—that it is best for me to stay with -you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is very kind; very, very kind. But you will both -give up much for the sake of a poor, sick man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, indeed. I really do not care for the continental -tour, I have made it so often.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But there are so many changes since you made it -last.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, there is gas instead of lamplight in all the -cities; railway trains instead of diligences on all the -highways; and sons on the thrones of their fathers. I -am content to know of these things. I do not care to -see them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But Mr. Force? He will miss you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dear brother, our honeymoon was passed twenty-two -years ago. Young love has matured to old love, or -rather to love that never can know age nor absence. It -is not necessary that we should always be looking into -each other’s eyes to make sure that we are happy in our -union.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet I dare say you never tried it. I dare swear you -were never apart from each other for twenty-four hours -in your married life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No; we never were.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is why you talk so glibly of a separation for -months. You had better not try it, Elfrida. You had -better go with your husband and party, or make them -stay here with you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not so, Francis. I will not leave you, now that I -have come to you after so many years of separation. -And, on the other hand, I will not keep the other members -<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>of our family party from their travel. It is necessary -that young people should have the advantage of -this continental tour, and it is desirable that they should -have the protection of their father, as well as of their -cousin. So I must stay here, and they must go. If Mr. -Force or myself should grow lonesome during the season -of separation he can come here to me. Neither Abel -nor myself should feel the slightest hesitation in leaving -our young girls in the care of their cousin, Leonidas.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My dear, you have some strange, new, and, I suppose, -American ideas of the liberty allowable to young -people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To our own young people, who certainly may be -trusted with liberty,” replied Elfrida Force, with a -smile.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, of course—of course. I am human and selfish -enough to be very glad that you are to stay with me instead -of going with your party.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The brother and sister then talked of some details relating -to the intended tour, until the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</span></i> was -broken into by the return of the walking party.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the first of July that the tourists, consisting of -Abel, Leonidas, Odalite, Wynnette and Elva Force and -Rosemary Hedge, set out from Enderby to London, en -route for Dover and Paris.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were to have a three months’ travel over the continent, -and were to return on the first of October, unless -they should receive advices from the earl to meet him -and his sister at Baden-Baden, where he often went in -the autumn for the benefit of his health.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And with this understanding, and with the promise -of an incessant fire of letters from both sides, the friends -parted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Leonidas, it should have been explained, on account -of his six years active service at sea—serving double -turns, as he put it—had got a six months furlough, beginning -from the first of May. He would, therefore, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>not be due at the navy department to report for orders -until the first of November.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the large party had left the castle, life at Enderby -settled down to the calmest, not to say the dullest, -routine.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida Force spent her time in waiting on her invalid -brother, reading the old black-letter tomes in the library, -and in writing letters to her absent family and reading -their letters to herself. Sometimes she walked or rode -abroad, but always in company with her brother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Sometimes the Vicar of Enderby came and dined with -them, and played a game of chess in the evening with -the earl. Two or three times a week the village doctor -looked in to see his chronic patient, and once, on his advice, -a telegram to London brought down a titled court -physician to see the invalid.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Beyond these no company came to Enderby, and no -visits were made by the earl or his sister.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The castle was too remote and too difficult of approach -for mere visits of ceremony; and the sick earl was too -much of a recluse to encourage or enjoy the visits of his -neighbors. So the lives of the brother and sister, in the -absence of their relatives, passed in almost monastic -seclusion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And so July, August and half of September passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was on the sixteenth of the last-mentioned month -that the village practitioner, after a long visit and talk -with his patient, sent a telegram to the London physician, -who came to Enderby by the night’s express.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The result of the consultation by the sofa of the invalid -patient was this—that the earl must depart for -Baden-Baden as soon as possible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Preparations were immediately made for departure.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Among other precautions, Elfrida Force did not forget -Wynnette’s dear dog. She made a visit to the kennels, -where Joshua had found friends among his canine -as well as his human companions, and there she spoke -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>with the grooms and gave them some money in advance -and promised them more on her return if she should find -Joshua well and hearty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I think if anything were to happen to the dog my -daughter Wynnette would almost break her heart,” she -said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bless ’ee, my lady, nothing shall happen the brute -but good treatment. He’s a dog as any one might grow -fond on; and as for we, why, we fairly dotes on him, -my lady. And so do him on we. Look, my lady! Hi! -Joshway!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The dog came bounding from some distant spot and -jumped upon the groom with every demonstration of joy -until he saw his mistress, when the old love and loyalty -immediately asserted itself, and he sprang from the -groom to the lady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Elfrida Force caressed him to his heart’s content, and -then to divert his attention she emptied a small basket of -cold meat that she had brought for the purpose, and -while he was busy with a well-covered beef bone she -patted his head and slipped away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the morning of the same day the earl sent off a -telegram to Mr. Force, at the Hotel d’Angleterre, St. -Petersburg, merely saying: “We leave to-morrow for -Baden-Baden. Write to us at the Hotel d’Amerique.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Late in the evening he received the following answer:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We shall join you at the Hotel d’Amerique.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The earl handed the telegram to his sister, saying:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I told you the bridegroom would be impatient. The -bridal honeymoon was sweet, no doubt. But what was -that to be compared to the honeymoon of the silver wedding, -eh, Elf?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was about to retort by asking him what he could -know about it; but remembering in time the pathos of -her brother’s life, and not quite knowing what else to -say, she remarked that the twenty-fifth anniversary of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span>her wedding was yet three years off. And then she -kissed her brother and bade him good-night.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Fraught with destiny, the Civil War brought great -changes and brought with misery final happiness to the -Forces, as will be related in the third and final volume -of this series, under the title of “When Shadows Die.” -This is published in uniform style and price with this -volume.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c015'> - <div>THE END</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> - -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>Good Fiction Worth Reading.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<hr class='c016' /> -<p class='c008'>A series of romances containing several of the old favorites in the field -of historical fiction, replete with powerful romances of love and diplomacy -that excel in thrilling and absorbing interest.</p> - -<hr class='c003' /> - -<p class='c008'><strong>A COLONIAL FREE-LANCE.</strong> A story of American Colonial Times. By -Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A book that appeals to Americans as a vivid picture of Revolutionary -scenes. The story is a strong one, a thrilling one. It causes the true -American to flush with excitement, to devour chapter after chapter, until -the eyes smart, and it fairly smokes with patriotism. The love story is a -singularly charming idyl.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>THE TOWER OF LONDON.</strong> A Historical Romance of the Times of Lady -Jane Grey and Mary Tudor. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with -four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This romance of the “Tower of London” depicts the Tower as palace, -prison and fortress, with many historical associations. The era is the -middle of the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The story is divided into two parts, one dealing with Lady Jane Grey, -and the other with Mary Tudor as Queen, introducing other notable characters -of the era. Throughout the story holds the interest of the reader -in the midst of intrigue and conspiracy, extending considerably over a -half a century.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>IN DEFIANCE OF THE KING.</strong> A Romance of the American Revolution. -By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Mr. Hotchkiss has etched in burning words a story of Yankee bravery, -and true love that thrills from beginning to end, with the spirit of the -Revolution. The heart beats quickly, and we feel ourselves taking a -part in the exciting scenes described. His whole story is so absorbing -that you will sit up far into the night to finish it. As a love romance -it is charming.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>GARTHOWEN.</strong> A story of a Welsh Homestead. By Allen Raine. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“This is a little idyl of humble life and enduring love, laid bare before -us, very real and pure, which in its telling shows us some strong points of -Welsh character—the pride, the hasty temper, the quick dying out of wrath.... -We call this a well-written story, interesting alike through its -romance and its glimpses into another life than ours. A delightful and -clever picture of Welsh village life. The result is excellent.”—Detroit Free -Press.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>MIFANWY.</strong> The story of a Welsh Singer. By Allan Raine. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“This is a love story, simple, tender and pretty as one would care to -read. The action throughout is brisk and pleasing; the characters, it is apparent -at once, are as true to life as though the author had known them -all personally. Simple in all its situations, the story is worked up in that -touching and quaint strain which never grows wearisome, no matter how -often the lights and shadows of love are introduced. It rings true, and -does not tax the imagination.”—Boston Herald.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>DARNLEY.</strong> A Romance of the times of Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. -By G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davies. -Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In point of publication, “Darnley” is that work by Mr. James which -follows “Richelieu,” and, if rumor can be credited, it was owing to the advice -and insistence of our own Washington Irving that we are indebted -primarily for the story, the young author questioning whether he could -properly paint the difference in the characters of the two great cardinals. -And it is not surprising that James should have hesitated; he had been -eminently successful in giving to the world the portrait of Richelieu as a -man, and by attempting a similar task with Wolsey as the theme, was -much like tempting fortune. Irving insisted that “Darnley” came naturally -in sequence, and this opinion being supported by Sir Walter Scott, -the author set about the work.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As a historical romance “Darnley” is a book that can be taken up -pleasurably again and again, for there is about it that subtle charm which -those who are strangers to the works of G. P. R. James have claimed was -only to be imparted by Dumas.</p> - -<p class='c011'>If there was nothing more about the work to attract especial attention, -the account of the meeting of the kings on the historic “field of the cloth of -gold” would entitle the story to the most favorable consideration of every -reader.</p> - -<p class='c011'>There is really but little pure romance in this story, for the author has -taken care to imagine love passages only between those whom history has -credited with having entertained the tender passion one for another, and -he succeeds in making such lovers as all the world must love.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>CAPTAIN BRAND, OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE.</strong> By Lieut. -Henry A. Wise, U. S. N. (Harry Gringo). Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations -by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The re-publication of this story will please those lovers of sea yarns -who delight in so much of the salty flavor of the ocean as can come through -the medium of a printed page, for never has a story of the sea and those -“who go down in ships” been written by one more familiar with the scenes -depicted.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The one book of this gifted author which is best remembered, and which -will be read with pleasure for many years to come, is “Captain Brand,” -who, as the author states on his title page, was a “pirate of eminence in -the West Indies.” As a sea story pure and simple, “Captain Brand” has -never been excelled, and as a story of piratical life, told without the usual -embellishments of blood and thunder, it has no equal.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>NICK OF THE WOODS.</strong> A story of the Early Settlers of Kentucky. By -Robert Montgomery Bird. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This most popular novel and thrilling story of early frontier life in -Kentucky was originally published in the year 1837. The novel, long out of -print, had in its day a phenomenal sale, for its realistic presentation of -Indian and frontier life in the early days of settlement in the South, narrated -in the tale with all the art of a practiced writer. A very charming -love romance runs through the story. This new and tasteful edition of -“Nick of the Woods” will be certain to make many new admirers for -this enchanting story from Dr. Bird’s clever and versatile pen.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>GUY FAWKES.</strong> A Romance of the Gunpowder Treason. By Wm. Harrison -Ainsworth. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. -Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The “Gunpowder Plot” was a modest attempt to blow up Parliament, -the King and his Counsellors. James of Scotland, then King of England, -was weak-minded and extravagant. He hit upon the efficient scheme of -extorting money from the people by imposing taxes on the Catholics. In -their natural resentment to this extortion, a handful of bold spirits concluded -to overthrow the government. Finally the plotters were arrested, -and the King put to torture Guy Fawkes and the other prisoners with -royal vigor. A very intense love story runs through the entire romance.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>THE SPIRIT OF THE BORDER.</strong> A Romance of the Early Settlers in the -Ohio Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson -Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>A book rather out of the ordinary is this “Spirit of the Border.” The -main thread of the story has to do with the work of the Moravian missionaries -in the Ohio Valley. Incidentally the reader is given details of the -frontier life of those hardy pioneers who broke the wilderness for the planting -of this great nation. Chief among these, as a matter of course, is -Lewis Wetzel, one of the most peculiar, and at the same time the most -admirable of all the brave men who spent their lives battling with the -savage foe, that others might dwell in comparative security.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Details of the establishment and destruction of the Moravian “Village -of Peace” are given at some length, and with minute description. The -efforts to Christianize the Indians are described as they never have been -before, and the author has depicted the characters of the leaders of the -several Indian tribes with great care, which of itself will be of interest to -the student.</p> - -<p class='c011'>By no means least among the charms of the story are the vivid word-pictures -of the thrilling adventures, and the intense paintings of the beauties -of nature, as seen in the almost unbroken forests.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is the spirit of the frontier which is described, and one can by it, -perhaps, the better understand why men, and women, too, willingly braved -every privation and danger that the westward progress of the star of empire -might be the more certain and rapid. A love story, simple and tender, -runs through the book.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>RICHELIEU.</strong> A tale of France in the reign of King Louis XIII. By G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In 1829 Mr. James published his first romance, “Richelieu,” and was -recognized at once as one of the masters of the craft.</p> - -<p class='c011'>In this book he laid the story during those later days of the great cardinal’s -life, when his power was beginning to wane, but while it was -yet sufficiently strong to permit now and then of volcanic outbursts which -overwhelmed foes and carried friends to the topmost wave of prosperity. -One of the most striking portions of the story is that of Cinq Mar’s conspiracy; -the method of conducting criminal cases, and the political trickery -resorted to by royal favorites; affording a better insight into the statecraft -of that day than can be had even by an exhaustive study of history. -It is a powerful romance of love and diplomacy, and in point of thrilling -and absorbing interest has never been excelled.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>ROB OF THE BOWL.</strong> A Story of the Early Days of -Maryland. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. Four page -illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This story is an authentic exposition of the manners and customs during -Lord Baltimore’s rule. The greater portion of the action takes place -in St. Mary’s—the original capital of the State.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The quaint character of Rob, the loss of whose legs was supplied by a -wooden bowl strapped to his thighs, his misfortunes and mother wit, far -outshine those fair to look upon. Pirates and smugglers did Rob consort -with for gain, and it was to him that Blanche Werden owed her life and -her happiness, as the author has told us in such an enchanting manner.</p> - -<p class='c011'>As a series of pictures of early colonial life in Maryland, “Rob of the -Bowl” has no equal. The story is full of splendid action, with a charming -love story, and a plot that never loosens the grip of its interest to its last -page.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>TICONDEROGA.</strong> A Story of Early Frontier Life in the -Mohawk Valley. By G. P. R. James. Cloth, 12mo. Four -page illustrations by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The setting of the story is decidedly more picturesque than any ever -evolved by Cooper. The story is located on the frontier of New York -State. The principal characters in the story include an English gentleman, -his beautiful daughter, Lord Howe, and certain Indian sachems belonging -to the Five Nations, and the story ends with the Battle of Ticonderoga.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The character of Captain Brooks, who voluntarily decides to sacrifice -his own life in order to save the son of the Englishman, is not among the -least of the attractions of this story, which holds the attention of the reader -even to the last page.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Interwoven with the plot is the Indian “blood” law, which demands a -life for a life, whether it be that of the murderer or one of his race. A -more charming story of mingled love and adventure has never been written -than “Ticonderoga.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>MARY DERWENT.</strong> A tale of the Wyoming Valley in -1778. By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens. Cloth, 12mo. Four illustrations -by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The scene of this fascinating story of early frontier life is laid in the -Valley of Wyoming. Aside from Mary Derwent, who is of course the -heroine, the story deals with Queen Esther’s son, Giengwatah, the Butlers -of notorious memory, and the adventures of the Colonists with the Indians.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Though much is made of the Massacre of Wyoming, a great portion -of the tale describes the love making between Mary Derwent’s sister, Walter -Butler, and one of the defenders of Forty Fort.</p> - -<p class='c011'>This historical novel stands out bright and pleasing, because of the -mystery and notoriety of several of the actors, the tender love scenes, -descriptions of the different localities, and the struggles of the settlers. -It holds the attention of the reader even to the last page.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>WINDSOR CASTLE.</strong> A Historical Romance of the Reign of Henry VIII., -Catharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. By Wm. Harrison Ainsworth. Cloth, -12mo. with four illustrations by George Cruikshank. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“Windsor Castle” is the story of Henry VIII., Catharine, and Anne -Boleyn. “Bluff King Hal,” although a well-loved monarch, was none too -good a one in many ways. Of all his selfishness and unwarrantable acts, -none was more discreditable than his divorce from Catharine, and his marriage -to the beautiful Anne Boleyn. The King’s love was as brief as it -was vehement. Jane Seymour, waiting maid on the Queen, attracted him, -and Anne Boleyn was forced to the block to make room for her successor. -This romance is one of extreme interest to all readers.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>HORSESHOE ROBINSON.</strong> A tale of the Tory Ascendency in South Carolina -in 1780. By John P. Kennedy. Cloth, 12mo. with four illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Among the old favorites in the field of what is known as historical fiction, -there are none which appeal to a larger number of Americans than -Horseshoe Robinson, and this because it is the only story which depicts -with fidelity to the facts the heroic efforts of the colonists in South Carolina -to defend their homes against the brutal oppression of the British -under such leaders as Cornwallis and Tarleton.</p> - -<p class='c011'>The reader is charmed with the story of love which forms the thread -of the tale, and then impressed with the wealth of detail concerning those -times. The picture of the manifold sufferings of the people, is never overdrawn, -but painted faithfully and honestly by one who spared neither -time nor labor in his efforts to present in this charming love story all that -price in blood and tears which the Carolinians paid as their share in the -winning of the republic.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Take it all in all, “Horseshoe Robinson” is a work which should be -found on every book-shelf, not only because it is a most entertaining -story, but because of the wealth of valuable information concerning the -colonists which it contains. That it has been brought out once more, well -illustrated, is something which will give pleasure to thousands who have -long desired an opportunity to read the story again, and to the many who -have tried vainly in these latter days to procure a copy that they might -read it for the first time.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>THE PEARL OF ORR’S ISLAND.</strong> A story of the Coast of Maine. By -Harriet Beecher Stowe. Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Written prior to 1862, the “Pearl of Orr’s Island” is ever new; a book -filled with delicate fancies, such as seemingly array themselves anew each -time one reads them. One sees the “sea like an unbroken mirror all -around the pine-girt, lonely shores of Orr’s Island,” and straightway -comes “the heavy, hollow moan of the surf on the beach, like the wild -angry howl of some savage animal.”</p> - -<p class='c011'>Who can read of the beginning of that sweet life, named Mara, which -came into this world under the very shadow of the Death angel’s wings, -without having an intense desire to know how the premature bud blossomed? -Again and again one lingers over the descriptions of the character -of that baby boy Moses, who came through the tempest, amid the -angry billows, pillowed on his dead mother’s breast.</p> - -<p class='c011'>There is no more faithful portrayal of New England life than that -which Mrs. Stowe gives in “The Pearl of Orr’s Island.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>THE LAST TRAIL.</strong> A story of early days in the Ohio -Valley. By Zane Grey. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations -by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>“The Last Trail” is a story of the border. The scene is laid at Fort -Henry, where Col. Ebenezer Zane with his family have built up a village -despite the attacks of savages and renegades. The Colonel’s brother and -Wetzel, known as Deathwind by the Indians, are the bordermen who devote -their lives to the welfare of the white people. A splendid love story runs -through the book.</p> - -<p class='c011'>That Helen Sheppard, the heroine, should fall in love with such a -brave, skilful scout as Jonathan Zane seems only reasonable after his years -of association and defense of the people of the settlement from savages and -renegades.</p> - -<p class='c011'>If one has a liking for stories of the trail, where the white man matches -brains against savage cunning, for tales of ambush and constant striving for -the mastery, “The Last Trail” will be greatly to his liking.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>THE KNIGHTS OF THE HORSESHOE.</strong> A traditionary -tale of the Cocked Hat Gentry in the Old Dominion. By -Dr. Wm. A. Caruthers. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations -by J. Watson Davis. Price, $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Many will hail with delight the re-publication of this rare and justly -famous story of early American colonial life and old-time Virginian -hospitality.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Much that is charmingly interesting will be found in this tale that so -faithfully depicts early American colonial life, and also here is found all -the details of the founding of the Tramontane Order, around which has -ever been such a delicious flavor of romance.</p> - -<p class='c011'>Early customs, much love making, plantation life, politics, intrigues, and -finally that wonderful march across the mountains which resulted in the -discovery and conquest of the fair Valley of Virginia. A rare book filled -with a delicious flavor of romance.</p> - -<p class='c008'><strong>BY BERWEN BANKS.</strong> A Romance of Welsh Life. By -Allen Raine. Cloth, 12mo. Four page illustrations by J. -Watson Davis. Price $1.00.</p> - -<p class='c011'>It is a tender and beautiful romance of the idyllic. A charming picture -of life in a Welsh seaside village. It is something of a prose-poem, true, -tender and graceful.</p> - -<hr class='c003' /> -<p class='c008'>For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of -price by the publishers, A. L. BURT COMPANY, 52–58 -Duane St., New York.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> - -<div class='chapter ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c005'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c015'> - <li>P. <a href='#t195'>195</a>, changed “Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some       ?” to - “Can you go there and bring us a carriage of some sort?” [Wild guess.] - - </li> - <li>Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LOVE’S BITTEREST CUP ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for -copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very -easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation -of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project -Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may -do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected -by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark -license, especially commercial redistribution. -</div> - -<div style='margin-top:1em; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE</div> -<div style='text-align:center;font-size:0.9em'>PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person -or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the -Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when -you share it without charge with others. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country other than the United States. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work -on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the -phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: -</div> - -<blockquote> - <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most - other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions - whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms - of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online - at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you - are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws - of the country where you are located before using this eBook. - </div> -</blockquote> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project -Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg™ License. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format -other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain -Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -provided that: -</div> - -<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation.” - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ - works. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - </div> - - <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> - • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. - </div> -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of -the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set -forth in Section 3 below. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right -of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, -Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up -to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website -and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread -public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state -visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate -</div> - -<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Most people start at our website which has the main PG search -facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. -</div> - -</div> - </body> - <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57c on 2022-06-09 21:14:18 GMT --> -</html> diff --git a/old/68273-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/68273-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index ca4dd9d..0000000 --- a/old/68273-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/68273-h/images/i_title.jpg b/old/68273-h/images/i_title.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d368440..0000000 --- a/old/68273-h/images/i_title.jpg +++ /dev/null |
