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max-width: 100%; + max-height: 100%; } + h1 {line-height: 150%; } + .chapter { clear: both; page-break-before: always; } + body {font-family: Garamond, 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: medium; padding: 1em; clear: both; } + .blackletter {font-family: 'Old English Text MT', serif; font-weight:bold; + font-style: normal; } + .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76784 ***</div> + +<div class='tnotes covernote'> + +<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class='c000'>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>THE FAIR MISSISSIPPIAN</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<img src='images/frontispiece.jpg' alt='' class='ig001'> +<div class='ic001'> +<p>HONORIA</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div class='titlepage'> + +<div> + <h1 class='c002'><span class='xlarge'>THE FAIR</span><br> MISSISSIPPIAN<br> <span class='large'><em>A NOVEL</em></span></h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c003'> + <div><span class='large'>BY CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id002'> +<img src='images/signet.jpg' alt='[Logo]' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>BOSTON AND NEW YORK</div> + <div>HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</div> + <div><span class='blackletter'>The Riverside Press Cambridge</span></div> + <div>1908</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='small'>COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY MARY N. MURFREE</span></div> + <div class='c004'><span class='small'>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</span></div> + <div class='c004'><span class='small'><em>Published October 1908</em></span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter ph1'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='sc'>The Fair Mississippian</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER I</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The simplest fact of this life of ours is subject +to manifold and diverse interpretations. It was the +faithful belief of Edward Desmond, and his inward +protest, that he did not care for money. He had the +true scholar’s disdain of the froth and fret of fashion +that can but scantily disguise the mental shallowness +of society. He was not fond of luxury. He had an +ardor for hard work and a passionate ambition for +achievement. He desired but a modest competence +and the opportunity for mental development along +the lines which his expanding capacities gave promise +of compassing. Nevertheless, at twenty-four years of +age, his elaborate education at length complete, in +the prime of his intellectual powers, tingling with +the consciousness of ability, he found that he had +become suddenly solicitous in small matters of social +precedence; he experienced a pained deprecation of +the presence of wealth; he winced with a sensitive +realization of poverty; he had acquired a wavering +yet proud self-assertion, consciously futile.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The change had been wrought in a time of grievous +tragedy, full of poignancies scarcely to be adequately +appreciated by the practical world. For less +sensitive men have suffered more bitter woes. It was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>a trite tragedy, with no traits of dramatic potentialities. +On the sudden death of his father ensued the +revelation of a shattered estate, the usual frantic, +useless effort to avert total wreck, final defeat culminating +in the forced sale of an old home with all +its appurtenances. The memories, the dreams, the +traditions, the broken hopes that had hallowed the +old chattels were too immaterial even for the cormorant-like +comprehensiveness of the inventories, and +these sanctities were all that was left for the heir.</p> + +<p class='c007'>His friends, however, took an optimistic view. +When the struggle was over,—brief, but hopeless and +conclusive,—they found solace in the completeness +of his equipment; his education was at length finished; +he had returned to his Maryland home only +the previous June from an elaborate course of study +abroad; the world was before him. As to the profession +of the law for which he had been destined, they +cheerfully argued that the preliminary training and +the necessary library would be expensive, success uncertain,—and +he must needs live pending its delay,—the +tardy emoluments disproportioned to the labor +and ability involved. Since there seemed no vacancy +in the professorial ranks of the small western colleges, +where they had hoped he might find a chair, they +spoke of him as having fallen upon his feet when the +unusual brilliancy of his scholastic record brought +him the offer of the tutorship of the three sons in a +wealthy family, dwelling in the isolation of a secluded +Mississippi plantation, the opportunity coming at the +ultimate crisis of the painful financial emergency. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>For although the salary was small, in comparison with +the allowance which the generosity of his father had +heretofore afforded an only son, his prospective earnings +would have abashed the honoraria of a fledgeling +lawyer’s professional labors, even had he already attained +admission to the bar. Thus, followed by few +regrets, the last month of the year found him arrived +at the scene of his pedagogical work.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is Mrs. Faurie’s chief desire that her sons shall +be adequately prepared for college. She is a great +believer in individual instruction by a thoroughly +competent educator, who can discern and—ah—strengthen +the weaknesses, and—ah—develop special +capacities in the mind of youth,—ah, yes! She fears +that our frequent and extended tours abroad have +cultivated their powers of superficial observation and +love of travel at the expense of their love of study, +and—ah—capacity to absorb theories and to concentrate +their thoughts, and to take an interest in +books, and—ah—that is the reason,—<em>one</em> of the +reasons,”—with a bow and smile,—“why we esteem +ourselves so fortunate,—so <em>very</em> fortunate to have +you with us.” Nothing could be more suave than the +old gentleman beaming upon him from the foot of +the table, but Edward Desmond, after an effort at a +receptive and grateful smile, looked down at his fork +and turned it aimlessly in his hand, without a word +in response.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had had full range of the pastures, and the +harness galled him. Yet logically he could not find +aught of fault in this smooth courtesy and tone of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>appreciation. It so became even a quasi-employer, +though conscious of his magnanimity and sense of +<em>noblesse oblige</em>. The fact that Desmond had grown +gradually aware that Mr. Stanlett was but basking in +the reflection of his niece’s splendors, and, although +having some indeterminate income of his own, was +content to spend the evening of his days in her embellished +entourage, scarcely mitigated his secret displeasure. +He felt that the old gentleman assumed a +patronage which he had no right to exercise. Yet this +resentment was inconsistent with his own theory that +mere money had no title to homage from him. Thus +Mr. Stanlett’s patronage, poor, should not have been +less acceptable than Mr. Stanlett’s patronage, rich. +Mrs. Faurie had not hastened to make Desmond welcome, +but indeed he had been in the house only for +an hour or so, and Mr. Stanlett’s urbanity was surely +expansive enough to atone. He gave the newcomer +his choice of excuses in Mrs. Faurie’s behalf: first +the fatigue of a long drive, and again he mentioned +a sore throat as her reason for not joining the group +at the dinner-table. “She will see you later in the +evening,” Mr. Stanlett promised.</p> + +<p class='c007'>If the lady did not choose to appear at her own +board for any reason which might seem to her good +and sufficient, Desmond was in no position to cavil, +but the old gentleman’s inadvertences in the matter +gave him an impression of insincerity about the +methods of the household which grated on his exacting +and sensitive mood. Even the manners of the +domestics, smooth, and deft, and obsequious in the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>extreme, were incongruous with the veiled scorn of +the stranger, as a man of scant means, which he +subtly detected in their eyes, for, the servitors of +wealth and large pretensions, they had slight toleration +of poverty out of their own rank of life. He +perceived, too, the relish which Joel, the antiquated +negro butler, took in the elaboration of the details of +the daily dinner service, especially the old-fashioned +custom of removing the cloth with each successive +course, which was so deftly accomplished, revealing +the fresh one spread below, that it seemed a prandial +miracle. Mr. Stanlett, however, apologized in some +sort.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We keep up the old style, you see. My niece +says she despairs of ever inducing Joel to condescend +to one cloth for the table at dinner, though she +brought some very fancy centrepieces and such gimcracks +from Paris expressly to stimulate his ambition +for novelty.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond felt little drawn toward his prospective +pupils, one seated beside him and the other two +opposite. They were of a type with which he had +scant sympathy. They were younger, too, than he +had reason to expect from the amount of the salary +and his own scholastic pretensions, and his consequence +seemed further diminished in that he should +be called upon to teach in effect mere children. +While they were not handsome of feature, they were +extremely handsomely built and tall for their respective +ages; but he perceived with disapproval +that they lacked muscle. They were very apt and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>delicate in all the usages of the table, and in their +elegant nicety of attire “mamma’s darling” was writ +large. They all had good eyes, and they held up +their heads in a frank, gentlemanlike way; but their +cosmopolitan air, their easy assurance, their ready +phrasings far beyond their years, though evidently +the superficial result of their travels and their precocious +relations with the world, did not serve to +commend them to one who loved a boy for his crude +boyishness. These seemed little men of the world, +and they sat smug and silent and looked at their +great-uncle with faces of filial gravity when, under +the influence of too much old port, he began to show +traits of the ridiculous, albeit in a genteel and refined +fashion. Yet Desmond admitted to himself that +he would not have thought it becoming that they +should laugh. The clear pallor of the old gentleman’s +lean face grew delicately flushed. His white +hair was sparse on his long head, showing its bony +structure. He had a white mustache, and a factitious +idea of youth was suggested by the gleam of a very +natural set of false teeth beneath it. Presently he +began to hum, as if absent-minded, and at length he +sang out:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c008'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“My girl so fair, my friend so rare,</div> + <div class='line'>With these what mortal could be richer?</div> + <div class='line'>Give me but these,—a fig for care,</div> + <div class='line'>My sweet girl, my friend, and pitcher.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c007'>It was the echo of what had been a very pretty tenor +voice in its prime, and its resonant vibrations reached +and roused a parrot asleep in a cage, hanging in a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>broad, deep bay-window. The bird suddenly fluffed +its feathers and sent out a sharp, harsh cry; then, +twisting on its perch and swinging inverted by one +claw, it sang with a painfully realistic imitation and +with all the taunting effect of mockery:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c008'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“My sweet girl, my friend, and pitcher.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c007'>It was too much for the decorum of the youngest +of the three boys. He broke into an irresistible puerile +cackle, and the old man, catching suddenly to his +senses and his sobriety, flushed deeply, the crimson +stealing through his sparse white hair and all along +his polished white scalp.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The eldest of the boys, a lad of fourteen, came at +once to the rescue with the tact of a Chesterfield, as +smooth as cream.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The idea of Polly remembering your old ‘pitcher-song,’ +Uncle Clarence,—that’s quite a compliment. +And after so long an absence.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Very true,—very true,” said the old gentleman, +readily reassured. “Pretty Polly,”—smiling blandly +at the accomplished fowl. “Want a cracker?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My pitcher,” repeated Polly, as if with the intention +of prompting the nature of the refreshment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, we have been away—let me see—my +memory fails me about these little details. How long +were we in Europe this time, Reginald?—how long +is it since Polly heard that song?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Eighteen months, Uncle Clarence. I shouldn’t +have thought Polly capable of such an effort. May +we be excused, sir?”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>“Certainly—by all means.” Then, turning to +Desmond, “I don’t care to see young boys linger at +the table after the cloth is drawn and the bottle is +stirring over the mahogany.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The disaffected Desmond thought a continuance +here might prove a salutary object-lesson as to the +pernicious effects of vinous indulgence, and his eyes +followed with no great favor the little gentlemen as, +prettily bowing, they nattily made their exit. Somehow +he was reassured to hear a clumsy shuffling of +feet in the hall as, to judge by auricular evidence, +they engaged in a scuffle outside the closed door. +Suddenly one of them was thrown with a great bang +against it,—then an abrupt and awe-stricken silence +ensued.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Eighteen months,” Mr. Stanlett repeated. “I +did not realize the length of our absence. In truth,” +he added, with a spark of mischief kindling the wine +in his eyes, “we stayed as long as we could,—as long +as our money held out. My niece, Mrs. Faurie, said +that she had run the full length of her tether. You +see, Mr. Desmond,”—his voice had a confidential +intonation,—“by the provisions of the will,”—he +spoke as if it were the sole and singular testamentary +document in human experience,—“Mrs. Faurie has +a large income,—a very large income,—but she cannot +go beyond it,—she cannot touch the principal.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond flushed haughtily. He had had such close +dealings with debts and financial distresses and sheer +poverty of late, nay, of rivings and wrestings of possessions +that seemed so inalienably his own as to give +<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>their seizure the taint of robbery, that he had scant +appetite to digest the prosperity of others, and he was +devoid of the vulgar vice of curiosity which might +otherwise have stimulated his interest. His dark blue +eyes were on the vast, murky spread of the Mississippi +River, seen through the window beyond a group of +pecan trees, and the Arkansas bank opposite, a dim +line of dark gray against the fainter gray of the low +and clouded sky. His closely cut chestnut hair showed +the contour of his shapely head. His tall, strong figure, +for he had a record in college athletics as well +as less esteemed branches of learning, had a supple +grace that lent an air of distinction to the well-fitting +suit of gray he wore, for at Great Oaks Plantation +no one affected evening dress for daily dinner. So +quiet was Desmond that his attitude expressed an +attention which he did not really accord,—in fact, it +was divided by a fear that in Mr. Stanlett’s garrulity +he was liable to trench too far on the private affairs +of the family. However, the old gentleman occupied +the position of host or employer, according to the +viewpoint; he was treated with filial deference by +the youthful Fauries; he had received the tutor with +a happy blending of hospitality and authority, and +Desmond hardly knew how he might decorously +evade disclosures of bibulous candor which he was +neither entitled nor expected to hear.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No, sir,” Mr. Stanlett repeated, “by the will she +cannot touch the principal, but she has a large income,—a +fixed sum, thirty thousand dollars chargeable +on the whole estate, and in addition the yield of this +<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>Great Oaks Plantation, which varies according to the +season,—a very large income,—<em>so long as she remains +a widow</em>. Yes, sir!—a widow she is, and +a widow she must continue! Mr. Faurie was a very +arbitrary man in point of temper—where are those +boys?—and had a grudging against any other man’s +getting a chance to spend his money. Notwithstanding +the losses occasioned by the Civil War and the +various fluctuations in values since, Faurie was worth +little short of a million dollars when he died. He had +a very level head. He made a remarkable will, a +good, safe, sound, able document.” Mr. Stanlett had +an evident relish of the provisions of that will,—a +great respect for it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“She could dissent,—she could break it, I suppose.” +Desmond forced himself to speak. He was +not to have the typical tutor’s mental privacy, apparently. +By reason of the magnanimity his employers +intended to affect, treating him according to his +former worldly station and as an equal, a friend, an +honored man of letters, he was to have the trial of +participating in their social life as at a Barmecide +feast, really sharing naught, a mere figment of fraternity +and festivity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Break the will!” Mr. Stanlett skirled in dismay. +“Impossible!—after nearly seven years’ acquiescence. +But if she could, she would only get what the +will gives her anyhow in the event of a second marriage,—simply +her dower rights in Tennessee,—one +fourth of the personalty, a life-interest in a third of +the realty situated there, including his town residence +<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>in Nashville,—just what the law would allow her +had he died intestate,—and in the Mississippi estate +a child’s part in fee simple, for ‘dower,’ you know, is +abolished in this State, and the law always follows the +location of the realty. But, in fact, she has seemed +perfectly satisfied with the arrangement,—as indeed +well she might be! I fancy, too, that she has had +about enough of matrimony. She likes her own way, +and Mr. Faurie was a self-willed, proud, dictatorial—are +those boys gone?—And what are <em>you</em> doing there, +Joel?” glimpsing the butler, standing stiffly near +the sideboard. “Gimme the brandy decanter. Have +some cognac, Mr. Desmond. Light those candles, +Joel,—and take yourself off. Want to wait on the +table <em>all</em> night?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then as the door closed noiselessly on the accomplished +old servant,—“That nigger has got ears +as long as a mule’s,” Mr. Stanlett commented in parenthesis, +quaffed from his glass, sucked in his thin +lips with extreme relish, and continued his confidences.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No,—my niece’s position under the will cannot +dispose her greatly to a second experiment in the holy +estate of matrimony. Mr. Faurie was considerably her +senior,—in fact, he was quite an old bachelor, you +might say, when they were married. How much older +he was <em>I</em> never knew, for <em>she</em> would not tolerate any +mention of the disparity in years,—though Faurie +himself, who was a very stylish, impressive man, was +too vain and arrogant to care one whit for it. Why,”—lowering +his voice sepulchrally,—“when he died, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>I couldn’t mention his age in preparing the newspaper +announcements because <em>I never knew it</em>.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He looked hard at Desmond and nodded his head +significantly. “Now, don’t you know that people +thought <em>that</em> was funny?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He paused to light a cigar, having pushed the +tray over to Desmond. “Yes,” he resumed puffingly, +“as my niece says, we stayed in Europe as long as +our money lasted. We had a fine time, went everywhere, +saw everything, were fêted and made much +of to our hearts’ content,—could have married into +the nobility more than once, for”—the candle-light +illumined the freakish slyness and glee in his senile +smile—“people over there don’t know how the +will is fixed in regard to a second marriage. No! +pledge you my honor! They only saw the royal way +in which Mrs. Faurie <em>can spend</em> money. Now,” he +broke out into a chirping laugh of relish of the +incongruity, “my niece says that she doesn’t know +how she can make both ends meet till her next year’s +income begins to accrue. Ha! ha! We are to stay +down here in the swamp till the hot weather runs us +out, and then we shall go down to the Gulf coast, find +some cheap little place near Biloxi or Pass Christian, +and ah—ah”—he waved the cloud of cigar +smoke from above his venerable head—“and I for +one wish that time were come. You see plantation +life is a sort of syncope at best,—that is, hereabouts. +Further down the river, though, things are livelier. +In Louisiana, now, the people are of a different +disposition: they go about, visit each other; they +<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>make festival occasions; they are of French extraction; +they have the light heart and the happy hand. +Nothing can subdue the old Gallic <em>gaieté de cœur</em>, +not even the swamp country. But all this upper +region of ours was settled by people from Tennessee, +Virginia, and Kentucky,—about the time that +the mania for raising cotton in the bottom lands +of Mississippi took hold on the progressive planters +of the Border States. We have got our inherited +English temperament to reckon with, our seriousness, +our stolidity, our inability to be amused by a trifle, +like a kitten with a string, or a Creole. And, too, it is +a matter of neighborhood,—we are only a few hundred +miles from Memphis, counting by the crankings +of the river, all our associations are with the +Border States, and we are out of earshot of the lively +Creoles. I am afraid you will find it very dull here, +Mr. Desmond, way down in the swamp.” He had evidently +forgotten the fact that his companion was +not a guest.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am not here for pleasure, you know,” Desmond +reminded him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“True,—oh, yes,—very true,—the boys,—their +education. But you are so like”—Desmond thought +that he was about to say “one of ourselves,” but +perhaps he was supersensitive—“ah—so very like a +collegian yourself, that I forget you occupy the reverend +position of tutor. The boys have a good start +in the modern languages—that is, they can gabble +fast enough—their mother’s wanderings made them +regular polyglots—they had native teachers at every +<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>stoppage; but I reckon you will find them poor shakes +in the rudiments of natural science, mathematics, rhetoric, +Latin, and so forth, and I suppose that in spite +of their colloquial glibness, they know little of the +construction of the foreign languages. Mrs. Faurie is +very anxious for their solid advancement. And she is +determined to make this enforced quiet recruit both +her fortune and their education. So glad to have you +here, Mr. Desmond,—so glad to have you with us.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He hesitated, waved the smoke from his white head, +and once more filled his glass from the decanter. It +was a small liqueur glass, but its size was not commensurate +with the potations to which it ministered, for +it was easily replenished, and of course he drank his +Cognac neat. Desmond began to have a shrewd idea, +partly because the tiny glass had been intended for a +mere sip of Curaçoa, that had Mrs. Faurie been present +at dinner, the bibulous exercises would have been much +curtailed. He was experiencing some embarrassment +in thus lingering over the potations, for he had arrived +only that afternoon, and had never met Mrs. Faurie, +having been employed by Mr. Keith, the guardian +of her sons. Desmond was solicitous lest the breach +of etiquette and good manners be imputed to his +connivance. Perhaps Mr. Stanlett’s proclivity was +known to his niece, but he must seldom have such +complete immunity from remonstrance and caution. +While the old gentleman’s vinous indulgence and +senile impairments would suggest that his preferences +might with impunity be set aside in such an emergency, +the evident appreciation and deference with +<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>which he was treated implied that he was a person to +be reckoned with. Desmond dared not himself propose +to quit the table: the gaucherie would undoubtedly +offend the old gentleman as an intentional disrespect. +Yet the tutor really felt that by thus lingering +he jeopardized all his prospects with that far more +important personage, the lady of Great Oaks and the +head of the family. Distasteful as was his position to +him, he valued it exceedingly the moment it was threatened, +as the only opportunity that had offered at his +utmost need. He had been positively penniless at the +crisis of his disasters. Even had he completed his law +course, he must have had means to live while he waited +for a practice to accrue. He had no commercial experience +or aptitudes. He had no available business connections. +Perhaps few people realize the difficulty +of leaping into a paying position at a vault, instead +of growing and climbing up with it from the ground. +All values seem accessible only <em>per ambages</em>. A moment +earlier he had been recoiling from the employment, +the situation he liked so ill, and now he was asking +himself if he were desirous of standing behind a dry +goods counter in a village store, that he could afford +to make his entry into Mrs. Faurie’s household under +circumstances so inauspicious,—carousing over the +dinner-table with a man, not his host, obviously superannuated, +in a sort irresponsible, unable perhaps to +justify his own dereliction, much less the infringement +of decorum by the tutor. The village store,—quotha! +No refuge awaited him there. He did not +know insertion from indigo. He had fallen into his +<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>niche, his proper place, and with a sudden sense of +prizing its values, he quitted his chair. Not to leave +the room abruptly and at once, however. The crisis +had called his tact into play. He walked toward the +mantelpiece as if to scrutinize the picture above it +and thus pave the way to an easy withdrawal.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Take the candle to it,—take the candle to it. +That is Faurie himself when he was about sixteen,—do +not know how long ago it was painted, though! +But the length of that rifle is a dead give-away,” +cried Mr. Stanlett, from the table, his glass in his +hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As Desmond lifted one of the candles, the light +revealed a large oil-painting executed in the florid +portrait style of the middle nineteenth century,—a +crowded canvas it was, showing a fair, vigorous young +stripling leaning on his gun, a horse and foliage in +the distance, a deer, with only the fine head visible, +gray and antlered, lying at the sportsman’s feet;—the +frame, inclosing all, very handsome. There were +some other pieces in the room, which was large, square, +and high-ceiled, all suggestive of game, and the fact +that the late Mr. Faurie may have been a bon-vivant. +One, a dainty water-color sketch of a piscatorial subject, +the catfish of the Mississippi, bore the marks +of the hand of a clever amateur.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The wall-paper was dimly pictorial, after the style +of even an earlier day, a mélange of forest boughs +and boles of great trees through which a shadowy +outline of the figures of a chase sped, with deer, +hounds, horsemen, huntsmen, and horns, of “elfland +<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>faintly blowing.” A great, dark, mahogany press +showed through small diamonded panes rows of silver +vessels, glistering in the dusk, which neither the flicker +of the candle nor the twilight glimmer from the great +windows could annul. Several of the large cups bore +inscriptions, and he thought they looked at the distance +like trophies captured by some winner of the +turf. As Desmond turned to ask the question, he +perceived that the old man had sunk back in his tall +armchair, his delicate face, still in slumber, keenly +outlined against the cushion of its head-rest in the +clear, refined light of the candle close at hand, his +white hair gleaming frostily.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond stood uncertain for a moment. He saw +through the bay-window that the night was falling +fast without. But for the flicker of the moon, he +might not have known how the great Mississippi rippled +and sparkled under the currents of the wind. +The passing of the first steamboat that he had yet +seen he marked by her chimney-lamps, red and green, +swinging high in the air, and their reflection, ruby +and emerald, gemming the water. As she sheered, she +showed the long line of her side-lights, like a string of +yellow topazes. She did not turn nor approach, but +sounded her whistle as if for a landing, and he wondered +at this. The boat was saluting the place by way +of compliment, for it was known that the queen was +in residence, so to speak, and Mrs. Faurie shipped +much cotton from the contemned and avoided plantation +in the old way by water, for the almost omnipresent +railroads were still distant from Great Oaks +<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>Landing. Presently the lights were quenched, the +craft had passed beyond his view, the moon was overcast, +and only the gray night was visible from the +window. Desmond seized his opportunity for escape. +He placed the candle he held upon the table, and +with a noiseless step and a furtive, apprehensive eye, +as if the exacting old gentleman might rouse to displeasure +and reproach at a mere rustle, he quitted the +room, leaving his companion, his empty glass still +poised in his hand, asleep in his chair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The mansion at Great Oaks Plantation was as ill-lighted +by night as are most residences dependent +still on candle and kerosene. Unless, indeed, some +festival occasion demanded extra brilliancy, only the +gleam from the chandelier in the main hall guided +the exit from the dining-room through a cross-hall, +the entry, so called. Desmond had not the necessity +for wariness that might have befitted the steps of +Mr. Stanlett, but he paused in the dim entry, marking +the subdued glow at the intersection with the +main hall, then carefully directed his steps thither. +Even thus he ran over the “bike” of one of the +boys, inadvertently placed where it might most opportunely +trip the unsuspecting pedestrian in these +glooms, and threw it upon the floor with a tremendous +clatter. To his vexation he heard a door open +in the hall beyond and a feminine voice call out +unintelligibly, whether in inquiry or warning or +commiseration he did not accurately discern in his +confusion. He hastily set the wheel out of harm’s +way against the wall, and with a swift, prompt step +<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>advanced up the lighted hall toward the open door, +which he perceived led into the parlor where he had +been received earlier in the afternoon. A large lamp +on a high, old-fashioned pedestal stood on a round, +marble-topped centre table; a wood fire blazed with a +white light in the great chimney-place, and the brass +andirons and fender glittered responsively; an old-fashioned +crimson velvet carpet was on the floor, and +long crimson satin damask curtains hung over lace +draperies at the windows. In the midst of this atmosphere +of glow and warmth the lady of Great Oaks +stood with expectant mien, awaiting him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Somehow she was so different from his mental +image, from what he was prepared to see, that he +was disconcerted for a moment. He had imagined a +middle-aged frump favored by fortune, portly, puffy, +rubicund, overfed, overdressed, bursting with self-importance, +smiling in creases, of husky voice and fixed +opinions, and laying down the law. This was a woman +seemingly as young as himself; tall, slender, regal, +with rich brown hair in a high pompadour roll, an +exquisitely white, delicate complexion, luminous gray +eyes, with a marvelous capacity for expression, a clear, +coercive glance delivered from beneath long black +eyelashes, and finely drawn black eyebrows, perfectly +straight. She wore a gown of thick, creamy lace, some +fabric rich of effect though not of commensurate cost, +one of the pretty fads of the day, and about her slim +waist was twisted a soft, silken sash in Roman stripes +of pink and azure and amber, the long ends hanging +knotted at one side. The sentiment of youth that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>clung about her presence was oddly incongruous with +her assured address, replete with authority and the +manner of seniority.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“This is Mr. Desmond,” she said, in a clear, dulcet, +vibratory voice, as she advanced and held out her +hand. “So sorry not to have met you at dinner! +But I am sure the rest did what they could for you. +We are all so glad to have you here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He seated himself in the fauteuil she indicated, and +she sank down into one on the opposite side of the +table in the blended light of lamp and fire. She fixed +her disconcerting eyes full upon him, as if utterly +unaware of their bewildering beauty, gravely scrutinizing +him, evidently “sizing him up,” taking her +impressions of his mental quality and personal fitness +for the position.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There are many places on the river which are +very attractive. But we are differently situated. We +are so far from any neighbors,—quite isolated. It +really seems a godsend that you are willing to come +to us in the swamp.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As she talked on her homely themes, he was irritated +to be so tongue-tied, but somehow he could not +reconcile the situation; and as she looked straight at +him from beneath those level brows, he gazed spellbound +at her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My three big babies are too old for the nest, I +know, and in fact they are toppling out. But I can’t +bear to send them off as yet, and I have great faith +in home influence and individual teaching.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond thought if he could but shut his eyes for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>one moment; he could see the kind of frump whom +her sage, staid discourse would befit.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I think they can be prepared here for college, right +here in the swamp with me,—and then—why, +we shall see what we shall see. And now, good-night. +I will not detain you.” She touched a bell, and as +the brisk young footman’s black face appeared in the +door,—“See that the lamp is lighted in Mr. Desmond’s +room, and that the fire is burning well.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER II</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Desmond, dismissed, felt cut through and through. +It was no failure of courtesy, but the note of indifference, +of complete self-absorption, impressed him; +yet how could he expect Mrs. Faurie to be interested +in her sons’ tutor except from her own viewpoint. To +his apprehension it was as if in some psychic magic he +had shifted his identity. He did not recognize himself +in this null, unassertive personality. So lately he +had been the centre of fond hopes, the pride of his +father’s life. He was an object of mark at his university; +his scholarship had been worthy the respect +of the faculty. He recalled the words of their glowing +commendations with a sort of pained wonder that +they had ever been addressed to him. The president +himself had not deemed it ill-advised to say, “With +your equipment and your fine talents, we must expect +great things of your future. Your name will reflect +credit on our Alma Mater; I confidently believe it +will stand high on the scroll.” His classmates rejoiced +in his exceptional record, so far removed he was from +envy or detraction. His popularity was unbounded, +for he had an attractive personality and all the effervescence +of cheery youth and good-fellowship, and +his notability made him a lion in the social circles of +the college town. His reputation followed him wherever +he and his multitude of young friends had a connection; +and he had enjoyed all the prestige of actual +<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>achievement, so amply did the flowering promise herald +the rich fruition.</p> + +<p class='c007'>How small was that microcosm of college life, how +far removed from the actualities of the great uninstructed, +prosperous world, blundering on in suave +content, with its crass ignorance of all but money +values, he learned only when the blow fell and he +must needs have work, and work at once, for his daily +bread. He might look in vain for market quotations on +Greek. There was no corner in Old Saxon,—modern +slang could better turn the trick on ’Change. The +opportunities that lay in the line of pedagogy were +already overcrowded; and thus instead of that road to +the stars, to worthy achievement, for which he had +so long and so laboriously prepared, for which he was +so preëminently fitted, he was to trudge the by-paths +of hopeless poverty; to be the drudging, futureless stipendiary +in a rich, frivolous household, teaching three +mollycoddle boys, buried in the seclusion of the Mississippi +bottom lands, as if translated to another sphere.</p> + +<p class='c007'>With these thoughts Desmond lay long awake that +night. He mechanically watched the flicker of the +fire on the light paper of the walls of the large, airy +room, giving out here and there a sparkle of gilt from +the scroll design, till it dulled gradually, and at length +faded to a pervasive dusky red glow. He was not +used to a bed with the old-fashioned tester and four +posts, and when he was about to fall asleep, he was +roused by the unaccustomed sense of something poised +above his head, or standing solemnly sentinel, surrounding +him as he lay. He was not sorry when the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>room grew too dark for aught to be seen but the gray +night looking in between the long white curtains at the +tall windows. Yet the hours brought incidents even +in the monotony. He was apprised that he was on +the side of the house nearest the river when he saw +through the small panes the sudden distant glare of a +steamboat’s electric search-light, making a rayonnant +halo in the dim glooms of the riparian midnight, and +heard the husky, remonstrant tones of her whistle, +and the impact of “the buckets” on the water as the +wheels revolved. He was not yet sufficiently familiar +with the plan of the house to have otherwise known +of his proximity to the bank; but after the boat had +passed and the last vague echo of the stroke of the +paddles on the water had died away, he was impressed +by the silence of the night and the absolutely noiseless +flow of the swift currents of the great river. It +dismayed him in some sort, the sense of that mighty, +irresistible, mute, moving force of nature out there +in the still night, as changeful as life, as inexorable +as fate, as ceaseless as eternity. He had felt small, +reduced in worldly esteem, robbed of every prospect, +and he had no heart to hope. With this expression +of silent, majestic immensity brought to his contemplation, +he seemed infinitely minute in the scheme of +creation. So long had it rolled its waves from the far +north to the Gulf; nations had risen on its banks and +passed away, and strangers had come anew to die and +be succeeded in turn by foreign faces still, and what +mattered it what an atom such as he might suffer, or +hope, or grieve to lose.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>He could not sleep; he had desisted from the conscious +effort; he had resigned himself to the wakefulness +embittered by such thoughts as these. It had +grown dark, quite dark,—the windows, vague parallelograms +in the gloom, more distinguished by his +memory of the features of the room than by actual +sight,—when he heard a sound that somehow thrilled +his every nerve. Hardly a sound,—it was rather a +sibilance. But for the intense stillness of the house +he could not have noticed it,—a mere rustle.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is it?” he asked himself, intent and curious. +For when it vaguely came again, it conveyed +the sense of motion; it suggested a varying distance. +Once more his straining senses caught the sound,—very +soft it was. Furtive, was it, he wondered, for he +had identified it as the lisping note of a sliding foot +on a velvet carpet. At first he thought it within his +own room, but as it receded at regular intervals, he +realized it as a step on the stair without. He began +to appreciate that the head of his bed was against +the wall, on the other side of which this stair ascended +to the upper story, for his room was on the ground +floor of the great, rambling house. He thus caught +the vague vibration of motion, as well as the susurrus +of the impact of the step on the pile of the carpet; +otherwise he might not have distinguished so cautious, +so very silent a transit. It had peculiar features of +mystery. It receded into absolute quiet, then, approaching +anew, seemed to pass.</p> + +<p class='c007'>A long interval ensued while he lay still, the interest +of his surmise, the doubt, the surprise, solacing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>his wakeful mood. Suddenly he started with a thrill +that sought out some nerve of superstition which had +contrived to coexist with all the logic of his mental +training. It was coming again, softly, very softly, its +sibilant passage scarcely to be discriminated even in +the silence of the night, ascending once more the +padded velvet stair. Then Desmond fancied that he +heard a long-drawn breath, a stifled sigh. He lifted +himself on his elbow, listening intently. The furtive +step receded and yet receded, till it had won +the distance that the ear might not reach. A long +interval of absolute silence once more ensued. Then +abruptly, again, a muffled step descending, softly, +secretly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>With a sudden thought Desmond sprang to his +feet. His first idea of the passing of some member of +the family to the upper regions of the house on some +domestic errand, for extra coverings or for medicine +or lamps, was annulled by the amazing silence and +secrecy of the recurrent demonstration. Its repetition +implied purpose. Its furtiveness suggested malignity. +He reflected that, so far as he knew, the inmates of +the house, with one feeble old man and three young +boys, were all inadequate to cope with the intrusion +of burglars or other marauders. He flung the door of +the bedroom open and stood in the hall, his pistol in +his hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Who is there?” he called out, his voice ringing +through the darkness like a clarion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was not a sound in response, not a stir.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Speak up,” he threatened, “or I’ll fire.” The +<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>metallic click of the weapon as he cocked it was of +coercive intimations.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Still not a sound, not a stir. No scurrying footstep +to be out of harm’s way,—no premonition of the attack +for which he was prepared, shifting his posture +each time after he spoke, to escape a shot that might +be aimed at the sound of his voice in the darkness. +Nothing—the hall was absolutely vacant, silent.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He stood irresolute for a moment. He scarcely +dared turn to secure a light lest the lurking intruder +escape in the interval of his absence. Yet when he +heard a stir in a room farther down the hall, the +sound of bare feet bouncing out of bed, the opening +of a door heralding a trickling of candle-light into +the gloom, he was all at once ashamed of the commotion +he had aroused and its apparent lack of justification.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the light advanced along the hall, he was pleased +to see that it was held in the hand of Reginald +Faurie, the eldest of the three boys; the old man was +too feebly irresponsible to be trusted, and he was +glad that he had not aroused Mrs. Faurie. But as the +young fellow held the candle high in his hand, the +light showing his tousled auburn hair and his pink +and white striped pajamas, the expression of his face, +distinct in the glow, was not such as to ingratiate the +future pupil with the tutor. It was of half-repressed +mirth; yet Reginald paused once, and looked over +his shoulder into the shadow with the half shudder +of a qualm of cold fright. He showed no disposition +to search for the cause of the disturbance, however, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>and he cut short Desmond’s excited attempt at explanation +as of no importance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let me in here with you for a moment,” Reginald +said. “Don’t want to wake up the kids! Yes,—yes,”—with +a mature air of patronage,—“I +know exactly what you heard,—old Slip-Slinksy, as +we boys call him, going up and down stairs.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The coolness with which he shut the door, placed +the candle on the high, white, painted mantelpiece, +and sought to stir the fire was proof positive that +there was no intruder to be reckoned with. Desmond +yielded reluctantly. But it was the house of a stranger, +and he was unused to his surroundings. He stood in +his bath-robe, which he had flung on at the first alarm, +and leaned on the high back of a chair, while Reginald +set the blazes to flaring in the great fireplace, +then dropped down on the rug and put the pointed +toes of his bedroom slippers against the brass fender, +evidently preparing to elucidate the mystery.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I know you’ll think I’m loony,—I hate to +give myself away! But you are one of the solid, scientific, +investigating kind, I’m sure. You will make +inquiries, I know, and I don’t want mamma to learn +that old Slip-Slinksy is at his queer tricks again. She +is not a bit superstitious,—no sort of a crank,—but +it is a creepy, inexplicable kind of thing that one +doesn’t like to have in one’s house, and it would +make her hate the plantation worse than ever; and +as she has got to stay at Great Oaks for a while, I +think she had better not hear about this demonstration +to-night.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>“But who is it?” asked Desmond, mystified.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nobody,—just nothing at all!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond walked around the chair, and, seating +himself in the renewed radiance of the fire, drew the +folds of his bath-robe close about him. He bent the +brows of prospective authority upon Reginald, and +the lad sought to explain.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is a ghost but nothing at all!—its emptiness +is what gets on your nerves. You can take your +gun, as you did to-night, to the wicked man when he +gets gay or out of place,—as long as he is alive. +But once a deader, and he <em>has got you</em>. I’d like to +hear your learned chemical analysis of a ghost. It is +compounded of a winter night’s imaginings! It’s +an untimely shiver! It’s the tremors of hearing a +storm coming down the Mississippi River and making +all the boats tie up for the night! It’s old Slip-Slinksy +doing nothing but going upstairs and coming +down again. I don’t know what on earth started +it, but that is our ghost, and we have got it for +keeps.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Fudge!” exclaimed Desmond, contemptuously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>You</em> heard it,” said the boy, significantly. “I +did not.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond <em>had</em> heard the strange manifestation, +knowing naught of it hitherto. He remembered the +unearthly thrill its first intimations had sent through +every startled fibre. “But it must have some natural +explanation, of course.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am sure I hope so,” rejoined Reginald. “But +the natural explanation has defied us so far. We +<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>have done our little possible to solve the mystery. +We have examined the walls and roof; we have taken +up the carpets; we have lurked in wait for it, and +rushed out upon it as you did to-night,—and found +nothing,—as you did. I, for one, would take mighty +kindly to any sort of a natural explanation. A ghost—no +matter how much you give him the cold shoulder—doesn’t +make for happiness in the home, and”—he +shuddered—“he is apt to give you the cold +shoulder.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Is it an old affair?” asked Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We can’t exactly fix just when the manifestation +began. It <em>always</em> butts in immediately after we +come home. Then there will be a long interval. Presently +it starts up again,—every few nights. Then +we may have another long exemption. You would +think this old house like any other happy old home. +But in the midst of the preparation for departure it +is sure to begin again,—if anybody is fool enough +to lie awake to listen for it. Of course I don’t know +what the ghost may do while we are away,—in our +long absences he may run riot all over the place. At +all events, we can get no caretaker to sleep in the +house. I shouldn’t be surprised if its reputation of +being haunted protects it from depredators, river +pirates,—and such cattle. Anyhow, we leave only +the ghost in charge, and there is not a thing stirred +when we come back. Only the dust over all, and a +sense of mystery.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Of course there must be some natural explanation,” +Desmond protested anew.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>“So glad you think so,” said Reginald, politely. +“But you will not mention it to mamma.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Certainly not; but is the demonstration always +the same?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Always the same,—a step going up and coming +down the stair;—going up and presently coming +down the stair, just as you heard it. It is up to you +to explain it. It is no tradition as far as you are +concerned; you were all unconscious and without +expectation.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A sudden wind had sprung up without. It came +down the great channel of the Mississippi in chilly +gusts, with a thrill of dawn in its reviving stir. It +shook the silence. Myriads of undiscriminated voices +were rife in the air. The boughs of the great oaks +of the grove without clashed and fell still again. +The evergreen leaves of the Cherokee rose hedges, +fencing the place for miles, kept up a rippling stir in +the section close at hand. A draft became perceptible +at the nearest window, and Desmond, looking toward +it, saw through the parted curtains that the clouds +were riven asunder and a clear, chill star was scintillating +in a deep abyss of darkness. The night was +wearing on,—not far from day—not far from a +frosty dawn.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And nothing has ever been seen,” said Desmond, +drawing the cord of his robe closer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Reginald stirred the fire; then resumed his easy +posture before it, his eyes upon the blaze. “I beg +pardon,” he rejoined, somewhat unwillingly; “but I +did not say that.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>“I misunderstood you, then,” said the tutor. He +sought to laugh, but he had himself heard too much +that he could not explain to make his ridicule effective. +“But there must be some natural explanation.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well,—we can’t get at it,—that’s all,” said +Reginald, somewhat nettled by the ridicule. “You +see I am not stuffing you. I have not the least disposition +to trot out our ghost to—to lord it over you. +I do not expect you to bow down and admire him. I +am not trying to make prestige on his account. You +and he struck up an acquaintance without any introduction +from me. And the apparition on the stairs is +so logical and in keeping that it bears out the sound +of the step,—and that is what troubles us,—especially +mamma. She is not superstitious, but she is +a very sensitive organization,—and she always hated +this dull old plantation, and this gruesomeness that it +has developed does not recommend it the least little +bit.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But about the apparition?” Desmond asked +eagerly, even while he was ready to rally himself that +he should entertain so primitive a curiosity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, it came about the most natural way in the +world,” declared Reginald. “There was a wedding +over at Dryad-Dene, Colonel Kentopp’s plantation,—Mrs. +Kentopp’s sister, I think,—a great wedding, +all in the old style. The Kentopps are up-to-date +people,—make a point of keeping up with the procession, +unless some fashionable antique craze takes +hold on them. Just at that time the imitation of the +big old country wedding was all the go. So instead +<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>of having the ceremony at our little neighborhood +church, and taking the next train or packet for +the wedding tour, the marriage was at the mansion, +in the style of fifty years ago. They invited the +country; and the relatives and the friends came in +their dozens, if you please. Of course the Kentopps +couldn’t put them all up, so some of the guests were +entertained by their neighbors, and there were many +dinners and dances and such functions in the vicinity—houses +five miles apart, mostly—to compliment +the happy couple. We took our part, of course. We +were just returned from Europe, Asia, Africa, and +Oceanica” (with a pert little fling), “and the house +was jammed. I don’t know if you have noticed that +there isn’t a regular second story to this old bungalow. +The rooms above are in a half story,—mighty +near <em>all</em> dormer window. We don’t use those rooms +unless we are hard put to it. But on this occasion +they were full,—even cots and pallets on the floor. +Well, in the bedroom on the left hand side as you +ascend the stairs were a lady and three children. +They were nearly related to the bridegroom, but +strangers to us,—they had never been here before—and +one of the kids took advantage of the opportunity +to make himself conspicuous by getting exceedingly +ill. My mother suggested that, to have +help near at hand in the night, the nurse should sleep +on a pallet in the hall. The nurse was cheerful and +agreed; there was a big, bright moon, and all the +dormer windows were very festive. About midnight +this lady was awakened by the nurse, who came and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>asked leave to draw her pallet into the bedroom, +because she could not sleep for the continual passing +up and down the stairs,—tip, tip, tip,—slyly slipping +up and slyly slipping down.” He paused to +listen apprehensively, then recommenced. “The good +lady’s nerves were racked with anxiety, I dare say, +for she declared that it was very ill-bred in the other +guests not to let the house get quiet, when there was +illness and a chance that her child would die. Then +she told the nurse to return to her pallet,—that the +room was too crowded already with herself and the +three children, and the sick boy needed air. After a +time the nurse, an intelligent, patient, reasonable +woman, came back, declaring that she was afraid. +There was something strange in this passing. It +was not the other guests. The people were all still, +asleep; the house was as silent as death; but yet—slip, +slip, slip—something shuffling along so silently, +so slyly,—she was fit to scream. She was once more +rebuked and sent to her place. Presently she did +scream! The moon had traveled over the house and +the beams began to fall through the window over +the staircase, and there she saw what had been going +up and down the stops,—a man in fancy dress, she +declared,—my uncle thinks it was some antique +costume—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Did he see the apparition, too?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Sure! the whole house came running, scared to +death,—in just what they had on,—a beautiful lot +they were, too! but the thing had vanished. Only the +nurse and her mistress, who, being awake, had run out +<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>instantly upon the alarm, saw it distinctly. They both +said that it was a man in fancy dress, with powdered +hair. My uncle had just opened his door on the lower +floor, and, looking upward at the landing, his view +was indistinct, but his impression was the same.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond pondered for a moment. “Did it never +occur to any of them that it was some wag of the +house-party frightening the nurse for a freak.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I have heard of making a long arm, but I can’t +imagine making a long enough leg to keep a footstep +going up and down a staircase, when none of +our guests have been in the county, or even in the +State, for four or five years.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is strange,” said Desmond, at last. “But all the +same I am sure that there must be some reasonable +natural explanation,—if it could be found.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I wish I shared your belief, or disbelief,” said +Reginald. He looked up doubtfully at the candle +burning low now on the mantelpiece. It was not the +regulation bedroom light, but in a tall, silver candlestick, +that offered no protection against the drops +which its guttering state sent dripping down its sides. +The fire was sinking; the room had taken on a shadow +and a sense of gloom; the wind suddenly rose in a +shrill skirl; then one could hear some slight débris +of leaves or twigs skittering across the grass as if in +a weird dance without. Any suggestion of uncanny +footsteps was in jeopardy to the maintenance of +equilibrium. Desmond, fatigued from his journey +and his vigils, was growing heavy-eyed and disposed to +slumber. For some time he had been sensible of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>increasing chill of the air, and was beginning to canvass +the propriety of himself terminating the interview, +and in his character of tutor authoritatively bidding +the boy to betake himself to his own bedroom instead +of awaiting his exit as a guest. But Reginald suddenly +resumed. “I wish I could agree with you that +there is a natural explanation,—if we could light +upon it. I believe in its supernatural quality enough +to wonder how I mustered the courage to come through +the hall when I heard you call. I was afraid that if +you spoke again, mamma would be roused. I don’t see +how I am to get back. I am something of a man in +the daytime, but a regular baby about it at night,—and—if +you don’t mind—I’ll just climb over there +in the back of the bed and stay with you till the rising +bell. Oh, thanks, muchly. You have saved my reason, +if not my life. Suppose—oh, just suppose—I was +to meet old Slip-Slinksy in the hall,—and he was +to—to—to blow out the candle.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER III</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The breakfast-table showed little correlation to a +haunted house. It was surrounded with bright and +smiling faces when Desmond, to his chagrin a trifle +tardy, opened the door. The sunshine lay among the +potted plants blooming in wire stands at the two +casements opposite the great bay-window, and through +its broad outlook one could see the immense shining +expanse of the king of rivers, with a golden glister on +its ripples, and in the distance a line of tender brownish +gray to denote the growth of cottonwood fringing +the farther banks against the blue sky. The sylvan +hunt on the wall-paper, in the medley of scrolls and +fantastic tracery, had a realistic effect of motion as +the sunshine and shadow shifted over it through the +stirring boughs of the great live-oak tree close without. +A fire of light wood glowed on the hearth, more +it might seem for gladsome cheer than needed warmth, +this balmy day of the southern winter, and old Joel, +the butler, was holding on a silver tray a large, low +basket of ripe figs and brilliant hothouse flowers, +while Mrs. Faurie read a note that had come with the +fruit. She paused for a moment and glanced up as +the tutor entered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Good-morning, Mr. Desmond. I hope you rested +well.” Then, rustling the missive, she read aloud: +“‘Congratulations on the date’—what the mischief +is the date, Uncle Clarence?—the 5th of December?—Heavens +<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>and earth! The cruel woman! She is +reminding me of my birthday.” She tossed the note +aside with a gesture of mock desperation. “Let me +give you some coffee, Mr. Desmond,—I can swallow +my mortification later,—or will you have chocolate?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As she sat at the head of the table, moving the +pieces of the large old-fashioned silver service, that +glittered with polish, but showed here and there an +indentation that bespoke the battering proclivity of +years of daily usage, the light from the several windows +was full on her face. Her complexion was more +than ever like a white rose in its softness and delicacy +thus displayed. Her fine, long throat was shown by the +surplice cut of her plain white lawn blouse, of which +the sleeves reached only to the elbow of her softly +rounded arms, with their slim, dainty hands; her skirt +was of plain pleated black voile, and her brown hair +was rolled straight up from her forehead. Nothing +could be more homelike, more simple; but the effect +of her eyes as she looked at him from under her long +lashes, her level brows slightly drawn, had a vaguely +bewildering effect on Desmond. He had seen charming +women heretofore, but none to parallel her loveliness. +His mind was acclimated to the idea, the +tradition of incomparable beauty, but not in these +close relations. To breakfast with Helen of Troy, to +receive a cup of chocolate from the hand of Diana +herself, to reply to a word of simple inquiry and assured +authority from the embodiment of the ideal that +poets have sung and painters have limned in all ages, +was disconcerting. Had she seemed herself more +<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>aware of her preëminent endowment, had she been +self-conscious, he could have better adjusted himself +to its continual contemplation; but he had the sentiment +of a unique discovery, of perceiving somewhat +unknown, unnoted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I can’t see any cause for mortification; it seems +to me a very pretty compliment, mamma.” Reginald +had taken the note up with some anxiety and +was perusing it with a clearing brow.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A compliment!—to be reminded of my dreadful +age.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, Honoria, you are absurd, my dear,” Mr. +Stanlett protested, with an air of concern. “Thirty-four +is still young,—still young, my dear.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, how can you mention it, Uncle Clarence? +Let me forget the exact number! I feel one foot in +the grave! I am the prey of time!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She cast up her beautiful eyes in an affectation of +distress; then, catching the serious regards of the +youngest boy fixed upon her, dubiously, uncertain of +her mood, she looked at him intently for a moment, +and burst into a ripple of smiles, to which, reassured, +he responded with a callow chuckle, infinitely alluring.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But we will have the basket in the centre of the +table,” she continued. “All of you who have the +heart can eat a fig. I’ll bet there are just thirty-four +of them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The two younger boys strained over the table to +count.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Dead to rights, mamma,” said Rufus, the tenyear +<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>old, who enjoyed the preëminence of “baby.” +“Just thirty-four figs.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A very pretty compliment, mamma,” protested +Reginald again. “For my part, I am obliged to Mrs. +Kentopp, and I am ashamed that I did not remember +the date myself.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, ho! You bet I did!” said Rufus, with a +triumphant nod.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie put down her spoon, and cast a look +across the silver service so replete with maternal affection, +so embellishing to her proud beauty, that it +seemed indeed a pity that the face on which it was +bestowed should be so round, so freckled, so jocosely +creased, so facetiously winking.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What have you got for me, Chubby?” she asked. +Her look was angelic.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You’ll see,—you’ll see!” He smiled widely. +The dentist had been at work on that smile, and had +eliminated two teeth, and the interval interfered with +the happiest expression of filial affection.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The other two brothers, though manifestly disconcerted +and deprecatory, looked at him with the quizzical +contempt with which an elder boy cannot refrain +from tormenting his junior. “Chub, don’t be such a +chump,” Horace admonished him. “You ought to +be ashamed to give mamma a birthday offering of +some of the trash that you have collected in your +European <em>towers</em>,”—with a leer to emphasize the +taunting mispronunciation,—“a last year’s calendar +or a cigarette tag.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“’Tain’t no old European bibelot!” Chubby declared, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>his round cheeks no longer distended with +happy smiles. His eyes were grave and flashing fire,—he +was consciously on the defensive. He breathed +hard and deep.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, to be sure,—some of his chiffons from the +Rue de la Paix,—souvenir de Paree,” Reginald +twitted him, with a nettling laugh.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“’Tain’t,—it’s brand-new,” Chub protested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Where did you get it?” the other two asked in +a breath.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I bought it with my own money,”—there was an +intonation of pride in this assertion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But where?—bloated capitalist!” asked Reginald, +really curious, for there was scant opportunity +to spend money at Great Oaks Plantation, forty miles +distant from any town larger than a hamlet or a railroad +way-station.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Where do you reckon?”—with temper. Then +with a gush of pride, “From the trading-boat,—that’s +where!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond could not understand why the two elder +boys stared at each other for a moment, then collapsed +into inextinguishable laughter, scarlet in the +face, nerveless, well-nigh helpless. Even Mr. Stanlett +laughed with merry relish, and Chub looked from +one to another, pitiably crestfallen. A “shanty-boat,” +that had been tied up at the landing, was not of the +usual type of trading-boat, offering provender and +provisions and assortments of merchandise in localities +remote from railway and packet connection, but +a mere travesty on this mercantile craft, hardly more, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>indeed, than a raft, drifting with the current, bearing +a little cabin in which the owner lived, and from +which he sold a medley of stock,—pins, needles, +stale candies, tobacco, whiskey, snuff, ribbons, plated +jewelry,—such as might meet the needs or strike +the taste of the humbler dwellers about the river-side, +or the backwoods population among the bayous, +along the sluggish current of which it was sometimes +poled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—oh, mamma,—the <em>trading-boat</em>!” cried +Reginald, barely recovering the power of speech.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Horace was altogether beyond words.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It <em>is</em> a trading-boat!” Chub protested. “Anyhow, +they have lots of things to sell. They pole and +row along the bayous and lakes, and they get towed +by a steamboat once in a while, and go up any of the +rivers they like. Then they drift down again. They +have been selling along all the rivers in the State of +Mississippi,—they <em>told</em> me so.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They must have been well able, then, to pay the +considerable privilege tax to the State,” Mr. Stanlett +commented dryly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Did it occur to you to inquire into that question, +Chubby?” asked Reginald, still gasping with merriment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ha! I’ll engage that the very word ‘license’ +would make that boat’s crew cast off in a trice!” exclaimed +Mr. Stanlett, with a significant nod. “That +‘trading-boat’ would be swallowed up from sight in +the twinkling of an eye.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But we have no right to take that for granted, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>Uncle Clarence,” Mrs. Faurie remonstrated. “Their +trade along the bayous and bogues and lakes, where +no other boats come, may be considerable and aggregate +enough to justify the tax. The swampers in +such out-of-the-way places have no other way to buy +goods.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, well,—perhaps so,—I’m not a collector. +We will be charitable and hope for the best. And +they may have some exemption from the tax.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The proud Chub, suddenly brought down, was near +to tears.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie, all unmindful of the ridicule, was looking +at him with eyes aglow. “With your money, +Chubby,—your own little money?—and you always +so hard up,—you dear little spendthrift! And you +really remembered my birthday, and bled your precious +nickels to commemorate it! Where is my present? +I can’t wait to see it! I’ll value it above everything +I have in the world. I’ll always treasure it as beyond +price,—my lovely Chubby’s gift.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And then it developed that “lovely Chubby,” intent +on surprise, had been seated throughout the +meal with the present in a paper bag poised on his +knee under his napkin. He was reassured in some +sort by the cessation of the laughter of the fraternal +torments. He was too young and too ingenuous to +realize that it was only a momentary respite that +they might better view the pomp of the presentation. +Their physical condition might have alarmed +one unused to view the ecstasies of adolescent mirth +when the paper bag parted to disclose a large, round, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>wooden apple, highly tinted with the colors of nature, +the upper section of which opened to reveal within +an assortment of needles, pins, a cake of wax, a brass +thimble, a bodkin, and an emery masquerading as a +realistic strawberry.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An apple,—oh, ye gods and little fishes!” cried +Horace.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An apple,—presented to mamma,—my prophetic +soul! Didn’t I say it must be a souvenir +of Paris,—to the fairest?” exclaimed Reginald, +convulsed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, ha,—very good,—classical allusion,” said +Mr. Stanlett, appreciatively. He cast a glance of +pride at the tutor, as if calling his attention to this +point of precocity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie silently examined every detail with deliberate +gravity, while the two elder sons went from +one spasm into another of mute laughter, deeming +the episode too funny for words, and the breathless +Chub looked seriously and expectantly at her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Very useful, no doubt,” said Mr. Stanlett, taking +his cue from the gravity of her manner. “Valuable,—always +ready,—needle-case.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But when Mrs. Faurie lifted her eyes, Desmond +could but note how brilliant they were with unshed +tears.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Come here, Chubby,” she said, with a break in +her voice. “I can’t wait to hug you!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was a big boy for ten years of age, and looked +bigger in his mother’s lap. She had pushed her chair +a trifle back from the table, and as he sat enthroned +<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>and cherished beyond his fellows, some qualm of +jealousy terminated their convulsions of mirth.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You have not touched your plate, mamma,” said +one. “I have heard of people living on bread and +cheese and kisses, but I never saw its demonstration +before. Sweet Chub,—lovely breakfast food!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You two must quit that thing of calling Rufus +‘Chub,’” remonstrated Mr. Stanlett.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,” said Chub, whisking around in his mother’s +lap, and facing the party from behind the silver +service; “makes me feel like a fish,—chub and +dace always mentioned together.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Chub is a first-rate item on a bill of fare; serve +him out, mamma,” suggested Horace.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am coming down myself,” said Chub, with a +final exasperating hug and kiss.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And—quite a coincidence!—the waffles are +coming in,” jeered Horace.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And now,” said Chub, once more settled in his +place at table, and feeling in fine fettle and high +favor, “I move that, being mamma’s birthday, we +have a holiday.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was altogether unused to being so set +aside and passed over and made of scant account. +He was aware that he could not expect aught else in +a family life in which he had no part; nevertheless, +he felt all the uneasiness incident to a false position +and a new experience. He had scarcely spoken a word +since he had entered the room. He could not expect +the conversation to be guided with a special consideration +of him in this circle of family privacy, and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>he had submitted to eat his breakfast among them, +but not of them, with what grace he might. Chub’s +last remark, however, trenched upon his own peculiar +province, and he spoke uninvited and to the point: +“And I move that we have no holiday.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chub glanced up, his eyes both grieved and indignant. +“Oh, why?” he said,—a phrase that is in +more frequent use in remonstrance than any other in +the English language by all American youth under +twenty years of age,—a plea to which Desmond then +and there resolved that he would never reply. There +ensued a moment of awkward silence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Horace suddenly answered for him. “Because, +Chub, we have to be classified, you know. Mr. Desmond +might be expecting you to read Greek, if he +started you without examination, you know.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t look so downcast, Chubby,” said Mrs. +Faurie, with a caressing intonation; and Desmond +was aware that, but for the pose of supporting his +authority, the coveted holiday would have been +granted without another moment’s consideration. +“Mr. Desmond is not such an ogre.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chubby wagged his head with a sorrowful monition +of experience and forecast. “Tutors are all +alike—when it comes to ogreing.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Despite her partiality, Mrs. Faurie evidently thought +this hardly civil. She came hastily to the rescue. +“And we have all the preliminaries to arrange; this +must be a busy day.” Then, obviously with a lingering +hope for Chubby’s release, for his appealing look was +very touching, “But perhaps it might be best to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>begin to-morrow. I should think it would be well for +you to look about you a little before going to work, +Mr. Desmond,—familiarize yourself with your surroundings.” +She ended with a rising inflection that +required an answer, and her evident bias would seem +to dictate its import. It was short, succinct.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nothing whatever is gained, Mrs. Faurie, by the +waste of time,” he said, “and much is lost by the +bad precedent.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She was rising from the table. “Then we will at +once consider the choice of a schoolroom,” she said, +as she preceded the party out of the dining-room. +At the intersection of the entry with the main hall +she paused; here was an outer door which opened on +a broad veranda, from which the glittering Mississippi +could be seen through the vistas of the trees. +This veranda ran quite around the front portion of +the house, and passed through it, dividing the main +building from the two wings. At one point this airy +structure widened, the flooring extending into a roofless +circular space, built around the great trunk of +a live oak, that made a dense canopy of evergreen +boughs above it, and let fall drooping shady branches +all about it. The balustrade of the veranda was fitted +with a circular bench, and one could scarcely imagine +a more attractive bower.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“This would make a fine schoolroom,” suggested +Chub, and Desmond was irritated to observe that Mrs. +Faurie actually seemed to consider it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The less there is to distract the attention, the +better,” he said promptly.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>“The passing of a steamboat,—or a squirrel, +would put Chub out of the game for the day, I suppose,” +she conceded, with evident reluctance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We could come in if it rained,” persisted Chub.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We could if we had enough sense,” said Horace; +“I have always understood that it required sense to +know enough to come in out of the rain.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was feeling more interest in his unwelcome +vocation as he followed Mrs. Faurie into the +main hall. He was apprehensive lest some puerile +folly of his pupils and the facile leniency of their mother +jeopardize the practicability of his mission, and +his vocation be riven from him when he had come to +depend solely upon it. He looked about the place critically, +noting facts that might have escaped him otherwise +in a cursory, uninterested survey. The house +bore little or indeed no token of the extensive wanderings +of its inmates in foreign lands. There were a +few good paintings on the walls, but their frames were +old and tarnished and in several instances marred, +and he fancied they were trophies of the travels of previous +generations. Other canvases were devoted to +the portraits of the family, some evidently painted +by brushes of distinction, and others only redeemed +from the imputation of being daubs by the facility and +freedom with which the likeness had been caught, +the art subordinate to the lifelike portrayal. The +ornaments, clocks, vases, were rich and represented +the expenditure of money, but were obviously the +haphazard aggregations of years and successive owners, +and with no system of collection or interest of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>suggestion. He divined that Mrs. Faurie cared too +little for life in the mansion house of the hated plantation +to spend time, or thought, or money on its +decoration. Hence, in lieu of rich oriental rugs and +polished floors, the old velvet carpets still did service, +being of good quality, seemingly imperishable, covering +every inch of the wood; the old satin damask +curtains, with lace beneath, draped the windows as of +yore. The furniture of carved rosewood, and especially +that of ponderous mahogany, was better in +countenance in view of the modern craze for ancient +relics, but its owner valued it no whit more for the +fashion. There was nowhere the museum-like effect +to be seen so often in the home of a traveled proprietor. +Except for a casual mention, no one could +imagine that any of the household had sojourned in +Japan, or journeyed on camels in remote deserts, or +voyaged on the Nile and the Ganges. It was an old +house, distinctly of its locality, in a fat, luxurious +country, replete with the suggestions of decorous +antecedents; and one might seem ungrateful to be so +loath to come to it, and so eager to be gone again, as +was Mrs. Faurie. The sons had evidently lost all sense +of preference, small citizens of the world. Home was +with each other and their mother; and it hardly mattered +if it were in Rome, or in the light of the midnight +sun, or on the banks of the great Mississippi.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had felt himself somewhat expatriated +in surroundings so foreign to the world of letters, of +art, of public interest, of intellectual activity, until he +came into the library. Unconsciously he drew a long +<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>breath of relief. On every hand he knew were friends. +He was not sorry to see that the books were old +and evidently long undisturbed. They bore the marks +of some previous owner’s loving care. They were all +under glass, the shelves built into the walls; below, +extending up three feet from the floor, were solid +doors betokening cabinets, fitted with locks, and +doubtless containing treasures of old files of newspapers, +pamphlets, magazines. These were all collections +of elder members of the house of Faurie, and +little troubled by the present generation. Two big +globes, one terrestrial, the other celestial, could indeed +give to the experienced young travelers of to-day +only the information how very little was known of +the world at the time of the construction of these +microcosms.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a great fireplace, vacant now, the room +being out of use, with the usual glittering brasses of +andirons and fender. The sun streamed in at the +tall windows at the eastern side; on the other,—for +the apartment was in one of the wings separated from +the main building by the veranda,—one could look +out through the vistas of gigantic trees at the great +embankment of the levee in the foreground, the splendid +scroll of the Mississippi emblazoning the middle +distance, and far, far away the low line of the forests +at the horizon meeting the blue sky. The windows +were draped only by some old-time lambrequins, +short and of a grape-blue, and below were suspended +the slatted shades called Venetian blinds. A heavy +mahogany desk, with innumerable pigeon-holes, and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>a wide writing-shelf, covered with grape-blue leather, +looked tempting and scholarly. A long table with +drawers was in the centre of the floor, and on each +side some chance hand had arranged chairs high and +stiff and ready for writing or reading.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“This seems made for us. Could you spare this +room?” Desmond asked, feeling nevertheless the +assurance of the demand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She hesitated. Though she cared little for Great +Oaks, the incongruity struck her. This was indeed a +fine room to devote to the uses of pupils and pedagogue, +and it might be that all that Chub would ever +learn would not be worth the wear and tear that his +acquisitions here would cost it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But why not?” she asked in turn. “Certainly +the parlors are ample for so little company as we see +here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And we shall keep regular hours; the room can +be at the service of the family in the evenings”; he +rather pressed the point. “The library is separate from +the rest of the building, and less liable to interruption, +out of earshot of anything that may be going +forward in the household; the books are all at +hand; the atmosphere is inspiring.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“By all means, then,” she assented.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But later, when she mentioned the decision to her +uncle, he looked dismayed, and she half regretted her +compliance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He selected the library as a schoolroom!” exclaimed +Mr. Stanlett. “Well, he <em>is</em> moderate!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He showed the first vestige of emotion that I +<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>think it is possible for him to entertain when he saw +the books,” she said. “I want him to be satisfied at +Great Oaks,—if anybody <em>can</em> be satisfied in the +Mississippi swamp.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What sort of impression does he make upon your +mind?” asked Mr. Stanlett, solicitously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I think he is an iceberg; he lowers the temperature +whenever he approaches.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But the value of the library as an educational influence +was not immediately apparent, and Desmond, +who had never taught, was destined to find that +there is far more requisite for success than the equipment +for instruction. The poignancy of the relinquishment +of his dear ambitions, his sensitive appreciation +of his reduction to an unsuitable, subsidiary +position in the esteem of the world, the tingling sense +of personal isolation, of humiliation in a sort, as of +an unwelcome, disregarded, yet necessary supernumerary +in the family circle, so apart themselves as to +render his presence always felt,—he thought these +elements of his poverty a sufficient handicap on satisfaction +in the present and hope for the future. He +might have been still further dismayed at the outset +to realize that education is a cooperative function, +and the receptivity of the student is as essential as +the radiation of the professor. He had been himself +so eager in the acquisition of knowledge, so earnest, +so alertly intelligent, his mind assimilating as by an +involuntary process the pabulum that the curriculum +set forth in courses, that he did not readily grasp +the idea of a different point of view. He was totally +<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>unaware of the luxury of mental inaction, the atrophy +of the industrial muscles, the dead levels of the lack +of ambition, of supine content with the least achievement +compatible with the least exertion. He had +given his instructors no occasion to seek to stimulate +his aspirations to the goal of his best possibilities, and +he had not even turned the eye of casual contemplation +upon their labors as they herded their unwilling +and loitering flocks along the dusty approaches to +learning, fain to be content with such progress as +their charges could be prevailed upon to make.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Even in the preliminaries for instruction in the +big, luxurious room, friction supervened. A fresh fire +blazed on the hearth, the places at the table were assigned, +the box of schoolbooks was unpacked, and the +stationery deposited in appropriate drawers. Chub’s +joy in the acquisition of a fountain pen it was necessary +to moderate, and his plea to inaugurate his scholastic +labors by experimenting with a writing lesson +was tabooed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You are not here to do what you wish, but +what is best for you,” Desmond said finally, and +Chub cast the pen from him on the table with an air +of permanent repudiation and a sullen pout of disaffection.</p> + +<p class='c007'>For a time Horace, with the puerile mania to be +stirring something, must needs turn in his chair and +with a meddlesome finger revolve again and again +the terrestrial globe that stood near by, contemplating +not its charted surface, but merely its pleasing +semblance to a big ball, and its satisfactory poise that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>so slight a touch would compass the revolution of the +earth. Twice Desmond politely requested him to desist. +Horace was still for a little while, but soon +his careless mood had lost the memory of the command, +the world was briskly awhirl anew, and in his +lazy consciousness he was scarcely aware of his own +agency in the fact.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond hesitated. He gazed at the forgetful +Horace for a moment, then he commented: “I hope +that you are fond of the study of geography. If +you turn that globe again, you shall map out every +country on it and chart every body of water, working +all the afternoons while the others are out of +school till you practically own the earth and the +boundaries thereof. Are you a pretty expert cartographer?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Horace, amazed and insulted, grew round-eyed and +red. “Mamma would not permit it,” he said stiffly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We shall see. This is <em>my</em> schoolroom, and what +I say here—goes!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Now, Horace, I hope that you have got it!” +Reginald exclaimed in reproach.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Horace was motionless, mutinous in dubitation. +Then with a fling he turned his back upon the allurements +of the world and joined the silent and pouting +Chub in fixedly regarding the grape-blue leather cover +inlaid in the table, and spotted here and there with the +ink of old-time chirographers.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond himself had his distractions. He was interested +in the old sand-box, full of metal filings, formerly +used instead of blotters to dry the ink on the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>page. He was surprised when a bronze bust on the +table revealed an inkstand, as the helmet of the head +of Pallas was lifted,—a series of inkstands, it contained, +for different tints, and his set and joyless face +relaxed as he refilled them. “This is a quaint fancy,—this +inkstand,” he said.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then he must needs be quick to check Reginald’s +intention to throw into the fire a bundle of carefully +made quill pens of a bygone date. These came from +a small drawer, evidently long disused, that had a +trick of sticking. There were also some wafers here, +for the sealing of letters, and a stick of sealing-wax.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond sought to inaugurate a more agreeable +topic than had hitherto distinguished the incidents of +the morning. He took these relics of the past as a +suggestion. He said that it ought to be peculiarly +pleasant to them to work here, where those of their +own blood had read, and written, and thought out +the problems of their day; and that this was home +in the truest sense, a oneness of mind and heart and +effort. They should have a sentiment to retain the +inkstand, sand-box, and bunch of quills, these tokens +of the mental activity of their forbears, hallowed by +their usage; and the stiff, unnoticed, forgotten drawer +of the table, where these writing-materials had been +found, might cause them to think how yesterday always +leaves a trace on to-day, and to take heed that +it is not a vain regret nor the disaster of the waste +of time.</p> + +<p class='c007'>They listened in blank silence and unresponsiveness. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>Desmond, somewhat taken aback, for he had +had a purpose of talking to his pupils to mould the +form of their thought, to fashion their habit of phrasing, +to direct their outlook and give the values of +viewpoint, to accomplish their improvement insensibly +even in their leisure hours, felt a disposition to recur +to the line and rule of the text-book. “Let them +learn, then, just what is set down for them,” he said, +disappointed with the first experiment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But even thus his expectations were so suddenly +dashed that he had a sense of helplessness,—an incapacity +to reach that volition of mind that makes it +a motive power. Words were all ineffective, argument +thrown away. Already he began to perceive that he +might teach in vain if they would not, and therefore +could not, learn. His heart sank within him as he +noted the look of dull disinclination, desolation indeed, +with which Reginald turned the leaves of the +Greek Reader.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is the use of the classics, Mr. Desmond?” +he asked in a tone of dreary protest. “Nobody speaks +the languages any more. Why, when I was in Greece +last winter, even I could see that what I had learned +of ancient Greek was miles away from modern Hellenic. +And I spoke Italian, not Latin, in Rome. As +to Greek literature,—why, we have the finest translations,—better +than any I can ever make. Now what +gentleman ever sits down to read Euripides in the +original? Now, honestly, Mr. Desmond, what good +has Greek ever been to you?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>This was indeed a home-thrust,—the contrast of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>his splendid and complete intellectual armament and +the field of its employment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It has given me the distinguished opportunity of +teaching you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was dead silence for a few moments as the +group sat around the table. The two sullen youngsters, +apprehending rather the tone of the retort than +its full significance, lifted their lowering eyes and +looked in blank wonder from one of the speakers to +the other. Reginald continued to turn the volume +listlessly in his hand, but a scarlet flush was suffusing +his face, and stealing to the roots of his auburn hair. +Presently he said, with the air of venturing a suggestion, +“It must be a language particularly rich in +satire; it must cultivate the faculties for sarcasm, at +all events.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The work got under way at length, and perhaps +progressed as satisfactorily as if there had been a more +genial understanding. Each faction was cautious, +being uncertain of the other, and hence experiments +were not in favor. There was much of the genuine +gentleman in Reginald; he was averse to occasioning +needless inconvenience or annoyance to others, +and had he no further reason, he would have exerted +himself to curb the vagaries of his wandering attention, +so little accustomed to concentration. But he +had, too, a proper pride. Without the opportunity of +cramming for the examination, the disadvantages of +his erratic training and the irregular development +of his immature mind were to be discerned without +palliation. This, however, gave token how solid an +<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>intellectual endowment he possessed. As he struggled +with the questions and bent every faculty to the endeavor +to do himself as little discredit as he might, +Desmond felt somewhat encouraged. There was good +material here, if it could be disengaged from the +tangle of puerile folly, superficial observation, false +standards, and a total lack of the habit of application.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The other two promised less well, and Desmond +had with them far less sympathy and less patience. +Horace, still swelling with wrath for the indignity of +the geographical threat, was merely biding his time, +and temporizing with his tyrant till the close of the +diurnal session should permit him to bear his tale of +woe to his mother, who he doubted not would +avenge him summarily. But Chub had capitulated. +He adopted propitiatory tactics. Now and again he +quitted his place and came around and stood beside +Desmond’s chair, with a plump and pleading hand on +his arm, and explained carefully that he could not +really hope to master fractions because they had a +peculiar effect on his head. He thought it would be +much better to review long division, until his health +was fully confirmed,—he was a crackerjack at long +division. He would like to show Mr. Desmond what +he could do; he could cover a slate with figures to +beat the band. And would Mr. Desmond make those +two boys quit laughing at him, and agree that he +might skip fractions altogether. He had heard people +say that fractions were of no use,—upon his word of +honor, he had.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>“Some small people like unto yourself, I dare say,” +Desmond retorted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chub was always so disappointed and surprised +when he was sent back to his place, his errand fruitless, +to bend the round integer of his head over the +tantalizing fractions on his slate, so eagerly abounding +in renewed hope as he came out again with his +plump paw to be laid persuasively on Desmond’s arm, +as he stood by the tutor’s chair, advancing his enlightened +views,—all of which tended to eliminate +study from the scheme of things at Great Oaks mansion,—that +it began to be very obvious that this +was the pupil most difficult to contend with and for +whose idiosyncrasies Desmond would have least toleration. +For scholastic attainment was a very large and +noble endeavor in Desmond’s mind, despite the reasons +he had latterly perceived to minimize its worldly +utilities. And to this effect did Mrs. Faurie express +herself that evening at dinner when they were all +grouped around the table.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should judge from the children’s report, Mr. +Desmond, that you have all had a rather serious time +of it, to-day. And that is just what I desire,—that +you should maintain your authority,”—she cast her +beautiful coercive eyes on each of the youthful faces, +shown in the candle-light intently regarding her—“and +that they should exert themselves to do their +duty.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>They seemed to accept the fiat as law according +to their several interpretations of duty,—Reginald +with a sort of manly serenity, Horace as reduced to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>order, and the little Chub as so distressful and helpless +and a-weary of the world that Mrs. Faurie could +not refrain from reaching out her long fan, and with +its downy tip touching him playfully under his chin +to bring out his dimples and win from him once +more a smile.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The insubordination of the youthful students at +Great Oaks was happily at an end, but their educational +problems remained. These promised Desmond +food for much thought for an indefinite time, and +roused him to an ingenuity of expedients to secure +the best efforts of the young scholars themselves. +For a time success swayed in the balance indeterminate. +Sometimes it seemed impossible to break to +habits of application, to harness the attention of +these wildly roving minds. He did not love the spectacle +of wounded pride, but the heroic treatment of +bluff ridicule had the happiest effect.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“For a fellow to have passed through the Suez Canal, +to have seen the Assouan Dam, and the Sault +Canal, and the Segovia Aqueduct, and the Ganges +Canal, and the Solani Aqueduct, and have no more +conception of the principles of hydraulics than a +mule shipped in a stock-car has of the motive powers +of a steam-engine! You didn’t notice?—neither does +the mule.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Reginald was letter perfect the next day in such +elementary exposition as the text-book on Natural +Philosophy afforded concerning locks, dams, jetties, +and the varied utilities of controlled waters; and +Desmond, with a touch of self-reproach, called him +into the library that evening after dinner, and made +himself very gay and entertaining with stories of college +<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>life, details of hazing, rushes, athletics, such as +had but a bitter flavor to his memory now, though +likely to please the fancy of a destined collegian. +Once or twice afterward Reginald dropped in again, +his eyes bright and expectant; but the tutor had no +immediate cruelties to atone for, and was dreary and +sad himself, and of no mind to lacerate his sensibilities +with reminiscences of happier days. He gave +himself up to such solace as he could find in a book, +and Reginald, quick of apprehension, sat on the +other side of the table, a book in his own hands, +albeit his attention wandered now and again to the +black panes of the windows, where he could see the +moon in the sky and a brilliant and shattered luminary +fallen below, which he knew was the lunar reflection +in the Mississippi River. The very touch of +a book Desmond considered salutary, and thus he did +not rebuke Reginald’s failure of attention.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In truth, Desmond felt that he needed his evenings +apart. He worked so hard with his difficult +and unmalleable material during the day that he was +likely to forget his disappointments, his perverted +destiny, his many feuds with Fate. But he had not +ceased when alone to set them in order before him, to +canvass futile ways and means for a counter-stroke, to +ponder with rancor on men who had made settlement +of the financial difficulties impossible, and others who +had found profit in pushing him to the wall. He +would have his revenge, he resolved; he would pay +them back in their own coin, some day,—some day,—and +suddenly he would feel the sting of his own +<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>sharp ridicule as he would bitterly laugh aloud and +demand of his utter helplessness how this might betide. +Though it was now little more than a year +since his father had died at the critical moment of a +business enterprise of magnitude, which wrecked in its +collapse his other interests, it had been already demonstrated +that, had he lived, it would have succeeded +signally,—indeed, in the hands into which it had +gone, it was more than justifying the confidence of its +projector. Desmond, who could not retain a single +share for the lack of means, meditated ruefully on +the sums spent in completing his course of study according +to his father’s directions, before the condition +of the decedent’s estate was definitely ascertained, +and how these funds might have been applied to +more utilitarian purposes. He was often too depressed, +too distrait, too irritated by the untoward +results of the day’s labor, to care to read; but a book +in the hand was a protection from the intrusion of +the family on the polite theory of not seeming to +exclude him from their social life. He had been sent +for once or twice in the evening to join a game at +cards with Mr. Stanlett, Mrs. Faurie, and Reginald; +but afterward, when he saw the boy’s figure appear +on the veranda without and flit away softly from the +library window, he was glad that the report that he +was busy with books and papers had protected him +from that irksome interruption. His leisure was not +of pleasant flavor with his embittered memories, but +it was his own bit of time with himself, and if he +had come to be not a merry man, he could make +<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>no compact with a new identity. Sometimes he had +a sudden thought, an abstract thought, as unsolicited, +as unexpected, as beneficent as an angel’s visit, and +he wrote. So late the light burned from the library +windows night after night, so consecutively, that the +pilots of the river craft came to reckon that stellular +gleam among their nocturnal bearings betokening the +Great Oaks mansion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond soon began to take little note of other +interests save indeed his pedagogic duties. He had +begged off several times when guests, strangers of +course to him, had come to dine. He was writing +something, he once told Mrs. Faurie, confidentially; +then he was offended by the eager alacrity with which +she had excused his presence at the table, and the +promptness and deftness with which the brisk waiter +had served his dinner alone in the library. He did not +write at all, that night. He smoked pipe after pipe +of his own strong tobacco, instead of Mr. Stanlett’s +fine mild cigars sent in with the dinner tray, although +he esteemed it in the nature of “breaking training” +as much now as when he was a star “half-back” on a +crack Eleven. He meditated much and long over the +bitter problems of the various degrees of want and +woe expressed in poverty absolute and poverty relative, +and in what actual wealth consists, and if the +rich are not often paradoxically the poor, and if the +poor,—but he felt that the converse was a more +difficult proposition to be maintained, to demonstrate +that the poor are ever by any fortuitous circumstance +to be considered the rich.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>The winter was wearing away,—the passing of +time marked only by the gradual development of +approximate symmetry in the minds of the pupils; +the slow budding of the trees of the grove, that had +been the favored haunt of deer some fifty years earlier, +before the marauding currents of the river had +carried away the point called formerly “Faurie’s +Landing,” amounting to near a thousand acres, thus +bringing the mansion house forward on the banks of +the stream, within half a mile of the levee, indeed; +the adding of page after page to the record of the +thought that had come to him in the deserted library +in the midnight;—when there suddenly befell one +of those incidents in which he played an important +part, that were as links in a chain of events, fettering +the lives and fortune of all in the house and many +besides. This, the first of these significant happenings, +came about in the simplest way, its importance +all unrecognized at the time.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was morning, and in the library his pupils sat +at their books, when there sounded a sudden tap at +the door. Desmond turned, frowning, and looked +over his shoulder. In response to his summons the +footman entered, his face irradiated by subdued excitement; +he presented formally, however, the compliments +of Mrs. Faurie, who would be glad to see +Mr. Desmond and his pupils in the parlor, Colonel +and Mrs. Kentopp having arrived.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chubby sprang up with a whoop. It would be difficult +to say whom he would not have welcomed with +like enthusiasm to rescue him from the grisly lessons.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>Desmond rebuked him sternly, while the young servant +looked on in amaze.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Say to Mrs. Faurie that Mr. Desmond and his +pupils beg to be excused, as the hours for lessons +are not over.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>It is impossible to describe the look of wall-eyed +remonstrance with which the footman hearkened to +this message, and to emphasize his own opinion of it +he closed the door so slowly that Desmond was sorely +tempted to bound up and kick it to after him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chub, on the verge of tears, was tempestuous in +argument,—his mother had sent for him, he plained, +and he was not allowed to go,—in the midst of which +a second tap at the door heralded the footman, with +a change of face if not of heart. Mrs. Faurie begged +Mr. Desmond’s pardon for the interruption, but would +be glad if Mr. Desmond would shorten the study +hours by ten minutes in order to meet Colonel and +Mrs. Kentopp in the parlor before luncheon.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hi, Bob, they goin’ to stay to lunch?” cried +Chub, hilariously. “Did the children come?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Bob’s grin of assent was petrified on his face.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Take your seat, Rufus,” said Desmond, sharply. +“You must want to do some extras for penance.” +Then to Bob, “Shut—that—door!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A great gush of talk and laughter issued from the +parlor as Desmond approached it before luncheon. It +scarcely seemed as if so limited a coterie could keep +astir so cheery a conversational breeze, but Mrs. +Kentopp was vivacity itself. She was about thirty-eight +years of age, of medium height, but very slight. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>She impressed him at first as somewhat haggard, but +he soon perceived that this was the effect of the dye +or blondine, which heightened the natural tint of her +light hair to a golden hue, that required special freshness +of complexion to accord with this embellishment. +This disparagement was obviated when she laughed, +for a becoming flush came and went in her cheeks, +and her light blue eyes danced. She was handsomely +gowned in pastel-blue cloth, heavily braided, with a +hat of the same shade trimmed with the breast of the +golden pheasant. She wore long tan gloves on a hand +so small and soft that Desmond almost thought the +fingers boneless, for despite her air of condescension, +she shook hands with him in the cordial southern +fashion on informal occasions.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You have not given us the opportunity to welcome +you earlier to this benighted region, Mr. Desmond,” +she said, laughing always. “Misery loves +company!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her husband was tall, portly, fair, and flushed, with +a bright, round, brown eye, dark hair, and a clean-shaven, +square face. He was dressed in sedulous conformity +to the dictates of the most recent fashion of +gentleman’s garb, and this dudish suggestion was +queerly accented by his peculiarly open and genial +manner and his ringing, hearty voice. He strode quite +across the room, and most cordially clasped the stranger’s +hand. But Desmond appreciated that it was a +very keen, searching, and business-like glance that +Colonel Kentopp bent upon him, singularly unrelated +to his jovial, haphazard manner and joyous tones. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>Desmond felt that it held an element of surprise, and +that he was altogether different, for some reason, from +what Colonel Kentopp had expected to see. Mrs. +Kentopp, too, turned after a moment and seriously +surveyed him through her gold-handled lorgnette, as +he was replying to the civilities addressed to him by +her husband. Concerning the newcomers Desmond +made his own cursory deductions, almost mechanically, +for they did not interest him in the least. He +fancied that Colonel Kentopp rather valued himself +upon his amiability and popularity, and was even +prone to make it evident that his two children, a +girl and a boy, were fonder of him than of their +mother. They came in ever and anon from the veranda, +where they raced and chased with Chubby, to +acquaint him with some juvenile news, some change +of moment to them, such as they had fed the parrot, +or that Chubby had a Shetland pony, and they hung +upon him, one on either side, their cheeks against his +hair, their arms around his neck. Their neglected +mother seemed no whit disconcerted by her supersedure +in their affections, and talked on blithely +to Mrs. Faurie and Mr. Stanlett—especially to the +old gentleman, with whom Mrs. Kentopp exchanged +many compliments and affected to hold a very gay +flirtation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>At the lunch-table Desmond would have felt quite +apart from the occasion, since they were all old friends +and had many subjects in common of which he knew +naught, but that Colonel Kentopp, with his genius for +geniality, persisted in drawing him out, making him +<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>talk, appealed again and again directly to him, and +would not suffer him to be ignored by Mrs. Kentopp, +who seemed disposed now to flaunt her condescension +and now to give him the cold shoulder, albeit ever +and anon she fixed upon him a surprised, contemplative +gaze that temporarily stilled her brilliant, laughing +face. Desmond could not imagine and he did not +care in what respect he did not meet their expectations, +and although he responded in good form to Colonel +Kentopp’s lead, he was not sorry when the meal, unusually +prolonged, was over at last, and he was free +for the afternoon.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He betook himself, as soon as the party had scattered +sufficiently, to the library, where he sank down +in one of the easy chairs to rest, not his bodily frame, +but his tired mind and heart. He had not wished to +seem to hold aloof from the family by withdrawing +to his own room, yet he felt intrusive with them and +their friends, who were no friends of his. He found +the library a neutral ground; in some sort it befitted +him and his calling. The quiet solaced him; the atmosphere +of the books was always friendly; the traces +of the scholastic labors were all effaced, shut up in +the deep abysses of the drawers of the table; the fire +glowed upon the hearth. He was more and more at +ease as he rested, and the slow hours of the afternoon +wore on. The shadows began to slant on the level +reaches of the long vistas under the oaks; the sunlight +had that dreamy, burnished splendor that embellishes +the southern winter; it loitered slow, content, +its progress imperceptible. All was still; not a sound +<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>reached his ear save the distant chatter of paroquets +flitting about the pecan trees as if still in search of +nuts. He could see from where he lounged in the great +armchair the long stretch of the Mississippi River, +the light reddening the hue of its murky floods, the +ripples tipped with a sparkle like gold; he noted as +often before the peculiar conformation of its surface, +the curving centre rising apparently so much +higher than the margins, which slanted downward +still toward the interior after the manner of the banks +of deltaic rivers; the opposite shores were merely distinguishable +as a line of soft, tender green. Here and +there a trio of white sea-gulls poised, then winged +away, and again darted down toward the water, evidently +roving hundreds of miles up from the Gulf intent +on fishing. He was not reading; his mind seemed +quiescent, blank. The intensity of his emotions, the +dull discouragements of his position, had worn on him +more than he was aware. He was mentally resting. +He had no conscious thought, no recognized intellectual +process, when suddenly he gave a start to +perceive a figure standing at the French window that +came down to the floor of the veranda. It was Mrs. +Faurie. She opened one of the long sashes from outside, +and entered without ceremony.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, how cosy you look in here!” she exclaimed. +“‘There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.’ +No wonder you did not answer.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Were you calling me?” he asked, with an apologetic +cadence. He had started to rise, but Mrs. Faurie +had herself sunk into a chair, and he resumed his seat.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>She was looking about her with an intent, bright +interest. “I think that we never quite appreciated this +old room. What a scholarly look your rearrangement +has brought into it! That old telescope,—why, you +have mounted it again! How nice to put it in the +centre of the bay-window—it is just the right height +for observations of the sky, and can sweep it in three +directions. Somebody yanked it off its stand long ago +to read the names on passing steamboats from the +veranda.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As she leaned her elbow on the arm of the chair +and turned her beautifully poised head, he could not +keep his eyes from her. She embodied to his mind +the poetic ideal of all the beauties of fable or history. +She was as a flout to the commonplace aspect +of the day, to her associates, her surroundings, her +own words and identity, and to himself. He could not +accustom his eyes to such peculiar and preëminent +perfection. Her charms seemed heightened at the +moment by the embellishments of dress; for since +luncheon she had made a toilet for the afternoon, of +a richness which she had not hitherto affected,—a +note of compliment to her guests. She was younger +of aspect; her face seemed that of some radiant girl, +though proud, assured, dominant. Her gown was of +gray silk, quiet in tone and not heavy of texture, the +brocaded pattern being a plume shading from darker +gray to a tip of white. She wore on her richly tinted +brown hair a velvet picture-hat of the same gray +hue, with a line of vivid white about the brim, and +apparently the ostrich plume of gray, that the brocaded +<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>gown simulated, coiled about the crown, its +white tip drooping to her shoulder. And against this +neutral background the splendor of her beauty glowed, +her complexion so exquisite, her lips scarlet, her gray +eyes so full and fine and lordly in their expression, +and with those imperious brows so delicately drawn +above. Somehow he could not hold his own before +them. Never heretofore had eyes challenged him that +he dared not meet. Her evident unconsciousness of +the impression her beauty must make upon him added +to his embarrassment. It was like talking to one in a +mask or under a disguise. He could not speak to mother +of hobbledehoys, householder, butterfly of fashion, +while these incongruous characters were blended into +the personality of Juno, or the ideal of the moon, or a +muse of poetry. He was glad that she busied those +radiant glances in scanning the sombre old room, and +his chance bedizenment of it with such cast-off gear +as had come to his hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Are the lenses of the telescope all right? Well, +that’s a blessing! And you have brought out that +old geological cabinet.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It contains some quite valuable specimens,” said +Desmond. He deprecated his tone; it seemed to him +as if he were making excuses. “A few are genuinely +rare.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie nodded her comprehension. “So I +suppose; an uncle of Mr. Faurie’s had quite a fad in +that direction.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Stanlett?” asked Desmond, surprised.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No,—Mr. Stanlett is my uncle. This was a relative +<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>of Mr. Faurie’s, with quite literary tastes; and +oh,—that old screen!—I had forgotten it completely,—skeleton +leaves mounted between plates of +crystal.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There is nothing so symmetrical, to my mind, in +all nature as the various tree-forms,” Desmond commented; +“those outlines are grace itself, both in the +denuded shape of the leaf and the tracery of the +veins. Their preparation is exquisitely done.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They look like lace!” she remarked. “If you +are fond of tree-forms, you ought to have a beautiful +time in the woods at Great Oaks”—she drew a deep +sigh. “We have little else to offer as entertainment; +but we are long on wilderness! Will the children +study botany?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Perhaps,—as a reward of merit,—when they +shall have learned something in the indispensable +branches.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie hastily changed the subject. “I am +glad that you find enough interest in these things to +resurrect them. I remember now that they were in +that big old mahogany press in the alcove.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She rose suddenly, opened the door of the press, +and looked in, her head poised inquiringly. There +seemed nothing to attract her explorations, and she +returned to her chair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That’s where you found the frames for those old +steel engravings; the arrangement of them is very +inspiring, much better than that ragged old portfolio, +which I see you have relegated to the press, where +it ought to be. I wonder what used to be in those +<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>frames; but they are the very thing for steel engravings.” +For between the bookshelves and the row of +cupboards below, a blank space of paneled wood had +received a series of small framed portraits of the great +men in the world of letters and scientific achievement. +The pictures were unharmed by time, save for spotted +and yellowed margins, but the suggestion of antiquity +better accorded with the old and worn fittings of the +place than fresher equipment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What did you find of interest in the cupboards +of the bookcases?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They are locked,” said Desmond, a trifle out of +countenance to have tried doors obviously closed +against intrusion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, how odd! There must be lots of things in +them which would interest you.” As if she could not +trust the vigor of his experiment, she rose once more +and flitted across the room, trying first one, then +another of the small doors. They were without knobs, +and only a key that might fit could open them. She +had evidently broken a nail in her efforts to draw the +doors ajar by the moulding, and she was looking +somewhat ruefully at her dainty fingers as she returned. +Not to remain seated at ease while she labored +to open the obdurate cabinets, Desmond had followed +her about the room, making similar efforts wherever +the door seemed a less close fit; and as she took her +chair by the fire he resumed his place near her, listening +attentively as she talked on. “I remember that +there are many old English periodicals there,—the +‘Gentleman’s Magazine,’ the ‘London Magazine,’ +<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>the ‘Annual Register,’ all from the beginning of +their issue, and a thousand old scientific and literary +pamphlets. Why should they be locked up? Perhaps +Uncle Clarence may have the key; if not, we may find +one about the house that will fit, or on that little +trading-boat where Chubby bought my apple, don’t +you know?”—with an animated glance. “It has +been off on the bayous and lakes since then, and it +dropped down the river to-day and tied up at our landing—it +may have a bunch of keys among its treasures +of junk. We must try that expedient, at all events. I +know you would enjoy exploring those nooks, and +you might find something that would interest you. +What are you writing?—something for publication?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He drew back in surprise, embarrassed, half flattered, +protesting. “Oh, no,—only jotting down a few +thoughts that struck me,—of no value to the public,—for +my own entertainment, or rather my own satisfaction,—a +sort of argument, pro and con, on some +questions of political economy that were never clear +to my own mind, never justified to my own point +of view. It is in a sort a dialogue, thoughts that, +expressed otherwise, would bore the life out of any +interlocutor.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But why don’t you arrange to write something +for publication while you are here, Mr. Desmond?—not +history, for of course this library is too general +in selection to afford you the data requisite, but—something +else; why won’t questions of political +economy do? something—I don’t know what,—but +something for publication and permanent interest.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>“Why, I couldn’t,” said Desmond, flushing painfully, +so close had she come to his grief for the relinquished +ambitions of achievement. “I am not capable +of that kind of thing. Besides, I came here to +teach—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Surely you don’t have to sit up o’ nights to prepare +for Chubby’s lessons! And you can’t work the +boys all day; you have to let them stretch their muscles +in the afternoon. You think that more consecutive +time would be necessary,—more concentration—well, +perhaps,—I am not up to such things myself. +Such ideas as I have are originated in the +twinkling of an eye. At all events, you have made +this a mighty pleasant place to read and rest and jot +down any vagrant ideas that may be roaming around +when your day’s work is done.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She lay back in her chair and let her eyes rove +smilingly about the changes in the aspect of the +room. “I shouldn’t be surprised if you will have to +share the library now. I dare say that all the rest +of us will want to ‘butt in,’ as the boys say.” She +laughed with a mischievous relish of the grotesque +phrase and its unseemliness on her dainty lips.</p> + +<p class='c007'>On the low marble mantelpiece were figures in +bronze of two of the muses, Clio and Calliope, evidently +costly and of some artistic merit, and Desmond +had crossed on the wall above them two long swords, +that had stood in a corner of the room, genuine +relics of warfare that had seen grim service, and in +their way carved out records in both history and +poetry. An oil painting, a spirited battle-piece, was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>still above, the scarlet uniforms giving an intense +note of color among the prevailing tints of grape-blue +with which the room was furnished. Desmond +had not inquired as to its subject, and the signature +of the painter was not familiar to him. Its execution +did not rise above a respectable mediocrity, save for +the central figure, a commanding officer, who, with +raised hat and mounted on a white charger, seemed +galloping down the line of troops and straight out of +the picture at the spectator.</p> + +<p class='c007'>All these details did Mrs. Faurie successively scan +as she sat languidly pulling on a pair of long gray +gloves; all were brought into new significance, into +added harmony, in the readjustment of the room. +She seemed at great leisure, and it was some time +before she spoke again.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You give a very beguiling aspect to scholastic +labor. I don’t think that I should mind learning a +thing or two, myself, from you here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She looked at him with a smile touching the curving +lines of her lips. His cheek flushed. He lifted +his head as he returned her look. It was a fine head, +and was well poised on his broad shoulders. That +wonderful magnetic smile of hers was addressed to +him, and he must needs have been more than human +had he not responded to its subtle, unconscious +flattery. He had been so reduced in pride, in the +esteem of the specious world, so thwarted, agonized, +deprived, humiliated, that this look of interest, of +rallying mirth, of alluring charm, was singularly +suave to his sensitive perceptions. For a moment +<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>his face was as it used to be; his dark blue eyes +had a serene light, confident, spirited; they were +smiling in their turn. His expression was lifted out +of its wonted cold constraint,—it was earnest, ardent; +and he seemed to Colonel Kentopp, pausing +at the window on the veranda, as handsome a man as +could be found between Lake Itasca and the Balize; +he was stricken with amaze by the mutual expression +of the two.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It would be my place and privilege to sit at your +feet, Mrs. Faurie,” said Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Perhaps because she was acclimated to the language +of admiration and missed it sorely at Great Oaks, +perhaps because she was so genuinely pleased with +the tutor as a tutor that she could but approve him +as a man, she cast upon him a warm radiance from +her beautiful eyes, and broke out laughing and flushing +as a much younger woman might have done.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What a pretty speech, Mr. Desmond,—and how +pitifully insincere! What under heaven could you +hope to learn from me?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had not seen before that exquisite dimple in +her cheek, for she seldom laughed with such exuberant +mirth, or perhaps he might not have answered +with such definite aplomb.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should learn those higher things beyond the +ken of books,” he declared.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Before the fire was quenched in Desmond’s eyes, +the pose of his head shifted, the flush on his cheek +faded, while yet the whole changed aspect of the man +was patent, Colonel Kentopp conceived it beneath his +<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>dignity to stand on the veranda and look in the +library window at what seemed to him singularly like +a flirtation between his hostess and the tutor of her +sons. He forthwith laid his hand on the window-catch, +and as it clicked in opening, Mrs. Faurie turned +and burst into a peal of silvery laughter while he +slowly and ponderously entered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How funny!” she exclaimed. “Where is our +walk on the levee? Have all our party fallen by the +way or dispersed? I took upon me the mission to find +Mr. Desmond, and I suppose the rest sent you to +find me.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Colonel Kentopp could not smooth out the frown +that would gather and be dissipated to corrugate his +brow anew as he listened. She seemed all joyous +unconsciousness and insouciance, yet this might be +affected. He could not judge whether she was +merely carrying off the awkwardness of having been +so absorbed in the tutor’s conversation as to forget +her waiting guests and her own errand, which was to +invite him to join the party in a walk along the levee, +or whether she was genuinely interested as she called +Colonel Kentopp’s attention to the changes by which +Mr. Desmond had so enhanced the attractions of the +library. Colonel Kentopp, who was as far removed +from the possibility of the appreciation of any literary +point as a man of intelligence and education can +well be, surveyed with blank assent the details which +she indicated to him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I thought,” he could not refrain from saying, +“that you always declared that you did not care +<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span><em>un sou marqué</em> how things look at Great Oaks Plantation.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But this is not ‘things’—it is thought; it was +done with an idea,—an inspiration. There never was +a duller and a dowdier old room, and now it is replete +with suggestion, with charm, with all the allurements +of learning; and miracle of all, without the +expenditure of a cent of money.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Take care, Mrs. Faurie,” said Colonel Kentopp, +laughing in that mirthless, rallying way in which +privileged friends give themselves the pleasure of +saying a disagreeable thing in the guise of jest; +“after all your open-handed career, you may become +a miser yet.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Heaven send the day!” she exclaimed. And +long, long afterward Desmond remembered the phrase +and her look as she uttered the words. “It might be +better for me and mine if the open hand had been +always the close fist.” Then she broke off suddenly,—“Why, +there is Mrs. Kentopp.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>For that lady was coming in, laughing very much, +which always started her pink flush to justify her +blonded hair, and declaring that she had almost gone +to sleep on the sofa in the parlor, while they neglected +her and kept her waiting. If Colonel Kentopp +had had scant appreciation of the esthetic value of +the changes that Desmond had wrought in the aspect +of the library, Mrs. Kentopp’s glacial, superficial +glance at its details implied absolute disregard. It +might have been a lesson to reduce the vanity of those +purblind insects denominated men of science, who +<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>grope about the hidden meanings of the universe, who +seek to “unclench from the granite hand of Nature her +mighty secrets,” to bring near the stars, to revive the +dead life of the rocks, to discern the brush that paints +the flower and leaf, to descry whence comes the +fashion of the cloud, to find out the paths of the trackless +oceans, could they have appraised the degree of +Mrs. Kentopp’s contempt for their objects as her +eyes rested upon the insignia afforded by the telescope, +the geological cabinet, the skeleton leaves, the +epitome of history and poetry above the mantelpiece. +Her flout of intentional inattention was so patent, +her air of minimizing, almost ridiculing the importance +of the tutor and all which to him pertained, that +it became obvious to the other two that the afternoon +walk was in order, and they were presently sauntering +down the veranda, while Desmond ran for his hat.</p> + +<p class='c007'>To Desmond’s surprise, he was not in the slightest +degree mortified, nor intimidated, nor crushed by +Mrs. Kentopp’s manner, as she had doubtless intended +he should be. He was noting the fact that, +despite their apparent intimacy, these people did not +call each other by their Christian names after the +manner of their sort elsewhere. It had never been +the custom in this region, where a certain formality +of the old regime still lingers, and he felt a kind of +special gratitude that he was not called upon to endure +to hear Mrs. Faurie address Colonel Kentopp as +“Tom,” and his wife as “Annetta,” and their responsive +familiarity to her as “Honoria.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The four walked abreast along the winding avenue +<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>under the boughs of the dense trees of the grove, +which was perfectly clear of undergrowth and as level +as a floor. Now and again the colonnades formed by +the great boles parted to show beautiful open, grassy +vistas amongst the gigantic growths that had given +the place its name; but the eye could reach no limits +of the forest, save on one side where the river had +come “cranking in and cut a monstrous cantle out.” +The party struck off presently into a byway, which at +length brought them into the road at the base of the +levee. Here they climbed the great embankment covered +with Bermuda grass. The short, dense growth +was evidently feeling the spring of the year in its +thick mat of roots that held the earth together, being +an almost impervious network of innumerable, interlacing +fibres, and of special utility because of its imperviousness +in times of “fighting water.” As they +took their way along the broad path upon the summit, +they could view from the elevation, of peculiar +advantage in so flat a country, a vast circuit of the +surrounding landscape. The water was high and the +river was still on the rise. The space outside the levee +seemed to Desmond to have shrunken very perceptibly +since he had seen it a few days before. This strip +varied greatly in width; now it looked at the distance +as if it might measure a mile or more, and at certain +points it showed only a few hundred yards, with here +and there marshy intimations and disconnected pools +where the water stood and reflected the light like oval +mirrors. The sun, down-dropping, vermilion red, had +turned all the currents of the great stream to crimson, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>and as it sunk lower and lower the shadows began to +gloom in the dense woods on the hither shore, albeit +there was still a line of gilding sunlight glinting +along the forest summits.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was all very quiet; not a craft was visible on +the currents; the vast river was absolutely mute. Despite +the fact that this is one of the great highways +of the world, a natural channel from boreal to subtropical +climes, designed, one might fancy, to bring +man near his brother man, without reference to his +own ingenuity of device,—in conquering the wilderness, +harnessing the steam, annulling time, and obliterating +distance,—it could have seemed no lonelier +were theirs the first of human eyes to rest upon it. +There was no trace, no suggestion of man’s presence, +save the great embankment of the levee along the +river-side, now and again receding so far inland as to +elude the sight, and the newly arrived “shanty-boat” +lying at the landing.</p> + +<p class='c007'>This craft held the degree of comparison with the +usual trading-boat of these waters that a junk-shop +bears to a warehouse. Desmond’s attention was first +attracted to the humble and grotesque nondescript +vessel when Chub, nimbly footing it in his trim little +knickerbockers and well-filled stockings and natty +Paris shoes, to overtake the group, joined his mother; +he began to bang upon her, his arm about her waist, +his head lolling against her arm, begging and pleading +with her to buy him a bicycle,—a beautiful +second-hand wheel,—which the amphibious trader +had assured him was as good as new.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>“But you have your own wheel,” she remonstrated. +“You actually want another? You would have to be +a quadruped to ride both.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And a long-eared one at that!” Colonel Kentopp +declared, somewhat nettled; for his own small +son had come up on the other side, casting up lustrous, +anxious eyes, beseeching that if Chub did not +secure this treasure, dear, <em>dear</em> papa would open his +heart and purse and bestow it upon him; for woe to +tell! he had no bicycle whatever,—he had only a +tricycle, and a bitter blow it was to his pride when +Chub rode a safety and he could only accompany +him, bowed to the earth, as it were, on a humiliating +three-wheeler.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My wheel?—Gracious! my wheel is all out of +whack!” cried the tumultuous Chub. “Just look at +it, mamma,—that is all I ask. Just go down to the +trading-boat and look at the wheel,—a—beautiful—second-hand—bike!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But, Chubby, it would be out of the question for +you to own two wheels and both already used—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mine’s got a punctured tire,” wailed Chub.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Gimme second choice,—if Chub don’t make it; +lemme have it, papa dear,” beguiled the Kentopp +hopeful.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It had been Desmond’s firm determination, rigidly +observed so far, that he would have no concern with +his pupils other than scholastic. He would consider +the trend of the conversation in their presence, as +indeed is necessary always in association with young +persons, that the equilibrium of their moral, political, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>or religious convictions be not shaken till they are +of sufficient age and discretion to exercise a sober +and independent judgment. He would direct their +thoughts to subjects of value in their general reading. +He would impart information or correct mistaken +impressions in the course of casual chat. He would +in moments of recreation narrate details of special +interest or amusement, and thus further incidentally +the judicious development of their mental faculties. +But with the problems of their control outside the +schoolroom, their sports, their manners, their moral +training, he would not tax himself. This was in a +manner interference, however salutary, and might be +resented by those in actual authority, resulting in anarchy +for the youths, and their last estate would be +worse than their first. He thus argued that he did +not stand in <em>loco parentis</em>; he was simply a machine +for the furtherance of learning, a paid purveyor of +wisdom, and when his day’s work was ended his +responsibility ceased for the day. Therefore he was +surprised at himself when he stepped forward briskly, +as Mrs. Faurie, with a somewhat doubtful and disconsolate +air, yielded so far as to agree to examine the +treasure, and turned to the descent of the levee on +the outer side.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let me go and examine the wheel, Mrs. Faurie, +and report its condition to you; I understand these +machines better, probably, than you do.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She turned back with a wave of the hand,—a fine, +free gesture at arm’s length. “A rescue!” she exclaimed. +“I was just wondering if I could survive the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>unmitigated boredom of the tires, and the bell, and +the handle-bar, and the pedals, and the saddle. Is the +date set for your canonization, Mr. Desmond? Go, by +all means, and add another to your deeds of grace.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Chub emitted a disconcerted whine. “I don’t +wish you to go, Mr. Desmond,” he plained, with the +unwitting insolence of juvenile sincerity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was not out of countenance; he even +sustained the furtive sneer in Mrs. Kentopp’s face. +“Just as it happens, I don’t care in the least what +you wish.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Now, there it is, mamma. I want the bike, and +Mr. Desmond doesn’t care what I want; <em>he says +so</em>.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It ought to be little trouble to teach the logical +ideas of the clever Chub to shoot straight,” commented +Colonel Kentopp.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, then,” Mrs. Faurie could not resist, “suppose +I go, too. Mr. Desmond can instruct me as to +the perfection of the tires and the bell and the +handle-bar, and the tumbling guaranty, warranted +to give the best headers in the market,”—she was +looking down with her gracious maternal smile at +Chub, as in his tumultuous callowness he clamored +and clung about her skirts (“Oh, rats! mamma, it’s +got no tumbling guaranty,” he interposed),—“and +in the mean time I can meditate on the price.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But, mamma, it is cheap, it is dirt cheap, it +is dog cheap.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is the price?” Desmond demanded.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When Chub responded, the tutor might have had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>a salutary monition of the discretion of his resolution +to keep apart from the affairs of his pupils outside +the schoolroom. “You just wait and see,” said +Chub, sullenly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Come!” cried Mrs. Faurie, her foot poised on the +verge of the outer descent of the levee, her skirts +held daintily clear of the grass with her left hand, +her right about the shoulders of the enterprising +Chub. She looked back with bright expectation at +the Kentopps as they stood motionless.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Thank you, no,” said Colonel Kentopp. “We +will await you here. I shan’t put myself in temptation’s +way. To be dragooned into buying a crippled +bike from such a trading-boat as that would be the +final blow to my paternal authority.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He and his wife looked gravely after the pedestrians +while standing together on the summit of the +levee. The sparkle and suavity of their countenances, +addressed to the exigencies of society, were +dying out. They both seemed years older in a moment. +Mrs. Kentopp’s haggard pallor was unrelieved +by the flush that was wont to come and go as she +laughed, and a certain pendulous effect of the cheeks +became noticeable in the immobile contemplativeness +of her expression. Her husband was more saturnine +than one could have imagined from his arrogations +of bonhomie. He had a spark of irritation in his +eyes, too sharply flashing to have been kindled +merely by the persistence of his little son, now picking +his way after the group bound toward the trading-boat, +now pausing irresolute.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>“Mr. Stanlett is certainly in his dotage!” Colonel +Kentopp exclaimed acridly. “I never could have +imagined him guilty of such folly as to bring that +man here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, what is the matter with the man?”—his +wife had a short, crisp tone, level and direct, and all +devoid of the little aspirations and sudden rising +inflections and exclamatory interludes which interspersed +the tenor of her usual discourse.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The matter,—why, he is as handsome as a picture! +He has the dignity of a lord, and I never saw +a man who seemed more highly bred.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well,”—she drawled, “don’t you consider those +facts advantages? A stranger in one’s house is always +a nuisance, but it is better that a tutor or governess +should be as genteel as possible.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Great Scott! Annetta, how can you be so dense? +He is a man whom Honoria Faurie might very well +elect to fall in love with and marry.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp laughed in derision,—not her +breathy, flushing, becoming laughter, but a simple +cackle of scorn. “Why, he is young enough to be +her son.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He is ten years younger,—that is all.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>All!</em> Ten years is enough. No doubt she seems +an old lady to him.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You wouldn’t think so if you had caught a +glimpse of his face as I saw them talking together +in the library. They would make a very comely married +couple.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, Tom Kentopp, you are wild! She would +<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>have to give up that big income if she married, thirty +thousand dollars of it every year are as certain +as taxes, chargeable on the whole estate, and the +Great Oaks crops besides,—and take instead only +her dower rights in Tennessee,—just a life-interest +in a third of the real property, with that old Nashville +residence, in a locality that is awfully unfashionable +nowadays,—she has never lived there since Mr. +Faurie’s death,—and a fourth of the Mississippi +property. And such a sacrifice for such a man,—a +penniless tutor! Why, if it were not way down +here in the swamp, he would seem hardly of more +consequence than a courier.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Exactly; it is a mighty lonesome country for a +pretty widow, and he is a mighty fine man.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp grew grave. “I never was more +surprised than when he came into the parlor. I expected +to see a little lean, wizened body, like the man +they had last,—little Mr. ——, Mr. ——, I have +forgotten the little animal’s name. This man is not +at all what a tutor should be in appearance; he carries +himself as if he owned the world. And his look of +cool, assured gravity is positively insulting. I don’t +think that he gave himself the trouble to fetch out +a smile throughout luncheon.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He was not amused, perhaps,” Colonel Kentopp +suggested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But he should be amused when his betters choose +to be merry,” the lady retorted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It would be a deuced unpleasant thing for us,” +her husband resumed the matrimonial speculation. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>“As long as Mrs. Faurie is in the world among her +peers, and the value of that large and certain income +is forever in her mind, with the bliss of spending it, +and living like a princess, I am not afraid. Besides, +the lords and counts would back out the instant the +settlements would reveal the awful trap that Faurie +set for his successor. But this man, this Desmond, +would be mighty well satisfied with the division that +gives her a life-interest in one third of the Tennessee +real estate and a fourth part of the personalty there, +and a fourth absolutely of everything in Mississippi. +It would be a long sight better than tutoring. He +would be mighty glad for another fellow to be hired +to teach Chub,—especially with Chub’s own money. +Mrs. Faurie is at no expense on her sons’ account—except +such as is voluntary; she gives them those +costly foreign trips, for instance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But <em>she</em>,—she wouldn’t be satisfied with that +provision;—she would not give up her income for +any man living.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“This is a very exceptional man, and this is the +jumping-off place of all creation,” persisted Kentopp.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp’s shallow eyes scanned the far +reaches of the Mississippi. The sun was no longer +visible, but the vermilion reflection was still red upon +the rippling waters, for the afterglow was in the sky. +“I don’t see how Honoria Faurie manages so badly +as to come to the end of her income in this way; it +is positively ridiculous,” she said, with a sort of petulance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Colonel Kentopp bit off the end of his cigar and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>spat it forth with an expression that suggested it +might be bitter, but his thought was wormwood. +“Oh, she even anticipates her income as far as she +can,—she spends at such a clip! She bought her +steam yacht with her <em>savings</em>, Chub told me.” He +smiled derisively. “It is in dock now; it ought to +have been chartered while she is on dry land.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And her automobile is another extravagance; +why couldn’t she hire a touring-car for the little +time that she is rusticating while abroad?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Princesses don’t stoop to such economies, that is, +abroad. Economy befits the swamp. I have nothing +to say against the diamonds, although I think she +might well have been satisfied with the Faurie family +jewels,—nor yet those wonderful emeralds, for such +‘savings’ have an intrinsic value. But it does seem a +most mischievous mischance that she should have to +<em>faire maigre</em> here in the swamp just at this time, +with such a hero of romance as Mr. Stanlett has +introduced as tutor.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Stanlett never saw him till he was engaged +and had arrived. I heard him say that the whole +matter was arranged by correspondence through Mr. +Keith, the boys’ guardian. It seems that he and the +tutor had some mutual friends. I understand that +this fellow has an exceptional collegiate record,—though +if he has, I should think he could get a better +place. But why should his presence here concern +us, do you think?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Because if there were a prospect that the Faurie +property might come on the market for division, as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>the result of her marriage, at any reasonably early +day, we should never be able to sell Dryad-Dene +Plantation to Jack Loring. He evidently much prefers +Great Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her face lowered heavily. “I was just beginning +to think of that,” she said, now dully out of sorts.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There are actual advantages,” he argued. “Dryad-Dene +Plantation is subject to overflow, and Great +Oaks rarely goes under unless their cross levee breaks. +Our lands are cut up with bayous and sloughs, while +Great Oaks has thousands of acres as level as a floor +and as dry as a bone. And then the old house, the +groves and the glades. Loring is as new as yesterday, +himself, but he wants a place reeking of ancestors +and aristocratic traditions.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I don’t see why; it is his one merit that he grew +in a single night! It is Jack that has shot up so surprisingly +this time, and not the beanstalk,” said Mrs. +Kentopp, sourly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He isn’t going to stay new. That is the reason +he does not locate somewhere else. The Great Oaks +air of the <em>ancien régime</em>, its shabbiness and out-at-elbows +look of romantic poverty, the ruin of princes, +on account of that woman’s grudging neglect, when +it is really bursting with richness and luxury, would +fill his bill exactly. Loring would be furnished with +all manner of aristocratic hereditaments, and in ten +years people would forget that he was not born at +Great Oaks. His people were natives of this region, +and his name is familiar in Deepwater Bend; he +would rather own Great Oaks than anything else his +<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>millions can buy. Let him once hear of that prince-in-disguise-looking +tutor, of fine family and exceptional +cultivation, in constant association with the +beautiful Mrs. Faurie! He is not precipitate at best. +He will wait till the division of the Faurie estate +consequent upon a second marriage puts Great Oaks +up at auction to the highest bidder.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp’s face seemed in anxiety to suffer +somewhat of a collapse. How, it might be impossible to +describe, but now her blonde hair showed that much +of it near her face was false, when its naturalness of +arrangement had rendered this suspicion impossible +hitherto. She was one of the women not pretty, but +who contrive to compass that reputation by assuming +the pose, the conscious attire, the bridling expression. +As she looked now, the coquettishness of her equipment +was a painful commentary upon her appearance, +haggard with disappointment and foreboding. For +the Kentopps had scant affinity with this secluded life +in the Mississippi bottom, and they had not had +such resources as Mrs. Faurie for shaking its mud—one +cannot say its dust—from their feet for indefinite +periods of absence. The sale of Dryad-Dene Plantation, +with its elaborate industrial equipment and +beautiful modern residence, would make possible the +dream of their lives,—its transmutation into a handsome +town house in New Orleans and a summer cottage +on the Gulf coast, with lands enough somewhere +at the minimum price to rent out to tenants to make +cotton, as lands are created to do, to furnish an income +for the absentees. But purchasers for a property +<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>of such value as Dryad-Dene are rare, and the <em>ci-devant</em> +swamper, Loring, who had grown very rich +by speculation, was one of the few men who cared to +invest in so inconvertible an asset as a fine house +and large plantation in Deepwater Bend. A species of +self-assertion it was to him, perchance. Here where he +was born, as poor as poverty, though of genteel and +respectable parentage, he could, as a bit of luxury, own +the finest estate around which the river curved, and in +the scene of his early privations have its magnates in +hot competition to place their splendid holdings in the +best light for his somewhat supercilious appraisement.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It would be idiotic,—it would positively be +ridiculous—and she ten years older,” Mrs. Kentopp +declared bitterly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly, like the lightning-change effect of a performer +on the stage, she resumed her wonted aspect +as if by magic. Her cheeks rounded out; her flush +came and went; her lips were again curving and +plump with distending smiles over her white teeth; +her eyes were all a-sparkle; and she was waving the +end of her long feather boa in a response of exaggerated +mirth to a fancied greeting from the door of +the “shanty-boat” far below. Mrs. Faurie was issuing +thence, lifting one of her delicate hands, gloved +to the elbow in gray kid; but the gesture was one of +protest. She was not looking at her guests, but after +a loutish, grotesque, thick-set man, of amphibious +suggestions, who was springing with great leaps up +the bank with an open knife in his hand. With this +he so swiftly cut die rope that held the boat to a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>gnarled old tree, that the craft, feeling the impulse +of the current, began to move from the shore before +Mrs. Faurie could step from the gang-plank of the +deck to the ground. As it was, the ripples ran over her +feet, and she exclaimed aloud in agitation and sudden +fright. She was safely on the bank when Desmond, still +on the deck, sprang lightly across the ever-widening +interval of water, now almost impracticable, swinging +Chub ashore with a hand under each of the boy’s arms. +As the boatman came running down the bank Desmond +paused, and meeting him at the margin, struck +him between the eyes a blow so fair and furious that +the fellow was weltering saurian-like in the water +before he scarcely realized that he had been felled. +Perhaps the deficiencies of his craft, with no propelling +power, constrained his attention; perhaps the +vigor of the blow tamed his rancorous rage. He made +no effort at reprisal, though Desmond lingered on the +bank, but struck out swimming after his boat, and +turned, only when once more safe on deck and out of +Desmond’s reach, to gaze lowering and askance across +the water, with a look at once vengeful, amazed, and +dismayed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What can have happened?” exclaimed Mrs. Kentopp, +watching the scene from afar with wondering +eyes. “Mr. Paragon is a muscular Christian, it +seems.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He is very injudicious,” said Colonel Kentopp, +gravely. “These water-side vagrants are often dangerous +rascals,—river pirates. Their good-will is +safer than their grudges.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER V</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The errand within the cabin of the shanty-boat +had not proved swift or easy of dispatch. When +Desmond and Mrs. Faurie had approached the dingy +and plebeian craft along the muddy bank, he once +more urged that she should wait without and permit +him to make the preliminary examination.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The boat is clean!” cried Chub, on the defensive. +“It is as clean as any other old place. Mr. Desmond +is so particular. It <em>isn’t</em> damp. Its smell is just doolicious.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chub continued insistent, and Mrs. Faurie once +more yielded.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Oakum, tar, and the peculiar and distinctive odor of +junk were the blended perfumes thus lauded which +floated out to them from the open door of the cabin. +The boat was gently oscillating on the current, teetering +as if with the instinct of dance, for the river was +at flood height, and even thus close to the shore the +encroaching waters were deep. As Mrs. Faurie and +Desmond made their way along the gang-plank to the +deck, she glanced over her shoulder at the great cable +that held the craft to the bank, passed again and +again around the girth of a tree. “I hope she is +tied up fast and hard; I should object of all things +to go floating down the Mississippi River, the involuntary +guest of such a trading-boat, impossible to +land except by the uncovenanted grace of the current.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>The cabin seemed dark at first, by contrast with +the pellucid atmosphere without. A formless hodgepodge +of barrel and box, of bunk and junk, it presented, +until the eye was sufficiently accustomed to its +comparative obscurity to discern such degree of symmetry +as informed its arrangement. One end was +dedicated to the domestic life of the proprietor; holding +the cooking apparatus, expressed in a monkey +stove that furnished heat as well, a tier of bunks on +either side, a few broken-backed chairs grouped around +a table, a gaunt, pale woman in a tattered gray +woolen skirt and a man’s ragged red sweater, with a +mass of dull, straight brown hair “banged” across +her freckled forehead and hanging unkempt down +upon her shoulders. She held in her arms a wan, puny +baby, bent on sucking its thumb, and giving the universe +only such attention as it could spare from that +absorbing occupation. Knowing this habit to be an +infringement of juvenile etiquette, the woman had +tried to effect a diversion the instant she saw the flutter +of Mrs. Faurie’s gray silk gown at the door. But +a house cannot be set in order for distinguished inspection +on the spur of the moment, and still less can a +neglected infant’s conduct be immediately brought up +to standard. A piercing, heart-rending wail made the +air hideous, and as the released thumb, all curiously +translucent and blanched and reduced in size, went +back into the child’s mouth, Mrs. Faurie, entering, +whirled around and saw both the effort to save appearances +and its failure.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She shook her head in indignant rebuke. “That +<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>will never do!” she said imperiously. “You ought +not to let the child spoil its hand. That is a bad habit, +and keeps it from being bright. It just sogs away +over that old thumb, and you don’t care so long as it +is quiet and doesn’t worry you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman rose with a belligerent toss of the head. +“Mighty easy to talk!—mighty easy! But you just +wait, young lady, till you gits some childern of yer +own, an’ see if you won’t be sorter lax todes anythink +that will keep ’em from yellin’, when yer head is +achin’ fit ter bust. I been havin’ chills and ager all +winter.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>Some children of my own!</em>” Mrs. Faurie drew +herself up, majestic and boastful. “I have <em>three</em> of my +own,—nearly as tall as I am—<em>three</em>! This”—pulling +Chub forward—“is my baby,—and doesn’t +suck his thumb, and never did. And that reminds +me,” she continued, as the forlorn river nymph stared +amazed at this rich and brilliant apparition of health, +and wealth, and beauty, and transcendent youth that +might have seemed immortal, feeling the contrast +God knows how poignantly, “there are a lot of baby clothes +left over up at my house—I am Mrs. Faurie +and live close by;—they will fit that fellow out for a +year or two to come. I will send them down to you +this evening if you will promise to put some pepper +on that child’s thumb to keep it out of his mouth.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman murmured her thanks, but she did not +feel her gratitude so acutely, rags and dirt being the +natural concomitants of her life, as her interest in +this resplendent personage, and the error as to her +<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>age and state of life. “Lord!”—she smiled broadly, +showing the devastations of a mouth whence many +aching teeth had been “rotted out with bluestone” in +default of a dentist’s care—“I thought you was +just a girl,—turned twenty, mebbe; and this”—she +pointed at Desmond—“was your courtin’ beau.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie for once looked embarrassed. “Oh, +no,” she recovered herself swiftly; “I’m getting middle-aged +now. And where is the bicycle, Chubby?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The other end of the cabin was fitted up as a store, +with shelves about the walls and a sort of counter. +Here were displayed toys and gewgaws of imitation +jewelry and beads, some bolts of coarse cloth, a glitter +of tinware, some earthen and wooden bowls, an +assortment of candies and canned goods, tobacco, +fine cut and plug, snuff, and some boxes of cheap +cigars. Incongruously enough, among these things +was a fine, fresh bicycle, with pneumatic tires, evidently +perfectly new.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond looked sharply across the counter as the +sodden, amphibious, nondescript animal that the raftsman +seemed, hardly frog, hardly fish, hardly water-rat, +yet partaking of the characteristics of all three, +eyed the party furtively from his place among his +medley of wares. His straight red hair was pulled +forward in wisps on his brow as if it had been wet +in a ducking and matted there. His big black hat was +on the back of his head. His freckled, red, mottled +face had a sort of soaked, bloated suggestion. He hesitated +for a very perceptible interval before he named +the price, and Mrs. Faurie exclaimed in surprise:—</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>“Ten dollars! Why, Chubby, you told me that the +price was five”; for Chub had waxed confidential +with his mother as they had approached, her opposition +withdrawn.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chubby’s earnest, eager countenance scarcely +showed above a pile of cigar boxes on the counter +over which he peered. He was genuinely surprised, +yet not willing to seek to take advantage of any +mistake that he might have made.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I understood you to say that you would sell the +wheel for five dollars”; he addressed the boatman +directly, with a sober but unflinching gaze.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The trader’s broad face did not change, but there +was a furtive gleam in his quick, sharply glancing, +rodent-like eye, which sought to measure Chub’s simplicity. +“No, sport, I said ten,” he declared, with a +smile showing teeth singularly sharp and closely set +together in his wide mouth, appearing as if he had +more than the ordinary complement.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Another man in the background, big and raw-boned, +but young, leaning against the door of a +cubby-hole at the rear, which from some obstruction, +apparently hastily thrust within, would not shut fast, +seemed to bear witness to this statement. He grimaced +affirmatively at Chub with the familiarity of previous +acquaintance. He had a large face, which seemed +somehow out of drawing, as if swollen here and there, +and with uninflamed red spots. One eye and one eyebrow +were higher than the other, and he had a half-witted +or mentally weak appearance, suddenly confirmed +when he abruptly licked out a large red tongue +<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>in grotesque triumph in the conclusion of the dicker, +as Chub responded:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, ten dollars is cheap anyhow,—dirt cheap,—dog +cheap. We will buy it at ten, won’t we, +mamma?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The proprietor had taken Desmond’s measure the +instant he entered the cabin. Silently gazing at one +another across the counter, both knew as well as if +the fact had been put into words that the price had +been doubled to meet his scrutiny. It would have +been still further advanced had the trader better +understood the quality of the wheel.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, ten is <em>very</em> cheap,” Mrs. Faurie began.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We cannot buy it at ten,” Desmond interrupted +swiftly,—“in fact, not at any price.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie turned toward him in angry surprise, +her eyes blazing. He met them without flinching. +“You must take my word for it!” he said sternly. +“Chubby shall not have it! It is useless to discuss +prices.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had laid his hand on Mrs. Faurie’s arm +and was about to lead her forth, when the flatboat-man +in sudden fury flung the machine down behind +the counter with a great clatter of the spokes and +pedals.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No, no!” he vociferated to Chubby, the insurgent, +who was hopefully emptying his pockets and +counting his cash; “<em>you</em> can’t buy it at any price. +Clear out!—the whole bunch of ye. I’m about to +cast off. I’ll souse any stowaways in your old Mississippi +bilge-water. I’ll cut the rope and see how ye’ll +<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>get ashore then! I’ll land you all in the Gulf of Mexico!” +As he voiced his frenzied, disconnected, incoherent +threats he suddenly ran past the group, sprang +from the deck, and with deer-like swiftness sped up +the bank, his open knife in his hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Within the cabin Mrs. Faurie started back in dismay +as the half-witted creature left the door he had +held closed, now showing within the cubby a glimpse +of coarse bagging, intimating a surreptitious cotton +bale, the corner of which had prevented the slipping +of the bolt. He jumped up and down before the +group with a capering step and a wild and foolish +eye, now to the right as they pushed toward the door, +and as they turned aside, now to the left, evidently +with the intention of preventing or delaying their +exit. Even the woman pushed a chair in front of Mrs. +Faurie so suddenly that her knees struck painfully +against it. “Take a seat, lady,” she said mockingly. +“Oh, <em>do</em> take a seat!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond scarcely could credit his senses. It was +like a disordered scene of a dream. His logical faculties +grasped but the one idea of flight. “Make haste,” +he cried out to Mrs. Faurie. “Get off the boat even +if you jump into the water.” For he felt that the +craft was already loosed and moving from the bank.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“For God’s sake, hurry!” he adjured her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then as the great gawk of an idiot sprang again +in front of them, Desmond seized him, with an effort +to sway him back and forth and fling him from his +feet; but the river man was as strong and heavier, +with a stolidity and lack of expectancy that seemed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>to add sensibly to his weight and immovableness; +and when he was finally thrown, it was after a series +of struggles that carried them locked and swaying +together around the room, both coming down at last +with a tremendous crash, bringing with them not +only the stove-pipe but the monkey stove itself. This +spewed forth a cataract of live coals over the floor, +and as the clouds of soot and smoke circled about +the rafters, obscuring still further the dingy quarters, +the woman exclaimed loudly and resentfully her fears +of fire in notes of woe and injury, and left off such +schemes of hindrance as she had furthered to run for a +bucket of water from the shelf. A coal had touched +the gigantic idiot, and he was bleating like some +great calf in a wide open-mouthed blare of sound till +admonished by her to lend his aid in extinguishing +the fire.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the midst of the confusion Desmond seized Chub, +and though doubting if he could compass the space as +the current swung the boat ever farther and farther +from the bank, he leaped ashore. The flatboat-man +was at the moment running down the bank for the +purpose of reëmbarking. Despite the limit on his +time which the receding craft imposed, he suddenly +swerved from his intention, and made a swift lunge +at Desmond, intending to stab him in the back. The +attack was not altogether unexpected. Desmond, on +the alert, sprang lightly aside, and, being unarmed, +struck the boatman with his clenched fist, the blow +landing between the eyes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was a short, sharp fracas and an easy victory. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>Desmond was a trained boxer, and here he had light +and air and elbow-room, which he had lacked in the +wrestle within the cabin. There was not a word spoken +between the two; but after the boatman had dragged +himself out of the water where he was tossed, to his +jeopardy of drowning in the suction, and regained +the deck, Desmond, breathless and agitated, took his +way up the bank to rejoin Mrs. Faurie, muttering to +himself, and now and again pausing to look back over +his shoulder at the progress of the boat.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He ought to be apprehended. If Kentopp had +a pistol and had been nearer, we might together have +held them both. Perhaps the miscreant might be +stopped by a shot if we can get a rifle at Great Oaks +mansion; but no,—he’ll be too far down the river +by that time. The boat is crossing in the current; +he is going to try to get screened behind the towhead, +and then the boat will hug the Arkansas shore, +and it will be too dark and far to risk a shot. Is there +no chance to overhaul him? Is there no telegraph +station nearer than Fairglade, Mrs. Faurie?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Mrs. Faurie, pale and bewildered, did not reply +directly. “Why, Mr. Desmond, that man tried to +abduct us all! What could have been his object?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nefarious enough, no doubt; but I don’t understand +it at all.” Desmond’s eyes had now a more +definite expression of heed, yet she was aware that +she only shared his attention.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And upon my word, Mr. Desmond, I don’t understand +your high-handed interference,” she exclaimed. +“What was the matter with the bicycle? It seemed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>a very good wheel. It was your refusal to allow us to +buy it that made all the difficulty.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The wheel was too good,” said Desmond,—“too +good entirely for the price. It was perfectly new and +obviously stolen. It was worth fifty dollars at least, +and was offered at five. Chubby is no fool to mistake +a price. The trader doubled the price when he saw +me. But the rise was not enough.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, how fortunate that you were with us! I know +nothing of the value of these things. No, Chubby, +you must never buy from a doubtful source an article +far below its value; it implies that you profit by +a fraud that you understand.” Then looking over +her shoulder, “How distant they are down the river. +Mr. Desmond, <em>look</em> how fast the current is running. +Do you suppose they were afraid that we would +report the suspicious bargain bicycle?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was something evidently more than this. +No mere effort to avoid the imputation of receiving +stolen goods would justify such violence, Desmond +was reflecting. The Great Oaks party were to be +drowned, as if by accident, before the eyes of their +friends; or they were to be carried off by a similar +unlucky chance apparently, and among some trackless +network of sloughs and bayous and lakes of the +swamp country, of which such craft is the only voyager, +the rickety flatboat would be sunk, with all on +board save only the murderous crew, surviving not +to tell the tale, and disappearing without a trace,—or +was the whole demonstration the expression only +of the wild, ungovernable rage of the miscreant, that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>such a clue to some terrible and heinous crime had +been thus fortuitously discovered?</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond could not judge, and he looked with a +sense of baffled mystery at the craft as it swung +along in midstream, smoke issuing not only from the +stove-pipe, evidently once more in place, but from +the windows and door as well. There was in this +obviously no menace, for the proprietor was seated +upon the deck at large leisure, manipulating an old +violin in a style of very jaunty bravado. The strains +floated far on the transmitting medium of the water, +and the tune was easily distinguishable as again and +again the catgut reiterated “A hot time,—a hot +time in the old town to-night.” Desmond was of +the opinion that the incident should be forthwith +reported to the authorities. But Mr. Stanlett, hearing +the details with some concern, demurred to the +proposition.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You cannot be certain that the bicycle was stolen,—at +any rate, by that particular flatboat-man. He +may have bought it among a lot of stolen stuff, to be +sure, but offered it for sale again, not knowing its +value or suspecting its history,—a <em>bona-fide</em> purchaser +himself.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond listened in surprise, for Mr. Stanlett had +not impressed him as of a particularly charitable +nature nor lenient in his judgments.</p> + +<p class='c007'>They were sitting around the hearth in the front +parlor after dinner; the fire was blazing in cheery +wise, more in accord with the chill of the night and +the record of the calendar than the springlike atmosphere +<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>of the day just closing in. The Kentopps were +staying overnight, and the topic had been for some +time up for discussion, after the manner of those +whose lives are leisurely affairs and of little distraction. +It had come in with the cigars, for the gentlemen +had been sociably permitted to bring them into +this sanctum after the service of the coffee.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We want to hear you talk,” said Mrs. Kentopp, +with a pretty <em>moue</em>.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, indeed,” cried Mrs. Faurie; “a man never has +an idea in his head unless he has a cigar in his mouth. +There is some obscure psychological connection between +facility of cerebration and blowing rings, and +some day when I am not too busy, I’ll think it out.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“As to the boatman’s casting off in that hasty way,” +said Mr. Stanlett, pursuing the subject, “that is not +an infrequent trick with better craft. Why, in my +time I have been inadvertently left at a wayside landing +ten miles from a habitation,—no joke in this +country way back in the fifties,—and I have been +carried off halfway to Vicksburg before I knew that +the boiler had steam up. It is a pity that you floored +the men. You overrated the provocation. Rough river +rats can’t be expected to show drawing-room manners. +That is one disadvantage of college athletics,—it +makes a gentleman as handy with his fists as a +professional bruiser.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>When Mrs. Faurie interposed to protest her fright +and danger, the temper of the party who did not participate +in the turmoil within the cabin made it seem +as if she were ambitious of the pose of heroine.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>“Why, my dear,” Mr. Stanlett reasoned with her, +“you said yourself that the man who danced about +and sought, as you supposed, to detain your party +was a poor simpleton, a weak-minded creature; he +doubtless meant no offense, though perhaps they were +all nettled at Mr. Desmond’s refusal to buy the bicycle +when he had heard it priced.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should have asked no questions about the bicycle, +and therefore should have been told no lies,” said +Mrs. Kentopp, with airy recklessness. “I should have +taken the bicycle at the very cheap asking price, and +in my innocent ignorance suffered no qualms of conscience. +A little learning of the law is a dangerous +thing.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Quite right, quite right, madam,” commented Mr. +Stanlett. “Really, I feel that we have no obligations +in the premises, and our riparian situation here, so +isolated, renders it peculiarly necessary for us to be +on our guard against collision with the rougher river +element.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Colonel Kentopp waved away the smoke that had +thickened about his massive head. “Very true, very +true!” he said, with a definiteness of assent welcome +indeed to the old gentleman, who had spoken with +some hesitation, for no man likes to express a fear +that others may decline to entertain. Relieved of the +imputation of timorousness, Mr. Stanlett went on +with decision:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“These water-rats, many of them really river pirates, +enjoy such immunity that I wonder that they +are not more daring and enterprising than they are. I +<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>should not like to provoke personal animosity and +possible reprisal for injuries, real or fancied, among +them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That is just how our house at Dryad-Dene is so +much more safely situated than you are here at Great +Oaks. Why,”—Colonel Kentopp leaned forward +with dilated eyes and lowered voice,—“a handful +of marauders could loot Great Oaks mansion any +foggy night; and once an oar’s length or two off the +landing, they would be as completely lost in the mist +and their pursuit as impracticable as if they were in +the desert of Sahara.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett looked uncomfortable.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, indeed,” declared Mrs. Kentopp, dimpling, +“a bit inland,—as Great Oaks mansion used to be +in the old time, before the bank caved in and the +river carried off the whole point,—and this place +would be Paradise! I sometimes wish that the river +would make another grab at it and take it off—off—away +down to the Gulf of Mexico!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Thank you for your very queer wishes,” began +Mrs. Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Only that you might move inland and rebuild +near us,—we are <em>so</em> far apart as it is,” said Mrs. +Kentopp, with her head askew and her sweetest smile.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Never because of river pirates. What are our +peace officers for, if we are not to take our ease +under our own vine and fig tree?” retorted Mrs. +Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, but evil is inherently stronger than good. +Hence the difficulty in the administration of the law +<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>and the conservation of the peace,” said Colonel Kentopp, +magisterially. “Otherwise, of course, the cause +of right and justice would have a clear walk-over. +It is unfortunately far easier to conceal a crime than +to detect it,—though skill and practice and persistence +in ferreting out misdeeds go a long way and +ultimately triumph in most instances, no doubt. But +then, think of that affair last fall at Whippoorwill +Landing,—nefarious business,—the malefactors still +at large! Two men killed inside a good trig house,—big, +healthy, hearty fellows. I knew Patton well,—used +to keep a store in Arkansas;—and not a +sign nor a clue yet as to how or why,—both wiped +off the face of the earth,—touched off as lightly as +the ash of this cigar,” suiting the action to the word, +then shaking his head solemnly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, oh! raw head and bloody bones! Not another +word! You will give the whole house awful dreams,” +cried Mrs. Kentopp. “Come, Mr. Stanlett, let us show +this worshipful company what bridge whist really is.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She rose with a great rustle of silk skirts and +whisked away to the centre table, where she opened +a drawer with an affectation of busy and sly peering, +and thence produced a pack of cards. Desmond could +not understand why Colonel Kentopp should look so +disconcerted and annoyed. He had an air of positive +concern as he said with pointed emphasis, “Choose +some other game, Annetta, that perhaps we play +better,”—with a heavy attempt at mirth. “We are +too many for bridge. <em>I</em> would sit out willingly, but +I know that Mrs. Faurie will not permit me in my +<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>quality as guest,—distinguished stranger!—and +Mr. Desmond being ‘home-folks’ here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Bridge mote it be,” Desmond responded lightly, +perceiving that Mrs. Kentopp, usurping the initiative +of her hostess, had arranged the party expressly for +his exclusion as if he were of no consideration, and +caring little or naught what the tutor might think or +feel; and to his surprise, Desmond cared naught for +her demonstration. “I have letters to write,—I hear +the packet passes near daylight to-morrow. I was +just about to ask to be excused.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The straight, level brows above Mrs. Faurie’s fine +eyes were drawn into something like a frown. It was +inconsistent with her high-bred sense of courtesy that +this exclusion should have been suggested. She would +not willingly have ignored the gentleman, poor and +proud, whose dignity should have been the more jealously +regarded because of its jeopardy in his subsidiary +position. As Desmond, on his way to the library, +passed on the veranda without, he glanced through +the window at the group, now settled at the table, +a cheery scene, with the glow of the old-fashioned +crimson curtains and velvet carpet, the sheen of gilt-framed +mirrors, the elusive flicker of the fire, the +rich dresses of the two women. He could but note +that the frown was not altogether effaced from those +level brows, somewhat formidable of expression in +their <em>rapprochement</em>, and he discerned that Mrs. +Kentopp had found it necessary to be even more resolutely +alluring in her sparkle and flushing laughter +and insistent gayety than her wont.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VI</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Desmond’s conviction that the matter of the bicycle +was eminently fit for report to the authorities was +shared by the party who was most intimately concerned, +the flatboat-man himself. The jovial pose +which Jedidiah Knoxton conserved that afternoon +while he sat on a coil of rope on the deck and sawed +on the fiddle, as the friendly current carried him +farther and farther toward the centre of the stream, +had no relation to the attitude of his mind. It was +dismayed, intimidated, as he now reflected upon the +episode and its possible consequences. He did not +welcome the realization that his thought was shared by +his wife, as he noted that she was standing with the +child in her arms, staring with a sort of dull, apprehensive, +quelled contemplation at the receding scene, +for it seemed to move instead of the craft,—the +bight of the great river bend, where the roiled water +gave token of the path of the boat; the strip of level +territory outside the levee; the immense, green, serpentine +embankment where the group of “quality +folks” stood dwindling till they seemed but a bunch +of bright-hued fabric; the heavy, tangled growths of +a stretch of swamp country to the north, and to the +south, with no apparent limits to their extent, the +seigneurial groves of Great Oaks.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And here could be seen the mansion itself, with +its score of red chimneys, its long, low white façade, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>each remove showing its many appanages,—now a +wing and then, swinging into view, an ell, and straggling +away the kitchen and offices, and dove-cote, and +dairy and bell-tower, and stables, and orchards and +vineyards; farther still was the village-like cluster +of buildings for hired hands and tenants, formerly +the “quarter” for slaves; and yet beyond appeared +the steam-gin, the saw-and-grist mill, the potato-houses, +the sheds for cows, and the work animals, +mules, and horses; then thousands of acres of cotton-fields, +orderly and neat as a flower border, already +ploughed and bedded up, ready for the planting +of the great staple,—a principality indeed, the +realm of the rich and powerful and learned;—and +was it wise to excite the just wrath, and the dangerous +suspicion, or even to court the notice of those +whose stake in the country was so large, whose +hand was so heavy, whose ascendency was so complete!</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mighty fine folks, Jedidiah,” she said at length, +still staring at the moving landscape. Her voice +reached him even amidst the discordant sawings and +scrapings of the horsehair and catgut. His hat was +thrust back; his red forelock tossed to and fro as his +head wagged in unison with his raucous performance. +He did not speak, and presently, still eyeing +the receding scene, she said, “Mighty rich folks, +Jedidiah!” Her voice was pitched high, and its penetrating +quality made itself insistent throughout the +hubbub of the “hot time in the old town.” The discordant +strain ceased suddenly. The bow, still held +<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>after the fiddler’s fashion, was shaken at her in emphasis +as he drawled malignantly:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ye-es,—an’ if this fallin’ weather in the upper +country holds a week longer, I can take a cool thirty +thousand dollars outer that sucker’s pocket with three +strokes of a spade; an’ by gum, I’ll do it, too!—if +I gits a chanst.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He lifted his hand to the abrasions of his bruised +and swollen face, which he had hitherto disregarded +with an assumption of hardihood as naught. The +last building of the “quarter” was disappearing in +the distance, glistening with whitewash,—it was +said on the river that the manager at Great Oaks +whitewashed all creation when he was informed that +Mrs. Faurie was returning from abroad, <em>even the +under side of the horse-block</em>!—but the flatboat-man’s +wife still stood staring, some vague premonition +of trouble in her mind. Jedidiah, the frog-like +suggestions of his face emphasized as he crouched +his body forward, his legs doubled up among the +coils of rope, stared, too, blinkingly. The light in +the sky was a keen saffron gleam now; it dazzled his +eyes; he was thinking hard, eagerly, fearfully, maliciously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The next moment the whole world seemed resonant +and rocking with a wild, pervasive turbulence,—a +steamer was rounding the point, and the little helpless, +drifting leaf of a boat lay directly in her course. +How he should not have heard the respiration of her +engines, like that of an immense breathing creature +which she resembled, he never knew, or how he had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>not felt the vibrations of the water pouring like a +cataract over the great wheel at her stern,—for formidable +as she moved upon the currents, loftily as +she towered in her white, glistening presence, her +chimneys seeming to vie with the forest heights of +Great Oaks, she was not one of the fine packets plying +between the cities. She was destined for one of +the smaller tributaries, and the Mississippi made only +a part of her course. But she looked to the flatboat-man +like the scourge of God. She was materialized +Fate! She was Terror, Doom, and Death in one to +the wretched man whom momently she threatened +to run down. He could never have described what he +felt as now and again she lifted anew her frightful +voice and spoke to him,—he could only feel,—spoke +of warning, of smug and exact compliance with the +law, of due notification of the death that she must +presently mete out to him. He seemed all apart from +the straining wretches that toiled, one at the pole and +two at the rowlocks, as the two men and the woman +strove against the current to bring the raft aside from +the path of the domineering monster that bore straight +down upon them,—for as far as consciousness was +concerned, he could not have moved a muscle. It was +a matter of instinct which controlled his labor, a +mechanical effort, with which heart and brain had no +part. He began to tremble when he perceived that +the steamboat was slightly sheering to the left. Then +for the first time he was sufficiently in command of +his faculties to realize that the pilot’s bell was continually +jangling, that the throbs of the engines were +<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>disjointed, feebler, that there was a desperate effort +making to back, to sheer, to change the course.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was all useless,—too late! He saw as his frenzied +muscles still strove against the impossible that +the guards were filled with people, passengers, calling +out undistinguished words of commiseration, of encouragement; +the roustabouts stood on the lower +deck, scarcely higher out of the river than himself in +his humble craft level with the surface, and roared +out advice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly with a wild scream the woman despaired. +She rose, dropping her oar, and held up the child at +arm’s length, with a gesture of appeal, toward the +captain, who was standing on the hurricane deck. He +waved his hand in encouraging response, and then +the sheer was sufficient for Jedidiah to see that the +yawl was unslung and sliding from the davits, and +that the Flora F. Mayberry proposed to have the +credit of humanely picking up their carcasses, after +she had sent to the bottom their floating home and +all their pitiful store of goods and chattels.</p> + +<p class='c007'>For this was the aspect the episode took to his +mind when, almost within the suction of the steamer, +the flatboat struck a swift swirl of current, made, +heaven only knows how. Some obstruction on the +bottom may have caused it,—the smokestack of +an old sunken boat, long since forgotten; a tree +of former swamp growths, too deeply whelmed to be +known to snag-boats or river charts, barely sufficient +to turn a ripple. With the vast strength of the Mississippi +River currents the deflecting ripple swung +<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>the flatboat around like a leaf in an eddy, and, as +safe as if he had miles of sea-room, Jedidiah Knoxton +stood on his raft, with his face corrugated and lined +with rage, and his mouth stretched wide and distorted, +and shook his fist at the towering steamer, +and called out frenzied curses upon the craft and her +captain, and passengers, and crew, and consigned +them all to hell, a deep and fiery hole in his version. +Meantime the passengers, their sympathy reacting, +laughed and sneered; the deck-hands yelled out gibes +of derision and responsive defiance; the captain +shrugged his shoulders in silent contempt and ordered +the yawl once more to its place.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman, her arms akimbo, the baby, wailing +unheeded now on the dancing, teetering floor, looked +bitterly after the greater craft as she passed, the water +playing in cascades of white foam over the wheel at +her stern, her moving chimneys seeming to describe +scrolls of mystic import among the clouds, punctuated +here and there by the faint spark of a star.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is allus the way, Jedidiah,” she said. She could +scarcely get her breath as yet, and her voice had a +catch like a sob. “It is allus the way! The big folks +is safe, an’ high, an’ dry, while us pore folks take +water, an’ skim the edge of hell.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>His pride, if he might have claimed such an endowment, +his self-sufficiency, had been grievously cut +down by the incident; but since it had not culminated +in death or disaster, it had seemed to resolve itself into +a flout, an injury, a wanton insult. This view was +confirmed in an illogical sort by the evident revulsion +<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>of the sentiment of the passengers and crew, their +sympathy naturally enough checked, however, by +his rage and futile venom as he volleyed his curses +at them.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not <em>allus</em> so safe an’ sound,” he protested, “the +rich folks ain’t. Them galoots up there at Whippoorwill +Landing didn’t skim the edge of hell,—that’s +true; they went teetotally in,—kerplunk!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman had been wringing out her hair and +shaking out her skirts, all damp with the spray of +the stern wheel of the steamer and the churning wake +of her passage in which the raft yet rocked. An +awed stillness though fearful delight came over her +face at his words, and she softly drew near, and sat +down on a coil of the ropes with the baby in her arms. +The child had ceased to cry aloud bewailing his +desertion, but as if silence were too great a boon to +accord, he kept up a sort of absent-minded whimpering +or crooning, reciting in some sort a theme of +woe, learned by rote, the significance of which had +been forgotten or was uncomprehended.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, sir!” Jed Knoxton exclaimed with hearty +satisfaction, “<em>they</em> got the butt end of the club, sure! +Providence was right after them at a two-forty clip!” +He sneered as he laughed. “I tell you the way it was +meted out to <em>them</em>, you might have thought they was +pore folks, fur sure.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I never could make out how ’t was they never suspicioned +nothing,—how it was so easy done,” she +speculated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was not a soul within a mile of the boat, yet +<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>he glanced fearfully over his shoulder before he answered. +His brother, the idiot, had gone back into +the cabin, and now and again a long-drawn snore and +at times a sputtering gasp told that he had sought his +bunk for the night. The broad Mississippi stretched +silent and deep, vacant on either hand, so broad that +they could only see the line of the hither shore a mile +away as they drifted along on the swift current. +There was no other craft in view; no motion save the +long, elastic undulations of the waves, here and there +crisping into ripples when a flaw of the chill night +breeze struck the water. Sometimes they were tipped +with a shifting scintillation, the reflection of a star, +and again only a sense of a dark, transparent lustre +betokened the depths. A world, it was, and all to +themselves; yet he looked over his shoulder, fearfully.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They got into the store by purtendin’ to be customers,—that’s +how.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But stores don’t keep open past midnight,” she +remonstrated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He ducked his red head and chuckled into the +bosom of his checked hickory shirt. It seemed so +funny,—so very funny! “Of course ’twas outer +business hours; but they was ailin’—oh, my, how +ailin’ they was! Becburn give out that he had +ptomaine pizenin’;—when they landed in the skiff, +an’ came up the bank, Danvelt told me that they +hallooed the store bold as brass, same as if they was +in earnest. An’ them two, the proprietor of the store +and his clerk, they took it all in, for gospel sure. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>Becburn <em>had</em> swallowed something mighty nigh as +bad,—a power o’ ipecac,—and he was jus’ a-vomitin’ +an’ retchin’ as he come,—an’ sure enough +them suckers opened the door, to give him something +to ease him off!” He paused again to laugh silently, +holding his head down. “That light-haired, slim fellow, +Oscar Patton, the clerk, he said that common +kitchen sody was the antidote; an’ all bar’foot as he +was, he run into the back room to git a box,—they +dealt with him there.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The child still crooned its plaint, though forgetting +its sorrow; the woman’s face was illumined by +the light of the moon, only a mere segment of pearl, +but all else was so dark,—the silent river running +like the stream of Time, the glooms of the forest +crowning the nearer banks towering dimly into the +night, the opposite shore lost in distance,—that its +lineaments were easily discerned by one familiar with +them. Even one not accustomed might have noted +the peculiar slant of the eyes, the snake-like contour +of the countenance, the long, serpentine curve of the +throat,—she seemed not out of place clinging to the +slimy timbers of a raft in the midst of the murky +Mississippi. She listened in cold-blooded interest to +this tale of a deed of dread, but now and again she +shuddered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The t’other fellow, Ackworth, was harder to kill, +they say. He got his chanst and fit. He got on to the +game, whenst he heard Patton yell out ‘Oh, my +God!’ an’ drap to the floor. Ackworth made a break +for the drawer of the counter then,—he had just +<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>been pourin’ out a glass of whiskey for the sufferer +from ptomaine; Becburn declares now he ain’t responsible +for nothin’ ’bout it all, for he done nothin’ +but turn himself wrong side out with that ipecac!—an’ +when Ackworth laid holt of the knob of the +drawer, they knowed there was a pistol in it, an’ they +jumped on him. Ben Danvelt jes’ held him by the +nape o’ the neck, an’ though he got the drawer open, +they pushed him down an’ shut his head up in it. +He couldn’t git a purchase on himself to pull his +head outer it. Tom Turfin stabbed him twicet, while +the t’others held him thar with his head in the +drawer,—stabbed him twicet in the back just under +the shoulder-blade. He wasn’t dead, though, when +they let the drawer loost an’ he drapped,—he died +hard. Tom say that he wriggled an’ writhed on the +floor like a wum. He only spoke once; he lifted up +his voice an’ he says, says he, ‘My blood shall be a +testimony against you.’ An’ his mouth was full of +it, then. But Ben Danvelt he spoke up,’ Incompetent +testimony in this court.’ He’s a funny feller, full +of his jokes! Then he let Ackworth have the knife +agin,—right in the throat, this time. An’ they got +no more o’ his jaw then. A slick job, it was,— done +right.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The progress was swift down the great, pulsing +river; they could see the dark forests upon the bank +all a-journeying northward as so elastically, so noiselessly, +they swung along toward the south. Now and +again the braided currents carried the craft close in +shore, and they could smell the dank, rich vernal odor +<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>of the earth, the pungent tang of herb and tree; +once in a deep, oozy tangle where a bayou went sluggishly +forth into the woods, an outlet from the Mississippi, +they heard a sudden resounding splash in the +water. The woman started nervously, and with a sharp +exclamation let her snuff-brush drop from her mouth +into her lap.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Shucks, Jocelinda,” the man sneered, “don’t you +know a ’gator takin’ to water yit?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The ripples of the great saurian’s stir as he swam +along the marge were perceptible now in the moonlight +as the boat shot past, down and down the +stream, and they seemed far away and faint the sound +when they heard the alligator’s resonant call to his +mate in the lagoon, and presently another roar hardly +more than some dull blast of a distant horn, so fast +the river swept them on.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It ain’t seemin’ no slick job to me,” Jocelinda +commented at length, “else it would never have been +found out.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, <em>you</em>’d have done it mighty different, +wouldn’t you, now?” he sneered. “<em>You</em> are up to +all sorts o’ tricks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I can kindle a fire that won’t go out,” Jocelinda +declared.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But the fire didn’t go out; ’twas <em>put out</em>,—that’s +whut! The light gin the alarm so denied quick. +That old hussy, the Swamp Lily, came scootin’ down +the river a full day behind time; an’ headin’ for the +landin’, the pilot seen the store afire. He sounded the +whistle fit to wake the dead,—waked all the swamp +<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>country for miles around. The old boat jes’ sot there +on the water a-pipin’ an’ a-blowin’ as if she’d bust. +Then all the galoots round about got inter their +breeches an’ boots an’ run to the landing to help +put it out. The Swamp Lily sent out all the deck-hands, +an’ the Mississippi River had a leetle water to +spare,—no reason why they couldn’t throw the +water on the fire an’ put it out. <em>You</em> couldn’t kindle +a fire that the Mississippi River can’t squench, hey, +‘smart Aleck’?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But then the folks found the bodies right there,” +she objected.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ye-es,” he drawled. “They had their own reasons +for not having walked off.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An’ so the folks found the bodies fresh killed, an’ +seen that the store had been stripped of mighty nigh +all the goods an’ all the money in the cash drawer.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ye-es, the boys loaded up all they could kerry on +the steam-launch an’ set the shebang afire. But for +the accident of the Swamp Lily comin’ along out +of turn, the whole caboodle would have been ashes +and cinders before the sun had riz. They would +have thought the proprietor an’ his clerk was burned +by accident, or in tryin’ to save something, or was +drunk an’ didn’t wake. I ‘member Danvelt said he +thought that Ackworth had the name of takin’ a +glass too much once in a while.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“’Twas a big fire,” she remarked, as if making a +concession. “It lighted up the whole country. The +river shone like a stream of flames in the fog,—just +seemed to split the world in two.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>“<em>’Twas</em> a big fire—an’ a slick job, too,” he protested. +“They got away with the goods an’ some +cash,—consid’ble spondulix,—an’ nobody ain’t +’spicioned ’em yit. ’Twas way last fall, too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Them bodies ought not to have been found,” she +argued dolorously. She felt that it was the one disparagement +to the artistic achievement.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He did not reply. They were now passing between +a small island and the shore. The water, thus compressed +in volume, ran with still more turbulent +rapidity. He was not sure how their voices might +carry on the still air and the transmitting medium +of the silent river. They were too near the land on +either hand to risk such words as might phrase the +thoughts of their dark hearts. The island was in progress +of swift building. At no distant day it would be +the shore. The great, restless river—now sweeping +away hundreds of acres, that melted into nothingness +in the floods; now cutting channels through points of +land in an inconceivably short time, transmogrifying +them into islands far from their ancient affiliations—was +here filling up with silt the shallows +and rifts and chasms into solid continuity with the +bank. This island was what is locally called “a towhead,” +a spit of white sand, sparsely covered with +brush; and one might imagine so desolate a loneliness +could shield no human being who could lend +the ear of comprehension to a chance word floating +over the water. But Jedidiah Knoxton and his wife +Jocelinda kept their dubious counsels, till once more +they swung along between distant banks of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>deep and lonely river below and the unpeopled skies +above.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Jed, warn’t that bicycle one of the Ackworth +stock?” she queried, in a mere whisper.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ax me no questions an’ I’ll tell you no lies,” he +retorted gruffly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I allus believed them was ’spensive things,—heap +mo’ ’spensive than you knowed. I b’lieve Danvelt +let you have ’em jus’ to let you git tracked +by ’em,” she suggested, “ter keep s’picion off ’n +him.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Shet yer mouth, Jocelinda,” he vociferated furiously, +“else I’ll break it in.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, <em>you</em> had nothin’ to do with thar trick,” she +expostulated. “I ain’t taxin’ <em>you</em> with nothink.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She was quiescent for a time, as if knowing that +her silence would stimulate him to speech. The surest +way to reopen the discussion was paradoxically to +close it. The child was sleeping now, and once and +again she patted its back, as it lay on her breast, +with a fragmentary “Bye-oh, Bye-oh.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Them things ain’t labeled,” Knoxton recommenced, +as if there had been no cessation of the discussion. +“They are as common as crayfish. Folks are +wheelin’ all over the country.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not at no five dollars, Jed,—nor yit ten. I tole +you that I priced them jiggermarees whenst I was in +Vicksburg, an’ some was as high as fifty dollars.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An’ I tole you that the store folks was stuffin’ +you,” he cried, with a sort of turbulence that was akin +both to rage and woe. “A tacky body like you to go +<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>pricin’ wheels an’ such fixin’s!—they was makin’ +game of you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mebbe so, mebbe so,”—she yielded a facile acquiescence, +apparently without sensitive vanity; “but +I <em>did</em> see this evening that ten dollars was a power +too low. That man wouldn’t let Mrs. Faurie risk +herself with it,—rich as she is! He knowed it war +new and stole.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, damn Mr. Faurie,—that is all I have got +to say,” the flatboat-man cried, his hand going up to +his bruised face tingling with pain as his rancor roused +at the recollection of the incident. Then tremulous +with a nervous rage, that yet contended with a cold +chill of fear, “But if this wheel was to be tracked to +me, what would ail me not to split on Danvelt and +Turfin and the others?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I reckon they are too far by this time to be +caught; it all happened last October, and here it is +nigh the spring o’ the year agin. I reckon they think +that nobody would believe you. The law would have +you safe by the laig, an’ the goods found on your +boat. ’Twas only a blind if anybody took after them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a long silence. The boat was again approaching +the shore of its own accord, it seemed, +yielded as it was to the whim of the current. The +dark forests were coming down to the verge of the +stream with beckoning, sheltering suggestions in +their wild, tangled glooms. Her breath was short, so +ardently she hoped what she dared not say. He divined +her hope, but with that perverse sense of domination, +so characteristic of the domestic tyrant, he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>would say naught to encourage it. He pursued the +subject. “If I believed that, I’d sink the wheels in +the river without more ado,” he declared.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They are too light,” she protested. “I dunno +how them cur’ous injer-rubber rims might make ’em +float.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Again there were no words between them for a +time, while the river clove through the night as silent +as the stars vibrating above in the sky. The moon +was sinking toward the western bank. A vague sense +of yearning, of wistful sadness, pervaded the lunar +light that began to suffuse the summits of the great, +gloomy, primeval forests. This glister seemed to respond +to the slow down-dropping of the weary one +who had finished her course through the skies,—no +joyous welcome this, but replete with solemnity, with +weird silence, with aloof suggestions such as might +typify the down-dropping into a grave. The wind had +grown more chill. Jocelinda wrapped closer a ragged +petticoat of red flannel, which the baby wore about +its shoulders like a mantle. The touch of the fabric +reminded her of the infant’s wardrobe which Mrs. +Faurie had promised her,—not that she cared for +such comforts and means of tidy array; it would +have been far too much trouble to keep the child +clothed and tended in many whole and clean garments. +The recollection merely brought to her mind +a collocation of ideas that had earlier occurred to +her. “I don’t believe that man was Mr. Faurie!” she +said suddenly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was an unlucky topic. The very name roused +<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>Knoxton’s rancor. “What for no?” he exclaimed, +in a sudden gust of anger. His knowledge that the +bicycle had been instantly recognized as stolen goods; +the possibility that his possession of the machine +might connect his identity with the miscreants who +had plundered the store at Whippoorwill Landing, +and murdered the proprietor and clerk; the fear that +this was their nefarious intention in shunting off on +him these costly wares so easily detected, so rare +among the humbler population among whom his +trade lay, so incongruous with his stock of goods +and character of custom, filled him with a bewildered +dismay. His was not a trained mind to think consecutively, +to deduce correct conclusions; he blundered +upon his convictions; his plans were founded on impulse, +inclination. Ignorance is not compatible with +a just and accurate foresight. His resolves, taken in +a tumult of angry volition, he would seek to execute +without due regard to feasibility or perception of +sequences, and he had no sense of justice and could +maintain no poise of temper. “What for no?” he +reiterated, striking at his wife with the rope’s end.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Thong-like it curled around her body, the end +lashing her arm, bare to the elbow, with force enough +to raise a welt. Experience had ripened such wisdom +as she possessed, and in self-defense she forbore +to exasperate further her brutal husband. She said +naught of the smart of the lash, but recanted hastily. +“I just took up the idee that he was somebody else. +I thought that old man Faurie was dead. Ain’t this +his widder?”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>“Widder?—rats! old Faurie’s widder? That slim, +handsome, high-steppin’ gal! She is his son’s wife,—she +’lowed to you that her name was Mrs. Faurie.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mebbe so; they hev been gone to Europe so long +I lost the run of ’em,” the woman meekly admitted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Naw, that ain’t it,” Jedidiah sneered. “Ye are +grudgin’ her them good looks an’ brash, high-handed +ways; draggle-tailed vixens like you can’t stand for +other women to be young an’ sniptious.” He spat +moodily into the Mississippi. “That was young Faurie +an’ his brand-new wife—the old man is dead long +ago. I’m thinkin’ the brat mus’ be his leetle brother. +I remember that there was a new baby at Great Oaks +mansion about ten year ago; I noticed it ’cause the +old plantation bell was rung like mad for rejoicing, +like it had an ager fit, an’ the Swamp Lily an’ other +boats whistled a salute when they passed, though such +is agin the regulations.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I hedn’t never been hereabouts in them days,” +she stipulated, by way of excuse for her lack of readiness +to confirm these vagrant and erratic recollections +of his wandering experiences as he floated down the +river with his store of goods, or poled his craft laboriously +in and out of the bogues and bayous. “I lived +then over in the Arkansas.” She held her head down +for a moment. A scene had arisen before her mind +best discerned with eyes closed: a little cabin in a bit +of clearing in the dense, dark woods; a filthy, miry +dooryard; the fowls and hogs and lean old mule, all +clustered about the rickety porch; a stationary home +on dry land,—all seemed paradise at this instant to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>the amphibious nomad, for the rope’s end stung, and +her indurated sensibilities had yet some nerve a-tingle +to the coarse taunt and the bitter fling.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, any fool but <em>you</em> would know. Didn’t <em>she</em> +say that she was Mrs. Faurie? And didn’t he tell the +brat he shouldn’t have the wheel at no price? And +didn’t he tell her she must take his word for it? And +didn’t he grab the woman by the elbow and the cub +by the collar, like they belonged to him, an’ start them +off the boat, him looking as fierce as Judgment Day? +An’ ain’t that the Faurie plantation, Great Oaks, +where we was tied up? Answer me that,—answer me,—answer +me,—ye tongue-tied slut,—or I’ll cut yer +tongue out.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, laws, Jed,” said Jocelinda, her nerve shaken +and very near to tears. “I ’lowed that she was a widder +lady. She spoke of her kids. I ’lowed that boy +was one of ’em. I hearn her say that—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ye <em>’lowed</em> an’ ye <em>hearn</em> like a dod-rotted fool. +That man is Faurie and owns Great Oaks! An’ ye +can bet yer immortal soul I’ll give <em>him</em> somethink +to think about soon that’ll make him forgit he ever +seen a bike or a tradin’-boat, air one.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had risen from the coil of rope and was stepping +about elastically on the deck as if he intended +to pole the craft in to the shore. She silently followed +his example, first placing the child in the centre of the +coil of rope, and taking her turn at the work with +strength and activity as muscular as if she were a man. +Perhaps an infusion of cheerfulness aided her exertions, +for they were making for a bayou that the river +<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>sent sluggishly wandering down with scant impetus +from its currents through the swamps and the heavy +glooms of a cypress slough, and she welcomed the +sense of added safety in the deep seclusions of the +wilderness. Before the Faurie party, with the utmost +expedition which the isolated situation of Great Oaks +Plantation permitted them, could contrive to notify +the authorities of any suspicion they might have entertained, +the shanty-boat would have quitted the thoroughfares +of the river, leaving not a trace. The story +of the imminent danger of being run down by the +Flora P. Mayberry would suggest some similar disaster +as a reason for the disappearance of the flatboat-man +and his craft. The bicycles—there were only +three—could be hidden, destroyed, buried in the +deep, murky, marshy tangles of the lagoons. Here it +would be scarcely possible that the fugitives should +be seen or followed,—a succession of cypress brakes, +of swampy pools, a network of bayous and sloughs +with scarcely a dry acre for miles, the land of no value +and impracticable, the locality the deepest solitude, +the aquatic growths of an impenetrable density. She +had not expected to sleep that night with so grateful +a sense of security, for it was not long before the boat +was tied up in a jungle of young cottonwood trees, +awaiting the passing of the hours till dawn should +bring the light necessary for the navigation of such +tortuous ways. But she was up and ready at the first +glimmer, her energies recruited as much by the surcease +of suspense as by the physical rest.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the gray day began to break, dim and clouded, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>it might seem to a sophisticated sense a desolate +scene, for even such symmetry as the sluggish bayou +possessed was obliterated; and now the boat was poled +along a stream-like channel, and now it threaded a +series of lakelets connected by narrow straits, full of +half submerged growths, and again it seemed almost +aground in a slough where the medium was mud +rather than water. These lakelets were of an inky +blackness, and in their midst stood forlorn forests +of gigantic cypress; upon the dark, mirror-like surface +of the water the white boles of the trees, long +ago deadened by a permanent inundation from some +freak of the changeful river, were reflected with weird +distinctness and a spectral effect. The boat was as if +afloat in a world of dead vegetation, the duplication of +the lifeless trees below, the ghostly white forest towering +above. Now and again a sharp bit of steering +became necessary to keep the craft clear of the cypress-knees, +as the conical, protruding excrescences of the +roots are called, rising considerably above the surface +of the water. Hanging moss depended in vast +masses and heavy festoons from the bare white boughs +far, far above, and served to deepen the gloom of the +eerie effect of the scene. More than once the voyagers +saw an alligator lying half embedded in ooze and mud, +looking as lifeless as the log it resembled; but one +had awakened apparently from the period of hibernation, +and was swimming down the centre of the black +lake. Jedidiah Knoxton, watching his approach, was +dubious which course he might take, in meeting the +boat, in the narrow passage.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>“He don’t understand the code of signals nohow,” +he demurred. “’Twouldn’t be no good to whistle if +I could.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The alligator solved the problem as far as he was +concerned by diving suddenly, and doubtless embedded +himself in the refuge of the mud. The question +as to where he might come up again presented another +doubt to the mind of Jed Knoxton, but he prodded +boldly with his pole, and presently they had passed, +the huge saurian still invisible.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There were other tokens of the spring besides the +awakening of the alligators from their wintry torpors. +Birds were flitting through the air; frogs were all +a-croak about the logs; the slimy, nondescript medley +of vegetation and muck was here and there pierced by +tender spears of delicate yet intense green, the folded +leaves and shoots of the swamp lily. Suddenly the first +ray of the sun struck upon a wide expanse of silver +sheen in the distance,—it was a lake evidently miles +in length, of the peculiar horseshoe contour characteristic +of the lacustrine waters of the region, surrounded +by dense and gloomy forests, and fringed +with saw-grass. This thick, prickly growth, so heavily +notched as to suggest its name, caught Jed Knoxton’s +attention. It was a keen glint of green at this season, +almost as intense as light itself. Jed Knoxton stood +still and held his hand above his eyes as he gazed; +then he turned to scan some landmark which he identified +toward the west, and again he shifted toward +the east.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I done los’ my bearin’s somehow in the swamp,” +<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>he muttered. “I been polin’ todes the north ‘stead o’ +south. An’ damn that old corkscrew of a river. We +drifted thirty miles las’ night to make five miles o’ +distance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He still stood absorbed and pondering when his +wife issued from the little cabin on the deck. “What’s +the matter, Jed?” she asked apprehensively. Smoke +was curling from the stove-pipe thrust through the +roof, and the sizzling of frying pork came with its +pungent odor from the open door. She held in her +hand a long iron spoon coated with meal batter while +she fixed expectant and anxious eyes upon him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Jes’ as well, jes’ as well!” he muttered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is it, Jed; what you studyin’ about?” she +persisted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We made no distance las’ night scarcely on that +twisted sarpient of a river,” he said. “It is blamed +like that old joke of the fool drummers,—travel +fifty mile down the Mississippi, an’ then take your +gripsack an’ walk half a mile back to where you +started from.” He grinned in surly mirth. “Then I +done shortened it some more by missin’ my way in +the swamp.” He looked about in dull speculation, as +if he were wondering anew how this mischance should +have betided him, and she dreaded lest he might fail, +in considering this problem, to disclose the intention +evidently slowly forming in his mind. But for him +its interest was paramount. It struck her as a blow +in the face might have done when she heard it voiced +anew, for she had hoped that time and distance had +combined to obliterate it, and it boded ill, she knew. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>“We ain’t more’n five miles from the edge of Great +Oaks Plantation,—I know it by the earmarks o’ +that old White Deer Lake. An’ it’s just as well,—<em>just +as well</em>—p’intedly convenient, in fac’. I’m +goin’ to give Mr. Faurie of Great Oaks Plantation +something to study about that will make him forgit +there was ever sech a thing as a bike or a tradin’-boat, +air one.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The ensuing days were bland and soft, and the +Faurie family life gravitated insensibly to the wide +verandas of the Great Oaks mansion, where much +time was spent in futile chat, and where one could +take the air without the exertion of exercise and be +out-of-doors without the trouble of quitting the +house. It was a fine illustration of the best method +of <em>dolce far niente</em>. The favorite rendezvous was +beneath the canopy of live-oak boughs on the extension +of the veranda just outside the library windows, +and here Desmond often joined the group, saying to +himself that it had an air of churlish avoidance to +hold himself aloof when they were all so near. In +these days he heard no little of Mrs. Faurie’s plaints +of the limited capacities of Great Oaks for rational +entertainment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nothing to do,—nothing to say,—nothing to +see. ‘Oh, give me to drink of mandragora, that I +may sleep away this gap of time!’” she exclaimed, +as she reclined languidly in her garden chair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was something to see in the Great Oaks +avenues,—the sward was rich and fresh, and all the +vague, sparse, spring foliage of the trees sent out +a glitter now of gold and now of green. Hyacinths, +pink and white and blue, shook their fairy bells +in a parterre near the house, and the trellises in the +old-fashioned garden were delicately sprayed with +<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>green, lace-like leafage. There was much to see in +the vast, murky floods of the Mississippi River; the +opposite banks had wholly disappeared in the encroachments +of the water on the swampy Arkansas +shore, and as its limits were beyond the reach of +vision, its aspect was that of some great inland sea. +When Desmond remarked on the phenomenon, Mr. +Stanlett stated, with the pride which the dwellers on +the banks of the river take in its arbitrary and +monarchical exhibitions of power, that sometimes +here, in high water, it measured sixty miles wide, and +always in the Bend its average depth was not less +than one hundred and eighty feet.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And just beyond the point the lead-line often +marks scant four feet on the sandbars,” Mrs. Faurie +interpolated iconoclastically.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The words suggested a lurking danger to the +larger craft visible, the possibility of getting aground +even in such a vast welter of waters. A great tow +of coal was in midstream, bound from Pittsburgh +to New Orleans, the steamboat pushing before her +a score of broad, laden barges, ranged elliptically +about her prow, and gliding slowly and majestically +down the current. Seen above the summit of the +dense forests in the distance, against the bland, blue +sky, a whorl of black smoke uncoiling from lofty +chimneys announced the approach of the steamer of +the regular packet line rounding the point; and the +upward course of a snag-boat had its own suggestion +of yet another of the jeopardies of the navigation of +the great, lawless river.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>“Talking about something to drink,” said Mr. +Stanlett, a bit uneasily, “I had a queer experience +yesterday. I was out riding, and when that sudden +shower came up, I was pretty far from home and got +soaking wet. And—you know my rheumatism—I +stopped at the first house I could reach; it was Jessop’s +shack, and I went in to dry off by his fire. +Well,—Jessop is a friendly fellow, and would have +me take a drink to keep from catching my death of +cold. You know he is only an Irish wood-chopper,—makes +a scanty living by furnishing wood from +anybody’s land who will give it to him for the clearing, +and selling it to anybody who will buy it; but I +accepted because I don’t like to refuse a civility from +such a person,—and, bless my soul! it was French +brandy,—good sound Cognac. He was mightily surprised +when I told him so. He said he knew that it +was a tipple to which he was unaccustomed, but it +cost the same as ‘bust-head whiskey’; he said it was +all the same to him so long as it fired up all right,—‘made +drunk come.’ He bought it from that shanty-boat.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond looked up significantly at Mr. Stanlett, +who resumed: “You are right, sir,—stolen, no +doubt! I fear from the Whippoorwill Landing stock. +I remember that though Ackworth kept a general +assortment of goods, he had a limited class of fine +custom. Some rich people live near Whippoorwill +Landing, and they preferred to give him their orders +instead of dealing elsewhere. Ackworth was of the +gentry himself,—came of good people,—broken up +<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>by the Civil War. He put what he had left into this +store; he had been in the Confederate army, though +one of the youngest veterans—distinguished himself—was +very popular—and as the planters round +about gave him all their custom instead of sending +to Memphis or New Orleans, he kept in stock such +choice grades of articles as they would require. I +fear this brandy was stolen and that bicycle also; +I wish that I had taken your view and given notice +of our suspicions to the police authorities.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“To be quite candid, I did not think it prudent to +abide by the theory of non-action,” said Desmond. +“I wrote that evening,—and the mail-boat took the +letter next morning.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie sat up straight in her chair and looked +about her with widening eyes,—that a tutor in her +house should take the initiative in its direction! Mr. +Stanlett’s delicate face flushed. Even through his +sparse silver hair one could see the polished scalp, all +roseate. He said nothing, however, looking down at +his cigar as he flipped off the ash.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond noticed their evident attitude of mind +both with humiliation and indignation. Then he +roused himself,—for his paltry salary they did not +buy his identity, annul his personality.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The responsibility was mine,” he said icily, more +in self-assertion and in response to their offended +silence, their mien of rebuke of his presumption, than +because of any sense of obligation to give account of +his motives. “It was I who discovered the quality +of the article offered at a mere fraction of its value. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Knowing that it must have been stolen, I did not feel +justified, as far as I was concerned, in remaining +silent.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There is a grave responsibility in unwarranted +interference,” remarked Mr. Stanlett, dryly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And in bringing down suspicion on innocent people, +perhaps,” Mrs. Faurie said, with cold reproach.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If the proprietor of the trading-boat came honestly +by a wheel, perfectly new and a favorite make, +which he is able to offer for sale at five dollars, he +will have no difficulty in making the fact clear. It is +not my prerogative to judge.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should be sorry to provoke the enmity of a +rude, lawless man such as that, by putting upon him +an unnecessary affront and hardship,” Mr. Stanlett +coldly urged. He had no longer his genial drawl of +leisure and luxury. His intonation was crisp, clear-cut.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“As I understand it, a heinous and brutal murder +was committed only last fall at Whippoorwill Landing,” +Desmond said, his pride pulsing in his temples, +his own restiveness under expressed displeasure showing +haughtily in his flushed face. “To have knowledge—or +such grounds of suspicion as amount to knowledge—of +stolen merchandise being vended through +the country at fantastic prices and yet say nothing, +in my opinion comes perilously near conniving at the +escape of the villains,—accessory after the fact.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie turned and surveyed the tutor with +wide eyes and a look of such affronted amazement +that even he quailed before them. Desmond was impressed +with the fact, noted by him for the first time, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>but doubtless often perceived before by others, that +the very rich are fearless of the ordinary operations +of disaster. The ægis of great possessions overshadows +them. The law is their ally, for their protection; the +imputation that by their negligence, or assumptions, +or bravado, or inconsiderateness it could be arrayed +against them is in itself a ridiculous impossibility, a +sort of grotesque parody on fact, a distortion of the +powers of established order. All other menace is likewise +abated in their favor. The dangers of travel are +minimized for them; the distresses of sickness are +mitigated; every ill that flesh is heir to is softened +and alleviated and embellished till they are scarcely +to be identified with the woes, savage and hideous, +that rack the multitude; and death itself is so bedizened +and beautified and exalted that it ceases to +be the great leveler. Mrs. Faurie’s astonishment that +anything that she or hers thought proper to do could +be liable to misconstruction, to question, to disparagement, +was beyond words.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett, however, stared at him with a sort +of dawning comprehension in his watery blue eyes. +“Upon my word, I never thought of it in that light!—ridiculous +aspersion—impossible, though, as far +as we are concerned; but, I believe,—in respect +to the law, the bare facts of the case,—silence might +aid the murderers, shedding the goods of which they +stripped that store among the flatboat-men, woodcutters, +ditchers, and niggers.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then Mr. Desmond was right?” asked Mrs. +Faurie, seriously.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>“Yes,—yes,—though I deprecate anything that +tends to draw upon this house the enmity of the +wretches.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The law is its best protection,” declared Desmond. +“To make them feel the power of the law is the real +resource. To let them and their fences and pals get +away with impunity is to invite depredations.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, yes,—true, true!” said Mr. Stanlett. “But +you take a good deal on yourself, Mr. Desmond.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It was imposed upon me by good conscience and +good citizenship.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, well, now,—I don’t know about good conscience,” +said Mr. Stanlett, drawing hard at his cigar, +but with renewed satisfaction. “Batting the eye is +necessary sometimes. It won’t do to see so much, and +deduce so correctly, and act so promptly. Let sleeping +dogs lie.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Do you call these sleeping dogs?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So far as we are concerned they are. Quiet, +peace, security,—we have them all at Great Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And a dullness that has no parallel outside the +grave,” declared Mrs. Faurie, once more falling back +in her graceful reclining posture. She had never +seemed to Desmond so beautiful as to-day. She wore +the daintiest of afternoon dresses, of delicate lavender +broadcloth, and the dazzling purity of her complexion +was even more radiantly asserted in the full light. +Her gray eyes, with their dense, long black lashes, +seemed more expressive in their petulant, slumberous +disaffection. From her white brow her hair rose in +the usual pompadour effect, but its rich brown tint was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>heightened by the broad illumination of out-of-doors, +and her lips had all the lustre of wet coral. Into the +meshes of the lace of her high “transparent collar” +and chemisette, that showed the gleam of her snowy +white neck and throat, was thrust a set of stick-pins +of amethyst. She held some wands thickly studded +with pink almond blooms in her hand. “Great Oaks +leads the field for monotony,” she said disconsolately. +“It might be a gentle distraction to be called upon +to defend the mansion against river pirates.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She suddenly sat up straight, her eyes dilating +and brightening, her infrequent flush, an incomparable +tint, mounting into her cheeks. “Think how it +would sound in the deep midnight,—if the old +plantation bell should boom out on the air, up the +river and down the river, and across the Bend, calling +on all who ever stood on the pay-roll of Great Oaks +Plantation, or owed it a good turn, or wished it well, +to lend a hand at its utmost need. I can hear it now! +It would sound so far! It would shake the moss on +the cypress trees in the White Deer Swamp, where +ghosts have been seen. It would rouse the gangs at +the engineering work who are trying to raise the river +on jackscrews, or sinking a revetment mat, or building +a dyke at the point, or whatever they are up to over +yonder in the chute. It would even start up the +loafers from the card-tables at the old Shin-Plaster +Landing, way down on the Arkansas side, where +everybody says they gamble half the night. And the +Swamp Lily would be climbing up the current, and +old Captain Cleek—who dropped me into the Mississippi +<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>River once when I was a baby and he was +a mud clerk, and my parents were leaving the steamboat +in midstream to make the landing in a yawl, +and who has always declared he owed me indemnity +for a ducking—would signal to head for the shore +with every pound of steam that his engines can carry.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett moved uneasily, and now and again +cast a furtive, anxious glance at her sparkling, girlish +face. This badinage was far from appealing to him. +He had sought once or twice to interrupt, but in the +very desperation of idleness and lack of interest she +found a sort of entertainment in the picture that she +had conjured up, and persisted:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What would you two do? All out here in the +grove where it is so egregiously dark of a moonless +night—we shan’t have this function on till the moon +changes—there would appear occasionally a sudden, +funnel-shaped flare of light and a sharp report,”—she +put her hands over her ears for a moment as if +to shut out the sound,—“and Mr. Desmond would +be winning his spurs, and Uncle Clarence would be +wanting to show how worthy he is of his, already +won, and the babies would be telling each other, and +everybody else, how wrong and wicked and purblind +I was never to let them learn to shoot so that they +might now fill the marauders full of lead; and I—why +I—would just open the door a bit ajar, and—‘Gentlemen,’”—with +the most gracious bow and an +airy waving of the hand,—“‘the goods and chattels +in this house are somewhat antique, but with a lot of +wear in them yet. They are racy of the soil, and the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>trail of the European serpent is over none of them. +They are all at your service. As to the people,—Mr. +Stanlett is a man wise in counsel, gentle in manner, +and a genial companion at dinner; Mr. Desmond will +teach you “to speak Greek as naturally as pigs +squeak”; and you are welcome to <em>both</em> of them until +I can ransom them, which I will do as soon as I can +save something from my next year’s income!—all +for the slight consideration that you will give me and +my squabs a free passage down to Natchez on the +Swamp Lily,—and no questions asked!’” She paused +breathless, triumphant. “Now, Uncle Clarence, don’t +you think that would wake us up?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He turned to throw his cigar stub over his shoulder +into the grass. The wind was stirring the long, +drooping branches of the live oak above their heads, +and little, fluttering ripples ran through the folds of +the skirt of her gown. “I think that we may have +yet something to disturb us, not so sensational, but +sufficiently perturbing. There is no necessity to ‘raise +the river on jackscrews.’ Colonel Kentopp thinks we +are going to have an overflow in Deepwater Bend. +The river is at flood height, and in several localities +above, the water is standing against the levee. There +have been recent rains all through the upper country. +He says that since the rise, the work of the River +Commission on the other side has had the effect of +throwing a water of overwhelming weight against the +levee above his place, and if it breaks at Ring-fence +Plantation, where it was always liable to crevasses, +considerable territory in the Bend must go under too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>“So poor Colonel Kentopp makes his moan! We +never go under on account of the cross levee. I am +mighty sorry for his anxiety; an overflow, especially +if it were not general, would hurt the sale of Dryad-Dene, +and he has been negotiating that place so long +with that rich Mr. Loring. For my part, I believe +that man will need only so much land as he can lie +down in,—he will be dead before he makes up his +mind to buy,” Mrs. Faurie prophesied.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She gazed silently out for a time at the tawny +sweep of the Mississippi at flood height, beyond +the vivid variant tints of the bourgeoning spring +growths. “I wish the Mississippi River were drained. +Such a torment as it has been. What a queer thing +its channel would be, though. Just think of it! Boats +unnumbered, of all sizes and pretensions, from the +first little stern-wheeler to the floating palaces of the +days of the Robert E. Lee and the Great Republic. +Then the bones of all the people that have gone down +in the fires and collisions and swampings and sinkings +to their watery graves! The nations, the races, +they are all represented there, and who knows what +prehistoric people! And in modern times the English, +the French, the Spaniard,—De Soto, himself, +must be there yet. He could not be swept with +the current down to the Gulf, for he was buried in +his armor, encased in a hollow log, and he must be +lying still, oh, very still, the great wanderer! bound +to one restricted spot,—the great explorer! under +tons and tons of the ooze and mud of the Mississippi, +that he came so far to find, and that has held him +<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>fast so long! Yes,—the bottom of the Mississippi +River must be a strange sight indeed.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Might try a diving-bell; that would put an end +to the dullness!” suggested Reginald, who had come +up and was leaning over the high back of her chair +as she talked. Now and again his eyes wandered to +the tennis-court at one side of the house, where Horace +and Chubby were playing a match, running very +nimbly, but serving the balls badly enough from the +standpoint of his superior expertness. Mrs. Faurie +did not reply. Her eyes were fixed on a mounted +figure approaching through the grove, presently +identified as a groom from Colonel Kentopp’s place. +Dismounting at the foot of the steps, he presented a +note with the request for an answer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An answer?” said Reginald, who had run down +the flight of steps to receive it. “Then you had better +ride around to the kitchen and wait.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the groom rode off and Reginald turned to +ascend the steps he remarked: “From the Kentopps, +mamma,” holding up the envelope, showing the elaborate +crest. Then, as she extended her hand, he +continued in the accents of an extreme but half-suppressed +surprise: “It is addressed to Mr. Desmond.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The tutor looked up in blank amaze, the expression +deepening on his face as, after a request for permission, +he read the contents. The note was from Mrs. +Kentopp, in a tone of the suavest urbanity and the +most friendly and informal cordiality, begging that +he would give Colonel Kentopp and herself the pleasure +of his company at Dryad-Dene for the week-end. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>“We have some very charming young friends staying +with us whom we wish you to meet, and especially we +wish to give them the pleasure of knowing you. I have +selected the week-end, thinking that this will not much +conflict with your schoolroom duties with the little +Faurie torments. So I beseech you to let us have you +Thursday evening, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We +will return you, with no disparagement of your wisdom, +early Monday morning, though we don’t intend +to be very serious and staid at Dryad-Dene either.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He could not command the muscles of his face in +his surprise as he read, and his disconcerted doubt +and dismay were so patent that Mrs. Faurie cried out +gleefully:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Have mercy on our curiosity! What are the +Kentopps doing to you?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Without a word he handed her the note. Her brilliant +eyes scanned the lines with a brightening interest +over all her face. “Why, how perfectly delightful! +A dance after dinner Thursday evening—Mercy! in +Lent?—oh, I remember,—it is Mi-Carême. Will +they have enough?—Yes, with Miss Allandyce and +the Mayberrys and Miss Dennis and Rupert Regnan +and those two young gentlemen who were landed from +the Primrose last night, and Miss Kelvin, and she suggests +others whose names she does not mention,—and +a camp hunt on Friday and Saturday,—‘the +young ladies are wild to go!’—Oh, I know they +are, and I will bet everything that they do go, and +spoil the fun for the men.—No shooting Sunday,—but +only the sylvan pleasures of the camp; for if +<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>the ladies don’t go earlier, they will then join the +hunters for a day in the woods. How delightful! +How perfectly delightful! But,”—a shadow crossed +her face, quizzical, but nevertheless a shadow—“how +very strange that she doesn’t invite me!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I was thinking of that,” Desmond remarked. “It +must be an oversight.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How can it be?—‘Cordial remembrances to dear +Mrs. Faurie.’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I don’t understand it,” he said helplessly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I do,” Mrs. Faurie declared; “she is relegating +me to my proper place as an old woman. This entertainment +is given for the young people; ‘gay youth +loves gay youth.’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond flushed. “I think it an extreme impertinence +on the part of the Kentopps.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well,—in a way. I shouldn’t take up much +room,—and oh, how I should have enjoyed it,—the +days are so long!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If you will excuse me, I will step into the library +and answer the note,” said Desmond, rising slowly +from his chair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Do; and I am sure that you will have a charming +time,—it will be a delightful break in the +monotony for you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond stood aghast. “I have not the most remote +idea of accepting.” He had his hand on the +back of his chair, and he leaned slightly upon it as he +looked down at her. His expression seemed reflected +upon her face.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But, my dear child, you must accept,” she exclaimed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>in dismay. “I wouldn’t have you miss it for +any consideration.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I don’t think an acceptance is appropriate—with +you excluded.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She laughed lightly. “Can’t you see that it is a +party of young people, and that it is only my incurable +frivolity that makes me frenzied to go to it? You +are the only member of the household of the appropriate +age for such volatile amusements. The children +are too young for society such as this, and Uncle +Clarence and I are too old. I insist upon it. I will +not have it otherwise. Go write your acceptance, or +I will do it for you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Still he leaned on the back of his chair, and still +he looked at her doubtfully. Rarely indeed since his +advent at Great Oaks had his face shown its natural +lines of expression. It was frank, gentle, almost appealing +now, without the cool constraint, the aloof +dignity, the critical reserve, it generally wore. “The +Kentopps did not particularly attract me,—and, to +be candid, I think that I perceived that I was not +acceptable to Mrs. Kentopp. It would be distasteful +to me to go.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie remembered suddenly Mrs. Kentopp’s +pointed exclusion of Desmond in her proposition for +a game at cards, her manner of airy, unseeing indifference.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But you must perceive from this note that there +was nothing intentional,—it is cordiality and consideration +itself. Mrs. Kentopp’s manners are so affected +and she is so self-absorbed that it is easy to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>take her amiss. One should not be too exacting; we +must take the people in this world as we find them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Obviously, however, he was not placated, and she +resumed with a note of decision: “Now, I make this +a personal matter. As a favor to <em>me</em> I hope that you +will accept this invitation. The Kentopps are exceedingly +civil to you,—and you have no excuse. They +would think a declination very strange. And, besides, +I want you to have the little bit of entertainment that +you can get from a neighborhood visit, while you are +consigned to this slough of despond yclept Great Oaks +Plantation. I only wish I had an invitation, too,—” +She dropped her hands in her lap with a gesture of +mock despair, then she laughed out gayly at herself.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Couldn’t you go without it,” he suggested. +“There seems such an established friendship between +the families, formality might be dispensed with.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If the note had been addressed to me,—perhaps. +If I had been charged with the transmission of the +message to you, I might have stretched a point and +interpreted it as inclusive. But no!—I am expressly +and of set purpose excluded. I am out of the game! +There is nothing for me but to sit down in the chimney-corner +and just be old.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She turned her radiant face up toward him, the +most apt interpretation of beauty in its fullest expression +he had ever imagined, the bloom of perfect development +upon it, the rare ripe fulfillment of the +promise of first youth. She was apart from the idea +of time. There were more lines about Chubby’s eyes, +from much crinkling with laughter; her fair, smooth +<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>lids showed naught but the form of their perfect design. +Reginald had a vertical crease between his +brows, from a frown of perplexity he sometimes wore +in moments of cogitation; but his mother’s face was +as free from the trace of care as of age, and morning +itself looked out of her eyes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The point of exclusion was so preposterous an incident,—it +was so jejune, and lacking in social tact +and appropriateness, that Desmond, try as he might, +could not interpret it. He did not give over his impressions +of Mrs. Kentopp, for all her fair words now; +he did not easily forgive or forget, but the ground +of offense was untenable. It was infinitely unpalatable +to accept, yet it was not practicable to decline, and +he was as little in a holiday mood as ever in his life +when, two days later, the Kentopps’ phaeton, which +had been sent for him, rolled up to the porte-cochère +of the mansion at Dryad-Dene Plantation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>If Great Oaks were reminiscent of the past, it might +seem that Dryad-Dene was a respecter only of the +morrow. It could hardly be said to be up-to-date,—it +was an earnest of the future. Certainly it was the +most modern house in all that portion of Mississippi; +and but that the surrounding woods, with the peculiarity +of harboring no shoots nor underbrush, betokened +the locality, one could scarcely have identified +the vicinage. The river was out of sight; the levee, +unseemly, utilitarian, suggestive of jeopardy in its +promise of protection, held its serpentine course far +beyond the range of the windows of Dryad-Dene. +There were no forest trees immediately about the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>house; the grounds were laid off in the formal Italian +style, with conventional walks in the midst of a fine +green turf embellished with cone-shaped evergreens +and other ornamental shrubs, white stone vases, terraces +with stone copings and steps; and pleasing +though the effect was to the eye, it was as foreign to all +suggestions of Mississippi as if it had been hundreds +of miles from the dominant old river. Only when its +beauty might compensate for its old-fashioned savor +was aught brought into use of merely domestic suggestions. +These walks were covered with tiny, fine +white shells, brought up by steamer in hogsheads from +the Gulf coast; and charming as was their aspect, this +entailed not more expense than ordinary gravel, +which must needs have been imported also, for there +was not a pebble to be found in all this stoneless region. +A crystalline glitter from one side betokened +the slanting glass sashes of the conservatory, and great +ornamental plants—palms and Japanese tree-ferns—were +ranged on either side of the stone flight of steps +of the main entrance, as well as the porte-cochère. +The house was of brick, with stone facings, the roof +of fantastic device, of many peaks and gables; a tower +was at the eastern corner; a deep loggia, an oriel +window, a balcony, embellished the façades elsewhere, +breaking up every suggestion of regularity in +the architectural effect.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The large reception hall, into which Desmond was +ushered, had a fire blazing in a deep chimney-place, +so huge as to be of mediæval suggestion, and a grand +staircase in massive oak, descending in devious turns, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>with here a landing below a great, stained glass window, +and here a niche in which was a marble bust on +a tall pedestal; on the lowest step was lolling a young +lady, a cup of tea in her hand and a riding-crop across +her knee. There were several other figures turning at +gaze as he entered; in fact, the apartment seemed full +of people to Desmond, coming into an unaccustomed +entourage from the brighter light without. It was a +moment or two before his dazed sight disintegrated +the group. Most of the party were sipping tea, as they +stood about, their whips under their arms, for they +were in riding costume. Two ladies sat chatting in the +high-backed antique chairs on either side of the fire. +A little beyond, in a deep bay-window, was a tea-table, +a rich gleam of color with its choice ware and lustre +of silver, where Mrs. Kentopp, in a blue-and-white +striped silk tea-gown, long and flowing, was handling +the sugar-tongs, while a tall, blond youth was holding +out his cup toward her, apparently facetiously dickering +for an extra lump. She suddenly caught sight +of Desmond, and sent the sugar-bowl falling to the +tray and scattering its treasures as she rose precipitately.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There, now!” she exclaimed, “I said I heard +horses’ hoofs, and this greedy thing said I didn’t,”—for +the young man had possessed himself of the +tongs and was sweetening his tea to his own taste. +“I can’t hear the phaeton’s wheels for the rubber +tires.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She swept toward Desmond, the skirt of her gown +trailing behind her, and the white lace which veiled +<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>its front from yoke to hem all shimmering above +the broad blue-and-white stripes of the silk foundation. +“Mr. Desmond,” she cried, “how good of you +to come!” She pressed his hand cordially, and turned +about to the group with her most coquettish air, her +fluffy flaxen curls above her forehead somewhat more +deeply tinted in the glow of the fire and the light +through the ruby “jewels” of the stained glass window. +“This is the Mr. Desmond with whom we all +fell in love over at Great Oaks,” she exclaimed joyously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Is it the regulation thing to fall in love with Mr. +Desmond?” one of the young ladies asked, as Mrs. +Kentopp, having concluded her flaring collective introduction, +began to mention the names of the guests +nearest at hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Miss Allandyce was standing beside the tall newel-post, +and he noted in surprise that she wore the +dark cloth “cross-saddle riding-breeches” affected +by progressive horsewomen, with boots to the knee +and a riding-coat, in lieu of the habit in which he +was accustomed to see fair equestrians. The costume +was not utterly unknown to his observation, but +never should he have expected to see it here, and +affected by a lady with the unmistakable southern +accent. She was tall and thin, though of a large frame, +and wore her masculine gear as successfully as a +big, bony boy might have done. She was not without +charm; her gauntleted hands were small, her boots +were shapely and slender and displayed a high instep. +She had a Derby hat in one hand, while she held her +crop under her arm, and nibbled at a sandwich from +<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>the other. She had a fair, frank, freckled face; her +auburn hair was packed high on her head to be well +out of the way of the Derby, and amidst the mass two +or three fleecy short curls escaped from a richly tinted +tortoise-shell comb. She seemed much at ease, and +moved about with great freedom among the petticoats, +though there was no other costume similar to +her attire. The delusive draperies of a divided skirt, +which one of the party wore, came to the floor, and +were even fuller and much less graceful than the +familiar riding-habit of the girl who sat upon the +step, and who was of the type so usual in that country,—the +woman who looks like a white rose, with dark +eyes and hair and very fair, delicate skin; who spends +the summer-time resting indoors, with a novel, taking +care of her complexion; who would as soon consign +herself and her complexion to Tophet as bathe in +the sea, or climb a mountain, or walk out without +a veil or a mask of chamois after April. She had +an oval face, her lips were red, and her high silk hat +had all the chic which the contrast with exceeding +femininity is expected to afford.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Can I bow upward?” she asked, with a ripple of +lazy laughter. “Is it polite to bow when you are sitting +on the floor?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You are perfectly horrid, Gertie,—the idea of +pretending to be so worn out as all that by a little +horseback exercise!” Mrs. Kentopp declared, with +an assumed air of pettish displeasure. “Please don’t +speak to Miss Kelvin, I beg of you, Mr. Desmond. +Remember that I haven’t introduced you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>“I am saving up for the dance this evening, Mr. +Desmond,” the young lady declared. “You ought +to be glad that you did not get here in time for the +drag-hunt. We have had a run after an old bag, that +we made believe was a fox,—and I never knew before +how many bones I had to ache.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Would you ache any less if you had had a fox +instead of an anise-seed bag?” Mrs. Kentopp reproached +her. “Let me give you some tea, Mr. Desmond”; +and with all her silken train a-flutter she +whisked back to the tea-table.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, indeed,—glory would have sustained me,” +Gertrude Kelvin declared. “I was ahead of the +hounds, Mr. Desmond,” she protested, still in her soft +collapse on the lowest step of the stairs. “The field +was nowhere. I can’t say that I was in at the death, +for there was nothing to die; but if I could have +had the brush, I should have been forever happy. Nobody +could call me lazy any more! I can’t say that I +captured the bag—Is that sportsmanlike, Mr. +Desmond?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Did the hounds run well?” asked Desmond, seeking +to seem interested, now equipped with a cup of +tea and a sandwich, and free to stand about at a +distance from Mrs. Kentopp.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—they did that!” exclaimed Miss Gertrude +Kelvin, wagging her head and widening her eyes to +express great speed; “and I was in—with the bag +to hold!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, the hounds make me mad,—they are so +easily deceived! I hate a fool!” Miss Allandyce +<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>came up in a gentlemanly fashion near Desmond and +Miss Kelvin, looking down at that young lady, who +was secretly a bit out of countenance at her proximity +in this novel attire. She said no more, and +Miss Allandyce went on presently, moving one of her +handsome feet with a heel and toe alternation, to +which she was accustomed with her skirts, but which +now had a style of brazen indifference in the mind +of the young lady clumped up in her habit at the +foot of the stairs. “It is a pretty good pack, though.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Colonel Kentopp’s kennels, or do they belong to +a neighborhood hunt?” asked Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Both girls opened wide eyes to horrify and impress +him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Neither!” replied Miss Kelvin, significantly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Isn’t that ridiculous?” exclaimed the strong-minded +Allandyce, whirling half around on her heel. +“The pack belongs to an old wood-chopper named +Sloper,—and ‘the quality’ <em>borrow</em> his dogs.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Isn’t that low?” Miss Kelvin cast up her dark +eyes from her humble posture. “<em>He</em> is all right—for +a wood-chopper! Is he Irish,—or Scotch? He has +a queer accent.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Plain Mississippi,—without any foreign frills,” +replied Miss Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He lives all alone,—got no relatives,—and +keeps such a lot of dogs for company, he says. They +are just friends of his,—guests, a permanent house-party, +and oh!—think of it!—when they all ask +together to be helped first at breakfast.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And the neighborhood planters object to it, for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>he won’t take a cent, and they don’t want him in the +run; but if they borrow his dogs, they have to invite +him and treat him as a guest for the time being. So +about a year ago they thought they would make up +a good pack—” explained Miss Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Went at it in great style—” interpolated Miss +Kelvin.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Imported dogs,—English—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Colonel Kentopp bought some beauties—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Great price—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—oo—oo—!” said Miss Kelvin, but beyond +that enigmatic syllable she could not express her sentiments.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—oo—oo!” echoed Miss Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Their eyes filled with tears of laughter, as one +looked down and the other looked up.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, how did they run?” asked Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Miss Kelvin in her lowly posture took refuge in +the safety of silence. She began to manifest renewed +interest in her sandwich, and proceeded to eat it up +on both sides of its bit of encircling ribbon.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Perhaps even the assumption of manly attire imparts +a degree of courage. Miss Allandyce chose a +bolder course. She walked first to the tea-table and +put down her cup,—Desmond realizing too late that +the influence of her boyish aspect had prevented +him from offering that service. As she came back, +her Derby in her hand and flecking her boots with +her riding-whip, she looked over her shoulder once or +twice to make sure of Mrs. Kentopp’s distance. Then +she said: “I’ll tell you, but you must never mention +<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>it to her, and above all things never to the colonel,—he +is a sweet dear and I love him! His English hounds +ran like fun; they gave tongue like a bell,—the +most mellow, searching, thrilling, musical sound you +ever heard,—and the first staked-and-ridered rail +fence they came to—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They could as easily have climbed a tree, the +poor foreigners!” giggled Miss Kelvin, sly in her +corner.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Such a fence as our swamp dogs would just +scramble over,” explained Miss Allandyce; “but +the imported English hounds ran hither and thither, +squeaking and wheezing, and Colonel Kentopp—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They say his language was awful!”—Miss +Kelvin had crumpled herself up very small.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I never see him so decorous in church without +thinking of it,” said Miss Allandyce, and the two +exchanged a glance of extreme relish.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The hounds climbed the fence at last?” asked +Desmond, impatient for the sequel.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a moment of silent and speechless mirth. +Then Miss Allandyce said, in a husky voice and with +eyes full of tears, “Colonel Kentopp and the huntsman +dismounted and <em>lifted</em> the imported English +hounds over the fence,—and by that time the fox +had run to Issaquena County!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, what a gay time you are having over +there! What’s the fun? Don’t keep the joke to +yourselves,” called out Mrs. Kentopp, in the midst of +their laughter. But she did not approach the group, +and presently the two recovered their composure.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>“I wonder,—I have often wondered what did +ever become of those imported hounds,” speculated +Miss Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Perfect dears, too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So handsome! But they were seen here no more, +and whenever ‘the quality’ have a run, they borrow +old man Sloper’s house-party, and put the old wood-chopper +up on as good a horse as there is in the +county.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They don’t indulge in riding to hounds about +Great Oaks, do they, Mr. Desmond?” asked Miss +Kelvin, still resting her bones.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not since I have been there,” replied Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How long will you be at Great Oaks?” asked +Miss Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, I hardly know,” replied Desmond, slightly +embarrassed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, they make it so delightful to guests, I don’t +wonder you can’t say when you will get your visit +out,” Miss Kelvin remarked.</p> + +<p class='c007'>A sudden illumination broke in upon Desmond’s +mind. Mrs. Kentopp had not acquainted her house-party +with their fellow guest’s vocation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But I am not a guest at Great Oaks,” said Desmond, +quickly. “I am the tutor.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>An appalled astonishment was on the face of both +young girls for an instant. Miss Kelvin remained silent, +but Miss Allandyce rejoined in a tone which +obviously sought to keep the key of the previous chat, +“Oh, yes,—Mrs. Faurie has three children,—what +a charming household it is there!” Then she drew +<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>a tiny watch from her fob and said in a low tone to +Miss Kelvin: “I wonder that Mrs. Kentopp doesn’t +let us go and dress. I shall be a fright if I don’t +have at least an hour.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We have to dance, too, in our dinner-gowns,” +Miss Kelvin murmured a trifle absently.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond silently upbraided his folly in yielding +to the insistence that had brought him here. Despite +his gentle breeding, the position of his family, the +opportunities of wealth that he had hitherto enjoyed, +his culture, he felt that he was at a disadvantage in +general society. His poverty, his station as a private +tutor,—to small boys, mere children,—rendered his +presence an incongruity among frivolous people who +could not know and could not appreciate him fairly. +He had no opportunity to make his value and quality +felt. It was only in some cultured coterie capable +of going deeper than the shallow appraisement of +fashion that he could ever hope to find again his level. +He could not forgive himself that he had laid himself +liable to this misapprehension, and for his life +he could not imagine why Mrs. Kentopp had given +her guests no intimation of his position, to avoid such +a contretemps as he had encountered. For their own +sake, and for hers, they would have been civil in any +event. Had she intended to pass him off as a man of +their world, of wealth and leisure and luxury? And +why, indeed? For his own part he had no desire to +pose in a guise that must coerce their respect. But +the malapropos incident had made him feel out of +place, as if he were a presuming aspirant, patronized +<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>by the Kentopps, and foisted upon their guests’ society +without warrant. Neither of the young ladies +had spoken again, both apparently absorbed in their +eagerness to be off to dress, and the negligence of +Mrs. Kentopp, still flirting at the tea-table, to give +them the opportunity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly Colonel Kentopp entered and rushed forward +with an enthusiastic extended hand. “Why, +my dear sir,” he exclaimed heartily, “I didn’t know +that you had yet arrived. Glad to see you! How well +you are looking! The sight of you is good for sore +eyes.” His left hand had crept up to Desmond’s +shoulder, which he patted affectionately as he spoke. +“Wish you could have been with us on the run +to-day,—great time!—But what are you all dawdling +around here for? It is time to dress for dinner. +The Mayberrys and Timlocks will be here long before +you are ready. Joyce, keep those sweet nothings that +you are whispering into my spouse’s ear for a season +of more leisure.” And he advanced upon the tea-table, +where Mrs. Kentopp was mildly carousing, so to speak, +in a flirtation with a man almost young enough to +have been her own son. She broke out into a peal +of her affected, coquettish laughter, and Desmond in +their midst looked on with as unresponsive a pulse, +with as alien and unrelated a mien, as if among some +mystic crew of Comus.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VIII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The room to which Desmond was assigned was +never intended for an unimportant guest. As he +looked about him, he could not understand the incongruity. +The Kentopps were neither of them such +people as value a man for his own sake, regardless +of wealth or station; they had no fine perceptions +that could discriminate the higher attributes; they +were devoid of that gift of generosity which belittles +self to make the more of greater worth; they could +not even understand a lofty poise of mind, and it +amazed him that they should seem to strain after it,—to +ignore the trivial incident of the vital fact.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was a spacious, airy apartment at one of the corners +of the building, and the sharp angle was decorated +with a dainty oriel window, though large enough to +hold a fauteuil, a writing-desk, and a shelf of books; +from this outlook one might see down a deep bosky +dell artificially beautified, with a tangle of vines and +interlacing shrubs, amongst which was visible here +and there an elusive face, with the pointed ears +of the fauns and elves of garden statuary. There +were no trees of tall growth, and hence he caught a +repeated glimpse of jets of leaping water among +the leafage, and in the stillness he could hear the +splashing of a fountain. At the end of a pleached +alley was a rustic pavilion, evidenced by its conical +roof, and in the opposite direction a life-size figure in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>marble on a pedestal had suggestions befitting the +classic ideal of sylvan nymphs. The new fad of an +old dial was illustrated in a shadowy nook where the +sun might make scant register of time. This, Desmond +was sure, was the “dene” which gave the place its +name. The preciousness of its design affronted him, +despite its prettiness. In his unconsciousness he +did no homage to the ingenuity of Kentopp, who, +after the burning of his simple farmhouse, inherited +from his father, at the other end of the place, +had utilized this desirable building-site despite the +proximity of an old “bear wallow,”—the swampy +depression thus drained, civilized, and made ornamental +and even poetic. Any declivity or acclivity +was rare in this level region, and the “dene” was +greatly admired; its original status was wholly forgotten +in the success of the landscape gardener’s +achievement, save when some blunt yeoman neighbor +sought a rift in the armor of the Kentopps’ satisfaction +and the relish of a crude joke by directing a +note or other paper-writing to “Kentopp Bear Wallow” +instead of “Dryad-Dene.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As Desmond turned from the window and again +surveyed the room, he was struck anew by the elaborate +aspect of its appointments. A reclining-chair +invited to lounging, with foot-rest and book-holder. +There was the daintiest of toilet tables draped with +lace, instead of the heavy old mahogany bureau such +as the gentry of Deepwater Bend were accustomed +to use; and in place of the immemorial mahogany +four-poster was a brass bedstead, also canopied and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>covered with lace, and furnished with a duvet of delicate, +embroidered blue silk. The polished floor had +rugs in which this azure hue predominated; an open +door gave on a bath-room tiled in blue and white, and +the cut-glass candlesticks among the other crystal accessories +of the toilet table held faint blue wax tapers,—never +intended for use, however, for a flood of +gas-light illumined the room, and made his preparations +an easy matter, in contrast with the usual labors +of dressing in the country for a festive occasion by +the light of a kerosene lamp, however decorated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had earlier experienced a natural youthful +gratulation that his evening clothes, relic of his +London visit the previous June, seeming a thousand +years ago and in a different state of existence, were +so fresh and unworn, and a specially handsome garb. +He could at least appear to personal advantage and be +no discredit to his entertainers. Now he did not care! +He fretfully adjusted the diamond studs, a gift that +he had not parted with in all the exigencies of the +financial stress he had known, and the choice and fine +sleeve-links, also mementos of happier days. He would +as soon wear jeans, he said to himself, as he stood, tall +and conspicuously imposing, before the long mirror, +tying his cravat with a touch that grudged its practiced +deftness, for in his undergraduate days he had +been something of a dude, despite the roughening +influences of the “Gridiron.” He called out in a peremptory +tone when a tap fell upon the door, and as +it opened admitting a young gentleman, one of the +guests of the house, the leisurely drawl with which +<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>he entered upon his mission received an impetus from +the imperious gravity and challenge of the eyes fixed +upon him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mrs. Kentopp requested that as I was going +by—Great Scott! they do you immensely proud.” +He was young, and blond, and of slight figure, and +had already a tendency to baldness. He was not tall, +but very erect, deported himself with conscious chic, +and spoke with a superficial, negligent enunciation. +It was with an air of surprised amusement that he +paused to look about the room. “They haven’t put +me up half so fine. I feel slighted,” with an airy laugh. +“Well,—Mrs. Kentopp asked that as I was going by +I would stop for you, to—to”—he was beginning +to feel the influence of Desmond’s eyes—“to show +you where the drawing-rooms are located.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Lest I should lose my way without chart or compass,” +Desmond commented.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well,—they seemed actually to try to twist things +when this house was planned,—nothing is where you +would expect to find it,” said Mr. Herndon.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am beholden to you, then, for towing me to a +safe harbor,” said Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Young Herndon had recovered his equanimity. +“Kentopp is such an incorrigible dawdle that she dare +not trust him. But I have a special virtue of promptness,—among +my many other virtues. My friends +say that I will die some day twenty minutes before +my time comes.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Notwithstanding this vaunted promptitude, there +were several gentlemen already in the large drawinging-rooms +<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>when the two entered. The glitter of gas +and crystal from the chandeliers, the gloss of the floors, +the richness of the oriental rugs, the gilded chairs and +sofas, upholstered in cream and terra-cotta satin brocade, +the glow, deep yet delicate, of costly pictures, +the scattered ornaments, vases of Venetian glass and +choice porcelain, tall urns of Persian ware, Chinese +curios in carved ivory,—there was not a suggestion +of home but the great fire blazing behind a brass +fender and andirons, and this was so bedizened by a +modern “high-art” mantel, that the leaping hickory +flames had much ado to make the domestic note +heard in the bizarre medley; and indeed the fire itself +was a mere matter of ornament, for the house was +heated by a furnace fed by Pittsburgh coal, even more +convenient in this riparian locality than wood which +must be hewn, and incredibly cheap by reason of the +low rates of water-carriage as compared with railway +freightage. Neither of the Kentopps had yet appeared, +and as Desmond entered the room, though +maintaining his manner of proud composure, he was +grateful for the fact. Their overwhelming cordiality +daunted him in the realization of its superficiality. +He fumbled vainly for his identity in the midst of +their soft deceits and unimagined intention, beyond +his ken, but unmistakable. He could meet their +guests, to whom he was not even conventionally beholden, +on a level as man to man, and he would make +no concessions. He would maintain his sense of his +own dignity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the sensitiveness and self-consciousness incident +<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>to an unaccustomed and in a degree a false position, +he did not reflect that beyond his name he was wholly +unknown to the party, and that the momentary interval +after his appearance was instinct only with uncertainty +and a preliminary effort to “place him” in +evolving some suitable phrase introductory to conversation +with a stranger. He interpreted the silence +as cool, critical, not to say supercilious, and he had +no mind humbly to await his adjustment to such place +in the coterie as the sense of the meeting, so to speak, +might consign him. He walked to one side of the +hearth, and stood for a moment as if in contemplation +of the group. Then singling out one, a man of mature +years, conventional of aspect, with a long, thin face +and a most unenthusiastic expression, he remarked, +“I think I have not met you earlier.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what of that?” was in the countenance of +all the amazed group, as Desmond held the centre +of the stage,—even in the impassive, wooden countenance +of the gentleman whom he had addressed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Loring, Mr. Desmond.” The youthful Herndon +was no reluctant scholar; as he often remarked, +when he had had a thing demonstrated to him forty +thousand times, he had learned it. He had now mastered +the fact that the tutor, for whatever reason +placed in the position of Colonel Kentopp’s guest, was +by no means disposed to interpret this as patronage, +nor to capitulate to good-fellowship on anything short +of the full honors of war. “Mr. Loring has just arrived,” +Herndon further explained.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As they shook hands Desmond’s next remark brought +<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>a sudden gleam of expression into the wooden grooves +of Mr. Loring’s immobile face. “I have heard you +mentioned at Great Oaks Plantation,” he said, recalling +vaguely Mrs. Faurie’s account of the dilatory +methods of the prospective purchaser of Dryad-Dene.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Great Oaks? Are you visiting at Great Oaks? +Charming old place.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am living there. I am the tutor of the Faurie +boys.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Loring could not control the surprise in his face, +for this princely presence was not to his mind the way +the tutor of unlicked cubs should look. It was no intentional +discourtesy, for he said with more animation +than an article so apparently manufactured might be +expected to show: “Do you intend to make teaching +your regular profession?” He could but think that +there must be something unexplained. This was some +friend of the Fauries, perhaps taking a pose for a +freak; there was some lure that had induced a pretended +lodging in a humble position at Great Oaks.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My present intention,—certainly.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Nevertheless, Mr. Loring did not for one moment +relegate this imposing personage to the situation of +a mere pedagogic drudge for small boys, because, if +it were true, what did he here? The Fauries, with +their ancient traditions and high standards, might +annul and obliterate all worldly differences in their +intercourse with a poor gentleman, refined and intellectual, +but never the recent and purse-proud Kentopps.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And here suddenly they both were, overflowing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>with cordial greetings and exclamatory apologies and +with elaborate rustlings and bows. Colonel Kentopp +showed such a glittering expanse of white shirt front +over his broad bosom that the sight of so much linen +suggested undress; and his wife showed so much +collar-bone and sternum independent of fabric and +almost of flesh that she suggested no dress at all. +She wore, however, a ruby-tinted brocade, and a fine +pendant of rubies and diamonds swung from a delicate +chain about her throat. Her hair had a deeper +hue of blondine than usual, and she wore in it a cluster +of ruby-tinted ostrich tips, at the base of which +a very large diamond scintillated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But diamonds were all at a discount in comparison +with those that glimmered like dewdrops in the dark +masses of Gertrude Kelvin’s hair. They were not +many nor of great size, but they were set artfully to +quiver and glitter at every movement of her head, +and the midnight of her hair gave them a stellular +brilliancy. She was attired in a gown of delicate +green tissue over silk of the same shade, and the +exquisite whiteness of her shoulders and arms and +face, heightened by the dainty tint of the dress, +seemed worth some deprivation of the garish light +of the summer sun and outdoor joys.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Come, Mr. Desmond, you will take out Miss +Kelvin,” said Mrs. Kentopp, busied in arranging her +party. Then in an aside to Mr. Loring behind her fan +of ruby-tinted ostrich plumes: “He was just dying +with suspense!” She played her blue eyes at him +significantly, and Mr. Loring was thus given to understand +<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>that Mr. Desmond’s lure in Deepwater Bend +was Miss Kelvin.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But how old man Kelvin will cut up if there is +really no money,” he thought sagely.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In slow and stately wise they filed out in couples +to the dining-room; and even if the predilections of +Mr. Loring were already engaged by the traditions +of the <em>ancien régime</em>, he must needs have admitted +to himself that the entourage at Dryad-Dene was +most attractive, embellished by this glittering company, +which set off the house in its gala aspect to +the greatest advantage.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The dining-room was large, and its appointments betokened +that its owners gave serious heed to the problems +and the pleasures of the table. “My house was +built around my refrigerator,” Mrs. Kentopp was fond +of saying; and Colonel Kentopp might have added, +with a significance not altogether literal, that his house +was built over his cellar. For the Kentopps, though +not sages of wisdom, were quite indisposed to depend +largely upon the attractions of their personality and +the feast of reason and the flow of soul to commend +their entertainments. The wines were choice and had +been long in bottle, and distance and inaccessibility +worked no impairment upon the menu. All the delicacies +of the season, and many out of season, graced +the successive courses, and the decorations of rare +exotics—the spring flowers were left to bloom in +their thousands out-of-doors—had indeed scant affinity +with the backwoods.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“These are from our own hothouses,” Mrs. Kentopp +<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>was saying, in reply to a comment. “Yes,—we +have the world at command at Dryad-Dene. This +is the newly discovered site of the Garden of Eden, +between the waters of the Mississippi and Bogue +Humma-Echeto; they used to be called the Pishon +and the Gihon rivers, you know.” She held her head +down and looked up under the rims of her eyelids +to emphasize the felicity of her remark. “If there +is any little item that we haven’t got, the Mississippi +River on one side and the railroad on the other will +bring it to us.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Loring sat at her right hand and was subject +to all her beguilements. Opposite at a little distance +was Desmond, between Miss Kelvin and Miss Allandyce, +with Herndon on the farther side. Desmond +had been presented to the Mayberry and Timlock +contingent, but he had taken only a vague impression +of pink and blue draperies and blonde hair and +roseate smiles, with the usual complement of attendant +cavaliers; for in the place to which he had been +assigned he was absorbed in an effort, more or less successful, +to explain to Miss Allandyce a reason for not +recognizing her that should be something less blunt +than the statement that her riding-costume had quite +disguised her at their earlier meeting in the afternoon.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I have heard that the cultivation of the powers +of memory is considered important in modern education,” +she twitted him. “I should think your pedagogical +laurels would wilt after this. How can you +urge upon Chub Faurie the value of such discipline +of the faculty of—of—”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>“Observation,” suggested Miss Kelvin, on his +other hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,—observation and—and tabulation of traits +as to enable you to recognize an object—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“In the landscape—” prompted Miss Kelvin.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes—in the landscape—an object with a red +head, after the lapse of an interval of time,—an +hour, say—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Arithmetically, sixty minutes, to be exact,” Miss +Kelvin urged her on.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had no sense of amusement as he realized +that he had tabulated her equestrian garb in his +mind and would never forget it. The predicament +he was in was far too critical for that. He made a +gallant struggle for a diversion of interest. “I saw +no object with a red head,” he stipulated. “I should +never tabulate it as red, but auburn.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then you would be most discourteous; for red +heads are very fashionable, and mine is treated with +chemicals at stated intervals to make it seem redder +than it is,” she said gravely, assuming an air of +staid and offended decorum.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He wondered in his desperation whether it would +be permissible to tell her frankly that she was not +half so gentlemanly in her gown of white silk. A +necklace of seed pearls of fantastic device hung +about her delicate white neck. Her short sleeves had +a fall of lace that met the tops of her long white kid +gloves, which she had slipped off her hands without +disturbing the upper section, tucking the fingers beneath +her bracelets. She wore a comb of seed pearls +<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>in her auburn hair, and she looked very handsome. +He had an idea, curious enough to him, that she +did not in the least grasp the reason of his failure +to recognize her, his apparent lapse of memory, but +that Miss Kelvin had divined it in an instant, and +had a mischievous delight in his plight. Although +Miss Kelvin would not have alluded to the riding-costume +her friend affected,—for she thought it +a horrifying, strong-minded notion, worthy of the +woman who wants to vote, who engages in business, +who preaches, who practices medicine and law, and +its adoption by a southerner an apostasy, abominably +uncharacteristic,—her eyes dwelt upon him with a +luminous mirth, and now and then, as she caught +his glance, she burst into a ripple of involuntary +laughter.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her recurrent observation of him, her smiles in +response to his glance as oysters and soup, and fish +and entrée, successively filed past him, almost untouched, +were remarked by Mr. Loring, and these +apparently tender passages between the two were +interpreted to further Mrs. Kentopp’s plan even more +than she had anticipated. She had expected to artfully +give Mr. Loring such an idea of mutual interest +as their propinquity might suggest, aided by some +crafty phrases of her own. But she had not dared +to hope for these bright glances from Gertrude, for +her half-suppressed delighted laughter, for the attitude +of the girl, leaning half across Desmond to whisper +and prompt Miss Allandyce to further jocose +upbraidings of the mischance. Gertrude seemed, indeed, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>throwing herself at his head; and to her demonstration +he ardently responded, now and again +turning to take her counsel in a low voice how he +might best plead his excuses, often misadvised to his +detriment and setting Selina Allandyce off on a new +score of rebukes and reproaches. For they found +the tutor great fun. After the first shock of disappointment, +they resigned themselves with a good grace +to his impecunious state and ineligibility. He was too +handsome a man to view with indifference, and too +interesting, for his manner attracted no less than his +presence. There was something, too, below the surface +of his talk, and while they did not discriminate its +quality, they were aware of its submergence there.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the gay chat grew in interest and animation, +Mrs. Kentopp in her elation could not leave the aspect +of the trio to produce its own impression; she +must needs give it a nudge.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Love’s young dream,” she murmured sentimentally +to Mr. Loring, her head held down, the iris of +her eyes under the upper lids. “‘There’s nothing half +so sweet in life.’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Loring for some time had seemed quite attentive +to the champagne and the roast, but he was not +altogether absorbed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not so young, I take it, as far as the gentleman +is concerned,” he replied discerningly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—oh,”—Mrs. Kentopp could hardly contradict +this conclusion fast enough. “Why, <em>he</em> is just +a boy,—a collegian,—graduated last June,—just +twenty-four.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>“Rather old for a collegian,” commented Mr. +Loring, dryly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Took a very elaborate course, all sorts of elective +extras as well as the regular curriculum. Has a degree +from <em>two</em> great universities.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“One is more than enough,” sneered Mr. Loring, +who had matriculated with much brilliancy on ’Change.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, yes,—he is a mere boy!” Mrs. Kentopp +emphasized her insistence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He looks fully thirty,” said Mr. Loring, wondering +why olives were not always “pitted,”—otherwise +it seemed more decent to swallow the pits, if the possibilities +of appendicitis did not hinder.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, he has had so much sorrow,”—and Mrs. +Kentopp conjured an appealing sadness into her eyes +and shook her flaxen head as she bent it to look +down in token of sympathetic woe.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hasn’t turned his hair gray,” said Mr. Loring. +“He is the finest-looking man I ever saw.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, do you think so?” asked Mrs. Kentopp, +with a surprised and negative tendency.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Certainly; he has a noble head, and a very fine +and impressive face. They must be long on looks at +Great Oaks. I always thought Mrs. Faurie the most +beautiful woman in the world.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“‘The most beautiful woman in the world!’”—one +of the Mayberry group caught the words and +tossed them back. “I know just whom you are talking +about.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The attention became concentrated. Mrs. Kentopp +sought to divert it. “I want you to observe the mould +<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>of the sorbet,” she interrupted, bespeaking notice for +the red ices. “Somebody said that this looks like a +melon and ought not to be striped this deep red. Do +you think it is a melon?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, no,” said Desmond. “It is a pomegranate.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There,—what did I tell you?” She clapped her +hands in juvenile glee, as she spoke across the length +of the table to her husband.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The first time I ever tasted a real pomegranate was +down at Great Oaks,” said Miss Mayberry. “They +have them in their old-fashioned garden yet. You +have got the flavor, too,” she added, as she daintily +tasted the ice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And who do you say is the most beautiful +woman in the world?” queried Mr. Loring, his inelastic +countenance reluctantly crinkling in his smile, +sure of her answer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mrs. Faurie, of course! I have always heard her +called that, and everywhere as well as at home. I +remember when we were at Vevey we met some Italians,—high-class +people who knew the Berkeleys,—oh, +they were very agreeable,—and one day we +were talking at random of pictures and pose and elements +of beauty, and one of the gentlemen, who was +quite an art connoisseur, said that he believed he knew +the most beautiful woman in all the world. He had +met her in Chamouni, doing Mont Blanc, and that sort +of thing; and when he said that she lived in Paris, +Madame Honoria Faurie, we all screamed! He didn’t +even know that she was an American.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>“But she has gone off a good deal in her looks of +late,” Mrs. Kentopp suggested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I hoped that I would meet her here to-night,” +said Mr. Loring, without even ordinary tact; everything +connected with Great Oaks, the embodiment of +his ideal, for which his soul sighed, was interesting to +him. “Is Mrs. Faurie not well?” He fixed his eyes +on Desmond and asked the question directly across +the table.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, yes,—quite well,” Desmond replied, a trifle +embarrassed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a pause. The general attention was +apparently required by the game course, which was +just being served. The inference was too plain. +Mrs. Faurie, it seemed, had not cared to honor the +diversion at Dryad-Dene with the distinction of her +presence. For who could imagine Mrs. Kentopp’s +purblind folly in failing to invite her!</p> + +<p class='c007'>The tact of all the party seemed to have suffered +a collapse. “I suppose that Mrs. Faurie has gone so +much, and seen so much, and had so much, that she +does not care for our neighborhood gatherings,” said +Gertrude Kelvin at length.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“She finds Great Oaks as dull as the grave,” +snapped Mrs. Kentopp, the pendulous tendency of +her cheeks reasserted without the dimpling breadth +of laughter. “Doesn’t she, Mr. Desmond?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was a little at a loss. “She complains of its +monotony,” he said.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The idea!” exclaimed Mr. Loring, indignantly; +“one of the finest places in the whole Mississippi +<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>River country. From Memphis to the Balize you +couldn’t find its superior. To my mind it is the loveliest +place I ever saw. I wish it was mine! Monotony! +I’d like to own that kind of monotony.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>From the foot of the table Colonel Kentopp, in all +his pose of geniality, with his glass of Chambertin in +his hand, lowered upon Mrs. Kentopp.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman rallied first from the contretemps. +“The land I know is fine and there is a deal of it, +and the outbuildings are good and stanch, but the +old mansion is a rattle-trap,—so out of repair, +and built on any kind of an old plan. It has no style +about it, no modern improvements and embellishments +and—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It simply crystallizes the past,” Mr. Loring declared +solemnly. “It is an epitome of the old South,—its +comfort, its space, its disregard of ostentation; +its broad acres about it can keep the tally of its +values; it takes you back a hundred years; it has +yesterday in every line. I wish it was mine!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He talked on and on, the taciturn man, over the +salad and the sweets, the theme unvaried, throughout +the service of the dessert with the notable ancient +Madeira, till at last his voice was lost in a silken rustle. +Mrs. Kentopp had given the signal for rising, and the +young girls were presently flitting along the big square +hall, still visible from the dining-room, making a picture +that enhanced the charming setting which should have +appealed to any man with an eye for beauty, who +did not cultivate a distorted squint backward toward +the exploded past instead of the sophisticated present.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>The ballroom was in the third story,—another +intimation of the intensely modern spirit of Dryad-Dene. +There was all out-of-doors to build on, and +surely there was scant reason to economize space when +the value of land was contemplated by the quarter +section instead of the running foot. The destined use +and cost of building materials alone might limit the +size of any structure in Deepwater Bend. But though +there was no need to climb stairs, there was much +that was picturesque in this airy ballroom, and it was +indeed a great contrast to the long, low wing devoted +to the same purpose at Great Oaks, with its green +shutters closed, the spiders weaving in the corners, +and the wide, smooth spaces of its polished flooring +devoted to the humble purposes of miscellaneous +storage; for there was not a dance at Great Oaks +mansion in all the quiet years while Mrs. Faurie had +been the admired cynosure in palatial assemblages in +many foreign capitals.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Here the decorated ceiling had a fine pitch, and all +the architectural embellishments of the house below +culminated on this level; the cupola of the tower gave +a circular alcove to the ballroom, and on the opposite +side the French windows issued upon a long, flat roof +that, furnished with a balustrade, offered a charming +promenade between the waltzes for the young people +under the white, palpitating stars and in close familiarity +with the gentle night wind. It offered also every +opportunity to the overheated dancers for pneumonia +and influenza; but as they gave this fact no heed, +it might scarcely be considered one of the choice +<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>advantages of the ballroom. The hothouses had sent +hither their offering of palms and banana trees and +ferns for a tasteful scheme of decoration, and an +Italian band, brought up from New Orleans for the +occasion, tossed lilting melodies from behind a leafy +screen. The stringed vibrations found in Desmond’s +heart a thrilling response of poignant memory, reviving +in contrast with the present all the happy past, +the cherished prospects, the vanished faces, the hallowed +home. But he was young, and his pulses were +astir with vitality and vigor. The rhythm, the motion, +the sweet, swinging melody, imparted their own jubilant +effects, and he could but enjoy with his muscles +all the buoyancy of his stalwart young frame, while +with a curious duality his heart’s sorrows were unassuaged +and his mental indifference and aloofness were +no self-deceit. It was perhaps the mental attitude of +many a reveler in joyous scenes that awoke no sense +of mirth, but it had no parallel among the dancers +at Dryad-Dene. The young ladies were all a-weary +of the dull season spent at the abominated plantations; +it was too late for New Orleans, being mid-Lent, +indeed, and yet too early for the White Sulphur +Springs or the Gulf coast.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How delicious!” Gertrude Kelvin exclaimed. “I +should have thought I had forgotten how to ‘two-step,’—I +have scarcely stood on my feet since Mardi-Gras.” +For it was with the charming white rose that +Desmond found himself chiefly awhirl. He danced +specially well, and more than once, as the music recommenced, +she looked from a chatting group toward +<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>him, with so bright and expectant a smile that he was +fain to ask the pleasure once more. And indeed it +was no great constraint. She was as light, as airy, as +poetic of movement, swinging as rhythmically as a +blossom on a bough, with as little suggestion of effort. +Her delicate green tissue draperies floated diaphanous +in the breeze of their motion; her white arms and +neck were fairer still in the moony gleams of the +shades of the gas-jets; her ethereal pallor took on +no unbecoming flush with the exertion; her movement +was as devoid of the idea of fatigue as the flitting +of a butterfly or the noiseless winging here and +there of one of the white moths that, allured by the +lights, came in, now and then, from out of the night. +The sparkle of the diamonds in her hair flashed into +his eyes occasionally as her head was poised so close +to his shoulder, for she was tall despite her small +and feminine ways, and they made a pretty couple +to look at, as Mrs. Kentopp did not omit to point +out to Mr. Loring when at length he came into the +apartment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had been loitering at the table over Kentopp’s +good wine and fine cigars with his martyrized host, +although the younger men had earlier joined the +ladies, who had had coffee in the drawing-rooms, and +together they had trooped up to the ballroom at the +first long-drawn, plangent cadence of the violins. +Mrs. Kentopp had a freshened, elated mien as she +surveyed the scene, standing in the ballroom door +beneath the vines of an elaborate hanging-basket, +with the most feathery of trailing ferns, and plying +<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>her fan of ruby ostrich plumes, though she felt the +cool breeze from the widely opened windows.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A handsome couple; that will be a match,” she +commented, smiling sentimentally.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No doubt,—no doubt,” replied Mr. Loring. He +smelled very strong of tobacco: when the cigars were +mild, he smoked a good many of them. He was +a self-made man, the architect of his own fortune,—a +massive structure on which little ornament +had been bestowed. He was apt to consider market +prices, potential bargains, possible rebates, and equivalent +values, even in social affairs, although his +interest in social affairs scarcely seemed actively concerned +with an adequate return for the outlay at +present. He was bent upon enjoying his money, but +he wanted the best article of pleasure that the market +could afford. He saw an opportunity of richly rewarding +himself at a very great bargain in buying +one of the fine old estates in Deepwater Bend far below +its value in the shrunken estimates of post-bellum +ratings, where he might retire to enjoy the pose of +magnate and millionaire within a few miles of where +he had been born of poor but eminently respectable +parents. His father, who had been one of the subordinate +clerks, “mud clerk” it was called in those +days, on a steamboat, had secured for him by favor +a place in the office of a broker in New Orleans, and +stood amazed by the portentous growth of his scion +in that hotbed of speculation. Loring felt always +much at his ease, assumed to be as “good as anybody,” +yet he was very definitely aware that his consequence +<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>would be much enhanced in the neighborhood +that he desired to dominate by the possession of one +of the fine old places, at whose seigneurial splendor he +had once gazed as at fairyland, without a thought of +entrance. He had little sympathy with poverty,—it +was never romantic, or picturesque, or appealing to +him. Wealth had been his ambition, and wealth was +now his admiration. His study was how to seem not +less magnificently endowed than he really was with +this world’s goods. He was a bachelor, and could not +express his riches in the splendor of a wife’s equipment. +He could not afford to marry when he would, +and since he had been able to consult his wishes, he +had lost the impulse toward domesticity. His eyes +roamed over the charming scene of the decorated +room, the whirling dancers, the dark blue night looking +in with a myriad stars from the windows of balcony +and long, railed promenade, with no fixity of +interest and no undercurrent of sentiment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,” he reiterated, “no doubt it will be a match. +Naturally, Mr. Desmond will recoup his disasters by +marrying money.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>For Mrs. Kentopp had effaced the dullness of his +propinquity at table by talking much of Desmond. The +matter just now nearest her heart was her scheme to +divert Loring from the theory that Mrs. Faurie might +become interested in the tutor, and she was sure that +the peculiar quality of Desmond’s personality would +soon set such a rumor afloat, were it not forestalled +by one more credible. Mrs. Kentopp was one of those +women whose shallow minds are reflected in their +<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>talk. She could no more have kept a secret without a +word to play about it than she could have emulated +the Spartan boy and without a sign held the gnawing +fox beneath her cloak. She would never give +such an intimation of her plan that Loring might +discover and rush in upon it; but she needs must +chat of Desmond, his recent history, his father’s +death, the ensuing financial disasters, his relinquished +career, the incongruity of his collegiate record with +his humble position.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,—I didn’t give you the idea that Mr. Desmond +is a fortune-hunter, did I? Why, I wouldn’t +have you think that for the world!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp had a peculiar aversion to the character +of a fortune-hunter. As a girl she had been rich +in her own right, and Colonel Kentopp had not escaped +the suspicion of a lively perception of the side +on which his bread was buttered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why not? Are we not all fortune-hunters?” demanded +Mr. Loring, dryly. “What else do we hunt?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But not in that sense—a mercenary marriage! +Oh, no!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Loring had a touch of perversity, or perhaps +Mrs. Kentopp, with her <em>arrière pensée</em> concerning +the disinterestedness of her own marriage, had been +heavy-handed enough to permit him to feel rebuked. +“I can’t look on Miss Gertrude Kelvin as such a hardship,—even +if she would tack a tidy little fortune on +to a wedding-ring,” he retorted, his wooden countenance +smiling satirically.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Gertie? why, she is adorable!” cried Mrs. Kentopp, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>seeking in a frenzy to find her feet in this slough +of misapprehension. “Any man would be too lucky +to talk about to win her, even if she would not have +a cent!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Just <em>my</em> opinion,” said Mr. Loring, as if he had +enforced its adoption. “But if Miss Kelvin has not +enough money for our gentleman, perhaps his good +looks, and his great learning,” his lip curled cynically, +for Mr. Loring was very short on the classics, “and his +collegiate honors, and his interesting dumps and douleur +over the fling that Fate has given him, might appeal +to Mrs. Faurie,—she will give up that nice income +some day for a life-interest in a third of the estate +and a husband,—and the third will be a deal more +money than our tutor will ever see otherwise.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp suddenly felt a cold chill stealing up +and down her spine, to which her dress, cut low and +loose in the neck, left her liable. But it was not the +inclemency of the wind! Her heart sank at this deliberate +wording of the fear which her husband had +evolved and she had adopted. If this idea were seriously +entertained, the sale of Dryad-Dene was indeed +a distant and doubtful prospect, for there were few +investors able to compass a purchase of such magnitude, +and fewer still with a disposition toward property +of this character. And Dryad-Dene was not +always gay like this. With half the rooms shut up, +and the gilt and brocade furniture in hollands, and +the visitors few and far between and always the same, +and no excitement, and naught to do, and her eyes +forever fixed on a house in New Orleans in the winter +<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>and a cottage on the coast in summer,—oh, +Dryad-Dene was but a dreary imprisonment indeed +in the depths of the backwoods! The crisis was so +acute that it imparted to Mrs. Kentopp a touch of +dignity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You forget, Mr. Loring, how very distasteful such +a suggestion would be to Mrs. Faurie were she to +hear of it. This man occupies a very humble position +in her household,—a paid retainer,—not exactly +like a courier—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why no, indeed,—I should say not!” cried Mr. +Loring, as indignant with this perversion of his suggestion +as with its affront to the dignity of the tutor. +“He is a gentleman, of fine family, and a learned +man.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So <em>I</em> said; but he <em>is</em> a paid and humble attaché +of her household, and the idea that she could unbend +to consider such a person, ten years her junior,—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>That</em> makes no difference,” interrupted Mr. +Loring, who took this schooling rather aversely.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“—And sacrifice her great income for a man so +egregiously beneath her,—why, the suggestion is +belittling, Mr. Loring.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is belittling to get rid of money, sure!—and +she <em>may</em> hang on to her money yet,” Mr. Loring +conceded.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Except that we are all so deadly dull down here +and value any new face,” she began once more.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Especially such a handsome one,” Mr. Loring +stipulated, with a knowing grin.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,—and a dancing man, too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>Mr. Loring did not dance. At the period when he +might have had the opportunity to learn the latest +Terpsichorean quirks and kicks, he was absorbed in +the saltatory vagaries of the stock market and the +fandangoes of cotton futures.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And there is always such a dearth of cavaliers +that we have admitted him among us as one of ourselves. +Otherwise and elsewhere, as you know, the +tutor would be in his place in the schoolroom.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>Though</em> a gentleman and a learned man!” sneered +Loring.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,—and I hope that he may marry Gertie +Kelvin, and get a chair in some good college, and one +day be the president of it.” Mrs. Kentopp benevolently +smiled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what will old John Kelvin be doing all that +time?” asked Mr. Loring, with a sidewise twist of his +mouth, of which his wooden face seemed incapable.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, Mr. Loring, in an argument you always vanquish +me—Why, certainly, Mr. Herndon,—I am +<em>dying</em> to waltz.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And thus, perhaps because she had the only blondined +coiffure in the room, was considerably rouged, +and floridly attired in her rich, ruby-tinted brocade, +Fate maliciously decreed that she should dance with +Mr. Herndon, the slightest of spindling young gentlemen, +wan of face, thin of flaxen hair, of incipient +involuntary tonsure, altogether pallid and fragile of +effect by contrast with the artificially heightened +charms of his partner, and together they furnished +the aptest illustration of “before and after.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>Mr. Loring still stood in the doorway, apparently +casting the eye of appraisement over the festive scene. +He was of so monetary a personality, of so speculative +a reputation, that it was impossible to disassociate his +presence with a deal. It had a certain incongruity and +incompatibility with the remainder of the company, +and even Mrs. Kentopp, who had not the most delicate +perceptions of tact, was vaguely aware of this +with an irritating subconsciousness as she whirled and +whirled. She had hoped that, being a single man, Mr. +Loring would be at once assimilated in the merry party +as one of the beaux, and while she could count with +security upon his conventional acceptance, on the footing +at which she proposed him, by the well-bred young +people, she had not reckoned upon the lack of malleability +of Mr. Loring’s own predilections in the matter. +He was not one of them, he had no pulse in common, +no affinity with their tastes, no social ambitions to +which their warmth of reception might minister. He +made no pretense of being a young man; he claimed +naught of the courtesy that thus reckons one scarcely +yet of middle age. He was not sensitive on the point; +his record on ’Change kept the tally of the years, and +he was proud of the events as they totted up. His +age was known to people of more importance in his +mind than these inexperienced girls just liberated +from the schoolroom, and their cavaliers still with a +lingering dependence on the paternal purse-strings. +He had no response for the graceful coquetry of the +young ladies, nor for the jejune opinions of the +youths, financially mere cumberers of the ground, for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>he had no method of rating other than financial. He +was too rich a man, too dominant, too self-centred +and consciously important, to submit himself unnecessarily +to boredom, and he had not that altruistic impulse +of high social culture that would constrain him to +sacrifice his preference for the sake of his hostess. +Hence it pleased him to stand in isolation in the doorway, +under the feathery fronds of the drooping ferns, +and stare moodily, absently, silently, at the revolving +dance, taking no part.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was never intentionally frank, but the unavowed +reason of his presence became very definitely +outlined as the evening wore on, and Mr. Loring associated +with every appearance of satisfaction with himself. +Mrs. Kentopp, now and again, fluttered up to +him and made a great show of talk, aided by a waving +fan and upturned eyes, and he had then the grace +to respond; but to Colonel Kentopp, who must needs +sometimes take her place, he had not a word to throw. +Being of a festive temperament and relishing the +joyous occasion, the host was obviously a martyr, in +the long intervals when he felt constrained to stand +beside the wooden figure and ply him with artful +talk, so constructed as to need no response other than +the absent grunt or nod which Loring vouchsafed in +recognition of his character as quasi-guest.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“‘How doth the little busy bee improve each shining +hour,’” quoted Gertrude Kelvin, as she and Desmond, +breathless from the final whirls of the waltz, +issued into the tower alcove to find already standing +there, enjoying the breezes of the open space, Selina +<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>Allandyce and Rupert Regnan. He was a tall fellow, +with an outdoor complexion suffused with a constant +red flush, brightly glancing gray eyes, and dark hair. +He had served in the Spanish War, and had acquired, +besides the title of lieutenant, a military carriage +which would be his proud possession for all time, and +which added a certain stiff stateliness to his appearance +in evening dress. His father, a veteran of another +war, one of the Unreconstructed Rebels, was +wont to look askance at him, tabooed his title at home, +and had informed him that he could not set foot on +the plantation while he wore a blue uniform. But the +son cheerfully responded that he had shed the uniform +when he had quitted the service, and that the +title of lieutenant was too tight a fit for him,—he +was out for bigger game! He had developed a sense +of his own importance, and he now felt it jeopardized +in some sort.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is that man here for, do you suppose?” +he said to Miss Allandyce. The coterie was quite +confidential in the restricted space, which, with the +windows all open between the pilasters on three +sides, seemed to poise them in the midst of the cool, +dark night, the airy roof of the cupola above.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“For the same reason that you are here, I fancy,—for +the pleasure and honor of your company,” she +responded, looking in the dim light very sweetly feminine +in her white silk gown and her pearl-crowned +auburn hair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But there isn’t any pleasure in <em>his</em> company, +I should judge from Colonel Kentopp’s countenance, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>and I should judge from his own that he isn’t disposed +to confer any honor. I imagine that he has +come to look at the house,—people say that he is +going to buy it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You seem to object; are you a prospective purchaser, +too?” Miss Kelvin twitted him with this +incongruity in view of his youth and financial inexperience.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I do object. I may be exacting, but it strikes me +that this party was made up to give him an opportunity +to see Dryad-Dene to the best advantage. I +can’t imagine what else he is doing here. He scarcely +makes a feint toward the manner of a guest.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And you object to dancing for a purpose,—how +wrong! You know that the reproach of dancing is +that it is at best but an idle amusement. You ought +to be glad to convert it to some use.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I object to being made use of without reference +to my feelings,” he protested, as he wagged a somewhat +round and close-cropped head with an emphatic, +not to say affronted air.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And are you not willing to skip and leap like a +young lamb to make Mr. Loring think this is a pretty +house?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am not! The pleasure of my company was requested, +and I came to compliment my hosts, and to +enjoy myself, and to see you all,”—he included the +whole group with a bow,—“and to contribute my +little possible to the general entertainment.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And you are frustrated!” Gertrude Kelvin +averred. “Now, if I were you, I’d take it all back; +<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>I’d cancel my services. I’d make the whole thing +ridiculous. You ought to go right out there in the +middle of the ballroom floor and throw a somersault! +Then you would undo all that you have done.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, do it, Mr. Regnan,—or rather undo it!” +cried Selina Allandyce.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He laughed, but did not stir.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He’s afraid!” Gertrude exclaimed. “You know +that he must have been a coward in the Spanish War,—for +see now, he’s afraid.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’m sure that he ran at the battles,—I’d be +willing to take my affidavit to it,” Selina goaded +him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It’s a mere pretense that he got a presentation +sword after the war—for he’s <em>afraid</em>!” said Gertrude.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He couldn’t have got it for gallant conduct, for +he’s afraid!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan looked from one to the other, but only +laughed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He is deceitful, too,” Gertrude recommenced, +“and he encourages deceit in others. He lets Mr. +Loring accredit Dryad-Dene with all the chic and +style of his presence—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And all the grace and agility of his waltzing,” +Selina interrupted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And all the bonhomie and sparkle of his conversation,” +Gertrude added.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, let up on me; I’ll be good! I’ll be good!” +Regnan pleaded; but he made no saltatory intimations +toward the required somersault.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>“And all the distinction of his military record,” +persisted Gertrude.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And all the prestige of his hereditary position,” +Selina supported her contention.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And when Mr. Loring buys this house, the title-deeds +will call for more than they cover,—oh, poor +defrauded Mr. Loring!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But now, seriously,—” Regnan began.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Seriously,” Gertrude interrupted, “in fair dealing +you ought to throw a somersault in the middle of +the ballroom floor, in order that its lack of style and +its grotesquerie and awkwardness, if <em>you</em> can make it +awkward, may condone for your unwitting alacrity in +palming off a house, entitled to none of your signal +attractions, on Mr. Loring, who will pay a bonus for +the grace your presence lends to it!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But now, seriously,— doesn’t it seem to you +that this is not an appropriate time to show off the +house to a buyer?” Regnan appealed to Desmond. +“I may be exacting, but yet—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond, who was aware that he himself was here +for a purpose he could not fathom, had a monition +of caution.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t ask me; I am a stranger here, and—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hesitate to express an opinion, of course. Well,—we +are all old friends, and but that it might seem +a disrespect to Mrs. Kentopp’s feelings, and in so far +uncivil, I should be willing to tax her with it myself.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The soft rustling of the treetops below in the +bosky, benighted “dene” impinged upon the talk; +the freshening breeze coursed through the tower, at +<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>this height inclosed only by the slight pilasters which +upheld the conical roof. The sense of altitude, the +vision of the lonely, starlit sky, and the dark, far-stretching +wilderness on every side beyond the +plantation clearings, were incongruous with the ballroom +scene close at hand, the graceful figures promenading +the glossy hard-wood floor with its mirror-like +reflections. More akin was the romantic, languorous +theme of the waltz, with a sort of melancholy yearning +in its sentimental iteration, and presently a high-heeled +white satin slipper was beginning to move +unconsciously in rhythm as the quartette still stood +in the tower together.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If your scruples against adorning the premises +of Mr. Loring’s prospective purchase are not too great +a restriction on this waltz,” Desmond suggested to +Miss Allandyce, with whom he had not danced hitherto.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, I repudiate the responsibility,” she exclaimed. +“I am neither the bargainer nor the bargainee, and +Mr. Loring is popularly supposed to be able to take +care of himself financially.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She had lifted her hand to Desmond’s arm before +they issued from the tower alcove, and as they came +waltzing out of its seclusion together, Mr. Loring +noted the change of partners. “He is making himself +generally agreeable, and probably has no special +idea of Miss Kelvin,” he commented within himself. +“There is no money in his line of business. If he +marries it, of course he will marry all he can. He +would be mighty well pleased with the Faurie third,—which +maybe Madame Honoria’s dukes and princes +<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>wouldn’t look at after they had seen her flourishing +around on the income of so much more.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp’s spirits were wilting; the lassitude +of brain-fag was evident. She looked her thirty-eight +years. Her cheeks were pendulous, so seldom did +the distention incident to the redeeming smile visit +them. She realized she had taken great pains to a +doubtful end. She began to think that she might +have better commended Dryad-Dene without the +house-party. She could have managed Mr. Loring to +greater advantage without its distractions. It had +not made the excuse and occasion to get him here +incidentally without obviously putting the house on +parade. He assumed none of the pose and port of +a guest. He seemed to consider that he was invited +for business reasons only, and this doubtless suited +his easy interpretations of the obligations imposed +by hospitality as well. And why else should he have +been invited? He was no friend of the Kentopps, +and he had no desire to be friend of their friends. +Why should they ask him here, save to show him the +house to advantage? and to-morrow, on the camphunt, +he would have every opportunity to see the land. +The house certainly did appear to great advantage, +but Mr. Loring was a discreet and discerning operator,—he +could easily divest it of such attractions as were +added to it by the fascinations of Mr. Regnan’s two-step +and Miss Kelvin’s sylphine charms. He was +appraising the woodwork, the quality of the plate-glass, +the hand-carving on the newel-posts, with their +long shafts holding up lily-like sprays of gas-jets. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>He condemned what he had learned to phrase as +precious or Brummagem, and he regretted that it +was all so new, so glossy, so like a fine hotel. He +was ambitious of the pose of grand seigneur. He +had now as much money as any one of the Mississippi +princelings in the palmy days of the old plantation +times. He coveted their entourage; it represented +taste to him; wealth, family, culture, all the majesty +of the magnate, as he rated the great in the world. +A few modern conveniences kept as carefully as might +be out of sight, a touch of modern frugality,—“I’d +never throw away money with both hands like those +old ducks,”—and this would comprise all the improvements +that he thought would befit the domicile +of eld. Still it was not to be had, and he addressed +himself to contemplating the tower balcony, with +the white-draped figures hanging on the balustrade, +now gazing down into the dark shrubbery of the +“dene,” where the fountain splashed rhythmically, +and now chatting with the cavaliers while the group +discussed the delectable ices. Mr. Loring partook of +his selection with a meditative mien. It was of a +mint flavor and was stiffly laced with old Bourbon, +and a long, fragrant sprig of the newly budded herb +stood in the midst of the delicate glass. Very perfect +were the beautifully served refreshments, with accessories +of daintiest device; but he knew full well that +he would not have command of Mrs. Kentopp’s deft +arrangements here if the house were his, for money +itself could not buy good-will to equal her efforts in +the interests of getting Dryad-Dene off on him. “Not +<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>even here will the larks fall all roasted into one’s +mouth.” He remembered the old French proverb +with a sardonic smile. He took no part in the outcry +of protest with which, after one more entrancing +waltz, the dancers greeted the strains of “Sleep well, +Sweet Angel,” wafted out from the leafy screen embowering +the Italian orchestra, with which the dinner +dance was obviously brought to a close.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan followed Mrs. Kentopp here and there, +insisting that she should look at his watch, which he +had drawn from an inner pocket, and which marked +but ten o’clock. She was doubtful for one moment; +so little agreeable had she found the evening that +she would not have been surprised to know that it +had dragged as slowly as this witness maintained. +Then she recognized the artifice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is a gay deceiver,—just like you!” she cried. +“But if you did but know at what unearthly time +you will have to rise, you would have been off to bed +long ago. I expect to hear that old swamper’s halloo +under the windows any moment, and the baying of +his pack.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And so presently, reflected in the polished flooring, +the procession wended its way through the ballroom +and down the many turns of the elaborate staircase, +pausing only once, at the first <em>entresol</em>, when Mrs. +Kentopp called the attention of Mr. Loring to the +electric button in the wall by means of which the +gas-jets in the upper story were instantaneously +extinguished, and the ballroom and the Mi-Carême +dance were in a moment in the darkness of the past.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IX</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>It seemed indeed to Desmond that his head had +scarcely touched the pillow when he was roused by +the baying of hounds from the stable-yard at the +rear of the house. He was on his feet in a moment, +for Mr. Herndon did not monopolize the virtue of +promptness at Dryad-Dene, and Desmond was zealously +heedful that his distaste to the occasion and +his entertainers should induce no breach of observance +on his part. He was half dressed when the +screech of the speaking-tube summoned him within +the sound of Colonel Kentopp’s voice, urgently asking +if he were awake, then with equal urgency if +he were risen,—which demonstrated that Colonel +Kentopp’s brain was not very completely cleared of +the vapors of slumber.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond arrayed himself in his equestrian togs, +which he considered the most appropriate gear at his +command, and finding the halls alight and following +the sound of voices, he soon made his way to the dining-room, +where a hasty breakfast was going forward.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Just a snack,” Colonel Kentopp was saying to +the gentlemen seated at the table, or standing at the +sideboard helping themselves to cold mutton or ham +as they would. He himself seemed to be breakfasting +on brandy, and he went around the table, decanter +in hand, administering a nip here and there, willy-nilly, +like the Squeers treacle.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>“For the stomach’s sake,” he would insist to +youths whose hearty young stomachs could with +impunity have begun the day with ice-cold buttermilk. +There was hot coffee, but no hot breads, and +therefore, in Mississippi estimation, no breakfast. +“We shall have a hot breakfast ready for us at the +camp. We just want a snack here to enable us to +get away. Those girls will be wild to go, and they +couldn’t keep the saddle half the distance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, Miss Kelvin rides as well as any man,” +said Rupert Regnan, displeased; “and Miss Allandyce—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Rides just like a man,” Kentopp finished, with +a laugh. “The truth is,” he spoke mysteriously, “we +expect a rough day. We hope to get up a bear, and +it isn’t safe to have ladies along in such a harum-scarum +expedition. This is our last chance,—the +game laws, you know. Monday is the first of March!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a touch of the <em>preux chevalier</em> about +Regnan. It was distasteful to him to sneak off and +debar the young ladies of the pleasure they had set +their hearts upon. If there had been any means of +rousing them to the deceits practiced upon them, +other than inappropriately appearing at their bedroom +doors, he would have availed himself of it. What +cared he for such stereotyped fun as was comprised +in pulling through sloughs and cane-brakes with a +lot of men after a bear, if one could be found! They +were not of metropolitan life; the wilderness and its +incidents were an every-day story; they were veritable +“swampers,” as much old “residenters” as the bear +<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>himself! Such amusement as the day might offer lay, +to his mind, in the incongruity of feminine society, +and the enjoyment at second-hand of these hackneyed +details, wonderful and new to the young girls’ experience. +He would fain have afforded them this joy, +which they childishly craved.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He realized, however, that it was not his place to +dictate, and presently the men had all trooped out to +a small room, ambitiously denominated the armory, +and were busied over the choice of weapons and supply +of ammunition. A great array of antique blades, +helmets, shields, more or less genuine or suggestive +of the junk-shops of New Orleans, hung upon the +walls, with some really interesting specimens of the +blunderbusses and cutlasses of the buccaneers of early +times on the Gulf coast; of bows and arrows, beaded +quivers, scalp-knives, tomahawks, from the date of the +Chickasaw and Choctaw occupation of this region; and +of the flintlock rifles, powder-horns, and shot-pouches +of the pioneer days. Two or three of the party had +brought their own guns, but others had depended +on a chance furnishing forth from Kentopp’s armory. +The modern repeating shotgun, holding in its +magazine five cartridges, each with a dozen buckshot, +permitting the discharge of sixty balls within five +seconds, was a prime favorite with the sportsmen in +preference to the staunch old double-barreled breechloader; +only those who boasted special accuracy of +aim were content with rifles; Desmond, not very +enthusiastic in pressing forward, found his choice +limited to necessity.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>“I hope that you are a good shot, Mr. Desmond,” +said Colonel Kentopp, with polite concern, “for these +fellows have left nothing but two rifles for us. First-rate +make, though not repeaters.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond’s outdoor accomplishments were limited +to the “Gridiron.” He fancied the swamp game destined +to be long-lived indeed, if they were to die from +the chances of a single rifle-ball directed by his +unaccustomed aim. For he was no sportsman. He +did not thirst for victory over the sylvan folk. He +accepted the rifle as graciously as if he were a dead +shot and confident of his powers, secured his share +of the appropriate ammunition, and rejoined the +others, who had already repaired to the stable-yard.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was an animated scene. The gas-jet over the +stable-door brought it out in high lights and black +shadows. A number of fresh, restive horses had been +led out of their stalls still in their blankets; others +were bare and shivering in process of being saddled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Will you ride with a curb, Desmond, or just with +a snaffle?” asked Kentopp, as he bustled about, as +busy as any of his negro grooms, who, with shining +eyes and glittering teeth, entered into all the spirit +of the occasion. The dogs were literally beside themselves, +and with their dark, whisking shadows seemed +twice as numerous as in reality. Now they leaped in +a series of ecstatic gambols as if they could not keep +their feet to the ground, and again they manifested +strange proclivities not to be accounted for on a basis +of human reasoning. One suddenly planted himself +in front of a young and spirited steed and treated +<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>him to a succession of frenzied bayings and elastic +boundings that sent the horse, restricted to a limited +space, quite wild with surprise and dismay,—now +leaping aside with the hope of evading his queer tormentor, +and now rearing and threatening to bolt. +Another of the dogs, with a yelp so shrill that it +menaced the integrity of every tympanum within +reach of the sound, urged the setting forth without +more delay, scampering around among the hoofs of +the horses and the legs of the men, and so to the +gate and away!—looking over his shoulder presently, +seeing that he was not followed, and returning +to repeat the demonstration, calling “Come on! +Come on! Come on!” as distinctly as if he had the +powers of human speech.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The horses, sniffing the morning air and the promise +of adventure, again and again sent forth neighs +shrill and clear and as matutinal of effect as a cock’s +crow; there was a great stamping and champing; +the voices of the stable-men were loud with calls for +gear within the buildings, and admonitions to the +horses, and adjurations to Mr. Sloper to take some +order with his pack.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“’Fore Gawd, them scandalous hound-dogs don’t +show no more manners than if they were so many +rapscallion childern,” the head of the stable averred.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The guests discussed bits and saddles and chose +according to their liking, and went in and out of the +harness-room with grooms and lanterns. Often, in +the midst of the turmoil, Colonel Kentopp looked up +with apprehensive forecast at the house, which seemed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>with its three stories and tower very tall and stately in +this region of the bungalow preference, expecting to +hear a sash lifted and a voice, sweet but imperious, +demand a stay of the proceedings. “Wait for us! +Wait for us!” seemed to sound in his ears, until +with the quick, assured tramp of a body of horse, a +frenzied crescendo of the skirling of the dogs, a wild +jocose “Yah! Yah!” of the stable-men left in the +deserted yard, the hunters were mounted and gone.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was still so dark that Desmond could not have +kept the road had it not been for the horsemen on +either side, and the voices of those valiant precursors, +the dogs, some of whom, however, now moderated +their transports and were trotting silently forward. +The tones of their owner, or entertainer it might +seem, so honored were they in his domicile, came +from the van, where he rode abreast with Colonel +Kentopp, who had ceased his attentions to Mr. Loring +to ply old Sloper with his courtesies. He really felt +under special obligations to the old swamper for the +loan of his pack of hounds, though, as in the case +of many other politic people, his gratitude included +a lively sense of favors yet to come. It was the +opportunity for a day of sport preëminently appropriate +to the region, which without Sloper’s coöperation +it would have been impossible to offer to the +house-party. Hence Colonel Kentopp had put up +Mr. Sloper on the best horse in his stable, well knowing +that the old swamper would be keen to discern +and quick to resent any invidious distinction in the +matter. Mr. Loring rode only the second best, a point +<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>which doubtless ministered to the swamper’s satisfaction +and jealous sense of his own consequence. Therefore +in fine fettle he led the cavalcade, continuously +talking, his high-pitched voice, with its frequent +breaks into a snuffling chuckle of falsetto laughter, +coming back on the keen, dank, matutinal air with +great distinctness.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was definitely of the class known as the “poor +whites” of that region, and his company was not +acceptable to Mr. Loring. The man who rises in the +world is not tolerant of lower conditions. It is only +the acknowledged aristocrat who can really unbend. +Sloper’s estate in life did not duplicate or approximate +Loring’s origin, which was in all essentials distinctly +genteel,—in the fact of educated parents, in refinement +of early association, in point of social connection; +for although his immediate family were of small +means, he was related to well-to-do people of good +middle-class standing. Sloper, however, distinctly expressed +the “common folks” of that region as contrasted +with the baronial planter, and as Loring had +no affiliations with the latter class, it offended him to +be brought into familiar juxtaposition with the representative +of the widely different lower order.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Colonel Kentopp could suffer no reduction of personal +consequence in hobnobbing as man to man with +the old plebeian, but as far as Loring was concerned, +familiarity might seem an outcropping of quondam +tastes and associations and similarity of station. Hence +he said naught as Colonel Kentopp’s jovial laughter +rang out at the conclusion of one of Jerry Sloper’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>stories that he had heard a score of times heretofore. +As the old swamper’s high falsetto cackle punctuated +the applausive mirth of the others, one might have +thought that he was himself too noisy to distinguish +the fact that Mr. Loring had not relaxed his risibles +in compliment to the gifts of the raconteur; it was +still too dark to discriminate facial expressions, and +the lantern, which one of the colored grooms carried, +was too far ahead to afford its gleams. There is not +always that submission in the minds of the lowly in +estate which would seem an appropriate concomitant +of that humble condition.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Powerful glad to see you here, Mr. Loring,—though +I don’t rightly see you yit,” Sloper remarked, +holding in the spirited steed on which he was mounted +to range alongside the millionaire. “We feel here in +the Miss’ippi bottom that you jes’ nachully b’long to +us. Why, I knowed yer dad way back in the fifties. +<em>Yes</em>, sir! He used ter run the river in them days. He +was mud clerk on the old Cher’kee Rose. I kep’ a +wood-yard up yander on the p’int, an’ Gus Loring an’ +me had chummy old times when he would come ashore +to medjure the wood. That was before he married—considerable +looking up his match was, for a mud +clerk, ye know! Yer mother was a tidy gal,—plump +as a partridge,—and I used to set up ter her considerable +myself. He! he! he! She turned me off, +though, for Gus Loring! An’ she done better, though +I do say it myself. She done better to take Gus instead +o’ me. She had a leetle chunk o’ money, an’ yer +dad quit the river an’ bought a share in a store an’ +<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>set out a-clerkin’. But Lawd! I reckon ye wouldn’t +bat yer eye for no such stock o’ goods as he had. +They tell me as ye have prospered considerable down +yander in Orleans! I reckon if <em>ye</em> was ter store-keep, +like yer dad, ye could show forth as good a stock as +they had at Whippoorwill Landing,—that would ha’ +made Gus Loring stare! I don’t mean ye could <em>own</em> +it all—part credit o’ course! But I reckon from all +I <em>have</em> heard tell that ye could get a note in bank,—an’ +that is mo’ ’n yer dad ever could do.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan loved his fellow-man. “For God’s sake, +pull that old fox off the Spartan’s vitals,” he said in +a low voice to Kentopp. “I can’t abide for a fellow +to be gnawed like that.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then, curse him,—why can’t he show some +sense!” Kentopp growled <em>sotto voce</em> in return. +“Who but a fool would try to top old Jerry Sloper +with his <em>nil admirari</em> millionaire airs. <em>He</em> knows what +Loring cut his teeth on! I am afraid of my life to +say a word.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Lieutenant Regnan had missed his billet as the +destroyer of life. His instincts were all for first aid +to the injured. He presently began melodiously to +hum, and suddenly as he rode in the clump of horsemen +he broke forth: “Say, Mr. Sloper, how does the +tune go to that old high-water song:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c008'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>“Step light, neighbor,—<em>don’t</em> jar the river!</div> + <div class='line'>Rising, rising, brimful and over—”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c007'>Forthwith the old swamper was blissfully chanting as +he rode at the head of the cavalcade, and Mr. Loring had +time to readjust the expression of his face and to conceal +<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>the ravages of the onslaught on his pride before +a certain pallid influence began to annul the darkness. +A sense of mist was in the atmosphere, yet great, +towering trees were visible, and far along apparently +infinite vistas, level and devoid of woodland débris as +a royal park, some vague presence shifted continually, +never so distinct, so definitely embodied, as to be formulated +to the vision, and at last realized as the impalpable +medium of the dawning light. Suddenly day was +revealed in the woods. The sun was up, not seeming +to rise on those infinite levels, but to spring at once +like a miracle into the place of darkness. It filled the +world with the amplitudes of a glorious golden glow, +so fresh, so elated, yet pervaded with a sort of awe, a +splendid solemnity. Stillness characterized its earlier +moments, but presently, in the chill morning, the +spring birds were singing from the branches of the +trees, which rustled with the sudden stir of the wind. +Through the vistas to the west the great Mississippi +was agleam with thousands of wavelets tipped with +dazzling scintillations, and the rising mist that veiled +the Arkansas shore shimmered with opalescent reflections. +Beyond the limits of the forest one could see +here and there a scattered growth of cottonwood +trees and the serpentine line of the levee, its great +embankment covered to the summit with the thick +growth of Bermuda grass, the interlacing roots of +which were considered of much avail in strengthening +the earthwork to resist the action of the current in +times of high water. At one point, where the river +turned in its corkscrew convolutions, the horsemen +<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>could see that the encroaching flood had crossed the +intervening space and was beginning to stand against +the base of the levee. This premonitory symptom of +overflow Mr. Loring was prompt to notice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I have a cross levee half a mile back,” Colonel +Kentopp said, with a jaunty air. “I don’t think we +will go under, even if that stretch of levee should +give. And if we do,” still more jauntily, “crawfish +and river detritus are fine fertilizers.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Best crops ever made in Deepwater Bend was +after the biggest water I ever see,” interrupted Jerry +Sloper, exceedingly glib. “Levees broke in March, +and water stood sixty miles wide. Plantations were +under till mighty nigh May. River was not in its banks +till nigh May. Then the crop was planted and—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I have heard my grandfather tell about that,” +interposed Regnan. “The fields were so thick with +cotton that they laughed and sang,—and the planters +laughed and sang, too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Still, I’d rather Dryad-Dene should keep dry +feet,” said Colonel Kentopp, turning in his saddle +to look over his shoulder at the water lapping about +the verdant spaces at the base of the levee. Nevertheless, +he felt very cheerful. The cavalcade could +hear the plantation bell at Dryad-Dene ring forth its +strong, mellow acclaim, calling out the hired force to +work, as well as the tenant farmers, who were under +the same regimen. The broad expanse of fields was +now and again visible, all prepared for the planting of +cotton,—as carefully laid off and with the earth as +thoroughly pulverized as if for a flower-bed. It was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>impossible for the heart of a proprietor of so fine a +plantation not to swell at the sight, and while away +from Annetta and her eager fostering of their mutual +ambitions toward metropolitan life, Kentopp felt a +sort of independence of the millionaire’s doubtful +attitude. Let the event fall out as it would, he had +here a mighty good thing.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the midst of these more vital and manly interests, +Loring’s phlegm and pose of indifference +could but give way. He knew the country and its +possibilities thoroughly, and now and again he made +searching inquiries into local conditions, which showed +that his mind was genuinely occupied with the proposition, +and caused Colonel Kentopp to think that he +did not half care to sell at all. Repeatedly the richness +of the opportunity was demonstrated. A turn in +the road suddenly gave to view a lovely level of pasturage +inclosed by hedges of the Cherokee rose, over +whose wide-spreading evergreen brambles the horsemen +could look upon a green plain, dotted with trees +of gigantic girth, and embellished with as fine a flock +of sheep as ever wore wool. Three or four black pickaninnies, +already absorbed in a game of mumble-the-peg, +and several collie dogs were entered upon their +guardian duties for the day, and Colonel Kentopp +was descanting upon varieties and pedigrees, weight +of shearings and flavor of mutton.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We raise everything at Dryad-Dene, as a model +plantation should. The world is within the bounds +of Dryad-Dene. We buy nothing but gunpowder, +salt, iron, and sugar.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>This was, of course, the ancient brag of the great +river principalities; but the immense drove of hogs +which the horsemen passed after a time, crowding +about a gate where swineherds were throwing out as +breakfast the contents of a wagon loaded with corn +over the high fence of the inclosure, the wide expanse +of the potato-fields, harvested long ago, their +yield garnered into the potato-sheds that stretched +along on one side like the roofs of a little street, the +saw-and-grist mill, the cotton-press and steam-gin, +with the obeliscal smokestack towering above the +plain,—all the appurtenances of the industry, went +far to confirm the boast.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And now into the depths of the wilderness, primeval, +apparently illimitable, with the wind footing it +featly alongside. There were clouds in the densely +blue sky, but high, white, flocculent, and lightly +floating. The odors of spring vegetation, of early +blooms, came on every breath; and when the first of +the sloughs was reached, it was so draped in lace-like +willows, so full of verdant moss and ooze, so +still and dreamy in its marshy pools, mirroring the +sky, that one might have accounted it a valued +feature of the landscape, but for the experience of +fording it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We can’t hunt bear in a parlor,” Colonel Kentopp +declared, as he forced Ringdove to wet her dainty +hoofs. The rest were soon splashing after, unmindful +of mire and solicitous only of quicksands. But on the +farther side they were on dry and level ground once +more, cantering alertly amidst the great forest trees, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>the horses scarcely breathed, and the courage of the +cavalcade rising to the summons of exertion. And +now,—deepest shades, great overhanging, swamp-like +growths! The dense cypress, festooned by the +gray Spanish moss, rose towering out of ink-black +water; a white heron, standing motionless beside a +clump of the protuberances known as “cypress-knees,” +looked as if it might have been sketched into the +scene with a bit of chalk; logs, moss-covered and +dripping with slime, lay half buried in the ooze; the +canopy of foliage was so thick, the boughs of the trees +so densely interlacing, that the light of the brilliant +day was cut off and the hunters rode as if in a +dream-shadow. Lakes presently opened alongside, +series of glassy stretches, blue under the azure sky, +and connected by a bayou so dully flowing that, gaze +as one might, the motion of a current could not +be discerned. Once wild ducks were glimpsed, and +though old Jerry Sloper protested, he could not +hinder the prompt discharge of one of the shot-guns. +On the crash of the report ensued the whizzing of +wings in the flurry of terrified flight, and two of the +birds floated dead upon the water. A handsome setter +sprang into the lake, and presently swam out +with his feathered trophy; while the dogs of different +breeds wheezed uneasily about the margin, and one +of them, a famous bear hound of a singular bluish +tint, his hide about his jaws hanging in loose folds, +sat down and contemplated the feat with head askew, +as much as to say, “Now, how did <em>you</em> find out how +to do that?”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>Jerry Sloper was beside himself with indignation. +“Now, you fellers air goin’ to spile the chances fur +the whole day! How fur d’ ye think this here piece +o’ water ’ll carry the crack o’ that thar gun? Old Pa +Bear will hide in the cane-brake an’ old Ma Bear will +gather the children up in the hollow tree, an’ they +won’t ventur’ out ’fore June. An’ then the manners +of my dogs! I been tryin’ ter get it out o’ that thar +Lightfoot’s fool head that he is expected to go arter +what I shoot. <em>I</em> don’t kill fowels with a gun.” His lip +curled with scorn, showing his long, tobacco-stained +teeth. “I go ter my hen-cup an’ chop off thar heads +with a hatchet. I am a man, I am! An’ when I play, +I take my sport like a man. I shoot deer an’ bear +an’ wolves an’ sech animals. The last time I killed +a bear, ’twas by accident. I hed nobody with me but +Lightfoot, thar. An’ the crittur,—durn his little old +cranky soul!—he p’inted. Came to a stand, with his +forefoot crooked,—jes’ so”—and Jerry Sloper +crooked his great hairy paw in clumsy imitation of +Lightfoot’s graceful instinct—“else I wouldn’t +have seen old Bruin. I ’lowed a’ fust ’twar jes’ a +hawg over in the brake. An’ all of a suddenty, lo an’ +behold, ’twas revealed to me that thar was a bear! +An’ I fired,—an’ o’ course he fell. An’ off skittered +Lightfoot ter <em>bring him in</em>, mind ye! Thar I was +hollerin’ arter the child, thrown to the wild beast,—I +warn’t able to stir hand or foot,—I was jes’ palsied +with skeer. Lightfoot tuk him gently by the ear,—not +to spile him with gnawing,—jes’ like he done +that duck—Gimme that thar fowel, <em>you</em> distracted +<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>beast!” and the setter, with half-squatting hind-legs +and wriggles of delight and pride, and lifted, liquid, +shining eyes, relinquished the game into his hand. +“An’ what happened? The bear warn’t plumb dead! +And Lightfoot come back tore mighty nigh ter the +breastbone. See them scars on his chist? An’ ez soon +as he was able to stand it, I gin him a beatin’ besides +ter teach him better. An’ now,—ye have set him at +his old tricks ag’in. I wouldn’t own a dog with sech +a mania, if he warn’t a present ter me. An’ till ye +fellers tuk to triflin’ with him, I ’lowed I’d got him +plumb sensible. You see that duck?”—he looked +down sternly at his accomplished retainer, who, discerning +the change of tone, began to cringe miserably, +thoroughly crestfallen. “Oh, ho! ain’t forgot +what I told you, eh? Well, then,—want some mo’ +slipper pie?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Oh, he did not! He did not, indeed,—his pleading +countenance protested. But the threat was a mere +feint; and as the old swamper turned to take up the +route once more, the setter, with a shrill yelp of delight +to get off from the colloquy with no painful sequence, +dashed ahead, and was presently trotting nimbly with +his companions of various families and traditions, +the only bird dog, and the only one whose record +comprised the heady effort to retrieve a bear.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’d buy that setter, Mr. Sloper, if you’d put a +price on him,” said Regnan, who sometimes descended +to the trifling sport of bird hunting.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An’ <em>I’d</em> buy the State of Miss’ippi, if ’twas layin’ +around loose,” was the not too encouraging response.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>Sloughs, lagoons, bayous unnumbered! The horses +were soon mired to their girths; the men were splashed +from head to foot, and those inexpert at swimming a +horse when suddenly out of his depth, had their high +riding-boots full of water. More than once an alligator +was viewed, half embedded in the ooze, only distinguished +from the rotting log that he resembled when +he would rouse himself to swim slowly a few yards, +tempting the knights of the magazine shot-guns.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t ye know that a bullet from a forward +shot will glance off as if he wore chain armor!” old +Sloper remonstrated. “The only chance is a rifle-ball +behind the eye.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And when did <em>you</em> become acquainted with chain +armor?” asked one of the Mayberry youths, in merry +wonderment and with a twinkling eye.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“About twenty-five years before you was bawn,” +retorted the old swamper. He paused to spit forth an +enormous volley of tobacco-juice against the trunk of +a tree, with a seeming solicitude for the accuracy of his +aim; then resumed with the greatest deliberation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I holped in a jewel that was fought by two tremenjious +swells, who got themselves landed by the +Great Republic for that purpose. They tuk up an +insult to each other while on the boat. They came up +to my wood-yard—I used ter furnish fuel ter the +packets reg’lar. They said all they wanted was a man +ter see fair play an’ shut his mouth. They plastered +mine good an’ tight with a double eagle. One of the parties +was tremenjious brash an’ overbearin’; I could see +that the other looked into death’s eyesockets at close +<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>quarters. I medjured the ground for them with the +Flying Cloud’s wood-staff that the mud clerk had left +at the yard,—miserable, unshifty, keerless cuss! Bet +he needed it himself before he got ter New Orleans! +An’ these two dandy fellers tuk thar stand an’ fired. +An’ the one that was so cocksure missed his aim, +though his hair-trigger was as fine a weepon as ever +I see. An’ the t’other, that thought he had come to +his las’ minit, shot straight. But he aimed at the man’s +mouth, as it ’peared to me. He threw up his pistol at +the last second. The ball tuk the gentleman right +through the throat. Ought to have seen the blood +spurt out ’n his jugular! Mighty nasty way to kill a +gentleman, I thought! An’ as we both run to the body +on the ground, one on either side, the winner’s hand +shook so he could hardly undo the vest. So I laid back +the fine linen shirt, though I knew it was no use to +feel his heart, for he was as dead as a buckeye; I seen +between it an’ his silk underwear a shirt of fine steel +rings. ’T would turn a bullet; ’t would break a knife! +An’ the s’vivor says,—his chin shook so that he could +hardly talk,—‘What do you think of that? I s’picioned +from the fust that he would give me no fair +chance in a fight, an’ he forced it upon me.’ An’ I +say, ‘Let’s put this murderer in the bayou. Thar’s +some fierce catfish thar, an’ snakes, an’ slimy beasts +to eat the flesh from his bones. The mud is deep an’ +will hold him down, an’ the mire is fit for his last +home! The Miss’ippi is too tricky to trust,—floats +things, ye know. The bayou for me, every time!’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, Mr. Sloper,” cried young Mayberry, suddenly +<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>grave and aghast. “I should think that you +would have been afraid.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, he ain’t never got up from thar,—so fur +as I have heard tell. What’s to be afeard of?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Was that <em>all</em> you did? To bury him in the bayou?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Naw, sir; I went down to Natchez an’ spreed away +the double eagle, the twenty dollars.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But I mean about notifying the authorities?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The old swamper’s face had a bewildered look. +“Whar was they? What call had they ter meddle? +I done nothin’ but the heftin’.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Didn’t the Great Republic say anything the next +time she passed?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, yes! I told the mud clerk that the price of +wood had riz, an’ he told me to go to hell. That’s +the last word with the Great Republic.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly a sound smote the sylvan silence. A keen +note of query, a wide blare of discovery,—and all the +pack opened on the scent, baying as rhythmically as +if trained to this woodland music. The horn rang out +its elated, spirited tones, the sound leaping like a live +thing along the far reaches of the levels. The horsemen, +in a frenzy of excitement, were separating, each +taking his own course and riding as if the rout of +some swift pursuit were upon his track. Desmond +hesitated for a moment, bewildered, the only stranger +to the wilderness of all the party, forgotten utterly +by his host, by old Sloper, by the huntsman on ahead +with the dogs, by the youthful sportsmen. Presently, +however, Regnan bethought himself of the tutor and +his imminent danger of being lost in the fastnesses, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>and paused after an instant of frantic plunging +through a narrow bogue that issued from a swamp +where there was promise indeed of scant solid ground.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Come with me,” he called. “I am going to try an +old stand on a deer path I know. The hounds have +got up a buck—I think so from the tongue they are +giving. Follow me. Swim your horse when he begins +to flounder in the bayous.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER X</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>There was no choice. Desmond had scant interest +in this tumultuous sport of coursing deer with hounds, +but he was fain to follow. He could not have retraced +his way for his life, and to be lost in the wilderness—for +every horseman had disappeared—was +taking all the jeopardy of disaster and even of +death. He congratulated himself that the excellent +brute he bestrode seemed to know more about the +matter than he. Suddenly Regnan, who had been for +a few minutes lost to him, appeared in glimpses +through the redundant vegetation about the lagoon, +which could be characterized as neither water nor +land, consisting now of one and now of the other, +and again of a treacherous combination of both, that +afforded neither footing nor the medium for swimming. +The young sportsman was thrashing through +brake and slough at a breakneck speed that presently +carried him out of the reach of vision.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The glimpse was sufficient for the powerful red +roan that Desmond rode, and he needed no prompting. +He sprang instantly into the water in the essay +to follow, swimming with great spirit, now and then +stretching his legs to gain a firm footing, and, with +a splashing flounder that nearly shook Desmond out +of the saddle, striking out again to swim with alert +vigilance and stalwart strength. Desmond was used +to equestrian exercise in milder form and found a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>need for all the principles of equitation that he had +been taught, for the most progressive of mounts can +hardly act on his own initiative throughout the incidents +of such a drive as this promised to be. Desmond +gave the horse his head as to direction, but checked +him according to his own judgment at impassable +obstacles, and held him up firmly when he threatened +to go to his knees. A little later, in a deep +quagmire, where he showed signs of sinking, and, +losing courage, began to snort in fright, Desmond +used bit and heel to such effect as to reinstate his +confidence and bring him leaping lightly out of his +floundering instabilities to good dry ground.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When the wild, disordered turmoils of the alluvial +wilderness gave way on the borders of a fine bit of +water, Desmond was surprised himself to note how +reassured he felt to perceive Regnan on his swimming +horse nearly in the centre of the lakelet. In the swift +transit he had scarcely had time to speculate if he +were on the right track, but confirmation was welcome. +Regnan had evidently felt a doubt, for he was +looking over his shoulder; and as Desmond and the +red roan galloped down to the margin, the horse +sending forth a gleeful whinny at the sight of his +swimming comrade in advance, Regnan waved his +hand and pressed on to the opposite shore, where +the dense shadows of a great stretch of forest gloomed. +Here there was good going. Desmond pressed his +horse to added speed to overhaul his precursor, and +side by side they galloped at their utmost capacity, +with scarcely a word exchanged, through miles of level +<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>woods, at last reaching the almost impenetrable densities +of a cane-brake, skirting the growth rather than +striking across it; this was the outpost of sluggish +bayous and cypress sloughs, almost impassable, seeming +impracticable, till suddenly they stood on a fair +sheet of water. The blue sky looked down suavely +upon it, and so serene it was that one might have +thought the wild tangles through which the way +hither had lain were some vision of a distraught imagination. +All around the dense woods were silent, +primeval. Something of the redundant swamp growths +were about its margin and cloaked the approach to +its placid waters, but beyond stretched the endless +forests.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan was dismounting. “It is too wide to swim +with a horse,” he said. “I suppose that is the reason +the deer take to it. And once get this body of +water between them and the dogs, and the scent is +lost.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was hitching his horse among the tangled +growths at a little distance, where he would be invisible, +and cautioned Desmond to follow his example.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“See that deer path?” he said. A narrow line +threaded the luxuriant marshy grasses about the +margin,—scarcely a path,—yet a keen eye might +discern the imprint of a cleft hoof in the moist +ground at the water’s edge. “I have shot deer here +before,” added Regnan.</p> + +<p class='c007'>With the butt of his gun he beat down the boughs +of evergreen shrubs to afford an elastic couch; and +here they lay them down and rested and talked spasmodically +<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>and dully drowsed, while they awaited the +sound of hound and horn.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He’s giving them a good run for the money,” +opined Regnan, as time wore on and brought no +change. The placid lake gleamed serene; the dark +forest gloomed. But for their own languid voices they +heard naught, and sometimes long pauses intervened +in the desultory talk.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Fond of this sort of thing?” asked Regnan.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was more comfortable since he had taken +off his high riding-boots and poured the water from +them, being advised by Regnan to put them on immediately, +lest they so stiffen in drying that their +resumption would be impossible. The amusement did +not seem so disagreeable to Desmond as he lay +stretched out at his long length, his soft hat over his +eyes, and his gloves also dutifully drying into shape +on his hands. He was able to answer both veraciously +and courteously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am not used to it. I like the violent exercise +well enough. But I don’t want to kill anything. I +am glad I can’t.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why can’t you?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, I never shot at anything in my life but with +a handful of bird-shot.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan, also recumbent, with his hat over his eyes +to be rid of the combined glare of lake and sky, +lifted himself suddenly to look about him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What a pity! We both have rifles! Kentopp +ought to have given you a shotgun. I wish I had mine. +I don’t know why I should have brought this thing.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>Then he lay back once more and shaded his eyes. +A long silence ensued. The glare on the lake had +dulled; a network of clouds gathered gradually, the +meshes weaving continually until dense, dark, impervious +to any gleam, it hung unbroken above the lake. +The woods had fallen into deeper gloom; only the +green of the saw-grass fringing the water-side seemed +lifted into an intenser chromatic grade by the lowering +of a gray sky. When a sound smote the mute quietude +of the woods, it was a muttering of thunder.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Rain! We are going to have it in plenty,” suggested +Regnan.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It has been demonstrated to-day that we are +neither sugar nor salt.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But it will disperse the scent; the hounds will +run counter.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hallo!” exclaimed Desmond, in sudden excitement, +lifting himself on his elbow. He could not +have said why it should thrill him; but that sound of +a horn, elastically leaping along the distance, so signally +clear, so searchingly vibrant, so infinitely sweet, +sought out every fibre of the romantic in him. Then +rose the melody of the dogs in full cry, rhythmic, +mellow, musical, softened by the distance, significant, +unceasing, echoing with the sentiment of the sylvan +chase of all the days of eld. It was not old Sloper’s +“house-party” that Desmond heard, but every pack +of high degree that ever coursed through the realms +of poesy or the liberties of tradition. He was on his +feet,—a light in his eyes, a flush on his cheek, his +hands trembling, his muscles alert.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>“They are coming this way! They are heading for +the lake!” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan listened for a moment. “Right you are!” +he cried.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As they took up their position at the stand, ambushed +beside the deer path, Regnan insistently +waived precedence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You fire first. <em>You</em> are company! If you miss, +I’ll fire. Buck ague?” he whispered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The undulating sound of the cry of the hounds, +emitted rhythmically with each bound, came ever +nearer and nearer, and suddenly there was close at +hand a crashing through the bushes down the deer +path. Desmond threw up his rifle, conscious that he +must catch the aim as quick as light. To his own surprise +he was singularly cool and steady. A flash, the +sharp report rang out; something clouded white and +brown and gray leaped high into the air, issuing from +the brush, and fell dead at the water’s edge,—a +gigantic wildcat.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A crack shot you are!” Regnan exclaimed, +amazed. The ball had taken the creature just beneath +the ear and pierced the brain. “And this cat +is the finest ever!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He bent over the magnificent specimen. “I didn’t +know such a fellow as this was left in the country. +But oh, how old Sloper will swear!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why?” asked Desmond, the excitement cooling +only gradually.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“His hounds are to run only deer and bear, no +matter what’s the purpose of their creation and previous +<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>education. He lets them chase a fox, now and +then, with a great palaver of explanation, and keeping +right up with them. But a cat! He’ll be worth +hearing!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>When the pack came presently, swiftly loping +through the brake, and beheld their prey, it was difficult +indeed to reduce them to order; and as old +Sloper raged, and fumed, and indignantly rebuked +them, their air suggested contradiction as they +whisked about their prostrate foe, their gait as if they +could not keep feet to ground—lifting them as if it +were hot—in the flutter and excitement, and they +noisily yelped with delight every time he spoke to +them. It would seem that the subtle current of comprehension, +the medium of communication, was +broken. They so valiantly protested that they had +done a fine thing, and piqued themselves so pridefully +on their prowess, that he was fain to end the +discussion in his own interest in the prey.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Git out’n my way, or I’ll punch the nose off’n +ye,” he roughly adjured them, as he dismounted to +lay out at length the savage beast, in order to take +its measure from its muzzle to the tip of the tail. +“Thar! I’ve stepped on your foot, and I’m glad of +it!” as a piercing squeak split the ears of the party. +But the sufferer was game and hopped joyously about +on three legs, participating in the event, despite his +plaintive disabilities.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What you goin’ to do with this here cat, Mr. +Desmond?” he asked, an added respect for so fine +a shot unmistakable in every line of his face and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>every inflection of his voice. “Better git it off the +ground—the dogs mought tear it; they air so durned +sassy over it, I can’t govern ’em none. And ’tis the +finest thing I ever see. My! how handsome that +fur is!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why,” exclaimed Desmond, suddenly roused to +the possibilities of his possession, “I’ll have it stuffed +and present it to Mrs. Kentopp as an ornament to +the armory and a memento of the occasion.” He had +not eaten much of her bread, but he distrusted the +motive of her hospitality, and his pride welcomed the +opportunity to make a requital so promptly and in +a guise which he knew would be so acceptable. He +began to take an interest in the exceptional beauty +of the specimen.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then it ought to be skun right now, before the +critter stiffens. An’ I’ll do it fur ye and send the +pelt to ye.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Down old Sloper went on his hands and knees to +the work <em>con amore</em>, his sharp hunting-knife gingerly +tracing the lines where the cuticle and fur could be +separated with least injury to the appearance of the +integument. It was a long job and a careful one, but +none of the other sportsmen had put in an appearance +when it was finished. He straightened up and +looked about him doubtfully.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They all lost out somehows,” he said. “Mighty +rough ridin’ in them slashes. I reckon they’ve all +rid off to camp, mightily interested in that thar barbecued +shoat fur dinner.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The mention elicited a responsive interest and a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>desire to minimize the distance between the hunters +and this dainty, time-honored of the <em>al fresco</em> feast. +The hounds, old Sloper, and the huntsman set out +by way of the deer path, as they had come.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’ll try a short cut,” suggested Regnan, “if you +don’t mind a bit more wading and swimming.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond protested his indifference to a renewal +of their amphibious experience, and, mounting their +horses, the two rode off through the saw-grass, which +fringed the borders of the lake. Suddenly the slate-tinted +clouds, darkening and still sinking lower, were +cleft by a vivid forked flash; the thunder crashed +with an appalling clangor; the horses were snorting +in fright and plunging wildly, and the floodgates +were unloosed. The rain descended in sheets; there +was not a breath of wind, and the torrents fell vertically. +It seemed for a time as if they were menaced +by a cloud-burst. The quantity of water liberated was +incalculable. The swamp which they now threaded +was inundated so swiftly that Regnan more than +once paused and looked back as if he canvassed the +possibility of retracing their way to the solid earth +they had quitted. But the rainfall was no translucent +medium. He could distinguish naught beyond +its opaque curtain. In serried lines in undiscriminated +myriads the torrents fell, yet seemed always +stationary. It hardly mattered which course they +adopted, for each was soaked to the very bones. On +and on they plodded, the horses dully drudging in +the progress, making special exertion when they +needs must, but obviously showing that they were of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>opinion the fun was at an end, and that there could +be too much of a good thing. Like human beings, +they found a vastly different animus in going forth +full of expectation and coming back exhausted with +the day’s run. They held down their heads in meek +endurance as the rain beat upon them, and when +they stumbled in the shifty, marshy soil, there was +great danger both to the animal and his rider in the +lack of that alertness of muscle to recover a footing +or bound with his burdened saddle beyond the limits +of the quagmire. Once or twice this recovery was so +precarious, so clumsy a floundering, and sinking was +so imminent, that both horsemen were alarmed and +prescient of disaster.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We have done this thing once too often, I am +afraid,” said Regnan.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond, too, had been looking over his shoulder, +though not in the forlorn hope that they might be +able to see the point from which they had started, +for they had pressed the horses forward, against their +will, with such energy that they had made it as impossible +to retrace their way as to reach satisfactory +footing in going on. Some injutting point of land +in the irregular outline of the swamp, or one of the +ridges of higher ground whereon switch cane grew +luxuriantly, and which here and there traversed it, +might yet afford them rescue, but if he could have +discovered such opportunity in ordinary weather, the +tumultuous, blinding downpour rendered it invisible +now.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There is nothing for it but to go on,” he said in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>a depressed cadence, for his heart had a sensation of +sinking. He was growing desperate. The rain had in +its midst great shifting clouds of thin vapor. Now +it so inclosed them that they lost sight of each other. +Yet when they called out in alarm, fearful of the +disaster of unwittingly parting company, the changing +mist gave a vision of the head of the other +horse close at hand, though a moment earlier it could +not be discerned.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly as Desmond shifted his position in the +saddle, looking straight over his horse’s ears, he gave +a start and an abrupt exclamation, staring as if he +doubted his senses; for before him, in the pallid, hovering +mists, half revealed and half concealed by the +immaterial investitures of the curtaining rain and the +cloaking cloud, like the travesty of a ship under full +sail which tantalizes the desperate hope of wrecked +or castaway mariners, he beheld as if suspended in +the air between heaven and earth the outline of a river +craft, a boat of some humble sort, a refuge.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Look, Regnan, what is that in the sky?” he exclaimed +hastily.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan lifted his head and put up his hand to hold +away the flapping brim of his drenched hat. His +voice suddenly rang out with a thrill of good cheer: +“In the sky? Why, it’s in the bayou, thank God!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is a flatboat?” Desmond hesitated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A flatboat it is!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan’s face had not regained its florid tint; the +chill of the fog and the rain, that had not left a dry +thread on his body, and the effluvia of the swamp, penetrating +<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>his lungs, had turned his lips blue. But he +laughed out gayly, although as his lineaments moved +he swallowed the rills of rain that ran down his face. +“It is rescue, my boy! That’s what it is! The boat +is half a mile off, and we can just about make it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Half a mile! A flatboat!” Even yet Desmond +was hardly convinced that it was not a delusion. +“What makes it so high!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What makes us so low!” laughed Regnan. “Because +we are away down in the swamp, and the flatboat +is away up in the bayou.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should think the bayou would overflow and +convert this swamp into a lake.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And so it would but for the conformation of its +banks. And so it will if this cloud-burst keeps on a +bit longer and swells the waters of the bayou.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>They shifted their direction and pushed on with a +good heart, despite the difficulties that increased at +every step; and though the horses, with their bent +heads and drenched coats and drudging plod, had not +seen the craft so high above their own level, now indeed +obliterated from all view by the encircling cloud, +they obviously felt the recruited hopes and energy of +their riders. The revived spirits of the men were +subtly imparted to the steeds, and the improved progress +caused the distance to seem less than Regnan’s +estimate when again the cloud lifted so much as +to disclose the mirage-like craft, now lower on the +limited horizon by reason of the nearer approach.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“To tell you the truth, Desmond,” said Regnan,—the +two had become chummy, despite the tutor’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>sensitive reserve and repellent dignity, for there was +no justification in holding Regnan at arm’s length,—“I +thought our hour had come. I thought we +were destined to leave our bones in the bayou with +the caitiff of the shirt of mail.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond shuddered. “Oh, give me better company!” +he cried. “Death is a leveler, but it can never +lay me so low as that.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Now and then each looked up from beneath his sodden +hat-brim to discern if their approach had been +noticed from the craft, but as yet she gave no sign of +observation. There was no one on deck, as they soon +perceived. The rain beat down heavily upon it, and +the water washed over its low gunwales as if it were +the waves of the bayou. The stream, however, showed +even yet no motion, no current; it was covered by a +myriad of tiny bosses, so to speak, the rain being so +persistent, the fall so regular, as to make the drops +seem to stand stationary on its surface. It had risen +several feet, as was evinced by the half submerged +vegetation along the banks, the tips fresh and green, +with no token of having been long under water. Beneath +that black cloud, with the sinister effect of the +white trunks of the cypress trees on either hand, +deadened by repeated overflows, their weird reflections +in the trembling black water, the funereal aspect +of the pendent Spanish moss hanging from the high +limbs and even festooning the trees from one side +of the stream to the other,—the world, the past, +life itself, annihilated by the clouds,—the dark and +gloomy watercourse might have suggested the river +<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>Styx, and the shadowy, visionary, ill-defined boat the +craft of Charon. They both felt an averse curiosity +as they approached still nearer, striving to disintegrate +from the rain and the cloud some individual +characteristic or sign of occupation of the phantom +craft. Regnan began to think it a derelict, an old +abandoned hulk; but he soon saw that it sat the +water much too jauntily, a stout, dry hull, tight and +serviceable. Presently their keen young eyes discriminated +a curl of smoke amidst the vapors that +lay on the roof of the cabin. This was little more +than a shed of upright boards, very flimsily put together, +and a tiny square window along the eaves +promised little for light. It served the purpose of +a lookout, however. A pale face appeared there. It +seemed to scan disconsolately the rain-lost world without, +the encroaching cloud, the swamp with its sinking +aspect; and suddenly, with transfixed attention, to +become aware of the approaching sportsmen, the horse +of the one up to the girth as he plodded through +the half submerged morass, that of the other out of +his depth and beginning to swim.</p> + +<p class='c007'>For one spectral moment the face stared as if confronted +by doom. Then the door of the cabin opened, +and disregarding the downpour, with skirts lashing +about her, with long hair loose and flying, a tall, +sinuous young woman appeared, sprang from the deck +upon the marshy bank, cast loose the line about a tree, +leaped back upon the deck in a moment, caught up +a pole, and with a stalwart effort had pushed off an +oar’s length or two before the man whom her shrill +<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>cries had summoned stumbled out of the cabin and +stood staring at the newcomers, with little apparent +inclination to lend a hand to the effort of clearing +the harbor.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was vain. The horsemen were too close upon +them. Such motive power as kept the sluggish bayou +on its course from the Mississippi River was too slight +to aid the pole to evade the speed of a swimming +horse. Desmond, indeed, had boarded the craft while +the imbecile face of the boat-hand was still bent upon +him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What do you mean by this behavior?” he demanded +angrily, not as yet recognizing either the +man or the woman. “Tie up the boat again, and +show us your bar.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Jocelindy! Jocelindy! ye fool, ye!” cried the +boat-hand, striking the struggling woman on the +shoulder with his heavy hand. But for this repulsive +brutality it might have been pathetic to hear him tax +another with his own obvious infirmity. “Don’t ye +see the gentleman’s goin’ ter spen’ money with us!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He busied himself in tying up the boat in quick +order, and found a place where the two horses could +stand on pretty staunch ground under the interlacing +boughs of cottonwood, so thick as to afford some +shelter from the rain. He had fodder aboard, too, +he said.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Some fodder we had to pack a lot o’ chany,” +interposed the woman, suddenly and shrilly, “becase +there wasn’t no straw convenient.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had no mind to linger on ceremony. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>Without waiting for an invitation, he turned toward +the cabin door. The woman, still standing in the torrents, +a secret thought in her face, her head askew, +her draggled attire dripping with rain, her mouth +bent down upon her clenched fist, suddenly asked:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Tell me one word,—is your name Faurie?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No,” said Desmond, frowning at the identification +with his employers as if he were of no importance +in himself; “my name is Desmond.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Thar now, Jocelindy, ye told Jed that very word,” +exclaimed the boat-hand, mowing and laughing with +imbecile and extravagant glee. “Ye told him that +this very mornin’ before he set out with his spade.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was an incongruity in any mutual utilities +between a boat and a spade, but Desmond was new +to the river country and did not appreciate this fact. +It struck Regnan at once, but he had no reason to +place inimical construction upon the acts of the boat’s +company, and it passed without comment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Though what is called “not right bright,” Ethan +Knoxton was discriminating enough to preside very +acceptably at a bar when two storm-drenched wights +stood before it, and he ranged the glasses with an +extra polish and tipped a decanter. It was a dull, +squalid little hole, with a permanent aroma of the +greasy fumes of many breakfasts fried on the monkey +stove at the farther end of the cabin, and the heavy, +oily flavor of the untrimmed wick of a kerosene lamp +swinging above the bar. The water dripped dismally +from their coats and riding-breeches into the already +well-filled legs of their high boots, that gave a squashing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>sound at every step. From their hats chilly little +streams trickled into their collapsed shirt collars and +down their shivering spines; and as the first drop of +liquor touched their palates, the surprise to find that +instead of rank, coarse whiskey it was good French +brandy was so grateful that they could but look at +each other with glistening eyes over the rims of their +glasses as they drank.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The boat-hand watched them expectantly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My! Ain’t that fine!” Then as they set the +glasses down, he whooped out his vicarious joy and +smote his leg with the palm of his open hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had insisted on paying by right of his +discovery of the bar, and he laid down the price of +three drinks. “You will oblige me,” he said politely +to the boat-hand, struggling with his distaste and +disgust. One should not despise the poor, and the +uncouth, and the deprived, who may have more value +in their Maker’s eyes than one wots of. Therefore, because +the semblance of humanity was not always disdained, +he sought to have a regard to the mere image.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“For me?” The protuberant, grotesque eyes of +the boat-hand were stretched. “For <em>me</em>!” He could +hardly realize the rich opportunity. “For <span class='fss'>ME</span>!” And +at last convinced, he exclaimed, “Lord love ye! +Lord bless ye! Lord save ye!” and gulped down +the French brandy, casting up the gloating eyes of +extreme ecstasy at every swallow. He smacked his +lips again and again, to be heard in the remotest +corner of the cabin, then stood comfortably smelling +the glass while the others turned toward the stove.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>“Isn’t that queer—French brandy?” Desmond +suggested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Smuggled, I suppose,” said Regnan.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Stolen, I’m afraid,” said Desmond, <em>sotto voce</em>, +mopping the rain from his cold face and shaking the +rills from his drenched hat. The jeopardy, the confusion, +the exhaustion attendant on the moment of +rescue from the sinister menace of the swamp and +the cloud-burst engrossed his faculties, but he was +vaguely recollecting that he had recently heard of +the dispensing of this choice liquor among a class of +swampers to whom its market price rendered it unaccustomed +and unattainable.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, I was not <em>particeps criminis</em> till it was +halfway down,—too far to catch it. And it feels just +as good where it is as if it was honestly come by,” +Regnan laughed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The woman had utilized the interval while their +backs were turned, and perhaps the shelter of a curtained +bunk, to slip into a dry gown and a clean +apron, and she, too, seemed to have determined on +a change of tactics. She would fry for the gentlemen +some rashers of bacon and eggs, if they liked; and +set on a strong pot of coffee, she said.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Are you afraid of spoiling your appetite for that +barbecued shoat?” Regnan asked Desmond, with a +rallying eye.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No; are you?” For the day was wearing on into +the afternoon. There were already dulling intimations +in the clouds, as if the limits of light in their midst +were curtailed. The woman listened intently as she +<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>set forth her poor and humble board with its best; +and when they were seated on either side and she +whisked about serving them, her strange, snake-like +face had a more propitiatory and pleasing expression +than seemed possible, with her high cheek-bones, her +eyes aslant, her long, serpentine neck.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She suddenly addressed Desmond. “You see he +ain’t quit suckin’ his thumb yit,” she said, as an infantine +babbling caused Desmond to turn his head +to perceive sitting bolt upright in a bunk behind him +an infant in a red gown with his thumb in his mouth, +regarding the feasting with slobbering admiration, +but making no effort to partake and no demand to +be served.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond recognized her now for the first time. +He had given her but little notice since coming +aboard, and on the occasion of his previous visit to +the shanty-boat, partly because of the dimness of +the light in the little cabin, partly because of the +sensational development of the interview, he had not +sufficiently observed the subsidiary members of the +crew—the woman, the child, and the boat-hand—to +remember their faces. If Jedidiah Knoxton had +been present, there would have been no delay in +recalling the personnel of the whole party.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That lady, Mrs. Faurie,” continued the woman, +speaking in a very propitiatory manner, “told me +how to break him of it, too. She’s powerful handsome, +sure, ain’t she?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,” said Desmond to this direct appeal. “And +she is a very kind lady.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>“Sure! She told me she’d gin little Ikey some +baby clothes.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But you left very suddenly,” said Desmond, significantly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan continued to eat silently, surprised at the +evidence of previous acquaintance, but comfortable +enough that it made no conversational demands upon +him, so keen an appetite had the vicissitudes of the +day given him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I want to tell you about that,” said the woman, +winningly. “Jed’s a mighty techy kind o’ man an’ +he got sorter nettled ’bout that thar wheel. He ’lowed +you b’lieved it was stole. An’ truth was, he knowed +he didn’t come by it right straight. A young boy +nigh Ring-fence Plantation traded it to him fur mighty +little money. His dad had give it to him fur Chris’mas, +an’ the chile had got tired of it an’ had ruther +have a few dollars. I begged Jed not to humor him; +’twas wuth mo’. But Jed said a plaything a boy is +tired of ain’t wuth nothin’. ’Twas a good bargain +fur him, an’ he gits a heap o’ trade ’mongst the young +fry. But he oughtn’t ter helped the boy sell his +wheel unbeknownst to his folks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her serpentine aspect was not altogether unjustified. +As she charmed so wisely, Desmond’s conviction +was shaken. She laughed a little, as if embarrassed, +passing the hem of her apron back and forth +in her hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Truth is, he was mad ’cause it carried out my +warnings; an’ sorter skeered, too, ’cause he seen how +it mought look to other folks. Jed’s real helterskelter. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>He pulled loose and drapped down the river, +but he hadn’t gone a mile before he was sorry. +That’s Jed.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The boat-hand, listening, and now quite won to +complaisance by the unusual prosperity that had befallen +the “trading-boat,” here in its cache, echoed +loudly, “That’s Jed!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So I didn’t git my duds the beautiful lady promised +me.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mrs. Faurie would no doubt send them to you if +she knew where you would be,” said Desmond, mechanically +meditating on his suspicions. The story +was very glib. The shanty-boaters might have had no +complicity with the tragedy at Whippoorwill Landing +and no culpability as the receivers of stolen goods,—thus +accessory after the fact. But the flavor of the +French brandy still lingered about his palate; evidently +they did not know its value as a beverage, +and this was suspicious. Still, smuggling was comparatively +a venial matter, and he had a vague regret +that he had been so quick to direct the suspicion of +the authorities upon so poor and defenseless a group. +But he had had no word how the information had +been received, or whether it was to be acted upon. +Nevertheless, it would be easy to prove the truth of +her story, provided her story was true.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Just as well she is where she is to-day,” Regnan +declared. He was leaning back in his chair, having +finished his meal with a good relish, and feeling +about in his cigar case to make sure that its contents +had escaped without injury in the general flood. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>“Try one of these,”—he held it across the table +to Desmond. “They seem to be all O. K.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond selected one, and, leaning over, struck a +match on the lid of the stove. “The luckiest thing +imaginable for us,” he said in jerks, as he held the +light to the end and pulled hard to set it aglow, +“that we happened to see the boat when we did.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Fires up all right?” Regnan queried. Then—“You +must charge us a good round price for this +dinner, madam. We are paying for not being at the +bottom of the bayou,”—he laughed. “We have a +special reason for not wanting to meet up with something +we know is there.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>His face changed suddenly; he looked at her in +consternation. Never had he seen such an expression +as settled upon her countenance. Fear it was at first. +“For God’s sake, what!” she gasped. Then—anger. +“Ye’d better mind yer tongue, now!” Her fingers +closed on the handle of a great butcher knife on +the meat block in the corner. And now—venom. +“Ye’re jes’ two cowardly, lying rapscallions! Ye +dunno <em>what’s</em> in the bayou! An’ ye ain’t got no call +to know! An’ besides,”— with a realization of self-betrayal,—“thar +ain’t nuthin’ thar fur ye to know—ha! +ha! ha!—te, he, he!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan had risen, startled and wondering; but +Desmond sat perfectly still, looking steadily at her, +convinced that, added to the unstoried crimes and the +unsavory detritus that the bayou hid under its black +waters and its deep, unstable mire, lay the stolen wheel, +and heaven knew what gear besides, from the looting +<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>of the store at Whippoorwill Landing by the merciless +murderers.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was a painful moment. He was glad to walk to +the door of the cabin and look out once more at the +steadily falling rain; at the spurious palpitation that +the drops set up on the surface of the immobile +stream; at the dark, encompassing forest, the water-side +vegetation still in the pallid green of spring, +seeming to hold all the light and color of the neutral-tinted +landscape; at the slow circling of the vapors +about the deck of the shanty-boat. There was a projection +above the door like the shelter of eaves, and +as he stood, only an occasional drop of water fell +upon his head. He was all unprescient; he was conscious +merely of distaste, the exhaustion from exertion, +a sense of inexpressible boredom, the discomfort of +his half-dried garb, and an impatient desire to be +through with the whole episode. It met him like +fate!—the muffled boom of a distant bell!</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XI</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>It was a strange thing to Desmond. Try as he +might, Regnan could not hear it. Summoned to the +door, he stood and looked out, and bent his attention +to discern only the rhythmic throb of the rain, only +the waves splashing across the deck, only the slow drip +of the water through a leak in the flimsy roof. He +looked curiously at his companion as Desmond, every +fibre alert, his eyes afire with excitement, his lifted +hand trembling, and the cigar between his fingers +dead in its ash, would exclaim “Now!” and stand +motionless again, listening acutely as if to an echo.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I hear nothing but the rain,” said Regnan. “But +even if there were no rain, we couldn’t hear the bell +at Dryad-Dene so far as this.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But this might be the bell at Great Oaks,” argued +Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They wouldn’t ring unless they were overflowed. +We left Dryad-Dene high and dry this morning, and +Great Oaks never goes under until Dryad-Dene is +half drowned, hardly ever even then; for the Fauries +have a private cross levee that protects Great Oaks, +to a considerable extent. Besides, there is no danger +yet from high water,—all talk and the usual spring +scare.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There!” The bell boomed again, shaking the +mists. And Desmond looked into the face of Regnan +in triumphant confirmation, to find his companion fixing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>agitated, half-compassionate, half-questioning eyes +upon him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My dear fellow,” laying his hand on Desmond’s +arm, “you don’t hear a sound but the rain.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I must go! I must return at once to Great Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Regnan remonstrated. They would be bogged +down; the continued exposure would kill them; he +would not be a party to so foolhardy a hazard. +“What good could you do? If they are going under +water, they are ringing up the force to bring out the +gunny-sacks and patch up the break.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It might be something else. There!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Along the dark waters the sound was borne. It +filled the fall of the rain with a distant undiscriminated +vibration.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I ought to be able to restrain you by reason, +Desmond,” Regnan urged seriously. “Don’t let me +have to appeal to these people for aid.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Look out,” said Desmond, with a dangerous flash +of the eye. “They are river pirates. I have cause +to know.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So have <em>I</em>,” declared Regnan, bursting with +laughter. “I saw two bales of cotton tucked away in +that closet when that rascal opened the door to get +the brandy.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A word, a nod, an inferential phrase, and Regnan +was in possession of the story of the bicycle and of +the suspicions of the shanty-boat’s complicity as a +“fence” with the marauders of the looted store at +Whippoorwill Landing.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If you are minded to trust yourself to such +<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>creatures, I can only deplore your lack of judgment. +If you will come with me, I know they will be glad +to put you up at Great Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’m afraid of getting my feet wet,” Regnan +whimsically protested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You had much better come with me to Great +Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’m all right here. There is nothing to gain by +meddling with me. These people won’t dare. If I +should be missing, they know that you would give +information where I was last seen. I am perfectly +safe. I am going to take up my abode on this trading-boat, +my ark, as it seems, till the waters subside. +The dove is apparently something of the fiercest. +And the lunatic yonder sends cold chills down my +spine. But I will risk them, rather than that treacherous +swamp. So will you, if you are wise.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Boom! Desmond had already paid his score without +question, to the surprise of the boat’s company, +accustomed to dicker on a price.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Make my excuses to the Kentopps,” he said +to Regnan, ending the discussion and turning to +leave.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If ever I see them again,” cried Regnan. “I +feel my feet spreading out in webs. I think my +wing feathers are sprouting. I’ll be transformed +into some sort of waterfowl and never get beyond +Bogue Humma-Echeto any more!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’ll send the horse back to-morrow,” Desmond +called out. He sprang through the rain from the deck +to the dark and marshy soil. But his horse lifted +<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>his head with a glad neigh of recognition, and as he +put foot in stirrup and rode off, the animal set out +at a swift gait and with a stout willingness of heart +that showed his eagerness for a comfortable stall and +manger, and his weariness of the detention that had +nevertheless rested him well. Under these conditions +the inundated swamp proved a less difficult proposition, +albeit the water had risen almost girth high and +the wading was slow,—the horse splashing along +with a distinct impact of the mire, pulling with a sort +of suction under his hoofs.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond, prescient of disaster, he knew not what, +fired with the ardor of a rescue, he knew not from +what, ready to sacrifice comfort, safety, life itself, in +this wild, adventurous sort in his premonition that +Honoria Faurie had summoned assistance, that the +bell had rung for help at Great Oaks Plantation, +resolved that no aid should come more willingly, more +instinct with protective spirit, than from him. It did +not once occur to him that this was a superfluous +hazard which it was no part of his duty to encounter. +His only care, his only hope, was to reach the plantation +safely, that he might reach it swiftly. He took no +risks, less with a realization of his own interest than +a prudence in compassing his object. He exerted a +judgment that might have been thought impossible +in one so unused to woodland experience; and though +the sense of loneliness settled down heavily upon him +when he could no longer see Regnan on the deck of +his ark, and at last not even the outline of the trading-boat, +rising ever higher and higher in the sky as he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>went down and down into the swamp till indeed it +seemed caught up into the clouds, he kept a stout +heart. He resolutely turned his mind from the knowledge +of the coming of darkness, only an hour or so +distant, the savage animals of this primeval aqueous +wilderness, the probable chance that he might +lose his way, the indefinite data by which he might +keep it, his burning impatience of the slow progress +which might yet fail to put him ere benighted beyond +the immediate region of slough and swamp and +bayou, now infinitely increased in extent by the rainfall. +The small compass in his pocket which he had +used in a lesson with the redoubtable Chub was of +great advantage in keeping him to his direction. +Straight to the south, Regnan had declared, and he +would come at last to the cross levee which usually +protected Great Oaks in time of overflow from receiving +a share of the neighboring inundations, backing +up as the waters were reinforced. Southward he went, +struggling through sloughs, swimming bayous, scrambling +up steep banks. On one of these his stout horse +fell backward almost upon his rider, and Desmond, +throwing himself to one side, escaped but for a +bruised shoulder and arm, while the animal was badly +shaken. He could hardly endure the delay as he stood +on the edge of the water by the trembling creature +and they had some conversation, as one may say, over +the mischance and the necessity of pressing on. But +the red roan was a good plucked brute, and before +long they were forging ahead once more, man and +horse in perfect mutual confidence.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>Desmond could have shouted with joy when at last +he saw the great winding earthwork, covered with its +green Bermuda grass; and when they climbed its steep +slope and gained the path on the summit, the horse +of his own accord struck a jaunty little canter, glad +of the good going and the sight once more of a civilized +landscape; for presently within view were great +stretches of cotton-fields. And what was that immense +expanse in the distance? Desmond could not +distinguish for the rain and the mist, and for a phenomenon +of far more import. In the shadow of a stretch +of forest a huge gully intervened in the levee,—fresh, +the earth on the sides showing a degree of dryness +despite the rain, the sod of Bermuda ripped through, +and the turf, still green, thrown aside. The levee had +been cut, and Desmond received an illumination in the +recollection of the boat-hand’s words that Jed Knoxton +had gone forth that morning with his spade. He +began to have an appalling sense of the extent of the +disaster even before he came upon a counterpart excavation +and realized that the levee had been cut in +more than one place. The nefarious job had been +thoroughly done, and though in broad daylight, the +cloaking fog and blinding rain offered an impunity +that a dark and clear night could scarcely have +afforded. He understood now the significance of that +broad expanse of copper-hued glister of which he had +caught but a glimpse through the aisles of the woods +and the serried ranks of the rainfall; it was overflow, +miles of overflow, submerging the wide tilled and +orderly fields of Great Oaks Plantation. And that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>roar in the air—what was it? Tumultuous, loud, with +a petulant dash and a sinister sibilance, blended with +episodic crashes and sudden wild clamors, like the +frenzied turbulence of savage beasts. It was the voice +of the Mississippi River, silent no longer in its deep +channel, but rioting in shallow floods over the aghast, +despoiled plains, crying out in its license and its mad +joy, seeming now and again to smite against the sky.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The wind was rising. The gusts, coming down the +great, unimpeded highway of the stream, gave impetus +to its currents surging against miles of levee +still unbroken, and lashing and sweeping away, melting +in a moment, the embankments that collapsed +under its force. The water nearest at hand, he perceived, +was backing up; it was not long before he +had reached it, lapping playfully about the base of +the cross levee on which he stood. How long this +path would continue practicable he could not compute. +The horse, more accustomed to the river and +its incidents, was showing evident signs of uneasiness, +and in fact he stopped presently, with tossing +head and startled eyes and planted hoofs, before Desmond +perceived through the rain and the distance a +white flashing in the dun evening light, which, had +he no experience of the locality, he might have mistaken +for a cataract. The inference was obvious. It +was the foam of raging waters as they tore through +an excavation intersecting the cross levee once more. +The great volume of the flood was surging over its +summit. It was a question of only a very short time +when the levee, along which he had come and where +<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>he now stood, would be swept away. Both he and the +horse were in imminent danger of death by drowning. +His first impulse was to turn back and retrace +his way. But at this moment of hesitation his attention +was caught by a moving object on the face of +the waters, emerging from the fog and the rain, and +gradually materializing as a man in a very small boat.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hello!” cried Desmond, peremptorily.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The man ceased to paddle and looked about him +doubtfully, at first on his own level, only descrying +the mounted figure on the embankment at a second +stentorian roar from Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Fur de Lawd’s sake, is dat you, Mr. Desmond!” +he cried out in instant recognition. “In de name o’ +sense, what you gwine do up dar on dat levee?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Is that you, Seth?” for the negro was a hostler +on Great Oaks Plantation, a very black fellow, looking +as he sat in the dugout like a silhouette against +the gray rain and the white mist and the yellow +water. “I don’t know what to think—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I does,” Seth promptly interrupted. “I think you +gwine git yo’se’f drownded, an’ Colonel Kentopp’s +hawse, too.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How deep is the water?” Desmond had the instinct +of remonstrating against this as a decree of +fate.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Six feet along dar, an’ risin’ every jump. I ain’t +never seen the contrary old ribber on sech a bender, +an’ I been knowin’ her gwine on fawty year.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was alarmed at the idea of jeopardizing +the valuable horse. He hardly noticed Seth’s plaints.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>“We-all’s levee done cut—’fore de Lawd, dem +planters in Deepwater Bend below Great Oaks would +be mighty glad if dey could cotch dat varmint dat cut +de levee. Dey nachully depends on Great Oaks cross +levee to keep the ribber off ’n dem, when Dry’-Dene +goes under. Oh, my Lawd A’mighty, dis am a drefful +day, shore!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I had better ride back along the levee,” said +Desmond, ponderingly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It’ll be under water in ten minutes.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But I must take the horse to some place of +safety.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Whar is dat?” demanded Seth, walling his great +eyes, with the whites very prominent as he gazed up +at his interlocutor at long range; the distance was +constantly lessened, however, for he paddled closer +and closer to the base of the levee as he talked.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is the safest way to the stables? I will +take the horse there.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What you gwine dar fur? You hatter charter a +steamboat. Water up ter de mangers.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“In the Great Oaks stables? Is the mansion +flooded, too?” Desmond, in keen alarm for the household, +trembled to hear the reply.</p> + +<p class='c007'>These disasters and their concurrent dangers were +so new to his experience and even traditions that he +could scarcely contemplate their encounter with composure. +Seth seemed to him a stolidly unfeeling +clod, hardly able to stretch his limited faculties to an +adequate comprehension. But indeed, though there +was no lack of water hereabout, Seth had contributed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>a tear or two to the floods in his woe and despair for +the destruction of these familiar values by which he +lived and in which he had such vicarious pride.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The stable under water? Why, how about the +mansion?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“De gret house is safe!” Seth snapped out, as if +the question were imputatious; even the insubordinate +Mississippi River would not venture upon the +presumption to meddle with the dignified mansion +house of Great Oaks Plantation. “I jes’ seen Bob, +an’ he ’lowed de water had filled de grove, an’ air +lappin’ ‘round de underpinnin’, but ’tain’t riz yit inter +de veranda.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was aghast at this intimation of jeopardy.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“De gret house is on high groun’, an’ dough dey +tuk up de kyarpets wunst, de overflow ain’t never +been rightly in de mansion house.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Bob ought to be there; it is the footman’s station,” +Desmond exclaimed, thinking how few the inmates +to cope with any unusual danger.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Dey ain’t none o’ de house sarvants dar, ’cept de +cook-woman. Mis’ Honoria sont de rest ob dem ter +holp dar famblies at de quarter. Bless de Lawd, boss, +ye oughter see de quarter!” Seth’s voice rose to a distressful +quaver. “’Twas so suddint—the cross levee +never gave way before, an’ we-all ain’t never had no +sich water as dis here. Some o’ de tenant folks is +sittin’ on de ridge-poles ob dar cabin roof, savin’ +nuttin’ but dar bedclothes; dar funicher is floatin’ ‘way +like ’twar ’witched an’ gone swimmin’. The chillen +wuz mighty nigh drownded. One dem pickaninnies ob +<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>Liza Jane’s war cotched by the tail ob its coat an’ +hung in a cottonwood tree. Hit hollered! But hit +never squirmed. Hit knowed catfish an’ yalligator +war smackin’ dar lips an’ sharpenin’ dar teeth for +hit. Lawd! Lawd! We ain’t never had no sech time. +Mis’ Honoria sont ebery sarvant from de gret house +ter holp dar folks, ’cept de cook-woman—an’ <em>she</em> +say she is feared ter ride ter de quarter in de overflow +in a dugout.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That was why the bell was ringing, then; to +summon help?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The darkey paused, leaning on his paddle, and +looked up at Desmond with a curious and searching +eye.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Bell!” he exclaimed. “The Great Oaks plantation +bell ain’t rung since daybreak.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was a pause. Desmond knew the superstition +concerning bells,—the ancient universal tradition of +mystic summons. There was no habitation nearer the +bayou whence some great brazen casting could send +forth that coercive tone; the distance from the river +was too great to admit the sound from a passing +steamer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Naw, sir; if you hearn bells callin’ you to-day, +they ring in your mind. Somebody in heaven or hell, +or somebody in yearth or air, is callin’ you, callin’ +you by spirit bells—thoughts reach furder’n sound. +Mighty cur’us, but that’s sure true. Bells!” Seth +raised himself on his paddle and looked up with a +face distorted by query and fear into the rain and +fog. “<em>Bells!</em>” he said again. Then he lent himself +<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>to the work of the paddle, and was soon within leaping +distance of the levee.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You gimme dat hawse, boss, an’ I’ll take him ter +de risin’ ground whar we got what we is saved. Lawd! +ye ought ter see de cattle drownded! My Gawd! De +cows mooin’ an’ de calves a-blatin’, all swimmin’ as +long as dar legs could work ’em along—an’ de sheep! +Ef I had time, I’d jes set down an’ moan an’ weep +an’ preach dar funeral. Some ob de best head ob our +Great Oaks cattle! Dar carcases floatin’ down de +ribber or cotched in de bushes in de swamp! Gimme +dat hawse. Colonel Kentopp’s a perlite man, but I’d +hate fur anything belongin’ ter him ter git lost on +Great Oaks Plantation. <em>You</em> couldn’t find yer way. +I’ll take tacks an’ short cuts, an’ I know whar is +risin’ ground. You an’ de hawse would lose yer way +an’ both be drownded. You git in de dugout an’ go +ter de mansion house. You kin find dat, ef ye kin +see ter keep ter de west.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The immemorial dugout, peculiar to the Mississippi +River country, is a primitive craft, nothing more, indeed, +than a log, roughly hollowed out and shaped as +to stern and prow. It is quite adequate, however, to +the purposes of its creation, for skirting banks, navigating +bayous and lakes, rarely venturing into midstream +or crossing the great river. It is safe enough +in accustomed hands, but it is doubtful if Desmond +were not in more danger of drowning thus embarked +than returning on his precarious route along the summit +of the levee. The dugout wallowed portentously +as Desmond stepped within its restricted space, but +<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>after a few words of instruction from Seth he righted +the craft and presently paddled off easily enough, the +darkey standing beside the horse, watching the boat +till it was lost to sight in the rain and the approaching +dusk and the fog closing down.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I ’spec’ dat ar man is safe in de dugout,” he muttered, +“dough his kind is used ter de saloon ob a +side-wheel steamboat, an’ dat’s de fac’. We done loss +enough cattle drownded dis day, ’dout him ter top +off wid.” So saying, Seth mounted and rode away +into the rain.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Though the dugout was a new proposition to Desmond, +he had had some experience with the paddle +as a propelling agent. His Alma Mater was situated +on a watercourse, and at one time the Indian canoe +and paddle was a favorite fad. Thus his progress was +swift through the rain and the fog, despite the fact +that for the first time he felt the strength of the current +of the Mississippi; for he was soon out of the +limits of the back water and in the direct course of +the overflow. He would have scorned the acceptance +of a superstition, but the premonition of a summons +was so strong upon him that he stretched every muscle +to his task. The glimpse of the wide expanse of +water, that might have appalled him, alone and without +guidance in the midst of its willful, riotous turbulence, +was but limited. The fog shut in, and but for +a few boat-lengths he could see naught but the surging +yellow current of a restricted space and the pallid +curtain of the cloudy dusk. Sometimes a shadowy +looming near at hand intimated a building half submerged, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>invisible in the fog and rain. More than +once he thought he heard voices, whether far or near +he could not determine. An incident of the high +water, on which he had not counted, was the débris +aloose and afloat, which invested navigation with undreamed-of +dangers, with which he could make no +covenant of caution. More than once flotsam shot +past him in the gloom on the swift current, with a +force as if flung from a catapult; sometimes it was the +lumber of a wrecked building; once it was a capsized +boat, adrift, telling either of the strain of the current, +breaking it loose from its moorings, or of a hapless wight +lost upon the turbulent waves; once it was a drift log, +which was upon him almost as soon as seen, shooting +out of the white invisibilities of the mist and striking +the dugout amidships with a force that threatened to +send it to the bottom. It rocked so violently that +Desmond had much ado to keep it right side up. +When the drift log had disappeared and he was once +more paddling on in clear water, it seemed so deep, +the current was so strong, night was closing in so +fast, that he began to fear he had been swept out to +the main river; at length, however, the mist gave +intimations here and there of vertical, shadowy objects +at close intervals, which he only discriminated +as the trees of the grove when he came in sudden +contact with the bole of a gigantic oak. The dugout +rebounded from the collision with a violent recoil +that seemed to stir all the fibres of the hollowed log, +but Desmond could hardly realize the shock which +had jarred his every bone, so rejoiced was he to feel +<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>himself near his journey’s end. He steered more +deftly after this, with more heed, with less effort at +speed, perhaps because the mists were lightening, +or that now he had his faculties better in hand +since his plunging, frantic haste under the spur +and lash of suspense was abated, as his object was +achieved. Soon he was able to discern that he was +surely and swiftly approaching the house, which to +his surprise, massive and wide and low in the gloom, +showed not a single gleam of light. He saw the live +oak at one side, which the veranda encircled, towering +up into the air, and suddenly he lifted his paddle +and let the dugout drift without a sound. For there, +in front of the main entrance, a yawl swung at a distance +of a few oars’ length, kept from drifting by +the occasional stroke of half a dozen rowers. At the +bow a man was standing, holding a colloquy with the +inmates of the house. Desmond had not heard his +words, the husky, gruff voice and defective articulation +had masked them, but his heart plunged responsive +to the clear, vibrant tones, thrilled with fright, +as Mrs. Faurie spoke as boldly as she might.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But they are not here,” she said.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The man gave a sort of derisive chuckle and the +oarsmen laughed together. One of them, a thick-set +fellow with matted red hair, vaguely familiar to +Desmond, sitting crouched in the place of the stroke-oar, +spat contemptuously in the water.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, Mrs. Faurie, whar mought you be willin’ +to say they are?” the spokesman asked.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Another, pale, wiry, hatchet-faced, and evidently a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>meddlesome lout, intruded a sneer. “I reckon,” he +said, with a simpering, brisk intonation,—“I reckon +ye won’t purtend that you disremember whar you +put thutty thousand dollars wuth o’ emeralds.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I will not, indeed! I put them into a bank in +New Orleans.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond realized that she was standing at the open +window of the parlor, and from such shelter as it +afforded was holding parley with the villains,—it was +doubtless the identical gang of river pirates who had +looted the store at Whippoorwill Landing with such +signal impunity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then, madam, we will take your order for them,” +said the flippant intermeddler, airily.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Keep yer face out of it,—ye’re bug-house, Danvelt!” +said the thick-set man. “What good would +the order do? She would signal the fust steamboat +that passed,—she would telegraph as soon as we +were gone!—send a nigger in a dugout across the +river to the railroad flag station in the Arkansas. +Either one would overhaul us.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mightn’t be ekal to signalin’ an’ telegraphin’. +Might be gagged an’ under lock an’ key—ef still +alive!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The man in the bow spoke authoritatively. “Sorry +not to take a lady’s word. But biz is biz! We will +search the house, an’ if the jools are not thar, sure +enough, you will obleege us with your order on your +bankers, and the key of your deposit box.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie had lost control of her voice. It was +high and shrill in the dank, misty air. “I will not permit +<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>you to enter. I warn you of the consequences if +you set foot on that veranda. You will all bear witness,” +she added, as if she addressed an unseen group +within.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The feint, gallant-hearted as it was, failed of conviction. +The spokesman, openly scornful, disdained +response other than threats. “The Miss’ippi River is +mighty convenient, here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Tain’t gone dry noways that I can see,” said +the pert wit of the party, and there was a tumult +of chuckling and shaking shoulders in the boat.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We have a lot of rope handy,” the spokesman +continued, holding up a coil in his hand, his hard +face white and fierce against the gray waters and +lowering sky. “Look at them iron vases!”—the rims +of the great lawn ornaments, six in number, showed +above the surface of the swirling waters, where they +stood at the end of the broad walk and at the intersections +of the driveways on either side of the mansion. +“They will make capital weights, enough to sink +every soul in the house,—the three boys, old man +Stanlett, yerself, and even that big fat nigger cook-woman, +for that is all ye have got in the house,—sink +ye, every one; the Miss’ippi River is one hunderd +and eighty feet deep in Deepwater Bend, even +at low water.” He shook his head ominously, and +the rills of rain ran off the wide slouched brim of +his hat with the sinister energy of his motion. +“Never be heard tell of no more,—if ye don’t see +yer way to accommodate us with the order and the +key.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>And, sooth to say, if she should! There was no +alternative. It was only a subterfuge of inducement. +Desmond’s blood ran cold. He perceived in aghast dismay +the symmetry and perfection of the plan of the +miscreants. They had doubtless made sure of the absence +from the plantation of the manager, who was in +Vicksburg on a business trip, and of the visit of the tutor +to Dryad-Dene, before they ventured to cut the levee. +The inundation of the plantation quarter with its flimsy +low houses menaced its inhabitants, especially women +and children, with drowning, and would draw to its +succor every available man from the stanch mansion +house, which was amply able to cope with floods. +When the servants should return, the absence of the +family would be accounted for variously in their minds +and without apprehension of evil: some passing steamboat +might have responded to a signal and sent out +a yawl to assist them to a refuge in Natchez or Memphis, +there to abide till the overflow should abate; +some neighbor, the Kentopps, the Mayberrys, perchance +still on dry ground themselves, might have +come and delivered them from their inundated domicile. +There would be no one among the tenants and +servants left in authority, no one fitted to act. Days +might well elapse before aught would be suspected. +The order upon the bankers would be duly honored; +the fence in New Orleans—for doubtless in an affair +of such magnitude the robbers were provided with a +respectable seeming <em>deus ex machina</em>, some shyster at +the bar, some trickster of a loan agent, some defaulting +bank official on the eve of detection and flight—would +<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>be upon the high seas with the famous emeralds, +before the Faurie mystery, as the disappearance +of the family would be called, should set the river +country agog with horror and baffled wonder and +impotent despair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond’s strong head was dizzy; his stout heart +fluttered as he realized the peril and the tenuous possibility +of succor,—a single hair to which he might +cling, the fraction of a minute of time! If only he +could enter the house first! From without he could +hope for naught. He could not cope here with six +brutal and hardened villains, doubtless the miscreants +who had wrought robbery and arson and malignant +murder in the tragedy at Whippoorwill Landing. He +could not show himself here, for he would only sacrifice +his life, worth more at this moment than ever +before,—than it could be again. He dared not shoot +from ambush; for a failure of aim would result fatally +to her, to him, to all in the house. He could not venture +to step on the veranda, lest his footfall be heard +or even his form be dimly descried from the yawl +continually oscillating to and fro.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Oh, for one impulse of courage in that fainting feminine +heart! Could she but rally her forces to withstand +their demand, to brave their hideous threat, to +hold them in parley but one moment longer. His own +heart leaped as he heard her voice again. It was full +of quavering vibrations, high and shrill and strangely +out of tune. But she spoke stanchly and with the +poise of dignity. “This is my house. I forbid you to +set foot in it,—to trespass one inch on this veranda. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>I warn you that I shall not be answerable for the +consequences. I call you all to witness,” she seemed +to address the group within. “And I have help at +hand.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She uttered the words with such apparent confidence +in the midst of her direful extremity that they +seemed to carry somewhat of conviction, to stir the +suspicion, the cowardice of the marauders. They did +not at once move forward, but hung as it were in the +wind on the oscillating water.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was a failure of judgment which induced her +on noting the effect of her words to repeat them, for +instantly interpreting them as a bluff, the oars struck +the water and the craft moved forward. “I have help,” +she piteously repeated. “I have help at hand.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You have,—you have, indeed!” Desmond’s +heart responded, for his plan was perfected in those +few minutes of final parley. He let the dugout drift +away while he caught the drooping branches of the +live-oak tree that swept the surface of the water. +The stir of the foliage, as with his rifle he clambered +through the boughs, was not to be distinguished +from the rustling of the wind. He lifted the sash of +one of the dormer windows and was safe in a room +he had never seen. A wan gleam of the twilight fell +through the glass, barely enough to disclose the surroundings, +for the window was curtained with some +floriated opaque stuff. An unused room it apparently +was, with an unfurnished bed, a few chairs, a table, +and in the jamb of the chimney on either side tall +presses built in the wall, one of which stood half +<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>open and was seemingly full of bundles of papers. +A mere glance afforded these details as he dashed +to the door. It gave easily under his touch; he had +had one dreadful moment, faint with fear, lest it +might prove to be locked. He was still trembling as +he groped along the dark hall, his weapon in hand. +He paused for an instant at the head of the unfamiliar, +vaguely descried stairs, feeling with his foot +for the edge of the first of the flight.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He could hardly control his agitation, his wonder, +as he heard a strange, muffled stir, that sibilant, lisping +step on the stair which he remembered from the +early days of his stay at Great Oaks Plantation, the +silken sound of the invisible patrol.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>It shook his nerve, strained to the tension of breaking. +But he rallied his faculties. This was no time +for vague terrors, for theories, for hesitation. He +moved on swiftly, silently. Nevertheless, as he hurried +down the dark flight, he could have sworn he passed +some mute presence, some sense of moving.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He burst into the dim twilight of the parlor, but +still without a sound. There were two figures at the +window, infinitely incongruous of aspect with the +scene without, with the frightful crisis, with the imminence +of their danger. Both were dressed with some +touch of elegance for the evening; Reginald with an +incipient relish for his own good points, and in the wan +light from the window and the dark shadows within +the room Mrs. Faurie was like some antique picture, +her gown of a light Pompeian-red silk, of a quasi-Empire +effect, a girdle of dark red velvet, and a guimpe +of thick, fine white lace to the throat,—yet robbery, +arson, murder, faced her at the moment. Reginald, +pale with a realization of his helplessness, nevertheless +stoutly stood his ground, his arm around her waist.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Without a thought, Desmond passed his arm around +her from the other side. “Be quiet, be very quiet. I +am here,” he said in a low tone.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her head drooped on his shoulder and she burst +into tears. “How I have wished for you! How I +have prayed for you!” she murmured.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>“I am here! I am here!” he said again and again. +He could only repeat these words. The fact filled the +universe.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was cool, confident, triumphant, despite the +desperate odds, despite the awful responsibility that +hung upon his judgment. He made his preparations +without an instant’s flutter. He waited the significant +moment without a pulse of impatience.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie, quieted, reassured, in perfect confidence +did as he bade her. She stood well up against +the wall under the folds of the long and heavy silken +curtains, while he placed himself in front of the +window, too far withdrawn for his presence to be +suggested in the dim light. Not until the yawl had +almost reached the steps, not until several of the men +had risen to spring upon the veranda, did he raise +his rifle and fire. For one moment the flash, the +smoke, the report,—deafening in the restricted space +of the room,—were the only elements that could +claim attention. The next instant the result was apparent. +That accurate aim, that steady hand, that +cool nerve, had come to Desmond as gifts, unknown +until to-day. The ball crashed into the skull of the +red-headed, thick-set man he had recognized as Jed +Knoxton. He swayed to and fro for a moment, then +fell like a stone into the water, leaving the yawl +violently rocking, and the rowers doing all they could +to prevent her from capsizing.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The return fire came whizzing through the window, +but Desmond had stepped aside and the ball crashed +against a mirror on the opposite wall. The yawl’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>party seemed to have recovered from the surprise at +finding a defense attempted for the house, expected +to be so easy a prey. They gave no heed to the welterings +and writhings of Jed Knoxton in the water at +their very gunwales, not able to recover himself, and +yet not dead, until at last the relentless Mississippi +drowned out the flickerings of life that the rifle had +failed to extinguish.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Once more, as they approached, this time with a +heady rush, the rifle got in its work. One of the assailants +sank down on the very steps of the veranda, +and the blood flowed higher than the palpitant waves. +An attack from an unexpected quarter further demoralized +them. A charge of buckshot from the window +across the hall rattled against the timbers of +the yawl—with not the best aim in the world, it is +true. Reginald had been stationed there in the short +interval with a shotgun which happened to be in the +hall, and which Desmond hurriedly loaded, directing +him to blaze away at random, being careful, as Reginald +loved to tell afterward, to warn him to keep +from between the muzzle of the gun and himself!</p> + +<p class='c007'>The apparent demonstration of adequate force to +make good the defense of the house was too much +for the nerve of the river pirates. The yawl was no +longer water-tight; the buckshot had riven the wood, +here and there, old and rotten. It was filling fast, and +this fact threatened their safe retreat. They had intimations +of more pressing personal interests than had +centred in Mrs. Faurie’s famous emeralds. Suddenly +putting about, they disappeared in the mist, leaving +<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>one of their comrades drowned in six feet of water at +the bottom of the veranda steps, and another lying +on the floor, apparently dying, the blood flowing +from his mouth and tinging all the waves as they +lapped about with a deeper hue than the copper tint +of the great river.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It would seem that no cheer of evening could ensue +on so grisly a primordium of horrors. Honoria Faurie +wrung her hands as she reflected, appalled, that a +man had met a terrible doom at her door, and his +bloating corpse still lay at the foot of the steps to +await there the action of the coroner’s jury, and that +another had stretched his lacerated body on her veranda +to die a lingering death. But Desmond seemed +to have no affinity or toleration for shuddering or +tears. He came and went noisily, ordering fires to be +rebuilt in the library and parlor. When Bob reappeared, +having made the transit from the quarter in +an old dugout, the footman was aghast to hear the +startling news.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ought to have been here, Bob; you missed the +time of your life!” cried Desmond, cheerily. “Oh, +it was great! And Mr. Reginald Faurie is a <em>man</em>, +all right, and don’t you forget it. Equal to downing +any kind of pirate! Pretty nearly sunk their yawl +for them. They will all knuckle down to Great Oaks, +after this. We are the pirate tamers here.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie had sunk into a chair before the dead +ashes of the parlor fire, her face pallid, her chest +heaving, her hands nerveless.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I wish you would give me a little brandy,” Desmond +<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>said to her, “and you would be the better for +what Colonel Kentopp calls ‘a weeny teeny nip,’ yourself.” +She walked with him to the dining-room, where +he detained her upon the pretext that he, himself, +wanted to order the belated dinner.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I need a <em>good</em> dinner,” he said. “I have hardly +had a bite since a daylight breakfast.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The cook was summoned, an immense woman, so +tall and so fat that she was apparently immovable. +She had been in the house throughout the turmoils. +If the skies should fall, she would continue to sit +in the open kitchen window and await events. She +seemed to do nothing but sit on the sill of the kitchen +window, but when she did move it must have been +to the purpose, for she was a famous expert,—of an +unparalleled excellence. So long did they discuss each +dish and compare views and criticise sauces that Mrs. +Faurie could scarcely compose herself to wait and +listen to these trivial details. It was a distinct hint +when she sank into a chair at one side of the old-fashioned +mahogany table, the cloth not yet laid, +and put her dimpled elbows on the glittering dark +red surface and supported her chin in her clasped +hands; while Desmond, still booted and spurred and +holding his brandy glass, stood before the sideboard, +and the cook filled the doorway, beaming with smiles +upon a gentleman who knew so well how to appreciate +the delicate miracles of her art.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When at last the menu was settled, he turned for +its approval to Mrs. Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, how can you think of such things at such a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>moment”—and she shook her head to and fro while +the ready tears came—“with a man dying at my +door and another dead!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The dying man is very comfortable upstairs in +a nice clean room and a fresh, tidy bed, where Bob +and Seth have no doubt put him by this time, as I +ordered. And the other man got his deserts, as no +doubt Providence intended he should. We are not +going to sentimentalize about them. On the contrary, +we are going to ask for the thanksgiving for +special mercies to us to be said in the public prayers +in our little neighborhood church next Sunday, and +I should think you would write to the rector at once +so that the request may be received in time. Go into +the library, won’t you? and write the note at my desk,—the +fire must be blazing there,—while I dress for +dinner.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Do you have to take the trouble to dress for +dinner?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He spread out his hands in dismay. “Do you want +me to come to the table like this,—with my boots +full of water and all over mud?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She still sat at the table and looked at him through +her tears, realizing his vital aid, his courageous rescue +at the most crucial moment of her life. But his little +devices to divert her mind, to sustain her composure, +to prevent a morbid reaction of sensibility, all of +which she appreciated, touched her in a different way. +The one was essential salvation, but the other had so +tender, so careful, so individual a thought for her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You are so dear!” she said abruptly; “I shall +<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>never call you ‘Mr. Desmond’ any more. What is +your Christian name? Yes, Edward. You are my +dear, <em>dear</em> Edward; like a dear, <em>dear</em> son!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As she sat at his desk in the library, she was surprised +to find how she liked to be there. She wrote +her note, and wept some happy tears of gratitude over +the occurrence which had taken on the aspect of a +merciful deliverance rather than a tragedy; she lingered, +fingering the little objects of chirographical +use that belonged to him—the paper-weight, the +pen, the blotter-holder—and thinking of his thought +for her. But for the wholesome influence of his sound +intellect her nerves would be shattered by the reaction, +she would endure agonies of foolish regret and +terror; she would not now have this glow of earnest +love to God and confidence and gratitude that made +her heart so warm. Yet her equanimity was not entirely +restored, and she had a sentiment of recoil +when Mr. Stanlett brought a very pallid, harassed, +and tremulous face to the window and looked in; +then entered by the long sash.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am hunting for you, Honoria,” he said in a +strained, husky voice. “I am much worried.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There is no need, Uncle Clarence.” She was surprised +by her full, steady tones. “Edward Desmond +will attend to all these troubles. See what a miracle +he wrought to-day, by the favor of God. We were at +the end of our capacity even to hope.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes—but, Honoria,” the old man leaned forward +as he stood and laid an impressive finger upon +the edge of the desk. “This man, Desmond,—I had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>forgotten his name was Edward, if I ever knew it,—he +takes a deal on himself! Without a word to anybody, +he ordered this marauder to be put in the blue +room upstairs. And there he is now—in the <em>blue</em> +room!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She stared at him in amaze. “And why not the +blue room as well as any other?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He shook his head, and with a gesture of despair +struck his high, bony forehead with his outstretched +palm.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I forget! I forget! You do not know!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She looked at him steadily, sternly, for a moment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is it I do not know, Uncle Clarence?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had come around the desk and sat down on a +sofa on the opposite side of the crackling fire. It was +necessary to turn in her chair to face him, and she +looked over her shoulder at him as she sat at the desk. +He met her eyes miserably, with a detected, hangdog +look, but he had closed his lips resolutely; she +saw that he would say no more. His face was bloodless, +deathlike in its pallor. He looked very old, with +his spare frame, his clear-cut, bony lineaments, his +thin, silver hair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There is something infantile in the infirmities of +age. It touched her maternal spirit. No one was +making enough of Uncle Clarence,—he had been +neglected. He, too, was to-day greatly threatened +by overpowering odds; and a man disabled by age +and infirmity must feel an appalling helplessness, a +pathetic shame, to be no longer of force, of availing +courage in the face of physical danger, a source of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>refuge and protection to the weak. And so great had +been the peril, of so terrible an aspect, that it might +well have touched his intellect for the time being. +She did not press for his answer, albeit she was of an +imperious spirit and not accustomed to have her will +gainsaid or her words set at naught. She rose and +advanced toward him, pained to see how he cringed +at the idea of her persistence while he yet massed his +pitiful resources, his face hardening, his eyes aglow +with an excited gleam, yet terrorized lest his steadfastness +fail. He watched with doubt and expectancy, +like a beast at bay, as she sat down beside him and +laid her hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t be troubled, Uncle Clarence,” she said, in +a dulcet tone. “You are hardly yourself, you have +been put through so much agitation and suspense +to-day.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He glanced at her ever and anon with excited +and furtive eyes, and moistened his lips, but kept +silence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I will ask no questions that you do not want to +answer.” She passed one of her soft white arms around +his wrinkled old neck, feeling it stiff and rigid with +his tense resolve. Then she laid her cheek on his +shoulder. “I love you so much. I can’t endure to +see you worried.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is just for you, Honoria. Just for you,” he +protested huskily.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t worry for me, I feel so happy to-night—so +happy! as if I had the world in a sling! I think +it so strange. To-night—of all the nights in the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>year! I suppose it is because we had such an escape.” +Yet when she thought of the escape, she shuddered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am much worried, Honoria. The—blue—room!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If you loved me as much as I love you, you +would not worry. Think, Uncle Clarence, how much +we are to each other,—almost like father and +daughter. We ought to stand by each other.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That’s why, Honoria, I have taken my course. +For you, my dear! And—the—blue—room!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let it pass for the time, Uncle Clarence,—for the +moment. We will ask Mr. Desmond if the man can +be moved without injury, and set your mind at rest; +though for my life I can’t see that the blue room +is less to be desecrated by his presence than any +other.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He held his lips together once more as if afraid of +disclosure, and sat stiff, immovable, furtively glancing +about with absorbed eyes; and as she with maternal +patience drew her soft arm closer about his neck, +her head on his shoulder, the glow of the shaded lamp +and the flaring fire on the rich tints of her dress, her +beauty embellished by her softened expression, the +two were a charming illustration of reverend age and +filial youth when Desmond, freshly groomed once +more, stood a moment by the window ere he entered +by the sash.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was in no mood for concessions. He had +assumed control of the household, and he had a strong +if not a heavy hand. He declined at once to interfere +with the wounded man.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>“It might be as much as his life is worth to move +him. I am not competent to judge. I am not willing +to risk it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her sympathies went out to the old man, inadequate +to cope with this masterful, youthful usurper.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Uncle Clarence seems to desire it,” she said, not +without emphasis.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I cannot imagine a reason sufficient to jeopardize +the man’s life,” Desmond rejoined.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am not informed, sir, by what theory I am to +submit my reasons to you,” said Mr. Stanlett, with +stately and satiric dignity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, Uncle Clarence,”—Mrs. Faurie started up in +alarmed remonstrance,—“think what we owe to Mr. +Desmond—how grateful we should be!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That is neither here nor there,” said Desmond, +maintaining his placidity. “You are the arbiter of +events here, Mrs. Faurie, but you <em>must</em> not suffer this +man to be moved, and perhaps sacrifice his life—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Heavens—no!” she interpolated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“—Especially before he can be interrogated by the +authorities. The information he may give will cause +the apprehension and the breaking up of this gang +of river pirates, and avoid the accomplishment of such +disasters as menaced this house to-day.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He turned toward Mr. Stanlett, who had risen and +stood stiffly, a sort of blight on his face, at one side +of the low, old-fashioned marble mantel. “I am disturbed +to differ with you, Mr. Stanlett, to urge my +views against your preference when you have been +so kind to me.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>“My kindness is returned in a way I had not anticipated,” +said Mr. Stanlett, coldly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, Uncle Clarence, I protest. <em>Don’t</em> mind it, +Edward!” She smiled and, leaning over, patted Desmond +maternally on the coat-sleeve.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I <em>do</em> mind it very much—to incur Mr. Stanlett’s +disapproval. But, my dear sir, it will be only for a +short time. The officers will reach here in the morning. +I have sent Jacob off in a dugout with an imperative +note to the constable and the coroner; they +must come. If the man can be moved, he will be taken +to jail; at all events, he can’t be long dying with that +hole bored through his lungs. Then the blue room +will be once more at your service.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>At my service!</em>” the old man sneered. “You know +nothing about it! You only show your ignorance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The announcement of the belated dinner put an +end to the discussion, and as they filed out, Mrs. +Faurie’s face was pale and drawn and altogether unlike +itself. But Desmond seemed in high spirits. He +begged pardon for asking for a cocktail before the +soup, and he praised a certain different combination +so that Mr. Stanlett requested that a glass be mixed +for him, remonstrating sharply against any dilution, +when Desmond good-naturedly diverted his interest +by reminding him of the classical apportionment of +water with wine, smilingly quoting “Hail, Dionysus: +are you Five-and-two?” The mixture proved sufficiently +potent, and sent the blood to the old gentleman’s +pale cheeks and brought out a gentle dew on +his forehead, and predisposed him to enjoy and digest +<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>his dinner, to postpone his unrevealed trouble, and +to hope for the best.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond developed a spirit of gossip. He recounted +the details of the house-party at Dryad-Dene, +and Mrs. Faurie and Mr. Stanlett laughed, +though slyly, at Chub, who seemed to think that +Desmond had committed a great impropriety in mentioning +Miss Allandyce’s boyish equestrian costume +and describing his embarrassment that he did not +later recognize her when accoutred in white silk skirts. +Reginald and Horace indulged in great hilarity at +this demonstration of the prudish Chub, and Mr. +Stanlett was immensely “tickled” by the description +of Loring’s sufferings because of the unwelcome +reminiscences of the old wood-chopper, Sloper, concerning +the millionaire’s family.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Shows just what a snob Loring has graduated +into,” said Mr. Stanlett, his face now pink from Clos +Vougeot, the blue room forgotten. “His parents +were most reputable, educated, respected people, even +if they were not well off, and the only reason they +were ever acquainted with such a party as Sloper, as +every one knows, is that in this sparsely populated +country everybody is acquainted with everybody else. +But social differences are now and always have been +rigorously maintained.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had a keen commercial interest in Desmond’s +detail of Regnan’s suspicions that the house-party +had been made up to show Dryad-Dene to advantage +to Mr. Loring, with charming young people in gala +attire enlivening all its highly decorated apartments, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>and how Regnan resented the idea that he had danced +not for his own pleasure, but like a trained dog, for +a purpose.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie dimpled and beamed, and asked him +how the ladies looked and what they wore, now and +then checking his description with the exclamation +“Impossible!” and setting him to rights with apt +conjectures as to fabrics and styles.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If I were mamma, I’d give a house-party that +would mash the Kentopps flat,” said Chub, sturdily. +“I’d have up a lot of swell guys from New Orleans +and down from St. Louis and Memphis, and then I’d +open the ballroom and dance all one day and one +night on a stretch, and have a party supper and dinner +and breakfast,—and leave the Kentopps out!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The older boys collapsed over this truculence of +the vengeful Chub and his idea of a fashionable +entertainment. Mrs. Faurie checked him, though +smiling. “Mustn’t bear malice, Chubby. I am too +old for a young people’s party.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Prettier’n anybody, ain’t she, Mr. Desmond?” +said the confident Chub, with his mouth full of salad.</p> + +<p class='c007'>To the tutor’s amazement, he flushed to the roots of +his hair at this appeal. He felt the blood mounting +and pulsing as it rose, but he was ready with the repetition +of Miss Mayberry’s compliment to the “most +beautiful woman in the world,” albeit he doubted his +good taste in the rehearsal. Mrs. Faurie, however, +who had often heard similar appraisements of her attractions, +took the remark quite simply, and was absorbed +in the interest of recollecting details concerning +<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>this Italian count, who was a man of talent and high +position, and whom she had often met in notable circles +while she was living in Paris. This brought them +to a harmonious end of the feast, and when they rose +from the table, Desmond proposed a return to the +parlor, where Mrs. Faurie countenanced the cigars, +and seated herself before the fire in a great fauteuil, +her Empire gown of rich yet delicate red enhancing +her beauty, her eyes fascinated by the flames, her +lovely neck glimpsed through the lace guimpe, her +quiet respiration rising and falling calmly, the tumult +of fear assuaged that had shaken her heart so few +hours ago.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had taken his station on one end of the +sofa, where Chubby also ensconced himself, for out +of school hours he had developed a great disposition +to loll on his tormentor. The other two boys had seats +here too, facing the window, but only the inconsiderate +youngest spoke out his sudden surprise.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Where does all that light come from?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs Faurie turned her head apprehensively. The +verandas were under a steady illumination, and for a +distance the murky waters of the overflow showed their +constant, sinister palpitation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I had those lamps filled and the brackets fastened +to the posts,” Desmond said coolly. “I found them +by rummaging around upstairs. I suppose they must +have been used in some entertainment in the house. +There were some reflectors, too, in the ballroom.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett raised himself in his chair, his cigar +held out at arm’s length.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>“You have no call to go rummaging around the +house. It—it—is outrageous! It is—is—intrusive!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs Faurie had paled. “Do you anticipate another +attack on the house to-night?” she asked in agitation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No,” said Desmond, “for I am prepared for it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Beneath his gay and cheerful exterior, sustaining +the spirits of the household lest the palsy of panic +overwhelm them and bring down undreamed-of disaster, +Desmond had wrestled with some sombre fears, +distressing doubts, troublous paucity of resource. +There was no boat due to pass, or he would have +braved the maddening floods in the primitive dugout +to put Mrs. Faurie on board. He had thought of the +neighbors, to ring the plantation bell and summon +aid. But the neighbors by this time were struggling +with the overflow, or seeking to patch sodden and +threatened levees. Their own families were exposed to +the manifold distresses of high water, and the very +fact that marauders were abroad had homing promptings. +Besides, he did not wish thus to advertise to the +river pirates that the occupants of the mansion felt +incapable of its defense. The garrison had already +demonstrated its efficiency; the pirates no doubt +believed that they had been misinformed as to the +unprotected condition of the house; and though Desmond +feared an attempt at the rescue of the wounded +man, in order that he might not turn state’s evidence, +inculpate the gang, and compass their capture, he +could rely only on such means as had been equal to +the emergency in the afternoon, hoping that this would +<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>prove adequate to whatever the night might bring +forth. The idea that Mrs. Faurie was the focus of their +schemes, the suggestion of wresting from her an order +on her bankers and by some nefarious plan rendering +her incapable of giving the alarm till it should +be honored, filled him with dismay. The possibility +suggested abduction, imprisonment, even murder. +He had provided against surprise. No boat, no swimmer, +could approach the house without becoming +instantly visible,—the old ballroom lights playing +a part undreamed of in their festive design. He +had posted one of the most reliable of the house servants +as a lookout on each veranda, and a relief sat +in the kitchen, finding royal good cheer in the remainder +of the big dinner he had ordered with this +view. His rifle was loaded, his pistols at hand, and +Reginald had been called aside and, as he protested, +given some points concerning the best method of distinguishing +the muzzle from the butt of the gun. He +had in fact been taught to load, aim, cock the hammer, +and pull the trigger, and he had a half dozen +buckshot cartridges in his pocket as he lounged on +the sofa.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Won’t the lights attract attention and make +navigation easy?” she asked.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Perhaps; but they will show that we are on the +alert and ready for all comers,” said Desmond. Then +after a moment of hesitation, “It was an accident +that they did not reach the veranda before I did +this afternoon. Now, any approach would be detected +at a considerable distance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>Her level eyebrows were drawn. “I had hoped the +danger was over,” she said, with a sort of plaintive +patience.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But not the precautions,” he replied, with a smile.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why don’t we have up some of the tenants from +the quarter? they could spare ten or twelve men.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He did not tell her that he had already attempted +a levy from the quarter, and that the tenants had revolted. +For the dead flatboat-man lay alongside the +veranda steps with a dog collar and chain around his +neck, to keep him from floating away while awaiting +the coming of the coroner; this Desmond had been +compelled to attach with his own hands. The negroes +did not so much fear the living as the dead. They +would not undertake to touch the floating body and +lift it to the shelter and security of the veranda, there +to await the coming of the coroner; they would not +wittingly approach the house so long as it was there,—nay, +until it should be removed to a distance and +to an unknown place. They did not believe that the +pirates would dare return, and were not actuated by +fear of them, but they were sure that Jed Knoxton +would haunt them to their dying day! “I think +they are perhaps shy of meddling in our feud,” Desmond +replied to her suggestion. “The darkeys always +seem doubtful as to whether they are fairly instructed +as to the points at issue in any disturbance +among white people, and are afraid of getting into +trouble with the authorities. They would merely give +the sense of strength in numbers, anyhow. We had +enough, to-day, and to spare.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>Nevertheless, he had not permitted to depart those +whose vocation had caused them to return to the +mansion, and who, upon discovering the facts, would +have been glad to get away again. They were fain +to reconcile themselves to the grim necessity as best +they might. The old butler, whose attachment to the +family dated from before the war, a man of experience +and intelligence, pinned his faith to the Faurie +banner in weal or woe. He smartly admonished Bob, +his son, to “show some manners,” when the footman +was insisting upon putting a goodly quantity of the +Mississippi River between himself and the locality +where such dreadful deeds were done and which harbored +such ghastly visitants, and withdrawing to the +quarter. It was not merely that the old butler knew +that special duty rendered in time of stress received +a special and proportionate reward, for he was long +past his prime and had no ambitions disconnected +with an aspect of distinction in the Faurie dinner +service. But a word to the wise Bob was sufficient. +Though under constraint indeed, he cheerfully consented +to watch in turn with his father on one side +of the house, while Desmond and Reginald kept a +lookout through the parlor windows from the front. +The cook insisted that naught could approach undiscovered +from the east while she sat on the sill of +the kitchen window, and Seth, the old-time hostler, +who dwelt in a world of Houyhnhnms and rated as +slight matters any disasters that did not concern the +frog and the fetlock, or threaten spavin or sprain, +found his sympathy with mere humanity so indurated +<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>by disuse as to be able to stand guard over the +wounded pirate to make sure that he did not attempt +to escape, that he wanted for naught in comfort, and +that no shadowy approach was made toward the house +upon the waters viewed from the dormer window, +from the hood of which Seth continually scanned the +expanse.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Too many people make confusion and get into +each other’s way,” Desmond explained to Mrs. Faurie. +“I need only one steady lieutenant like Reginald +here. I invited Regnan to return to Great Oaks with +me, and I was sorry at first that he did not come. +But we are all right without him.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I wish I could shoot,” plained Chubby.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am going to put a stop to this mollycoddle +business, anyhow,” said Desmond, waving away the +smoke from his cigar and looking at Mrs. Faurie +with challenging, laughing eyes. “Just as soon as +we get out of our ark, I am going to have regular +target practice three times a week, and teach these +boys how to shoot, and then we will borrow Mr. +Sloper’s dogs and go on a camp hunt of our own.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, little Chubby,” protested Mrs. Faurie, while +Chub fairly rolled himself into a ball of chuckling +delight, hugging himself as if he felt that he might +fly to pieces in the centrifugal force of so much +ecstasy.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Little Chubby is a good plucked one! I was +proud of Chub and Horace,—to stand here in the +parlor, and hold still without a word, and get in nobody’s +way, and make no confusion, and face danger +<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>without a protest. Oh, this is a great day for the +house of Faurie! We have three men here, rather +small-sized and callow as yet,—but <em>men</em>, for all +that!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, you make me feel so proud of them!” cried +Mrs. Faurie, laughing and flushing with pleasure.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly a drear sound—knock! knock! knock! +at the front of the house.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XIII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Mrs. Faurie sprang up with white lips and a +half scream. The old gentleman, who had sunk into +a placid doze, was roused from slumber to vague but +terrible fright.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Knock! knock! knock! again reiterated at the +door. The three boys gazed in questioning suspense +at the tutor’s face.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is not”—Reginald began—he had held +the chain while Desmond locked the dog collar—“it +is not—it could not be—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, no! <em>Impossible!</em>” cried Desmond, bewildered +nevertheless, and at a loss.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The strain of the events of the evening was telling +on the tutor,—even the stress of the effort to +sustain the equilibrium of the household was making +its impression. Some moments elapsed before his mind +could evolve a conjecture, a reasonable solution of the +mystery, and all the time the heavy, dull knocking +was renewed at ominous intervals.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It must be—it is—a drift log!” he exclaimed at +length. “No, you must stay here,” he insisted, as Mrs. +Faurie started forward; “Reginald and I will see.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He led her back to her chair, and was not sorry +that he had done so when he opened the door into +the hall and saw there all the negro watchmen, trembling +and agitated, with a look of abject terror +shown in the swinging chandelier.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>“No, no! Nathan,—I am astonished at you. +You know that a dead man cannot knock at the +door! No, Bob! You can’t have the dugout. I +have got it chained and padlocked. If you leave us +here, you will have to swim. Seth—you, too! It +<em>must</em> be a drift log. I am going to see. I might +have been afraid of that man alive, but I have got a +cinch on him, sure, now that he is dead. Nobody in +the house knows that he is there, but Reginald and +me. You tell that fat old cook in the kitchen that +the Mississippi River hasn’t swept him away from +here, or that the other pirates didn’t take him with +them, and she’ll die of fright. I should want no +ghost of her size after me, if I were you. Keep quiet +here and I’ll see.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>It proved to be a drift log, and with the aid of +a stout cane Desmond leaned over the railing and +pushed it clear of the entrance to the house. The +body of the flatboat-man had not yet risen, and as +the log was on the surface, it struck against the floor +of the veranda. Unluckily, as it floated down a little +farther on, it caught in the angle between the flooring +and the projection of the steps, and there it +swung on the oscillations of the current,—knock, +knock, knock,—and there it was destined to hang +and, as if it were the dead man clamoring for admittance, +knock, knock, knock in a dull monotone at +intervals all the livelong night.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond could not rally his energies again for a +show of cheerful spirits. He could no longer direct +the trivial conversation and evolve ebullitions of satisfaction +<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>and pleasure. Despite his gratitude for the +crowning mercy of his rescue of the household, he +had a sentiment of infinite repugnance for the taking +of life, necessary, justifiable, even laudable though it +was. That dull knock, knock, knocking at the door +where lay the man he had killed beat upon more +sensitive nerves than he had yet known he possessed, +and set them all a-quiver.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When Desmond induced the negroes to return to +their posts, old Joel made a great show of self-ridicule +and abasement that so little a matter should have +shaken his equilibrium. “’Fore Gawd, boss, I done +turned fool, fur a fack! <em>Drift log!</em> Gawd A’mighty! +I wuz cradled in a <em>drift log</em>! I been paddlin’ in dugout +hollowed out’n <em>drift log</em> dese six or seben hunderd +years. I been loadin’ up an’ firin’ powder fur +Chris’mus in de <em>drift log</em>—Lawd! eber sence Noah +fust went a-wadin’ in de overflow. An’ now—done +took a skeer ob a <em>drift log</em>! Ye-all will have ter hire +somebody to wait on de table at Great Oaks besides +a <em>dee</em>stracted ole nigger whut is afeard ob a <em>drift +log</em>.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Seth was retreating up the stairs, chuckling at +the causeless fright, and Bob was mightily entertained +to see the old butler at fault, who was so rich +and ready in caustic reproof to the young and flighty. +Desmond and Reginald turned from the servants and +repaired to the parlor, where the tutor was able laughingly +to explain the cause of the sound to the group +waiting by the fireside, and to apologize for having +awkwardly towed the log into the angle of the steps +<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>so that it could not shake free, and thus the melancholy +iteration of its oscillations against the flooring +would probably continue all night. “But I move that +we pay as little attention to the sound as possible, and +adjourn for the present,” Desmond continued, looking +at his watch.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I feel as if I could never sleep again,” said Mrs. +Faurie, pressing her hands to her temples.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What a pity that you sent your maid down to the +quarter. She could have a cot in your dressing-room +and be company for you so close at hand,” +suggested Reginald.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, she is afraid to come back. She made all +sorts of excuses, but <em>that</em> is the truth,” said Mrs. +Faurie. “I sent her to help her people save their +things; their household furniture and bedclothes are +so important to them,—hard to come by and difficult +for them to replace,—the accumulations of many +years.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Suppose you let Chub have a cot in your room,” +suggested Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I won’t,” said Chubby, stoutly. “I won’t sleep in +a room with a lady!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The collapse of the two elder boys over this demonstration +of Chub’s delicate modesty was shared +in less degree by the others, while Chub sat gravely +on the edge of the sofa and ejaculated—“The <em>idea</em>!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He’d be no good, anyhow. He is a perfect dormouse,” +said Reginald.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Leave him alone in his propriety,” added Horace.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let things be as usual,” said Mrs. Faurie. “Anything +<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>different might get on my nerves and make me +wakeful.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was rummaging in a drawer. “There is +a hammer here. Will you let me nail up the window-shutters +so that the room can be entered only from +the hall?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>That idea of a coerced order on her banker operated +on his mind like an obsession. Should the pirates +return, in view of their peril by state’s evidence, to +attempt the rescue of their comrade, they would +have the opportunity for a renewed effort to secure +the paper with its rich guerdon in case of success.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nail up the windows!” exclaimed Mrs. Faurie. +“Heavens! I feel like a pampered lunatic.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It would do no harm except to the shutters, and +would mightily set my mind at rest,” urged Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Work your will on the shutters, then, and peace +to your mind!” she said, laughing a little at his +impetuous haste, as Reginald caught up a lamp to +light him and the two made off together.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When they were through with the windows, it would +have been as easy to tear down a section of the house +as to effect an entrance there.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the group stood together in the hall for the last +few words, the knock, knock, knocking was renewed, +as of solemn clamors for admittance. None of them +mentioned the sound, and presently they were all gone +except Desmond and Reginald, who seemed to linger, +but really intended to wait and watch all night.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The lights are better out,” said Desmond, reaching +up and extinguishing the swinging lamp in the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>hall chandelier. “If they should come, which God +forbid, they could not so easily get about the house +in darkness, and we could fire at better advantage +from the shadow than in the full glare of the veranda +lights.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>They closed the window-shutters of all the house as +they patrolled the verandas. The width of these was +great enough to limit the light sent across the rooms, +but thence through the slats one could look out almost +as with the distinctness of daylight on the great brown +welter of water palpitating with the rainfall and undulating +with the current.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You had better lie down for a while in the parlor,” +Desmond said to Reginald. “No—you will play out +long before day, if you have no rest at all. You +will be well within call here, with your gun beside +you, and you can watch through the slats for any +approach from the front of the house.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>They had arranged that one or the other should +remain in the hall outside Mrs. Faurie’s door—unknown +to her, however, lest this precaution excite her +alarm anew—throughout the night. Reginald was in +a tremor of terror to perceive that it was she against +whom the schemes of the marauders were most directed. +He had earlier thought of the family silver +and the scattered valuables about the house, and had +fancied that these had allured them hither, but that +most appalling suggestion of a coerced order on her +New Orleans bankers and the extremest measures +to insure its being honored was of far more sinister +import. The silver in its present form was easily identified; +<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>melted down, it would be mulcted of half its +value in the loss of the rich chasing of the ornamentation +and the fine workmanship. Moreover, the water-rats +might well fear their own discrimination between +what was real and what might be a heavy plate and for +their purposes worthless. But there could be no possible +doubt as to her order on her bankers. Without +question they were in communication with fences and +graduated rogues in New Orleans of such a quality +as to be able to present such an order without fear +that it would not be honored. Truly, the possibility +invested the menace that hung over the house with a +terror which he could scarcely contemplate without a +complete collapse of all his faculties, and which drove +every impulse of sleep from his heavy eyelids. He +sank down obediently on the sofa, however, and sought +to compose his mind, his eyes staring into the gloomy +waters, his gun on the floor beside him within arm’s +reach, his ears acutely discerning every sound within +the house, and the splashing of the water against the +foundations as the rain fell and the currents of the +overflow rose ever higher and higher, and now and +again the sombre vibrations of the knock, knock, +knocking at the door before which the dead man lay.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had thrown himself at full length on the +long, old-fashioned, mahogany hall sofa, that he, +too, might find some repose for his exhausted limbs,—now +beginning to ache and stiffen from the stress +of the day’s exertion,—if not solace for his racked +and anxious mind.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The dark house had grown still—so still that the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>silence seemed sinister, as if some portentous crash +must break this unnatural hush. The lapping of the +water had become monotonous, the ear so accustomed +to it that it scarcely impinged upon the sense of +silence. The ghostly knock, knock, knocking had its +sombre echo, and the interval relapsed into muteness. +There was no stir of whatever sort from the bedrooms; +the inmates were all lost in slumber. The house might +have seemed tenantless, when suddenly Desmond became +conscious of a sense of motion. He raised himself +on his elbow and stared about him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The hall was absolutely dark. The glass half-moon +above the solid panels of the double front door, and +the panes in the long side-lights on either hand, were +covered with some quilled stuff that tempered the +light to gloom by day, and utterly excluded the glimmer +of night. He could not have said how or when +it came, but something was astir, he knew, even +before he heard that lisping sibilance of the ghost +of a step on the padded velvet carpet of the stair. +Again and again it sounded, sometimes regular for +several steps; then silence; once more the sibilant +tread, sliding on the silky pile of the velvet. Farther +and farther it receded, unmolested; he thought it +was gone! And once more—the impact! And now +all was silence; he listened in vain. As he laid himself +back on the sofa, the cold touch of the haircloth +with which it was covered caused him to withdraw +his hand with a jerk and start violently. Then he +composed himself anew and sought the rest his +fagged-out system so needed.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>At another moment he would have sprung up to +challenge the presence, but in this juncture he remembered +the alarm a sudden commotion in the hall +would rouse. Mrs. Faurie was aware of the peculiar +jeopardy in which she stood. The demand for the +emeralds, for the order on her bankers, had apprised +her that she was the special mark for the enterprise +of the marauders. So extreme a terror as a sudden +awakening to more turmoil and suspense might prove +too much for her nerves, for her overstrained heart,—might, +indeed, be fatal. This demonstration marked +no intrusion, no new menace; it was only the old +unexplained, inexplicable spectral mystery which he +had encountered when he first reached Great Oaks +Plantation,—almost forgotten until this afternoon +when he had sprung into the window and rushed +downstairs, hearing a sibilant descent and passing +an unseen presence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the midst of the lull induced by the uncanny +associations, he felt a rush of impatience that this +fantastic demonstration should be forced upon his +attention now,—at this time, when any slight lapse +of vigilance on his part, any failure of judgment +under circumstances so strange to all his training and +experience, might cost the life of every one in the +house. He believed that there must be some natural +explanation for the manifestation; but since it baffled +reason and conjecture, it mattered little to the +fact that he did not fully accept it. He had as distinct +a thrill quivering icily along his spine as if he had +no philosophy whatever, and as he placed his hand +<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>on his brow, he felt that cold drops were standing +there.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly he sprang to his feet. There was a +commotion upstairs, not so much a tread or a movement, +but a husky, half-smothered voice crying out. +In the tremendous crisis that the moment was to him, +he remembered to open the front parlor door, and with +a whisper he motioned Reginald to take his post on +the hall sofa while he bounded noiselessly up the +stairs, three steps at a time. He burst into the room +where the wounded man lay—expecting he hardly +knew what. It was the only chamber alight in the +house, yet full of distorted shadows. The kerosene +lamp had been extinguished, and the dim illumination +came from that primitive contrivance known as +a button lamp,—a bit of cloth tied over a button, +the end lighted and set afloat in a saucer of lard, giving +a clear, tiny flame peculiarly adapted to a sick-room. +Seth had placed this on the fireless hearth, and +thus shining upward, all the furnishings cast gloomy +shadows on the wall. They seemed curiously out of +proportion,—out of drawing, so to speak, because +of the slant of the walls of the half-story structure +and the deep recesses of the dormer windows.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the middle of the room Seth stood staring, evidently +just roused from slumber; his starting eyes +were on the wounded man, who had struggled into a +sitting posture, wildly gesticulating toward the door, +every fresh exertion sending the blood spurting over +the bosom of the white night-shirt furnished him, and +trickling down the white coverings of the bed.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>“Who is that thar guy?” he exclaimed huskily. +“An’ what’s he comin’ after me fur?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He fixed wild eyes on Desmond, who marveled +whether it was yet time for the delirium and fever +attendant upon a gunshot wound to set in.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As he spoke in a soothing voice, the incongruity of +the situation could but strike him. He had sought to +kill this man and had nearly compassed his object; +but now he was laying the gentlest hands on the marauder’s +shoulder, and trying to place him back in his +recumbent posture. The danger was all gone out of +him, but the semblance of kindness seemed strange.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nobody is going to disturb you. Take your +night’s rest. Lie down and be quiet.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The marauder grasped Desmond’s arm with a sunburned +hand garnished with broken nails. “But—say—<em>who</em> +was he? Oh, my! he looked comical! +What’s he want o’ me?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“There’s nobody here,” protested Desmond. “Lie +down.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Can’t stuff me! Ain’t slep’ a wink ter-night.” +A shadow crossed his face, which was young and +broad, and with a “bang” of straight sandy hair, a +square jaw, and a long, thin mouth. “I got too much +to study ’bout.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t do it now,” Desmond kindly admonished +him. “You have started that wound to bleeding. +Lie down.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That man looked comical; he didn’t look like +folks hereabout! He had on a three-cornered hat.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond gave so palpable a start that the wounded +<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>marauder noticed it. “Ai-yi! <em>You</em> know him,” he +said with significance. “Is he after me?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Did he have powdered hair?” Desmond asked, +surprised at his own temporizing, and remembering +Reginald’s description of the nurse’s vision.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Gunpowder on his hair!” the man said wonderingly. +“Naw, ’twuz white! An’ Lord! he didn’t +expect to see me lookin’ at him. He flipped in—an’ +when his eyes met mine, he flipped out. Say—I +be ’feard o’ him,—he looked so comical! Say—is +he <em>alive</em>!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond turned to the attendant. “Seth, who is +this man?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Gawd A’mighty, boss, I dunno!” Seth gasped, +the whites of his eyes distended and their pupils +wildly rolling. “Ter tell de trufe, boss, an’ shame de +debbil, I jes’ batted my eye one minit, an’ dar war +dis man shyin’ an’ plungin’ an’ ’lowin’ dat he done +seen—I reckon ’twuz dat ar Slip-Slinksy what de +chillern talks about wunst in awhile. Lawe-a-massy, +Mist’ Desmond, lemme go home! ’Fore Gawd, I can’t +stay here no mo’! Lemme go’—leastways, down ter +de kitchen, whar <em>he</em> ain’t neber been seen nor hearn. +I can’t stay whar Slip-Slinksy—oh, yi! hi-i!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was looking in affright over his shoulder at a +sudden movement of Desmond’s shadow across the +slanting wall. It was clearly demonstrated that the +utility of Seth in the offices of sick nurse and lookout +was at an end. So charging him to say naught to +his fellows downstairs, on pain of being ordered to +return to the sick-room, Desmond assigned him to a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>post on the back piazza within call of the others, and +within exchange of cheerful conversation with the +corpulent old cook, always a fixture, half a-doze in the +kitchen window.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The clumsy descent of the stairs by Seth, used +only to the one-story dwelling so common in the region, +Desmond thought was sure to advertise his withdrawal +to all the house. But when the back hall door +had closed upon him, absolute quiet succeeded. All +the inmates were asleep,—a much needed rest, obviously. +But the continued hush demonstrated how +essential was the strict watch, since so turbulent and +erratic a transit had failed to rouse the domicile. He +reflected that the cautious methods of burglars could +never have permitted so much noise. He began to +doubt the vigilance of his sentinels. He had no blame +for Seth, who had slept at his post. It had been a +strenuous day of excitement and labor for the hostler, +and indeed for all the household retainers. The +exposure to rain and wind is always of a peculiar +exhaustion to the physical energies. He began to fear +that, thus absorbed by the strange manifestation of +the troublous peripatetic spirit of Great Oaks Plantation, +worse dangers might have been allowed to +approach.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He went swiftly to one of the dormer windows, and +looked out upon the great flood as upon an inland +sea. Still the rain fell; the drops stood in bubbles, +and again coursed lazily along the panes of the glass, +and through their corrugations he could see the +rippling waters in the wan light of the illuminated +<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>veranda; the vague boles of the trees in the shifting +mist; the floating débris,—here and there uprooted +bushes, logs, fence-rails, timbers of buildings; but +never a boat, never a human suggestion. The ark +could not have seemed more lonely, more aloof from +all humanity in the floods that drowned the earth, +than did Great Oaks mansion in that deep and memorable +overflow in Deepwater Bend from the crevasse +in the Faurie cross levee.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The tiny light of the primitive button lamp burned +whitely on the hearth; the fire was dead some hours +since, and no coal gleamed through the ash. The +room had a comfortable aspect, though the blue and +white curtains were still undrawn as when he had +sprung through the window there. It was at the +opposite side, and without shifting his posture, where +he sat in the recess of the other window, he could +see through it the sloping roof of the veranda, on +which lay the boughs of the live-oak tree towering +high above. A table at the foot of the bed held a +glass from which restoratives had been administered, +a bowl which had been filled with the soup in which +the old cook excelled, some lint and home-made bandages +from an old linen sheet, ready for use in case they +might be needed for stanching the further flow of +blood. The floor was covered with a blue and white +matting; the woodwork was of the old china-white +paint, as smooth as enamel. The white wall-paper +bloomed with blue corn-flowers,—it was the blue +room! There were presses in the jambs beside the +fireplace, and these, too, were of the spotless white of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>the door and chair-rail and wainscot. The bed was +dressed in white, but from the half canopy long blue +curtains depended, mottled with some indeterminate +design in white. He rather wondered at the freshness +of it all, considering its disuse; but there was +little dust afloat amidst the densities of the woods +and along the expanse of the river, and the traditions +of Great Oaks were of famous housekeepers. +A single sign of disorder the room showed!—one +of the presses was open, and within was glimpsed a +congeries of old account-books, bundles of papers, +japanned boxes, all in a degree of confusion that +implied long neglect or great haste.</p> + +<p class='c007'>When he glanced again at the pillow, he was relieved +to see that the wounded man had fallen asleep, +doubtless from the exhaustion attendant upon the +excitements of the last hour. The breath came with +a queer whistling sound from his torn lung, and this +gave Desmond a keen pang, notwithstanding the +knowledge that the miscreant deserved far worse punishment +than the wound he had received. His sunburned +face was yet younger of aspect as he slept, +and softer; his unkempt yellow hair, his stubbly, +unshaven chin and upper lip, and his dirty face on +the fine white linen of the pillow-case spoke the limitations +of his low station; and the tutor, who had +pinned his faith to training, had a reservation in +his condemnation,—holding that this man might +not have been what he was but for what his circumstances +had made him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond, in the deep, shadowy recess of the dormer +<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>window, thus meditating, looked out keenly at +every shifting change of the watery expanse, listening +acutely to every semblance of sound within the +house, hearing even the recoil of the springs of the +sofa in the hall below as Reginald altered his position; +hearing the water rush futilely against the +foundations and turn splashing aside; hearing every +iteration of the knock, knock, knocking of the drift +log caught at the veranda steps, and he was instantly +aware when once more that scarcely to be discriminated +impact of a sibilant footfall, so stealthy it was, +sounded anew on the stairway of the hall. He could +hardly control his impatience,—the inexplicable incident +so jeopardized the fidelity of his watchmen, the +composure of the rest of the household. He remembered +that it was Reginald who had first told him +the story of the strange step on the stair. He wondered +if the boy heard it now, as he lay obediently +waiting on the sofa in the hall below. He wondered +that Reginald could hold himself motionless, for not +a sound came save that lisping tread, soft, sibilant,—now +still, now distinct once more, ascending the +stairs.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond had an impulse almost uncontrollable to +rush out into the hall, only checked by the fear that +he would find nothing. Then, with an effort at self-control, +he held himself quiet in the deep, curtained +recess of the dormer window. Since the figure had +entered this room before the unwilling vision of the +wounded robber, perhaps the lure it then followed +might again bring it hither. Desmond caught his +<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>breath as he heard the step approach nearer and yet +nearer. When the footfall was just without, it paused, +and Desmond fearfully heard the sombre knock, knock, +knocking at the door below stairs before which the +dead man lay. The next moment his heart was thumping +so loudly that he thought the sound might betray +his presence. For there entered slowly, cautiously, +with a quick, nervous glance at the bed where the +wounded robber slept, the apparition he had described +hardly an hour ago,—the figure that patrolled the +stairs in the wan moonlight in the tradition of the +nurse’s vision.</p> + +<p class='c007'>A tall man it was, and spare. He was muffled in +a cloak to the chin. He had upon his head a hat, +cocked as if accessory to a fancy costume; his hair +was white, not powdered; he held in his hand a scroll +of paper; his face was one that Desmond recognized +instantly, despite the anxious, secret, blazing eye, the +tension of excitement in every drawn feature. Mr. +Stanlett, with that careful, soft tread, noiseless save +for an occasional slipping shuffle incident to the step +of age, crossed the room and stood for a moment scanning +the face of the sleeping man. Desmond, invisible +in the deep shadows of the curtained recessed +window, trembled for him lest that peculiar mesmeric +influence, responsive to an intent regard, rouse the +sleeper to a moment of frenzied fright. But the man +still slumbered, the breath still whistling in labored +respiration from his torn lung. Mr. Stanlett evidently +harbored no suspicion of the shadowed window recess. +He was very old, and his age was telling on him in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>the draughts that this strange secret made upon his +powers of endurance. He tottered as he approached +the press, its door ajar, and as he paused and gazed +at its disorder, he shook his head to and fro in dismay. +He pulled the door back, and leaning within, he opened +a drawer which Desmond fancied was a secret receptacle. +He laid the scroll in this, and then with a cheering +face and a brisk satisfaction of manner, his lips +set firmly together, he began to push the bundles of +papers and japanned boxes back into their places, his +nervous, veinous old hands moving here and there +with great diligence in his eager haste to be gone. +As he forced the door to shut on the crowded shelves, +he did not observe what the keen young eyes in +the recess perceived, that the corner of one of these +bundles so protruded that the door did not compactly +close. He shot the bolt and turned the key, unaware +that neither had gone home, whirled about with a +jaunty air of capability, looked keenly at the sleeping +face on the pillow, and went briskly but softly shuffling +out of the door, leaving Desmond at once relieved, +amazed, and dismayed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He could not for a time collect his faculties to +ponder on this strange chance. He sat silently listening +to the stealthy footsteps that had so long baffled +inquiry at Great Oaks Plantation. He was remembering +that on the occasion when the spectre was declared +to have been seen, Mr. Stanlett was one of those first +present in the hall below, and could not recognize, it +was said, the features of the apparition through looking +upward at the landing. The steps retreated farther +<span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>and farther, and at last their sibilance sounded no +more.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the silence Desmond took counsel with himself. +There was something of mystery here, of an importance +to justify some risk, of a continuance to warrant +years of concealment. What it was, whom it might +affect, he could not imagine. He had the sentiment +that whatever is secret is wrong. And certainly this +was in a keeping neither wise, nor consistent, nor competent. +His nettling discovery, for he wished now he +knew naught, entailed a certain responsibility. The +old man imagined that the scroll was in a secret receptacle, +locked and double locked. And, in fact, one +man, perhaps indeed two—for Desmond could not feel +sure of those half-closed eyes and whistling breath—knew +that it was within reach of any deft and groping +hand. He revolted at the assumption of responsibility +with which he had no concern. Nevertheless, this had +been thrust upon him, and in view of the personnel +of all concerned, he could not shirk it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He rose abruptly, crossed the room, and opened the +door of the press. He, too, gazed doubtfully at the +sleeping man in the bed, who did not stir. Presently +Desmond’s deft hands were fingering the outline of +the secret drawer. It was constructed after an old and +ordinary type, and with one or two efforts his thumb +pressed a spring and the drawer shook loose. Taking +the scroll, for there were no other contents, Desmond +slipped it without examination or a glance of scrutiny +into his breast pocket.</p> + +<p class='c007'>As he descended the stairs, Reginald rose from the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>sofa to meet him. “Such a night,” he whispered. +“As if we have not enough to bear already, I heard—I +could almost swear it—old Slip-Slinksy going +up and coming down the stairs!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond passed his arm around him and gave him +a jocose hug. “And this is the fellow I have been +calling a man. Afraid of nursery ghosts!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was going into the library. The rain had ceased; +the mist was lifting. A pale gray light was sifting +through the slats of the shuttered windows. The +veranda lamps burned queerly out of countenance before +its definite, pervasive distinctness. As Reginald +threw open the blinds, Desmond was lighting a wax +candle that stood on his desk, and sealing in a large +envelope a paper at which he scrupulously forbore +to look; and as he lifted his head, he saw that the +sun was striking long, red, shifting gleams across the +great inland sea of the Mississippi overflow.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XIV</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The waters had not yet disappeared from the face +of the earth when the routine at Great Oaks mansion +was reëstablished. Those ghastly events, the coroner’s +inquest, the identification and removal of the flatboat-man’s +corpse, the ante-mortem statement of the +wounded prisoner, and the subsequent capture and +incarceration of the river pirates, followed in a rapid +succession that seemed incongruous with their importance. +The horrified and superstitious servants +now went about their duties with casual cheerful +faces; the tutor had resumed his pedagogic struggles +with the young idea; Chubby, in the intervals of his +labors as a student, sat upon the railing of the veranda +and fished in the overflow, his skill being now and +again rewarded by the splashing of a finny trophy at +the end of his line, whereupon long and serious conferences +ensued between him and the cook as to the +best methods to prepare certain piscatorial dishes considered +of small gustatory value by the epicure, and +always served in a single platter for Chub alone. Mrs. +Faurie had resumed her plaints against the dullness +and general vapidity of Great Oaks, but not her lassitude. +For there was much to do. The preparation +for repairs and rebuilding incident to the destruction +wrought by the overflow to the farm machinery, the +miles of fencing, the tenants’ cabins, brought the +manager of the place, now returned from Vicksburg, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>almost daily to the house, with estimates and suggestions +and discussions of ways and means. There were +many problems presented, difficult of solution even to +one of his experience, and Mrs. Faurie had come to +dread the sight of him, with his perplexities, paddling +up to the veranda in his dugout, the glister of the +blinding sun on the expanse of waters narrowing his +keen gray eyes to mere slits, corrugating his brow, +burning his complexion almost to a scarlet hue, incongruous +enough with his straight yellow hair and +straw-colored full beard, for he wore his straw hat on +the back of his head.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie had begun to say often, “Let us ask +Mr. Desmond,” when the alternative propositions of +plans and computations of approximate expenses involved +them both in doubt and anxiety, and he had +found the clear-headed views of a man of judgment, +progressive yet prudent, of value in appraising possibilities +and reaching conclusions, despite Desmond’s +inexperience in the questions at issue and need of information +in the premises at every step. He was so +quick to comprehend, so willing to take instruction, +so cautious of precipitate decision, of such keen acumen +and justice of reasoning, that Mr. Bainbridge +was glad of his counsel and to be able to cease to confer +only with a woman, albeit the owner of the interests +involved. He broached the suggestion himself +one day in his big, hearty voice, “Let’s submit the +whole idee to Mr. Desmond”; then, abashed, perturbed, +he looked up fearfully from under his bushy +blond eyebrows, perceiving the many untoward inferences +<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>to be drawn from his reference to this arbitration.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Mrs. Faurie discerned none of them. “The very +thing,” she concurred, touching the bell. Then as the +servant appeared, “Ask Mr. Desmond if he can’t +come here for one tiny minute. Tell him to lock +Chubby up in the mahogany cupboard, or fasten him +in the letter-press, or kill him a little,—anything, to +get rid of him,—and come here quick.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She, too, relied upon Desmond’s judgment implicitly, +and sometimes he was disposed to protest. “What +will you two say if all this goes wrong? You know +that I am as green as a gourd to this business.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, but it cannot go wrong,—it is instinct with +right reason. I couldn’t devise it myself, but I can +discriminate its value. You have the happy hand; +everything you touch is successful.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Bainbridge sat demurely by, scarcely daring +to breathe for the temerity of the thought in his +mind, his eyes discreetly downcast. Would the widow +really sacrifice her great income for this man of +pinched conditions? “Mighty smart man, though!” +he was sufficiently just to say to himself when out of +her presence, as he flung himself into his dugout and +took up his paddle. “Mighty glad he is here. Don’t +know how in the world I’d ha’ made out to git along +with all these perplexity fits with just a woman’s +whims to control things.” For Desmond often boldly +battled with Mrs. Faurie’s preferences and prejudices +in the cause of her best interests, and demonstrated +what was most worth while, and what was idle and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>useless expense in the rehabilitation of the wreckage +of the overflow; and though she disputed with spirit, +she was open to reason, and if convinced, was willing +to concede.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There were other visitors at Great Oaks in these +days, and mightily surprised to find the trio in one +of these heady discussions were Colonel Kentopp and +Mr. Loring, rowing in a skiff up to the veranda steps +and ushered into the parlor before the wranglers well +knew that intruders were upon them. At the sight of +the papers piled upon the table, the account-book in +Desmond’s hand, and the budget of letters that Mr. +Bainbridge held from Mrs. Faurie’s “machinery +man,” as she dubbed a great factory, Colonel Kentopp’s +face clouded.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You have fallen upon evil days, Mr. Bainbridge,” +he said, gripping the hand of the manager, for he +made it a point to be hearty and cordial with all sorts +and conditions of people in the conservation of his +reputation for popularity. “You will raise more crayfish +than cotton this year,” he continued, with that +agreeable manner of making a distasteful remark +which serves the double purpose of indulging one’s +ill-humor at an interlocutor’s expense while complimenting +him with conversation.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not at all,” interposed Mrs. Faurie, for she had +an affinity with success, and resented evil prognostications +in her affairs as intrusive. “Mr. Desmond +says that if the water recedes in time to get cotton +planted properly, the alluvium of the overflow will +enrich the land and materially increase the yield.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>“Much virtue in an ‘if,’” Colonel Kentopp contended, +as he came around the table with a rolling +step and flung himself into one of the big armchairs. +“I did not know that Mr. Desmond is an +agricultural authority,” he continued with a large +air of jocularity as he crossed his legs. “I thought +his knowledge of rural matters was contained in the +Georgics of Virgil—ha! ha! ha!” And he sent a +glance of rallying laughter at Desmond from out his +round, dark, glossy, unamused eyes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Desmond knows a great deal about many +things,” Mrs. Faurie retorted promptly, unaccustomed +to contradiction or discipline, and restive under +the slur of ridicule cast upon Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So <em>we</em> found out who had the pleasure of being +his fellow guests at Dryad-Dene,” said Mr. Loring, +who had a very bland aspect for a wooden man, as +he sat in the group before the fire. He had a great +respect for money in the abstract, and Mrs. Faurie +represented large aggregations of wealth and thus +commanded his interest. He was disposed to soften +to her liking the tone of the conversation, which he +thought ill-taken. Moreover, he had not often had +the opportunity of meeting her, and the sight of the +great beauty was an event of moment. He was not +a “ladies’ man” in the ordinary acceptation of the +term, but he had the successful man’s reverence for +preëminence in any form, and the splendor of her +personal gifts appealed to his appreciation of the predominant. +Her beauty was always so striking that +whatever she wore seemed cunningly designed to enhance +<span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>it,—even to-day, when her costume was a sheer +lawn blouse and a plain black skirt. Her arms and +shoulders were so dazzlingly white through the soft +fabric; its absolute simplicity made so undeniable a demand +to mark how the lack of effort or ornamentation +brought into higher relief and added importance all +the fine details of her perfect face, the exquisite tints +of her long-lashed gray eyes, the lustre of her rich +brown hair rolled up so plainly from her fair brow, +the beautiful shape of her hands and arms, shaded +only by a simple ruffle at the end of her elbow-sleeves. +She was in Mr. Loring’s eyes a woman whose wishes +were to be considered, whose station and wealth were +to be respected, whose beauty was to be worshiped, +and he wondered at Kentopp’s fatuity when, catching +his cue, he said:—</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Indeed, Mr. Desmond was greatly appreciated at +Dryad-Dene,—especially by the young ladies!” with +an arch glance at the tutor.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Loring thought of the dim, pale attractions of Miss +Kelvin and Miss Allandyce in comparison with the +resplendent vision before him, and he deemed Kentopp +mentally a poor creature.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Of course Mr. Desmond has not had agricultural +experience, but he has a very good article of common +sense, and with what mind Mr. Bainbridge and I +have left, since the overflow fairly crazed us both, we +think we are going to make out mighty well,” stoutly +insisted Mrs. Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I’ll be bound you do,” said Mr. Loring, admiringly.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>“But Mr. Desmond is due at Dryad-Dene,” protested +Kentopp, now on the back track. “He took +French leave of us, and our week-end party is not yet +dispersed, though the week has. The overflow gave +us that boon, at all events. They haven’t been able +to get away.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You are very kind, but it is impossible for me to +return,” said Desmond, courteously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, I’m so glad,” cried out Mrs. Faurie, unexpectedly, +and in a tone of girlish glee. “I was so +afraid that Edward might accept.” Then, turning to +the amazed Kentopp, she added. “You know that he +is the source of all our courage. We were in a state +of siege here. We look upon him as if he were as +powerful as an army with banners.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Killed two of the men with your own hands; I +believe the testimony at the inquest showed that,”—Colonel +Kentopp’s lip curled as if in distaste. “Painful +necessity.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Not all,—providential opportunity! Edward and +I agreed that we would have no morbid sensibility +over it,” declared Mrs. Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, I should smile!” said the wooden man, in +hearty indorsement, his slang literal. It was not his +place, and he knew it, but he rose from his chair with +the intention of himself terminating the visit and +taking the malapropos Kentopp home. “You have +much to do here; we had best be going.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If Mr. Desmond will not return with us,” said +Kentopp, gathering his faculties together as best he +could, and perceiving the light of elation in Loring’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>eyes. Great Oaks Plantation would doubtless be soon +on the market. Its overflow scarcely made against its +value, though it might be utilized to cry down the +asking price, since it was only the result of the nefarious +crime of cutting the cross levee, that was hitherto +a complete protection. Mrs. Faurie, evidently all +unwitting of the future, was herself to defray the immense +expense of its rehabilitation. Loring scarcely +looked as wooden as was his wont, smoothing down +his bristly mustache with a jaunty air, a secret smile +behind his eyes, as it were, so confidential, so introspective, +so self-communing was its expression. Of all +the boons that his money had brought within reach +of the millionaire, Great Oaks Plantation was the one +he most coveted. Even its semi-grotesque amphibious +aspect could not diminish his desire as he paused on +the veranda, the water lapping about it, the great +trees standing inundated, as if knee-deep, the glistening +expanse of the overflow stretching out to the +Mississippi proper, its channel only to be now discerned +by the course of a steamboat ploughing her +way through the illimitable floods, no vestige of a +shore within view. He was cheerful in his leave-taking, +and turned in the skiff, even after the darkey at +the oars had rowed far down the submerged avenue, +to wave his hand at the group on the veranda, while +Colonel Kentopp moodily pulled his hat down over his +eyes with a muttered “Confound this glare,” as the +sun flashed blindingly upon the waste of waters.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The prominence of Desmond in the lady’s counsels +was also noticed by old Mr. Stanlett, and he regarded +<span class='pageno' id='Page_313'>313</span>it obviously with jealous distrust. He had been peculiarly +favorably impressed by the young man during +the earlier days of his stay at Great Oaks, and had +taken pains to bestow upon him a kindly consideration +and courteous attention, of which the tutor, then +fresh to his duties and despondent, consciously out of +his element, was very definitely sensible. Now, Mr. +Stanlett seldom addressed Desmond, and when this was +necessary he used a cold civility, in strong contrast to +his former demeanor, and savoring very distinctly of a +realization of the inferiority of the tutor’s position and +a resolute intention of relegating him to his proper +sphere. Whenever Mrs. Faurie spoke to Desmond, discussing +her affairs and deferring to his opinion, Mr. +Stanlett was wont to draw his heavy white eyebrows +together in a very definite frown, scanning first one +and then the other, an angry flush mantling his face, +evidently minded to protest. One day at the table, +when she chanced to address the tutor as “Edward,” +Mr. Stanlett stared as if startled, then broke out with +so satirical and frosty a laugh that she looked up in +surprise, forgetting what she was about to say. She +manifested no confusion nor self-consciousness, but +Reginald flushed hotly to the temples, and Chubby +paused, his fork in his hand, and remarked in callow +affront: “Uncle Clarence seems to have a good joke +that he keeps to himself.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Just so, Chubby,—a very good joke—ha, ha, +ha!—and I wish to God I could keep it to myself!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie had so far recovered her composure +<span class='pageno' id='Page_314'>314</span>and the tone of her nerves, greatly imperiled in all +the anxiety and jeopardy and stress of the tragic +events of the overflow, that Desmond resolved on the +evening after the visit of Kentopp and Loring to defer +no longer to acquaint her with his discovery of the +mystery of the spectral manifestations at Great Oaks +mansion, and to surrender to her keeping the paper +which he had seen so strangely and significantly concealed. +From time to time he had furtively watched +Mr. Stanlett, seeking to discern if he had become aware +of the abstraction of the scroll from the secret drawer +of the press in the blue room. He was sure that the +old man would manifest such disquietude as would +be ample evidence that his caution had gone amiss. +But Mr. Stanlett maintained a genuine composure, +absorbed in the simple routine of his day,—the mail +from the packet, or the neighborhood news brought +by some amphibian in a dugout scouting on various +errands on the face of the waters; his cigars; sometimes +humming an old song and looking from his easy +chair placidly out on the waste of the overflow. Occasionally +he occupied himself in telling one of the +boys, or the three in conclave, old stories of war +times, the gunboats on the Mississippi, the riders and +raiders, the burning of cotton—bales, gin, and all—by +the soldiers rather than let the precious staple +fall into the enemy’s hands; and again he abounded +in anecdotes of the palmy days of river travel and +traffic, the tremendous loads of cotton the freighters +carried, the choice company on the floating palaces, +the phenomenally high play of the “gentleman gamblers,” +<span class='pageno' id='Page_315'>315</span>the competitive speed of the steamers and details +of the exciting races, the horrible accidents and +the frightful picture a blazing boat presented, a tower +of flames, as she came swinging around Deepwater +Bend on her course. No; placidity was the keynote +of his life save when his frown gathered as his eye +fell on Desmond, and his manner stiffened, and his +intonation grew crisp and icy.</p> + +<p class='c007'>To-night, as they sat by the parlor fire, he was busied +in a game of chess, the fashion of his youth in which +he excelled. He had taught Reginald to play with +such skill as to give him difficulty enough to maintain +his interest in reaching the finality of checkmate. The +other two boys were on the rug romping with an Irish +setter, and the dog was most unwillingly learning to +sit up and shake hands and make a feint of smoking +an empty pipe. Desmond could count on their absorption +for some time as he passed the window on the +veranda and saw them there thus occupied. The moon +was beginning to steer clear of a surge of clouds that +had hung in the sky all the afternoon, presaging rain, +and as its long, golden slant fell upon the waste of +waters Mrs. Faurie rose from her chair, laid her book +on the centre table, and went anxiously to the window. +As she saw Desmond standing outside, she naturally +supposed that he, too, was absorbed in scanning the +signs of the skies. With more falling weather the +waters would rise anew and postpone, perhaps past +feasibility for the season, all the plans for the rehabilitation +of the plantation, and all the possibility of making +a crop or even a half crop of cotton.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_316'>316</span>“Don’t you think that it looks less like rain?” +she asked, slipping the thumb-bolt of the sash of the +long French window and joining him at the balustrade.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The rain has gone around this time,” he said. “I +am very sure of that.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was difficult for him to bring his mind back to +the weather signs, bent as he was upon the imminent +disclosure, canvassing continually its best method. He +was sensitive in submitting his own conduct for scrutiny, +and eager for her approval. He was solicitous +concerning matters of phraseology, knowing how she +valued her uncle and cherished his age, fearful lest +some unconsidered word offend, or, worse still, wound +her. He was afraid that the disclosure might involve +some shock to her nerves. He did not know, he could +not imagine, what the paper so significantly hidden +might contain, and how she might condemn his course +in possessing himself of it. Indeed, she might deem +that he had exceeded all the bounds of convention, +and, declining to look at the paper, require him to surrender +it to Mr. Stanlett and make confession of his +unwarranted interference. He stood in silence, his +meditative eyes on her face so long that she noted his +absorption.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What is it?” she said suddenly. “You look +strange, troubled. Surely there is nothing more +amiss.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let us take a turn along the veranda. I have been +waiting for days to tell you something.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She assented in silent suspense, and together they +<span class='pageno' id='Page_317'>317</span>walked along the broad, moonlit veranda, the shadows +of the trees now and again falling athwart it, the +sheen on the waters striking across the expanse for +sixty miles, making a vast roadway of glister to the +vague unknown of the shimmering distance. Her lustrous +dark eyes with the moon in their depths were +dilated, expectant, her face was ethereally white and +quietly serious. Her dress was white, of a soft, clinging +woolen fabric, with a stripe of satin at intervals, that +shone itself with a moony lustre. The square-cut bodice +was filled in with lace that rose and fell with the stir +of her breath as she waited, intent and a trifle agitated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond began without preamble. “When I first +came to Great Oaks, one of the boys, Reginald it +was, told me of the step on the stair.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She laid her hand on his arm, and he felt the quiver +in its slim fingers.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I had then heard the step, once,—it was about +midnight; and I heard it again, twice,—the night of +the attack on the house.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, oh,—I cannot abide that idea,” she exclaimed, +with a quiver of pain in her voice. “You +never have heard me mention it. I am sure it must +be some fallacy,—some”—She could not speak +for gasping. Then she gathered her composure and +resumed with dignity: “It is nothing,—it is some +trick! It is an insult to the memory of the sacred +dead. It was never pretended to be heard in the lifetime +of Mr. Faurie.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond felt on difficult ground. “I think that no +one has ever associated his name with the manifestation, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_318'>318</span>though it is very natural that you should deprecate +that idea. But the step is genuine, for I heard it +distinctly twice that night; the last time I waited for +it to approach, and it entered the room, and I saw +the presence in the light.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Wait,—wait!” she exclaimed, and he paused, +for she seemed unable to advance a step. The waters +lapped about the veranda; the shadows of the great +trees were weird and strange, falling across the surface +of the flood flowing in the midst of the grove; +the continual melancholy rise and fall of the voices +of frogs sounded from woodsy tangles in lagoons and +submerged marshes; the broad lunar lustre quivered +on the expanse of the gray waters, and the moon rode +high,—high in the dark sky.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let me tell you,” he urged. “I was standing at +the window in the blue room—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The blue room,” she faltered, as if with some +vague memory.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,—where the wounded man lay. I heard the +stealthy step on the stair, as I had heard it twice +before; a mere slip and then silence, and again a +suggestion of a footfall, coming and coming up the +stair; and I waited in the curtained recess of the +dormer window,—and the step paused at the threshold; +the door noiselessly swung ajar,—the step entered,—and +it was Mr. Stanlett.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Stanlett!” she cried, standing suddenly erect +and strong, her moonlit face showing a haughty displeasure; +“why should you connect him with such +mummery?”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_319'>319</span>“Because I had heard the step twice before and +recognized it; because as I listened to this step it +came straight to the door, and, as I say, Mr. Stanlett +entered; because I identified his aspect with the description +of an intruder who had silently appeared +and disappeared at the door earlier in the evening, +frightening the wounded man with a vague terror.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am ashamed to listen, I am ashamed to question; +but if only to have done with these mysteries, +I will ask what action did you observe Mr. Stanlett +to take while you lay <em>perdu</em>?” As she confronted +him a proud indignation burned red in her cheeks +and her eyes flashed in the moonlight.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond took umbrage at her tone. His spirit +mounted as he felt that his motives were entitled to +some consideration on that night of all nights, when +he had done so much for her and hers at the risk of +his life. It was in his mind in self-justification to tax +her with this, and demand the respect for his deeds +due to the integrity of his intentions. But he, too, +was proud. If she could forget her gratitude, he +could waive its cause. He continued to describe, with +a certain constraint in his voice, how the old man +cautiously advanced to the bedside, and with fantastic +cocked hat and disguising, muffling cloak watched +the sleeping man to make sure of his unfeigned unconsciousness. +She winced as she learned that the +swift, skulking step took him straight to the press, +in which he hid within an interior drawer a scroll of +paper.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was surprised by her next words. “He +<span class='pageno' id='Page_320'>320</span>locked the door of the press? I know that it has a +key,” she stipulated.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He <em>thought</em> he locked it; but I saw that the bolt +did not go home.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She had every trait of wild agitation. “Did you +not speak to him? Did you not warn him?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why should I? Would he not have resented my +presence as spying on him? when even you resent +my disclosure of the fact that you may give the +matter such weight as it deserves.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Resent it?—oh, no! no!” She laid both her +cold hands on his as she stood looking up into his +face. “I resent nothing from you; we all owe you +too much, far too much! But I am frightened, mortified, +uncertain. Can’t you see that that paper must +be of the first importance to be so secreted—setting +such a superstition afloat in a simple, domestic household—by +the frankest, the kindest, the most gentle +of men? Don’t you connect and interpret now the +story of the step?—always heard just before we complete +our preparations to quit the country, for he carries +the paper with him,—always heard just when +we return, for he brings it back and hides it again. +And last week, that dark and dreadful evening when +you say you passed the presence, the step on the +stair, he thought that we must quit the house and he +was doubtless bringing it down. But after you had +rescued us—never, never imagine that I forget it +for one moment!—he felt safe again and took it to +its hiding-place once more. And oh, Edward, how +could you—so unthinking, so heedless!— let him +<span class='pageno' id='Page_321'>321</span>leave the door ajar believing that he had locked it,—an +old man, Edward, a very old man,—and make off +with the useless key in his simple satisfaction while +that scoundrel lay on the bed,—oh, I shouldn’t speak +harshly of the unjudged dead!—and his suspicions +had already been excited, and perhaps he secured it, +only having pretended slumber,—and oh, we must +see if it is really there still. Say nothing to Uncle +Clarence; let us go up first to the blue room and see +if it is gone; get a lamp,—let us go.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond laid a restraining hand upon her wrist. +“It is not there,” he said, looking down into her wild, +eager, agitated eyes. “I saw the danger of leaving it +there, and I secured it for safe-keeping until I could +consign it to your care.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what—what—is it?” she faltered.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Can you imagine that I would so much as glance +at it?” he replied sharply. “Stop; here we are at +the library. I will give it to you now.”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_322'>322</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XV</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>The fire was dully drowsing on the hearth; a lamp +on the desk burned dimly with the wick turned low. +Desmond had a quick, nervous touch as he stirred the +embers into flames, threw on a fresh stick of wood, +and set the lamp aglow. His sensibilities, despite his +vigor and youth, had felt the inroads of all the agitation +to which the household had been subjected. +The renewed cheer of the room dispensed, however, +its cordial influence. We are at last but animal mechanism, +and must needs shiver with cold, and burn +with heat, and gloom in darkness, and hope in the +glad light. Everything seemed suddenly more facile +of adjustment, more possible of optimistic interpretation, +and at all events the period of suspense was +terminated when, seated at the desk, he turned the +key in the lock of the drawer and wheeled in his +swivel-chair, the envelope in his hand.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Here it is, at last,—all safe,” he said, in his +firm, clear voice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie, who had sunk down on the end of +the sofa, almost collapsing in uncertainty and agitation +and dubious foreboding, her hands pressed to +her eyes, roused herself as the room sprang into its +wonted cheerful guise and lifted her head. She did +not immediately take the paper as Desmond held it +out to her. She adjusted a sofa-pillow under her elbow, +and set her dainty foot on a hassock on the floor, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_323'>323</span>and piled up the supporting cushions,—hesitating, +contriving hindrance, postponing the evil moment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am afraid of entering upon some hasty action +and that I may afterward regret my precipitancy,” +she temporized.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should advise you to be deliberate,” he rejoined. +“From what we know of the history of this paper, it +would not seem to press for action.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And yet delay might be prejudicial,” she said, +eager when not opposed. She held out her hand for +it, and then drew back, once more doubtful. She had +grown calm, and she looked deeply meditative as she +leaned forward in her soft, clinging white dress from +amongst the dull crimson silk cushions, her slim, jeweled +hand extended, yet not touching the paper that +he held out to her as he sat near by in the chair +before the desk. “But have I the right to examine +it?” she argued. “It may not concern me or mine. +Mr. Stanlett has affairs of his own, no doubt, into +which I am not privileged to intrude.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“His course has been very eccentric,” said Desmond, +tingling with impatience to reach a conclusion, +yet not willing to urge her decision, and weighing +considerately her every argument and scruple. “He +has carried on for years, apparently, a very elaborate +and mysterious emprise of concealing a document +which, if it were his own, might be considered safe +enough among his valuable papers. His midnight +comings and goings have given rise, as he knew, to +a theory of spectral manifestation in the house which +might be very injurious to young minds, and even, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_324'>324</span>in default of all explanation, to elder people. He +went so far as to foster this theory by a semi-disguise +as a precaution against recognition should he be +unwarily glimpsed.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then they both sat silent while the freshened fire +glowed red in the room, and the lamp dispensed its +steady, white light, and the great windows revealed +the moon shoaling on the vast stretch of silvery +water, with the shadows of the trees on its expanse +below, and the dendroidal forms towering high into +the pearl-tinted sky,—all seeming some strange, +mystic, illuminated tangle of enchanted forest and +lake, full of dreams and vagaries, of quivering radiance +and yearning melancholy, under a spell, perpetual, +somehow, and far away from to-morrow.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But I feel as you do,” Desmond recommenced after +a moment of reflection. “From the first I doubted +my right to touch it. Still, it has occurred to me that +in view of his age and its possible relation to his +eccentric actions in this matter, and also in view of +your position as the head of this house in which +these practices have come to your knowledge, you +might justifiably open the package, and glance at its +contents sufficiently to discern if they concern you. +If they do not, then I will restore the papers to him +and apologize as well as I can for my interference.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I believe you are right,” she conceded. She took +the envelope from his hand. Even then she drew back. +“The seal!” she exclaimed. “I cannot break a seal.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That is only my seal,” Desmond explained. “I +put it on to protect the papers from interference.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_325'>325</span>She leaned toward the desk to catch the light +on the papers, broke the seal, and drew out two inclosures, +one a document of length, the other evidently +a letter.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is mine!—mine!” she cried wildly. She gave +a gasp, her free hand fluttering nervously. “It is my +husband’s handwriting,” she whispered in a reverent, +awed tone, as if consciously in an unseen presence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then, as her brilliant eyes scanned the lines, shifting +from side to side as she read, the color surged +up into her cheeks and her lips curved in a radiant +smile. Suddenly she burst into a flood of tears, her +words, as she sought to speak, breaking into gusts of +happy laughter, her brimming eyes looking into his +with eagerness to disclose the tenor of the papers, yet +in her agitation her powers of speech failing, inadequate. +“It is such happiness,—happiness,—happiness” +was all that she could say.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Once more she strove to read, but her voice broke +and trailed off into a sob that was yet like a gurgle +of laughter. “Read it,”—she handed it to him. +“Read the letter—I’d rather have it than all the +diamonds of Golconda!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As Desmond straightened the pages, he saw that +it was addressed to a lawyer of Memphis, whom he +knew to be the executor of the will of the late Mr. +Faurie, and in fact this letter related to that instrument. +He desired to alter certain dispositions of this +will, the writer said, although mailed so recently as +by the last packet, and he stated that he had set forth +these changes in a paper that he inclosed, duly signed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_326'>326</span>and witnessed, and which he pronounced a codicil to +his last will and testament.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is, I doubt not, a poor performance,” he wrote, +“in comparison with the admirable instrument that +you drew with such care and skill; but it will hold, +and I cannot hope to have a lawyer to come to Great +Oaks in time to take my instructions for the codicil, +for I fear that my days are at an end indeed.” The +writer went on to explain that he had grown dissatisfied +with the provision which he had directed to be +made in the will for his wife. He had desired that she +should enjoy as large an income as practicable, and +that she should not be burdened with the management +of real estate other than her home place, unless +she should herself elect to make such investments with +the surplusage of her income. Hence he had thought +best not to assign to her the usual one third life-interest +in his property, but an annuity of thirty thousand +dollars during widowhood, which was a larger +income than her statute right to dower in Tennessee +could justify, and chargeable upon the whole estate, +and he had given her also, subject to the same restrictions, +his plantation, Great Oaks, the annual yield +from which necessarily fluctuated according to the +season. Under these circumstances, the interest of the +three sons in the rest of the property was to remain +undivided during minority, that the estate could be +nursed to better advantage. It was to be partitioned, +or sold for division, when the youngest became twenty-one +years of age, the elder two, however, to receive a +certain sum of money upon attaining majority, for the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_327'>327</span>purchase of business interests, that they might not +pass in inaction the years of waiting for the division +of the whole and the possession of their respective +shares.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“So thoughtful,” murmured Mrs. Faurie.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It had seemed to him, the writer stated, that the +three sons would be rich enough when they came +severally to their majority, and could well spare the +aggregations of such portion of the income of the +estate as he had assigned to the use of their mother, +over and above her rightful share, in order that she +might have no reasonable wish ungratified.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, to be thinking of that in those awful last +days!” she interpolated, her flush fluctuating, and +once more bursting into tears.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I should like her to travel, for this she enjoys,” +the letter continued. “I should like her to see the +world, and that others might have the privilege and +benefaction of seeing her, as I could wish that no one +should be beyond the reach of the sunshine. And +with all this in view I directed you, as you know, to +draw the will as it stands.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Forthwith he entered upon a systematic defense of +his motives and views in the corollaries necessitated +by these provisions embodied in the instrument. +While he had no crude jealousy, he protested, and +would not seek to curb his widow’s independence in +making a second marriage, he was not willing that +the extra income allotted to her should go into the +control of a stranger at the expense of the estates +of his sons. It was one thing, he argued, to restrict +<span class='pageno' id='Page_328'>328</span>the wealth of his sons for their mother’s benefit. +It was quite another thing to take from them to +enrich a stranger, who might or might not be of +mercenary motives, of ungenerous temper, or of undue +domestic ascendency, and who might or might not +permit her the free use of what was her own. Then, +too, the subjection of the estates of the sons to the +charge of her income under the circumstances of a +second marriage was of discordant suggestion; possibly, +in the unforeseen mutations of human affairs, +even subversive of their independence, and inimical +to family peace. Therefore he had had the clause inserted +revoking the allotment of her income should +she marry again, and substituting as her provision one +fourth of the Mississippi property in fee, and a life-interest +in one third of the Tennessee realty including, +in lieu of Great Oaks, his town residence in the city +of Nashville, the rest of the estate in that event to be +sold for division, that the portion of each devisee +might be ascertained and set apart.</p> + +<p class='c007'>These were his reasons for such disposition as he +had made of his property. Now, however, since he +had executed and forwarded the will to his executor, +he had begun to fear that this matrimonial clause +would be misunderstood by Mrs. Faurie, whose feeling +for him it might possibly affect, all unexplained +as it was.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But never!—never!” she sobbed. “I always +realized that you were actuated by the best motives +for what you deemed the welfare of all concerned. +But I am so happy to know <em>why</em> you did it!”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_329'>329</span>Desmond paused, a strange thrill at his heart as +he gazed at her. She might have been some young +girl in the childlike abandonment to her tears, as +she leaned on the arm of the sofa, her long white +dress a-trail on the dark carpet, her scarlet cheek +against her upheld bare white arm, her lovely hands +clasped above her drooping head. Desmond’s voice +was strained, husky, with sudden breaks as he +read on.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Upon further reflection, the writer stated, the provisions +he had made in the will for Mrs. Faurie in +the event of a second marriage had become obnoxious +to him. He had accorded her merely the equivalent +of her dower rights, such as the law would allow +her were he to die intestate, or were she to dissent +from the will. In effect, he seemed to make a point +of giving her nothing in the contemplated contingency +that he could avoid giving. He had not +intended thus to interdict a second marriage, and her +right to order her life after her widowhood as she +chose, according to her most excellent judgment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,” cried Mrs. Faurie, with a little irrelevant +laugh, not for Desmond, but as if she rallied the +writer with the extravagance of his approval.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Therefore, the testator declared, he had revoked in +set terms both the dispositions of a life-interest in the +real estate in reference to a second marriage, and +the imposition of a charge for her benefit upon the +realty of the whole estate during widowhood. Instead, +he had thought best to devise to her absolutely +one fourth of the real estate in fee, inclusive of Great +<span class='pageno' id='Page_330'>330</span>Oaks, which he considered particularly desirable because +of its income-bearing values, the other three +fourths to be equally divided between his three sons.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He added some words setting forth arrangements +for the guidance of the executor in regard to disbursements +for maintenance, emergencies, and education +of the minors, pending an interval which he evidently +anticipated would endure for a considerable time, +before the estate could be fairly administered. This +depended upon the conclusion of a certain litigation +involving some conditional increments, then in abeyance. +When a decision should be reached, and these +assets realized upon, he directed that the whole estate +should be partitioned; and in order that the several +shares might be justly ascertained, the portion of each +of the minors should be chargeable with such expenditures +as had been made for him during the interim, +and the portion of the widow should be chargeable +with such sums as she had received from the funds of +the estate; but she should not be obliged to put also +into the common stock for division the profits from +any investments that she had made, or accretions of +value, of whatever sort, that had accrued from means +derived from the estate.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond stared blankly at the paper for a few +moments after he had concluded the reading of the +letter. “Did the executor win the suit to which he +refers?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, yes,—in the infinitely leisurely legal fashion. +It would go up to the Supreme Court and be remanded +on a certain point, and then it would go up on another +<span class='pageno' id='Page_331'>331</span>and come down as before. It was a sort of legal shuttlecock. +I was amazed when I heard that the lawyers +were through playing with it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond could not control the cadence of depression +in his voice. “How long ago was it decided?” +he asked, hoping against hope.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A little more than a year, I believe.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Evidently, the lapse of time could not be a potential +factor in the impending future. The contingent event +on which the partitioning was conditioned by the codicil +had just fallen out, and the rest of the estate, save +for the aggregations of income and the depletion of +expenditures, was much as the testator had left it, +for the executor had no general powers of sale. Desmond +could see no reason why this codicil should not +be admitted to probate and at once subvert the existing +status. Technically, it was itself a part of the will +already in force, though its provisions were <em>pro tanto</em> +a revocation of the previous testamentary disposition. +The indeterminate interval after probate in common +form allowed in Tennessee, where the bulk of the +property was situated, for the institution of revocatory +proceedings; the disability of non-age in the +minors, to whom laches could hardly be imputed; the +fact that it was manifestly impossible for their guardian +to take any action in view of the unsuspected existence +of the codicil of which the executor was the +proper proponent, would seem to annul all obstacles +to its effectiveness, despite any complications with +which the conflict of laws in the two sovereign states +might otherwise invest the situation, the statutes of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_332'>332</span>each of course controlling the realty within their respective +borders.</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was silence for a time. Both looked out from +the mellow light of the room through the windows on +that pale scape of moonlit mist and water and mystic +woods, all in pearly neutral tones, soft, sheeny, white, +like some dream scene, full of weird suggestions and +dim spectacular configurations. Now there was a floating +island, distant, half descried; now a flying, gauzy, +vaporous figure, with feet touching the surface of the +water, and hands laid against the star-studded gates +of the sky; now a phantom craft under full sail, with +clouds of tenuous canvas and streaming pennants of +mist. She saw naught, busied with her memories; and +he, strangely grudging, sought for words to snatch +her from them.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You must look at the codicil,” he said, holding +the document out toward her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I don’t care for that—heavens, how I love that +letter!” and once more she burst into tears. She rose +after a moment to reach for it, and then she read it +anew, with sudden gurgles of tender laughter and +sobs and gushes of tears.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I suppose that this codicil will, to this extent, revoke +the provisions of the will that has stood all this +time,” he said. He was no lawyer, but he had a definite +understanding of the ways of the business world +and the justice of its methods. A very appalling possibility +began to open before him. He leaned forward +and turned the upper corner of the pages of the letter, +still in her hands, to look once more at the date, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_333'>333</span>written evidently only the day before the testator’s +death.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It has been a good many years,” he said, in dismal +forecast.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, forever!” she exclaimed, the tears coursing +down her cheeks.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had begun to understand the quandary of the +poor ghost, slipping slyly about the midnight quiet +of the house to conceal this bit of paper, potent destroyer +of its peace. He doubted the policy of putting +into words the fear in his mind. But he must have +her attention. He clutched at her thoughts with imperative +insistence. Those memories, those gentle, +tender memories in which he had no share,—how +desolate, how deserted they left him! His jealous reproach +was in his eyes, all unnoted. His indignation +burned red in his cheek. A figment, a recollection, +pervaded the room and annulled his presence. But he +would not be ignored, forgotten, denied. He grasped +at her attention as a child clutches the skirts of its +unthinking mother, and persists in its plea.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“In this division the executor may make a claim +on you for the income that you have spent. It strikes +me that this will operate as the equivalent of a refunding +bond.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let them take everything. I have this letter!” +and she clasped it to her bosom.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had a sense of turning aside. He could not +move her. He opened the codicil himself and scanned +its contents. It duplicated the intendment of the letter, +but in more formal and lucid phrase. A very +<span class='pageno' id='Page_334'>334</span>exact and strict man of business Mr. Faurie showed +himself to be in this paper. Desmond was impressed +with this fact, yet dismayed in a sort, in regard to the +accuracy of the accounting which the testator contemplated +between the minors and widow at the partitioning +of his estate. He even superfluously directed +that the difference of age among the children should +be considered and the actual outlay for each charged, +and not merely an approximation of expense as applied +to each of them; since the expenditure for the +youngest might for a time be more, in view of extra +attendance, elaborate attire, and special liability to ailments, +and later less than the disbursements for the +elder boys. Desmond might have laughed, yet he could +have wept, that the testator, despite his evident astuteness, +should have permitted himself the simplicity of +anticipating that Mrs. Faurie would have applied any +portion of her receipts from the estate to investments +of real property or the acquisition of other assets that +would yield “accretions of value.” As well might one +expect the sun to hoard its gold or the bird its song of +spring. No! nearly seven years of joyous, open-handed +dispensing of all her income from the estate were thus +chargeable against the one fourth in fee of realty and +of the personalty that formed her liberal portion. How +much this might be, Desmond of course was not qualified +to judge; but the ravages in this provision which +the restoration of that great income for nearly seven +years must needs work might well appall the pallid +Mr. Stanlett in his niece’s interest, and set as talk the +storied spectre, the Slip-Slinksy of the midnight stairs.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_335'>335</span>“Mr. Stanlett must have found this paper in some +unaccustomed receptacle,” Desmond hazarded.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie sat stiffly erect. This phase troubled +her more than the fear of the financial loss; it touched +her pride. Her level eyebrows were corrugated into +a frown. Her eyes were bright, hard, restlessly glancing. +But she bent her faculties to the consideration +calmly. “Perhaps,” she said thoughtfully, but her lips +were stiff; they moved with difficulty to frame the words +so distasteful to her. “It was understood that all Mr. +Faurie’s important papers were already in the hands of +his executor. He, himself, had them transferred some +time before his death,—it was not unexpected.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She was silent for a few moments, looking reflectively +out of the window. “I remember that the rest +of the papers, account-books, packages of letters, +files, and all such things were taken out of the library +soon after Mr. Faurie’s death and, without examination, +placed in japanned boxes and locked in the +press of the blue room. It was presumed that there +was nothing of real importance among them, but +they were preserved on the chance. He must have +written this codicil and letter the day before his +death,—both are dated on the 18th,—and had the +paper witnessed and laid it aside among the other +papers in his desk, intending to forward it to Mr. +Hartagous in Memphis. The mail packet was due the +next day, and passed about dusk; he died just before +candle-light that evening, and I dare say this paper +was among those in his desk that were packed away +in the press of the blue room.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_336'>336</span>“I suppose that this codicil must have been found +some years afterward,” Desmond dolefully suggested. +“Mr. Stanlett seems to me to be a man of good business +judgment. He would never have desired to conceal +this paper if a great part of those liabilities had +not been already incurred. Of course he had only your +interest in view. He has sufficient means of his +own. It is nothing to him.” She brought herself +more willingly to follow his line of thought, since +she perceived justification, in some poor sort, in the +perspective, for Mr. Stanlett’s aberrations.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I remember,” she said drawlingly, as if the recollection +had just begun to trail its dubious length into +her mind, “that about three years ago the executor +called for some old levee bonds, on which the estate +was entitled to something, and asked that the papers +here be searched for them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Who made this search,—do you recollect?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She visibly winced from the inquiry, but she answered +with her usual directness: “I recollect very +well that it was Uncle Clarence who made the search; +and now that it seems to bear upon the question, +I do recall that he was much out of sorts afterward. +I remember that his petulance astonished me. He +was never a profane man, but he swore violently +because the executor had given him so much trouble, +and declared that if he had wanted to be set to a clerk’s +work, he would have asked for a clerk’s pay. And +he said that the papers were disordered and dusty +and devilish, and that he had broken himself down in +working amongst them. I was a little hurt by the tone +<span class='pageno' id='Page_337'>337</span>he was taking; and when I said that I was sorry he +had put himself out to do a favor for me, he replied +very significantly, ‘A favor,—for you, Honoria,—for +<em>you</em>? Why, I would eat off my little finger for +<em>you</em>.’ And oh, poor old Uncle Clarence! We must +keep him from ever suspecting that we have discovered +his course. It would humiliate him; it would +bow him down to the earth with mortification.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond looked dumfounded. “I don’t see how +we can prevent it. This codicil must be produced, +and at once.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Of course; but will it be necessary to publish all +the details, his fantastic masquerades and midnight +vigils to protect its concealment?” she argued.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“His course has been very strange, certainly.” +Then, after a pause, “In fact, I am confident that concealing +a document of this sort, a will or codicil, to +prevent it from being proved and becoming operative, +is obnoxious to the law,—a very serious matter,” said +Desmond, nerving himself for her storm of protest.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He has not prevented it from becoming operative,” +she retorted frostily. “The codicil is discovered +and will be sent to-morrow to the executor, who +will at once secure the two subscribing witnesses,—the +same who swore to the will in force,—both still +living, and will offer the codicil for probate. I will +have to return the money that I have spent out of +the different provision now made for me. I see no +sense in telling our little yarn of Slip-Slinksy, and +blue room, and secret drawers, for all the world to +guy and laugh at, and mortify poor old Uncle Clarence +<span class='pageno' id='Page_338'>338</span>to the soul. Oh, poor, poor Uncle Clarence,—how +his discovery of the codicil must have tortured him! +What must he have felt for me! It must have turned +his brain,—it must have crazed him. That is the +explanation of his course,—that is the solution of +the mystery.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond did not conceive it necessary to contend +on this theory. At first glimpse it seemed to him +a remarkably coherent scheme for a disordered brain +to evolve, and one which only a strange accident had +frustrated. Mr. Stanlett, however, was very old, and +it may have been that at first he had withheld the +paper in the frantic, senile, foolish expectation that +another will might be found, not so destructive to his +niece’s interest as this codicil, which, by reason of the +time that had elapsed in her enjoyment of the estate +that was not hers by right, had practically beggared +her. Doubtless he had postponed the disclosure from +day to day, the disaster augmented by his delay, till +perchance the pressure on his brain had resulted in +subverting his reason. He had always intended to +bring it forth, some day,—some day,—for he had +carefully preserved it at great cost of anxiety and +suspense and comfort, when its easy destruction would +have given him security, and confirmed the existing +status which was so happy for all concerned.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Realizing as Desmond did the magnitude of the +disaster, that the interests of the widow so tenderly, +so richly provided for, had been wrecked by the extreme +of the solicitude exerted for her welfare, he was +utterly unprepared for the airy lightness and consummate +<span class='pageno' id='Page_339'>339</span>tact with which Mrs. Faurie made the disclosure +without revealing the discovery of the concealment +of the codicil.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She came fluttering into the parlor the next morning +when were present all the family, Mr. Bainbridge, +the manager, and Colonel Kentopp, who had been +out in a skiff to a passing packet and had paused on +his way back to Dryad-Dene to leave some newspapers. +“What do you suppose?” she cried. “I can +tell you news more astonishing to our neighborhood +than anything you are likely to hear from the outside +world. You know that of course we had the blue +room upstairs, where that wounded river pirate died, +thoroughly overhauled, and in one of the big presses +in the wall Mr. Desmond found a secret drawer, and +in it a later will of Mr. Faurie’s,—are you not surprised?—a +codicil it is, I should have said.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett stared for a moment blankly, rose to +his feet, essayed to speak, and sank back very pale +and entirely unobserved amidst the excitement of the +others.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Regularly executed?” Colonel Kentopp inquired, +amazed.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“A codicil all in his own handwriting,” said Mrs. +Faurie, “perfectly regular, with the same witnesses as +the will.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“To your advantage, I hope,” said Colonel Kentopp, +his glossy hazel-nut eyes glittering, his eager +curiosity difficult to control.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, I am perfectly satisfied,” Mrs. Faurie declared, +smiling proudly; and Colonel Kentopp knew as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_340'>340</span>well as if he had seen the instrument that Mrs. Faurie +had been relegated to a designated share of the real +estate, out of which she would be required to make +good her lavish expenditures heretofore. He was not +indisposed to rejoice after the manner of men of +his kind in the disasters of others, but presently his +spirits fell. This change boded doubtless the partitioning +of the Faurie property, and with Great Oaks +on the market, he knew that there was scant hope of +Loring as a purchaser of Dryad-Dene. So ill at ease +was he under this theory, so suddenly out of countenance, +that he sought to avoid observation, and made +haste to conclude his call and get himself away.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was promptly followed by Bainbridge, dully +pondering on the news, half stunned by the revelation, +and apprehensive of a change in the ownership +of Great Oaks and the jeopardy of his own employment +there.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond breathed more freely when both were +gone; he felt that he could not have summoned the +nerve that Mrs. Faurie had shown in risking the disclosure +in the presence of others, although he realized +that, had Mr. Stanlett spoken inconsiderately, it would +have been ascribed to the vagaries of age and his +natural and extreme disappointment,—in effect, the +overthrow of his reason in so signal a misfortune to +his nearest and dearest relative, who had always been +like a duteous daughter to him. Nevertheless, Desmond +was glad that surprise and dismay had held the +old gentleman silent till only the family group was +present. In the disclosure Mrs. Faurie had stated the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_341'>341</span>literal truth, that Desmond had found the codicil in +a secret drawer, and Mr. Stanlett accepted it without +demur or suspicion of the further discovery of his +knowledge of the cache, or agency and motive in +its concealment.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But why, and how, and when, in the name of all +that is sacred sir,” the old man said, scarlet, trembling, +his eyes blazing, and scarcely able to keep his +feet, “should <em>you</em> go rummaging around into the +secret drawers of a locked press?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The press was not locked,” Desmond said, without +looking up, and trifling with the violets in a glass +bowl in the centre of the table beside which he sat. +“The bolt did not reach the slot.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And why did you send it off without consulting +me, Honoria? Another will might yet be found. I +have searched and searched. Another will and a later +one is now right among those papers in the blue +room. Oh, how many nights, how many nights I +have searched!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Dear Uncle Clarence, the codicil was written and +dated and witnessed on the 18th, and my husband +died the night of the 19th.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Plenty of time for another will,—Faurie was a +most expeditious man of business. He was not bedridden, +as you know. He even slept in his chair +toward the last, as you must remember. That heart +trouble would not let him lie down in peace—queer, +for a man of his physical strength. He died at last +in his chair, in that library. Plenty of time for +another will; it could be found! This Mr. Desmond +<span class='pageno' id='Page_342'>342</span>seems to have a nose for game; set him after another +will, and see what he can tree this time.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie broke in to prevent the old man from +indulging in further sarcasm along this line. “And +oh, Uncle Clarence, such a dear letter was with the +document! I want Reginald and Horace and Rufus, +each one, to read that letter, and bless God for a +father so good and generous and considerate for +us all.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As they sat and listened they had that look so +pathetic in children old enough to appreciate their +situation in matters of moment, yet realizing their +helplessness in the hands of others, and not able to +compass a full reliance on the direction of the course +of events.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Do you understand, Honoria, that you will have +to refund to the executor, the estate, the expenditures +of all these years, the accumulated amount of +the income, your annuity,—the money that you have +been spending so royally with both hands for nearly +seven years? It will certainly sweep away more than +half your present provision, possibly the whole, into +the craws of those vipers that you have warmed on +your hearth.” The old man was piteous in his age +and agitation, as he stood, lean, gray, wrinkled, half +bent in his tremulous emphasis, his arm outstretched, +the fingers quivering as he shook them at the group +of aghast boys. “Do you understand that, woman?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, what else, Uncle Clarence? Would you +have me rob my children?” She had reached out +for Chub when he was denominated a viper with a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_343'>343</span>craw, and was now drawing him into that juxtaposition +so unbecoming to his appearance, his fledgeling +blond head on her bosom, his hard, round, freckled +red cheek against the soft, exquisite whiteness of her +neck. He struggled to speak through her tender +kisses.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You will oblige me, Uncle Clarence, by not calling +my mother a woman,” he said, in callow affront.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What else is she?—and a most ill-used, unlucky, +and poverty-stricken woman.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“She is as ’spectable as any man!” protested +Chub; and while the other two boys burst out laughing +as usual at Chubby’s queer views, they were all +three in tears presently, horrified that their mother +should be impoverished to make restitution to them, +and that they were powerless to hinder the sacrifice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, terrible! terrible!” the old man said as he +strode to and fro before the fire, literally wringing his +hands. “It is the duty of the executor to exact every +mill, and he will do it. The executor has no option +whatever in the matter. He is constrained by the +terms of the codicil.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Then he fell to crying again and again, “Oh, +terrible! terrible!” and wringing his hands as he +wavered to and fro with his uncertain, senile step.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Uncle Clarence, why will you not set an example +of composure and courage in adversity to these boys? +The event must have fallen out this way, at any +rate.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why?”—he had paused abruptly. “Why, Honoria, +why? If the codicil had not been found, you +<span class='pageno' id='Page_344'>344</span>would not have had to refund under any circumstances.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I only meant that this codicil must have come to +light sooner or later,” she explained.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But he went on unheeding: “Did you intend to +give up the income for a life-interest in the third, +under the provisions of the old will? Are you going +to marry this man Desmond?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie sat still and amazed for a moment. +Then her buoyant laughter rang joyously through the +room. “Marry?—a mere boy, like Edward? Uncle +Clarence, you are funny,—positively funny!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He is no boy,—he is as old as the almighty +hills! And if you have not thought of such a possibility, +<em>he has</em>,—take my word for it, <em>he has</em>. He has +a keen eye for the main chance. He found the codicil, +and now you have to give up the income whether +or no. But he had better not be in too great a hurry +for the fourth of the estate. Wait till you make good +these expenditures. He hasn’t seen you spend money +as I have done. Wait till you make good your refunding +bond, for that is just what this amounts to.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond felt the flush rising to his forehead. His +heart was beating furiously. In his agitation he had +upset the bowl of violets and the blossoms were +scattered over the table, while the water in which +they were steeped began to drip slowly, slowly to the +floor. He did not lift his eyes, not even when Mrs. +Faurie spoke in apology.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I cannot express to him how grateful I am for +his forbearance under these insults,” she said gravely. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_345'>345</span>“And, Uncle Clarence, you would never subject him +to them and so tax his generosity were you yourself +to-day—so scrupulous as you are in every relation in +life,—so—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“<em>Too</em> scrupulous! <em>Too</em> scrupulous! Scrupulous +enough to be such a stupendous fool as not to tear +a bit of paper when I had my chance, and save you +a gigantic fortune, as fortunes go in this country,—ah,—ah,—when +I had my chance!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He tottered out of the room, banging the door, the +three boys staring in dismay after the lurching figure +with the feeble impetuousness of gait, and listening +to the mutter of his impotent wrath as he went stumbling +and cursing down the hall.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_346'>346</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XVI</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Desmond had never experienced such dejection as +now overwhelmed his spirits. He could not rally from +it. He could not understand it. He had recovered +from the strain of the physical fatigue, even from the +stress of excitement. He had permitted little interruption +to his pedagogic duties, and the routine of the +schoolroom continued in force as regular as if no +river pirates had ever assailed the house, and died in +the commission of the intended robbery; as if no +coroner’s jury had ever grimly deliberated on the +veranda; as if no codicil of the will had ever been +found to reverse all the orderly status with a presage +of future financial chaos.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We will take care of to-day,” Desmond had said +to his restive, unsettled, agitated pupils, “and to-morrow +will take care of itself.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>They were docile under his admonition, but he +could not so easily press its sage philosophy upon +himself. Now and again he struggled with this gloom +when he was sufficiently at leisure to cope with it. +He had been fortunate beyond any reasonable expectation, +considering his status, he argued. In lieu +of the position of a tolerated necessity in the house, +a tutor to boys remote from schools, he had been +treated first with respect and courtesy, then as a valued +guest, made as one of the family, and now as the +predominant controlling element, from whose decree +<span class='pageno' id='Page_347'>347</span>there was no appeal. More and more did Mr. Bainbridge, +with his papers, and a furtive eye, and a deprecating +hand laid over his mouth, as if resolved to +keep his conjectures from going further than his +mustache, come directly to Desmond, to take his advice, +as he said, in fact to secure the annulment of some +impracticable order, or to obviate unwise dispositions +of Mrs. Faurie’s in the readjustment of the wrecked +plantation interests. He did not directly bespeak Desmond’s +influence. He only showed the papers and set +forth the facts, coughed discreetly behind his hand, +and if securing Desmond’s promise to place the matter +before Mrs. Faurie, would set forth confident +and alert, acting on the rescission of the order as if it +were received; for whatever Mr. Desmond undertook +at Great Oaks Plantation was regarded as <em>un fait accompli</em>. +The attitude of the servants toward him for +some time past was compounded of a deep respect +and some real liking, influencing swift feet and dexterous +hands and willing smiles in his service. “He +is a man, shore!” was the general comment. His +pupils first obeyed, then esteemed, and now adored +him, using their utmost diligence to win the meed of +his approval. Even they, he thought, noted his gloom, +which he could not disguise, and which rested upon +his aspect as definitely as a pall. He lost his readiness +to sleep, which, since he had become content in a +measure with his lot, he had recovered—in his youthful +health and vitality. Long, long after the house +was lapsed in slumber, he would linger in a reclining-chair +at his window, the candle burning down +<span class='pageno' id='Page_348'>348</span>to the socket, his fingers in the pages of an unread +book, looking out dully at the lustrous scene, now +grown so familiar, of the expanse of gray, shimmering +water under the white moon and the faint stars, +while all the room about him dulled to indiscriminate +gloom and the hours wore on and on toward dawn.</p> + +<p class='c007'>What was this obsession? he sometimes angrily +asked himself. Why should he wince in poignant pain +at the very thought of the tender music in Honoria +Faurie’s voice as she sobbed amidst joy and laughed +amidst sorrow, in the blended ecstasy and woe in reading +her husband’s letter, so replete with his love and +thought for her? Was he jealous of the dead man—dead +these seven long years!—the dead man he had +never seen? And how did her tears and smiles concern +him,—whom she deemed but a boy,—at whom she +looked with such sweet, maternal eyes? Sometimes he +felt that he was losing his reason. Why should this +evidence of her love for the dead man who had been +her husband set an exquisite pain a-quiver in his every +fibre? Had he thought she had forgotten—that were +not to her credit. Did he fear that if the dead still +lived so in her heart there was no place in her affections +for him? And why had he ever hoped this? And +when, indeed, had he first thought of it? There had +grown up in his mind so gradually from admiration +of her beauty, from approval of her standpoint, from +confidence in her principles, from interest in the disclosures +of her charming mind, an absolute adoration +so complete, so possessive, that he was hardly aware +of it until it absorbed him wholly. He had no more +<span class='pageno' id='Page_349'>349</span>identity of his own. He existed only in relation to her. +The fact became apparent to him as he reviewed the +last few months. He had come here penniless, as a +tutor to teach her sons, mere children, to do designated +work; he had stipulated and stood stoutly on +these limits, defining exactly what were to be his +duties, that he might not be called upon to exceed +them, to become an overworked, underpaid drudge, +with such expenditure of vitality that he might be +unable to rise to higher things.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He recurred no more to these limitations. He controlled +the boys in school and out, laying commands +upon them with paternal freedom, restricting dangerous +amusements, interdicting prejudicial reading, +requiring salutary exercise, cutting off amusing associates +sometimes, for no better reason than that their +conversation tended to impair the grammar and parlor +manners of his youthful charges,—all of which was +out of his contract and beyond the bailiwick of his +authority.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had been inducted into even more exacting +occupations. He had become the referee in all matters +of dispute about the place, which required some nicety +of discrimination; he was often put into a position +of extreme doubt and embarrassment in deciding the +small property interests between servants or the plantation +hands, who had agreed together to abide by his +decision, thus exerting, indeed, the functions of justice. +Mrs. Faurie consulted him in business correspondence. +He had been led, by the turn of events, to risk his life +in defense of the mansion and to hold it out in a state +<span class='pageno' id='Page_350'>350</span>of siege. He had kept up the good cheer by his genial +arts, and preserved the calmness of all in the house +that dreadful night when, but for his stanch composure +and his resources of management, they might +have fallen victims to causeless fright and ghastly +horror in their isolation, and become the wreck of +their own nerves in lieu of passing the ordeal with +no result but the confirmation of their powers and +their confidence in themselves. It was he who had +conferred with the county officials by letter and in +person when they came to the house. Mrs. Faurie +and the younger boys had been spared the ghastly +details of the inquest through his representations to +the coroner, and were busied in a rear room opening +some boxes of potted plants for the approaching summer +decoration of the veranda, which had been shipped +by the packet opportunely passing on this morning, +and which he contrived should be brought off in a +skiff simultaneously to the house; thus they were not +aware of the event in progress till the inquisition was +concluded. His own testimony, that of Reginald and +Mr. Stanlett, the confessions of the wounded man, +who died later the same day, the corroborative details +of the servants as to the subsequent events, were +deemed ample evidence, and the verdict of the jury +was in accordance with the facts.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had solved the mystery of the spectral manifestations +that had terrorized the house for years; +he had secured the cache from its possible wresting +away by vandal hands; he was her confidant and +counselor in all the troublous forecast of the complications +<span class='pageno' id='Page_351'>351</span>to ensue upon the propounding of the +codicil.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Surely these were the services of no hireling. They +were the cheerful tribute of love that found danger +dear for her behoof, and toil light, and the tangles +of perplexity easy of unraveling since she might elude +their intricacies, and responsibility a broadening of +the shoulders, and his day all too short for its devotion +to her interests.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And to her—he seemed but a boy! a mere springald +out of college, glad to teach for a time,—to repeat +his own lessons recently conned as a stepping-stone +to a man’s devoir.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And yet—he looked at the long lane of light, the +mystic avenue of the moon on the water in the +glade between the lines of inundated trees. What +alluring dreams, what soft deceits were coming to him +along that roadway of shimmering pearl,—coming to +him from the moon, the home of fantasies, to which +it stretched at the limits of the perspective. Did she +know her own heart? She had no mind but his. She +adopted his views, and deferred her preferences, and +abated her prejudices. He had no need to care for +his dignity; she was quicker than he to resent aught +that seemed to touch upon it. The whole house, the +whole plantation, was relegated to his control. She +seemed in a hundred ways to ask his permission,—might +she do this? might the boys have that? She +said that day,—that dreadful day,—when he and +Reginald held her in their arms between them, that +she had longed for him, that she had prayed for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_352'>352</span>him. How strange that the bell, which had never +rung through all the gloomy day, sounded her signal +for him so far away! How was it that his ears +quickened to a peal that had never vibrated,—that +her wishes, her prayers, drew him from far, through +sloughs and slashes, through bayous and lakes, to her +side at her utmost, her extremest peril! And why for +him had she prayed! She knew that the time set for +his return was yet two days distant. The manager was +overdue, however, and momently expected. She had +not contemplated the coming of Mr. Bainbridge, a +stalwart fellow and eminently capable of coping with +these familiar conditions. She had not thought that a +steamboat might chance to pass and discern and respond +to a signal of distress. She had longed for Desmond—for +<em>him</em>, as the protecting ægis in all her +frenzied terror. And love—mysterious love—had +clamored at his ears, annulled the distance, shaken the +fogs, penetrated the rains, defied, set at naught plain +fact, and sounded her summons, her wish, her frantic +hope, till he needs must have heed and respond. It +was strange, the accord between them. Surely, surely +she did not translate aright the tenor of her own +emotions.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly he noticed that the mystic illuminated +avenue of pearly, shimmering waters between the giant +oaks was dulling: a sort of gloating glister grew +golden upon it; vague yearnings were in the air; +unseen beings descended continually, their presence +demonstrated only by the sense of motion. A wind +from out the moon ruffled the surface into thousands +<span class='pageno' id='Page_353'>353</span>of tiny wavelets, like twinkling feet half discerned. +Fancies!—fancies hastening down, lest dawn come +too soon, cut off communication with the ideal, and +leave the poor world the prey, the possession of the +prosaic. For, indeed, the light was fading to a glimmering +steel, and now to an unillumined gray, and +as he rose at last to seek an hour’s repose before the +household should rouse for the day, he realized that +with his griefs and anxieties, his fears and his waking +dreams, he had worn the night away.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He did not mistake the character of his emotions—they +were strictly paternal!—when it developed in +the next few days that Reginald, of his own motion, +had written, unknown to all but his brothers, a letter +to the executor of the will, Mr. Hartagous, a lawyer of +Memphis. The others had signed it, and thus unified +the solemn requirement that in the execution of the +newly discovered codicil he should make no demands +upon their mother for the return to the estate of the +funds that she had spent under the provisions of the +will as hitherto in force, and now to be charged against +her portion. It seemed that they had at first appealed +to their guardian, Mr. Keith, who had declined the discussion +by stating that the distribution of the property +was wholly in the hands of the executor. Therefore +they called the attention of Mr. Hartagous to the fact +that they were the owners of the estate in his hands, +and claimed that they had a right to waive this demand +upon their mother, against which they protested, and +to impose upon him their command. It would be contrary +to the wishes of the testator, their father, they +<span class='pageno' id='Page_354'>354</span>argued, to impoverish for a legal quibble the widow +and mother; and even if they should restore to her—as +they were fully resolved to do, as soon as the eldest +came of age—anything that was taken from her, +that was a distant date, and she would spend the best +years of her life in poverty, restricted and deprived of +the comfort and luxury to which she was accustomed. +If the executor should persist in enforcing the codicil, +the letter sternly concluded, it would be their resolve +to seek to visit their wrath upon him, as his evil deed +merited.</p> + +<p class='c007'>This truculent epistle came back to Great Oaks inclosed +in a letter from Mr. Hartagous to Mrs. Faurie. +Their sentiments did them honor, he declared, overlooking +the puerile violence of their menace, and this +heralded the coming of Mr. Hartagous to Great Oaks +for a conference in the changed state of things.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The Faurie boys were somewhat startled to see +their valiant demonstration in the hands of their +mother, who kissed and hugged and wept over them +till they, too, shed tears as they clung together.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But will he, mamma, will he make you pay us all +that money?” asked Reginald, leaning over the back +of her chair and gripping hard the hand that she held +up to him.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, what a pity we are all so young,” plained +Horace,—“so many years before we can give it +back.” He knelt by her side and sobbed against her +shoulder.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Chubby sunk from her lap to the floor and clung +to her, hugging her knees. “Oh, mamma, will you +<span class='pageno' id='Page_355'>355</span>be poor till I am a man? Oh, I will work for you, +mamma. I will—I will—I will dig in the garden.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Reginald and Horace had no laugh to-day for +Chub’s unintentional anticlimaxes, and as Mrs. Faurie +sent them away, that she might consult with Desmond, +they carried very dreary countenances, and she still +pressed her handkerchief to her eyes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is not as if the money were going to strangers,” +said Desmond, craftily. “It will only advantage those +dear fellows. I am so delighted with that letter of +Reginald’s.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I didn’t realize that it was in him to do that,” +she said, suddenly smiling radiantly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I did,” said Desmond, promptly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I believe you love him as much as I do,” she +cried joyously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“All three,” he protested. “I am jealous for the +others.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Poor little Chubby,” she said, lingering lovingly +on the words.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Dear old Chubby!” he exclaimed. “So you need +not mind about the money. It is for them.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But how am I to get it, Edward?” She drew +her level brows together in her pretty frown. “You +have no idea of the clip I went, spending money. I +can see now the awful mistake I made; but it seemed +not so unreasonably extravagant then, having a large +income at my disposal for my lifetime, and my children +all independently and handsomely provided for. +And now,—to return all that money! And that man +is coming! I have been staying here to economize, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_356'>356</span>you know, to get the old place to take care of me till +the reservoir fills up again.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You have something to show for the money, I suppose. +Didn’t those wretches mention some famous +emeralds?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ye-es,—but don’t you think it <em>infra dig.</em> to sell +jewelry?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is <em>infra dig.</em> not to have money,” he said +bitterly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Ah, how he wished that he were adequately equipped +to come to her rescue; to let her relinquish to the +Faurie estate all that the name had brought her; to +offer commensurate resources.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I do not agree with you,” she said firmly, “<em>You</em> +have no money, and you can discount the world for +dignity.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had never regarded himself in this light, and +he flushed with pleasure. As her eyes rested on him +she suddenly exclaimed: “Now you look a little bit +like yourself. This torment is telling more on you +than on me. I assure you that <em>I</em> shall not let myself +go off in <em>my</em> looks for a few dollars, dimes, cents, and +mills.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“About the emeralds?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Beauty when unadorned with emeralds is as green +as grass. But needs must—let them go! Let them +go!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Do you love them so much?” he said wistfully.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You just ought to see them on me!” she bridled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They will never be the same on any one else,” +he hazarded.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_357'>357</span>“And that is one comfort,” she acceded. Her pride +in the preëminence of her attractions was like the +innocent vanity of a child, so entirely was her beauty +acknowledged and a matter of course.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What will they bring at a forced sale?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Thirty thousand dollars, they cost.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond jotted down the sum and then went on. +“About the yacht?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The yacht? Must it be sold? Why, what will we +do in the Mediterranean?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Obviously, she did not understand the situation. It +must be brought home to her. He waved his hand +to the waters of the overflow shimmering just outside +the veranda balustrade. A dugout was rocking at a +little distance. “There are all your facilities for voyaging +for some time to come, Mrs. Faurie.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She burst into laughter at the incongruity. Then +she said, “I cannot realize that it is so serious as all +that. My yacht is a beauty, and ought to bring a +pretty penny.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Perhaps you will also have to give up the title to +Great Oaks, which the codicil gives you in fee, to +make good the sums which you have received from +the estate,” he ventured.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her face fell. “I have begun to love this life,” +she declared unexpectedly. “I don’t want to change. +I don’t want to give up Great Oaks. I have forgotten +the world.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A thrill stole through his heart. What had she +said? She did not understand her own heart!</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_358'>358</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XVII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>Mr. Hartagous brought with him a metropolitan +atmosphere, the manner of one used to good society, +a portly stomach accustomed to fine feeding, a handsome +gray-streaked beard parted in the middle, and +a pair of searching, quickly glancing dark eyes. He +landed at Great Oaks shortly before dinner, and it +was at table that he made Desmond’s acquaintance. +It was not he, but the guardian of the Faurie boys +who had sought out Desmond, and through the +offices of mutual friends secured his services as tutor, +when Mrs. Faurie had placed a period to her European +wanderings, but Mr. Hartagous, in the general +family interests, had been apprised of all the details, +and in meeting Desmond for the first time, inwardly +congratulated all concerned upon the phenomenal +opportunity of finding such a man for such a place. +The meal was somewhat more elaborate than usual, +in honor of the guest. Mrs. Faurie, in one of her +Parisian gowns, was in great beauty. So marked, +indeed, was the effect, that it seemed not inappropriate +to take some notice of what was so obvious.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Upon my word, madam,” Mr. Hartagous declared, +having progressed with great prosperity in +feeding through the menu to the dessert, “you must +surely lose the tally of the years as you go, else you +would not have the effrontery to look younger than +when I first met you as a bride.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_359'>359</span>“I was a skinny bride,” she smiled. “The years +round out the angles. But they lay on fat and fads +and frumpishness, and I feel really like an old country-woman.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He looked at her beamingly, his face flushed, +partly from the reflection of the old-fashioned red +Bohemian glass finger-bowls, and partly from Mr. +Faurie’s Madeira, which he had laid down a good +many years ago, and which had survived him to +delight other palates. Mr. Hartagous was pleased +and surprised to find how debonair was her carriage +under the changed prospects. He had not thought +she could sustain her equanimity in such cruel incertitudes, +nothing positively established, but great +loss,—financial ruin, more or less complete. He had +feared the visit as a dismal experience; but her brilliant +aspect, her joyous tones, might enliven even a +board at which sat the three downcast and indignant +Faurie boys, thoroughly schooled as to their +civility, but showing in every facial line how they +deprecated and resented his part in the untoward +falling out of affairs. The two younger ones asked +to be excused shortly after the entrance of the +dessert; and as Mr. Stanlett had not appeared at +all since the arrival of the guest, sending in by +Bob a plea of indisposition, Mrs. Faurie felt some +anxiety, and a desire to go and inquire into his +malady.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I leave you in good hands with Mr. Desmond +and Reginald,” she said to Mr. Hartagous, as she rose +from the table with a rich stir of silks and laces; “I +<span class='pageno' id='Page_360'>360</span>will go and see how Uncle Clarence feels now, and +meet you later in the parlor.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Reginald, pale and disaffected, and all unlike himself, +lingered listlessly for an interval, and presently +asked Desmond if he might be excused also.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What?—are you going to leave us, too?” Mr. +Hartagous cried out genially, in a determinedly cheerful +and friendly tone.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am nothing of a boon companion,” said Reginald. +“Mr. Desmond does not allow me to drink but +one glass of light wine,—I shall not be missed.” +And with a poor effort at a friendly smile, obviously +insincere, he stayed for no more parley.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah, you seem to have the young fellows under +good control,—excellent for them. A short tether,—best +thing in the world for colts apt to feel their oats.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous was now looking about the room +with considerable freedom and a sort of disregard of +the presence of the tutor, taking <em>faute de mieux</em> the +part of host. “Everything is just as it used to be: +old sylvan wall-paper, in design of tapestry hangings, +hunting-scene; old racing-cups in that big mahogany +cabinet. Faurie used to have a string of good horses. +And there is the family silver,—very fine,—armorial +bearings,—all just as it used to be. Can’t think +what Mrs. Faurie did with her money,—didn’t put +any of it on Great Oaks, at all events.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond cloaked his failure to respond in speculations +on this theme by passing the bottle, and Mr. +Hartagous promptly refilled his glass.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Severe stroke for her,—the finding of that codicil. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_361'>361</span>Pity it didn’t come into my hands earlier! There +wouldn’t be the devil and all to pay as there is now.” +He lifted his glass and refreshed himself bountifully. +Perhaps he was used to livelier company at +dinner, for he presently remarked Desmond’s serious, +not to say dispirited expression, and, possibly because +unable to appreciate that the tutor’s anxiety could be +disconnected with a personal application, hastened to +stipulate: “But it will not affect <em>you</em> at all. Your salary +comes out of the minors’ estates. Mrs. Faurie is +not at expenses, except such as may be voluntary in +their education and maintenance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous was well aware that there had been +some difficulty in catching an appropriate man to consign +to the remote depths of an isolated plantation in +the Mississippi bottom-lands. As Mrs. Faurie was not +willing that her sons should be separated from her for +their schooling, already much postponed, Mr. Keith, +the guardian, must needs secure a college graduate, +of irreproachable character, of elegant breeding, and +so piteously poor as to be willing, for a small salary, +to turn his back on the world at the outset of his +career. As by signal good fortune the guardian had +captured this <em>rara avis</em>, it was no part of the executor’s +scheme to interfere to set him at liberty again, +or to foster restlessness by any suspicion that his +financial interest was threatened in the impending +changes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But Mrs. Faurie will have to pay the piper for +the dance that she has had,—a long and a lively one +from all that I hear,—and I should think that it would +<span class='pageno' id='Page_362'>362</span>sweep away the best part of her provision under this +codicil. I do hope that she won’t make a fight for it,—very +embarrassing the whole affair is for me, especially +considering the attitude the boys take in the +matter. Mr. Keith can afford to pooh-pooh it, and +say they will think differently when they come to +their majority. He is not called upon to sustain their +resentment. Yet he would be ready at the drop of a +hat to sue me, the executor, in their interest in this +very matter that the little fools want to relinquish. +As far as their interest is concerned, however, there +will be no litigation in carrying out the provisions +of the codicil. But I confess I dread the idea of Mrs. +Faurie’s futile resistance.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I think Mrs. Faurie has no intention of making +a contest,” said Desmond, fearing that his silence on +the subject might be misconstrued.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The lawyer whirled around excitedly. “Turn over +Great Oaks Plantation without a fight,—eh? She +will have to lose it to make good.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous had a brightening aspect. There +had been already sufficiently discordant elements in +the situation fomented by the conflict of laws in the +two states where the properties lay, a pertinent instance +of which came to mind in the incongruity of +an indeterminate limit of twenty or thirty years in +Tennessee for the revocation of probate in common +form, and in Mississippi a prescription, with the +statutory savings, of only two years, which had long +ago elapsed. Though this was hardly conclusive, by +reason of the exception of the statute, in favor of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_363'>363</span>disability of the minors, and their financial interests +in the revocation of the Mississippi probate, it might +further be inoperative to render Mrs. Faurie secure +in her local holdings, if her interest in Great Oaks, +for life or widowhood, as under the will, could be +subjected to levy as for debt to satisfy the requirements +of the codicil in Tennessee. The guardian of +the minors had been alert to perceive another phase +of the situation incident to the discovery of the +paper, and had indeed averred to Mr. Hartagous that, +even could their rights of prescription be defeated, +he felt that the long and incomprehensible delay +to produce the codicil savored of concealment, and +in the event of proof of this, the Mississippi statute +allowed two years further for the revocation <em>pro +tanto</em> of the probate. The lapse of time had wrought +such ruin to Mrs. Faurie’s interests that, even apart +from her high character, which precluded such a suspicion, +she could never be supposed to have been a +party to such a disastrous scheme of concealment; and +the diligence of the search of Mr. Hartagous among +the valuable papers of the decedent was protected by +a letter from Mr. Faurie himself, dated a few days +before his death, stating that all important papers +had been transferred to his keeping, as the executor, +in view of the settlement of the estate. Mr. Hartagous +had not found it an easy task, with its diversified +interests, its complicated litigation, its many details, +and he welcomed the thought that perhaps after all +Mrs. Faurie might yield at once to the inevitable, and +the settlement of the estate might yet go cannily on, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_364'>364</span>including the provisions of the codicil, without raising +the issue of <em>devisavit vel non</em> and repairing to +the circuit court for probate in solemn form.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was a trifle embarrassed. “It may not +be necessary to relinquish Great Oaks,” he said uneasily. +“Mrs. Faurie has other convertible assets.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The lawyer bent his brows and cast a keen glance +at him. There was a significant silence. “So you are +in her confidence, are you?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There was so much receptivity in his aspect as he +waited for the reply, he was so evidently ready to discriminate +and utilize all manner of subtle and diffusive +impressions and information, that Desmond grew +unwontedly wary. “Not to the extent of being able +to speak for her,” he stipulated. “But Mrs. Faurie is +very candid, as you know, and I am in a position to +hear much of the family conversation.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He came to a dead halt. But Mr. Hartagous had +not wrestled with reluctant witnesses for a matter +of thirty years to be baffled at this late day by an +after-dinner interlocutor with a bottle of choice wine +between them. He gave it a push as he said: “And I +also stand in a quasi-confidential relation to her, having +long been the friend of her husband and herself, as +well as the executor of his will. It would gratify me +extremely to be able to adjust this difficult matter without +contention and the rupture of long-established +amicable sentiments.” He gazed keenly at the handsome +face of the tutor, intellectual and powerful beyond +his years and experience, the expression of mental +value enhancing the effect of symmetry of feature. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_365'>365</span>He was about to suggest that it might be beneficial to +Mrs. Faurie’s interests to canvass the matter between +them, and from its incidents strike out some middle +course of advantage to all parties concerned. But there +was something in Desmond’s deep, steadfast eyes that +admonished him that this confidence could come about +only from inadvertence. Desmond would not of set +purpose disclose Mrs. Faurie’s intentions. The executor +began to realize that if he wanted such facts +as the tutor knew, he must surprise them.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mrs. Faurie would not want Great Oaks at any +rate,” he hazarded. “I wonder at Faurie for that disposition +of the plantation,—cumbrous property.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is a fine place,” said Desmond, non-committally.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Looks mighty pretty now,—a full fathom deep +in water in the shallowest spot,” sneered the lawyer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The land is of fine quality,—raises good crops, +I am told,” Desmond commented.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Don’t need fertile land to raise crawfish.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, even the floods that drowned the world dried +off after a while; and Great Oaks is relying on precedent +and Providence, and expects to raise cotton here +again some day.” Desmond’s tone was crisp. He had +no necessity that he recognized to submit to the acerbities +of the executor. It was strain enough on his +patience to make allowances for the infirmities and +age of Mr. Stanlett.</p> + +<p class='c007'>His tone, the vigor of his argument, shook the self-restraint +of Mr. Hartagous. The lawyer’s spirit of contention +responded. He wagged his head with an aspect +<span class='pageno' id='Page_366'>366</span>of melancholy, not unrelated to his sentiment, when he +said: “The overflow will cry down the price. I have +a letter in my pocket now from a would-be purchaser, +a Mr. Loring, formerly a resident of this county. His +offer is low, but as much as the place can command for +the next ten years to come.” He shook his head and +filled his glass anew.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond quickly reviewed the events of the past +weeks. Doubtless the news of the discovery of the +codicil had been widely bruited abroad, and thus Mr. +Loring, aware of the exigencies of the prospective refunding +and of Mrs. Faurie’s depleted resources, had +taken the field with the first offer. He had astutely +approached the executor rather than its present +owner, whose disposition to sell might be in inverse +proportion to the necessity; and as the exacting creditor, +Mr. Hartagous, knowing that such an opportunity +of sale would not be easily duplicated, might +press an acceptance as a ready solution of the emergency, +which promised him a world of anxiety and +perplexity. Little effort indeed might be requisite to +urge, flatter, overpersuade a woman unaccustomed to +the turmoils of hopeless debt and annoyed by business +complications.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But poor Honoria Faurie! To have unwittingly dispensed +her whole fortune as her income, her annuity. +To be called upon now to surrender the roof above her +head as penance of those years of plenty that had held +out to her the deceit of perpetuity. Desmond trembled +for her future, for her sons were mere children and +helpless. He feared lest she be harassed into precipitancy +<span class='pageno' id='Page_367'>367</span>and clutch at any prospect of speedy deliverance +from these troublous toils, willing to concede anything, +to relinquish everything, to have peace,—when, alas! +there would he no more peace. He realized the immense +capacity to clinch tight, to hold hard, of the +genus of which Mr. Hartagous was a type,—cool, collected, +with no personal interest involved that might +affect his judgment, ready to stand on a quibble, to +fight for the minutest fraction, to prolong the contention +to the uttermost, to the extremest exhaustion +of his adversary’s slender resources of resistance. And +she had not a soul to whom she might appeal, save +indeed some lawyer, earning his fee, and appreciative +only of the surface conditions of her case,—but no +one who cared for her, who would think for her. The +realization roused Desmond in her behalf.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You had best wait till morning to place the offer +before her,” Desmond said, determined to be the first +to acquaint her with the facts, determined that she +should not meet her adversary in his guise of friend +without consideration of the double identity in which +he came. “There is always so much stir in the parlor +after dinner,—the children and their dogs make a +deal of noise. Mrs. Faurie always gives up her evenings +to the entertainment of her sons.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had no mind to offer the library, which indeed +had been assigned to his exclusive use, and he hoped +that Mr. Hartagous did not remember its facilities +for quiet consultation, so long had it been dismantled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous was one of the most acute of men, +and his facial traits were well under control. Few +<span class='pageno' id='Page_368'>368</span>people could have interpreted the sudden cynical +uplifting of his bushy eyebrows as he said casually, +“Ah, well,—plenty of time,—plenty of time.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Desmond’s perceptions were quickened in her +interests and he knew that the hour was come, that +before they separated for the night, Mrs. Faurie +would be acquainted with the executor’s version of +the facts,—that they were the most lucky of mortals! +for property was slow of sale, plantations a drug upon +the market, the labor questions impossible of solution; +clouds, darkness, environed them on every side, +and they knew not whither to grope,—and here suddenly +a flood of financial sunlight was opening upon +them in the midst of their night of despondency. +Only the touch of her pen,—the title of Great Oaks, +which she had always loathed, would be transferred. +The millionaire’s cash and notes would make good +her indebtedness to the estate to that extent, at least; +the rest could be “carried”—fatal word!—arranged +for a time with liens on smaller properties. Plausible +representation!—the sense of a load of debt lifted, +the turbulent apprehension of contention averted. +She might adopt the executor’s conclusions, and indeed +from his point of view there was naught else +practicable. She had known him long, liked him well, +and relied on his friendship. But his duty in the +premises was to the estate, to make the most and the +best of the testator’s dispositions as far as it was +concerned. As to the widow, the wreck was her own +work, unconscious though she had been, mistaken; +he had no responsibility so far as she was interested +<span class='pageno' id='Page_369'>369</span>save to enforce the provisions of the codicil, and to +exact the terms of the refunding clause. She might +be prevailed upon, in the first flush of relief that any +solution of the problem was at hand, to sign at once, +to-night, some agreement of sale; she might not commit +herself beyond the possibility of withdrawal, but +so far embrace the proposition as to be unwilling to +recede from it. And indeed she might be persuaded +into a coincidence of opinion. His representations +might fix her resolution. Later, Desmond’s remonstrances +might not avail. He was young, as she +knew,—she had called him repeatedly a mere boy. +He could not be sure that she seriously valued his +business instincts, when he had no business experience. +He desired only to put her on her guard, to +excite her apprehension, to counsel reserve, above all +delay. He could imagine the sequence, and it appalled +him. The wishes of Mrs. Faurie, reduced to poverty, +to insignificance, would no longer have such weight +as when issued from her princess-like affluence and +preëminence, and the wishes of the boys were as +empty of influence as the disability of their minority +would compel. He wondered dolorously as to her +impending fate. Perhaps there might be accorded to +her, from among the chips and blocks of the Faurie +estate, saved from the cormorant clutch of the refunding, +some cottage on a side street in the outskirts of +Vicksburg or Natchez, some little farm of a few acres +regularly overflowed, and raising indeed more crawfish +than cotton.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It seemed as if Desmond had intentionally misled +<span class='pageno' id='Page_370'>370</span>Mr. Hartagous when he opened the parlor door and +they entered a room of absolute silence and stillness. +Mrs. Faurie, in a gown of sage green silk brocaded +in lighter tones, the lace at her throat coruscating +with the delicate white fires of a diamond “sunburst,” +leaned back in a large chair, her eyes on the hearth, +evidently moody from argument and remonstrance +with her sons. Their faces, as they sat in a row on +a sofa, were downcast, full of distress, and marked +with the distorting trace of nervous anxiety, which +they could feel as if they were men, but unlike +men could not hope to do aught to abate;—only +Chub gazed up at Mr. Hartagous with childish, lowering, +resentful eyes and a half-suppressed tendency +to pout. Mr. Stanlett, pallid, seeming more lean than +usual, shrunken, and very perceptibly aged by the +shock of the excitements of finding the codicil, lay +in a reclining-chair on the opposite side of the fire. +He greeted Mr. Hartagous with courtesy indeed, but +with noticeably few words, and protesting that his +indisposition had passed, welcomed him to Great +Oaks mansion. Desmond felt the future in the instant. +It would require but little exertion of Mr. +Hartagous’s tact to inaugurate one of the old-time +reminiscences, which seemed the delight and the resource +of Mr. Stanlett’s failing life. His eyes would +flash, his thin cheek flush, the boys would listen in +spellbound silence, and Mr. Hartagous, already seated +beside her, would secure an uninterrupted tête-à-tête +with Mrs. Faurie; for the tutor, in his subsidiary +position and obligatory show of respect, must needs +<span class='pageno' id='Page_371'>371</span>accord Mr. Stanlett’s narration his attention also. +But even should Desmond so far forget himself as to +interpose in the discussion of business in which he +had no concern, Mr. Hartagous had arguments which +on first view would easily discomfit his crude and +inexperienced counsels. Nevertheless, Desmond resolved +anew that she should not hear of the offer of +Mr. Loring for Great Oaks first from the executor. +He cast about him in desperation. Mr. Stanlett was already +replying with some spirit as to the early history +of certain localities that Mr. Hartagous had noticed +from the guards of the steamboat in coming down +the Mississippi River from Memphis, which itself +was built on one of the famous Chickasaw Bluffs. +Mr. Stanlett’s memory reached back to the days before +the Chickasaws and Choctaws had generally vanished +westward, and he had then gleaned from the +chiefs some traditions at first hand which made him +an authority on moot points of early history, and he +piqued himself on his accuracy. It was easy indeed to +engage him in a discussion as to the site of the old +Chickasaw towns,—seven of them together in a +row, the last called Ash-wick-boo-ma (Red Grass),—where +they defeated D’Artaguette and later Bienville, +and the details of the battle of Ackia and its +famous last charge. The young Fauries’ faces had +brightened. Suddenly Reginald asked a breathless +question as to the boy-commander, the Canadian, +Voisin, who at sixteen years of age conducted the +safe and skilled retreat of the troops through many +miles of wilderness from the field of the battle which +<span class='pageno' id='Page_372'>372</span>his superior officer, the unfortunate D’Artaguette, had +lost.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett needed no more prompting, nor, Desmond +feared, would he heed interruption. Mr. Hartagous +presently leaned forward with his elbow on the +table at Mrs. Faurie’s right hand, and had begun to +speak to her in a low voice, when Desmond asked +Mr. Stanlett if he knew the ancient French buglecalls, +and said that one claimed a Merovingian origin. +He declared that he would like to believe that the +same strain which had rung from the famous “Olivant,” +the horn of the Paladin at Roncesvalles, had +served to rally D’Artaguette’s motley levies of Indians, +and <em>coureurs des bois</em>, and French soldats along the +banks of the Mississippi, and would forever continue +to sound down the centuries, to find echoes in the +heart of the enthusiast and the metre of the poet.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Let me see if you find the old calls familiar,” +Desmond exclaimed, lifting the lid of the piano and +tangling it in his haste with its crimson embroidered +cloth cover. It was an old piano, with the felt of its +hammers worn hard and thin. So much the better, since +he desired to drown out the voice of Mr. Hartagous. +The martial strain, instinct with its imperative mandate, +throbbed through the room and then died away, +and as they listened a note was repeated, and still a +vibration, as from some vague distance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“An echo!—an echo!” cried Chub, vociferously. +“Oh, mamma, listen to our Mr. Desmond! He can +do anything,—how he can play!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Now, what do you suppose is the date of that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_373'>373</span>call?” Mr. Stanlett’s cheek had flushed; his interest +was roused.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“The introduction of this one can be definitely +fixed,” and once more a spirited lilting strain rang +through the room. Then Desmond turned on the +piano stool. “Where, Reginald, did you put that old +book on the Ancient Military Orders of France? It +gives some old calls. I found that rummaging about +in the library.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You find too much, sir, rummaging about!” said +Mr. Stanlett, with a bent brow and a fiery eye. +“You should curb your talents for rummaging +about.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But Desmond had thrust an old folio into his hand, +with a recommendation to examine the very quaint +and antique illustrations of arms and accoutrements +and military costume with which it was embellished. +There were some extra inserts of military portraits, +steel engravings, and Mr. Stanlett was turning the +leaves, his thin mouth drawn in very small, his eye +alight with a fervor of interest, his rebuke and its +cause forgotten in an instant.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Not by Mr. Hartagous. He made the serious mistake +of casting a merry, significant glance at the tutor, +expecting it to be returned in like genial wise. He +desired to establish confidential relations with Desmond. +He might find so accomplished, so versatile, +so lightning-quick a fellow of special use here, where +diplomatic management might be necessary to smooth +the way for readjustments. But Desmond did not +respond, and Mr. Hartagous felt the rising surge of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_374'>374</span>anger. He realized that the young man was too observant +to have lost the demonstration; he was far +too keen to fail to appreciate its relish and its demand +for the recognition of Mr. Stanlett’s pitiably funny +allusion to the tutor’s instrumentality in discovering +the codicil of the last will and testament of the late +Mr. Faurie. Desmond’s studied insensibility was a +covert rebuke, and the spirit of Mr. Hartagous revolted +against this schooling, which he felt might +befit some crude hobbledehoy. He would have liked +to remind the tutor that he was the guardian’s employee +and not Mrs. Faurie’s, and that the pedagogic +office was held at his pleasure; to recall the +fact that despite the young man’s learning and many +accomplishments, it had been already demonstrated +to him that one must have foothold, a starting-point, +to make these felt by the world. A flood, quotha!—a +sorry time a dove or any other fowl would have to +find a perch, set adrift from this ark of Great Oaks +mansion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Faurie intercepted and interpreted the glance, +and for a time she held her eyes down to the fan in +her hand with which she seemed gracefully to toy, but +Desmond had seen that they were full of tears. She +felt that these two men, in the pride of their powers, +in the flush of their prime, in the vigor of their +health and strength, were ridiculing poor, dear Uncle +Clarence for his distress in her loss, for his feeble, +inadequate, unreasoning indignation at the officious +intermeddling, as he thought it, which had brought +the catastrophe about.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_375'>375</span>But Desmond had begun to sing,—she had not +known that he could sing,—and the room was filled +with surging waves of melody. A powerful baritone +voice he had, of no great cultivation, enough only to +temper the crudities of his rendering, but of correct +intonation, and it was singularly, lusciously sweet. +They were military songs that he sang, with the triumph +of the trumpets, the gay clash of the cannikin, +the impetuous speed of the high-couraged war-horse, +all infused through them. Now they were French +and again German, and some were in quaint old +English phrase of mediæval suggestion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Never, never let me hear you speak another +word,” cried Mr. Stanlett, in senile delight. “You +should go singing through the world like the mockingbirds +in spring.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He looked across the room, smiling and nodding, +expectant of sympathetic response from Mr. Hartagous, +who was as weary of it all as if the evening +were spent in that other ark to which Great Oaks +mansion was so often likened. Under these circumstances +he could have as easily communicated with +the ladies of the patriarchal Noah as with Mrs. Faurie,—the +terrible Chub chasing continually from the +side of the piano and across the room to fling himself +into his mother’s arms crying, “Ain’t it beautiful, +mamma? Ain’t it beautiful? The grand opera in +Paree don’t touch Mr. Desmond nowhere!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>So weary, indeed, did Mr. Hartagous presently +look that the dispersal of the party for the night was +obviously in order, although much earlier than usual.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_376'>376</span>“Can you find your way back to your room, do +you think?” Mrs. Faurie said to the guest, as the +group stood at a side table in the hall and she lighted +their bedroom candles seriatim.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The house was so large and so rambling in its plan +that he was not sure that he remembered his way +about it, he replied. He had expected, and indeed so +had she, that Desmond would come forward with his +readiness for any emergency and officiate as guide. +But Desmond, stolidly unmindful, snuffed out and +then relighted his own candle, its tiny white blaze +illumining his flushed, absorbed face, and after a +moment’s hesitation Reginald offered to accompany +the guest to his room. Thus Mr. Hartagous departed +to his night’s rest, a little dissatisfied with the situation, +and not a little doubtful of the tutor. He resented +this incertitude, because it was partly his influence +that had placed Desmond here. “And mighty +glad he was to come, too,” he reflected. He rather +wondered that Desmond should not discern his own +interests more clearly than to seem to adhere to the +losing side, for Mrs. Faurie’s power, always limited, +was now definitely a thing of the past. “For she is +not worth one red cent, as matters stand!” Mr. +Keith, he was aware, had begun to doubt whether +the redundant maternal coddling was the best thing +for the boys, and had only agreed to their persistent +retention under her wing in deference to her wish; +but Hartagous was sure, did he so desire, that he could +easily induce him to insist as their guardian upon +packing them off summarily to boarding-school, where +<span class='pageno' id='Page_377'>377</span>they might encounter some of the roughening and +hardening phases of boy life. “Make men of them.” +Although balked of the conversation which he had +expected to have with Desmond when he should have +reached the room assigned him, and feeling distinctly +man-handled, he determined to have a definite understanding +with the tutor on the morrow, and apprise +him that he was expected to act in the interest of his +employer, the guardian, which was identical with that +of the executor, in smoothing the way to a pacific adjustment +of the troublous toils in which the discovery +of the codicil had entangled the household of Great +Oaks,—and this signified, in the interpretation of +Mr. Hartagous, an unconditional surrender of all the +opposing interests.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is not late, though you seem tired,—and I +must speak to you to-night,” Desmond said to Mrs. +Faurie, when the young host and the guest had vanished +down the cross-hall.</p> + +<p class='c007'>She had her lighted candle in her hand, and the +flame threw into high relief against the dull shadows +her exquisite face, with the subdued green of her +gown, the shimmer of the lace above her bosom, the +diamond “sunburst” at her throat. “Won’t to-morrow +answer?” she replied, stifling a yawn.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No! Oh, no, indeed! Believe me, I would not +insist, but the matter is urgent.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Heavens! More business!” she remonstrated. “I +imagined that with the arrival of Mr. Hartagous all +the bother would be over. He can think for us all. +What else is a lawyer created for?”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_378'>378</span>“Your lawyer,—yes! But this man is not acting +in your interest. He is acting for the estate.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It is the same thing,—my sons’ interest. He will +settle everything.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond could scarcely have feared a more inert +attitude of submission than this. How could the +woman be so blind! “Come,” he said authoritatively, +drawing her arm through his. “You shall hear first +what I have to say.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She turned back to the parlor with him, dragging a +little unwillingly on his arm. “I have always appreciated +‘gentlemen’s society,’ as it is called, and I have +to a degree and with exceptions loved my fellow men, +but I had no conception until lately that the creatures +had it in them to be so wonderfully and fearfully dull +and depressing as they are when they talk of their +everlasting business. Hereafter, if I have my choice, +I shall always prefer ‘hen parties’ as the lesser evil.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>With an elaborate air of patience she seated herself +on the sofa while he stirred up the fire and brightened +the lamp. As he began to talk, she was inattentive +at first, and interpolated irrelevant remarks. “What +a lovely voice you have,” she said, as her eyes wandered +to the open piano. “I shall be wanting you to +sing all day.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As he began to recapitulate the details of the codicil +and the executor’s requirements concerning the refunding +clause, she broke out, “Wouldn’t you hate to be +as chuffy and as stuffy as Mr. Hartagous when you +come to be of his age, and look so like a weasel?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>When he disclosed the real mission of Mr. Hartagous, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_379'>379</span>to effect an immediate sale of Great Oaks, a light +suddenly sprang into her face, and her voice broke +into a sob. He saw that the situation bore far more +heavily upon her than she had manifested. She had +been whistling, as it were, to keep her courage up.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“How providential!” she cried. “It breaks my +heart now to part from Great Oaks, but I see that it +is the only way. And oh, for liberation! To be free +from debt. The sense of it weighs upon me; I can +understand the agony of the old torture of death by +pressing.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He was still for a moment, looking at her in sombre +thought. “This is what I feared,” he said at last,—“your +precipitancy. I want you to think, to survey +the ground first, to test the possibilities.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He had made out from the will a schedule of the +properties, with their approximate values, and the +amounts by years of the annual income that must be +returned. He went across the room and sat beside her +on the sofa, that they might look over the page together. +Her face paled while scanning the estimates,—they +seemed methodically to set forth financial +ruin, absolute, hopeless.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then why,—how <em>dare</em> that man come here and +press Mr. Loring’s inadequate offer for Great Oaks?” +she blazed out.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Because he is not acting in your interest, but +against you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She turned and looked Desmond in the face, her +beautiful eyes bewildering at these close quarters. +He dropped his own eyes on the paper in his hands.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_380'>380</span>“Mr. Hartagous must distribute the estate according +to the terms of the codicil. As executor he is +constrained by law to require the refunding of your +receipts from it. He is coerced, too, by the position +of the guardian, who also has no option, and who will +in the changed state of things require this amount +to be charged against your portion at the partitioning +of the estate and the ascertaining and setting +aside of the several shares of the minors. Naturally, +Mr. Hartagous is anxious to seize the first opportunity +of converting your assets to make good, whatever +sacrifice it may impose on <em>you</em>.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What shall I do?—oh, what shall I do?” she +cried, in despairing realization of the situation. “But +why should I ask? I can only yield.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You can temporize,—stand out for the full value +of the property,— fight for terms. Time is your ally. +And you have this strength in your position, that +you might give them a contest; a lawyer might find +you sufficient grounds,—but, at all events, you are +entitled to a fair valuation of your property.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But even then, Edward,” she put her hand on his +and pressed it convulsively, “there is not a competence, +not a hope from the estate for me.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He did not seek to encourage her by false representations. +He was looking the disaster squarely in +the eye. “And the boys are powerless for years to +come!” he admitted despondently.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Her lips were trembling piteously. “I have not a +dollar that I can call my own. I have not a friend in +the world.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_381'>381</span>“You have me,—such as I am,” he said, his eyes +downcast, still on the papers.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I never think of you,—you are like another self. +But you <em>are</em> my friend, and I am not alone! You +think for me,—you rescued me at the risk of your +life. You think for me,—you care for me,—I am +not alone!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Care for you!” he broke out, tempted beyond +all resistance. “I care for nothing else on God’s +earth. I love you,—I love you,—I worship you!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She turned, staring at him in quiet surprise; then, +as if she thought he might come nearer, she put one +hand against his shoulder, holding him at arm’s length.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, I should have eaten out my heart in silence; +I should never have said a word but for this strange +change, when you seem as poor as I! But since you +feel alone, you may care to know now how beloved, +how cherished, how adored you are by me.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But suppose,—suppose,”—she was still looking +hard at him, into his very eyes—“but suppose it +might have been grateful to me earlier to know so +much—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I could not have spoken then; I could not have +asked you to make so great a sacrifice for me,—to +relinquish your status under the will.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>She smiled radiantly at him. “It seems to me now +that I might have been glad to make that sacrifice,—for +you.” Once more her hand pressed against his +shoulder to hold him at arm’s length. “But it can +never be, now,” she stipulated, “when I can give +you nothing.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_382'>382</span>“Nothing! You are all the world to me,” he protested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No, you have your own difficult way to make, and +I shall not burden you. It was only a fleeting fancy +that came over me,—a sentimental glimpse of what +I <em>might</em> have felt for you had fortune favored us.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You shall not decree the future,” he declared +imperiously. “I shall fashion it for us both. It is not +yours to say. You have said enough. I know your +heart better than you do,—I believe you love me—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Like a son,” she interrupted, with a gurgling +laugh. “I am older than you by ten years.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And younger by a century in spirit, and as beautiful +as the angels in heaven. If you leave Great Oaks, +we go forth together. Life in poor conditions would +not be sordid with you. It would always be fresh and +deliriously sweet and forever a blessing, whatever +hardships fate might impose. I am strong and well +equipped, and with this hand in mine I could make +my way against all the world. I would have no false +pride to hamper my efforts, so truly proud would I +be in having the dear privilege of working for you.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Like Chub,—would you dig in the garden?” +The anticlimax was of conclusive import in the stress +of the moment. She had not intended to yield, but +she laughed in tender recollection of her little son’s +childish offer of help, and in the instant of relaxation +she burst into happy tears. Her head sank on Desmond’s +shoulder, and his arm was around her.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Like Chub, I would even dig in the garden,” he +protested.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_383'>383</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>It was not yet a late hour when Desmond quitted +the parlor, Mrs. Faurie having flitted away, joyously +protesting that the consideration of such nonsense +as his discourse was undermining to the reason. The +evening had resulted in so signal a failure to entertain +the guest acceptably that an earlier dispersal than +usual had supervened. Nevertheless, as Desmond +made his way down the veranda toward the library, +intending to smoke and linger an hour or so in his +chosen haunt, for with this tumult of joy and expectation +and triumph in his brain and heart he knew that +he could not soon compose himself to rest, he was +surprised in turning the corner to see a light upon +the waters at a little distance, in the midst of the +dark, rippling expanse that surrounded the mansion.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The night wind blew dank and chill across the +damp purlieus of the veranda, the flooring of which +was always splashed and reeking from the tossing +waves of the recent landing of some dugout at various +points, but it brought no other sound than the +monotonous voices of the night, so accustomed that +they scarcely impinged upon the consciousness: the +stir of the foliage of the great oaks, the effect of +their stately avenues “queered” by their diluvian +surroundings; the iterative batrachian chorus from +some insular “high ground” far away; the sudden +bellow of a bull alligator; and always the murmur +<span class='pageno' id='Page_384'>384</span>of the widespread shallows of the overflow under the +influence of the breeze.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The light was stationary, and though it was now +the dark of the moon and Desmond had only the +vague illumination of the myriad stars of the clear +spring night, he made out behind it the dull outline +of a small boat. A lantern was evidently carried at +the prow, and despite the fact that the light annulled +the suggestion of secrecy, Desmond fancied that the +motionless pause bespoke observation. Suddenly he +heard the impact of a paddle upon the water, and became +aware that the craft was about to turn. The spy, +if spy he were, intended to retrace his course;—not +until he should have given an account of himself, +Desmond resolved, and of his mission, scouting about +on the dark waters of the overflow, making his secret +observations of Great Oaks mansion when asleep and +off its guard.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hello, the boat!” Desmond’s strong young voice +carried like a clarion across the flooded distance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The answer came, hearty and reassuring: “Hello, +the house!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The dugout swung around once more, and as its +prow was presented to Desmond’s eye as it advanced +in a direct line, its bulk was obliterated, and this gave +the man who stood erect plying his paddle in the Indian +fashion the weird effect of walking on the water +as he approached the house in the clare-obscure.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“God! What <em>is</em> that?” exclaimed Mr. Hartagous, +looking out from the dark window close at hand. He +had been roused by the tutor’s ringing call to the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_385'>385</span>boatman, and, apprehending some disturbance, had in +the instant’s time secured his trousers and his pistol, +the two essentials to dignified midnight combat. The +light from the lantern of the dugout, which now +began to head for a landing at the veranda, was flung +far out on the watery gloom, and sent a ray to the +long window, illumining a tousled mass of gray hair +and whiskers, and a puckered face of most discordant +and disconcerted petulance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Nare light do you show, Mr. Desmond,” said the +voice of Bainbridge, the manager, from the dugout. +“You are such owels up here at the big house that +I made sure o’ findin’ you up, anyhow. Why, ’tain’t +quite eleven o’clock.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what in hell do you mean by sidling up to +Great Oaks mansion in the middle of the night in +this enigmatic way without warning?” demanded the +lawyer, testily,—he evidently considered Desmond a +mere attaché of the household and with no prerogative +to speak with authority. Therefore he took bold +precedence. “And who are you?—and what mischief +are you bent upon?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ah-h-h! It’s <em>you</em> bent on mischief, Mr. Hartagous! +Mischief is the trade of all your tribe!” tartly +retorted the manager, none of whose interests could +be imperiled by the lawyer, and whose nerves were +already exacerbated by the jeopardy of all his prospects +in the impending changes.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, is it Mr. Bainbridge, the manager? Beg pardon, +my good man. I didn’t recognize you in the +darkness,—but you should really let people sleep in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_386'>386</span>peace”; then with an accession of acerbity,—“buccaneering +around in the overflow at this time of night!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>It hardly affected Desmond that Mr. Hartagous +should take the pas, the air of control in these matters +appertaining to Great Oaks Plantation, as if the power +of its possessor and her staff were already a thing of +the past; but Mr. Bainbridge was not used to such +reversals of spiteful fortune. Wind and weather had +worked him much woe in his agricultural experience; +desperate calamities, such as the overflow, had visited +him more than once; but these mischances supervened +in his professional conflict with natural forces, and +were the dispensations of established authority, the +“hand of God,” to use the pious commercial phraseology, +and he submitted to them with such broadening +of his back to the burden and such patience as +he could muster. The disaster, however, which menaced +the tenure of Great Oaks Plantation, this flagrant +injustice, this legalized mischief, was the artifice +of man, the deflection of the will of the testator +rather than its execution, and he entertained scant toleration +of the operations of law that permitted it and +the person of its representative. It threw Mr. Bainbridge +out of an employment in which he was well +satisfied and had given satisfaction these many years, +for he had a ghastly prevision of the overthrow of all +the existing status which would ensue under a new +owner.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh,” he said with jaunty bravado, as he ran the +nose of the dugout close to the veranda and sprang +heavily upon the flooring, securing the trace chain +<span class='pageno' id='Page_387'>387</span>that served as painter around one of the columns, +“me and Mr. Desmond go on a ‘high old lonesome’ +most any time o’ night. We don’t keep reg’lar hours +in the swamp, you see, like you cits do in Memphis,—early +to bed and early to rise makes you-all so all-fired +healthy, wealthy, and wise.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous sputtered, but no immediate answer +occurred to him, though presently he found cause +to admonish Mr. Bainbridge of his heavy footfall. +“You’ll wake up the whole house,—you tramp like +a grenadier.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what sort o’ animal might that be,—fourfooted?” +queried Mr. Bainbridge, affecting deep ignorance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous disdained to reply, but the admonition +touching his resonant swinging gait had +not been altogether lost on Bainbridge, and to avoid +passing on the veranda, thus noisily, the vicinity of +Mrs. Faurie’s room, he entered unceremoniously at the +long French window at which Mr. Hartagous stood, +intending to traverse the guest’s apartment and thus +reach the cross-hall in order to take his way thence +to the library, where he could discuss his errand with +the tutor. Desmond followed, meditating some lubricating +word of apology. But Bainbridge continued in +sarcastic ill-humor: “I never <em>did</em> pretend to be one +of your soft-steppin’, Slip-Slinksy sort o’ fellows. I +could understand your objections to having him slying +around the house of a night, but—” He paused +abruptly as he opened the door leading into the cross-hall; +the stoppage was a sort of galvanic shudder, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_388'>388</span>such as might befit a cessation of steam propulsion. +He turned toward the others, over his big brawny +shoulders, a face visibly paling beneath its sunburn +in the gleam of the candle which the saturnine Hartagous +had just lighted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Hist,” he said, and silence fell. For outside in the +distance and the darkness, so soft that one might +wonder that it should be so distinct, was that vague +sense of an unseen progression,—a step, or rather +the impact of a foot with the pile of the velvet carpet +of the padded stair, a silken sibilance, then silence, +and again a footfall ascending the flight.</p> + +<p class='c007'>It was audible to Mr. Hartagous as he stood half +dressed beside the table. A dismayed, protesting question +was in the wrinkles and corrugations of his face +as he turned it toward the door; a keen, excited gleam +shone in his eyes, for he, too, had heard of the furtive +spectre of Great Oaks. The blazing match in his +hand burned unheeded to the tips of his fingers. +When the flame touched the flesh he dropped the +match, but without a word or sound. It seemed to +have tangibly kindled his intention, his resolution. +It was hardly possible to imagine a man of his age +and so portly, who was now so light of movement. +He had noiselessly thrust his bare feet into his bedroom +slippers, great yawning foot-gear, placed his +revolver in the pistol pocket of his trousers, while he +held in his hand a thing that to the rustic Mr. Bainbridge +seemed a pocketbook, but which Desmond +recognized as one of the tiny electric lamps that have +this semblance. He dropped the conical extinguisher +<span class='pageno' id='Page_389'>389</span>over the newly lighted flame of the candle, and in a +moment all was darkness and silence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Each of the others recognized the lawyer’s determination +to see the thing out. Bainbridge, for all his +bold initiative in matters cognate to daylight, fell +behind him as Mr. Hartagous briskly flung the door +wide and shuffled noiselessly along the hall. For one +moment Desmond felt an agony of indecision. He +had an unreasoning instinct to call out and give +the forlorn old spectre some warning of the fell +forces of flesh and blood that were even now upon +his elusive track, that he might craftily compass his +disappearance as more than once heretofore. Then he +hesitated. He had shrunk from such knowledge as +had come to him as to the details in the concealment +of the codicil of the will, and he had found its only +extenuation in the doubt of Mr. Stanlett’s sanity and +responsibility. It was impossible to judge how this +might have stood in the beginning, but now, when +it was so obviously futile and the ghostly step was +once more wandering through the midnight quiet of +Great Oaks mansion, he became afraid of interference,—discovery +could only prove the mental unsoundness +that was at last poor Slip-Slinksy’s protection. +Moreover, Mr. Hartagous was now halfway up the +stairs; Bainbridge, sitting on the bottom step, had +pulled off his high boots and followed in his stocking +feet as noiseless as a cat. Nevertheless, the crafty +old spectre had become aware of their approach. Not +a sound, not a stir, issued from above. He was still +up there somewhere in the darkness. Surely he could +<span class='pageno' id='Page_390'>390</span>scarcely have drawn a breath as the two below stood +on the stairs, motionless also, watching, waiting. +Desmond, lingering in the hall beneath, one hand on +the newel-post, felt a rush of indignation, knowing +what he did. The two spies, stalwart, alert, both more +than a score of years younger, could easily wear out +the endurance of the poor, patient, disappointed ghost, +whose lawless mission had always been instinct with +beneficent intention. Yet not so easily, perhaps; for +presently, when a timber of the stair creaked, Desmond +knew that Bainbridge, his muscles stiff and +cramping, had been forced to shift his weight.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The house within was absolutely noiseless. The +half-moon of glass above the doors at the front +showed its presence in a dim gray contour, but shed +no light. The splashing of the water of the overflow +under the buffets of the wind was distinct in the +pause. Once a gust went skirling with a wild, chill +voice among the score of chimneys, and passed into +the distance, and silence ensued. Suddenly a light +cut the gloom like a knife. There, standing on the +landing, was the spectre of the tradition, the cocked +hat upon its white hair, powdered, alas! only by time, +its cloak falling almost to its heels, its eyes blazing +with that fierce yet consciously helpless anger of the +aged, and its lips drawn close and thin to keep the +secret that battered against their reticence.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous had crept up the stairs like a panther +in his eagerness for his prey, yet at the instant +of discovery he slunk back amazed and disconcerted. +“Mr. Stanlett,” he exclaimed, his finger failing for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_391'>391</span>a moment in the pressure on the button, and the +whole scene vanishing into darkness with a leaping +suddenness, then as suddenly leaping into view, “I +am astonished at you!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And I cannot express <em>my</em> surprise,” the old gentleman +said, with a crisp sarcasm that had an unexpected +edge. His eyes ran deliberately over the details +of the unconventional aspect and attire of Mr. Hartagous: +his bushy, tousled gray hair and whiskers; +his burly, much wrinkled throat, left bare without +collar or cravat; his suspenders, all unadjusted, still +hanging from the waistband of his trousers and +dangling sashwise almost to his heels; his bare feet +and ankles revealed nearly in their entirety by his +loose, yawning bedroom slippers. And he had not +the wit to take his thumb from the button of the +lamp. “I cannot express my surprise to detect you +skulking, noiseless, in this unshod condition, about a +house in which you are a guest. Fie! Fie! Mr. Hartagous. +If you have taken a fancy to any valuables +of ours, why, speak out, man, and we will <em>give</em> them +to you! We have lost too much lately not to realize +the vanity of earthly hoardings.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous might have seemed of the porpoise +family, so resonant were the deep and gusty breaths +he drew. “Before God, old man, I have a mind to +throw you down these stairs,” he cried, in fury and +amaze that such an imputation, though forced and +satiric as it was, could be cast on his conduct. “I +have a mind to throw you down these stairs!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Have a care, have a care of your fellow burglar, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_392'>392</span>then,” cried Mr. Stanlett, secure in the immunity of +his age and his weakness. “Stand from under, my +good Mr. Bainbridge.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous had never dreamed how much of +his acumen as a lawyer, his dignity as a man, his +force as an individual, appertained to his usual smart +metropolitan costume. He made a desperate effort to +lay hold on his wonted identity.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But you have your own conduct to explain, Mr. +Stanlett,” he said severely.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Explain?—to whom?—to you?” the old man +flouted contemptuously.</p> + +<p class='c007'>And Mr. Hartagous was aware that this was not +the noted cross-examiner whom he had hitherto recognized +in himself.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You surely know, Mr. Stanlett,” he began anew, +“that your mysterious midnight rovings about this +house have given rise to misinterpretations—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Strange,—strange that you should think so, and +yet go roving too!” said Mr. Stanlett, his eyes burning.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Bainbridge, a good deal perturbed by the unexpected +falling out of the event, yet nevertheless +reassured too to find the familiar figure of the old +gentleman in lieu of the unimagined spectre, in anticipation +of which his stout heart had quailed, suddenly +broke out in his burly voice: “Well, I ain’t +faultin’ Mr. Stanlett, anyhows he chooses to do.” He +had known him since his own early youth, and his +veneration had the strength of long habit. “He can +have his own way at Great Oaks. If he has a mind +<span class='pageno' id='Page_393'>393</span>to sit up late of a night and loaf about the house, it +is his own affair. No curfew here! If I had ha’ +known that Slip-Slinksy was <em>you</em>, sir, I’d ha’ been +in my dugout and a mile away by now.” The tone +of respect, of consideration, to which the old gentleman +was accustomed, broke down his reserve. He +could meet defiance with taunts, and reproaches with +sarcasm, but he melted before kindness.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, Jerry, Jerry Bainbridge,” he wailed, holding +out both hands and shaking his old gray head, +so fantastic in its cocked hat, dismally to and fro, “I +was just hunting for a will,—a better will than that +poisonous paper that is to destroy us all. Faurie never +intended that such a will should hold. Night after +night, year after year, I laid it away and hunted for +a better one. And I’m hunting for it yet, and I’ll +hunt for it till I die,—and maybe I’ll find it yet.” +Then breaking off suddenly, with a look of proud +and deep offense, “Slip-Slinksy,—that’s what they +call me! Slip-Slinksy!” He repeated the distasteful +word, while a vivid flush mounted to the roots of his +silver hair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But nobody knowed ’twas you, Mr. Stanlett,” +Bainbridge urged caressingly, yet with deep respect. +“You are more looked up to than anybody in Deepwater +Bend.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>In view of the tone of this interlocutor, it seemed +to Mr. Stanlett not derogatory to his dignity to defend +himself. “It was my duty, Bainbridge, my duty. +I had promised Faurie. My word was out.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous cocked up his head to listen and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_394'>394</span>bent his brows. “What promise was this which you +gave to Mr. Faurie, if I may ask?” he demanded, +puzzled.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I recognize no obligation to inform you, Mr. +Hartagous, and no coercion in your question,” replied +Mr. Stanlett, with dignity. “But I would not +willingly seem churlish and reticent. I have no objection +to answer, now that that unfortunate codicil +has been produced—none whatever. Mr. Faurie +urged me to search for another will till I found it,—I +say a ‘will,’ but ‘paper-writing’ was the word he +used.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A pause ensued, while his fantastic figure on the +landing, with the divergent rays of the lamp full +upon him, stood silent and stiff, as he looked down at +the brilliant focus of the electric wire in the case, +which dulled the dim group about it on the stairs.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“When did Mr. Faurie tell you that?” asked the +wondering lawyer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Just about four years after he died,” the old man +replied, quite simply.</p> + +<p class='c007'>A thrill of astonished comprehension quivered +through the group on the stairs. Hartagous, accustomed +to a sedulous facial control, did not change +countenance or speak; his thumb, however, trembled +on the button of the lamp, and the scene fluttered +back and forth, ghostly-wise, through the darkness. +But both the other listeners exclaimed, each after +the fashion of his wonted phraseology, though neither +could have remembered his own words a moment +later. Mr. Stanlett apprehended the amazement in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_395'>395</span>the tones, and his interest, which had seemed but +a jaded familiarity with an old experience, pricked +up suddenly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Very remarkable, wasn’t it?” he said. “I remember +that it surprised me extremely at the time, +though really I don’t know that it should. Faurie +was always different from anybody else. I was in the +blue room up there, where after his death we had +packed away all of his papers which he had seemed +to consider of no particular account, till <em>you</em> sent +here, as executor, for those cursed levee bonds.” He +paused to glare down with sudden wolfish rancor at +Hartagous, then resumed abruptly: “I was ransacking +the papers again, for in searching for the levee +bonds I had found that codicil to the will,—which +I wish to God I had never seen or had burnt on the +spot. I knew the havoc that four years of Honoria’s +expenditures would make in her provision if they +were chargeable against her portion in the partition +of the estate. Four years’ income,—one hundred and +twenty thousand dollars. It seemed immense then! +And <em>now</em> it is nearly seven years’ income derived +from the general estate that she must refund, and +in addition all the yield of the crops of Great Oaks +Plantation.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He paused, his dreary, sunken eyes lifted suddenly +to the upper story opposite the landing, and Bainbridge +began to quake so perceptibly for the thought +of what might be leaning lightly over the balustrade, +a graceful manly figure, which he could see well +enough though he would not look toward it, that the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_396'>396</span>stout stair-rail shook responsive to the quiver of his +brawny hand laid upon it. He kept instead his attention +fixed resolutely on Mr. Stanlett’s lean, pallid face, +with its fantastic headgear and its fiery eyes. There +seemed naught more definite than mere memory before +them, for he went on as if he had been only +arranging the sequence of the events in his mind. +“It surprised me then considerably, but now it seems +no great matter. Faurie came in suddenly, as if it +were the most natural thing in the world, and he +said,—you know that way he had of demanding +impossibilities of people and getting them too,—‘Keep +back that codicil, Mr. Stanlett,—there is another +paper-writing; find it and present them both +together.’ He was pale and eager. He seemed desperately +in earnest. He was dressed for riding,—he +had come from far. I wonder which horse he had! +He held a riding-crop in his hand, and he struck the +codicil contemptuously with it,—you remember his +tempestuous ways when he was angered, and he had +that fine air of scorn that used to become him so +well,—he struck the codicil as the paper lay open on +the table. And you can see the welt of his riding-crop +across it now.” Mr. Hartagous was conscious +of a vague icy touch that seemed to delineate the +course of his spinal column in successive shivers, for +he was remembering that he had noticed an unaccountable +diagonal indentation athwart the paper +when it had been recently produced in court.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The recital had been to Mr. Stanlett a tremendous +nervous strain; the old face began to quiver and the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_397'>397</span>voice broke into whimpers, and the thin hands were +aimlessly fluttering. “And ’twas just like Faurie to +set me to search and never tell me for what nor +where. ‘<em>Paper-writing!</em>’ have looked—and looked—for +the paper-writing,—and I have looked for +<em>him</em>, too, but I have never seen him since,—though—sometimes”—Mr. +Stanlett glanced furtively over +his shoulder at the ascending flight of stairs—“I +have heard his step behind me as I went hunting—hunting—for +the ‘paper-writing.’ If I had met him +once on these dark stairs, I’d have held on to him, +dead or alive, till I got some data as to what and +where.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>As the tall, thin figure wavered to and fro and +seemed about to fall, Bainbridge pushed hastily past +Mr. Hartagous on the stair and offered a supporting +arm to the old gentleman. “Such tiresome times, +Jerry Bainbridge, that I have, to be sure. I need my +sleep,—I need my night’s rest,” he plained, looking +out of the deep, pathetic, sunken eyesockets of the +aged: “to watch, and wait, and listen, and slip, and +search,—’twas mighty hard! And then to be heard, +after all. To be followed and spied out by this lawyer, +and Desmond, and you,—<em>Slip-Slinksy</em>!” he repeated +with a repugnant mutter.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Suddenly the light went out, leaving the whole in +darkness. Mr. Hartagous pressed the button in vain. +“The battery is exhausted. It will have to be recharged,” +he remarked impersonally, as he turned on +the stair.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond was suddenly sensible of his position as +<span class='pageno' id='Page_398'>398</span>quasi-host, and he felt the Great Oaks traditions of +hospitality had hardly been maintained in the treatment +that Mr. Hartagous had received on the stairs. +“I will get a candle immediately. There is a fire in +the library still, Mr. Hartagous; it has grown quite +chilly. Perhaps you might care to have a cigar there.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He addressed the unresponsive darkness apparently, +in which, however, the queer figure of Mr. Hartagous +was scarcely invisible, so definitely had it impressed +itself upon the memory; but it was shuffling along +very systematically, for his voice came from out the +gloom, far down the hall and near his own door: +“Thanks, thanks, very much; I will put on something +extra—I feel the change of the temperature—and +join you presently.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Stanlett was not altogether self-absorbed. +“Why, Desmond, why don’t you offer him a nightcap?” +he called out genially, from the darkness of +the landing. “Make him mix you a toddy in the +library, Hartagous. He hasn’t got so little sense as +you might think! He knows how to do that, at any +rate!” Then with a distressful quaver: “Take something, +Hartagous. You ain’t used to the Slip-Slinksy +business like me. <em>Slip-Slinksy</em>,—the very boys call +me that!” And now again jocund, though ever and +anon his voice broke, “Do a little rummaging around +in the dining-room, Desmond, and see if you can’t +put two and two together,—a sandwich and a decanter.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But won’t you join us, Mr. Stanlett,” demanded +Desmond, cheerily, for he judged from the diminishing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_399'>399</span>distance of his voice that the old gentleman was +approaching on the arm of Bainbridge; but Mr. Stanlett +fell anew to whimpering, and said that he wanted +to be in his bed, and indeed in his grave, that ought +to have been made long ago with him laid at peace +within it, for the days had come in which he could +take no pleasure and the nights in which he could +take no rest. Then he broke off, smartly to reprimand +Bainbridge for stumbling, and pathetically averred, +“But I have had more practice in walking in the dark. +My conscience! I am familiar with the face of the +night. Some terrible features it has, too. It is made +up of grimaces!”</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_400'>400</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XIX</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>When Mr. Hartagous repaired to the library, he +scarcely compared in regard to apparel with the point-device +Desmond, who was still in the attire that he +had worn at the somewhat formal dinner early in the +evening, but the guest’s aspect was far more conventional +than during the episode on the staircase. As +he blew a refreshing whiff of cigar smoke from his +lips and allowed a second to curl in thin tendrils +through his nose, he sank deep in his easy chair and +stretched out his slippered feet luxuriously to the +fire. They were now encased also in natty black +silk socks, which came well up under the trousers and +hid the ankles, erstwhile so frankly displayed. His +hair had been hastily brushed, and though he still +wore no collar nor tie, his iron-gray whiskers, parted +and smoothed in his swift toilet, touched the edge +of a jaunty smoking-jacket, just donned, of quilted +bronze silk faced with cardinal red. He was more +bland now than in his demeanor hitherto; perhaps +because of the genial influence of the decanter and +glasses on the library table, he had reached the conclusion +that suavity was the best method to enlist the +good-will of the tutor, and throw his influence in the +household, which might be considerable, to the advantage +of the executor in effecting the sale of Great +Oaks Plantation and a pacific settlement under the +terms of the codicil to the will.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_401'>401</span>“Why, I had no idea that Mr. Stanlett had aged +so much,—greatly broken!” he remarked confidentially. +“He is practically demented. Utterly irresponsible! +Did you note what he said about having hidden +the codicil? I wonder how long he has had it in his +possession,—might approximate the time by the duration +of the tradition of the ghostly footfall at Great +Oaks.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He couldn’t have had a nefarious intention, or +he would have destroyed the paper; yet he must +have known how disastrous delay in producing it +would be to Mrs. Faurie’s interests,” argued Desmond, +dispassionately.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You are reasoning like a sane man, but his course +is insanity,” rejoined Mr. Hartagous. “I suppose that +the shock of the discovery impaired his powers of +discrimination. There must have been some earlier +cerebral lesion, some obscure affection of the brain, +to which this incident gave expression. His delusion +is very curious,—the apparition of Faurie; great +verisimilitude in that character sketch,—I could +almost see him myself!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What strikes me as amazing is that he should +never have shared his secret,—that he could guard +his delusion and his search for a ‘paper-writing’ +through so many years with so many narrow escapes +from detection,” said Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, insanity is essentially abnormal.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“He is insane in no other respect, apparently,” +Desmond suggested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“This is a case of ‘the fixed idea,’” said Hartagous. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_402'>402</span>“It is a good thing that he is not legally responsible,—that +is, if his possession of the codicil +was not also a delusion from the beginning.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You think that possible?” said Desmond, with +raised eyebrows.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Anything is possible in this connection. But it +doesn’t matter,—he is wholly irresponsible. Bad +thing he has made out of it for Mrs. Faurie! It will +leave her practically stranded for life, unless indeed +she should make an advantageous second marriage, +which I hope to heaven she may.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“That is hardly likely,” said Desmond, with his +eyes on the fire.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous bent his bushy gray eyebrows in +insistent argument. “And why not? She is extremely +beautiful, and the years literally make no impression +upon her. She is as young and as handsome as she +was at nineteen. And she is very fascinating, in the +best sense of the word. A very charming and delightful +woman! Her piteous prospects in this change +have worried me no little. Indeed, that is doubtless +the one hope,—an advantageous second marriage. +Among us we must try and save enough to her out +of the estate to put her in a position—temporary, +of course—to be able to make it,—go somewhere +for a while, Memphis, or New Orleans, or New York. +Buried here in the woods, she will never see anybody,—unless—unless—it +were somebody slying +around trying to buy Great Oaks.” Mr. Hartagous +paused reflectively. He was essentially a business +man, and could have succeeded signally in any line +<span class='pageno' id='Page_403'>403</span>to which he had devoted his energies; he was now +unconsciously showing great capacities to conduct a +matrimonial agency. He let off a slow, meditative +whiff of smoke, holding his cigar in one hand as he +looked speculatively at the ceiling. “I wonder—I +<em>do</em> wonder—whether Loring might not fill the bill! +What a solution of the problem it would be, if we +could capture Loring!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“We don’t want him,” said Desmond, in evident +repugnance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why not?” Mr. Hartagous bent his brows in a +cogitating frown as he surveyed the tutor. “Loring +is a very worthy, honorable man, and agreeable, apart +from his money,—and Mrs. Faurie will have absolutely +nothing. He is a very brainy man, and of excellent +moral character. I should think he could make +himself very acceptable. You think that Mrs. Faurie +would not marry him?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I know she would not. In fact, Mrs. Faurie has +promised to marry me,” Desmond said succinctly.</p> + +<p class='c007'>In the scope of humane protection there ought to +be some restraint on the administration of sudden +shocks. The jerk, mental and moral, which Mr. Hartagous +experienced was as if a galvanic current had +thrilled through every sensibility. Even his physique +was not exempt. As his hand on the arm of the chair +mechanically flew up, it struck his cigar between his +lips with such force as to break it in half, so that +it hung bent at right angles in his mouth as he sat +upright and stared at the tutor.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond wondered that he should have no qualms +<span class='pageno' id='Page_404'>404</span>of conscience in thus interposing an insurmountable +obstacle to the fair haven to which Mr. Hartagous +was desirous of steering Mrs. Faurie’s future. But he +only felt elated, delighted, triumphant. He did not +even resent the indignant remonstrance, deprecation, +amazement, in the executor’s face.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Did she intend really,” he demanded, in a low, +tense, excited voice, “to relinquish her fine income during +widowhood,—under the will,—for merely what +amounts to her statute rights of dower—and <em>you</em>?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>The tutor laughed aloud, so joyously, in such gay +elation, that Worldly Wisdom could but bend its brows +anew. “She never had the opportunity. I could not, +I would not, ask her to relinquish anything for me. +It was only when she had nothing to lose that I offered +my heart and hand,—only this evening, in +fact.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous leaned forward, the bent cigar still +between his lips, to survey the young man who, holding +his own cigar between his finger-tips, lightly +touched off the ash and smilingly returned the mentor’s +look. He still smiled in imperturbable good-humor +when Mr. Hartagous ejaculated, as if involuntarily, +from the depths of his conviction: “You—poor—fool!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Thank you very much,” cried Desmond, in airy +nonchalance.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“My dear boy, she is ten years older than you—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And she looks ten years younger,—but that is +neither here nor there. I am not marrying her for +her beauty any more than for her money.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_405'>405</span>“Certainly not for that,” said Mr. Hartagous, +sourly. “But Mrs. Faurie’s friends will never consent +to this; it would make her ridiculous in the eyes of +the world.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“If I may judge by what I have learned in my +own experience of friendship, as this world goes, +Mrs. Faurie’s friends will let her very severely alone +as soon as they are informed of the state of her exchequer. +As to ridicule,—just as it happens, we do +not care in the least for that.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But you must consider her sons,—the very +children will protest.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And they alone have the right,” Desmond admitted. +And Mr. Hartagous made a mental note to +be early at their ear with crafty counsel.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He again hesitated for a moment, with the bent +cigar now in his hand. “I know that you will not +thank me for my interference,” he said gravely, “but +as a mutual friend,—yours as well as Mrs. Faurie’s,—a +friend of the family, indeed, I must remind +you of your financial position. You know that it was +difficult to find foothold for yourself,—how can +you support an additional burden? I should be glad +to advise Keith to continue you in your present employment—”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I am beholden to you!” laughed Desmond.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But your common sense must show you that it +would be untenable, unsuitable. You know that the +learned professions are not paid in proportion to the +equipment required and the talent employed. They +ought to be—and, in fact, they generally are—filled +<span class='pageno' id='Page_406'>406</span>by men who could at a pinch live by other +resources. But what would <em>you</em> do if you should find +no other opportunity?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Snap my fingers in the faces of the Nine Muses +and come down from Olympus! I would do whatever +fell to my hand. I would not now be so choice, so +exacting, so determined on pursuing the course that +I had laid out. If ‘letters’ are not for me, then I am +not for ‘letters.’ I will work at anything. I will dig +in a ditch. I will turn wood-chopper. I will ‘run the +river.’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You will make a success of whatever you turn +your hand to; but ‘run the river’—I hope you ain’t +talkin’ of leavin’ us, Mr. Desmond.” Bainbridge’s +rough voice broke suddenly on the colloquy, as he +entered, hearing only the last words. “I don’t know +how we would get on at Great Oaks without you now.” +Then, bethinking himself of his own insecure tenure +of office, his face clouded and his voice fell. “Well, +gents,” he continued, after a pause, “I have got old +Mr. Stanlett resting easy, and I believe I’ll finish out +my yerrand here and take myself home. Mr. Desmond, +do you know if there was any of them sticks +o’ giant powder left here at the house after we blasted +that last tangle?” For a recent development of the +dangers of the overflow was the approach of floating +débris dislodged from the inundated forests above, +now merely drift logs, and again gigantic trees, long +since dead and easily overblown in the high winds +that had latterly prevailed. Sometimes they came +slowly slipping along the sluggish flood of the back +<span class='pageno' id='Page_407'>407</span>waters, sometimes swiftly hurtling, as if flung from a +catapult, down the impetuous currents of the mid-channel +of the great river. Now they appeared singly, +and again entangled with other growths; and these +fibrous masses, difficult of disintegration, offered a +menace in collision with boats or buildings, which +required all the ingenuity of the skilled in “fighting +water” to ward off. To climb upon the floating tree, +insert a dynamite cartridge in some convenient hollow, +and speed off as fast as dugout might skim and +paddle ply before the explosion rent the floating +mass asunder, setting it adrift in hundreds of harmless +fragments, had been found an effective measure, +though not without dangers of its own.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Desmond said that he had reserved a few cartridges, +which he had deposited in an out-of-the-way place +for safety. He laid his cigar on the edge of the ash +tray on the library table, searched one of the drawers +for a key, and as he left the room, he remarked that +dynamite was a commodity with which Mr. Bainbridge +could not be too careful.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I ain’t going to set down on it, you can bet high +on that!” the manager observed, with the kind of +laugh attributed to the horse, with less than fair appreciation +of equine manners. He slouched across the +room in the big boots which he had resumed, having +drawn them over his trousers to the knee according +to his wont. His big hat was on the back of his straw-tinted +hair, for since Mrs. Faurie was not present, he +recognized no etiquette which required him to remove +it, and he habitually wore it indoors; he sunk +<span class='pageno' id='Page_408'>408</span>into a large chair of the reclining variety, furnished +with a shelf at the side, which was available, turning +on a pivot, for either book-rest or writing-desk. As +he quietly waited, he began to eye Mr. Hartagous +and his bent cigar, which was past all surgery. The +lawyer discarded it into the smoking-tray, and spoke +to avoid a question concerning it, for he realized that +Mr. Bainbridge’s curiosity was unrestricted and his +tact slight.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“They have made great changes here, Mr. Bainbridge,” +he said, glancing about the room,—“and +yet there is no especial difference when you come to +examine,—a mere matter of rearrangement.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, sir,—yes, sir. The kids recite here now. +But Mr. Desmond has a way of putting his mark on +things. This room reminds me only of him now, yet I +can remember a time when it was as good as a photo +of Mr. Faurie. He died here, you know,—and if I +don’t forgit, it was in this very chair.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes, yes,—of heart failure. Yes,—a good while +ago,” Mr. Hartagous replied, and fell silent.</p> + +<p class='c007'>The whole house had become silent, too, once more. +If Desmond were astir in his search for the stick of +dynamite, it was at a distance in the rambling old +building, for there was no token of movement far or +near. The clock on the mantelpiece was bringing the +minute hand into occultation by the hour hand on the +dial, and the silver tale of midnight presently rang +out. The single log across the andirons, for it had +been a bright fire rather than a great one, had charred +through by the heat of the day’s embers below and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_409'>409</span>presently fell apart, sending up jets of sparks and +tendrils of pungent smoke. Mr. Bainbridge rose and +nimbly kicked the ends together between the dogs, +and as the flames of the dry wood flared up cheerily, +he returned to his seat, and seemed disposed to moralize +and favor Mr. Hartagous with his views on the +mutation of sublunary affairs. “But I useter never +come in this room but what I could fairly pictur’ +Mr. Faurie sittin’ in this very chair. Lord! what a +power o’ pains he did give himself about that will o’ +his and all his papers, Mr. Hartagous. And to think! +it’s all turned out as he would have liked least. Not +that I blame <em>you</em>, sir.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“No, of course not,” acceded Mr. Hartagous, +promptly, conscious that his position did not commend +itself to the manager’s favor.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Being the executor, you have to do as the law requires. +But little did <em>he</em> think that he was leaving his +pretty young wife a share of—river fog, to live off ’n +all her days; no wonder it’s turned old Mr. Stanlett’s +brain! She has been like a daughter to him. Well, +well,—I don’t wonder that he thought he viewed +Mr. Faurie up there amongst the old papers in the +blue room. Mr. Faurie lived amongst his papers those +few last weeks,—every lease, every lien, every mortgage, +every promissory note, was examined in expectation +of the administration of his estate. I useter +look at him and wonder how he had the grit to fix +and fix his papers when he warn’t able to work, so +feeble as he was. He’d send for me as a subscribing +witness in leases, and contracts, and such,—me and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_410'>410</span>the trained nurse; we witnessed a power o’ papers in +those last days. They mostly seemed short,—little +matters hereabouts. The important papers had been +packed and sent to you in Memphis by that time; +but these were some renewals he had promised, and +he canceled some obligations he held. Mr. Faurie was +not what a body would call a liberal man,—he was +rather strict: but he executed a release for old man +Tynes, whose debt wasn’t more than half paid out, +and who was likely to ha’ been sold up; and he give +a quittance to old Sloper; and he acknowledged a +quitclaim deed on that tract o’ swampy woodland that +that Irish wood-chopper Jessop hadn’t paid scarcely +any purchase money on—’tain’t worth much, but +’twas riches to old Axe-helve; and he relinquished +his rights in that steamboat, the Swamp Lily, to +Captain Cleek, for old acquaintance’ sake; and he +remembered the old niggers variously; and he gimme +my mule Lucy, finest mare mule I ever see, as good +to-day as she was then, and two hundred dollars in +gold in a bag,—but <em>he</em> didn’t care to stand for +liberal. He wouldn’t ha’ put such little extras into +his will for the public to know—indeed, no,—not +for a pretty! He just settled his gifts beforehand. +And every paper was just so!—and they all held together +as tight as hell, except that will that he cared +for more than all the rest. Things turn out cur’ous, +they do,—for a fact!” Bainbridge shook his head +drearily, and looked reflectively into the fire. Great +Oaks Plantation had been home to him for many a +year, and he was a man of scanty resources and narrow +<span class='pageno' id='Page_411'>411</span>experience. He knew naught of the world beyond, +and he deprecated change.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Of course I didn’t know the contents of the papers +then,” he presently resumed his reminiscences. +“I just heard about what they were in the gossip +after his death, and in fact a good many were put +on record in the court-house right away. I wasn’t expected +to read ’em when he executed them. All I did +was to witness his signature.” With his unemployed +hands he drew before him the writing-shelf attached +to the arm of the chair and took the position of the +scribe as he meditated, drumming slightly on the wood +with his fingers, that showed in their blunt, roughened +tips and broken nails the hand of the toiler. “Mr. +Faurie was a proud man,” he discriminated. “He +didn’t openly admit that death itself could down him. +He only used to remark, ‘No man can say that he will +be here to-morrow, so I am setting some pressing affairs +in order.’ He said that to me on that last night, +just about a half hour before he died. Why, I hadn’t +got home,—I was riding one of his horses,—do you +remember Indian Chief, and how fast he could rack?—I +hadn’t reached the willow slough when I saw the +rocket go up at the landing to signal the Swamp Lily +as she passed to stop and take on the orders for the +funeral, you know.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Yes,—oh, yes,” said Mr. Hartagous, hastily, +reminded of ghastly details. It was not a cheering +subject; he had had a troublous day; he had been +awaiting Desmond’s return that he might have an +additional word with him in continuance of the discussion +<span class='pageno' id='Page_412'>412</span>so suddenly sprung upon him; but the tutor was +long away, scarcely sustaining his reputation for rummaging. +The lawyer was about to comment with +acerbity on the delay, for he felt the need of his well-earned +night’s rest, when he was struck by the fidelity +of the mimicry of voice and manner with which the +manager was reproducing the scene so often enacted +here, so replete with significance to all those whom +these signatures concerned. “‘Witness my hand and +seal,—witness my hand and seal,’” he repeated more +than once. Then, with an imperative intonation, +“‘Attest, Jeremiah Bainbridge. Sign here.’”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He glanced up with a mirthless laugh, and as he +thrust the shelf away from him the elastic strap of a +portfolio, attached on the under side, gave way in his +rough handling and a flutter of papers slid from the +receptacle to the floor.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Look at me!” exclaimed Bainbridge, in contrition +for the mischance. “What’s these?—the kids’ +exercises.” He read aloud in a droning voice: “‘And +when King Xerxes marched to the north he left’—a +heap of confusion behind him, I reckon!” he remarked +facetiously, gathering up the flying pages of +writing, inscribed in a large, boyish hand, stopping now +and again to peruse quizzically the inapposite theme +with a sort of relish of its incongruity with the scene, +the life, and the thought of to-day.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous lent his aid. The accident was of +a kind peculiarly irritating to his prepossessions, and +to his mind suggested the bull in the china shop. He +was less animated, however, by the desire to help the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_413'>413</span>worthy manager than to remove the débris and obviate +thus any difficulty which might otherwise prevent +Mr. Bainbridge from getting himself away immediately +upon the return of Desmond with the stick of dynamite; +Mr. Hartagous was capable of wishing that this +might blow the manager into the Mississippi River, +were there no other method of compassing his speedy +withdrawal. To preserve the juvenile work from destruction, +since several pages had flown within the +big brass fender, he reached over it and secured them +from the hearth. Then, seating himself in the chair +just vacated by Bainbridge, who was now occupied +in seeking fugitive papers under the table, the sofa, +the globes, Mr. Hartagous addressed himself to replacing +the pages in the portfolio.</p> + +<p class='c007'>An awkward, old-fashioned device of desk arrangement, +he thought it, for the portfolio attached to the +shelf swung beneath, leaving the upper surface free +for the writer’s needs, and it could only be drawn high +enough to receive or disburse papers by means of the +elastic strap which Bainbridge had burst. It now +showed signs of letting the pages slip as soon as restored; +and saying with a note of tense vexation, +“Where did these belong, anyhow?—and how the +devil does this go?” Mr. Hartagous drew the despoiled +receptacle up on top of the shelf to aid his +disposition of the collected sheets. As in most portfolios, +the two gaping pockets were obvious, but as he +was about to stow the remaining briefs concerning +the Persian hero therein, another paper from an inner +slit in a different handwriting was brought to view. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_414'>414</span>His face changed sharply as he drew it forth, all unnoticed +by Mr. Bainbridge, laughing over the crude +views of the boy’s work as he held a page to the lamp +on the table, his big teeth a-glimmer in the midst of his +straw-tinted beard, the big hat and broad shoulders +thrown in a Brobdingnagian shadow on the wall.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Will you give me your attention for a moment, +sir,” Mr. Hartagous said, in a low, repressed voice. +“Is this your signature?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Bainbridge lumbered heavily forward in startled +expectation. “By gum, it sure is!” he cried, excited +to fever heat. “And that is the last paper which Mr. +Faurie ever signed!” he added, leaning over to scan +the document. “I am sure of that, because Mr. +Dabney witnessed it with me,—’twas me and the +trained nurse that always subscribed as witnesses together, +except this once. And just before I reached +the willow slough I seen the rocket go up at the landing +to signal the death to the Swamp Lily, that was +just rounding the point off the Arkansas shore.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>There were a few other papers with the document, +a canceled note of hand, a contract for the erection +of buildings, a surveyor’s plat of land, all memoranda +of completed purpose, which had evidently been returned. +Mr. Hartagous was running them swiftly over, +while Bainbridge’s attention was focused upon his +own scrawl as a subscribing witness on the sheet on +the portfolio.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I never thought of it again,” Bainbridge resumed; +“and I suppose that whoever set the room to rights +after he was carried out of it must have laid this away +<span class='pageno' id='Page_415'>415</span>among the other papers in the portfolio and desk. +He must have intended to mail it with other inclosures,—that +will that Mr. Stanlett found, I reckon,—for +see, here is a long, stamped envelope, with +six cents postage and an immejet delivery stamp.” +Bainbridge held it up to the light. “He must have +weighed it with the inclosures,—but it has got no +address. I remember now that after Mr. Dabney and +I had said good-night to him and went out into the +hall, I noticed the nigger waiting at the library door, +with the bag for Mr. Faurie’s mail, ready to paddle +in a dugout to the Swamp Lily just sighted nigh the +point off the Arkansas shore.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mr. Hartagous was once more bending his bushy +brows over the names of the witnesses to the document. +“And who is this other party?” he asked.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Mr. Dabney? Richard Dabney?—why, don’t +you remember him? He used to run a store near +Great Oaks. The land it was built on fell into the +river not long after that, and he moved away. He +was living in Arkansas the last I heard of him, +running a sawmill. He had come to Great Oaks mansion +that evening to inquire for Mr. Faurie, hearing +that he had been ailing,—in fact, he was taken with +a short rigor while Mr. Dabney was here. Mr. Faurie +was still sitting in this chair when he wrote his name, +which he did easily enough, but he seemed very faint +when he called upon us to witness his signature, and +pronounced the paper a little—little coddle-shell, I +think he called it, to his will. I never thought of it +since. I jus’ allowed it was some of his Tennessee +<span class='pageno' id='Page_416'>416</span>business, because he remarked sorter mumbling to +himself, ’twas situated there and that he s’posed this +coddle-shell would take effect under the laws there, it +being his domicile, so to say, him being a resident o’ +Nashville, and a regularly qualified voter of Davidson +County,—though shucks! we claimed him here +in the swamp country; he had been here so much at +Great Oaks in the winters, as his health declined. I +haven’t thought of it since. As he was always busy +with his papers in them days, I didn’t taken any special +notice of the circumstance. Is it any account, +particularly,—cut any ice?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>A codicil, indeed, it proved; and while affirming +and republishing the main testamentary provisions of +the previous codicil, the testator made the single +change of giving to his widow all his personal property +of whatever sort,—in lieu of one fourth of it,—stocks, +bonds, and some hoards of special deposits +in Tennessee banks; and though the vital importance +of this bequest was altogether unforeseen by the dying +man, the crucial emergency being far beyond the +purview of his vicarious precautions, it was evident +that it would aggregate enough to solve the refunding +problem of Mrs. Faurie’s receipts from the estate.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_417'>417</span> + <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER XX</h2> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c006'>It was a joyous household the next morning, and Mr. +Hartagous genially participated in the prevailing good +cheer. He had very heartily deprecated the hardships +to be wrought by the execution of his duty, and was +thankful indeed that they were mitigated to the extent +of the benefactions of this codicil. Great Oaks under +water, with valuable machinery and livestock, miles +of fencing and indispensable buildings, to replace, was +no boon in comparison with Mrs. Faurie’s former rich +endowments, but at all events it was not to fall to his +lot to turn the widow out of her shelter for the behoof +of her young sons. Nevertheless, he resolved to +remonstrate very seriously with her against the proposed +marriage, and to stint himself no whit in forceful +phraseology.</p> + +<p class='c007'>He did not meet her at the breakfast-table, for he +was late, owing to the vigils of the preceding night, +and when he presented himself to partake of the matutinal +meal, he found that she had already departed, +leaving him to the vicarious hospitality of Desmond, +the jubilant Mr. Stanlett, and the three boys with +their shining morning faces. He fortified himself +with a good cigar after breakfast and a meditative +stroll upon the veranda in the fresh, breezy, summery +day, intending that his nerves should be well soothed +and his tact whetted before he should enter upon his +delicate mission.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_418'>418</span>The leafage of the wide-spreading grove was green +and lush, and waved gilded in the sunlight; hanging +baskets, with trailing ferns and laden with parti-colored +foliage plants, swung in the arches between the vine-draped +columns of the veranda. If one could imagine +one’s self afloat, or in some Venetian entourage, the +diluvian scene might have seemed, instead of the +dreariest expression of disaster, to have elements of +picturesque amphibious interest. What though the +Arkansas shore were withdrawn from view—there +was not much of it visible in its best estate!—and instead +was an expanse of rippling sunlit sea of indefinite +bounds, of a richly tawny hue, and with enlivening +and unique incidents,—a couple of gayly whisking +dugouts in the foreground, a steamboat in the middle +distance, puffing columns of curling smoke as in +the centre of the channel she steadily climbed the +current, and in the offing a white flash of sea-gulls, +describing eccentric curves, brilliant as stars against +the depressed horizon, blue and hazy and dimly discriminated. +There was an absence of briny odors, +which are not always acceptable, however, and instead +a pungent fragrance of bark came from the inundated +woods, and the honeysuckle twining about the balustrade +and bravely blooming from out the floods sent +forth a subtile and delicious perfume.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“‘A life on the ocean wave,’” Mrs. Faurie exclaimed +joyously, as he turned a corner and came suddenly +upon her. She had been rifling a wire flower-stand +that lifted its redundant growths against the wall of +the house, and she held in her hand a cluster of pink +<span class='pageno' id='Page_419'>419</span>and white carnations. As she stood in the blended +sheen of the bland day and the refulgent reflection +of the blazing waters, she looked not unlike the bloom +itself. She had upon her head a wide hat of delicate +pink organdy, the brim variously bent and shirred and +frilled, and her morning dress was of sheer white lawn. +He strove within himself to avoid its recognition as +the simplest toilet, such as any country girl might +wear, for she took no grace from it, but embellished +its every suggestion. Her slim, lissome figure lent it +such distinction; the exquisite fairness of her complexion +was so emphasized by the unrelenting clarity +of the tints of her costume; the shoaling lights and +shadows of her beautiful gray eyes, her rich brown +hair piled high amongst the carnation-like frills of the +hat, her delicate dewy lips, her dainty hand and arm +and throat, all were more assertive in their demand for +homage in the simple not to say stereotyped attire. +And she looked scarcely twenty years old, as her +laughing, long-lashed eyes met his.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Can you keep your sea-legs in the contemplation +of that weltering main?”—she glanced at the waterscape. +“Will you feel less as if in an indigestible +dream and more like a landlubber if I give you a +boutonnière?” She selected a very perfect carnation +from the cluster, and as she advanced to place it in +the buttonhole of his coat, he caught her hand with +the flower in it.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I want to say something very serious to you,” he +protested. “I want to speak as freely to you as if +you were my daughter.”</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_420'>420</span>She glanced up, gayly laughing. “Your sister, you +should say.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He perceived his error,—on the very point of age, +which was to be the gravamen of his remonstrances! +But he had unconsciously been allured by her aspect,—as +she looked scarcely twenty.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well, hardly young enough to be my daughter, +indeed,” he said craftily, “though Desmond is really +young enough to be my son. My dear madam, you +will make yourself a laughing-stock if you contemplate +this marriage. You ought to remember that you +are ten years older than this boy.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Should I mind that if he does not?” she queried, +holding up the cluster of carnations no fresher than +the flush in her cheeks.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And now that, by the grace of God, you are to +have Great Oaks unincumbered, you will put him into +the position of making a mercenary marriage; he is +sensitive on that score,—I can see that already,—though +of course he is glad that your future comfort +is assured, however meagrely in comparison with the +old days.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“But ought we to consider the public,—if it will +accord us so much distinction as to gossip about us as +a nine days’ wonder,—or only ourselves, and our own +mutual happiness?” She slipped the carnation into +his buttonhole and drew off, standing in her graceful +slimness, her head aslant, to observe the effect.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Ridicule deals a vicarious stab, which is peculiarly +sharp. You should consider your children, dear Mrs. +Faurie,” he urged.</p> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_421'>421</span>“And I will,” she promised heartily. “Trust me +for that! I will do nothing contrary to their wishes.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>He made no secret of his intentions. He turned at +once. She stood looking after him, smiling at his +haste, as he went bustling down the veranda to find +the boys. His method of busy progression was not +unlike that of the puffing steamboat in the channel, +bustling up the river. Though he had no fear of her +interference or adverse influence, he was so impressed +with the importance of his mission to enlist some potent +opposition to the marriage that he made no effort +to enliven the seriousness of the crisis with jocose +preamble, in view of the juvenile character of his +interlocutors, or to minimize its significance. In logical +and definite fashion he set forth the fact and its +aspect to the world at large, with its effect on their +mother’s future and their own, in very unvarnished +phrase. They silently heard him out, seated before +him in a row on the sofa in the front parlor, very +attentive, and with more friendly faces than he had +heretofore seen them wear.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“It rests with you three,” he said in conclusion, +seeking to impress them with a sense of their responsibility. +“Your mother cares more for you than she +ever did or ever will for any man. She is the most +maternal woman I ever knew. You can prevent her +from making a ridiculous marriage,—a foolish marriage,—a +disastrous marriage, that will bring unhappiness +upon everybody connected with it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, no! Mr. Hartagous!” promptly responded +the rosy and beaming Chub, taking the pas, perhaps +<span class='pageno' id='Page_422'>422</span>instinctively on the principle that the youngest officer +on a court-martial speaks first. “It is the very best +thing that we can do. Ever since I have found out +that Mr. Desmond was going to marry us, I have felt +that we-all were so safe!” He gave himself an affectionate +little hug to express his sense of security.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Horace administered a rude nudge with his elbow. +“Nobody is going to marry <em>you</em>!” he admonished his +junior, shamefaced for the ignorance he manifested.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Oh, yes,” protested Chub, wagging his round +head, evidently having mastered the situation; “when +a gentleman marries a widow lady, he marries the +whole family!”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“You certainly have an interest to consider,” said +Mr. Hartagous, gravely. “Your affection for your +mother, your respect for your father, ought to urge +you to a course of discreet remonstrance,—nothing +unfilial, or likely to estrange you, but to prevent an +absurd and most unseemly marriage that must necessarily +be, too, unhappy and unfortunate.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I don’t see it in that light, Mr. Hartagous,” said +Horace, slowly. His face had an intimation of precocious +force, and there was even a mutinous spark in +the glance of his eye. His was the complex and difficult +disposition of the three brothers. His convictions +were obviously strong, and his opposition likely to +be of a strenuous order. Mr. Hartagous hearkened +with an access of attention. “I don’t see it that way. +I think that Mr. Desmond cares more for her and for +us than anybody else ever will. I think his proposal +when he had reason to think her fairly bankrupt +<span class='pageno' id='Page_423'>423</span>shows that he was willing to make every sacrifice for +her. Then look at him! Why, you are obliged to +see that he is head and shoulders above anybody—though +he is not rich. But he is younger, just as you +say, though he does not <em>seem</em> young. He is old in +mind and disposition. And Lord! the heaps he knows +about everything! As to your fear about what people +will say,—well, <em>I</em> have seen a lot of the world, and +it seems to me that if a certain kind of people don’t +laugh at you for one thing, they will for another. If +you stay at home, they call you ‘a swamper’; if you +travel abroad, they call you a ‘globe-trotter’; if you +dress well, they ridicule you as ‘a dude’; if you take +it easy, they say you are ‘tacky.’ <em>My</em> idea is to go +right ahead and do what you think is right and +properest, and—let them laugh! I’d hate to deny +myself anything good and valuable ’cause Mrs. Kentopp +might giggle over it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“She left us out of her house-party,—and we +ain’t dead yet!” said Chub, banging the heels of his +shoes back and forth against the sofa.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Reginald took a deeper view. “I think, sir, that +her happiness ought to be considered first. She is +young, after all is said, and has many years yet to +live, I hope. She ought to have her independence,—to +be a free agent! When I was in India, there +had been a recent case of suttee way off somewhere +in some remote district,—I heard a great deal of talk +about it. People had supposed the practice was suppressed. +And without meaning any disrespect to +my father’s will,—for I can understand how the idea +<span class='pageno' id='Page_424'>424</span>of a stranger in the family circle would influence a +division of property,—I always thought an objection +to second marriage was a sort of civilized suttee. As +to Mr. Desmond, himself, I should prefer him as a +stepfather to all the world.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And thus Desmond was welcomed without a dissentient +voice.</p> + +<p class='c007'>At first Mrs. Kentopp, who might be taken as +representing the gossips at large, was so rejoiced that +Great Oaks Plantation would not come immediately +on the market in competition with Dryad-Dene +that it mitigated the acerbity of her views, and although +she twinkled and dimpled much in commenting +on the disparity in age and fortune and prospects +of the couple, her talk had not the rancor which it +developed later when Mr. Loring seemed indisposed +to console himself with Dryad-Dene, and gradually +drew off without making any offer.</p> + +<p class='c007'>A golden era of happiness had dawned on Great +Oaks; the waters of the overflow gradually disappeared, +and during the brief interval of the wedding +journey Mrs. Kentopp drove over through the mud, +bogging down once or twice in the alluvial sloughs, +on a tour of discovery, and recounted with facetious +distortions of effect afterward Chub’s simple boastings +in great pride as to the preparations that were +making for the reception of the couple on their return. +Mr. Stanlett had designed and supervised +these, and was very important and happily busy. “I +hope he furnished the money to pay for the changes, +for otherwise I don’t see where it was to come from, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_425'>425</span>for Desmond must have put all his pedagogic savings +in the expense of the bridal tour,” she jovially speculated. +Great Oaks was very judiciously embellished, +and looked most genially hospitable on the day of +her visit, for the old man had a pretty fancy and an +accurate discrimination of the appropriate.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“I always said there was another will or codicil, +or, to be accurate, ‘paper-writing,’” he cheerily +averred, as he handed Mrs. Kentopp into her carriage. +“This is not of course the provision that was +intended for Honoria, but it passes,—it passes fairly +well, and Edward, my nephew, Mr. Desmond, you +know, does not care for money.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And when Mrs. Kentopp repeated this, she was +wont to point out gayly the incongruity of this statement +with the fact that “Edward,” Mr. Stanlett’s +“nephew,” should have contrived to surround himself +comfortably with that useful commodity in a wife +so well endowed and three very rich stepsons, over +whom he had now paramount influence. She found +much joy, also, in Horace’s simplicity in believing +that the sentimental interests between the two had +been settled before the discovery of the last codicil +which had put a new aspect on the financial status, +and she sought to convince people in Deepwater Bend +and elsewhere that the comfortable estate, more than +the phenomenal beauty of the lady, had served to +obviate the disadvantage of the disparity of years.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Prosperity supplemented happiness. There was a +great crop of cotton produced by the overflowed +lands; the debts were finally settled; the yacht was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_426'>426</span>gone, indeed, when all was done, but the emeralds +remained, and the next carnival season the famous +beauty blazed in all her wonted splendor upon the old +coterie in New Orleans which she had frequented in +her girlhood. But she soon became secondary in the +household. Colonel Desmond,—how Mrs. Kentopp +laughed when that brevet of consideration was added +to him instinctively, insensibly by the community, addicted +to the bestowal of titles on those who so manifestly +were entitled to the insignia of supremacy,—in +the serene quiet of the ensuing winter, found in the +desk of the library the scattered sheets of a manuscript +which he had written in his lonely leisure in the +early days of his stay at Great Oaks. He re-read it +in surprise, and withal in self-conscious doubt, then +again with growing appreciation. He thought that he +could not now write its like. It had the concentrated +strength of complete mental isolation. It was the +work of the seer,—one who stands apart and judges +justly without flinching, and it was instinct with the +abstract truth. Much of it was bitter like life, much +of it was sad; but it apprehended an unrealized purpose, +a symmetry of design in life, a divine direction, +and it shadowed this forth. So unfamiliar had the +work grown in the lapse of time that he was flattered +by the tone of its scholarship, its evidences of close +reasoning, deep learning, and wide scope of thought, +and the distinction of its literary style. For this reason +he showed it to his wife and the eldest of the stepsons, +and straightway the household clamor arose. +Greatness unsolicited had knocked at their doors! +<span class='pageno' id='Page_427'>427</span>Fame had been busy all this time gathering laurels +for their brows. The younger sons, although uncomprehending, +were equally elated, and though Desmond +laughed at them all, he let them have their will, and +he became grave and respectful toward their acumen +when he read the letter of the publisher to whom it +was submitted.</p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Kentopp said later that its vogue—an absolutely +unreadable book, on all sorts of political conditions, +for nobody had really read it—was because a +notable English statesman, very meddlesome with pen +and ink, had canvassed its positions in a London quarterly, +duller, if possible, and less read than the book +itself, and another English quarterly had published +Desmond’s reply, and for some time the counter-arguments +of other political economists who found the +work of vital interest caused the effusion of much +printers’ ink. And when the family went to London +the next year, Colonel Desmond was lionized in distinguished +circles, and was given an additional learned +degree at a great English university where he had +taken one in his earlier youth.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Deepwater Bend is a literary centre now, and +don’t you forget it, and has its learned light,” Mrs. +Kentopp dimpled, “though none of us of course have +read or ever will read the Great Book.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>But even Mrs. Kentopp’s flings were destined to +disregard and discontinuance. A javelin, however +skillfully aimed, must needs have a point to take +effect. “I don’t think there seems a disparity in age,” +a stranger in a social company had dubiously replied +<span class='pageno' id='Page_428'>428</span>to her delighted mention of the ten years’ difference. +“Colonel Desmond does not look so much as +ten years older.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And after the company’s somewhat mischievous +burst of laughter had shown their comprehension of +her intention and hopelessly mystified the stranger, +who could not imagine what had been said amiss, +Colonel Kentopp had taken occasion to admonish +his wife in private. “You do yourself no good, Annetta, +by harping on that woman’s age. People will +only think you carping and jealous.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>And, indeed, Desmond was fast growing older and +graver. Other books had succeeded the first; and +while they added distinction in differing degrees, they +added, too, the marks of thought on brow and mien. +Now the light always burned late from the library +window on the water-side, and the river pilots counted +its faint, far glow in their midnight bearings. Often +they pointed it out with pride to some passenger admitted +to the wheel-house, seeing it shining with a +sort of stellular isolation amidst the darkling riparian +forests of Great Oaks, and repeated the titles of +his volumes, although perhaps, like Mrs. Kentopp, +they had read none of the works.</p> + +<p class='c007'>But this was really not the illuminated hour of the +library, the time of its signal triumph. Regularly +every afternoon when the western sunlight, striking +in long, slanting bars athwart it, turned from burnished +gold to ethereal, hazy red, his wife appeared, +and seated one on each side of the fire in true Darby-and-Joan +fashion, as Kentopp’s prophetic eye had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_429'>429</span>long ago beheld them from the veranda, Desmond +read aloud the result of his day’s labor, while her +beautiful, listening, reflective eyes dwelt on the coals +and his voice filled the quiet spaces of the scholastic +old room. She never criticised. She gave no word of +applause. She offered no monition of advice. When +he laid down the papers and their eyes met, her +comment was always the same.</p> + +<p class='c007'>“What did I tell you long, long ago, the first +afternoon that you and I ever sat here before the +fire?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Why, that I ought to write for publication,—to +write books.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“And what did you say?”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Well,” he always laughed as he replied,—“that +I couldn’t,—that I was not capable of it.”</p> + +<p class='c007'>“Then,” she was wont to solemnly rejoin, while +her eyes danced with joy and mirth and pride, “do +you never <em>dare</em> to contradict me again as long as you +live.”</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='small'><span class='blackletter'>The Riverside Press</span></span></div> + <div><span class='small'>CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS</span></div> + <div><span class='small'>U . S . 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Well-planned and constructed, it is yet +never heavy.... The moral atmosphere of the book +is clear and bracing.”—<cite>New York Mail.</cite></p> + +<p class='c007'>“<cite>The Evasion</cite> reflects Boston as accurately as New +York was mirrored in ‘The House of Mirth.’”—<cite>Chicago +Evening Post.</cite></p> + +<p class='c007'>“A fine story, showing vivid ability and power. Every +page is absorbing.”—<cite>Chicago Record-Herald.</cite></p> + +<div class='lg-container-r'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>12mo, $1.50.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='xlarge'>NOVELS BY MRS. M. E. M. DAVIS</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>THE LITTLE CHEVALIER</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>A stirring and dramatic tale, full of color and movement, of the gay +and adventurous life in New Orleans in the early part of the 18th +century.... A most delightful and entertaining book.—<cite>New Orleans +Picayune.</cite> Illustrated by <span class='sc'>H. J. Peck</span>. 12mo, $1.50.</p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>THE QUEEN’S GARDEN</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>It is a charming and most artistic piece of fiction ... a delightful +little romance, altogether as interesting as anything Mr. Cable has ever +written.—<cite>Nashville Banner.</cite> 16mo, $1.25.</p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>UNDER THE MAN-FIG</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>Mrs. Davis writes of Texas, of plantation life and character, of the +ever-fascinating negroes and the gentle, lazy white children of Sunshine +land, their pretty romance, and their patient suffering. Her +story covers a number of years in time, and includes a wide and varied +range of characters. It is full of romance and mystery, with an interest +steadily cumulating to the close.—<cite>Chicago Interior.</cite> 16mo, $1.25.</p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>THE WIRE CUTTERS</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>The principal scenes of the novel are laid in Louisiana and Texas, +and it takes its name from the desperate and prolonged struggle waged +with indomitable energy and pluck by the rural classes of the latter +state against what they deemed the outrageous and unwarranted fencing +in of their broad acres, once as free as the very air. There is a +love story in which the interest never flags.—<cite>New Orleans States.</cite></p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>Crown 8vo, $1.50.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>THE PRICE OF SILENCE</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>A romance of modern New Orleans, with a lively movement and a +charming setting. Illustrated by <span class='sc'>Griswold Tyng</span>. 12mo, $1.50.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div><span class='xlarge'>BOOKS BY ANDY ADAMS</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c010'>“Mr. Adams’s books are a unique contribution to the +history of the country.” <cite>Boston Transcript.</cite></p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>REED ANTHONY, COWMAN</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>The autobiography of a cowboy, giving an interesting +insight into the old-time cattle business.</p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>THE LOG OF A COWBOY</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>“Breezy, natural, entertaining and racy of the soil.” <cite>Chicago Record-Herald.</cite></p> + +<p class='c007'>Illustrated by <span class='sc'>E. 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Boyd Smith</span>.</p> + +<p class='c011'><span class='large'>CATTLE BRANDS</span>></p> + +<p class='c007'>“Clever, original and highly amusing tales.” <cite>Boston Transcript.</cite></p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>Each of the above, $1.50.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-l'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>HOUGHTON</div> + <div class='line'>MIFFLIN</div> + <div class='line'>COMPANY</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id002'> +<img src='images/advertising_signet.jpg' alt='TOUT BIEN OU RIEN' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-r'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>BOSTON</div> + <div class='line'>AND</div> + <div class='line'>NEW YORK</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c004'> +</div> +<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> + +<div class='chapter ph2'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c001'> + <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + + <ul class='ul_1 c003'> + <li>Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76784 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-07-31 23:26:11 GMT --> +</html> + diff --git a/76784-h/images/advertising_signet.jpg b/76784-h/images/advertising_signet.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..613ba24 --- /dev/null +++ b/76784-h/images/advertising_signet.jpg diff --git a/76784-h/images/cover.jpg b/76784-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e535310 --- /dev/null +++ b/76784-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76784-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/76784-h/images/frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d503ce --- /dev/null +++ b/76784-h/images/frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/76784-h/images/signet.jpg b/76784-h/images/signet.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f38f4a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/76784-h/images/signet.jpg |
