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 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
 
 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH 
 KNOLL 
 
 A NOVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM 
 
 Love can love but once a life.'' 
 
 TENNYSON. 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLTN AND COMPANY 
 (9TJK fiitocrsibe
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 BY CLARA LOUISE BCRNHAM. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S A. 
 Electrotyped and Printed by II. 0. Houghton & Co.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTKB P AOK 
 
 I. BEECH KNOLL ....... 1 
 
 IL A PRICKED BUBBLE 12 
 
 III. UNDER THE EAVES 20 
 
 IV. ONCE AGAIN 38 
 
 V. IN THE MIDST OF LIFE 49 
 
 VI. A SHARP REBUFF 66 
 
 VII. THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE . . . .77 
 
 VIII. ROXANA'S BOARDER 93 
 
 IX. Miss REBECCA 105 
 
 X. ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS 116 
 
 XI. Miss REDMOND'S DISCOVERY 126 
 
 XII. A GOLDEN MORNING 142 
 
 XIII. TRAILING ARBUTUS 152 
 
 XIV. THE HELPING HAND 167 
 
 XV. COUNTER-IRRITANTS 179 
 
 XVI. A VENOMOUS STING 194 
 
 XVII. ATTACK AND DEFENSE 204 
 
 XVIII. THE OLD BRIDGE 223 
 
 XIX. MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE 237 
 
 XX. ELISE 250 
 
 XXI. THE CRASH 261 
 
 XXII. A BITTER CUP 275 
 
 XXIII. THE EARLY TRAIN . 288 
 
 2228469
 
 iv CONTENTS. 
 
 XXIV. " Go, LITTLE LETTER " 301 
 
 XXV. " O HEAKT ! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH ? " . . 310 
 XXVI. ANYWHERE ! ANYWHERE ! 323 
 
 XXVH. OUT OF THE WORLD 338 
 
 XXVIII. NATURE AND ART 346 
 
 XXIX. SUNSET . . .363 
 
 XXX. TONY OFFENDS 381 
 
 XXXT. "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE" . . .395 
 
 XXXTT. THANKSGIVING . 409
 
 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 "I SHOULD think the whole town had lost its 
 wits ! " observed Roxana Sherritt scornfully. 
 
 She was sitting by the dining-table in Dr. Joy's 
 house, polishing the roses on a silver coffee-pot. 
 Whatever Roxaua did, she did with her might, 
 and she concentrated her attention now on the an- 
 tique silver with the same care which she bestowed 
 habitually on all the doctor's belongings, including 
 his niece Phyllis, who sat near by, rubbing silver 
 forks with a piece of chamois skin, and laughing 
 softly at the housekeeper's intolerant remarks. 
 
 " You must remember that nothing ever hap- 
 pened before, in Snowdon," replied the girl. 
 
 " Humph ! Where human bein's live, you can 
 be pretty sure there 's plenty happens," remarked 
 Roxana. 
 
 " Well, nothing ever happened to me before," 
 said Phyllis, lifting her brilliant face to her com- 
 panion. Her cheeks had a soft brunette coloring,
 
 2 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 her dark eyes held in them two flashing stars ; 
 her black, fine hair, worn short, had a gloss as 
 though each hair were separately polished, and it 
 waved in such thickness that a parting refused to 
 divide it, much to Mrs. Sherritt's sorrow. In- 
 deed, the worthy woman considered this her only 
 failure in bringing Phyllis up. She had never 
 been able to conquer the boyish, curly crop, whose 
 appropriateness to the pretty oval face she was not 
 able to see. 
 
 That it was a pretty face, Roxana knew well 
 enough, and she was struck afresh by the gleaming 
 smile with which the girl now regarded her. 
 
 " What 's the matter, you rogue ? " she asked, 
 with a reluctant answering smile. " Why do you 
 consider that anything has happened to you? 
 Beech Knoll bein' sold has n't brought any cash 
 into your pocket." 
 
 " Cash ! " The thin scarlet lip curled scorn- 
 fully. " What do I care for cash ? " 
 
 "It's a convenient thing to have around," re- 
 marked Roxana, continuing her vigorous rubbing, 
 " and I hope you '11 never know the want of it. 
 Next to health, it 's the most important thing 
 in" 
 
 " Well, then," interrupted Phyllis, " the sale of 
 Beech Knoll has brought health to a great many 
 persons." 
 
 " What on earth are you talkin' about ? " 
 
 " Why, it has developed a taste for walking in 
 every woman in town. Even the feeblest is able
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 3 
 
 to take a walk along the road to Beech Knoll since 
 it has come out that the purchaser wishes to be 
 anonymous. Uncle Doctor says his business is 
 completely ruined ; " and Phyllis laughed again, in 
 enjoyment of the expression upon Roxana's face. 
 
 " The amusing part of it is that each couple 
 of strollers look with such suspicion and disfavor 
 upon each other couple of strollers, as though 
 questioning their right to saunter along that par- 
 ticular highway. Jealous already, you see." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt tossed her head. " There are more 
 different sorts o' simpletons in this town than I 
 ever had the least idea of." 
 
 " I, for one, am very much obliged to the prom- 
 enaders for their fine detective work," declared 
 Phyllis demurely. " There is an immense deal to 
 be discovered up at the old place, and I am in- 
 tensely curious ; yet my bringing up cuts me off 
 from hanging about the fences and picking up 
 stray bits of wall paper that have floated out of 
 the windows, or watching the loads of furniture go 
 in. Oh, Roxana," she added, in a different tone, 
 " he must be awfully rich." 
 
 " Well, yes, Miss Jones yesterday insisted on 
 tellin' me all she knew, and she has found out 
 more than any one else could in the same space o' 
 time, and there must be a pile o' money bein' 
 spent on the place." 
 
 " Yes," returned the girl eagerly, " it will be ut- 
 terly changed. Roxana," she added mysteriously, 
 *' don't you think he must be a misanthrope to be
 
 4 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 willing to make such a beautiful, secluded home in 
 this sleepy little town ? " 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt looked up sharply. " If it 's a 
 4 he ' at all, he prob'ly has a whole drove o' chil- 
 dren, and is comiu' out into the country to turn 
 'em loose." 
 
 " Roxana ! " Phyllis regarded her reproach- 
 fully, yet pityingly. Poor Roxana ! She could 
 not be expected to care for a romance. 
 
 " l What I keep thinkin' of is Miss Redmond," 
 continued the housekeeper. " What would Miss 
 Rebecca say to all these fine doin's, decorations, 
 and the dear knows what ? Spiders were the only 
 decorators known at Beech Knoll in her day, and 
 small peace she left 'em with her broom. She was 
 a tidy little body and a good woman, if one ever 
 lived." 
 
 " I remember Miss Redmond," said Phyllis re- 
 flectively. " The last time I saw her she gave me 
 a large scalloped cookie with caraway seeds in it." 
 
 " She made 'em better than any one in town," 
 said Roxana reminiscently. " Oh, what a time 
 she did have of it, one way and another ; and yet 
 you sit up there and say nothin' ever happened in 
 Snowdon." 
 
 " Oh, I don't mean such uninteresting things as 
 sickness and death," said Phyllis explanatorily. 
 " Of course I remember her sister-in-law, Mrs. 
 Richard Redmond, who was an invalid and al- 
 ways wore a little black shawl'; and I remember 
 when she died, and when old Mr. Redmond died,
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 5 
 
 that is n't the sort of thing I mean ; I mean 
 something happy and and romantic, or romantic 
 anyway, even without the happiness." 
 
 " Oh, well," responded Roxana curtly, " if you 're 
 willin' to take romance dry so, without any sugar, 
 there was a romance happened right there at 
 Beech Knoll, where you 're settin' up a hero to suit 
 yourself. There have been heroes enough there, to 
 my way o' thinkin'." 
 
 Phyllis looked up with parted lips. " Did Miss 
 Redmond have a lover that white-haired old 
 lady ? " 
 
 " She was n't born white-haired, you little goose, 
 and she ain't old if she 's alive to-day. Her hair 
 turned white along of a trouble she had. A cousin 
 o' hers brought a college friend to make a visit at 
 Beech Knoll, and Miss Rebecca fell desperately in 
 love with the young man, and he fell just as deep 
 in love with her." 
 
 " Then why " exclaimed Phyllis eagerly. 
 
 " Because he was engaged already," returned 
 Roxana shortly. " Don't ask me why nor where- 
 fore, 'cause I don't know. Some boy and girl af- 
 fair, I suppose. Anyway, the young man found 
 out he 'd made a mistake ; but it was too late. 
 His sweetheart was frail, and he thought 't would 
 kill her if he should try to break off, so he pre- 
 ferred to go on niakiii' mistakes, and went away 
 from Beech Knoll and got married to her." 
 
 " It did not turn out well, then? " asked Phyllis 
 with interest.
 
 6 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I don't know one thing about it," said Roxana 
 firmly, " except on general principles I s'pose it 
 did n't." Mrs. Sherritt always waxed pessimistic 
 on the subject of marriage, her own having been 
 an unmitigated failure. " I should never have 
 known anythin' about Miss Rebecca's love affair 
 except for goin' to help nurse Mrs. Richard Red- 
 mond in her last days ; and she, about worshipin' 
 her sister-in-law, always wanted to talk about her, 
 so she told me this story. She did n't tell me the 
 man's name, and I shotdd n't have remembered it 
 if she had," added Roxana hastily, forestalling the 
 question she saw hovering on Phyllis's lips. 
 
 " Poor Miss Redmond ! How she must have 
 suffered ! " 
 
 " Oh, she had enough trouble one way and an- 
 other," said the housekeeper, nodding her head, 
 and rubbing a silver cream pitcher until it shone 
 again. " Her father did n't make provision for 
 her in his will that 's the way with men, it never 
 seems to occur to 'em that their daughters would 
 enjoy independence as well as their sons and the 
 first thing Miss Rebecca knew, one fine day her 
 brother sold the old home right over her head 
 without consultin' her a word. That was a mighty 
 mean trick, and Miss Redmond felt it. Her 
 brother was a man o' business in the city, and 
 had n't any use for the old place himself, now his 
 wife was dead, and he just wrote a note to his 
 sister that he 'd do anythin' she liked in the way 
 o' findin' a boardin' place for her and payiu' her
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 7 
 
 expenses, but she 'cl have to move out o' Beech 
 Knoll and not even take a stick o' the furniture 
 with her. Miss Redmond was a quiet, gentle sort 
 o' person, but that treatment provoked her. She 
 refused his help and went away, and that 's all we 
 know about her." 
 
 " What a shameful kind of a brother ! " ex- 
 claimed Phyllis indignantly, " after all the kind- 
 ness Miss Redmond had shown to his poor sick 
 wife." 
 
 " Yes," remarked Roxana, with a grim smile. 
 " Men ain't any great, but Mr. Richard Redmond 
 was rather below the average. Why, about a 
 year before his wife died, he brought a fifteen-year- 
 old girl home there to Beech Knoll to spend her 
 school vacation, and the way he cavorted with that 
 girl, rowin', drivin', fishin', walkin', runnin', and 
 rompin' generally, for four weeks, was a perform- 
 ance to see, considerin' his wife was such an in- 
 valid she could n't leave the house, and he 'd never 
 been able before to spare more than two or three 
 days at a time from business to visit her. It was 
 enough to make that poor, sick wife miserable to 
 see the goin's on, tho' he was callin' Elise, that 
 was the girl's name, nothin' but a child, all the 
 time. He could n't get out o' bringin' her, he said, 
 because her father was his friend, and as he lived 
 way out in California he had asked Mr. Redmond 
 to let the girl spend part of her vacation with him 
 and his wife. That experience was a trial to Miss 
 Redmond. She told me riffht out she was afraid
 
 8 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 it made her sister sad to see so much life and 
 health about, when she did n't have any herself ; 
 but she spoke kind o' the girl. ' Elise is a well- 
 behdved, good child,' she said to me, ' a very in- 
 nocent, happy child.' Richard Redmond was a 
 mass o' selfishness," finished Roxana rather inco- 
 herently. " He was never " 
 
 The speaker was suddenly interrupted by a clash 
 of silver, as Phyllis, dropping a handful of forks 
 upon the table, started up and ran to the window. 
 
 " Well, well, what are you up to now ? " de- 
 manded Roxana tartly. It hurt her in a sensitive 
 place to have solid silver thus recklessly handled. 
 
 " It is the de"p6t carriage," said Phyllis breath- 
 lessly, as the sound of wheels became louder. 
 " There is somebody inside to-day. Oh, why can't 
 I see!" 
 
 Roxana was human, and, after all, she had 
 not wholly escaped the prevailing epidemic. She 
 pushed her chair back and hastened to look over 
 the girl's shoulder in an effort to distinguish the 
 passenger. At the same time she spoke excitedly. 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, it will be a disgrace if you 
 let Jake Harvey see you cranin' your neck after 
 his carriage. Forever ! " she ejaculated, with a 
 start, while Phyllis gave a low ripple of laughter. 
 " Phyllis, that ne'er-do-well, good-for-nothin' Jake 
 Harvey winked at us. I saw him as plain as I see 
 you this minute." 
 
 " Don't mind, Roxana," said Phyllis, still laugh- 
 ing. " Jake did n't mean any harm. Pie syni-
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 9 
 
 pathizes with us all. He knows what pangs we 
 suffer. I only wish I understood what his wink 
 meant. Was n't there some one in the carriage ? " 
 
 " There must have been," replied the house- 
 keeper, still smarting, " for there was a satchel on 
 the front seat." 
 
 " Then I think I had better go out for a walk," 
 said the girl mischievously. 
 
 " No, you won't go for a walk," replied Mrs. 
 Sherritt hotly. " No one can say that you 've 
 done any o' the gallivantin' that 's been done in 
 this town this spring, nor you won't begin now." 
 
 Phyllis laid a coaxing hand on her shoulder. 
 
 " Just see how unreasonable you are, Roxana ; 
 you won't let me have a look at the place now it 
 is done," she said. " Why. they say the turf al- 
 ready looks lovely, the hedges are trimmed, and 
 where it all used to be so ragged and unkempt, 
 now one would think the very stones of the house 
 had been washed. Come, you ought to see it. 
 Come with me, there 's a dear. After the hero, or 
 the misanthrope, or whatever he is, arrives, you 
 won't want to seem to hover around " 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! Phyllis Flower, look at me. 
 Do I look like a person in the habit o' hoverin' 
 around other folks's grounds ? " 
 
 " No. I say you do not. Come, Roxana, let us 
 take a walk up there for once. Have n't we as 
 much right there as any one else ? " 
 
 Roxana gathered up the shining silver with 
 determined hands. " I know my faults," she ob-
 
 10 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 served, " and I ain't afraid to say that curiosity 
 ain't one of 'em. Them new people can come to 
 Beech Knoll and live there for six months, and if 
 I don't lay eyes on 'em the whole time, I shall sleep 
 and eat precisely as well as if I was visitin' 'em 
 every day." 
 
 " What is the matter ? " asked a masculine voice, 
 and Dr. Joy came into the room. He was a stout, 
 genial-looking man, whose face looked florid in 
 contrast to his short, white side whiskers. " What 
 is the excitement, Phyllis ? " 
 
 " We are saying," returned the girl, the stars in 
 her dark eyes twinkling, " that Roxana is not in 
 the least curious, but that, to gratify my curiosity, 
 and to show a proper interest in the Redmond 
 family, she ought to walk up to Beech Knoll with 
 me this afternoon." 
 
 " That 's Phyllis's story," said Mrs. Sherritt 
 rather sulkily. " For my part, I think there 's 
 enough folks to oversee the improvements up 
 there without us." 
 
 "Uncle Doctor, I have not seen it since you 
 drove me there in the buggy a month ago, and 
 now everything is finished and the grounds are in 
 order, and I want to go this very afternoon. May 
 I not?" 
 
 " Why, yes, certainly. I would take you my- 
 self but that I must go in the other direction now. 
 There is oue old man in town whose rheumatism 
 has kept him at home through all the excitement, 
 and so he deserves double sympathy. I have been
 
 BEECH KNOLL. 11 
 
 glad to have you kept out of the committee of in- 
 vestigation so far ; but I think it is all right now, 
 Roxana, for the child to have a view of the place 
 before it is inhabited." 
 
 "Very well," responded Mrs. Sherritt stiffly, 
 " if she goes, I go too." 
 
 " Have n't I invited you ? " said Phyllis gayly, 
 skipping across the room and hugging the doctor 
 en route. " Uncle Doctor, you 're a dear ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes, that 's all right," grumbled Roxana, 
 " but it 's a mighty good thing that I 'm in this 
 house for a balance wheel. Get your hat on. I '11 
 be ready as soon as you are."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 A PRICKED BUBBLE. 
 
 As the two set forth in the cool, fresh air, it did 
 not take long for Phyllis to talk her companion 
 into good humor. Secretly, Roxana thought she 
 would enjoy seeing Beech Knoll reclaimed from its 
 old familiar shabbiness, and making the excur- 
 sion as it were, under protest, suited her very well. 
 She contented herself by austere nods to the few 
 friends who passed them on the road, as though to 
 warn them against confounding her motives with 
 theirs for traversing the well-trodden path. 
 
 They had completed about half the distance 
 when an acquaintance, whom Mrs. Sherritt partic- 
 ularly disapproved, was discerned coming swiftly 
 toward them, and waving them back with both 
 hands. 
 
 " What 's the matter with Miss Jones ? " mut- 
 tered Roxana. 
 
 " He 's come, he 's come ! " exclaimed the spin- 
 ster, rushing up to them breathlessly. "Jake 
 Harvey has just gone in at the driveway with a 
 trunk and satchel. There was no one inside the 
 carriage, and he nodded to me in a knowing way 
 and said, ' The gentleman preferred to walk.' I 'in 
 going to get a look at him or know the reason
 
 A PRICKED BUBBLE. 13 
 
 why," and the speaker was off before Roxana 
 could pronounce a repudiatory speech. 
 
 " There," she said to Phyllis, with exasperation, 
 " you see what we 've got into now. Do you 
 think I want you mixed up with that kind of a 
 vulgar performance ? " 
 
 Phyllis tried to repress her laughter. " We will 
 do anything you say, Roxana," she said meekly ; 
 " but," with sudden and irrepressible interest, " I 
 would love to see him. Would n't you ? " 
 
 " The cat's foot and the kitten's elbow ! What 
 should I want to see him for ? Phyllis Flower, we 
 are goin' home." 
 
 Phyllis stopped a moment, half minded to mu- 
 tiny. She had been brought up with old-fash- 
 ioned, strict ideas of obedience, and it never oc- 
 curred to her that she had grown too old for the 
 housekeeper's jurisdiction ; but this afternoon she 
 had her uncle's promise, and his was a higher 
 court of appeal than Roxana's. 
 
 The latter looked at her, surprised at her hesi- 
 tation. 
 
 " I want to see Beech Knoll," said Phyllis ob- 
 stinately. 
 
 " But you don't want to be seen gapin' at his 
 property by the new man, do you? You don't 
 want to feel about as small as a pint o' cider half 
 drank up, do you ? " 
 
 After meditating a moment, Phyllis seemed to 
 decide that she did not. At any rate, she turned 
 about and walked on by the housekeeper's side,
 
 14 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 secretly supported by the hope that the new pro- 
 prietor was an accomplished pedestrian, and that 
 they might meet him before reaching their own 
 door. 
 
 Her silence smote upon Mrs. Sherritt. " Your 
 uncle shall drive you around by Beech Knoll," she 
 said consolingly. *' It ain't goin' to run away , 
 and if the new people are such as he can visit in a 
 social way, you '11 have the satisfaction o' knowin' 
 that you have n't gone snoopin' around like the 
 most o' folks. Phyllis, who is that walkin' kind 
 o' slow up the street ? " 
 
 The girl raised her eyes eagerly, but the light 
 went out of them as she saw approaching only a 
 slight, small woman in a black di-ess. 
 
 " I don't know," she replied. 
 
 " That walk " pursued Roxana, hurrying a lit- 
 tle. " It can't be It must be Why, I know 
 it is ! It is Miss Redmond. Miss Rebecca, Miss 
 Rebecca ! " she exclaimed, almost running forward 
 to meet the white-haired lady, whose hands she 
 grasped and shook with joyful energy. " You 
 have come back at last, Miss Rebecca, at last ! " 
 
 " I have come back," said Miss Redmond, re- 
 turning the pressure of the honest hands, much 
 pleased at this unhoped-for welcome ; " greatly to 
 my surprise, too, Roxana, for I never expected 
 to see Snowdon again. Who is this ? " she con- 
 tinued, as Phyllis advanced. " Not little Phyllis, 
 surely not Phyllis ? " 
 
 " Phyllis herself," responded Mrs. Sherritt,
 
 A PRICKED BUBBLE. 15 
 
 striving to keep her loving pride out of her voice. 
 " Is n't she grown a great girl ? " 
 
 "A great girl," said the newcomer musingly, 
 taking her hand. " I had just been asking myself 
 if I were not a ghost revisiting its old haunts, and 
 this grown-up child makes me realize more than 
 ever that ten years is a long time." 
 
 " Yes," replied Phyllis, looking with interest 
 into the calm gray eyes, where a suspicious mois- 
 ture had crept, " you were much larger when I 
 was nine." 
 
 Miss Redmond shook her head and smiled. " I 
 have to look up to you, now, but it is worth the 
 trouble." 
 
 The girl colored a little. " That is the prettiest 
 compliment I shall ever receive, I am sure," she 
 replied. 
 
 " The sight of your face is good, Roxana," said 
 Miss Redmond, looking back. " I have feared to 
 find many changes here. At least you are the 
 same. How are all the friends ? How is my dear 
 old minister ? " 
 
 Roxana shook her head. " Mr. Dunham is dead 
 and gone, Miss Rebecca, but such is life, you know. 
 Ten years is a long time, and, considering I think 
 you '11 find things have stood pretty still in Snow- 
 don. Why am I keepin' you standin' in the street 
 all day ! I hope you was on your way to our 
 house. The doctor will be amazin'ly glad to see 
 you, and he '11 take it very kind that you came out 
 to see us. I don't know any one else in town who 
 has a claim before ours."
 
 16 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Thank you, Roxana, not just 3 T et. I must go 
 up to the old home first." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt nodded her head sympathetically. 
 " Very natural you should want to, Miss Rebecca, 
 but you '11 find changes there." 
 
 Miss Redmond's lips tightened, and a shadow of 
 pain flitted across her face. 
 
 " Does it look so very different ? " she asked 
 wistfully. 
 
 " It has been sold again," explained Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt, "to somebody with more money than he 
 rightly knows what to do with, I guess ; and from 
 what I hear, the old house is rigged out complete. 
 Truth to tell, I have n't been near it myself. Most 
 o' the women in town have put off their house 
 cleanin' to oversee the improvements, and I thought 
 I could be spared." 
 
 " They will not let you in, Miss Redmond," add- 
 ed Phyllis gently, " not even inside the grounds, I 
 have heard people say ; and would n't that be 
 be hard for you ? " 
 
 Miss Redmond smiled faintly and looked at the 
 speaker a moment in silence. 
 
 " You are a kind child," she said ; then, after a 
 pause, she went on : "I do not understand how all 
 this has been done so quietly, but evidently you do 
 not know what has brought me here. I have come 
 back to live at Beech Knoll. It is to be my home 
 again." 
 
 Roxana and Phyllis remained a moment in 
 speechless amazement ; then, " Good, good, good ! "
 
 A PRICKED BUBBLE. 17 
 
 burst from Roxana. She shook Miss Redmond's 
 hands violently in her excitement. " If that ain't 
 like a fairy story come true, I would n't say so." 
 
 " It does sound so," said Miss Redmond, " but I 
 can give you my little history since I left Snowdon 
 in a very few words, and then you will understand. 
 The first few years I will skip. They were hard 
 ones for me. Then I received word that my 
 brother had married Miss Beckwith, a California 
 heiress. You remember, Roxana, the young girl 
 who visited us that summer, during the first Mrs. 
 Richard's lifetime ? Well, that was the girl. Her 
 father died suddenly, she was recalled from school 
 to his funeral, and in her loneliness and unhap- 
 piness she married my brother. They went to 
 Europe, and in a few months I was sent for, as he 
 was ill. I arrived to find him dead, and as Mrs. 
 Redmond wished me to remain with her, I did so. 
 We traveled for three years abroad; then we re- 
 turned to San Francisco, where we have lived until 
 now. My sister-in-law always remembered Beech 
 Knoll affectionately, and one day she bought it, 
 and then nearly took my breath away by inform- 
 ing me of it. It has been prepared for our home, 
 and I preceded her here by one day because be- 
 cause " 
 
 The speaker's eyes filled with tears. Phyllis 
 took her hand with shy sympathy, and her own 
 heart swelled. She even forgot that the situation 
 was not far from being romantic, in her spontane- 
 ous appreciation of Miss Rebecca's feelings.
 
 18 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Is there anybody up there to get your tea ? " 
 inquired Roxana practically. " To go into that 
 big house alone is kind o' forlorn." 
 
 "There are servants already there, thank you, 
 Roxana. I shall be very comfortable, and to-mor- 
 row I shall be ready to welcome Mrs. Redmond, 
 who spends to-night in Boston. I fear she has 
 done a foolish thing to choose to live in Snowdon, 
 when she is used to so much life and stir. You 
 must come and see her, Phyllis. She is nothing 
 but a girl herself, poor child ! Well, I am glad to 
 have met you both. I am sorry you had to give 
 me the news of Mr. Dunham's death." 
 
 " We 've got a new man we like first rate," re- 
 plied Roxana. " He 's a jewel, now, don't you 
 worry," for Miss Rebecca was shaking her head 
 dejectedly. 
 
 Phyllis laughed. " If Roxana says so, you must 
 believe her. There are two classes of men for her 
 in this world. Uncle Doctor and Mr. Terriss form 
 one, the rest of mankind form the other ; and the 
 less said about the latter class the better." 
 
 " Good-by, good-by," said Miss Redmond hastily. 
 " It is pleasant to know that we shall meet again 
 soon," and, giving a parting nod, she walked away 
 with the erect, prim air which all the soft breezes 
 of the Riviera had been powerless to ameliorate. 
 
 Phyllis pouted. a little and raised her eyebrows. 
 Her bubble had burst strangely. There was to be 
 no more excitement, no more long-drawn-out won- 
 der and speculation.
 
 A PRICKED BUBBLE. 19 
 
 " After all," she said, as she and her companion 
 moved on their way, " it only means two more 
 women added to the nunnery." 
 
 " Phyllis," said Roxana, her plain face beaming, 
 " you have n't built one casue in the air that was 
 near as good as the truth. Miss Rebecca in calico, 
 or Miss Rebecca in silk, is just the person we want 
 in Snowdon ; and now you won't have any more 
 cause to complain that you can't see as much o' 
 Beech Knoll as you want to. After all, you've 
 got the first invitation there of anybody in town. 
 I wonder," she added, with a humorous recollec- 
 tion of the acquaintance who had fallen a victim to 
 Jake Harvey's joke, " I wonder if Miss Jones will 
 get to Boston before she stops."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 
 
 REBECCA REDMOND hastened along her road 
 with a new agitation at her heart. This meeting 
 with old friends had stirred her more deeply than 
 she liked. All the way out from Boston in the 
 train, she had been preaching herself an edify- 
 ing little sermon. The subject was unselfishness. 
 " Elise meant well in buying Beech Knoll," so 
 Miss Redmond reasoned with her rebellious heart. 
 " Now, let me not disturb her happiness by any 
 nonsense or vapors. I am through with emotions 
 by this time, I should hope. It is absurd to nurse 
 old associations in a way to annoy other people. 
 There is no one left with whom I can share those 
 old associations. Let them drop, Rebecca, bury 
 them. Take care of Elise. Make her happy. 
 What if you are going to see the river, and the 
 old bridge, and the willow-tree, you absurd little 
 woman ? You can never suffer again as you suf- 
 fered on the old bridge that summer evening, and 
 I hope you don't want to, do you ? You 're glad 
 it is all over, are n't you ? Then, for pity's sake, 
 don't think any more about it." 
 
 Thus, over and over, and with variations, Miss 
 Redmond talked herself into what she felt to be a
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 21 
 
 wholesome frame of mind. It lasted, scarcely dis- 
 turbed, until the fresh lips of the young girl pro- 
 nounced the name Rebecca shrank to-day from 
 hearing. 
 
 " Terriss, Terriss ! " The name echoed in her 
 ears as she hurried along, instinctively trying to 
 flee from it. " Done with, a lifetime ago," she 
 murmured ; and then the walls of her old home 
 broke upon her view. 
 
 " Dear old place. Well, well, how smart it 
 looks, I declare," she thought, hurrying on toward 
 the gateway. 
 
 A gardener was spading earth in a border. At 
 sight of her he came forward and touched his hat 
 respectfully. 
 
 "Mrs. Redmond, ma'am?" 
 
 " Miss Redmond," she answered, a little tremble 
 in her voice. 
 
 " I hope you find the place looking well, ma'am ? " 
 
 "Extremely well," she answered, with a smile, 
 passing on toward the house. 
 
 She glanced askance at the piazzas as she as- 
 cended the steps, with an odd fancy that the house 
 was aware of its finery and rather enjoyed it. 
 
 She rang the bell, and a trim maid appeared, 
 who looked at her expectantly. 
 
 " I am Miss Redmond," she said pleasantly. 
 " I presume my baggage has arrived." 
 
 " Yes, ma'am, it is upstairs." 
 
 " Very well. You may leave me to myself. I 
 will sit down awhile before going up."
 
 22 THE MISTRESS OF SEECH KNOLL. 
 
 When she was left alone, she passed into the 
 broad old parlor. Nothing here to remind her of 
 bygone days ; everything dainty and luxurious ! 
 She sat down in one of the deep chairs and looked 
 about her. The room, despite its freshness, had 
 not the comfortless appearance of never having 
 been lived in. 
 
 The piano was open. A tall lamp stood near it, 
 as though its light might, on the previous evening, 
 have illumined the open sheet of music that lay on 
 the rack. 
 
 She continued to look about her like one in a 
 dream ; but the utter transformation of the rooms 
 strengthened her courage. 
 
 " Elise is a Monte Cristo on a small scale," she 
 said to herself, "and I might be in England so 
 far as any familiarity goes. This is not hard to 
 bear." 
 
 She rose and went back into the hall and up 
 the thickly-carpeted stairs. From one room to 
 another she went : first to her father's, then to 
 Mary's, then to the once shabby spare chamber, 
 then to her own old bedroom. Everywhere the 
 luxury was so complete walls, ceilings, wood- 
 work, so changed that she looked on each ob- 
 ject with a dazed sort of wonder. As Miss Jones 
 had assured Roxana, the many-paned sashes had 
 been removed from the windows, and sheets of 
 plate glass substituted. 
 
 " One can see the river better," thought Re- 
 becca, wondering if it were really here that she
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 23 
 
 used to stand and observe the comical distortions 
 into which the landscape was twisted in spots by 
 the imperfections of the glass. 
 
 But looking out of the window was dangerous 
 to that calm which Miss Redmond was priding 
 herself upon preserving. She went into the cor- 
 ridor, and her glance fell upon the sole-leather 
 trunk which Eiise had given her. 
 
 " Which is my room ? " she mused. " It is 
 plain to see which is Elise's." She cast a look 
 toward the front of the house, where a door stood 
 open into what had been used by her father for a 
 writing-room. She wondered what would be his 
 sensations could he see its present fittings of pale 
 green, white, and silver. 
 
 She moved to the stairs that led into the attic. 
 " Perhaps there is a billiard-room up there," she 
 thought. " At any rate, I might as well see the 
 whole." 
 
 She went up, and paused at the top to accustom 
 her eyes to the half light. She perceived at once 
 that there was a mass of furniture crowded to- 
 gether under the eaves. She came nearer, and all 
 at once her heart, which had been so agreeably 
 calm, gave a great start. Color flew into her deli- 
 cate cheeks. Here, huddled in the silence and the 
 twilight, stood the old, familiar objects. Here was 
 the narrow mirror that had reflected her bright 
 eyes while she thought of Philip Terriss, and be- 
 low it the bureau drawers that had held her girlish 
 finery. There was her father's writing-table, the
 
 24 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 old sofa that had so often supported Mary's frail 
 body, and the faded rocker which always used to 
 stand in the warm corner by the stove. To her, 
 each piece of the worthless lumber had all the 
 pathos of a forgotten exile. Instantly, came a se- 
 vere reaction from her strained cheerfulness. An 
 agony of homesickness and compassionate longing 
 swept through her. She fell into her father's 
 rusty, rubbed old leathern armchair, clasped her 
 arms about its unyielding back, and burst into the 
 saddest tears she had ever shed. 
 
 " Dear old friends," she sobbed, " I have come 
 back. Oh, do you know me ? Don't you care a 
 little a little ? " 
 
 For a long time she wept in the silence, and the 
 pathos of her solitariness became lessened in this 
 companionship. She laid her cheek lovingly 
 against the worn spot where her father's head had 
 rested for so many years, and patted the unre- 
 sponsive arm. " We are old, old," she murmured. 
 " New times, new people, new fashions." 
 
 She lay musing in the chair for some time 
 longer ; then, inspired by a sudden idea, she rose 
 and moved to an unpainted door, which she opened. 
 It led into a plastered room which had been fin- 
 ished long ago, when guests had not been a rarity 
 at Beech Knoll, and an extra chamber had been in 
 demand. 
 
 Into this room she drew several of the old chairs 
 and the sofa. Next came the tall, narrow bureau. 
 She looked in vain for a bedstead. Evidently the
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 25 
 
 old bedsteads had been too cumbrous to carry up 
 the steep attic stairs, and had been disposed of. 
 
 She sighed. " Well, if it cannot be a bedroom 
 it shall be a sitting-room. Up here I will have a 
 little bit of the old life." 
 
 The twilight deepened. Miss Redmond be- 
 thought herself that she might already have giver 
 cause for comment to the servants, and gently 
 shutting the door of her treasure-chamber, she 
 hastened downstairs, meeting in the hallway the 
 white-capped maid, who, she imagined, looked at 
 her curiously. 
 
 " I came up because I heard strange sounds in 
 the garret, Miss Redmond. I did not know you 
 were up there. The cook wished me to say that 
 dinner is ready." 
 
 "I will be down directly. I must wash my 
 hands first," said Rebecca. She hesitated a mo- 
 ment$ then, from the necessity of making a choice, 
 entered the smallest of the bedrooms on that floor. 
 It was the one that had been Mary's. The maid 
 followed with the satchel, which had been resting 
 on the trunk, and then went noiselessly away. 
 
 Rebecca bathed her face and hands, and smiled 
 a little, as she smoothed her hair before the broad, 
 beveled mirror of the perfectly-appointed dressing- 
 case. She was thinking tenderly of the meagre 
 and worn old objects shut away upstairs in what 
 seemed like another world, and she smiled for 
 enjoyment of a possession which she was sure no 
 one would dispute with her.
 
 26 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " It was a very good plan for the foolish little 
 Ionian to come out here alone and get over the 
 first tears and sighs," she thought, as she sat at 
 her solitary meal. The exquisite linen and delicate 
 table service did not strike her as novel. Rebecca 
 had grown accustomed to luxurious living in the 
 few years past. It had seemed very wonderful, at 
 first, to leave the life of hard work and scanty pay, 
 and to commence an utterly new existence ; but 
 her young sister needed her and wanted her, and 
 she found that Richard had left to herself the lit- 
 tle he had, enough to give her a feeling of inde- 
 pendence ; so she did not scruple to follow Elise's 
 fortunes, indeed, she could not conscientiously 
 leave the young widow ; and now the latter's vaga- 
 ries had brought her back to the old dining-room, 
 transformed, like her own life. Yes, she had done 
 well to come and pass one night here alone. There 
 was a dull pain and longing at her heart, which 
 would not be stifled by all her cheerfulness and 
 determined admiration. To-morrow, all would be 
 better. 
 
 When to-morrow came, she told herself that all 
 was better. She allowed herself to think of noth- 
 ing but the impression Elise's purchase would 
 make upon her, and she spent the morning in 
 unpacking and finding homes for her own effects, 
 while marveling anew at the completeness of every 
 room, the details of which Mrs. Redmond had 
 found means to superintend, even from the other 
 side of the continent.
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 27 
 
 The new lady of Beech Knoll was capricious, 
 and, knowing her to be capricious, it did not as- 
 tonish Rebecca to see her, about noon, enter the 
 grounds in a buggy driven by a strange, middle- 
 aged man. As they approached, she could see 
 that Mrs. Redmond was chatting with him, or 
 rather to him, in a vivacious manner, and she 
 drew back a little from the window, thinking that 
 it might be the stranger would come in. 
 
 No. Elise stood a moment on the step and 
 spoke some last words to him, then he raised his 
 hat and drove away. 
 
 Miss Redmond hurried to the door and opened 
 it. " Welcome home ! " she said cheerily. 
 
 The young woman who had so unconsciously 
 stirred Snowdon to its depths looked not about at 
 her new purchase, nor spoke a word. She stood 
 for a moment looking straight into her sister-in- 
 law's calm eyes, with a penetrating gaze most dis- 
 concerting to sustain. She was a glorious speci- 
 men of womanhood, tall, straight, and graceful, 
 with a glow of health upon her face, and pleasant, 
 blue-gray eyes, which, with her bronze hair, rough 
 from curliness, seemed to express the force and 
 vitality which formed such a contrast to the pale, 
 slight woman before her. 
 
 " You do welcome me ; you are a good little 
 woman," she said, stepping over the threshold, 
 catching Miss Rebecca in her arras, and kissing 
 her. 
 
 "It is all beautiful, Elise," began Miss Red-
 
 28 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 mond nervously, a little perplexed by her sister's 
 strange manner. 
 
 " I dare say. I will look at it in a minute. 
 First, Rebecca Redmond, sometimes familiarly 
 known as Sister Bee, I have a confession to 
 make." 
 
 Miss Rebecca looked up into the brilliant face 
 which smiled down at her, and then her glance 
 dropped to her imprisoned hands. 
 
 " I waked up this morning feeling small, hum- 
 ble, mean. I do not remember ever to have felt 
 so before, and it is not a pleasant sensation." 
 
 " What has happened ? " Miss Redmond looked 
 up. 
 
 " I have been stupid beyond compare ; selfish, 
 absorbed in my own plans, blundering along, re- 
 gardless and forgetful of your feelings until last 
 evening. Then, it suddenly dawned upon me why 
 you wished to come out here alone. It suddenly 
 came to me how dense and indelicate I have been. 
 
 Rebecca, I am so ashamed! Don't speak yet. 
 
 1 am always headlong about everything. I have 
 always loved Beech Knoll. The happiest weeks 
 of my childhood were those I spent here. One 
 reason I married Mr. Redmond, when he was so 
 kind as to wish to take charge of me and my cares, 
 was because he was associated with this place. 
 When I decided that I must spend some time in 
 or near Boston, I grasped at the idea of buying 
 Beech Knoll. I thought it would be such a pleas- 
 ant surprise for you. Yes, I am ashamed of it
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 29 
 
 now, but I really did. I took pains that it should 
 not be known here who had bought the place, for 
 fear some of your old acquaintances might write 
 you and spoil my surprise. Fancy that ! Then, 
 knowing that a poor sort of people had lived here 
 of late, I proceeded to have the place made habita- 
 ble ; then I brought my precious news to you. Oh, 
 how well you received it, you brave little dear ! " 
 a hearty kiss here on Miss Redmond's thin cheek. 
 ?' How kind and good you have been to me ! It 
 needed your timid little request to come out and 
 get things ready for me to take the scales from 
 my eyes. Now, first, I wish to apologize for all I 
 have made you suffer, and then I wish to beg 
 you, earnestly and sincerely, not to stay here with 
 me. You have sacrificed yourself to me so much 
 and so long, I refuse to be selfish any longer." 
 
 There was a little flush on Miss Redmond's 
 face. " How like you, Elise, to ignore all you have 
 done for me," she returned. " Do you wish me to 
 leave you here ? " 
 
 " When you know I am being unselfish for once, 
 why do you ask me that?" was the rather exas- 
 perated reply. 
 
 " Then, if you please, I won't leave you." 
 
 " And you will forgive me for being dull and 
 arrogant ? " 
 
 Rebecca smiled. " My child ! " 
 
 " It comes from my having had no home but 
 schools all my childhood and girlhood. Does it 
 not?" asked Elise anxiously
 
 30 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " The good things of life were to come to you 
 later. Come and look at the result of all your 
 brain work." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond continued to look, not at her new 
 home, but into her sister-in-law's face. 
 
 " We can sell it," she said doubtfully. 
 
 Miss Redmond laughed. Nothing could so have 
 banished her lingering pain as this contrition in 
 the girl she had learned to love dearly. 
 
 " Let us not sell it," she said, " until you have 
 tired of it. You will weary of living here before 
 I shall." 
 
 Elise kissed her again impulsively. "I am a 
 lucky woman ! " she exclaimed ; then she slid an 
 arm around Miss Rebecca, and together they 
 crossed the broad hall and entered the parlor. 
 
 " Is it not strange," she said gravely, " that this 
 is the first home I ever had?" She looked all 
 about. Even her precious pictures were safe and 
 well hung. 
 
 " Those people have done well," she said. She 
 had glanced into every room in the house before, 
 finally, in her own, she laid off the hat and jacket 
 she had worn since her arrival. 
 
 " I can hardly realize that we are going to stay," 
 she said then. " We have been birds of passage 
 for so long. I trust you do not feel that you are 
 spoiled for a domestic life, Rebecca. I Was saying 
 to the minister, as we came along, that I expected 
 to learn all the domestic virtues from you now." 
 
 " So that was the minister ? " said Rebecca.
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 31 
 
 " Yes. When I reached Snowdon, there was no 
 conveyance at hand, and this gentleman, happen- 
 ing to see my dilemma, offered to bring me to 
 Beech Knoll. His name interested me at once. 
 It is Terriss, and while I am waiting for my lug- 
 gage will be a good time to tell you why that name 
 interests me." 
 
 Poor Rebecca nodded. So long as she was not 
 required to tell why that name interested her, she 
 was willing to listen to any disclosures. 
 
 Elise seated herself near her. " When I was 
 quite young," she began, " my father adopted an 
 orphan boy, whose parents he had known in their 
 lifetime. As you know, I was very little with my 
 father, but his letters never failed to mention 
 Terriss, and were always so full of interest in the 
 boy's abilities and progress that I wonder I was 
 never jealous of him. We knew one another but 
 very little. I remember him as a singularly non- 
 chalant, indifferent sort of boy, but, separated as 
 we always were, it is little wonder that we were 
 not attached to one another, as adopted brothers 
 and sisters ordinarily are. The last year or two 
 of my father's life, he, who had always been an 
 absorbed business man devoted <;o his numerous 
 financial interests, seemed to become more en- 
 grossed than ever. His letters were fewer, and 
 now they ceased to mention Terriss Chester. I 
 thought little of that, for I had learned to take it 
 as a matter of course that I should not have my 
 father's confidence." Mrs. Redmond sighed. " My
 
 32 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 father gave me what he believed to be every possi- 
 ble advantage, thinking or at least I always hope 
 that was his idea that when I had completed my 
 studies, we should become acquainted and enjoy 
 one another. That was not to be ; and when his 
 sudden death recalled me, I had a secondary shock 
 to sustain in finding that Terriss had disappeared, 
 no one could tell me why or whither. It was 
 known that he and my father had quarreled and 
 parted. That was all. I did not realize how seri- 
 ous was the trouble until my father's will was read, 
 and I was discovered to be his sole heir. 
 
 " I was greatly surprised and troubled. As soon 
 as Mr. Redmond came to me, I told him all the 
 circumstances, and begged his help in discovering 
 Terriss and trying to assist him, even if I should 
 not be able to persuade him to accept what I could 
 not help feeling was his share of the property. 
 Mr. Redmond dissuaded me from the step very 
 earnestly. He represented that a young man who 
 could have forfeited the affection of so devoted a 
 guardian had better be left to follow the path he 
 had chosen. He reminded me that I was a very 
 young woman, not fit, perhaps, to judge of the 
 fault of which ^rriss had been guilty, and that it 
 would be very indiscreet in me to look into a case 
 which my father had had all opportunity for un- 
 derstanding, and of which he had left so decided a 
 proof of his condemnation. In short, your brother 
 made me feel ashamed of what he termed my quix- 
 otism, and I yielded to his persuasions, and let the
 
 UNDER THE EAV1.S. 33 
 
 matter drop ; but the subject would not drop me. 
 Every morning and every night, I would think of 
 the disappointment that came to that proud, care- 
 less boy, who had been taught to expect a brilliant 
 future, and I would wonder whether my inertia in 
 the matter was right. Whatever Terriss was, he 
 might, doubtless, become worse. Why was it not 
 my duty to find him and see if iny influence could 
 be of use to him in any direction ? 
 
 " Nearly six months ago, I heard that Terriss 
 Chester was in Boston, and I determined at once 
 to buy Beech Knoll. All sorts of fancies floated 
 through my head of possible reconciliations and 
 righting of wrongs, for I cannot get away from the 
 suspicion that Terriss suffered a wrong." Elise's 
 brow contracted. " I know that my poor father 
 was hasty and hot tempered. If I could once be 
 certain that he did not wrong the boy by disin- 
 heriting him, I could let the matter drop gladly ; 
 for it is not in the nature of things that I could 
 feel an attachment to him. We were complete 
 strangers even before the trouble came." 
 
 " Well, Elise," said Miss Redmond, " is that at 
 the bottom of this experiment?" 
 
 " Not quite," returned the other, with an arch 
 smile. " I have always secretly yearned for Beech 
 Knoll. I only needed something to decide me." 
 
 Miss Rebecca shook her head. " Your life has 
 been like a butterfly's, Elise, and there is no arti- 
 ficial sunshine here in winter to warm you. I fear 
 you will not survive one season."
 
 34 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's cheeks flushed. " Perhaps I 
 do not like to be a butterfly," she replied. "I 
 wanted a home and something to do. I wanted 
 this home, and I believed my work lay here." 
 
 Rebecca felt inclined to smile, but she refrained. 
 She saw that her sister was deeply in earnest. 
 
 " I think you are perfectly right to search for 
 this young man," she said. " I do not see how 
 a woman of heart could do otherwise. Perhaps 
 Richard's advice to you was wise, but I cannot see 
 it so." 
 
 " I am so glad that is your feeling," returned 
 Elise, pleased and surprised. " Frankly, I feared 
 it would not be, else I should have told you my 
 determination before we left California. I had 
 decided not to be dissuaded, and so concluded not 
 to touch the subject until circumstances made it 
 necessary. I should not have spoken to-day, but 
 that I was eager to have you know that I had some 
 slight excuse for my selfish absorption and forge t- 
 fulness of you ; and you have forgiven me, have 
 you not?" 
 
 " Fully," said Rebecca. 
 
 " So now I am really very happy and hopeful," 
 continued Elise, rising and moving to the window. 
 " To think that in a few months we shall see the 
 charming autumn foliage, and then will come one 
 of the New England snowstorms, such as I have 
 not seen for years." 
 
 " Yes, that is one thing you can look for confi- 
 dently," returned Miss Redmond.
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 35 
 
 Her sister drew a hand slowly over the soft, 
 silken window drapery. " You believe in Provi- 
 dence implicitly, even in the smallest details of life, 
 I believe," she said abruptly. 
 
 " I do," replied Rebecca quietly. 
 
 " I should like to believe whatever you do," con- 
 tinued Elise, " since one is to judge of another 
 by the fruits of his life. It seems to me yet I 
 thought myself perhaps superstitious for thinking 
 so that Providence showed approval of my plans 
 in sending that Mr. Terriss to the station to bring 
 me home." 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 " What is very unusual for me, I felt a singular 
 attraction toward the man. I should not have 
 guessed he was a minister. His dress was not con- 
 ventional, and he has no mannerism of speech. I 
 like him. I cannot say why. I felt glad at once 
 that he lived in Snowdon, even before I knew his 
 name or profession. Well, I really am in a quan- 
 dary as to how to commence operations. What 
 should you say to my taking Mr. Terriss' name 
 as my excuse, and going to him with my story, 
 and asking his advice ? Should you consider that 
 ' following the leadings ' ? " 
 
 Miss Rebecca reflected. " Perhaps," she re- 
 plied. " But why not write this boy a frank let- 
 ter, and ask him to call upon you, or to appoint a 
 place where you can meet ; then I can go with 
 you to see him."' 
 
 " I have not his address, in the first place. In
 
 36 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 the second place, he is not a boy any longer, you 
 know. He may be a great, gruff, black-bearded 
 ruffian, for all I know to the contrary." 
 
 " Oh, misery ! " ejaculated gentle Miss Rebecca, 
 much disconcerted. " I see you have thought a 
 great deal about this, my dear. I wish I could 
 help you, but I 'm afraid, if he should really turn 
 out to be very big and at all ugly, I might not be 
 of so much assistance as this Mr. this minister 
 you have met. He did not look like a minister, I 
 must say, but Phyllis told me that was the new 
 man's name, so I suppose it is all right." 
 
 " Oh, yes, it is all right, I am sure. His eyes 
 settled that for me at once. Who is Phyllis ? " 
 
 "A girl whom I left here almo? a baby ten 
 years ago. I met her, grown up, on the street 
 yesterday. She said Mr. the minister was a 
 jewel, or else Roxana did," Miss Redmond was 
 becoming rather fluttered and red -cheeked. " I 
 think there could be no harm in going to him for 
 his advice. The coincidence of names certainly 
 would suggest the thought, even if he were not 
 going to be your minister." 
 
 Elise gave a little laugh. " That speech gives 
 me a realizing sense that I have a local habitation 
 at last. My minister ! Yes, Mr. Terriss gives 
 one the feeling that he is thoroughly human and 
 companionable. I like the idea that he is my min- 
 ister. If he has anything to teach me, I shall like 
 to learn of him. At any rate, I will go to him to- 
 morrow."
 
 UNDER THE EAVES. 37 
 
 " Not wait for him to call first ? " exclaimed 
 Miss Rebecca deprecatiugly. 
 
 " No, not wait for anything. And you are com- 
 ing with me, poor little Rebecca ; you must come 
 with me. You are the oldest resident, after all. 
 He has only been here a year. You ought to call 
 on his wife." 
 
 " Has he a wife ? " 
 
 " I suppose so. Ministers always do have, I be- 
 lieve, and more particularly naughty children than 
 they are able to support." 
 
 " Tut, tut, Elise ! " returned Miss Redmond. 
 
 " You will come with me, children or no chil- 
 dren, won't you ? " 
 
 ' " I shall always go with you, Elise, whenever 
 you want me," replied Miss Rebecca, with a little, 
 unconscious sigh.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ONCE AGAIN. 
 
 EARLY on the following afternoon, Rebecca es- 
 corted Elise to the old parsonage. 
 
 To Miss Redmond's surprise, in response to her 
 ring the door was opened by Mrs. Sherritt. 
 
 " Why, Miss Rebecca, this is good and neigh- 
 borly of you, and no mistake," exclaimed the latter, 
 in a gratified tone ; " but it is exactly like you, 
 and I might have expected it. Mrs. Terriss, poor 
 woman, never bein' able to leave the house, folks 
 must 6ome to her ; but how did you find out so 
 quick?" 
 
 " I did not, Roxana, I did not know about 
 Mrs. Terriss. This is Mrs. Redmond, my sister ; 
 and, Elise, perhaps you remember Mrs. Sherritt, 
 Dr. Joy's housekeeper, and my good neighbor 
 always." 
 
 Roxana nodded in rather a cautious way, and 
 gave Elise's cordial hand the loose shake of the 
 uncultured. 
 
 " I do not remember Mrs. Sherritt," said Mrs. 
 Redmond, smiling pleasantly as she entered the 
 corridor. 
 
 " I am so glad you happened to be here, Rox- 
 ana," pursued Miss Rebecca anxiously, "for Mrs.
 
 ONCE AGAIN. 39 
 
 Redmond wishes to see Mr. Terriss on business, 
 and you will know whether it would disturb him 
 just now." 
 
 "I guess not," replied Roxana, closing the door 
 behind them. " Come into the parlor and wait a 
 minute, and don't let on, please, Miss Rebecca," 
 she added, lowering her voice, " that you did n't lay 
 out to see Mrs. Terriss, for it '11 chirk her up and 
 please her mightily to think you cared to come. 
 Time hangs heavy with her sometimes. It 's natural 
 it should, you know." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Mrs. Redmond, " Mr. Terriss 
 would be so kind as to let me come to his study. " 
 
 " I '11 see in a minute," returned Mrs. Sherritt 
 shortly. 
 
 She was divided between gratitude to Elise for 
 restoring Miss Rebecca to Snowdon, and a jealous 
 dislike of her for being so far more beautiful, 
 strong, and happy than the gentle, feeble Mrs. 
 Richard of past years. 
 
 " She 's dreadful afraid some time '11 be wasted 
 neighboring at any rate," she thought, with some 
 resentment, as she showed the visitors into the 
 parlor, and then withdrew. 
 
 Rebecca looked sadly about her. Here was the 
 same shabby carpet grown shabbier, the same dis- 
 mal haircloth sofa and chairs, the same cold, small, 
 marble table that she remembered. She looked, 
 beyond, where the door was ajar that led into the 
 sitting-room, where Mr. Dunham, her old pastor, 
 used to sit every evening in solitary contentment.
 
 40 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mr. Dunham Aad been a widower, whose married 
 children lived far away, and no feminine touch 
 ever beautified the living-rooms of the old house 
 where he dwelt among his books. Rebecca quite 
 longed to pass into the next room so full of pleas- 
 ant association, and see if it too had the same air 
 as of old. 
 
 While she was absorbed in reminiscence, Roxana 
 returned. 
 
 " Mr. Terriss would like to have you come up, 
 Mrs. Redmond. You wait one minute, Miss Re- 
 becca, till I show her the. way." Elise followed 
 her guide, and in a few minutes Mrs. Sherritt 
 returned. 
 
 " Now, then, Miss Rebecca, this way, please," 
 she said, her face beaming with satisfaction as she 
 threw wide the door through which Miss Redmond 
 had been casting wistful glances. 
 
 Rebecca followed, and paused, surprised at the 
 metamorphosis of the room she remembered so 
 bare and poor. 
 
 A cheerful carpet of shades of brown and gold, 
 a fire in an open stove, light furniture, and plenty 
 of sunshine made a picture totally unfamiliar to 
 the visitor. In the window stood an invalid chair, 
 and in it sat a pale, eager-faced woman, whose 
 piercing gaze people always found disconcerting 
 until it became familiar. Mrs. Terriss had the 
 combination, always striking, of flaxen hair and 
 black eyes and brows, and these eyes, large and 
 bright, seemed ever searching, ever questioning.
 
 ONCE AGAIN. 41 
 
 "Why is she not beautiful?" was Rebecca's 
 first, involuntary thought. 
 
 Roxana turned to her with a smile. 
 
 " This is Miss Redmond, Mrs. Terriss, the very 
 lady I was tellin' you about a little while ago, and 
 this is the first visit she 's made in Snowdon since 
 she came back, I '11 be bound." 
 
 " It is kind of you, Miss Redmond, as kind as it 
 can be," said the invalid, in a weary voice. " You 
 know, of. course, I would come and see you if I 
 could ; but no doubt Roxana has told you how 
 feeble I am." 
 
 " I am very sorry for you, Mrs. Terriss," replied 
 Rebecca warmly, taking the chair Mrs. Sherritt 
 had placed for her. "How very pleasant your 
 room is ! I must speak of it, because I remember 
 it such a different place in my girlhood. Roxana, 
 you remember too." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt nodded. " I remember well 
 enough ; but Mr. Terriss fixed it all up till there 
 is n't a pleasanter room in town. Well, I must go 
 now, Mrs. Terriss. I leave you in good hands. I 
 think Lucindy '11 get along for a while now." 
 
 "Thank you. Do come again soon. You have 
 taught her to make bread at last, so I shall not 
 starve ; but do not leave us too long. Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt has been such an assistance to us," continued 
 the invalid, after Roxana's departure. " The help in 
 Snowdon is so inferior that only strong, well women 
 could keep house here successfully, I am sure. 
 Mrs. Sherritt contrives to superintend our house
 
 42 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 as well as the doctor's, or I don't know what I 
 should do. She and Mr. Terriss between them 
 manage to keep me alive," and Mrs. Terriss smiled 
 faintly. 
 
 " Do you suffer much pain ?" asked Miss Red- 
 mond gently. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss closed her eyes, and lifted her deli- 
 cate hands in an expressive gesture. " No one 
 knows what I suffer," she answered, " no one but 
 my husband. I have the best, the most devoted 
 husband in the world," she added, warming into a 
 sudden glow of enthusiasm. 
 
 "And have you long been an invalid ? " 
 
 " For many years. Ever since the loss of my 
 only child." 
 
 Rebecca's conscience smote her for having made 
 anything of her own trials. 
 
 "Dr. Joy comes to see me sometimes. His 
 visits are a pleasure to anticipate, but there is little 
 any doctor can do for me. My husband is my 
 best doctor. Words cannot tell what he is to me. 
 In fact, he constitutes my world ; but excuse the 
 egotism of an invalid. Let us talk of something 
 else. Are you glad to come back to Snowdon ? " 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs. Redmond was telling her story 
 to an attentive listener. The room in which she 
 found the minister was one of the barely furnished 
 upstairs rooms of the parsonage, in which a desk 
 now took the place once occupied by the bedstead. 
 The ceiling slanted down to meet the windows on 
 one side, and the opposite wall was filled with 
 shelves of books.
 
 ONCE AGAIN. 43 
 
 The room below, in which Mr. Dunham had com- 
 posed his sermons, was used by Mrs. Terriss as a 
 bedroom. 
 
 "Of course, one room is as good as another to 
 one who can come and go at will," she had said, 
 when her husband had established her in her 
 pleasant quarters. 
 
 Elise, after her first rapid glance at the surround- 
 ings, thought no more of them as she told the story 
 she came to tell. 
 
 Mr. Terriss listened with the grave air habitual 
 to him. His hair and short brown beard and 
 mustache were thickly sprinkled with gray, and his 
 deep-set eyes had the pleasant expression that had 
 won Mrs. Redmond's confidence at their first 
 meeting. He nodded and smiled, as she finished. 
 
 " It is your name," she added, " which has 
 brought all this upon you. I thought I might need 
 a man's help, and so I came to you." 
 
 There was almost a merry look in the minister's 
 face as he leaned back in his chair. 
 
 " I hope you like a home in Snowdon under any 
 circumstances," he said, " for your errand is not 
 likely to require much time." 
 
 "You know Terriss, then," exclaimed Elise 
 eagerly, a bright color tinging her fair cheeks. 
 
 "I do. It is hardly two weeks since I heard 
 from him the other side of this story. He has 
 been ill, and is in a hospital." 
 
 "Ah!" exclaimed Mrs. Redmond. "Is he 
 but excuse me, perhaps he is your relative,"
 
 44 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " He is my cousin ; but say whatever was in 
 your mind." 
 
 " I was going to ask you if he is respectable ; 
 but I mean, is he worthy ? " 
 
 " So far as I know ; but we are almost strangers. 
 He happened to learn recently that I was settled 
 so near the city, and being rather lonely and de- 
 pressed in the hospital, he wrote me, asking if I 
 could come to see him." 
 
 " This is wonderful," said Mrs. Redmond. " I 
 have thought and brooded over the matter so much, 
 and imagined so many difficulties in the way of 
 finding Terriss, that this sudden discovery seems 
 almost too good to be true. Did he of course 
 he did tell you the cause of the quarrel between 
 him and my father?" 
 
 Elise's cheeks burned, and she bit her lip. 
 
 Mr. Terriss read aright the signs of apprehen- 
 sion in her face. 
 
 " You will be surprised," he said, " to learn how 
 slight was the cause of the trouble." 
 
 " Do you think he told you the truth ? " she 
 asked quickly. 
 
 Mr. Terriss raised his eyebrows. " I hardly see 
 how he could have any reason not to do so." 
 
 " Why, to preserve his reputation. If he is ill 
 and unfortunate and needs your help, he would not 
 willingly prejudice you against him." 
 
 " You have no faith in him ? " asked Mr. Terriss, 
 keeping his eyes fixed on his visitor's earnest, beau- 
 tiful face.
 
 OXCE AGAIN. 45 
 
 She made a gesture of despair. " I do not know 
 him. I have not seen him since I was ten years 
 old. That is the worst of it." 
 
 " Well, I think he was telling me the truth." 
 
 "You do. What did he tell you? May I 
 hear?" 
 
 " Certainly. He said that from the time he was 
 sixteen Mr. Beckwith wished him to enter the min- 
 istry. At first he made no decided objection, but 
 as time went on the idea became growingly re- 
 pugnant to him, and at last the matter became the 
 subject of the quarrel which separated them." 
 
 " Is that all ? " exclaimed Elise, as her edifice of 
 vague and dreadful suppositions faded into noth- 
 ingness. 
 
 " That is all." 
 
 " And you believe him ? " 
 
 " I saw no reason to doubt him. I see none 
 now." 
 
 "Well, what shall I do?" Elise spoke rather 
 curtly. She felt extreme vexation with the boy 
 whose obstinacy had given her so much perplexity 
 and anxiety. It would have been easier to bear 
 had he given her father more reasonable ground 
 for complaint. 
 
 " Is he a successful man ? " she added. 
 
 Mr. Tei'riss smiled. " He has lost his position in 
 a banking-house by this illness," he returned, " and 
 is not yet able to think of finding another. In 
 fact, he admitted to me that he had been unusually 
 unsuccessful. Quite a sum of money which he had
 
 46 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 saved was lost in the Bank failure, and the 
 
 little he has left is melting- fast in his present 
 rather expensive quarters." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's cold look did not soften. She 
 did not like the picture of the invalid pouring his 
 woes into the ear of his stranger relative ; but a 
 sense of justice constrained her. 
 
 " He was brought up as the son of a rich man," 
 she said. " It is hard for him. May I ask you to 
 take the trouble to write him, saying nothing of me, 
 excepting that Mr. Beckvvith's daughter has com- 
 municated with you, and inform him of my wish to 
 give him his share of the property ? " 
 
 " Since it is your wish, after much consideration, 
 I will do so with pleasure." 
 
 " I do not care to meet him if it is not necessary, 
 so do not tell him that I am here. Simply say, if 
 you will, that I consider that he ought to have a por- 
 tion of my father's property, and that I am ready to 
 give it to him. My lawyer will attend to the rest." 
 Mrs. Redmond rose. " You are very kind to assist 
 me," she added, with a return of her gracious 
 manner. 
 
 " You may be sure that I am very happy to have 
 a hand in bringing better times to my cousin a 
 second cousin only, to be sure, but we are a small 
 family, and must make the most of each other." 
 
 " I am very sorry," said Elise, as her companion 
 rose, " to learn that Mrs. Terriss is ill." 
 
 The cheerful light died from the minister's face. 
 He bowed slightly. " No more so than usual," he
 
 ONCE AGAIN. 47 
 
 said. " Mrs. Terriss is an invalid. I should like 
 to introduce you to her before you go. It is a 
 great pleasure to her to meet new people." 
 
 " Thank you, I should be glad to know her. 
 She is receiving a call now from my sister, Miss 
 Redmond." 
 
 " Ah, I am glad of that. I suppose, Mrs c Red- 
 mond, in the case of Terriss Chester, it is not in my 
 province to remind you that you are doing an 
 unusual thing, perhaps an unnecessarily generous 
 thing, in giving up this property." 
 
 The haughty look came back to the fair face. 
 " I shall relieve myself by doing so. There is 
 nothing unselfish in it. If only it does good and 
 not harm to Mr. Chester, I shall be entirely satis- 
 fied. I am more than fortunate to have found 
 such a friend in the matter as yourself." 
 
 The minister bowed again. There was a grace- 
 ful dignity about the man, despite his threadbare 
 coat and shabby surroundings, which more than 
 ever impressed his guest favorably. 
 
 She followed him downstairs and into the sitting- 
 
 o 
 
 room, where comfort prevailed in such striking 
 contrast to the rest of the house. 
 
 " Lily, I have brought you a visitor," he said. 
 " This is Mrs. Redmond, who has come to live at 
 Beech Knoll.". 
 
 Rebecca straightened herself suddenly in her 
 chair, and a mist passed before her eyes. 
 
 "And this, my dear, is Miss Redmond," re- 
 turned Mrs. Terriss, her voice suddenly sounding
 
 48 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 far away to Rebecca ; but the latter mechanically 
 put out her hand to the one extended to her. 
 
 "Miss Redmond and I met once, many years 
 ago," said the minister. 
 
 " Philip, I wish you would draw that shade down 
 a little," observed his wife. " Mrs. Redmond will 
 sit down, I hope." 
 
 " I thank you. I only came in to meet you this 
 time, Mrs. Terriss. I shall call on you soon, if you 
 will let me. We must not stay longer to-day." 
 
 " No, not to-day, Elise," echoed Rebecca. She 
 did not know what more was said. She did not 
 know how finally relief came, and they two were 
 walking in the fresh air. She did not hear a word 
 of what Elise said to her. There was room in her 
 mind for only one idea at present. History had 
 repeated itself, and she had stood face to face with 
 Philip Terriss, heard his voice, and touched hi* 
 hand.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 
 
 ROXAXA walked in upon Phyllis, who was curled 
 up in her favorite corner of the sitting-room, read- 
 ing. 
 
 " Well, I 've seen her," she commenced, unpin- 
 ning her shawl. 
 
 " Who ? " asked Phyllis vaguely, looking up re- 
 luctantly from the interview between Romola and 
 her dying brother. 
 
 Mrs. Richard Redmond the second," replied 
 Mrs. Sherritt, removing her hat. 
 
 " You do not like her," said Phyllis quickly. 
 
 " Who told you ? " 
 
 " You did. I know you, Roxana." 
 
 " I do like her," returned Mrs. Sherritt, rather 
 ashamed of herself, and taking refuge in defiance. 
 " You ain't any mind-reader, Phyllis. To be sure, 
 she did n't seem just willin' to stop and visit with 
 Mrs. Terriss." 
 
 " Is that where you met her ? " 
 
 " Yes ; she came to see the minister." 
 
 Phyllis laughed. " Mrs. Redmond looked or 
 said something that you did n't like. I know that 
 perfectly well." 
 
 " Then I 'm an ugly, touchy thing," observed
 
 50 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt, her lips twitching in a smile. " She 
 looked handsome, and she spoke civil ; but Miss 
 Rebecca was with her, and she stayed, in her quiet 
 little neighborly way, to visit with Mrs. Terriss, 
 while the young woman rushed off to the minis- 
 ter's study. It seems as though her soul must need 
 attendin' to in an awful hurry, seein' she could n't 
 wait for him to come and see her. However, it 's 
 none o' my business." 
 
 " Do you think I dare visit her ? " asked Phyllis 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Oh, I guess she ain't as wicked as all that 
 comes to. I was only jokin'." 
 
 " Nonsense ! I mean, is she very elegant and 
 and proud ? Does she look as though she would 
 laugh at one ? " 
 
 " Why, Phyllis Flower, I am surprised at you ! " 
 exclaimed Roxana, standing still to point her 
 words. " Don't you know your folks are as good 
 as any in the land ? There are relicts up in the 
 attic this minute that are most likely older and 
 respectabler than any Mrs. Redmond could show 
 to save her life. What was her father ? Prob'bly 
 began life with a pickaxe in a mine. All those 
 rich California folks did. Your great-grandmother 
 was related to the governor o' the State in her 
 time. There 's a green brocade dress o' hers in 
 the attic this minute, and if Mrs. Redmond should 
 say anythin' high-headed, it would n't do any harm 
 for you to refer to it. Dare to go and see her ! 
 You 're gain 1 to see her ! I heard your uncle say
 
 iy THE MIDST OF LiFK. 51 
 
 he should call on Miss Rebecca no later than to- 
 morrow, and you shall go with him." 
 
 " Oh, I am not sure I want to," said Phyllis. 
 " What is Mrs. Redmond like ? " 
 
 " Like ? She 's tall, and slim, and red-headed, 
 with a goodish complexion," returned Roxana, 
 shaking down the stove with a racket that almost 
 drowned the words which Phyllis strained her ears 
 to hear. 
 
 " Do stop that noise," begged the girl. " Is she 
 young ? " 
 
 " It feels more like spring than ever," remarked 
 Roxana, rising from her knees. " I should n't 
 wonder if, when this fire goes out, we did n't have 
 to build it up again." 
 
 " Is she young? " repeated Phyllis. " Miss Red- 
 mond said so." 
 
 " Yes, she 's young, and she 's got kind of a bos- 
 sin' way with her that old-fashioned folks think 
 sets better on older people." 
 
 Phyllis repressed a smile. She knew Roxana 
 had a predilection for doing all the " bossing " 
 herself. 
 
 "You shall go with your uncle to-morrow," 
 added Mrs. Sherritt decidedly. " You 've been 
 invited, and you sha'n't hang back. After you 've 
 been once, if you don't want to go again I won't 
 say a word ; only, do you hold up your head, 
 Phyllis, and remember who you are. " 
 
 Dr. Joy smiled in an amused fashion when his 
 housekeeper informed him of her desires.
 
 52 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " You think it is time the little girl made her 
 de"but, do you ? " he said. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca asked her to come," returned 
 Roxana ; " and I will say for Phyllis," she added, 
 in a lowered tone, " that she has been very sensible 
 about all this Beech Knoll fluster, and it 's natural 
 she should want to see the place. Now, let her go 
 decently and in order with you, and make a call, 
 and that 's all right." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt personally aided at the girl's toilet 
 on the important occasion. Phyllis wore a plain 
 gray dress of thin and lustrous silk, a black straw 
 turban, a gray and white shawl, and black silk 
 gloves. Had she arrayed herself in the ancestral 
 brocade, she could hardly have presented a quainter 
 appearance ; but in her own and Roxana's eyes 
 her costume left nothing to be desired. 
 
 " Remember the governor o' the State," whis- 
 pered Mrs. Sherritt, as she tucked her into the 
 buggy. 
 
 " What was that ? " asked the doctor, as they 
 started. 
 
 *' Roxana does n't want me to be shy," explained 
 Phyllis. 
 
 " This is your first formal call, is n't it ? " 
 
 " Oh, don't frighten me with that awful word ! " 
 exclaimed Phyllis, catching her breath. "There 
 could not be any formality in Snowdon, could 
 there ? " 
 
 " No, I think not. Do you ever wish you could 
 go away from Snowdon, little one ? "
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 53 
 
 " I did until that night we spent in Boston. 
 Oh, how noisy it was ! I wondered, and I won- 
 der still, how people keep their wits in such an 
 uproar." 
 
 " Then you are quite contented ? " 
 
 " Oh, who is quite contented ? " replied the girl. 
 
 The doctor nodded. " I often wonder if I am 
 doing right by you, Phyllis. I know I 'm a near- 
 sighted old man, mentally as well as physically ; 
 and because I am satisfied with a fire and plenty 
 of books and tea when I come in from a cold ride, 
 I am apt to forget that you need something more 
 stirring. It seems to me you never have young 
 people at the house any more." 
 
 "No, the only girls I cared for are away at 
 school." 
 
 Dr. Joy looked around at her sharply. " Why 
 have n't you asked me to let you go away to 
 school ? " 
 
 Phyllis shook her head. " I knew it cost too 
 much, and, beside, I like my studies with you so 
 much. I am not afraid I shall not be able to hold 
 my own with them when they come back." 
 
 Dr. Joy continued to cast uneasy glances at his 
 companion. "You seem always to be reading," 
 he said. 
 
 Phyllis smiled. " A great mistake of yours, 
 Uncle Doctor. Roxana sees to it that I do a vari- 
 ety of other things." 
 
 " Roxana is very fond of you, and she has 
 taught you to be as handy as herself ; but I think
 
 54 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 sometimes you ought now to have other and more 
 suitable companions. How old are you ? " 
 
 " Twenty, my next birthday." 
 
 " Impossible ! " ejaculated Dr. Joy, with a great 
 start. " Bless my soul ! " 
 
 He directed a frowning gaze forward between 
 the horse's ears, and muttered to himself, 
 
 " That settles it. I must see Teri-iss as soon as 
 I can, and tell him. I can't think of it." 
 
 " Can't think of what ? " inquired Phyllis curi- 
 ously. 
 
 " Oh, a favor he asked of me. No matter." 
 
 " You ought not to refuse any favor to Mr. 
 Terriss." 
 
 " Well, I had something of that feeling myself, 
 and so I told him I would consider it ; but I did 
 not remember then how old you were," and Dr. 
 Joy smiled. 
 
 " I shall get Mr. Terriss to tell me what it is. 
 He is lovely to me since I have been going regu- 
 larly to read to his wife, and I am sure he will not 
 refuse. Uncle Doctor, did you ever see so devoted 
 a husband ? " 
 
 Dr. Joy nodded. " The man is a marvel," he 
 returned. " One who did not know that the debt 
 was all on her side would say that he was inces- 
 santly trying to make up to her for some sin of 
 omission. There is enough unselfishness under his 
 shabby coat to fit out his entire flock, and have 
 some to spare." 
 
 " But Mrs. Terriss is remarkable, too."
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 55 
 
 " Admitted. Mrs. Terriss is a marvel, also." 
 
 " Uncle Doctor, I do not understand you. You 
 have no right to smile in that horrid little way, 
 whenever you speak of Mrs. Terriss. A doctor, 
 too. Are n't you ashamed, dear ? " 
 
 " I '11 try to be, Phyllis. How will that do ? " 
 
 u Why, it will not do at all, unless you succeed 
 better than you have in the past. You are so 
 good and kind and sympathetic about everybody 
 else that it puzzles me and provokes me to have 
 you behave so about Mrs. Terriss." 
 
 " It is very difficult for stout people to be sym- 
 pathetic," returned Dr. Joy soberly, " and I have 
 grown far too stout the past year." 
 
 Phyllis leaned lovingly against him. " There 
 cannot be too much of you, you know, only you 
 are not so well, Uncle Doctor, and you must diet. 
 Oh, we are almost there ! Have you seen her?" 
 and the girl sat up very straight and her eyes 
 brightened. 
 
 ' Xo, not for a dozen years." 
 
 " Oh, I do not mean Miss Rebecca ! There is 
 nothing frightful about her. I mean Mrs. Red- 
 mond." 
 
 " No, I have not seen her. There is the house 
 spruce, is n't it ? " 
 
 Phyllis looked eagerly about her as they turned 
 in at the gateway. There was a group on the drive 
 at the foot of the steps. 'A lady on horseback was 
 walking her steed up and down, while another lady 
 and a man in a rough coat looked on.
 
 56 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " What a beautiful horse ! " exclaimed Phyllis, 
 " and how that lady sits ! There is Miss Red- 
 mond on the piazza. She sees you, Uncle Doctor." 
 
 Dr. Joy touched his hat, and the lady on horse- 
 back drew away to let the buggy approach, mean 
 while looking inquiringly toward Rebecca, who 
 came smiling down the steps. " I am very glad 
 to see you," said the latter warmly. " Elise, this 
 is Dr. Joy and his niece Phyl Miss Flower. 
 Mrs. Redmond, Doctor." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond bowed, her graceful figure bend- 
 ing in compliance with the restless motions of her 
 horse. 
 
 "My sister will take you into the house," she 
 said cordially. " I will join you soon. I have 
 just purchased this saddle horse, Dr. Joy. Do you 
 like his appearance ? " 
 
 " He is a beauty, madam, and worthy of you," 
 returned the doctor, with prompt politeness. He 
 dismounted with the deliberation of the corpulent, 
 and gave his hand to Phyllis, whose cheeks and 
 eyes were bright. " This little girl would give her 
 ears for his mate ; but she takes an occasional 
 canter on old Sorrel here, and makes that do." 
 
 " You will try my horse some day, perhaps, 
 Miss Flower," said Mrs. Redmond pleasantly. 
 
 Phyllis was filled with confusion and wrath at 
 her uncle. It was provoking in him to make such 
 a blundering remark. Mrs. Redmond had been 
 forced at once into patronizing her. Such a young 
 woman, too !
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 57 
 
 Phyllis felt strangely shy and awkward as she 
 passed ink) the house. Surprise at Mrs. Red- 
 mond's beauty, for which Roxana's grudging de- 
 scription had in no wise prepared her, mingled in 
 her thoughts with resentment at her own embar- 
 rassment. Her heart beat fast as she followed 
 Miss Rebecca and her uncle, after making some 
 inarticulate answer to Mrs. Redmond's politeness. 
 Here was the interior she had so ardently desired 
 to see, and its beauty completed the subjugation 
 which had been commenced. 
 
 A young woman who bought and furnished 
 houses like this, who rode blooded horses, and who 
 was never shy or embarrassed, was not a person 
 to be affected by the green brocade, or the dignity 
 of anybody's great-grandmother. Phyllis was re- 
 flecting upon this when the mistress of the house 
 entered, her bright head uncovered and her habit 
 gathered in one hand. 
 
 Rebecca looked from her to Phyllis. 
 
 "You must excuse me, my dear," she said to 
 the latter, " for stumbling over your name. The 
 idea, you know, of calling little Phyllis Miss 
 Flower." 
 
 " When you left her a bud," said Elise, seating 
 herself beside her caller. 
 
 Dr. Joy looked at the speaker with undisguised 
 admiration. " I have a complaint to lodge against 
 you, Mrs. Redmond," he remarked. " Do you 
 know you have nearly ruined my practice by your 
 enchantments ? "
 
 58 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " It would be uncivil, I suppose, to call that a 
 blessing to the community," replied Mrs. Red- 
 mond. " Tell me how, pray." 
 
 " By making Beech Knoll so interesting. Wo- 
 men that should have been at home studying their 
 nervous systems have put on their bonnets and 
 walked up here every day. Fresh air and exercise 
 are mortal enemies to physicians. I am thinking 
 of suing you for damages." 
 
 Elise smiled. " Let me advise you not to do so, 
 for it will be an endless suit. I am as devoted to 
 an outdoor life as when I was here twelve years 
 ago ; and I mean to set a constant example to the 
 townfolk, now that I am really back in beloved 
 Beech Knoll." 
 
 " I hope you will try your influence on our min- 
 is! 3r's wife," said the doctor. 
 
 Phyllis's tongue became loosened. " Uncle Doc- 
 tor," she warned, " be careful ; you will give a 
 false impression." 
 
 " I made Mrs. Terriss' acquaintance yesterday, ' 
 said Rebecca in her quiet voice. " She appeals 
 very strongly to one's sympathy ; yet she seems to 
 have a lovely resignation in her trials." 
 
 " Yes," replied the doctor, catching his niece's 
 anxious gaze, " I think she is entirely resigned to 
 her situation." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's fair brow wrinkled and she 
 shook her head. " How marvelous that mortals 
 ever can accept such imprisonment! I suppose 
 everything has been tried for her ? "
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 59 
 
 Dr. Joy started to speak, but his niece, not 
 liking the expression of his mouth, interrupted 
 
 " She has almost no use of her limbs, Mrs. Red- 
 mond. Mr. Terriss carries her back and forth 
 from her bed to her chair." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond turned toward the speaker. " A 
 very prepossessing man, Mr. Terriss," she said, 
 "and no doubt a devoted husband. My sister 
 knew him, it seems, many years ago." 
 
 " Yes, many years ago," said Miss Redmond, as 
 they all looked at her ; " so many that we have to 
 begin our acquaintance afresh. Let me see, Dr. 
 Joy, it is once in seven years, is it not, that we are 
 entirely renewed physically ? Phyllis, for instance, 
 has nothing about her of the Phyllis I used to 
 know unless, perhaps, you still have a fancy for 
 my seed cakes. How is that, Phyllis ? " 
 
 " I am sure I have." 
 
 " Well, you shall see, at any rate. I made some 
 this morning, just for Auld Lang Syne. It is long 
 since I have had a chance to cook. Elise, may I 
 take Phyllis and show her more of the house ? " 
 
 Mrs. Redmond assenting, Phyllis rose, a prim 
 figure, and followed Miss Rebecca from the room. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond observed the fond gaze with 
 which the doctor followed her. 
 
 "Your niece seems to have been a pet of my 
 sister's in the past," she remarked. 
 
 " Yes, poor little Phyl. Her orphaned condition 
 always drew kind hearts toward her." 
 
 w But she has a father in you, I see."
 
 60 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Yes, I have clone my rather poor best for her. 
 I am very glad you and Rebecca have come," con- 
 tinued the doctor, emboldened and attracted by his 
 hostess' gracious manner. " I hope you will let 
 that little girl visit here sometimes. I know well 
 enough that she needs something beside what she 
 gets at home. The woman who has had charge of 
 her almost from infancy is a shrewd, sensible, good- 
 hearted creature, who is devoted to her, but she is 
 necessarily narrow. For years, Phyl has studied 
 with me instead of going to school, and she is fairly 
 well educated ; but I assure you, Mrs. Redmond, 
 she took my breath away to-day when she an- 
 nounced that she would be twenty on her next 
 birthday. Where does time fly to ? I am a plod- 
 ding sort of an old fellow, and when I realize that 
 Phyl is a woman, I find myself rather helpless. I 
 suppose I knew she would become one if she lived ; 
 but the prospect was always a dim, vague one, like 
 that of well, death. Her mother was my favor- 
 ite sister. I want to do the very best thing in my 
 power for the child. Perhaps you and Rebecca 
 will advise me sometimes. I am glad to find I 
 have some sense, too," continued the doctor more 
 hopefully. " A friend has just been asking me to 
 take a single man to board in my family. Well, I 
 considered it. To-day, when Phyllis told me her 
 age, I saw plainly enough that it would n't be a 
 wise thing to do. Now, then, that was having my 
 wits about me, eh ? " and the doctor's round face 
 beamed in self-congratulation.
 
 fN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 61 
 
 " That was very wise in you, undoubtedly," re- 
 plied Mrs. Redmond, with a quick, pretty nod. 
 " Rebecca seems fond of your niece, and Rebecca 
 is a friend worth having." She spoke in so grace- 
 ful and cordial a manner that the good doctor did 
 not perceive that his new acquaintance committed 
 herself to nothing. Mrs. Redmond's experience 
 had taught her caution. Much was always ex- 
 pected of her. She was accustomed to have her 
 favor sought under all sorts of pretexts, and to be 
 courted under many guises. She was no longer 
 in danger of yielding an inch of territory, simply 
 because it was begged of her ; but she gave Dr. 
 Joy a frank gaze, the dimple dipped in her cheek, 
 and he felt certain of her sympathy and compre- 
 hension. 
 
 Miss Redmond entered the room, bearing a little 
 tray. 
 
 " You must try one of the seed cakes, Dr. Joy, 
 and see if you think my hand has lost its cunning. 
 Take a glass of wine with it." 
 
 Xot the \\ .1 ^hank you, Rebecca. There is a 
 humming in my uead in these days, if I try any- 
 thing but water, that makes me believe I have a 
 bee in my bonnet." 
 
 Phyllis sat down, and while her uncle ate a bit 
 of the cake and chatted with his old friend, she 
 lifted her eyes to her hostess. 
 
 " I am very much surprised that you cared to 
 come to Snowdon to live," she said. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond raised her eyebrows. " You do
 
 62 TUE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 not like it, then ? " she returned, her slow, musical 
 speech striking- the girl as a great charm. 
 
 " I should like to see another place some time." 
 
 Elise looked at her with more attention. 
 
 " That is natural ; but I have tried a great many 
 places, and you see I come back to Snowdon." 
 
 " But tastes differ," said Phyllis. 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed," admitted Mrs. Redmond, 
 amused by the stiff reply. " Perhaps I shall find 
 that some of the charm of Beech Knoll has de- 
 parted with my childhood, but I do not believe it 
 yet. Do you play lawn tennis, Miss Flower ? " 
 
 "No," replied Phyllis, angry with herself because 
 she could not say yes, and consequently flushing. 
 Elise began to see that she was very pretty, and 
 that she was shy. 
 
 " I expect to have a ground laid out to-morrow. 
 I will teach you the game, if you like. I must have 
 some one to play with," she considered mentally. 
 
 " Thank you," returned Phyllis curtly. " I hope 
 you will come and see us, Mrs. Redmond. Uncle 
 Doctor, we must go," she added ; and rose as she 
 spoke. 
 
 Her uncle imitated her movement rather reluc- 
 tantly, and after a few more words the visitors 
 entered their buggy and drove away. 
 
 " What a quaint little creature," exclaimed Mrs. 
 Redmond, when Rebecca returned from seeing 
 them off. " Phyllis Flower. How the name suits 
 her! Poor little maid, dressed in her grandmother's 
 fashion, and so stiff and ill at ease ! "
 
 IN THE MIDST OF LIFE. 63 
 
 " She was afraid of you, perhaps," suggested 
 Miss Redmond. "Her stiffness disappeared as 
 soon as we left you. I showed her several of the 
 rooms." 
 
 " Are there many of them?" inquired Elise, with 
 a far-away look. 
 
 " What are you talking about, child? Rooms?" 
 
 " No, Flowers. I mean people," replied Mrs. 
 Redmond abstractedly. " I forgot that there would 
 be people here." 
 
 " Well, well ! " exclaimed Miss Rebecca, bridling. 
 
 " Of course, your friends," returned Elise 
 hastily, " any one you care for, I shall care for as a 
 matter of course ; but it has just occurred to me 
 that perhaps Snowdon has a sewing-circle, and that 
 it will expect to meet here." 
 
 She sank upon a divan with so dismayed an ex- 
 pression that Miss Redmond laughed in spite of 
 herself. 
 
 " You did not ask my advice before you decided 
 to come to Snowdon, remember. Yes, I think you 
 may have to entertain a quilting-bee here in time." 
 
 " Rebecca, don't frighten me, or I shall invite a 
 house-party." 
 
 Meanwhile, Dr. Joy, as they rolled along toward 
 home, had turned to his niece questioningly. 
 
 " Well, Phyl, how do you like formal calling ? " 
 
 " I hate it," responded the girl sententiously. 
 
 Roxana, coming expectantly to the door to meet 
 them, was surprised at the weary, unhappy look on 
 Phyllis's face.
 
 64 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " She did not enjoy herself, somehow," said the 
 doctor explanatorily, " but I did. Snowdon has 
 made an acquisition in that beautiful woman." 
 
 " She ain't any beauty, to my mind," said Rox- 
 ana, looking anxiously at her darling. " Did you 
 see Miss Rebecca?" 
 
 " Yes, and she showed me all over the house," 
 replied Phyllis, coming into the dining-room and 
 sitting down. " You never saw such a place, 
 Roxana. It is like a palace. I never want to go 
 there again." 
 
 " I thought so," ejaculated Mrs. Sherritt indig- 
 nantly. " I knew you would not like that stuck-up 
 woman. I ain't generally mistaken in folks and " 
 
 Phyllis stopped her with an impatient gesture. 
 " She was very pleasant and kind," she asserted. 
 " It was myself who disgusted me. I was so stiff 
 and tongue-tied. I should be ashamed ever to see 
 her again. She wanted to laugh at me. I dare 
 say she is laughing at me at the present moment," 
 and the girl's cheeks tingled. 
 
 Dr. Joy, who entered the room in time to hear 
 the last remark, laid his hand on his niece's head. 
 
 "All's well that ends well," he said kindly. 
 " That is going to be a good place for you to visit, 
 and you will laugh at this some day. I am glad 
 Rebecca has come back. I believe I will go up- 
 stairs and lie down awhile," he added, turning 
 away. " I am bothered with that giddiness again. 
 Call me in time for tea. Promise me to be your 
 sensible little self, Phyl, and don't sulk. Perhaps
 
 J\ THE MIDST OF LIFE. 65 
 
 it was some of Uncle Doctor's awkwardness that 
 made things go wrong, eh?" 
 
 Phyllis, in thinking over these words afterward, 
 trembled to think that she might have shrugged 
 her shoulders in silence, or otherwise have indulged 
 the spirit of childish resentment which possessed 
 her. 
 
 What she really did was to raise her eyes to the 
 kind old face, and feeling touched by its expres- 
 sion, to throw her uncle a kiss. 
 
 " Dear Uncle Doctor, you redeemed the occasion. 
 They are not laughing at you, if they are at me," 
 she said affectionately. 
 
 He smiled faintly, and left the room ; and an 
 hour afterward Phyllis, prostrate on the floor beside 
 his bed, was sobbing her heart out in gratitude for 
 those loving words ; for Roxana, when she went 
 according to directions to call the doctor to their 
 early tea, had found the good man peacefully sleep 
 ing his last sleep.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 
 
 IT was the clay following Dr. Joy's funeral that 
 Philip Terriss walked in at the gate of Beech Knoll 
 and asked for its mistress. It was his first call, 
 and he felt something of the qualms Rebecca had 
 experienced as he entered the doors ; also something 
 of the same relief, as he saw how unrecognizable 
 were the old rooms, where in his youth he had 
 endured such enchantment and such pain. The 
 resolute purpose which had led him back to the 
 side of his fiancee had never faltered. He had 
 long since won a habit of considering his wife and 
 ignoring himself, which had become an armor 
 against the assaults of the past or present. 
 
 He had seen that it was a blow to Rebecca to 
 meet him, and he blamed himself for having sur- 
 prised her. He had accepted the call to Snowdon 
 as being a favorable place for his wife's health, 
 with the belief that Rebecca had left the town for- 
 ever. When he suddenly learned of her return, it 
 did not occur to him that he might meet her before 
 she learned his identity ; yet the privilege of apolo- 
 gizing to her now would be denied him. Perhaps 
 after all it was unnecessary. Little Rebecca, with 
 her snowy hair and her calm eyes ! How different
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 67 
 
 she had been when last he saw her in this room ! He 
 was reflecting upon the past with a vague return 
 of his old wonder at the cruelty of circumstances, 
 when Mrs. Redmond entered the room. 
 
 There was some haughtiness in her erect bear- 
 ing as she crossed to him ; her long sdft dress, of a 
 dark green color, making her fair skin fairer and 
 her chestnut hair warmer in tint. The visitor was 
 not only the minister whose face and manner she 
 liked ; he was the relative of the person who had 
 given her years of annoyance. He was her go- 
 between in a matter which she was in scornful 
 haste to have ended, and in spite of her realization 
 that he was doing her a favor, she associated him 
 perforce with her beneficiary, who in her own mind 
 she had decided was a small-souled, ungrateful, 
 and whining individual. 
 
 She gave him her lovely hand, however, and 
 thanked him for coming. 
 
 " Had it not been for Dr. Joy's funeral," he 
 returned, "I should have been here yesterday, 
 as I received a letter from mv cousin in the morn- 
 ing." 
 
 " Yes ? " said Elise, seating herself near him and 
 taking a screen to shield her face from the wood 
 fire, which burned these May mornings in the little 
 room where she received him. " Dr. Joy's death 
 was a very sad event," she added. " Miss Red- 
 mond is at the house to-day. I believe Miss Flower 
 is very much overcome." 
 
 " Yes ; " Mr. Terriss nodded gravely. " Phyllis
 
 68 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 has had a great loss, and like all young people she 
 thinks now she cannot bear it ; but she will dis- 
 cover that human endurance is very elastic." 
 
 " Her uncle seemed very fond of her," said 
 Elise. 
 
 " Yes, yes, indeed. It was a father's fondness 
 that he gave her. They will miss him greatly. 
 Mrs. Sherritt, the housekeeper, feels quite borne 
 down by the responsibility left upon her, for the 
 doctor was hardly more than a child in business 
 matters, and has left nothing to speak of. She 
 looks at the practical side, poor woman, although 
 she sincerely mourns the doctor, to whom she was 
 faithfully attached." 
 
 " Yes," returned Mrs. Redmond. " I believe I 
 saw Mrs. Sherritt the day I called upon you. Do 
 you say," she went on abruptly, " you have received 
 a letter from Terriss Chester regarding my propo- 
 sition?" 
 
 " Yes, Mrs. Redmond. What I wrote him was 
 something like this : The daughter of Mr. Beck- 
 with has communicated with me as your relative, 
 in order to make known to you her opinion that 
 you are entitled to a part of the property you ex- 
 pected to inherit, and to express her willingness to 
 give you the portion she considers fair." 
 
 Elise nodded coldly. " You conveyed the cor- 
 rect idea, Mr. Terriss. I thank you very much. 
 The lawyers I employ in Boston are Deen & Far- 
 rington. I will see them very soon and " 
 
 " One moment, Mrs. Redmond." The minister
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 69 
 
 changed his position. " Terriss thanks you very 
 much, but he declines." 
 
 Elise drew her head slightly backward " He 
 declines," she repeated haughtily. 
 
 " Yes. He would rather not be under such 
 obligation." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's breath came faster. " Where 
 is the obligation ? " she demanded. " I fear, after 
 all, you did not make it quite clear, Mr. Terriss. 
 I am not doing this as an act of friendship to 
 him. It is a matter between me and my own con- 
 science." 
 
 Mr. Terriss smiled at the fire. "I am quite sure 
 that I did make that clear," he replied. 
 
 " He must accept it," said Elise, repressing her 
 excitement. " I have been bored pardon the 
 expression applied to a relative of yours, Mr. Ter- 
 riss by that person ever since my poor father's 
 death, which may even have been hastened by his 
 ward's obstinacy. I insist upon being able to dis- 
 miss him from my mind and life." 
 
 The minister looked into her shining eyes. " I 
 am sure nothing need hinder you from that now," 
 he said. 
 
 " Why, certainly I am hindered. Terriss can go 
 on considering himself abused." 
 
 " How ? Since you have offered reparation and 
 he has refused it." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked down and reflected. 
 " Perhaps," she said suddenly, looking up, " I ought 
 to have offered him half. I will offer him half."
 
 70 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mr. Terriss, who had been conscious of some 
 amusement at the beauty's iinperiousness, began to 
 realize how fully she was in earnest. 
 
 " I think you exaggerate your duty in this mat- 
 ter, Mrs. Redmond. You are in no way to blame 
 for the circumstances of the case. Had you and 
 Terriss been so situated that you grew up together 
 in the affectionate relations which sometimes exist 
 between adopted brothers and sisters, it might be 
 now that, even though Terriss had quarreled with 
 your father, you could find it in you to offer him 
 his share of the inheritance from a loving heart ; 
 and then he might accept it, but " 
 
 Elise flashed a blue glance at the speaker. 
 "Does he expect me to love him, indeed?" she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " Oh, no ; not at all," replied the minister, trying 
 not to smile. " I have hesitated about showing 
 you his letter, because it was not intended for your 
 eyes ; also, because it contains unnecessary per- 
 sonalities like many letters written by idle persons ; 
 and I do wish that without seeing it you would 
 consent to abandon your generous ideas, accepting 
 my word for it that it will be useless for you to 
 try to assist my cousin financially." 
 
 " Please do not put it in that way," returned 
 Mrs. Redmond, striving for her usual calmness. 
 " I simply insist upon giving him his rights, so 
 that when the thought of him passes through my 
 mind, it may pass through and not linger to vex 
 me."
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 71 
 
 Mr. Terriss sighed. " I see it will be better for 
 you to read his letter," he replied. " It will not 
 make you more lenient toward him, but it will set 
 your mind at rest." 
 
 " Then by all means let me see it," said Mrs. 
 Redmond, holding out her hand for the folded 
 paper which the minister took from an inside 
 pocket. 
 
 He handed it to her, and she unfolded it. The 
 writing was small and rather stiff. Elise's lip 
 curled slightly as she remarked it. The following 
 was the letter : 
 
 HOSPITAL, May 12. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN PHILIP, I have enjoyed the 
 memory of your visit ever since its occurrence. 
 Imagine the pleasure I felt to see your signature 
 affixed to a letter which I opened this morning. 
 Need I say that its contents amazed me ? After 
 these years of silence, that Elise Beckwith should 
 have sought you instead of me, and should have 
 made me, through a third party, so presumptuous a 
 proposition, was indeed an astonishing discovery. 
 
 A mental picture of my guardian's daughter 
 rises before me as I write. She must have been, 
 perhaps, eleven years of age when I saw her last ; 
 and so I see her now. Arms and legs of an appall- 
 ing length and thinness. Hair, red as flame. 
 Movement and manner, awkward. But what is all 
 that now that she is a great heiress ? I will wager 
 there are plenty to tell her that she is graceful as 
 the slight, swaying reed, and that Titian would
 
 72 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 have dreamed of her hair. Alas for human nature, 
 why does not that satisfy her! Why must she 
 search me out in order to pose before an admiring 
 public, and get her generosity woven into such a 
 newspaper article as delights the wild and woolly 
 West ? No, cousin Philip. Will you kindly write 
 to my would-be benefactress that I have recently 
 
 expired in the Hospital, or, if you prefer, tell 
 
 her in any shape which bests suits your standard 
 of combined courtesy and truth that, when her 
 father disowned me simply because he could not 
 pare and shave off my corners to make me fit the 
 mould he had chosen for me, I relinquished all 
 claim or thought of the Beckwith dollars. 
 
 I am dressed to-day, but absurdly shaky. The 
 doctor says I cannot work for some time. I have 
 not forgotten your promise to try to find me some 
 inexpensive boarding-place, and was disappointed 
 that this letter contained no word on the subject. 
 
 Shall hope for another soon. By the way, 
 please don't misunderstand me if I request you 
 not to refer again to the subject of the Beckwith 
 patronage. I am a Sybarite with regard to emo- 
 tions, and that idea disturbs my equanimity. 
 Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 TERRISS CHESTER. 
 
 Elise, at the close of her reading, raised her eyes 
 slowly to the minister, who was gazing at the snap- 
 ping logs. She folded the letter slowly and care- 
 fully and passed it back to him.
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 73 
 
 " Are you satisfied ?" he asked with some anxiety, 
 as he accepted it. 
 
 She gave him her most charming smile, and the 
 dimple sank in her flushed cheek. 
 
 " Perfectly, thank you." 
 
 " He is not not an unpleasant fellow, as you 
 might judge he was from this," hesitated Mr. 
 Terriss. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond made a deprecating gesture. " I 
 am sure it is deceptive to judge of persons by their 
 letters, and certainly Terriss seems to have de- 
 veloped into a decided character." 
 
 " Yes, so he has, no doubt of it," returned the 
 minister, pleased and relieved. 
 
 " Do you think you may find board for him in 
 Snowdon?" pursued Mrs. Redmond. 
 
 '* Well, I doubted, on your account. If you 
 would object " 
 
 " You must remember I should not be myself at 
 all to him," she replied archly. " I have changed 
 my name, and if you do not betray me, do you 
 think from his description of Elise Beckwith that 
 he will recognize me ? " 
 
 Mr. Terriss gazed at her with dawning surprise. 
 " Surely not. Do you mean that you could keep 
 your identity a secret ? " 
 
 Elise raised her eyebrows. " Why not ? If you 
 are going to bring him to Snowdon, do you not 
 think from the tone of his letter that it would be 
 less awkward for me to be simply Mrs. Redmond 
 to him in case we should meet ? "
 
 74 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " But I am not willing he should retain that 
 rough judgment of your motives," said the minister 
 warmly. " I want him to know you. I want him 
 to see how wrong " 
 
 " No, no ; trust me, Mr. Terriss, these deep pre- 
 judices are not easily removed. Please say nothing 
 of me." 
 
 " Well, if you wish it," assented the other re- 
 luctantly. " Of course, you may never meet," he 
 added. 
 
 " Perhaps not," returned Elise, and the minister 
 began to consider that possibly her expression was 
 too brilliant, her eyes too radiant. 
 
 " The question is," he continued, " of a boarding- 
 place. My own house is not one where a stranger 
 could be made comfortable, owing to Mrs. Terriss' 
 inability. I asked Dr. Joy, a few days before his 
 death, as to whether he would be willing to take 
 Terriss, and he had not given me an answer. I 
 can put it to Mrs. Sherritt, at any rate. She will 
 know what decision to make. I feel bound to do 
 the best I can for Terriss : and Mrs. Sherritt is an 
 excellent cook." Mr. Terriss rose. " You have no 
 objection to his coming to Snowdon, I under- 
 stand?" 
 
 " Provided you keep my secret," replied Elise, 
 with a spirited glance. 
 
 " I see no harm in doing so. As you say, it 
 might be awkward. You will feel relieved now, I 
 hope, Mrs. Redmond. You have certainly done 
 your whole duty."
 
 A SHARP REBUFF. 75 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Terriss, when can one feel that one's 
 whole duty is done ? Perhaps there remains even 
 more due from me to your cousin. In any case, I 
 thank you very much for your assistance in this 
 matter. It might have dawdled along over weeks 
 of time. Now, a few days have been sufficient for 
 a decisive settlement." 
 
 She held out her hand to him, and he took it. 
 "Mrs. Redmond," he said simply and earnestly, 
 " I congratulate you on your tact and self-com- 
 mand. I had feared you would be vexed by this 
 turn of affairs. If I can ever be of any service to 
 you in future, command me. I wish you good- 
 morning." 
 
 He went, and Elise stood in the centre of her 
 dainty room, her breast heaving with its emotion. 
 Her eyes and cheeks were still bright, but her 
 mouth no longer smiled, and her hands clenched 
 themselves. She had never been so angry in her 
 life. At last she began walking up and down the 
 floor. " Is it for this that I have left my friends ? " 
 she reflected. "Is it for this I have furnished 
 Beech Knoll, have lain awake through long hours 
 of the night, have poured out my heart's sympathy ? 
 Has my life for years borne a vague shadow, only 
 for this?" 
 
 She caught sight of her reflection in a glass 
 above the fire, and suddenly paused, approached, 
 and looked into her own eyes. 
 
 " Is none of it true, Elise Beckwith ? " she de- 
 manded. " Have you not through it all enjoyed
 
 76 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 the effect of your own generosity, posed for your 
 own admiration, and patronized the unknown 
 youth?" 
 
 Her cheeks tingled. 
 
 " He should not have been the one to tell me of 
 it. That is too cruel," she exclaimed, turning from 
 the glass. Then she rang the bell. 
 
 " Have them bring Star around," she said to the 
 servant, for her mood must be changed before 
 Rebecca's return.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 
 
 Miss REBECCA'S first impulse upon discovering 
 the minister's identity was to run away from Snow- 
 don, but a number of practical questions arose to 
 hinder that summary disposition of an embarrass- 
 ing situation. First, where should she run to? 
 Second, what excuse should she give for going 
 there? Third, what would Elise do without her? 
 Fourth, should she not make herself ridiculous in 
 the eyes of the man who had given her such calm 
 greeting ? 
 
 " But he was prepared," thought poor Rebecca, 
 " while I I was cruelly unprepared." 
 
 The outcome of all her reflection was that she 
 decided to remain where she was, and, according to 
 her old recipe for endurance of trial, " live by the 
 day." 
 
 Rebecca, without herself suspecting it, was a 
 strong character ; and when she had once made up 
 her mind that it was best for her to settle down 
 within walking distance of Philip Terriss and his 
 wife, she repined no longer, but systematically 
 turned away from her own tremors. 
 
 The thing that horrified her most, as revealing 
 a wicked heart, was the sudden repugnance which
 
 78 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 sprang up in her toward the pale invalid with 
 whom she had spent that quiet hour. 
 
 " The poor creature whom I would innocently 
 have robbed," she thought remorsefully. " I hope 
 I can help to cheer her life." Dr. Joy's sudden 
 death turned her thoughts with a shock into an- 
 other channel, and for a few days she had heart 
 and hands filled with care of and for Phyllis and 
 Roxana. As Elise had said, she was with them on 
 the morning of Mr. Terriss' call, and as she was 
 coming away from the house, she met the minister 
 in the street. She felt a great bound of the heart, 
 which sent the color into her face, as he lifted his 
 hat and stopped. 
 
 " Good -morning, Rebecca," he said. " Are you 
 coming from Dr. Joy's ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " How are they this morning ? " 
 
 " The passionate stage of Phyllis's grief is passed. 
 She is like a subdued, gentle child, this morning," 
 replied Rebecca. " Roxana, poor woman, feels 
 quite bewildered by her responsibility. She is be- 
 ginning to wonder how they shall live, for it seems 
 Phyllis has almost nothing." 
 
 " I wonder if they would take a boarder," said 
 Mr. Terriss. " I was on my way now to ask 
 Mrs. Sherritt." 
 
 " I think they will be very glad to do so," replied 
 Rebecca earnestly. 
 
 " It is a cousin of mine, who wishes to come out 
 here."
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 79 
 
 " How fortunate ! I hope you will go and talk 
 it over with Roxana. Why should not Snowdon 
 be a good place for summer boarders ? " 
 
 " I think it might," returned the minister ; then 
 he lifted his hat and passed on, and Rebecca real- 
 ized with a sense of relief that their first interview 
 was over. 
 
 " I ought to have asked for her," she thought, 
 with a pang of conscience. She had not forgotten 
 the civility. She had neglected it purposely, and 
 she knew it. " He loves her, he is devoted to her. 
 He has done his duty and he has his reward. Let 
 me do mine," she said to herself, as she hurried 
 along the road. 
 
 She turned her thoughts resolutely to Roxana 
 and her quandaries. Supposing this proposed 
 boarder should be Why had she not asked 
 him ? Perhaps it really was Elise's adopted bro- 
 ther, who had turned out so strangely to be the 
 minister's cousin. She would ask Elise immedi- 
 ately ; but upon reaching home no Elise was there. 
 She had gone to ride, the servant said. 
 
 In about an hour, Mrs. Redmond returned. " I 
 have had a glorious gallop," she announced, com- 
 ing fresh and rosy into the joint sitting-room, where 
 she and Rebecca spent most of their time indoors. 
 " How are your poor friends ? " 
 
 " Adjusting themselves to the situation as best 
 they may," replied Miss Redmond, looking up 
 from her sewing. " I met Mr. Terriss on his way 
 there with some news that I think will cheer them.
 
 80 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 He has a boarder for them. He said it was a 
 cousin. I was wondering, Elise," in a lowered, 
 confidential tone, " if it might be your gentleman." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond threw herself back in the laziest 
 of postures on a deep divan among the large dull- 
 colored cushions. 
 
 " I am not the possessor of a gentleman, my dear 
 Rebecca." 
 
 " I mean your brother." 
 
 " Well, I presume he is a man and a brother in 
 one sense. It is Terriss Chester, if that is what 
 you mean." 
 
 " You don't say so ! " exclaimed Miss Redmond. 
 
 " There is not the least occasion for your looking 
 radiant, Rebecca." 
 
 " Why, I think it is just like a story," answered 
 Miss Redmond. " That you and this Terriss should 
 be united after " 
 
 " Re becca, will you clip the wings of your 
 fancy before it leads you further astray ! " Elise 
 smiled. " Mr. Terriss has been here to tell me 
 that Mr. Chester refuses the property." 
 
 Miss Redmond laid down her work. "Is it 
 possible ! " she ejaculated. " How do you feel about 
 that?" 
 
 " Why should I feel at all ? I have done my 
 part in offering it. He has seen fit to refuse it. 
 More than that he has shown an ungrateful," here 
 Mrs. Redmond's voice trembled, "a low bitterness 
 toward the Beckwith family, which makes it impos- 
 sible that we should ever be friends."
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 81 
 
 " Then, dear me, he ought not to come out here, 
 and yet Roxana does need it so," said Rebecca, 
 much troubled. 
 
 " Why need he know who I am ? " asked Elise, 
 lazily switching her skirt with her riding whip, as 
 she watched her sister-in-law's face. 
 
 " Why, sure enough ! Why need he ? " Miss 
 Redmond's eyes grew larger as she realized the 
 scope of the other's suggestion. " He does not 
 know your married name ; you said so. We need 
 not say a word, and he could n't remember you." 
 
 " I think not," said Elise briefly, recalling the 
 written description. 
 
 " It would not make you uncomfortable to have 
 him in town ? " asked Miss Redmond doubtfully. 
 
 " I am perfectly willing he should come," re- 
 turned the other, with an inscrutable smile. 
 
 " Well, it 's just as good and kind of you as it 
 can be, dear," said Rebecca warmly. " It will be a 
 help to Roxana. By the way, here is a letter I got 
 out of the post-office. I laid it on the table so I 
 should not forget it." 
 
 She handed the envelope to Elise, who glanced 
 at the writing. " Probably a bill," she remarked, 
 as she opened it. " Why, no, it is not," glancing 
 at the beginning of the letter and quickly turning 
 to the signature. " Why," with a laugh, " it is 
 from Tony Bellows ; how did he find me? " 
 
 " Bellows, Bellows," repeated Rebecca, looking 
 at her pensively. " I do not remember any Bel- 
 lows. Was he the one before the last ? "
 
 82 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Elise laughed again. She was accustomed to 
 her sister-in-law's vague terms for her admirers. 
 
 " No. Don't you remember young Bellows, that 
 comical creature that followed us around so when 
 we were at Monterey? I did not know he had 
 come back to Boston." 
 
 " There were so many creatures," said Rebecca 
 plaintively, " and they always followed us around." 
 
 " But Tony was young and I do not wish to 
 be slangy, but he was fresh ; a blonde boy, who 
 wore six neckties a day. Oh ! " becoming grave, 
 with sudden recollection, " it was he who told me 
 where Terriss was ; and now he has found me, the 
 troublesome fellow. Let me see what he says." 
 
 BOSTON, May 14, 18 . 
 
 MY DEAR MRS. REDMOND: 
 
 A friend in San Francisco, whom I shall bless to 
 my dying day, has told me that you have come to 
 live in Snowdon, Mass. I immediately tried to 
 find the place on the map. It was not there. Why 
 in the name of all that is sensible should you 
 choose to live in a place that is not on the map ? 
 Perhaps to bring the town into prominence. 
 There, I meant that to be a graceful compliment, 
 but I slipped up somehow. Take the will for the 
 deed, please. Now, when are you going to let me 
 come to see you ? I tell you frankly that I shall 
 come, and if you do not set a date I shall have to 
 surprise you. 
 
 I have not seen Mr. Chester since my return.
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 83 
 
 I am sorry to find that he is ill, and has had to lose 
 his position. I remember you took an interest in 
 him, and the next time I see him I shall tell him 
 that you are a near neighbor now, and would like a 
 call from him for your father's sake, when he is 
 able. Shall I ? 
 
 I shall watch the mails eagerly until I hear from 
 you. You cannot think how delighted I am at the 
 prospect of seeing you again. Please address me 
 at the bank. Ever faithfully yours, 
 
 A. BELLOWS. 
 
 " How provoking ! " exclaimed Elise. " That 
 blundering boy may give me no end of annoyance. 
 I shall have to telegraph him in self-defense." 
 
 " Well, here 's some paper," replied Rebecca 
 briskly. " Do send him word. I can't help think- 
 ing of Roxana and how much she needs a few dol- 
 lars a week." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond wrote and dispatched the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 MR. ANTHONY BELLOWS: 
 
 Come out on morning train. Will meet you. 
 Say nothing of me to Mr. Chester. 
 
 MRS. REDMOND. 
 
 The next day, Mrs. Redmond herself drove to 
 the station to meet the expected guest. She had 
 little fear that he would disappoint her, and smiled 
 to herself as she pictured the surprise and delight
 
 84 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 with which the young man had probably received 
 her flatteringly prompt reply. 
 
 The incoming train had scarcely stopped when 
 the familiar, broad-shouldered figure stepped from 
 it, and the delight Elise had fancied was plainly 
 visible in the eager face, when he turned and per- 
 ceived the fair driver of the smart new equipage. 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond, this is awfully good of you ! " 
 he exclaimed, hurrying forward and shaking the 
 hand she offered him. " If you will wait one min- 
 ute I brought a handful of flowers " 
 
 Mrs. Redmond smiled as he turned away. She 
 knew Tony's idea of a few flowers, and was not 
 surprised to see him return from a trip in the di- 
 rection of the baggage-car with a formidable box, 
 over which his blonde face looked ga} r ly. 
 
 " Just the weather when flowers ought to grow 
 if they don't," he remarked. " Beautiful, is n't it ? " 
 
 " It is, Tony ; but where are you going to put 
 that Saratoga trunk? When will you learn not 
 to get everything by wholesale ? " 
 
 " Don't worry ! plenty of room," returned Tony, 
 balancing the box behind the seat, on the edge of 
 the cart. "Now, this is fine," he added, taking 
 the place beside his hostess, who turned her spir- 
 ited ponies toward home. 
 
 " I am very glad to see you," returned Elise. 
 
 She found that she was very glad. Her associa- 
 tions with her guest were all of pleasant places, 
 and no one could fail to be glad to see such an in- 
 carnated sunbeam as he was.
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 85 
 
 " What jolly little ponies ! " he remarked. 
 
 " Yes, they are pretty. I am not much ac- 
 quainted with them yet. They are new. You 
 will find everything new, except the house itself 
 and some of the pictures." 
 
 " Of course you know I 'm still awfully puzzled 
 as to why you are here at all ; but I can only con- 
 gratulate myself that Snowdon is so near Boston." 
 
 "Why shouldn't one come here? Doesn't it 
 strike you as a pretty town ? " 
 
 " Not bad ; but then all these villages are pretty 
 enough. That explains nothing. It isn't even 
 the season to go into the country to board." 
 
 " But I am not boarding." 
 
 " Great heavens, Mrs. Redmond ! " and the 
 genial face fell. " You don't mean to say you are 
 married ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, not married, only settled. I have 
 bought a place and gone to housekeeping." 
 
 " Well, the mystery increases." They were 
 driving rapidly through the business street of the 
 town, and Mr. Bellows observed that every pedes- 
 trian turned to look after themselves and their 
 equipage. " Do you remark that we are astonish- 
 ing the natives? " he continued. " I feel as though 
 I were making a triumphal entry into this peace- 
 ful hamlet. I am, too, you know. You have no 
 idea how it puffed me up to receive your invitation 
 so promptly." 
 
 His hostess smiled. u I might not have been 
 quite so sudden with my summons, had it not hap-
 
 86 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 pened that I was especially desirous that Mr. Ches- 
 ter should not know I was here ; and you threat- 
 ened to betray me." 
 
 " Oh, come now, that 's too bad, Mrs. Redmond. 
 I have been flattering myself for nothing, then." 
 
 " It is absurd for you to try to look plaintive, 
 Tony," laughed Elise. " You never could, even 
 when you were seven. By the way, you have no 
 idea how surprisingly like your seven-year-old self 
 you look this minute." 
 
 " I don't believe a word of it. I know you only 
 pretend to remember me at that age for the sake 
 of taking me down whenever you feel like it." 
 
 " I do remember you perfectly. Of course I do. 
 Why, I was ten, you know." 
 
 " There you are, at it again. I don't see why 
 you are always so determined that I shall remem- 
 ber you were ten." 
 
 " You had the prettiest yellow curls," continued 
 Elise ruthlessly, " and when you were very good- 
 natured, you used to let me brush them over my 
 finger." 
 
 " I will let them grow again, if you will promise 
 to do that." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed. " Would n't you look 
 comical ? " 
 
 " No funnier than those old cavalier fellows ; 
 but we are way off the subject. I say it is too bad 
 of you to get me out here in this glorious weather, 
 feeling as jolly as a grig over my invitation, only 
 to tell me it is on Chester's account."
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 87 
 
 " But I was just about to explain that I simply 
 meant I would have written you instead of tele- 
 graphing, had it not been for Mr. Chester. You 
 remember I told you that when a lad he was my 
 father's ward. Well, I have learned since I saw 
 you that he has bitter feelings against the Beck- 
 withs, and I do not wish that he should know one 
 of the family is here. The world is small ; I may 
 chance to meet him some day, and I should wish 
 it to be as Mrs. Redmond merely. He does not 
 know of my marriage, and he does not know me 
 by sight." 
 
 " Then you mean " 
 
 " I mean that you are never to speak of me to 
 him, under pain of my eternal displeasure." 
 
 Tony nodded. " Agreed. Luckily, I missed 
 going to see him yesterday, as I intended to do. 
 Had I gone, I should certainly have told him all 
 about you. Poor old fellow ! he is down on his 
 luck just now. If I had been here when he fell 
 ill, I should have offered my services to the gov- 
 ernor to fill his place in the bank until he was able 
 to take it again." 
 
 u AVhat a pity you were not ! I imagine it will 
 take some such exigency to force you into active 
 service/' 
 
 Tony flushed, pink as the flower in his button- 
 hole. 
 
 "I don't know why you should suppose that. 
 Do you think I have not put in my time well since 
 I left college?"
 
 88 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I think you have enjoyed yourself exceed- 
 
 " Is that any harm ? I have been seeing the 
 world as a part of my education. I am sure I 
 have met you in a good many parts of it." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed. " True enough ; but 
 you see I have settled down now, and you must do 
 the same." 
 
 Phyllis Flower, walking to the village on an er- 
 rand for Roxana, looked up from a dejected rev- 
 erie at the sound of the horses' feet. 
 
 She forgot everything for the moment in admi- 
 ration of the novel sight of the stylish equipage. 
 Instantly she perceived that it was Mrs. Redmond 
 driving, and that beside her sat a strange man. 
 The lady was smiling, her companion talking, and 
 the whole bright effect made Phyllis shrink from 
 being recognized, with the wish that she had 
 chosen another road. 
 
 As she was in the act of dropping her eyes, 
 however, she saw something which made her lift 
 her hand to attract Mrs. Redmond's attention. 
 
 The latter saw who it was who beckoned her, 
 and drawing in her ponies, turned them toward the 
 walk. The figure in black stood still and waited. 
 
 u Excuse me, Mrs. Redmond," said Phyllis, col- 
 oring as she felt the stranger's eyes upon her, 
 " your baggage just dropped off into the road." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked bewildered a moment, 
 and Mr. Bellows turned around.
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 89 
 
 " It is the flowers," he remarked, lifting his hat. 
 " I will get them," and he jumped to the ground. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed. " Thank you, Miss 
 Flower. Let me introduce to you my friend, Mr. 
 Bellows. He has just brought me a handful of 
 flowers from Boston, he says. I do not know 
 whose hand he is libeling, mine or his own." 
 
 " I am awfully obliged, Miss Flower," said Tony. 
 " You see, the box is so light we did not hear it." 
 
 " I do hope it is not broken," said Phyllis, has- 
 tening with him to where the box lay in the road. 
 
 "Not badly. String snapped, that is all. I 
 wish you would take some, Miss Flower. There 
 are a good many, and Mrs. Redmond does chaff a 
 fellow so," and Tony took out a handful of rich 
 La France roses and held them up. 
 
 Phyllis's eyes shone as she took them. "Ought 
 I to accept them ? " she exclaimed. " How beau- 
 tiful they are ! " and she eagerly inhaled their fra- 
 grance. 
 
 Tony was delighted with her pleasure. " Are n't 
 they the loveliest things in the world?" he re- 
 turned. " I am so glad you like them. I won- 
 der if I can tie up this thing again ; " and he fum- 
 bled at the broken string. 
 
 " Let me try," said Phyllis. 
 
 " Thank you. I '11 carry it over to the walk. 
 The dust here will ruin your dress. Black shows 
 it so." 
 
 The girl's face fell at this reference. Uncle 
 Doctor had not been gone a week, and here she
 
 90 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 had been feeling eager, young, happy again. Her 
 transparent face showed the sympathetic Tony that 
 something was wrong, and he stood by in troubled 
 silence while she deftly pieced and tied the cord. 
 
 " How cleverly you did that," he said, as she 
 stood up. " I 'm sure, I 'm awfully obliged." 
 
 " You are very welcome," she replied gravely. 
 "I thank you very much for the roses," and she 
 bowed to him, and then to Mrs. Redmond, who, 
 half turning in her seat, was watching the proceed- 
 ings with much amusement ; then the girl went 
 quickly on her way. 
 
 " I know you are happier for that little contre- 
 temps" said Mrs. Redmond, as Bellows returned 
 with the box. " You have given flowers to a new 
 person, and I know the satisfaction that gives you, 
 you good-natured boy ; but how do you suppose I 
 like to have my flowers presented to other peo- 
 ple?" 
 
 Tony stepped into the cart. " Like seeks like, 
 you know," he replied. " Did n't you say her 
 name was Flower ? " 
 
 " But you do not look happy, after all. What 
 is the matter ? " 
 
 " I made that girl feel bad, somehow," returned 
 Tony, clasping the box for its safety as the ponies 
 started. 
 
 Elise smiled. " Oh, no ; she is a stiff-mannered 
 little Puritan maiden, that is all." 
 
 Tony's face lit up happily. " Then she has n't 
 lost anybody lately, any friend ? "
 
 THE MOTH AND THE CANDLE. 91 
 
 "Yes, she has. Her adopted father, about a 
 week ago." 
 
 Tony groaned. " That is what I was afraid of. 
 That is like me, exactly. I never yet lost an op- 
 portunity of saying the wrong thing. I referred 
 to her being in black, by way of bringing in a lit- 
 tle pleasing small talk, and I saw the light go out 
 of her face in a flash." 
 
 " Do not let that worry you," said Elise, smil- 
 ing at his despair. " She is sensitive just now; 
 but the roses will comfort her. Probably you are 
 the first man who ever gave her any. Now, in a 
 minute more, you will see Beech Knoll." 
 
 " Oh, that is the name ! Did you buy the place 
 on account of its name ? " 
 
 " Wait and see," returned Elise briefly. 
 
 Soon they entered the broad gate, and the guest 
 looked about him critically. 
 
 " Fishing ? " he asked with interest, espying the 
 sparkle of the river. 
 
 " I think so ; but is it not attractive, with all 
 these old trees, and the high and dry land ? Do 
 you still wonder?" 
 
 " But you are not a hermit, to be satisfied with 
 scenery," objected Tony, unconvinced. 
 
 " Certainly not ; else you would not have been 
 invited here." Mrs. Redmond gave the reins into 
 the hands of a man who was waiting, and preceded 
 her guest into the house. 
 
 Rebecca rose from her seat by a window, whence 
 she had been watching their approach.
 
 92 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Oh, to be sure," she said calmly, as Tony 
 approached her, his hand outstretched, " I do re- 
 member you. You are the one we met first in 
 Italy, who turned out to be the brother of one of 
 Elise's schoolmates." 
 
 " Had you forgotten me, Miss Redmond ? " ex- 
 claimed Tony. " What an unlucky fellow I am ! " 
 but his face belied his words, for Elise had uncov- 
 ered the box at last, and was looking- love and ad- 
 miration at the lilies and violets as she lifted them 
 out.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 
 
 MRS. SHERRITT received the minister's proposi- 
 tion as to taking a boarder with prompt assent. 
 
 " That is one thing I ain't afraid to try to do," 
 she said, a perceptible lightening of the anxiety in 
 her face ; " and I take it it 's all right to put the 
 doctor's house to any use I see fit, now the good 
 man can't help us any more." 
 
 The minister glanced at Phyllis, who sat sober- 
 eyed and silent, listening to the conversation. 
 
 " I suppose it is Phyllis's house now," he said. 
 
 Roxana followed the direction of his glance in- 
 dulgently. " Yes, what there is, is Phyllis's ; and 
 I 'm Phyllis's, you know, and it 's my business to 
 scratch around and see what I can find for her." 
 
 " What should I do without you, I wonder ? " said 
 Phyllis. 
 
 " You ain't called upon to wonder about that," 
 responded Mrs. Sherritt gently. " About how 
 soon, Mr. Terriss, would your cousin want to 
 come ? " 
 
 " Probably, the first day you could receive him. 
 You know he may be a good deal of trouble at first. 
 His meals would have to be served in his room, 
 very likely."
 
 94 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " All right. Let him come Saturday," returned 
 Roxana, stifling a sigh and clearing her throat. 
 " How are you getting on at your house ? " 
 
 Mr. Terriss rose. " We need a call from you, 
 Mrs. Sherritt, when you can spare the time. How 
 I wish we could come and swell your family ! " 
 
 " I wish you could," replied Roxana heartily, 
 " but I have n't any place as comfortable for Mrs. 
 Terriss as the rooms she 's got. If I could hear of 
 anybody better than Lucindy, you should have her ; 
 but Snowdou 's an awful hard place to get help." 
 
 " You are a valuable neighbor, and we are very 
 grateful, I assure you. Good-by, Phyllis ;" and the 
 minister held out his hand to the young girl, who 
 rose and put hers into it. " I am glad a busy time 
 is coming for you. Work is the greatest blessing 
 of our lives, and I know Roxana can count on you 
 to share her burdens." 
 
 His words gave Phyllis's thoughts a new bent. It 
 flashed across her that she had been willing to let 
 Roxana do all the thinking, planning, and working, 
 herself content to do obediently what was required 
 of her, and nothing more. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt looked reflectively out of the win- 
 dow after the minister's retreating figure. 
 
 " Well, I 'm in for it," she remarked. 
 
 " In for what?" asked Phyllis. 
 
 Roxana tossed her head. "' I was thinkin' out 
 loud, I guess," she continued. " I was cogitatin' 
 on the queerness o' things in general. How likely 
 it is that folks have got to do in this world just
 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 95 
 
 what they hate most. I '11 bet a cookie that Mr. 
 Terms, for instance, would like a life with lots o' 
 variety, and that he is partic'lar about his victuals ; 
 the facts bein' that he must live in the country and 
 take care of a sick wife, and eat Lucindy Bates's 
 cookin'. Now I would like to be delivered from 
 strange men, especially sick ones ; and here I am, 
 a-welcomin' one right into my best chamber, and 
 calc'latin' to run my legs off, waitin' on him." 
 
 " I am going to do better, Roxana," said Phyllis 
 gravely. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt looked at her in surprise. The 
 girl's eyes were hollow from weeping, and her 
 mouth had lost its ready smile. 
 
 " How can you do better, child ? You are all 
 right." 
 
 " You always said I was lazy." 
 
 "Well, ye-es, perhaps, sometimes; but there 
 ain't a ca^pabler girl in Snowdon. I 've said that, 
 too. You 're as smart as a steel spring, Phyllis." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt' s words of praise were rare ; but 
 she felt very tender toward the girl at this time. 
 Phyllis colored faintly. 
 
 " Well, I want you to let me help you. I would 
 rather work than read now." 
 
 After this declaration, Phyllis could not refuse 
 Roxana when, a few days later, she asked her to do 
 an errand at the village, although she dreaded to 
 go out and meet kindly, pitying words and looks. 
 
 Upon her return, she found Mrs. Sherritt on her 
 knees scrubbing the kitchen floor.
 
 96 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " You ought to see the smart turnout that went 
 by a little while ago," exclaimed the latter. " Mrs. 
 Redmond has got a pair o' ponies that will make 
 your eyes shine." 
 
 " I met them." Phyllis came close and held her 
 fragrant roses before Roxana's face. 
 
 " For the land's sake, what beauties ! " cried the 
 latter, astonished. " Where did you get 'em ? " 
 
 " A box of flowers fell out of Mrs. Redmond's 
 carriage, and I told her of it, and the gentleman 
 with her gave me these." 
 
 " Well, I declare, how pleased the doctor would 
 have been." 
 
 " O Roxana ! they made me forget him," 
 mourned Phyllis. " For the first time since he 
 left us, the sorrow went out of my mind when I 
 saw these." 
 
 " Look here, Phyllis, you are on the wrong track," 
 said Roxana kindly, looking up from her steaming 
 pail. " You were a good child to your uncle, and 
 he set uncommon store by you. In lookin' back, I 
 take it you have n't anythin' to regret. Well, he 
 went in the Lord's good time, and it was mighty 
 hard for us to spare him ; but do you think it 's 
 good sense or religion to hang on tight to your 
 trouble ? No, indeed. Let the grief slip away 
 just as soon as it will. The love won't slip with 
 it ; and that 's the part he would care to have you 
 keep." 
 
 " Do you think he knows ? " 
 
 Roxana rose from her clean floor. " Any way,
 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 97 
 
 we know that lie was a good man, and it was his 
 gain to go. Ain't that enough ? " 
 
 Phyllis moved slowly out of the kitchen, and 
 putting the roses in a vase of water she set them 
 on a table beneath the picture of Uncle Doctor, 
 into whose eyes she looked until her own filled 
 with tears. 
 
 " There is no danger that I will ever love you 
 less, dear," she murmured. " I did not remember 
 you every minute when you were here, and if I 
 seem to forget you now sometimes, it will only be 
 in the same way that I did when you lived with 
 us." She turned and went upstairs to the room 
 which she had made it her business to prepare for 
 the boarder. It was as clean and pure as soap 
 and water and much beating and brushing could 
 make it. 
 
 Phyllis had not exercised her imagination con- 
 cerning the expected stranger. Her old habit of 
 castle-building was no temptation to her in these 
 days. She dreaded the advent of the invalid, and 
 combated the feeling as a form of the laziness she 
 had determined to forswear. She made his room 
 look as inviting as her slender resources would 
 permit, and, after some mental conflict, carried 
 thither Dr. Joy's armchair, as being the best sub- 
 stitute for an invalid's lounge at her command. 
 
 Roxana followed her upstairs and looked about 
 the room, nodding approval. 
 
 " Them roses would put a finishin' touch to the 
 bureau," she suggested.
 
 98 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Those are for Uncle Doctor," replied Phyllis 
 quickly. 
 
 " He 'd spare one most likely if he had anythin' 
 to say about it," remarked Roxana. "A flower or 
 two in a sick-room does a body good." 
 
 Phyllis thought a moment, then went down to 
 the dining-room, which was their living-room as 
 well, and took a couple of roses from the vase. 
 
 " Uncle Doctor would like it," she said to her- 
 self. 
 
 The girl little suspected how far from approval 
 of the whole undertaking Uncle Doctor would 
 have been, so the simple preparations went for- 
 ward, and at the appointed hour Mr. Chester 
 arrived. 
 
 The minister met him at the depot and brought 
 him to the house, where Phyllis and Roxana, feel- 
 ing rather dreary and apprehensive, awaited him. 
 
 His appearance was surprising to Phyllis, but 
 as to Roxana, let the stranger be short and fat, or 
 tall and thin, let him be young or old, the same 
 fortitude was required to take him in and welcome 
 him. 
 
 He was haggard from the fatigue of the short 
 journey, and he looked from Phyllis to Roxana 
 and back again with a sombre, impatient expres- 
 sion in his dark eyes, which made Phyllis thank- 
 ful to shrink into the background after the intro- 
 duction. 
 
 *' I was very glad to come, Mrs. Sherritt," he 
 said curtly. " I should like to rest here a mo
 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 99 
 
 ment," and he sat down upon the haircloth sofa. 
 " Do not wait for me, cousin Philip." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Let me help you up to your room 
 presently,'' replied the minister. 
 
 " No. I do not need that at all. I wish to be 
 still awhile, then I shall be ready to go upstairs. 
 I do not need any assistance. Many thanks for 
 your good, offices. Good-by,'' and Mr. Terriss 
 was forced reluctantly to take his leave. 
 
 Phyllis saw him go with a sinking heart. The 
 stranger's pallor and his quick, brusque speech 
 were far from reassuring. She was appalled when 
 Roxana spoke. 
 
 " I 'm goin' out to get Mr. Chester's tea. You 
 stay here, Phyllis, and when he feels like goin' up, 
 show him his room," and Mrs. Sherritt turned 
 energetically and left the parlor. Phyllis con- 
 quered a desire to grasp her disappearing skirts, 
 and lifted her glance to the figure leaning back in 
 the corner of the sofa. The stranger sat with his 
 thin hand over his eyes, and Phyllis sank noise- 
 lessly into a chair, almost holding her breath, in 
 the hope that he would not note the flight of time 
 until Roxana' s return. There was something in 
 the dejection of his attitude and the nearly Span- 
 ish darkness of his hair and complexion that sug- 
 gested to the girl her cherished vision of the mis- 
 anthrope who was to inhabit Beech Knoll in that 
 long-ago time that preceded Dr. Joy's death. 
 
 She was gazing curiously at him, noting the 
 curves of his mustache and chin, when he languidly
 
 100 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 dropped his hand and looked full into her fright- 
 ened eyes. 
 
 " Who is the best doctor here ? " he asked sud- 
 denly. Then, the expression of the girl's face jog- 
 ging his memory, he continued in his feebly brusque 
 fashion, " Excuse me. I know of your loss ; but I 
 fear I may need a physician soon." 
 
 " A homeopath ? " 
 
 " No ! a regular physician," was the impatient 
 response. " Excuse me again ; I do not know 
 which school your father belonged to.'' 
 
 "Uncle Doctor was a regular physician," re- 
 plied Phyllis slowly. " There is another here. I 
 can get him for you, if you like." 
 
 " Can't you send an errand boy ? " 
 
 " I am our errand boy," replied Phyllis. " I do 
 not mind going." 
 
 " I will see when I get upstairs," responded the 
 other. " I will go now, if you please." 
 
 He looked so weary and pale as he rose that 
 Phyllis hesitated. 
 
 " Will you take my arm ? " she asked bravely, 
 conquering her dread. 
 
 The stranger looked down at her curiously, and 
 smiled for the first time. 
 
 " Oh, no. Lead the way, please." 
 
 He leaned heavily on the slender old banister 
 as they ascended, and midway on the stairs was 
 obliged to stop and sit down. 
 
 " Why did n't you let Mr. Terriss stay ! " ex- 
 claimed the girl, looking back at him anxiously.
 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 101 
 
 He muttered something under his breath. " This 
 is very absurd," he said. " Wait a minute, I am 
 dizzy, that is all. You are at liberty to laugh as 
 much as you like, Miss Flower." 
 
 " Laugh ! " exclaimed Phyllis, who felt much 
 more inclined to cry. " I only wish I were bigger 
 so you would be willing to let me help you." 
 
 Her hearty tone seemed to do the sufferer good. 
 He pulled himself to his feet. 
 
 " Now, once more," he said ; and this time he 
 reached the top, and followed his guide into the 
 room she had prepared. 
 
 The guest looked eagerly toward the neatly cur- 
 tained window. " What direction is that ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 "South." 
 
 " Bless you," he responded. 
 
 Phyllis drew forward the armchair sugges- 
 tively. 
 
 " Roxana will be here soon with your tea," she 
 said. 
 
 Chester took off his overcoat, and sank into the 
 armchair. " I hardly think I shall need a doctor. 
 This is a very pleasant room, and you are very 
 kind." 
 
 " I am glad you like it," returned Phyllis, and 
 with a breath of relief she passed out of the 
 door. 
 
 Roxana was mounting the stairs with a loaded 
 waiter when she emerged. 
 
 " You might take it in, Phyllis," she suggested
 
 102 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 The girl shook her head decidedly. " No, it is 
 your turn. He nearly fainted on the stairs, and 
 I 'm afraid. I will sit here, and if you want me, 
 you have only to call." 
 
 Roxana stifled a groan and passed within. The 
 invalid's face lighted as he saw the foodo His 
 hostess drew a little table up before his chair, and 
 placed upon it the creamed toast, tea, marmalade, 
 and lamb chops which she had prepared. 
 
 " How very nice ! " said Chester appreciatively. 
 " There is a wolf within me nowadays." 
 
 " Glad to hear it. You are all right, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes. I hope you believe I am considerate 
 enough not to come out here and die on your 
 hands. Perhaps, however, you will consider bring- 
 ing with me a convalescent's appetite quite as out- 
 rageous." 
 
 "I sha'n't complain a bit, if you don't," returned 
 Mrs. Sherritt, with a practical glance about her to 
 see if her boarder had all the requisites. " I sup- 
 pose you 've got a napkin-ring somewhere." 
 
 Chester smiled under the combined influence of 
 the chop and his entertainer's manner. 
 
 "Yes, in my trunk. I have not used it for 
 years, though, because I lost my pleasant associa- 
 tion with the giver." 
 
 " Better use it now, because I have n't got any 
 to give you, unless it was Dr. Joy's, and I guess 
 Phyllis would n't like that." 
 
 " Oh, don't trouble yourself. Any piece of rib- 
 bon will do."
 
 ROXANA'S BOARDER. 103 
 
 "No such slack way would do for me," re- 
 marked Mrs. Sherritt dispassionately. " If you '11 
 give me your trunk key, I '11 unpack your things 
 for you." 
 
 Chester looked up, surprised. Roxana returned 
 his glance coolly, strength and determination in 
 every line of her plain face and figure. 
 
 "You you are very kind." He took a key 
 from his pocket and handed it to her. " I have 
 no idea where anything is. One of the nurses 
 packed for me." 
 
 Roxana took the key, and vanished behind the 
 broad back of Chester's chair. He proceeded with 
 his meal as the lock of his trunk clicked, and Mrs. 
 Sherritt performed her self-imposed task. 
 
 In half an hour, the bureau and closet were 
 neatly filled, and Roxana stood beside the empty 
 dishes, a heavy silver napkin-ring in her hand. 
 There was an inscription upon it, which read A. B. 
 to T. C., but she did not glance at it. 
 
 " This is a good ring," she remarked, and 
 slipped it upon the napkin beneath the eyes of its 
 astonished owner, who, having enjoyed his meal, 
 felt more inclined for sleep than contention, and 
 so submitted in silence. 
 
 " There 's a cane here," remarked Mrs. Sherritt, 
 pointing to the head of the bed. " If you should 
 want anythin' very bad and very sudden, rap with 
 that and I '11 come. I think you 'd better go to 
 bed and not try to do any more to-day." So say- 
 ing, the housekeeper picked up the tray and left
 
 104 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 the room, with a sense of having done her whole 
 duty. 
 
 " You waitin' here yet ? " she remarked, observ- 
 ing Phyllis, patient and large-eyed, on the stairs. 
 " Don't you worry ! Our boarder ain't goin' to 
 die tills week. Come down to your supper."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISS REBECCA. 
 
 A FEW days afterward, Miss Redmond looked in 
 at the doctor's to see how Phyllis was faring. She 
 remarked at once quite a new atmosphere in the 
 house. The mournful anxiety which followed the 
 doctor's departure was dispelled. Phyllis's face, 
 as she answered the door-bell's summons, wore its 
 old look of life. 
 
 " Roxana will be so glad to see you," she said, 
 the stars showing in her eyes. " She needs com- 
 forting, and you always comfort her. You know 
 we have a boarder." 
 
 " Yes, I know." 
 
 " It is wicked for me to laugh," said the girl, 
 laughing nevertheless. " Poor Roxana ! " 
 
 " Why, what is the matter ? " asked Miss Red- 
 mond, walking out to the sitting-room, where Mrs. 
 Sherritt. coming from the kitchen with a red and 
 heated face, met her. 
 
 " If ever anybody was welcome ! " exclaimed 
 Roxana. " Sit down, Miss Rebecca, I 've got a 
 minute to myself, I do believe. You know I 've 
 got a man on my hands now." 
 
 " Yes ; I called to see how you were getting on." 
 
 " Don't say one word ' " exclaimed Mrs. Sher
 
 106 THE MISTRESS OF SEECH KNOLL. 
 
 ritt, seating herself near her guest and lowering 
 her voice to a confidential huskiness. " He 's been 
 sick ever since he got here, and what with his 
 havin' to eat five times a day. and needin' waitin' 
 on more or less, I 'm about wore out. Phyllis has 
 done everythin' she could, but I don't want she 
 should bother around him, of course, and so I 've 
 had to take the brunt of it." 
 
 " Dear, dear," said Miss Redmond uncomforta- 
 bly. She could not help feeling somewhat respon- 
 sible for Roxana's boarder. " You should have 
 sent for me. Let me see. His name is Chester, 
 I believe." 
 
 " Yes. He 's pretty near drove me to makin' 
 poetry, it rhymes so handy with pester," responded 
 Roxana dejectedly. " He can't help bein' sick, I 
 suppose," she added reluctantly. 
 
 " Is he very troublesome ? " asked Miss Re- 
 becca ; " I mean unpleasant cross, you know." 
 
 " As two sticks," returned Mrs. Sherritt lacon- 
 ically. " Take a man gettin' up from a fever, and 
 headachy and fussy, and if it ain't a means o' 
 grace to take care of him, I don't know what is. 
 Mr. Terriss comes and stays a little while every day, 
 good man ; but, land ! he has his cup pretty full 
 at home. Phyllis has been to see his wife pretty 
 steady while I 've been so shut up." 
 
 " I ought to go to see her, I suppose," said Re- 
 becca slowly. 
 
 " Indeed, Miss Redmond, it 's the kindest thing 
 you can do," replied Roxana heartily. " It needs a
 
 MISS REBECCA. 107 
 
 housekeeper's head to look in there once in a while, 
 to oversee things ; but I 'in fixed just so I can't go. 
 For instance, this afternoon I 've got to be here to 
 watch the beef tea, and take it up at the right 
 time." 
 
 " No reason why I should n't do it. I 'm not 
 afraid of him," remarked Phyllis stoutly. 
 
 " 'T ain't your work," said Roxana in a final 
 manner. 
 
 Poor Rebecca saw her duty with sudden and 
 disconcerting clearness. " I will stay and attend 
 to it," she said, after a moment's pause. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca, you 're too good ! " cried Rox- 
 ana eagerly. 
 
 " Of course I will," said Miss Redmond, begin- 
 ning to untie her bonnet strings. " Show me what 
 is to be done." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt sprang up with alacrity. Rebecca 
 followed her into the kitchen and took her direc- 
 tions. 
 
 " I can stay two hours," she said, and Roxana, 
 repeating her thanks, hurried away to put on her 
 bonnet and shawl. 
 
 Miss Rebecca's heart fluttered as she heard the 
 outer door slam. All Elise's careless suggestions 
 as to the black-bearded ruffian into which her 
 adopted brother might Jfave developed returned to 
 her now. " As cross as two sticks," Roxana had 
 said. 
 
 "Phyllis," called Miss Redmond falteringly. 
 
 The girl came from the dining-room, and as she
 
 108 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 appeared there sounded a mysterious thump, 
 thump, thump ! from the story above. 
 
 " What is that ! " exclaimed Miss Redmond. 
 
 " Mr. Chester," sighed Phyllis. " He wants 
 something. I wish you would let me go." 
 
 "No, indeed," replied Rebecca, with flushed 
 cheeks. Thump, thump, thump ! came the sum- 
 mons again. 
 
 Miss Redmond hesitated no longer, but hurried 
 up the staircase. Only now it occurred to her 
 that it might annoy the invalid to see a stranger 
 appear in his room. The thought was not an en- 
 livening one, but it was too late to repent. With 
 the courage of desperation, she opened the closed 
 door. 
 
 " Mr. Chester," she said, entering, " Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt has gone out. What may I do for you ? " 
 
 The sick man turned impatiently, scarcely glanc- 
 ing at his visitor. " I should think you might 
 see what to do for me," he replied. " Lower that 
 curtain so the sun will not lie directly upon my 
 eyes." 
 
 Rebecca crossed the room and complied with the 
 demand. She watched the weary face as she drew 
 the shade, in order to see when it was low enough. 
 
 " That will do, that will do," he cried brusquely. 
 " It 's gloomy enough to lie here hour after hour 
 without making it as dark as Egypt." 
 
 Rebecca went back to the door. " I will bring 
 you some beef tea in half an hour," she said. 
 
 " Humph ! " responded the sick man.
 
 MISS REBECCA. 109 
 
 Miss Redmond stole downstairs and into the 
 sitting-room, where Phyllis glanced up from some 
 sewing she was at work upon. To her entire sur- 
 prise, Miss Redmond sat down and began to laugh. 
 She laughed until her delicate face was red up to 
 the roots of her white hair, stifling the sound with 
 one hand, and making hushing gestures to Phyllis 
 with the other. 
 
 Phyllis smiled in sympathy. " Why, my dear, 
 he is a perfect bear," whispered Miss Redmond 
 rather hysterically. 
 
 " Poor Roxana ! It is a shame," said Phyllis. 
 " I think her money is hardly earned. One good 
 thing is, she is n't a bit afraid of him." 
 
 " And I am so relieved to find that I am not," 
 said Rebecca, looking, nevertheless, very nervous. 
 '- When a person is ill enough to be in bed it would 
 be ridiculous to be afraid of him, would n't it ? I 
 believe, though, I will take his beef tea up a little 
 before the time, for I am afraid I might get fid- 
 gety if I had long to think about it. Mr. Bellows, 
 the young man who was visiting at our house lately, 
 knows Mr. Chester " Rebecca halted abruptly. 
 Was she letting any cat out of the bag? No, 
 surely it was safe enough to speak of that. " He 
 admires him," she continued. " It would be a 
 good idea for him to come out and take care of him, 
 I think." 
 
 " The young man who brought the flowers ? " 
 asked Phyllis with interest. 
 
 " Yes ; such a good-natured boy ! I think he
 
 110 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 would be an excellent contrast to Ursa Major up- 
 stairs." 
 
 Miss Redmond jumped up. " Dear me ! I 
 must hurry. If he should thump again it would 
 confuse my wits so that I should be sure to do 
 something wrong." She went into the kitchen, fol- 
 lowed by Phyllis, and between them they prepared 
 the tray, looking like a couple of conspirators as, 
 with their heads together, they laughingly whis- 
 pered their comments, apparently fearing that the 
 object of their remarks might hear through closed 
 doors. At last Miss Redmond started forth on 
 her perilous mission, pursued by mischievous sug- 
 gestions from Phyllis. At the door of the sick- 
 room she composed her features with an effort, 
 and Terriss Chester, hearing her step and watching 
 the door with gloomy eyes, saw when she opened 
 it what looked to him a very pretty picture. Re- 
 becca's white hair brushed down in its accustomed 
 neat flat waves, her flushed cheeks, and her bright 
 eyes were far more pleasing than Roxana's color- 
 less, drab effect. 
 
 " What is your name, if you please ? " he de- 
 manded. 
 
 Rebecca smiled because she could not help it. 
 
 "I know you think me a surly fellow, and I 
 wish to ask your pardon in due form for speak- 
 ing as I did when you came up before." Chester 
 spoke in a grudging tone ; but Rebecca detected 
 its weariness, and her kind heart pitied him. 
 
 " I am Miss Redmond," she said, " and I for-
 
 MISS REBECCA. Ill 
 
 give you, certainly." She set the tray down on a 
 stand by the bedside. 
 
 " I have had a wretched pain in my head ever 
 since last evening," went on the sufferer, in gruff 
 apology, " and as I have nothing pleasant to think 
 about, the hours are interminable." 
 
 " Well, well," said Rebecca, completely at ease 
 after this confession of weakness. " I know this 
 is a tiresome experience for you, and you certainly 
 must get very lonely. Can you help yourself to 
 this bouillon, or shall I feed you ? " 
 
 The gloomy eyes wore a gentler expression as 
 the invalid replied, 
 
 " I can help myself, thank you, Miss Redmond. 
 Yes, it is lonely. I have wished many a time I had 
 waited longer before leaving the hospital." 
 
 " You will be up soon," said Rebecca cheerily. 
 " You must not be despondent. Shall I sit down 
 a little while?" 
 
 Chester looked at her in surprise. This was a 
 different class of good Samaritan from Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt. 
 
 " You are very kind," he replied rather ea- 
 gerly. " If you will sit down until I finish this, it 
 will save your coming upstairs again." Rebecca 
 complied. She was a pleasant figure in her soft 
 black dress, and Chester appreciated it. 
 
 " I won't promise to hurry," he said, with the 
 shadow of a smile. " You see my cousin, Mr. 
 Terriss, makes the only variety in my day, and 
 his visit was over at ten o'clock this morning, so
 
 112 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 I have nothing to look forward to until to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 Rebecca smiled. " We have another mutual 
 friend, Mr. Chester," she said. "His name is 
 Bellows." 
 
 " Humph ! The banker ? He was my employer. 
 I am very sorry I cannot say he is my employer." 
 
 " No ; this is a young man. I think his father 
 is a banker." 
 
 " Oh ! Tony Bellows, perhaps." 
 
 " Yes. He was out here last week visiting my 
 sister." 
 
 " Ah ! I did not know he was in this vicinity." 
 
 " He has recently returned. He wishes very 
 much to meet you again, so you will be likely to 
 see him walk in here one of these days." 
 
 Chester smiled satirically. " His devotion to 
 me will hardly bring him to Snowdon. Why 
 should he talk of me to you, I wonder ? " 
 
 To the speaker's amazement, his words sent a 
 flood of color all over his visitor's face. "I I " 
 she stammered. " Perhaps it was hearing that 
 you were coming here to board. Of course it must 
 have been that." 
 
 Chester regarded her with grave curiosity. 
 What connection could jolly Tony have with this 
 demure and gentle spinster ? What attraction 
 could it be that was strong enough to bring young- 
 Bellows to the quiet and countrified Snowdon ? 
 From what Chester had seen of the village and its 
 inhabitants, it was the last place in the world upon
 
 MJSS REBECCA. 113 
 
 which his vivacious friend would bestow so much 
 as a passing glance; but why, above all, should Miss 
 Redmond blush about him? The question baffled 
 Chester. He went on sipping the steaming bouil- 
 lon, while Rebecca plunged into speech to conceal 
 her embarrassment. 
 
 " My sister knew him, that is my sister-in-law, 
 Mrs. Redmond, when he was a child, and he 
 came out to see her." 
 
 " Ah ? " responded Chester. 
 
 " Would n't you like me to read you some- 
 thing ? " continued Miss Redmond, rising and 
 going to a table covered with books, and wishing 
 heartily that she need not have so guilty a feeling 
 concerning Elise's secret. 
 
 " Would you really be so kind ? " said Chester 
 eagerly. " But why should I take your time ? " 
 
 " I am entirely willing. I promised Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt to remain until her return, and I would as 
 lief read as do anything." 
 
 Half an hour later, Roxana returned. Phyllis 
 beckoned her into the sitting-room. 
 
 "Where's Miss Rebecca ?" asked Mrs. Sherritt. 
 
 " I think we shall never see her more," replied 
 Phyllis. " She entered the lion's den with the 
 beef tea fully an hour ago, and has not emerged. 
 I think he has taken her for dessert." 
 
 Roxana smiled. " She 's a lion tamer, that 's 
 what she is. I expect iiothin' else but what she 's 
 makin' that poor fellow have the best time he 'a 
 known in a <rood while."
 
 114 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Poor fellow ! I did not know you felt any sym- 
 pathy for him." 
 
 " I 'm perfectly just," responded Roxana, un- 
 pinning her shawl. " He can't help bein' a man 
 and not havin' any self-control, and he 's havin' 
 an awful slow time of it. He needs a missionary. 
 All men do ; and Miss Rebecca 's a home mission- 
 ary." 
 
 " Very well. I think you had better see if she 
 has not shared the fate of that brother in Timbuc- 
 too, who was eaten up and his hymn-book, too. 
 She was frightened when she went upstairs." 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! " exclaimed Roxana, with the 
 usual toss of her head. " Miss Rebecca 's plucky 
 enough when it comes to the point ; but I 've just 
 left a poor worn-out woman, I tell you." 
 
 " Yes. Do you know, Roxana," Phyllis lowered 
 her voice, " Mrs. Terriss is n't exactly a saint." 
 
 " Did you ever think," replied Mrs. Sherritt 
 tartly, " whether it would turn you into a saint to 
 sit in one spot day in and day out, alone half the 
 time?" 
 
 " I do not believe it would make me snap at my 
 husband, if he was Mr. Terriss," returned Phyllis 
 slowly. " She did yesterday when I was there." 
 
 " Well, you 've no call to judge her. Of course, 
 she is only human." 
 
 " I do not wish to judge her. It disappointed 
 me, that is all." 
 
 Roxana sighed. " You might as well learn 
 early in life that it 's a great mistake to set up
 
 MfSS REBECCA. 115 
 
 human idols. Poor feeble human nature is terri- 
 ble apt to disappoint anybody that expects too 
 much of it." 
 
 Phyllis smiled. " It makes considerable differ- 
 ence to you whether an invalid is a man or a 
 woman, I notice, when it corn.es to a question of 
 indulgence." 
 
 " Maybe," returned Roxana noncommittally. 
 " At any rate, I must let Miss Rebecca off now." 
 
 She left the room, and shortly returned, holding 
 up both hands and laughing. 
 
 " She 's tamed him, sure enough," she announced. 
 " He 's as pleasant as a lamb, and she 's a readin' 
 to. him. She says she '11 soon be through, and then 
 she '11 come down. As true as I live, he looks a 
 great deal better. Now, if Miss Rebecca '11 just 
 cure him up for us, won't we be everlastin'ly obliged 
 to her?"
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 
 
 WHETHER or not the fact was entirely due to 
 Miss Rebecca's kind offices, it proved that that 
 was the last day Mrs. Sherritt's boarder spent in 
 his bed. 
 
 He dressed each morning and sat in Dr. Joy's 
 armchair, and was able to enjoy the sunshine at 
 his southern windows and the spring green of the 
 large maple which grew close by. The busy min- 
 ister came less regularly to see him, considering 
 the need less, and the days, broken only by Rox- 
 ana's business-like visits, were very long. Chester 
 cast affectionate glances at certain painting para- 
 phernalia, and wondered when his hand would be 
 steady enough to hold the brush. Not quite yet, 
 at any rate. In this tedious season, it was an un- 
 mixed pleasure to him that one day Miss Rebecca's 
 prognostications were fulfilled, and Tony Bellows 
 appeared at the door of his room. 
 
 Tony's liking for his eccentric acquaintance was 
 sincere ; still, it might not have led him to set aside 
 a day, and actually to journey to Snowdon, for the 
 sole purpose of beholding Chester's countenance ; 
 but, taken in connection with another visit to Mrs. 
 Redmond, the idea was full of attraction. Also,
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 117 
 
 he bad not forgotten the pretty girl in the black 
 dress, whose feelings he had hurt. He knew that 
 Terriss was boarding in the same house with her. 
 Altogether, the thought of paying him a visit was 
 a pleasing one. He concluded, upon arriving at 
 Snowdon, to go directly to the doctor's house. He 
 had an uneasy sense that Elise would tease him 
 less if, when he presented himself at her door, his 
 visit to Chester was an accomplished fact. 
 
 Phyllis, answering the door-bell, was startled to 
 behold the immaculate form of the stranger. 
 
 " The flower man," thought she. 
 
 " The Flower girl," thought he, and he raised 
 his hat and smiled in his most sunshiny fashion. 
 
 Phyllis colored in a very satisfactory and be- 
 coming manner. 
 
 " Won't you walk in, Mr. Bellows ? " she asked 
 politely. 
 
 " I am so delighted to see you, Miss Flower," 
 said Tony, his hat in one hand and a florist's box, 
 moderate in size this time, in the other. 
 
 "Thank you," said Phyllis. "Oh, I under- 
 stand you have come to see Mr. Chester." 
 
 " I do want to see him, yes ; but but I have 
 a few flowers here for him, and I thought perhaps 
 you"- 
 
 " Yes, I will," said Phyllis with alacrity, as he 
 paused. " Come into the parlor." 
 
 " Can I see you fix them ? I would like to so 
 much," said Tony. 
 
 " Certainly. I will bring the bowls and water
 
 118 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 here." Bellows sat down and opened the box, 
 while Phyllis brought the pitcher and vases. A 
 sort of elation had taken possession of her at the 
 first sight of the visitor. He was to her a glimpse 
 outside the monotony of her life, a being associated 
 with a charmed mingling of luxurious roses and 
 Mrs. Redmond's magnificence, yet in himself not 
 in the least frightful or overwhelming. 
 
 She drew forward a table, and they sat one 
 on each side of it. Tony was relieved to see the 
 bright expression of her face, and to know that she 
 had forgiven him his unfortunate remark. 
 
 " You like flowers very much, " she said, look- 
 ing across the mass of blossoms at him. 
 
 " And so do you, of course," he answered. 
 
 " Ah ! " she exclaimed. " There are some roses 
 like mine those you gave me, you know." 
 
 " Yes ; La France. You like that rose partic- 
 ularly?" 
 
 " I think they must be the loveliest in the world." 
 Phyllis lifted one caressingly. " They suit me 
 better than I suit them." 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " I can scarcely tell. I suppose I am too plain 
 a person for them. Mrs. Redmond is the right 
 sort to have them." 
 
 " Yes ; what a queen she is ! " burst forth Tony 
 impulsively. " The queen of flowers is hers by 
 right." 
 
 Phyllis laid the rose down quickly. 
 
 Tony was the simplest of mankind, but his twen-
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 119 
 
 ty-four years had educated him in certain lines of 
 worldly wisdom. 
 
 " But she cannot have that," he added hastily. 
 " That is for you." 
 
 " I am sure you brought them all for Mr. Ches- 
 ter," said Phyllis, with her demurest air. 
 
 " No, indeed. You will hurt my feelings if you 
 will not accept one bud." 
 
 Upon this, delivered with a beseeching glance, 
 Phyllis relented. 
 
 Roxana, hearing voices and stepping to the par- 
 lor door, stopped in amazement. On one side of 
 a flower-laden table sat Phyllis, holding a deep 
 pink rose to her lips and looking into the eyes of 
 a blonde young man on the other side of the nar- 
 row table, who returned her gaze devotedly. 
 
 The girl heard her and turned. " Come in, Rox- 
 ana," she said pleasantly. "Mr. Bellows this is 
 my this is Mrs. Sherritt." 
 
 Roxana came slowly forward. Tony rose and 
 made her a low bow, which would have graced a 
 formal drawing-room. Mrs. Sherritt looked at 
 him sharply and nodded slightly. 
 
 " Mr. Bellows has come to visit Mr. Chester," 
 explained Phyllis. 
 
 " I want to know ! " said Roxana dryly. " It 
 don't look much like it," she thought ; then she 
 added aloud, " Them are sightly blooms." 
 
 " Are n't they beautiful ? I am going to put 
 them in water for Mr. Bellows to carry up." 
 
 " Won't you take a rose, Mrs. Sherritt ? " asked 
 Tony, with his usual prompt cordiality.
 
 120 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Well, if there 's one o' them pinks to spare," 
 said Roxana, taking a carnation. " It does seem 
 good to have ne this time o' year." 
 
 Mr. Bellows might have tried in vain a long 
 time, on any other line, to bring a smile to the 
 housekeeper's thin lips, but she loved flowers with 
 an ardor equal to his own, and left the room well 
 pleased, inhaling the odor of her spicy blossom. 
 
 " Do you know," said Phyllis naively, while her 
 busy fingers continued their work, " I was afraid 
 when I saw you that perhaps you had come to see 
 me. I do not know how to receive calls from 
 young men." 
 
 " Indeed ! " 
 
 " No, we do not have any in Snowdon. Boys 
 are born here, of course, but as soon as they can 
 walk alone they leave town." 
 
 " How disagreeable for the girls ! " 
 
 " Horrid," admitted Phyllis frankly. 
 
 " Yet you would n't be glad to let me call on 
 
 you?" 
 
 " Not for anything in the world ! I should n't 
 know what to say. Nothing ever happens to me 
 to talk about, and we do not know any of the same 
 people." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond ? " suggested Tony, amused. 
 
 Phyllis looked up at him and shook her head. 
 
 " No, indeed. I called upon her before be- 
 fore I lost Uncle Doctor, and only yesterday she 
 called upon me. We do not know each other at 
 all."
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 121 
 
 " Why, that is strange ! Ladies usually become 
 acquainted quickly in the country." 
 
 Phyllis continued to shake her pretty head em- 
 phatically. " She petrifies me. I am mortally 
 afraid of her." 
 
 " Are you ? " said Tony eagerly. " So am I. 
 Shake hands on it." He reached across the table, 
 and Phyllis put her brown hand into his white one. 
 
 " You see she is so she 's such a magnificent 
 woman, and she has such a such a horrid way 
 of looking thoughtful when she smiles at you," 
 said Phyllis, " as though she understood you, and 
 you amused her." 
 
 " Precisely," said Tony, beaming. " You have 
 described it exactly. Shake hands again." 
 
 Phyllis gave her hand more reluctantly this 
 time. " Is it Bostonian to shake hands so much?" 
 she inquired. 
 
 " No. I am recently from the West, and it is 
 a habit there, and I fell into it." 
 
 " Well, that is enough," said Phyllis demurely, 
 withdrawing her hand. " Wait until we meet in 
 the West. There ! will the flowers do now ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed. Chester will be as much obliged 
 as I am." 
 
 " No doubt," returned Phyllis, with a droll 
 glance. "Don't you think his name lacks one 
 syllable ? He really should be called Chesterfield ; 
 but excuse me, he is your friend." 
 
 " Why, Miss Flower," said Tony, puzzled, " he 
 is really a fine fellow, a talented fellow."
 
 122 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " No doubt ; but the trouble is the same with all 
 your friends : they frighten ine." 
 
 " I don't, do I ? " 
 
 " Not a bit, because you have n't called on me, 
 you know. I met Mr. Chester the evening he 
 came, and I really do not know him, because he 
 has been ill ever since, and I have not seen him ; 
 but rumors of his amiable disposition and suave 
 manners have reached me through those who have 
 had the pleasure of taking care of him." 
 
 " Say, Miss Flower," said Tony, grinning at the 
 mischievous face, " you are downright wicked, you 
 know. How can you be sure I sha'n't tell Chester 
 what you say ? " 
 
 Phyllis laughed. " I am not in the least afraid 
 of you, remember. Now, shall I show you the 
 way?" 
 
 " Yes, if you are positively determined not to 
 receive a call from me." 
 
 " I am, positively. I will take one vase and you 
 the other. This way, please." 
 
 Phyllis preceded him upstairs, and arriving at 
 the boarder's door, knocked. 
 
 A curt, deep " Come in " responded. 
 
 " It is a good thing for you that you have a 
 peace-offering," whispered Phyllis. " Here, take 
 the other bowl. You will want all the sweetness 
 at your command." 
 
 " Then won't you " began Tony ; but Phyllis 
 turned the handle and then fled. 
 
 Terriss Chester, reticent, unsocial, disappointed
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 123 
 
 man that he was, had never more than tolerated 
 the friendship of his employer's son ; but, at the 
 present moment, the sight of Tony's genial counte- 
 nance was an unmixed pleasure. 
 
 " Why, Tony, my boy ! " he exclaimed. " Are 
 you personating spring? I am glad to see you. 
 Set down those flowers and give me your hand. 
 This is extremely friendly of you, for, to tell you 
 a secret, the days in Snowdon are forty-eight hours 
 long." 
 
 "It seems to me a pleasant old place," said Tony, 
 shaking hands heartily. " There are some drives 
 about here worth seeing." 
 
 " Yes, yes, no doubt ; and I hope I shall soon 
 get out ; but, for the present, the advantages of 
 Snowdon are for me pretty much the advantages 
 of any other bedroom, where a severe specimen of 
 womanhood dispenses food to me five times a day." 
 
 " Yes, I met the severe specimen downstairs ; 
 but there is another specimen here, a girl, an 
 awfully pretty girl." 
 
 Chester snapped his fingers. " The pretty girl, 
 as well as the drives, is a pleasure deferred ; but 
 you have a friend here who has come twice to read 
 to me. She is a girl that I appreciate. To be 
 sure, her hair is white, but I am in love with her. 
 Did you bring those flowers for me ? " 
 
 " Of course I did." 
 
 " Thank you. Well, I would pass half of them 
 along to Miss Redmond, if I knew how to get them 
 to her."
 
 124 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " To Miss Redmond ? Why, I will take them. 
 I was going there anyway." 
 
 " Oh, you were ! " said Chester, eyeing his guest 
 with lazy curiosity, and remembering Rebecca's 
 incomprehensible blush. 
 
 The mate to it stole up over Tony's face. " Of 
 course ; I should not think of coming to Snowdon 
 without calling at Beech Knoll." 
 
 " You are my rival, I am afraid," remarked 
 Chester. 
 
 Tony shook his head. He was feeling deeply 
 the burden of Elise's command. " It was kind of 
 Miss Redmond to visit you," he said. " You look 
 rather thin, but a few weeks of this country air 
 will fix you all right." 
 
 " I hope so. I have a cousin here, and to-mor- 
 row, when he comes, I shall go downstairs again. 
 I hope I am about through with this sort of thing. 
 Who is it you visit at Beech Knoll, Tony ? " 
 
 " Oh, aU of them." 
 
 " Yes, I understand ; but who are ' all of them ' ? 
 What country maiden are you electrifying with 
 your charms ? " 
 
 " Not a single maiden ! " replied Tony earnestly. 
 " Miss Redmond is the only maiden there." 
 
 " Then what is all this blushing about ? " de- 
 manded Chester, a gleam of amusement lighting 
 his eyes. 
 
 Tony laughed. " Oh, there must be a deep and 
 dark mystery about it, of course ! " he said des- 
 perately. " When you get well enough, I will take
 
 ALL SORTS OF FLOWERS. 125 
 
 you up there to express your thanks to Miss Re- 
 becca, and then you can ferret it out." 
 
 " Tony, you have a bad conscience but never 
 mind. I happen to have learned that there is a 
 widow at Beech Knoll. The faithful and severe 
 Mrs. Sherritt has vouchsafed that information. 
 Your candid face informs me that she is young. 
 Very well, my boy, you have money enough for 
 both, and I only hope your father won't forbid the 
 banns." 
 
 Tony smiled. " This is a nice way to treat a 
 fellow that has come all the way from Boston to 
 see you," he remarked. 
 
 " I appreciate it, Tony. Upon my word I do. 
 I am dreading the moment when you will spring 
 up, take my flowers, and say you must be off for 
 Beech Knoll. I adore Miss Redmond, but I don't 
 think I can let you take the roses. It has just 
 occurred to me that I will paint them. I believe 
 I can do it, now. Do you see what a pretty vista 
 I get from this window ? I am going to make a 
 sketch of that some day, too." 
 
 " Wait till you see the vistas at Beech Knoll ! " 
 exclaimed Tony enthusiastically. 
 
 Chester gave him his smiling, satirical glance. 
 
 " I will try to be patient," he replied ; and then 
 he proceeded to ask his friend concerning affairs 
 in the city.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERT. 
 
 TIME did not yet begin to drag for the new 
 mistress of Beech Knoll. She rode and drove a 
 great deal. She watched the leaves unfold on her 
 fine old trees. She held consultations with her gar- 
 dener, and watched him carry out her plans. She 
 imbibed greater health and beauty daily from the 
 crisp air and sunshine, and Rebecca looked on 
 well pleased. Elise's interest in her new home 
 bade fair to outlast the spring. 
 
 She was out-of-doors when Tony walked into 
 the grounds on his way from seeing Terriss Ches- 
 ter, and she came to meet him, a smile on her face 
 and in her gray eyes. Tony told himself again 
 that she was the loveliest woman he had ever 
 seen. 
 
 " You see I dicl n't dare to wait until you sent 
 for me," he explained. " I was afraid you might 
 forget." 
 
 " You are always welcome," was the gracious 
 rejoinder ; " and you have brought me some more 
 flowers, you kind boy." 
 
 " No, I you see I wanted to bring some to 
 Chester, and so " -
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 127 
 
 " Ah, certainly," said Elise, with a little nod. 
 " You are on your way to him ? " 
 
 " No, I have been there. He sent these by 
 me" 
 
 " Tony ! " Elise stopped and looked at him ac- 
 cusingly. " Have you betrayed me ? " 
 
 " No, no ; upon honor. Chester sent these to 
 Miss Redmond," was the eager response. 
 
 Elise broke into a gay laugh. 
 
 " She deserves them. It was very kind of him. 
 You did not speak of me to him ? " 
 
 " Not once ; and you have no idea how hard it 
 was with him catechising me all the time." 
 
 " Good boy ; but why should he catechise you ? " 
 
 " He 's so broken up over Miss Redmond," 
 exclaimed Tony, wiping his brow, heated by his 
 anxiety to establish his innocence. 
 
 Elise laughed again. " I long to see Rebecca's 
 face when she hears of it. Let us go in and tell 
 her." 
 
 Tony, much relieved, followed her quickened 
 steps into the sunny sitting-room, where Miss Red- 
 mond was reading. 
 
 " Rebecca, here is Mr. Bellows." 
 
 Miss Redmond rose to greet the young man, 
 who smilingly placed the box in her hands. 
 
 " Did you know you had an admirer in town ? " 
 asked Elise. " Shame upon you for keeping it 
 from me." 
 
 Miss Redmond grew crimson, and looked at the 
 speaker with startled eyes.
 
 128 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Open your box. Here, let me help you. See, 
 lilies of the valley, carnations, heliotrope, ferns. 
 He is generous." 
 
 " What do you mean, you children ? " asked 
 Miss Redmond. 
 
 " They are for you," said Tony, " with the re- 
 gards of Mr. Terriss Chester." 
 
 Miss Rebecca smiled and grew grave. " How 
 could the poor fellow get them ? " 
 
 "This poor fellow brought them to him, of 
 course," laughed Elise. " Everybody imposes upon 
 Tony." 
 
 " I am very much obliged to you both," said 
 Miss Rebecca. " I will put them in water on this 
 table, where I can enjoy them all the time. How 
 is Mr. Chester to-day ? " 
 
 " He seems to be improving. He expects to go 
 downstairs to-morrow. I do hope he will be able 
 to get out-of-doors soon ; then he will get well, of 
 course. I hope some one will take him to drive. 
 He says he has a cousin here." 
 
 Rebecca shook her head. " Mr. Terriss has no 
 horse, and I am afraid very little money to hire 
 one." 
 
 Elise looked from one to the other with the 
 reflective, amused expression which Phyllis found 
 so disconcerting. 
 
 " If you will drive my ponies, Rebecca, they are 
 at your friend's service," she remarked presently. 
 
 " Elise, you know I could never do it in the 
 world," returned Rebecca, with evident trepida- 
 tion.
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 129 
 
 " If you would let me do it some day, Mrs. Red- 
 mond," suggested Tony. 
 
 " Certainly. To-morrow, if you like. I suppose 
 your pressing business engagements would permit 
 you to remain in Snowdon over night for such a 
 charitable purpose ? " 
 
 "Now what are you always chaffing me about 
 business for?" demanded Tony, much aggrieved. 
 
 " Because you are so amusingly ornamental, 
 Tonychen" 
 
 "Well, I give you warning that I am going 
 to be ornamental until the fall. There is n't any 
 chance to begin to be useful until then. Here is 
 summer coming on so, and I have accepted an 
 invitation to Newport for August." 
 
 " Your reasons are unimpeachable, my child." 
 
 " I object to being called your child, and if this 
 is all you have " 
 
 "Tony, Tony, your face is of a color which 
 makes your hair look very yellow, almost gaudy 
 by contrast. Now calm right down, and tell me 
 if you do not think I am admirable to put my 
 carriage at the disposal of a man who abhors me, 
 or would if he knew who I am ? " 
 
 " He would n't. That is all nonsense," said 
 Tony sulkily. "I have a mind to tell him." 
 
 " If you do, Tonychen" replied Elise dispassion- 
 ately, " I will never speak to you again, and that 
 is the literal truth. I do not choose that Mr. 
 Chester shall be the crumpled roseleaf in my sweet 
 summer. Fate insisted upcn his coming to Snow-
 
 130 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 don, and I will even play the good Samaritan and 
 help him to get well ; but that is all." 
 
 " Perhaps I have blundered, then," said Tony, 
 his eyes widening as a new, appalling thought 
 struck him. " I promised to bring him to Beech 
 Knoll to see Miss Redmond and the vistas." 
 
 "The what?" 
 
 " The vistas. He is an artist, you know." 
 
 " An artist and a cashier in a bank ? " 
 
 " Why, even an artist must eat," observed Tony. 
 
 " Never mind," said Mrs. Redmond, with unex- 
 pected graciousness. "You may bring him some 
 time," and she lowered her eyes this time as she 
 smiled at some thought. " You will stay, Tony ? " 
 
 " Oh, you know I will, as long as you will let 
 me," was the impatient answer. " I saw Miss 
 Flower again to-day," he added. "I had not 
 promised not to speak of you to her, you know." 
 
 "You did not find that the subject interested 
 her, I am sure," replied Elise. " I cannot get on 
 with fair Phyllis." 
 
 " You frighten her," exclaimed Tony. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond smiled skeptically. 
 
 " You do really. She said so," continued Tony 
 earnestly. 
 
 " I am afraid she is an affected little maiden, if 
 she said that," returned Elise. 
 
 "That she is not," remarked Miss Redmond 
 heartily. 
 
 " Oh, T am sure she is not," echoed Tony. 
 
 " Well, if you are sure of it, Tony, it must be
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 131 
 
 that she is not. I am sure no girl could deceive 
 you," said Mrs. Redmond. 
 
 " Phyllis is a very nice girl," said Miss Rebecca 
 soberly, " and a very dull life she has of it. Still 
 she knows of nothing different, so perhaps it is not 
 marvelous that she endures it well. I have asked 
 her to come here some day. I am sure she would 
 enjoy walking by the river and seeing the trees in 
 their new dresses." 
 
 " Yes," said Elise, " and if she wished, she could 
 take a ride. Her uncle said she rode. Ask her 
 to come and spend the day with you." 
 
 Rebecca looked up, well pleased. " Thank you," 
 she returned, " that is what I should like to do." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond frowned at her smilingly. " You 
 waited for my permission, you foolish Rebecca? 
 You know that is not treating me fairly. It is 
 as much your home as mine. I will try not to 
 frighten your friend more than my naturally ter- 
 rible aspect makes necessary." 
 
 " Come, now," said Tony, " you are all wrong. 
 She admires you immensely and all that. It is 
 because of that " 
 
 " Wait, wait, Tony, you are growing metaphysi- 
 cal. You will get beyond your depth in a minute 
 more. We are wasting time this beautiful weather. 
 Let us go and have a game of tennis." 
 
 The following day was a red-letter one to Mrs. 
 Sherritt, for her boarder came downstairs. More- 
 over, he came without assistance from any one, 
 and was so much encouraged as to his condition
 
 132 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 that Phyllis told herself he looked positively gen- 
 ial when he came into the parlor where she was 
 awaiting him. 
 
 "Happy to see you again, Miss Flower," lie 
 said cheerfully. 
 
 " I congratulate you on getting out of that room ; 
 you must be very tired of it." 
 
 " I am, heartily, and am sure Mrs. Sherritt is 
 quite as much so." 
 
 " You will be getting as far as my house one of 
 these days," observed Mr. Terriss, who had fol- 
 lowed him into the parlor. " My wife will be 
 pleased to make your acquaintance." 
 
 " And I to make hers. I feel ashamed to chafe 
 so at a short imprisonment, when I think of her 
 fate." 
 
 "It is indeed a hard one," said the minister 
 quietly, that subtle cloud falling over his face 
 which always settled there when he mentioned his 
 wife outside her presence. " Well, I will leave 
 you now, Terriss. I hope this is the beginning of 
 the end, and that you will commence to enjoy life 
 again. Good-by, Phyllis. What a sweet rose you 
 have there ! I noticed it the instant I entered the 
 room." 
 
 " Is n't it beautiful ? It is for you, Mr. Terriss." 
 The girl started up and took the flower from the 
 vase. The minister demurred, but Phyllis in- 
 sisted, and he was forced to accept. 
 
 " Thank you ; I will take it home to Mrs. Ter 
 riss."
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 133 
 
 "No," returned Phyllis decidedly; "it is for 
 you." She came close to him and drew the stem 
 through his buttonhole, and he smiled. 
 
 " You make me look like a gay young man." 
 
 " I should like to. Now promise me that when 
 you get home you will put it on your desk and not 
 on Mrs. Terriss' table." 
 
 " Why, Phyllis " 
 
 " No, no. Variety is the spice of life. Prom- 
 
 ise 
 
 '" Well, I promise," said the minister, half laugh- 
 ing, yet seeing himself in fancy enter his house in 
 a secret and guilty manner, and tiptoe up the stairs 
 to keep that lightly demanded promise. It gave 
 him an unwelcome glimpse of the fact that he was 
 the object of feeble tyranny, and his thoughts on 
 the homeward walk were less cheerful than usual, 
 in spite of the fragrant breath of his rose. 
 
 Entering his front door quietly, he was about to 
 carry out his programme, when a sound of choking 
 and sobbing in his wife's room startled him. 
 
 Hurrying down the narrow corridor, he threw 
 open the door, and a strange sight met his eyes. 
 His wife was convulsively weeping, her body half 
 supported in Rebecca Redmond's arms, while Lu- 
 cindy Bates, open-mouthed, stood by, wringing her 
 hands helplessly. 
 
 "Your husband has come, Mrs. Terriss," said 
 Rebecca. " Try to control yourself for his sake." 
 
 " O Philip, Philip ! " cried the invalid hysteri- 
 cally. " Oh, how I suffer, how I suffer ! " and she
 
 134 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 flung herself out of Rebecca's arms into those of 
 her husband, who had knelt on her other side. 
 
 The minister looked into Rebecca's eyes for ex- 
 planation, but Miss Rebecca shook her head in 
 despair. She had seemed on the eve of succeed- 
 ing in calming Mrs. Terriss before her husband 
 appeared ; now the cries grew to shrieks, and the 
 uncontrolled woman stiffened throughout her body. 
 
 " You can stop this, Lily, and you must. It will 
 make you ill," said the minister sternly. 
 
 " She 's a goiu' to faint, sir," said Lucindy ex- 
 citedly, as Mrs. Terriss set her teeth and closed 
 her eyes. " When they holler it kind o' frustrates 
 me, but if she '11 faint, a tumbler o' cold water 
 right in the face is just like magic." 
 
 " Don't you dare," gasped the sufferer, opening 
 her eyes and fixing them wildly upon the hand- 
 maid, who suddenly set down the goblet she had 
 raised. 
 
 "That is right, Lily. Control yourself," said 
 the minister. 
 
 " Oh, I will, I will," moaned his wife. " Miss 
 Redmond has been so kind, so kind to me. Thank 
 her, Philip." 
 
 " I do thank her," said the minister, low and 
 gravely, not looking at Rebecca. 
 
 Her face was as grave as his own. " I will go 
 now," she said, rising quietly. " Mrs. Terriss will 
 want to rest." 
 
 " Tell him first, tell Philip first," said the latter, 
 hrowing her arm over her husband's shoulder.
 
 3//SS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 135 
 
 " T am not sure that I fully understand, ' said 
 Rebecca, and her calm voice wus soothing to hear 
 after the querulous one of the invalid. " Your 
 wife sent for young Dr. Ramsey, and he came, and 
 during their talk he said I did not get here 
 until he was leaving, but I understood from Mrs. 
 Terriss that he underrated her illness in some 
 way." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss raised her head with surprising 
 energy. " He said that he could not discover that 
 there was anything very wrong with me I " she ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 Mr. Terriss was silent, the grave, harassed look 
 still on his face. 
 
 " Dr. Ramsey is rather young and inexperi- 
 enced," he said. 
 
 " So I told him. I drove him away, I drove 
 him away, and I am glad I did." Her voice trem- 
 bled with excitement. 
 
 "Do not talk of it now," said Mr. Terriss 
 firmly. " I thank you very much, Miss Redmond. 
 Do not let us detain you any longer." He raised 
 his eyes to hers for one moment, then lowered 
 them again to his wife's trembling form. 
 
 Miss Rebecca carried a heavy heart with her 
 down the pleasant street. She was puzzled, too, 
 and doubtful as to her duty. 
 
 A smart rattle of horses' hoofs and a bright voice 
 interrupted her troubled reverie. 
 
 " Good - morning again, Miss Rebecca," cried 
 Mr. Bellows, stopping his team beside her. " Are
 
 136 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 you going anywhere that I can take you ? I am 
 very generous with Mrs. Redmond's horses," 
 
 " My destination is the same as yours," replied 
 Rebecca. " I like walking, but I do not mind driv- 
 ing when it is so easy as this." 
 
 Tony jumped out and helped her in, and in a 
 few minutes they drew up before Phyllis's door. 
 
 Phyllis herself and Terriss Chester saw the equi- 
 page from the parlor window. 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond's carriage," said Phyllis, her 
 eyes sparkling. " Miss Rebecca does not usually 
 come in such style." 
 
 " Mr. Bellows is her coachman, I see," remarked 
 Chester. "He must be quite intimate at Beech 
 Knoll." 
 
 " Yes, he visits there often," returned Phyllis, 
 watching while Tony tied the horses, and then 
 walked beside Miss Rebecca up the path. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Chester, I am glad to see this," 
 said Miss Redmond as she entered the parlor. 
 She shook hands heartily with Terriss, who rose to 
 greet her. " I enjoyed the flowers you sent me so 
 much. I am not accustomed to such pretty atten- 
 tions from young men." 
 
 " You mean you will not receive them," said 
 Tony, turning from his cordial greeting to Phyllis. 
 " She tried to run away from me this morning, but 
 I caught up with her on the street. Chester, I have 
 come to take you driving behind the best little 
 team between here and Boston." 
 
 " Why, thank you ; I had not thought of going 
 out so soon."
 
 A/JSS REDMOXD'S DISCOVERY. 137 
 
 " Of course you had n't. You did n't know 
 what was in store for you. Mrs. Redmond has 
 been kind enough to lend me her carriage for the 
 purpose, and it will do you all the good in the 
 world." 
 
 " Oh, it will, I am sure," said Phyllis, so ear- 
 nestly that Mr. Bellows wished circumstances re- 
 quired him to extend the invitation to the family 
 in turn. 
 
 " I advise you to go. The air is not chilly," 
 added Miss Redmond. 
 
 " I want to go badly enough," said Chester, 
 " but I atn as fidgety as an old woman when I 
 think of being possibly put back to bed. Will 
 you come and read to me, if I am, Miss Red- 
 mond?" 
 
 Rebecca promised, so Chester went. Phyllis 
 watched them drive away. 
 
 " How nice it looks," she said, sighing. " O Miss 
 Rebecca, why can't we all be rich ? " 
 
 l * We all may be in some direction," replied Miss 
 Redmond. 
 
 " You mean something moral, I know," pouted 
 Phyllis. ' k I do not want to be rich in contentment 
 and those things ; I want real bad riches, horses 
 and carriages, and new dresses." 
 
 Miss Redmond smiled. " You make me doubt- 
 ful whether I ought to do the errand I came to 
 do." 
 
 " What is that ? " said Phyllis, turning toward 
 her eagerly.
 
 138 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I caine to ask you to spend a day with me next 
 week ; but you will see carriages and horses, will 
 ride a horse if you choose, and you may see new 
 dresses. Are you better off not to see these 
 things ? " 
 
 " I do not care whether I am or not. I shall 
 come, if you ask me." 
 
 " I never thought you were at all a discontented 
 child," said Miss Rebecca thoughtfully. " You 
 have such health, and have had such a sensible 
 bringing up. Why should you not be happy every 
 minute ? To be sure, your life is quiet." 
 
 Phyllis shook her head. She could not explain 
 how Mrs. Redmond and her belongings, including 
 her guest and his roses, had opened to her vision a 
 new world of possibilities. 
 
 " I hope you will invite me, Miss Rebecca," she 
 said naively. 
 
 " Well, I do, child. Come next Wednesday. 
 Where is Roxana ? " 
 
 " In the kitchen. Shall I call her ? " 
 
 No. I will go to her." 
 
 Roxana was peeling potatoes at the sink when 
 Miss Rebecca went in. 
 
 " Don't let me disturb you, Roxaua," she said, 
 drawing a chair into a convenient position and 
 sitting down. " I went in to see Mrs. Terriss this 
 morning." 
 
 " I thank you, Miss Rebecca ; I take that as a 
 favor to myself," said Roxana earnestly. " What 's 
 the news? Any?"
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 139 
 
 " The young doctor had been there, Dr. Ram- 
 sey, and he said something to displease her. When 
 I arrived, he was just going away ; and as soon as 
 she saw me, the poor lady broke down completely 
 in hysterics." 
 
 Roxana washed a large potato vigorously. 
 " Well, I s'pose that young whipper-snapper hain't 
 got good sense yet. Most likely he thinks he's 
 goin' to regulate the whole medical profession. If 
 anybody 's excusable for bein' hysteriky, it 's a 
 woman fixed just the way Mrs. Terriss is, that can't 
 hardly move." 
 
 " Roxana," Miss Redmond glanced toward the 
 door and lowered her voice, " the circumstance 
 which is so strange that I scarcely know whether 
 or not to speak of it to you is that when I entered 
 Mrs. Terriss' room, she was standing as erect as 
 you are this moment, by the mantelpiece, on the 
 other side of the room from her chair." 
 
 Roxana paused, and looked full into the eyes 
 of her companion. " That young greenhorn must 
 have carried her across. She can't move her 
 limbs. Mr. Terriss carries her around like a 
 baby." 
 
 " So I have heard," replied Miss Rebecca, 
 slowly ; " but she walked back to her chair beside 
 me, scarcely leaning 011 the arm I gave her." 
 
 Roxana stared in silence a moment, then she 
 took her hands out of the water, and crossing to 
 the door that led to the dining-room closed it, her 
 eyes round with amazement.
 
 140 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Does Lucindy know this ? " she asked, coming 
 back. 
 
 " No ; Mrs. Terriss made very little noise until 
 after she was in her chair again. Then the girl 
 came in." 
 
 " "Well," said Roxana, sitting down, " I am 
 beat." 
 
 " What shall we do ? " said Miss Rebecca. 
 " Something must be done." 
 
 " Land o' liberty, you don't s'pose she likes to 
 set there till she most takes root, do you ? What 
 on earth is the explanation of it ? " 
 
 " I think she must have come to believe that 
 she is helpless. There have been such cases, you 
 know." 
 
 " Well, my way would be to go in there and 
 say, ' You can walk all right, if you only think so, 
 Mrs. Terriss. Come out and see what a good 
 sunny kitchen you 've got.' ' 
 
 Miss Rebecca sighed. " She would only be as 
 angry with you as she is with Dr. Ramsey, who, I 
 think, must be very simple or else a genius." 
 
 " Well, he ain't any genius, just put that down ; 
 but he 's put me in a muddle, I know that. I 
 can't do for Mrs. Terriss and feel as I have done." 
 
 " Roxana," said Miss Rebecca earnestly, " I have 
 not told you this to set you against her. Think 
 how terribly she is to be pitied in her delusion. 
 We must help her, if we can. I doubt if, at this 
 moment, she realizes that I saw her outside her 
 chair. I must help her, for her own and her hus-
 
 MISS REDMOND'S DISCOVERY. 141 
 
 band's sake. It must be my work, else why was I 
 led in at that moment to see her? O Roxana, I 
 dread it. Help me to the best way. Help me to 
 think it out ; " and to Mrs. Sherritt's consternation 
 Miss Redmond bowed her head ou the edge of the 
 sink, and burst into tears.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 
 
 WITH the ability to come and go as he would, 
 even within the narrow limits of the house and 
 dooryard, life became again a thing worth having 
 to Terriss Chester. He could read, he could paint, 
 he could walk until his slender stock of strength 
 was consumed, and then he could sleep for an hour ; 
 and he began to feel the slow return of his old 
 energy. 
 
 " He does seem to have a realizin' sense o' the 
 trouble I 've took for him," Roxana confided to 
 Phyllis, " and that 's more than most men would 
 feel ; but I just long for the dear, happy time when 
 he can go off to the minister's and stay, say half a 
 day. A man around the house all the time always 
 was awful wearin' to me." 
 
 " You will not have it to bear long," said Phyl- 
 lis. " He has come straight up since the drive 
 with Mr. Bellows, and there is a look in his eyes 
 when he stands at the window or on the steps like 
 that of a wild creature in a cage. When he can 
 escape, he will go. He has been asking me all 
 about the walks near here, and the woods. How 
 lovely it must be to know how to sketch as he 
 doesl"
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 143 
 
 " But laws," said Roxana prosaically, " how his 
 paints smell ! I will say, though, them dark red 
 roses he did look just as though you could pick 
 'em right up, and it 's a good thing he can amuse 
 himself that way just now, seein' he can't knit." 
 
 Phyllis laughed. The picture of their deep- 
 voiced, gloomy-eyed boarder engaged in knitting 
 was particularly amusing ; but she did not reply. 
 It was Wednesday morning, and she was hurry- 
 ing to get ready for the anticipated day at Beech 
 Knoll. She suddenly grew solemn as she stood 
 before the glass. " Roxana, can't I have a new 
 dress?" she asked, studying her reflection. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt paused, arms akimbo. " What 's 
 the matter with that one ? " she asked kindly. 
 "Nice, good, gray silk. 'T ain't every girl o' your 
 age has a silk dress, and that was your mother's 
 best." 
 
 " Is n't it too old for me, or something ? " re- 
 turned the girl. " I think I look better in my cal- 
 icoes ; and my hat is a fright compared to Mrs. 
 Redmond's." 
 
 " I like your looks first-rate," said Roxana com- 
 fortingly. " Don't you fret. Mrs. Redmond has 
 style and fashion ; but you 've got a whole row o' 
 great-grandmothers." 
 
 " I wonder if she would exchange," remarked 
 Phyllis audaciously. " I would give a great-grand- 
 mother apiece for a bonnet and dress like the ones 
 she wore here." 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, I 'm surprised at you," ex- 
 claimed Roxana, horrified.
 
 144 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 The girl ran to her and threw her arms around 
 her neck. " What is the matter with me ? " she 
 murmured. " I used to be the most careless, con- 
 tented creature in the world, and now there is a 
 buzz of longings all through iny head, and I am 
 always expecting something, I do not know what." 
 
 Roxana looked at her gravely, then took her 
 hand and led her across the room to where hung a 
 photograph of Dr. Joy. 
 
 " All those feelin's are ungrateful to him, Phyl- 
 lis," she said quietly, " and they ain't the best 
 part o' your nature, either. He did his best to 
 train your mind, and I 've done mine to make your 
 body healthy and useful. Don't tell me you ain't 
 enough of a person to overcome this restlessness 
 you tell about. It has n't got any great hold over 
 you yet, and do you nip it now, right in the bud." 
 
 Phyllis stood silent and flushing. " I do not 
 know where to begin to nip," she said at last. 
 
 " Begin whenever you feel discontented," re- 
 turned Eoxana. " If you once began to count 
 your blessin's, you would be surprised. Of all 
 things on earth, don't be mean. It 's mean to envy, 
 it 's mean to grumble, it 's mean to feel cast down 
 'cause somebody else is set up. Take Miss Re- 
 becca, a disappointed, tried woman, if ever there 
 was one. Supposin' she looked long-faced because 
 her lot is different from that sister-in-law's. The 
 best thing I know about Mrs. Redmond is the 
 way Miss Rebecca seems to be fond of her. She 
 may be a very good woman, but I mistrust all her
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 145 
 
 fine doiu's have sort of upset you. Now you 're 
 goin 1 there to-day. Do you go armed. Supposin' 
 you aiu't dressed in the latest style. You '11 ap- 
 pear better behaved, if you don't think about it 
 and don't feel bad about it. 'T ain't anythin' to 
 feel bad about. You are a good-lookin' girl, Phyl- 
 lis, and you know how to talk and behave, and 
 you 're goin', because you are invited, to see Miss 
 Rebecca. There 's one thought that '11 always give 
 a person meekness and dignity both. It is this : 
 I am just as dear to the Almighty Father of us all 
 as anybody else, and I ain't any dearer to Him 
 than everybody else. When you see Mrs. Red- 
 mond this mornin', you think o' that, and it '11 lift 
 your mind right up off your hat." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt was unusually stirred, and it was 
 long after Phyllis had set forth on her walk be- 
 fore her mind settled to its ordinary calm. 
 
 Things were slipping out of their accustomed 
 grooves and running wild. Mrs. Terriss either 
 self-deceived or a hypocrite, and Phyllis what 
 was the matter with Phyllis ? Would Roxana 
 have sufficient penetration and worldly wisdom to 
 meet and control the girl under new conditions? 
 
 She went with a mind distrait to her boarder's 
 room, carrying the beaten egg she gave him in the 
 middle of the morning, into which he always poured 
 a spoonful of some liquid from a flask, while Mrs. 
 Sherritt averted her eyes. 
 
 He looked up from his book as she came in. 
 " This is the last time you must do this," he said.
 
 146 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I will come to the table for my meals hereaf- 
 ter, and take only the same number as other 
 people. I just saw Miss Phyllis pass out of the 
 gate." 
 
 "Yes. She has gone to spend the day with 
 Miss Rebecca. It is a great treat for her." 
 
 " Miss Rebecca appears to be a universal favor- 
 ite," replied Terriss. 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Roxana rather abstractedly. 
 " Miss Rebecca can stand anythin', prosperity or 
 adversity. She was just the same in the old days 
 when money was close, as she is now when it 's 
 plenty." 
 
 " She has inherited property? " 
 
 " No, her brother married it, and then died, and 
 she lives with the widow. You have n't seen the 
 widow?" 
 
 " No, but I hope some time to see her and thank 
 her for the pleasant drive I owe her. Do you like 
 that little rose-piece, Mrs. Sherritt ? " for Roxana 
 had absently taken up the water-color as she stood, 
 one hand on her hip. 
 
 " Well, I did yesterday when it was pinned up 
 across the room," she returned ; " but now, close to, 
 why they might be anythin'. I guess you hain't 
 had lessons very long, have you ? " 
 
 Chester gave a sudden smile. " I was going to 
 ask you to accept it, if it took your fancy," he 
 said. 
 
 Roxana looked pleased, but puzzled. " Well, let 
 me put it up where it was yesterday and see," she
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 147 
 
 remarked, suiting the action to the word and then 
 retreating from the sketch, while the artist looked 
 on, highly entertained. 
 
 " There, there, now," she exclaimed, keeping her 
 eyes fixed on the flowers, " a body can most begin 
 to smell 'em. I do say it 's clever of you to give 
 it to me," and she walked back and took down 
 the sketch, which she held by one corner while she 
 continued : " You was speakin' o' Mrs. Redmond. 
 You must n't repeat it, Mr. Chester, if I tell you 
 somethin'. That woman or girl, whichever you 've 
 a mind to call her, 'sometimes she seems about 
 eighteen and again she 's the grand lady, well, 
 she 's made me a great deal o' trouble. I want to 
 ask you what may seem a queer question ; but 
 you 're a city man, and you most likely know. I 
 want to ask you how Phyllis looked to you as she 
 went out o' the gate." 
 
 Mr. Chester was puzzled. " I could not see her 
 face." 
 
 " No matter about her face. What did you 
 think of her general looks, her clothes ? " 
 
 " Mrs. Sherritt," smiling now, grimly, " I am the 
 last man in the world to know anything about a 
 lady's dress." 
 
 " Could n't you even tell if she looked well, 
 in the style, as people call it ? " 
 
 " No," said Terries promptly, " she did not look 
 in the style." 
 
 Roxana's face, which had been unconsciously 
 wistful, fell.
 
 148 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Could you tell what was the matter? " she 
 asked. " You see, Mrs. Redmond is in the style, 
 or I suppose she must be, and Phyllis wants to be, 
 too. If you could give me any idea " 
 
 Terriss stirred restlessly. " I could n't, to save 
 my life. Why don't you ask Mrs. Redmond ? " 
 
 " Not for the world," responded Roxana. 
 
 " Buy a fashion book," suggested Chester. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt looked contemptuous. " Do you 
 suppose I 'd turn Phyllis into one o' them wasp- 
 waisted simpletons ? I see," she continued, with a 
 sigh, " you don't know any more about style than 
 I do, except that you know it when you see it. I 
 s'pose it 's right enough Phyllis should have it, if it 
 don't cost too much. I don't like to bother Miss 
 Rebecca. She has her own style and sticks to 
 it through everything but 't ain't natural Phyllis 
 should be willin' to." 
 
 " It is to be regretted," said Terriss, beginning 
 to be less bewildered and more amused at the situ- 
 ation, " that Mr. Bellows had not been in my 
 place. He could have given you some practical 
 advice. He has spent his life among devotees of 
 fashion, while I have only observed them from 
 afar, vaguely." 
 
 *' Oh, I would n't ask that young chap, even if I 
 had him here," replied Roxana shortly. " Well, 
 we '11 see, we '11 see," and she turned and left the 
 room. 
 
 Terriss smiled to himself over the conversation. 
 That he should be applied to for advice on the
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 149 
 
 subject of woman's dress was a contingency he 
 had never thought of. This Mrs. Redmond seemed 
 to be a person of consequence. She had capti- 
 vated the city youth and the country maiden alike. 
 It was certainly an odd circumstance that such a 
 woman should elect to live in Snowdon, and the 
 fact seemed to argue a retiring nature. 
 
 " Probably she remains here but little of the 
 time," he thought, lighting a cigar to assist his 
 lazy meditations. " The fact of her being a novel 
 effect among these people proves that. As for 
 Tony's judgment well, at all events the Red- 
 mond family have placed me in their debt. It is 
 hardly becoming that I should gossip about them, 
 even to my own thoughts." 
 
 He rose and, putting on a light overcoat and 
 taking his hat, went downstairs into the spring 
 sunshine. He walked down the street, his hands 
 behind him, and as he went his thoughts wandered 
 away from Mrs. Redmond to the practical affairs 
 of his own life. He ,would willingly remain in 
 this country spot as long as his finances would 
 permit. How long would his finances permit? 
 
 He was considering this problem in mental 
 arithmetic when a lady mounted on horseback ap- 
 peared in the street. An experienced horsewoman 
 is always a pleasing sight. Terriss postponed his 
 calculations to enjoy the view of this one. Time 
 was not precious to him as yet. 
 
 The lady's horse had been coming at a great 
 pace, but now she quieted him, and it was almost at
 
 150 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 a walk that she approached. Chester, indifferent 
 at first, gazed with fully awakened interest as he 
 realized that a glorious living picture was, by a 
 kind freak of fortune, passing his way. 
 
 The shining hair and the exquisite coloring of 
 the lady, the dark green habit, perfectly fitting 
 her graceful outlines, the arched neck and proud 
 step of her coal black steed, formed an apparition 
 positively startling in such a place, and seemed to 
 make of the village street some royal avenue. 
 
 The lady for one moment let her gray eyes rest 
 full upon Chester's face. Involuntarily, his hand 
 went to his hat. She lightly touched her horse 
 with the whip. Chester's hand fell. It was over. 
 
 What had happened ? His heart beat. His 
 head seemed to whirl. He suddenly stopped and 
 turned. No one was in sight. 
 
 As for the lady, her heart was beating too. The 
 gray eyes shone. She knew she had seen the man 
 whom she had come thousands of miles to serve, 
 and who had so roughly repulsed her. For the 
 first time in her life, she had coolly planned to be 
 observed ; had chosen the street and the hour ; and 
 recognizing by the slow gait and the general ap- 
 pearance of the convalescent that her object was 
 attained, had reined in her horse and passed delib- 
 erately in order to see and to be seen. 
 
 She had obtained a good view of the pale face 
 and tall figure, had seen the light leap into the 
 dark eyes, and her cheeks glowed as, fully satis- 
 fied, she cantered briskly down a side street.
 
 A GOLDEN MORNING. 151 
 
 Terriss Chester walked back toward the house 
 with a quicker step than he had used since his ill- 
 ness. He strode through the parlor and out into 
 the low-ceiled dining-room, where Roxana met him, 
 looking up in surprise. 
 
 " What 's the matter ? " she asked involuntarily. 
 
 " Nothing. I I have just been taking a short 
 walk. We were talking about Mrs. Redmond this 
 morning. Has she has she golden hair ? " 
 
 " No, not exactly. Kinder reddish." 
 
 " Does she ride a black horse, and is she very 
 handsome ? " 
 
 " She rides a black horse that 's as wild as a 
 nightmare. She 's a good-lookin' woman, straight 
 and healthy-lookin', kinder pale, but I guess that 
 may be the color of her skin. Why ? " 
 
 " Nothing, nothing," replied Chester hastily. " I 
 have seen her, that is all, and I well, that 's all, 
 Mrs. Sherritt. Thank you ; " and he disappeared. 
 
 Roxana looked after him meditatively. " There 's 
 a new disease cropped out in Snowdon," she mut- 
 tered. " It 's Redmond fever. Scarlet fever 's 
 nothin' to it ; and if I don't miss of it, my board- 
 er 's struck down now."
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 
 
 WHEN Phyllis came home, late that afternoon, 
 the boarder looked at her with a new interest. 
 Her face was all alight with the pleasure of novel 
 experiences. 
 
 " I have had a beautiful time, a perfect time," 
 she said, as she seated herself opposite Chester at 
 the tea-table. 
 
 Roxana hovered about, with her usual close at- 
 tention to their wants, waiting upon the table, and 
 throwing in an observation from time to time, 
 maintaining, as had always been her custom, an 
 air of equality, reminding one that she was fully 
 entitled to a seat at the family table, provided she 
 chose to take it, only she never did choose to 
 do so. 
 
 She regarded Phyllis now with an air half 
 pleased, yet doubtful. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca made you have a good time, 
 eh ? " she questioned. 
 
 " She was good to me, as she always is, but Mrs. 
 Redmond did the most to entertain me." 
 
 " You like her better than you did ? " 
 
 " I know her better. I am not afraid of her 
 any more, and she is so lovely ! She showed me
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 153 
 
 piles of foreign pictures in a great stereoptieon, 
 and described them so that I feel as if I had made 
 a European tour ; and she let me ride her horse. 
 Oh ! " exclaimed Phyllis, leaning back in her chair, 
 " I cannot eat anything." 
 
 " I dare say you made a pretty substantial din- 
 ner up there,'' observed Roxana. 
 
 " Such a dinner ! " sighed the girl. " I did not 
 eat very much of it, though, it was so pretty to 
 look at ; " and again she drew a long breath of 
 enjoyment. 
 
 u Well, you did n't have any of it, Mr. Chester," 
 said Roxana. " Why don't you eat something? " 
 
 " I am doing very well. I am enjoying Miss 
 Phyllis's retrospect with her." 
 
 " I want you to go to Beech Knoll as soon as 
 you can, Mr. Chester," said Phyllis earnestly. "I 
 feel as though it would pour strength into any one 
 just to walk about on that soft grass, and sit by 
 the river, and lie in a hammock in the cunningest 
 little sheltered place Mrs. Redmond has among a 
 clump of trees." 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, you 're stark crazy ! Mr. 
 Chester won't lie in any hammock yet awhile, 
 unless he wants to be sick again." 
 
 " I think, Mrs. Sherritt, you and I dread that 
 about equally," remarked Terriss, smiling at the 
 housekeeper's consternation. 
 
 "You're lookin' first-rate to-night," returned 
 Roxana more mildly. 
 
 She was right ; but the reflection of Phyllis's
 
 154 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 glowing countenance in the boarder's face was a 
 short-lived brightness. He sat by the parlor win- 
 dow for some time after tea and read in the long 
 twilight ; but his author might have been Mother 
 Goose instead of Ruskin for all the sense Chester 
 obtained from his pages. They were illustrated 
 pages, illumined by his own fancy; and on each 
 leaf the picture was of the same regally graceful 
 figure. 
 
 Phyllis flitted about the room, humming a little 
 tune. He observed that she looked at him stealth- 
 ily before slipping off an apron she had put on to 
 preserve the gray silk ; then she jumped into a 
 chair and hung the apron scarf-fashion over the 
 corner of a picture. 
 
 Chester smiled. He knew that out of the cor- 
 ner of his eye he was beholding the evidence of 
 evolution. " Do you like the effect ? " he asked, 
 without looking up. 
 
 Phyllis whipped the apron off the picture and 
 jumped lightly to the floor, blushing brightly. 
 
 " Yes, I do," she said courageously, " and I 
 believe that up in the attic I can find something 
 that will do better than an apron." 
 
 " Of course you can," said Chester with a nod. 
 " The attics of New England are proverbial trea- 
 sure-houses." 
 
 " I wish you would n't laugh at me, Mr. Ches- 
 ter," returned Phyllis wistfully. 
 
 " I 'm not laughing at you. I am envying you,'' 
 he replied curtly.
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 155 
 
 She came nearer, and sat down on a low stool 
 and looked at him. 
 
 " Envying me ! What for ? " she asked, sur- 
 prised and curious. 
 
 " For your courage. Why don't you fret and 
 mope because your parlor is n't like Mrs. Red- 
 mond's ? I should, in a parallel case." 
 
 " And that was the way I did at first ; but now 
 it is different. Mrs. Redmond filled me with de- 
 spair at first ; but now she has filled me with cour- 
 age. Not that I talked to her about the parlor, 
 but something about her while I was with her to- 
 day braced me ; and I thought, why should n't I 
 learn of her ? I have common sense and time, 
 even if I have n't much money." 
 
 " Sensible," returned Chester. " So Mrs. Red- 
 mond's programme is first to fill one with despair, 
 and then with courage, is it? " 
 
 " That was the way I took her," explained Phyl- 
 lis simply. " I suppose she has been the same all 
 the time ; but you are n't feeling well, to-night, 
 Mr. Chester. Don't you want me to read to 
 you?" 
 
 Chester smiled. "You have come to believe 
 that is a panacea for all my woes, I believe. I 
 thank you, but my eyes are too strong now to 
 excuse my robbing you of your time." 
 
 " I know how stupid it is here for you," said 
 Phyllis timidly. " I do not wonder you grow 
 depressed." 
 
 The other looked at her in some surprise. It
 
 156 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 was a totally novel experience to him to receive 
 feminine sympathy, and in his present mood, and 
 from this humble little girl, rather soothing. 
 
 " I fear any place would be stupid to me where 
 I had only myself for company," he returned. " I 
 am a failure, Miss Phyllis, and a failure is always 
 disagreeable." 
 
 " Dear me ! do not say such a thing," said Phyl- 
 lis, genuinely shocked. " How can a man decide 
 that he is a failure before his life is half over ? " 
 
 Chester shook his head gloomily. " I see my 
 future as plainly as if I had already lived it. It is 
 a foregone conclusion. An automatic performance 
 of one work while my heart is in another, for the 
 indefinite period of my life." 
 
 He seemed to forget Phyllis as he finished, look- 
 ing out into the darkening village street, chafing 
 to-night more restlessly than usual at his circum- 
 stances, his slow-coming strength, his poverty, his 
 baffled hopes. The sore sense of self-dissatisfac- 
 tion which was his constant companion seemed to 
 increase with sudden vehemence. He threw him- 
 self back in his chair, and his eyes fell again on his 
 silent companion. 
 
 " I suppose you know, Miss Phyllis, an old bach- 
 elor grows more selfish every day. I have been 
 imposing upon you simply because you are good- 
 natured." 
 
 " Do not mind me," said Phyllis earnestly. " I 
 am so sorry you feel this way about your circum- 
 stances ; but if Mr. Terriss cannot make you look
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 157 
 
 at them differently, of course I cannot." She 
 sighed. " I suppose it cannot be true," she added, 
 in a lower tone, " but it does seem as though, if 
 one had health to begin with, money would buy 
 every other blessing in the world." 
 
 " Yes ; but one may pay too dearly for money," 
 replied Chester, thinking of the offer he had re- 
 fused within a month. He had had time enough, 
 since coming to Snowdon, to think over what that 
 refusal had lost him, and what acceptance would 
 have gained him ; but he had not been tempted to 
 regret his course. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," returned Phyllis, with a wise 
 nod, " one might pay too dearly for money ; and, 
 Mr. Chester, there are so many things to enjoy in 
 the world without it, especially in springtime," she 
 added, with enthusiasm. 
 
 The following day, Chester concluded to try his 
 powers further than he had yet ventured to do. 
 The morning was fresh and beautiful ; the leaves 
 were large on the maples, and the birds were sing- 
 ing at their house-hunting as they flitted from tree 
 to tree in the warm sunshine. 
 
 " Indeed," thought he, as he stepped out-of-doors, 
 " Phyllis is right. There is a great deal to be 
 enjoyed without money in the springtime." 
 
 He hesitated a moment when he had reached the 
 street. Perhaps the first use to make of his liberty 
 should be to pay a visit to the minister and his 
 wife. The sights and sounds of the morning, how-
 
 158 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 ever, drew him too strongly. Phyllis had showed 
 him the shortest route by which to reach the unin- 
 habited, wooded part of the village. He had his 
 sketch-book under his arm, and his hesitation was 
 brief. He walked down the street in a direction 
 opposite to his cousin's house. He passed by the 
 spot in the road where yesterday the beautiful 
 horsewoman had appeared to him as though in a 
 fleeting vision, and the same warmth of wonder 
 and admiration flashed through him. He resented 
 the pertinacious effect of the fair stranger. 
 
 " It is all a part of the same weakness," he 
 thought. " This wretched fever has robbed me 
 of mental balance as well as my balance at the 
 bank." 
 
 He walked faster, with the instinct of one in the 
 hopeless endeavor to escape from himself, reckless 
 of the sti-ength he was expending. The houses 
 grew farther apart, and at last a soft line of wooded 
 country met his eye. He followed a green ribbon 
 road which led within the shade, and breathed a 
 long sigh of satisfaction as he found himself among 
 the pines and oaks. A flat rock invited him to 
 the rest which he began to need, and he seated 
 himself and looked about him. The sight of a lit- 
 tle wooded slope, at the foot of which flowed a 
 brook, caused him to forget his fatigue, and taking 
 his block of paper, to make a rough sketch of what 
 he saw. Afterward he rose, and coming closer to 
 the little murmuring stream, drank ^f its crystal 
 water ; then he turned and walked deeper into the
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 159 
 
 wood. He observed with delight a spray of the 
 trailing arbutus, and gathering it, drew it through 
 his button-hole. The air was life-giving ; the lone- 
 liness and beauty of the woods most grateful ; 
 but without warning, all this Arcadian charm was 
 broken by a most unfitting and exasperating sensa- 
 tion. Mr. Chester realized all at once that he was 
 only a convalescent, and that Roxana's good care 
 had formed in him a habit which could not be sud- 
 denly broken v.ith impunity. It was the hour 
 when an egg-nog customarily appeared before him, 
 and this morning, as an effect of the exercise and 
 the bracing air, he felt the need of it far more than 
 usual. In short, Mr. Chester all at once became 
 conscious of extreme weakness and gnawing, even 
 to the extent of faintuess. This, in view of his 
 situation, caused him some anxiety as well as vex- 
 ation. 
 
 "I will turn back to the brook," he thought, 
 " and from there find my way to the nearest 
 house." 
 
 Suiting the action to the word, he attempted to 
 retrace his steps, but though he grew constantly 
 weaker and more annoyed, no brook met his view. 
 He stood still and listened. No gurgling sound 
 rewarded him. Nothing but the sleepy swaying of 
 the tree tops and the " chipping " of the bright- 
 eyed squirrels broke the stillness. 
 
 He had to smile even in his vexation. This 
 strip of forest, which in his days of health it would 
 be a morning's stroll to traverse from end to end,
 
 160 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 now seemed a labyrinth to his weakness. After 
 fifteen minutes' further effort, he rested himself 
 perforce. "The sooner the birds begin to cover 
 me, the better," he muttered. " I don't see any 
 way out of this." A rustling in the bushes near 
 by attracted his notice. He turned and beheld a 
 woman's figure, simultaneously with her discovery 
 of him. 
 
 The newcomer uttered an involuntary exclama- 
 tion of surprise, and turned hastily. 
 
 " My good woman ! Don't be frightened. I 
 am " but Terriss Chester spoke no further. A 
 black mist swam before his eyes. He put up his 
 hand as if to brush it away, and fell over on his 
 side. 
 
 The stranger saw his fall, and being an individ- 
 ual of good muscle and good nerve, thought bet- 
 ter of her intended flight. Although her heart 
 
 o o 
 
 beat quickly, with the thought that the man might 
 be really a tramp, and his faint a feint, she ap- 
 proached slowly until she saw his face. Its pallor 
 left no room for further doubt, and in a moment 
 she was on her knees beside him. She looked 
 around in perplexity. There was no water to be 
 had. 
 
 She rubbed his hands vigorously. It was all 
 she could think of to do ; but the swoon was not 
 a deep one, and in a minute the stranger's eye- 
 lids fluttered. The girl took off her broad hat 
 and fanned him hopefully. The color came back 
 slightly to his lips. With a dread of his awaken-
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 161 
 
 ing came a realizing sense of the absurdity of the 
 position. 
 
 " The story of the Sleeping Beauty reversed," 
 she thought ; for the stranger's features were sym- 
 metrical enough to deserve the term of beauty. 
 
 In a moment, Chester's eyes opened. He gazed 
 a moment with a dazed expression at the flushed 
 face of the brown robed figure bending near him, 
 
 o o 
 
 then a light of joyful amazement sprang into his 
 eyes, which suddenly gave his face its identity to 
 his companion. She started at the recognition. 
 
 " Where are we ? " he breathed. 
 
 " Do you feel better ? " asked Elise, rising, and 
 speaking as coolly as her surprise would permit. 
 
 " Pardon me for frightening you," said Terriss 
 slowly, raising himself until he leaned against a 
 tree trunk. " I thought pei-haps I had died." 
 
 " I hope you are not disappointed," returned 
 his companion, held in her place by the sight of 
 his weakness. 
 
 " Not so long as you do not vanish." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond thought this a little daring, 
 but the gravity of the other's white face was not to 
 be denied. 
 
 " I was just questioning myself as to what would 
 happen to you if I should vanish." 
 
 " I think my hallucination would probably be- 
 come fact." 
 
 " Do you feel so very ill ? How came you to 
 overtax your strength so imprudently ? " 
 
 " A child ought to be able to do what I have
 
 162 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 done. Do not let me trouble yon any longer. I 
 shall rest here awhile, and then I shall go back. 
 Only tell me which way is toward the village." 
 
 Elise indicated the direction, but still hesitated. 
 
 " One moment, Mrs. Redmond," said Terriss, 
 rising slowly, still looking at her, his eyes begin- 
 ning to shine in his pale face. " Perhaps it will 
 be long before I have an opportunity to speak to 
 you again. I thank you for the drive you gave 
 me." 
 
 " You know who I am, then," returned the other, 
 surprised. 
 
 " Yes, I saw you, riding when ? Why it was 
 yesterday. It seems much longer. My name is 
 Chester. You lent Tony Bellows your horses for 
 my benefit. I thank you." 
 
 Elise stood, her bright head still uncovered, her 
 hat hanging from her hand. She had read ad- 
 miration in so many faces. What was it in this 
 countenance which impressed her with an inten- 
 sity as of white heat ? Was it her secret know- 
 ledge which lent force to the effect this man had 
 upon her ? 
 
 " Yes, I know who you are," she said slowly. 
 She waited a moment, and he forgot everything, 
 while hanging upon her words. " I think," she 
 continued, " that as my house is rather near by, 
 you had better come with me." 
 
 Had she held out her lovely hand and offered to 
 lead him into the celestial regions, Chester could 
 not have accepted with greater gratitude.
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 163 
 
 " You could not possibly get back to Mrs. Slier- 
 ritt's in time for dinner," she added. 
 
 " Oh, no, not possibly," returned Terriss. 
 
 Elise smiled at the simplicity of his manner. 
 " I suppose it would be rude to ask you why you 
 had not more common sense," she said. 
 
 Chester shook his head. " It is strange," he 
 replied. " But the morning was beautiful, and 
 I have met you." 
 
 " Well, we will go. Do you feel strong enough 
 to walk now? " 
 
 " Yes. Oh, yes." This enchantress had not only 
 exorcised by her glance his restlessness and self- 
 distrust, but he felt that wherever she led it was 
 as though the magnet said to the needle, " Fol- 
 low ! " He could follow and know nothing of weak- 
 ness. 
 
 " I see you have been more fortunate than I," 
 she said, as they walked on. " You have found 
 some arbutus. My errand this morning was to 
 search for it, but it has escaped me thus far." 
 
 " No, you have found some," said Terriss, " if 
 you will take this little spray. I think if we turn 
 back I could find for you the place where it was 
 growing." 
 
 " Turn back ? By no means," answered Elise. 
 " It seems you require a sober, common-sensical 
 person to remind you that you are weak. Hereaf- 
 ter, I advise you to invite Mrs. Sherritt to accom- 
 pany you in your rambles." 
 
 Chester received this humorous suggestion with
 
 164 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 the same wistful, shining look that he had worn 
 since his waking. His head felt light; the whole 
 adventure through which he was passing seemed at 
 least improbable. There was a tranquillity upon 
 him which was as unnatural as the rest. If he 
 should waken now in Roxana's best chamber, it 
 would surprise him less than to have this tran- 
 scendent good fortune continue. 
 
 " We are Dearly there," said Elise encourag- 
 ingly, putting on her shade hat as they came out 
 into the sunshine. "There, you see the roof of 
 the house yonder among those beeches." 
 
 " You live there ? " 
 
 " Yes ; that is Beech Knoll. Really, Mr. Ches- 
 ter, if you grow any paler, I shall insist upon your 
 sitting down and waiting until I can send you some 
 wine." 
 
 " No ; let me come with you," he answered 
 quietly. 
 
 There was a gate which led into the grounds at 
 the rear of the house, and this Elise opened. Her 
 companion followed her within, and soon Rebecca 
 had the surprise of seeing them advance together 
 toward the side piazza, upon which, so mild was the 
 day, the door stood open. 
 
 " Well, Elise is the most astonishing person," 
 thought Miss Redmond, starting up. " One can 
 never count upon her ; but it is not often that she 
 is as unconventional as this/' 
 
 She came out upon the piazza, and was imme- 
 diately struck by the guest's pallor. " Why, Mr.
 
 TRAILING ARBUTUS. 165 
 
 Chester," she said anxiously, " this is a long walk 
 for you. It has been too much." 
 
 Terriss raised his hat, and then sank upon a 
 step that led up to the piazza. Mrs. Redmond 
 smiled upon him and nodded. 
 
 " Faint as much as you like, now," she said 
 cheerfully. " At the same time, if you could put 
 it off five minutes, you shall have an armchair, 
 and some lunch, and a good rest. Rebecca, take 
 care of Mr. Chester a minute ; " and she ran lightly 
 up the steps and into the house. 
 
 " Faint ! " exclaimed Miss Redmond, descend- 
 ing to the young man's side. " What is my sis- 
 ter talking about ? I hope you have n't been 
 faint." 
 
 " I have. I am very much ashamed of it," said 
 Terriss, with a wan smile. " I shall not do it 
 again." 
 
 " Well, I will not make you talk now," said 
 Rebecca kindly. " Come into the house as soon 
 as you are able, and you shall lie down." 
 
 Chester rose at once. " This giddiness is the 
 most annoying thing that I have suffered from," 
 he replied ; " but I thank it for having brought me 
 here." 
 
 Scarcely had Miss Rebecca placed him in the 
 most comfortable chair in the cozy sitting-room, 
 when the door opened, and Mrs. Redmond appeared 
 with a small silver salver, on which were wine and 
 crackers. 
 
 " Take some of this," she said, " and in a few
 
 166 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 minutes we will have lunch. You do feel better 
 already, I am sure." 
 
 Chester looked at her, lovelier even in the simple 
 brown gown than she had been on the high mettled 
 horse, and forgot, simply forgot, to answer. 
 
 Rebecca regarded him, and recognized the well- 
 known symptoms. 
 
 " O foolish young man ! " she thought. " How 
 much better you would do to look the other way. 
 Hopeless, worse than hopeless, even if you were 
 not Terriss Chester."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 
 
 Miss REDMOND felt heavily the responsibility 
 incurred by her accidental discovery of Mrs. Ter- 
 riss' ability. Her last thought before sleeping at 
 night and her first in the morning was of the 
 invalid and her patient husband. Once the idea 
 suggested itself to her of taking the minister into 
 her confidence ; but she dismissed it instantly. 
 Surely she and Roxana between them ought to 
 have sufficient wit to solve the problem. At last 
 a thought occurred to Rebecca which she, with 
 some misgivings and with flushing cheeks, laid 
 before Mrs. Sherritt, who received the plan with 
 acclamations. 
 
 " You 've hit it, Miss Rebecca. I should n't 
 wonder a mite if you had ! " exclaimed the latter. 
 
 " The only trouble is, it is deception," said Miss 
 Rebecca doubtfully. 
 
 " Law ! What if it is ? You go ahead. If we 
 don't have anythin' worse 'n that to answer for at 
 the last day, I shall be glad. Only think, Miss 
 Rebecca, of Mr. Terriss ! For one, I 'd take some 
 punishment hereafter for the sake o' givin' him a 
 little easier row to hoe here." 
 
 Thus braced and encouraged, Rebecca set forth
 
 168 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 for the parsonage. As she entered the gate, the 
 minister was just coming down the steps of his 
 house. His face illumined suddenly at sight of 
 her, and he raised his hat courteously. 
 
 " I am always glad to see you coining here, Miss 
 Rebecca," he said. 
 
 " Is Mrs. Terriss as well as usual ? " 
 
 " About the same. She has seemed rather more 
 depressed since the nervous attack of the other 
 day, and she has often spoken of wishing to see 
 you. I hope" Rebecca was now standing beside 
 him " that your kindness and sympathy are broad 
 enough to excuse that exhibition of weakness. 
 Mrs. Terriss is weak, very unhappy in spite of 
 the little I can do for her, and very much to be 
 pitied." 
 
 " I believe all that," replied Rebecca earnestly, 
 " and with all my heart I am anxious to help her." 
 
 The minister shook his head. " I ought not to 
 discourage you," he said, " and every hour which 
 you help her to pass less sadly is a blessing ; but 
 her help must come from within and not from 
 without. She does her best," he added hastily, 
 " doubtless she does her best. Good-morning, Miss 
 Redmond, good-morning ; " and apparently forget- 
 ting that it would have been more according to 
 the laws of hospitality for him to remain and usher 
 the visitor into the house, the minister hurried 
 down to the gate. 
 
 Rebecca did not look after him, but as she rang 
 the door-bell, a little smile was on her lips. " I
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 169 
 
 am proud to have loved him, and no other man," 
 she thought. " God help me now to help his 
 wife." 
 
 She found Mrs. Terriss looking exceedingly dis- 
 contented in her neat and pretty surroundings. 
 
 " Good-morning, Miss Redmond," sighed the in- 
 valid. " It is a kind fate that has sent you to 
 break the monotony of my day. Mr. Terriss' 
 calls take him away so much. I should think peo- 
 ple might excuse him when they know how I need 
 his society ; but it is a selfish, unfeeling world. 
 So few are able to look beyond their own trials 
 and take those of others into consideration. Now 
 you, Miss Redmond, of course I appreciate your 
 kindness in coming to see poor, dull me, but after 
 all, you have nothing to detain you ; you have 
 health, a luxurious home, no cares or responsibili- 
 ties, an enviable lot altogether. I am sure you 
 cannot have a trial in the world." 
 
 " I have many blessings certainly," replied Re- 
 becca calmly ; " but do you know, Mrs. Terriss, 
 your deprivations haunt me much of the time ? " 
 The invalid sighed, and cast down her eyes with 
 the modest air of one listening to a merited com- 
 pliment. " And I am not ready to believe your 
 case hopeless, in these days of advanced skill." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss looked up with her strange, search- 
 ing glance. " You ought to know, Miss Redmond, 
 that my husband and I would hardly settle down 
 to this trial were it an avoidable one." 
 
 " Yes, I did think so at first," replied Rebecca
 
 170 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 firmly, "then I saw that settling down into a 
 groove, if you are salvable physically, was ruin to 
 you. Oh, look out there, Mrs. Terriss ; " the speaker 
 drew back the curtain and the spring sunshine 
 streamed across the carpet. " What effort would 
 you not make to call the privilege your own of 
 walking across that grass and watching the flowers 
 spring in your garden bed ? Think of the glad 
 surprise to your husband if he could come home 
 some afternoon and find you standing at the door 
 to greet him, if he could see you sitting opposite 
 him at table after all these years. Would it not 
 be like being born anew ? " 
 
 The invalid stared at Rebecca with wide, star- 
 tled eyes, and grasped the sides of her chair ner- 
 vously. 
 
 " What do you mean by drawing these tantaliz- 
 ing pictures ? " she cried. " Do you call it kind- 
 ness to add to my misery by suggestions which can 
 never be realized ? " 
 
 " I believe they can be realized," returned Re- 
 becca, with increased earnestness ; " only you must 
 long for it with all your heart." 
 
 " How dare you imply that I do not long to be 
 well ! " said Mrs. Terriss, frightened and angry. 
 
 " I do not say that. I believe if you thought 
 there were grounds for hope you would be all 
 eagerness. I do believe there are grounds for 
 hope, and it has excited me. Will you put your- 
 self in my hands for an experiment, Mrs. Ter 
 riss?"
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 171 
 
 Miss Redmond's cheeks were flushed, and her 
 gentle gray eyes looked into the black ones with 
 such earnestness that Mrs. Terriss shifted her posi- 
 tion uneasily. 
 
 " What do you want ? " she demanded ungra- 
 ciously. " As you may imagine, I am weary of ex- 
 periments." 
 
 " I want you to let Roxana come and rub your 
 limbs every day for a week with a liniment I have 
 found, and at the end of that time you will be 
 able to walk from your bed to your chair with 
 scarcely any assistance." 
 
 " I would rather not. I do not enjoy massage 
 even from an experienced operator." 
 
 " But if I assure you that this will give you the 
 use of your limbs ? " 
 
 " Of course, if I believed that " said the in- 
 valid, stirring restlessly. 
 
 "Then why not try it? It is a simple thing 
 that cannot hurt you. Dear Mrs. Terriss, do trust 
 me, try it. You will thank me so when you are 
 walking." 
 
 " Well, well, I will try it," was the petulant 
 response. " I confess I do not understand why 
 you are so persistent." 
 
 " Not understand ! " exclaimed Rebecca, so gen- 
 uinely astonished that the ejaculation was involun- 
 tary. " I see you in prison and believe you might 
 be free. Shall I not lift a hand to save you ? " 
 
 That afternoon when the minister returned, he 
 found his wife depressed and inclined to tears.
 
 172 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " You have not been alone many hours, I hope, 
 Lily. I thought Miss Redmond would cheer you 
 and make you feel better." 
 
 " Well, she did n't. I am disappointed in Miss 
 Redmond, Philip." 
 
 The minister took his accustomed seat opposite 
 his wife's chair. " Are you ? I am sorry." 
 
 " Yes, she has not the refined nature I thought 
 at first. Like most old maids, she must have her 
 peculiarity, I suppose ; but meddling is the last 
 fault I should have selected for her." 
 
 Philip Terriss never contradicted his wife. He 
 had long since learned to treat her as an unrea- 
 soning being, and ordinarily he listened patiently 
 to all that she had to say on any subject. This 
 one, however, he found unbearable. 
 
 "What have you been reading to-day?" he 
 asked abruptly. 
 
 "Nothing. Miss Redmond quite unfitted me for 
 everything. You have no idea what an eccentric 
 creature she is, after all. Will you believe that 
 she has some quack medicine that she is deter- 
 mined to try on me ? It is only to be used ex- 
 ternally, so I consented, in order to be rid of her ; 
 but she did fatigue me inexcusably." 
 
 " Something she wants you to be rubbed with ? " 
 asked Philip, looking gravely into the discontented 
 face. 
 
 " Yes. Mrs. Sherritt is to do it ; and in a week 
 I am to walk." 
 
 " Walk ! " exclaimed the minister.
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 173 
 
 " Oh, yes ; quite a miracle is to be worked, you 
 see. I hope you will not be too disappointed when 
 it fails." 
 
 He shook his head. " No, ray poor wife, no," 
 he said, in a low voice. 
 
 " O Philip ! " she exclaimed, extending to him 
 her hand ; " you are the only one who under- 
 stands me, and yet you must always be going 
 away and leaving me to the mercy of people who 
 have no pity on my nerves, no regard for my condi- 
 tion." 
 
 So she went on for some time, bemoaning her- 
 self, her husband holding her hand and bowing 
 his head above it while he listened, in an attitude 
 which years had rendered familiar. 
 
 The current of the mournful tide was stemmed 
 by the entrance into the room of Lucindy, who an- 
 nounced that a gentleman waited in the parlor to 
 see Mr. Terriss. 
 
 The minister left the room, and soon returned 
 with a stranger, whose appearance immediately 
 turned Mrs. Terriss from the consideration of her 
 trials, and set her to wondering if her hair was 
 becomingly arranged. 
 
 The newcomer was a handsome man, and hand- 
 some men were rare as visitors to the minister's 
 invalid wife. He was tall, overtopping Mr. Ter- 
 ris by half a head, and he had long, sombre dark 
 eyes, and there was a dissatisfied expression in 
 them and in his whole face. 
 
 " This is our cousin, Terriss Chester, Lily," said
 
 174 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 the minister ; and the stranger came forward to 
 shake the offered hand. 
 
 " I have heard much about you, cousin Terriss," 
 said the lady, fixing the stranger with her pierc- 
 ing, eager gaze. "You have been an invalid, too, 
 but unlike myself you have had hopes of health, 
 which are now realized. Are you quite yourself 
 again ? " 
 
 "Not altogether, thank you, but I am on the 
 road to health. I owe cousin Philip a debt of 
 eternal gratitude for finding a place like Snowdon 
 for me to convalesce in, and then for visiting me 
 so often." 
 
 " So your opinion of Snowdon has improved ; I 
 am glad to hear it," said the minister. 
 
 Chester looked at him, and then away again. 
 He had forgotten his many animadversions on the 
 village before discovering what a jewel it con- 
 tained. 
 
 " Oh, yes," he said hastily. " I have been out 
 and have discovered its good points, its woods, 
 you understand, and its views, and, of course, its 
 very pure air. Very fine, very desirable, you know. 
 Oh, yes, I like Snowdon." 
 
 "There are some very pleasant people here," 
 returned the minister, " when one finds them 
 out." 
 
 " I am no acquisition socially," returned Ches- 
 ter, " but if the lady who found me out is a speci- 
 men of Snowdon society, you are certainly fortu- 
 nate. You know who I mean Miss Redmond."
 
 THE BELPING BAND. 175 
 
 " Yes, we know Miss Redmond," said Mrs. Ter- 
 riss quickly. " You say she found you out ? " 
 
 " I mean that I made her acquaintance in my 
 sick-room, where she came to help care for me." 
 
 " Just a little officious, dear Miss Redmond," 
 remarked Mrs. Terriss. " Well-meaning, oh, no 
 doubt well meaning, and for that we should excuse 
 her eccentricities. I wonder why it is, cousin Ter- 
 riss, that unmarried women past middle life are so 
 apt to be eccentric." 
 
 " I wish I had met more persons eccentric in 
 Miss Rebecca's line,'' returned Chester, with his 
 customary bluntness, regarding his hostess with an 
 open expression of astonishment. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss smiled upon him with a look which, 
 made her face more eerie than usual. 
 
 " Your acquaintance is not so full of experience 
 as mine, remember, cousin Terriss." 
 
 He would have spoken quickly, but the minister, 
 sitting back in the room, slightly shook his head, 
 and the guest, not entirely comprehending, took 
 refuge in silence. 
 
 " Much as I have seen of Miss Redmond, my 
 affliction has prevented my seeing her home," 
 continued the invalid. " She is quite dependent, 
 you know, on her sister-in-law, a person who cer- 
 tainly does not spend much of her time in visiting 
 the sick. Every one says that their house is very 
 beautiful." 
 
 "I was there yesterday," remarked Chester 
 laconically, in the silence that followed.
 
 176 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Oh, you have been there," said Mr. Terriss, 
 his interest reviving at the thought that Chester 
 had met his would-be benefactress. "You saw 
 the lady of the manor, I presume ? " 
 
 " Yes," returned Terriss shortly. 
 
 " Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Terriss, with what 
 was intended to be an arch manner, "your cou- 
 sin Philip and I are much hurt that you visited 
 Beech Knoll before coming to us. Are n't we, 
 Philip?" 
 
 " I should not have thought of doing such a 
 thing," said the guest uncomfortably. " It was ac- 
 cident. I had walked too far in the woods and 
 overtaxed my strength " 
 
 " Oh, a story, a story," exclaimed Mrs. Terriss, 
 clasping her hands with a movement which ripened 
 the guest's unpleasant impression into positive in- 
 tolerance. " Do go on, cousin Terriss." 
 
 He shifted restlessly, and scowled. "A very 
 short story," he returned. " I found I must seek 
 the nearest house, and it proved to be Beech 
 Knoll." 
 
 " I am glad you have been there," said the min- 
 ister, " because as a homestead it is the pride of 
 the village." 
 
 " Yes, we forgive you," added Mrs. Terriss 
 graciously, " provided in future you give us the 
 greater number of your visits. You belong to us, 
 remember." 
 
 The guest stirred uneasily under her smile and 
 glance. " I am not a visiting man," said Chester
 
 THE HELPING HAND. 177 
 
 shortly. " I wish I might be of service to you in 
 any manner comparable to cousin Philip's to me, 
 but I have not the faculty of amusing anybody, 
 not even myself." 
 
 " Perhaps you are more difficult to amuse than 
 I am. At all events, we must become better ac- 
 quainted. Perhaps I prefer the conversation of 
 a black-haired man to that of a white-haired wo- 
 man as a diversion. Our tastes are not all alike, 
 you know. Oh," as the guest rose, " must you go 
 so soon ? " 
 
 " I do not wish to weary you," returned Terriss, 
 drawing a breath of relief at finding himself upon 
 his feet. " Cousin Philip, you need not trouble 
 yourself to see me out." 
 
 But the minister insisted, and after shaking 
 hands with Mrs. Terriss and receiving a parting 
 injunction to consider their house his home, Ches- 
 ter strode out into the narrow hall. The thought 
 occurred to him that, as it was so near the hour for 
 the noon meal, it was strange his hostess had not 
 asked him to remain. Each instant he feared Mr. 
 Terriss would give the invitation, but no word 
 came. The guest stood awkwardly a moment at 
 the door, doubtful if he ought not to refer to his 
 cousin's wife, and expecting at least that the min- 
 ister would himself speak of her ; but the expecta- 
 tion was not fulfilled. Mr. Terriss, as he opened 
 the hall door, referred to the beauty of the season, 
 and congratulated Chester on his so nearly restored 
 health, all in his usual kind and simple manner;
 
 178 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 and as Terriss parted from him, standing on the 
 steps, the gloss on his shiny coat very evident in 
 the sunlight, he felt a new respect for his cousin, 
 not unmingled with awe at what he vaguely felt 
 was not insensibility but a sublime patience. 
 
 " What do men do that sort of thing for ? " he 
 asked himself, fuming, as he walked homeward., 
 " There was a time when cousin Philip was free. 
 Why did n't something or somebody prevent him 
 from tying himself to that uncharitable, vain, shal- 
 low appendage ? Why could n't he have met Miss 
 Rebecca Redmond, for instance?" 
 
 Thinking of Miss Rebecca was but a short step 
 from thinking of Mrs. Redmond, and in a flash, 
 Chester had forgotten Mrs. Terriss' restless eyes 
 and faded archness, forgotten cousin Philip's weary 
 lot, in going back to live over the two blissful 
 hours of yesterday, hours when he had been lifted 
 above every adverse circumstance of life into an 
 enchanted atmosphere, never to be forgotten. Af- 
 ter his experience of the morning, he found it a 
 thing to exult in that he was free, free to adore, 
 if only at a humble distance, the star that had 
 dawned upon his horizon.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 
 
 AND now there was a bond between Phyllis and 
 the boarder which gave them a new interest in each 
 other. Perhaps Chester was the one of the pair 
 who chiefly benefited by their good comradeship, 
 for, while the girl had only the effervescence of a 
 new and pleasant excitement to express, a deep and 
 abiding passion had taken possession of her friend ; 
 and to him it was a blessing indeed to be able to 
 speak his lady's name to sympathetic ears, and to 
 hear it spoken by admiring lips. Not that his curt 
 and unsmiling manner greatly changed. Phyllis 
 little suspected how great a fire her lightly spoken 
 words sometimes kindled. But she felt his interest 
 in a subject of which lioxana was always shy, and 
 so, when she was with him, the conversation was 
 sure to turn upon Beech Knoll ; and the one of the 
 two who had acquired the latest bit of news con- 
 cerning the family related it for the other's bene- 
 fit. Although to a third person it might have 
 seemed an excessively trivial fact to mention that 
 Phyllis had seen the flutter of Mrs. Redmond's 
 riding habit as she turned a corner in the distance, 
 or that Mr. Chester had observed that the hedge 
 of lilacs was in full bloom at the rear of the Beech
 
 180 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Knoll grounds, there was no lack of interest felt 
 by this infatuated couple, either in giving or re- 
 ceiving such items. 
 
 Roxana observed their growing friendliness with 
 complacency. " Phyllis won't get any harm from 
 Aim," she thought ; " and it 's a nice amusement 
 for 'em both to sort o' change around furniture in 
 the parlor and hang up pieces of old silk here and 
 there. Foolish, o' course, but harmless enough. 
 Some day they '11 get sick o' such doins', and then 
 I can cart the things off up attic again. I do think 
 bringid' down that spinnin'-wheel beats all ; but, 
 thank fortune, I can keep my face straight and 
 hold my tongue too, at the right time. It 's worth 
 a good deal to see Phyllis as bright as a new dol- 
 lar, and old sober-sides, too, is comin' out of his 
 shell more 'n I ever thought he would." 
 
 Roxana's leniency was heightened, moreover, by 
 the important business she had 011 hand at the par- 
 sonage. Miss Redmond had gone straight from 
 the minister's wife to Mrs. Sherritt, to recount her 
 negative success, and on the day following, Rox- 
 ana, early in the morning, before the hour for Mrs. 
 Terriss to rise, presented herself at the invalid's 
 chamber door with her usual cheery familiarity. 
 
 " Have you come to rub me? " inquired the sick 
 woman from her pillow. 
 
 Roxana disregarded the clouded face and peev- 
 ish tone. 
 
 " Yes, I have," she replied heartily. " I gues8 
 some good angel goes around with Miss Rebecca
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 181 
 
 and points out things to her. Who else would 
 ever have found out what to do for you ? " 
 
 " Do you mean to say you believe she is right, 
 Mrs. Sherritt? Don't tell me that a woman of 
 your sense believes that there is a mixture which 
 will make paralyzed limbs walk, and that the doc- 
 tors have not discovered it ! " 
 
 " I mean to say," said Roxana impressively, 
 " that I believe that in this bottle is an ointment 
 that, if you '11 only have faith, will make you walk 
 in a week's time." 
 
 " What is the stuff ? " asked Mrs. Terriss un- 
 graciously, regarding the white, opaque substance 
 which her visitor held forth to view. 
 
 " The bottle ain't marked," returned Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt shortly. " All we 've got to do is to obey or- 
 ders." 
 
 " Well," sighed the other resignedly, " I sup- 
 pose I must consent, or else appear ungrateful; 
 but remember, I tell you in advance that the effort 
 is worse than a waste of time." 
 
 Roxana groaned in spirit, but set to work at her 
 task with an appearance of unshaken confidence. 
 
 " I have met my cousin Terriss, at last," re- 
 marked the invalid, after a moment of silence. 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " My cousin. Your boarder." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 "Yes. How strange that no one has told me 
 how handsome, how distinguished, he is ; but then, 
 I suppose I ought not to expect that people will
 
 182 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 trouble themselves to make poor me acquainted 
 with every interesting fact." The speaker sighed. 
 
 " I don't suppose any man looks very distin- 
 guished in bed," replied Roxana shortly, " and 
 that 's where I saw him mostly for a good while ; 
 and after he got out, I was too much relieved to 
 care whether his nose was snub or long." 
 
 " Oh, his nose is well enough ; but those eyes, 
 those great, grand, gloomy eyes, and his straight, 
 proud look as he steps ! " 
 
 " I want to know ! " remarked Roxana, her lips 
 twitching. 
 
 " Do you mean to say you have n't observed 
 it?" 
 
 " No, ma'am ; but I 'm real glad you think he 
 looks pickin' up. He was dreadful lantern-jawed 
 one spell, but he eats everythin' now, and I 'm get- 
 tin' a good deal used to him. He draws and 
 paints real nice," continued Roxana, with the air 
 of saying what she could in favor of one for whom 
 she was conscious of feeling no partiality. " He 
 made a drawin' o' Phyllis the other day. She 
 had some kind of a scarf around her head, but 
 the instant I set eyes on it, ' Phyllis ! ' says I. I 
 knew it right off." 
 
 " An artist ! " exclaimed Mrs. Terriss eagerly. 
 " He ought to be one. He looks it. I am going 
 to let him make a study of me. He could do it as 
 well as not, for there I must sit, hour after hour, 
 anyway. Would n't it make a touching little pic- 
 ture ! He could call it ' Patience.' "
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 183 
 
 " He '11 have to do it this week, then, Mrs. Ter- 
 riss, for you and that chair won't be such close 
 friends after that," said Roxana firmly. "Just 
 think how you '11 enjoy steppin' around your house 
 and seein' to things yourself ; and by and by you '11 
 be comin' over to see me." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss did not appear to regard her 
 words. " Where is Phyllis, and what is she doing 
 of late ? " she asked, interrupting. 
 
 " Oh, she is at home. She 's taken a notion to 
 fix up the house lately ; and Mr. Chester, with lots 
 o' time on his hands, is willin' to help her. There 
 ain't a piece o' furniture settin' where it ought to 
 be in the parlor this minute ; but law ! I can stand 
 that for a few weeks." 
 
 " And is the changing of the furniture all the 
 harm that you expect to result from their spending 
 so much time together?" asked Mrs. Terriss. 
 
 " Oh, yes." 
 
 " Then you are as much mistaken in that as in 
 this farce of rubbing that we are going through. 
 Don't you know that Phyllis, little inexperienced 
 girl, will fall in love with that man, the first eligi- 
 ble man she has ever known ? " 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt gave a great start and her sallow 
 'cheeks reddened. " No, I don't, Mrs. Terriss, I 
 don't, not for one minute ! " she returned, rubbing 
 so vigorously that the invalid cringed. 
 
 "Oh, oh! be careful! you hurt me!" she ex- 
 claimed. " Well, you will find out that I am 
 right, perhaps, when it is too late. Cousin Terriss
 
 184 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 is just the Byronic-looking hero to attract a girl. 
 Mark my words ! " 
 
 " Oh, pshaw ! " said Roxana. " Phyllis ain't 
 goin' to be ' attracted,' as you call it, till she 's 
 asked ; " but though she turned the matter off 
 lightly, Mrs. Terriss' words had alarmed her. 
 She even considered speaking to Phyllis on the 
 subject, but something restrained her. If there 
 were romantic possibilities in Roxana's nature, cir- 
 cumstances had not developed them. She had 
 married a man who was sordid and mean and dis- 
 sipated, who made her wretched until death re- 
 lieved her of him ; so it was no defined delicacy 
 which determined her not to repeat Mrs. Terriss' 
 words to Phyllis. She said to herself that she did 
 not wish to put such thoughts into the girl's head. 
 She would wait, and, meanwhile, would not fail 
 to watch. 
 
 Her watching discovered only a very amicable 
 state of things between Chester and Phyllis, and 
 for once poor Roxana wished herself versed in lov- 
 ers' ways, that she might tell whether the board- 
 er's interest in her child's companionship were the 
 sort likely to interfere with Phyllis's fancy-free 
 condition. 
 
 But an immediate source of anxiety to Mrs. 
 Sherritt was Mrs. Terriss' attitude toward her 
 own possible recovery. As the days went by, she 
 found it continued to be impossible to infuse hope 
 or enthusiasm into the deluded woman. At last 
 there was but one day left of the prescribed seven.
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 185 
 
 Mrs. Terriss still smiled indulgently on her friends' 
 folly. "With her, the result of the experiment was 
 evidently a foregone conclusion. 
 
 So Roxana put on her best bonnet and set forth 
 for Beech Knoll. She felt that she must see Miss 
 Rebecca. Phyllis offered to accompany her, but 
 the housekeeper declined. " You stay at home," 
 she advised, " and work on your new frock. You 
 was set on havin' it ; now stick to it till it 's fin- 
 ished. I want to talk to Miss Rebecca about a 
 good many things that would n't interest you. Mrs. 
 Terriss is one of 'em." 
 
 "Oh," replied Phyllis ; "I suppose that means 
 you think I ought to go to see Mrs. Terriss oftener. 
 What 's the reason," asked the girl, tying Roxana's 
 bonnet-strings, " that men do not like Mrs. Terriss, 
 when women do so much ? " 
 
 " It 's likely I can answer that question, ain't 
 it ? " remarked Mrs. Sherritt irritably. " How do 
 you know men don't like her? What business 
 have they got to like her ? Mr. Terriss does, 
 that 's enough." 
 
 " Like her ! I should think he did ! She says 
 he worships the ground she walks on." 
 
 " I hope he likes her better than that," retorted 
 Mrs. Sherritt. " That would be mighty little." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Chester really dislikes her, dislikes 
 her. Is n't it odd ? Uncle Doctor did n't like her, 
 and did n't trust her." 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, you 're gossipin' ! Ain't you 
 ashamed o' yourself ? "
 
 186 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 The girl laughed lightly. " I do not count what 
 I say to you, gossiping. " 
 
 " Why do you say your uncle did n't trust her?" 
 
 " Oh, I must n't gossip." 
 
 " Tell me this minute ! I 'm in a hurry, and I 
 want to know." 
 
 " He did not believe she was really ill. I do 
 not know exactly what he thought ; but he used to 
 say things that gave me that impression." 
 
 Roxana groaned. " Oh, dear, dear, dear, what 
 a world ! " she exclaimed, shaking her head. 
 
 " Yes ; I never could understand it in dear 
 Uncle Doctor, the kindest of men," said the girl. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt walked up the street, swinging 
 one arm. " The kindest o' men. So he was," she 
 mused. " He saw through her, and he must have 
 thought it was n't any use to try to change things, 
 so he never said anything. Well, I wonder if 
 Miss Rebecca and me have got to give it up." 
 
 She walked on briskly until she came to the 
 low iron fence which surrounded Beech Knoll, and 
 upon entering the gate, beheld a sight which would 
 have been thrilling to the others of her family, but 
 which she sustained calmly. It was Mrs. Redmond 
 stooping over a bed of flowers, from which she was 
 gathering some bright geraniums. 
 
 She rose at sight of Mrs. Sherritt and said good- 
 morning. 
 
 " Don't let me disturb you," said Roxana. " I 
 want to see Miss Rebecca, and I '11 just go on to 
 the house."
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS 187 
 
 " Are all well at home ? " asked Elise, for she 
 saw the cloud on Mrs. Sherritt's face. 
 
 " They are very well, thank you. Mr. Chester 's 
 gettin' to be almost like other folks." 
 
 " I am glad of that. He was so over-fatigued 
 the day we kept him here to lunch, I feared he 
 might have hurt himself." 
 
 " No ; he 's picked up right along ever since ; but 
 I guess it taught him a lesson to be a little more 
 careful. Well, good-mornin', Mrs. Redmond." 
 
 " Oh, I will come with you to find my sister," 
 said Elise, walking along by her side. ".What 
 weather to be out-of-doors ! " 
 
 " You 're out a good deal, I guess." 
 
 " Yes, as nearly all the time as I can manage." 
 
 " I don't see how your complexion stands it so," 
 remarked Mrs. Sherritt bluntly. 
 
 " It is fortunate," returned Elise, with an amused 
 smile, " for although I have the average share of 
 vanity, I could not sacrifice so much to looks as to 
 remain indoors, or to looK at Mother Nature through 
 a veil." 
 
 '* Shows her sense there," thought Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt. 
 
 " Ah, Mrs. Sherritt, I am glad I have remem- 
 bered something in time that I wished to speak 
 about. I want Phyllis to come and play tennis 
 with me. She would like to, but says she has no 
 dress for it. I want to ask you if I may venture 
 to offer her one of mine." 
 
 Roxana looked around at the questioning face
 
 188 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 and let her eyes fall, uncertain how to respond. 
 It was not easy to resist Mrs. Redmond in a gra- 
 cious mood. " I guess we can fix her~up one, if 
 you '11 tell me what she needs," she answered. 
 
 " But that would take a longer time. This suit 
 I speak of I had to discard because it was too tight 
 for me. It would be too large for Phyllis, prob- 
 ably, but could be quickly changed. As it is use- 
 less to me, and it would oblige me to have her able 
 soon to play, I thought she might consent to take 
 it. The principal thing in favor of the costume is 
 that it is not too gay for her to wear now." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond finished by a questioning look, 
 which elicited a grim smile from Mrs. Sherritt. 
 
 " I s'pose Phyllis would like it a sight better be- 
 cause you 'd worn it. She 'd rather have it than a 
 new one, I s'pose," she remarked. 
 
 " Then I will leave it at your door in a day or 
 two." 
 
 " I 'd just as soon take it along," said Roxana. 
 " I don't mind bundles." 
 
 " That would be very kind of you ; and tell 
 Phyllis to come and have a game the first day that 
 is convenient. Ah, there is Rebecca ; she sees us 
 and is coming to let us in." 
 
 Miss Redmond opened the door, and shook hands 
 with the newcomer, looking at her eagerly as she 
 led her into the sitting-room. 
 
 " Any good news of Mrs. Terriss, Roxana ? " 
 
 The latter turned involuntarily toward Mrs. 
 Redmond, and hesitated.
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 189 
 
 " I have confided our plan to Mrs. Redmond. 
 Do not fear to speak before her. I know by your 
 face you have not good news." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt sat down in the straightest chair 
 the room afforded, while the others took seats 
 near. 
 
 " No, Miss Rebecca," she said, crossing her 
 hands in their Lisle-thread gloves. " Mrs. Terriss 
 don't give me one bit of encouragement. She just 
 acts scornful every time I speak of to-morrow, 
 that 's the seventh day, you know, and it 's my 
 opinion she won't try to step foot to the ground." 
 
 " Dear, dear," said Miss Rebecca. 
 
 " Knowin' what I know, I feel like sayin' a 
 good deal more 'n ' dear, dear,' " remarked Roxana 
 desperately. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed low and lazily. " What 
 do you propose doing next ? " she asked. 
 
 " Ask the cap'n there," returned Roxana, with 
 a nod toward Rebecca. 
 
 The latter colored. " I do not know what to 
 do," she admitted, much troubled. 
 
 " Do you want advice ? I am always ready with 
 advice, you know," said Elise. 
 
 " Yes, I do," replied Miss Redmond, " if Mrs. 
 Terriss refuses to make an effort. She has not 
 refused yet, remember." 
 
 " But Mrs. Sherritt feels sure she will. First, 
 Mrs. Sherritt, you tell me your opinion of what to 
 do next." 
 
 " Well," said Roxana, " if Mrs. Terriss won't
 
 190 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 try, and I 'm sure she won't, she does act for all 
 the world as if it wa'n't of any consequence to 
 her whether she ever walked again or not, I 'm 
 afraid I shall bu'st out and tell her what I think 
 of her." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond shook her head. " That is 
 hardly the best way. It would relieve you ; but 
 she would never see you again if she could avoid 
 it, and you would lose your chance of helping 
 her." 
 
 " Well, it does seem wicked," said Roxana vig- 
 orously, " to leave her alone." 
 
 " I think so," returned Elise calmly. " If she 
 will not be coaxed out of her delusion, she should 
 be shocked out of it." 
 
 " I 'm willin' to shock her out of it," said Mrs. 
 Sherritt promptly. . 
 
 " And the way to do it," continued Elise, " is 
 for Miss Redmond to tell Mr. Terriss that she 
 has seen his wife walk. A woman that can walk, 
 and won't walk, should be made to walk. Poor 
 creature ! " 
 
 " Poor creature, indeed ! " exclaimed Rebecca, 
 her cheeks very red. " I will not consent that her 
 greatest, her only comfort, her husband's confi- 
 dence, should be taken from her. No, no, a thou- 
 sand times no, to your plan, Elise." 
 
 Miss Redmond was greatly agitated. 
 
 " My dear Rebecca, that would be but a tem- 
 porary result," said Elise. " I for one like Mr. 
 Terriss better than his wife."
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 191 
 
 " That 's what I say, Miss Rebecca," added 
 Roxana ; " think o' the minister's side of it." 
 
 Poor Miss Redmond. There was little fear that 
 she would not think of the minister's side of it. 
 It was her trembling earnestness of desire not to 
 do injustice to his wife that clouded her thoughts 
 now. 
 
 " When in doubt, do nothing," she responded. 
 
 " I\e, always heard it, when in doubt, play 
 trumps," said Roxana emphatically. " To tell Mr. 
 Terriss what you saw that day would be playin' a 
 trump card, and no mistake." 
 
 " And one which would probably win the game," 
 added Mrs. Redmond. 
 
 " No, no, indeed," said Rebecca earnestly. " You 
 do not know what you are saying. That would be 
 a wicked interference between husband and wife. 
 Nothing could excuse it." 
 
 She looked anxiously from her sister to Mrs. 
 Sherritt, and apparently saw something in their 
 faces which startled her, for she continued, with 
 redoubled earnestness, " If you are thinking of 
 opposing me and telling Mr. Terriss in spite of me, 
 you are planning an unpardonable thing unpar- 
 donable ; " and to the consternation of Miss Re- 
 becca's companions, she covered her face with her 
 hands and burst into tears. 
 
 Her excitement, so unlike herself, and so dispro- 
 portionate to the case, might have suggested the 
 truth to any one more imaginative than Roxana ; 
 but the latter was incapable of such a wild flight
 
 192 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 of fancy as would be necessary to connect the min- 
 ister with the hero of Miss Redmond's long-ago 
 love affair, and Elise had never heard of the exist- 
 ence of such a romance. Mrs. Redmond rose and 
 threw her arms around Rebecca. 
 
 " You dear little thing," she said caressingly, 
 " rather than that you should shed a tear about 
 the matter, I promise not to lift a finger to relieve 
 the minister, and I am sure Mrs. Sherritt will do 
 the same." 
 
 " I won't deny," said Roxana, " that I was cal- 
 c'latin' to tell him ; but of course I should n't think 
 o' disobeyin' you downright, Miss Rebecca." 
 
 " Promise me, then," sobbed Rebecca. 
 
 " I promise. There, I do promise," replied Mrs. 
 Sherritt, reluctant, even in the midst of her dismay 
 at this emotion, thus to seal her own lips. " I '11 
 let you know what happens to-morrow, Miss Re- 
 becca," she went on. " Don't you fret over this 
 one bit. We 've done the best we knew how, any- 
 way." 
 
 " I thank you, Roxana," replied Miss Redmond, 
 slowly recovering herself. " You have had all the 
 hard work, and I assure you I appreciate your 
 kindness very much indeed." 
 
 " There ain't any danger of your not appre- 
 ciatin' folks," said Roxana, rising. 
 
 She had a moment alone with Mrs. Redmond 
 when the latter gave her the tennis suit wrapped 
 in a bundle. 
 
 " Too bad," said Elise, with a smile and a shrug.
 
 COUNTER-IRRITANTS. 193 
 
 " 'T ain't in human nature to stand it," returned 
 JRoxana, in a low tone. " I ain't ever goiii' to have 
 any more comfort with that woman a dead weight 
 on the minister's hands." 
 
 " What shall you do ? " 
 
 Roxana shook her head. " Can't tell you ; but I 
 guess I 'm Yankee enough to think up somethin'. 
 Too much of a Yankee to give up, I 'm afraid." 
 
 " Miss Redmond has tied your hands, I fear." 
 
 " Bless her good heart ! She thinks she has." 
 Roxana cast a shrewd look at Elise. " I put my 
 trust in Yankee invention yet, Mrs. Redmond. I '11 
 bid you good-inornin'."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A VENOMOUS STING. 
 
 ROXANA found herself an object of much inter- 
 est when she came home that day. She would not 
 talk until dinner was on the table, and Phyllis and 
 the boarder were served ; then Phyllis was full of 
 questions, and Chester all attention. Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt was too preoccupied with the main subject of 
 her thoughts to do more than answer shortly, and 
 Phyllis's astonishment at the housekeeper's compli- 
 ance in accepting the tennis costume was almost 
 speechless. 
 
 " I think you must have been enchanted too," 
 she said at last. 
 
 " I guess maybe I was," admitted Mrs. Sherritt. 
 " She put it, Mrs. Redmond did, in that kind of a 
 way, that it looked sensible to take it and would 
 have made me look simple to refuse it." 
 
 " Of course she did," laughed Phyllis, exchang- 
 ing a glance of appreciation with the boarder. 
 " Oh, I cannot wait to see it. Is it in that bun- 
 dle?" 
 
 Roxana pressed a firm hand on the girl's shoul- 
 der, precisely as she would have done ten years 
 before. " Sit still and eat your dinner," she said 
 shortly. " Plenty of time afterward for the bun- 
 dle."
 
 A VENOMOUS STING. 195 
 
 Thus admonished, Phyllis took up her knife and 
 fork and chattered on. How Chester blessed her 
 volubility. 
 
 " What was Mrs. Redmond doing when you got 
 there ? " she asked. 
 
 " Pickin' flowers. I don't see how on earth her 
 complexion stays so fair. She had some kind of a 
 cap on her head that wa'n't a mite o' protection." 
 
 "Oh, she is a perfect beauty, and she always 
 will be, and she can't help it," observed Phyllis ; 
 for which bit of gush the boarder lifted his eyes 
 and sent her a glance which might have impressed 
 even Roxana with its inflammable tendency, had 
 she observed it. 
 
 It was lost on Phyllis also. She was glancing 
 wistfully at the bundle on her own account. 
 
 " What else did she say ? " she asked. 
 
 " She wants you to come some day soon and play 
 tennis with her." 
 
 " Aha, Mr. Chester, don't you envy me ? " cried 
 the girl triumphantly. 
 
 " Never mind, Mr. Chester," said Roxana smil- 
 ing. " She asked how you was, if she didnt send 
 you any tennis suit; and, anyway, pretty soon 
 it '11 be you instead o' Phyllis that '11 be goin' up 
 to Beech Knoll." 
 
 "Why is that?" 
 
 " Because she 's invited that young feller out 
 here to stay a week, she said." 
 
 " What young fellow ? " was demanded in uni- 
 son, eagerly by one voice, sternly by the other.
 
 196 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " It 's the strangest thing I can't think of his 
 name. Phyllis, he came here once and gave me a 
 pink." 
 
 " Mr. BeUows ? " said Phyllis. 
 
 "Bellow is the name," returned Roxana, re- 
 lieved. 
 
 Phyllis smiled meditatively at her plate. Ter- 
 riss stared out of the window with a gaze which 
 should have dyed the grass and foliage a more 
 vivid green. 
 
 What, he wondered, was there in Tony to pro- 
 cure him such a superlative honor ? 
 
 He could not restrain a " Humph ! " of disgust, 
 which caused Phyllis's face to rise questioningly. 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 " I was thinking what a butterfly existence 
 Tony's is." 
 
 " I s'pose it 's fittin' enough," observed Roxana, 
 " that one butterfly should amuse another." 
 
 " If you mean by that that Mrs. Redmond is a 
 butterfly," returned Phyllis, " you are very much 
 mistaken. Miss Rebecca has told me about some 
 of the lovely things she has done ih the way of 
 charity. Not lazy charity either. Miss Redmond 
 says she is too active and energetic to be willing 
 not to know how her money goes. She does lots 
 of good in the world, and does it very quietly." 
 
 " So much the better," said Roxana, nodding. 
 " I liked what I saw of her to-day first-rate." 
 
 " I have finished," said Phyllis, pushing her 
 chair back from the table. " Now for the precious 
 package."
 
 A VENO MO US STING. 197 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt said nothing as the girl took the 
 bundle in her lap and untied the string. Pres- 
 ently she held up to view a costume of soft woolen 
 material, striped with gray and white, and as she 
 beheld it, uttered a cry of delight. " O Mr. Ches- 
 ter ! and there 's a cap to match ! Is n't it 
 lovely?" 
 
 The boarder came around the table and in- 
 spected the limp mass with puzzled eyes. It must 
 be lovely, of course. She had worn it. " What is 
 this scarf for ? " he asked, touching the soft stuff 
 with a reverent hand. 
 
 " That is the sash, I am sure," cried Phyllis joy- 
 fully. " Oh, I am so happy ! " 
 
 " Go and put it on," he suggested, catching her 
 excitement. 
 
 " Yes, go on," said Roxana. She wished to be 
 rid of the girl, in order to have an opportunity for 
 speaking to Mr. Chester undisturbed. She felt the 
 disappointment keenly of being debarred from ad- 
 vising with Mr. Terriss, and, as an alternative, it 
 occurred to her that, two heads being better than 
 one, her boarder might be of some use. 
 
 " Look here, Mr. Chester, I 'm in trouble," she 
 said, as soon as the door had closed upon Phyllis. 
 " I 've got mixed up in other folks's business kind 
 o' unexpectedly, and I want to get some help, if 
 you 've got any to give. You bein' a relative o' 
 the minister's, and she bein' taken with you, I 
 thought I 'd tell you, because I don't want Phyllis 
 to know a thing about it, and Miss Rebecca won't
 
 198 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 let Mrs. Redmond and I do what we think best ; 
 so it 's just there" 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt was usually so sensible and direct 
 that Chester thought it must be the fault of his 
 own perception that this address gave him no idea.. 
 Until he caught Mrs. Redmond's name, his face had 
 been inattentive ; but now, Roxana could not com- 
 plain of any lack of interest in his countenance. 
 
 " Pardon me," he said, regarding her troubled 
 face as she leaned on a chair -back opposite, " I 
 did not quite understand." 
 
 Then Roxana told him in consecutive fashion 
 Miss Rebecca's discovery, and what had been done 
 in the matter up to the present day. 
 
 The boarder gave an exclamation of impatience. 
 " Any one could perceive on first meeting her that 
 the woman is a hypocrite ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca says she ain't. She says Mrs. 
 Terriss thinks she 's just as feeble as she appears 
 to be. Kind o' self-deceived, as it were. Now the 
 question is, seem' Miss Rebecca's little scheme has 
 failed, what next ? She 's for lettin' it go ; but I 
 can't rest to do that, on the minister's account, 
 and no more can Mrs. Redmond." 
 
 " Of course you cannot. To-morrow, when you 
 go to make the trial of her ability, you might tell 
 her, if you think it would do any good, that I am 
 ready to make a portrait of her as soon as she can 
 come to me here. You might tell her," added 
 Chester with a grimace, "that I wish to do it." 
 
 "Well, that might work," said Roxana hope-
 
 A VENOMOUS STING. 199 
 
 fully. " She certainly took an amazin' likiu' to 
 
 you." 
 
 " That is surprising, for I was so repelled by her 
 that I feared I showed it very plainly." 
 
 " She liked the way you stepped off," explained 
 Roxana. 
 
 " "Well, we were of one mind there. That was 
 the part of the call which I liked best, too." 
 
 " You please keep thinkin'," said Roxana ; " but 
 don't say a word to Mr. Terriss, or Miss Redmond 
 would never forgive us." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond interests herself in it, does 
 she ? " asked the infatuated boarder, lingering. 
 
 " Yes, indeed she does. You know everybody 
 that knows Mr. Terriss thinks a sight of him." 
 
 " Yes. I think we will have to accomplish this, 
 Mrs. Sherritt. Mrs. Terriss' fate is sealed. She 
 will have to walk." 
 
 Whether the object was to be attained on the 
 next day remained to be proved. Miss Redmond 
 called early for Roxana, and together they sought 
 the parsonage, where all the tender encouragement 
 and hearty assurances they could lavish on the 
 invalid were brought to bear. Roxana added the 
 bait of the artist's invitation, to which Mrs. Terriss 
 responded with the first smile she had worn during 
 the interview. 
 
 " I am willing he should have my poor face, if 
 he wants it," she replied, "but he will have to 
 come here for it." 
 
 " He can't move his things, he says," returned
 
 200 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt. " Just try, only try, Mrs. Terriss. 
 Just lean on me and take one step, only one. I '11 
 catch you if you fall, you know 1 will ; or shall I 
 call Mr. Terriss ? I hear him up in his study." 
 
 " Yes, call him ; call Mr. Terriss," responded 
 the invalid quickly. 
 
 " Perhaps you would feel safer," said Roxana 
 soothingly. " I did hope we could surprise him, 
 but if you want him now, you shall have him. 
 Miss Rebecca, will you just step up to the study, 
 while I tidy things a little more here ? " 
 
 Miss Redmond started immediately. She was 
 so much absorbed in her self- forgetful work of 
 love, that she entirely forgot that it was her first 
 visit to the minister's study. She knocked, and 
 he opened the door upon the familiar face, grown 
 so youthful again in its interest and brightness 
 that he gazed into it speechless. 
 
 "Mr. Terriss," she said, catching her breath a 
 little, " can you come downstairs a minute ? The 
 time has come for your wife to make the effort to 
 walk, and she does not wish to try without you. 
 You know of our experiment ? " 
 
 " I do, Miss Rebecca," he answered, in a tone as 
 unsteady as her own, "and have been entirely 
 mystified by it. The very fact that the scheme 
 originated with you gives me a respect for it ; yet 
 it surprises me beyond telling that you put any 
 faith in the result." 
 
 " O Philip, don't say so ! " exclaimed Rebecca 
 almost tearfully. " I do put all faith in it, and I
 
 A VENOMOUS STING. 201 
 
 beg you to do so. If she sees that you do not hope, 
 it will all fail. I tell you I believe, I know, she 
 can walk this morning if she will try." 
 
 Carried along by her excitement, the minister 
 followed her down the stairs. 
 
 " You will help ? " she said, turning to him be- 
 seechingly, just before opening the door of Mrs. 
 Terriss' sitting-room. 
 
 He nodded and they went in. Mrs. Terriss sat 
 there, her cheeks flushed and an odd glitter in her 
 eyes, which glowed darkly with some excitement. 
 
 *' Philip," she said, in a hard voice, " I have 
 sent for you to defend me against any further an- 
 noyance under the guise of friendship. Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt I do not blame ; she has only carried out the 
 orders of Miss Redmond. It is strange that Miss 
 Redmond should take such an interest in my af- 
 fairs, is it not ? " Here the speaker turned her 
 glittering eyes with a malicious expression upon 
 Rebecca. " It was an entire mystery to me until 
 last evening, when I heard something which throws 
 light on the subject. It seems that she is an old 
 flame of yours. You visited her family once in 
 your college days. Now, of course, I understand it 
 all. Her ofliciousness serves to keep her in your 
 mind in the light of an angel of mercy. Miss 
 Redmond, I " - 
 
 " Silence ! " cried the minister, and there was 
 silence. 
 
 His wife sank back in her chair, struck dumb 
 by his voice and his transfigured face.
 
 202 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Roxana's eyes seemed starting from her head as 
 she shrank back in horror. 
 
 Miss Rebecca's face grew white, nearly, as her 
 hair. Her gentle eyes were fixed on the minister's 
 wife, with a look in them as though the woman had 
 stabbed her to the heart. They were all four mo- 
 tionless for a long moment, and no one spoke as 
 Rebecca turned noiselessly and walked slowly from 
 the room. 
 
 The sound of the closing of the outer door 
 seemed to break the spell. Roxana hurriedly be- 
 gan gathering up her wrap and bonnet and gloves. 
 Mrs. Terriss watched her anxiously. 
 
 " Mrs. Sherritt, don't go yet," she said, almost 
 timidly, observing Roxana's averted face. " I said 
 I did not blame you ; I am sure I thank you " 
 
 Roxana turned, and stood gazing at her with the 
 same wide, awe-struck eyes. 
 
 " Shame, shame upon you, forever and ever ! " 
 she said, with such solemn and concentrated en- 
 ergy that to the invalid's ears the exclamation 
 bore an unpleasant resemblance to a curse. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss cowered, but seemed unable to re- 
 move her eyes from the stare that held them. 
 
 " I 'm bound by promise," continued Roxana, 
 " or I would tell, here and now, what made that 
 angel who just went out try to help you as she has 
 this week. If you really don't know, cast your 
 mind back to the day Dr. Ramsey came to see you. 
 What did you do that day, hey? What did you 
 do just after Dr. Ramsey left the room, hey ? "
 
 A VENOMOUS STING. 203 
 
 Roxana's lips snapped together in order to let 
 out no more. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss trembled, and she looked more 
 frightened and bewildered than ever. 
 
 " Nothing ; I I had hysterics. I " 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt looked at her with righteous indig- 
 nation. " I don't know whether you really deceive 
 yourself or not," she returned. "Miss Rebecca, 
 whose shoes we ain't any of us fit to tie, says you 
 do. She 's got a sight more charity 'n I have, 
 that 's all ; " and Roxana caught up a small leather 
 bag Miss Redmond had forgotten, and gave a fur- 
 tive glance at the minister. 
 
 " I might have talked out as plain as I wanted 
 to," she thought ; " he has n't heard one word." 
 Then she hurried out of the room. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss looked at her husband appealingly. 
 His face had not relaxed its terribly strange ex- 
 pression, his eyes looking away, over her head. 
 She began to whimper. It was frightful to feel 
 such a distance between them. He did not seem 
 conscious even of her presence. 
 
 " Come and hold my hand, Philip," she begged. 
 M I feel so wrought upon by all this absurd fuss " 
 
 But her husband did not hear her. He sank 
 suddenly into a chair and bowed his head upon the 
 table before him, convulsed by sobs. Once before 
 in his life had he shed such bitter, hard-drawn 
 tears. It was on the night before he went to seek 
 his fragile fiancee, to ask her to name their wed- 
 ding-day.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 
 
 THE awe which had taken possession of Roxana 
 at Mrs. Terriss' words was not dispelled by the 
 time she reached home. She seated herself in the 
 empty parlor, still bonneted and shawled, and 
 looked before her with fixed eyes. 
 
 " Oh, my soul ! " she ejaculated. " Oh, my soul ! 
 Miss Rebecca, dear Miss Rebecca." 
 
 All the touching little story which she had re- 
 counted to Phyllis came back to her, and assumed 
 for the first time the hues of reality. She thought 
 over, in a slowly appreciative fashion, what it must 
 have been to Miss Redmond to find in her pastor 
 her old-time lover, and, as she recalled the simple 
 and quiet manner in which they had conducted 
 themselves toward one another, Roxana's lips 
 parted, and she became more than ever lost to her 
 surroundings. New light broke upon her concern- 
 ing Miss Redmond's extreme agitation at the sug- 
 gestion to tell Mr. Terriss the truth about his wife. 
 She saw the sensitive conscience, the delicate mind, 
 in new clearness. 
 
 Her reverie was interrupted by her boarder's 
 voice. 
 
 " Well, how did it come out ? " he asked, ap-
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 205 
 
 pearing at the door. " Did Mrs. Redmond attend 
 the seance ? " 
 
 Roxana turned her eyes upon him with a dazed 
 expression, which she might indeed have brought 
 from one of the meetings, usually designated by 
 the title he had used at random. 
 
 " What is it ? " she asked, endeavoring to recall 
 her thoughts. 
 
 " Did your patient walk ? " 
 
 Roxana shuddered. " No," she replied curtly. 
 
 " You look tired," said Chester kindly. " I am 
 very sorry for your disappointment." 
 
 "O Mr. Chester," and Mrs. Sherritt leaned 
 back in her chair ; " that woman is a I don't 
 know what to say she is," she finished abruptly, 
 realizing that she was on the eve of reviling a 
 member of the sex she loved to one of that sex 
 which, to use Mr. Gilbert's phrase, she considered 
 " nature's sole mistake." " I think I shall have to 
 be done with her," she added. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Redmond is responsible for this faint- 
 heartedness," said Terriss. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt nodded. " Yes," she replied, 
 " Miss Rebecca is at the bottom of it." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond will be firmer. She will restore 
 your energies. You have not tried me yet. I may 
 have a suggestion worthy to be followed." 
 
 Roxana only shook her head disconsolately, 
 " I 've got the heartache, Mr. Chester, a real, low- 
 down, discouraged heartache, and it 's all because 
 o' Mrs. Terriss. I can't talk about her any more
 
 206 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 to-day. I want to know, if you 're goin' to walk 
 this afternoon, if you 'd just as soon go to Beech 
 Knoll as anywhere ? " 
 
 " I will go with pleasure," was the prompt reply. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca left her hand-bag at the minis- 
 ter's this mornin', and I brought it home. I want 
 to get it to her/' 
 
 Terriss' countenance displayed the most cordial 
 concurrence. " It is a kindness to give me an er- 
 rand," he declared. 
 
 " All right. I should be glad to send it ; but 
 when you get there, Mr. Chester, don't ask to see 
 Miss Rebecca ; if she feels as tuckered out as I do, 
 she won't care to have any company to-day. I sup- 
 pose you would just as lief see Mrs. Redmond ? " 
 
 Accordingly, after the noon dinner, Terriss set 
 forth on his commission, very little of the invalid 
 appearing in his springing gait. Arrived at 
 Beech Knoll^ a servant told him that Mrs. Red- 
 mond was out in the grounds, perhaps in the grove 
 by the river. 
 
 Declining the maid's proffered guidance, he 
 strolled toward the water, enjoying the sunlight, 
 the sweet odors, and a bird song, which dissolved 
 all their beauty in the glow of his anticipation. 
 He reached the grove, and the sight that met his 
 eyes made him pause suddenly. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond was there as he had expected,, 
 lying in a hammock as he had suspected, but what 
 disconcerted him was the fact that she was fast 
 asleep.
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 207 
 
 " The Sleeping Beauty in the wood," he thought, 
 and in natural sequence the Prince's action oc- 
 curred to him, and he smiled as he considered that 
 what was chivalrous, romantic, fitting, in the hero 
 of the fairy tale, would, if he imitated his example 
 now, be unchivalrous and mean, not to mention 
 being followed by condign punishment at the hand 
 of the Beauty. 
 
 " So much for the difference between fact and 
 romance," he sighed, but the smile remained on 
 his lips as he seated himself in a rustic chair. 
 Nothing in all the realm of fancy could be more 
 charming to him than his present nineteenth-cen- 
 tury environment, no enchanted bower of fairyland 
 more tempting than Mrs. Redmond's grove of 
 beeches, and certainly no princess of story could 
 have looked lovelier, sleeping, than the lady before 
 him. 
 
 A light gray shawl was spread over the ham- 
 mock. The cushion that supported her head was 
 covered with dull, deep red silk, and as she lay, 
 one hand beneath her cheek and the other dropped 
 upon the shawl, she made a picture which caused 
 Chester's hand to seek his pocket involuntarily for 
 the block of paper which always accompanied him. 
 He made a rapid sketch, but in his eagerness to 
 get another he started to tear off the sheet, and, 
 although he took pains to remove it quietly, the 
 sound wakened the sleeper. She turned slightly, 
 opened her eyes, closed and opened them again, 
 started violently, and spoke.
 
 208 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Mr. Chester ! " 
 
 "Excuse me, I fear I wakened you," he said 
 apologetically. 
 
 " What do you mean ? How long have you been 
 here?" 
 
 There was vexation in her voice, and Chester's 
 cheerfulness faded. 
 
 " Not very long," he said meekly. " Perhaps 
 fifteen minutes." 
 
 " Fifteen minutes ! It might as well have been 
 fifteen months." 
 
 "I wish it had been," responded Terriss de- 
 voutly. 
 
 " Well, it was very impertinent in you, very." 
 
 Chester rose, looking perplexed. " What should 
 I have done ? " he asked. 
 
 " Gone away, of course." 
 
 " But I wanted to see you." 
 
 " Very well, you saw I was asleep." 
 
 " And I was perfectly willing to wait," returned 
 Terriss quickly. 
 
 Elise smiled impatiently, and bit her lip. " I 
 am not well. You will have to excuse me to-day. 
 Good-afternoon, Mr. Chester." 
 
 Terriss looked at her, his eyes full of surprise 
 and reproach. 
 
 " This is Miss Redmond's bag," he said. " I 
 came to bring it." He laid it on the chair he had 
 vacated. " Good-by," and he turned and walked 
 away. 
 
 Elise immediately rose from her helpless poa-
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 209 
 
 tare. " Is the man half-witted ? " she thought. 
 " Does n't he know that I have to get out of this 
 miserable hammock ? " and with a sweep of her 
 skirts, she put first one and then the other of her 
 slippered feet to the ground. 
 
 Terriss, walking along, quite wretched from dis- 
 appointment, heard her voice. 
 
 " Mr. Chester." 
 
 He turned. She was sitting on the edge of the 
 hammock, her back against the netting, gently 
 rocking herself to and fro. He looked at her, and 
 as she did not speak again, he walked back. 
 
 " Is n ? t it a wonderfully warm day for the sea- 
 son ? " she remarked. " Is that the reason Phyl- 
 lis did not come with you ? " 
 
 "No. Mrs. Sherritt wanted her at home this 
 afternoon. Oh, Phyllis wanted me to thank you 
 for the tennis suit. It looks very pretty on her." 
 
 " It would be more gallant for you to say she 
 looks very pretty in it." 
 
 " I am never gallant. I have not had any prac- 
 tice. The dress belonged to you, and that is all I 
 think of when I see it." 
 
 Elise smiled. " Upon my word, very well for 
 a beginner. Is it your pleasure to practice on 
 me?" 
 
 " I fear I shall have to, if on any one, for there 
 is no one else who will ever teach me now." 
 
 She colored. " Oh, fie ! you are too open. An 
 artist should understand better keeping himself in 
 perspective."
 
 210 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I was putting myself in perspective as fast as 
 I could when you called me back. What did you 
 wish ? " 
 
 " Why, to see you, of course, after you have come 
 so far." 
 
 " Then will you tell me why you sent me away ? " 
 
 " For the same reason that I called you back." 
 
 "Why was that?" 
 
 "You will have to guess." 
 
 Terriss reseated himself, taking Miss Rebecca's 
 bag on his knee. " I was always very slow at 
 guessing," he said, the serenity returning to his 
 face. 
 
 " Toss that bag over here out of your way. 
 Perhaps you can tell me some particulars of this 
 morning's experience at the parsonage. My sister 
 came home with such a headache she could scarcely 
 speak beyond telling me that the experiment was 
 a failure." 
 
 " Mrs. Sherritt was more depressed when she re- 
 turned than I ever knew her to be. Probably they 
 had counted more on success than they realized." 
 
 " It is a case that interests me very much," said 
 Elise. " I hope it is not going to be left in this 
 way." 
 
 " It shall not be, since you wish it. From my 
 impressions of Mrs. Terriss, I should have said that 
 perhaps the less locomotion she was capable of, the 
 better. However, you wish her to walk, and so 
 some way must be devised to accomplish it." 
 
 Chester looked directly at her as he spoke, with
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 211 
 
 the unconscious worship in his eyes which she 
 found so novel. 
 
 They had met several times now, and on each 
 occasion she had observed that he never seemed 
 desirous of making a good impression upon her, 
 but always wore the same docile air of adoration, 
 quite as though what she thought of him was a 
 matter of no moment, but that his subjection to 
 her was an inevitable matter of course. It was 
 her first experience of an admirer who exacted 
 nothing, who seemed not even to think of himself. 
 It was very pleasant flattery, certainly, but it took 
 away all the satisfaction of overcoming resistance 
 which she had anticipated on the day when his 
 letter to the minister had angered and wounded 
 her so deeply. As she looked at him now, he was 
 so different from her mental picture of the writer 
 of that letter, she could scarcely credit the fact of 
 his identity. Where under that placid, gentle 
 exterior dwelt all the resentment and obstinacy he 
 had manifested? 
 
 " Have you sketched much of late ? " 
 
 He smiled and touched his sketch block. " It 
 was because I tried to tear off a leaf from this that 
 you waked," he said. 
 
 " Why, what was there here worth sketching ? " 
 asked Elise quickly and suspiciously. " Have you 
 taken my gi'ove ? " 
 
 " I shall not answer you, unless beforehand you 
 promise to spare my life." 
 
 " Then you have done something more imperti-
 
 212 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 nent," she exclaimed, coloring. " If you were 
 base enough to sketch me, you must give it to me 
 at once." 
 
 " You are not really angry, are you ? " He 
 asked it with so much simplicity and anxiety that 
 it was with difficulty she forbore smiling. 
 
 " Indeed I am ; and if you wish to be forgiven, 
 you will show me that sketch immediately." 
 
 " Well, I will destroy it," and he began tearing 
 the leaf. 
 
 " No, no, I wish to see it." She extended her 
 hand imperiously. 
 
 He passed it to her in silence, and she studied it 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Did I really look as peaceful as this?" she 
 asked. 
 
 " You looked very peaceful." 
 
 " It is not not becoming to people to be 
 asleep," she said, still flushed and resentful, and 
 speaking with some embarrassment. " You had 
 no right " 
 
 Light began to dawn upon Chester as to the 
 nature of his offense, but he was too earnest a 
 slave to feel any amusement. 
 
 " It is very becoming to you," he said. " You 
 fulfilled my idea of the Sleeping Beauty. This 
 sketch is nothing, but I could do it. I could make 
 a portrait of you." 
 
 " You have really a gift for getting likeness. 
 I recognize myself here. Why did you not culti- 
 vate your talent instead of adopting a business 
 life?"
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 213 
 
 In answer to the careless question, Elise saw the 
 face before her change. The eager, happy light 
 faded that had made it young, the eyes grew 
 gloomy, the whole countenance expressed sullen 
 endurance and discontent. The writer of the of- 
 fensive letter of refusal was before her. 
 
 " That is a long story," he replied ; and now she 
 understood how Rebecca could have been startled 
 by his surly manner. " But it can be made a very 
 short one. Necessity and poverty compelled me." 
 
 " That was hard. It is a wonder you did not 
 prefer to remain in the profession you loved, even 
 though it kept you poor. That seems to be the 
 artist spirit." 
 
 "Poor? I shall always be poor. I have no in- 
 terest in making money ; but I preferred to get 
 what time I could for my art work and do it for 
 love, rather than be a mediocre painter, obliged to 
 do work he loathed to obtain bread and butter. 
 Of course I shall never do anything worth doing. 
 I know that well enough." 
 
 Elise felt a little thrill of compassion for the 
 speaker. 
 
 " Not even if you do my portrait ? " she asked 
 lightly. 
 
 The dark eyes that had been gazing out toward 
 the water turned back to her. 
 
 " Do you mean to let me try ? " 
 
 " I believe I will. Of course it will be on a busi- 
 ness basis." 
 
 He smiled. " You mean you want to pay me 
 for it?"
 
 214 THE MISTRESS OF BEECB KNOLL. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I would rather you did not." 
 
 " Why ? " The question was short, and asked 
 in a tone which recalled Terriss to realities. 
 
 He bowed slightly. " Forgive me. You must 
 remember it is a very unusual occurrence for me 
 to receive an order for a portrait." 
 
 " An ability to make really fine portraits," said 
 Elise, " would have given you something better 
 than a hand-to-mouth living." Her heart hurried 
 a little as she decided how to continue. She felt 
 she must draw him out, yet she feared to be moved 
 to anger against him by what he might say of her 
 father. " I am sorry you happened not to be able 
 to study," she added. 
 
 " Especially as I grew from childhood almost to 
 manhood with every expectation of having the 
 means to do so." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's heart pulsed faster. " That 
 certainly made it doubly hard," she said gently. 
 
 " It did. I have never been man enough to rise 
 above the disappointment." 
 
 But he had been man enough to refuse her 
 money, and Elise remembered it now, realizing 
 how sorely tempted he must have been. " Have 
 you lost your parents ? " she asked, to lead him on. 
 
 " Yes ; but a male orphan of thirty-five sum- 
 mers in tolerable health can hardly be considered 
 a pathetic object." 
 
 " That depends upon circumstances. I am an 
 orphan of twenty-seven summers, and sometimes
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 215 
 
 I feel the loneliness to be more pathetic than I did 
 at seventeen. Your people had money and lost it, 
 I suppose." 
 
 " A very common fate," said Chester. 
 
 The evasive reply and succeeding silence showed 
 Mrs. Redmond that at least it was not a relief and 
 satisfaction to him to revile her father to any chance 
 listener. 
 
 " You are not inclined to talk about yourself," 
 she remarked, smiling. 
 
 He smiled in his turn. " As a matter of fact, 
 I am a very uninteresting subject, even to my- 
 self." 
 
 " Mr. Terriss told me, I believe, that you have 
 lived in California most of your life. I have 
 friends there. I wonder if you know any of them. 
 The Smalls. Do you know any of the Smalls ? " 
 
 " Yes, there were some Smalls who lived near 
 us," replied Chester, in a manner which betokened 
 a supreme indifference to that family. 
 
 " The Smalls, and the Haydens, and the Beck- 
 withs," continued Elise. " They lived near to- 
 gether, and I knew them all." 
 
 Chester looked up with a gleam of interest. 
 " You knew the Beckwiths, Mr. Aaron Beckwith's 
 family?" 
 
 Again Mrs. Redmond's heart beat fast. His 
 eyes were fixed upon her, and it seemed to her he 
 must recognize her. 
 
 " I knew Elise Beckwith. I went to school with 
 her," she answered.
 
 216 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 He looked away again, his thoughts evidently far 
 distant. 
 
 " Did you ever hear her speak of her father's 
 adopted son ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have," replied Elise faintly. 
 
 " I knew him," said Terriss curtly. 
 
 " Did you ? I believe Mr. Beckwith was devoted 
 to him." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 "Yes. I used to think it rather remarkable 
 that Elise never seemed to be jealous of him. It 
 was perfectly evident to me, from what she said, 
 that the father's heart was more bound up in that 
 boy than in the daughter who was his own flesh 
 and blood. Did it not speak well for the boy and 
 girl both, that the one should have been able to 
 command such loyalty, and that the other should 
 have been so willing to give it ? " 
 
 " Did you ever hear what became of the boy ? " 
 asked Terriss. 
 
 " I went abroad soon after those school-days." 
 
 " The devotion of Mr. Beckwith for his adopted 
 son was not so deep as to prevent his sending him 
 adrift when a difference of opinion arose between 
 them." 
 
 "Oh!" 
 
 " All the plans and ambitions which that boy 
 had been encouraged to expect to carry out were 
 laid low in a day, and he dismissed without a dol- 
 lar beyond what he had in his pocket. Not an 
 unprecedented situation for a boy, you will say.
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 217 
 
 True ; but this boy, though not entirely lacking in 
 independence of feeling, had been full of ardent 
 hope to progress in the art he loved. It was his 
 very life, and the disproportion between his offense 
 and its punishment embittered him." 
 
 "Naturally," exclaimed Elise, thrilled by his 
 tone and manner almost to forgetfulness that she 
 was joining in blame of her father. " It was not 
 right ! It was not right ! " 
 
 The excited and sympathetic tone made him turn 
 his eyes back to her with the old expression. 
 "How did we come to talk of this?" he said. 
 " Let us never do it again." 
 
 " But I must. It interests me so. Do you not 
 believe that, had Mr. Beck with lived, he would 
 have recalled you ? " 
 
 "Me?" 
 
 Elise colored furiously. "Your manner made 
 me suspect " she said, " made me certain that 
 you yourself are that disappointed boy." 
 
 Chester laughed. " Your knowledge of human 
 nature probably prevents you from crediting me 
 with showing so much feeling for another." 
 
 " Not at all. I have a very high opinion of 
 human nature ; still, I think you are the boy. You 
 know women have strong intuitions and often cor- 
 rect ones." 
 
 " The boy disappeared long ago," rather mood- 
 ily. " I am what he left behind him." 
 
 " And the girl Elise ? " asked Mrs. Redmond 
 softly.
 
 218 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 He looked up. " You have seen her since I have, 
 if you knew her in her teens." 
 
 " And have you never had sufficient interest in 
 her to seek her?" 
 
 " No, I never took any interest in her. She was 
 so much younger than myself, and so seldom at 
 home, it was not to be expected." 
 
 " Yet she took an interest in you. She was the 
 more generous of the two." 
 
 " I fancy she still piques herself on her gener- 
 osity." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 Chester raised his eyes, a humorous look in 
 them. " Perhaps you still correspond with your 
 school friend. I must not answer your questions." 
 
 " I do not correspond with her," returned Elise, 
 feeling her color rise. 
 
 Terriss sighed reminiscently. " I dare say she 
 is a dashing young lady, at present ; but I remem- 
 ber thinking her an extraordinarily awkward, un- 
 attractive little thing." 
 
 " Was she indeed ? " Mrs. Redmond's eyes 
 looked very resentful as she put the question. 
 
 " Yes," returned the other absently ; " she had 
 this bright red hair, and hardly any flesh on her 
 poor little bones." 
 
 " Ah ! Did you never read your Hans Ander- 
 sen when you were a child, Mr. Chester ? Did 
 you never read of the Ugly Duckling ? I can as- 
 sure you that when I knew Elise, and she was 
 eighteen, she was not considered the worst-looking
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 219 
 
 girl in school." The speaker's voice shook a little, 
 in spite of herself. " For my part, I wonder you 
 feel no tenderness in the remembrance of that plain 
 little motherless child, whose indifferent father had 
 eyes only for yourself, whose lot it was to be sent 
 year after year among strangers, and whose child- 
 ish heart would have responded so gladly to a few 
 kind words from you, in whom she felt all a sister's 
 pride." 
 
 Terriss gazed at the speaker in surprise, and 
 when he discovered that there were actually tears 
 in her eyes, his dismay knew no bounds. " I have 
 hurt you in some way ! " he exclaimed ; and his 
 honest despair must have alleviated a wound to 
 his companion's amour propre, had it received one. 
 
 " Yes, you have," she returned. " I do not like 
 to think you heartless, and the way you speak of 
 Elise Beckwith is so different from her manner of 
 speaking of you." 
 
 " Why did you not say you loved her ? " asked 
 Terriss, perplexed by her reproach. 
 
 " I hope you would still have been honest, if I 
 had." 
 
 Chester looked at her gravely. "Mrs. Red- 
 mond, I have led a lonely enough life. Be sure, I 
 have thought, many a time in these after-years, of 
 Elise, and longed for her friendship. It was a 
 pleasant thought to me that somewhere in the 
 world was this girl who, had events turned as they 
 promised, would now be calling me brother." 
 
 Elise, woman-like, shrank inwardly at these cor-
 
 220 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 dial words. There was much which she must for- 
 give before consenting to a reconciliation between 
 her actual self and her father's adopted son. His 
 next words thawed her momentary stiffness in a 
 glow of unpleasant surprise. 
 
 "But lately an event occurred which changed 
 my feeling entirely, and deprived me of any desire 
 to renew what could hardly at best be called an 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " And what was that, please ? " asked Mrs. 
 Redmond, in so imperious a tone of demand that 
 her companion looked at her a moment in silence. 
 Then he shook his head. 
 
 " You are too much a partisan," he said. " Let 
 us change an unpleasant subject." 
 
 Elise controlled herself. " I see you think me 
 a little impertinent in wishing to hear the whole 
 story." 
 
 " You could not be impertinent. Nevertheless, 
 I prefer not to call upon myself any more such 
 flashes of your eyes." 
 
 " Be it so," she replied carelessly. "A man is 
 not obliged to criminate himself." 
 
 " I beg your pardon. There is no question of 
 self-accusation here." 
 
 " Then, if you are so confident, why not proceed ? 
 Since I now know both the characters, the story 
 interests me." 
 
 "Very well, I will. Your friend, Miss Beck- 
 with, offered me money." 
 
 "Yes?"
 
 ATTACK AND DEFENSE. 221 
 
 " Yes," emphatically. 
 
 "Well? Goon." 
 
 " Go on ? Is not that enough ? " 
 
 " Enough for what ? It was certainly very nice 
 of her, and very natural, too." 
 
 Elise looked undauntedly into the dark eyes, 
 although their expression of amazement and dis- 
 pleasure was not pleasant to endure. 
 
 " Well, you are even more partisan than I ex- 
 pected. Still, you do not understand yet. This 
 girl, instead of making any friendly advance to- 
 ward me, or allowing me to make her acquaintance, 
 sends me through a third party an offer of money. 
 You " his hard tone changed, and he finished 
 apologetically " you did not understand." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond blushed brightly. " I " she 
 hesitated ; then finished abruptly, " I believe she 
 meant well." 
 
 Chester shrugged his shoulders. " That never 
 counts for much, you know." 
 
 " It ought to," said Elise, tears again in her 
 eyes. Her heart was beating fast, and she felt be- 
 wildered and confused, in strange contrast to her 
 usual self-poise. Amid the tumult, she realized 
 that this repeated display of feeling would be 
 likely to arouse suspicion, and that she must leave 
 the subject. " Very well," she continued, " you 
 are so certain that you do not misjudge Elise that 
 I see it is useless for me to argue with you. At 
 the same time, I believe she has always been more 
 generous to yoii than you to her. I believe in my 
 own sex, you see."
 
 222 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Terriss nodded. " I might bring you to regard 
 her motives as they look to me, but I am content 
 not to try. I felt very hot over the matter for a 
 time ; but now the most indifferent being to me on 
 earth is Elise Beckwith." 
 
 This was said with a look which belied the words 
 so utterly that Mrs. Redmond laughed. She was 
 as near to a hysterical condition as a woman of her 
 strength can come. 
 
 " When is my portrait to be commenced ? " she 
 asked abruptly. 
 
 "Oh, when you like. To-morrow?" eagerly. 
 
 " I rather expect Tony Bellows to arrive to-inor- 
 row. Why, what is the matter? You do not look 
 so rapturous in the prospect of seeing your friend 
 as you should." 
 
 " I had forgotten for a little while that he was 
 coming," returned Chester ; then he paused. He 
 perceived that he should appear as absurd to re- 
 sent Tony's advent as he would to sulk because a 
 cloud floated between him and the sun. 
 
 " When may I come, then ? " he asked quietly. 
 
 Elise looked at him curiously, almost inclined to 
 believe that, should she declare her identity, that 
 worshiping face would still say, " Command, and I 
 obey ; " but she would not risk it quite yet. 
 
 " Come Monday," she replied. 
 
 " Very well. Meanwhile, I will study Mrs. Ter- 
 riss' case." 
 
 " Oh, yes. All Snowdon will lionize you, if you 
 succeed there."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 
 
 WHILE this talk was going on, Miss Rebecca 
 sat in her room behind locked doors and pondered. 
 After the horror of the first shock of Mrs. Terriss' 
 accusation, she felt the benefit of the strength and 
 temper which years of self-control and orderly per- 
 formance of duty had given to her character. A 
 frantic, desperate, girlish misery was impossible to 
 her now, and although the fresh wound was a deep 
 one, she rose to an endurance of it ; even more, to 
 a height above it, from which she could look down, 
 as it were, upon her own suffering and calmly con- 
 sider it. Nothing more humiliating than this 
 could have come to her. All her woman's nature 
 cried out in pain at the insult she had received. 
 She even hesitated a moment before the tribunal 
 of her own conscience, asking whether, by ever so 
 little, there was truth in the invalid's accusation ; 
 but the answer came quickly: Not guilty. She 
 felt herself fully exonerated from the charge. No 
 self-interest had insinuated itself into her genuine 
 effort to bless. The realization was a great sup- 
 port to her, and mitigated the force of those poi- 
 sonous words which seemed to echo over and over 
 in her ears. At last, worn out by excitement and
 
 224 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 exertion, she lay down upon her bed and fell 
 asleep. 
 
 It was twilight in the room when she awoke, 
 and for a minute she felt bewildered. Why had 
 she been sleeping at this hour? What had hap- 
 pened? With a rush, memory returned to her. 
 Some one in the village knew of the bittersweet 
 episode of her youth, and discovering that the 
 minister was the hero of the story, had informed 
 his wife, and the latter had used her knowledge in 
 a cowardly and cruel fashion. 
 
 " It was a poor return," mused Rebecca, "a 
 poor return ; but she does not know." 
 
 She lay still, musing. Her thoughts went back 
 to that old time, and she did not attempt to divert 
 them. At last she rose, obeying an impulse, and 
 catching up a wrap went quietly downstairs and 
 out of the house. She walked down the slight 
 declivity that led to the river, then moved along 
 its bank until she came to a huge willow-tree. At 
 sight of it, her heart contracted, giving her a sen- 
 sation of faintness. 
 
 One step more and her foot touched the bridge. 
 She walked out upon it, and stood at the railing, 
 looking down into the murmuring water. Farther 
 on, the river would rush swiftly to turn the busy 
 wheels of the manufacturer, but here its voice was 
 hushed, hushed as on that night twenty years 
 ago when last she stood here. 
 
 As she leaned upon the railing, the music of the 
 wavelets and the sighing of the night winds amid
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 225 
 
 the branches of the old trees mingled with the 
 thoughts to which, for once, she yielded without 
 a struggle. It was as though the hurt she had 
 received gave her the right to relax her firmly 
 imposed self-denial. 
 
 The measurements of time fell away. The warm 
 summer breeze touched her cheek gently. She 
 was a girl again, her heart swelling with its love, 
 yet nerved to its sacrifice. The unspeakable min- 
 gling of joy she would not have missed, and agony 
 wellnigh unendurable possessed her. Giving the 
 reins to memory, she indulged in the unwonted 
 luxury of living over once again her springtime. 
 
 Sooner or later, she could not tell how long she 
 had been standing there, another step sounded on 
 the bridge, a man's step. It came nearer. Re- 
 becca did not stir from her position. Involun- 
 tarily and unreasoningly she spoke, 
 
 " Philip." 
 
 The man drew near and paused before her. 
 
 " Rebecca," he returned, and a thrill of eager- 
 ness pervaded his tone. 
 
 In the waning light she could distinguish his 
 pallor and the expression of his face. Instantly 
 her dream had fled. She was back in the present, 
 and true to her habit of self-forgetfulness, forgot 
 her own wound in a rush of compassion for him. 
 
 " Do not take it so, Philip," she said, with falter- 
 ing gentleness. 
 
 " It seems too good to be true that you are here," 
 he returned quietly. " I do not know why I came,
 
 226 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 nor when I started. I suppose I came to rest my- 
 self near you." 
 
 They stood side by side in silence for a minute. 
 Rebecca strove for calmness. She felt the hope- 
 lessness of his mood and realized that she must be 
 strong ; but the enervation of her mental self-in- 
 dulgence had been a poor preparation. 
 
 "It is the same sort of evening," he said at 
 last. " Just as cool, just as quiet. Oh, the blessed 
 night ! Rebecca, this is rest. If only the sun 
 might never rise for me again to be near you in 
 the coolness and the dark, and to have the end 
 come here, on the old bridge, where the coura- 
 geous young fellow that I once was laid down life 
 and hope twenty years ago ! " 
 
 A sob rose in her throat, and she could only say 
 again, " Do not take it so, Philip." 
 
 The man turned and looked at her. 
 
 " Did I do right ? " he demanded, with an acute 
 change of tone. " I have never in all these years 
 dared to ask myself the question until to-day. It 
 meant madness to doubt." 
 
 " It is madness to doubt," said Rebecca, and her 
 voice grew firm. " You did right, nobly right. I 
 have always honored you for it. I honor you now 
 for it. Everything is right." 
 
 " Everything is wrong," he returned dispas- 
 sionately. " Everything has been wrong since 
 that night." 
 
 " It seems so to you," said Rebecca gently, " but 
 it has been right, really right. Do not question it, 
 even in your thought."
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 227 
 
 " As to the occurrence of to-day," he continued, 
 in the same tone, weary almost to indifference, 
 " there is nothing for me to say." 
 
 " No, there is nothing," she replied quietly. " Is 
 there anything you think I had better do ? " 
 
 "Have you thought of going away?" he 
 asked. 
 
 Rebecca smiled faintly. " You have been think- 
 ing of it too. Yes; talk about our old friendship 
 is likely to become general in the village ; I have 
 considered going away." 
 
 Philip seized her hands, and she felt his tremble. 
 " O Rebecca, I could not bear it ! " he exclaimed, 
 a thrill of suffering in his tone. Tears sprang to 
 Rebecca's eyes, and her heart beat suffocatingly. 
 She could not speak ; but it was only for a moment. 
 
 " You could bear it, you will advise it, if it is 
 best. Philip, listen to me. Remember, when we 
 were two weak young creatures, how in this very 
 spot we had strength given us to do what was hon- 
 orable and right. Have the years not made us 
 stronger ? We are more, not less, sure than then 
 of receiving help when we ask for it." 
 
 Happily for mankind, a good habit is as master- 
 ful as an evil one. Philip Terriss had controlled 
 and constrained and denied himself for twenty 
 years. Rebecca's intuitive appeal fell upon ear? 
 that could hear. 
 
 He dropped her hands and turned away. 
 
 " Forget my hasty words. Do not let tLrm 
 frighten you or affect your decision," he said.
 
 228 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Rebecca looked at him with troubled eyes. 
 
 " Go, if you fear at all the gossip of idle tongues," 
 he continued. " It is little enough they can find 
 to fasten upon." 
 
 " And if I should decide that it is best not to 
 show fear of them " 
 
 " Then stay." 
 
 " And you ? " said Rebacca faintly. 
 
 " I ? You need not think of me." 
 
 " You must tell me," said Rebecca resolutely, 
 " while we are here alone with God and conscience, 
 if, so far as you are concerned, you can ask me to 
 stay in Snowdon." 
 
 " Yes, stay," he replied. " Struggle and endur- 
 ance, struggle and endurance, that is life for me 
 at best." 
 
 " Philip ! And you are a minister ! " 
 
 " Yes, and what of that ? Why should clergy- 
 men be put in a cruelly unnatural place ? A strug- 
 gling, tempted minister is a struggling, tempted 
 man, able to derive no more strength and help 
 from his theories than any other human being 
 derives from his. It is the amount of truth we 
 have lived that helps us in an emergency, not the 
 amount of truth we know." 
 
 He looked at Rebecca's white hair, gleaming 
 under the black lace thrown over it, and smiled 
 bitterly. " I sometimes wonder," he added, " if I 
 should know what to do with happiness if it came 
 to me." 
 
 She glanced up at him, and it would have helped
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 229 
 
 him to catch the soft radiance in her eyes. " You 
 will know when it conies." 
 
 " When it comes ? " he repeated. 
 
 " Yes, it is coming, of course. What matter 
 whether in this world or the next ? It is all life, 
 you know, and meanwhile there is always enough 
 work to do and real satisfaction to be found in 
 it. That, Philip, you must admit is a helpful 
 truth, for you are living it every day." 
 
 " Yes, Rebecca, yes." There was an utter absence 
 of elasticity in tone and manner. " Of course you 
 will come no more to my house," he added, after a 
 moment of silence. 
 
 " No more, of course." 
 
 " That must be. My wife has forfeited all 
 claim." 
 
 " Philip, forgive her," said Miss Redmond, with 
 timid appeal. " No one could live the life she 
 does without becoming morbid. She sees things 
 in a distorted fashion. Tell me you forgive her. 
 It was her love for you " 
 
 " Rebecca ! " the minister interrupted sharply. 
 " Yes, you are right," he added gently, " you are 
 always right. I think I shall see the situation cor- 
 rectly after a time. Just to night I can't think 
 about it. When she accused you to-day, something 
 within me seemed to snap. If hearts ever broke, I 
 should think mine had. Some resistance, some grip 
 that I had on things yesterday has gone." 
 
 The quietly spoken words sent a desolate chill 
 through Rebecca's heart. She was silent, for there
 
 230 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 were no words that she might speak to comfort 
 him. 
 
 The river murmured and sang. The willow 
 dipped its tassels deeper in the water as the wind 
 arose. 
 
 " Stale and unprofitable," said Philip musingly. 
 " Surely no man ever had greater cause than I to 
 look back on life and say, to what good ? " 
 
 His companion turned to him suddenly. "I 
 cannot listen to that," she said. "You have ful- 
 filled the duties of your profession conscientiously, 
 and you have made your wife happy. You have 
 succeeded in your undertaking, succeeded. Think 
 what that means, Philip ! You should be humbly 
 thankful, happy this night, instead of downcast. 
 You have shown yourself a hero in the battle of 
 life, and do you say to what good ? Do not dis- 
 appoint me so. It is not your inmost feeling. I 
 refuse to believe it." Her earnest tone changed 
 to one of anxiety. "You are shivering. Come, 
 you must not stay here longer. You must go home 
 directly." 
 
 " Yes," he replied, taking her hand in his cold 
 one, " this leaf is turned. I must go home. We 
 leave the old bridge together to-night, Rebecca. 
 We did not before. You went, I stayed. Do you 
 remember ? " 
 
 Rebecca looked at him with yearning compassion. 
 " The bridge has been made over since that night," 
 she said gently. " It is not the same bridge. 
 We are not the same people. We must not re-
 
 TEE OLD BRIDGE. 231 
 
 member too much. You yourself once called my 
 attention to one of the best rules of life I have 
 ever had. ' Look up and not down ; look forward 
 and not back ; look out and not in ! ' 
 
 " Forward and not back," repeated Philip as he 
 relinquished her hand, and they advanced upon the 
 soft, damp turf. " Good teaching, good teaching. 
 My inclination is to look a long way forward, as it 
 is to look a long way back." 
 
 At the graveled walk, they parted. Nothing 
 save a simple good-night passed between them, 
 and Rebecca stood still to look after the minister's 
 figure, walking heavily toward the gate. 
 
 When it disappeared, she caught her breath in 
 an involuntary, tremulous sigh, and began to move 
 slowly toward the house. 
 
 She was conscious now of feeling bruised and 
 tired from the strain, and as though she must have 
 a long interval of rest and stillness to restore her 
 inner tranquillity. 
 
 What then was her disappointment on entering 
 the house to hear a bright, hearty voice in the 
 hall. " Don't trouble yourself. I '11 find somebody, 
 never fear. Just take this box, will you, and give 
 the roses a drink." 
 
 Tony, of course ! Tony, bringing a flower-laden 
 breeziness with him, forming with his youthful, 
 happy noisiness the most striking contrast that 
 could be found to the overstrained man with whom 
 she had just parted. 
 
 She shrank back with the idea of concealing
 
 232 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 herself, but at that moment Tony turned from the 
 maid into whose hands he had intrusted a box. 
 
 " Why, Miss Rebecca, I 'm awfully glad to see 
 you," exclaimed the cordial young fellow, advanc- 
 ing and shaking her hand heartily. " It seems a 
 year since I was here before. Now don't say any- 
 thing cruel. Mrs. Redmond would, but you won't, 
 I know. You have some mercy on a fellow." 
 
 " You are one of the last beings on earth who 
 should appeal for mercy, Mr. Bellows." 
 
 " Oh, don't call me Mr. Bellows. You know 
 we settled that the last time I was here." 
 
 " Did we ? So we did. Well, it is much easier 
 to say Tony. I never feel quite so old and slow 
 as I do when you are about. Go into the parlor, 
 and I will call Mrs. Redmond." 
 
 " Not yet. Not quite yet, Miss Rebecca. I 
 have been thinking of you all the way out from 
 town, and who knows if I will have another oppor- 
 tunity to see you so quietly alone." 
 
 " Thinking of me ? " said Rebecca, leading the 
 way into the dimly lighted parlor. "I wonder 
 why." 
 
 " Because," returned Tony ruefully, " you are 
 just as good and kind as you can be, and I knew 
 you would n't snub me if I told you. No, let us 
 not have a brighter light. I like this very much, 
 if you do." 
 
 Rebecca sat down obediently in a chair the young 
 fellow drew forward for her. 
 
 " It will be such a comfort for me to talk it
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 233 
 
 over," he continued. " In the first place, I must 
 ask you outright, Miss Redmond, if you would have 
 any feeling as to your sister-in-law's making a 
 second marriage ? " 
 
 " None at all, I assure you." 
 
 " Then oh, Miss Rebecca," he burst forth, " do 
 you suppose she would marry me ? " 
 
 " You ! " exclaimed Miss Redmond, in such gen- 
 uine astonishment that poor Tony colored even in 
 the darkness up to his yellow hair. 
 
 " Oh, come now, don't take it that way," he pro- 
 tested. 
 
 " But you are she is older, several years older 
 than you." 
 
 " Age has nothing to do with her any more than 
 it would have with any other goddess," burst forth 
 the lover. "I do adore her so, and I can't get 
 over it, and I can't forget her, and I shall never 
 change," finished Tony, volubly replying in ad- 
 vance to the time-honored advice he feared to re- 
 ceive. " She does n't care for anybody else, does 
 she?" 
 
 " I imagine not ; but I am certain, Tony, really 
 certain " began Miss Rebecca kindly. 
 
 " I shall ask her anyway," he interrupted ob- 
 stinately. 
 
 " You will astonish her very much, and you will 
 put an end to the pleasant relationship between 
 you." 
 
 "You are extremely certain what answer she 
 would give me, are n't you ? "
 
 234 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " And you are also in your inmost heart," re- 
 turned Miss Rebecca. " There would be something 
 unsuitable about the match which you can feel and 
 see." 
 
 He was quiet a minute, then he spoke again. 
 
 " A very queer thing happened to me once, Miss 
 Redmond. A young lady, a very nice girl in 
 every way, proposed to me." 
 
 " That was a queer thing," remarked Miss Re- 
 becca dryly. 
 
 " But she was a very nice girl and a good girl," 
 said Tony eagei'ly. " Never mind. All I speak 
 of it for is because I remember how neatly I 
 thought I got out of it. I told her she was surely 
 mistaken in believing that she cared for me, be- 
 cause love always begets love, and I did not love 
 her." 
 
 " That was neat," admitted Miss Rebecca. 
 
 " But it was a lie. Have n't I proved it to be a 
 lie, since I adore Elise, and she is indifferent to- 
 me?" 
 
 Miss Redmond smiled. " It would certainly be 
 impossible for Mrs. Redmond to return the affec- 
 tion of all the men who have believed they adored 
 her," she remarked. 
 
 " Do you imagine for one minute any of those 
 others felt as I do? I have come out here with 
 my mind made up to tell her the truth, and pru- 
 dent or imprudent I shall do it. I know I shall 
 not be able to be in her presence five minutes with- 
 out doing: so. I "
 
 THE OLD BRIDGE. 235 
 
 "Well, well, Tony, what in the world is the 
 matter ? " questioned Elise gayly, coming into the 
 room. 
 
 Mr. Bellows gave a guilty and violent start, and 
 sprang to his feet. 
 
 " Oh, Mrs. Redmond, I came a little sooner than 
 I expected. You don't mind, I hope. I have n't 
 inconvenienced you ? " 
 
 " Not at all. We are delighted," returned the 
 hostess, giving him her hand. " We have really 
 looked forward to having a sportive young person 
 about again." 
 
 " Thank you," said Tony, stiffening into extreme 
 dignity, and growing warm at the laughing tone. 
 
 " Yes, you shall turn Beech Knoll into one big 
 playground, and I shall invite that pretty little 
 girl, Phyllis Flower, to come and play with you. 
 Speaking of flowers, the roses you brought me are 
 exquisite. But why are you in the dark in here? 
 Was it Rebecca you were addressing in such sten- 
 torian tones ? " 
 
 " Yes I I " stammered Tony, evidently 
 quaking. 
 
 " I heard only enough to make me immensely 
 curious. You were going to tell somebody some- 
 thing before you had been in her presence five min- 
 utes ; and, judging by your tone, when that some- 
 body hears the something, her blood will run cold. 
 Are n't you going to tell me about it ? I am just 
 as safe a confidante as Miss Redmond." 
 
 "I I can't tell you. That is, not now," hesi-
 
 236 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 tated Tony, conscious of his own absurdity and 
 fuming proportionately. " It was n't much of any- 
 thing that is, you will know some time." 
 
 " I think I will go upstairs, if you will excuse 
 me," said Miss Redmond, rising. 
 
 Tony seized her arm. " Oh, stay awhile longer," 
 he said, trying to use a jovial tone, which succeeded 
 only in being desperate. 
 
 " Yes ; we will have a light so we can see one an- 
 other," remarked Elise. " You can't plead sleepi- 
 ness so soon as this, after your nap of this after- 
 noon, Rebecca." 
 
 Tony took advantage of his hostess' move to call 
 the servant, and turned to Miss Redmond. 
 
 " I can't say anything while she is in this mood, 
 of course," he muttered impatiently. 
 
 " Very wise," returned Rebecca, smiling. " If 
 you will be advised by me, you will keep her friend- 
 ship exactly as it is."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 
 
 " ROXANA, you must tell me what is the matter 
 with you," cried Phyllis imperiously. " I have 
 spoken to you three times without being able to 
 get your attention." 
 
 " Maybe I 'm gettin' deaf, Phyllis," replied Mrs. 
 Sherritt with a start. " Old age will come to high 
 or low, spry or slow, if they live long enough." 
 
 " Oh, don't give such an excuse. Only look in 
 the glass at your eyes. They have been just as 
 round and scared as that ever since you got home 
 from Mrs. Terriss' that day. I doubt if they have 
 closed since. You never kept a secret from me 
 before. I think you are too unkind. Now do tell 
 me what happened at Mrs. Terriss'." 
 
 " She would n't step foot to the ground. I told 
 you that, and that 's all I 've got to tell." 
 
 " Miss Rebecca will tell me," remarked the girl, 
 with a determined setting of the lips. 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, look here." Roxana grasped 
 her arm with a force that made her wince. " If 
 you want to be mortified and ashamed to the last 
 day of your life, do you ask Miss Rebecca about 
 that day. If you want to disobey and displease 
 me more 'n you ever have since you was born, do 
 you speak to Miss Rebecca on that subject."
 
 238 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Phyllis stared for a moment with parted lips. 
 It seemed incredible, but there were actually tears 
 in Mrs. Sherritt's eyes. 
 
 " Well," she returned after her long scrutiny, 
 " I am simply burning with curiosity." 
 
 "Burn, then," retorted Eoxana, loosening her 
 grip to dash away the gathering tears, and going 
 briskly about her housework. 
 
 " Sha'n't I ever know ? " asked Phyllis. 
 
 " I pray you won't, but perhaps you will." 
 
 " Never from you, though," said Phyllis. 
 
 " You can rest assured o' that," replied Roxana 
 shortly. 
 
 Phyllis made a little move of disgust, and 
 skipped across the room and out of the open door 
 with such vigor and abandon as very nearly to 
 cause a collision between herself and an individual 
 in the act of ascending the steps. 
 
 If her startled cry was scarcely sufficiently re- 
 pressed for good manners, she was to be excused, 
 since anything so gorgeous as Mr. Bellows in his 
 tennis costume had never before been observed at 
 the entrance of any of the staid old dwellings of 
 Snowdon. He wore trousers of white flannel and 
 an uncommonly blazing " blazer " and cap, making 
 an effect so surprising that Phyllis, in her quaint 
 little pink calico gown, could only stand, after the 
 first retreat, and stare, and gasp, 
 
 " Mr. Bellows ! Oh why, Mr. Bellows ! How 
 do you do ? Won't you come in ? " 
 
 " Thank you, I will, just long enough for you to
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 239 
 
 get ready to return with me. I am commissioned 
 to bring you, and under no circumstances to take 
 no for an answer," returned Tony, shaking hands 
 and looking appreciatively at the girl's brown 
 eyes, clear complexion, and short dark waves of 
 hair. Miss Redmond had been depressing, dis- 
 couraging, on the evening of his arrival, certainly. 
 She had actually succeeded in persuading him to 
 lock his feelings in his bosom so far through his 
 visit ; but the weather was beautiful, and the be- 
 comingness of Phyllis's pink gown raised his cork- 
 like spirits a degree higher than they had been for 
 many a day. 
 
 Roxana, hearing the approaching voice, ap- 
 peared at the parlor door. 
 
 " Who " she began, and paused. Tony's 
 canary and crimson stripes arrested her. He 
 bowed low, cap in hand, and Roxana responded 
 with a slight nod, while her eyes never forsook the 
 amazing coat. 
 
 " Mr. Bellows, you know, Roxana," exclaimed 
 Phyllis eagerly. " Mrs. Redmond wants me to 
 come and play tennis. Of course I can go." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt would have required a heart of 
 flint to withstand the intensity of appeal thrown 
 into the closing words. 
 
 " Oh, by the way," remarked Tony, " Mrs. Red- 
 mond sent an invitation also to Mr. Chester." 
 
 " Go up and ask him, will you, Roxana? " asked 
 Phyllis. " I will go at once and change my dress. 
 I will not detain you long, Mr. Bellows," and she 
 left the room.
 
 240 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt climbed resignedly to her boarder's 
 door, and knocked. 
 
 " Come in," was called in an unusually cheerful 
 voice, and she entered. Chester merely glanced 
 up from the collection of tubes and brushes scat- 
 tered about him. " Have you come to see why I 
 am spending so much valuable time indoors? I 
 wish to have everything all ready in case Mrs. 
 Redmond should send for me. I suppose Phyllis 
 told you that I am going to paint Mrs. Redmond's 
 portrait." 
 
 " She 's sent for you now," said Roxana shortly. 
 
 Terriss looked up eagerly. 
 
 " No, you can leave your paints and things this 
 time. She wants you should come and play ten- 
 nis. That young man Bellow is downstairs, lookin' 
 as though he 'd just come out of a circus ring. If 
 I ever saw the like, my name ain't Sherritt." 
 
 " Oh," with a decided falling of the countenance, 
 " Tony has arrived, has he ? " 
 
 " I should think he had. A body needs blue 
 spectacles to look at him with comfort. Phyllis is 
 hurryin' up to go. She 's sent for, too." 
 
 " Very well," said Chester, returning to the ex- 
 amination of his brushes. " Please ask them not 
 to wait for me. I will follow after a time." 
 
 Roxana nodded, and took her way to Ph) 7 llis's 
 room. The girl was in the act of slipping on the 
 costume in which her soul rejoiced. The corners 
 of Mrs. Sherritt's mouth twitched down in a re- 
 pressed smile of gratification as she regarded the
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 241 
 
 pretty picture. Phyllis tied the long soft sash of 
 gray silk, then turned about for inspection. 
 
 " You look very well," said Roxana, in that 
 moderate and cool tone which she deemed whole- 
 some for the young and flighty. "I did think 
 them stripes o' yours was some showy yesterday, 
 but good land, since I 've seen that chap in the 
 parlor there, you look modest enough." 
 
 " Oh, he is elegant, Roxana." 
 
 " Elegant, eh ? " responded Mrs. Sherritt dryly. 
 " May&e ; but all the same, if you should see any- 
 body 011 your way up there that looks as if he 
 might be the fool-catcher, my advice is that you 
 screech for help." 
 
 Phyllis laughed, threw her arms around Mrs. 
 Sherritt's neck, and pressed her blooming cheek to 
 the sallow one. 
 
 " Dear old Roxana ! " she exclaimed, an exult- 
 ant, rich sense of life possessing her ; " it is too 
 bad that I have all the fun." 
 
 Roxana patted her with a sparing caress. " Yes, 
 it is too bad that I can't go and race around in the 
 hot sun and bat a ball against that big red and 
 yeller butterfly ; but I '11 try to bear it." 
 
 " Will you truly have a good time, Roxana ? " 
 
 " Of course I will. It '11 be a regular treat to 
 have you and Mr. Chester both gone. I have n't 
 read ' The Lamplighter ' yet, this year. I would n't 
 wonder but I 'd sit down and begin it, after things 
 are all quiet." 
 
 "Yes, do," returned the girl, releasing her. 
 " Any message for Miss Rebecca ? "
 
 242 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " No, not a word," replied Roxana decidedly. 
 " Don't say a word to her about me." 
 
 " You are n't vexed with Miss Rebecca ? That 
 is n't the secret, is it ? " 
 
 " No, ma'am, it ain't. "When I 'm vexed with 
 Miss Rebecca, it 11 be time to put me in a strait- 
 jacket. Mr. Chester '11 be along presently. He 
 ain't quite through fixiu' his paints, and he don't 
 want you to wait for him. You are gettin' to feel 
 pretty well acquainted with Mr. Chester, Phyl- 
 lis ?" finished Roxana, an unpleasant remembrance 
 floating up to her of Mrs. Terriss' prognostica- 
 tions. 
 
 " Oh, yes. Much of the time I feel that I have 
 known him always," returned the girl ; " but some- 
 times he goes away from me, seems all shut up, 
 you know." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt watched the unclouded face as 
 Phyllis bent over a drawer looking for her gloves. 
 " If that ain't a heart-whole girl, I never saw one," 
 she thought ; but she decided to press the matter 
 a little. " We shall miss him some when he goes 
 back to the city," she remarked. 
 
 " We shall indeed," said Phyllis absently. " Rox- 
 ana, where do you suppose my gloves are ? " 
 
 " A fig for Mrs. Terriss ! I might have known 
 she could n't have a sensible idea." This comfort- 
 ing thought flitted quickly through Roxana's brain ; 
 then she fell to scolding Phyllis vigorously for be- 
 ing guilty of such a lapse from order as to mislay 
 her gloves.
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 243 
 
 A few minutes later, the girl came into the par- 
 lor and joined her gay cavalier, who looked his ap- 
 proval of her appearance. 
 
 Roxana stood at a window and watched their 
 departure. " Red and yeller, catch a feller," she 
 murmured. " I kinder hope Phyllis won't meet 
 anybody she knows, and yet she looks as pretty as 
 a pink, if I do say it. See that Bellow man look 
 at her ! Yes, look, young feller ; there ain't a 
 better lookin', nicer girl on any avenue in Boston. 
 I ain't one bit afraid to have you look at her, from 
 her little silky curls that I brushed around my fin- 
 ger when she was a baby, down to her feet. Phyl- 
 lis has got nice feet, and I have n't ever let 'em be 
 stunted or pinched. They 're a good shape, and 
 she springs along on 'em exactly as Mother Nature 
 meant she should. She '11 keep you at it, young 
 man, to keep up with her," and Roxana turned 
 away from the window with a low, slow laugh, as 
 the young couple vanished from her sight. 
 
 It was no wonder that Mrs. Sherritt had been 
 able to read admiration in the pose of Tony's head. 
 He looked his companion over quite openly. 
 
 " That is the prettiest little dress I have seen in 
 a long time," he remarked, gazing approvingly at 
 the cap set jauntily on the short, shining hair. 
 
 " I am glad you like it," responded Phyllis, as 
 carelessly and promptly as though it were not a 
 total novelty for her to have her clothes remai'ked 
 upon by a young man. It was a delightful thing 
 altogether to feel sure she was correctly and be
 
 244 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 comingly dressed, to be escorted by a splendid be- 
 ing from Boston, and to be going to Beech Knoll. 
 That the sun should shine, the breezes blow, and 
 the birds sing, seemed only proper recognition on 
 the part of Nature of so ideal a set of circum- 
 stances. "My dress is very deceptive, though," 
 continued Phyllis. " It is a prophetic costume. 
 It indicates what a very skillful tennis player I 
 intend to become at some future day. For the 
 present, I play ridiculously." 
 
 " Never mind. Only get Mrs. Redmond to take 
 you on her side. Her playing carries anybody 
 along," and Tony finished with a sigh which testi- 
 fied to the depth and soundness of his lungs. 
 
 Phyllis laughed. "Is that so very sad?" she 
 asked ; " or are you still so afraid of Mrs. Red- 
 mond that she is a solemn subject to you ? " 
 
 "I I am somewhat afraid of her still, I admit. 
 Such a glorious woman as she is would inspire any 
 man with that homage, that admiration, that has 
 something of awe in it." 
 
 " I am not in the least afraid of her any more," 
 said Phyllis rather brusquely. It was the first 
 time praise of Mrs. Redmond had failed to please 
 her. " I find she is much too kind and sensible 
 and noble to inspire fear when one knows her." 
 
 " Ah, noble ! Noble is the word ! " exclaimed 
 Tony eagerly. " You have it, Miss Flower : no- 
 ble in face, noble in form, noble in movement, no- 
 ble in character, in aspirations. Ah ! " and Tony 
 finished with another prodigious sigh.
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 245 
 
 Phyllis broke into a little mocking laugh. " 1 
 begin to think your name is very appropriate, Mr. 
 Bellows. Be kind enough not to blow me off the 
 sidewalk." 
 
 " I beg pardon ? " asked Tony vaguely. 
 
 " Why those tremendous sighs ? " 
 
 " Did I sigh ? Well, I have reason enough. I 
 have no right to bother you with my affairs ; but 
 this one absorbing thought I find it difficult to 
 keep from everybody except the one person I ought 
 to tell it to. I know you would discover my secret 
 long before to-day is over. Miss Flower, you knonr 
 Mrs. Redmond perhaps better than I do ; does it 
 seem to you she would be a very difficult person t/* 
 propose to ? " 
 
 " To propose to, Mr. Bellows ! " 
 
 " I am sure I do not see why it should astonish 
 you so," returned Tony, nettled. " Miss Rebecca 
 received the suggestion in the same way. Now, 
 when you know that Mrs. Redmond is a woman 
 that everybody falls in love with, why should it be 
 so amazing that a man should propose to her?" 
 
 " I don't know," said Phyllis shortly. " Per- 
 haps it is because she seems such a self-sufficient 
 person. We all admire her : I do, you do, Mr. 
 Chester does " 
 
 " Oh, Chester does, does he ? " asked Tony 
 quickly. u Well, he would n't if " He checked 
 himself with a thrill of dismay at his narrow es- 
 cape from indiscretion ; " that is, I did not know 
 that Chester ever admired anybody. How is he 
 now ? "
 
 246 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Quite well." 
 
 " About time for him to be going back to town, 
 X should think," remarked Tony carelessly. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know. He does not seem to think 
 of such a thing." 
 
 " Well, it is very strange," said Tony irritably. 
 "I don't see why he should want to hang about 
 here. I don't see what the attraction can be." 
 
 " That is because you are not artistic, Mr. Bel- 
 lows," replied Phyllis quietly, but with a little 
 sparkle of amusement in her eyes. " Mr. Chester 
 finds the most charming views about here, he tells 
 me, especially in the region of Beech Knoll." 
 
 " Ah ! goes up there, does he ? "Well, well, 
 that is odd, all things considered." 
 
 " Why is it odd ? You seem to think it well 
 worth while to travel the distance from Boston for 
 the pleasure. It is certainly not strange that Mr. 
 Chester should enjoy strolling up there for an af- 
 ternoon now and then, or to stay to a cozy lunch." 
 
 Tony writhed. " Well, Mrs. Redmond has her 
 reasons for allowing it, I suppose, but Chester is 
 a gruff old chap, never saw any society worth 
 mentioning." 
 
 " Yes," said Phyllis, beginning to enjoy the sit- 
 uation. " I imagine he will be going q\iite regu- 
 larly after a time. She has asked him to paint 
 her portrait." 
 
 " No ! " ejaculated Tony. 
 
 " Oh, yes. I dare say, however, they will not 
 begin it until after you have gone," returned 
 naughty Phyllis demurely.
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 247 
 
 " Yes, they shall, certainly," said Tony. " I 
 would like to see it go on. I will be present at 
 the sittings, you know, and liven things up a bit 
 for them both read aloud, or something." 
 
 Phyllis gave him a mischievous glance. " Phi- 
 lanthropist ! " she exclaimed. " Still," she contin- 
 ued, " even though Mr. Chester admires Mrs. Red- 
 mond so much " 
 
 " Are you sure he does ? Oh, you 're mistaken. 
 As a model, he does, perhaps ; but nothing more, 
 nothing more. Chester 's incapable of it." 
 
 " Did you not just say, Mr. Bellows, that she 
 conquers every one? He does admire her. We 
 often talk of her : but it never occurred to me be- 
 fore that he could think of proposing to her." 
 
 " Proposing to her ! Ha, ha, that would be rich ! 
 Ha, ha, ha ! Oh. preposterous ! " 
 
 " Well ! " exclaimed Phyllis, in an offended 
 tone. " Then perhaps Miss Rebecca was excus- 
 able in thinking a proposal from you would be 
 preposterous." 
 
 " I ? Oh, that is a very different matter. If," 
 with another sigh, which seemed to come from the 
 depths of his being, "if I only knew how she 
 would take it." 
 
 Phyllis tossed her head. " If I were a man, I 
 would never risk proposing until I knew certainly 
 how I should be received. I have always thought 
 so." 
 
 " You have, eh ? " said Tony, much interested. 
 " But do you think a woman ever really lets a man
 
 248 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 know how she feels toward him, that is, as a usual 
 thing? " he added, qualifying his speech as the re- 
 membrance of his unique experience returned to 
 him. 
 
 " A true, noble woman is always transparently 
 honest," announced Phyllis loftily. 
 
 " Well, I don't know. I 've always thought, 
 ' Trust her not, she 's fooling thee ' was a pretty 
 straight tip. Perhaps you 're fooling me now. 
 Say, do you know that dress is awfully becoming 
 to you ? " 
 
 Phyllis's thin scarlet lip curled, and she held the 
 back of her neck very straight. " Shall I tell you 
 why you admire this dress so much?" she said 
 quietly. " It belonged to Mrs. Redmond. She 
 gave it to me." 
 
 Tony impulsively seized one of the ends of the 
 soft gray sash and carried it to his lips. 
 
 Phyllis flashed her eyes upon him, brilliant as 
 two brown diamonds, and pulled the silk from his 
 hands with sudden energy. 
 
 " Kiss Mrs. Redmond's clothes upon herself as 
 much as you please. You shall not touch them 
 upon me." 
 
 Tony stared at her aghast. There was no mis- 
 taking the sincerity of her resentment ; and how 
 brilliantly pretty she looked ! It suddenly dawned 
 upon him that the little country girl was an indi- 
 vidual, and not one who would take kindly to the 
 role of makeshift to a love-lorn swain. He re- 
 viewed mentally the talk with which he had so far
 
 MR. BELLOWS' CONFIDENCE. 249 
 
 entertained her, and tersely characterized himself 
 as a " chump." 
 
 Phyllis, herself surprised by her unusual access 
 of anger, breathed a little fast. 
 
 " There is Mrs. Redmond coming out of the gate 
 to meet us," she said as Elise appeared, arrayed in 
 white, with glimpses of lilac here and there as she 
 walked. 
 
 The hostess approached and took Phyllis's hand 
 cordially. It was her peculiarity, and one her 
 friends soon learned, that she did not include a 
 kiss in her greetings. 
 
 "You looked like a dove and a tropical bird 
 coming up the street," she said, " but how bril- 
 liant and far from meek the dove looks ! What 
 witty sallies have you employed, Tony, to light her 
 up so successfully ? " 
 
 Tony could not answer. He felt crushed, and 
 not all his gorgeous coloring could give him aught 
 but a dejected and drooping appearance as he fol- 
 lowed the ladies within the broad gates.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ELISE. 
 
 WHEN Terriss Chester arrived at Beech Knoll, 
 he found Miss Redmond only. She was sitting 
 on a gauze-inclosed piazza, with a novel in her 
 hand. 
 
 "You find me lazily employed, Mr. Chester," 
 she said, rising to greet him. " In my young days, 
 if a well woman of my age had been discovered in 
 her own home at this hour reading a novel, she 
 would at least have had the grace to be ashamed of 
 herself." 
 
 " Which you have not ? " asked Chester, shaking 
 her hand. 
 
 " No, I think I am infected with the vacation 
 spirit which is becoming rampant among Ameri- 
 can women in summer. At all events, I find it 
 very easy to drift into idle habits now. Mrs. 
 Redmond and her guests disappeared a little while 
 ago. I will go with you to find them, if you like ; 
 but perhaps you are tired from your walk ? " 
 
 " Don't humiliate me, Miss Rebecca ! Tired 
 from that walk in these days ? " 
 
 He seated himself in one of the wicker rocking- 
 chairs that stood about, and Miss Redmond looked 
 at him critically.
 
 ELI8E. 251 
 
 " True enough. How you have changed ! " she 
 said. 
 
 " Yes, what a traveling advertisement I am for 
 Snowdon ! Persons anxious to dispose of property 
 here should hire me to show myself to possible 
 purchasers, with a description of my personal ap- 
 pearance six weeks ago." 
 
 " I will suggest it to Mrs. Redmond, when she 
 becomes tired of Beech Knoll." 
 
 " Are you expecting her to become tired of it ? " 
 
 " I did think she would at first, since her object 
 in coming " Miss Rebecca stopped, suddenly 
 dismayed, and blushed. " Yes, I did at first, but 
 she does seem so perfectly contented that now I 
 have my doubts." 
 
 Chester looked at the speaker curiously. What 
 an odd little woman she was with her starts and 
 her blushes ! He did not trouble himself to specu- 
 late long upon the cause of her behavior. He 
 admired her genuinely, and she possessed a most 
 attractive added charm in the fact of being Mrs. 
 Redmond's constant companion. In sitting thus 
 with her on the quiet, shaded piazza, he enjoyed 
 a pleasure more distinct than he could hope for 
 while sharing his hostess' society with Tony and 
 Phyllis. 
 
 "I believe she cannot become tired of it," he 
 said. " I am beginning to see that I need not 
 hope to weary of Snowdon. Do you forgive me 
 for sitting here and keeping you from your 
 book?"
 
 252 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I am glad to have you," replied Rebecca. She 
 could not explain that her book was but a weapon 
 of self-defense, a something to steady and direct 
 thoughts that were wayward after her sleepless 
 night, a night spent almost wholly in her pre- 
 cious attic chamber. 
 
 " I ought to go back to Boston. I feel better 
 than before my illness. I was beginning to look 
 about me wildly for some excuse for remaining 
 here which I could offer myself, and yet retain 
 a little self-respect, when Mrs. Redmond rescued 
 me." 
 
 He smiled at Rebecca with such a youthful and 
 radiant look that she pitied him. There is but one 
 emotion in the universe whose power gives the 
 beauty she recognized in his face. She regretted 
 to see it. Miss Redmond was a woman who felt 
 for all persons with whom she came in contact ; 
 but she felt a special interest in Terriss Chester. 
 From the day when she had reluctantly offered to 
 wait upon him in his illness, she had unconsciously 
 been in an attitude of defense of him toward Elise. 
 She had an uneasy suspicion of the latter where her 
 adopted brother was concerned. Miss Redmond 
 had sufficient penetration to perceive that her sis- 
 ter's pride had been wounded by the failure of her 
 plans. She had never felt altogether comfortable 
 concerning Elise's motives for keeping her identity 
 secret. The latter was capable of inflicting a pun- 
 ishment without realizing its severity. For some 
 reason, Rebecca felt an intuitive impulse to shield 
 Chester from her.
 
 EL1SE. 253 
 
 " I do not know what you mean," she replied. 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond is going to let me try to make 
 a portrait of her." 
 
 " That is, after all, a waste of time for you," 
 answered Rebeca rather brusquely. 
 
 Chester laughed in happy amusement. " I did 
 not suspect you would be unkind enough to dub 
 my efforts a failure in advance." 
 
 " Even if it succeeds, what is that to you ? 
 Painting is not your profession." 
 
 " Alas, no," replied Chester ; but he still looked 
 absurdly content. Miss Redmond did not like to 
 see it. 
 
 " It would be a pity for you to lose some good 
 business opportunity by lingering in Snowdon," 
 she said. 
 
 " Little danger of that, and " he looked at 
 his companion gravely now, but the light still 
 shone in his eyes " that vacation spirit you men- 
 tioned is an enticing sprite. There is not so 
 much happiness offering along life's way that one 
 can afford to turn one's back upon it when it 
 comes." 
 
 Rebecca returned his look. " No yet some 
 happiness, sweet for a day, leaves months, years, of 
 bitterness behind it. Are you so especially fond 
 of portrait-painting, Mr. Chester?" 
 
 Chester understood her, and knew that she un- 
 derstood him. He believed in her goodness, and 
 he felt her friendliness for him. He leaned toward 
 her.
 
 254 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " This particular portrait, yes," he said slowly ; 
 " but you think I would do better to leave Snow- 
 don?" 
 
 " Vastly better," was the earnest response. Miss 
 Redmond might have been excused for blushing 
 now, but she did nothing of the sort. She looked 
 with her sweet calm eyes straight into Chester's, 
 quite unembarrassed, rather relieved, by his com- 
 prehension. 
 
 He drew a deep breath and shook his head. " I 
 prefer to stay and take the consequences." 
 
 " It is because you do not believe in the conse- 
 quences, then," said Rebecca. " Do you remember 
 the fairy tale in which one prince after another 
 travels the same road to perform great deeds and 
 win a lovely princess, and how one man after an- 
 other fails and is turned into a black stone by the 
 wayside ? I feel an interest in you, Mr. Chester, 
 and that is why I take the liberty I know it is a 
 liberty of telling you that there are a number 
 of black stones lying beside the road you are trav- 
 eling." 
 
 Terriss rose and walked to the piazza rail. " Do 
 you mean that you believe her heartless ? " he 
 said. 
 
 " No. She has a warm heart and a good one ; 
 but it has never been won. There was never any 
 pretense that my brother won it. She has never 
 meant to be cruel to any one, but life, facts, are 
 cruel sometimes." 
 
 Chester stood silent for a time by a pillar around
 
 ELISE. 255 
 
 which a clematis twined. He spoke at last, quietly. 
 " I thank you, Miss Rebecca. I have never in my 
 life attained any object upon which my heart was 
 set. I needed your words to remind me of that, 
 and yet they come, in one sense, too late. This 
 strange experience, which arrives early with most 
 men, has come to me now for the first time, and I 
 fear it has come to stay. No, I am dishonest 
 when I say I fear it. I am glad of it to the bot- 
 tom of my soul. It is the only thing I have ever 
 been deeply and fervently thankful for. Let me 
 live in paradise -a fool's paradise, of course 
 while I can ; and," he smiled a little now, " when 
 like my predecessors I am changed into a black 
 stone* you will have the consolation of knowing that 
 you did your best for me." 
 
 Rebecca gave him her kindest look. " No 
 power can change you into something dark and 
 lifeless if your love is true," she said. " You will 
 always be the better and nobler for it. You know 
 the knight did finally come who stood all the 
 tests." 
 
 " And he won the lady," said Chester ; " but 
 do not be uneasy. I know such hopes are not for 
 me." 
 
 " No ; that was a fairy tale," sighed Miss Re- 
 becca. 
 
 The soft breath had scarcely mingled with the 
 air when an apparition of yellow and crimson 
 stripes stood before the piazza. 
 
 " Miss Rebecca Why, there he is now !
 
 256 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 What 's the matter with you, Chester ? " inquired 
 Tony, much exasperated. " What did you sup- 
 pose you were invited here for ? " 
 
 " There, Tony, give me the privilege of scolding 
 my own guest," aiid Elise came deliberately into 
 view. 
 
 Chester sprang to open the piazza door for her. 
 " Have I committed some awful blunder ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Should think you had," returned Tony, too 
 much nettled by a complication of trials to hold 
 his peace. " You were invited over here for a 
 morning game of tennis, and it is twelve o'clock 
 this minute." 
 
 "I really beg your pardon, Mrs. Redmond," 
 said Chester, with such sincere dismay that Elise 
 laughed. " I did n't understand " 
 
 " Never mind," returned the hostess. " We have 
 the whole afternoon and a part of the evening be- 
 fore us. You know what spending the day means 
 in the country. ' Come as early as you can, and 
 stay till after tea ! ' " 
 
 " Humph ! as early as you can," grumbled 
 Tony. " Keep three people waiting for you all the 
 morning." 
 
 " Tony ! " Elise looked at him in smiling won- 
 der. " What is the matter with you to-day ? Go 
 this minute and find Phyllis. She is practicing 
 still, and she will get a sunstroke. I am not sure 
 that you have n't one already. You had better 
 cool your fevered brow iu the brook as you pass."
 
 ELISE. 257 
 
 It was indeed unusual for Tony to be so ruffled. 
 He himself was not quite sure what ailed him. 
 The morning beginning so fairly had somehow 
 been a complete failure. Mrs. Redmond had pat- 
 ronized and Miss Flower had ignored him. There 
 was tangible consolation in the fact of having been 
 able to fasten wrong upon Chester, and in grum- 
 bling at him for his misdemeanors. He walked 
 the more freely for it, his head well up and his 
 gay cap pulled down to shade his eyes. Striding 
 across the brook, he advanced to the tennis court, 
 where he expected to find Phyllis, who had in- 
 sisted upon being left alone to get more accus- 
 tomed to her racket ; but she was not visible. 
 
 He stood still and called aloud. There were the 
 remains of righteous indignation in his voice. 
 " Miss Flower ! " 
 
 No answer. He turned about and looked in all 
 directions for a glimpse of gray color, but in vain. 
 
 " J/iss Flower ! " There was a wider sense of 
 injury, a more startling sforzanclo of peremptori- 
 ness in the repetition. 
 
 A lazy low laugh answered him from the other 
 side of a clump of shrubbery a few feet away. 
 
 " Oh ! " said Mr. Bellows, much disconcerted, 
 advancing a few steps and beholding Phyllis lean- 
 ing back in a rustic seat. " Why did n't you an- 
 swer?" 
 
 " I was rendered speechless at first by admira- 
 tion of your lung power." 
 
 " I began to think you had gone home."
 
 258 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 "If I had, your voice would have reached me, 
 and I am sure I should not have dared disobey it. 
 What has happened ? " 
 
 " Chester has come." 
 
 " Oh, is that all ? Why did n't you stay and 
 guard your interests ? " 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond sent me to find you." 
 
 " Very well, you have found me. Now, good-by." 
 
 Phyllis's tone was provoking. She looked ex- 
 ceedingly pretty as she leaned back in the high- 
 backed seat, her hair in silky rings on her damp 
 forehead, and Tony looked into her saucy eyes with 
 sulky dignity. 
 
 " Are n't you coming ? " he asked shortly. 
 
 " Thank you, no. I am not tired of life. I won't 
 risk myself with you in your present mood." 
 
 Mr. Bellows sat down upon a rustic chair under- 
 neath the same large maple which sheltered Phyl- 
 lis. 
 
 "I abominate selfishness, I must say," he an- 
 swered. 
 
 " Whose ; mine, or your own ? You are not in 
 the least agreeable just now. I do not want you 
 here bluing the atmosphere." 
 
 " I am speaking of Chester," announced Tony, 
 with painful distinctness. " He has simply spoiled 
 the morning." 
 
 " And so in revenge you are going to spoil the 
 afternoon ? " laughed Phyllis. " I should suppose 
 you must be hungry, if I did n't know that lovers 
 are never hungry. Good-by, Mr. Bellows."
 
 ELISE. 259 
 
 " This is the first cool spot I have found in an 
 hour," remarked Tony, ignoring her remarks as a 
 childish ebullition unworthy serious consideration. 
 
 "Well, then, if you won't take a hint, I expect 
 you to forget for the time being that you are a 
 lover, and be agreeable." 
 
 " Pretty place, is n't it ? " said Tony, looking 
 about him critically. 
 
 " Ye-es," replied the girl hesitatingly. " I will 
 admit it, if you make the proposition without any 
 calculation as to the future proprietor." 
 
 Her tone upset Mr. Bellows' foreign gravity. 
 He laughed reluctantly. 
 
 " I surrender, Miss Phyllis," he said, and he 
 suddenly left his chair and took the place beside 
 her on the rustic sofa. 
 
 " You were much better off where you were," 
 suggested Phyllis. " This is rather narrow for 
 two." 
 
 "Not when one of us is nobody's lover," re- 
 turned Tony audaciously, restored to his custom- 
 ary gayety by restoration to good terms with 
 Phyllis, whose disfavor he had been made to feel 
 uncomfortably. 
 
 They had sat an hour in idle summer-day talk, 
 and the girl had been pleasantly flattered almost 
 into forgetfulness of Tony's startling confidence, 
 when Mrs. Redmond and Terriss Chester inter- 
 rupted their tete-a-tete. 
 
 " I would not let Mr. Chester come alone lest 
 he should be as unsuccessful as you were, Tony,"
 
 260 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 explained Elise. " To think that you were unable 
 single handed to bring home one little girl like 
 Phyllis ! " 
 
 She shook her head eloquently, took Phyllis's 
 hand and drew it through her arm, and together 
 they mounted the slope, followed amicably by the 
 two men. Mrs. Redmond was secretly well pleased 
 at the absorbed manner of the pair, and their in- 
 voluntary start when she disturbed them. 
 
 Last night Rebecca had said to her, the last 
 thing before retiring, " I am afraid you are going 
 to have trouble with Tony, Elise." 
 
 " Trouble with that infant ! " with scornful in- 
 credulity. 
 
 " It won't help matters a bit to call him an in- 
 fant," returned Miss Redmond. " I am afraid 
 you will have to deal with him, yet." 
 
 So there was gratification in finding the young 
 man so well entertained just now. To do Elise 
 justice, it was no satisfaction to her when the 
 princes of the present time became transformed 
 to dull black stones for her sweet sake.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CRASH. 
 
 THE dinner-table was laid on the inclosed piazza. 
 Elise led her guests to it soon after arriving at 
 the house. It was sweet with Tony's roses, and, 
 outside the wire gauze, the vines and trees em- 
 bowered the party. 
 
 The dinner was different from that which regaled 
 Phyllis on the occasion of her last meal at Beech 
 Knoll. It was a man's dinner this time. She ate 
 dishes whose ingredients she could not even sus- 
 pect, and wondered at the familiarity with which 
 the others of the party discussed them. 
 
 It was a very gay little company. Tony looked 
 often at Chester, asking himself what power had 
 transformed the sullen, curt man into the respon- 
 sive, light-hearted being he beheld. He suspected 
 the cause, yet postponed the jealousy which should 
 consume him to a more convenient and unpleasant 
 season ; half conscious, too, of wondering at his 
 ability to do so. 
 
 Occasionally, Chester caught Rebecca's eye, with 
 a half - apologetic look, which amused her even 
 while she felt more than ever sorry for him. 
 
 "Now, no tennis for a few hours," said Mrs. 
 Redmond, as they rose from the table. She led
 
 262 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 her guests to the broad veranda at the front of the 
 house, shaded by a great elm which had been set 
 out there by Miss Rebecca's great-grandfather. 
 Tony lit his cigar, and the ladies disposed them- 
 selves in the beribboned chairs. 
 
 " This is a beautiful place," announced Chester, 
 his eyes taking in the sparkle of the river half 
 concealed by the luxuriant green. 
 
 Elise smiled. " Tony, is the conundrum as to 
 why I settled here answered for you ? " she asked. 
 
 " It is pretty. You will never stay here in the 
 winter, though." 
 
 " O Mrs. Redmond ! " exclaimed Phyllis appre- 
 hensively. " Tell him you will." 
 
 Elise shook her head. " I will not bind myself." 
 
 " But you would stay, Miss Rebecca ? " asked the 
 girl. 
 
 "I am Mrs. Redmond's shadow. I suppose I 
 should follow her of necessity," replied Rebecca. 
 
 " Oh, dear," said Phyllis, with so dismayed an 
 intonation that the others all smiled. 
 
 It gave the girl an unpleasant surprise to waken 
 to the fact of the blankness that awaited her. Mr. 
 Chester would go, never probably to return. The 
 movements of Mrs. Redmond and Miss Rebecca 
 were dependent simply on the caprice of the 
 former, and, in the event of their departure, of 
 course Snowdon would no more be gilded by the 
 presence of Mr. Tony Bellows. 
 
 A strange sensation rose in Phyllis at the latter 
 consideration.
 
 THE CRASH. 263 
 
 " I cannot bear him," she thought vehemently. 
 " What did he ever come here for ? " 
 
 She looked across at Tony, sitting on the rail- 
 ing, and found him smiling questioningly at her, 
 his cigar poised between two fingers. 
 
 tk What is it, Miss Flower? " he asked. " You 
 look as though you had lost your last friend." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond is my last friend," she retorted. 
 " I do not like to consider losing her." 
 
 "Take my advice," said Tony sagely, "and set 
 your affections on something more stable. Mrs. 
 Redmond may be en route to China a month from 
 now." 
 
 " Don't malign me. It will take me a long 
 time to extract all the sweetness from Snowdon," 
 remarked the hostess. 
 
 The young fellow looked at her with slowly 
 crimsoning earnestness. " Especially since you 
 supply it by your presence faster than you can 
 draw it away," he said. 
 
 It was a point-blank bit of flattery at best, and 
 was delivered with a dogged determination that 
 made it amusing to the recipient. She laughed 
 spontaneously. 
 
 Chester regarded Bellows compassionately. His 
 erstwhile jealousy of the latter's favored position 
 as guest vanished as he recognized the touch of 
 feeling that made them kin. Here was another 
 candidate for the doleful procession of petrified 
 hearts which marked the difficult road to that of 
 Mrs. Redmond.
 
 264 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Phyllis blushed more violently than Tony. 
 " Silly thing," she thought, in a tumult of resent- 
 ment. " Why can't he wait until they are alone 
 to say such things ? " 
 
 She started up from her chair and ran down the 
 steps across the lawn to where the croquet was set 
 out, and began to knock the balls about. Miss 
 Redmond rose and went into the house. 
 
 Tony's face did not reflect Elise's amusement. 
 He continued very red and grave; his forgotten 
 cigar paled on the railing beside him. Terriss 
 felt the atmosphere oppressive. He glanced across 
 at Phyllis. 
 
 " I take that as a challenge," he remarked, de- 
 liberately rising and going down the steps to join 
 her, leaving the two together. 
 
 " Shall we go and play too ? " said Elise lightly. 
 
 " No," returned Mr. Bellows shortly. " Did it 
 ever occur to you, Mrs. Redmond, that it is not 
 particularly pleasant to me to be laughed at and 
 ridiculed by you ? " 
 
 Elise again gave her low, appreciative laugh. 
 " Then you should n't put on grown-up airs, Tony. 
 You tempt me beyond my strength." 
 
 " Be in earnest for a little while," he broke 
 forth, the sullenness disappearing from his face 
 and a look which Mrs. Redmond had good reason 
 to dread taking its place. " I " 
 
 " Yes, yes, you are right, Tony," she interrupted 
 more seriously. " You are so good-natured that 
 you have spoiled me. Surely you do not need con-
 
 THE CRASH. 265 
 
 solation in good earnest for being young, the most 
 glorious condition you have to be thankful for. 
 To be twenty-four, to be healthy, to have an in- 
 come, to be pleasant to look upon, why, it is better 
 than to be monarch of kingdoms, you lucky boy 
 man, I mean, excuse me. Ten years from now, 
 you will like to be called boy. Wait, and see. 
 But you will be young then still, while I shall be 
 a woman of thirty-seven, envying you." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond, listen to me." Tony was pale 
 now, and his pallor became him. 
 
 Elise met his eyes kindly. u No more person- 
 alities," she said pleasantly. " I like our friend- 
 ship so much, and personalities threaten it so." 
 
 He looked at the ripples of her hair, the curve 
 of her handsome mouth. The steady light in 
 her eyes turned him cold. He gazed into them 
 wretchedly. " Is there not one atom of hope for 
 me ? " he said simply. 
 
 " It is a great pity that you should have to ask 
 me that, and surely I need not answer it in words. 
 You know how greatly I like you. Who else in 
 the world would be in my house in the position 
 you occupy now ? There is only one sort of friend- 
 ship I could have for the man whom I select thus, 
 and that is a very cordial one. I hope you will 
 always care for it, Tony." 
 
 He was standing near her, an excited, set ex- 
 pression on his face. As his averted eyes came 
 back and met hers, she smiled faintly, and held out 
 her hand.
 
 266 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 With a sudden movement he fell into the seat 
 beside her, took the hand, and bent his head over 
 it. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked apprehensively toward 
 the croquet ground, and her fears were realized. 
 Terriss Chester, through the opening made by the 
 broad flight of steps, was witnessing the rather 
 suggestive tableau ; but she did not withdraw the 
 hand held in a painful grip. Terriss wheeled 
 about quickly, and looked no more. There was a 
 straining and reddening of Tony's neck, one final, 
 torturing pressure of the coveted hand, and it was 
 released. When the young fellow looked up, his 
 eyes were moist. 
 
 " You have been very good to me," he said, in a 
 rather choked voice ; then he rose. " I think I 
 will go and take a walk," he added briefly. 
 
 Elise watched him as he swung across the lawn 
 down toward the water. " What a nice boy he 
 is ! " she thought. " Some woman will draw a 
 prize in Tony Bellows one of these days." 
 
 She looked again toward the croquet ground. 
 It was unfortunate that Tony's destiny had led 
 him to choose broad daylight and a public spot for 
 his declaration of feeling. It was, unusual for 
 Mrs. Redmond to question how any act of hers 
 would be regarded by another ; but she paid Ches- 
 ter that compliment now. It annoyed her that he 
 had seen Tony holding her hand. Since the con- 
 versation with him regarding Elise Beckwith, 
 Mrs. Redmond had not been able to think of Mr.
 
 THE CRASH. 267 
 
 Chester complacently. His unfeigned contempt of 
 her financial offer, and the mode of it, abashed her 
 to an extent which she assured herself was unrea- 
 sonable. Each time his remarks recurred to her 
 she grew so warm that she was fain to press her 
 hands to her flushing cheeks, and each time she 
 shrank with stronger dread from the possibility of 
 his learning her identity. So far, all had proceeded 
 quite as a couple of months ago she would have 
 said she desired. He had come to Snowdon, and 
 had, by his homage, virtually retracted every scorn- 
 ful word of his letter to the minister. He hung 
 upon her words and looks, and had agreed to ac- 
 cept her money in payment for the picture. She 
 could make that payment include the property she 
 wished him to have, could sign the paper Elise 
 Beckwith Redmond, then haughtily turn her back 
 upon him, and leave him to recover from his sur- 
 prise. He would probably refuse the money. 
 Very good ; but how would he sustain the discov- 
 ery that he had been led as Elise Beckwith pleased, 
 had been as wax in her hands? How would he 
 recover from his love of her? Ah, that was a 
 question too easily answered. Elise knew that the 
 man loved her. Now she was honestly satiated 
 with admiration. Why was it a disagreeable con- 
 sideration to her that the shock to Terriss' confi- 
 dence would surely destroy his passion for her? 
 She had never before desired to continue to inspire 
 love in one of her admirers. 
 
 It was old habit, obstinacy, pride, she told her-
 
 268 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 self. Almost as far back as she could remember, 
 she had longed for Terriss Chester's good opinion. 
 She could not now submit willingly to feel that he 
 had a right to look down upon her, that he did 
 look down upon her. 
 
 Oh, why had she not been frank in the begin- 
 ning ? The deception she had practiced was at 
 best so undignified. What explanation of it could 
 she give him when the time came ? It was liable 
 to come at any moment. Her secret was shared 
 with three persons, and a natural unthinking re- 
 mark from either would divulge it. Surely, Elise 
 thought, her scheme for punishment of Terriss' 
 presumption had reacted upon herself most disa- 
 greeably. The lofty and calm supremacy of her 
 mental bearing had been jarred daily of late. 
 Thoughts seized her at odd moments, making her 
 heart beat and her cheeks flame : considerations 
 of the way her patronage had affected its recipient ; 
 of the way she had encouraged those who would 
 bring Terriss to Snowdon ; of her unworded plan 
 to win his admiration as a balm to her pride. 
 What would he think of her when he knew all, 
 and considered the way she had drawn him on to 
 speak of her child-self, and his relations with her 
 father ? In short, Mrs. Redmond had altered to 
 her own consciousness, and had become an absent- 
 minded, guilty, starting creature, whom she de- 
 tested. She counted not at all upon the unques- 
 tioning devotion which, so far, Terriss displayed 
 toward her. He was an upright, honest man,
 
 THE CRASH. 269 
 
 scornful of subterfuge, disdaining even to conceal 
 his love for her. She thought the pleasure she 
 found in dwelling upon the look that came in his 
 eyes when they met hers arose from her certainty 
 that it would be short-lived ; and when she came 
 to herself, in the midst of a reverie, to find that she 
 had been lost in enjoyment of this picture, she drew 
 herself together with a sharp exclamation of sur- 
 prise and contempt for her own weakness. 
 
 She had invited him here to-day in a spirit of 
 bravado. She suffered more from him absent than 
 present. It was solace to her wounded pride to 
 rest in the sunshine of his approval, and to see his 
 spirits rise higher with every kind word and look 
 she gave him. For the time being, the discrowned 
 queen felt restored to her throne. 
 
 She sat there alone on the piazza, her eyes fol- 
 lowing the game of croquet, her thoughts wander- 
 ing sometimes to Tony, whose disappointment she 
 rated at about its real worth ; but dwelling mostly 
 upon the man who, in all his varied movements, 
 sedulously kept his eyes from seeking the veranda. 
 
 At last both Phyllis's balls had hit the stake. 
 Chester threw down his mallet with some laughing 
 remark, and looking toward the house, saw that 
 Elise was alone, and suggested to Phyllis that they 
 should join her. 
 
 The girl made some excuse, and Terriss ap- 
 proached alone. 
 
 "You found it pretty warm work, I imagine, at 
 this hour," remarked Mrs. Redmond.
 
 270 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I found I had too experienced an opponent," 
 he replied, coming up the steps, and removing his 
 hat as he seated himself. " I hope you have par- 
 doned my late arrival this morning," he continued, 
 after a pause. " I was interested in getting my 
 materials in order, so that, as soon as you are 
 ready for a sitting, I may begin your portrait, 
 study, sketch, or whatever it turns out to be." 
 
 The flattery in the speaker's eager, repressed 
 manner and his honest eyes was the sweetest Elise 
 had ever tasted. Sweet, because shortly to be for- 
 feited, she told herself. 
 
 She kept silence a little to enjoy it. The fear, 
 almost grief, that accompanied the enjoyment 
 might have taught her something, had she been 
 accustomed to think that some time her own heart 
 would be discovered. 
 
 A humming-bird, darting beneath the roof of the 
 piazza, poised for a long moment near her head, 
 as though attracted by the rose she had tucked in 
 her hair, but flitted away like a beam of light at 
 her admiring ejaculation. 
 
 " What a bold midget ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 " He is accustomed to regard roses growing in 
 the sunshine as his own property," replied Ches- 
 ter. 
 
 She searched for a light retort in vain. " As to 
 the picture," she said, " I suppose there is no es- 
 pecial hurry." 
 
 " Excepting that I must not stay here much 
 longer."
 
 THE CRASH. 271 
 
 " What are you going to do when you return to 
 the city ? " 
 
 " Hunt for a situation." 
 
 " How long will it take you ? " asked Elise 
 naively. 
 
 Chester laughed. " Any time from a week to a 
 few years." 
 
 " Oh ! " she exclaimed. She rebelled against 
 the idea of the uncongenial routine life he had led 
 for so long, and against the indefinite continuance 
 of it. 
 
 "As I am open to almost anything, anywhere 
 from Maine to the Golden Gate, it ought not to be 
 a matter of very much time," he continued. 
 
 " Don't you care at all what you do ? " she asked, 
 rather awed by the total lack of interest in his 
 voice. 
 
 "Very little, so it gives me enough to live 
 upon." 
 
 " That ought not to be the height of your ambi- 
 tion," she returned, adopting the tone of a mentor. 
 She felt quite experienced and superior as she 
 spoke. " You do not wish to go drifting about all 
 your life, accomplishing nothing but eating, sleep- 
 ing, and snatching a little time to paint. You will 
 marry, and " 
 
 Chester laughed again roughly. " Yes ; what a 
 delightful life a woman would have with me ! You 
 can see what a prize I am, and what a tempting 
 offer mine would be. If I should ever become so 
 beside myself as to <rmrnit such folly, and you
 
 272 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 should hear of it, I beg now, being in my right 
 mind, that you will order somebody to have me 
 shut up in the nearest asylum." 
 
 The bitter, careless expression again transformed 
 his face. His suddenly angry words raised a tu- 
 mult in Elise. A great and awful light broke 
 upon her. As unhesitatingly as he had repudiated 
 her money offer in the face of his ambitions and 
 lifelong desires, so surely would he, in spite of 
 all love and longing, repudiate herself. His keen 
 sense of failure would never allow him to ask 
 her life of a woman who possessed everything he 
 lacked. What but the word of the woman herself 
 could convince him that himself alone outweighed 
 all the material superfluities she longed to bestow 
 upon him ; and how could the woman speak that 
 word! 
 
 There was a ringing in Elise' s ears as the ques- 
 tioning despair tore its way through her. She, the 
 heiress, the belle, the beauty, the loftily inaccessi- 
 ble Mrs. Redmond, knew in one appalling, sweet 
 instant, that her hour had come. She herself was 
 the woman who longed to speak that impossible 
 word. 
 
 Chester did not turn his eyes toward her still, 
 pale face, and the silence had not been broken, 
 when Miss Rebecca came to the door. 
 
 " Elise, Elise," she called unsteadily. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked up. She saw that her 
 sister wore a street dress and a bonnet, and car- 
 ried a small satchel.
 
 THE CRASH. 273 
 
 " Mrs. Terriss has sent for me," said Rebecca. 
 " I think I shall not be able to come home to-night. 
 Don't be anxious about me. I will send you word 
 to-morrow." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond tried to arrange her disordered 
 thoughts. She looked vaguely at Rebecca, and 
 leaned forward in her chair. 
 
 " Do not disturb yourself," said Miss Redmond 
 hastily. " Good-by, Mr. Chester," and she disap- 
 peared. 
 
 Terriss did not even turn at her farewell. He 
 was looking now at his hostess, full and earnestly. 
 The devil-may-care look in his face was replaced 
 by one hard to read. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's breath came fast under the 
 gaze she could not now meet. 
 
 " She called you Elise," he said quietly. " It is 
 not a common name." 
 
 Here was the extremity. Mrs. Redmond's heart 
 leaped into her throat. She was so frightened that 
 she was calm, and there was a particularly haughty 
 expression on her white face. She did not speak, 
 and he studied her still, and, searching his mem- 
 ory, wondered at his own dullness. 
 
 " Are you," he said slowly, " Elise Beckwith ? " 
 
 Her face was that of a beautiful statue, except 
 that her eyes met his. 
 
 " Yes," she said distinctly. 
 
 It seemed to her an eternity that they both sat 
 there in silence. At last he rose slowly, hat in 
 hand. Her eyes drooped. Unconsciously she
 
 274 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 raised her chin. Her body rebelled, by its atti- 
 tude, against the depths of her humiliation. 
 
 " I thank you for the hospitality you have ex- 
 tended to me," he said, quietly as ever ; then he 
 bowed toward her unseeing eyes, and descending 
 the steps, went down the path and out of the gates 
 of Beech KnolL
 
 CHAPTER XXH. 
 
 A BITTER CUP. 
 
 Miss REBECCA had hailed the first moment 
 when she could with propriety leave the piazza. 
 She felt more than ordinary need of the nap it was 
 her habit to take in the afternoon, so she sought 
 her own room, and exchanging her organdie gown 
 for a dressing sack, lay down on the bed and closed 
 her eyes. The monster of wakefulness which had 
 presided at her side all the previous night left her 
 in peace now. The breeze rustled through the 
 trees outside her window, and blew the muslin 
 curtains. All disturbing thoughts seemed stilled 
 in the quiet of the summer afternoon, and without 
 waiting to be coaxed, sleep visited her eyelids. 
 
 She dreamed that it was found necessary to re- 
 move the old bridge. People said it was unsafe. 
 Philip Terriss seemed to be among the workmen 
 who were destroying it. One after another they 
 directed heavy blows at the supports. Each re- 
 sounding thump sent a pain through Rebecca's 
 heart. 
 
 " Oh, don't don't ! " she cried. " What is it ? " 
 she added, wide awake now, and aware that some 
 one was knocking loudly at her door.
 
 276 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " It 's me, Miss Rebecca, Roxana." 
 
 " Come in, it is n't locked." 
 
 The door opened, and Mrs. Sherritt entered. 
 " You were asleep. I 'm sorry," she said, in a 
 hurried, excited manner, foreign to her, " but I 
 knew there was company here, so I came in the 
 back way, and the girls said you might be up here. 
 I 've come to tell you Mr. Terriss is sick. He 's 
 a very sick man, or I never saw one. I can't go 
 there and help 'tend to him. Now the question is, 
 can you ? " 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt had sat down in the nearest chair. 
 A red spot showed in each of her sallow cheeks. 
 Miss Rebecca, half lying, half sitting upon the bed, 
 looked back at her, her face nearly as colorless as 
 the pillows that supported her. 
 
 " It is impossible," she said. " You heard what 
 Mrs. Terriss said to me that day." 
 
 " Now you ain't goin' to mind that crazy talk, 
 are you ? " asked Roxana appealingly. 
 
 Miss Redmond paused and seemed to meditate. 
 After half a minute, she spoke. 
 
 " There was some truth underlying what she said, 
 Roxana. You are my faithful friend, and it is 
 necessary you should understand. Long ago, here 
 at Beech Knoll " - 
 
 " Yes, Miss Rebecca," Mrs. Sherritt interrupted, 
 her face coloring to the very roots of her hair. 
 It was the most embarrassing moment of her 
 life. " I know about it. The first Mrs. Richard 
 told me."
 
 A BITTER CUP. 277 
 
 Miss Redmond's eyes brightened, and her deli- 
 cate lips grew tense. " Could it have been through 
 you, then, that Mrs. Terriss " 
 
 " J/?ss Rebecca ! " Roxana fairly shouted the 
 exclamation, and started to a standing posture. 
 " If any one thing could make me feel worse 'n 
 everythin' else in this world, that does." 
 
 " Forgive me," murmured Miss Redmond con- 
 tritely. 
 
 " I did n't know her husband was the man until 
 yesterday," continued Mrs. Sherritt. " I 'd forgot 
 the name, if I ever knew it, a dozen years ago ; 
 but for you, Miss Rebecca, that I 'd guard and 
 defend till I dropped, for you to accuse me o' 
 bein' a Judas, that hurts ; hurts me through and 
 through." 
 
 " Oh, I am ashamed Roxana, I am indeed ! " 
 exclaimed Miss Rebecca. " Forget it. If you 
 knew all I have passed through in the last twenty- 
 four hours, you would not wonder my thoughts and 
 judgment go astray. It was a momentary, wild 
 guess. I spoke too soon." 
 
 She pressed her hands to her eyes, looking so 
 frail and small in her white surroundings, that Mrs. 
 Sherritt experienced another revulsion of feeling. 
 A glow of affectionate compassion possessed her. 
 She came and sat on the foot of the bed, and pat- 
 ted one of Miss Redmond's ankles with her kind, 
 hard hand. 
 
 " That 's all right," she said ; " forgive me for 
 botherin' you. I Ve sifted that business to the
 
 278 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 bottom, and it seems that great gump Lucindy's 
 to blame. Her ma remembered that Terriss was 
 the name o' the young man that visited you in the 
 old days, and some imp o' darkness put it into 
 her head to wonder if the minister might be the 
 same person. She talked it over to Luciudy, and 
 o' course she had to tell Mrs. Terriss. I don't 
 believe Mrs. Terriss was perfectly sure she was 
 right when she said that shameful thing to you. I 
 think she was kind o' guessin'. She was mad be- 
 cause we kept at her, and she wanted to hit back. 
 Anyway, I 've stopped up the leak, I guess." Mrs. 
 Sherritt smiled grimly. " I '11 bet there ain't any- 
 body that could get Lucindy Bates or her mother 
 to talk on that subject to 'em after this. The 
 folks in this town are fond o' you, Miss Rebecca. 
 Well," she added, in a different tone, " there 's one 
 big bit o' news I meant to tell you as soon I got 
 here. God's ways ain't our ways, and Mrs. Ter- 
 riss is walkin' around lively. It puts me in mind 
 o' some o' the cures we heard the Chicago fire 
 made." 
 
 " Why, Roxana ! " Miss Rebecca dropped her 
 hands and stared at her informant. 
 
 " It 's as true as a gun," said Mrs. Sherritt, 
 nodding cheerfully. " I went over there and seen 
 for myself. It was this way. Mr. Terriss was out 
 walkin' last night, and come home late. He was 
 kind o' dazed like, I guess. At any rate, he did n't 
 come to his wife's room to say good-night as he 
 usually does. She was lyin' awake, a bad con-
 
 A BITTER CUP. 279 
 
 science, I guess, and she felt bad to think he did 
 n't come to her, and then she noticed how queer his 
 steps sounded, goin' upstairs ; most as if he 'd taken 
 too much. Perhaps 't was n't him at all. She got 
 so scared thinkin' it over she could n't go to sleep, 
 but laid there guessin' and thinkin' till, just the 
 darkest, lonesomest time o' night, she began to hear 
 talkin'. She could n't make out anythin' except 
 that it was a man's voice, and it come from the 
 minister's room. She was pretty well scared, but 
 she thought maybe he had the nightmare. She 
 says she must have stood it fifteen minutes, and it 
 seemed like fifteen hours, before she rang the bell 
 for Lucindy. She 's got a contraption the minister 
 fixed, so she can pull a string and ring a bell at the 
 head o' Lucindy's bed. Well, she pulled it, and she 
 pulled it, till Lucindy came, her teeth chatterin', 
 and her hair on end. It seems the minister's 
 talkin' had waked her up too, and she began cryin' 
 and sayin' she was awful scared. Mrs. Terriss 
 scolded her and told her she was a silly thing, that 
 the minister had the nightmare, and that she was 
 to go upstairs right off and wake him up. Lucin- 
 dy 's afraid o' Mrs. Terriss, so she minded her, and 
 put on a dressin' gown and went up ; but in five 
 minutes she was down again, cryin' and takin' on. 
 She said Mr. Terriss had n't minded her knockin', 
 so she went in. There was a lighted lamp on his 
 bureau, and he was lyin' on the bed all dressed 
 but his coat, his eyes was open, and he was talkin' 
 wild. ' He 's goin' to die, Mrs. Terriss, he 's goin'
 
 280 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 to die, sure,' she said, and boohooed away at a great 
 rate. Well, it was then the miracle happened ; or 
 we should think it was a miracle, if we did n't 
 know what we know. Mrs. Terriss sat right up 
 out on the edge o' the bed, and made Lucindy help 
 her into her clothes. ' He 's goin' to die without 
 forgivin' me,' she said, and she said it over and 
 over. She did n't say anythin' else only that, Lu- 
 cindy told me, and she said it more 'n twenty 
 times. Well, she pulled on her wrapper and 
 jumped right up and made for the door. She went 
 through the sittin'-room and the hall, and Lucindy 
 says it turned her cold to see her catch the banis- 
 ter and start upstairs. Lucindy kind o' boosted 
 her by the arm, but she says it 's her opinion Mrs. 
 Terriss did n't know she was there. By the time 
 they got to the room, the minister had stopped 
 talkin', and he was asleep and breathm' awful 
 heavy. Lucindy says Mrs. Terriss knelt down 
 side of him, and talked wild to him. I would n't 
 let her go on tellin' me what she said ; that kind 
 o' talk ain't our business. Well, as soon as day- 
 light come, Lucindy went for the doctor, and the 
 middle o' the mornin' some time, not over five 
 minutes after Phyllis started for here, she come 
 after me. I went over, and I 've been there till 
 now. We've got Mr. Terriss fixed down in his 
 wife's room, and he 's got brain fever, and the doc- 
 tor don't pretend to say he '11 get well. O' course 
 he may." 
 
 Rebecca's breath came in quick pants.
 
 A BITTER CUP. 281 
 
 " Now you know, after the other clay, I would n't 
 be the one to ask you to go there and wear out 
 your strength and feelin's, if Mrs. Terriss had n't 
 just beseeched of me." 
 
 u Has she no memory, no sense of fitness ? " 
 asked Rebecca excitedly. " How can she think 1 
 will come ? " 
 
 " Well, it 's just here," replied Roxana dryly. 
 " The minister talks a good deal, and he don't talk 
 about anythin' only just you and Beech Knoll, and 
 the river, and the bridge, and the summer weather. 
 Everythin' he 's kept shut up for twenty years is 
 just a bubblin' over and runnin' like a mill stream. 
 He 's restless and sufferin' and crazy as a loon. 
 Mrs. Terriss knows, if anybody else comes to nurse 
 him, this town won't hold the gossip and wonder- 
 ment that '11 fill it from end to end. Now do you 
 see ? " 
 
 Poor Miss Rebecca turned her head on the pil- 
 low and closed her eyes. Her thoughts all seemed 
 stunned. Only a bit from one of Elise's songs 
 sang itself to her heart. 
 
 "Oh, that we two were sleeping under the church-yard sod, 
 With our limbs at rest, 'neath the quiet earth's breast, 
 And our souls at home with God." 
 
 She opened her eyes at last and regarded Rox- 
 ana. " I suppose you would not let me take care 
 of your house and you go to the parsonage," she 
 said tentatively. 
 
 : ' Now, Miss Rebecca," replied the other in gentle 
 reproach, " you know you could n't milk cows and 
 do the chores I have to 'tend to."
 
 282 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Then I do not see that I have any alternative, 
 do you ? " asked Miss Redmond. 
 
 Roxana smiled, and waited, and watched her. 
 
 In a minute, Rebecca rose from the bed. 
 
 " I '11 pack your bag for you," said Mrs. Sherritt, 
 immediately restored to briskness. " We hain't 
 any time to lose." Miss Redmond produced the 
 satchel from the closet, and her neighbor proceeded 
 to fill it while Rebecca dressed. " Just tide 'em 
 over till the craziest of it has passed," continued 
 Roxana energetically. " Mrs. Terriss is weak and 
 not much use, but I '11 be there all I can, and 
 Lucindy 's so stupid and so scared it '11 be safe 
 enough to have her around." 
 
 Miss Redmond said her brief farewell to Elise, 
 and then they set forth. Rebecca dreaded so to 
 arrive that the walk had never seemed so short. 
 However Mrs. Terriss might force herself to ap- 
 pear, how could she feel otherwise than hardly 
 toward her rival ? The prospect of being shut up 
 with her to listen to Philip's wild talk was as pain- 
 ful a one as could be offered to Miss Rebecca, but 
 she had the heart of a heroine, and she advanced 
 to meet her fate, outwardly calm. 
 
 When they reached the parsonage, Roxana 
 opened the front door noiselessly and went in. 
 Miss Redmond followed, her heart beating almost 
 to suffocation. 
 
 Roxana went down the corridor and opened the 
 door into Mrs. Terriss' sitting-room. The invalid 
 chair stood empty in the window, and Mrs. Terriss
 
 A BITTER CUP. 283 
 
 was lying on the lounge, her face ghastly pale and 
 her eyes closed. Mrs. Sherritt put a warning fin- 
 ger on her lips and turned to Miss Redmond, but 
 at that moment the minister's wife opened her 
 eyes and saw the arrivals. 
 
 With one determined effort she drew herself 
 into a sitting posture on the side of the lounge and 
 tried to stand, but fell back in weakness. She cast 
 a dry-eyed, appealing gaze at Rebecca, and held out 
 both her hands. 
 
 Miss Redmond glided across the room, took the 
 hands, and seated herself beside her. Roxana dis- 
 appeared into the bedroom. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss spoke in a low, level voice. 
 
 " No words can tell you how I appreciate this 
 goodness of yours," she said. " You forgive my 
 misjudgment, my wicked speech ? " 
 
 "Fully. Never speak of it again," said Re- 
 becca. 
 
 " It hurt it hurt his feelings," continued the 
 wretched woman, speaking with dry lips, " more 
 deeply than one could imagine. It was that, hap- 
 pening to come when he was on the eve of breaking 
 down with illness, which makes him talk wildly now 
 of you and your home, for he does," she added 
 explanatorily, still fixing Rebecca with that wild 
 appeal. " I sent for you to prevent scandal. Peo- 
 ple might think his raving meant something seri- 
 ous ; but you know, you know what a husband he 
 has been. You know how he loves me." 
 
 " I know," said Rebecca, with solemn earnest-
 
 284 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 ness, " that few women in all the world are given 
 such devotion as has come to you." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss pressed the hands she held ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " It has been my temptation," she continued 
 feverishly. " He was not a demonstrative man, 
 only so true, and deep, and faithful. I found that 
 when I was weakest, most needy, he showed most 
 his love for me. I was frail from girlhood. I 
 craved expressions of my husband's love. I longed 
 always to be in his mind, under his care. I al- 
 lowed myself to become more and more of an in- 
 valid, because dependence brought me happiness. 
 Do you see ? I did not see it myself until to-day 
 to-day," she repeated with a dry sob, " this 
 wretched day. I walked in the night," she con- 
 tinued, concentrating her despairing eyes again on 
 Rebecca. " I walked ; I went upstairs. My spirit 
 must go, so my body had to follow. If he needed 
 me now, I could go in there to him, but I am so 
 w r eak weak. I only quake and tremble when I 
 try to rise. I " 
 
 " You have said enough now," interrupted Re- 
 becca quietly. " It is only a waste of your strength. 
 This is the beginning of a new life for you. The 
 scales have fallen from your eyes, and you will no 
 longer seek your happiness selfishly." 
 
 " No, no," murmured the other, " and you will 
 stay with us. You are so strong, and firm, and 
 wise. You and the doctor will save him. I will 
 spend the rest of my life for him. He shall be the
 
 A BITTER CUP. 285 
 
 one to receive, and I to give. We will be so happy, 
 so happy ! Give me your arm. I must go in there 
 with you at first." 
 
 Rebecca did not contradict her. She thought it 
 best to let her try her powers as far as she felt 
 inclined. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss rose slowly and tremblingly, leaning 
 heavily on the smaller woman, and then walked 
 with unexpected firmness to the bedroom door. 
 
 They went in, and the dim light revealed the face 
 on the pillow. The lips were repeatedly framing 
 the one word, " Rebecca, Rebecca." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss bent over the sufferer. He looked 
 at her, then turned his head wearily away, without 
 stopping his murmured appeal. 
 
 Miss Redmond, obeying the motion of Mrs. Ter- 
 riss' hand, took up a position on the opposite side 
 of the bed. The minister's eyes fell upon her. 
 His voice died away. 
 
 " White," he said at last. " Your hair is white. 
 Why did you change it ? I will stay here by the 
 river. I can rest better. Beech Knoll and happi- 
 ness. All outside is misery." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss fixed her miserable eyes on Re- 
 becca's. 
 
 " You see how it would sound to any one else, 
 to one who did not understand," she said. 
 
 A strength not her own came to Rebecca's flut- 
 tering, shrinking soul. 
 
 " I see," she answered, with a calmness that 
 amazed herself. " While this fancy lasts, I will 
 stay with you."
 
 286 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 The sick man never removed his eyes from her 
 face. " We did right," he said. " I suppose we 
 did. I can't think any more. You will have to 
 do the thinking, Rebecca. It is all life, and life 
 means endurance." 
 
 Roxana drew closer to the door toward which 
 she had moved. 
 
 " Take Mrs. Terriss," said Miss Redmond to 
 her, " and make her comfortable on the lounge. 
 There is need but for one of us here at a time." 
 
 Mrs. Terriss suffered herself to be led out. 
 
 " This is embarrassing for Miss Rebecca," she 
 said, as Roxana helped her down upon her pillow. 
 " I appreciate her goodness in coming." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt swallowed the lump that had risen 
 in her throat. 
 
 " I 'm real glad you do," she said kindly. 
 
 " Did you notice what a strange caprice Mr. 
 Terriss showed in turning from me and staring so 
 at her ? It seemed to give point to his ravings." 
 Mrs. Terriss tried to smile as she asked the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 " Just what folks out o' their heads '11 do," re- 
 plied Roxana recklessly ; " turn against their best 
 friends every time." 
 
 " Truly ? " asked the other eagerly. 
 
 " Oh, you can count on it every time," replied 
 Mrs. Sherritt emphatically. " Now you do as 
 Miss Rebecca does, and consider his talk just like 
 the wind that blows ; and when he' gets his senses, 
 don't never tell him of it, 'cause it would make him
 
 A BITTER CUP. 287 
 
 feel flatter 'n a flounder. I 'm goin' to pull these 
 shades down, and do you shut your eyes up and go 
 off to sleep. The doctor won't be here for an hour 
 yet, and you '11 get a good nap. You keep up 
 your strength, and you '11 be able to spell Miss Re- 
 becca a good deal. I shall keep one hand in my 
 house and one hand here, as it were. Good-by, 
 Mrs. Terriss. We '11 live to laugh at this. Good- 
 
 V 
 
 She gave a smiling nod and passed out of the 
 room and out of the house, but on the steps a 
 great sob overcame her. She ran down into the 
 yard and around the side of the house, and there 
 had the heartiest cry she had indulged in for years. 
 She did it thoroughly, and finished it, before march- 
 ing out of the gate and down the street. Not 
 another tear fell, although neither that night, nor 
 for many nights to come, was she able to put out 
 of her mind that picture of the wife that was and 
 the wife that might have been, gazing with miser- 
 able eyes across the prostrate figure that divided 
 them.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 
 
 SOMEWHERE along the banks of the cool river, 
 the rejected suitor found means to drown his mor- 
 tification and excitement ; for when he returned to 
 the house, he was the Tony of old, the feverishness 
 that had marked his manner all through this visit 
 having disappeared. Had Mrs. Redmond accepted 
 him, he would have been a proud and elated man. 
 He had for a long time been carrying a glorified 
 picture of her in his mind, and had built castles 
 in the air innumerable, in each one of which she 
 was to reign beside him ; but her manner, even 
 more than her words, in their recent interview, had 
 contributed to guard the sensitive pride belonging 
 to his youth, and he was nearly as proud of her 
 distinguished friendship as he was of having dared 
 to ask her for something more. 
 
 When he ascended the slope leading toward the 
 house, he perceived Mrs. Redmond still sitting as 
 he had left her, alone. Chester and Phyllis had 
 disappeared. 
 
 It was an embarrassing moment to him, but he 
 put a bold face upon it. He thought it a little un- 
 like Elise that she did not help him out by accost- 
 ing him as he approached.
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 289 
 
 1 ' How soon is that long-expected game of tennis 
 coming off ? " he asked, coming up the steps, then 
 was startled to observe the pallid change on his 
 hostess' face. 
 
 " It will not come off," replied Elise, palely 
 smiling. " All sorts of things have been happen- 
 ing in your absence. I have grown suddenly and 
 miserably ill, unheard of for me, you know ; Re- 
 becca has been sent for post-haste to the minis- 
 ter's, and has gone ; Mr. Chester has departed ; and 
 last but not least, Phyllis is lost. I was just wish- 
 ing you would appear and take charge of her fo^ 
 me." 
 
 "Of course I will," replied Tony, much dis- 
 turbed. " Don't you want a doctor ? Let me go 
 right off for one." 
 
 " No, no indeed. This is some passing annoy- 
 ance." 
 
 '* At least you will go into the house. I do not 
 want to frighten you, but really you frightened me 
 when I came up just now." 
 
 " If it were not for Phyllis, I think I should 
 disappear indefinitely. You see how I treat you, 
 Tony ; I might even leave you to a solitary tea, if I 
 do not feel better." 
 
 " By all means. You must think no more about 
 me than if I did not exist. As for Miss Flower, I 
 promise to make everything right with her. Now 
 please leave it all to me and go in at once." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked gratefully into his face, 
 full of kindly intention and concern for her.
 
 290 TEE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 "You are very good," she said, rising, and at 
 that moment Phyllis appeared around the corner 
 of the house Phyllis, with a hotly beating little 
 heart and an insouciant face, deciding that she 
 could not have chosen a less opportune moment 
 for her return, for Tony was tenderly supporting 
 Mrs. Redmond's arm as she rose from her low 
 chair. 
 
 " I am so glad you have come," said the latter. 
 
 " Why ? Are you ready for tennis ? I have 
 been to the stable ; startling confession, is n't it ? 
 but I wanted to see Star." - 
 
 She looked closely at Elise as she spoke, observ- 
 ing her pallor and putting her own construction 
 upon it. 
 
 "I am ashamed to say I am obliged to excuse 
 myself," replied Mrs. Redmond. " I do not feel 
 up to tennis this afternoon." 
 
 " You do not look up to it," said the girJ 
 promptly. " I think Mr. Chester and I had bet- 
 ter leave you to rest. Where is he ? " 
 
 " He is already gone. He went some time 
 since." 
 
 Phyllis's eyes sparkled angrily. " Then it waf* 
 very rude of him," she said. "He might have 
 waited for me." 
 
 " I am so annoyed at everything," said Mrs. 
 Redmond hurriedly. " I hope you will pardon it 
 that our day has turned out so badly." 
 
 " If Chester had waited, I should not have had 
 the opportunity to walk home with you," remarked 
 Tony.
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 291 
 
 " Thanks," returned Phyllis airily. " I would 
 ever so much rather you would n't. Don't men- 
 tion my disappointment, Mrs. Redmond, and do 
 not wait. I am sure you need to lie down." 
 
 " Yes, say good-by and go right in, Elise," added 
 Tony. It startled Phyllis in spite of herself to 
 hear him use the familiar name. " I will prom- 
 ise to place Miss Flower safe in Mrs. Sherritt's 
 arms." 
 
 Phyllis rebelled inwardly, but controlled her- 
 self. She too had seen the tableau presented 
 awhile back on the piazza. If, as appeared now 
 to be the case, Mr. Bellows was Mrs. Redmond's 
 accepted lover, it would be a mistake to rebuff 
 him ; so she made her farewells and started down 
 the avenue, leaving Tony to decide for himself 
 whether to follow her. 
 
 He soon made his appearance. " Why should n't 
 we have one game before you go ? " he suggested, 
 as he fell into her quick step. 
 
 " Please excuse me," said Phyllis. " I feel lazy 
 this afternoon." 
 
 " And so do I," returned Tony. " Have you 
 noticed, Miss Flower," with lively interest, " how 
 apt we are to feel alike about things ? " 
 
 " I cannot say I have," returned Phyllis, walk- 
 ing with such conscious swiftness that she was dis- 
 tinctly annoyed by the fact that her companion 
 kept abreast of her without effort. 
 
 " Why, I have noticed it from the first. Sin 
 guiar you have n't, he continued cheerfully.
 
 292 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 No reply from Miss Flower. 
 
 " There is one difference between us, I '11 admit,** 
 said Tony ; "you are very moody." 
 
 Phyllis laughed, and then grew instantly grave. 
 
 " I have n't asked to be analyzed, you know, Mr. 
 Bellows, and as to that, I 'm sure you 've been in 
 forty different moods to-day." 
 
 " Well, which one did you like best ? " asked 
 Tony innocently. " I Ve shown you all shades, 
 from the conceited ass of this morning to the 
 present specimen of meek good nature, who is 
 suiting himself to your breakneck .speed without 
 a murmur, in spite of the condition of the ther- 
 mometer." 
 
 " Oh, excuse me," said Phyllis, a little discon- 
 certed, suddenly moderating her pace. " I had no 
 idea I was tiring you," she added loftily. 
 
 " I am a more fragile flower than you think, 
 while you you are " 
 
 " Be careful," intei-rupted the girl. " If you 
 were meditating a pun on my name, let me warn 
 you that our acquaintance is at an end." 
 
 "Then I wasn't. I never thought of such a 
 thing. It would never do to forfeit your acquaint- 
 ance at a time when I may become totally depend- 
 ent upon you. Mrs. Redmond really looks to me 
 as if she were going to have an illness." 
 
 " And do you think I will take care of you for 
 her ? You seem to have returned to that morning 
 mood which you just described so aptly. I trust 
 Mrs. Redmond is not going to be ill, and I do not 
 think she will be. She is very strong."
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN, 293 
 
 " Yes, she is strong," said Tony meditatively ; 
 " strong and well, she is Mrs. Redmond, that is 
 all." 
 
 " Very sensible of you," observed Phyllis, " to 
 use a form of flattery which no one can disagree 
 with." 
 
 " I hope you are not annoyed with her," said 
 Tony quickly. "You could not doubt that her 
 indisposition was real." 
 
 " You are really too foolish," returned Phyllis 
 impatiently. " What a spectacle I should make 
 of myself, annoyed with Mrs. Redmond ! " 
 
 " I think there must be illness in town," said 
 Tony. " Miss Rebecca has been called away to 
 somebody. It is rather forlorn for Mrs. Red- 
 mond." 
 
 " Yes," replied Phyllis stiffly. " You must let 
 me know to-morrow, if she is not better." 
 
 In vain Tony tried to change Miss Flower's re- 
 lentless mood. When they reached her door, he 
 was still without the shell of reserve in which she 
 had incased herself. 
 
 " It is n't my fault that Chester went off in his 
 usual absent-minded fashion this afternoon, in- 
 stead of waiting for you," he observed, standing a 
 moment at the gate. " If my insistence upon walk- 
 ing home with you has really annoyed you, I beg 
 your pardon." 
 
 He gazed at her with open reproach as he spoke. 
 
 " Oh, I am not in the least vexed with Mr. 
 Chester," returned Phyllis airily ; " and of course,
 
 294 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 I am very much obliged to you. How much longer 
 do you remain in Snowdon ? " 
 
 " That depends on Mrs. Redmond. If she is 
 not well, I shall relieve her of the care of me." 
 
 "Well, then," replied Phyllis, with a super- 
 cheerful smile, " I will say good-by," holding out 
 her hand. " I may not see you again for ever so 
 long, I suppose." 
 
 " Oh, I see," he said, a light breaking over his 
 face. " You never invite anybody to call. I was 
 on the point of feeling hurt. Still, a man might 
 come at his own*risk." 
 
 " The risk is great," returned Phyllis. " I do 
 not advise him to come." 
 
 Tony turned away, considerably piqued. Phyl- 
 lis, after her good-by, went up the walk, humming 
 a tune, stopped to pick an unusually white pansy, 
 then entered the house and ran up to her own 
 room. There the song ceased, the pansy dropped 
 to the floor, and the girl covered her face with her 
 hands and burst into tears. 
 
 With every sob she asked herself why she was 
 crying. She did not know ; and no amount of 
 self-catechising could elicit an answer ; so she fin- 
 ished the foolish performance as soon as possible, 
 and tried, with cold water, to make herself pre- 
 sentable to Roxana's observant eyes. 
 
 As it happened, however, those eyes of Roxana's 
 were in a more noticeable condition than Phyllis's 
 own, when the latter went downstairs to set the 
 table for tea. Phyllis started at sight of the house-
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 295 
 
 keeper, with a stronger impression than ever of the 
 world's topsy-turvy condition. 
 
 " Roxaua, why Roxana, you have been crying ! " 
 she exclaimed involuntarily. 
 
 " Yes, I have," returned Mrs. Sherritt without 
 looking up. " Mr. Terriss is at death's door, 
 Phyllis." 
 
 "Oh, no!" 
 
 " Indeed he is, and as for sparin' that good man 
 after Dr. Joy, there ain't any way o' reconcilin' 
 ourselves to it that I see. Seem 's if we needed to 
 remember all the teachin' that Dr. Joy ever gave 
 us. ' Keep up your spirits,' he used to say to me, 
 time and again. ' Every bit o' cheerfulness we 
 show helps other folks to be good-natured ; ' and 
 he made me promise once, that if he died before 
 you did, you shouldn't be dressed in mournin'. 
 He said you could n't live bright and happy as 
 you ought to be if you was dressed in crape. I 
 declare, I hope it ain't wicked to wish he was here 
 now to pull Mr. Terriss through this. I 've minded 
 him about the crape, but as for bein' bright and 
 happy such times as these ! " Roxana made a 
 hopeless gesture. 
 
 Phyllis shook her head and began setting the 
 table. "Oh, let us hope! Surely everything 
 won't go wrong," she said. A couple of hours 
 later, she grew less sanguine. It was a blow, both 
 to her and to Mrs. Sherritt, when Mr. Chester 
 announced to them that he must leave Snowdon 
 the following morning. Roxana had confidently
 
 296 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 counted on another month of those convenient 
 weekly payments. Phyllis thought nothing about 
 the loss of income, but his going meant much to 
 her. She had never seen him so grave and silent 
 since his recovery. She put two and two together, 
 with a conviction of the truth. Now she thought 
 
 o 
 
 she understood why he had forgotten her in a hasty 
 exit from Beech Knoll. He met her in the hall 
 that night, as she was going to her room, and held 
 out his hand. " I thank you very much, Miss 
 Phyllis, for all the kindness you have shown me. 
 I shall never forget the trouble you and Mrs. Sher- 
 ritt have taken for me." 
 
 " If I have takeu any trouble for you, I am en- 
 tirely unconscious of it," she returned seriously. 
 " I am very, very sorry you are going. Why do 
 you go when your cousin is so ill? " 
 
 He returned her gaze uneasily. " I know it 
 looks unfeeling," he returned, after a moment's 
 hesitation. " I reconsidered a little when Mrs. 
 Sherritt first told me ; but what can I do for him ? 
 Nothing. And I cannot stay here. It has be- 
 come impossible." 
 
 Phyllis caught his eye, and flushed in. her ear- 
 nestness. " I am so sorry, so sorry," she said im- 
 pulsively. " You should have been the one to 
 succeed, not Mr. Bellows." 
 
 Her color was reflected in the dark face looking 
 back at her. " Thank heaven, I was not such a 
 fool as to try for success," he returned. " So Bel- 
 lows succeeded, did he? I thought otherwise. 
 Well, so be it. It is all one to me."
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 297 
 
 " But it is not to me," said the girl hotly. " It 
 is a very unwelcome thought. He is intensely dis- 
 agreeable to me, and not worthy of her at all." 
 
 " A man is worthy of all he can win, Miss Phyl- 
 lis, and Tony is a good fellow," returned Chester 
 shortly. 
 
 All the same, the next morning when he arrived 
 at the depot barely in time to catch the out-moving 
 train, it was a disagreeable surprise to him, on 
 opening the car door, to come face to face with 
 Tony Bellows, and to perceive instantly that the 
 only unoccupied seat in the car was by his side. 
 
 " What, you going in ? " exclaimed the young 
 fellow pleasantly. Chester hesitated, but there 
 was no reason why he should refuse the place 
 which his friend's hospitable hitch toward the wall 
 made larger for him. 
 
 " Yes. I thought I 'd go this morning," said 
 Terriss, taking the seat. " I did n't expect to see 
 you, though." 
 
 " Mrs. Redmond is a trifle under the weather, 
 and so I thought I would relieve her of me, as 
 Miss Rebecca is away." 
 
 " H'm. Sorry to hear it," mumbled Chester, 
 stopping the passing news-agent and buying a 
 " Herald." 
 
 Tony, his transparent face betraying his disap- 
 pointment at this unsocial proceeding, reluctantly 
 followed his example. 
 
 " Yes, I took tea in solitary state last night, and 
 after roving about the piazzas, and reading, and
 
 298 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 frightening the owls with my improvisations on the 
 piano, I became so thoroughly tired of myself that 
 I determined, if Mrs. Redmond continued invisi- 
 ble this morning, to take the first train. She did, 
 and here I am." 
 
 "Ye-es?" returned Chester abstractedly, run- 
 ning his eye over the headlines of the paper he had 
 unfolded. 
 
 " Did you ah leave all well at your abid- 
 ing-place ? " inquired Tony. 
 
 "What? Oh, yes, yes." 
 
 " When are you going back ? " 
 
 " Never that I know of." 
 
 " What ? You 've left for good ? " 
 
 "Yes. I have accomplished what I went for, 
 why not ? " 
 
 Although apparently Chester was scanning the 
 printed page busily as ever, he was wondering at 
 the carelessness with which his friend could leave 
 his fiancee's home on the score of ennui. The 
 blood pulsed faster through his veins at the thought 
 of that quiet house, the sunlight sifting through 
 the beeches on the lawn ; the murmurous flow of 
 the river, and the privilege owned by the man be- 
 side him of lingering about the enchanted spot, 
 sure of a welcome from the lady of his heart when 
 she should appear. He himself would never see 
 that paradise again. It exasperated him to the 
 verge of outbreak that the unconscious Tony should 
 sit with folded paper in his lap, and drum upon the 
 window-sash with his finders.
 
 THE EARLY TRAIN. 299 
 
 " Miss Flower is an odd combination," remarked 
 the latter at last, with the air of a connoisseur. " I 
 do not know that I like her altogether." 
 
 " She has the advantage of you there," returned 
 Chester grimly. " She does know that she does n't 
 like you altogether." 
 
 " Indeed ! " ejaculated Tony. He unfolded his 
 paper now with some energy, and the fi-owning 
 eagerness with which he interrogated its contents 
 rivaled Chester's own. 
 
 The latter had cause to congratulate himself on 
 the effect of his bluntness, for he was disturbed no 
 more until Boston was reached, and might think 
 or read to his heart's content ; but the combined 
 skill of the news-gatherers was thrown away upon 
 one Bostonian that morning. The whole current 
 of Mr. Bellows' thought was changed. More baf- 
 fling and exciting than any political situation to 
 him was the question why Phyllis Flower should 
 not like him. She was an obscure, unfashionable 
 blossom, while he, although all varieties of conceit 
 and vanity were abominations to him, was forced 
 upon consideration to acknowledge himself a cos- 
 mopolitan charmer. Tony enjoyed being liked. 
 He always had been liked. It gave him a sense 
 of soreness to recall Phyllis's silky rings of hair, 
 and her wide-open, brown eyes, and to know from 
 an uncivil but impartial third party that she did 
 not like him. He wished she knew how well he 
 danced. He wished she knew how rich he was (in 
 prospect). He wished she but faintly guessed his
 
 300 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 popularity among girls who would be sure to look 
 down upon her from an immeasurable distance. 
 
 " Idiots if they did," he ejaculated mentally, 
 suddenly going over to the enemy. " She is as 
 sharp as one of her native briers. Give her a few 
 weeks among that set, and enough money to keep 
 up her end, and she would distance them all." 
 
 Chester's elbow gave him a slight accidental 
 nudge. The temporary glow of enthusiasm faded. 
 He scowled again at the " Herald," and ran his eye 
 in business-like fashion down its columns. 
 
 He had turned, from force of habit, to the base- 
 ball news ; but the recorded fact that the Chicagos 
 had defeated his favorite team the previous day 
 failed to stir his blood as usual with loyal wrath, 
 for he read between the technically descriptive 
 lines that Phyllis Flower did not like him.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 "GO, LITTLE LETTER." 
 
 MRS. REDMOND felt an infinite relief when 
 Tony and Phyllis had left her alone with her own 
 thoughts. She hastened to her room and, locking 
 the door, sat down to look her situation squarely 
 in the face. One certainty overpowered all others. 
 She loved Terriss Chester. He was a common- 
 place enough individual. He had done nothing to 
 win her affection save to show his own in a fashion 
 the reverse of brilliant or masterful. He had not 
 proven himself a power among men, had not sur- 
 mounted and moulded the circumstances of his 
 life, but rather had drifted on in a self-distrustful, 
 ambitionless fashion which was not admirable. 
 
 "No matter, no matter," cried her heart pas- 
 sionately. " I love him." 
 
 She had been intensely mortified and humiliated, 
 but it was not in Elise's nature to remain crushed. 
 She was masterful by nature. Had she been a 
 man, circumstances would have been well-nigh 
 powerless to conquer her. She had done wrong to 
 deceive Terriss. She would acknowledge it. She 
 was no timid youiig girl to fear making an ad- 
 vance. Terriss had admired her, her belief that 
 he loved her had suffered a shock in the fact that
 
 302 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 he could treat her offense with such cold anger. 
 Surely he would forgive her and learn to love and 
 trust her again. At all events, all that made life 
 worth having to her now was this hope ; and to 
 sit quietly and leave her destiny to chance was not 
 possible to her. A thousand considerations chased 
 one another feverishly through her brain as she 
 seated herself at her desk and drew writing mate- 
 rials toward her. Oh, the relief of pouring out her 
 heart on the insensate paper, knowing that it was 
 in her power to send or to withhold the message at 
 the last ! 
 
 She wrote and rewrote, considered and recon- 
 sidered, her strong will and full heart pleading 
 with its object until she had worked herself into 
 the belief that he must see and feel wholly in sym- 
 pathy with her. 
 
 " The money ! The hateful money ! " she thought 
 wildly. " It will stand in the way ; " and then she 
 recognized that if she revealed too plainly her 
 feelings he might impute her boldness to a realiza- 
 tion of her wealth and his poverty. How he had 
 spoken of Elise Beckwith's indelicacy in the past ! 
 How would he consider this ? 
 
 She covered her flushed cheeks with her hands 
 at the thought ; then suddenly in a panic began 
 tearing the written sheets into small fragments. 
 She realized now that the early evening shades 
 were falling, and remembered that she had dis- 
 missed the maid who knocked on her door for or- 
 ders at tea-time.
 
 "GO, LITTLE LETTER." 303 
 
 From below she could hear vagrant snatches of 
 melody, and knew that Tony was beguiling the 
 tedium of his lonely evening at the piano. 
 
 But these discoveries were ripples upon the 
 deep, rushing river of her thoughts. Again she 
 covered her face with her hands and pondered. 
 The old worshiping look in Terriss' eyes seemed 
 to confront her and plead with her for her own 
 happiness. 
 
 " I will not leave it so. I cannot. I must be 
 the one to speak. He will not. Perhaps he thinks 
 he cannot." She drew paper toward her again, 
 and wrote : 
 
 TERRISS, Pride would suggest that I make 
 no apology for the deception I have practiced to- 
 ward you ; but I cannot listen to it. I am wretched 
 under your displeasure. I confess that for some 
 time I intended to punish you for your cavalier 
 treatment of Elise Beckwith ; but that intention 
 perished long ago, and I would have been glad to 
 acknowledge my identity, but that a great dread 
 restrained me. A dread of what? Forgive me, 
 come to me, and perhaps you can guess. E. R. 
 
 Her whole heart went out to him as she wrote, 
 and her soft beauty as she hurriedly folded the 
 letter and sealed it in its envelope would have in- 
 spired an artist less engrossed in her than Terriss 
 Chester. The note was so cold and guarded in 
 comparison with its predecessors that she enter-
 
 304 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 tained no misgivings as to the advisability of 
 sending it. She rang for a servant and gave or- 
 ders that a man should ride with it at once to the 
 post-office, preferring this means of communica- 
 tion, for some unexpressed reason, to the direct 
 road to Roxana's door. 
 
 The sweetness of relief and the sanguine hope- 
 fulness she experienced when she heard the clatter 
 of horse's hoofs down the avenue, lasted through- 
 out the night, giving her pleasant dreams and 
 meeting her in the morning at the first moment of 
 waking. But, alas, for the garish light of day, it 
 brings out defects in such honest, unsparing clear- 
 ness ! 
 
 The defects in Elise's little scheme began to 
 obtrude themselves suggestively before she had 
 left her bed. How shallow and flippant her whole 
 course would be sure to look to Chester! The 
 suggestions began to be tormenting. His confi- 
 dence in her was entirely undermined. Was it 
 likely he would permit himself to be whistled back, 
 perhaps to be duped in some new direction ? How 
 unwomanly, how daring, had been the implication 
 with which that horrible note had closed ! The 
 suggestions had become torture. Elise could only 
 bury her face in her pillow and exaggerate her 
 own indiscretion and Chester's cold surprise and 
 contempt, regardless of time, until her maid ap- 
 peared with a scribbled word of sympathy from 
 Tony. 
 
 " He says, ma'am, perhaps he 'd better take the 
 early train for town," said the girl.
 
 "GO, LITTLE LETTER." 305 
 
 " Yes. Give him my regrets and good-by," re- 
 turned Mrs. Redmond, and as soon as the maid's 
 back was turned she buried her face again in her 
 pillow ; but not for long. True to her nature, 
 which refused to be quiescent under suffering, Elise 
 began searching for a device to escape this new 
 humiliation. Strange to say, the simplest method 
 presented itself last, namely to get the letter out 
 of the office before Chester could. 
 
 As soon as this possibility did occur to her, she 
 made a hasty toilet, ordered her carriage, drank a 
 cup of coffee, and started on her way to the village. 
 Her horses were good ones, but to-day it seemed to 
 her they crawled. She deeply injured the coach- 
 man's feelings by her criticisms, and by the time 
 they reached the office, there was a general scatter- 
 ing in the street before the foam-flecked team. 
 
 She dismounted before the horses had fairly 
 stopped, and found herself trembling as she stood 
 before the little window. 
 
 " I will take Mrs. Sherritt's mail," she said, 
 forgetting that she had not asked for her own. 
 The postmaster looked vacantly into her excited 
 face. 
 
 " Oh Mrs. Sherritt's," he said, at last. 
 
 "Yes, would you kindly hurry a little?" she con- 
 tinued, an unsteadiness in her proudly authorita- 
 tive voice. 
 
 The functionary pushed up his spectacles, and 
 took from the shelf a package of letters, which he 
 commenced deliberately to look over, one by ouo.
 
 306 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond gazed at the package with bright, 
 eager eyes, longing to take it into her own deft 
 hands. 
 
 The postmaster began slowly shaking his head 
 as he neared the last envelope. 
 
 " Nothin' this mornin','' he said at last. 
 
 Elise's breath came fast. 
 
 " Not for Miss Flower or or Mr. Ches- 
 ter ? " she asked. 
 
 " No, nothin' for Phyllis. Mr. Chester's mail 
 ain't goin' there no more. It 's got to be for- 
 warded to Boston." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's heart gave a great leap ; but 
 she realized that she was in a gossiping little vil- 
 lage, and her wariness did not forsake her. 
 
 " I hope I am in time, then," she said. " I mailed 
 an invitation to Mr. Chester last night. I am 
 obliged to retract it. Be kind enough to hand it 
 to me." 
 
 " Sorry I can't, ma'am. That invitation 's bound 
 to get to Mr. Chester 'fore night. It 's on its way 
 to Boston now." 
 
 Elise grasped the dingy railing. Her disap- 
 pointment was poignant, and for the moment made 
 her ill. Her thoughts, however, were nimble. 
 How would it be to telegraph Terriss not to open 
 her letter? No. That would but make a bad 
 matter worse. Better to rely on her own ability, 
 when she saw him, to contradict by her manner 
 the interpretation he must put upon her written 
 words.
 
 "GO, LITTLE LETTER." 307 
 
 She moved out of the post-office and entered her 
 carriage like one in a dream, only awakened by 
 the furious hurry into which the driver at once 
 urged the horses. 
 
 " William, not so fast. Drive slowly," she or- 
 dered, and unmindful of the coachman's astonished 
 and injured countenance, relapsed into her reverie. 
 
 Terriss would come. She felt sure of it. He 
 had left Snowdon hurriedly, driven away by her 
 falseness ; but he would come at her entreaty. He 
 would feel so much as that indebted to her. How 
 could she bear it? She loved him. How could 
 she bear to see him and to face his criticism of 
 her? 
 
 Suddenly her eyes brightened. She leaned for- 
 ward and addressed the driver. " Turn back, 
 please," she said. " I wish to go to Mr. Terriss'." 
 
 Arrived at the parsonage, she looked hesitatingly 
 at the darkened front of the house, and then pro- 
 ceeded around to the back door, where she ap- 
 peared, an astonishing vision, to Lucindy. 
 
 "I did not wish to disturb any one by ringing 
 the bell," she announced to the gaping hand- 
 maiden. " How is the minister this morning? " 
 
 " He 's awful dangerous," replied the girl, wag- 
 ging her head solemnly. 
 
 " I wonder if I could see Miss Redmond a mo- 
 ment. I will wait in the dining-room. You go 
 quietly, and if you can get a glimpse of her, tell 
 her I am here." 
 
 Lucindy dropped her dish towel and obeyed.
 
 308 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 People always did obey Elise. She had not waited 
 many minutes when Rebecca appeared, looking 
 more spiritual and transparent than ever, but 
 bringing with her an atmosphere of calm which 
 was grateful to the caller's highly wrought condi- 
 tion of mind. 
 
 The latter advanced and took her sister's hand. 
 " I hear the news is not hopeful this morning," 
 she said. 
 
 Miss Rebecca shook her head. " No," she re- 
 plied softly. 
 
 " I have come to see if you will not take me as 
 assistant, let me bring a bag and stay as many 
 days as I am needed." 
 
 " No, dear child. We don't need you." 
 
 " You look very worn already," said Elise 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Yes, because I have been up all night ; but 
 now Roxana is here, and I am going to sleep." 
 
 " Good little Rebecca," said Elise, looking at 
 her wistfully. " You had better let me get a nurse 
 to do this work for you. I don't know why I 
 should allow you to wear yourself out in this 
 way." 
 
 " I wish to I wish to. Say nothing against 
 it, dear. Have you heard how wonderfully Mrs. 
 Terriss seemed resuscitated by the excitement ? " 
 
 " Yes, the servants were speaking of it this 
 morning. So this illness has solved one of your 
 problems?" 
 
 " Yes, but I am fearful of the effect upon her of
 
 "GO, LITTLE LETTER." 309 
 
 so much effort. It seems to be a relief to her that 
 I am here. It is clearly my duty to stay." 
 
 " Dear, good Mr. Terriss," said Elise. " It is 
 easier to give you to his service than it would be to 
 another's. Do you really think he cannot live ? " 
 
 Such a look as Rebecca gave her out of those 
 gentle eyes ; such a suffering, frightened, patient 
 look! 
 
 Mrs. Redmond was moved to give her a rare 
 embrace. 
 
 " I am keeping you selfishly from your sleep," 
 she said. " You faithful little sister, he will get 
 well if good nursing can compass it. Is there any 
 doctor, anybody, anything, you would like sent 
 for ? Please make use of me, if you can." 
 
 Rebecca wiped away the bright, slow-gathering 
 tears. " You can do nothing, Elise. I have told 
 the doctor to send for any one he will. He knows 
 that no effort is to be spared. Good-by good- 
 
 by-" 
 
 In her carriage again, Mrs. Redmond felt more 
 rueful than before. Rebecca would not have her. 
 That highly respectable avenue of escape was 
 closed to her. Still, escape she must, even if but 
 temporarily, the consequences of that mad letterj 
 that dreadful letter that took so much for 
 granted. 
 
 Another idea occurred to her, a pleasant one, 
 evidently, for she smiled as she gave the driver an 
 order to proceed to Miss Flower's.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 "o HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH?" 
 
 IT is seldom in this world that a deeply coveted 
 good actually comes to one at the time the craving 
 for it is strongest ; yet to Terriss Chester, the man 
 of many disappointments and scant success, such 
 rare fortune was on its way. 
 
 The remainder of the afternoon of the day on 
 which he arrived in Boston was spent in search of 
 a room, in which for few enough dollars per week 
 he might have the privilege of storing his trunk 
 and valise, and, by night, himself. The daylight 
 he proposed to use for some time to come in a more 
 or less declared search for a situation. 
 
 The room found and the hard bed slept in, Ter- 
 riss considered that for the first time in his life he 
 fully realized what an exceptionally lonely and 
 comfortless existence his was. He reviled the lack 
 of adaptability, the reserved and ungenial disposi- 
 tion, which had prevented his finding a single good 
 comrade among the chance acquaintances of his 
 many years of clerkship. He realized that these 
 months under Mrs. Sherritt's conscientious super- 
 vision had given him a taste of home-life which by 
 contrast made his fate more distasteful. Loyal 
 little Phyllis ! She had been a friend, philosopher,
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH!" 311 
 
 and guide not to be despised. Despised indeed ! 
 To be sadly missed and keenly desired. Chester 
 had been too absorbed and confused in his hasty 
 leave-taking of Snowdon to think much about 
 Phyllis ; but sitting on his trunk in his bare room 
 that next morning, he thought of her. The bright 
 sparks in her eyes and the feeling in her voice 
 when she gave him her spontaneous sympathy 
 came back to him now as a sweet remembrance. 
 It was pleasant to think about Phyllis, and it was 
 safe. Some time he meant to go and see her again. 
 He drew a deep sigh, put on his hat, and went out 
 to find a breakfast somewhere, and to study the 
 advertisements in the papers. Some of these he 
 answered during the day, and he called at several 
 business houses to see if there were a chance for 
 him ; but when at night he lit the gas in his unin- 
 viting room, he had found no niche into which he 
 might possibly fit. 
 
 He always remembered that night afterward. 
 It was very hard to get to sleep, and he struggled 
 so not to think about Elise. He tried to amuse 
 himself by recalling Roxana's oddities, and soothed 
 himself with a recollection of Phyllis and her naive 
 girlish friendship. He calculated possible business 
 chances ; debated whether it would not be better 
 for him to leave Boston and to go where there was 
 more room. In vain. Mrs. Redmond was queen 
 of his thoughts that night, and would not be de- 
 posed. He ceased struggling after a time. He 
 deliberately yielded to the pleasing torment, and
 
 312 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 allowed his imagination to dwell upon the tones of 
 her sweet, low-pitched voice, the natural, graceful 
 poses of her royal head, and upon the fiery gold of 
 each silky thread of her hair when the sun blazed 
 full upon it. 
 
 How her throat and arms gleamed from the 
 thin summer fabrics she wore ! How proud and 
 unteuder she was, yet womanly too! A woman 
 who had not yet found the master of her heart, 
 but was sovereign of herself as well as of all around 
 her. 
 
 Yet Phyllis had said that Tony It was strange 
 how little lasting effect that statement of Phyllis's 
 had had. Tony Bellows master of that woman's 
 heart? Impossible. And yet she was going to 
 marry him; Phyllis had said so. She doubtless 
 had her reasons. Tony was good looking and rich, 
 and of course her ardent admirer. All men must 
 be that who had eyes to see and ears to hear. It 
 made small difference to him. It was all over; 
 and in Chester's hopelessness and the blankness of 
 his lot compared with the heaven of his imagina- 
 tion, there seemed to him something not inapt in 
 Miss Rebecca's simile of the black stone by the 
 wayside. 
 
 A clod he felt himself when wearied out he fell 
 asleep ; a clod he felt himself when he awakened 
 in the morning, and heavily rose and started upon 
 another day. While at breakfast, he thought of 
 the bank again. He had so far refrained from vis- 
 iting the scene of his old employment. He did not
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH?" 313 
 
 wish to appear to be thinking of a situation there, 
 and any place connected with Tony had grown ob- 
 noxious to him. Xevertheless, habit is strong, and 
 he inclined to seek the spot of all in town most 
 familiar to him ; where at least there were faces 
 that he knew. Then it suddenly occurred to him 
 that he had left word at the Snowdon post-office to 
 have his mail forwarded to the bank, that being 
 the only address at his command. Here was a 
 reason for carrying out his desire, and shortly after 
 breakfast, he turned his steps toward the familiar 
 locality. 
 
 Chester little suspected that when he crossed the 
 marble threshold of the fine building he had 
 sought, he was leaving his old life behind him. In 
 spite of himself, his sensitive independence suffered 
 in coming here at all. He was so conscious that 
 he would be glad of the opportunity to reenter the 
 old treadmill, that it seemed to him this hankering 
 must be apparent to his fellow employees as soon 
 as they saw him. Consequently his dark face wore 
 an especially forbidding expression, and his tall 
 figure was drawn up in its most unapproachable 
 attitude. 
 
 His pleasant surprises began at the moment of 
 entering the bank door. Some one looked up, and 
 recognizing him, said, " Hello, there 's Chester." 
 A friendly hand grasped his, another and another 
 pleasant nod and kindly word greeted him, and 
 made him feel that after all he was a human being 
 among human beings, and not entirely isolated
 
 314 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 from his kind. Before he realized it, he was talk- 
 ing companionably with his old acquaintances 
 about his illness and recovery, and some twenty 
 minutes passed before he remembered the errand 
 that had brought him. 
 
 " Any mail for me ? " he asked then, and some- 
 body handed him Elise's letter. He took it me- 
 chanically and slipped it into his pocket, quite 
 preoccupied by the fact that his old employer was 
 advancing to shake hands and say a cordial word. 
 Altogether, nothing occurred during his brief visit 
 to annoy him, and he left a few minutes afterward 
 with a glow of pleasant feeling, in which, for the 
 moment, the cold facts of his aimless condition were 
 forgotten. He had not yet had time to recollect 
 that there was no particular objective point toward 
 which his swift footsteps were tending, when, on 
 putting his hand in his pocket, it struck the edge 
 of an envelope. 
 
 " Ah, surely, I have a- letter," he thought, and 
 drew it forth. 
 
 The handwriting was large and unfamiliar, the 
 postmark Snowdon. He tore open the envelope 
 without a suspicion of the writer's identity. 
 
 The opening word, his own name, without prefix, 
 surprised him. He walked slower, as he read, and 
 finally stood still on the sidewalk when slow com- 
 prehension arrived at certainty by means of the 
 initials that signed the page. A hurrying pedes- 
 trian was cleverly collided with and unpleasantly 
 jarred by this sudden standstill of Chester's, and
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH!" 315 
 
 looking angrily at the offender with an impatient 
 exclamation, met the most rapt and ecstatic gaze 
 he had ever seen in a man's face. Chester for- 
 got to apologize ; he smiled vaguely, and moved on. 
 
 He had not comprehended the letter fully yet, 
 and he knew it ; but Elise had written to him, and 
 kindly. He looked about him to see where he 
 was. There was a restaurant a few steps away, 
 and it was not likely there would be many per- 
 sons in it at this hour. He entered, and seated 
 himself at a remote table, rested his arms thereon, 
 and holding the letter firmly with both hands, be- 
 gan to read again. 
 
 A waiter hastened to his side. Terriss looked up 
 at him as though a waiter were the most extrane- 
 ous object possible to imagine in a restaurant. He 
 closed the letter between his hands, too, as though 
 suspicious that the man had designs upon it. 
 
 " Your order, sir," said the functionary. 
 
 " Oh ! " Chester reflected. At last he thought 
 of ice cream, and that being a delicacy abhorrent 
 to him he ordered it, and being left in peace re- 
 turned with epicurean delight to his feast, which he 
 discussed, one phrase at a time. 
 
 " Terriss. She uses my name." Then reading 
 on : " She foregoes her pride. She acknowledges 
 her deception, and regrets it. A great dread re- 
 strained her. A dread of what ? Forgive her, 
 come to her " Chester's breath came fast with 
 excitement. " She thinks I was angry with her, 
 when I was only ashamed, ashamed to have tried
 
 316 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 her patience so far ; to have criticised and blamed 
 her so boorishly. I felt that the best return I 
 could make for her long and courteous toleration 
 was to take myself off. How cold and haughty 
 her face looked, royal always and never so royal 
 as then ! ' You have learned the truth,' it seemed 
 to say, ' and now, surely, you can ask no more of 
 me.' " 
 
 His deeply flushed face bent lower over the let- 
 ter. " Forgive me, come to me, and perhaps you 
 can guess." 
 
 They were sweet, appealing words, and he read 
 them over and over with a deep enjoyment, before 
 his thought expanded to a breadth of comprehen- 
 sion in which their full import could come to him. 
 
 He read still again, " A great dread restrained 
 me. A dread of what ? Forgive me, come to me, 
 and perhaps you can guess." 
 
 Terriss' hand grew unsteady, for a tremendous 
 thought, nay conviction, mastered him. His face 
 grew pale. " My God ! she loves me." Whether 
 the exclamation was mental, or whether he spoke 
 aloud, he did not know, and the name of the Deity 
 was no irreverence on his lips. In his unsuccessful 
 encounters with fate, he had doggedly and stoically 
 pursued his way with little thought of the hand 
 of a ruling Power in his affairs ; but this sublime 
 gift seemed .only possible from an omnipotent 
 Being, and in his exalted gratitude, his first im- 
 pulse was acknowledgment. 
 
 He rose unsteadily and pushed his chair back.
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH?" 317 
 
 The waiter was at his elbow. The untouched ice 
 cream was melting and overflowing the sides of the 
 saucer. 
 
 " There 's your check, sir," observed the watch- 
 ful one, indicating the slip of paper. Chester felt 
 in his vest pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, 
 which he handed the man, and then moved out of 
 the place with a fixed gaze which gave some excuse 
 for the philosophical shake of the head with which 
 the waiter looked after him, his condemnation of 
 Chester's supposed condition being tempered by 
 the fee he had gained. 
 
 There was no doubt in Terriss' mind as to his 
 next move. " Come to me," she had written. Of 
 course he should go. The first train which he could 
 get to Snowdon arrived there at seven o'clock. 
 The time on the way would have seemed very long 
 but for the letter which he held in his hand, and 
 reread a hundred times, folding and placing it in 
 his pocket occasionally, simply for the pleasure of 
 taking it out again. 
 
 When at last his feet touched the platform at 
 Snowdon, it struck him that much time had elapsed 
 since that wretched day when last he saw it, and it 
 seemed, too, that he could not be identical with the 
 hopeless and aimless man who took that morning 
 train with Tony Bellows. 
 
 Tony Bellows ! Chester laughed aloud. It was 
 the first time he had thought of his friend since 
 this wondrous metamorphosis of the whole world. 
 
 He strode alon the road to Beech Knoll at a
 
 318 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 swinging pace, luxuriating as he went in conjuring 
 up different possible images of Elise as he should 
 find her. Whether indoors or out, occupied or 
 idle, mattered little to her lover, so that he saw her 
 at last, and received proof from her sweet lips and 
 eyes that he was awake and sane. 
 
 He passed Mrs. Sherritt's domain with a glance, 
 and hurried on. Beech Knoll at last. He entered 
 the gates, went up the avenue, and approached the 
 piazza. No sign yet of his lady. He mounted the 
 steps and rang the bell with an eager hand. 
 
 A maid opened the door and gave him a smile 
 of recognition. 
 
 " I should like to see Mrs. Redmond," he said 
 confidently. 
 
 " She 's not at home, sir. I 'm sorry." The 
 gratuitous addition was doubtless elicited by the 
 change in the visitor's face. The maid had always 
 considered Chester a handsome gentleman, and 
 when she opened the door just now, she had men- 
 tally remarked that he was handsomer than ever. 
 
 " Where is Mrs. Redmond ? I will find her." 
 
 " Oh, she 's left town, sir." 
 
 " Left town ! " echoed Chester blankly. " Where 
 has she gone ? " 
 
 " We don't know, any of us. She made up her 
 mind suddenly, and went off." 
 
 " I would like to see Miss Rebecca, then." 
 
 The maid shook her head. " She 's at the par- 
 sonage, helping with Mr. Terriss. He 's very sick, 
 you know, sir."
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH ?" 319 
 
 " Oh, yes." Chester reflected a moment. 
 " Thank you," he said, then turned away. 
 
 His disappointment was great, but there were 
 deeps to his happiness which could bear this 
 draught upon it and leave him blissful still. The 
 letter lay warm against his heart, and an idea 
 came to him at which he smiled meditatively. 
 Elise had written impulsively, then, frightened at 
 her own temerity, had run away. Such an action 
 was not like Mrs. Redmond, to be sure, but- then 
 neither was the letter, and the letter was a fact. 
 He put his hand in his breast pocket to touch it 
 and make sure. 
 
 "I will go and see Phyllis," he thought. It 
 would be a real pleasure to see Phyllis ; but at 
 Mrs. Sherritt's a lesser disappointment awaited 
 him. Ring, knock, and wait as he might, no sign 
 of life could be evoked from the silent house. 
 
 " Is the town bewitched ? " he thought. " But 
 I must not leave without going to inquire for cou- 
 sin Philip, and there I shall see Miss Rebecca." 
 
 Arrived at the parsonage, he found a written 
 card tacked up at the entrance, which warned all 
 persons not to ring, but to go around to the back 
 door. 
 
 Chester followed the latter injunction, and ab- 
 sent-mindedly forgetting to knock, pushed open 
 the kitchen door. He was greeted by a stifled 
 shriek from Lucindy, who, sitting in the shadows, 
 was greatly startled by the sudden appearance of 
 the tall stranger.
 
 320 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " I beg pardon. I should have knocked. I 
 came to inquire for Mr. Terriss." 
 
 Lucindy, who had retreated into a corner, came 
 slowly forward at this placable address. 
 
 *' Oh, I 'm that nervous," she gasped ; " what 
 with folks out o' their heads, and dyin' in every 
 room in the house, I jump at a shadder. I did n't 
 see 't was you, Mr. Chester." 
 
 " Is Mr. Terriss dying, do you say ? " asked 
 Chester, shocked. 
 
 " He 's dreadful bad," averred the girl ; " and 
 now Mrs. Terriss, she 's got an awful fever, and 
 we 're scared about her too." Lucindy wiped her 
 eyes. 
 
 " I am very sorry to hear this," said Chester. 
 " I wish there were something I could do." 
 
 " They 've sent to Boston for a nurse," replied 
 Lucindy, shaking her head. " Miss Rebecca and 
 Mrs. Sherritt, they 've got their hands too full 
 now." 
 
 " I suppose I would better not ask to see Miss 
 Rebecca," remarked Chester. 
 
 " I don't believe she 'd come down," replied Lu- 
 cindy dolefully. " Mrs. Redmond, her sister-in- 
 law, was here yesterday " 
 
 "What? Yesterday?" 
 
 " Yes ; an' Miss Rebecca could n't see her ; an' 
 Mrs. Redmond she had me give her a paper an' 
 pencil, an' wrote her a note. I can give you one," 
 suggested Lucindy, " if you want to write." 
 
 Chester reflected a moment. How narrowly he
 
 "0 HEART! ARE YOU GREAT ENOUGH?" 321 
 
 had missed finding Elise ! but he would not trouble 
 Miss Rebecca at such a time. 
 
 " No," he answered. " Just tell Miss Rebecca 
 that I called to inquire, and give her my sympathy. 
 Good-evening," and Terriss moved out of the door 
 and down the uncertain back steps. He could not 
 get back to Boston to-night. There was nothing 
 to do but to find a supper and a bed at the Snow- 
 don House, and perhaps in the morning he would 
 return to the parsonage and get Elise's address 
 from Miss Rebecca. 
 
 Further meditation, however, in his luridly-pa- 
 pered room in the country hotel determined him 
 not to do this. Now that his ideas were calmer, he 
 saw matters in a clearer and more comprehensive 
 light. The difference between his own and Elise's 
 financial position, which had utterly faded from his 
 mind, recurred to him. It would be better, before 
 he followed her, to have some occupation in view. 
 He sat iu one of the small, uncomfortable chairs 
 that furnished his room, and thought for hours, 
 rose-tinted, thoughts, of the past and future. He 
 reconsidered the episode of Elise's offer of the 
 money, with tender leniency. Only the highest, 
 most womanly, of motives, of course, could have 
 influenced her. Shame upon him, that he could 
 ever have believed otherwise. He dwelt with gen- 
 tle remembrance on the memory of Aaron Beck- 
 with, and, for the first time in fifteen years, called 
 him " father " in thought. The autocratic man 
 would once have been very happy to foresee this.
 
 322 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 How lovely Elise had looked that day in the grove, 
 when she defended her childish self with such spirit 
 and compassion ! Terriss chafed in self-condem- 
 nation, as he recalled his own observations ; but 
 he took out his letter once more, the panacea for 
 all wounds henceforth. 
 
 He forgot that he was thirty-five, and had never 
 been given to sentiment, and he fervently kissed 
 the paper where her hand had rested, and slept 
 with it beneath his pillow that night.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ANYWHERE ! ANYWHERE ! 
 
 ON the morning, three days ago, when Terriss 
 Chester bade good-by to his entertainers, they 
 stood on the steps to see the last of him. 
 
 *' Well, that chapter 's ended," remarked Rox- 
 ana. It was her sole comment on the boarder's 
 departure, spoken with a comfortable consciousness 
 of having done her full duty by him. 
 
 " It was a very pleasant chapter," returned 
 Phyllis, looking after Jake Harvey's conveyance 
 with a disconsolate little face. 
 
 " Yes, he did very well," said Roxana. " I 'in 
 sorry he could n't stay longer, for every little helps 
 us to make both ends meet. Now, Phyllis, let 's 
 make short work o' the dishes, for I 've got to 
 hurry to the parsonage and see how things are 
 goin'." 
 
 " Go right away, if you like. I will do every- 
 thing." 
 
 Roxana regarded her hesitatingly. The gravity 
 of the girl's face troubled her a little. 
 
 " Maybe she has been a little touched by him," 
 she thought. " Girls will take freaks. Maybe 
 I've had about enough board money from Mr 
 Chester, after all."
 
 324 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " All right," she returned. " You look some 
 down in the mouth, and it '11 stir you up and make 
 you feel better to do some extra work. Nothin' 
 like it for the blues." 
 
 " Roxana is a good woman," thought Phyllis, 
 left alone, and beginning to clear away the break- 
 fast things. " I wonder if I shall ever come to the 
 time when I shall think as little about self as she 
 does." 
 
 All was emptiness to Phyllis this morning. She 
 no longer desired to go to Beech Knoll, even if she 
 were invited. She felt that there was nothing to 
 look forward to, nothing to mark the monotonous, 
 uninteresting days ; no spice in Eoxana's society, 
 truly and gratefully as she loved her. There would 
 be no more exchange of thoughts with Terriss 
 Chester, no more interviews this she hoped, at 
 least with Mr. Bellows. 
 
 " If I saw him coming in that gate now, I would 
 run out by the back door and hide, rather than 
 meet him," she thought ; then she gazed a little at 
 the gate, but happily no Tony appeared to drive 
 her to that extreme of inhospitality. 
 
 " To think that he should be Mrs. Redmond's 
 choice ; " thus her musing ran as she moved into 
 the kitchen, and filling the dish-pan from the 
 steaming kettle, began the serious business of the 
 morning. " I have heard her say she is older than 
 he. No, I could n't do that," shaking her head 
 virtuously. " It is a very strange choice for Mrs. 
 Redmond." Here Phyllis heaved a sigh. "I
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 325 
 
 shall see no more of her, of course. No doubt they 
 will be married soon, and then they will have as 
 little use for their native land as other bridal pairs 
 with money enough to leave it." 
 
 Phyllis lost herself a moment in reverie, while 
 she turned a goblet over and over in the hot water. 
 At last two great drops gathered in her eyes, and 
 fell with a splash into the steaming pan. " What 
 have I to live for ? What can I do in my poverty 
 and obscurity ? Why was I born to vegetate in 
 this little forgotten corner of the world ?" 
 
 It was the climax of all her vague longings and 
 discontent, and for a moment she yielded to it with 
 abandon ; but Dr. Joy's and Roxana's love and 
 labor had not been quite in vain. There was a 
 substratum of solid sense in Phyllis's nature which 
 revolted against such cowardly surrender. She 
 set her lips determinedly, held back the glasses 
 with one hand, and with the other tipped the dish- 
 pan until all the tear-mingled water had run away ; 
 then refilled the pan, washed, scalded, and wiped 
 the dishes after Roxana's most approved method, 
 and by the time the last platter had been set in its 
 place on the shelf, she had regained her poise and 
 her self-respect. 
 
 " I will not be dependent upon any one," she 
 thought, her eyes shining and her cheeks glowing. 
 " I am Phyllis Flower, young, strong, and well. 
 I am glad I am alive, and I am going to enjoy my- 
 self every minute, whether I 'm sweeping a room, 
 or reading a book, or taking a walk."
 
 326 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 A sudden thought made her cheeks flush. " That 
 is all I look out for, that I shall enjoy myself. 
 Roxana is n't so, nor Miss Rebecca. Never mind, 
 I won't think, nor dissect myself. When I am 
 old as they, perhaps I shall be as good. For the 
 present, all I know is that I will not long to see 
 Mr. Chester, nor Mrs. Redmond, nor wish to leave 
 Snowdon, nor wish to have money. In short, my 
 lot is precisely what I would like to have it." 
 
 Phyllis gave a little independent toss of her 
 head as she finished her soliloquy, and set about 
 restoring order in the boarder's deserted room. 
 
 She was still occupied in washing crockery and 
 brushing furniture, when, happening to stand near 
 an open window, she saw Mrs. Redmond's carriage 
 stop at the door. For an individual whose lot left 
 nothing to be desired, and whose state of mind was 
 one of abounding content, Phyllis felt an astonish- 
 ingly eager start of pleasant excitement. 
 
 She threw down brush and duster, and ran down- 
 stairs to open the door. Halfway down, she recol- 
 lected herself, and changed her headlong rush into 
 a subdued walk. " I am perfectly independent of 
 everybody," she reminded herself, and with a 
 strange pang she remembered, too, that Mrs. Red- 
 mond was engaged now, and had probably come 
 only to apologize further for the disappointment 
 of yesterday. By the time the front door was 
 opened, it was a sedate and quiet Phyllis who 
 greeted the caller decorously, and invited her into 
 the parlor.
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE.' 327 
 
 "I am glad to find you," said Elise. "I did 
 not wish to be thwarted any farther this morning ; " 
 and she laughed with a bright, restless air, unusual 
 to her. 
 
 " Yes, I am all alone to-day," replied Phyllis, 
 " Roxana is devoting herself to Mr. Terriss." 
 " Sister Rebecca, too," returned Elise, becoming 
 grave. " Poor man, I fear there is little hope, ac- 
 cording to what Rebecca told me this morning." 
 
 " His wife will die, if he does," said Phyllis. 
 
 " It is not so easy to die," returned Elise skep- 
 tically. " So far, his illness acts like a tonic upon 
 her." 
 
 " It is all terrible," said Phyllis, feeling pale and 
 cold, and wondering why she had not thought more 
 already about the sorrow at the parsonage. She 
 took a melancholy satisfaction now in emphasiz- 
 ing it, 
 
 Elise looked at her steadily. "Do you know, 
 Phyllis, what I do with trouble when it is beyond 
 my power to alleviate it ? " 
 
 " Bear it, I suppose." 
 
 " Oh, no indeed. I run away from it." 
 
 Phyllis smiled faintly. " Lucky you, then." 
 
 The color showed suddenly in Mrs. Redmond's 
 cheeks. " Mr. Chester has gone, has n't he ? " she 
 said abruptly. " I heard it in the village. It re- 
 lieves me for some reasons." 
 
 *' You need not have feared his troubling you, if 
 he had stayed," burst forth Phyllis, becoming 
 warmly defiant
 
 328 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Her companion's face looked very girlish. w O 
 Phyllis, did he tell you ? " she ejaculated, leaning 
 forward with a self-forgetful eagerness of attitude 
 and expression which considerably impressed her 
 companion. 
 
 " He told me he could not stay any longer," re- 
 turned the girl slowly. 
 
 Elise leaned back, and the light died from her 
 face. Phyllis's mystified look proved more clearly 
 than her words that she knew nothing. 
 
 " I dare say, then, Tony had him for company 
 to town," she went on quickly. 
 
 " Has he gone too ? " 
 
 " Yes, very sensibly. I kept my room this 
 morning, and he fled. Very likely I should still 
 be an interesting invalid, only, as I say, I made up 
 my mind suddenly that Beech Knoll, even Snow- 
 don itself, was overhung with trouble, and I would 
 run away from it." 
 
 " You are really ill," said Phyllis, looking at 
 her closely. 
 
 " No ; only I did not sleep much last night, and 
 my little attack of yesterday has left its traces. I 
 went to Rebecca to see if I could be allowed to 
 help nurse Mr. Terriss ; but she promptly vetoed 
 that plan so now for my alternative ; and I want 
 you to run away with me, Phyllis." 
 
 " Me ? Oh ! " exclaimed Phyllis, alert and 
 alight at once. 
 
 " You would like to ? " 
 
 " But how could I leave? "
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 329 
 
 Phyllis's hands were unconsciously clasped. Mrs. 
 Redmond was much amused by her radiant face. 
 
 " Where should we go to ? " the girl asked 
 breathlessly. 
 
 " I don't know," replied Elise, " do you ? " 
 
 " No, unless Boston." 
 
 "No indeed, not Boston," returned Mrs. Red- 
 mond emphatically. 
 
 " Then I don't know, either," said Phyllis, smil- 
 ing. " Do you think Roxana will let me go ? " she 
 added eagerly. 
 
 " Why, you delicious little goose, what authority 
 has Roxaua over you? When she returns this 
 afternoon, simply say to her, ' As long as I cannot 
 help you at the parsonage, Roxana, I am going 
 away on a little trip with Mrs. Redmond.' " 
 
 " Oh ! " exclaimed Phyllis, catching her breath. 
 " I have n't nice enough clothes, except my ten- 
 nis suit." 
 
 "You can almost live in that wherever we go." 
 
 Phyllis's eyes danced gleefully. " I must con- 
 fess, I felt a little lonely this morning. I expected 
 to miss Mr. Chester very much." 
 
 " He did not expect to leave so soon, did he ? " 
 
 " No ; he went " The girl became suddenly 
 grave. " He went because he could n't stay." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed, not very merrily. " An 
 excellent reason, really." 
 
 Phyllis eyed her somewhat resentfully. " He 
 went because he was very unhappy," she said dis- 
 tinctly.
 
 830 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " He went because he was very angry," returned 
 Elise, her heart beating fast. " You did not read 
 him aright, that is all." Then she added gravely, 
 " Mr. Chester is deeply offended with me." 
 
 " You misjudge him," returned Phyllis warmly. 
 " He is far from everything egotistical and narrow- 
 minded." 
 
 " Yes, I think that too. He is right to be indig- 
 nant with me." 
 
 Phyllis looked at the speaker in surprise at this 
 humility. " I cannot see it so," she returned. 
 " Had you not a perfect right to prefer Mr. Bel- 
 lows?" 
 
 Elise smiled. " You misunderstand me. I 
 should be very sorry to have you suppose that I 
 think Mr. Chester jealous of my friendship for 
 Tony." 
 
 Her friendship. Phyllis thought this an odd 
 way to speak of her fiance. 
 
 "I cannot explain to you just now Mr. Ches- 
 ter's ground for displeasure," continued Mrs. Red 
 mond. Were it not for the letter she had written, 
 she might have confided in her friend ; but the 
 reaction from that rash act was an impulse to lock 
 her secret closely in her breast. 
 
 Phyllis's cheeks began to redden in mental de- 
 fense of Terriss. At last her feelings drove her 
 to expression. " What you take for displeasure 
 is something very different, Mrs. Redmond," she 
 said boldly. " Mr. Chester and I have had such a 
 good time together admiring you ! "
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 331 
 
 Mrs. Redmond flushed suddenly and seemed to 
 find nothing amusing in this naive flattery. The 
 questioning, expectant look she bent upon her com- 
 panion gave the latter courage to proceed. 
 
 " I imagine he did not realize his own feelings 
 until yesterday at your house. I felt so sorry for 
 him last evening when he told me he must go. I 
 feared you had been unkind to him ; but when I 
 told him I could n't help it, Mrs. Redmond 
 I told him I wished he could have succeeded in- 
 stead of Mr. Bellows, and he replied that he 
 thanked heaven he had not tried, I " 
 
 Elise, sitting close by the girl, seized her wrist. 
 " How did you dare ! " she exclaimed, her eyes 
 flashing with indignation. 
 
 Phyllis was frightened, and wished with a beat- 
 ing heart that she had not spoken. 
 
 "You did very, very wrong," said Mrs. Red- 
 mond, making an evident effort to control herself. 
 
 " I think not," returned the gii'l with desperate 
 courage. " He was wretched. There was no one 
 else to say a kind word to him." 
 
 " You made a great mistake. He was not un- 
 happy. He was angry. Did his reply not en- 
 lighten you ? Thank heaven he had not tried ! " 
 Mrs. Redmond repeated this in a hard voice, and 
 her blue-gray eyes flashed angry fire upon Phyllis, 
 who quailed, and wished with her whole heart that 
 she had not taken up the cudgels for Mr. Chester. 
 " Do you say you thought me engaged to Tony 
 Bellows?"
 
 332 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Ye - es," stammered Phyllis, looking at her 
 friend with fascinated, frightened eyes. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond gave a short laugh and loosened 
 her hold upon the girl's wrist. " Let this teach 
 you a lesson, Phyllis. I am not engaged to Mr. 
 Bellows. You were very foolish to suppose it, and 
 wicked to speak of it." 
 
 " He told me he was going to " began the 
 girl. 
 
 Her companion set her teeth, and muttered some 
 epithet which it was happy for Tony he did not 
 hear. 
 
 Phyllis looked at her reproachfully. " He held 
 your hand," she said, catching her breath ; " I saw 
 him kiss it. He lifted you out of your chair," 
 she caught her breath again, " he called you 
 Elise," she sobbed, and burying her face suddenly 
 in her hands, the girl broke into stifled weeping. 
 
 " Phyllis, Phyllis, don't ! " exclaimed Mrs. Red- 
 mond. 
 
 Excited though she was, she felt condemned 
 for her own harshness. She laid her gloved hand 
 on the other's arm. " Please listen to me," she 
 said. " Don't cry." 
 
 Phyllis was excessively ashamed of her weakness, 
 and not a little angry with her guest for causing 
 her to make such an exhibition. She controlled 
 herself as quickly as possible. 
 
 " I did not think of making you cry," continued 
 Mrs. Redmond, when her companion was quiet. 
 " It is always extremely annoying to me to know
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 333 
 
 that my affairs are talked over by any one, and 
 perhaps I am somewhat arrogant in expecting 
 them to be more sacred from discussion than those 
 of other people. I am really sorry to have hurt 
 your feelings. You will forgive me, and think no 
 more of it, won't you ? " 
 
 She took Phyllis's hands, and looked at her with 
 an expression more of kindly authority than of 
 supplication. 
 
 " I promise not to scold you in No Man's Land, 
 or wherever we find ourselves a few days from 
 now." 
 
 " Oh, I think perhaps we had better reconsider 
 that," said Phyllis unsteadily. 
 
 " Now, Phyllis, don't be resentful. You would 
 not be, if you suspected what a bitter experience 
 underlies all this annoyance of mine. Mr. Chester 
 is angry with me justly enough from his stand- 
 point, so you see it was somewhat trying to me 
 to learn that you had been wishing to give me to 
 him." 
 
 There was simply no resisting the smile with 
 which Elise added this. 
 
 " Then does n't it matter that I made him be- 
 lieve you were going to marry Mr. Bellows ? " 
 asked Phyllis, mollified but doubtful. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond blushed desperately. She was 
 thinking how soon Terriss would know that report 
 to be false. 
 
 " Nothing matters," she said hastily, " so that we 
 go away quickly. I am a woman of one idea, you
 
 334 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 see. Could you be ready in time for the early 
 morning train to-morrow ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, really I 'm afraid I could n't," said 
 Phyllis, dismayed at the idea. 
 
 " The next morning at farthest, then," said Mrs. 
 Redmond, rising. " You will hear from me to- 
 morrow again." 
 
 Chester would hardly report in person so soon 
 as to-morrow, even if all were as she wished it. 
 At any rate, the risk must be run. She wanted 
 Phyllis very much as companion and shield from 
 her own thoughts, and she would wait for her. 
 
 Late that afternoon, when Roxaua returned, 
 Phyllis had some ado to draw her face into a suit- 
 able expression to greet the tired look the house- 
 keeper had brought from the parsonage. There 
 was no especial change in Mr. Terriss' condition, 
 so Roxana said. 
 
 She seemed disinclined to talk, as though the 
 sorrow she had left still weighed upon her spirit. 
 
 Phyllis insisted upon her remaining seated in a 
 rocking-chair while she made tea and set the sup- 
 per-table. She found it somewhat difficult to 
 approach the subject uppermost in her mind, and 
 uncomfortable misgivings assailed her as to the 
 propriety of leaving Roxana to come home tired 
 to an empty house after her fatiguing neighborly 
 offices. Certainly no such airy announcement as 
 Mrs. Redmond had suggested was possible now. 
 
 " And how have you got on all day by your- 
 self ? " inquired Roxana, her head leaning back
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 335 
 
 against the old chintz cushion, while she watched 
 the girl's neat movements about the table with a 
 sense of satisfaction. 
 
 " Oh, I have accomplished a good deal. "When 
 you go upstairs to the spare room, you will believe 
 Mr. Chester's visit to have been a dream. Mrs. 
 Redmond has been here to see me, too." 
 
 " H'm. What 'd she have to say ? " 
 
 " She thinks of going away for a trip." 
 
 " Where now ? " inquired Roxana dryly. 
 
 " She is n't sure." 
 
 " H'm. Anythin' so she keeps goin', I s'pose. 
 A pity she could n't change places with the Wan- 
 derin' Jew." 
 
 This was not encouraging. Phyllis had thought 
 her request well-nigh introduced, but now it looked 
 as remote as ever. 
 
 " I wish there was something I could do to help 
 you, Roxana, so you wouldn't get so tired," she re- 
 marked. 
 
 " Oh, a good healthy tired ain't anythin' to be 
 afraid of," returned Mrs. Sherritt. " I 'm bein' 
 lazy now just because it 's a pleasure to see you so 
 handy about things, Phyllis. The only thing that 
 bothers me is, I s'pose 1 11 have to do night work 
 before this sickness o' Mr. Terriss' ends one way 
 or the other. I don't want you should stay alone 
 in the house nights. I was calc'latin' to ask Miss 
 Rebecca if you could n't sleep awhile at Beech 
 Knoll. I guess you could anyway, even if Mrs. 
 Redmond does go traipsin' off."
 
 336 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Phyllis paused with the bread-knife halfway 
 down through the loaf, and the bright, eager look 
 returned to her face. 
 
 " Oh, Roxana, she has invited me to go with 
 her ! " she said. 
 
 "I want to know," returned Mrs. Sherritt. 
 " Why did n't you say so ? " 
 
 " It seemed selfish to go and leave you to get 
 your own tea." 
 
 " And you want to go, I see," said Roxana, smil- 
 ing musingly. " You 're just dyin' to accept an 
 invitation to go off to nowhere in partic'lar." 
 
 Phyllis did not reply, but she looked question- 
 ingly at the housekeeper, and the knife remained 
 motionless in the loaf. 
 
 " For how long, I wonder ? " asked Roxana. 
 
 " I don't know. I think not for long. Would 
 you care, Roxana ? " 
 
 " Oh, you can go. You 're under foot just now," 
 was the careless response ; but that evening, after 
 the tea things were put away, Mrs. Sherritt ap- 
 proached the girl and gave her a long hug. Rox- 
 ana's caresses were at best somewhat trying to 
 endure, her bony structure not being, one might 
 say, comfortably upholstered ; but Phyllis knew 
 what they meant, and bore them when they came 
 not only with good grace but appreciatively. Mrs. 
 Sherritt might declare carelessly that she was en- 
 tirely superfluous, but Phyllis well knew that the 
 very light of day would be clouded for the good 
 woman until her return.
 
 ANYWHERE! ANYWHERE! 337 
 
 " I 'm goin' to run over to the parsonage once 
 more, Phyllis, before I go to bed. I won't be 
 long. I 'm kinder uneasy not to see 'em fixed for 
 the night," she said, releasing her. 
 
 " But it is raining, Roxana, and dark as pitch." 
 " Oh, I '11 take the lantern. You go to bed, if 
 you want to. I '11 take the key to the back door. 
 Good-by till I see you again."
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 OUT OF THE WORLD. 
 
 ON the morning of the same day, when Roxana 
 reached the parsonage she had found matters in a 
 sad condition. The sick man's ravings continued, 
 and his wife could not be kept from his side. 
 Mrs. Sherritt, when she entered the room, saw 
 Mrs. Terriss, deathly pale, at the foot of the bed, 
 her great burning eyes fixed on her husband's face. 
 Miss Redmond was moving about noiselessly as a 
 spirit, fulfilling the various requirements of her 
 office, and Roxana looked at her in amazement, 
 and with some remorse at the thought that she 
 had coerced her into a position of such unique dis- 
 comfort and difficulty. 
 
 " This is martyrdom," she thought, as the plead- 
 ing voice of the minister murmured on in words 
 which, if Miss Redmond were not become wholly 
 indifferent, must pierce her soul, while the wife 
 listened, bending her searching glance first on her 
 husband, then furtively on his nurse. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt determined to bring the dreadful 
 scene to an end. "Mrs. Terriss," she said, in a 
 lowered voice, coming close to her, " I 'm here to 
 give you and Miss Rebecca a rest. You must 
 both go out of here now and lay down."
 
 OUT OF THE WORLD. 339 
 
 "Miss Rebecca can go," returned the other 
 quietly. 
 
 Roxana exchanged a few words with Miss Red- 
 mond, then the latter left the room. 
 
 Mrs. Terriss looked at Roxana with a smile 
 which sent an unpleasant creeping sensation down 
 the latter' s spine. 
 
 "You think still this raving is nonsense, as 
 meaningless as the wind that blows ? " she asked, 
 pointing at her husband. 
 
 " Come, now, Mrs. Terriss, you 're tired out," 
 said Roxana soothingly. " Do hear to me and go 
 and lay down ! " 
 
 " No, this is not meaningless. Philip is saying 
 what he feels, perhaps for the first time in twenty 
 years," continued the other unheedingly, her scorch- 
 ing gaze on the unconscious face. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt had never suspected that she pos- 
 sessed nerves, but her hands grew unsteady now. 
 
 " Dear me," she returned coaxingly. " Don't it 
 prove you 're all wrong that Miss Rebecca can 
 stand it ? Look how calm and collected she is 
 the whole time." 
 
 " I do not know if she loves him," returned the 
 quiet, cold voice, " but he loves her." 
 
 " Now Mrs. Terriss, you 're just overstrained. 
 Look back along the years. What have Mr. Ter- 
 riss' actions been ? What has he done ? " 
 
 The other nodded slowly. " I know what he 
 has done, know it for the first time. I know 
 I know."
 
 340 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 "You must go and rest," said Roxana desper- 
 ately. " You 've got to do it. You '11 be down 
 sick, too." 
 
 The great black eyes rolled heavily toward her. 
 
 " I will go," was the quiet reply. 
 
 Roxana led her into the adjoining room. 
 
 " Will you lie on the lounge ? " 
 
 " Anywhere." 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt covered her carefully, and then 
 returned to the sick-room, a painful pulling at her 
 heartstrings. 
 
 After an absence of several hours, Miss Red- 
 mond came back. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt accosted her anxiously. 
 
 " You have n't had rest enough. Go back, Miss 
 Rebecca. Sleep longer, if you can. I 'm goin' to 
 stay here all day. The night 's enough for you. 
 I '11 relieve you o' that work, later." 
 
 Rebecca, after some demur, obeyed, and Roxana 
 all the afternoon passed in and out between Mr. 
 Terriss' room and the sitting-room where his wife 
 lay. Mrs. Terriss did not ask again to visit her 
 husband. Once when Roxana went out she found 
 her standing by the window, where a slow driz- 
 zling rain was beginning to beat against the pane. 
 
 " How long the day is," she said, turning her 
 colorless face toward Mrs. Sherritt. " It seems as 
 though night would never come." 
 
 " You can't sleep in the daytime ? " asked Rox- 
 ana kindly. " O' course you sleep better at 
 night?"
 
 OUT OF THE WORLD. 341 
 
 Mrs. Terriss turned back to the window. " 1 
 shall to-night," she replied. 
 
 It was five o'clock when Roxana at last gave 
 back her charge into Miss Redmond's hands. She 
 left the parsonage with great reluctance. It seemed 
 a terrible thing to leave Rebecca to work and en- 
 dure alone. Mrs. Sherritt was thankful that the 
 latter did not seem to suspect Mrs. Terriss' changed 
 state. 
 
 Roxana ate her supper and had her talk with 
 Phyllis, but she could not put from her mind the 
 despairing sorrow and the unmurmuring martyr- 
 dom she had witnessed to-day. Her uneasiness 
 grew instead of abating, and she felt that she 
 could not go to rest to-night without one more 
 sight of the arrangements at the parsonage ; so, as 
 was said above, she lighted her lantern, for the 
 evening was dark and still rainy, and set forth. 
 
 There was a desolate chill in the air as of un- 
 timely autumn, and Roxana wished she had worn 
 a warmer wrap, but she moved sturdily along to 
 hasten her circulation, and began to calculate the 
 advisability of a stove in Mr. Terriss' room. 
 
 When more than half the distance to the par- 
 sonage had been traversed, suddenly a muffled 
 figure approached her from the darkness, made 
 blacker by the circle of light around her own feet. 
 
 " Could you tell me," it said breathlessly, 
 " the way to the bridge, what they call the old 
 bridge ? " 
 
 " There 's quite a number o' bridges," replied
 
 342 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Eoxana, startled. " You ain't more 'n a block 
 from one o' them now, right down that street 
 there. Did you want to cross to Highfield? be- 
 cause if you do " 
 
 But she was talking to the heavy, rain-beaten 
 air. The shrouded figure, with a stifled cry, had 
 sped away in the dai'kness. 
 
 Roxana stood still, mystified and amazed. 
 " What poor crazy thing was that? " she queried, 
 starting again on her walk. " I guess, by the way 
 she cried out, I scared her more 'n she did me." 
 
 Her sturdy, even tread had carried her several 
 rods when, cogitating on her surprising encounter, 
 a horrible thought suddenly struck her. 
 
 Many years had elapsed since Mrs. Sherritt 
 had supposed she could run ; but she turned and 
 ran now, ran with the nightmare sensation of one 
 in a dream, who feels, despite all strain and effort, 
 that he is making no progress. Turning down 
 the street she had indicated to the stranger, she 
 stumbled headlong over the road, swinging her 
 lantern aloft to fling the light ahead. Joy ! She 
 saw the fluttering cloak just approaching the 
 bridge. She strained every nerve, and with a last 
 leap caught the figure in her arms. It turned and 
 struggled with her, struggled with wonderful, 
 desperate strength. Roxana's breath was gone. 
 The lantern fell to the ground and rolled on its side. 
 She contented herself with merely hanging her 
 weight upon the miserable creature, who beat and 
 buffeted her to get free. At last, exhausted, the
 
 OUT OF THE WORLD. 343 
 
 stranger ceased her efforts. " How dare you stop 
 me!" she gasped with laboring breath. "Let 
 me go." 
 
 " Never, Mrs. Terriss, never. Thank God ! " 
 panted Roxana. 
 
 " O cruel, wicked woman ! " cried the other, with 
 a faint, last struggle ; " why should you thwart 
 me? I have only this left." 
 
 " You have all eternity," exclaimed Roxana. 
 " You can't die even if you want to. Throw your- 
 self into the river, and what then? A change o' 
 worlds. You '11 have the same heart, the same 
 mind, the same self there as here. You would n't 
 go uninvited into a lady's parlor. Would you 
 force yourself unasked into the presence o' the 
 King o' kings ? O Mrs. Terriss, thank God with 
 me for his mercy in sendin' me to save you. For 
 Christ's sake, see the truth. You ain't through 
 yet with what 's been set for you to do. When 
 you are, He '11 take you. Poor dear ! poor dear ! 
 Things would n't be made plain if you went now. 
 Wait for your time, and they will be." 
 
 With a bitter groan the wretched woman hid 
 her face on Roxana's shoulder, and the latter 
 caressed her with whole-souled loving-kindness. 
 
 "You're chilled to the bone and shiverin'. 
 Come home, and we '11 fix you warm and comfort- 
 able. Your head 's kinder turned with all you 've 
 been through, but it '11 come out all right. We 
 have n't taken enough care of you. You 've got 
 lots o' good friends, and plenty to live for."
 
 344 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Roxana picked up the lantern, and with one arm 
 around the trembling form, the two began their 
 difficult progress. After a long and weary effort, 
 they reached the house, and then Mrs. Sherritt 
 commenced her active labors. She actually carried 
 Mrs. Terriss up the narrow staircase, and calling 
 Lucindy to bring hot mustard water, made up a 
 Tbed with well-aired sheets, and soon placed the 
 sufferer within. Mrs. Terris's teeth chattered in 
 a severe chill, and Roxana was thankful to remem- 
 ber that Phyllis was going away, for the parson- 
 age now needed another pair of hands and feet. 
 She gave Lucindy explicit directions, and then 
 went down to the minister's room, where all was 
 still. 
 
 Rebecca was sitting at the foot of the bed, her 
 head leaning against the framework. She looked 
 up at the slight sound Mrs. Sherritt made, and 
 came noiselessly out where she beckoned. 
 
 " He is quiet," she said. " What has been go- 
 ing on ? I heard Lucindy talking. How did you 
 happen to come back ? " 
 
 " I wanted to see that you was all fixed for the 
 night, and it 's a good thing I did, for Mrs. Terriss 
 has had a pretty bad chill. I 've fixed her up- 
 stairs. I think she 's asleep now. Have the doc- 
 tor see her when he comes. I '11 get over as soon 
 as I can to-morrow. Good-night, Miss Rebecca, 
 these are times, ain't they ! " 
 
 She took Miss Rebecca's hands in her hard ones 
 that still trembled. Rebecca seemed to her like
 
 OUT OF THE WORLD. 345 
 
 some high saint in her unconsciousness of the 
 stormy passions that had seethed near her all the 
 day. The latter returned Mrs. Sherritt's look 
 earnestly. 
 
 " Times that are only to be lived through by 
 looking upward," she replied. " I remind myself 
 often of those lines we always liked, Roxaua. You 
 remember, 
 
 ' ' With us is prayer, 
 And joy, and strength, and courage are -with Thee.' "
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 NATURE AND ART. 
 
 PHYLLIS waked the next morning to a conscious- 
 ness that something delightful was in the air. For 
 a confused moment, Mr. Bellows' smiling image 
 audaciously intruded itself upon her attention. 
 She considered it a moment with a new tolerance ; 
 then, in a flash, she remembered. Mrs. Redmond 
 had invited her away, and she was going. If the 
 idea had seemed pleasant when it was first sug- 
 gested, now it was entrancing. Phyllis thought it 
 was really wonderful what a load was lifted from 
 her mind by the discovery that her charming 
 friend was not going to make so unsuitable a 
 match. 
 
 Soon after breakfast, Mrs. Redmond's coachman 
 drove up in a buggy, bringing a note which sunv 
 moned the girl to Beech Knoll, and she hurriedly 
 prepared herself for the drive. 
 
 " Keep your head steady, Phyllis," warned Rox- 
 ana. " Like as not Mrs. Redmond 's given up the 
 whole thing. You can't depend on a highty -tighty 
 person like that." 
 
 " Oh, my head is steady," returned the girl, run- 
 ning outdoors and stepping into the buggy. She 
 did not believe that Mrs. Redmond had relin-
 
 NATURE AND ART. 347 
 
 quished her plan, and waited hopefully for further 
 developments. 
 
 The neatness and quiet elegance of the Beech 
 Knoll grounds struck her afresh, as the buggy 
 turned in at the gate. It was strange that the mis- 
 tress of it all cared to leave it. Phyllis was ush- 
 ered into the little apartment which was Mrs. Red- 
 mond's favorite sitting-room, and in a few minutes 
 a footfall sounded at the door. She turned and 
 saw, not her hostess, but Miss Jones, the village 
 seamstress, and the very individual who had taken 
 such a vital interest in Beech Knoll in the days 
 previous to the appearance of its owner. 
 
 " "Well, Phyllis Flower," she said, holding up 
 both hands, her wiry little curls trembling from 
 her emphatic speech, " if you have n't fallen on 
 your feet, goin' off with Mrs. Redmond, and she 
 so pleased with you, and Oh, here she is." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond appeared, smiling a good-morn- 
 ing ; over her arm was a mass of white lace and 
 ribbons. " We start to-morrow morning, Phyl- 
 lis ? " she said interrogatively. 
 
 " Yes," assented the girl joyfully. 
 
 " We are going to a little resort I know of, not 
 too fashionable. I went there sometimes when I 
 was a school-girl. You will want one evening 
 dress. Here it is." 
 
 " O Mrs. Redmond, I can't take your dress ! " 
 exclaimed Phyllis, her forehead crimsoning. 
 
 " I told you how it would be, Miss Jones," 
 remarked Elise, with a smile and a shrug.
 
 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Phyllis Flower, don't you go to flyin' in the 
 face o' Providence," ejaculated the spinster, upon 
 whose susceptibilities Mrs. Redmond had played 
 with her usual skill. " Here 's a new dress, Miss 
 Redmond hain't never had on her back, and she 
 don't want it, and there ain't time to make you a 
 new one, not if you had all the mines o' Golcondy 
 to pay for it with. Do you just take off your 
 frock, and say thank you, too." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond met her friend's troubled eyes 
 with a little reassuring nod and smile. " It is all 
 right, Phyllis, you are my guest." 
 
 " Yes, but " Phyllis was hesitating, when 
 Miss Jones pounced upon her and began unfasten- 
 ing her dress, just as she had done in exasperating 
 moments of the girl's fractious childhood, when it 
 was a work of much coaxing to prevail upon her 
 to be fitted. 
 
 One thing was certain : Miss Jones would not 
 start any unpleasant gossip concerning a transac- 
 tion which she herself forwarded so vigorously. 
 Elise, the far-sighted, had counted on that. 
 
 Of course, Phyllis yielded. The filmy lace and 
 the sheen of silk dazzled her imagination. Mrs. 
 Redmond's kind tact soothed her scruples, and, 
 more wonderful still, this self-same tact governed 
 Miss Jones, who submitted, lamb-like, to follow 
 Mrs. Redmond's instructions in making the neces- 
 sary changes in the gown, and by evening it was 
 reposing safely in Phyllis's little trunk, where the 
 best of the young girl's earthly possessions were 
 packed, ready for the start.
 
 NATURE AND ART. 349 
 
 Perhaps in all Mrs. Redmond's varied wander- 
 ings, she had never been more entertained thaii 
 during this short journey with Phyllis. At first 
 the young girl's silence and gravity disappointed 
 her ; but she soon found that this manner only in- 
 dicated an extreme enjoyment of a total novelty. 
 She declined all offers of light literature with scarce 
 concealed impatience. She could read at home. 
 Now the panorama displayed through the broad 
 windows enchanted her. 
 
 Arrived in Boston, Mrs. Redmond gave her 
 guest a lunch, the daintiness of which even Phyl- 
 lis's uncultivated palate dimly appreciated. She 
 found herself looking around at the various tables 
 in search of Mr. Bellows ; fearing, of course, not 
 hoping, that he might stray in here this August 
 day. Again she realized what a relief it was to 
 find that Mrs. Redmond was not intending to 
 marry so unsuitable a man. Beautiful Mrs. Red- 
 mond, with her quiet air of experience and com- 
 mand ! Phyllis looked at her, and fell more than 
 ever under the spell of her charm, which communi- 
 cated itself to every article she touched, used, or 
 wore. 
 
 At last the girl looked up from the discussion of 
 some delicious form of frozen cream. " Now 
 please tell me, where are we going?" she said. 
 
 " Do you really wish to know? " 
 
 " Yes, only the name of the place." 
 
 " We are going to Deep Lake.'' 
 
 " How cool it sounds ! " observed Phyllis with 
 satisfaction.
 
 350 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " And it is cool, and very pretty. It will be 
 rather late when we arrive, but I know exactly 
 what we shall see from our windows to-morrow 
 morning. I could not get the rooms I wanted. 
 My freak came too suddenly." 
 
 "Oh, they know you are coming, then?" re- 
 plied Phyllis. 
 
 " Yes, indeed. It would not do to risk having 
 no place to lay our heads." 
 
 " How thoughtful you are ! " said Phyllis simply. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond smiled. " What did people do 
 before telegraphing was discovered, I wonder ? 
 They certainly could not carry out their caprices 
 as comfortably as we are doing." 
 
 " We are very comfortable," replied Phyllis ear- 
 nestly, lifting to her lips a frozen cherry, and wish- 
 ing Roxaiia could taste it. 
 
 It was too dark when the train stopped that 
 evening at the lonely station for Phyllis to gain 
 any idea of the landscape. As they stepped from 
 the car, she saw only the little square wooden 
 building which did duty for a depot. Beyond and 
 about it, all seemed to be woods and rolling fields, 
 A long open stage was backed against the plat- 
 form, and into this they climbed, and the horses 
 started. 
 
 " Deep Lake again," said Elise. " I wonder if 
 it has changed as much as I have in all these 
 years." 
 
 " Up, up, up," observed Phyllis, referring to 
 their road, when, after a long pull, the horses
 
 NATURE AND ART. 351 
 
 stopped to rest. " I should think the lake might 
 be deep.'' 
 
 " Oh, smell the grass ! " exclaimed Mrs. Red- 
 mond. " They must have been mowing this field. 
 The aftermath is the sweetest of harvests." 
 
 Phyllis breathed the night air with tranquil sat- 
 isfaction. " Very nice, but it only smells like 
 Snowdon." 
 
 " Only ! " repeated Mrs. Redmond. " Wait till 
 you have roamed about as much as I have. Then 
 you will know that this world offers nothing so 
 restful as just this sort of soft summer night, with 
 all its chirping insect sounds, and the pure, life- 
 giving fragrance of new-mown hay permeating the 
 air. How it mingles with the scent of firs ! Yes, 
 this is a little better even than Snowdon, Phyllis," 
 and Mrs. Redmond took deep breaths of delight 
 as the horses moved on. 
 
 They went, after a time, at a good pace along a 
 level road, for they had a light load with only the 
 two ladies for passengers. At last the gleam of a 
 white painted fence showed through the dusk. 
 
 " Here we are," remarked Elise. 
 
 The horses knew it, too. Nearly home after 
 the last trip of the day, they turned in at the open- 
 ing in the white fence, and sped up an avenue lined 
 with tall trees ; and soon lights began to glimmer 
 and music to sound on the sweet air. It seemed 
 all a dream to Phyllis : the arrival, the pleasure of 
 the landlady at discovering in Mrs. Redmond the 
 Miss Beckwith of bygone summers, the moving
 
 352 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 through a laughing, talking bevy of people on the 
 piazzas, the ascent to the bedrooms. Her eyes 
 looked very bright in her flushed face when she 
 stood alone with Mrs. Redmond in the latter's 
 apartment. 
 
 " Well, here we are," remarked Elise. 
 
 " Just listen to that music," was Phyllis's reply. 
 
 " Pretty, is n't it ? " assented Mrs. Redmond. 
 '* You will have the benefit of it even more in your 
 room," and she threw open the door of the adjoin- 
 ing apartment. 
 
 Phyllis hurried to the open window and listened. 
 The little orchestra was performing selections from 
 a popular light opera, and through the windows of 
 the assembly room across a narrow driveway, she 
 could dimly perceive the dancers who were moving 
 through a quadrille to its strains. It was all won- 
 derful and strange to Phyllis. After the long- 
 drive under the starlight through the stillness of 
 the fields and the dense woods, this sudden discov- 
 ery of the crowd of gay folk amidst the light and 
 the music seemed to her like enchantment. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond came to the door. She felt tired 
 after the heat of the day and the long ride, albeit 
 infinitely relieved and safe, and was about to con- 
 dole with her guest upon the disturbance outside 
 which might, for a time, hinder them from sleep- 
 ing ; but one glance at Phyllis's starry face and 
 listening attitude silenced her. She turned back 
 into her room with a smile. Condolences were 
 evidently not in order.
 
 NATURE AND ART. 353 
 
 Phyllis had no idea at what hour the exhilarat- 
 ing music ceased, nor when at last she fell asleep, 
 so subtly were her dreams joined to the pleasant, 
 novel, waking sensations which preceded them. 
 
 She had a vague expectation, upon opening her 
 eyes the following morning, that the same music, 
 the same stir and bustle of a gay crowd, would be 
 filling the air. She was astonished to see the sun- 
 shine, turned in her bed with a start, and listened. 
 What perfect stillness ! a stillness noticeable even 
 to Snowdon ears. A couple of months earlier, how 
 the robins and thrushes and catbirds sing at Deep 
 Lake at this hour of early morning ; but now only 
 an occasional note sounds here and there. 
 
 Phyllis sprang out of bed and hurried to the 
 window. Before her lay a long, gently declining 
 hillside, covered with soft grass and fine old trees, 
 and at the foot, Deep Lake itself sparkled quietly 
 in the morning sunshine. The lovely sheet of 
 water lay, as it were, in an irregular green bowl, 
 the edges of which were high, tree-covered hills. 
 The girl stifled the exclamation of pleasure which 
 rose to her lips out of regard for her friend, whose 
 door stood ajar. 
 
 " But why is not every one out looking at this 
 view ? " she queried mentally, her eyes feasting on 
 the undulating line of distant forests and the vary- 
 ing greens which a rainy season had preserved in 
 almost June-like freshness. 
 
 Her room looked south and west, and from both 
 sides she could distinguish the roofs of cottages
 
 354 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 among the trees. " It is quite a village, after all," 
 she thought innocently, having yet to learn the 
 ways of summer resorts, and that these little 
 abodes were adjuncts of the hotel. 
 
 Presently a rheumatic old bell, out of sight on 
 some adjacent building, commenced to ring labori- 
 ously, a prefatory creak of its ancient joints pre- 
 ceding each clang of its tongue. 
 
 " The rising bell," thought Phyllis with satisfac- 
 tion. " Now I shall soon see all the people again." 
 She dressed herself, wondering somewhat that the 
 appointments of her room were as little luxurious 
 as those of her own apartment at home, and ques- 
 tioning how Mrs. Redmond could endure such 
 privations. It was another of the many things 
 Phyllis had to learn, that in summer time persons 
 of wealth run, like a stampeding flock of sheep, 
 away from their accustomed comforts, and spend 
 their money on annoying inconveniences for a 
 stated length of time, which, if it be for the pur- 
 pose of augmenting an appreciation of home, cer- 
 tainly serves its end. 
 
 She was quite disappointed that, even when her 
 toilet was completed, there was no sound of stir- 
 ring in her neighbor's room. There began to be 
 a banging of doors about the hotel, and an occa- 
 sional loud voice on the verandas. She unpacked 
 her trunk, touching with a new reverence and 
 exultation the white dress. Perhaps some even- 
 ing she, clothed in its beauty, would be one of the 
 figures in that enchanted scene which last night 
 she had dimly perceived.
 
 NATURE AND ART. 355 
 
 Her trunk was empty before she heard her 
 name sleepily pronounced in the adjoining room. 
 She hurried to the door. 
 
 " What are you doing in there?" asked Mrs. 
 Redmond. 
 
 " I have just finished unpacking." 
 
 " It is a shame we could not get into a cottagCo 
 This house always was the noisiest place in the 
 world. I am too cross to say good-morning." 
 
 " Did I disturb you ? " asked Phyllis, dismayed. 
 
 " You ? No, indeed. You must have been 
 very quiet ; but why did you get up with the 
 lark?" 
 
 " Why, it is late," said Phyllis earnestly. " The 
 rising bell rang ever and ever so long ago." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond smiled and drew her watch from 
 under her pillow. " The rising bell for the labor- 
 ing class, perhaps. Yes," opening the watch, " just 
 as I thought, it is seven o'clock. It will be two 
 long hours before half a dozen people will appear 
 in the dining-room." 
 
 " Two hours ! " echoed Phyllis, aghast. " Why, 
 at home I should be wiping the dishes for Roxana 
 by this time." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed at her sincere dicomfi- 
 ture. "We shall change all that. There are 
 none of the down-hill paths quite so broad and 
 easy as that by which one glides into the habit of 
 a late breakfast ; but I will take pity on you this 
 time, and let you get a cup of coffee before you 
 faint quite away.''
 
 356 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Roxana does n't let me drink coffee," said 
 Phyllis simply. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond laughed again. " Oh, you are 
 such a quaint little thing ! " she observed. 
 
 " How can they be willing to miss these glorious 
 mornings ? " asked Phyllis, still wrestling with her 
 problem. 
 
 "They must miss something," returned Elise, 
 " and you seemed to think last night that the even- 
 ing was too good to miss. Be thankful they all 
 agree to be still at the same time so one can get a 
 little sleep." 
 
 " I put on my tennis dress," said Phyllis inter- 
 rogatively. 
 
 " Yes, that was right. I am quite proud of you 
 in it. Run out on the piazza, and I will join you 
 as soon as I can." 
 
 Phyllis found much during that first day to ex- 
 cite her wonder. How could the pretty ladies, who 
 clustered in knots on the shady side of the piazzas 
 after breakfast, enjoy life in the stiff, tight dresses 
 they wore ? She looked commiseratingly on a few 
 whom she took to be lame, and afterward found 
 that their hobbling gait proceeded only from the 
 small size and height of heel of their dainty shoes. 
 Here, amid such lavish beauty of nature, they 
 seemed to have eyes for nothing but one another's 
 clothes ; while as for exchanging a chair against 
 the wooden side of the hotel for a seat on the 
 grass under the spreading oaks, with the water
 
 NATURE AND ART. 357 
 
 rippling before them and the commingled scent of 
 clover and pines perfuming the air, the idea never 
 even occurred to them. 
 
 Many among the various groups gave her more 
 than a passing glance. An extremely pretty girl 
 who had never before appeared at Deep Lake was 
 sure to attract attention. Mrs. Redmond found 
 a couple of her schoolmates among the cottagers, 
 who were very cordial to her and her young com- 
 panion, and took pains to introduce them whenever 
 opportunity offered. 
 
 Phyllis was glad to escape as soon as possible 
 from the hotel and explore the shore of the lake. 
 Mrs. Redmond had done more wisely than she 
 knew when she invited the girl's companionship. 
 It was a charming diversion to see Phyllis enjoy 
 everything so thoroughly, and without her Elise, 
 with her zest for outdoor occupation, would have 
 been somewhat at a loss here for a congenial 
 spirit. 
 
 They rowed on the lake, rode horseback, and 
 played tennis with the young girls. Men were, of 
 course, almost entirely lacking. Deep Lake was, 
 however, sufficiently near a city to draw a supply 
 of the valued sex at evening. There were a num- 
 ber of young men whose summer vacation con- 
 sisted in these short runs into the pure air of the 
 pretty resort. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond and Phyllis had been at the 
 hotel a sufficient number of days for the latter to 
 feel quite familiar with its pleasures and as blind
 
 358 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 as ever to its possible drawbacks, when one even- 
 ing there appeared among the dusty pilgrims on 
 the stage the optimistic countenance of Mr. Tony 
 Bellows. 
 
 The arrival of this six o'clock stage was always 
 the interesting episode of the day, especially on 
 Saturday, when the influx of husbands, lovers, and 
 friends was greatest. 
 
 Elise, on this particular Saturday, was sitting 
 among her acquaintances on the piazza, and glanc- 
 ing up with languid interest as the tramp of horses 
 approached, immediately met the eager gaze of 
 Tony, who had singled her out at once from the 
 bright-hued group, and was watching for her rec- 
 ognition. Almost before she realized that it was 
 indeed he, he sprang from the stage and hurrried 
 toward her. 
 
 " Did n't expect me, did you ? " he said, shaking 
 her hand with a painful grip and grinning cheer- 
 fully. 
 
 " I should not be sure it was you now but for 
 your trademark," replied Elise, glancing at the 
 florist's box which Tony was embracing in one 
 arm. 
 
 " Fresh as daisies, I assure you," said the young 
 fellow gayly. " They are packed with the great- 
 est care. You will wear them to the hop to-night, 
 won't you ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed. I thought you were in Newport 
 by this time." 
 
 " I expected to be ; but Mrs. Ingraham is ill.
 
 NATURE AND ART. 359 
 
 They had to retract their invitations. As soon as 
 I knew of it, I wired you to find out if you were 
 well enough to bear the infliction of another call. 
 Miss Rebecca answered that you were at Deep 
 Lake. So you see," Tony tapped his broad chest 
 vivaciously, " I am at Deep Lake too." He smiled 
 with such genial assurance that Elise would have 
 been obliged in any case to smile in response ; but 
 she could no more help being glad to see him than 
 she could fail to like sunshiny weather. 
 
 He handed her the box. 
 
 " I shall have to divide with Phyllis, of course." 
 
 " What ! " Tony looked all about expectantly. 
 " Is she here ? " 
 
 " Why, yes. Did n't you know it ? She is en- 
 joying herself hugely. For her, Deep Lake is an 
 ultra-fashionable and wholly ideal spot." 
 
 " Then I 'm sorry I came." It was astonish- 
 ing how the vanishing of Mr. Bellows' white teeth 
 and the down-curving of his straw-colored mustache 
 could becloud his visage. 
 
 " Ah, you do not like my little Phyllis ? " 
 
 " Your little Phyllis does n't like me, so that 
 bear Chester took the trouble to inform me when 
 we rode into Boston together the other morning. 
 I think his breakfast had not agreed with him. 
 He was as surly as a beast in a menagerie." 
 
 " Don't call him names, Tony," said Elise, com- 
 ing near, her face flushed. " He could not help 
 being very angry. I think it is better you should 
 know. He found out that last afternoon who 
 I am."
 
 360 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Who you are," repeated Tony, for the time 
 entirely forgetting his friend's momentous secret. 
 
 " Yes, that I am his adopted sister. You 
 know I told you he had quarreled with my father, 
 and was bitter against us." 
 
 " And do you mean to say he blew out at you ? " 
 exclaimed Tony, incensed. " Wait till I see him. 
 I'll" 
 
 " Oh, no, nothing of the sort," interrupted Elise 
 impatiently. " He behaved in the only way I 
 could have expected. He was very polite." 
 
 " He must have been. Do you think I don't 
 remember the way I found you that afternoon 
 white as a ghost? He is too rough a diamond. 
 He needs a little polishing such as I can give 
 him." 
 
 " Tony Bellows, do you wish to make me sorry 
 that I confided in you ? Don't you say a word to 
 him. If I cannot tell you things that I tell no one 
 else, and do so in safety, why let me find it out at 
 once." 
 
 Tony shook his head and smiled admiringly. 
 " You always get your way, and your scolding is 
 flattery, and your flattery is scolding, and I don't 
 see how you do it. Hang me if I do." 
 
 Elise bit her lip. " Well I intend to have my 
 way in this case, I assure you. Now we must find 
 Phyllis. It is all nonsense about her not liking 
 you. At least, if she doesn't, it is your own fault. 
 From what she tells me, I judge you have taken 
 a blundering course so far to win her favor. It
 
 NATURE AND ART. 361 
 
 seems you have been praising another woman to 
 her. Goose ! " 
 
 Elise smiled, and Tony blushed furiously. 
 
 "I well " he stammered. 
 
 " Yes, I know all about it. You are accustomed 
 not to try very hard to win a girl's favor ; but this 
 is a different girl from those of your world. All 
 the life she has seen is that of books. She reads 
 George Eliot, and obeys Roxana, and never saw a 
 stylish gown until mine dawned upon her vision. 
 Now do not be too nice to her. She won't under- 
 stand you if you flirt with her, and I won't have 
 it." 
 
 " Ob, look here," ejaculated Mr. Bellows, much 
 injured ; "you would be doing better to lecture the 
 other party. She is as full of nettles as a burr. 
 I can't come near her without getting pricked." 
 
 Elise laughed. "I am delighted to hear it. 
 Don't venture too near, then. I think I know you 
 pretty well, Tony," she said, becoming serious and 
 speaking earnestly. " You are no conceited jacka- 
 napes to think every girl in love with you, but it will 
 be like you. if you are amused here, to see a good 
 deal of Phyllis, and please remember one thing, 
 some sorts of burrs have sweet hearts within. 
 If you imagine she does not like you, it will be the 
 mannish way for you to try to find hers ; but it 
 will not be the manly way. I have niy eye on you, 
 Tony." 
 
 She had, indeed, both eyes, and Tony blushed 
 and looked foolish, and tried to meet her look and
 
 362 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 could n't. Certain remembrances of the way the 
 thought of Phyllis and her unflattering dislike had 
 haunted him, and certain vague plans he had 
 formed for conquering her, rose up now with a 
 subtle power that made his ears tingle. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond took pity on him. 
 
 " To show my real confidence in you, I will let 
 you go down how to the Spring House and get 
 her. Tell her we are going in to tea immediately. 
 Don't stop to philander." 
 
 Tony looked over his clothes, and mumbling 
 something about being brushed first, entered the 
 house. 
 
 Elise stared straight ahead of her, a look in her 
 eyes that filled them only when she was alone. 
 
 " There is one pain," she murmured, " that is 
 ceaseless, merciless, when it once attacks. If so 
 weak a mortal as I can defend Phyllis from its 
 pangs, I will do so."
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 SUNSET. 
 
 THE illness that had seized upon Mrs. Terrisa 
 proved to be a dangerous complication of difficul- 
 ties, which speedily reduced her to a condition more 
 critical than that of her husband. The doctors who 
 consulted concerning her case were perplexed by 
 her apparently apathetic mental state. The only 
 thing for which she showed any desire was Re- 
 becca's presence. This seemed so unnatural to 
 Roxana, that the latter watched uneasily until she 
 proved to herself that the sick woman showed a 
 uniform and touching gentleness and gratitude to 
 Miss Redmond. 
 
 The professional nurse arrived from Boston, and 
 proved to be a kind and adaptable person, willing 
 to assist in either sick-room ; so the three women 
 divided the work among them. Mr. Terriss con- 
 tinued irrational for many days, his mind reverting 
 persistently to his youth ; and Roxana, while this 
 state lasted, was indefatigable in mounting guard 
 in his room in Rebecca's absence, and managed 
 that the strange nurse should wait upon him only 
 in his quiet intervals. 
 
 One day Rebecca entered Mrs. Terriss' room, 
 after hearing the discouraging verdict of the phy-
 
 364 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 sicians upon the latter's condition. The invalid 
 called her feebly. " They say there is no hope for 
 me, don't they ? " she asked, as Miss Redmond 
 came close to her, 
 
 " No, indeed,'' returned Rebecca quietly. " They 
 hope, and we all hope." 
 
 " Yes, I know," replied the sick woman. " While 
 there is life there is hope ; but they believe I am 
 going to die, I saw that they did, and they are 
 right. Rebecca," she stirred her hand and Re- 
 becca took it, meeting the heavy, wistful eyes. 
 " Philip will know how I loved him, when I follow 
 him even there. He will know that I could not 
 live without him." 
 
 " Live for him," said Rebecca, gently stroking 
 the hand she held. " He does not grow worse. 
 Perhaps he will prove stronger than the fever. 
 You are too despairing about him. He may get 
 well. Can't you determine to recover for his sake ? 
 Can't you look forward to brighter times ? " 
 
 Mrs. Terriss kept her eyes fixed with the same 
 expression on Rebecca's face. " It is too late," she 
 said, in her faint, colorless voice. " I have no 
 strength." Then she was quiet again. 
 
 Rebecca made a movement to rise. The other 
 pressed her hand slightly. " Stay with me," she 
 said. 
 
 For some time, silence reigned ; then the sick 
 woman spoke again. 
 
 " You believe Philip will get well ? " 
 
 " I think he may ; but you should not talk any 
 more now."
 
 SUNSET. 365 
 
 The wife did not appear to hear the admonition. 
 " Philip has had a hard time," she continued. 
 " I see it now, although he has hidden it as long 
 as he could as long as he could. If he lives, you 
 and Mrs. Sherritt will look after him and take 
 care of him ? " 
 
 She waited, and looked so wistfully at Rebecca 
 that the latter bowed again. 
 
 " You are unselfish and good," said the sick 
 woman slowly. " Remember, when I am gone, 
 that I learned to know it, and to appreciate you." 
 
 She said no more that morning, and in fact 
 never again was able to speak a loud word. Re- 
 becca seldom left her, and Mrs. Terriss' eyes fol- 
 lowed her about the room, as though her presence 
 were a tangible comfort. 
 
 All the world outside the parsonage soon seemed 
 very remote to Miss Redmond. Tony's telegram 
 to Elise was brought to her, and she dispatched a 
 reply without consideration as to whether Mrs. 
 Redmond would wish the young man to follow her. 
 This question did occur to her afterward, but 
 weightier matters prevented it from disturbing 
 her ; and it would certainly have been a waste of 
 time to worry over it, for Tony at Deep Lake 
 proved to be the right man in the right place. 
 
 On the evening of his arrival, he went clown the 
 hill to the Spring House, according to Elise's re- 
 quest, in search of Phyllis. The latter was not in 
 the little pavilion, however, but standing on the 
 shore of the lake, whose bosom was darkening.
 
 366 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 The sky was opal with sunset tints ; a robin's note 
 fluted across the water. The scene and the hour 
 were so beautiful that Phyllis was regretting that 
 duty to her hostess demanded of her that she 
 should reascend the hill, when she became con- 
 scious of some one's approach in the stillness. 
 
 She wondered which of her fellow-boarders had 
 done so unconventional a thing as to come here at 
 this time, but she did not turn her head ; so Tony 
 came and stood quietly beside her, rather puzzled, 
 in his offended pride, as to what tone to adopt 
 toward her, and deciding to take his cue from 
 her manner. 
 
 She looked up, and beheld the unsuitable Mr. 
 Bellows. There was evidently something too broad 
 and ennobling in the natural beauty surrounding 
 them to admit of the indulgence of petty human 
 prejudices, for she was certainly wholly and aston- 
 ishingly glad to see him. 
 
 " Well ! " she exclaimed, biting her lip and then 
 smiling and holding out her hand. " How do you 
 do?" 
 
 Tony shook her hand. " Very well, I thank you. 
 Mrs. Redmond sent nie to ask you to come to sup- 
 per." 
 
 If the unsuitable one had swept up a bucket of 
 cold water from the lake and poured it unexpect- 
 edly upon her, it could hardly have surprised and 
 dampened her more than this harmless speech. 
 
 She looked back at the evening sky. " Yes, I 
 am coming in a minute," she replied shortly.
 
 SUNSET. 367 
 
 " I had no idea you were at Deep Lake when I 
 came up," continued Tony stiffly. " I thought 
 Mrs. Redmond was alone." 
 
 This was too much. Phyllis flashed a hurt, 
 angry glance at him, which was lost, since he was 
 inspecting the lake diligently. 
 
 " Else I should have brought you some flowers," 
 continued Tony solemnly. " Mrs. Redmond says 
 she will divide with you." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Phyllis. 
 
 " I suppose, of course, you are going to the 
 hop ? " continued Tony, when the silence had be- 
 come awkward. 
 
 " Yes, indeed," replied Phyllis vivaciously, with 
 a thrilling recollection of the white dress, " only I 
 can't hop." 
 
 " Oh, don't you dance ? " asked Tony, with evi- 
 dent disappointment. What a pity it was that he 
 could not impress her with his ability in that line. 
 
 " No, I do not dance. A Boston girl came to 
 Snowdon once, when I was a child, and she taught 
 me to waltz ; but I should not remember, of 
 course." 
 
 "It is too bad. I hoped we should dance to- 
 gether." 
 
 The smiles had returned to Phyllis's lips. She 
 began to remember that she had not treated Tony 
 very well the last time they met, and to understand 
 his present conduct. 
 
 This evening had been one long anticipated by 
 Phyllis. It was to be the gala occasion on which
 
 368 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Elise had said she must wear the lace dress for 
 the first time. 
 
 At supper, Tony sat at their table, and somehow 
 Phyllis felt that life at Deep Lake, though novel 
 and pleasant before, had but now for the first time 
 become full. The music, which had been engaged 
 for the evening, discoursed gayly all through meal- 
 time. Tony's stiffness had vanished, and Mrs. Red- 
 mond almost forgot, for the moment, her chronic 
 restlessness, questioning, and longing, in the amuse- 
 ment she derived from Phyllis's pleasure. 
 
 The table at Deep Lake was not one of its per- 
 fections ; but Tony managed that night, by dint of 
 experience and the necessary bribery, to evoke a 
 festive little supper from the mysterious recesses 
 beyond the dining-room ; and when, to the strains 
 of a rollicking operatic bit, he clinked his cham- 
 pagne glass against Phyllis's, Mrs. Redmond 
 looked into the girl's starry eyes and experienced 
 a little pang of conscience. 
 
 " Champagne, indeed ! " she thought. " This is 
 all champagne to Phyllis. I hope she will retain 
 a taste for Snowdon and spring water." 
 
 But Phyllis only thought, " What if Roxana 
 could look in here now ! " 
 
 Supper over, they stood awhile on the piazzas 
 talking, and strolled about under the trees; but 
 Phyllis had an objective point in view. It was the 
 white dress. She was glad when the moment 
 came for Mrs. Redmond to take her upstairs to 
 their rooms, there to prepare for the grand occa-
 
 SUNSET. 369 
 
 sion. Through her anticipation of the dancing, 
 and the lights, and the music, a new delight had 
 loomed larger than them all ; and this was that 
 Tony Bellows would see her in that beautiful gown. 
 She hummed one of the gay tunes the musicians 
 had played, while she made her toilet by the aid 
 of a kerosene lamp. Phyllis had never dressed by 
 any artificial light more brilliant, so she felt no 
 lack. She was not a slave to frizzes, so much 
 heart-rending anxiety was spared her. The mak- 
 ing of that toilet was an undivided pleasure, and 
 the gazing at herself in the mirror when it was 
 finished was another. 
 
 The soft, graceful folds of the gown, and its 
 dainty puffs of sleeves, from which her slender 
 arms showed bare and round, took her attention 
 far more than the study of her familiar face; but 
 to-night her eyes were so bright, her lips so scarlet, 
 and her smile so happy, it did not seem quite the 
 everyday Phyllis that smiled back at her. 
 
 " I am pretty I am, I am ! " she thought ex- 
 ultantly, yet it was of Tony and not of herself she 
 was thinking. 
 
 At last Mrs. Redmond opened the door. " Ready, 
 Phyllis ? Let me look at you." 
 
 The girl went forward very conscious and happy, 
 but as she crossed the threshold, she forgot herself 
 wholly by reason of the vision that greeted her. 
 
 It was a marvelous dress that Elise wore, a pale, 
 iridescent gown, which, I suppose, should be re- 
 spectfully termed a " creation." At all events, it
 
 370 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 suited the woman who wore it, and it clothed her, 
 instead of, as in so many cases, her being subser- 
 vient to it. A string of pearls surrounded Mrs. 
 Redmond's throat, and she wore no other jewelry. 
 It was a tribute to the ascendency of her own love- 
 liness over that of millinery that Phyllis, the little 
 country girl to whom evening dresses hitherto had 
 been unknown, looked straight into her friend's 
 face. 
 
 " How beautiful you are ! " she ejaculated. 
 
 " Fine feathers make fine birds," replied Elise, 
 smiling. " If we were to have a competition in 
 complimenting I could say some very nice things 
 too," and she approached and looked Phyllis over, 
 well-pleased. " You are very real and unspoiled," 
 she added, gazing kindly into the girl's eyes. " I 
 hope you will remain so." 
 
 " You have remained so," returned Phyllis 
 simply. 
 
 " No." Elise shook her head slowly. " I am 
 spoiled and imperious. I expect always to be 
 obeyed, always to have my own way." 
 
 " But it is such a pleasant way. People are 
 glad to give it to you." 
 
 " No, I do not always get it. I am suffering now 
 because I cannot get it." She turned her face 
 aside with a pretty gesture of despair. " I am 
 wretched, wretched ! " Her white chest rose and 
 fell quickly, and her companion looked at her in 
 distressed surprise. The exclamation was evidently 
 genuine.
 
 SUNSET. 371 
 
 " Oh, tell me why, Mrs. Redmond. Tell me 
 what you mean," she replied anxiously. " Let me 
 help you. Perhaps I can. Try me." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond bit her lip and threw her head 
 up as though she would toss aside her thoughts. 
 " You do help me," she answered. " Perhaps you 
 will never know how much you have been to me 
 here. Do not let what I said disturb you. You 
 do me the greatest possible kindness when you 
 enjoy yourself thoroughly. Now let me see if you 
 are quite ready. You have no fan." She turned 
 to her trunk, which was indeed a veritable wonder- 
 box, and produced a fan of soft, deep, white feath- 
 ers. " Keep it," she said, placing it in the girl's 
 hand ; " it belongs with your dress." 
 
 Phyllis laid her cheek caressingly against the 
 soft mass. " You keep me constantly thanking 
 you," she said. " Now I am ready indeed." 
 
 " Then we will go down. Tony will be waiting 
 for us. You had better take this white scarf for 
 sitting on the piazzas." Mrs. Redmond threw an 
 embroidered wrap about her own shoulders, then 
 the two descended to the parlor. 
 
 Mr. Bellows, walking on the veranda enjoying 
 a cigarette, saw them through a window. He 
 stopped, and his eyes lighted with pleasure as they 
 fell on Phyllis. 
 
 " I said so," he thought triumphantly. " Hold 
 her own ! She 's the prettiest girl I know." He 
 threw away his cigarette, and entered the house. 
 
 The consciousness Phyllis had expected to feel
 
 372 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 under his gaze failed to trouble her. She was far 
 too occupied in admiring him. Snowdon swains 
 never wore full-dress, and Tony in his dress-suit 
 was quite the most immaculate object her eyes had 
 ever rested upon. 
 
 Yes, Mr. Bellows was quite an important per- 
 son, she decided in her own mind. Tony would 
 have been charmed to know how her respect for 
 him was growing. It continued to grow during 
 the evening to an uncomfortable extent. She had 
 the opportunity to see the favoritism displaj^ed for 
 him by all the young women at Deep Lake. A 
 week ago she had yearned to be one of the num- 
 ber in that enticing ball-room. Well, to-night 
 she had the privilege. Was it a privilege, since 
 Tony was evidently the best dancer in the room 
 and she could not be his partner ? 
 
 She watched furtively the pretty girls with whom 
 he danced, and saw that they were pleased with his 
 attentions, and responded to him with a manner 
 far different from her own. Mrs. Redmond was 
 his first partner, and Phyllis watched in delight 
 and envy the way in which they floated about the 
 room together, light as down, yet with pliant, 
 smooth movements in which there was no hint of 
 a jerk or a jump. 
 
 " Was n't that delightful ? " she asked eagerly 
 when Elise returned to the seat beside her, Tony 
 fanning her assiduously. 
 
 "Yes. Tony is simply perfect when it comes 
 to a matter of dancing," replied Elise.
 
 SUNSET. 373 
 
 Mr. Bellows bowed his blonde head with exag- 
 gerated gratitude. 
 
 ' Why have you not been teaching Miss Flower 
 to dance all this time ? " he asked reproachfully. 
 
 " Why, indeed ! Phyllis, why did n't you ask 
 me?" 
 
 " I did n't know I should wish so much to dance," 
 was the girl 's reply, given with so much naivete 
 that her companions both smiled. 
 
 "How many will you let me have, Mrs. Red- 
 mond ? " asked Tony. 
 
 " I shall hardly dance again, I think. At any 
 rate, there are too many pretty girls here for me 
 to monopolize you. Take me across to Mrs. 
 Sharpe a minute, please. I promised to speak to 
 her to-night about something. I will be back 
 soon, Phyllis. You have Mrs. Dayton on the 
 other side of you. Mrs. Dayton, I am going to 
 leave Miss Flower with you a minute." 
 
 Mrs. Dayton, an extremely stout lady, smiled 
 expansively, and declared her pleasure in dear 
 Miss Flower's society. 
 
 Tony escorted Mrs. Redmond to her destina- 
 tion, and then returned to Phyllis's side. The 
 music began again. 
 
 " Who are you going to dance with this time ? " 
 she asked 
 
 " You." 
 
 " But you know I can't," she said mournfully. 
 
 " Well, I mean I am going to sit here with 
 you."
 
 374 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Oh, how kind of you." 
 
 Tony took up her fan and waved it gently. 
 
 They watched the couples pass and repass for 
 several minutes, Tony amusing his companion by 
 his comments on the various pairs, and Phyllis 
 entertaining him with bits of descriptions of her 
 sister women as she had found them in every-day 
 life at Deep Lake. 
 
 " Mr. Bellows," she said at last, seriously, 
 " what is flirting ? What is it people do when 
 they doit?" 
 
 Tony smiled. " I should be delighted to show 
 you, but Mrs. Redmond won't permit it." 
 
 " It is bad, then, is n't it ? " 
 
 Mr. Bellows looked rather puzzled for a minute. 
 " Well, there are all shades, you know." 
 
 Phyllis shook her head doubtfully. " A good 
 thing is good, all shades of it, and a bad thing is 
 bad, all shades of it," she replied. 
 
 " You would be troubled to carry that out, I 
 think. How about the champagne we had to- 
 night?" 
 
 " That is so, is n't it ? " exclaimed Phyllis, com- 
 prehending. " Yes, all champagne must be bad, 
 then," she said firmly ; " but it is the nicest bad 
 thing I can think of," she added, with a little 
 smile. 
 
 " The same way with flirting," responded Tony 
 dryly. 
 
 " Oh, I have n't thanked you for my flowers," 
 said Phyllis, suddenly bethinking herself, and
 
 SUNSET. 375 
 
 touching the roses on her breast. " Mrs. Redmond 
 gave me all these." 
 
 " I should think you might spare one." 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 " To decorate me, of course." 
 
 " Would you like one in your button - hole ? 
 Why certainly," and Phyllis, in view of any one 
 who chose to look, took a half-opened bud from 
 her corsage and placed it in Tony's coat, delighted 
 with the firm little elastic band she found, which 
 did away with the necessity for the ever-lacking 
 pin. A good many did choose to look. It was 
 not a matter of indifference to the Boston girls 
 present who put roses in Tony's button -hole. 
 Elise saw too. When that dance had closed, and 
 another begun, and still Mr. Bellows remained by 
 Phyllis's side, she thought it time to interfere. 
 
 Taking the arm of the man who happened to 
 be talking to her at the moment, she crossed the 
 room again and sat down on Mr. Bellows' other 
 side. 
 
 The latter turned to her. "Why do you not 
 dance ? " she asked. 
 
 " I am having a better time this way," was the 
 cheerful response. 
 
 " Well, you must n't do so any more. The 
 dancing girls here to - night consider you their 
 rightful prey. I do not care to have Phyllis quite 
 annihilated by glanceg. Go away at once, and do 
 not return until you have danced at least half a 
 dozen times."
 
 376 THE M /STRESS OF BEECH Kfil OLL. 
 
 "Really?" 
 
 " Yes, really. You know what I said to you 
 when you first came." 
 
 " Well, I have n't," replied Tony rather inco- 
 herently. 
 
 " How did that rose come in your button-hole ? " 
 
 "Well, if I must, I must, I suppose," and the 
 young man rose precipitately. " Au revoir, Miss 
 Flower ; Mrs. Redmond thinks every man should 
 do his duty on an occasion like this." He lowered 
 his voice and bent his head. " If you watch the 
 young lady I am going to ask for the next dance, 
 you will receive a lesson in the art we were talking 
 of awhile ago." 
 
 " Can one do it alone ? " asked Phyllis. 
 
 " We-ell hardly." 
 
 " Then you are going to, too ? " 
 
 " I can't tell. I may be driven into keeping up 
 my end." He smiled and bowed and went away, 
 and it was after this that the little twinges of 
 jealousy and envy referred to before afflicted 
 Miss Flower, a wallflower indeed, and as discon- 
 tented as she was pretty. 
 
 It was a new and disconcerting discovery that 
 she grudged Tony to these other girls ; that she 
 did not care for the pretty dresses or the music, 
 because he was bending his head above another 
 woman's and smiling at her words. 
 
 Phyllis was frightened and resentful, but she 
 could not escape the truth. Another and another 
 dance passed, and he did not return. She had
 
 SUBSET. 377 
 
 heard nothing of Elise's low-spoken conversation 
 with him, and although she told herself that she 
 was unreasonable to expect him to sit and talk at 
 a dancing party, she suffered from his absence 
 just the same, and her lovely dress and the antici- 
 pated evening were both together vanity. She 
 had too much spirit to show this, however, and 
 affected to be absorbed in watching the gay whirl, 
 turning occasionally to speak to Mrs. Redmond 
 with a bright smile, that accorded well with her 
 heightened color ; and Mrs. Redmond, being kept 
 busy responding to the spontaneous homage paid 
 her as the most beautiful woman in the room, 
 would have been deceived by less good acting on 
 the part of her charge. 
 
 Tony's six dances over, he deposited his last 
 partner and returned to his allegiance, had Phyl- 
 lis known how gladly, her wounds would have 
 been healed. 
 
 " It is so warm," he said. " I wonder, Miss 
 Flower, if it would be too cool for you on the 
 piazza." 
 
 " Oh, I think not," replied Phyllis, with a very 
 good assumption of indifference. "Would you 
 like to go, Mrs. Redmond ? " 
 
 " Thank you, no. You and Tony go, but do not 
 stay long." 
 
 Tony placed the lace scarf about the girl's 
 shoulders, and giving her his arm, they went out 
 upon the piazza, where there was the same buzz 
 of talk and laughter, the same passing and re-
 
 378 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 passing of couples, that Phyllis had discovered on 
 the evening, so long ago it seemed, of her arrival. 
 Now her dream was fulfilled. She was one of the 
 figures in the scene, and her mood had changed. 
 She was as happy as the happiest. 
 
 Her escort led her slowly to the further end of 
 the piazza, where there was an inviting corner, re- 
 tired, yet overlooking the water which shimmered 
 in the moonlight. Tony knew all the resources of 
 Deep Lake. 
 
 Long shadows lay across the hill. The night 
 was enchantingly cool and quiet. To Phyllis, this 
 escape from the glare and the noise and her own 
 hot misery into such tranquillity alone with Tony 
 was relief unspeakable. 
 
 He gave her a chair and seated himself on the 
 piazza rail. 
 
 " Well, did you observe her ? " he asked laugh- 
 ingly. " Do you know now what flirting is ? " 
 
 " Yes, and I despise it. You did it too," re- 
 turned Phyllis reproachfully. 
 
 Tony was pleasantly surprised at her tone. " It 
 was only force of habit," he replied. " That girl 
 is a great bore." 
 
 " Did you dance with six bores ? " asked Phyllis 
 frigidly. 
 
 " Yes, I did," replied Tony heartily. " Mrs. 
 Redmond made me. She thought my sitting there 
 so long did n't look well." 
 
 " Oh, look well ! " repeated Phyllis scornfully. 
 " How tired one gets of hearing that a thing does
 
 SUNSET. 379 
 
 not look well ! I wish people were n't so fond of 
 criticising." 
 
 " You are safe for the present, at all events," 
 replied Tony. " There is no one but me now to 
 say whether or no you look well, and I tell you 
 frankly that you do." 
 
 Phyllis smiled a little demurely. She was quite 
 aware that she looked her very best, and at last it 
 was worth while. "The moonlight is a great 
 flatterer," she returned. " I have had a question 
 on my mind to ask you for several days, Mr. Bel- 
 lows," she continued. " I wish you would tell me 
 why you thought it worth while to make me believe, 
 well, what you said about your feelings for Mrs. 
 Redmond. You led me into the wildest blunders." 
 
 Mr. Bellows hoped the moonlight would pale 
 the blush he felt mount to his forehead ; but he 
 answered firmly enough : " That was a mistake on 
 my part. I believed all I said to you, and a great 
 deal more." 
 
 Phyllis did not see the blush, and she felt an- 
 other jealous pang. 
 
 " You have seen to-night how Mrs. Redmond 
 attracts men and women alike," her companion 
 went on. "You see the deference and attention 
 that is always paid her, and the open admiration 
 that follows her ? " 
 
 Phyllis had not noticed anything of the kind, 
 being far too preoccupied with interests of her 
 own ; but her silence seemed to give consent, and 
 Tony continued.
 
 380 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Well, she was always kind to nie, having 
 known ine when we were children, and on iny first 
 visit to Snowdon the idea occurred to me that 
 perhaps she would be willing to marry me. The 
 idea intoxicated me, and I could think of nothing 
 else until I went out there again, and then one 
 day she brought me to my senses." 
 
 " Oh," said Phyllis, feeling uncomfortably warm ; 
 " I did not mean to pry into your affairs. Excuse 
 me for mentioning the subject." 
 
 " You had the right, since I made you my confi- 
 dante before Mrs. Redmond showed me that ex- 
 treme admiration and warm regard were what I 
 felt for her, and all that I felt." Tony looked at 
 the face of his companion, etherealized in the 
 moonlight. " And now I thank her," he added, 
 leaving his seat on the piazza rail and taking a 
 chair beside Phyllis. 
 
 " You will not think any the less of me because 
 I made that mistake, I hope ? " he asked in a 
 tone which made the girl's happy heart leap, while 
 intuitively she shrank deeper into her soft laces, 
 and her pretty head bent as though the night dews 
 weighed it down with the other flowers. 
 
 " Oh, no," she answered faintly. 
 
 Fortunately, pretty girls have no need of origi- 
 nality or brilliancy, especially with their lovers, 
 and Tony was beginning to be a lover, and he was 
 perfectly satisfied with this response.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 TONY OFFENDS. 
 
 WHEN considerable time had passed, and Tony 
 and Phyllis did not return to the dancing-room, 
 Mrs. Redmond's wrath began to kindle against the 
 friend of her childhood. 
 
 She had put a constraint upon herself to dress 
 and come here to-night, and to what end, if Phyllis 
 were going to spend her evening star-gazing? 
 Elise's state of mind regarding her own affairs 
 since finding the too safe hiding-place of Deep 
 Lake had fluctuated through all stages of hope 
 and despair. Living over her summer's experience 
 with Chester, there was much to make her confi- 
 dent that he belonged to her utterly. She was so 
 accustomed to devotion : surely it was impossible 
 that the one man her heart had ever gone out to 
 should fail to meet her with a like depth and 
 strength of feeling. A couple of days in this haven 
 among the hills sufficed for the relief in her safety 
 to evaporate, and she soon passed into a state of ex- 
 cited expectancy. Of course Terriss would manage 
 to discover her whereabouts, and would follow her. 
 "NVhen this result did not immediately come about, 
 she began to think that he would write to her in- 
 stead of coming, and watched the mails eagerly.
 
 $82 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 No letter arrived from him, and Rebecca, for a long 
 time, was too occupied to write ; but when she did 
 so at last, she mentioned the fact of Chester's call, 
 and explained that she had not been able to see 
 him. 
 
 Elise's spirits, just then depressed, rebounded 
 at this, and she began to wonder how long she 
 would be able to endure remaining at Deep Lake. 
 She must consider Phyllis. She had brought the 
 girl here to indulge a whim, and she must not cut 
 her pleasure short selfishly. In this state of smoth- 
 ered feeling, she had immolated herself to-night on 
 the altar of hospitality, and could ill brook the an- 
 noyance that Tony was causing her. She did not 
 for a moment blame Phyllis, and she was not so 
 occupied with her own engrossing hopes as to be 
 thoughtless of the safety and peace of mind of her 
 charge. She knew Tony's devotion to the plea- 
 sures of the dance, and that he should ignore the 
 good floor and music for so protracted a stay out 
 of doors suggested uneasy thoughts to her. 
 
 A young man was making eager attempts to en- 
 tertain her at the moment when her restlessness 
 reached its climax, and she suggested to him mak- 
 ing a tour of the piazzas in search of the young 
 lady she was chaperoning. 
 
 The consequence of this was that Mr. Bellows 
 beheld, not long afterward, what he recognized as 
 an avenging angel, despite the fact that those ra- 
 diant beings are not usually represented enveloped 
 in Paris wraps.
 
 TONY OFFENDS. 383 
 
 " We were just thinking perhaps you would 
 wonder where we were," he remarked cheerfully. 
 
 " Do not let me detain you longer from the dan- 
 cing, Mr. Lambert," said Elise to her cavalier, who 
 bowed and accepted his dismissal, returning to the 
 ball-room swelling with satisfaction in consequence 
 of the number of minutes Mrs. Redmond had dis- 
 tinguished him by her society. 
 
 Mr. Bellows looked after the departing Lambert 
 a little wildly, but he need not have feared for the 
 present. Elise was too heedful of his companion 
 to punish him now. 
 
 " It is midnight, Phyllis," she said pleasantly. 
 
 " Why, where has the evening gone? " exclaimed 
 the girl. " Mrs. Redmond, is n't that scene like 
 fairyland? " 
 
 " It is indeed beautiful," returned Elise kindly, 
 looking down the shadow-strown hillside across the 
 shimmering water. " What a solemn vastness the 
 moonlight gives to our pretty daylight view ! Do 
 you care to go in and see any more of the dan- 
 cing?" 
 
 " No, I think not, thank you. It makes me too 
 envious." 
 
 Tony had risen upon Mrs. Redmond's appear- 
 ance. Now he briskly brought forward a chair. 
 " Won't you sit down ? " he said. 
 
 " No, I thank you." The tone of the suave re- 
 fusal conveyed nothing to Phyllis's unsophisticated 
 ear, but it chilled Mr. Bellows' blood. 
 
 " I thiuk, if you do not care any further for the
 
 384 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 dancing, Phyllis, we had better leave this scene," 
 continued Mrs. Redmond. 
 
 The girl gave an audible sigh. " I suppose so, 
 but does n't it seem a pity ? " she returned. 
 
 Tony considered suggesting a claret punch, by 
 way of lengthening the evening, but he thought of 
 the probable slow passage of the last hour to Mrs. 
 Redmond, and his tongue clave to the roof of his 
 mouth. 
 
 " I suppose you will go back now, and dance 
 with that green young lady again," said Phyllis to 
 him as she rose from her chair. 
 
 " Shall I ? " he replied. " Do you wish me 
 to?" 
 
 " Oh, why should I care ? " 
 
 Whatever Mr. Bellows might have liked to re- 
 ply to this, Mrs. Redmond's presence restrained 
 him. He contented himself with pressing Phyllis's 
 hand at the foot of the stairs which led to her 
 apartments, and the girl ran up lightly, not afraid 
 of any other girl, whether in green, blue, or pink. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond came more slowly behind her. 
 She turned and gave the radiant young man one 
 of the searching looks with which she understood 
 the art of shriveling souls. 
 
 He clasped his hands beseechingly. " Mea 
 culpa" he said, " if mea is n't too culpable ! " 
 
 " I am quite in earnest," she returned. " You 
 will discover it later." 
 
 She felt that she ought to say something to 
 Phyllis to put her on her guard, but when she
 
 TONY OFFENDS. 385 
 
 reached her room, the girl rushed to her, thre\r 
 her soft arms around her neck, and kissed her. 
 
 " Oh, how can I thank you for giving me all 
 these good times ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 Elise's own full, longing heart pleaded with her 
 not to disturb this absolute content. Why put out 
 the lights in those eyes, and introduce vague fears 
 in place of this happy ardor ? Let the child go to 
 sleep to-night with all the glamor of her thoughts 
 shining. To-morrow would be time enough. 
 
 " Mr. Bellows says he will teach me to dance 
 this week," announced Phyllis, sparkling and beam- 
 ing. " He says we can go into the ball-room any 
 time we like, and then by next Saturday night I 
 need not sit still." 
 
 "Oh, are we going to be here next Saturday 
 night ? " asked Elise. 
 
 The girl suddenly turned. " Are n't we ? " she 
 ejaculated anxiously. 
 
 " I had n't thought," replied Mrs. Redmond. 
 " We will see." 
 
 But Phyllis was not to sleep that night quite un- 
 saddened. She found a letter on her bureau from 
 Roxana, and it said that Mrs. Terriss had died 
 the morning before. She felt ashamed that her 
 first thought, upon the reception of the news, was 
 fear lest Mrs. Redmond should consider it neces- 
 sary to return for the funeral, and that thus the 
 visit to Deep Lake would be summarily ended ; but 
 Roxana did not suggest such a necessity, neither 
 4id it seem to occur to Elise ; and Phyllis breathed
 
 886 THE MISTRESS OF SEECH KNOLL. 
 
 freely again. Mr. Terriss was her favorite of the 
 two, and Roxana said he was rational now at inter- 
 vals, and that the doctors were hopefuJ about him. 
 
 On the next day, Mr. Bellows seemed determined 
 to put off the mauvais quart (Theure Mrs. Red- 
 mond had promised him. He was simply exem- 
 plary in the impartiality with which he devoted 
 himself to the two friends. The young 1 lady in 
 green of the night before, a Miss Plum by name, 
 and an excellent tennis player, made the fourth in 
 several games, and ruined them for Phyllis by the 
 airs and graces which she lavished upon Tony ; but 
 the carrying out of the dancing lessons consoled 
 the girl somewhat. It was Mrs. Redmond who did 
 the teaching however. Tony was relegated to the 
 piano stool, where he played waltzes with inex- 
 haustible patience and good humor. 
 
 Phyllis was an apt pupil. The little she knew 
 already, her strong feeling for rhythm, and her 
 power of imitation gave her, before many days, a 
 tolerable facility in the art, in which she gloried as 
 in the possession of an added sense. She never 
 forgot the first dance she had with Tony, when 
 Mrs. Redmond at last graciously declared her 
 ready for that distinction. It was at the quietest 
 hour in the day, when people were in their cottages, 
 and few loungers were about the hotel. There 
 was no one besides themselves in the ball-room. 
 Klise played for them, and the two young people 
 had undisturbed sway. It must have been a very 
 poor dancer who could not enjoy a turn with Tony.
 
 TONY OFFENDS. 387 
 
 His powers of adaptation were limitless, and Phyl- 
 lis, in the glow of youth and strength, found at last 
 an ideal exercise. 
 
 " That is enough enough ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Redmond, laughing and taking her hands from 
 the piano. " Tony, your face nearly matches the 
 stripe in your blazer. Phyllis, sit down this min- 
 ute." 
 
 The girl was too breathless to speak, but her 
 eyes replied triumphantly to Tony's compliments. 
 Now let Saturday evening come. The minor 
 dances of the other evenings were all very well ; 
 but the orchestra and the festal garments were 
 needed to make her satisfaction complete. 
 
 But long before Saturday evening, Tony had 
 offended again, and more than once, before Mrs. 
 Redmond's watchful eyes. 
 
 One night, in their room, she approached Phyl- 
 lis very kindly. 
 
 " My dear," she said, " I am your chaperon, 
 and it is a part of every chaperon's duty to be 
 disagreeable." 
 
 " How poorly you perform yours, then," replied 
 the girl, looking at her affectionately. 
 
 " I 'm afraid I do, rather. I have the greatest 
 repugnance to spoiling your good time, you see ; 
 but Tony is getting too bad. I have scolded him, 
 still he will flirt with you." 
 
 " Oh, no, he does n't," replied Phyllis earnestly. 
 " One can't, alone, he says, and I don't know a 
 thing about it, except what I 've seen Miss Plum
 
 388 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 do. Oh, I think she 's horrible, the way she makes 
 eyes ! " 
 
 Elise smiled. "Miss Plum's natural advan- 
 tages are not very great, but, you see, your eyes 
 are all made ; and when you look at a man, this is 
 what he sees." 
 
 She took up a hand-glass with a quick move- 
 ment and held it before Phyllis's excited face, so 
 that the girl observed, perforce, the brown dia- 
 monds of which Mr. Bellows was beginning to 
 dream. 
 
 She pushed away the glass gently and gazed 
 earnestly at her mentor. 
 
 " What do you suppose Mr. Bellows thinks ? " 
 
 " I do not suppose Mr. Bellows thinks very 
 often. He has been fanned along through life by 
 favoring breezes as lightly as one of these Jap- 
 anese butterflies." 
 
 Phyllis looked very serious, and the sudden 
 vivid color died from her face. 
 
 " Do you suppose he means to flirt with me ? " 
 she asked gravely. " Do you suppose he means to 
 deceive me ? " 
 
 " He does n't mean anything, my child," said 
 Elise gently, for this pallor surprised and worried 
 her. " That is the worst of it." 
 
 Phyllis moistened her lips. " And when we go 
 away from here, it will be some other girl that he 
 will talk to and look at as he does at me ? " 
 
 Mrs. Redmond felt as though she were pressing 
 a knife into her friend, a two-bladed knife, which
 
 TON 7 OFFENDS. 389 
 
 wounded herself as well ; but she felt she must 
 emulate the kind nerve of the surgeon. " Yes," 
 she answered. " It will always be the prettiest 
 girl, wherever he happens to find himself." 
 
 Phyllis gave a great, dry sob, and her face looked 
 pinched. She saw facts in their true light for the 
 first time. She knew that, from the moment Tony's 
 box of flowers had fallen into the Snowdou street, 
 she had thought of him day and night without 
 ceasing. " Then what shall I do ? " she said de- 
 spairingly. 
 
 Her attitude and words broke down the control 
 Elise was constantly imposing on her own excited 
 feelings. She flung her arms about the girl's neck, 
 and broke into repressed sobs. " O Phyllis, poor 
 child, do you love him ? " she exclaimed, shaken by 
 the storm passing over her. " God knows if wo- 
 men ever recover from such things." 
 
 Phyllis was hardly moved by the tempest she 
 did not comprehend, though she accepted Elise's 
 embrace. Her wound ached, and numbed her to 
 all beside. At last Mrs. Redmond's sudden access 
 of emotion passed. She regained her self-control, 
 and spoke again. " "We will go home, Phyllis, to- 
 morrow, if you like." 
 
 " No," replied the girl. " The one thing worse 
 than what has happened would be for him to sus- 
 pect it. I have talked so much about Saturday 
 evening, I must stay and go through with it." 
 Phyllis looked with sombre eyes into the flushed 
 face of her companion. " If I can only be brave
 
 890 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 enough," she added. " I wonder how I shall get 
 on. I believe I have never had anything to hide 
 before." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond's smooth hand clasped hers. 
 " You will get on," she replied. " It must have 
 been foreseen from the beginning that women 
 would need the art of dissimulation more than 
 men, for they have it naturally. It is a very 
 happy woman, Phyllis, who needs not at some time 
 in her life to be an actress, and a clever one." 
 
 Phyllis proved to be sufficiently clever during 
 the next few days for her own defense, and Elise, 
 watching, for some time saw no need to interfere ; 
 but as Phyllis retreated, Tony advanced. Had 
 she been the artfulest schemer, she could not have 
 devised a better plan than her own wariness for 
 drawing him on. Tony could not understand how 
 it was managed that his little arrangements were 
 thwarted, one by one, and at last he was forced 
 into certain ebullitions under Mrs. Redmond's very 
 eyes, which gave her reason to utilize the first mo- 
 ment she found herself alone with him. Phyllis 
 was making a gallant fight, and it thrilled her 
 every fibre with indignation to see her so hard 
 pushed. 
 
 There was a spreading oak halfway down the 
 hillside, under which the three were wont to spend 
 a portion of every day. On the much-anticipated 
 Saturday, Elise advised Phyllis to lie down a time 
 to be rested for the evening, while she and Tony 
 took their books under the favorite tree. Phyllis
 
 TONT OFFENDS. 391 
 
 complied without question. She was waiting in 
 these days, waiting for Monday to come, for 
 then they were going home. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond felt somewhat tremulous as she 
 went down the hill, escorted by the unconscious 
 Tony. Her splendid health was not entirely proof 
 against the inroads of suspense, hope, and doubt 
 of the past ten days, and her irritation, taking the 
 form of indignation toward Mr. Bellows, seethed 
 and pressed for outlet. 
 
 He arranged her comfortably in her favorite 
 spot, and himself lay down on the grass. " What 
 are you going to do," he inquired lazily, " read to 
 me?" 
 
 " No, I 'in not," she returned shortly. " I am 
 going to talk to you about your utter, wicked 
 selfishness toward Phyllis." 
 
 Tony rolled over slowly, and looked into the 
 handsome, excited eyes. 
 
 " I warned you when you first came, and yet 
 you have gone on, doing everything you possibly 
 could to make that innocent girl care for you. It 
 is short-sighted, stupid selfishness, that I did not 
 think you capable of, Tony. How much satisfac- 
 tion would it be to you, when you have gone off to 
 devote yourself to somebody else, to know that she 
 did care, that you had succeeded in robbing her 
 of her peace of mind ? Tell me that." 
 
 Tony looked somewhat surprised, but he gazed 
 eagerly and frankly into her challenging face. 
 
 " Why, I do believe you must think she likes
 
 392 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 me a little, or you would not be quite so severe," 
 he said slowly. 
 
 His accuser gazed at him with scorn and grief. 
 
 " This disappoints me ! " she exclaimed. 
 
 " Upon my word, I 've led such a life the last 
 week trying to find out that there 's hardly any- 
 thing left of me," observed Mr. Bellows art- 
 lessly. 
 
 " O Tony, are you really so egotistical, so shal- 
 low, so vain ? " and suddenly bowing her face in 
 her hands Elise burst into tears. 
 
 Her companion looked at her aghast. "Mrs. 
 Redmond, Elise, what in the world is the matter 
 with you ? " he exclaimed, utterly disconcerted by 
 this extraordinary display of emotion. 
 
 " I am ill," she answered, between her sobs, 
 " or I should not give way like this ; but I '11 have 
 you know that I am crying with anger at 
 
 you." 
 
 "You needn't, upon my word," said her com- 
 panion soothingly. "Please stop, and listen to 
 me. You have n't given me a chance to say a 
 word in my own defense." 
 
 "Ob, actions speak so much louder than words, 
 Tony ! " but she dried her tears more and more 
 successfully, and at last looked with tolerable calm- 
 ness off toward the lake. 
 
 Tony began quietly, his eyes upon her averted 
 face. 
 
 " We both remember that I made a fool of my- 
 self at your house a few weeks ago, and I shall
 
 TONY OFFENDS. 393 
 
 always feel grateful to you for the easy way you 
 let me clown. You know that, don't you ? " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 "If don't be angry if you had accepted 
 me, you know I should have been immensely proud 
 and happy, and should always have remained so, 
 don't you?" 
 
 Elise smiled faintly. " I won't discuss it with 
 you, at all events." 
 
 "Well," continued the young man slowly, "I 
 did not love you as I do Phyllis." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond raised her eyebrows and swal- 
 lowed the lump that suddenly rose in her throat. 
 
 " Ah ! You think you love Phyllis ? " 
 
 "I won't discuss it with you, at all events." 
 
 The retort was so prompt that Elise smiled 
 again. 
 
 " I know I cut an awkward enough figure in 
 this affair," went on Tony, " but I am tremen- 
 dously in earnest, and I cannot stop to care very 
 much if I do." 
 
 "Indeed," said Mrs. Redmond, calm without, 
 exultant within ; " but what will papa say ? His 
 only son, the apple of his eye ! Will he accept a 
 little country girl for a daughter ? " 
 
 " You are to attend to that part of it," returned 
 Tony coolly. 
 
 Elise looked at him. " Would it be too pre- 
 suming in me to inquire how ?" 
 
 " I '11 tell you. I Ve thought it all out. You 
 wouldn't want to stay in Snowdon during the
 
 394 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 winter, anyway. Take an apartment in town, in- 
 vite Phyllis to be your guest. Entertain a little, 
 and invite my father." 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked back at the lake with a 
 smile. " I have often heard you declare that 
 there is nothing small about you, Tony. You 
 make me believe you." 
 
 " You know how my father has always felt about 
 you for Lina's sake." Tony lowered his voice at 
 the mention of his dead sister. " You will know 
 exactly how to impress him favorably with Phyl- 
 lis." 
 
 " Yes," Mrs. Redmond returned thoughtfully, 
 "that is all very well. Perhaps I might submit 
 to your plans for old acquaintance' sake, but Phyl- 
 lis is no puppet. Do not carry your day-dream 
 so far that you cannot wake up from it with a good 
 grace." 
 
 " It has gone too far already," said Tony quietly. 
 " It is a great thing to have your good wishes, 
 Mrs. Redmond. Will you give them to me ? " 
 
 " With all my heart," was the answer, spoken 
 cordially at last. "To tell the truth, I always 
 thought you would be something of a prize as a 
 husband, Tony." 
 
 " Yes, for some other woman," he replied, smil- 
 ing.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 
 
 SHORTLY afterward, Mrs. Redmond went back 
 to the hotel. She knew it would be rather difficult 
 to betray to Phyllis no sign of her discovery ; es- 
 pecially as she longed to rekindle the light she 
 had extinguished in the pretty face. She deter- 
 mined, at least, to encourage the girl to enter fully 
 into the pleasures of this last evening, and on* her 
 way to the house concocted a variety of pleasant 
 remarks calculated to raise her spirits. 
 
 Tony wandered off restlessly to the outskirts of 
 the park, vaulted over the fence, and found him- 
 self on the border of a wooded ravine, into which 
 he descended, tramping ruthlessly over ferns and 
 moss and the various delicate growths of the silent 
 and shaded spot. His thoughts were outrunning 
 his quick march, and suddenly a tree trunk, rising 
 with unusually inviting smoothness, tempted him 
 to pause, and, after the fashion of scores of lovers 
 before and since the time of Orlando, to trace 
 thereon the letters of his beloved's name. 
 
 " P," he muttered aloud as he made the first 
 incision with his knife ; then added with a deliber- 
 ate pause after every word, " stands for pretty, 
 pert, provoking, precious, pef ; and she is all 
 that."
 
 396 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " Who are you libeling ? " It was Phyllis her- 
 self who spoke. She was sitting on a moss-covered 
 log, half hidden by some bushes. Her heart, which 
 had nearly choked her at the sudden sight of Tony, 
 beat so fast at his words that she spoke desperately, 
 fearing that in a minute more speech would be im- 
 possible, and that he would discover her an eaves- 
 dropper. 
 
 Mr. Bellows looked about, and beheld the flushed, 
 upturned face. 
 
 " You ! " he exclaimed, taking an eager step 
 forward and seating himself beside her. " What 
 blessed magic brought you here, Phyllis ? " 
 
 " My natural disobedience. Mrs. Redmond told 
 me to lie down, so I preferred to take a walk." 
 
 " Well, I shall believe hereafter in the doctrine 
 of attendant angels. What else could have de- 
 termined me to come down here just now ! We 
 are as much alone as though we were a thousand 
 miles from civilization." 
 
 Phyllis's face did not reflect the satisfaction 
 which this consideration seemed to give her com- 
 panion. 
 
 She rose quickly. " I must go back. Mrs. Eed- 
 mond will wonder what has become of me." 
 
 Tony turned pale under his healthful tan. 
 
 " Wait one minute," he said. " I have some- 
 thing to tell you. Sit down once more." 
 
 " I can hear it quite as well, standing," replied 
 Phyllis. One thing was clearly distinct among the 
 whirling thoughts in her mind. She was not going
 
 "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 397 
 
 to furnish Mr. Bellows any more amusement. 
 Perhaps he had discovered her before murmuring 
 that audible confidence to the tree. It was quite 
 likely. 
 
 Certainly, Tony had not the air just now of be- 
 ing entertained. Phyllis wore a business-like, 
 spirited expression of face which was so far the 
 reverse of encouraging under the circumstances 
 that his heart felt like a lump of lead within him. 
 Tony was one of the " golden youth " of the day, 
 presumably spoiled, but he was manly enough to 
 feel as sincerely humble before this young girl as 
 though she were a princess, because he loved her 
 dearly, and felt in his simple way that his posses- 
 sions of money and position would be worthless as 
 Dead Sea apples unshared by her. 
 
 As she would not be seated, he rose and faced 
 her. 
 
 " Answer me honestly, Phyllis," he said, " have 
 you been avoiding me lately ? " 
 
 She hesitated. " Yes," she answered at last, 
 bravely. 
 
 " Why ? " The direct question set the girl's 
 heart beating again until she seemed to hear it, 
 there in the green, sun-streaked silence. 
 
 " Because," she replied, looking into his grave 
 eyes with the courage which comes to a girl at 
 bay even though she is very much in love, " you 
 seemed too much inclined for the pastime that one 
 cannot play at alone. I thought I would make 
 way for Miss Plum, or some other experienced 
 girl."
 
 308 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Tony looked perplexed, then enlightened, then 
 reproachful. 
 
 " Did you think I would flirt with you, Phyl- 
 lis ? " he asked, trying to take her hand. 
 
 She drew back from him and clasped her hands 
 behind her, holding her head up with a proud air 
 which could have been no more spontaneous had 
 she been a princess indeed. " I think you will 
 not," she answered. 
 
 Tony looked paler than ever. " I have lived 
 over this scene in my mind hundreds of times, 
 Phyllis. I did not think it could be so hard to 
 speak. I do not understand how I have displeased 
 you. At least you were very friendly to me once. 
 I love you more than I ever dreamed I should 
 love anybody. When you come in sight, every 
 drop of blood in my body seems to rush on its 
 way, and I feel twice as happy and twice as strong 
 as I did before." He came a step nearer, and his 
 face looked wretched. Before she could guess his 
 intention, he clasped her to him fiercely and kissed 
 her ; then he released her as suddenly, turned his 
 back, and leaned his head on his arm against the 
 tree trunk scarred by his knife. 
 
 Phyllis caught her breath at the sudden attack, 
 and a crimson flush stained her face and neck. 
 Her breast rose and fell as she gazed with dark, 
 full eyes, at the immovable figure. 
 
 He lifted his head after a time, and, turning, 
 leaned against the tree, his face set, and his eyes 
 gloomily meeting Phyllis's.
 
 " THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 399 
 
 " I suppose you will never forgive me for that," 
 he said brusquely. 
 
 Phyllis swallowed. " I am very sorry " she 
 began. 
 
 " I knew you would be sorry for me if it went 
 this way. Never mind. Don't wait. Go back 
 to the hotel. I will come presently." 
 
 The faintest of smiles played about Phyllis's 
 lips. She half turned away. " Of course I must go 
 if you tell me," she replied. " There is one thing 
 you will know yourself capable of doing alone 
 hereafter. You can propose and be rejected all 
 by yourself." 
 
 Tony kept his eyes on hers. " I did not think 
 you a girl to make game of a man," he said. 
 
 Phyllis gave a little shrug of her shoulders. " I 
 think myself so lucky to get a word in edgewise 
 at last that I scarcely know what I say. You are 
 a great talker Tony." 
 
 It was the first time she had ever called him by 
 his name, and there was such a combination of 
 sauciness and tenderness in her face that her lover 
 walked to her as though drawn by a magnet. 
 
 " Have you anything to say ? You know I am 
 always willing to listen to you." 
 
 " Thank you," replied Phyllis, with exaggerated 
 humility. "In acknowledgment, then, of your 
 condescension, permit me to remark that you have 
 not displeased me, and that I still like you as 
 well as I ever did." 
 
 " Ah ! " sighed Tony with a deep, uneontrol-
 
 400 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 lable breath ; " but that never has been satisfac- 
 tory." 
 
 " Then I will add that I like you very much," 
 continued the girl demurely. 
 
 Tony's eyes began to glow. " Phyllis," he said, 
 "I don't understand you. Is this the cat and 
 mouse business ? " 
 
 " No," replied the girl, her eyes filling as he 
 caught her hands, " this is solitaire. You have 
 played your hand all through, and now I suppose 
 I must play mine. Let me see, the proposal must 
 come first before I can " 
 
 Tony hung on her words, but the last one would 
 not be spoken. After he had waited a second he 
 clasped her in his arms again, tenderly this time, 
 beseechingly. " Darling, darling," he cried, " was 
 I mistaken ? " 
 
 Phyllis lifted her re'd rosebud of a face. " You 
 were dreadfully mis " but the rest of the word 
 was lost. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond had had time to suspect all sorts 
 of calamities to Phyllis before the girl returned. 
 Indeed, she was just starting down the stairs, 
 determined to institute a search which should 
 set her fears at rest, when she came face to face 
 with the missing one, running lightly up the stair- 
 case. 
 
 " Where have you been, you naughty girl ? " 
 she asked, feeling something extraordinary in the 
 air the minute she saw the glowing face.
 
 "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 401 
 
 For answer, Phyllis seized her and drew her into 
 her room, and planted herself against the closed 
 door. 
 
 " You were mistaken " (this time she gave the 
 whole word successfully and with triumphant em- 
 phasis) ; " he was not flirting." 
 
 " Dear me," said Elise, sinking into a chair and 
 regarding the starry eyes with an irrepressible 
 smile. " Who would have thought it ! " 
 
 Phyllis shook her head. " No, he was n't. He 
 is in earnest, and so am I, and Oh, I am so 
 happy ! " She ran to her friend and, falling on 
 her knees beside her, laid her head in her lap. 
 
 " Then so ani I," returned Mrs. Redmond, strok- 
 ing her hair : " very, very happy, and I congratu- 
 late you heartily. Do you know you are going to 
 make a fine match, Phyllis ? " 
 
 " Of course I do," was the prompt response. 
 
 Elise smiled. She wondered how much the 
 girl meant. " People will say I did well for you," 
 she added. 
 
 Phyllis looked up. " How ? By not caring for 
 him ? I do thank you so much for that," she 
 replied simply. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond flushed. " No, you blessed child. 
 The feeling Tony had for me was very shallow. 
 People who marry on such sentiments make ship- 
 wreck. I referred to his prospects." 
 
 " Oh," said Phyllis indifferently. 
 
 " Have you thought that you will live in a fine 
 house, and wear fine dresses and jewels, and have
 
 402 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 as many horses as you like, and travel when you 
 please ? " 
 
 The girl sat on the floor and looked up, her cap 
 set on the back of her curls. 
 
 " All that and Tony too ! " she answered in an 
 awestruck tone which stirred Mrs. Redmond's risi- 
 bles again. 
 
 " Yes, and Tony's papa beside, a solid and 
 pompous individual." 
 
 " Yes," replied Phyllis soberly. " Perhaps he 
 won't like me at first, but Tony says you will at- 
 tend to him." 
 
 " Oh, I will attend to him," returned Mrs. Red- 
 mond, loth to disturb such placid faith. " So you 
 have not taken your worldly good fortune into 
 consideration. Happy Tony ! " 
 
 " Yes, I have," replied the other, with a bright 
 nod. " He is not going to dance with Miss Plum 
 once to-night, and he will not dance with any one 
 but you and me, and I 'm not to dance with 
 anybody but him. He will arrange it so that I 
 need n't." 
 
 " So we are going to the dance just the same ? " 
 asked Elise, to whose mind the possibility had 
 arrived that she might now be spared that bore. 
 
 " Oh, we are going to the dance a great deal 
 more!" returned Phyllis gayly. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond concealed her disappointment 
 generously. After all, in two days she would be 
 at home again. 
 
 " To-night is a great occasion," she answered.
 
 " THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 403 
 
 " I shall wear my favorite white gown, and be as 
 superb as possible in honor of you and Tony." 
 
 Very superb she was indeed, and more of a 
 belle than ever in the ball-room that evening. 
 She pressed Tony's hand and, looking into his 
 radiant face, wished that he might give and receive 
 all happiness in the life he was beginning. 
 
 She concluded to dance to-night since, by so 
 doing, she would leave the newly betrothed couple 
 free of care of her ; but for all her determination, 
 the hours seemed leaden. While she endeavored to 
 fulfill the duties of her position, her thoughts were 
 haunted by Chester's image, and the humiliating 
 situation in which his neglect had placed her. 
 Now that her responsibility toward Phyllis was 
 greatly lessened, selfish considerations poured into 
 her mind in an unobstructed flood. She recalled 
 what seemed to her now the state of besotted en- 
 thusiasm in which she had sent that hateful letter. 
 How thankful she was that she had not remained 
 to bear its consequences ! Chester had responded 
 so far as to come to Snowdon ; but in a perfunc- 
 tory manner which she could picture to herself, 
 else of course he would have made further search 
 for her. Doubtless, she thought with crimsoning 
 cheeks, he had been relieved not to find her, and 
 had considered that he escaped easily. 
 
 Just as in some moods she had been able only 
 to remember his devotion, and intuitively to rely 
 upon it, so now she was fully convinced of his 
 cold criticism or indifference, and she tortured
 
 404 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 herself with mental pictures of his probable amuse- 
 ment at her fatuous exhibition of weakness, until 
 her hastened breathing set the diamond star upon 
 her bosom to flashing with a thousand lights. 
 
 " I cannot dance. Why force myself any 
 longer?" she thought. Her partner at the mo- 
 ment was the infatuated Lambert, and she excused 
 herself from him on the plea of indisposition. 
 
 " I am really not well," she said. " I think I 
 shall have to return to the hotel. I came for Miss 
 Flower's sake to-night, and I know Mrs. Dayton 
 will be kind enough to mother her for me if I ask 
 her. I have left my wrap at the other end of the 
 room." 
 
 The young man seated her after some expres- 
 sions of sympathy, and then darted away. Next 
 to the pleasure of dancing with Mrs. Redmond 
 was the delight of executing a commission for her. 
 
 Elise breathed a little more freely ; but a sudden 
 turn of her head showed her something which sent 
 the hot blood to her face. Receding, it left her 
 faint and white. 
 
 Terriss Chester was standing in the doorway 
 and looking eagerly about the room. He had not 
 yet perceived her. She overcame with a strong 
 will the panic that beset her, and, recovering 
 quickly, was ready by the time he found her to 
 bow to him as a queen might acknowledge the 
 least of her subjects. 
 
 He seemed to feel no lack in her salutation. 
 With a luminous look in his eyes, he advanced to
 
 "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 405 
 
 her. u At last," he said in a repressed voice, 
 clasping the unresponsive hand she gave him. 
 She was so little prepared for the concentrated 
 radiance in his face that her self-control seemed 
 slipping from her. 
 
 " When did you come ? " was all she could say. 
 
 " Just now. I have no dress-suit ; I am not 
 fit to come in here ; but how could I wait ? You 
 will come with me? " 
 
 " AVhere ? " asked Elise coolly, though the dia- 
 mond star was speaking for her with myriad rosy 
 and celestial lights. 
 
 " Out, anywhere." He smiled with such abso- 
 lute trust and happiness that she felt shaken and 
 bewildered. 
 
 Mr. Lambert approached with the wrap. Mrs. 
 Redmond named the two men to one another, then 
 she addressed the younger. " Mr. Chester will 
 take me to the hotel," she said. " It is impossible 
 for me to speak with every one who wished me to 
 dance. Perhaps you will ma^p my excuses where 
 you see it to be necessary." 
 
 She gave the young man a smile which went 
 directly to his head and set him stammering an 
 eager assent, then she rose and took Chester's arm, 
 pausing before passing out of the door to ask Mrs. 
 Dayton to speak to Phyllis when she had oppor- 
 tunity, and kindly to look after her. 
 
 " I think she needs looking after," was the stout 
 lady's smiling response. " Mr. Bellows is monopo- 
 lizing her."
 
 406 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 " With very good reason," returned Mrs. Red- 
 mond, in a significant, low tone. " We are not 
 quite ready to announce it, Mrs. Dayton. You 
 understand," and Elise passed on, leaving her ac- 
 quaintance in a flattered condition of smiling sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " You received my line, of course ? " asked Ter- 
 riss as they passed out across the piazza and down 
 upon the walk. 
 
 " No, I have received nothing." 
 
 " Why, how could that be ? After I first went 
 back to Snowdon and found you were gone and 
 that I could not see Miss Rebecca, I had my first 
 moment of collected thought. I concluded that I 
 should be a grain more worthy to approach you if 
 I showed sufficient self-respect to have ceased to 
 be a vagrant before I presented myself. I have 
 worked since that day as I never worked before. 
 No stone has been left unturned ; but the time 
 seemed so long, I grew desperate, and sent to 
 Miss Rebecca for your address. She gave it to 
 me, and I wrote you a few words. Soon afterward 
 I stumbled upon the track of something promising, 
 and secured almost a certainty of a good position. 
 There remained to be obtained the assent of one 
 man. I inquired his address, and found he was 
 at Deep Lake. Imagine what I felt. Well, be- 
 fore I entered the hall to-night I saw him, and it is 
 all right. I am not a vagrant. Elise," he added, 
 pausing after his hastily spoken sketch, and speak- 
 ing her name yearningly. They had passed be-
 
 "THE GOLDEN CLOSE OF LOVE." 407 
 
 yond the sound of the buzz of voices, and the 
 music, idealized, floated to them through the cool 
 moonlit night. They stood still in the shadow of 
 a far-reaching elm. 
 
 Mrs. Redmond looked up at the passionate ap- 
 peal of his voice. 
 
 "You did not come, you did not write," she 
 said unsteadily. " I feared my letter was a mis- 
 take." 
 
 " Your letter a mistake ? Oh, what do you 
 mean ? It lies against my heart, and will while I 
 live. I had nothing to forgive you. You had 
 much to forgive me. Those words of yours 
 changed this work - a - day world into an Eden. 
 They held a magic fire, inspiring, transforming. 
 They gave me strength to stay away, when staying 
 away tested more power of endurance than I 
 thought I possessed. They gave me permission to 
 guess to guess. O Elise," his voice dropped 
 lower, and its intensity thrilled her to the heart of 
 her being, " if I have guessed wrong, I have had a 
 season of happiness which must be the solace of 
 all my after-life." 
 
 In the deep silence that followed, he saw how 
 pale she had become in the moonlight. Her wrap, 
 half fallen away, disclosed the star, rising, falling, 
 sending forth its countless coruscations of passion- 
 ate color. Her beauty filled him with a strength 
 of feeling that was painful. 
 
 " You are always fearless," he added, in the 
 same low tone. " If you never felt as I hoped,
 
 408 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 say so. If you imagined for a time you did, but 
 afterward found it was not so, do not hesitate, 
 tell me. You are my queen in any case, always, 
 for all time. Tell me, am I living in a fool's para- 
 dise, or is it heaven ? " 
 
 She drifted nearer him in her misty gown, and 
 looked into his face with a tender smile that set 
 every pulse in his body beating as he took her 
 yielding form in his arms. 
 
 He pressed her close, close to his heart, and 
 their lips met. 
 
 " Now that you have come, it is heaven," she 
 breathed.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THANKSGIVING. 
 
 THE snow lay softly brilliant over every rise and 
 fall of ground at Beech Knoll, and weighed down 
 the branches of the pines with a sparkling burden. 
 The river flowed darkly between dazzling banks. 
 It was Thanksgiving Day, and a dinner party was 
 expected at the old home as a parting festivity ; 
 for next month Mrs. Redmond would be married, 
 and go with her artist husband to a foreign city, 
 where he could carry out some of the dreams of 
 his boyhood. Elise had had several earnest talks 
 with Chester before she finally succeeded in con- 
 vincing him that his proud independence was in 
 this case misplaced ; but he at last agreed that 
 there should be no more talk between them of 
 thine and mine, and he came to believe, as Elise 
 earnestly averred, that had her father lived, his 
 well-known love for his adopted son would have 
 triumphed over the temporary fit of anger in which 
 he cast him off. 
 
 The dinner party to-day was to consist of Ter- 
 riss Chester, Mr. Terriss, who, from the day he 
 was able to be moved, had been a member of Rox- 
 ana's family, Phyllis, and Tony, beside the two 
 hostesses.
 
 410 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 Mr. Bellows senior would also have been of the 
 number, had not business interests compelled him 
 to eat his Thanksgiving dinner in Chicago. Mrs. 
 Redmond had, as Phyllis phrased it, attended to 
 him. Through the month of October she had 
 taken apartments at the Vendome, and Phyllis 
 had been her guest. Thanks to her tact, and the 
 genuine charm of the young girl whose cause she 
 espoused, she succeeded in her undertaking more 
 quickly than she had dared to hope and when 
 Phyllis was retired from that brief dream of din- 
 ner and theatre parties, and cozy social evenings, 
 she felt no surer of Tony than she did of his digni- 
 fied sire. 
 
 Roxana had rarely in her life missed a Thanks- 
 giving service in the church, but to-day she was 
 obliged to omit it, being much hurried to get her 
 work done at home in time to be on hand at Beech 
 Knoll for the numerous duties she had set her heart 
 upon performing there. Mrs. Redmond's servants 
 liked Roxana. There was never any danger of her 
 making trouble among them, and of course Mrs. 
 Redmond had wished to include her in the invi- 
 tation. 
 
 Mrs. Sherritt had scarcely yet grown accus- 
 tomed to the astonishing news that was brought 
 home from Deep Lake. She was wont to shake 
 her head over her work, and sigh, and hope it 
 would all be for the best ; but when Tony had 
 been at the house a few times, she smiled in secret 
 more often than she sighed. She adjusted herself
 
 THANKSGIVING. 411 
 
 quite easily and with great satisfaction to the other 
 match, and was fond of recounting to Mr. Terriss 
 his cousin's excited behavior on the day he first 
 saw Mrs. Redmond on the street. 
 
 u If ever I saw a man knocked all of a heap," 
 she repeated, again and again, " Mr. Chester was 
 that man." 
 
 The minister extracted a large amount of quiet 
 amusement from Roxana in these days. He could 
 see the stining effect upon her of this new atmos- 
 phere of love-making. Mrs. Sherritt resurrected 
 a song from the depths of her memory, which 
 seemed to comprise her sentiments upon the sub- 
 ject of matrimony ; and her singing being of the 
 stentorian order, Mr. Terriss was often entertained 
 by it as he sat, reading his paper, while Roxana, 
 in the next room, laid down the law to slow music. 
 Thus she sang, with much emphasis : 
 
 ' ' She was not took out of his head, Sir, 
 To reign like a tyrant o'er man, 
 She was not took out of his feet, Sir, 
 By man to be trampled upon. 
 
 " But she was took out of his side, Sir, 
 Man's faithful companion to be, 
 And now that they both are united, 
 The man 's at the top o' the tree." 
 
 Roxana usually gave the last line rather faintly. 
 Mr. Terriss could but feel that just there the song 
 did not truthfully express her opinion. 
 
 She was flying about the dining-room at Beech 
 Knoll, lending an efficient helping hand, when
 
 412 THE MISTRESS OF BEECH KNOLL. 
 
 sleighbells announced the arrival of the party from 
 church. There was a great snapping fire of logs 
 in the parlor to welcome them, and Tony's roses 
 had made all the air sweet. As the sextette came 
 in, glowing from the cold, even Rebecca's cheeks 
 had a pink tinge. One could see now that the 
 minister's illness had turned his hair very gray, 
 but otherwise he looked natural, and his kind eyes 
 were full of serene content to-day. They all drew 
 near the cheery fire, and Tony took Phyllis' s hands 
 to warm them. Chester's face and form seemed 
 all to have expanded in the last three months. 
 He looked a fit mate for Elise as she stood there, 
 radiant in her enveloping furs. Rebecca thought 
 so as she regarded them, and when they had all 
 doffed their outside wraps and were waiting the 
 summons to dinner, she found him near her, and 
 met the cordial look his eyes always held when 
 they rested on her. 
 
 " The prince did finally come who won the 
 lady," she said quietly, smiling at the memory of 
 that long-ago talk. 
 
 " How wonderful it is ! " he returned, simply 
 and earnestly. " I am not yet accustomed to it. 
 I sometimes wonder if I shall ever be." 
 
 Mr. Terriss, standing beside Rebecca, was in- 
 cluded in the closing words. 
 
 "You will become used to it," he said, " because 
 happiness is intended to be our normal state. We 
 adjust ourselves to it with comparative quickness 
 for that reason. Human beings are a good deal
 
 THANKSGIVING. 413 
 
 like suspended harmonies, craving to find the home 
 key. Some are resolved into concord in this life, 
 some later. I am very glad for you, Terriss." 
 
 The men shook hands, and Terriss, with the two 
 serene, kind faces before him, suddenly had a 
 novel thought, born of affection for them both. 
 
 It seemed to him a significant coincidence that 
 Elise should advance at that moment, having re- 
 ceived her maid's announcement that dinner was 
 served. 
 
 " Mr. Terriss, will you take Rebecca ? " she 
 said. 
 
 " I will," responded the minister.