AWEST 
 -POINT- 
 WOOING 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA 
 LOUISE 
 
 BURNHAM
 
 3Sp Clara Louise 
 
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 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK.
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 
 
 <Cbc Cinicrsi&c press, Cambritige 
 1899
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 FAOB 
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 1 
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED ? 33 
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 75 
 
 A FRANCO- AMERICAN 92 
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT .... 116 
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 155 
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 178 
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF Miss BLAINE 195 
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 215 
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 236 
 
 MARY ANNIE 260 
 
 BY A MINUTE 277 
 
 AT CREST VIEW 287 
 
 A West Point Wooing and The Cadet Captain's Experiment are 
 reprinted from " The Ladies' World " by permission of the pub- 
 lishers. 
 
 2229447
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 NEAR a window in the library at West Point a 
 young woman was sitting. She held in her hands 
 a book, but her eyes often wandered from the page 
 to the smooth green lawn without, or absently 
 sought the faces in the large paintings which line 
 the dignified room. 
 
 In truth the life of a girl at West Point is so 
 far more interesting to her than any effort of the 
 fictionist, little wonder that the spell of the latter 
 is feeble to hold her. She cannot spare time from 
 the engrossing heroes and heroines in her actual 
 surroundings to those who have not the pleasure of 
 her acquaintance. 
 
 Of course there are stars of varying magnitude 
 in the picturesque orbit of the post, and this brown- 
 haired young woman in the library was a bright 
 particular star of the present summer. Even 
 many of the plebes those downtrodden, wing- 
 clipped butts of every upper classman's ugly or 
 merry humors knew her face and name. Two 
 of them were in the library now, a forlorn Damon 
 and Pythias, companions whose friendly bond was 
 born of their common misery. 
 
 Damon, feigning to be absorbed in the car-
 
 2 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 toon of a comic paper, addressed his companion 
 softly : 
 
 " There is that Miss Elliott, over by the window." 
 
 The eyes of Pythias moved circumspectly thither 
 and he started a little, but not enough to imperil 
 the military bearing which had been dearly gained 
 by many encounters with a versatile and fluent 
 yearling corporal. 
 
 " I know her," he returned, and his heart began 
 to beat until there was risk to his beautiful new 
 buttons, despised of maidens, though never so 
 shiny. 
 
 The sentiment which caused such commotion 
 and made his face crimson was one which can 
 scarcely be appreciated by one who does not know 
 the daily petty miseries of a plebe at our military 
 academy. When after weeks of daily rigors and 
 heartfelt thanks that no one near and dear to him 
 is by to witness his humiliations, he suddenly sees 
 a face connected with home, the associations called 
 up are overwhelming. That remote, happy time 
 when he was a gay, careless individual, respect- 
 fully entreated, comes up before him, and the face, 
 though once belonging to the most indifferent ac- 
 quaintance, now becomes excitingly dear, and he is 
 filled with an eager desire to be recognized. 
 
 The longing Pythias felt at present to strain 
 Miss Elliott to his bell-buttoned breast would 
 have remained just as strong if she had suddenly 
 turned into old Jerry, his father's janitor. His
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 3 
 
 uppermost thought was not for her blue eyes and 
 the crisp freshness of her duck suit ; it was that 
 she had broken gingerbread with him at his mo- 
 ther's table. 
 
 ".I am going to speak to her," he added. 
 
 "Don't!" responded Damon, in a whisper as 
 explosive as he dared make it, at the same time 
 grasping his reckless friend's arm. Damon had 
 arrived at stolid heights, or depths, of philosophy, 
 wherein he had decided that a glance or a word 
 outside of grooves prescribed for the " beasts " 
 and " things " which composed his class was not 
 worth the candle. 
 
 Pythias was of more elastic material ; but eager 
 as he was, he cast a glance around the spacious 
 room before shaking off his monitor's hand. 
 
 Damon anxiously perceived his valorous inten- 
 tions. 
 
 " Wayne 's spoony on her," he breathed ; but 
 Pythias was too far gone to hear reason. Even 
 the name of Wayne, the adored, the worshiped, the 
 unapproachable cadet-adjutant, failed to awe him. 
 He had fallen under another spell, the thought 
 of home. He was a boy again, and this was only 
 Sally Elliott, once the dearest friend of his sister 
 Winifred. Not speak to her ? Well! 
 
 For Damon with his neutral policy, it was an 
 awesome sight to behold his companion cross the 
 library with a free stride, and present himself be- 
 fore a belle of such importance that it was hard
 
 4 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 even to decide whether she was an officer-girl or a 
 cadet-girl, so assiduous in her case were the atten- 
 tions of both these antagonistic rivals. 
 
 " Miss Sally ! " exclaimed Pythias, gazing down 
 eagerly on the blue ribbon of her sailor hat. 
 
 The young woman looked up, the mild surprise 
 and doubt in her eyes giving place in a moment to 
 recognition. 
 
 "You?" she said, offering her hand heartily. 
 " I 'm glad to see you. I knew you were to enter 
 this summer. Sit down," she continued, in the 
 hushed voice due the place, but speaking cordially. 
 " How are you getting along ? What do you think 
 of the Point ? " 
 
 " Great place," returned the young fellow, ac- 
 cepting the chair, and bending only at the hips, as 
 he leaned toward her. " Never received so much 
 attention in my life." 
 
 Her eyes sparkled appreciatively as she scruti- 
 nized him. 
 
 " I have been thinking about you. Winifred 
 wrote me to hunt you up when I came. I was 
 asking Mr. Paxton about you yesterday." 
 
 At the mention of the tactical officer, Pythias 
 shook his head admiringly. 
 
 " Do you know Mr. Paxton ? He is the spoon- 
 iest tac. we have," he returned, and Miss Elliott 
 knew he was referring to the elegance of the lieu- 
 tenant's appearance, and not to the susceptibility of 
 his heart.
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 5 
 
 " I see you have your uniform. Lots better 
 than the shell jacket, is n't it ? " she went on. 
 
 Pythias experienced a mild glow as she looked 
 him over. One year from now her gaze should be 
 unmixed with compassion. 
 
 " I asked Mr. Wayne about you, too," she con- 
 tinued, " but he could n't remember." 
 
 " Of course not," returned Pythias. " But I 
 am Mr. Wayne's washerwoman." 
 
 " Indeed ! " returned Miss Elliott, approving 
 the smile with which this announcement was made. 
 "He has the right stuff in him; he'll do," she 
 thought. 
 
 " Yes," went on the cadet, " I wash his gloves ; 
 clean his buckles, too. In fact, I get a good many 
 buckles lent me, first and last." 
 
 Pythias looked so good-natured as he spoke that 
 Miss Elliott nodded at him confidentially. 
 
 " I believe you have come here to stay," she said 
 encouragingly, " and we are all going to be proud 
 of you." 
 
 These friendly words, and the kind, familiar 
 face, warmed the cockles of the lonely plebe's heart. 
 In the fullness of his rare pleasure, he thought of 
 Damon, and turned toward him with the intention 
 of beckoning him over and introducing him. 
 
 A wild gaze of horror met his genial look. 
 Each hair on Damon's head was evidently trying 
 to rise. His face was as pale as the long tanning 
 of the summer sun would permit. With one con-
 
 6 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 viilsive jerk of his hand, he summoned Pythias 
 back, then feigned to be again absorbed in the 
 papers on the table before him. Anon his eyes 
 furtively rose to the library entrance, where was 
 the apparition which had so discomposed him. 
 
 Geoffrey Wayne, the cadet-adjutant, had come 
 in. He was dressed for parade, and the light glit- 
 tered on his gold chevrons and radiated from his 
 white, polished trousers, as he paused a second to 
 adjust his sword-knot, his plumed hat in hand. 
 
 Damon trembled. He considered it quite among 
 the possibilities for a violent explosion to shake the 
 library from its foundation to its golden dome, if 
 Wayne should discover a groveling worm of the 
 dust like a plebe conversing with the girl he had 
 distinguished by his own dazzling attentions. 
 
 Pythias, wondering at his friend's agitation, 
 turned back to his companion. 
 
 " It was so fortunate I happened to meet you 
 here, Miss Sally," he said. " There are so few 
 places where I am allowed to go. I hope you will 
 let me see you again. It does me more good than 
 I can tell you. Just excuse me a minute, I have 
 a friend over there " 
 
 For Damon had again caught his eye and mo- 
 tioned so wildly that Pythias rose perforce, and 
 moved in his direction. 
 
 Only just in time, according to Damon's judg- 
 ment ; for now the young adjutant's irreproachable 
 figure came into the room. Pythias perceived
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 7 
 
 the lighting of the upper classman's fine brown 
 eyes, sole expression of pleasure of the dignified 
 and impassive face at perceiving the form by the 
 window. 
 
 "T thought you would never leave her," growled 
 Damon through stiff lips, when Wayne had safely 
 passed them. " I saw him come in, and if his knot 
 had n't got twisted he 'd have caught you." 
 
 " Caught me ! " repeated Pythias indignantly, 
 unable to recollect all at once his helpless plebe 
 condition. " Nonsense ! I am going back to say 
 good-by to her." 
 
 " You blooming idiot ! " returned Damon, seizing 
 his companion by the arm with a force of mind 
 and body which ultimately carried him through 
 the academy's course with flying colors. "Your 
 head 's turned. Come out of this place. She '11 
 understand." 
 
 She did understand, and she sent a pleasant nod 
 to Pythias across Wayne's broad shoulder, as the 
 former waved his cap to her in his forced depar- 
 ture. 
 
 " I 've been having a very pleasant chat with 
 your washerwoman," she said, when Wayne had 
 seated himself and was looking into her eyes with 
 an expression which he did not even wish to be 
 mistakable. 
 
 " Been to the laundry, eh ? Well, Paxton is 
 certainly full of resource when it comes to enter- 
 taining a young lady ! "
 
 8 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 " I have just been assured that Mr. Paxton is 
 the spooniest tac. you have, so I find I am quite 
 right in admiring him," said Miss Elliott sedately. 
 
 " Oh, there 's no doubt of that," returned the 
 cadet. 
 
 " Your washerwoman is a man, as it happens." 
 
 " Oh, got Chinamen in, have they ? " 
 
 " Geoffrey Wayne, you don't know what I 'm 
 talking about." 
 
 " That is nothing new. Two years' experience 
 has adjusted my brain to that." 
 
 " I am talking about the plebe who washes your 
 gloves," announced Miss Elliott, with dignity. 
 
 The adjutant raised his eyebrows. 
 
 " What makes you ? " he asked lightly. 
 
 " Because I like him. I 've always liked him. 
 Why, I have held him in my lap lots of times." 
 
 Wayne looked a second, then remarked : 
 
 " Odd taste, that." 
 
 " And I want you to befriend him." 
 
 " You want me to hold him in my lap ? " 
 
 Miss Elliott was evidently engrossed in remi- 
 niscence. 
 
 " When he was a few months old," her voice 
 lowered even from its subdued murmur, "I dis- 
 tinctly remember that once I dropped him on the 
 floor ; but I was only six." 
 
 Wayne shook his head. 
 
 " I 'm afraid that I should do the same thing, 
 even at my advanced age."
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 9 
 
 " I dare say he polished the very finery that you 
 have on," pursued the girl, regarding the distorted 
 reflection of her face in the adjutant's shining 
 breast buckle. 
 
 "Been whining to you, has he?" asked the 
 cadet-officer quietly, examining his sword-hilt. 
 
 "Not a bit of it," returned the other indig- 
 nantly. " He is the jolliest boy in the world. 
 Whine ! I guess not." 
 
 " I have been trying to find you to talk about 
 to-night's german," said Wayne, with evident 
 impatience of her subject, " and there goes the 
 first call now ; " he went on to enlarge upon 
 this common interest, and Pythias was forgot- 
 ten. 
 
 Miss Elliott saw her plebe again the next 
 morning. Guard mounting was over, and the 
 band was giving the customary morning concert 
 under the elms. The laughing, chatting, and 
 flirting, that had been quenched by the roll of the 
 inexorable drum at the dance the night before, 
 was going gayly forward from the point where it 
 left off. 
 
 In contrast to the groups of talkative youths and 
 maidens distributed all about, stood a small squad 
 of motionless plebes in dress uniform and pain- 
 fully braced. They were offering themselves in 
 competition, each hoping to be chosen for the color 
 guard, the duty of watching the flag all day carry- 
 ing with it certain privileges, and being bestowed
 
 10 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 upon the cadet whose person and accoutrements 
 should be found by the adjutant to be the most 
 nearly faultless. 
 
 As Geoffrey Wayne in the gray and crimson, 
 white and gold glory of his dress uniform ap- 
 proached the waiting line, Sally Elliott stood near, 
 regarding them. Beside her was Pythias, whom 
 she had sent for to sit with her during guard 
 mount. He was in a sympathetic tremor, his eyes 
 fixed on Damon, who was a member of the squad, 
 and whose toilet Pythias had zealously superin- 
 tended, jumping about him at the last with a whisk 
 broom and a bit of chamois leather, " painting the 
 lily " by every means in his power. 
 
 " Your friend looks quite uncomfortable," ob- 
 served Miss Elliott, as she scrutinized that mem- 
 ber of the stiff-backed line. 
 
 "Not half so much so as he feels," returned 
 Pythias. " But I don't see how even Mr. Wayne 
 can find any fault with him. It would take a 
 magnifying glass to find a speck of dust on 
 him." 
 
 The adjutant, the official severity of his counte- 
 nance unsoftened by Miss Elliott's proximity, ap- 
 proached the first victim of his inspection. 
 
 The band was playing a Sousa march, to whose 
 strains Sally had danced the last two-step with 
 Wayne the night before. She smiled at the con- 
 trast between the face of her partner then and the 
 expression he now bent upon the luckless cadet,
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 11 
 
 who was even denied the privilege of trembling 
 beneath it. 
 
 As if a string had been pulled, the rifle of the 
 competing plebe flew from one hand to the other, 
 and with a jerk was offered to the adjutant. 
 
 Miss Elliott's low laugh bubbled forth. 
 
 " / should call that snatching," she remarked, 
 commenting on the cadet-officer's mode of accepting 
 the firearm. " Is it military to snatch ? " 
 
 Pythias was too preoccupied to hear her. He 
 endeavored to look impassive, but his eyes glis- 
 tened. Damon stood second in the line. Wayne 
 muttered something to the first plebe as he tossed 
 back the rifle, then moved to the next. 
 
 Damon at his approach became galvanized into 
 motion. His gun leaped from one hand to the 
 other in approved style. 
 
 "My, what a Jove-like frown Mr. Wayne wears!" 
 remarked Sally. She was watching intently, in 
 sympathy with the interest of Pythias. She saw 
 the cadet-officer take the rifle, gaze down its bar- 
 rel, and unfix the bayonet. He drew his white- 
 gloved finger along the socket, then presented it 
 under Damon's nose with threatening energy and 
 a frowning stare which the plebe received with a 
 beating heart, but without the quiver of an eye- 
 lash. 
 
 " Oh, it 's not clean ! " cried the girl regret- 
 fully. 
 
 " Miss Sally," said Pythias, in quiet despera-
 
 12 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 tion, "that gun has been unscrewed and each 
 separate part soaked in alcohol before it was 
 rubbed." 
 
 " Well, it is a shame ! " she returned warmly, 
 watching the adjutant with disapproval as he con- 
 tinued down the line, looking each competitor over 
 closely, and drawing his white-gloved fingers around 
 triggers and over gun barrels, displaying the result 
 to their immobile owners. 
 
 " You seem interested, Miss Elliott." 
 
 It was Lieutenant Paxton who spoke, the young 
 cavalry officer whose military perfections had won 
 the encomium from Pythias. The latter effaced 
 himself as Miss Elliott turned to speak to the 
 newcomer, and as he went he cogitated. Mr. 
 Wayne's severity had been so impartial Pythias 
 did not wholly despair of his friend's success after 
 all. 
 
 "Yes, I am interested, Mr. Paxton," replied 
 Miss Elliott. " I was just thinking that Mr. 
 Wayne needed some one to recite Watts's hymns 
 to him : * 'T is dogs delight to bark and bite,' and 
 ' Birds in their little nests agree,' and such moral 
 stanzas. He looks at those poor cadets as if his 
 angry passions had risen permanently." 
 
 Mr. Paxton smiled with rather strained indiffer- 
 ence. He did not like to have Sally Elliott inter- 
 ested in Geoffrey Wayne even sufficiently to de- 
 plore his manner ; but this, of course, he did not 
 confess even to himself, for not many years had
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 13 
 
 elapsed since he too wore the cadet gray under 
 these old elms. 
 
 "Is it a part of an adjutant's duty to look so 
 savage ? " pursued the clear voice. 
 
 " A part of his pleasure, perhaps," returned her 
 companion. " Wayne makes a good adjutant," he 
 continued, remarking the quizzical expression on 
 the girl's face as she still regarded her friend's dis- 
 charge of his official duty. 
 
 " I wish you would come up here in September, 
 when the officers get their innings, Miss Elliott," 
 went on the lieutenant, as he returned the salute 
 of a passing cadet. 
 
 " I 'm sure I should like to," she answered, turn- 
 ing to him frankly. " I doubt if there is a month 
 in the year when West Point has not some special 
 charm." 
 
 " I mean to ask your mother if she won't pro- 
 mise me to bring you to one of our hops this 
 fall." 
 
 " Alas ! it would be useless. My holidays do not 
 last so long." 
 
 " Is n't life one perpetual holiday for you ? I 
 judged it was." 
 
 " Indeed, no ! " The natural vivacity of the 
 bright face deepened till the blue eyes danced. " I 
 should not enjoy myself as I have here if it were. 
 You may be sure I need all the strength, nervous 
 force, and resource that can be stored up in a vaca- 
 tion, for I am a kindergartner."
 
 14 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 " Indeed ? I should like to see you at your 
 labors." 
 
 " Come by all means and visit us, but wear your 
 uniform. Your brass buttons would enrapture the 
 whole school. One of the favorite songs of the 
 children begins : 
 
 " ' A sword and a gun, 
 
 A gay prancing steed, 
 The brave soldier boy, 
 
 What more can he need ! ' ' 
 
 Geoffrey Wayne approaching, his labors over, 
 caught sight of this pair laughing together, and 
 allowed himself to be seized upon by a couple of 
 maidens who had been biding their time until he 
 should be free. 
 
 "You see, Miss Elliott," said Paxton, "I'm 
 afraid if we don't get you for an officers' hop this 
 fall we never shall that is, not in my time. I 
 was credibly informed last night " the lieuten- 
 ant lowered his voice, and his face became grave 
 and respectful "that you are engaged to Mr. 
 Wayne." 
 
 The wondering eyes regarding him remained no 
 less mischievous. 
 
 " ' Credibly informed ' ? Dear me, Mr. Paxton, 
 you frighten me. In these dangerously advanced 
 days, when nobody knows when she may be hypno- 
 tized, or her astral body be lured off in an uncanny 
 manner, one can never tell what may not have 
 happened in some moment of unconsciousness."
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 15 
 
 " I see you don't wish to admit it, if the re- 
 port is true," said the lieutenant stiffly. " Forgive 
 me." 
 
 Sally smiled demurely. 
 
 " I have nothing to forgive, indeed, and I wish 
 - 1 do wish I could come to your hop, Mr. Pax- 
 ton." 
 
 She gave him an expressive gaze, then half 
 turned her head and caught one of the glances 
 which Wayne was continuing to throw in her direc- 
 tion. He received her look as a summons, and, 
 lifting his cap, held it off his much-brushed crisp 
 hair in an attitude of provisional departure, while 
 the maidens chattered last words which fell on 
 deaf ears. 
 
 Lieutenant Paxton, seeing the cadet impending, 
 drifted away, and Sally smiled an acknowledgment 
 of his adieu, then turned to meet Wayne. As he 
 drew near she puckered her white brow into the 
 darkest frown it woidd assume, and stared at him, 
 forcing her lips into a severe line. 
 
 " What is this ? " inquired the adjutant, hold- 
 ing out his hand in spite of her forbidding atti- 
 tude. 
 
 For answer she drew her bare finger across his 
 shining buckle, then thrust it toward his face with 
 an energy which surprised him into a most unmili- 
 tary start. 
 
 " There ; do you think that 's pretty ? " she in- 
 quired, dimpling. "That is what you have been
 
 16 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 doing for the last twenty minutes. Where are 
 those poor plebes to be interred ? " 
 
 " I wish you would n't talk shop to me," said the 
 adjutant plaintively. 
 
 " I do it for your good. A West Point training 
 makes young men so muscular you can surely get 
 away from me if you don't like it." 
 
 " No, I can't get away from you," remarked 
 Wayne, as if stating a fact oft repeated. " What 
 are you going to do next ? " 
 
 " It is growing warm here," said the girl, sti- 
 fling a yawn. " I think I will go back to the 
 hotel." 
 
 " Yes ; let us go and sit on the piazza." 
 
 " Oh ! did you think you were coming with 
 me?" 
 
 The adjutant regarded her with as much indig- 
 nation as was compatible with a strictly society 
 expression. 
 
 " Seeing you will be here but a week longer, I 
 most decidedly am coming," he returned. 
 
 " I think I shall talk quite a little more about 
 that squad of plebes," she remarked, as they started 
 to walk toward the hedge. 
 
 Eloquent silence on the part of her companion. 
 
 " That second one in the line the stiffest dummy 
 of them all is Damon to my plebe's Pythias. His 
 gun"- 
 
 " He was the best of the lot," interrupted the 
 adjutant curtly.
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 17 
 
 " Did you recommend him ? " asked Miss Elliott 
 eagerly. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 She smiled upon him delightedly, and Geoffrey, 
 thanking his lucky stars, drank in the sweetness of 
 her approval, enjoying the radiance while it lasted, 
 and then successfully changing the subject. 
 
 A couple of evenings afterward there was a con- 
 cert in camp. The half-moon made mysterious 
 the elm shadows, and into a retired nook of which 
 he had experience the adjutant ushered his lady. 
 
 Pretty Sally had, since Mr. Paxton's announce- 
 ment, had more than one bad quarter of an hour. 
 The conviction stole upon her at inconvenient times 
 and seasons that she was not treating Geoffrey 
 well. The summer had been so gay, so happy! 
 Was it, after all, going to leave a bitter taste be- 
 hind it? She had first met Wayne in his year- 
 ling camp. He had visited her a number of times 
 during his furlough, and now this summer, when 
 he was at the height of his popularity, it had caused 
 her some secret elation to have him the chief and 
 frankest admirer of her little court. Over and 
 over again she met her recent self-accusation with 
 the assertion that she had been honest with him. 
 " In words, yes," answered conscience, " but had 
 not vanity incited the actions, which speak louder 
 than words? " 
 
 Sally leaned back against her tree trunk, and 
 the band began to play Schubert's " Serenade."
 
 18 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 The sighing melody waved and flowed through the 
 drooping elm branches with the softly breathing 
 summer wind. Wayne, leaning on his elbow in 
 the grass, looked up at the white curve of his com- 
 panion's cheek. 
 
 "You were a good girl to wear my favorite 
 gown," he said. 
 
 " A lot of good it did," she answered, in a prac- 
 tical tone. " You have put me in a corner where 
 you can't see it." 
 
 " I can feel it," he answered contentedly, upon 
 which Miss Elliott gently but firmly drew the thin 
 fabric away from his clinging fingers. 
 
 " Hush ! I want to hear the music," she said, 
 and the violins drowned her companion's smiling 
 sigh. 
 
 They had not paused, on their way, to inspect 
 the programme, and so when midway of the even- 
 ing the cornet, after a short preluding flourish, 
 began a sweet and sustained melody, accompanied 
 by the other instruments, Wayne's hands met in 
 brief applause. 
 
 " Bravo ! " he exclaimed. " I requested that." 
 
 " What is it?" asked Miss Elliott. 
 
 He sank back again on his elbow, his dark head 
 almost touching her arm, and looked up into her 
 face. 
 
 " ' You are the darling of my heart,' " he said. 
 
 She was glad to reflect that the moonlight tends 
 to make one look pale, as she silently regarded him.
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 19 
 
 " Don't you know you are the darling of my 
 heart ? " he asked. 
 
 " Pleafce don't be funny," she returned briskly. 
 
 " But don't you ? I 'm surprised at your neglect 
 of the English classics." Then in an easy voice 
 he sang softly with the cornet : 
 
 " ' She is the darling of my heart, 
 And she lives in our alley.' " 
 
 " Oh, ' Sally in our Alley,' " said Miss Elliott 
 reflectively. " I knew it was familiar." 
 
 " Sally ! " Wayne suddenly but with great gentle- 
 ness imprisoned the moon-white hand lying near 
 him on his favorite gown. " I am going to ask 
 you again, dear." 
 
 " Why do you ? " came the answer, with startled 
 glibness. 
 
 " For several reasons. Partly because you are 
 going away so soon, partly because you are going 
 to cut to-morrow night's hop to go on Paxton's 
 drive, and partly because it will be the third time, 
 and the third time never fails. No, you need n't 
 try to draw your hand away. I am going to hold 
 it." 
 
 " Why ? " exclaimed Miss Elliott again, being 
 too much bewildered by this reckless firmness on 
 the part of a hitherto respectful individual to do 
 more than repeat her feeble question. 
 
 " For several reasons," returned Wayne, also 
 repeating himself. " Partly because a West Point 
 training; makes a man so muscular that I am able
 
 20 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 to, and partly because whoever becomes the ultimate 
 owner of it if he knew all, he would surely feel 
 that I had earned this much. Then beside " 
 
 " Oh, Geoffrey ! " there was a piteous little tremble 
 in the girl's voice as she uttered her interruption. 
 Heart and conscience were making a strange mixed 
 tumult within her. " I have always been honest 
 with you, have n't I ? " 
 
 " Yes," was the dry answer, " I can say unhesi- 
 tatingly that honesty is your forte ; but," slowly 
 kissing her hand, a feat which the place, the music, 
 and her gentleness made easy, " I love you." 
 
 " Let us be sensible," said Miss Elliott hastily, 
 in a tone which strove to imply all sorts of practical 
 and prosaic ideas. " You live such a narrow life 
 up here you don't know what you do want. In a 
 few months you will be out ; you will see the world. 
 You will meet other girls " 
 
 " Girls ! " exclaimed the cadet, with justifiable 
 protest. " In the name of reason, have n't I met 
 girls enough ? " 
 
 " Well, then, no matter about them. If you 
 would drop my hand I could talk better." 
 
 " There is room for improvement, I admit ; but 
 I need your hand unless you are going to give me 
 some hope to work on this winter. Say something 
 kind to me, Sally, can't you ? " 
 
 " This is the merest infatuation, Geoffrey," re- 
 turned Miss Elliott decidedly, " such as a young 
 man often feels for an older woman."
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 21 
 
 " Pshaw ! " exclaimed the adjutant in much 
 scorn. " Are you going to ring in that chestnut 
 again ? .What are those few hours by which you 
 got a start of me ? " 
 
 " I had a year and two months the start of you, 
 Mr. Wayne," said the girl, as coolly as though she 
 were not fearing to be overborne by his will. "A 
 small matter perhaps in some cases, but in ours 
 an added reason against against what you wish. 
 I have no money," she went on, " never shall have. 
 If it were not that I am the happy possessor of an 
 aunt who likes to give me an occasional treat, I 
 should n't be here now. A second lieutenant needs 
 a wife who can help him." 
 
 "And a wife who can love him love him 
 enough to trust him," said Geoffrey, trying to see 
 her face clearly in the dim light. " You don't care 
 for me yet. Here, take your hand ; " he dropped 
 it gently on her knee. 
 
 " I do care for you," she said. 
 
 " As a sister, no doubt. Another chestnut, 
 Sally." 
 
 " No, more as a mother," returned Miss Elliott, 
 with much dignity, and then started at the laugh 
 which fell from her companion's lips, jarring upon 
 the music. "You are very rude to laugh," she 
 said, with spirit. " My feeling for you is mater- 
 nal, and I care for you very much." 
 
 " Awfully good of you, Sally, and you 're a jolly 
 little mother ; but, you see, I have one already,
 
 22 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 a perfectly satisfactory one, too. It 's something 
 else I need." 
 
 So they parted, still agreeing to disagree, when 
 Miss Elliott left the post and went back to her 
 home in Brooklyn and the kindergarten circle. 
 
 Geoffrey Wayne, being of determined stuff, kept 
 his high standing throughout the difficult struggle 
 of that last winter, and graduating, was assigned 
 to the corps of engineers. His post being within 
 easy reach of Brooklyn, he managed occasionally to 
 see Sally Elliott, and that young woman was fre- 
 quently disconcerted, at the moment of patronizing 
 the lieutenant's prospects, to find that underneath 
 his equable demeanor lurked a repressed fire which 
 still burned for her alone, in spite of the persistent 
 and deliberate dampening process which had seemed 
 to her the only proof of true friendship possible 
 from her to him since that evening when the West 
 Point band, by special request, performed " Sally 
 in our Alley." 
 
 Lieutenant Paxton, moreover, did not forget her 
 bright eyes. Many a Saturday night did he come 
 down to New York for the sake of a Sunday call 
 upon Miss Elliott, and speedily discovering that 
 she was not pledged to his rival, those visits in- 
 creased in regularity and length until Geoffrey 
 Wayne heard about them. 
 
 " You must remember, Sally," he said quietly 
 one day to his obdurate lady-love, " that promotion 
 comes faster in the engineers than in the cavalry."
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 23 
 
 She flushed slightly, meeting his straightforward 
 look, and had nothing to say. 
 
 " Since you are avowedly mercenary, I want to 
 remind you that it is well you are going to marry 
 me instead of Paxton." 
 
 Her lip curled. " What an invaluable servant 
 of the government you will be," she remarked. 
 " It is impossible for you to understand when you 
 are beaten." 
 
 Wayne felt himself change color, her tone was 
 so cold. " Then is it to be Paxton? " he asked. 
 
 " I will tell you when it is to be anybody." 
 
 He studied the carpet awhile before he spoke 
 again. " I don't want to quarrel with you," he 
 said, " to-day of all days. You know I wrote you 
 that my mother was very ill ? Well, she is here ; 
 her nurse brought her. Will you go to see her ? " 
 
 " Indeed I will," returned the girl, all sympathy 
 at once. 
 
 Geoffrey took advantage of her sudden cordiality 
 to get possession of both her hands. " Don't let 
 Paxton come to see you so much," he said, and her 
 eyes fell before his strong gaze. " It is n't fair to 
 him." 
 
 He was gone before she could frame the crush- 
 ing reply he deserved ; and indeed, after meditating 
 awhile, she went straight to her desk and wrote 
 the cavalry officer a note of excuse for not seeing 
 him the following Sunday, when, as he had in- 
 formed her, he was intending to come.
 
 24 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 Then she betook herself to the hospital to 
 visit Mrs. Wayne. It was their first meeting, 
 and somewhat embarrassing, inasmuch as she found 
 Geoffrey's mother astonishingly well posted about 
 her. The sick woman's attitude toward her was 
 that of an affectionate old friend, and when the 
 girl left she had promised to return the next day. 
 
 But Sally, from Mrs. Wayne's first cordial greet- 
 ing, entertained a conviction that the elder lady's 
 manifest approval of her sprang from a knowledge 
 of her firmness with regard to Geoffrey. She 
 expected that this mutual understanding would 
 remain a tacit one, and therefore was surprised 
 one day when the invalid opened the subject. 
 
 Sally had made some deft change in the suf- 
 ferer's pillows, to the increase of her comfort. 
 
 " I don't wonder Geoffrey loves you, my dear," 
 said the sick woman. 
 
 The girl sat down beside the bed, silent under 
 the kindly scrutiny of the large eyes. 
 
 "He says you have not promised to marry 
 him." 
 
 " No," returned Sally, in a rather choked voice. 
 
 " But why not ? Don't you care for him ? " 
 
 The girl shook her head hurriedly. " It is no 
 matter whether I care for him, Mrs. Wayne. It 
 would be the most inappropriate, unwise thing for 
 Geoffrey." And Sally launched into a detailed 
 account of her serious objections. 
 
 To her amazement, the sick woman appeared as
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 25 
 
 unmoved as her son by these weighty arguments. 
 When the girl had finished, steadied by her own 
 logic, she met the wistful eyes still bent upon her. 
 
 " Dear child, these things are trifles if you love 
 my boy even enough to let him love you ; and to 
 learn that you do not woidd add the last misery to 
 the bitterness of death. I know, though I have 
 not yet had courage to tell Geoffrey so, that I shall 
 not live long. I must break it to him soon. Let 
 him have this great consolation. Promise me that 
 you will marry him before I die." 
 
 Sally's startled color rose, and her lips trembled. 
 
 " Don't make me feel that I am leaving him 
 alone, rejected by the woman he loves so devotedly, 
 and with no one to befriend him in the temptations 
 of life. Oh, Sally, my daughter ! " The voice 
 died away, the eyes half closed, and a greater pallor 
 overspread the pinched face. 
 
 " Mrs. Wayne ! " exclaimed the girl, terrified, 
 starting up and seizing a glass of water. " Yes, 
 yes, I promise ! " 
 
 A feeble pressure of the hand replied to her. 
 
 As Miss Elliott was leaving the hospital a few 
 minutes later, she encountered Geoffrey entering. 
 
 " Don't go up now ! " she ejaculated, and he ex- 
 claimed at the agitation in her face. 
 
 " Your mother had a sinking spell. It fright- 
 ened me. She is better, but perhaps you had 
 better not see her." The girl's white face was 
 suddenly scarlet.
 
 26 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 "My dear little Sally," breathed the troubled 
 young man. " How good you are. You will never 
 know how I appreciate it." 
 
 Day succeeded day, and the vision of a hurried 
 marriage beside a deathbed, at first constantly 
 before Miss Elliott's mental vision, faded slowly 
 away. 
 
 Mrs. Wayne grew strong enough to travel, and 
 returned to her family in the South. Geoffrey 
 was held more and more closely by the demands of 
 the graduate course of study he was taking, and 
 when he succeeded in making a hurried trip to 
 Brooklyn his reception was only the customary one. 
 Nothing but the light in his eyes and a new elasti- 
 city in his manner betrayed that he knew of the 
 decisive interview between his mother and Sally, 
 for the latter's docility had proved short-lived. 
 Mrs. Wayne might outlive them all, she said to 
 her mother, and she continued to hold her lover at 
 the old distance. 
 
 Mrs. Elliott sighed resignedly. Geoffrey, as he 
 had taken pains to ascertain, had her good wishes. 
 
 " But how he can be patient to keep up such a 
 long game of hide-and-seek is beyond my compre- 
 hension," she remarked once to her daughter. In- 
 deed, she said as much to Wayne himself one day 
 when they were tete-a-tete. 
 
 " I 'm biding my time, Mrs. Elliott," he an- 
 swered, smiling. " By autumn my affairs will 
 permit me to carry the fort by storm, and, little as
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 27 
 
 your daughter suspects it from my meekness, I am 
 going to marry her and carry her off in triumph 
 and show her to my mother and the rest at home." 
 
 " I don't see how you will succeed," returned 
 Mrs. Elliott. " Sally does n't seem to think of 
 marrying." 
 
 Spring wore away into summer, and the fervid 
 heat of a July sun was reflecting from Brooklyn 
 pavements and parching its streets, before the 
 Elliotts decided upon flitting to cooler regions. 
 
 Whether Geoffrey Wayne remained away as a 
 discretionary measure, or whether business kept 
 him, Sally did not know, but she had not seen him 
 of late, and had heard from him but seldom. 
 
 As she started one day on a modest shopping 
 tour to purchase the articles needed by her mother 
 and herself before leaving the city, her thoughts 
 returned to him obstinately, despite repeated efforts 
 to divert and control them. She pictured scenes 
 on the parade ground, on the piazzas, and upon 
 the wooded walks and drives about his post, in 
 which the summer girl figured conspicuously. 
 There were always such a lot of them. No won- 
 der he preferred their flattery to her cavalier atti- 
 tude. It was probable that he was forgetting her, 
 and that was quite right the event she had 
 always prophesied and wished for. 
 
 When her errands were done she felt that she 
 could not return home at once, and, taking an 
 electric car, she rode for a couple of hours before
 
 28 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 she considered her thoughts sufficiently ordered to 
 admit of meeting her mother with her customary 
 insouciant manner. As she left the car, to her sur- 
 prise she caught sight of Wayne himself. He was 
 advancing with his familiar military air, and upon 
 his face was a noticeable gravity. She saw him a 
 moment before he recognized her. and before they 
 met she was well fortified to make it clear that the 
 field was entirely open to the summer girl, and to 
 prove triumphantly that his devotion to herself 
 had never been seriously regarded. 
 
 He hurried forward at sight of her. " This is 
 fortunate, Sally," he said, and his face showed 
 haggard lines. " I have a telegram calling me 
 home. My mother is sinking very fast." 
 
 The girl gave an exclamation of sympathy. 
 
 "The telegram ends, 'Be married before you 
 come.' ' 
 
 Sally's heart leaped and beat fast. " But that 
 does n't hold," she began feebly, with a dim idea 
 of letting him off. 
 
 " I have been to your house three times, and 
 could not find you. I must go by the nine o'clock 
 train to-night, so I took it for granted that you 
 would consent. I have the license. What time 
 would you prefer to have the minister come ? " 
 
 Sally gasped. Geoffrey had never looked so 
 tall and commanding. 
 
 He consulted his watch. " It is now four 
 o'clock," he said.
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 29 
 
 " Really," she stammered, " really, there does n't 
 seem to be much choice." Then, as Wayne's 
 white, troubled face was waiting, " Half past 
 seven," she finished. 
 
 He left her, and on the way home it seemed to 
 her she was in a dream. But her mother's excited 
 face brought her to a sense of the practical side of 
 the situation. Their stout maid-of-all-work was 
 afflicted with a mysterious malady, described by 
 herself as shortness of breath, and having had an 
 attack that morning, Mrs. Elliott had excused her 
 for the whole day. 
 
 Sally gave her mother a reassuring hug. 
 
 " What a mercy it is," said the latter, half hys- 
 terically, " that we had asked your cousin Dick to 
 come to dinner. I was regretting it a little while 
 ago, since it proves we must be our own cooks ; 
 but if it weren't for him, there wouldn't be a 
 guest at your wedding, Sally. Why, my dear, it 
 is all the strangest, most unexpected " 
 
 " And the warmest time," Sally finished for her, 
 " that we ever knew." 
 
 Forthwith she plunged into the kitchen and 
 cooked the dinner, with her mother's help. 
 
 Mr. Richard Elliott, who had ridden up in 
 bicycle knickerbockers to aid his aunt in some busi- 
 ness problem, was a most amazed man to find him- 
 self a guest at a wedding. 
 
 " Don't worry, Dick, you will do very well," said 
 Sally reassuringly. " You shall give me away."
 
 30 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 When the meal was over, the bride, whose con- 
 tinuous sang-froid amazed her companions, donned 
 an apron over the street dress she had not had 
 time to discard, and proceeded to make lemonade, 
 the only available refreshment in the house. 
 
 " Oh, Sally ! how different this is from my 
 expectations. Not a cake at your wedding ! " 
 groaned Mrs. Elliott. 
 
 " Well," returned the girl, smiling demurely at 
 a lemon, " the question is, whether it is better 
 to have a wedding without a cake or a cake with- 
 out a wedding ? " Then, meeting her mother's 
 loving, puzzled expression, " Don't leave Dick 
 alone any longer, dear, and Geoffrey will be com- 
 ing now." 
 
 Mrs. Elliott obediently disappeared, and when 
 Sally's labors were finished she followed her. 
 Covered by the voluminous apron the bride en- 
 tered the parlor, bearing a large bowl of ice and 
 lemonade. Three men started to their feet as she 
 entered, and to her horror she discovered that the 
 minister, a stranger to her, had already arrived. 
 
 Mrs. Elliott hesitated in her embarrassment. 
 "My my daughter, Mr. Ford." 
 
 The minister advanced to the girl. " Is this 
 Miss Sarah ? " he asked doubtfully. 
 
 Sally, being relieved by Geoffrey of her burden, 
 shook hands with the stranger and acknowledged 
 her identity. 
 
 She knew that her cousin Dick was secretly
 
 A WEST POINT WOOING 31 
 
 impatient to return to the little family he had left 
 to oblige his aunt, so, looking about upon the com- 
 pany, she suggested that, as they were all there, 
 the wedding might as well take place. There- 
 upon, to Mrs. Elliott's intense relief, she removed 
 her apron, Geoffrey returned to her side, and they 
 were married. 
 
 After the ceremony the bride served the lemon- 
 ade with her own hands, then said good-by to the 
 minister and her cousin, and ran upstairs to put 
 on her staying- at-houie gown. When she came 
 down arrayed in some besprigged white stuff, 
 Geoffrey was waiting at the foot of the stairs. 
 
 " Will-o'-the-wisp no longer," he said wonder- 
 ingly, as he slowly took her in his arms and kissed 
 her willing lips. " To think that you belong to 
 me!" 
 
 They went out of doors and sat upon the piazza 
 until it was time for him to go to his train, scarcely 
 speaking as they clung together, so awesome was 
 the shadow of death which lay athwart the sun- 
 shine of their love. 
 
 Geoffrey's mother lived but a few days after he 
 reached her, and one week after the funeral he 
 sought the seaside resort where Mrs. Elliott and 
 her daughter were staying. 
 
 He arrived one day just before dinner, and 
 during the meal a girl guest at a table near the 
 one where he and Sally were sitting called the 
 attention of a friend to the couple.
 
 32 A WEST POINT WOOING 
 
 " I am sure that is a bride and groom," she 
 said confidentially. 
 
 "Why, no, it isn't," answered the second 
 maiden. " Have n't you noticed that Mrs. Wayne 
 before? She has been here as long as we have. 
 I suppose that must be her husband just arrived." 
 
 The first speaker sighed. " Well, I hope my 
 husband will look at me just like that," she 
 remarked appreciatively. " His wife has the hap- 
 piest eyes I ever saw, and no wonder."
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 THEY were standing in the museum on the 
 ground floor of the old Academic Building at West 
 Point, when it was discovered that the conversa- 
 tion, they hardly knew how, had veered from shells 
 to sentiment, from war to love. There were 
 Colonel Mackenzie, a professor in the academy; 
 Lieutenant Gary, a tactical officer, and with them 
 two ladies, mother and daughter, guests at the 
 hotel for the gay graduation season. Colonel 
 Mackenzie, assisted by the lieutenant, had been 
 showing the ladies about the post ; and, wandering 
 in through the gymnasium to the museum, the 
 professor paused beside a Gatling gun to empha- 
 size his remarks upon a subject so foreign to the 
 surroundings. 
 
 " You may convince yourself of it simply by 
 observation," he announced, the kind eyes under 
 his heavy brows twinkling but earnest. " In af- 
 fairs of love it is the woman who chooses. Every 
 nice girl has a lot of admirers. They gather about 
 her like bees about a flower. She chooses one. 
 Whiz ! The other bees go off somewhere else. 
 Plenty of flowers, eh, Miss Bruce ? " asked the 
 colonel cheerfully, smiling at the younger lady,
 
 34 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 who caught his eye as her own roved from one to 
 another of the warlike objects by which she was 
 surrounded. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she replied, apparently quite un- 
 embarrassed by the fact of listening to the colonel's 
 views in company with the young officer who stood 
 by, seriously thoughtful. " Flowers are especially 
 plenty in West Point just now." 
 
 " There are plenty of bees, too," added Mrs. 
 Bruce, raising her eyeglass to inspect a hideous 
 effigied warrior who stood near her, full panoplied 
 for the fray. "Busy bees of all sorts. Not a 
 drone in the hive, I suppose, Mr. Gary? " 
 
 The young man stirred from his thoughtful 
 attitude. " It is not a healthful place for drones. 
 Do you care to see the section-room upstairs, Mrs. 
 Bruce?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; where the poor fellows recite," re- 
 turned the lady, in that tone of commiseration 
 usually adopted by women who ever have had, or 
 ever expect to have, a relative among the cadets. 
 Mrs. Bruce belonged to the latter class, and was 
 full of hope and fear concerning her only son. 
 " Yes, indeed, I want to see where you teach the 
 young idea how to shoot." 
 
 " Oh, that is done outside on the plain," re- 
 marked Colonel Mackenzie, twinkling again at 
 Miss Bruce. 
 
 They ascended the old stairs and entered one of 
 the recitation rooms.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 35 
 
 " I 've had that young man standing up here to 
 recite, with his little fingers at the seams of his 
 trousers," observed Colonel Mackenzie, with a 
 wave of his hand toward his subordinate. 
 
 The lieutenant smiled. " And I dare say stood 
 up here yourself in the same attitude for the same 
 purpose," he remarked. 
 
 " How odd ! " said Miss Brace, regarding the 
 professor's stout military figure and gray hair. 
 
 " Oh, yes. Other things in this fast country of 
 ours are ever changing, but West Point goes on 
 forever the same for the best of reasons ; it could 
 not be improved upon," said Colonel Mackenzie, 
 with devout sincerity. " Come up a little higher ; 
 I think you will like to see the drawings." 
 
 When the latter exhibition had been duly ex- 
 amined and admired, the quartette descended to the 
 ground floor and came out again into the sunshine. 
 The officers escorted the ladies to the hotel, and 
 at the door Mrs. Bruce voiced her thanks for their 
 attention. " I am sure the morning has been a 
 liberal education, Colonel Mackenzie. You have 
 not only shown us the mechanics of light and 
 sound, but have explained to us the workings of 
 our own emotions as we have never known them." 
 
 "Ah, you are laughing at me, madam. You 
 will not admit that you are convinced." 
 
 " And mamma is not more easily silenced than 
 other women," remarked Miss Bruce, " so I ad- 
 vise you not to argue with her."
 
 36 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 " Never mind. Wait till I write my novel. I '11 
 do it yet," said Colonel Mackenzie, with a firm 
 nod. " The woman chooses the man, and not the 
 man the woman. I will show that it 's so." 
 
 " Why, of course," returned Mrs. Bruce, half 
 laughing. " If a girl receives proposals from sev- 
 eral men she chooses the one who pleases her 
 best." 
 
 " That is not what I mean," was the uncom- 
 promising reply. " A girl worth having does not 
 receive proposals from several men." 
 
 " Wait, wait, colonel. You do not know what 
 sensitive feelings you may be trampling upon." 
 
 " No, I am entirely impersonal. Theories are 
 impersonal, you know. A girl worth having usu- 
 ally receives a proposal from a man because she 
 has already chosen him. Watch and see. Just 
 observe and see. Good-by." The colonel's face 
 beamed with smiling good nature as he lifted his 
 cap. 
 
 Cary removed his. " Will you be ready by half 
 past three ? " he said to the younger lady. " Your 
 daughter, Mrs. Bruce, wishes to make acquaint- 
 ance .with some of the wild flowers about here. I 
 can at least promise her some very pretty laurel." 
 
 " A nice way for a young soldier to win his 
 laurels ! " remarked the colonel. 
 
 They made their adieux once more, and the 
 lieutenant parted from his senior outside the 
 hedge, and took his way down the road past the
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 37 
 
 Academic Building. He was hailed by a young 
 man who had run down the steps of the rear en- 
 trance to the library, and now crossed the street. 
 
 " Well, I 've made up my mind," announced the 
 newcomer, as he fell into step with his friend, 
 the red stripe upon his army blue making gay 
 contrast to Gary's yellow decoration. 
 
 " About what, Thornton ? " 
 
 " Going across the water." 
 
 " You have decided to go ? " 
 
 "Yes, and I only wish you could come too," 
 said the artillery officer, clapping a hand on the 
 other's shoulder. " What 's up ? I fancied you 
 were looking rather glum a minute ago." 
 
 " Oh, not at all ; I was thinking of of love. 
 That is all." 
 
 Thornton laughed. " And quite enough, appar- 
 ently," he said. There was a strong friendship 
 between the two men. Gary had been a third- 
 class man in the academy when Thornton was as 
 dismally homesick a " plebe " as ever walked, 
 thumbs out, across the plain. Gary, contrary to 
 the usual custom, had befriended him on one or 
 two occasions when the slight kindness had sunk 
 deep into the sore heart of the seventeen-year-old 
 boy, making him the older man's friend for life. 
 They happened to be thrown together in this West 
 Point detail, and to Thornton's gratification even 
 to have quarters in the same house, so that oppor- 
 tunities for cultivating their intimacy were plenty.
 
 38 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 It was, however, no tribute to this intimacy that 
 Gary declared so frankly now the delicate subject 
 of his thought. He was a man of a logical, stu- 
 dious turn of mind, much given to analysis, and 
 Thornton knew, as his friend stared gravely before 
 him, that he would have owned the cause of his pre- 
 occupation quite as willingly to any other listener. 
 
 " I should advise yoit to think about something 
 else, then," said Thornton lightly, "something 
 more in your line." 
 
 " It is a very important subject, and one that 
 ought to be in my line, in the line of all men," 
 returned Gary seriously. 
 
 "And quite time for you, I should say," re- 
 marked the other. "You will never see thirty 
 again." 
 
 " That is what I was thinking of. A man should 
 be married by the time he is thirty." 
 
 " Provided he has at least one bar in his shoul- 
 der-strap," added the second lieutenant dolorously, 
 " otherwise it is a questionable experiment." 
 
 " Well, I have the bar, and I have made some 
 lucky investments," said Gary equably, " yet I am 
 not married nor likely to be, and at last I under- 
 stand why. I have not been chosen." 
 
 His companion stared into the serious counte- 
 nance. " What ? You have not been what ? " 
 
 " Chosen. Colonel Mackenzie has been pro- 
 pounding theories this morning which are new to 
 me, and I am inclined to think he is right. He
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED! 39 
 
 says the man does not choose the woman, but vice 
 versa." 
 
 " He must have had a peculiar experience, then. 
 Did Mrs. Mackenzie propose to him ? " 
 
 Gary received the flippant question with grav- 
 ity. " I don't know ; but if she did, you must 
 admit she acted wisely. Theirs is one of the 
 most harmonious homes I ever entered." 
 
 By this time the two officers had reached Thorn- 
 ton's quarters, and ascending the steps they seated 
 themselves in chairs on the piazza, amid a bower 
 of honeysuckle which clambered over the porch 
 and to the second story of the house. 
 
 " Is n't it something new for the professor to be 
 dabbling in the mysteries of the tender passion ? " 
 asked Thornton, rocking back in his chair. 
 
 " It is a subject worthy the attention and best 
 thought of a scholarly mind like his. The work- 
 ing of the emotions, the action of the positive and 
 negative currents in the sensibilities of men and 
 women are, I dare say, discoverable like other sci- 
 entific facts. I have great confidence in conclu- 
 sions arrived at by a man like Colonel Mackenzie." 
 
 "All right, Gary," said his friend, breaking a 
 spray of honeysuckle. " I won't regret any longer 
 that you cannot go abroad with me. You won't 
 find a place on the footstool where such a variety 
 of maidens can have an opportunity to look you 
 over and examine your good points as right here 
 at the post. If I come back the last of August
 
 40 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 and find you still unchosen, I shall set you down 
 as a pretty bad lot." His companion's contagious 
 chuckle provoked Gary to a smile, as he twisted 
 his mustache and looked into space. 
 
 " Almost noon," he said, suddenly rising. " I 
 must do some writing before luncheon, for I am 
 going to walk with Miss Bruce before parade." 
 
 " At her invitation, I trust. Don't tell me you 
 forgot the coyness becoming your sex and invited 
 her." 
 
 " I had n't heard Colonel Mackenzie's theories 
 then. But in any case it is entirely compatible 
 with his ideas that I should ask a young lady to 
 go to walk with me, yes, even to journey through 
 life with me, but she must lead me up to it, you 
 see. She must lead me up to it," an emphatic 
 gesture accompanying the repetition. 
 
 " So she shall, my dear fellow, so she shall," 
 said Thornton soothingly, repressing his smiles as 
 he, too, rose, and they passed into the house. 
 
 It happened that he did not sit beside his friend 
 at lunch, and the next time they met was in the 
 afternoon at parade. Thornton strolled along the 
 path fronting the plain amid an incessant din of 
 talk and laughter. The long row of packed seats 
 was reinforced at this crowded season by myriad 
 camp-stools, and all were filled by the gayly dressed 
 spectators. He stopped now and then to speak to 
 an acquaintance, and paused finally before Mrs. 
 Bruce, who sat upon a camp-stool under a majestic
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 41 
 
 elm, and, in order to bow to Thornton, looked 
 around the arm of her daughter, whom she was 
 holding in her lap. 
 
 " Is that the best you can do ? " asked the young 
 man, raising his hat. " I think I can get you 
 some sort of a chair." 
 
 " Oh, if you only could, Mr. Thornton," said the 
 young lady plaintively. " I know I am awfully 
 heavy, and mamma will make rne sit here." 
 
 " It looks as if every chair in the place were 
 already in use," said Mrs. Bruce, glancing down 
 the double and triple lines of gay summer cos- 
 tumes with the swaying rainbow tints of hats and 
 parasols ; " but if you can get us one, Mr. Thorn- 
 ton, you will be an angel." 
 
 " I will try, anyhow ; only I protest against be- 
 coming an angel in consequence of such slight 
 exertion. Here goes. If I fail in my quest, that 
 will alter matters. You may know that I have 
 perished of mortification and am attending dress 
 parade in another sphere." 
 
 With this the young officer crossed the street 
 under the heads of a spirited pair of horses and 
 entered the yard of an opposite house. It was 
 the home of a professor whose wife happened to 
 be Thornton's relative, and as the latter was inti- 
 mate in the family he made bold now, in their 
 absence, to run up the steps and prefer his request 
 to a servant. Meanwhile his beneficiaries were 
 applauding his efforts.
 
 42 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 " I do like a young man with his wits about 
 him," remarked Mrs. Bruce severely. " I should 
 have supposed Mr. Gary would have made his ap- 
 pearance in time to have been of some use to us. 
 What did he say to you when you parted this 
 afternoon ? " 
 
 " That he would see me at parade," returned 
 Miss Bruce shortly. She looked down at the 
 stars of laurel which lay in a large cluster on her 
 breast. 
 
 " And so he will, no doubt, by the time Mr. 
 Thornton gets us comfortably settled," replied 
 her mother, " and then be too absent-minded and 
 distrait to realize that he has omitted anything he 
 ought to have done." 
 
 " My, Aunt Frances ! How hard you are on 
 the poor man," exclaimed the large fair young 
 woman who was their next neighbor. "I think 
 Mr. Gary is just splendid. Fanny introduced 
 him to me this afternoon before they started on 
 their walk. I only wish I had arrived sooner. I 
 am quite envious of her because she is so well 
 acquainted here." 
 
 "You won't be a stranger long, Belle," re- 
 marked her cousin, with a little smile. " I know 
 your energy in a good cause." 
 
 " I know I have n't any military laurels," re- 
 torted the fair girl discontentedly. 
 
 " Oh, take them. I am heartily tired of hear- 
 ing jokes made on these poor things," and Miss
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 43 
 
 Bruce drew out the long pin that confined the 
 laurel, and began fastening it at her cousin's belt. 
 
 " My dear, I won't," ejaculated the other. " I 
 was only joking ; I won't take your flowers." 
 
 " Yes, you will," said Miss Bruce firmly. " I am 
 not joking. I don't want them." 
 
 So the laurel was adorning Miss Laflin, and 
 Miss Bruce' s cheeks were flushed from the slight 
 dispute, and the feeling which on her side lay 
 behind it, when Lieutenant Gary came walking 
 down the path. He moved quickly, and looked 
 anxiously among the crowd until his glance lighted 
 upon the party he sought. He showed his hand- 
 some teeth as he lifted his cap, and met Miss 
 Bruce' s bright eyes. 
 
 " How time slips away ! " he said. "I had no 
 idea it was so near the hour for parade, and now 
 the seats are full. By the way," becoming con- 
 scious that Mrs. Bruce's camp-stool was carrying 
 double, " why, that is too bad. Were you late, 
 too ? Were n't there chairs enough ? " 
 
 " Oh yes, plenty," replied Miss Bruce, " but I 
 always prefer to sit in mamma's lap to anywhere 
 else, and you like to have me, don't you, mamma? " 
 
 " Well, you 're not exactly a transparency, my 
 dear." Gary looked at them a little perplexed. 
 There was a ring in the young girl's voice that had 
 not been there an hour ago. 
 
 " Are n't you going to speak to me, Mr. Gary ? " 
 asked Miss Laflin with an arch smile.
 
 44 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " Oh, how do you do ? I did n't see you," and 
 the officer shook hands with the young woman 
 punctiliously. He was a soldier certain to perform 
 his duty when the latter was made clear to him. 
 He observed now that Miss Laflin wore a generous 
 bunch of the mountain laurel, and looking quickly 
 at Miss Bruce, saw that she was undecorated by 
 blossom of any kind. It displeased him that the 
 young lady should have given away the flowers 
 they gathered together. 
 
 At this moment a cadet hurrying down the path 
 toward barracks paused suddenly and took the 
 hand Miss Bruce held out to him with her sweetest 
 smile. 
 
 " Pshaw ! Can't you get a chair ? " he exclaimed, 
 as he lifted his cap to the ladies. 
 
 "Yes, in a minute," she returned. 
 
 " I am looking forward to to-night." 
 
 So am I." 
 
 " Good-by, I 'm late," and the young officer 
 strode on his way. 
 
 Gary smiled. " That is the most important man 
 on the post to-day," he remarked. 
 
 " Oh, who is it ? " asked Miss Laflin. 
 
 " The adjutant, Lenox. He has been a good 
 adjutant, too," added Gary, responding to the 
 salutes of two cadets who caught his eye as they 
 hurried toward the rendezvous. 
 
 "You are going to the ball with him, then, 
 Fanny," said Miss Laflin.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 45 
 
 " Yes," admitted her cousin languidly ; her sud- 
 den vivacity seemed to have departed with the 
 passing of the handsome cadet officer. 
 
 " Ah, there comes that good Mr. Thornton," ex- 
 claimed Mrs. Bruce with satisfaction. " Yes, he is 
 really bringing a chair." 
 
 Gary looked with interest to see his friend spring- 
 ing across the street, a light chair in his hand. 
 
 " Good ! " he said heartily, with entire freedom 
 from envy of the gratitude and praise immedi- 
 ately showered upon Thornton. " That is first-rate." 
 
 " Ah ! " sighed Mrs. Bruce, as her daughter rose 
 and took possession of the new seat, "you do 
 weigh something, Fanny." 
 
 " Then I think you should be ashamed of all the 
 fibs you told half an hour ago ; Mr. Thornton, let 
 me introduce you to my cousin, Miss Laflin. She 
 only arrived to-day, and is very unsophisticated in 
 the ways of the post." 
 
 " But I am a very apt scholar, Mr. Thornton. 
 I am principally interested in having my cousin 
 point out to me the cadet who is to be my partner 
 to-night." 
 
 " As well search for a needle in a haymow, as 
 you will see," remarked Miss Bruce sententiously. 
 
 " I think he might have called upon me this 
 afternoon." 
 
 " That is because you do not know the myriad 
 engagements of these fortunate young men," said 
 Thornton.
 
 46 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 " Oh, but she is n't going with a first-class man," 
 explained Miss Bruce. 
 
 " Not going with a first-class man ? " inquired 
 Miss Laflin, agitating her pink parasol excitedly. 
 " With whom, then ? " 
 
 " A yearling," responded her cousin briefly. 
 
 " Sounds like a calf ! I won't go with him," 
 said the other decidedly. 
 
 " Yes, you will, and be very glad to get him." 
 
 " Cut the infant and go with me, Miss Laflin," 
 suggested Thornton. 
 
 " She can't. Her card is all made out. You 
 ungrateful creature ! If you knew all the trouble 
 I had having to arrange everything for you at the 
 last minute ! " 
 
 " But you are going with the adjutant," objected 
 Miss Laflin, much aggrieved. 
 
 " Well, when your yearling is a first-class man, 
 you come back here. Perhaps he will be the adju- 
 tant then. Be very sweet to him to-night and you 
 may reap the reward," laughed Miss Bruce mis- 
 chievously. " There comes the band. Now watch 
 mamma, Mr. Thornton ; you will see her begin to 
 look pensive from the moment the first set, or 
 squad, or whatever you call it, appears at the sally- 
 port. She is always examining the battalion to 
 find a cadet whom she fancies Gerald will re- 
 semble if he gets into the academy. You know 
 my brother is to try this month. He insists, how- 
 ever, that we shall leave when he comes. He says
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 47 
 
 he is not going to let us have the satisfaction of 
 seeing him squad-drilled. It wouldn't be much 
 satisfaction to mamma. I know exactly what she 
 would do. She would go up to the corporal of 
 Gerald's squad and say, ' Dear, good, kind Mr. 
 Cadet, please watch my boy, and don't let him 
 work after he grows pale ! ' They do grow pale 
 sometimes. I saw that last summer." 
 
 " Hush, Fanny," said her mother. " You make 
 me miserable. There come Mr. Lenox and the 
 sergeant-major," as the cadet officers appeared in 
 full panoply of crimson sashes, plumed hats, shin- 
 ing swords, and white gloves. 
 
 Lenox raised his hand, the trumpets sounded 
 the adjutant's call, and then the band burst into a 
 martial measure to whose strains the battalion 
 marched out upon the plain. 
 
 Lieutenant Gary did not care particularly to 
 witness parade at the best of times ; and just now 
 he felt a vague discontent and discomfort, the cause 
 of which did not appear. Miss Bruce and Thorn- 
 ton were viewing the scene with pleasure, the latter 
 smiling at the young girl's comments. Gary would 
 have preferred to be the one to receive these. It 
 did not console him at all that Miss Laflin lifted 
 her blonde head from time to time to ask him 
 artless questions. She had a little impediment in 
 her speech, and this, in connection with the fact 
 that the brasses were blaring loudly, and that Gary 
 had no interest in what she was saying, made it
 
 48 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 difficult for him to hear and answer her, and irri- 
 tated him more than was reasonable in one whose 
 firm principle it was that hunger for information 
 should always be satisfied. 
 
 He watched indifferently the long lines of cadets 
 as they executed the movements which brought 
 them to " parade rest," and tried to smile at Miss 
 Laflin's strictures on the drum-major's dress hat as 
 that functionary preceded the band up and down 
 the plain. The march they played was the one 
 that Gary was partial to in his best estate of body 
 and mind ; but now, when Miss Laflin praised it, 
 and hummed a little as she tapped her foot to the 
 marked rhythm, he wished impatiently that the 
 U. S. M. A. Band would learn a new tune. 
 
 The drum-major convoyed his gay company back 
 to their place. The trumpets sounded the retreat, 
 and the sunset gun elicited a little shriek from 
 Gary's fair neighbor. 
 
 " You ought to have told me they were going to 
 shoot," she said, casting up her eyes reproachfully. 
 
 " Hush ! " exclaimed Miss Bruce, putting her 
 gloved hand in her cousin's lap. " Watch Mr. 
 Lenox. Just think ! This is the last time he 
 will have to say, ' Sir, the parade is formed.' After 
 to-morrow he will be nothing but an ordinary army 
 officer." 
 
 " Miss Bruce," said Thornton, " you have been 
 goading me into frenzy for the last fifteen minutes. 
 Beware ! I hate Lenox with a fearful hatred."
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 49 
 
 " Oh, how can you hate anybody who walks 
 like that ? " said Miss Bruce pensively, her eyes 
 fixed upon the immaculate form of the straight 
 cadet officer, who, for the moment of his advance 
 toward the commandant, was the cynosure of all 
 eyes. 
 
 " I suppose," grumbled Thornton, " if I should 
 tell you that I was the adjutant of my class I 
 should be of some importance." 
 
 Miss Bruce did not reply at once. She was 
 attentively watching the cadet, who, saluting with 
 his bright sword, pronounced his stereotyped phrase 
 and then marched to his place, facing the bat- 
 talions. 
 
 " Were you the adjutant ? " she asked then, 
 lifting her eyes and regarding the lieutenant ap- 
 provingly. 
 
 " No ; but Gary was adjutant of his class, so 
 you see he can rise in your estimation at once." 
 
 Miss Bruce looked back languidly toward the 
 hundreds of gray and white figures who were exe- 
 cuting the manual of arms with faultless precision 
 and unanimity of movement. 
 
 " Oh, but that was so long ago," she said indif- 
 ferently. 
 
 Thornton thought this remark and the tone of it 
 rather insolent. He cast a glance at Gary, who 
 was regarding Miss Bruce's coiffure with a reflect- 
 ive and studious air, which the young officer found 
 amusing. He bit his mustache, and smiled.
 
 50 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 " I need n't worry about Gary," he mused. " He 
 is, no doubt, trying to deduce from that speech 
 some idea of Miss Bruce's up-bringing, and the 
 succession of motives which led to her making 
 it." 
 
 Thornton was not far wrong in the latter guess. 
 Simultaneously with the booming of the sunset 
 gun there had come to Gary a flash of comprehen- 
 sion of the young lady's altered manner toward 
 himself. He recalled the uncomfortable position in 
 which he had found her and her mother when he 
 put in his tardy appearance at parade, and under- 
 stood that in their minds their discomfort and his 
 tardiness were closely related. He had made him- 
 self Miss Bruce's cavalier for the afternoon, and 
 they had both enjoyed their ramble through the 
 wild and lovely paths up the hill beyond the South 
 Gate ; but had his obligations not ceased when he 
 bade her good-by on the hotel piazza? Evidently 
 she thought not. She was offended with him, and, 
 Gary decided, unjustly so. 
 
 " She is a pretty, spoiled girl, who has been 
 taught by the attention she has received to be ex- 
 acting. I shall not aid in the spoiling process," 
 he declared mentally. 
 
 Suddenly Colonel Mackenzie's simile occurred to 
 him. According to theory, it was his place now 
 to leave that flower represented by Miss Fanny 
 Bruce and fly away to another whose sweetness 
 might be for him. Just here fell the young
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 51 
 
 woman's slighting remark, which should have left 
 the bee no vestige of a doubt as to the advisability 
 of his immediate departure. Instead of deciding 
 him to leave, however, it raised in his mind only 
 the query as to the probable difference in age be- 
 tween Miss Bruce and himself, and the consequent 
 calculation absorbed him so fully that when Miss 
 Laflin exclaimed upon the perfection of the car 
 dets' drill, and asked him how long it took to ac- 
 quire such quickness and precision, he looked quite 
 through her upraised blue eyes, and answered that 
 he could n't be sure, but he should think about ten 
 years. 
 
 " Oh, I know you are a perfectly awful tease, 
 Mr. Cary," returned the young lady, with a twirl 
 of her pink parasol. " I shall never ask you an- 
 other question." 
 
 Tin's was a consummation so ardently desired by 
 the lieutenant that it arrested his stammered apo- 
 logies. There was a general silence now also, as, 
 the graduating class advancing in line, the com- 
 mandant addressed to them a few words of con- 
 gratulation, after which the band again burst forth, 
 and the battalion began the return to barracks. 
 The novel sight and sounds so delighted Miss 
 Laflin that she uttered enraptured little shrieks. 
 Cary did not like women whose outlets for emo- 
 tion were little shrieks. 
 
 Miss Bruce turned to him suddenly, evidently 
 for the moment self-forgetful, and gave him her
 
 52 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 bright smile. " This is the time when I cannot sit 
 still," she said. " I want to follow them." 
 
 " It is rather thrilling," he responded, eager to 
 preserve that cordial expression, "and there is 
 always some impressiveness connected with the last 
 performance of anything." 
 
 "Yes, I do not like to believe those first-class 
 men are wholly glad it is the last time." 
 
 Gary smiled. " Don't ask ine any questions 
 about it then, Miss Bruce." 
 
 " Were you, you the adjutant, glad never to 
 come out here again on this beautiful plain, in 
 all that crimson and gold and gray and white, 
 and be admired by the common herd of civil- 
 ians?" 
 
 The lieutenant laughed. " That is a very tempt- 
 ing way of putting it. You see, I did not know 
 what an interesting object I was ; so you must for- 
 give me if I say that that June was the happiest 
 month of my life." 
 
 " Oh dear, what bad taste ! " Miss Bruce turned 
 away, and Gary said to himself that she had re- 
 membered his delinquency. 
 
 He walked back to the hotel by her mother's 
 side, and Thornton followed with the two girls. 
 Mrs. Bruce had evidently forgotten her annoy- 
 ance, if she ever felt any, and talked with ab- 
 sorbed interest of her boy's chances for getting 
 into the- institution which she both feared and ad- 
 mired.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 53 
 
 The graduation ball that evening was, as usual, 
 a large and gay affair. Dancing was enjoyed 
 under difficulties, owing to the number present, 
 but the scene was a brilliant one to the chaperons 
 and officers who lined the walls and watched the 
 promenading or whirling couples. 
 
 " What a lot of pretty girls ! " said Mrs. Bruce 
 to Gary, who stood beside her. 
 
 "Yes, and we unfortunates may only look at 
 them," returned Gary with a smile, as Miss Bruce, 
 in white and gold, passed on the arm of the tall 
 cadet adjutant. " This is the night when the 
 cadets are in their glory, and the officers simply 
 of no account at all." 
 
 " What trim, upright, attractive fellows they 
 are," said Mrs. Bruce, scanning the military gray 
 and white figures admiringly, and looking after her 
 daughter with an agreeable certainty that no girl 
 present outshone her. 
 
 " The cadets ? Yes," said Thornton, who stood 
 on her other side, " and what a nice place West 
 Point would be without them ! " 
 
 Mrs. Bruce laughed. " I have noticed they get 
 in the way of you young officers sometimes. Poor 
 things ! I shoidd not think you would grudge them 
 the little freedom they have at this time of year. 
 Good evening, Colonel Mackenzie," as the genial 
 professor approached. 
 
 " How do you do, Mrs. Bruce. Ah, Gary, Thorn- 
 ton," said the colonel, greeting the lieutenants.
 
 54 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " Well, this is paradise for these young people, 
 eh ? " and the speaker cast his glance over the rest- 
 less mass of humanity, two individuals of which 
 were his own daughters. 
 
 " Yes, indeed ; quite an object lesson, colonel," 
 returned the lady. " Unlimited flowers, unlimited 
 bees." 
 
 " Yes ; oh, yes," said the officer, laughing at this 
 reference to his impromptu figure of speech ; " and 
 depend upon it, madam, there is choosing going 
 on." 
 
 Thornton, who was looking interested but mys- 
 tified, suddenly remembered what he had heard of 
 the professor's theories, and smiled at Gary. 
 
 " Choosing going on, and we 're not in it," he 
 remarked sotto voce. 
 
 " I should hope there was very little choosing 
 taking place in this company," remarked Mrs. 
 Bruce dryly. " These cadets are very ornamen- 
 tal, but, like all ornaments, a matter of luxury." 
 
 " Well said, Mrs. Bruce," said Thornton. "Come 
 up to one of our hops next winter." 
 
 " She '11 see nothing ornamental there, I suppose 
 you mean," said Gary, and just then his eye was 
 caught by Miss Laflin, who beamed upon him with 
 an impressive bow as she approached with her 
 partner. She was dressed in white, and looked 
 blooming. Her plump arms and neck gleamed in 
 the gaslight, and her face was flushed from heat 
 and exertion.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED! 55 
 
 " I am going to sit with you, Aunt Frances, un- 
 til the next dance," she said, with a parting bow 
 to her partner. " Oh, thank you, Mr. Gary," as 
 the lieutenant placed a chair for her. " It is so 
 warm and crowded." 
 
 " But I hope you are enjoying yourself," he re- 
 turned. 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I dare say these boys do not bore me 
 more than I bore them." 
 
 It passed through Mr. Gary's mind that the 
 young lady must be rather a heavy-weight as a 
 dancer, so his next remark was a trifle uncan- 
 did. 
 
 " Thornton and I are looking on at the gayety 
 enviously." 
 
 " And some of us girls are looking at you covet- 
 ously," responded Miss Laflin, using her eyes 
 effectively. 
 
 " It is very kind of you to soothe our feelings," 
 said the lieutenant, after a moment's pause. 
 
 " How gay it must be here all summer. Three 
 hops a week, one of the cadets told me. Surely 
 you dance at those ? " 
 
 " Occasionally ; those of us who remain here. 
 Many of the officers spend their vacations else- 
 where, you know." 
 
 " Ah ? Are you going away this summer, Mr. 
 Gary?" 
 
 " No. I get my vacation at another tune of 
 the year."
 
 56 PUR&UER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " Oh, I wish I could stay through June. We 
 might do so only that Gerald does n't wish his 
 mother to witness his sufferings. Every man I 
 have danced with so far seems to expect to have a 
 hand in drilling the plebes. I have warned them 
 that a cousin of mine is coming, and that they are 
 to be gentle with him." 
 
 Gary smiled significantly. " If you really wish 
 well to your cousin, Miss Laflin, let me advise you 
 not to say much about him to the cadets." 
 
 " Why ? " asked the girl wonderingly. 
 
 " Oh, well, you '11 be apt to overreach yourself, 
 that is all. Better not herald him in any way." 
 
 " I only told them that he was perfectly lovely, 
 and I would n't have him hazed for the world." 
 
 The officer laughed lazily. " Poor fellow," he 
 remarked, pulling his mustache. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! I hope I have n't done any harm, 
 any mischief," raising her eyes appealingly; but 
 Gary was not called upon to answer, for at this 
 juncture Miss Laflin's recent partner approached 
 with the cadet whose name stood next on her card, 
 and she rose and took the young fellow's offered 
 arm. 
 
 " You must be thinking up something very com- 
 forting to say to me when I come back," she said 
 over her fair shoulder to Gary as she moved away. 
 
 Her departure was a slight relief to him. He 
 found himself once more at liberty to search the 
 room for the small, dark, well-carried head, whose
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 57 
 
 whereabouts he had known every moment up to 
 the time of Miss Laflin's appearance. He could 
 not find it for some time, although he looked care- 
 fully about here and there. 
 
 " I don't see Fanny," said Mrs. Bruce, who had 
 been talking busily to Thornton. " Where is she, 
 Mr. Gary? You are tall enough to see over the 
 heads of all these people." 
 
 He continued his search avowedly now. " There 
 there she is, just going out of doors," he said, 
 espying the white and yellow gown as it disap- 
 peared through the open doorway, escorted by a 
 cadet captain. 
 
 "The foolish child. She is very imprudent. 
 It is not at all warm to-night out of doors." 
 
 It certainly was, indoors. To Gary it seemed 
 that the temperature had risen suddenly thirty 
 degrees. He was astounded to find that it had 
 made his heart leap to see Miss Bruce leaving the 
 hall ; and there could be no doubt that he was 
 glowing, uncomfortable, annoyed, displeased. 
 
 " Of all the astonishing things I ever knew in my 
 life this is the most astonishing," he said to him- 
 self, frowning, and furtively laying his hand upon 
 his heart to inspect its unusual pumping. " What 
 does this mean ? What is Miss Bruce to me ? " 
 he inquired, pursuing his investigations. He had 
 met the girl last summer, and had come to know 
 her rather well, for she was then a guest in Colonel 
 Mackenzie's family, where Gary was a favorite
 
 58 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 visitor. He knew her to be pretty, and graceful, 
 and spirited, but he had not been conscious of 
 more admiration for her than he had felt for a 
 dozen other girls he had known. She had been 
 more gracious to him in those days than at any 
 time this year. When had this amazing change 
 in himself begun ? 
 
 He looked around the hall. He saw several 
 couples leave the room to breathe the coolness of 
 the summer night, but no flutter of another gauzy 
 skirt caused a responsive flutter within him. 
 
 " Well, now, this is very interesting," he mused. 
 " I am positively uncomfortable because Miss 
 Bruce is out there on the walk. When she comes 
 back, not until, this party will seem to have some 
 point and brilliancy. I feel murderously inclined 
 toward Beach (her partner). I want more than 
 I ever wanted anything to go out of that door and 
 follow them ; to know if possible what they are 
 saying to one another. Well, have I come to 
 this!" 
 
 He evidently had come to some wholly novel 
 state of mind, for at this moment Miss Bruce re- 
 appeared with her cavalier in the open door, and 
 again Gary experienced that strange tightening in 
 the chest, followed by a sensation as though his 
 heart were trying to get out. 
 
 " This is marvelous," he said to himself, and, an 
 idea suddenly striking him, the color rose in his 
 face. "It can mean only one thing if Colonel
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 59 
 
 Mackenzie is right. How wonderful that would 
 be. What can she see in an old back number like 
 me?" 
 
 It was toward midnight when Gary had his first 
 opportunity of the evening to speak to Miss Bruce. 
 There were no signs of fatigue in her bright eyes 
 as she approached her mother and consequently 
 himself. Lenox, her escort of the evening, was 
 beside her in that state of evident satisfaction 
 which befits a young man in the last stages of hon- 
 orable cadetship, especially when he has secured 
 the partner he most desires for his graduation ball. 
 
 " Mr. Lenox, I do not wish my daughter to 
 walk out in the air again to-night," said Mrs. 
 Bruce emphatically, and Cary took advantage of 
 the young fellow's reply to speak to the girl at 
 whom he looked with new eyes. 
 
 " This is proving a rather exasperating evening 
 to me, Miss Bruce," he said in a low tone. 
 
 She raised her gloved hand to the back of her 
 head as if to adjust her hair, a movement common 
 to many women in moments of self -consciousness ; 
 but her tone was wholly indifferent as she spoke: 
 
 " You do not miss much in not dancing to-night, 
 really. It is too crowded." 
 
 " I wonder if you will not save one dance for 
 me at the next hop." 
 
 " We may not be here. Our movements are 
 quite undecided." She lifted her fan of white 
 feathers. Last night Cary could have taken it
 
 60 PURSUER OR PURSUE Df 
 
 from her hand and fanned her ; but now the com- 
 monplace action took the dimensions of a liberty 
 in his eyes. The big cavalry officer was having 
 unprecedented difficulty in concealing his own 
 white feather. 
 
 " But if you are here," he persisted, " may I 
 dance with you ? " 
 
 She met the gray eyes that gazed at her with 
 such disproportionate earnestness. " I have so 
 little to do with it," she said coolly. "A girl 
 really does n't know whom she will find on her 
 card, you know." 
 
 It was a rebuff, of course ; but it was the mem- 
 ory, tenaciously clung to, of his companion's plea- 
 sant friendliness during their walk in the afternoon 
 that pressed him forward now. " Do you not wish 
 to dance with me ? " he asked seriously, and the 
 unexpected bluntness brought a tide of color to 
 Miss Bruce's face. 
 
 " What a question ! " she said with an uneasy 
 laugh. " What do you expect a girl to answer to 
 that?" 
 
 " Why, I should like it very much if you would 
 tell me the truth." 
 
 " I have been too well brought up for it to be 
 possible for me to take either horn of the dilemma 
 you so kindly offer me. Yes, Mr. Lenox, I am 
 ready," and with a little bow, her face looking 
 more brilliant than when she had approached, she 
 moved away.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 61 
 
 Gary stood rather rigidly watching her and her 
 partner as they drifted into the waltz which had be- 
 gun. The adjutant of that particular First class of 
 the United States Military Academy was an espe- 
 cially good dancer, and the couple wound their way 
 through the throng with the suppleness of ribbon. 
 
 It would imply a long stride toward the Marcus 
 Aurelian standard for any young bachelor officer at 
 West Point to lay his hand on his heart and aver 
 that he felt complete cordiality toward a cadet of the 
 First class ; but John Egbert Gary of the - th 
 cavalry was unconsciously a promising disciple of 
 that uncompromising philosopher. He looked now 
 quite through the slender-waisted, gray-coated figure 
 of the adjutant and saw only the young woman the 
 latter was guiding so cleverly. Gary was greatly 
 stirred, and his instinctive effort to analyze this 
 case was futile. His wounded self-love should 
 have been soothed by the looks which Miss Laflin 
 did not fail to cast upon him each time she and 
 one of her yearlings passed in his neighborhood. 
 
 " She looks like a good-natured girl," he thought 
 vaguely, as she paused once more near her aunt, 
 and her partner left her with a bow. 
 
 " It is so warm," she remarked to the lieutenant ; 
 "but I believe I have said that before once or 
 twice." 
 
 " It becomes truer with each dance, I suppose," 
 returned Gary. " Shan't I fan you ? " taking her 
 fan.
 
 62 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " I wish you would take me out-doors," she said 
 with her usual directness ; " I am stifled." 
 
 Gary hesitated ungallantly. "Your aunt will 
 object. She " 
 
 " I do not propose to ask her," returned the girl 
 decidedly, and the lieutenant had no alternative but 
 to offer his arm. They made their way with diffi- 
 culty to the door and descended the short flight 
 of steps to the broad stone flagging. Miss Laflin 
 breathed a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction as 
 they sauntered southward under the great elms. 
 
 " This is ever so much nicer than being there in 
 that crush. I hope you did not dislike leaving. 
 I wonder that you have been willing to stand 
 about so long." 
 
 " I like to watch dancing," said Gary simply. 
 He thought he was telling the truth ; but the taste 
 was certainly a suddenly acquired one. "Your 
 cousin seems to be enjoying herself exceedingly." 
 
 " Oh, yes, it is different with Fanny. She has 
 a great many friends here. It is not easy for me 
 to make friends. I am very peculiar about that. 
 I take dislikes more often than I take fancies to 
 people." 
 
 " Indeed ? I should n't have thought it," replied 
 her companion, since some comment on this calam- 
 itous state of things was evidently expected. 
 
 " Why should n't you have thought it ? " asked 
 the girl, charmed to have given a personal turn to 
 the conversation.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 63 
 
 Gary sighed patiently. " Because if I were guess- 
 ing I should guess you to be so good-tempered ! " 
 
 Miss Laflin gave a delighted little laugh. 
 " Well, so I am ; but not sufficiently so to like 
 everybody, and if I do not like a person I cannot 
 help showing it." She leaned a little more heavily 
 on her companion's arm. "Don't you think it is 
 libelous to say that women are always f ascinated by 
 brass buttons, Mr. Gary ? " 
 
 " Quite so," returned the lieutenant passively. 
 " There goes the music, Miss Laflin," and he stood 
 still, for they had passed the hospital ; " shall I 
 take you back ? " 
 
 " No, indeed. I am but just getting cool." 
 
 " But I can see your partner in my mind's eye, 
 gazing and rushing frantically in all directions." 
 
 " What does he care ? He does not know me, 
 nor I him," said the girl decidedly. " I have re- 
 fused to dance the german." 
 
 " Do you want me murdered over there in camp 
 some night this summer by a pack of irate year- 
 lings?" 
 
 But Miss Laflin was a large body who was not 
 to be moved as yet hi the direction of Mess Hall. 
 " Indeed, I would do a good deal to keep you from 
 being murdered, Lieutenant Gary," she replied in 
 an unmistakably sentimental tone, " but don't ask 
 me to go in yet. This is so perfectly charming." 
 
 Gary moved on perforce, and his thoughts, which 
 had been lingering with Miss Bruce, became fixed
 
 64 PURSUER OR PURSUED* 
 
 with decided sensations of chafing and uneasiness 
 upon his fair companion, who continued with com- 
 placent satisfaction : 
 
 " Are you fond of walking ? " 
 
 " Very. It is my favorite pastime here," was 
 the unguarded response. 
 
 " Oh, I am so glad ; I just love it," said Miss 
 Laflin effusively. " You must show me some of 
 the beauties of the place. Take me to-morrow, 
 won't you, to find that pretty laurel such as my 
 cousin had; and then Flirtation Walk. Why," 
 looking up innocently in his face, " do they call it 
 that, Mr. Gary?" 
 
 " Good-night," exclaimed a voice, and a figure 
 walked swiftly past them. 
 
 " Oh, that is Thornton," said Gary hastily. 
 " He is going home, and I must not be long after 
 him. Our quarters are adjoining and I I don't 
 like to disturb him after he gets settled for the 
 night." 
 
 " But what has that to do with our walk ? " 
 asked Miss Laflin plaintively. 
 
 " Nothing, of course. I I shall be pleased. 
 What time would suit you to go ? " 
 
 It was half an hour later that Gary ran up the 
 stairs leading to his rooms. Thornton called to 
 him from the darkness of an opposite apartment, 
 " Got through star-gazing ? " 
 
 "Yes," came the answer in a depressed tone. 
 " I might not be, only there are no stars to gaze at.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 65 
 
 It is raining. What was your hurry when you 
 passed me out there ? " 
 
 " Thought you might be getting chosen ; so, as 
 Uncle Remus hath it, I ' split cle wind.' ' 
 
 Gary came in and threw himself on the foot of 
 his friend's bed. " I shall never be chosen, I 'm 
 afraid," he said, with frank downheartedness. 
 " Women do not like me. It is perfectly evi- 
 dent." 
 
 " Oh, go 'way, old fellow. I need glasses, and 
 you don't ; but I can see more with my eyes than 
 you with yours. You should have seen the rear 
 elevation of Miss Laflin's head as she gazed up 
 into your face a little while ago." 
 
 " That girl," said Gary, straightening up, and 
 speaking in a lowered, confidential tone, "that 
 girl, Thornton, is n't right in her head." 
 
 The second lieutenant burst into a loud laugh. 
 
 " I mean it for a fact," averred the other. 
 
 Thornton rolled over in bed. 
 
 " Hold your noise. You '11 disturb the people 
 downstairs. There 's nothing to laugh at, I tell 
 you. She is off. I am sure of it." 
 
 " I know. I understand. She has been making 
 a dead set at you all the evening. Just what you 
 have been yearning and panting and sighing for 
 for thirty years, and now look at your black in- 
 gratitude ! " 
 
 " You don't understand," returned Gary testily, 
 " and, what is more, you have n't the ability to."
 
 66 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " No, I don't believe I have," gurgled Thornton, 
 as his friend closed the door behind him with an 
 expenditure of nervous energy unbefitting a phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 Gary found his thoughts unpleasant companions 
 that night, and he awoke next morning in a dis- 
 satisfied frame of mind. He attended the gradu- 
 ating exercises, and looked on at the whole in a 
 gloomy and cynical spirit. It was nearly ten years 
 since he had sat among his class under similar cir- 
 cumstances. How full of hope and happiness he 
 had been then ! It seemed to him now that he 
 had been getting ready to live ever since. It was 
 of no use to harbor false and vague expectations 
 any longer. 
 
 " This is life," he thought. " I am living now 
 as truly as I ever shall," and he found himself 
 gazing at Miss Bruce's handsome and expressive 
 face, lighted with interest in the ceremonies that 
 were taking place. 
 
 He could not regard her, however, without run- 
 ning the risk of appearing to gaze at Miss Lafliu, 
 who was seated beside her. That young woman, 
 perfectly dressed, even distinguished in her appear- 
 ance, gave him a shudder by the eagerness of her 
 recognition. He had the walk with her in prospect 
 for the afternoon. He even scowled as his eye fell 
 upon Colonel Mackenzie's benevolent countenance. 
 He wished he had never heard that gentleman's 
 precious theories.
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 67 
 
 Miss Laflin was not to be envied her cavalier 
 that day, yet as Gary was habitually silent and 
 grave she did not apparently feel any lack. The 
 necessity for exertion in the locality he had ma- 
 liciously chosen for their ramble absorbed her 
 energies, and as they returned, rich in flowery 
 spoils, the lieutenant became less taciturn in pro- 
 portion to their approach to the hotel. She parted 
 from him in undiminished spirits, but, he devoutly 
 believed, so fatigued that she would not propose 
 another walk among the highlands. When she 
 had disappeared within the house Gary did not 
 leave the hotel at once. He knew it to be an hour 
 when the piazzas were not popular, and at all times 
 of day he liked the view up the river, and never 
 wearied of watching the varied craft that plied 
 up and down. He strode toward the back of the 
 building, straight to the piazza rail. He knew 
 those hills and their varying expressions as he 
 knew his friends' faces. They were more soothing 
 to him now than any friend's face could be. 
 
 A little motion made him turn, and he saw that 
 there was a woman sitting in the corner of the 
 piazza. Her head and shoulders were concealed by 
 a black and white parasol which Gary knew well. 
 He had held it over her on several occasions. He 
 denounced the fate which had made him choose to 
 come to the spot now, and determined to withdraw 
 without disturbing the solitary figure. Turning on 
 his heel, he took two of his long steps, but was
 
 68 PURSUER OR PURSUE Df 
 
 arrested at the third because the girl under the 
 parasol said, " Oh." 
 
 " Good afternoon, Miss Bruce." Gary lifted 
 his cap and paused because she met his eyes and 
 looked glad to see him. " Rather sunny for read- 
 ing, is n't it ? " 
 
 " Not under my parasol, and I do dislike to waste 
 time in the house in this weather, don't you ? " 
 
 " Yes. You could find more shade on Trophy 
 Point." 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 "And more cadets," continued the lieutenant 
 rather uncivilly. 
 
 Still she smiled upon him. " My friends are all 
 gone, you know," she said sweetly. "What a 
 good time they are probably having at this mo- 
 ment ! " 
 
 " Did they leave you a string of bell-buttons ? " 
 asked Gary. 
 
 Miss Bruce waxed more gracious as his irritation 
 became more manifest. It was something new to 
 see her theorizing, abstracted friend show such 
 human weakness. 
 
 " Might you not feel better - natured sitting 
 down ? " she asked. 
 
 She knew the lieutenant had just returned from 
 a walk with her cousin, and was not displeased 
 that he did not appear to have enjoyed himself. 
 Miss Laflin's intemperate expressions of admiration 
 for him in the privacy of the girls 1 own apartment
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 69 
 
 had produced their effect on Miss Bruce. They 
 had made her resentful, indignant to the core, 
 coming as they did at a moment when she was suf- 
 fering from remorse at her own ill-treatment of 
 him. 
 
 " You should not speak slightingly of those young 
 men," she said gently, as Cary rather reluctantly 
 approached and took a chair. "You were their 
 favorite instructor." 
 
 M I did n't know a cadet ever had a favorite 
 tactical officer. We had none in my time," re- 
 plied Cary, with a short laugh. 
 
 " What an evil-disposed class yours must have 
 been," remarked the young lady, twirling her par- 
 asol as it rested on her shoulder. 
 
 " But that was so long ago. Human nature has 
 improved since then, no doubt." 
 
 Miss Bruce colored at this proof that her thrust 
 was not forgotten. Cary swung an arm over the 
 back of his chair and altered his position so that 
 his eyes looked squarely into hers. 
 
 " Miss Fanny," he began, with determined seri- 
 ousness, " I have been wanting to ask you what 
 you think of the truth of those theories that 
 Colonel Mackenzie propounded to us yesterday 
 morning." 
 
 The girl had nearly asked, " What theories ? " 
 but she perceived in a flash that not enough time 
 would be gained to compensate her for the silliness 
 involved in the obvious evasion.
 
 70 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " They were quite interesting," she returned, 
 after an imperceptible pause. 
 
 " What is your opinion as to their truth ? I 
 suppose you will have no objection to telling me ? " 
 
 " Oh, none at all," she answered, hanging out a 
 gay crimson flag in the fairness of her cheeks, but 
 speaking airily. " I have an idea that Colonel 
 Mackenzie is quite right." 
 
 The lieutenant looked scrutinizingly into the 
 piquant face. 
 
 " You then, pardon me for introducing per- 
 sonalities, you, when you see the man whom 
 you believe to be your mate, who you believe can 
 make you happy, will choose him? How will he 
 know that you have chosen him ? " 
 
 " Oh, he can't fail to know it," declared the 
 other, with sprightly vivacity. " I should why, 
 I should show it, of course. I should take pains 
 to let him know it." 
 
 The eager expression in Gary's eyes faded. 
 " Of course naturally," he assented, in a low 
 tone. 
 
 There was a pause, during which they both 
 looked off to the river, where a steamer was labo- 
 riously tugging twenty-four barges in its wake. 
 
 " There is a screw loose somewhere," continued 
 the lieutenant, his eyes on one of the barges, 
 where a woman was hanging out clothes to dry. 
 " I don't know whether it is with the professor's 
 theory, or whether it is with me. The fact is,
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 71 
 
 Miss Bruce, I don't mention it to annoy you, 
 and I hope it will not, but it is abstractly interest- 
 ing under the circumstances," Gary looked back 
 into her face, "I am in love with you." 
 
 His companion flushed more brightly, and 
 turned her head from him. " Of course it is n't 
 the least in the world your fault. You have never 
 been more than civil to me," he added hastily. 
 
 The twirling parasol revolved until it cut off 
 from him the view of her rosy countenance. Gary 
 reproached himself tardily for embarrassing her. 
 
 " Oh, please look at me, Miss Fanny," he 
 begged. " I am not regretting it, you know. I 
 would rather love you hopelessly than not at all. 
 I " He laid his hand on the obstructing parasol, 
 when a heavy step advancing on the piazza made 
 him turn impatiently. 
 
 Colonel Mackenzie appeared around the corner 
 of the hotel. 
 
 " Well, young folks," he cried cheerily, " trying 
 a sun-bath?" 
 
 Of course it was Miss Bruce who replied, restor- 
 ing her parasol to its position behind her head. 
 
 " Come and sit down, colonel," she said cor- 
 dially, although her voice was not quite steady. 
 " Mr. Gary and I have been talking metaphysics, 
 and we need you." 
 
 Gary rose, and, indicating his chair to the pro- 
 fessor, seated himself on the piazza rail opposite, 
 his face showing traces of excitement.
 
 72 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 " Been having a rather heated argument, I per- 
 ceive," remarked the colonel, taking the chair and 
 mopping his brow with his handkerchief. 
 
 " Not quarreling ; oh, no," returned Miss Bruce. 
 " We quite agree. We were speaking of the opin- 
 ions you asserted yesterday morning, and we not 
 only agree with each other, but with you." 
 
 "You did agree with him, you mean," said 
 Gary, gazing at her steadily. " What I told you 
 has shaken you." 
 
 The color ebbed slowly away from Miss Bruce's 
 face, and she nodded. " Yes, it has shaken me a 
 little, but not my opinion." 
 
 "Ah! Then you do not understand Colonel 
 Mackenzie's position. You hold, professor, as I 
 understand it, that if a man feels a deep attrac- 
 tion for a woman, so absorbing a love that he can- 
 not keep silence concerning it, it is because she 
 has already preferred him." 
 
 " That is my doctrine," declared the colonel 
 stoutly. 
 
 " There ! " exclaimed Gary, " you hear him ? " 
 
 " Yes," returned the girl in a low tone, " and I 
 agree with him." 
 
 "You do not believe, then, what I just told 
 you?" 
 
 She nodded again slowly. " I believe you 
 yes," she said, with soft distinctness. 
 
 The agitation in . her face and the look in the 
 lieutenant's moved the colonel to generous indig-
 
 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 73 
 
 nation, which afterward it amused him to remem- 
 ber. " What has come over you, man ? Can't 
 you endure to be differed with ? " he asked. 
 
 The young officer seemed not to have heard 
 him. He looked bewildered and pale, but studied 
 the girl's pure face more exigently than ever. 
 " Then " - he began, and stopped. 
 
 Her lips trembled. The colonel looked from 
 one to the other. " White with anger, upon my 
 word," he thought. " I appeared on the scene 
 just in time." Then aloud : " Gary, I want you 
 to come over to the library with me. I have 
 something there I want your opinion of." 
 
 The lieutenant stood upright and smiled at his 
 superior officer with a look in his face the colonel 
 had never before seen there. There was a clear- 
 eyed, alert, triumphant expression about him as 
 he leaned one hand on the back of Miss Bruce's 
 chair. 
 
 " I 'm sorry not to oblige you, professor, but 
 the fact is I 'm engaged." 
 
 Colonel Mackenzie stared a moment at the 
 young man's changed countenance and began to 
 suspect that 
 
 Then he looked into Miss Bruce's face. 
 
 " Oh, it will keep well enough, Gary," he ejacu- 
 lated, rising so hastily that he overturned his 
 chair. " Don't inconvenience yourself at all. 
 I '11 "- 
 
 But nobody noticed that for once the genial
 
 74 PURSUER OR PURSUED? 
 
 professor was at a loss for words to finish his sen- 
 tence. In the involuntary glance he cast back as 
 he retreated around the angle of the piazza he saw 
 that Cary had stooped. Miss Bruce's parasol was 
 shading two.
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 THE fresh sweetness of a morning in late June 
 was perfuming West Point. Mrs. Rennard, walk- 
 ing leisurely up from the South Gate, under her 
 voluminously laced parasol, paused just before she 
 reached the Old Hospital to bestow the favor of 
 her silent approval upon a rose-bush which stood 
 loaded with blushing honors in an officer's door- 
 yard. 
 
 After an instant the rustling of her invisible 
 silk garments swished on as she continued her 
 stately promenade. As she passed the Old Hospi- 
 tal, devoted to bachelor quarters, a cavalry officer 
 emerged therefrom, and at sight of her bared his 
 head with empressement. 
 
 " Good morning, Mrs. Rennard," he said, run- 
 ning down the iron steps. " Allow me." He took 
 possession of her parasol. 
 
 " Ah, Mr. Woodward. The morning is per- 
 fectly charming," she returned, with a tone of 
 majestic patronage, calculated to make grateful 
 the very singing birds who were filling the air 
 with melody. 
 
 "It is, indeed. Where is Miss Forsyth this 
 morning ? "
 
 76 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 " Yonder on the Harris piazza. I left her for 
 a few minutes while I went down to speak to Mrs. 
 Court." 
 
 The young girl alluded to had already caught 
 sight of her aunt and the young cavalryman, whose 
 yellow stripes kept dutiful time to the deliberate 
 movement of Mrs. Rennard's black laces, while 
 one hand twisted the end of his well-kept mus- 
 tache. 
 
 Phyllis Forsyth did not care much for Mr. 
 Woodward's mustache. A good many girls lose 
 interest in mustaches at West Point, and Phyllis 
 was one of these. In other words, she was a cadet- 
 girl, and this misguided penchant of hers Lieu- 
 tenant Woodward regretted to observe, for he had 
 never seen a girl more to his mind than the wealthy 
 Mrs. Rennard's niece. 
 
 Just as they reached the Harris quarters Mrs. 
 Rennard caught sight of something that interested 
 her. " I think those are the plebes coming this 
 way," she said, raising her lorgnette. 
 
 They were. " Phyllis, Phyllis ! " she called, 
 " come here quickly, please," and the young girl, 
 obeying the elder lady, hastened her pace until 
 they were in an excellent position to view the 
 passing of " Les Miserables" 
 
 " I have been wanting a good opportunity for 
 you to see these young men before they become 
 disguised by uniforms," she said impressively, as 
 the tired awkward squad passed by, periodically
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 11 
 
 yelled at by the cadet corporals who were escorting 
 them. 
 
 " Every girl who comes to West Point should 
 have this warning object lesson. 
 
 " Look at some of those individuals ! More 
 like cowboys than gentlemen ; yet next summer 
 you might meet them as equals, provided you came 
 to the Point. Do you wonder, Phyllis, that I 
 have warned you to be carefid what friends you 
 make here ? " 
 
 The girl's eyes looked pitiful as she regarded 
 the strained faces and attitudes of the badgered 
 novices, and she hated Woodward for his laughing 
 comments on their appearance and the indifference 
 with which he listened to the short-tempered cor- 
 porals. 
 
 Mrs. Rennard proceeded with her exhortations 
 after the plebes had vanished, and the three walked 
 along by the Academic Building. Phyllis appeared 
 to listen dutifully, but in reality little cared she 
 for future camps and their vicissitudes. This one 
 was enough for her. 
 
 She had been here for five weeks now, con- 
 stantly in the company of cadets whom she had 
 known also in their yearling camp. Needless to 
 say her life was an engrossing one, and that she 
 had little use for speculation. 
 
 An orderly gray procession began filing out 
 from camp and across the cavalry plain. 
 
 " Shan't we wait here a moment and see the
 
 78 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 cadets pass to dinner ? " went on Mrs. Rennard in 
 a different tone, as the shrilling of the drum corps 
 met her ear. 
 
 A resigned expression stole over Woodward's 
 face, and he tugged hard at his mustache. " Even 
 you, Mrs. Rennard ! " he said dryly. 
 
 " Certainly, even I," she rejoined. " One must 
 admire their fine bearing even when their antece- 
 dents are impossible. But blood will tell. What 
 a high-bred face that young Edgerley has ! " 
 
 " I think you will have to move out of his way 
 a little," remarked Woodward ; and, indeed, the 
 cadet captain, marching along the flagging abreast 
 of his company, sword in hand, seemed, for all the 
 attractions of his fine figure, to be about to attempt 
 to walk directly upon his dignified admirer, who 
 retreated as hastily as was possible. 
 
 Among all the trained forms and faces, Phyllis 
 looked only at Edgerley, and, strangely, as he 
 advanced, he, the partner of her walks and dances 
 and teas, recognized her no more than if she had 
 been invisible. 
 
 The only one of their company whom he appar- 
 ently saw was Lieutenant Woodward. Without 
 moving a muscle of his neck in his onward march, 
 his alert dark eyes sought those of the officer, and 
 as he passed him he raised his sword before his 
 face in a quick salute, which was mechanically 
 returned. 
 
 " I cannot get used to being entirely ignored by
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 79 
 
 these civil young men," said Mrs. Rennard, smil- 
 ing graciously. " I instinctively bow only to be 
 cut, don't you, Phyllis ? " 
 
 A little further on stood an old couple, evidently 
 from the country, who had also been watching the 
 cadets march to dinner. Excursionists are so 
 common at West Point that Phyllis, who had 
 fallen behind her aunt and Mr. Woodward, scarcely 
 glanced at them, and was moving on, her thoughts 
 full of the image of a dark face and a pair of 
 flashing eyes, when the old round-shouldered man 
 accosted her. 
 
 " Good day, miss. That 's the road to Highland 
 Falls, ain't it ? " pointing along the way the cadets 
 had gone, and upon the girl's assenting he beamed 
 upon her with a toothless smile. "Them boys 
 march pretty good, hey ? " 
 
 Phyllis, amused, assented again, and the woman 
 with the tired, pleasant eyes and the old Paisley 
 shawl smiled too, patiently. 
 
 " Pa 's been possessed to see 'em," she explained. 
 
 " Johnnie said we 'd better not eat here in the 
 park, though we 've got our lunch," said the old 
 man, showing the brown paper bundle in his wrin- 
 kled hand. " We come up in the stage, but I 
 s'pose," looking at the girl wistfully, " it 's quite a 
 piece to walk to Highland Falls." 
 
 " It would be too far under this hot sun," she 
 answered. 
 
 " That 's what I said, wife ; but," more hope-
 
 80 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 fully, " we 've got our lunch, and we '11 go clown 
 the road a ways, where 't won't do no harm, and 
 we '11 eat it. Then we '11 come back agin fer 
 parade. Ye see, Johnnie did n't know we was 
 comin', and he 's got somethin' to do this after- 
 noon when did he say parade was, miss ? " 
 
 Six o'clock." 
 
 " Well, well " the eager old face fell 
 " that 's a good spell to wait, ain't it? " 
 
 " Pa, don't trouble the young lady," said his wife 
 gently; then she thanked Phyllis and passed on. 
 The girl saw that her aunt had strolled toward the 
 hotel and sent Mr. Woodward back to meet her. 
 
 " What did those hayseeds want ? " inquired the 
 officer as he approached. 
 
 " Oh, only some information." 
 
 " Why could n't they have asked me ? " Wood- 
 ward took the girl's parasol as he turned to accom- 
 pany her. 
 
 " Awed by your yellow stripes, probably. Poor 
 old creatures ! They have descended unexpectedly 
 upon some cadet Johnnie, and I was just wonder- 
 ing if Johnnie was properly glad to see them and 
 had treated them well." 
 
 " Oh, I dare say he wishes they had stayed at 
 the Four Corners, or wherever they belong. Their 
 appearance suggests it. A cadet's summer visitors 
 are a great give-away sometimes. We get all 
 sorts here, sure enough." 
 
 Arrived at the hotel, Phyllis saw, almost as
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 81 
 
 soon as she had passed the hedge, that some excite- 
 ment was afoot. 
 
 Kate, Mrs. Rennard's stately brunette daughter, 
 had met her on the piazza, and was apparently- 
 giving her some startling information. Mrs. Ren- 
 nard's nostrils dilated as Miss Forsyth and the 
 cavalry officer came up the steps. The piazza was 
 deserted save for their little group. 
 
 " Mr. Woodward," she began, with imposing 
 dignity, " I should like you to tell me what you 
 know of Mr. Edgerley." 
 
 The lieutenant's smile was non-committal. He 
 might have replied that he knew the cadet captain 
 to be a thorn in his own side, but he did not. 
 
 " I know that he is lucky enough to be high in 
 your favor," he returned. , 
 
 " So he has been," declared Mrs. Rennard su- 
 perbly. " We have been betrayed. It is a case 
 in hand, Phyllis. You remember what I said to 
 you a little while ago as the plebes passed by? 
 May I ask you, Mr. Woodward, if you know any- 
 thing of Mr. Edgerley's connections ? " 
 
 " I do not, Mrs. Rennard," returned the young 
 officer, who observed with satisfaction that, what- 
 ever the cause, his cadet rival's stock had suddenly 
 taken a fall. 
 
 " Kate," commanded Mrs. Rennard, " tell them 
 what you have just told me." 
 
 The tall girl's cheeks were glowing, and in spite 
 of her effort toward a passive manner she was too
 
 82 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 young to be able to quell the feeling in her bright 
 eyes. Cadet Captain Edgerley had indeed cut 
 a broad swath socially in his First-class camp. 
 Even these two fastidious girls had had their secret 
 jealousies of each other on his account. 
 
 " Oh, well, it is no such great matter," said 
 Miss Kennard, striving to speak indifferently, 
 " only we all thought Mr. Edgerley was a gentle- 
 man." 
 
 " We know he is ! " flashed forth Phyllis sud- 
 denly. 
 
 " Wait ! " said Mrs. Rennard imperiously. 
 
 " Two country people have been over in camp 
 this morning asking for him," went on Kate, meet- 
 ing her cousin's gaze. " He came out and talked 
 with them. They hailed him as their dear boy 
 Johnnie. He kissed the woman." 
 
 Miss Eennard's even voice ceased. She could 
 not keep it even any longer. The shock of the 
 moment came back to her too vividly. 
 
 Phyllis's cheeks also began to glow. " It was 
 they, then, that I met ! " she said. " The man had 
 on a linen duster." 
 
 Miss Rennard inclined her head. 
 
 Her cousin's gray eyes remained fixed upon her. 
 
 "You were going to walk with Mr. Edgerley 
 this morning ? " said Phyllis. 
 
 " Yes. I had promised to meet him in camp. 
 That is how I happened to be there." 
 
 " What did you do ? "
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 83 
 
 Both girls had forgotten Woodward, and even 
 Mrs. Rennard. They looked at each other with an 
 interchange of understanding. 
 
 " He bowed to me as he came up, but his people 
 surprised him and detained him, and and I sent 
 one of the men to him with word that I had forgot- 
 ten a previous engagement, and should not be able 
 to go with him this morning." 
 
 Miss Forsyth's lips compressed. " How did he 
 take it?" 
 
 " He looked over at me in a surprised way " 
 
 " Im-per-ti-nent ! " exclaimed Mrs. Rennard ; and 
 as the word fell from her lips it seemed to have 
 three times the usual number of syllables, each 
 one freighted with her appreciation of the luckless 
 cadet's effrontery. 
 
 " but after that look he sent back word that 
 he understood." 
 
 " I only hope he did understand ! " declaimed 
 Mrs. Rennard. 
 
 " Poor chap," said Lieutenant Woodward, twist- 
 ing his mustache ; " that was rough on him. It 
 was a real Farmer Wayback who spoke to you, 
 wasn't it, Miss Forsyth? " 
 
 The girl turned her dainty head toward him 
 slowly. "Yes, they were evidently country peo- 
 ple," she answered. 
 
 His people! Mr. Edgerley's people with their 
 lunch in a brown paper bundle ! They were going 
 to eat it by the roadside somewhere. The patient,
 
 84 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 tired face of the woman came back to her with as 
 much vividness as if she had known it all her life. 
 
 Late in the afternoon the audience began gath- 
 ering for parade. Girls in pretty summer gowns 
 flitted through the hedge before the hotel to join 
 the bell-buttoned cavaliers, with whom they would 
 chat and laugh and flirt until the very last moment 
 would see the white-trousered legs of the cadets 
 speeding toward camp to be ready for the prepara- 
 tory inspection. 
 
 To-day there was a new subject for conversa- 
 tion among First-class men and their friends, 
 " Edgerley's surprise party," as some of them 
 called it ; for the old people were early on the scene 
 to wait for " Johnnie," and laughter and specula- 
 tion ran high hi some quarters, while scorn and 
 injured dignity obtained in other cliques. 
 
 The old man spoke to any one who happened to 
 sit near him, asking questions or descanting on 
 " Johnnie's " attainments, and he recognized Miss 
 Forsyth as she passed near him in a fine, ethereal 
 gown with elbow sleeves. 
 
 His faded blue eyes lighted as he sat there, both 
 hands resting on his cane. " Here we air, you see, 
 miss," he said happily, and Phyllis grew surpass- 
 ingly rosy as she bowed slightly and passed on to 
 her place. 
 
 Edgerley's movements at any time, were a mat- 
 ter of interest, but this afternoon how piquant 
 the situation !
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE ^ 85 
 
 They had not long to wait. A hundred curious 
 eyes recognized the cadet captain's advent from his 
 company street half an hour before parade. What 
 was he doing ? Why did he not take the shortest 
 cut toward the spectators? He turned to his right 
 and moved across the plain to the guard tent, where 
 he stopped an instant, then he began to walk de- 
 liberately along the line in front of the crowded 
 seats. 
 
 It was evident that he chose to run a gauntlet. 
 As he moved along in his spotless parade uniform, 
 his dark eyes roved among the crowd. A few 
 bowed to him ; many more became preoccupied, 
 and chatted faster than before. A few looked 
 straight into his eyes unseeingly. 
 
 Occasionally his hand rose in the salute of an 
 officer as he passed ; and a climax of interest was 
 reached as he approached the couple, who only 
 now discovered him. 
 
 He paused before the strangers and gave a hand 
 to each, and standing at ease, his feet planted 
 slightly apart, he fell into a conversation with them 
 which, if it were not interesting and happy to him, 
 proved the young man to be as good an actor as he 
 was student. 
 
 When Phyllis returned to the hotel after the 
 parade, she found this note awaiting her : 
 
 DEAR Miss FORSYTH, My people having arrived 
 unexpectedly, and for a short time only, I must reluct- 
 antly resign the pleasure of being your escort to the con-
 
 86 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 cert this evening and to the hop to-morrow night, in order 
 that I may spend all the time possible with them. 
 
 Sincerely yours, JOHN J. EDGERLET. 
 
 Phyllis went with her aunt to the concert, 
 where the fireflies were spangling the plain, and 
 Lieutenant Woodward had never found her so 
 gracious. 
 
 The next night Grant Hall was gay on the occa- 
 sion of the cadet hop. The girls who had Mr. 
 Edgerley's name on their cards exchanged remarks, 
 all except Kate Rennard and her cousin. 
 
 Edgerley's air as he entered could not have 
 been different if he had been escorting Mrs. Ren- 
 nard herself. He found good seats for his people, 
 who looked upon the scene with absorbed and 
 open-lipped interest, while the gay music set the 
 old father's cane to tapping the floor. 
 
 A dozen hearts in the room fluttered faster for 
 his presence, and prepared replies in the event of 
 his coming to claim the dances promised him. Per- 
 haps his experience at parade had convinced him 
 of his changed status. At any rate, he did not 
 approach his friends. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival he moved across to 
 where stood Colonel Burritt, one of his professors, 
 and said a few words to him in a low tone. 
 
 Colonel Burritt responded, and Edgerley spoke 
 again ; then the colonel returned with him across 
 the hall and shook hands with the old couple, 
 talking with them a few minutes.
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 87 
 
 When kindly Colonel Burritt finally bowed and 
 withdrew, the trio looked on in silence for a few 
 minutes more ; then Edgerley said something to 
 his companions, and they rose and slowly left the 
 hall with him. 
 
 Several pairs of eyes watched curiously the 
 lonely departure of the three the bowed figure 
 of the old man in his short trousers, and the 
 narrow-shouldered woman clinging to the cadet's 
 arm. 
 
 A swinging waltz had just started. Phyllis 
 Forsyth had been engaged to Edgerley for it, and 
 she was dancing it with Lieutenant Woodward. 
 He made some laughing comment on the strangers 
 as they disappeared. 
 
 His partner suddenly stopped as they reached 
 the door. She was panting with some overwhelm- 
 ing feeling. The lieutenant looked at her in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " Will you excuse me ? " she said abruptly, her 
 delicate nostrils dilating and her eyes pleading 
 with him. " I am going out here a minute. Don't 
 follow me." 
 
 Before he could reply she had vanished, and he 
 stood looking at the door in bewilderment. 
 
 A few rods away in the radiant moonlight a 
 carriage stood waiting. The cadet captain and 
 his people had reached it when a light-footed 
 white figure caught up with them. 
 
 "Mr. Edgerley," said Phyllis, breathless from
 
 88 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 her agitation, " you have not introduced me to 
 your people." 
 
 " Miss Forsyth ! " he exclaimed, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 " Why, it 's our young lady, ma," said the old 
 man. " I did n't see ye in that whirligig place, 
 miss ! My head 's jest a-spinniii' 'round like a 
 top, lookin' at them boys and girls ; but Johnnie, 
 he would have it that we was to see everything 
 'long 's we 'd made out to git here." 
 
 " Yes, pa 's sat'sfied at last," said the wife 
 gently. "You was very kind to come out to 
 speak to us, but I 'm afraid you '11 ketch cold in 
 that thin dress in the night air. Take her into 
 the house, Johnnie. Good-by, dear," turning to 
 Edgerley. "We won't never forget your kind- 
 ness in this world." She lifted her thin hands to 
 the tall cadet's face, and he stooped and kissed 
 her. Then he shook hands with the old man, and 
 tucked them both into the carriage. " I hope 
 you '11 have a good trip back ; and don't forget 
 to write me," he said cheerily. 
 
 The horses started off in the direction of High- 
 land Falls, and the smile faded from Edgerley's 
 face as he turned toward Phyllis. 
 
 " What does this mean, Miss Forsyth ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " It means that I wished to meet your parents," 
 she answered him, with soft and breathless de- 
 fiance.
 
 89 
 
 He continued to look at her for a time as she 
 stood, her head thrown back ; then he offered her 
 his arm, and they walked without speech to the 
 hall. 
 
 When they had reached the foot of the steps, he 
 stood still. 
 
 " Will you go in there and dance with me ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Yes," she answered quickly. 
 
 He smiled down at her, a very tender and proud 
 expression in his eyes. 
 
 " You mean to stand by me, then ? " 
 
 " Always." 
 
 The answer and the manner of it made him 
 take her hand. The old elms waved slowly and 
 caressingly above them, and the waltz music 
 floated out from the open windows. 
 
 " Phyllis, until yesterday I meant to get cour- 
 age somehow to tell you how I love you, but I 
 did n't think it would come like this when I was 
 despairing. Have n't my people my dear, dear 
 old people frightened you ? " 
 
 She looked up at him through moist eyes. 
 
 " Nothing frightens me but losing you, Jack ! " 
 
 Five minutes afterward Mrs. Rennard's face 
 grew deeply, darkly red, for her niece floated past 
 her in the waltz with Jack Edgerley. 
 
 The dance had been nearly over when they 
 entered the hall, and when the music ceased Mrs. 
 Rennard caught the look that passed between
 
 90 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 
 
 Phyllis and " that common young man," a 
 look that spoke volumes to her suspicious eyes. 
 
 Her daughter soon came to her side. Kate 
 was evidently quite as agitated as herself, but they 
 were obliged to content themselves with meaning 
 glances until the hop was over. 
 
 "Where is Phyllis, Kate?" asked Mrs. Ren- 
 nard then, with subdued sharpness. 
 
 " She has disappeared completely. I am dis- 
 gusted with her ! " exclaimed the young girl. 
 
 Then Kate's escort claimed her for the stroll 
 back to the hotel, and, Colonel Burritt happening 
 to leave the hall as Mrs. Rennard did, the two 
 walked along together. 
 
 Kate had been in her room several minutes 
 when her mother entered. Mrs. Rennard's crim- 
 son and angry expression had died away, but her 
 face betrayed some excitement still. " We have 
 been misled, Kate," she announced impressively. 
 " Colonel Burritt has been telling me quite a ro- 
 mantic story of Mr. Edgerley's family. It seems 
 they are entirely comme il faut. His father was 
 a very wealthy man, but unfortunate, and became 
 an embezzler for a large amount." 
 
 Kate stared. 
 
 " The unhappy gentleman died shortly before 
 Mr. Edgerley's birth, and his mother, always after- 
 ward being an invalid, frequently left her child in 
 charge of a worthy old couple who lived in the 
 village where she had her country house. They
 
 A CADET CAMP EPISODE 91 
 
 are the people who have just been here. Really, 
 it is a little mortifying to have snubbed him. Ah, 
 Phyllis," for here the young girl came in, her 
 face pale, but the shine of the stars still in her 
 eyes, " I must take you to task a little, my dear. 
 Have n't you been rather exclusive with our cadet 
 captain to-night ? " 
 
 The playful tone surprised the girl. 
 
 " Then you won't make it hard for me ? " she 
 exclaimed softly, moving to her aunt and receiv- 
 ing from her a gracious embrace. 
 
 Kate Rennard's dark cheeks glowed and she bit 
 her lip hard. " I hope Mr. Edgerley is not hurt 
 by anything I have done," she said. 
 
 Phyllis glanced at her with genuine but wound- 
 ing innocence. 
 
 " I don't think he cares," she answered.
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 Miss VIOLET GLASGOW was standing near the 
 rail of an outward-bound Cunarder alone. The 
 startling fact that she was alone penetrated at first 
 vaguely, then acutely, to the brain of Mr. Richard 
 Eames, who had been dozing luxuriously in his 
 steamer chair, a few rods distant. 
 
 During the two months since he first met her 
 he had been more or less consciously on the look- 
 out for opportunities like the present, and had 
 even taken passage on the Etruria three weeks be- 
 fore the government demanded his return, in the 
 undeclared hope of securing many undisturbed 
 interviews with this vivacious maiden. Events 
 proved, however, that he was not singular in his 
 enjoyment of her society, and, consequently, the 
 discovery of the present situation caused him to 
 be alertly awake and on his feet in a second. 
 
 " Are you wearing something enchanted which 
 makes you invisible to all men but me? " he asked, 
 as he approached her. 
 
 The girl turned to him with an airy pose of the 
 head. " You intend to flatter me," she said, with 
 a slight foreign accent, " so I will take the will for 
 the deed."
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 93 
 
 " Unfeeling young woman ! " 
 
 " I am not sure that it is a compliment to imply 
 that I am usually surrounded by men, especially 
 when the implication is made by a person who does 
 not understand that I permit their attentions on 
 principle," Miss Glasgow spoke loftily. 
 
 " I humbly beg to be enlightened. We have 
 but one day left for me to continue my respectful 
 study of the Franco- American character." 
 
 " Drop the Franco. I am American through 
 and through. That is why I have contended for 
 my rights with Aunt Margaret. I was but five 
 years of age when she took me to France, and, as 
 I have lived there ever since, you can imagine that 
 I have had some difficulty to preserve purely Amer- 
 ican principles, especially since my aunt is very 
 much affected by French ideas." 
 
 " You must have had a struggle," returned her 
 companion, with praiseworthy gravity. 
 
 " A struggle, indeed ! Just fancy ! " Violet 
 lowered her voice confidentially, " my aunt would 
 like me to marry a man I have never seen, the son 
 of a dear friend of hers. She is as extreme as 
 that ! " 
 
 " Atrocious ! " exclaimed Eames feelingly. 
 
 " I have been busy at school most of my life, of 
 course ; but I always knew I was going home to 
 America some day, and as soon as we set foot on 
 this vessel, I considered that I had already ar- 
 rived."
 
 94 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 " Precisely." 
 
 " And when Aunt Margaret demurred at the 
 attentions you referred to, I simply reminded her 
 of her nationality. I intend to enjoy the rights of 
 my countrywomen, and said I to her : 
 
 " ' Down with the traitor, and 
 Up with the Star.' " 
 
 " Noble patriot ! Your aunt being the traitor, 
 and you being the star. I see. I see ! " 
 
 " I have known American girls in Paris. I 
 know their ways. Do you suppose I am going 
 home to behave like a foreigner ? No. Jamais 
 de la vie ! " 
 
 At the nervous energy of the exclamation Mr. 
 Eames could only nod a respectful agreement. 
 
 " Do you expect to remain in America ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I hope so. If it is what I think it is, I shall 
 want to. I have a sister there." The brown eyes 
 looked off musingly. 
 
 " When have you seen her ? " 
 
 " Not once in all these years. A twin sister at 
 that. Another aunt took her when we were left 
 orphans. Does n't it seem sad that we should have 
 been divided? But each aunt wanted us, so there 
 was no other way. Can you imagine, Mr. Eames, 
 what it must be to have a twin soul, a creature 
 so nearly one with you that separation creates a 
 constant craving for the absent one ? " 
 
 "I I suppose I ought to be able to "
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 95 
 
 " Why, you are just like me," interrupted the 
 girl delightedly, her bright face, with its daintily- 
 curved mouth, confronting him. " I suppose I 
 ought to be able to, but, as a matter of fact, I 
 never was. Phoebe my sister's name is Phoebe 
 and I have corresponded always, of course, but 
 she does not write long letters ; she goes to a school 
 called Smith College, and she is very busy, and 
 well, there are several girls to whom I feel nearer. 
 Now, is n't that dreadful ? " 
 
 She caught her lip between her small teeth and 
 gazed at Eames for sympathy. He shook his head 
 with the gravity the situation demanded. 
 
 " I think it argues something wicked in me that 
 I am not more eager to see Phoebe. I was ponder- 
 ing over it when you came up ; trying to justify 
 myself, you know." 
 
 " How were you getting on ? " 
 
 " Slowly. My sister has been brought up in a 
 provincial village, and on that score I was excusing 
 myself for suspecting that we should not have much 
 in common. I was wondering how she would be- 
 have, and and dress. Was n't it small and 
 selfish?" 
 
 Eames lifted his eyes and hands skyward in 
 righteous amazement. 
 
 "Yes, it was cold-blooded," went on the girl. 
 " I wonder you do not recoil from me." 
 
 " It is strange ; but then, you know, in this 
 world it is the unexpected that always happens.
 
 96 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 Of course you have pictures of your sister. Does 
 she resemble you as closely as she ought to? " 
 
 The girl looked at him alertly. " Are you pay- 
 ing me another compliment ? " 
 
 " Not wishing to be snubbed twice in the same 
 interview no, I am merely putting a physiologi- 
 cal query." 
 
 " Do you suppose I would snub an officer in our 
 army ? " reproachfully. 
 
 " Well, I have gathered that under provocation 
 you would." 
 
 " No, Mr. Eames ; you are entirely mistaken. 
 It hurts me to be so misunderstood. You are 
 sacred in my eyes." 
 
 The lieutenant smiled. " Whe ew ! and such 
 eyes ! " 
 
 " Be careful ! " 
 
 "Oh, well since I am assured immunity." 
 
 " But you should n't be flippant ; you should 
 have too much self-respect. Officers in the United 
 States army should have something better to do 
 than to make pretty speeches to girls." 
 
 " They manage to make time for that." 
 
 " I shall shortly know more about it," observed 
 Miss Glasgow, regarding him musingly, " for one of 
 the first places I am going to in America is a mili- 
 tary post." 
 
 "Indeed? I thought your destination was 
 among the Berkshire hills." 
 
 " Yes, it was at first, but our plans are changed
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 97 
 
 since I talked to you about them. I have a cousin 
 who is married to an army officer, and she has 
 invited my sister and me to visit together at her 
 house. I consider it an especially happy beginning 
 to go first where the stars and stripes are waving." 
 
 " Auspicious, indeed ! What post is it which is 
 going to gain such an enthusiast ? " 
 
 Violet's fair brow contracted slightly. " The 
 name has slipped my mind this minute. Mrs, 
 Jameson, that is my cousin, says it is a lovely 
 place, on a river." 
 
 " Mrs. Jameson ! " eagerly. *' I suppose it is 
 not West Point ? " 
 
 " C'est $a / " ejaculated the girl, nodding with 
 satisfaction. " That is the name." 
 
 Eames threw back his head, with an exclama- 
 tion. " So much the better for me. That is my 
 post at present. You know our military academy 
 is situated there, and I am detailed as an in- 
 structor." 
 
 "What in?" 
 
 " French." 
 
 " A la bonne heure / " said the girl, following 
 the exclamation with a voluble flow of words in the 
 graceful language, against which Eames made pro- 
 testing gestures, finally flying his handkerchief to 
 the fresh breeze. 
 
 " Do you know a flag of truce when you see 
 it?" he asked. " Are n't you aware that the best 
 teachers of the voice can't sing a note ? I don't
 
 98 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 know how it may be elsewhere, but in languages at 
 West Point the analogy is complete." 
 
 " I have no doubt you are only obstinate," re- 
 sponded the girl, with a shrug. 
 
 " So that is to be the spot where you and your 
 sister make one another's acquaintance?" mused 
 Eames. 
 
 " Yes, and you may be sure I should not have 
 made such confessions to you had I supposed we 
 should ever meet again after to-morrow." She 
 glanced at the lieutenant, and something in his 
 gaze brought a flush to her cheeks. 
 
 "I am delighted at the prospect of observing- 
 whether your native land meets your expectations, 
 and whether you bear up nobly in case your sister r s 
 traditions fulfill your worst apprehensions ; but I 
 shall not see you until you have had time to adjust 
 yourself to the facts, whatever they may be. I am 
 not obliged to report until the twenty-eighth." 
 
 " I am very glad of it, I am sure," returned the 
 girl. " It is unfortunate that I chose you for a 
 confidant." 
 
 " But you will still be there by the twenty- 
 eighth?" 
 
 " I cannot say. My aunt is going to relinquish 
 me to my sister and Mrs. Jameson for the sum- 
 mer provisionally." An eloquent lift of prettily 
 defined eyebrows pointed Miss Glasgow's words. 
 
 " I see. You let your aunt go, but you keep a 
 string tied to her."
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 99 
 
 " What ? " much mystified. 
 
 " As they say in America," returned Eames ex- 
 planatorily. 
 
 " Oh, yes." Miss Glasgow looked pleased and 
 eager. " That is slang, I suppose, and I am so 
 anxious to learn it all." 
 
 The lieutenant smiled. " But there is only one 
 day left, you see." 
 
 " I know ever so much already," Violet answered 
 triumphantly. 
 
 " Well, I prophesy that you will not need the 
 metaphorical string. You won't want your aunt. 
 There is something wrong with a girl who does not 
 enjoy West Point." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Certainly ; and, in your case, principle will 
 uphold you if nothing else. What more can you 
 ask than to be surrounded by those who are already 
 your country's defenders, and those who are learn- 
 ing to become so ? " 
 
 " You mean the students ? " 
 
 " Yes, the cadets. Which do you intend to be, 
 in the society of the post, an officer-girl, or a cadet- 
 girl?" 
 
 "Which is more amusing?" she asked gravely. 
 
 "That is not for me to say," returned Eames 
 modestly. 
 
 " Is n't it proper to be both? " 
 
 "Perfectly, but it is not always possible. It 
 depends upon how clever you are."
 
 100 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 " You see, I don't know how clever I am yet," 
 returned the girl ingenuously, " I have been so 
 recently emancipated." 
 
 Her companion laughed ; but here certain others 
 of Miss Glasgow's fellow-voyagers approached, and 
 Eames did not see her alone again before they 
 landed. 
 
 Mrs. Dent, Violet's aunt, had been exiled so 
 many years from her native land that she was 
 eager to visit certain old friends with whom her 
 niece would have nothing in common, and, there- 
 fore, she was very willing to give her into the hands 
 of Mrs. Jameson. " Phoebe would not come with 
 me," announced that little woman briskly, while 
 they were all waiting the movements of the customs 
 officials. " She had some sentiment about greet- 
 ing her twin first in this public place." 
 
 " Alas ! " thought Violet, " she is sentimental." 
 
 With Mrs. Jameson stylish, pretty, vivacious 
 she decided at once that she should get on ad- 
 mirably, and she bade farewell to her aunt in good 
 spirits. 
 
 " Take care of her, Belle," said Mrs. Dent, in 
 her sonorous, impressive accents. " I do trust she 
 won't make you any trouble. Violet is a good 
 girl." 
 
 Mrs. Jameson appeared to have no apprehen- 
 sions. Indeed, hers was the cheerful, adaptable 
 disposition invaluable to an army-woman and the 
 army- woman's husband. She observed the effusive
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 101 
 
 leavetaking of her young cousin by the latter's 
 traveling companions, and decided that the girl 
 must be as attractive as she looked. Among 
 these was Mr. Eames, to whom Mrs. Jameson 
 gave the handshake of good comradeship. 
 
 " What are you back for ? " she demanded. 
 
 " More visits to make. I 'm so popular, you 
 see. What is new ? " 
 
 " Nothing but my twins. I '11 let you come and 
 see them when you return, if you 're good." 
 
 " Wha what ! Oh, you mean the Miss Glas- 
 gows." 
 
 " Of course. I hope you have n't imbibed 
 English slowness in two months." 
 
 " I don't know. The soil was favorable, you 
 see, to start with." 
 
 " That is one of the best fellows in the world," 
 said Mrs. Jameson, as she put her charge into a 
 carriage. " He belongs to my husband's regiment, 
 and we are so fond of him." 
 
 Violet listened attentively. She had known 
 American women in Paris, but that was different 
 from observing and listening to one of the envied 
 beings in her native air and on American soil. 
 
 " I am so glad to be at home," she sighed, as 
 the carriage rattled away to a hotel. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson laughed. " Why, bless your 
 heart, is that the way you feel about it ? " 
 
 " Of course it is," replied the girl, with dig- 
 nity.
 
 102 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 " Well, you are a loyal soul and I am proud of 
 you." 
 
 " Is my sister well ? " asked Violet tentatively. 
 
 " Yes, she is always well." 
 
 " A regular milkmaid, I suppose," thought Miss 
 Glasgow. " Are we alike ? " she inquired aloud. 
 
 " Very much, in feature ; but I think your style 
 is quite different. Of course, I can't be sure 
 
 yet." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you can," thought the other, with 
 such emphasis that it is a wonder the words did 
 not escape. 
 
 " Aunt Marion's home is so quiet it must be a 
 great pleasure to Phoebe to see something of the 
 world with you." 
 
 " I think she will enjoy herself. She arrived 
 only yesterday." 
 
 The next morning Mrs. Jameson took her cousin 
 up the river by boat. " I do not expect Phoebe 
 will come down to meet us," she said, as the 
 landing-bell rang for the West Point dock. " She 
 is a girl of decided ideas, and she evidently does 
 not choose that strangers shall witness her meet- 
 ing with the sister that she has not seen for four- 
 teen years." 
 
 Violet looked about her curiously. As the 
 omnibus in which they sat ascended the steep, 
 winding road, she was more engrossed in her sur- 
 roundings than in anticipation of the doubtful 
 pleasure of meeting her twin.
 
 A FRAXCO-AMERICAX 103 
 
 Meanwhile, on the vine-laden porch of Mrs. 
 Jameson's cottage a young girl waited, looking 
 through the clustering leaves for the first glimpse 
 of the stage. This moment was one she had 
 longed for ever since the decision was made that 
 Aunt Margaret should bring Violet to America, 
 Phffibe Glasgow had the same fine, small mouth, 
 the same brown hair and eyes as her sister. She 
 was dressed now in white, open at the throat, and 
 the light of anticipation made her demure face 
 unwontedly vivacious. 
 
 At last the plodding horses and cumbrous ve- 
 hicle came in sight. Plwebe started to run down 
 the steps, but restrained herself with an effort. 
 The big stage stopped, two ladies dismounted, and 
 the girl could hold back no longer. 
 
 Violet, looking up, saw a white figure flit be- 
 hind the vines and then run fleetly down the steps, 
 cool and fair in the hot August sunshine. 
 
 The stage rumbled away. " I '11 hold all the 
 parcels," said Mrs. Jameson, " while you girls 
 put fourteen years' affection into one hug." 
 
 Violet quite forgot her doubts and fears in that 
 moment when her sister held her in her arms. It 
 was evident that in Phoebe's mind no forebodings 
 had mingled with anticipation. As the latter drew 
 back, her eyes were bright with unshed tears. 
 
 " Now, come in," said Mrs. Jameson energeti- 
 cally. " You have too much to say to each other 
 for me to allow a beginning out here."
 
 104 A FRANCO- AMERICAN 
 
 Violet kept an arm about her sister as they 
 ascended the steps. She felt a very kindly and 
 affectionate patronage of her. 
 
 " I hope you mean to stay in this country," 
 said Phoebe, watching and listening to her sister 
 as they sat at lunch, with fond wonder at and 
 admiration of her foreign mannerisms. " Aunt 
 Marion charged me to give you a cordial invita- 
 tion to make a long visit with us." 
 
 Violet returned her look with a perturbed ex- 
 pression. " I mean to keep you with me wherever 
 I go, but you ask me to make a long stay on a 
 farm? Oh," with a winning smile, " come off ! " 
 
 Phoebe held the fork which was about to convey 
 salad to her lips poised half way, and turned her 
 astonished gaze from her sister to Mrs. Jameson. 
 
 "Aunt Marion is very kind, of course, and I 
 want to see her ; but it is good that you could 
 meet me here. Which are you going to be, 
 Phoebe, a cadet-girl or an officer-girl ? " 
 
 " Listen to the child," laughed Mrs. Jameson. 
 " She talks the jargon of the place already. Oh, 
 that is due to Mr. Eames." 
 
 Phoebe's salad reached its destination. " I 
 shall be whichever is most entertaining, I sup- 
 pose," she returned, with her usual quiet self- 
 possession. 
 
 "Wise maiden," remarked her cousin. "To- 
 morrow evening you will try to be cadet-girls, for 
 I have partners for you both for the hop."
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN- 105 
 
 " You are very thoughtful, cousin Belle," re- 
 turned Phoebe. "I hope you are not going to 
 feel a care of entertaining us, for, indeed, we shall 
 find it delightful enough just to be here." 
 
 " For my part, I wish to be in whatever is going 
 on," said Violet. " I want to see everything, and 
 I want to do everything that is proper Ameri- 
 can-proper, I mean. I want to be in the swim." 
 
 " I shall nol^ feel any burden of entertaining 
 you," replied Mrs. Jameson. " There are a num- 
 ber of young persons who will take that off my 
 hands, at least while camp lasts. I have spoken 
 to my girl friends ; they will all come to call on 
 you presently." 
 
 " There is a camp, is there ? " asked Violet, 
 looking up, with interest. " Why, it must be a 
 jolly place." 
 
 " It is very beautiful," said Phoebe. " I am 
 sure you must have enjoyed the ride up the river, 
 even though you have se3ii the Rhine." 
 
 " Yes, indeed. The banks of the Rhine are, to 
 my mind, disfigured by the vineyards ; and I do 
 not care particularly for those historical castles. 
 Oh, yes, I don't think the Rhine is in it with the 
 Hudson. Why do you stare so, Phoebe ? Have 
 I such round, shocked-looking eyes as that, cousin 
 Belle?" 
 
 "Excuse me," said Phoebe, lowering her gaze 
 and coloring slightly, " but it sounds so strange to 
 hear you use such expressions."
 
 106 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 " Oh, I dare say they are new to you, for no 
 doubt a farm in Berkshire County is as remote 
 as Paris from the American world's speech. Do 
 you know how to dance, Phoebe ? " The question 
 was added rather anxiously. "For perhaps I 
 could teach you before to-morrow evening." 
 
 Phoebe's demure little mouth smiled at her 
 plate. "I think I can get along, but but it 
 is n't good form to talk slang, Violet." 
 
 Her sister laughed merrily. " Not to Uncle 
 Isaac's cows and poultry, I daresay." 
 
 Phoebe's expressive eyes besought their hostess. 
 
 " It is not good form anywhere, my dear," said 
 Mrs. Jameson pleasantly. " I am afraid that 
 wretch of a Dick Eames has been stuffing you 
 I mean oh, horrors, don't look at me, Phoebe ! " 
 
 " Stuffing me ! Is n't that amusing ? " said Vio- 
 let alertly. 
 
 " Not in the least ! " ejaculated the hostess. " It 
 is absurd. Those miserable expressions are as in- 
 sidious as they are hideous. What I meant to say 
 was that Mr. Eames had been gulling you amus- 
 ing himself by teaching you Americanisms." 
 
 " No, no, he did n't. Nobody taught me. The 
 men on board talked " 
 
 " Oh, of course the men said those things." 
 
 " And in America do not women do just what 
 men do ? " 
 
 " Not unless they wish to commit social sui- 
 cide."
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 107 
 
 Miss Glasgow laid down her knife and fork and 
 looked as though the foundations of her hostess' 
 house were tottering. 
 
 But as days went on, and she discovered the (to 
 her) unaccustomed latitude allowed the young girls 
 about her, her spirits rose. She entered into the 
 daily routine of the post life with a zest which her 
 sister in part shared. She found that Phoebe's 
 clothes were unobtrusive and sufficiently fashiona- 
 ble, and enjoyed bestowing upon her lavishly from 
 her own wardrobe. But the patronage she had 
 expected to feel toward Phoebe vanished. The lat- 
 ter was a girl, she decided, without much fun in 
 her, but the innate dignity and natural self-posses- 
 sion of her sister elicited her admiration. More- 
 over, she learned by degrees that Phoebe was care- 
 fully educated, and had by no means spent her life 
 in a narrow place. She even felt a h'ttle awe of 
 her twin, whose serious, surprised gaze seemed 
 sometimes a rebuke. 
 
 On the evening of the annual illumination of 
 camp, the baud was playing on the green when 
 Lieutenant and Mrs. Jameson and their girls passed 
 under the Chinese lanterns swinging from an arch 
 in front of the tents. Poles were everywhere 
 twined with colored paper. At the front of the 
 general parade a well -grown kitten slumbered 
 peacefully in .a small wire cage, before and behind 
 which burned rows of candles, whose warmth was 
 apparently agreeable to the animal. The tents, all
 
 108 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 well-lighted, were decorated with chains of bell- 
 buttons, caricatures, and illuminated texts, which 
 affably assured the visitor that Huyler's best would 
 not be unwelcome as a free-will offering. Gay 
 lanterns burned wherever one could be hung, while 
 stacked guns and draped or flying flags enlivened 
 the scene. 
 
 Beside the kitten's cage Violet greeted the cadet 
 whom she had promised to meet, and Phoebe walked 
 on with her cousin. Stopping to laugh at or ad- 
 mire one and another evidence of cadet ingenuity, 
 the party soon became separated. 
 
 Phoebe stopped near an officer's tent to look at a 
 large charcoal sketch of the superintendent, exe- 
 cuted by a clever hand, and the Jamesons strolled 
 on. She was just glancing ahead and thinking 
 she must hasten when a hearty voice greeted 
 her. 
 
 " Good evening, Miss Glasgow. I felt sure I 
 should find you if I patrolled the streets systemat- 
 ically. Well, how is it ? Do the stars and stripes 
 meet your expectations ? And how about your sis- 
 ter ? Did it prove that the Hayseed family have 
 formed her on their pattern ? " 
 
 Phoebe looked up, at first surprised. Before 
 Eames had finished she recognized his identity, for 
 Violet and Mrs. Jameson had referred several 
 times to the officer whose acquaintance the former 
 had made this summer, and who returned with her 
 on the boat. Until his closing question the girl's
 
 A FRANCO- AMERICAN 109 
 
 only thought was to undeceive him as consider- 
 ately as possible, but the implication surprised her. 
 The hot blood flew to her cheeks, and mechanically 
 she moved on slowly, Eames keeping step with her. 
 Mrs. Jameson, looking back, saw in the dimly 
 lighted street that an officer had joined her cousin, 
 and went on her way. 
 
 " Did I really give you cause to speak in that 
 manner of my sister ? " asked Phoabe. 
 
 " Ah, I see. The reality has proved so contrary 
 to your expectations that you are surprised to re- 
 member your doubts. I suppose you and your 
 sister are, after all, two hearts that beat as one." 
 
 " I can scarcely say that. We are fond of each 
 other, but we are well, different." 
 
 " Indeed ? And how is your slang vocabulary 
 progressing ? If you add the West Point localisms 
 to your ' sabre-cuts of Saxon speech ' you will be 
 well equipped." 
 
 Phoebe looked at her companion closely. She 
 liked his face as far as she could see it in the half 
 light, and his voice was pleasant and honest. 
 
 " Do you know," she said seriously, " I think it 
 was not at all friendly of you not to tell me that 
 nice American girls do not use slang." 
 
 " Why why " - hesitated Eames, surprised 
 and crestfallen, " some of them do." 
 
 " Do you admire them more for it ? " 
 
 "Well no." 
 
 " It seems to me," said Phoebe reflectively, " a
 
 110 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 perfect wonder that men should not be more 
 friendly to women." 
 
 Lieutenant Eames felt vaguely uncomfortable, 
 and cleared his throat with very little idea what 
 words of wisdom he was preparing the way for. 
 
 " Why does a man always think that it is per- 
 fectly legitimate for him to get all the amusement 
 out of a girl that he can ? " pursued his compan- 
 ion. 
 
 " Oh, come now, you know that women get 
 even with us there," said Eames, in an injured 
 tone. 
 
 Miss Glasgow's conscience here made a little re- 
 mark, but she silenced it. 
 
 " They have learned to make the most of such 
 opportunities as they find here and there," she re- 
 sponded ; " but they should draw the line at their 
 own sex. I am ashamed to think I ridiculed my 
 sister to you ! " 
 
 "You didn't; you did n't," responded Eames 
 hastily, made remorseful by her tone. " You must 
 know that nothing you said gave me the right to 
 make my poor joke. It was a poor one ; mine 
 usually are. I only meant to tease you a little. 
 Pray forgive me." 
 
 " WeD," murmured Phoabe, comforted, " I am 
 glad." A brief silence fell between them, during 
 which she considered the best means of revealing 
 herself to her companion ; but while she was hesi- 
 tating he spoke in a changed tone.
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 111 
 
 " When we were on board ship, Miss Glasgow, 
 I was not in a condition to give you advice of any 
 kind. I have been affected by you in a strange 
 manner from the day we first met. My feeling 
 did n't seem reasonable, and I have been trying to 
 understand it. For the last two weeks I have 
 been broiling in the city instead of coming up here, 
 simply in order to think it out ; and there is no 
 longer any doubt " 
 
 " Oh ! " interrupted Phoebe breathlessly. 
 
 " that there can never be any peace for me 
 until I tell you how I love you, how " 
 
 " Oh, oh, how dreadful ! " Phoebe stood mo- 
 tionless in the deserted spot they had reached, 
 and her soft tone of horror caused her companion 
 to retreat a step. 
 
 " How can I ever confess ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Violet never said oh, believe me, I " She 
 
 paused, and Eames regarded the bent head and 
 tightly clasped hands with bewilderment. 
 
 " Ah ! " he said at last, with a short, sharp 
 breath. Then he lifted his cap formally. " I am 
 not quickwitted, as my friends occasionally remind 
 me, but I believe I understand you. You must 
 be"- 
 
 " Miss Hayseed, yes," said Phoebe meekly. 
 
 Meanwhile, Violet, escorted by a cadet lieuten- 
 ant, had wandered up one street and down an- 
 other, inspecting everything, asking questions, and 
 prattling volubly in the manner which made her
 
 112 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 popular in the corps ; for if there is one being 
 who more than another appreciates being saved 
 the trouble of conversing it is a cadet in the 
 U. S. M. A. 
 
 They were passing the charcoal sketch of the 
 superintendent when Violet discovered that she had 
 dropped her handkerchief. 
 
 " I know where it is," said her companion. " No 
 doubt you dropped it there in the tent where 
 you were handling the rifles. I '11 get it in a 
 second." 
 
 He ran back, and Violet waited, regarding idly 
 the heroic size of the features on the tall stretcher 
 behind whose screen she suddenly heard voices. 
 
 " I don't care, she is an awfully jolly girl," said 
 a masculine voice. 
 
 " Yes, of course," responded a scornful treble. 
 Violet recognized the speakers as a cadet whom 
 she knew, and his sister. " I know it is very flat- 
 tering when a girl rolls up her eyes at you men, 
 and asks you if things are ' proper.' It is very 
 novel and pleasant for you, no doubt, to decide 
 what the bounds shall be." 
 
 " Now look out, Jenny, Miss Glasgow is all 
 right." 
 
 " Of course she is. How could any girl fail to 
 be ' all right ' whose conduct is prescribed by the 
 corps of cadets ! I suppose those confiding little 
 questions of hers as to propriety could never be 
 worn thin to you. What folly ! As though any-
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 113 
 
 body with common sense did not know that nice 
 girls are nice girls the world over, and if they hap- 
 pen to live in a civilized part of it they are guarded 
 with a decent amount of conventionality. It is 
 all affectation on Miss Glasgow's part for the sake 
 of giving and taking a little more license than the 
 rest of us, and managing at the same time to retain 
 your respect." 
 
 " Now let up," protested the other voice, sound- 
 ing fainter as the couple moved away. "Just 
 because she is prettier and jollier " 
 
 " Here it is," called Violet's emissary, waving 
 the handkerchief as he approached ; then more 
 softly, " I think you might give it to me for my 
 trouble." 
 
 " No, please," replied the girl with pale lips, 
 taking the bit of lawn. " Do you think we could 
 find Mrs. Jameson ? I am ill ; I want to go 
 home." 
 
 They moved to the spot where the crowd was 
 greatest, and all at once were confronted by a tall 
 officer of artillery, at sight of whom Violet gave a 
 start. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Eames ! " she exclaimed, stretching 
 out her hand involuntarily. " Could you would 
 you take me home ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 Violet thanked her companion hastily, but cour- 
 teously, and moved away with the officer. " Let 
 us get out of the light," she said.
 
 114 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 
 
 " What is the matter ?" 
 
 " I am ill, disgusted. Everything is the matter. 
 Oh, how glad I was to see you ! " 
 
 "That is good to hear. Well, you have dis- 
 covered America." 
 
 "Yes, and I have discovered more than that. 
 I have learned that a nice girl is a nice girl the 
 world over, and that men and women can't be 
 friends anywhere. There is a neutral ground 
 where they may safely meet, but it is a narrow 
 strip, as narrow here as it is in France. When 
 did you arrive ? " 
 
 " A few hours ago, but I have already heard of 
 your success as a cadet-girl." 
 
 " Don't call me that. I am through." 
 
 " It is the officers' turn, then. I am glad of 
 it. What do you suppose I have been doing this 
 evening ? " 
 
 " I cannot guess." 
 
 They were sauntering across the cavalry plain 
 in the direction of the Jamesons' quarters, and in 
 the darkness Violet had accepted the lieutenant's 
 offered arm. 
 
 " I have been making love to your sister." 
 
 " To Phoebe ! " in sharp surprise. Violet felt 
 as though a cold hand were laid on her sore heart. 
 " But she is already engaged ; and is that consid- 
 ered proper ? " 
 
 "I gave her to understand that I wanted to 
 marry her. I did not know she was engaged, but
 
 A FRANCO-AMERICAN 115 
 
 had I known it I am afraid I should have done 
 the same thing." 
 
 Silence. 
 
 " Well, why don't you make some comment, 
 Violet?" 
 
 " I do not understand you Americans," she 
 answered, sighing wearily. " Won't you walk a 
 little faster, please ? " 
 
 " Cannot you guess how I came to tell your sis- 
 ter that I loved her ? " 
 
 " Oh why " faintly, and with long pauses, 
 " don't hurry quite so fast, please." 
 
 " I took her for you. Can you ever forgive me 
 for being such a bungler ? " 
 
 " It is n't your fault that I have a twin sister," 
 said the girl softly. 
 
 "Violet!" 
 
 " No, no, don't do that. I must think. A few 
 minutes ago I meant to go back to France and 
 marry the man I have never seen. I wanted to be 
 as French as possible." 
 
 " But that would condemn one man you have 
 seen to utter misery. Think again, darling ! " 
 
 " I have dreamed about you every night since I 
 landed," admitted the girl slowly, " but Oh, 
 Mr. Eames," she added breathlessly, as he suddenly 
 took her in his arms under the shadow of a huge 
 elm, " is this prop
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 "You know very well that we shall have to in- 
 vite Ellen Day here sometime, and what is the 
 use of postponing it ? " 
 
 Mrs. Burritt looked over toward the window 
 where her daughter stood drumming on the glass, 
 an impatient cloud on her face. 
 
 " I fail entirely to see why it is necessary," re- 
 turned Miss Burritt obstinately. 
 
 " Your other girl relatives have ail been here. 
 Ellen's mother knows it well enough, you may be 
 sure ; and, by pure contrariness, your father never 
 forgets about this matter, although he usually is 
 so indifferent. He keeps at me on the subject, 
 and I do wish, Daisy, you would make up your 
 mind to consent and let us send the invitation, and 
 have it over with." 
 
 Miss Burritt, cetat nineteen, was so supremely 
 satisfied with her lot as the good-looking daughter 
 of a West Point professor, that she dreaded an 
 added responsibility which brought no glory with 
 it. She continued to gaze down on the stately 
 river flowing far below her. 
 
 " West Point is no place for country cousins," 
 she replied.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 117 
 
 " You might say that to your father," suggested 
 Mrs. Burritt sarcastically. " No, Daisy, your 
 obstinacy in this matter is exasperatingly selfish. 
 We 've talked this over often, and you always put 
 me off. I tell you, I 'm tired of being nagged at 
 by your father and resisted by you." 
 
 Miss Burritt's lip curled. 
 
 " The idea of having to drag about with one 
 a girl from the cross-roads, who can't dance and 
 can't talk and has no style ! The idea of having 
 to introduce her as one of the family ! " 
 
 " Pshaw ! As if you never need make a sacri- 
 fice ! I think you can stand it for two weeks. 
 You know you would n't dare say one word to 
 your father of what you are saying to me, and you 
 think it 's nothing that I have to fix up excuses 
 and put him off time after time. Ellen's mother 
 being his only sister, he wants to pay her proper 
 attention, and, in fact, he is very fond of her. It 
 is lucky for us that family cares tie her down, or 
 I know he would want her to be with us the whole 
 summer." 
 
 " How pleasant it will be to have Ellen appear 
 here in my old clothes made over ! Blanche Bar- 
 stow would recognize them instantly." 
 
 " Well, now, don't borrow so much trouble. 
 Perhaps everything would go very pleasantly." 
 
 " Imagine Mr. Lorimer and Mr. Deering trying 
 to talk to that sort of a girl ! " pursued Miss Bur- 
 ritt disdainfully.
 
 118 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 " Oh, she need n't have much to do with the 
 cadets," returned her mother soothingly. " She 
 would feel too shy and strange, anyway. She will 
 enjoy seeing guard mount and parade, and life as it 
 goes on here, and it would soon be over. You" 
 
 Here both mother and daughter started, for 
 Colonel Burritt suddenly entered the room. He 
 was a large man, of soldierly carriage, and his 
 direct glance now had a firmness and determina- 
 tion before which his wife and child were silent. 
 He held an open letter in his hand. 
 
 " Here, Margaret," he said to his wife, " before 
 the house gets filled up with any more guests, I 
 want to have Ellen Day here. I 've written to 
 her mother to let her come right along. I 'd like 
 you to add a few words, and if Daisy feels like 
 doing so too, so much the better. We want to 
 make her feel a warm welcome in advance, for 
 most likely the little girl is shy." 
 
 Well for the colonel that as he strode out of 
 his house and closed the door behind him, he did 
 not suspect the unfilial sentiments swelling the 
 breast of his only child. 
 
 " There, now, we can't help it," declared Mrs. 
 Burritt in resigned tones. " There is one possi- 
 bility that you don't seem to consider. Ellen may 
 decline." 
 
 " Any girl who gets the opportunity to visit the 
 Point in summer, decline ? I think not ! " replied 
 Daisy.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 119 
 
 And, indeed, Ellen Day never considered de- 
 clining. The cordial letter from Colonel Burritt, 
 with its civil postscript, brought rejoicing into the 
 little hamlet of Burritt ville, where it was received. 
 Happy, though care-laden, Mrs. Day willingly 
 gave up her chief helper in order that Ellen might 
 have such a holiday, and soon it was known 
 throughout the village that the girl was going to 
 West Point. 
 
 The local dressmaker, bosom friend to every- 
 body, was called in to help on the slender wardrobe. 
 
 " I suppose I had better not take anything that 
 was Daisy's, and it does n't leave me much," said 
 Ellen doubtfully. 
 
 She had never paid much attention to clothes, 
 for the best of reasons. Each one of her gowns 
 had always been a matter which " Hobson's choice," 
 not her own, decided, and that state of things hav- 
 ing obtained through all her twenty years of life, 
 whatever instinct for attractive plumage she might 
 have developed had early been inhibited. 
 
 Her figure was thin and commonplace, and so 
 was her face, but for its intelligence. Her gray 
 eyes held a charming expression of good humor 
 and comprehension, and her sound white teeth 
 were easily displayed in ready smiles. She dressed 
 her straight brown hair with the one and sole 
 object of getting it out of the way, and as she 
 looked at her gowns now with Miss Bascom, her 
 thin face serious over the troublesome question of
 
 120 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 ways and means, the dressmaker picked her teeth 
 with a needle, and wished that for the circum- 
 stances' sake, Ellen Day had been born prettier. 
 
 " They 're a dreadful gay set up there," said 
 Miss Bascom decidedly. " So I 've always heard. 
 You must have one white muslin." 
 
 " But how can I ? " Something beside doubt 
 in Ellen's tone made Miss Bascom's eyes snap. 
 
 " You must think of a way ! " she said firmly. 
 " I may get you out a black skirt with these 
 things, and we can make shirt waists ; but you 
 must have one party dress. Now, you know very 
 well if 't was a book you needed instead o' book 
 muslin, you 'd manage to get it." 
 
 The girl smiled. " Don't you think this brown 
 and white organdie "- she began hopefully. 
 
 " No, I dont. 'T won't do at all. You 're 
 goin' there to your uncle's elegant house, with the 
 aristocracy o' the land just swarmin' around. Do 
 you think that old faded organdie would go well 
 with gold epaulets ? No, sir ! You 've got to 
 have a white muslin. Your mother 's told me 
 how you read and study nights. Now, honestly, 
 ain't you savin' up money for something ? " 
 
 The shrewd though random question struck 
 home. Ellen colored. 
 
 " You are ! " exclaimed Miss Bascom in tri- 
 umph. 
 
 " There is such a good, cheap encyclopaedia ad- 
 vertised "
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 121 
 
 " Encyclo-fiddlesticks ! " ejaculated the village 
 oracle. " What '11 you care for such things when 
 you are an officer's wife ? You fetch that money 
 right off, Ellen Day, and I '11 see what we can 
 do." 
 
 So Ellen meekly watched her slowly saved dol- 
 lars, earned by teaching and egg-selling, turn into 
 white muslin and ribbon, a hat and a pair of 
 gloves, and amid highly colored pictures of future 
 triumphs and joys drawn by her interested friends, 
 she at last set off for that paradise on the Hudson 
 which has been the goal of so many more sophisti- 
 cated girls. 
 
 Colonel Burritt and Daisy were at the dock to 
 meet her on the arrival of her boat, and the heart 
 of fastidious Miss Burritt sank within her as 
 happy Ellen crossed the gang-plank. Her turban 
 hat was unbecoming to her broad, bare forehead, 
 her large waist and styleless bodice were an afflic- 
 tion to which her glad countenance lent the last 
 exasperating touch. 
 
 Ellen was full of her trip. The splendid scen- 
 ery of the river, the novel pleasure of the good 
 orchestra on the boat, had ministered to her very 
 soul. 
 
 Her uncle's hearty greeting concealed all defi- 
 ciencies in Daisy's manner, and the visitor was 
 kept busy all the way to the house answering his 
 interested questions. 
 
 " Oh, Aunt Margaret, what a beautiful place
 
 122 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 you live in ! " she exclaimed, when Mrs. Burritt 
 met her at the door, for her eyes had been busy 
 on the drive up the hill and along the road that 
 sweeps under the great trees about " Professors' 
 Eow." 
 
 " A regular aborigine ; just exactly what I 
 expected," said Daisy to her mother as soon as 
 they were alone. 
 
 " But how happy she is ! " returned Mrs. Bur- 
 ritt, who had been somewhat touched by the joy 
 in the plain girlish face. 
 
 " I simply can't stand that turban ! " said Daisy 
 with set lips. " My sailor hat of last summer 
 would look infinitely better. I shall give it to 
 her." 
 
 " Look out you don't hurt her feelings." 
 
 " I don't think she has any, by her looks. She 's 
 hideously self-satisfied." 
 
 And when Miss Burritt carried out her threat, 
 which she did on that first day, Ellen received the 
 suggestion and the gift with much good humor. 
 
 " There is a little shade in sailor hats. One 
 really needs them here," said Daisy ; and her 
 cousin thanked her, still in the first flush of her 
 happy arrival, and full of gratitude for her good 
 fortune. 
 
 There were poetical and artistic thoughts in 
 plenty behind the intellectual forehead which so 
 aroused Daisy Burritt's disapproval, and the natu- 
 ral beauties of the post gave Ellen deep pleasure.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 123 
 
 She could scarcely go to bed on that first even- 
 ing for the fascination of the scene from her 
 window. Shadows lay athwart the noble, moon- 
 lit plain ; glimpses of the lights of pleasure-boats 
 on the river occasionally slipped into view. 
 Rounded battlements of the barracks rose castle- 
 like behind great trees, and the band played for 
 an hour sentimental and vivacious selections, at 
 some point invisible, but close by thQ Burritt 
 house. 
 
 On the opposite side of the plain a village of 
 tents showed the encampment of the corps of 
 cadets. Ellen had already seen specimens of these 
 white-trousered and gray-coated youths moving 
 about on pleasure or business intent, but they 
 had not aroused her interest in any degree. What 
 she yearned for was to accept the entrancing invi- 
 tation of those mighty hills. Oh, to have the 
 freedom of this lovely place, answerable to no one, 
 and with no need to meet and mix with strangers 
 who were not of her world ! 
 
 Daisy had been very kind ; she had so willingly 
 excused her from going to parade that afternoon, 
 leaving her alone to the unpacking of her little 
 trunk, which Ellen accomplished with frequent 
 rushes to the window to admire the riotous roses 
 and honeysuckle, and the close, rich ivy, which 
 seemed to have been growing about the place for 
 generations. 
 
 She would never forget that first night at West
 
 124 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 Point, with the vivacious strains of tattoo, and at 
 last the plaintive tones that sounded solemnly 
 sweet across the wide plain as the bugles played 
 taps. She knew the name of nothing-, the mean- 
 ing of nothing, but it was all part of a rich, beau- 
 tiful whole, alluring to the vague fancies of a 
 studious country girl ; and the reveille gun the 
 next morning woke her with a tingle of pleasure 
 that a long, sweet day was before her. 
 
 Colonel Burritt warmed her heart with a sound- 
 ing kiss when she came down to a good breakfast, 
 which novel experience she had had no hand 
 in preparing. 
 
 " We are early birds," he said. " It suits me, 
 and Daisy won't miss guard mount whether she 
 does breakfast or not. You did n't go to parade 
 yesterday. Very well ; we '11 take you over to 
 guard mount. It won't do for you to waste any 
 more time before catching the cadet fever." 
 
 "Thank you, Uncle John. Do you mean a 
 fever about those boys in gray coats ? " 
 
 " Certainly, my girl." 
 
 She smiled pleasantly. " That sounds funny, 
 does n't it?" 
 
 Colonel Burritt' s hearty laugh waked the echoes. 
 Here was a new sort of girl come to visit the 
 United States Military Academy ; but her igno- 
 rance would not last. 
 
 They had a happy breakfast together. Mrs. 
 Burritt had no use for the world at 7.30 A. M.,
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 125 
 
 and Daisy only came down in time to take a cup 
 of coffee standing, while the strains of " The Star 
 Spangled Banner " came across the plain. Yester- 
 day Cadet Francis Loriiner had performed a tour 
 of guard duty. He would come off duty this morn- 
 ing. Daisy had an idea that Blanche Barstow, 
 the commandant's daughter, intended to engross 
 Mr. Lorimer's " old guard privileges," and she 
 was more willing to exert herself for this young 
 cadet captain than for any other man in the corps, 
 not excepting the adjutant. 
 
 She cast furtive and long-suffering glances at her 
 cousin, and wished the collar and cuffs of her shirt 
 waist boasted more starch ; but then there were so 
 many unsatisfactory points in Ellen's costume, the 
 only efficient method of dealing with the problem 
 would be to ship the girl herself back to Burritt- 
 ville, and this for the present was entirely im- 
 practicable. Daisy noticed in bitterness of spirit 
 how well pleased her father appeared with his 
 niece. 
 
 Troop parade was over, and the other enig- 
 matical but interesting military ceremonies of the 
 morning had just begun when they arrived in camp, 
 and Ellen's bright mind began at once to take in 
 a totally novel charm. 
 
 Pretty girls had gathered from the neighboring 
 hotel ; girls in smart, crisp morning costume like 
 Daisy's own. Everybody knew everybody else. 
 Cadets in fleckless uniform and with assured society
 
 126 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 manners greeted these girls gayly, only a few 
 people paying any attention to the ceremony of 
 guard mount going on on the plain before the 
 tents. 
 
 Colonel Burritt took his niece to one of the tree- 
 shaded iron seats whence she could look down the 
 clean company streets of camp, and he explained 
 to her a little of what she was seeing, while she 
 listened and looked in admiring wonder. 
 
 One young man, his gray decked with crimson 
 and gold, and his walk quite the perfection of 
 military locomotion, moved out upon the plain 
 before the cadet privates, who stood waiting in 
 ranks. He lifted his white-gloved hand, and obedi- 
 ently the band burst forth into martial music. 
 
 Ellen wondered who this potentate might be, and 
 asked. 
 
 " That 's Deering, the adjutant. If you notice 
 the shape of the chevrons on his sleeve, you will 
 know him anywhere." 
 
 Here another gorgeous cadet officer in full dress, 
 a captain, came unofficially upon the scene. 
 
 "There is the officer of the day," said the 
 colonel. 
 
 The young man stepped up to Miss Burritt, 
 plumed hat in hand, and greeted her. 
 
 " Here, Daisy." The colonel spoke over his 
 shoulder. He had begun to reproach his daughter 
 mentally for chattering with her friends, in total 
 forgetf ulness of Ellen. " Good morning, Maverick.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 127 
 
 Come here ; I want to introduce you to my niece, 
 Miss Day." 
 
 The cadet hurried forward, and the sun glittered 
 from his golden buttons, chevrons, and sword, and 
 shone in the crimson silk of the sash knotted on 
 his hip. He bowed before Ellen. 
 
 " Delighted, I 'm sure," said the young man, with 
 an air totally foreign to Miss Day's experience. 
 
 She was not obliged to attempt what to her 
 seemed the impossible in making conversation with 
 him, for his duties called him out upon the field, 
 where he took up his position with folded arms. 
 
 Near him stood now another cadet in precisely 
 the same uniform and attitude, excepting that his 
 white trousers lacked the unwrinkled freshness of 
 Mr. Maverick's. 
 
 Daisy's friend, Miss Barstow, had joined her and 
 had been introduced to Miss Day, after which the 
 two girls talked together in what was to Ellen an 
 unknown tongue. She gathered, however, that 
 this new cadet's name was Lorimer, and that he 
 had for the past twenty-four hours been on duty 
 and was shortly to be released. 
 
 " Yes, he 's the retiring officer of the day," re- 
 plied Colonel Burritt to her question. " Now, see 1 , 
 they are going to pass the guard in review." 
 
 As he spoke, the two cadets removed their 
 plumed hats, and the gray and white guard marched 
 by, their officers saluting. The band played gayly. 
 Ellen felt thrilled by the martial spirit in the air.
 
 128 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 When all was over, Mr. Lorimer, an extremely 
 good-looking young fellow, came back under the 
 trees to meet his friends. 
 
 Miss Day had already noted the popularity of 
 her cousin, who ever since her advent in camp had 
 held continual court. It seemed quite natural that 
 now the dignified countenance of the dark-eyed 
 young captain should brighten as he approached 
 her. 
 
 Daisy, after receiving certain glances from her 
 father, had been introducing to Ellen every mili- 
 tary youth and summer girl who joined her, and 
 now she presented Mr. Lorimer. 
 
 Miss Day looked up at him with earnest, clear 
 eyes. 
 
 " This is the most interesting place I ever saw," 
 she said. 
 
 It was the first remark she had volunteered to 
 one of these strangers, and Miss Burritt laid it to 
 the beaux yeux of her pet cadet, and sighed im- 
 patiently. 
 
 But Colonel Burritt had just risen and moved 
 away, and Ellen, thirsting for knowledge, spoke to 
 this young man for that reason. This being his 
 fourth summer at the post, Lorimer had seen a 
 number of feminine novices in the first flush of 
 their pleasure, but seldom one so poorly equipped 
 for the subjugation of the youthful military heart 
 as this one. She was Miss Burritt's cousin, how- 
 ever, and he gave her a genial and responsive look,
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 129 
 
 such as fell only upon a favored few from this 
 social autocrat of his class. 
 
 " I 'ra glad the post pleases you, Miss Day. 
 Miss Burritt should not introduce me to any one 
 in my present seedy condition. Guard duty is my 
 apology." 
 
 " I am too bewildered and fascinated to be 
 critical," returned Ellen. 
 
 " "Well," gasped Daisy, who was listening, ap- 
 prehensive of some gaucherie. 
 
 "Would you mind telling me, Mr. Lorimer, 
 why you did n't salute my uncle as you came up ? 
 I have been sitting here, watching every cadet 
 salute him, even when passing distantly ; but you 
 took off your hat, like any other gentleman." 
 
 Daisy again stifled her impatience. " I should 
 think that even she could perceive that he does n't 
 take off his hat like any other gentleman," she 
 thought. 
 
 " That was simply because Miss Burritt was 
 with him," explained the cadet pleasantly. He 
 was a Southerner, and the courtesy to women which 
 had passed into him through many generations 
 gave his manner a charm which impressed Ellen 
 delightfully. Her expressive, intelligent face re- 
 garded him with interest. 
 
 " It is all so new to me ; I do like to under- 
 stand," she said. 
 
 Miss Burritt decided to interfere. 
 
 " Perhaps you would better defer catechizing
 
 130 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 Mr. Lorimer until some morning when he has had 
 a little more sleep," she said dryly. " I want to 
 see you a minute," she added in a lowered voice 
 to the cadet, who lifted his cap to Miss Day before 
 he obediently followed. 
 
 Ellen's thin cheeks grew warm at her cousin's 
 tone ; now her alert ears distinguished a low laugh, 
 and the words " rara avis " and " freshly caught," 
 from Daisy, as she and Lorimer moved away. 
 
 The band now took up a position under a great 
 tree and began to give a morning concert, which 
 ordinarily would have filled Ellen with pleasure ; 
 but her happiness had been poisoned by her cousin's 
 words and manner. She sat there quietly, looking 
 out unseeingly on the greensward and regarding 
 her circumstances in a transfiguring light. 
 
 Daisy's perfunctory greeting at the dock yester- 
 day, her gift of the sailor hat, her willing depar- 
 ture alone for parade all at once gained signifi- 
 cance. All these other girls were so different from 
 Ellen herself ! Evidently her cousin was ashamed 
 of her, impatient of her being here had perhaps 
 dreaded her coming. 
 
 " Don't let me be too hasty," thought poor Ellen, 
 alarmed by the intense repugnance for her sur- 
 roundings which suddenly possessed her. 
 
 Her uncle was approaching. 
 
 " Like the music ? " he asked kindly. 
 
 " It is beautiful," she answered, smiling bravely 
 at the eagle on his shoulder-strap.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 131 
 
 " Young folks scattered, eh ? Oh, I see Daisy 
 and Lorimer are over yonder hatching some mis- 
 chief. Well, your old uncle won't have your soci- 
 ety long. You will be hand and glove with these 
 boys and girls in a few days. Let us go over to 
 the library." 
 
 Ah, if she could but have her uncle, and nobody 
 else what a good time Ellen thought she would 
 have ! In the dignified and beautiful library she 
 almost forgot that sore place in her heart which a 
 few minutes ago hurt her so. 
 
 " I suppose you know there is a cadet tea on 
 this afternoon, Ellen," remarked Mrs. Burritt at 
 luncheon. 
 
 " No, I did n't," replied the girl ; and her hostess 
 noticed her colorless manner in contrast to that of 
 yesterday. 
 
 " I have n't dared tell her yet," said Daisy. " She 
 told Mr. Lorimer this morning that he bewildered 
 and fascinated her. I thought she was going rather 
 fast." 
 
 Colonel Burritt perceived no sting. 
 
 " Ho, ho, ho ! " his hearty laugh rang out. " Our 
 little Ellen is getting on ! Pooh-poohed at cadet 
 fever, too ! Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 For Ellen, she felt a wild desire to rush from 
 the table, but with a supreme effort she controlled 
 herself. For dear Uncle John's sake she must n't. 
 Beside, it might give her cousin too much satisfac- 
 tion.
 
 132 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 A contemptuous little smile was playing about 
 Daisy's lips. How arrogantly pretty and success- 
 ful she looked in her pale blue and white dress ! A 
 cadet's buckle, heavily monogrammed, confined the 
 belt about her slender waist. Two or three shin- 
 ing bell-buttons depended from the fob of her watch. 
 Natty, trim, correct in every particular, Daisy's cos- 
 tume made Ellen feel bitterly the defects in her 
 own, and the lack of generosity in the spoiled 
 child's treatment of herself astounded as much as 
 it wounded her. 
 
 " If you would not think me rude," she began, 
 ** I should like to take a long walk among the hills 
 this afternoon." 
 
 " You must n't think of it, my dear," put in her 
 uncle hastily. " After a while you won't have to 
 take such a walk alone. You must n't think of 
 going to-day. Get yourself up in some pretty 
 togs and get acquainted with the young people 
 first." 
 
 " But I have n't pretty togs," responded Ellen 
 bravely, and her pride made her add : "I think 
 you have to visit a place once to know how to dress 
 there. Perhaps you remember the demands of 
 BurrittviUe ? " 
 
 " Oh, you '11 do, you '11 do. Don't fret about 
 that. Your Aunt Margaret will fix you up." 
 
 But Mrs. Burritt's vague attempts to carry out 
 this hint were politely discouraged by Ellen her- 
 self, and she appeared in the garden among the
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 133 
 
 gay young crowd in the ill-fitting brown and white 
 organdie, a very plain and doubtful ornament to 
 the assembly in the opinion of all but her honest 
 uncle, who thought the flash of her speaking eyes 
 pleasant enough to offset any number of gew- 
 gaws. 
 
 " That 's my only sister's child, Lorimer," Colo- 
 nel Burritt said to the cadet. " I 'm anxious she 
 should have a good time here, and a little afraid 
 she won't. Her head 's too full of brains for this 
 place." 
 
 "You are hard on us, colonel," returned the 
 young fellow brightly. 
 
 " No. I don't blame you for bidding good-by 
 to brains in summer time, not a whit." 
 
 Ellen Day endured two hours of martyrdom on 
 that bright afternoon. The odd person in every 
 group, yet not daring to be found solitary by the 
 kind and watchful eyes of her uncle, she thought 
 she should not soon forget the agonies of a cadet 
 tea, where all but herself were gay, and all talked 
 a language of which she alone was ignorant. 
 
 Schooling herself to behave naturally with her 
 hosts, it was not until the middle of the next morn- 
 ing that she found an opportunity to satisfy her 
 longing to run away and be by herself. She 
 wanted to think out the situation, and decide what 
 she should do. 
 
 This lovely spot must abound in secluded nooks. 
 Flirtation Walk had been pointed out to her, but
 
 134 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 Uncle John had told her it was a haven for home- 
 sick plebes as well as lovers ; and while she felt 
 ready to mingle her stealthy tears with those of 
 some poor discouraged boy, she meant not to shed 
 any, but to carry her fortitude still further. Her 
 longing to get up into the wilds of the mighty 
 hills that guard the post and river had somehow 
 evaporated with her other anticipations. The heav- 
 iness of one's heart communicates itself to the 
 limbs. 
 
 Ellen walked across the plain and past the 
 library to what looked like lonely wooded banks 
 of the river. There she came upon a flight of 
 steps which wound downward. Following them 
 she found herself in a wild and lovely glade. 
 
 No one was in sight. She glanced about at 
 the delicate flowers clinging to rugged rock walls, 
 damp here and there from a trickling spring. She 
 looked up into the intertwined foliage of trees. 
 Here was a retreat full of the sweet smells of 
 Mother Earth, and with no disturbing element. 
 
 Ellen seated herself where she could see the blue 
 waters of the Hudson sparkle through the under- 
 growth, and gave herself up to thought. Alas 
 for that heroic resolution to shed no tears ! They 
 would come as she thought of her mother's unself- 
 ishness and effort to spare her, of the happy an- 
 ticipations they had all entertained. She thought 
 of the sacrificed encyclopaedia, and Miss Bascom's 
 flattering prophecies. It seemed the height of
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 135 
 
 everything desirable to take the first boat for home. 
 It would be infinitely easier to sustain a cross-fire of 
 questions in Burrittville than to remain here, run- 
 ning the gauntlet of her aunt's and cousin's criti- 
 cism. Daisy evidently held her in too mean regard 
 to believe that such slights as she bestowed could 
 hurt ; but there was another aspect to the case which 
 Ellen was unable to ignore. 
 
 She saw how her uncle counted on her pleasure. 
 The question was whether she were strong enough 
 to endure pin-pricks and humiliations without 
 appearing to be conscious of them, until the time 
 set for her visit had expired, and so convince the 
 dear, patient little mother and good Colonel Bur- 
 ritt that all their kindness had not been in vain. 
 
 It was not an easy task. Ellen felt that she 
 should take away from the fray scars that would 
 be carried all her life. A girl with such capacity 
 for pleasure and appreciation must pay for it by 
 an equal sensitiveness to pain, and what worse 
 pain than the role of unwelcome guest? 
 
 Ellen grew hot all over with realization of her 
 own plain, ill-dressed personality, of the total 
 superfluity of her presence here ; of Daisy's per- 
 functory introductions. What wonder that the 
 green, sweet solitude tempted her to the indulgence 
 of a burst of hot tears ? She repented of them, 
 however, at once, and none too soon, for scarcely 
 had they been wiped away, when the apparition of 
 Francis Lorimer startled her.
 
 136 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 He had recognized her first, and seeing that she 
 was wiping her eyes, would gladly have escaped 
 unobserved ; but her upward look made that im- 
 possible, so he bared his head with a bright " Good 
 morning ! " 
 
 Her attitude had impressed him. In a flash 
 there returned to him Colonel Burritt's words of 
 yesterday. In fact, he had observed enough dur- 
 ing Miss Burritt's tea to make him feel more than 
 one wave of wonder at and compassion for this 
 social stranger ; and in a vague way he had men- 
 tally censured Daisy for taking no pains to make 
 her cousin have a good time. 
 
 Now this impression deepened to an acute re- 
 sentment. L/orimer had an invalid sister at home. 
 Ellen's thin cheeks and the straight hair carried 
 back from her wide forehead somehow made him 
 think of her. It was a shame for the poor thing 
 to be moping off here alone, crying. The much- 
 occupied and popular First-class man actually felt 
 sufficient interest in the case to make him unwilling 
 to pass on. 
 
 " You find a good many pretty places here to 
 explore, don't you, Miss Day ? " 
 
 " Yes," she answered in as natural a voice as 
 her rebellious throat allowed. " I just happened 
 upon this spot." 
 
 " Yes ? Kosciusko's Garden is one of our show 
 places." 
 
 It was so evidently difficult for her to speak to
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 137 
 
 him, he suddenly decided that he had better move 
 on. Again he lifted his cap. 
 
 " Well," he said lightly, " I will leave you to 
 your study of nature." 
 
 He had nearly reached the stone steps when he 
 heard his name. Turning back, he saw that Ellen 
 had sprung to her feet and was looking after him, 
 her face flushed. He hastened back to her. 
 
 " Please please don't mention that you saw 
 me here," she said. " You probably would n't 
 think of it but I should be sorry " after 
 another hesitation she added "I am sure you 
 saw that I had been crying. That would not be 
 pleasant news to my hosts." 
 
 The dignity and courage of her voice and man- 
 ner as she finished won Lorimer's approval. 
 
 " The girl 's a trump," he said to himself as he 
 moved on his way to camp. " This is a nice sum- 
 mer vacation for her ! I believe the colonel spoke 
 that way because he wanted my help ; but what 
 can I do?" 
 
 The question was answered in the cadet's own 
 mind by a number of flattering considerations 
 which started his thoughts on a new tack. Might 
 it be possible to use his social influence for some- 
 thing worth while? But again, was it worth 
 while from a selfish standpoint? How many a 
 half hour would he have to spend away from the 
 dainty belles who were helping to make his First- 
 class camp gay?
 
 138 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 Yet what a good joke it would be ! How rich 
 would be the mystification of Daisy Burritt and 
 Blanche Barstow ! Lorimer lost his cadet expres- 
 sion of dignified imperturbability and threw back 
 his head in a brief, hilarious laugh. " I could n't 
 do it alone not make it a howling success, that 
 is ; but I '11 talk to Maverick and Deering." 
 
 Ellen Day, there in Kosciusko's Garden, had 
 taken up her cross. She returned to her uncle's 
 house, determined to see and hear nothing disturb- 
 ing, to wear her hateful dresses, and even Daisy's 
 cast-off sailor hat, to talk with whom she must, 
 and to go where she was asked. 
 
 She was sitting on the piazza that afternoon in 
 company with a bevy of girls who were ostensibly 
 calling on her, but surrounding Daisy, when three 
 of the brightest particular stars from camp came 
 down the walk toward the house. They were 
 Lorimer, Deering, and Maverick. 
 
 Ellen regarded them admiringly. They were so 
 spick and span in the toilet just made for parade ! 
 The girls welcomed them with nonchalant sweet- 
 ness as they came up on the piazza, and Ellen, 
 who had met the adjutant at the cadet tea, bowed 
 to them all three in silence. 
 
 How all tongues but hers flew, and what a light- 
 hearted crowd they were! It made her almost 
 dizzy to listen and try to follow allusions which 
 she could not understand; so she had ceased to 
 attempt it when Lorimer turned to her.
 
 THE CADET CAPTALVS EXPERIMENT 139 
 
 " Miss Day, won't you go with me to the ger- 
 man on Wednesday evening ? " he asked. 
 
 An instant silence fell on the group. Ellen 
 saw the glance that passed between her cousin and 
 Miss Barstow. 
 
 " Don't frighten Miss Day to death, Mr. Lori- 
 mer," said Daisy, highly entertained. She took 
 this amazing invitation as a subtle and indirect 
 compliment to herself, but she must show that she 
 recognized its absurdity. 
 
 " I am not so easily frightened," said Ellen 
 quietly. " Thank you, Mr. Lorimer. I never 
 even saw a german." 
 
 " Then I fancy you will find it an entertaining 
 sight," he returned. " Perhaps you will give me 
 the hop on Friday evening ? " 
 
 His manner was so engaging and so respectful, 
 Ellen would have been pleased by his attention 
 but for the curious eyes bent upon her. 
 
 " I don't dance at all," she answered. 
 
 " Why, that 's a shame," put in Deering, who, 
 as he spoke, came over and seated himself near 
 EUen. 
 
 The effort necessary to be put forth by a cadet 
 of the United States Military Academy to mam- 
 tain converse with an embarrassed girl who is 
 ignorant of the Point traditions and customs is 
 something herculean, biit Deering and Lorimer 
 stuck to their task until the time came to go to 
 parade.
 
 140 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 Miss Burritt and her friends were obliged to 
 share Maverick among them. 
 
 " I could only catch a word here and there of 
 what they said to her," Daisy said that evening^ 
 in describing the scene to her mother. " They 
 must have been very much amused. I don't 
 doubt Ellen gave them points on poultry-raising, 
 or some subject equally congenial." 
 
 On the following Monday evening there was a 
 dance. Colonel Burritt would not hear to Ellen's 
 being left at home, as she requested, so the white 
 muslin had to be brought out. 
 
 The girl regarded it with very different eyes 
 from the unquestioning and indifferent ones which 
 had watched Miss Bascom fit it. She pulled out 
 its sleeves and regarded them doubtfully. How- 
 ever, it was a very simple dress, and when Ellen 
 had put it on and pulled its ribbon belt until she 
 was conscious of its proximity to her slight person, 
 she looked passable, she thought. 
 
 " I don't believe," she mused, seriously scanning 
 her reflection in the mirror, " that there is any- 
 thing in my looks to laugh at." 
 
 No one else seemed to think so. Daisy did not 
 look at her after a first glance to be certain that 
 she was not a " guy," and in the dancing-hall Mrs. 
 Burritt gave her a seat beside herself, where she 
 could look about at the well-carried cadets and the 
 bevy of gay girls to whom they were so pleasantly 
 devoted.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 141 
 
 Little longings swelled Ellen's heart at this 
 glimpse of a new world. The music was so in- 
 spiring that it made her foot tap under the white 
 skirts that her encyclopaedia money had bought. 
 
 She did not long to-night for book-learning. 
 What she yearned for was to be able to sway and 
 circle about in graceful fashion, as these young 
 people were doing. 
 
 How pretty the dance was! Her clear eyes 
 looked with generous admiration at the beautiful 
 girl, a stranger to her, over whom Lorimer was 
 bending devotedly. To think he had asked her, 
 awkward, plain Ellen, to be his partner at a festiv- 
 ity like this ! He must have felt very sorry for 
 her ! Well, to-night he had forgotten homely girls 
 who cried alone in the woods ; and what wonder ? 
 
 It sent a warm little thrill of pleasant surprise 
 through her, when at the close of the first dance, 
 Lorimer, very handsome in his becoming military 
 toilet, came straight up to her with a pleasant 
 greeting. 
 
 " Sit down, sit down, my boy," said Colonel 
 Burritt, rising. " I must go off and do some visit- 
 ing myself." 
 
 Mrs. Burritt, busy with the chaperon on her 
 other side, looked around in surprise when the 
 music struck up for the second dance and the 
 cadet captain did not stir. 
 
 " Don't let me keep you," said Ellen, wishing it 
 were proper to tell him that she was grateful to
 
 142 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 him for this bit of a talk just to make her feel 
 a little more like the other girls. 
 
 " But this is our dance," he returned, smiling. 
 
 "Oh! I told you, Mr. Lorimer, that I don't 
 know how. I do wish I did." 
 
 " Yes, I know ; so we are going to sit it out. 
 Excuse me for not having given you your pro- 
 gramme." 
 
 He handed her a card on which cadets' names 
 were written thickly from top to bottom. 
 
 Ellen's thin cheeks flushed. 
 
 " What does this mean ? " , 
 
 " Only that you are going to talk to a lot of us 
 and get acquainted." 
 
 " Mr. Lorimer ! Oh, dear ! They will be so 
 bored ! " 
 
 Miss Day's heart fluttered excitedly. 
 
 " You are much more likely to be. We cadets 
 live in a narrow world, you will find." 
 
 "How very, very kind you were to take the 
 trouble ! " said Ellen, lifting her grateful, speaking 
 eyes in a way that touched the autocratic young 
 captain, and repaid him for the skillful generalship 
 he had expended on the filling of this card in the 
 busy season. 
 
 Meanwhile Daisy Burritt's sharp eyes had de- 
 tected that Lorimer was cutting one of his dances 
 for the sake of her country consul, and noticed, 
 too, that Ellen appeared very much at her ease and 
 was listening and talking, her intelligent face quite
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 143 
 
 good-looking in her happiness. She herself was 
 dancing with Deering. 
 
 " Awfully clever girl, that cousin of yours," he 
 said. 
 
 " Which are you being, sarcastic or polite ? " 
 she rejoined. 
 
 " You need n't guy me. You must know she 's 
 clever." 
 
 " That forehead of hers ought to mean some- 
 thing," remarked Daisy. 
 
 But she was surprised, and was destined to an 
 increase of perplexity all that evening. 
 
 The music ceased, and Lorimer consulted Ellen's 
 card. 
 
 " Gage comes next. Nice chap. Not so green 
 as he sounds. Shall we go out of doors with the 
 dancers ? " 
 
 Ellen agreed, and, taking the cadet's arm, soon 
 found herself on the broad stone walk, promenading 
 with dozens of other couples beneath the trees. 
 She could hardly believe in her own identity ; but 
 the dream was a very pleasant one. Almost every 
 girl they passed looked at Lorimer. 
 
 At last they went back into the hall, and her 
 companion brought to her a fair-haired young fel- 
 low, a yearling, who for the honor of doing the 
 cadet captain a favor had gladly foregone one of 
 his dances. 
 
 The comical side of feeling gratitude to this boy 
 of her own age or less for bestowing upon her
 
 144 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 fifteen minutes of his society was vivid to her, yet 
 grateful she was for the removal of all a wall-flower's 
 consciousness by the presence of the bell-buttoned 
 cavalier. 
 
 " I feel that it is an imposition to allow you to 
 miss the dance," she said, as he took the seat beside 
 her, and her fan. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," he returned stoutly. " But 
 you should dance, really, Miss Day. It 's great, 
 don't you know." 
 
 " Too great for me," she sighed. " I 'm afraid 
 I 'm too old to learn." 
 
 " No, indeed. I did n't know how till I came 
 here. Never would learn at dancing-school, don't 
 you know. Always went out to get a glass of water 
 when the waltz was on. Here it 's dance or get 
 out, you know," etc., etc. 
 
 Mr. Gage's tongue was hung in the middle, as 
 the saying is, and only a question now and then 
 was enough to keep him going. 
 
 Ellen's next partner was no less a person than 
 the adjutant. Then followed Maverick. These 
 were succeeded by other First-class men, into whose 
 ears had been dropped significant hints of Miss 
 Day's cleverness, which she justified by her sincere 
 desire to understand the life of the cadet, and con- 
 sequent retention of the conversation in paths with 
 which the young men were familiar. 
 
 Francis Lorimer's name was down a second time 
 on her card.
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 145 
 
 " This was unnecessary," she said, smiling him a 
 greeting when he came. 
 
 " Of course ; but so are lots of pleasant things. 
 You don't begrudge it to me, do you ? " 
 
 Miss Burritt saw Ellen leave the hall and return 
 with one and another cavalier, looking, with her 
 happy face and her fresh, white gown, like a totally 
 different being from the awkward, reserved crea- 
 ture who had been moving about the Burritt house 
 the last few days. 
 
 Her father saw it, too, with deep satisfaction. 
 He secured his daughter's ear for a moment. 
 
 " A very pretty thought of yours, Daisy, to fix 
 up things so pleasantly for Ellen," he said, such 
 a look of pleasure in his eyes that it required 
 some effort on Daisy's part to disclaim his grati- 
 tude. 
 
 " Indeed, I had nothing to do with it," she 
 answered, tossing her head in her spoiled-child 
 fashion. 
 
 A cadet appearing to claim Miss Burritt, the 
 colonel fell back, a cloud of surprise and disap- 
 pointment shadowing his kind face. He found 
 himself beside one of the tactical officers of the 
 academy. 
 
 " Good evening, Dick," he said, with a short 
 nod. 
 
 " Good evening, colonel. Is that young lady 
 with Lorimer your niece ? " 
 
 " Yes."
 
 146 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 " I was n't certain. I 've only seen her the 
 evening I called. Her brains don't all seem to 
 reside in her heels." 
 
 The peculiar, gruff manner of the cavalryman 
 was characteristic. " Queer Dick " he had been 
 called when he was a cadet, and " Queer Dick " 
 he was still, a man who would have been a 
 favorite with women but for his curt and reserved 
 manners. His good looks attracted each new girl 
 only for a short time. He himself said he could n't 
 get on with girls. They certainly were quickly 
 chilled by the reception he gave to their airs and 
 graces. There was not an unmarried woman on 
 the post who did not stand in more or less awe 
 of "that bear," as Daisy and her bosom friend 
 Blanche dubbed him. 
 
 The exasperation of it was that he was not the 
 least shy of them. He was only bored. Unpar- 
 donable insult ! 
 
 Colonel Burritt smiled at his speech now, and 
 the lieutenant continued : 
 
 " Must be something remarkable about a girl 
 who can make the cadets willing to talk when 
 they might be dancing." 
 
 " Yes ; Ellen 's a bright girl. Lived in the 
 country all her life, but seems to take to this like 
 a duck to water. Her mother 's my only sister, 
 and the sweetest woman God ever made pres- 
 ent company barred, of course. It does me good 
 to see the child enjoy herself."
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 147 
 
 " Humph ! " grunted Lieutenant Dick. " Prob- 
 ably spoil her for the country." 
 
 " Not a bit of it. She 's too level-headed." 
 
 The pride in the colonel's tone, added to the 
 interest that Ellen's capture of the cadets had 
 inspired, made the cavalryman drift around after 
 a while to her side of the room. The last dance 
 on her card was not filled, and Mr. Dick, perceiv- 
 ing that the seat beside her remained empty, 
 approached. 
 
 " Good evening, Miss Day. Probably you don't 
 remember me. I 'm Dick." 
 
 Her eyes, bright from the novel fun of the 
 evening, welcomed him. She greeted him .with 
 an ease that amused and surprised herself. She 
 felt quite like a woman of the world. 
 
 " You seem to have been enjoying yourself," he 
 said brusquely, as he took the seat she offered 
 him. 
 
 " Why, I never had such a good time. I do so 
 wish I knew how to dance ! I never thought of 
 such a thing before." 
 
 The lieutenant regarded her gloomily, yet curi- 
 ously. Her face was so innocently eager, so natu- 
 ral and happy. She was a new type for him. 
 
 " What have you liked to do ? " 
 
 " Read, I 'm afraid." She spoke apologetically. 
 " Read and walk with my little hammer." 
 
 The gloom suddenly lifted from the cavalryman's 
 face. " Do you care for geology ? "
 
 148 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 " I love it," she exclaimed, with an ardor which 
 awoke an answering gleam in her companion's cold 
 eyes. 
 
 " I can show you some objects of interest, I 
 think, then," he said. " Perhaps to-morrow some- 
 time?" 
 
 She looked doubtful. " To-morrow morning I 
 am going to walk with Mr. Loriiner, and in the 
 afternoon with Mr. Deeriug," she replied. 
 
 The lieutenant became more deeply impressed 
 with what must certainly be the mental charms of 
 this plain, bright girl to cause such gilded stars 
 as these cadet officers to do so much shining upon 
 her. 
 
 " Next day, then," he said. 
 
 " I should be so pleased," she answered, with 
 a straightforward, hearty gratitude which made 
 the tactical officer forget his cynicism. 
 
 Mrs. Burritt, who had been sitting beside Ellen 
 all the evening, marveling greatly, had a private 
 interview with her daughter before they retired 
 that night. 
 
 " There is only one explanation for it," said 
 Daisy, " and that is that Frank Lorimer cares 
 more for me than I thought he did." 
 
 " Don't be too sure," returned Mrs. Burritt. 
 " It sounded to me as I sat there as if he were 
 greatly taken with Ellen." 
 
 Her daughter looked completely mystified. 
 
 " And look at that curmudgeon of a Dick ! "
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 149 
 
 Mrs. Burritt went on. " Why, he talked to her 
 in the most human, interested way ! You know," 
 wisely, " it is a matter of history that some of the 
 plainest women have been the most fascinating to 
 men." 
 
 So both mother and daughter went to bed with- 
 out settling the problem. 
 
 As for the beneficiary of Lorimer's experiment, 
 she was up betimes in the morning, with none of 
 the heavy-heartedness of yesterday. Mingled with 
 a real relief for her cousin's sake that Daisy need 
 not be ashamed of her, was the natural pleasure 
 of a girlish triumph. 
 
 Mrs. Burritt's laundress had put plenty of starch 
 in her shirt-waist this time, and she took pains to 
 make herself look as nice as she could to go across 
 the lawn with her uncle and cousin to troop 
 parade. 
 
 Colonel Burritt rallied her on her successes of 
 the night before, and especially on the fact that 
 the woman-hating Dick had voluntarily chatted 
 with her. When she laughingly announced her 
 engagement to go walking with him on the follow- 
 ing day, her uncle's mirth was loud, while Daisy 
 stared in genuine amazement. The story of Cin- 
 derella and that of the Ugly Duckling surely had 
 a parallel now. 
 
 When camp was reached the puzzle deepened. 
 When parade was over Lorimer and Maverick 
 were pleasant in their greeting of Miss Burritt,
 
 150 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 but toward the girl in the last year's sailor hat 
 they were eager. One established himself on 
 each side of her. They hung on her words. 
 Young Gage added himself to the group. 
 
 The star cadets, tickled with their success of 
 the evening before, and pleased with the blossom- 
 ing of their protegee's manner, had dropped serious 
 and well-chosen words of praise of Miss Day among 
 the corps whose effect showed this morning. There 
 were plenty of men willing to see the same charms 
 that Lorimer and Deering saw, whether they were 
 invisible or not ; and Daisy and Blanche were 
 forced to talk to each other or to join in Ellen's 
 court with the best face they could put upon the 
 matter. 
 
 Fortunately or unfortunately, they little sus- 
 pected that the expression of their countenances 
 forced three of their friends later in the day to 
 lay down their cadet dignity, and retiring to the 
 seclusion of Fort Clinton, to give way to bois- 
 terous hilarity. 
 
 Meanwhile, during guard mount, Lieutenant 
 Dick stood about among the spectators' seats, the 
 usual fixed expression of misanthropy upon his 
 countenance, and some object held in his closed 
 right hand. 
 
 When guard mount was over, he saw his chance 
 while Miss Day was for a minute standing alone. 
 
 He approached and greeted her hurriedly, and 
 then displayed the stone treasure he had been
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 151 
 
 guarding. The girl's eagerness and interest en- 
 chanted him. She met his comments intelligently, 
 and made suggestions that pleased him. They 
 would have a very good time to-morrow that 
 was certain ! 
 
 But here Lorimer came up, with Miss Day's 
 plain dark parasol in his hand, and the tactical 
 officer, lifting his cap, retreated. 
 
 Nothing succeeds like success. Ellen Day's con- 
 fidence and cheerfulness grew with every hour. 
 Mrs. Burritt accepted her sudden popularity as an 
 amazing dispensation which caused so much satis- 
 faction to her husband that it was no matter if 
 Daisy did have to suffer some mortification in 
 being compelled to recognize her cousin's occult 
 social power. 
 
 Happiness being such a beautifier, what wonder 
 that Ellen's cheeks began to fill out? And her 
 puzzled relatives looked askance at her and won- 
 dered if she really were such a plain girl, after all. 
 
 The most astonishing of her conquests was that 
 of Queer Dick. Far from dropping off, or scaring 
 Ellen, or being bored, he was always coming over 
 to Colonel Burritt's with a new treatise on geology, 
 or starting off with her, hammers in hand, on a 
 drive or a tramp. Indeed, the tactical officer's at- 
 tentions gave Lorimer and his fellow-conspirators 
 a means of graceful and gradual withdrawal from 
 that ultra-devotion which was so much fun while it 
 lasted, but would have palled in time.
 
 152 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 The cadet captain did not lose his interest in 
 Ellen, however. He regarded her changed appear- 
 ance and Daisy's changed manner with much self- 
 complacence. 
 
 " When a cadet-girl starts out to be an officer- 
 girl, there is no use in trying to stem the tide," he 
 said one day to Miss Day before her cousin, with 
 much assumption of sentimental injury. 
 
 So it came about that all the rosy prophecies 
 of Ellen's Burrittville friends came true, and when 
 finally she appeared among them again, many 
 were the compliments that brightened her laughing 
 face. 
 
 She was a sort of Scheherezade in the village 
 for weeks to come, and her mother's worn face 
 brightened in the sunshine of her child's happy 
 memories. 
 
 " The question is," said pleased Miss Bascom, 
 " did that white muslin do the business ? Are you 
 engaged, Ellen Day ? " 
 
 "No, indeed," answered the girl decisively, but 
 the postmistress told Miss Bascom in strict privacy 
 that a letter came to Ellen every week postmarked 
 West Point. 
 
 " It may be her relations, though," the dress- 
 maker warned her. " Her cousin Daisy, you 
 know." 
 
 " Pooh ! Nobody's cousin Daisy ever wrote like 
 that," was the scornful reply. 
 
 Winter's snowy blanket had wrapped the little
 
 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 153 
 
 village when a stalwart stranger one day descended 
 from the afternoon train at Burrittville and asked 
 his way to the Day cottage. 
 
 Seven different women could swear to seeing 
 him go in there, but nobody saw him come out. 
 He was a genteel man, and walked as if he was 
 marching, they said. They all held afterward that 
 they suspected from the first that he was military. 
 
 Ellen's little sister let him in, and he was 
 ushered into a parlor where a bright coal fire was 
 burning. 
 
 Ellen herself appeared almost immediately, and 
 her cheeks were very red. " Why did n't you tell 
 me you were coming ? " she asked. 
 
 " I thought I would n't," he said, holding her 
 hand so that she could n't release it, and studying 
 her face earnestly. " I imagined if I surprised you 
 that I should find out something of the way you 
 feel toward me ; but I don't. The way I feel 
 toward you I have learned perfectly. I 've been a 
 starving man ever since you left the post." 
 
 " But our letters have been such a comfort," she 
 said, feeling very warm and surprised and happy. 
 
 " Have they ? " he exclaimed delightedly. " I 'm 
 a Queer Dick ; I know it. Everybody knows it ; 
 but will you have me, Ellen ? " 
 
 She did n't know what she said, but it was satis- 
 factory ; and fifteen minutes after they had sat 
 down together he took from his pocket a little vel- 
 vet box containing a flashing diamond ring.
 
 154 THE CADET CAPTAIN'S EXPERIMENT 
 
 " Dear me ! " gasped Ellen, half in delight, half 
 in resentment. " You were very sure of me." 
 
 " No," returned the lieutenant, regarding the 
 jewel admiringly ; " but I thought if you refused 
 me, we should enjoy looking at the stone together." 
 
 His fiancee laughed gently, tears in her eyes. 
 
 As soon as the tactical officer returned to the 
 Point his engagement was announced. Everybody 
 was astonished, but pleased, as well there as at 
 home in Ellen's village. 
 
 Miss Bascom plumed herself triumphantly. " I 
 knew I made that white muslin real pretty," she 
 said. 
 
 In the barracks up on the Hudson Francis 
 Lorimer clapped the cadet adjutant on the shoul- 
 der. " It 's a first-rate match," he declared. " I 
 like it ; and I '11 bet a hundred dollars to a nickel 
 Queer Dick would never have spied the little thing 
 if we hadn't boomed her." 
 
 And Deering refused to risk his nickel.
 
 Miss LIDA HASBROOK had played the little 
 organ and held general direction of the music in 
 the Congregational church at Stapleton for twenty 
 years, when her complaints of the asthmatic old 
 instrument began to be heard. Not even then 
 could she move the men out of their indifference. 
 The wheezing of the bellows was a part of their 
 Sunday worship, and they accepted it with the 
 composure of long habit, turning a deaf ear to 
 the little woman's hints and suggestions. 
 
 Only her nephew Jasper sympathized with her 
 woes. She kept his house, cooked his meals, and 
 mothered him generally, so doubtless she earned 
 the right to his attentive ear. At all events he 
 was forced to listen three times a day to his aunt's 
 excited statements, and as he threw in a soothing 
 or a hopefid word here and there, Miss Has- 
 brook derived comfort from his passive sympa- 
 thy. 
 
 " It is a shame and a disgrace to the village to 
 have such music in church," she exclaimed one day 
 while they were at dinner. Jasper had heard the 
 same remark a great many times, and assented in 
 his quiet way.
 
 156 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 " And it 's my belief that we women of the sew- 
 ing-circle will take hold of it, if the men won't," 
 she added defiantly. " We 've got the minister on 
 our side, anyway." 
 
 The young man surveyed his aunt with some 
 curiosity in his grave brown eyes. Although it 
 had been a matter of course all his life that Aunt 
 Lidy should lead the music on Sunday, he had 
 only lately come to a realizing sense of the depth 
 of her interest in that weekly occupation. Her 
 thin cheeks were flushed now. After regarding 
 her a few seconds thoughtfully, he remarked : 
 
 " Well, Aunt Lidy, if your heart is so set on 
 this thing, and you believe that the ladies want to 
 take hold of the matter, you may tell them that I 
 will give you fifteen dollars as a sort of nest-egg to 
 begin with." 
 
 " Jasper Hasbrook, you dear, generous boy ! " 
 ejaculated Miss Lida, looking across at him with 
 eager, sparkling eyes. She knew that uses for the 
 young farmer's spare dollars were many ; and if 
 he had a surplus to spend on luxuries, it would 
 always go to buy books, if he pleased himself. 
 
 " That is probably exactly what 's needed, to 
 give a little spur to the whole thing," she added 
 with joyous gratitude. " You '11 see we shall have 
 that organ now, Jasper Hasbrook, and it will be all 
 owing to you ! " 
 
 Miss Hasbrook proved a true prophet. The new 
 organ became an accomplished fact, but not for
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 157 
 
 many a long month. The minister prayed for it, 
 the congregation talked about it, the sewing-circle 
 worked for it, a fair was held in its behalf, and at 
 last, after much straining, the amount of its cost 
 was nearly achieved. A deficit of twenty-six dol- 
 lars remained to be made up, and a hard-drawn 
 subscription began to be taken. The last difficult 
 five dollars was wrested from Mr. Nicholas Pea- 
 body himself, an old gentleman who enjoyed the 
 reputation of being the " nearest " as well as the 
 most prosperous member of the Stapleton congre- 
 gation. 
 
 To Miss Hasbrook belonged the honor of secur- 
 ing that portentous five-dollar bill, but by the 
 time the longed-for cash rested in her hand, a 
 blow had fallen which robbed it of its value, and 
 blanched the rosy prospect to ashen gray. 
 
 It happened in this wise. A lady of the sewing- 
 circle had written Mr. Peabody a suave and per- 
 suasive letter, as being the surest way of reaching 
 an individual so practiced in eluding committees of 
 ways and means. The letter informed him of the 
 nearly reached success of the church's project, and 
 besought Mr. Peabody to provide for himself the 
 pleasant memory of having finished a work so well 
 begun ; inasmuch as the society was determined 
 that not one penny of debt should hang over their 
 purchase and blight its beauty. 
 
 The sewing-circle had been waiting nearly a week 
 for the reply to this appeal, when Miss Hasbrook,
 
 158 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 returning one afternoon from its session, caught a 
 glimpse of Mr. Nicholas Peabody approaching 
 along the village street. 
 
 She had been mentally deploring the lateness of 
 the hour, fearing that Jasper would be kept wait- 
 ing for his supper, and wishing that she had 
 thought to slice the cold ham before she left home ; 
 but at sight of " old Nick," as Mr. Peabody was 
 dubbed by the graceless boys of the village, Jas- 
 per was forgotten, and the ruling passion rose up- 
 permost. From the moment when she had, a year 
 ago, informed the sewing-circle of her nephew's 
 gift, she had been a leading spirit in the work for 
 the beloved object. To be sure, she had an incen- 
 tive which others lacked. The new organ stood in 
 her view as a prospective honor and joy to herself. 
 More joy than honor. Her hard little hands longed 
 toward its shining keys ! 
 
 The energetic woman picked her way more reck- 
 lessly through the slush of the country sidewalk. 
 A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, she 
 thought, hurrying because she feared her neighbor 
 might elude her if she allowed him to reach the 
 post-office corner before she did. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Peabody, I 'm so glad I met you," she 
 called, speaking before she had quite reached him, 
 with an amazing forgetfulness of her usual re- 
 gard for the proprieties. Suspicion soured the 
 man's face at once, but Miss Lida proceeded un- 
 daunted.
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 159 
 
 "The ladies were wishing this afternoon they 
 could get your answer to their letter about the 
 organ. The amount is almost complete, as we told 
 you." 
 
 Miss Hasbrook tilted her head to one side in a 
 birdlike fashion, and smiled confidingly up toward 
 the scowling face so far above her. 
 
 " It 's a fool business, the whole of it," vouch- 
 safed the old man curtly. 
 
 " Cross-patch ! " mutely soliloquized Miss Has- 
 brook, but her eyes widened innocently. " I did n't 
 know anybody thought that" she answered. 
 
 " Why, of course 't is. A big, new orgin '11 be 
 nothin' but a white elephant if you do git it. Work 
 'n scrape 'n pinch 'n git it paid for, 'n what then ? 
 It '11 be an everlastin' expense to git somebody to 
 play it." 
 
 "Oh, no," responded Miss Lida, a conscious, 
 happy glow pervading her. " I don't know why 
 it should cost the congregation any more to have 
 a good instrument played than a poor one." 
 She tittered a little in the excess of her satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 " What ye talkin' about ? " exclaimed the other 
 irritably. " I hear ye calc'late to have peddles and 
 two or three times as many keys as the old orgin 's 
 got." He glowered at the little woman with en- 
 tirely impersonal exasperation. It did not occur 
 to him that this individual was a part of the 
 present regime. The important and momentous
 
 160 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 periods of what Miss Hasbrook was wont to call 
 the professional side of her life had never made 
 any impression upon this member of her audience. 
 Had Mr. Peabody been asked who played the 
 organ in his church, he would have meditated, and 
 might have responded that he guessed Lidy Has- 
 brook did usually. He had no idea of the dagger 
 each subsequent word planted in the innocent breast 
 of his listener. 
 
 " I s'pose you '11 admit that somebody 's got to be 
 hired that knows how to work all them fandangoes," 
 he sneered, " and a nice time you '11 have of it. 
 You all talk about it as chipper as though Staple- 
 ton was full o' these orgin chaps. I 've seen 'em 
 play in the city churches, yankin' them stoppers, 
 they call 'ein, in an' out, an' stompin' on the ped- 
 dles faster 'n faster till their feet look like a shoe- 
 shop in a hurricane. Them that want that kind 
 o' business in church can have it an' pay for it, 
 too. I don't. Here 's your five dollars, though," 
 slowly producing the money from a shiny old wallet. 
 " Take it, an' your foolishness be on your own heads. 
 Don't expect any more from me." 
 
 Miss Hasbrook received the money in a nerve- 
 less hand. Her tongue was unmanageable, and an 
 unintelligible sound was all she could utter by way 
 of thanks. Old Nick grunted in return and went 
 his way. 
 
 His stunned victim, like one in a bad dream, 
 splashed home through the dismal, dismal streets.
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 161 
 
 It had never once occurred to her before this after- 
 noon that the coming of the new organ meant the 
 elimination from her life of all its poetry. 
 
 Jasper noticed her pallor and silence that night, 
 but she evaded his questions until, accepting her 
 reluctance to confide in him, he turned to the ever- 
 welcome subject of the organ. To his perplexity, 
 at the sound of the word his aunt's hands began to 
 tremble among the teacups. 
 
 " Don't talk about it to-night," she said shortly. 
 
 " The plan is n't given up ? " he ejaculated, cer- 
 tain that nothing less awful could so have discom- 
 posed Miss Hasbrook. 
 
 " No." 
 
 Miss Lida caught her lower lip between her 
 teeth and studied the tablecloth. It was scarcely 
 whiter than her face when she spoke again, her 
 light eyes meeting the thoughtful brown ones of 
 her nephew. 
 
 " Jasper, who do you suppose is going to play 
 our new organ ? " she asked. 
 
 " I had n't thought as far as that," he answered. 
 *' First catch your organ, you know." 
 
 His aunt's eyes fell away from his kindly, curi- 
 ous gaze. 
 
 Then it was not an impossible, cruel idea to him 
 that she might not continue in the office, which to 
 her was the chief reason for her existence. A 
 moment she brooded gloomily on the facts ; how, 
 little by little, the plan formed by the leading
 
 162 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 spirits had enlarged and become ambitious, and 
 how she had enthusiastically led them on, not 
 realizing that the " first-class instrument," toward 
 which they proudly looked, might baffle her mod- 
 est powers. 
 
 Her companion's voice broke hi upon her medi- 
 tation. 
 
 " Why do you ask ? Has the question of an 
 organist come up yet ? " 
 
 Not not really." 
 
 " I should think it was somewhat premature. 
 By the way, Aunt Lidy," continued the young man, 
 trying to introduce a cheerful topic, " Mrs. Lind- 
 say told me to-day that Grace would not go back 
 to the academy another year. When she comes 
 home in June, it will be the end of her schooling." 
 
 " Yes," responded Miss Hasbrook abstractedly. 
 What was Grace Lindsay, or indeed any earthly 
 interest to her now ! 
 
 " Mrs. Lindsay said Grace spoke of you in her 
 last letter," Jasper went on, and he did not find 
 his subject uninteresting. On the contrary, it 
 made him unobservant of the fact that Miss Has- 
 brook's expression did not brighten. " Grace said 
 she should love you and be grateful to you all her 
 life, Mrs. Lindsay told me, for having given her 
 organ lessons so many years." 
 
 Miss Lida gave a little cackling laugh. " Then 
 I was of some use in the world once," she said. 
 
 Now her nephew did stare at her. If she had
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 163 
 
 broken out with a remark in Latin it would not 
 have been more uncharacteristic than this speech, 
 and Jasper would have understood her better ; for 
 he knew a little Latin and he did not know Miss 
 Hasbrook at all in her present mood. 
 
 It was not until the next day that the cause of 
 her trouble dawned upon the unimaginative mind 
 of her nephew. The idea came to him all on a 
 sudden, as he was returning from the village store, 
 and he stopped stock still to give a low whistle. 
 The young man loved his aunt sincerely, and he 
 glowed with compassion in a moment; but when 
 he reached home he did not refer to the subject, 
 although Miss Hasbrook was still white and list- 
 less, and he saw that she moved about her work as 
 though the mainspring of her old, energetic activity 
 were broken. Jasper had always been a kind and 
 thoughtful fellow, so although he was especially 
 gentle to-day, even patting Miss Lida on the 
 shoulder as he passed her on his way to the table, 
 she believed her secret was still her own. A new 
 ambition had replaced the one so long cherished 
 in her breast, and was entertained with even 
 greater fire : it was to prevent any one from sus- 
 pecting that she had ever expected to preside at 
 the new organ. 
 
 Affairs moved on without a hitch after the re- 
 ception by the committee of Mr. Peabody's five 
 dollars. Time flew by, at least so it seemed to 
 Miss Hasbrook, with cruel swiftness. Her wound
 
 164 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 had not healed, when one fair June day she was 
 invited to join a triumphant and select few to take 
 a first view of the new organ at last in its place 
 in the church. 
 
 What would Miss Lida have given to stay 
 at home ! But such a course was not to be con- 
 sidered. "Folks would talk," indeed they had 
 talked already ; for her altered looks could not 
 pass unnoticed, and more than one sympathizing 
 fellow-worker expressed a fear that the new organ 
 had about killed Lidy Hasbrook. So it had, agreed 
 the ex-organist in her own proud, hurt heart, but 
 not in the way they thought. 
 
 She attended the " private view," a red spot 
 burning in either cheek. Jasper was present as 
 the starter of the enterprise, and Mr. Peabody 
 as its finisher. The latter was complacently con- 
 scious of his honors, and he indulged in a broad 
 smile of satisfaction as he passed the ends of his 
 stubby fingers over the polished wood above the 
 stops of the new instrument. 
 
 " It 's a fine orgin," he said, drumming on the 
 dumb white keys. 
 
 Near him, in an irregular semicircle, stood the 
 chief workers in the cause, mostly women, their 
 faces expressing in their several ways the relief 
 and satisfaction of success crowning endeavor. On 
 Miss Hasbrook's lips was a smile, which she had 
 rehearsed before her looking-glass for days. 
 
 A shaft of sunlight striking through a neighbor-
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 165 
 
 ing window illumined Mr. Peabody's bald head, 
 and intensified his air of being the organ's patron 
 saint. 
 
 "Brother Morse, I guess we've got about the 
 right thing/' he remarked, turning to the minister 
 with a look that suggested his having accomplished 
 the undertaking single-handed. Evidently the 
 beauty of the new possession had charmed into 
 quiet the fears lately entertained of the new ex- 
 penses it implied. 
 
 " I long to hear the capabilities of the instru- 
 ment," replied the minister, whose patient, kindly 
 face quite glowed with satisfaction. "Miss Has- 
 brook, won't you allow us to hear the voice of our 
 beautiful new friend ? " 
 
 Jasper regarded his aunt with covert anxiety. 
 " Do, Aunt Lidy," he urged with the habitual 
 respect of manner which made people call him a 
 model nephew. " I '11 be very happy to blow for 
 you," and without waiting for Miss Hasbrook's 
 reply, the young man disappeared into seclusion 
 behind the organ. 
 
 He worked at the bellows with a right good 
 will ; but the stored wind was allowed to escape 
 without the wings of melody. Still Jasper began 
 pumping again. He believed if he remained out 
 of sight and hearing, Aunt Lidy would allow her- 
 self to be persuaded. He knew she must long to 
 touch that tempting keyboard. 
 
 At last, in the midst of his exertions, he heard
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 the pulling of stops. " There ! " he said to him- 
 self with satisfaction, as the music began. 
 
 But what music was this ? It was solemn, full, 
 unfamiliar. Jasper pumped away mechanically, 
 his whole amazed, bewildered soul given up to 
 listening. He had expected to hear some of the 
 tunes he knew and loved. This was inexplicable. 
 Suddenly, delicate and smooth runs began to lace 
 themselves in and out among the chords of the 
 first theme. What had happened? Had the new 
 organ proved a veritable inspiration ? Had fire 
 from heaven descended upon Aunt Lidy and 
 gifted her with new and marvelous powers ? 
 
 Jasper could scarcely wait for the time to emerge 
 from his hermit cell ; and when the last chord had 
 died away, he hastened forth. His big eyes and 
 eager questioning countenance elicited some laugh- 
 ter from the group who were standing about com- 
 menting. 
 
 " I guess that raised your hair some, Jasper," 
 remarked Mr. Peabody airily, waving his hand 
 toward the organ-seat, which a young woman had 
 just vacated. 
 
 " Who what ? " ejaculated the young man, 
 gazing at the fresh face of the girl, who bowed to 
 him. 
 
 " Miss Grace, that was n't you ! " 
 
 " Why, yes, 't was, Mr. Hasbrook," said Mrs. 
 
 Lindsay, with a delighted laugh. " We came up 
 
 'here just as you were going out of sight, and being
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 167 
 
 as I was telling brother Nicholas last night about 
 Grace's advantages, he insisted she should show 
 what she could do ; and she 's astonished me, that 's 
 a fact." The woman evidently tried to repress her 
 effervescent love and pride, but in vain. 
 
 Her daughter's earnest, modest face looked very 
 sweet as she turned toward Miss Hasbrook, pale 
 and rigid. 
 
 " Miss Lida was about to play herself, I thought," 
 she said, " and I should not have consented to take 
 her place had she not added her command. I 
 learned long ago to obey Miss Hasbrook implicitly 
 in musical matters, for what I owe to her I can 
 never express." 
 
 This tactful confession of allegiance struck warm 
 to Jasper's heart for his aunt's sake. Miss Lida 
 felt an unacknowledged balm in the words of her 
 old pupil, and relaxed unconsciously. The girl's 
 performance, although nothing remarkable to cul- 
 tivated ears, had smitten her with wonder and a 
 species of despair. She had never heard anything 
 so fine, so hopeless to emulate. 
 
 " It is very good of you to remember that you 
 owe me anything," she murmured. " You have 
 left your poor old teacher far behind." 
 
 The girl's kind heart grasped intuitively much 
 of that which was passing in Miss Hasbrook's 
 mind. All her life she had known the latter as 
 the musical authority of Stapleton. 
 
 " If I can do anything in return for you," she
 
 1C8 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 said softly, " you know how happy it would make 
 me." It was all she had time for before her old 
 friends closed around her. 
 
 Mr. Peabody seized the lapel of Jasper's coat 
 as they were leaving the church. 
 
 " It does seem 's if 't was almost a providence 
 Grace comin' home jest now with so much lightnin* 
 in her fingers, as ye might say," he remarked. 
 " Sister Lindsay was tellin' me last night how it 
 come about. I was all sot ag'in Grace spendin' so 
 much time at that academy, but it seems ther' was 
 a girl there without any head to speak of fer 'rith- 
 metic ; an' Grace she tootered her, as they call it, 
 an' the girl's brother, bein' the best orginist o' the 
 place, paid her back in lessons, an' give her a 
 chance to practice. Now it 's in my mind, Jasper, 
 that the committee you 're one of 'em, I take 
 it could n't do better than to hire Grace Lind- 
 say to play the new orgin. Ye can get her cheap. 
 Now you think on 't. Ye can get her cheap." 
 
 Jasper nodded his head and disengaged himself 
 from the detaining hand. The old man's eager- 
 ness disgusted him. He could read in his unusual 
 complacency the relief of the miserly soid in seeing 
 himself delivered from the necessity of corning to 
 the further aid of his widowed sister. 
 
 Jasper observed his aunt attentively when she 
 returned home that afternoon, and was relieved to 
 see a look in her face more natural than any it 
 had worn for many a day.
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 169 
 
 When they were seated at the tea table she 
 spoke : 
 
 " You have n't said a word about Grace's play- 
 ing." 
 
 " No ; I was waiting for you. I have n't the 
 courage to comment on music until I hear what 
 you have to say about it." 
 
 " Fiddlesticks ! " Miss Hasbrook passed him a 
 cup of tea. " What do you suppose I found under 
 the cushion of the organ-seat in the parlor yester- 
 day? I thought I 'd been hearing you play some 
 unfamiliar tunes lately. I guess you 've got some 
 independent ideas about music." 
 
 Her nephew smiled at his plate with quiet 
 amusement. 
 
 " I was n't hiding that Episcopal Hymnal from 
 you. I thought it might be an unorthodox sight 
 for some of the neighbors." 
 
 " Well, Jasper Hasbrook, let me tell you that 
 was a fine performance of Grace Lindsay's to-day." 
 
 " It seemed so to me." 
 
 Miss Lida cleared her throat. " She 's offered 
 to give me some lessons," she said ; then, as her 
 nephew observed a non-committal silence, added, 
 " I don't know as I should look very well taking 
 lessons at my time of life ; " but the trembling of 
 Miss Lida's hand belied her indifferent words as 
 she seized the pot and spilled the tea into her 
 saucer while she poured. 
 
 " Nonsense to talk about your time of life,"
 
 170 THE NEW OPGAN 
 
 returned Jasper heartily. " Turn about 's fair 
 play. It might interest you to learn the use of 
 the pedals." 
 
 Miss Hasbrook looked up furtively. A crimson 
 tide rose in her face, and longing she could not 
 repress shone in her eyes. 
 
 There was a moment's silence, then Jasper spoke 
 again : 
 
 " Did any plan for Grace come into your mind 
 while she was playing, Aunt Lidy ? " 
 
 She looked at him sharply, suspiciously now, 
 and her face grew pale again. " Speak out, if you 
 have anything to say," she said coldly. 
 
 " No," he answered calmly. " I have n't." 
 
 Miss Hasbrook began crimping the edge of her 
 napkin by pinching it in fine folds. " I should 
 think you or Mr. Morse or any other of the music 
 committee who was there might have had thoughts 
 if you 'd been bright," she said at last, with evi- 
 dent effort. " It 's plain enough that Grace Lind- 
 say can play that organ ; and she 's right here in 
 town." 
 
 "It is a good idea," returned Jasper quietly, 
 " and coming from you will have weight. There 
 is to be a meeting of the committee to-morrow 
 evening. I thought it would be well, perhaps, 
 for me to be able to tell them that it was your 
 suggestion that Miss Lindsay be engaged as or- 
 ganist." 
 
 Miss Hasbrook gave him one quick look, ques-
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 171 
 
 tioning and comprehending all at once. She pushed 
 her chair back from the table and came around 
 to his place. Then she embraced his neck and 
 nervously drew his head close to her fast-beating 
 heart for one instant. 
 
 " Thank you, Jasper," she said unsteadily. 
 
 There was no dissenting voice in the matter, 
 and Grace Lindsay at once assumed her new du- 
 ties. Twice every week she and Miss Hasbrook 
 had what she termed a little practice together, and 
 making acquaintance with the beautiful, resource- 
 ful instrument caused the sun to shine again for 
 Miss Lida. 
 
 The sun shone more brightly for her nephew, 
 too, now that Grace had returned ; and yet he 
 felt as though she had grown away from him in 
 those years of city experience, which had clothed 
 her with a subtle something that divided them. 
 They had been boy and girl sweethearts. His 
 sled had always been at her service, his biggest 
 red apple was always saved for her ; but though 
 her development in all directions now appealed 
 more and more to the natural refinement of his 
 nature, he dared not expect to please her with 
 his plodding home-staying ways. 
 
 She came out from the church where she had 
 been practicing, late one warm July afternoon, 
 and, locking the door after her, turned quickly, 
 and saw Jasper stretched in the shade, book in 
 hand.
 
 172 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 "Do you mind this eavesdropping?" he asked, 
 as he met her surprised gaze. 
 
 " Oh, no." Grace spoke quietly. She always 
 had, from her demure little girlhood. 
 
 "What was that last thing you played?" he 
 asked again, rising. 
 
 "A Communion by Batiste." 
 
 " It was beautiful. I want to thank you, Grace, 
 for your kindness to Aunt Lidy. I don't believe 
 you know how much it is to her and to me that 
 you have brought so much pleasure into her life. 
 I have n't had a good chance to speak of it be- 
 fore." 
 
 The girl's eyes looked away from the warmth of 
 the young man's gaze. " You make me very 
 happy by telling me so." 
 
 " The idea that I should be able to make you 
 happy, even for a moment, Grace! " he burst 
 forth, with such ardor that the delicate flush in his 
 companion's cheeks deepened. " I fear you find 
 Stapleton duller than it used to seem before you 
 went away," he added. 
 
 " It is the same old place," she answered, " and 
 there 's no place like home, you know, Jasper, 
 especially," she added with a smile, " when there 
 is a good organ in it." 
 
 " Then bless the organ ! " he ejaculated. 
 
 " Good-by," she said with some haste. Her old 
 playfellow's eyes were rather too expressive. 
 
 He looked after her as she went, not daring to
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 173 
 
 follow her this time, although on many a subse- 
 quent occasion when she found him, book in hand, 
 waiting for her on the steps, he walked home with 
 her to the gate, to the alert interest of all the 
 neighbors. 
 
 These interested friends exchanged notes and 
 came to the decision that Jasper ought to speak 
 long before the young man himself mustered suffi- 
 cient courage. It was after Christmas before he 
 decided that for his peace of mind he must force 
 the demure guard with which Grace Lindsay al- 
 ways defended herself, and find out what was her 
 real feeling for him. She was so friendly so long 
 as he was friendly, and so startled and shrinking 
 the moment he displayed the least ardor, that it is 
 little wonder he dreaded to cross the Rubicon. 
 
 His love had in it such an element of tender- 
 ness, he so respected the timidity from which he 
 suffered, that when the moment arrived beyond 
 which suspense became unbearable, he would not 
 put his question to that grave, blushing face, but 
 one Saturday wrote Grace a letter. He urged his 
 suit warmly, and at the last said : " You will want 
 a day to decide. If there is hope for me, play, 
 at evening service to-morrow, my favorite Batiste 
 Communion. I shall understand." 
 
 He sent the letter by a messenger to Mrs. Lind- 
 say's cottage, and waited with what patience he 
 could command for the morrow. On Sunday 
 morning it was not altogether a pleasant surprise
 
 174 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 to see enter the church with Miss Lindsay a 
 strange young man, who ascended with her to the 
 organ loft, and remained seated near her through- 
 out the service. 
 
 Jasper, following his own plan, made no effort 
 to speak or even to bow to Grace. He walked 
 home from church alone, Miss Hasbrook was ill 
 with a cold, a prey to forebodings. The strange 
 man was evidently an intimate friend. What 
 might his coming mean ? What did Jasper know 
 of the ties the quiet girl he loved might have 
 formed during her long stay afar from Stapleton ? 
 As the slow-moving afternoon wore away, possi- 
 bilities which it crushed him to credit became more 
 and more probabilities to the young man's mind. 
 By the time for evening service he scarcely felt 
 courage sufficient to take him to church ; but he 
 finally went, heavy hearted and heavy footed. He 
 was a little late when he reached the door, and as 
 it swung back to admit him with a rush of icy 
 winter air, an electric shock ran through him. 
 He seized the door-post an instant and turned 
 faint in the warm, bright light. The familiar 
 chords of the Batiste Communion filled the church. 
 Firm, joyous, solemn, the theme rang out. Jasper 
 bowed his head, and what his thoughts were in 
 that ecstatic moment of reaction, only his Maker 
 knows. 
 
 He stood until the last loved tone melted into 
 silence, then turned and went out again into the
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 175 
 
 night. He walked, he knew not and cared not 
 whither, and the keen, frosty air was powerless to 
 cool his glowing cheeks. 
 
 This very night he would see her, if only for a 
 minute ; and at the time he judged the folk would 
 all be returning from church he turned his fleet 
 steps toward the Lindsay cottage. A light was 
 burning in the parlor. His intimacy at the house 
 warranted his entering unannounced, and by so 
 doing he might succeed in seeing Grace alone for 
 a golden moment. 
 
 He quietly went in and opened the parlor door. 
 His dearest hope was realized. There sat Grace 
 by the table, alone. One moment he stood gazing 
 at her, with adoring, proud eyes. 
 
 She glanced up. " Jasper ! " she exclaimed, 
 startled and springing to her feet. 
 
 In an instant he was beside her, and she was 
 clasped in his arms. He kissed her lips, her brow, 
 her hair. 
 
 " My darling ! My darling ! " escaped from his 
 overflowing heart. 
 
 "Jasper!" she exclaimed breathlessly, pushing 
 him from her with both hands. 
 
 " What ! Not yet ? " he said fondly, possessing 
 himself of the two trembling hands. " You are 
 not vexed that I did not wait to walk home from 
 church with you ? I could not. Your guest " 
 
 "I I have n't been to church to-night." 
 
 "Whatt"
 
 176 THE NEW ORGAN 
 
 " Oh, what is the matter, Jasper ? Don't ! 
 You frighten me." 
 
 His eyes looked fierce in his pale face, and when 
 he spoke his voice was husky. " Grace, the Com- 
 munion was being played when I went into church 
 to-night. Is this some trick ? " 
 
 " Indeed, I knew nothing of it," returned the 
 girl, trembling, and not attempting to release the 
 hands he still held. " I was ill, and my teacher, 
 Mr. Harvey, was here on a visit and offered to 
 play in my stead. I never thought of his choos- 
 ing" her head drooped. 
 
 "Then I have only to ask your pardon," said 
 Hasbrook dryly, dropping her hands. 
 
 She buried her face in them. 
 
 " Oh, I know you 're sorry for me, Grace. It 
 was a little mistake that could n't be guarded 
 against, I suppose." 
 
 " I did n't know," stammered the girl, her face 
 still hidden. " I was n't sure until " she looked 
 slowly up " Then it was because of that mis- 
 take that you you kissed me so ? " 
 
 Hasbrook stood, tall and unyielding, regarding 
 her stonily. " I have apologized," he said shortly. 
 " What more can I do ? I can't take back those 
 kisses." 
 
 She looked at him with a rapt expression. " Yes 
 you can," she breathed, and with a sigh that 
 was half a sob she glided into his arms. 
 
 When another June came around they were
 
 THE NEW ORGAN 177 
 
 married. It was a day full of sunshine, and no 
 wedding march ever rang more joyously than that 
 to which the young couple left the church; for 
 Miss Hasbrook played it with a will, and she was 
 not the least happy of the wedding party, for her 
 little feet trod laboriously but surely among the 
 pedals of the new organ.
 
 A THANKSGIVING EEVIVAL 
 
 " IT 's only a dinner," said Charles Maynard, 
 Jr., in tones of impatience. Charles Maynard, Sr., 
 stood over against him on the hearth-rug trying to 
 forget for the time being his admiration for the 
 stalwart proportions of his only child. 
 
 " I tell you it 's a good deal more than that, 
 young man ! " he returned emphatically. " It 's a 
 sacred rite, is Thanksgiving dinner, commemorating 
 all the fortitude and trust of our forefathers ; and 
 it is n't going to be kicked into oblivion by a lot 
 of sporty rascals with more muscle than reverence ; 
 not in my house, anyway." 
 
 Charles junior's lips twitched. 
 
 " We only want to kick it along from one o'clock 
 to six ; not into oblivion," he replied. " This foot- 
 ball game is a matter of local pride," he added. 
 
 " And Thanksgiving dinner is a matter of na- 
 tional pride and loyalty," retorted Mr. Maynard. 
 
 " Would n't do away with it for the world," said 
 Charles. " Altogether too many fond memories 
 cluster around it." 
 
 Maynard senior raised himself on his toes and 
 shook his head. " The trouble with the rising 
 generation is that they have too many turkeys and
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 179 
 
 too much plum pudding. You 're all blase. You 
 little know what it is to look forward for weeks to 
 the annual feast that was such a treat in my young 
 days." 
 
 This was too true. Charles junior took a new 
 tack. " The Lansings are going to dine at six," he 
 hazarded. 
 
 Mr. Maynard snorted contemptuously. 
 
 " Yes, and you inquire into it and you will find 
 that they '11 have ice-cream for dessert. Ice-cream," 
 he repeated with fine scorn, u on Thanksgiving 
 Day ! I tell you it has come to this : It 's Man- 
 hattan Field vs. Plymouth Rock, and I 'm for 
 Plymouth Rock if I have to sit down to my one- 
 o'clock dinner sole alone." 
 
 " You must n't do that, sir ; I '11 dine with you 
 myself first." 
 
 The young man's face was serious enough now, 
 and indeed his father knew that a little matter of 
 martyrdom at the stake was not to be compared 
 with this offer of sacrifice. 
 
 He laughed. " It is n't so bad as that, my boy. 
 You must go to the game with your sweetheart, of 
 course." 
 
 " But neither May nor I could enjoy it under 
 those circumstances." 
 
 Mr. Maynard lost himself in momentary thought. 
 He was recalling the days of his youth. 
 
 " We did n't know much about football in Berry- 
 ville," he said. He smiled as memories clustered
 
 180 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 upon him thick and fast, but Charles junior con- 
 tinued to look serious. 
 
 For a long minute the two stood silent in the 
 richly furnished room. The youth was chafing 
 under his elder's conservatism and obstinacy, but 
 at last a flash lit up the countenance of Maynard 
 senior. " I have it ! " he said, and he brought his 
 hands together with a resounding slap. "Go on 
 to your ball game with May Lansing, and eat ice- 
 cream with her afterward." 
 
 " But you " - 
 
 '* Don't waste a thought on me, my boy." 
 
 " You '11 come to the game ? " 
 
 " Not much I won't ! I '11 take care of myself. 
 Ask me no questions. I '11 tell you all about it 
 afterward." 
 
 Mr. Maynard laughed again. His new idea had 
 evidently cleared away all his pessimism regarding 
 the rising generation. 
 
 Miss Lucinda Parsloe was a respected citizen of 
 that Berryville to which Mr. Maynard's thoughts 
 had so wistfully returned, and no one respected her 
 more highly than Miss Parsloe herself. 
 
 The neighbors all fell in meekly with this self- 
 esteem, all except, perhaps, Mrs. Mortimer ; and 
 that coquettish widow, having lived her married 
 life away from the little New England village, had 
 lost some of its habits, an unquestioning submission 
 to Lucinda Parsloe being among them.
 
 A THANKSGIVIXG REVIVAL 181 
 
 She and her sister Abbie and Lucinda had in 
 their youth been inseparable companions until Ella 
 Deering's attitude toward the opposite sex aroused 
 Lucinda' s righteous wrath. Men and boys had 
 always been few enough in Berryville, and when- 
 ever one of the rare birds approached this trio, 
 collectively or individually, it was always Ella who 
 succeeded at last in monopolizing him. 
 
 Abbie never thought of resenting this. 
 
 " You know Ella has such a pretty dimple and 
 such a way with her," she used to say. 
 
 But Lucinda glowered, fully believing that her 
 wrath was all on account of gentle, forgiving 
 Abbie, as in one case, and that the most flagrant 
 of all, it certainly had been. 
 
 Only Ella's sudden marriage to a Mr. Mortimer, 
 whom the volatile girl met while on a visit to 
 Boston, saved the friends from coming to open 
 rupture. 
 
 Now twenty years had passed. Ella was a 
 plump and pleasing widow, tlus autumn at home 
 on a visit to her sister. She still had the dimple, 
 and still the alluring " way," and she thought 
 Abbie an absurdly quiet little mouse, and told 
 her so. 
 
 " Berryville is a hole, nothing but a hole ; it 
 ought to be spelled Buryville, and Abbie runs back 
 into it just as fast as I get her to Boston," she 
 complained to Lucinda, when the latter came to 
 call.
 
 182 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 Miss Parsloe did not relish this contempt for the 
 place of her birth and residence. 
 
 " Tastes differ," she remarked dryly. " Why 
 don't you revenge yourself by running back to 
 Boston when Abbie's back is turned ? " 
 
 " Oh, you snubby old Lucy ! " rejoined Mrs. 
 Mortimer gayly. 
 
 Lucinda was not sorry when one day soon after- 
 ward she saw Abbie Deering come into her gate 
 alone. 
 
 " Ella had a headache," explained Miss Deering, 
 when greetings had been exchanged. 
 
 " That 's all right," was Lucinda's rather star- 
 tling response, and they sat down for a cozy chat. 
 " Ella 's the same old sixpence, ain't she ? " 
 
 " I don't think she changes much," replied the 
 guest gently. There are few people so preemi- 
 nently gentle as Abbie Deering. If it were only a 
 matter of picking up the scraps from a littered 
 carpet, she seemed to caress each raveling. 
 
 Miss Parsloe was her opposite in every respect. 
 Thick-set, strong, almost brawny in build and 
 muscle, she sat, regarding her slender, fair-haired 
 maiden guest with the bridling suspicion which the 
 neighborhood of Mrs. Mortimer always awoke in 
 her. 
 
 " Ella having as good a time as ever ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " She seems as happy as the average. She has 
 her down days."
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 183 
 
 " Yes, when there ain't any men around to flirt 
 with." Miss Parsloe thought it. She didn't quite 
 dare to say it. She felt in Abbie's atmosphere a 
 defense of Ella. 
 
 " I 've always thought, and I always shall think, 
 that I have her to thank that you ain't my cousin 
 this minute. You needn't purse your lips. I 
 ain't backbiting her. I 'd just as soon say it to her 
 face." 
 
 The lace in Miss Deering's sleeve trembled 
 visibly, and she lost color so suddenly that Lucinda 
 was startled at the effect of her own words. 
 
 " I am surprised at you," said Abbie, sitting up 
 stiffly. " You would n't you could n't hurt me 
 more than by speaking of that to Ella." 
 
 " I won't, then." Miss Parsloe replied hastily 
 with the feeling that she had been guilty of out- 
 rageous intrusion. She talked on with unwonted 
 embarrassment. " There 's no gainsaying that it 
 is a power to have Mrs. before your name." 
 
 " We have done very well without it, Lucinda," 
 returned the guest. She had regained her poise 
 with quick self-control. 
 
 " Oh, I 've no complaint to make," replied her 
 friend, with a toss of the head, " but it 's queer, all 
 the same. Take a widow ; she 's ten times as likely 
 to get married as a single woman the same age." 
 
 Abbie Deering colored a little, and her eyes had 
 a gentle twinkle. She was getting up her courage 
 to say something funny. " ' He that hath a goose
 
 184 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 shall get a goose,' you know," she remarked at 
 last. 
 
 Miss Parsloe's laugh was deafening applause. 
 " Pretty good, Abbie," she responded. " Only in 
 this case it ought to be changed to ' She that hath 
 had one goose shall get another,' ha, ha, ha f " 
 
 Miss Deering joined, blushing, in her friend's 
 noisy mirth, and her ears were the quicker to hear 
 a determined thumping at the back door of the 
 cottage. 
 
 " Somebody at the door, Lucinda." Miss Parsloe 
 rose, and her laughter trailed through the kitchen 
 as she went, then it died suddenly. In a minute 
 she returned, her face long, and in her hand a 
 yellow envelope, unfamiliar to her experience. 
 
 " It 's a telegram, Abbie," she said in a changed 
 voice. " I thought I 'd rather be with somebody 
 when I opened it." 
 
 Her guest sat up, wide-eyed and sympathetic, as 
 the message was unfolded, but Lucinda's stern 
 face was at first inscrutable. Gradually it re- 
 laxed. The telegram was a long one, and with a 
 suppressed exclamation she re-read it, then looked 
 with a strange smile at Abbie. 
 
 " No bad news ? " said the latter tentatively. 
 
 Miss Parsloe started. "That boy's waiting. 
 I must send an answer." 
 
 She scribbled something on a sheet of paper. 
 " Mine is n't so long as the other," she remarked ; 
 then she held it off and read aloud the six words
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 185 
 
 she had written : " You guessed right the first 
 time." With another triumphant look at her 
 guest she left the room. 
 
 It was an extraordinary telegram certainly, but 
 Miss Deering was determined not to show any 
 curiosity. She knew Lucinda's love of having and 
 keeping a secret, and she " would not give her the 
 satisfaction." 
 
 " You 're not going ? " protested her hostess, 
 returning. 
 
 " Yes. I promised Ella not to stay long." 
 
 " Well, I 'm sorry. Look here, Abbie, you 
 haven't forgotten you're to dine with me on 
 Thanksgiving Day ? " 
 
 " But now that Ella is here " - 
 
 " All the more reason. We three will renew 
 our youth and have a good time." 
 
 " Thank you then, Lucinda, if you really want 
 us." 
 
 Left alone, Miss Parsloe again opened her tele- 
 gram and read it with lively appreciation : 
 
 "I am coming to eat Thanksgiving dinner with you. 
 Turkey, white and sweet potatoes, squash, boiled onions, 
 cranberry sauce plum pudding, mince, pumpkin, apple, 
 and cranberry pies. Cider, nuts, and raisins. 
 
 CHARLES MAYSTARD." 
 
 " It 's ten years since I laid eyes on him," she 
 mused. " He 's a lone, lorn man if he is rolling 
 in money. I guess he 's homesick at last."
 
 186 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 Then the consideration of her own concise wit 
 in the framing of her reply overcame her, and she 
 yielded again to breathless laughter. 
 
 Was it right to surprise Abbie so ? The amount 
 of feeling her friend had shown at the mention of 
 that old-time rivalry made her hesitate an instant. 
 
 " Oh, I '11 risk it," she decided. " Abbie did n't 
 want any unpleasantness. That was all." 
 
 It was after eleven o'clock, Thanksgiving morn- 
 ing, when Miss Parsloe's strong hands were locked 
 in those of her cousin, and she pumped his arms 
 up and down, while they scanned each other's faces 
 in a high state of contentment. 
 
 " I thought most likely you would n't think about 
 church, so I stayed home. It 's- all on your con- 
 science, Charles." 
 
 " I have n't any conscience to-day. I 'm all 
 stomach, Lucinda." 
 
 " Have you seen anybody you knew ? " 
 
 " Not a soul. New man at the station. Every- 
 body else . at church, perhaps ; but the village is 
 here. I don't see how I 've stayed away so long ! " 
 
 Mr. Maynard crossed over to the base-burner 
 stove and stood before it with his hands crossed 
 behind him. Chill airs crept around the windows, 
 and the colors of the ingrain carpet were crude. 
 The furniture was covered with haircloth. 
 
 In his New York house the atmosphere was 
 evenly and moderately warm by favor of the latest
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 187 
 
 heating appliances. The carpets were thick and 
 the furniture luxurious ; but Mr. Maynard was not 
 homesick. He looked about him in wonder that 
 decades could pass and no appreciable change be 
 found in the condition of his native village. Lu- 
 cinda must have some new chairs. That was 
 certain. 
 
 He turned to meet again the eyes that had been 
 gazing at him with such admiring delight, but 
 during his short reverie Miss Parsloe had disap- 
 peared. 
 
 " Glad to see you, girls ! " he heard her strong 
 voice say. " Lay off your things in the bedroom." 
 
 He heard a buzz of reply and a quick frown 
 gathered on his brow. His anticipations were de- 
 molished. How colossally stupid of Lucinda ! 
 She had invited guests. Girls, too ! Oh, bore of 
 bores ! Why had he set this trap for himself and 
 walked into it ? 
 
 His genial face and attitude had disappeared; 
 it was the starched and repellent man of affairs to 
 whom Lucinda now ushered in her guests. 
 
 She was too triumphant in her successful coup 
 to observe the change in him. 
 
 " Well," she said, beaming upon the women, 
 " 1 don't suppose I need to make any introductions 
 here." 
 
 Mrs. Mortimer's face lighted at sight of the 
 surprising apparition of a correctly dressed man ; 
 but it was plain that neither recognized the other.
 
 188 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 Lucinda's glance traveled back to Abbie, who 
 came last, and whose changed, pinched face gave 
 her a shock. 
 
 " I 'm a fool ! " she thought, with a pang. 
 " Here ; go back, go back," she said, pushing Miss 
 Deering out into the friendly shade of the little 
 hall. " One at a time ! " 
 
 Then, returning into the parlor : " Do you two 
 folks mean to say you don't know each other ? " 
 
 The stony mask of the man's face had begun to 
 soften. There were mischievous lights in the 
 widow's eyes, and her dimple began to play. 
 
 " Why, Charlie Mr. Maynard I " she ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " Ella Deering, as I live ! But you married 
 somebody." 
 
 " So did you ! " The smiling retort was accom- 
 panied by a decided squeeze of the banker's fin- 
 gers. " But I am Mrs. Mortimer, if plain 4 Ella ' 
 won't do any longer." 
 
 "As if anybody ever dared call you 'plain 
 Ella ' ! Then the other lady was your sister." 
 
 Here Abbie glided silently and with a sort of 
 desperate swiftness into the room, and met his out- 
 stretched hand with her own cold, thin one. 
 
 " This is a great surprise, Mr. Maynard," she 
 said, scarcely lifting her eyes, and wondering, oh, 
 wondering, at Lucinda's brutality. " She could n't 
 have known. She couldn't have understood," 
 thought Abbie.
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 189 
 
 Her sister chatted on volubly, and as they all 
 moved on to the dining-room, Ella monopolized 
 the guest of honor. 
 
 For once Lucinda was grateful to her. That 
 independent and stirring individual was sustaining 
 an unwonted attack of humility. She regained 
 her forces, however, as Abbie regained hers. 
 
 The dinner, Mr. Maynard averred, was ideal 
 and orthodox in every particular. 
 
 Mrs. Mortimer and Miss Deering, being as inti- 
 mately associated with his youth as Lucinda her- 
 self, were an assistance, instead of a drawback, in 
 that season of reminiscence which he had promised 
 himself ; and three of the quartette continued to 
 talk with undiminished relish until late into the 
 afternoon, Abbie Deering listening with gentle 
 and responsive attention, and answering when 
 spoken to. She wondered at her sister's ease and 
 volubility. " It might be different, though, if one 
 had not cared for him," she thought wistfully. 
 
 Mr. Maynard walked home with the sisters. 
 When they reached the gate Mrs. Mortimer re- 
 turned his cordial hand-clasp with interest. 
 
 " Let us see a great deal of you while you are 
 here, won't you ? " 
 
 It was the first time that the thought had sug- 
 gested itself to Mr. Maynard's mind that he should 
 not go immediately back to New York. 
 
 " Thank you," he answered vaguely ; then turned 
 toward Abbie.
 
 190 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 She had stepped inside the gate, and to an in- 
 convenient distance for shaking hands, so he stood 
 with his hat off and smiled at her. 
 
 " This day has been a great pleasure. Would 
 you have believed we could look so clearly across a 
 chasm of twenty years ? " 
 
 " Yes. I have not forgotten." 
 
 The sight of him standing thus stirred such 
 memories that the answer was wrung from her; 
 and a ring in her quiet voice sounded in his ears 
 all the way back to Miss Parsloe's cottage. " It 's 
 a wonder Abbie never married," he thought. 
 
 As he strolled on in the frosty twilight his 
 memory continued to unfold scenes of that time 
 when these women were girls, and when ambition 
 had stirred him to go to the great city where his 
 employer's daughter fell in love with him and laid 
 the foundations of his fortune. A sweet woman, 
 his wife, for ten years now only a memory. 
 
 His thoughts had veered back again to a farther 
 past by the time he rejoined Lucinda, whose brain 
 had been in commotion during his absence. 
 
 Her dinner had been more of a success than she 
 had anticipated. The only shadow across its 
 brightness was the thought of Abbie and the evi- 
 dence of shock which she had overcome so bravely. 
 In striking contrast had been Mrs. Mortimer's 
 happily excited face and sparkling eyes. All the 
 little resentments of the past seemed seething to- 
 gether in Lucinda's breast as she dwelt upon it.
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 191 
 
 All her jealousy for Abbie, all her defense of her, 
 were in arms when her cousin came in. 
 
 " I don't know when I 've had such a good 
 time," he said heartily. " It is n't often a man 
 can reminisce so amicably with two old flames at 
 once. New friends can never take the place of 
 old ones." 
 
 He took the armchair Miss Parsloe had drawn 
 forward for him. 
 
 u Oh, you remember they were your flames, do 
 you?" 
 
 " Of course. I 'm a little mixed," humorously, 
 4 ' as to which one favored me the more." 
 
 "You are, are you?" Lucinda's tone made 
 him look up surprised. " Oh, I suppose it ain't 
 your fault. Men are built that way. There 's 
 poetry that talks about love being part of man's 
 life and woman's whole existence. I 've laughed 
 at it, but there are women it 's true of." 
 
 Miss Parsloe warmed to her subject. While 
 sitting here alone she had been recalling half-for- 
 gotten events big and little, which, added to the 
 overwhelming feeling exhibited by Abbie to-day, 
 satisfied her conscience as to assuming more than 
 she was absolutely sure of. Charles was in a soft- 
 ened mood, tender with memories of the past. If 
 he would ever be susceptible to such flattery as she 
 had at her command now was the time to bring it 
 to bear. 
 
 He looked at her with dawning interest.
 
 192 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 " Ella did like me pretty well," he said. 
 
 Lucinda flashed scorn upon him for a silent 
 moment. " Yes, that 's just what she did ; liked 
 you pretty well while you were in sight. Out of 
 sight, out of mind, instanter ! 'T ain't her fault. 
 Her mind 's only just big enough to hold what it 's 
 looking at. Charles Maynard," solemnly, " we 
 ain't young folks. There ain't a reason with any 
 common sense in it why I should n't tell you that 
 there has n't been a day for twenty years that 
 you 've been out of Abbie Deering's mind. I, like 
 a fool, let her come here to-day unprepared. Ella 
 did n't know you at first. Abbie did, and like to 
 fainted away where she stood. She 's had one 
 good offer that I know of, but she sent the man 
 off, so 's she could go on worshiping where her 
 heart was, in secret and silence. I don't know as 
 you were worth it ; I don't know as any man is, 
 but I 've told you this because I 've been stupid 
 and cruel to-day, and you must n't go on and do 
 worse. I lotted on having a visit of several days 
 from you, but now I want you to get back to New 
 York to-morrow by the first train that '11 take you. 
 You know it comes hard on me to say it." 
 
 It was a risky card to play. Lucinda knew it. 
 She would be ready to bite her tongue out if he 
 took her at her word. At the same time it would 
 be worse still to see him remain to be entertained 
 by Ella Mortimer. If he stayed now it would be 
 to see Abbie.
 
 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 193 
 
 He was staring at her, dumb with surprise, 
 while she made her rapid consideration. 
 
 " I think you exaggerate," he said at last. 
 
 " Think so, then ! " she retorted, fierce with hope 
 and apprehension. 
 
 The banker's sleep was disturbed that night. 
 He was haunted by the tone in which Abbie had 
 said that she had not forgotten ; haunted, too, by 
 the delicate face and the dove-eyes that had avoided 
 his except at the moment of parting. 
 
 Bits of poetry found unwonted paths through 
 his brain, and this was one of the scraps : 
 
 '' For beauty is easy enough to win, 
 But one is not loved every day ! " 
 
 The next afternoon the Deering sisters were 
 sewing in their room when Mrs. Mortimer gave a 
 joyful exclamation and jumped up : 
 
 " Here 's Charlie Maynard in a buggy ! I 
 did n't know there was as decent a rig in Berry- 
 ville. Do tell me, Abbie, do I look best in my 
 violet hat or the black one ? Get out my fur cape 
 for me, will you, dear? Men hate to be kept 
 waiting." 
 
 Abbie hastened to wait on her sister, her heart 
 beating fast, and by the time the little servant 
 came to their door Ella was pinning her veil. 
 
 " Mr. Maynard wants to know if Miss Deering 
 will go driving with him." 
 
 " Yes, I '11 be right down," replied Mrs. Morti- 
 mer abstractedly. " Where are those tan gloves ? "
 
 194 A THANKSGIVING REVIVAL 
 
 " No, it 's Miss Deering he wants," repeated the 
 little maid grinning. 
 
 The widow turned about sharply. 
 
 "Very well. She will come," she said, and 
 slammed the door in the small face. 
 
 " Oh, I can't, Ella ! " said Abbie breathlessly. 
 
 " You can, and you will." Mrs. Mortimer's 
 eyes were shining strangely. She dressed Abbie in 
 her own cape, put in her bonnet pins for her, then 
 turned her around and gazed into her eyes. 
 
 " Would n't it be strange, Abbie ! " she said. 
 
 " It does n't mean anything, my dear." Miss 
 Deering was striving for her equanimity. 
 
 " I used to play you selfish tricks," said Ella 
 with sudden feeling. " You 've cared about him 
 all along. I 'm glad it 's you." 
 
 " But it is n't I ! " protested Abbie, so prettily 
 flushed as she went fluttering down the staircase 
 that Mr. Maynard, waiting at the door, looked 
 long at her, his head uncovered. 
 
 Hours had passed before they returned ; and 
 the spot they visited ought to be discovered, for 
 there they must have found the fountain of youth 
 and drunk long and deep ; for the light that shone 
 henceforth in Abbie's eyes was of that eternal 
 youth which reigns only where love itself is life !
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " GOOD-MORNING, Mr. Dobson," said pleasant- 
 faced Mrs. Billings, standing at the back door of 
 her seashore cottage as the carpenter went by. 
 
 " Good-mornin'," he answered, the smile on his 
 shrewd, humorous countenance so genial as to make 
 one forget that in some localities it is customary for 
 a man to remove his hat in addressing a woman. 
 
 " When are you going to fix my screens, Mr. 
 Dobson ? " 
 
 " Duuno. Got a jawb on hand now fer an old 
 maid down Lowell way. Don't dast let up on it 
 fer fear she '11 make me balder 'n I be. Got a red- 
 hot must after me these days, you bet." 
 
 In spite of this profession of haste, Mr. Dobson 
 pushed his hat back, leaned against a piazza post, 
 and crossed his feet leisurely while he changed a 
 quid of tobacco from one cheek to the other. 
 
 " A new cottage ? Who is she ? " asked Mrs. 
 Billings ; for on this little island in Casco Bay a 
 new cottager usually meant either a disagreeable 
 interloper or a new member of the family. " I do 
 hope she 's nice. Old maids it 's the thing to 
 call them bachelor maids, Mr. Dobson they 
 usually are nice."
 
 196 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " Well, this one means to stay a bachelor now, 
 and don't you forget it. Hain't you noticed that 
 cawtage we 've started up thar near Stony Beach ? 
 Must be ye did n't have yer magnifyin' glasses with 
 
 ye." 
 
 " Why ? Is it small ? Who is she ? " 
 
 " A woman by the name o' Blaine. House don't 
 remind me o' nawthin' so much 's a snail shell. 
 Miss Blaine can carry it off home on her back if 
 she wants to, come autumn. I reckon she don't 
 cal'late to have no visitors." 
 
 Mr. Dobson was right. Miss Lucilla Blaine did 
 not calculate to have visitors. On the contrary, 
 while perhaps she would not go so far as to rig a 
 spring gun on her piazza to greet possible guests, 
 she intended to repel with decision any attempts 
 to be neighborly on the part of the cottagers al- 
 ready settled on the island. 
 
 What Miss Blaine did want was to get away 
 from people ; to be beholden to nobody ; to ex- 
 change ideas with nobody ; to think her own 
 thoughts, to read her own books, and to cook her 
 own meals undisturbed. That is, she believed she 
 wanted this. She was very weary of her life, and 
 longed for something wholly novel. This existence 
 would be wholly novel. As the last scion of a 
 highly respectable and well-to-do New England 
 family, she was, at home, always more or less under 
 inspection. She often said to herself that she never 
 had any real privacy. Even when, a few years
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS BLAIXE 197 
 
 before, her niece Marion, her adopted daughter, 
 ignored her commands, and, marrying an impe- 
 cunious teacher, went off with him to Boston, she 
 could not openly yield to the blackness of her 
 impotent grief and anger, but was obliged with 
 heroic struggles to conceal from her servants and 
 neighbors the extent of the catastrophe. 
 
 Here then, on Gull Island, she had at last found 
 the place she wanted. Not a servant should spy 
 upon her. With a sort of fierce triumph she fur- 
 nished the new house, steamed the clams for her 
 first dinner, and then sat out on the piazza facing 
 the sea, casting suspicious glances to the right and 
 to the left, and armed to the teeth with mighty 
 snubs to be delivered to the first comer who should 
 attempt to invade her tiny castle. Down here she 
 had no reputation to lose, and she was determined 
 to reward herself for bygone repression by a law- 
 less riot in honesty. 
 
 She had seen to it that she would have no near 
 neighbors. " Moreover, the fools will all believe 
 me poor," she said to herself, with a grim smile. 
 " I dare say I shan't have much trouble." 
 
 She did not have much trouble. The cottagers 
 at the unfashionable little resort were there for 
 rest, and Miss Blaine found that a mere hint was 
 sufficient to secure for herself uninterrupted soli- 
 tude. She relaxed her guard, and for a while 
 enjoyed carrying out to the letter the plan of. her 
 dreams ; but when monotonous weeks had passed,
 
 198 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 she sometimes caught herself looking up from her 
 book as she sat on the piazza to watch the groups 
 of happy friends crossing the fields. She had 
 often noticed in her distant observations that the 
 habitues of the island were either related to one 
 another or else were congenial spirits. 
 
 " God setteth the solitary in families." The 
 text slipped into her mind one sunshiny afternoon 
 as she sat there alone; but she shook her head. 
 " I am no more solitary than I was at home," she 
 thought, with sudden defense ; " not so much so ; 
 not so much so!" Then she dropped her book 
 and clasped her hands over her eyes with a climax 
 of feeling that life was sorrow. 
 
 Thus she sat for a minute, lost in what was not 
 thought, rather the feeding of the mind on the bit- 
 ter herbs of discontent, longing, and regret. 
 
 When next she looked up she found herself ob- 
 served. Astonishment at the figure which met her 
 view held her for a moment in silence. It was a 
 small boy who paused beside her piazza. He wore 
 coarse blue overalls which covered him from shoul- 
 der to feet, and made him look tall for his four 
 years. On his head was a cap with a visor. It 
 was rather small for him, and set slightly askew 
 on his close-cropped hair. His feet were incased in 
 the species of rubber shoes known as "sneakers," 
 and their tread on the soft grass had been so noise- 
 less as to be undetected even by Miss Elaine's sus- 
 picious ears.
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 199 
 
 Clasped in both dimpled hands the child carried 
 a faded and streaked parasol, the old covering of 
 which had come loose from two of its ribs and 
 slipped up, revealing their black bareness. 
 
 Variety shows were not in Miss Elaine's line. 
 Had they been she would have seen that this hand- 
 some boy looked like a miniature character artist 
 just come upon the stage to sing in broken English 
 a song concerning the "Vaterland." The russet 
 and rose tints of his complexion, the bewitching 
 curves of his grave mouth, and above all, the 
 direct gaze of his deep-blue eyes with their strongly 
 marked brows, arrested her attention, while his 
 garb raised only the disapproval under deep layers 
 of which her sense of humor lay buried. 
 
 Surprise holding her silent for an instant, the 
 child spoke : " I thought you were crying," he 
 said. 
 
 " What have you come here for ? " she asked, 
 and her brusque tone woidd have frightened most 
 children. This one was naturally fearless and en- 
 tirely inexperienced in harsh words, and he con- 
 tinued to regard her. 
 
 " Because I hurt the baby," he answered. 
 
 Miss Blaine was bewildered, as much by the 
 direct, unabashed manner, as by the reply. 
 
 " How did you hurt it ? " she asked involunta- 
 rily. 
 
 " By accident." 
 
 "What did you do?"
 
 200 TEE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " I slapped her." 
 
 The unexpected response came near to stirring 
 that buried sense of humor ; but after all it was 
 only surprise which Miss Elaine felt. She drew 
 back in her chair and made a strange grimace, 
 a sudden drawing together of her features, which 
 caused her eyeglasses not to drop, but to leap 
 from her high-bridged nose in a manner which her 
 visitor found diverting. His gravity vanished, 
 and he laughed aloud with every evidence of lively 
 interest. 
 
 " Please do that again," he said. 
 
 Miss Blaine started. She had no idea to what 
 the child referred. In her bewilderment at his 
 amusement, she replaced her glasses, the better to 
 see what it was all about. 
 
 Her guest suspended his laughter, and waited 
 with open-mouthed anticipation to see his request 
 granted. 
 
 " You ought not to have come here," said Miss 
 Blaine, feeling at a disadvantage, and speaking 
 curtly. 
 
 " My mamma knows I came. She told me to 
 take a walk and I would feel better." 
 
 There was an unusual exactness about this 
 child's speech ; precision which gave every syllable 
 its due. Miss Blaine observed it with wonder. 
 
 " Aunt Jane Billings has given me this parasol 
 to use as long as I am at the island," he pursued, 
 looking first at his streaked possession with fond
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 201 
 
 admiration, and then at his new acquaintance ; 
 " but I shall not carry it back with me to Amer- 
 ica." 
 
 Miss Elaine started again, and again her glasses 
 performed their acrobatic feat. 
 
 The boy broke into appreciative laughter, look- 
 ing at his entertainer delightedly. Miss Blaine, 
 still not connecting his amusement with her uncon- 
 scious habit, felt herself grow warm, and wondered 
 if this might be a half-witted child whom ill-luck 
 had sent her way. 
 
 " I don't know who your mother is," she said 
 sternly, " but you must never walk in front of my 
 house. I am Miss Blaine. Everybody knows 
 that I don't want people walking on my grass." 
 
 The boy looked at her doubtfully. He could 
 hardly believe that such a diverting person could 
 be serious. His prolonged gaze found no reas- 
 surance, however ; so the blue legs started off 
 meekly toward the back of the house. 
 
 " Good-by, Miss Blame," he said over his shoul- 
 der. The innocent shaft struck home. 
 
 The lady looked after the quaint little figure 
 until she saw it reach Stony Beach and sit down 
 among the pebbles. 
 
 " Good-by, Miss Blame." The phrase looked 
 up at her like an accusation from the book she 
 tried to read. She had never thought of herself 
 as a bad-tempered person. Had she been unneces- 
 sarily severe to that queer-acting child ?
 
 202 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 She did not stop wondering about him, and 
 when Mr. Dobson came the next day to put some 
 additional shelving in her kitchen, she introduced 
 the subject of her visitor in a manner which she 
 considered artful. 
 
 " Oh yes, I know who ye mean," replied the 
 carpenter, smiling. " Little chap 's a German ; 
 leastways his father is, and the boy 's heard tell 
 so much 'bout his relations t' other side the ocean 
 he thinks 'cause he come 'cross the water in a boat 
 to git t' the island that he 's in Europe now. 
 Funny little bugger. I like to hear him talk. He 
 ain't any common sort of a baby. His mother 's 
 visitin' up to Billin's. Mis' Billin's ain't any rela- 
 tion, they tell me, but the boy Hermann his 
 name is he calls her aunt." 
 
 All things considered, Miss Blaine decided that 
 it was well she had been stern. Any kindness to 
 the child might lead to becoming involved with 
 the neighbors. 
 
 But the charm of her hermit life was waning. 
 The old restlessness was asserting itself, and when 
 next day on her solitary walk she happened to 
 meet the intrusive child in his outlandish rig, and 
 he gave her a smiling gaze of recognition, she re- 
 turned his look curiously. 
 
 " I have been feeding the pigs," he announced, 
 in a tone which showed that the operation had 
 been a very satisfactory one. 
 
 " You enjoyed that, did you ? "
 
 THE SUBJUGATIOX OF MISS ELAINE 203 
 
 " Yes ; " the child's face beamed, 
 apples in their den to remuse them, 
 apples are apt to remuse pigs." 
 
 " Humph ! Very apt to," returned Miss Blaine. 
 The friendly blue eyes held her with a novel 
 charm. " I guess you 're having a pretty good 
 time here," she said, lingering. 
 
 " Yes." Hermann became suddenly thoughtful. 
 " The balloon man does n't come here," he contin- 
 ued. " At home in America he comes very often ; 
 but," with a little sigh and a cheerful look at Miss 
 Lucilla, " there are so many happinesses here we 
 don't need balloons." 
 
 " Ahem ! No. A good-by, Hermann," said 
 Miss Blaine, and stalked on, pausing soon, how- 
 ever, to turn and look back at the child. 
 
 After this she began to watch from her window 
 for the blue overalls, the small cap, and the para- 
 sol, for the purpose, of course, of making sure that 
 the boy with the luminous dark-lashed eyes did 
 not dare disregard her commands and pass in front 
 of her house. Children were so lawless. No one 
 except their own infatuated parents could be ex- 
 pected to like and put up with them. 
 
 The first time she caught sight of him after 
 their last interview she darted to the side of the 
 window and reconnoitred through the blind. 
 
 On came the sturdy little figure toward the 
 
 house, and when he drew near, without glancing up 
 
 somehow it gave the watcher a queer sensation
 
 204 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 that he did not look up and try to see her he 
 marched around, making the circuit of Castle 
 Dangerous and taking his way on down toward 
 the beach. When she had seen the last of him, 
 Miss Elaine, feeling singularly dissatisfied, hurried 
 to her bookshelves to find the most interesting 
 volume ,in her possession. 
 
 The pebbles were a strong magnet to her little 
 neighbor, and he sought them almost daily, but he 
 never trespassed upon Miss Lucilla's lawn. One 
 morning, as she recognized the dilapidated parasol 
 coming across the grass, she was suddenly seized 
 with the recollection that she ought to brush the 
 spider webs down from her piazza roof. Forth- 
 with she caught up the broom and hastened out- 
 doors in time to intercept Hermann as he was 
 sheering off from dangerous ground. 
 
 " Good-morning," she said shortly. 
 
 He looked up. The lady was being funny again. 
 The child's jolly little laugh bubbled over irrepres- 
 sibly as her grimace relieved her of her glasses. 
 
 "How do you do that?" he asked, standing 
 still and regarding her. 
 
 Miss Blaine grew warm under his admiring 
 gaze. 
 
 " How do I do what? " she asked. 
 
 " Make your glasses jump off so." 
 
 " Oh," said Miss Blaine, feeling rather sheepish 
 as she suddenly understood his repeated diversion. 
 " Are you still having a good time on the island,
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS BLAIXE 205 
 
 Hermann ? " she asked with some embarrassment, 
 dabbing vigorously at the spider webs. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " ' Yes, ma'am,' " corrected Miss Blaine quickly. 
 " Does n't your mother tell you to say ' ma'am' ? " 
 
 " No. Keo does not either." 
 
 " Who is Keo ? " 
 
 Hermann looked reflective. The faithful nurse 
 had been in the house when he was born. He 
 knew she was as much a part of the family as 
 papa ; but she was no relation to him. 
 
 " Little boys should answer when they are 
 spoken to," said Miss Blaine. " Who is Keo ? " 
 
 The child looked at her with his usual honest 
 simplicity. " I don't know how to teach people 
 that," he returned. 
 
 " Well, if I ever ! " was his hostess's mental 
 comment. The unconscious, quaint little being at- 
 tracted the lonely woman wonderfully. Her secret 
 question now was not whether it would be wise to 
 detain him ; it was by what means she could do 
 so. Hermann made a sudden exclamation. 
 
 " Oh, see this, Miss Blame ! " and down went 
 the cherished parasol as he stooped to the grass 
 and touched something gently with the tip of his 
 chubby finger. " What is it ? " 
 
 The lady drew near and looked with interest. 
 The treasure-trove was a brown and yellow furry 
 caterpillar, making the best time it could make to 
 get away from the investigating finger.
 
 206 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " That is a caterpillar, Hermann." 
 
 "Will it bite?" 
 
 " No, indeed. You can take it up if you wish 
 to." 
 
 The child promptly took gentle hold of the 
 creature and let it crawl from one of his dimpled 
 hands to the other. 
 
 " When you are a big boy," went on Miss Blaine, 
 at last on familiar ground, " you will study about 
 all these little animals. I have studied a great 
 deal about such things, and it is very interesting." 
 
 " I will take it and show it to mamma," said 
 Hermann, his face beaming with pleasure. 
 
 Miss Blaine would have scouted the idea that 
 she could be envious of an unknown woman ; but 
 she wondered about the mother of the sturdy figure 
 while she stood still to watch him as he withdrew, 
 the parasol hanging precariously over his shoulder 
 as he kept careful eyes on his prize. 
 
 She had gone into the house when her ears were 
 assailed by a series of shrieks, corning faintly from 
 a distance. 
 
 " Some young one fallen on the rocks, proba- 
 bly," she muttered. " I hope it isn't Hermann! " 
 The eager thought followed quick at the heels of 
 the indifferent one, and she even hastened unde- 
 cidedly to the window; but with an impatient 
 " Pshaw ! " moved away and went into the kitchen. 
 
 In a few minutes she heard a soft knock at her 
 back door. She opened it, and to her astonishment
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 207 
 
 there stood the small familiar figure, his cap rather 
 more awry than usual, and signs of tearf id woe in 
 his solemn face. 
 
 " I have lost my caterpillar," he announced, 
 making a manful struggle not to break down. 
 
 Miss Elaine felt odd sensations about her heart. 
 " It 's too bad ! How did you lose him ? " 
 
 " A boy took him away from me, and he hurt 
 him." The corners of the little mouth twitched 
 down. "There was was" - the child hesitated 
 with horror and compassion, " there was blood on 
 the boy's hand. Then he ran and threw my cater- 
 pillar away." The corners of the lips twitched so 
 they could scarcely speak. 
 
 " He was a very naughty boy ! " exclaimed Miss 
 Blaine severely, more warm than she had been in 
 any cause for many a year. 
 
 Hermann, still quivering under the shock, began 
 to cast about in his infant mind for the consolation 
 that did not come from without. " Perhaps," he 
 said hesitatingly, looking appealingly up into his 
 hostess's face, "perhaps it was not blood. Per- 
 haps the caterpillar was a little sick, and" he 
 lowered his voice in acknowledgment of the indel- 
 icacy of the suggestion "and he spit up some- 
 thing!" 
 
 Miss Blaine cleared her throat in heroic prepa- 
 ration to throw veracity to the winds for the first 
 time. " I guess that 's what it was," she replied ; 
 " the caterpillar was sick."
 
 208 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 The clear, dark eyes were upon her. " I came 
 to see if you would help me find another. You 
 have studied about such things," said the boy in 
 his quaint fashion. 
 
 "Yes, I will, Hermann. You just wait till I 
 get my hat on ; " and Miss Elaine's hands fairly 
 trembled with eagerness as she pinned on her green 
 veil. 
 
 After that it was a dark day to the maiden lady 
 when she had no interview with her little lad. She 
 began to develop ingenuity in interesting him, 
 she who had never been in intimate contact with a 
 young child in her life. 
 
 No alarming intrusion from neighbors followed 
 upon her indulgence, and it came to be that she 
 stepped outdoors to meet the boy occasionally, or 
 invited him in to look at her pictures. 
 
 " You have not a picture of my emperor. He 
 is very handsome my emperor," he said one day ; 
 and although Miss Elaine's glasses leaped off at 
 this shock to her republican principles, she did not 
 attempt to lecture the child, who she had found 
 could speak but a word or two of German, and 
 was destined to grow up a good American. 
 
 Even when he talked to her, as he often did, of 
 what he used to do in America, and what he in- 
 tended to do when he returned thither, she did 
 not correct him. Probably his people thought 
 the mistake was amusing and innocent. Perhaps 
 it was. At all events, Miss Blaiue knew that a
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 209 
 
 subtle sweetness crept into life when those serious 
 rosy lips addressed her, and all her severe principles 
 were merged in the one desire not to repel him. 
 
 " You little missionary ! " laughed Mrs. Billings, 
 one evening when Hermann came home bringing 
 a ginger cake which his new friend had given 
 him. " Have you been out again, converting the 
 heathen ? " 
 
 " What is heathen ? I have been on Stony Beach 
 with Miss Blame," returned the child. " She has 
 studied about pebbles." 
 
 Miss Blaine actually began to hum about her 
 work in the tiny kitchen. Nothing occurred dur- 
 ing the day but that she considered whether it 
 could be turned to account to interest Hermann. 
 
 One morning she met him with a mysterious 
 nod. 
 
 " What do you think happened here last night ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 "What did?" returned the little boy, sitting 
 down cosily beside her in a place she made for him 
 on the piazza. 
 
 " It began yesterday. I was sitting by the win- 
 dow, and I heard a rustling noise across the room 
 in my waste-basket. ' Dear me,' thinks I to my- 
 self, ' is that a mouse ? ' ' 
 
 Her listener's eyes were upon her, full of inter- 
 est, and she awkwardly took hold of his hand, 
 which nestled contentedly in hers. 
 
 " And was it a mouse ? "
 
 210 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " Yes ; and pretty soon what do you think that 
 mouse did? He came up and sat on the edge of 
 the basket and looked at me with his bright eyes, 
 just as cunning as could be, and his little ears 
 stood up like two fans. I said to him : ' You silly 
 mouse, what makes you do that ? Don't you know 
 if I see you I shall have to set a trap and catch 
 you?'" 
 
 Hermann's eyes grew so large that the narrator 
 was elated. " So last night I set a trap near my 
 desk, and this morning the mouse was in it." 
 
 The expression which grew on the listener's face 
 gave a disconcerting blow to Miss Elaine's self- 
 esteem. 
 
 " Was he dead ? " asked the child solemnly. 
 
 "I I think yes, he was." 
 
 She felt her face grow warm. Oh, why had she 
 made the hero of her tale so engaging ! She waited 
 guiltily. 
 
 At last Hermann looked up hopefully. He had, 
 as usual, found consolation for his tender heart. 
 " Perhaps it was not the same mouse," he said. 
 " Perhaps it was the same color, and cut out the 
 same shape, but perhaps it was a different one." 
 
 And his companion, her integrity completely un- 
 dermined, eagerly grasped at this solution of the 
 jdifficulty, and assented. 
 
 For a day or two afterward it happened that the 
 child did not appear in the neighborhood of Miss 
 Elaine's cottage. How long those days were, only
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 211 
 
 that lady knew. On the third one the solitude be- 
 came unbearable. She put on her shade hat and 
 went to walk, not, as usual, seeking the wild and 
 uninhabited portions of the island, but turning her 
 steps toward the other cottages. 
 
 As she crossed the unfamiliar ground she cast 
 sharp glances to right and left, but not once was 
 she rewarded by a glimpse of blue overalls, now 
 very baggy at the knee, and with a general appear- 
 ance of such disrepute as to match the parasol. 
 
 She kept on her way down to the jagged rocks 
 in whose pools at low tide were revealed the little 
 creatures of the sea in crystal clearness. A fasci- 
 nating, if dangerous, playground for a child ; and 
 on climbing down the boulders in a spirit of in- 
 vestigation Miss Elaine caught sight of her little 
 German. He was standing on the slippery sea- 
 weed, stooping over a pool. One sleeve was 
 stripped up above his dimpled elbow, and his arm 
 was plunged into the water. 
 
 No one else was in sight. 
 
 " What an idea ! To think of letting a baby 
 like that come here alone ! Why, he might be 
 killed a thousand times, and break his leg and 
 sprain his ankle into the bargain," thought the 
 indignant woman, too excited and fearful to be 
 careful of her own steps as she leaped and slid 
 toward the boy. 
 
 " Hermann ! Be careful ! " she exclaimed, with 
 such sudden vehemence that the little fellow
 
 212 TEE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 started, slipped, and fell, giving his head a hard 
 bump on a projecting rock. 
 
 He was stunned during a long enough instant 
 for Miss Blaine to catch him in her arms, and, 
 seated, to hug him to her breast, before his lungs 
 asserted their good healthy condition. 
 
 His cry of pain brought a woman speeding over 
 the rocks. " Why, Hermann dear, did you fall ? " 
 she called. 
 
 " Now, you just keep away, whoever you are," 
 exclaimed the excited Miss Lucilla. " If you don't 
 know any better than to leave a child alone in 
 this place you have n't got sense enough to be 
 trusted with him. Where is it, my lamb ? " she 
 asked lovingly, although Hermann was making 
 it very evident where it was by rubbing his short 
 dark hair with a very wet hand. 
 
 As for the snubbed young woman, she paused 
 behind Miss Elaine's shoulder, caught her lip be- 
 tween her teeth, and clasped her hands, her eyes 
 shining moistly, as starved Miss Lucilla pressed 
 kiss after kiss upon the firm rosy cheek on her 
 breast. 
 
 It was Hermann's habit when he received a 
 sudden hurt to cry ; but he never cried long. 
 There were too many interesting things to be at- 
 tended to. Now he ceased his wails, and, still 
 rubbing his head, addressed his comforter. 
 
 " Miss Blame, did you ever (sob) ever study 
 about (sob) starfish?"
 
 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS BLAIXE 213 
 
 " Yes, my lamb, and the next time you come 
 here I '11 come with you myself. You must never 
 do you understand, Hermann ? never come 
 alone like this." 
 
 " I did not come alone. My mamma came with 
 me." The boy struggled into a sitting posture and 
 looked up over Miss Lucilla's shoulder. " There 
 is my mamma." 
 
 The young woman came silently around into 
 sight, and when Miss Lucilla met her gentle ap- 
 pealing eyes she gave such a start that Hermann 
 looked at her questioniugly. 
 
 Quick, bitter suspicion filled the elder woman's 
 heart. This child had been a bait, a tool. While 
 she was still held dumb by a painful conflict of 
 feeling, the mother spoke to her boy. " I thought 
 those little sneakers were getting too old and slip- 
 pery," she said, gently taking hold of his foot as 
 she seated herself near him. 
 
 " Can't you afford to get him new ones ? " 
 demanded Miss Blaine suddenly. " Look here, 
 Marion, I wish you would give me this child. 
 I '11 do well by him. You have another." 
 
 Marion shook her head gently. " We are very 
 well off, thank you, Aunt Lucilla. My husband 
 has a good position in the Institute in Boston and 
 a number of private pupils. You can see that he 
 could not spare his boy." 
 
 " This is not Aunt Lucilla ; this is Miss Blame," 
 said Hermann explanatorily.
 
 214 THE SUBJUGATION OF MISS ELAINE 
 
 " Who is Aunt Lucilla, then ? " demanded the 
 spinster of the child. " Now I '11 catch her," she 
 thought fiercely. " This baby is my own flesh and 
 blood. I '11 find out what she 's told him about 
 me." 
 
 " She is my Aunt Lucilla," he responded. 
 
 " What kind of a one, a cross old aunt, is n't 
 she?" 
 
 " No, she is not cross. My mamma loves her. 
 Sometime papa and mamma and the baby, and 
 me too, are all going to have dinner on Thanks- 
 giving Day at her house." 
 
 Miss Elaine's lip quivered, and her niece's 
 cheeks flushed. Somehow their hands met, al- 
 though they did not look at one another. 
 
 " Hermann ! " she squeezed him ; " I don't want 
 to be ' Miss Blame ' any more. I am your Aunt 
 Lucilla." 
 
 Pretend ? " 
 
 " No, really your aunt, and you are going to eat 
 Thanksgiving dinner with me this very autumn. 
 Will you kiss me and say ' Aunt Lucilla ' ? " 
 
 The boy kissed her willingly, and obediently 
 repeated " Aunt Lucilla ; " then jumping up and 
 pulling her toward the pool, he added : " Have 
 you studied about sea urchins, too ? "
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 " I SUSPECT it is the witching hour of night 
 when ghosts troop forth," said Frances Kennard, 
 as she and her sister entered the house after part- 
 ing from the friend who, in their aunt's absence, 
 had been their chaperon for the evening. 
 
 " I could believe it to be morning," responded 
 the other wearily. " Why cannot people who give 
 musicals begin their programmes at a reasonable 
 hour?" 
 
 "Why, May, it was a beautifully managed 
 affair," said the younger, as she turned up the gas 
 in their room, disclosing the sparkling depths of 
 her own happy eyes. 
 
 " Two points of view," remarked May, with a 
 little laugh. 
 
 " How different our temperaments are ! " said 
 the other, still smiling at her pleasant reminis- 
 cences. 
 
 " Very," replied the elder dryly. " What sort 
 of an effect would it have on my temperament, I 
 wonder, to be the rose that all were praising for 
 say one evening ? " 
 
 " Why, May, you were the rose that all were 
 praising. You never sang better than to-night.
 
 216 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 I saw half a dozen people wiping their eyes when 
 you finished. Even Jack Huntington said it was 
 a marvel that such a cold girl as you always seemed 
 could sing with such fire and passion." 
 
 " Indeed ! That sounds like the sort of compli- 
 ment my friends reserve for me." Miss Kennard's 
 colorless cheeks flushed. 
 
 " He went on to say that he had always under- 
 stood that it required a deep experience either of 
 grief or love to give a singer such thrilling power 
 as you possessed." 
 
 May approached her dressing-table. " Jack has 
 a marvelous fund of general information," she 
 returned. 
 
 " Don't make fun of him," said Frances, regain- 
 ing her gayety of demeanor. " Old friends are 
 best." 
 
 " So I observed that you thought this evening, 
 for scarcely any one but Mr. Huntington had an 
 opportunity to come near you." 
 
 " He amuses me more than the rest," admitted 
 Frances, " and then it is such fun to see the others 
 glower!" She stifled a merry little laugh, in 
 deference to the lateness of the hour. 
 
 " What did you answer, Fay, to Jack's original 
 proposition ? " 
 
 " What about ? " asked the pretty young girl 
 abstractedly. 
 
 " My deep grief and my love." 
 
 The deliberation and unsteadiness of the low
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 217 
 
 tone were impressed on the inattentive ear suffi- 
 ciently to cause Frances to bestow a light kiss upon 
 her sister's cheek in passing. 
 
 " You are tired, dear. Hurry into bed. I for- 
 get just what I said, but it was something to the 
 effect that you were the exception that proved the 
 rule. The bare idea of hidden grief or a grand 
 passion in connection with May Kennard ! " The 
 girl laughed and squeezed her sister affectionately. 
 " Jack knows, as well as I do, just what a steady- 
 going, level-headed, even-tempered, reliable girl 
 you are. Why, it would turn the whole world 
 topsy-turvy if you were to become erratic, so I 
 am very glad that you do not require any such in- 
 spiration for your singing." 
 
 The older sister gazed at the other wistfully. 
 " You remember the staid farm horse of the fable, 
 don't you, Fay, who became jealous of the graceful 
 pet dog belonging to his master? In the same 
 way I come occasionally to a climax of jealousy of 
 you, my dear. Being plain and serviceable fails at 
 times to satisfy me, and I pine to be a belle," 
 
 The younger girl's eyes widened in surprise, and 
 she hesitated in doubt how to reply to this unprece- 
 dented confession. 
 
 May laughed rather bitterly. " I fancy the 
 master of the dissatisfied farm horse gazed upon 
 him with somewhat of your present expression. 
 At all events you remember that when the animal 
 attempted to gambol about in imitation of the little
 
 218 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 dog, he received blows for his pains. I haven't 
 forgotten that feature of the experiment, and my 
 worst enemy cannot accuse me of ever attempting 
 to be kittenish, however tempting the circum- 
 stances." 
 
 "I I did n't know you cared for frivolity," 
 stammered Frances, rather abashed by the light 
 burning in the gray eyes, usually so gently quiet. 
 
 No more words passed between them until the 
 gas was out and they were in bed ; then Frances 
 turned and spoke with some eagerness to con- 
 sole : 
 
 " I was nothing beside you to-night, May. I 
 wonder you were not elated at having made such 
 a success. You were such an assistance to the 
 hostess in other ways beside your singing. She 
 said you had been invaluable to her. People are 
 always being grateful to you, you are so capable." 
 
 " Yes," returned the other, in the weary tone 
 which her sister found so novel. " ' Be virtuous 
 and you will be happy,' ' Pretty is that pretty does,' 
 and so forth, and so forth. I know the whole list 
 by heart, Fay. All the same, I should like to go 
 to a party sometime and not be of any use to 
 anybody, but sit off among the palms with Jack 
 Huntington." 
 
 " With Jack ! " gasped Frances. " Why, you 
 have n't seemed to approve of him at all since he 
 returned from his travels. You 've said " 
 
 " Oh, well, somebody with a fair mustache and
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 219 
 
 adoring eyes," interrupted the other recklessly. 
 " What do I care who it is so long as he admires 
 me enough. I want to be utterly useless and pretty 
 like"- 
 
 " Like me, perhaps," returned Fay, with swift- 
 offended pride. 
 
 " Oh, no, dear, no. Never mind my nonsense," 
 and May patted her sister apologetically. 
 
 " Poor Jack is n't a bit well," declared the latter, 
 after a minute. " The doctor has given him his 
 choice of two or three prescriptions, and he has 
 chosen a walking-tour." 
 
 " Indeed ? When does he start ? " 
 
 " Very soon. He bade me good-by to-night, and 
 told me to tell you that you would not have a chance 
 to reform him for a month." 
 
 The next morning no reference was made by 
 either of the sisters to the elder's brief and aston- 
 ishing mutiny. Frances, seeing May go about the 
 house with her usual reticent serenity, attending to 
 the cares which devolved upon her in their aunt's 
 absence, half wondered if she had not dreamed the 
 little scene of the night before, and shortly forgot 
 all about it ; for Frances Kennard's life was too 
 full of pleasant realities to admit much time for 
 speculation. She was a beautiful young creature, 
 in the zenith of her popularity, and her matter-of- 
 fact, sensible sister was an indispensable aid in 
 the various undertakings of the society girl. 
 
 Life ran on for them in the usual grooves for
 
 220 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 about ten days, and then a little letter written on 
 pink paper and addressed to Miss May Kennard in 
 a painstaking hand, fell like a bombshell among 
 the clouds of tulle and lace which Miss Kennard's 
 skillful fingers were altering to suit the fastidious 
 maiden for whom it had just arrived from the 
 dressmaker. Frances, waiting rather impatiently 
 while May hurriedly ran her eyes over the letter, 
 was astonished to see her sister flush violently, and 
 then turn very pale as she re-read the contents of 
 the pink note. Her astonishment increased when 
 May, after a thoughtful moment, during which she 
 seemed to put a constraint upon herself, dropped 
 the letter and turned her eyes, dark with some 
 emotion, upon her. 
 
 " Fay, do you love Jack Huntington ? " was her 
 startling query. 
 
 The younger sister was silent, and her fingers 
 toyed nervously with the ribbons of her ball-gown. 
 Of a certain sort of confidence little subsisted be- 
 tween the sisters. Their intimacy confined itself 
 largely to the externals of life. This being the 
 case, Frances was the more amazed by May's direct 
 question. 
 
 " If I did, would you expect me to tell you here 
 and now ? " she asked. 
 
 " Yes, dear, as you value your happiness," said 
 the other, with no abatement of her solemn in- 
 tensity. 
 
 " Do explain yourself," said Frances, half im-
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 221 
 
 patiently. " I should n't expect you to be theatri- 
 cal. "What is in that letter ? ' ' 
 
 " If you care for Jack you will not care to see 
 it." 
 
 " Ah, it is some slander of him then." 
 
 "No. Oh, tell me, Fay. Be honest." May 
 turned paler, if possible, as she spoke beseechingly. 
 " Does your happiness depend on Jack Hunting- 
 ton?" 
 
 The belle of the season lifted her chin proudly. 
 " Do I seem like a person whose happiness could 
 depend on the favor of a man who has never said 
 he loved me?" 
 
 A radiant smile began to tremble on the other's 
 lips. 
 
 " Those words would be a lash to my pride if I 
 still felt pride concerning Jack," the elder sister 
 said, " but, Fay," a glory of happiness transfigured 
 the speaker's face until it looked unfamiliar to 
 her astonished companion, " I am the most blessed 
 woman in all the world, for I love him with all 
 my strength, and he loves me." She extended the 
 letter with a gesture and gaze Frances never for- 
 got, and the young girl mutely received it. 
 
 In language as prim and precise as the hand- 
 writing, she read that Mr. Huntington lay ill at the 
 writer's house. He had proceeded on his walking- 
 tour as far as the village of Swanley, where he had 
 rescued two little children from drowning in the 
 river. The writer supposed that, the spring weather
 
 222 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 having been unusually wet and bleak, Mr. Hun- 
 tinglon had endured much exposure, to which the 
 struggle in the swift current of the river had put 
 the finishing touch. At all events he was attacked 
 with fever, and the writer, Miss Azubiah Reed, 
 had received him into her house and was at pre- 
 sent nursing him to the best of her ability. The 
 patient alarmed her by his delirious state. She 
 had had no idea where to send to his friends ; but 
 the young man called frequently upon "May 
 May Kennard," with protestations of affection 
 which, Miss Reed stated, could not be misunder- 
 stood. She had that morning found Miss Ken- 
 nard's card among his effects, and decided at once 
 to send this account to her address, hoping that it 
 would be the means of acquainting Mr. Hunting- 
 ton's friends with his whereabouts and condition. 
 
 " That blessed card ! " said May, as her sister 
 looked up from the letter with a dazed countenance. 
 " Do you remember my giving it to him one of the 
 last evenings he was here, with that reference to a 
 page of Ruskin written across it? But for that 
 who knows how long I might have remained in 
 ignorance ; for I was always cold to him, Fay, as 
 he said. I feared his discovering that in all the 
 world there existed for me but one man. I feared 
 your discovering it, too, dear, for until now I 
 thought you cared for each other." 
 
 " How very ill he is ! " said Frances mechan- 
 ically.
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 223 
 
 " Yes, but I will uurse him back to health," and 
 a radiant confidence glowed in the speaker's face 
 as she rose. 
 
 " You are not going down there yourself ! " 
 
 " What else can I do ? He has neither mother 
 nor sister to go to him, and he has called me." 
 
 " But what would Aunt Susan say ? " 
 
 May seemed not to hear the feeble remon- 
 strance. She went hurriedly to her room, followed 
 by Frances, whose thoughts were in a hubbub. 
 Jack Huntington, she had been sure, was devoted 
 to herself. She had a hundred proofs of it which 
 her sister did not suspect. In the first rush of 
 bewilderment and surprise it seemed to her that 
 his loss was a heavy blow. Why, then, had she 
 not been frank when May catechized her ? That 
 look in the latter's face as she put her questions, 
 now that it was explained, gave the pleasure-seek- 
 ing beauty a glimpse of noble heights of unselfish- 
 ness which she herself had never dreamed of. Her 
 own pangs of mortification were for the moment 
 swallowed in amaze at the discovery of her sister's 
 transfiguring affection and proposed abnegation. 
 
 " Of course I shall go with you," she said 
 briefly. 
 
 " Thank you," rejoined May, taking her sister's 
 face between her hands and giving her such a kiss 
 as Fay had never received from her before. 
 
 " No wonder she can sing ! " thought the 
 younger, still marveling.
 
 224 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 A few hours later Miss Azubiah Reed was plea- 
 santly excited by the arrival of a telegram, prom- 
 ising the prompt appearance of the young lady 
 whom her interesting patient had been calling with 
 such impassioned fervor. Miss Zuby, as she was 
 known throughout Swanley, though neither young 
 nor comely, had a secret streak of romance in her 
 nature which would have been gratified by current 
 events were it not for the trepidation which her 
 patient's ravings caused her. When the Kennard 
 girls appeared at her hospitable door, the kind 
 soul welcomed them anxiously. 
 
 " I did hope his ma 'd come," she declared. 
 
 " He has no mother," replied May ; " we are as 
 near to him as any friends he has." 
 
 Miss Zuby fixed her eyes on the younger girl 
 admiringly. She was a fit mate for handsome Mr. 
 Huntington. 
 
 " I 'm thinkin' the sight o' your face '11 do him 
 good," she said bluntly. 
 
 Frances glanced involuntarily at her sister and 
 blushed, but did not reply. 
 
 " He 's better, anyway, to-day. He 's slept quite 
 a spell, and he hain't hollered since mornin'. 
 What shall I call your friend ? " pursued the 
 hostess, still gazing approvingly at Frances' long- 
 lashed eyes and finely-tinted complexion. 
 
 " We are sisters," responded the girl ; " this is 
 Miss May Kennard to whom you wrote." 
 
 "Oh, jus' so, jus' so," said Miss Zuby, much
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 225 
 
 embarrassed by her mistake. " Won't you lay off 
 your things ? " 
 
 For a long time afterward she scolded herself 
 for her stupidity, and before many hours had 
 elapsed came heartily to sanction Mr. Hunting- 
 ton's choice, so pleased was she with the sensible, 
 helpful, capable way in which the elder Miss Ken- 
 nard assumed the duties of nurse. The latter put 
 into effect a dozen devices for the patient's com- 
 fort of which Miss Zuby had never thought, and 
 the change in the young man's condition continued 
 in the right direction. 
 
 One day he opened his eyes from the stupor 
 which had followed his fever. May Kennard was 
 sitting near the bed with some needlework. He 
 recognized her, and in his feeble condition the sur- 
 prise was so great that his eyes closed again. The 
 girl, who had not perceived his look, approached 
 him quietly, and making some change in the cover- 
 ing, knelt beside the bed, clasped her hands to- 
 gether, and adored. The look of pure love and 
 yearning in her face should have waked the sleep- 
 ing ; and Mr. Huntington, not being asleep, but, 
 on the contrary, making up his mind for another 
 essay at comprehending his surroundings, lifted 
 his heavy lids and met the beautiful tenderness of 
 her gaze. 
 
 She saw the light of recognition in his eyes, and 
 a low, inarticulate sound broke from her lips. 
 
 " Jack, you know me," she said very gently, and
 
 226 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 she took the hand that lay on the coverlid in her 
 own soft one, while such a radiance beamed in her 
 face that it was the greatest of the sick man's 
 many marvels. 
 
 " I don't understand,'' he said feebly. 
 
 "But you will soon. Don't try now. Just 
 rest," she replied, with the intonation a mother 
 might use to her baby, and a soothing serenity of 
 manner which made the young man give up all his 
 multiplying conundrums, and fall asleep clinging 
 to her hand. 
 
 Happy tears gathered in the watching gray eyes 
 and fell unheeded on the coverlid, and the sponta- 
 neous burst of thankfulness which ascended to 
 God from that fast-beating heart must have been 
 a song in heaven ! 
 
 That afternoon when the old doctor came he 
 found his patient awake, and this was his perora- 
 tion as he was leaving the room. 
 
 " Well, sir," cheerily, " you will have enough to 
 do the next month or two, to express your thanks 
 to this young lady ; not an unpleasant duty, I sup- 
 pose. Ha, ha, ha! I wish we could keep her 
 here in Swanley. She is the sort of woman there 
 ought to be at least one of in every town ; but 
 there ain't, young man ! There ain't enough of 'em 
 to go round, and I suppose you '11 agree with me 
 there. Now, you 've nothing to do but grow strong. 
 Let 's see you be quick about it. Good-night." 
 
 The doctor's knowing manner was also a conun-
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 227 
 
 drum, and May's color and half-smiling lips gave 
 a girlish prettiness to the quiet strength of the 
 face Jack had known so long. He thought he 
 had never seen her so attractive, and he lazily 
 enjoyed watching her as she made the preparations 
 for his comfort during the coming night. Once 
 as she stood near his bed he reached out his hand 
 and taking hers carried it to his lips. 
 
 "You know I am grateful to you, May," he 
 said fervently ; " I never heard of such kindness 
 as yours in coming down here, and caring for me. 
 I simply have no words in which to talk to you 
 about it." 
 
 She beamed down upon him with the sweetest 
 expression, and joy in the touch of his lips sent a 
 glorious color over her face and throat. 
 
 " I never appreciated May Kennard," thought 
 the young man, as his lifted eyes beheld the beau- 
 tified woman. 
 
 The next morning as May was removing his 
 breakfast tray, she said, " Fay wants to see you 
 to-day." 
 
 " Is Fay here ? " That was her patient's brief 
 reply, but her eyes were on his face. Had they 
 not been, his tone, unawares as she had taken him, 
 would have been enough. 
 
 A slow, terrible pain crept mercilessly around 
 her heart, seeming to threaten her very life. The 
 dishes on the tray rattled together as she bore 
 them from the room.
 
 228 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 Frances was in the kitchen playing with a cou- 
 ple of kittens that Miss Zuby had just brought in 
 from the wood-house. 
 
 " Come to our room a minute, Fay," said May. 
 
 Her sister looked anxious at sight of her and 
 followed without a word. 
 
 " Is he worse ? " she asked at last, when her sis- 
 ter had closed the door behind them. " For pity's 
 sake, May ! Oh, my dear girl, you are worn out ! " 
 
 " No, no ; sit down here," pushing away the 
 camphor bottle ; " I 've something to tell you. It 
 is you Jack loves." 
 
 "May!" gasped Frances, frightened by the 
 pinched white face, and suffering the most unself- 
 ish pang of sorrow she had ever experienced ; 
 even while so subtly constituted is the human 
 heart somewhere underneath the compassion a 
 gratification sprang to life. 
 
 A nervous smile twitched her sister's pale lips. 
 " Miss Zuby did not hear quite right. She made 
 a little mistake in consonants. That is all. My 
 card helped on the delusion. The delusion ! O 
 Fay ! " the dry manner changed, and the girl 
 bowed her head in her hands in tearless anguish. 
 " My heart is breaking ! " 
 
 To do the popular, pretty Frances Kennard jus- 
 tice, she at last lost sight of herself entirely. This 
 episode in her life made a woman of her. She 
 represented to Miss Zuby that her sister's strength 
 had given out, and that they must return home at
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 229 
 
 once. She wrote a cheery little note to the sick 
 man, signed by both sisters' names, in which she 
 said they thought best not to excite him by personal 
 good-bys, but hoped soon to see him in town ; and 
 all the way home in the cars she edified herself 
 with a mental review of the years of her sister's 
 unostentatious, helpful life and her own careless 
 exactions. 
 
 As for Mr. Jack Huntington, he was greatly 
 disappointed by this slip 'twixt cup and lip. The 
 catechism he put to Miss Zuby failed to elicit more 
 than he already knew namely, that Miss Ken- 
 uard's card had been the means of her being sent 
 for to come to him. Frances had had the fore- 
 thought and cleverness to persuade Miss Zuby to 
 say nothing to the patient concerning his ravings. 
 
 She had not, however, sealed the lips of the vil- 
 lage doctor. When, later, Mr. Huntington and 
 his few traps were en route to the depot, the old 
 gentleman met him and bade him good speed. 
 
 "Going to follow your sweetheart, eh? You 
 show your sense, young man. She 's a girl worth 
 foltowing to the ends of the earth." 
 
 This well-meant speech served to rouse again all 
 the mysterious doubts and suspicions which had 
 become allayed with returning strength. The 
 memory of May Kennard's strange looks and 
 behavior, often dwelt upon during Jack's monoto- 
 nous days of convalescence, came back to him 
 vividly. He remembered how the doctor had
 
 230 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 spoken before her on the last evening she spent 
 with him, and that she had shown neither surprise 
 nor resentment. On the contrary, that last elo- 
 quent, down-pouring gaze of tenderness, as he 
 kissed her hand, thrilled him in retrospection. He 
 remembered his own excitement at the sudden 
 information of Fay's presence in the house, and 
 that that was the end of what now seemed a fan- 
 tastic, improbable dream. 
 
 " There is no telling what I said or did while I 
 was off my base, there," he mused as the train 
 sped on. " I am going to the bottom of this 
 thing." 
 
 Mr. Huntington's card was handed to the Ken- 
 nard girls the following day. They looked at one 
 another. They had not mentioned his name since 
 their return to the city. 
 
 " Now we begin a new chapter," said May to 
 her sister. " I want to say to you, before we see 
 Jack, that if you should ever come to care for him 
 as he does for you, I do not want you to hinder 
 your happiness by a false idea of loyalty to me." 
 
 Frances met the steady gray eyes that looked 
 large above the thin cheeks. " I 've been too busy 
 all my life wondering if people were in love with 
 me to care deeply for any one," she answered. 
 " I might, under other circumstances, have come 
 to be loyal to Jack ; but as it is I can be loyal to 
 you, May, and I always will be, dear, as long as I 
 live."
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 231 
 
 Then they kissed each other, and went down- 
 stairs to congratulate Mr. Huntington. 
 
 The three had not been together long before 
 Frances was called out of the room. She bestowed 
 a hasty glance on her sister before reluctantly 
 answering the summons. 
 
 Scarcely was she gone when Jack changed his 
 seat for one nearer May. 
 
 " I am glad to see you alone a minute," he said. 
 " As you may imagine, I must always have a new 
 feeling toward you since your great kindness to 
 me. No sister could have done more for me than 
 you did." 
 
 His handsome, pensive eyes were gazing straight 
 into hers, but she did not shrink. 
 
 " You look worn out still, poor, dear girl." He 
 tried to take her hand, but she gently withdrew 
 it. He regarded her reproachfully, and continued : 
 " I came to-day to ask you to marry me, May. 
 Will you?" 
 
 Jack had a pleasant voice, and his most com- 
 monplace words had power to thrill her. It was 
 a wonder that the girl had strength enough to 
 preserve an appearance of serenity now. 
 
 " Certainly not, Jack," she said kindly. " You 
 do not owe such a return to me any more than 
 you would to the sister whose place I took." 
 
 Were these calm eyes the ones that had last 
 looked on him ? Was that hand whose touch was 
 forbidden him now the one which had yielded itself
 
 232 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 lovingly to his feeble grasp, and smoothed his brow 
 with a tender, lingering touch? The implication 
 in her words made him blush ; and the hasty re- 
 turn of Frances was as much a relief to him as to 
 May. The latter was not a girl to be lightly won. 
 He told himself that he might have known that. 
 An intense, mysterious creature was reticent May 
 Kennard, affording glimpses of her glowing soul 
 only when she sang. For some unfathomable reason 
 the curtain had been lifted for him in that sick- 
 room ; but now it was dropped and impenetrable. 
 Well, it was over. He had acted upon his deter- 
 mination, and now found himself free to pursue 
 the lovely girl who was absorbing his fancy at 
 the time his illness laid him low. He turned 
 to her now, and until he left the house addressed 
 himself principally to her. Yet, when he took 
 his leave, it was with a sense that the prettiest 
 debutante of the season was showing her winter's 
 dissipation in a certain loss of freshness in body 
 and mind. 
 
 " She has n't May's brains. She never had," 
 he mused, and then he thought of May with a 
 sensation of pique and vague discomfort. 
 
 Later in the season he took an extended cruise 
 with some friends in a yacht, and daily he lived 
 over those strange experiences in the country vil- 
 lage. Again he thrilled at the pressure of a 
 magnetic hand, and more and more there grew 
 in him a longing for a repetition of those dream-
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 233 
 
 like occurrences which had become sacred in 
 memory. 
 
 One day, as the yacht was cutting through the 
 sparkling blue waters of Casco Bay, he suggested 
 to his companions that they stop at the island 
 where Miss Kennard's aunt had her cottage. As 
 there were on board several of Frances' admirers, 
 this suggestion was cordially adopted. 
 
 The yachtsmen received a hearty welcome from 
 the Kennards, and Mr. Huntingdon watched for 
 his opportunity to be alone with May. It came 
 at last. The whole party had been inspecting the 
 yacht as it rode lightly at anchor in a picturesque 
 cove of the island. 
 
 " I 've done a lot of thinking on that boat, 
 May," said Jack, as they climbed the hill to- 
 gether. 
 
 " It seems to have agreed with you. I think 
 you may venture to keep on," she answered ban- 
 teringly. 
 
 " You must decide that, for you have been the 
 subject of my cogitations." 
 
 " Don't return to that, Jack," said the girl, 
 with a serious, hurt look. " Once was all very 
 well. I appreciate your intentions but under 
 the circumstances I should think I should 
 think "- 
 
 Huntington was watching her eagerly. He liked 
 better this embarrassment and changing color than 
 the baffling serenity of last time. " What are
 
 234 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 
 
 the circumstances ? I '11 be hanged if I know," 
 he burst forth, as she paused. " Won't you ex- 
 plain?" 
 
 " No. Why puzzle yourself ? You were fever- 
 ish. It is all past now.'* 
 
 " But I can't forget. I dreamed you loved me. 
 Oh May ! " they were in a copse of little trees 
 which must have grown for their especial benefit, 
 so thick a screen did they form " why was it 
 worth your while to bewitch me if you meant to 
 throw me over after all ? " 
 
 There was no mistaking his earnestness. May 
 lifted her eyes and looked guardedly into his face. 
 She saw there nothing but honest perplexity and 
 love. Jack was a sufficiently commonplace man, 
 but the simple fact was that if he did really and 
 spontaneously love her, it made a paradise of the 
 world, a joy of life. 
 
 " I believed you cared for Fay," she said, her 
 hard- won caution not yet broken down. 
 
 " I admire Fay," was the prompt answer, " but 
 I love you." 
 
 This simplicity won. Down went the tottering 
 wall of caution, swept away in a flood of happi- 
 ness. The soft eyes filled again with the raptur- 
 ous light he remembered and recognized with an 
 eager thrill. 
 
 " It was not a dream ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 A few months later, when Miss Zuby put on 
 her spectacles to read the engraved invitation to
 
 A MISTAKE IN CONSONANTS 235 
 
 the wedding, there was some complacency in her 
 down-curving smile of satisfaction. 
 
 " That there pretty little Fay critter tried to 
 throw me off the track when they was goin' 
 away," she soliloquized, " but, law, I guess I can 
 trust my own ears, can't I ? "
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " Miss ESTHER ought to be home by this time," 
 said Deborah anxiously, going to the window again 
 to peer up the street as the sound of a trolley car 
 diminished in the distance. " What has become of 
 the child ? It '11 be dark before the next car comes 
 along." 
 
 The child she was watching for was forty years 
 of age, but that mattered nothing to the faithful 
 woman who for twenty-five years had kept house 
 for the Wainwrights, and taken care of Esther's 
 physical comforts. To Deborah she was still the 
 same girl who had been the youngest, brightest 
 creature in the house when she came into it a 
 quarter of a century ago, and who now was the 
 only one left. 
 
 Esther's sister Lucy had married, and lived in 
 the city adjacent to the suburb where the Wain- 
 wright homestead was located. Recently Lucy had 
 died after years of invalidism, leaving a daugh- 
 ter nineteen years of age, and it was at a summons 
 from the dead woman's lawyer that Miss Wain- 
 wright had gone into the city to-day. 
 
 " Poor dear ! I '11 be glad when it 's all over," 
 soliloquized Deborah. "Miss Esther hain't had,
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 237 
 
 so to say, a scrap o' comfort since Mrs. Dyett went 
 stayin' there at the house with Kitty, and seein' 
 after things, puttin' away and givin' away. It's 
 the saddest work a body can do. I s'pose she '11 
 bring the child right home here, and after a while 
 things will be real pleasant. It '11 be grand for 
 Miss Esther to have a young companion in the 
 house instead of nobody but an old woman like me 
 to talk to from mornin' till night." 
 
 The good creature was conscious of a twinge of 
 jealousy, one that had been oft repeated in the 
 last few days as she meditated over the changes 
 that were sure to come. 
 
 While she still cogitated she caught sight of a 
 straight, slender figure walking with firm, quick 
 tread up the street. 
 
 " There she is now, and Kitty ain't with her 
 yet ! " she muttered with relief. 
 
 " But you do look tired, child ! " she added, as 
 Miss Wainwright came in ; and with motherly fin- 
 gers the housekeeper began unbuttoning the jacket 
 of her mistress's snug tailor suit, her old heart has- 
 tening apprehensively as she saw signs of unusual 
 agitation in the beloved face, now pale and with set 
 lips. 
 
 " Indeed I am tired, Deborah," replied the new- 
 comer dejectedly. " I have but one ambition 
 tea!" 
 
 " Dear heart, if tea is all ! " 
 
 The old woman waited on Miss Wainwright with
 
 238 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 devoted attention as she sat at the well-spread table, 
 speaking from time to time to coax her mistress to 
 try some dish, or to have more of some dainty, but 
 Esther shook her head. 
 
 "More tea only, Deb, more tea. I've been 
 driven to drink." She shook her head, and poured 
 again from the dainty teapot with a hand that was 
 unsteady. 
 
 " It 's those lawyers, drat 'em ! " returned Debo- 
 rah indignantly. 
 
 " Not altogether. I suppose Lucy is to blame 
 more than the lawyer." 
 
 The housekeeper stared and grasped her clean 
 apron with both hands, astonished at a reference 
 in this tone to the departed. " Why, what has 
 Mrs. Dyett done?" she asked. 
 
 " She has put a request in her will that well, 
 it has surprised me." 
 
 " I see it has, poor dear. Do try some o' the 
 salad." 
 
 " I have looked forward to taking Kitty as my 
 own daughter " Miss Wainwright examined her 
 delicate cup as she spoke " to planning her life 
 and making her happy." 
 
 " Just so ; I s'posed you had." 
 
 " Well, it seems I shall be obliged to share her 
 with another guardian." 
 
 " Why, who is it ? " The housekeeper fell with 
 righteous indignation into her mistress's mood. 
 " Kitty has n't got anybody else but you you,
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 239 
 
 her own aunt, and she the very livin' picture o' you. 
 Mrs. Dyett always admitted it." 
 
 " The picture of what I was, perhaps. I can see 
 it myself ; but I 'm forty, Deb," the declaration 
 was made wearily, " and to-night I feel ninety." 
 
 " You 're just as pretty as you ever were," re- 
 turned Deborah stoutly. " There 's nobody should 
 know better than I do how you look. You 're quiet 
 in your ways. You spat back your hair flatter 'n 
 you used to, and wear your hats too plain ; but if 
 you'd give yourself a chance like the other girls, 
 and let your curls out, you 'd hold your own with 
 anybody." 
 
 Miss Wainwright's smile had a trace of bitter- 
 ness. 
 
 " Yes, Miss Esther, I tell you if you 'd fix up 
 and wear kind o' ruffly things and feathers, Kitty 'd 
 only be the bud and you 'd be the rose. Don't 
 talk to me about feelin' ninety ; I ain't but sixty 
 myself. Now do tell me, Miss Esther," her tone 
 changing from aggression to sympathy, " what you 
 mean. Come, sit in the big chair by the fire and 
 heat your feet. You 're just beat out." 
 
 Miss Wainwright, her head leaning obediently 
 against the cushioned chair, and her eyes on the 
 blaze, gave a long sigh. 
 
 " Yes, I 'm disappointed to the core, Deb." 
 
 " But Mrs. Dyett did n't have any friends close 
 enough to give Kitty to 'em. You 're all the aunt 
 she 's got in the world."
 
 240 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " You forget she has an uncle." 
 
 " You don't mean to say " incredulously 
 " she 's left that little girl to a gay, worldly bach- 
 elor? Lucy wa'n't crazy, was she? " 
 
 " Kitty is n't a little girl except to us." Miss 
 Wainwright spoke in an even, monotonous voice. 
 "She is nineteen years old." 
 
 " But in the name o' common sense ain't you her 
 natural protector and guide and she the image 
 of you ? " 
 
 " I am to have her half the time and he half." 
 
 " Land o' liberty ! What did Mrs. Dyett do 
 that for ? " 
 
 " Probably out of loyalty to her dead husband 
 and his family." 
 
 " It 's a fool arrangement," announced the house- 
 keeper. " Why, he won't know what to do with the 
 girl. Perhaps," hopefully, " perhaps he '11 refuse 
 to act." 
 
 " If only she were n't so pretty," said Miss Wain- 
 Wright regretfully. She would willingly have dis- 
 pensed with her niece's dimples, have seen the 
 curling tendrils of her hair straighten, aye, even 
 have been willing those merry eyes should squint, 
 if such plainness and obliquity would have alien- 
 ated Judson Dyett's critical admiration, and made 
 hun willing to give her full possession of their joint 
 ward. 
 
 What had beauty ever done for herself? It 
 had not prevented her from losing the lover of her
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 241 
 
 youth, even before the world knew that they had 
 plighted their troth. The bliss, the misery of 
 that time swept over her in a strong wave now, 
 and she caught her breath in sudden agitation. 
 
 Deborah was smoothing the riugless hand that 
 lay on the arm of the chair. 
 
 " I used to like Mr. Dyett," she said thought- 
 fully, " in those old days when he came with the 
 other fellers sparkin' you, Miss Esther. I 've 
 thought sometimes if you 'd ever given him any 
 encouragement he might have been a different 
 man." 
 
 "Different in what way?" Esther's usual 
 energy seemed to have vanished altogether. 
 
 " Oh, more of a man, and not so oh, you 
 know what I mean ; he 's only a grown-up boy 
 now, playin' with boats and horses and such doin's. 
 I don't want to hurt your feelin's, Miss Esther, 
 but do you s'pose," she hesitated, looking at Miss 
 Wainwright lovingly, " do you s'pose perhaps Mrs. 
 Dyett was thinkin' about money? They do say 
 Mr. Judson 's made a lot speculatin'." 
 
 " No, I 'm sure there was nothing mercenary in 
 her mind." 
 
 Miss Wainwright said no more, and the house- 
 keeper, seeing her thoughtful mood, gazed at her 
 wistfully ; then, sighing, left her and went to clear 
 off the table. 
 
 Esther sat still, staring at the fire and trying 
 to reduce her thoughts to order. The grief and
 
 242 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 resentment toward her sister which the discovery 
 of the latter' s wish had caused were subsiding. 
 Her cooler judgment told her that Lucy, merely 
 knowing that she disliked Judson Dyett, had con- 
 cluded that they two would be more likely to reach 
 an amicable agreement if such a request came to 
 their knowledge after she was gone. 
 
 Nearly a year had elapsed since Esther had seen 
 this man. When they did meet it was only in formal 
 fashion. Although he lived but a few miles away, 
 their interests, their friends, their paths, were widely 
 diverse. He had been expected to be at the 
 lawyer's office to-day, but some business having 
 detained him it had been left to Miss Wainwright 
 to consult with him as to their new duties at her 
 own convenience. 
 
 Where and when should she talk with him? 
 Evidently at the Dyett house. In a few days that 
 would pass into the hands of new owners ; then 
 the interview must take place soon, while that 
 rendezvous remained to them. Not for any con- 
 sideration or reason would she ask him to come to 
 her own home. Why, had it not been in this very 
 room that 
 
 Esther Wainwright looked about her furtively, 
 with frightened eyes. Memory had her in its 
 power to-night. 
 
 The next day her weakness had passed. Deb- 
 orah's brow cleared as she saw by her mistress's 
 self-possessed manner and the expression of her
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 243 
 
 face that her usual ability and common sense had 
 reasserted themselves. 
 
 " I expect to bring Kitty home with me to- 
 night," said Miss "Wainwright to the housekeeper, 
 and the latter lingered in the doorway to look after 
 her mistress, while Esther took her quick way down 
 the street. 
 
 " Would n't bend a grass-blade if she stepped on 
 it," was Deborah's comment, " but I never knew 
 before how she despised Mr. Dyett. Thought one 
 spell she favored him more 'n any of 'em. But 
 none of 'em got her, not one." Deborah finished 
 triumphantly ; the mere fact of Esther's monoto- 
 nous life failed utterly to convince her that all the 
 eligibles in the city would not flock to the Wain- 
 wright door provided Esther's bright eyes ever 
 gleamed encouragingly. 
 
 Those eyes gleamed now, and the curved lips 
 were firmly set when Miss Wainwright reached 
 the Dyett house and ran up the steps. 
 
 " Is Mr. Dyett here, Maggie ? " she asked of the 
 maid who answered her ring. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am. He's waiting for you in the 
 parlor." 
 
 Esther moved unhesitatingly to the little draw- 
 ing-room, whence the ornaments had been removed. 
 As she passed between the portieres she saw at once 
 the object of her search. 
 
 He was standing, his feet apart and his back to 
 her, examining a painting on the wall. One of
 
 244 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 the hands crossed behind him held the gloves he 
 had just taken off, and his silk hat lay on a bare 
 table near by. He was well dressed, and, as he 
 turned, his clear-skinned face had a care-free look 
 rather unusual in a man of forty-five. 
 
 "Ah, how do you do, Esther?" he said cheer- 
 fully. He stepped forward, and their hands met 
 perfunctorily. " You 're not selling that Corot 
 with the house, I hope," and he turned back for 
 another appreciative look. " That was always a 
 pet of mine." 
 
 The color flew to her cheeks ; yet what other 
 greeting did she expect from Judson Dyett ? She 
 wished to propitiate him while there was a shadow 
 of hope that he might yield to the request she had 
 determined to make. 
 
 " No doubt Kitty will be glad to have you store 
 it for her until she has a home of her own," she 
 replied. 
 
 " A home of her own ! " He gave a short laugh. 
 "Won't you sit?" 
 
 She accepted the chair he placed, and he took 
 one near ; and his eyes ran quickly over her neat 
 figure. 
 
 " How old is the little rascal ? " 
 
 " Kitty is nineteen," said Miss Wainwright lacon- 
 ically. 
 
 " Ha ! We thought ourselves grown up at 
 nineteen, did n't we ? " His look interrogated her 
 pleasantly.
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 245 
 
 How did he dare ! Esther felt tremulous as 
 she leaned back and loosened her feather boa. 
 
 " I know now, at any rate, that a girl of nine- 
 teen is a child," she replied. " What is your 
 response to the word I sent you this morning?" 
 
 " I was always glad to do anything I could for 
 Lucy. I am glad to still. Kitty and I are great 
 chums." 
 
 " But the care of a girl at that age would be 
 really inconvenient for a man situated as you are." 
 
 Mr. Dyett raised his eyebrows at her tone. 
 
 " You disapprove of the arrangement ? " 
 
 " It seems to me wholly unnecessary." 
 
 " Then you did not cooperate with Lucy in the 
 plan." 
 
 Esther's eyes flashed at him. " I did not ! " 
 
 He smiled at her thoughtfully, striking one palm 
 softly with his gloves. " I believe you," he said 
 at last. 
 
 She felt with anger that she was coloring to the 
 roots of her hair. " It is excessively disagreeable 
 to me to act with with any one in this matter," 
 she said hurriedly. " I was prepared to do every- 
 thing for Kitty myself, and and Lucy of course 
 only appointed you out of a sense of duty to her 
 husband" ghe paused. 
 
 "Very kind, and very proper," returned her 
 companion, with the same irritating composure. 
 " I 'm fond of Kitty. I have no child of my own. 
 It was very thoughtful of Lucy to rescue her for
 
 246 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 half the year from a home where I should never 
 have been asked to peep at her." 
 
 " Judson, you know you know I would never 
 have been so unjust." 
 
 " Why should I ? " was the quiet response. 
 " We can only judge of the future by the past." 
 
 Miss Wainwright rose to her feet. " There is no 
 need to prolong this interview," she said quickly. 
 " I had a slight hope when I came in that you 
 would be willing to decline to act as Kitty's guar- 
 dian." She paused and looked at him. " If you 
 will do so, I promise to send her to visit you four 
 times a year." 
 
 Dyett rose also, his eyes still resting on the 
 slender black-clothed form before him. 
 
 " I believe you have n't a gray hair, Esther," he 
 remarked musingly, meeting her fleeting glance. 
 
 She bit her lip at the irrelevance. " This is a 
 serious matter to me," she said. " Was there ever 
 anything in life serious to you? " 
 
 " Did n't I say you were unjust ? " he asked 
 quietly. 
 
 She looked full in his eyes. " Then you insist 
 on your rights in this matter." 
 
 " I see my chance to share something with you 
 at last. You would have ine refuse merely to 
 please you." 
 
 "Yes, I would." She smiled at him bitterly. 
 " A small reason, surely. Not worth mentioning 
 for a moment."
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 247 
 
 He nodded. " The same tongue, the very same. 
 Oh, what a fool I was to have minded it in the 
 long ago. If I had been a little older and wiser 
 at the time, I could have gotten over that trouble 
 of ours, Esther." He returned her smile as it 
 faded. " By this time you would have been done 
 with sharpness," he added. 
 
 For a moment she stood dumb at his audacity. 
 " Perhaps you will agree to leave this question to 
 Kitty ? " she went on when she could speak, stand- 
 ing very straight and ignoring his speech. 
 
 " Why, yes," he answered slowly. " I think 
 that would be safe." She took a quick step to- 
 ward the door. He placed a detaining hand on 
 her arm, and she shrank back from it. " One 
 moment, please. It 's as well not to prejudice the 
 child, eh ? Let her think that we are er 
 that we are " 
 
 "Friendly, of course, yes. You agree that if 
 she chooses to live wholly with me you will not 
 object ? " 
 
 " Ye-es, provided, of course, I have the run 
 of the house. I must keep an eye on my brother's 
 child. On the other hand, if she elects to live 
 with me you will at all times be welcome under 
 our roof." 
 
 Miss Wainwright regarded him, mute, and he 
 raised himself gently on his toes, his hands crossed 
 behind him, as he returned her gaze with a faint 
 smile.
 
 248 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " I see that nothing will induce you to treat the 
 situation otherwise than facetiously," she said 
 coldly. 
 
 " Certainly, I will be as serious as you like. 
 Name your own terms if you object to mine. I 
 will see if I can agree to them." 
 
 " If you have a spark of kindness if you are 
 not positively malicious, you will agree to them." 
 
 " In that case I surely shall." 
 
 " Then this is the way it shall be. Provided 
 Kitty elects to live with me, I send her to visit 
 you at stated times and seasons ; if she elects to 
 live with you, you shall send her to visit me at 
 intervals ; but if she prefers to abide by her mo- 
 ther's request and share our care equally, you shall 
 see nothing of her during my half of the year, and 
 I will see nothing of her during your half of the 
 year. Do you agree ? " 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders. " I suppose so, 
 knowing nothing of unkindness and malice." 
 
 Miss Wainwright again caught her lip in her 
 teeth and regarded her companion with less ten- 
 sion. " Thank you," she said, " and one thing 
 more, Judson. I wish you would agree to one 
 thing more." She dropped her eyes, and so did 
 not perceive the kindness of her companion's gaze. 
 " Let me take the child home with me for a fort- 
 night before we talk about it to her. Let her rest 
 and recover a little from her loss. I, of course, 
 will during the time say nothing of this."
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 249 
 
 " Very well, then ; as I understand it, in two 
 weeks' time you would like me to come to your 
 house." 
 
 " No, no," responded Miss Wainwright quickly. 
 " We will appoint a place. We will come in town 
 and meet you. I would not trouble you to come 
 so far." 
 
 The man's smile deepened, and a humorous light 
 came into his eyes. " But it would be no trouble, 
 I assure you. It would be at once a duty and a 
 delight." 
 
 The expression of Esther's face was as hard 
 and repellent as its color was soft and winning. 
 
 " There is no occasion," she said coldly. " We 
 will come to you." 
 
 "At my house, then. I've a decent enough 
 apartment, Esther, and Kitty is at home in it." 
 
 " At your office, if you will allow it," rejoined 
 Miss Wainwright stiffly. 
 
 At his office it was that they met a few weeks 
 later. Miss Wainwright and her niece were ush- 
 ered into a private room, and there Judson Dyett 
 soon joined them, fresh, smiling, debonair, look- 
 ing on such good terms with himself and the world 
 that Esther felt again, as she had at their previous 
 interview, suddenly older, plainer, more humdrum 
 than usual. Her rigid pose made the contrast of 
 Kitty's manner the more sharp. As her uncle 
 entered the room the young girl jumped up and 
 threw her arms around his neck.
 
 250 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " Dear Uncle Jud ! Why have n't you come 
 to see me ? " she cried. 
 
 He retained her hand, or she his, as she drew 
 him toward the divan where Esther was, and 
 made him sit down, placing herself between the 
 two. 
 
 " It is n't so far on the cars, is it, Aunt 
 Esther?" 
 
 The latter stirred uneasily, and pretty Kitty, 
 with a loving glance, took her aunt's hand with 
 her free one, and looked content at holding both 
 her relatives captive. 
 
 " To tell the truth, I 've almost forgotten the 
 way to your Aunt Esther's house. Her latch- 
 string is not for the likes of me," said Dyett. 
 
 The girl looked up doubtfully at the quiet tone. 
 
 "Your uncle is a very busy man," said Miss 
 Wainwright briefly. 
 
 The situation was not at all comfortable for 
 Esther. Kitty was but a slender barrier between 
 her and the person who kept sending calm glances 
 at her over their niece's head ; and moreover the 
 girl was doing the most foolish and risky things 
 with the hands she held, beating them softly up 
 and down in her lap, and almost striking them 
 together. Esther was in poignant momentary 
 dread lest hers should be forced against that large 
 strong one, still brown from the summer's cruis- 
 ing. Yet she would not forcibly withdraw her 
 hand. She was too jealous of the love that had
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 251 
 
 welcomed her rival, and she was glad to keep a 
 hold on Kitty. 
 
 " I have n't told you yet what we are here for, 
 my dear," she added seriously. 
 
 " Anything but to see Uncle Jud ? " inquired 
 the girl naively. 
 
 Miss Wainwright's lips contracted. " You may 
 tell her if you prefer," she said to Dyett. 
 
 " I fancy you would state the case better," he 
 returned. " At least, you would be better satis- 
 fied. I am willing to give you every advantage." 
 The smile that accompanied this was so boyish, 
 and there was such a teasing twinkle in the man's 
 eyes, Esther felt that she hated him. Moreover, 
 at this moment Kitty, looking up in her curiosity, 
 absent-mindedly dropped her uncle's hand upon 
 her aunt's, and it rested there. 
 
 Miss Wain wright started. " I wish to lean 
 back, Kitty," she said quickly, and relinquishing 
 her niece to the enemy, she withdrew herself and 
 sat back in the corner of the divan. 
 
 From this retreat she stated the situation to her 
 niece, and gave the girl her choice of the alterna- 
 tives already agreed upon, while Judson Dyett, 
 pulling his fair mustache, looked from one to the 
 other in silence. 
 
 " But how unkind ! " said Kitty piteously, when 
 she had finished. 
 
 " What is unkind ? " 
 
 " To ask me to choose between you."
 
 252 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 Miss Wainwright bit her lip, surprised. Dyett 
 regarded her in mild triumph. 
 
 " You see, I 'm in this, Esther," he remarked. 
 " I did n't think you had all the facts." 
 
 " But even if I do take turns living with you 
 half-years about, I suppose we should all three be 
 together a good deal anyway, naturally, should n't 
 we ? " asked Kitty. 
 
 Dyett pulled his mustache more industriously, 
 and fixed Miss Wainwright with a curious regard. 
 
 " No, my dear," she replied, " for this reason : 
 Your uncle and I have very different tastes, very 
 different friends. No matter how much we might 
 determine to be sociable " Mr. Dyett coughed, 
 and Esther's New England conscience winced ; 
 nevertheless she proceeded firmly "we should 
 not really see much of each other. But I don't 
 urge you, Kitty. He can" her voice broke a 
 little " he can give you a gayer life than I can. 
 Your your mother trusted him." 
 
 " And that is more than you do, Esther, eh ? " 
 For the first time his face lost its nonchalance. 
 
 " Well, but at certain times," persisted Kitty. 
 " There are certain times when families must be 
 together, like Thanksgiving and Christmas and 
 birthdays, you know." 
 
 Evidently there was no recognition in her mind 
 of the fact that these two who stood in such close 
 relation to her were unrelated to one another, and 
 that she was their only tie of interest. " Here
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 253 
 
 comes Thanksgiving now in three weeks. If I 
 spend my first half-year with you, Aunt Esther, 
 of course Uncle Judson will be with us on Thanks- 
 giving day." 
 
 " Ahem no. Ahem yes," replied Miss 
 Wainwright, taken very much by surprise and in 
 sore straits. Kitty's large, surprised eyes were 
 upon her. " Deborah, you know Deborah is n't 
 well this fall. She " - 
 
 " I '11 have the dinner," said Dyett, his lips 
 twitching. " Come to my house. If you will 
 honor my humble roof I mean ceiling I don't 
 suppose a flat can be said to have a roof I '11 
 get the biggest turkey in town." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Kitty, "that's what we'll 
 do!" 
 
 Her aunt kept silent, but her breast heaved and 
 her color rose, and Judson Dyett knew her. 
 
 " Is it agreed, Esther ? " he asked. 
 
 " I will come," she answered rather breathlessly 
 and at bay, " unless I am ill." 
 
 Her adversary looked at her and her eyes fell. 
 
 " Don't you think," he asked dryly, " that you 
 w r ould be less liable to be ill on Thanksgiving if I 
 took a room at N 's " (naming a famous caterer) 
 " and we met on neutral ground to celebrate the 
 day ? Come, we want to make this little girl have 
 a good time, don't we ? " 
 
 Miss Wainwright blushed painfully. " That 
 might be a good arrangement," she answered.
 
 254 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 Kitty stared first at one and then at the other. 
 " How strangely you both act," she said. 
 
 Her uncle replied, and for once her aunt was 
 grateful to him. " We 're a little bit jealous. 
 Can't you see it, Kitty ? You 're a bone of con- 
 tention, little girl. You don't look it." He scanned 
 her approvingly. " I admit that there 's nothing 
 bony in your appearance." 
 
 " But you simply must n't contend over me. 
 You must n't," she replied. " I love you both." 
 
 " Then we eat turkey at N 's ? " said Dyett, 
 looking at Esther. 
 
 She nodded. " I agree," she answered. 
 
 Kitty raised her eyebrows. " That 's certainly 
 funny," she said doubtfully, "but it might be 
 fun." 
 
 The girl meditated often on this interview before 
 Thanksgiving arrived. There were some incidents 
 in that talk that started her fancy to dreaming 
 dreams. 
 
 But it was such a strange idea to think of two 
 quite old people people who had looked just as 
 they did now ever since she was born being shy 
 of each other, or feeling oh, that way, you 
 know ! 
 
 If Uncle Jud did admire Aunt Esther, he should 
 see how pretty she could look, that was all. Kitty 
 overrode all Miss Wainwright's objections, and 
 fluffed out her hair and insisted on decorating the 
 front of her aunt's black waist with her finest lace,
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 255 
 
 and anticipated the novel celebration of the day 
 openly. 
 
 Poor child ! It was so many years since her 
 mother had been able to share a Thanksgiving 
 dinner with her, she had not the usual associations 
 to overcome ; and her curiosity was aflame to see 
 her uncle and aunt once more together. 
 
 To Esther Wainwright that dinner was a dreaded 
 ordeal. Calm, unruffled life could only begin again 
 when it was over. For Kitty's sake she deter- 
 mined to suspend all memories and all defensive 
 tactics ; to try not to chill the genial mood of their 
 host to-day. 
 
 " Of course there are things I don't understand 
 about this," said Kitty, when the two were on their 
 way into town. " Deborah seems very well to me, 
 and I don't see why you should want to snub 
 Uncle Judson." 
 
 This bluntness brought a color to Miss Wain- 
 wright's pale cheeks which remained there for her 
 host to see and approve. "You can't expect to 
 understand everything," she answered ; " and your 
 uncle and I have been strangers for too many 
 years for me to dream of snubbing him." 
 
 A couple of hours later, as the three were eating 
 the varied dessert of a regulation Thanksgiving 
 dinner in the cosy private room at N 's, with the 
 waiter dismissed, Kitty Dyett leaned back in her 
 chair and looked from her uncle to her aunt ap- 
 provingly.
 
 256 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " Aunt Esther promised she would be as sweet 
 as peaches to-day," she remarked disconcertingly, 
 " and I think she has been, don't you ? " 
 
 Mr. Dyett bowed seriously. " She has kept her 
 word nobly." 
 
 " You see, I just dread to have this day over," 
 went on Kitty plaintively ; " you 've both been so 
 dear, and the bone of contention has had such a 
 happy time. I don't want to feel that there are n't 
 any more such coming. Are we always going to 
 be obliged to meet in a restaurant or a trolley car 
 or some other neutral place before you two can be 
 nice to each other ? " 
 
 In the long moment that followed Miss Wain- 
 wright blamed herself despairingly for not having 
 taken this chatterbox into her confidence, and 
 thereby restrained her tongue. 
 
 " That was nonsense," went on the girl, " was n't 
 it, Uncle Jud, about you and Aunt Esther being 
 jealous of me ? " she added wistfully. 
 
 " I don't know," returned her uncle musingly. 
 " I 've been thinking while we dined to-day how 
 wonderfully you, Kitty, resemble the girl I loved 
 when I was a youngster." 
 
 " Did n't she love you, the goose ? " 
 
 " Quite as well as I deserved. Not enough to 
 come halfway and meet my advances after I had 
 been ass enough to take offense at something she 
 did. She never forgave me never." He finished 
 slowly, and the fingers of one hand drummed softly
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 257 
 
 on the tablecloth as he gazed thoughtfully into his 
 niece's bright eyes. 
 
 " Then I hope you forgot her as she deserved ? " 
 
 " No, never for a day." 
 
 " Then, of course, she married somebody ? " 
 
 " No, I think she forswore mankind in my per- 
 son." 
 
 " Uncle Jud ! " The depth of contempt and 
 reproach that looked at him from the wise eyes of 
 feminine nineteen ! 
 
 " What 's the matter ? " 
 
 " The matter is that you 've simply wasted 
 well, fifteen years anyway that is, if she 's 
 alive." 
 
 " What makes you so sure ? " 
 
 " You said she looked like me. She would have 
 married somebody sure if she had n't liked 
 you just exactly " Kitty emphasized her words 
 on the tablecloth with a small fist " as much as 
 you wanted her to. Oh, poor silly Uncle Jud ! " 
 
 He kept his gaze on the speaker, nor stirred an 
 eyelash toward the flushing, paling woman on his 
 other hand. But Kitty suddenly turned toward 
 her. " Aunt Esther, I can't spend my first half- 
 year with you," she exclaimed. " It 's my duty 
 to stay with this poor, half-witted man and help 
 him find that dear woman who is thinking about 
 him all this tune I just know she is." 
 
 " But she is a faded old maid by now," said 
 Miss Wainwright faintly.
 
 258 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 
 
 " Like you, perhaps," jeered Kitty. " Does n't 
 she look like a rose, Uncle Jud?" 
 
 " Better stay with your aunt, Kitty. You '11 
 find her easier by living with her," said Mr. 
 Dyett. 
 
 " What ? Oh ! " ejaculated the girl, with a start, 
 apparently overwhelmed by this enlightenment. 
 
 " You have us both at your mercy, Esther." 
 The man looked at his old sweetheart now. " I 
 confess that I urged Lucy into this arrangement 
 for Kitty. I have n't been able to forget, but you 
 were always repellent. This was my last chance. 
 I 've nothing to plead for myself but that you hold 
 the place in my heart to-day that you always had." 
 
 " Oh, if there were anywhere I could go ! " 
 mourned Kitty, jumping up distractedly. " It 's 
 all the fault of your wicked obstinacy again, Aunt 
 Esther. If you had entertained us nicely at home 
 I could slip upstairs now, and you 'd never know 
 I 'd gone but here, in a restaurant why, I 
 just cant do anything but turn my back." She 
 suited the action to the word. 
 
 " It is too late, Judson," said Miss Wainwright, 
 trembling. " I am too set in my ways. So are 
 you. We ought not to think of it." 
 
 Silence fell, and Kitty turned stealthily to spur 
 the dejected lover with a glance ; but Mr. Dyett 
 had Esther's hand in his, and his lips were pressed 
 upon it, and the girl jerked hastily back again in 
 silence.
 
 A NEUTRAL THANKSGIVING 259 
 
 " I 'm quite sure I 'in doing wrong I " exclaimed 
 Miss Wainwriglit tremulously, at last. " It can't 
 possibly be right to I must think." 
 
 " Dear me, Aunt Esther," came from Kitty's 
 averted curly head, " you 've thought twenty years, 
 and, added to that, it 's almost as much more that 
 I 've been kept standing here. One thing sure," 
 after a pause, " if you don't have him I shall live 
 with him all the time the poor darling! I 
 could n't do less." 
 
 Silence again. Kitty waited a little, and then 
 turned slowly. What she saw was a glimpse of 
 heaven through the open gate of love. Her eyes 
 filled, and a sort of awe stole over her. 
 
 " It is Thanksgiving day, is n't it ? " she said 
 softly and timidly. 
 
 " Yes, dear," said Judson Dyett, holding out his 
 hand to her, " it is Thanksgiving day ! "
 
 MARY ANNIE 
 
 "I 'M all fer peace. Mary Annie ain't." Solon 
 Bryce let the reins hang loosely from one hand 
 whose arm was supported on his knee as he slouched 
 down in the habitual position which had bowed his 
 back and which threw into striking contrast the 
 strong, erect figure of the young man beside him. 
 
 " I guess you 're abaout the last boarder she '11 
 hook this year g'lang, Bess and so I told her. 
 Fishin' 's ben pretty good better 'n I expected, I 
 must say but it 's nigh onto September naow, 
 and it 's abaout over. I ain't sorry, nuther. It 's 
 some wearin' haulm' folks backerds and forrards 
 to the cars no offense, young man, but they 've 
 all ben women up to naow, and I like to speak 
 my mind naow I 've got a man to speak it to. 
 Trunks, too ! The trunks alone is enough to make 
 a body sweat to think on 'em." 
 
 At the gloomy, introspective frown on the old 
 man's face his companion's half smile became more 
 pronounced. " I see," he remarked ; " you are 
 taking boarders against your will." 
 
 " Not much I ain't a-takin' 'em g'lang, Bess ; 
 it 's my niece. Women 's allers at the bottom o' 
 trouble, and you'll find it aout sometime if you
 
 MARY ANNIE 261 
 
 hain't a'ready. I 'm all fer peace, myself ; Mary 
 Annie ain't. She kep' school last winter over Law- 
 rence way, and though I missed her I got along, 
 and took comfort, too ; but come toward spring 
 Mary Annie wrote me she was goin' to come home 
 and keep boarders this summer. I diskerridged 
 her. I wrote back that boarders was vanity and 
 heaviness o' sperit, and what more did she want 
 than enough to eat; but there ain't any way o' 
 headin' off Mary Annie. She answered in her 
 way kinder light and playful that she had 
 her future to think of. She wanted to lay up 
 money to buy trousers. I jest groaned. I allers 
 knew Mary Annie was too full o' sperits and head- 
 strong, and naow here she was turnin' aout to be 
 one o' these new women, plannin' a'ready to wear 
 trousers ! She came right home after that, and I 
 faced her down with it. She laughed and said 
 I had n't read it right ; said petticoats was good 
 enough for her if she only had enough of "em. But 
 she got as red as a beet, even though she would n't 
 give up her plan, not an inch of it." 
 
 " Your niece was writing about her trousseau, 
 perhaps," said the new boarder, much entertained. 
 
 His companion nodded. " You 've got it. That 's 
 what she claimed. I guess that 's yer aunt on the 
 piazza," added the old man suddenly, as the wagon 
 turned in toward the farmhouse. " She 's ben in a 
 great takin' to git ye here. Ye don't look so sick 
 to me."
 
 262 MARY ANXIE 
 
 " No, I 'm about right again ; but Mrs. Pomeroy 
 has insisted for weeks that a fortnight of Miss 
 Bryce's entertainment would do me more good than 
 months at the seashore." 
 
 " Owen, my dear boy ! " exclaimed the plump 
 little woman on the piazza, coining down the steps 
 at that moment. 
 
 Owen Chalmers had seen his room, and was now 
 being personally conducted by his aunt to where 
 the afternoon sunshine sifted through the branches 
 of a huge old elm tree. 
 
 " Is n't this ideal ? " she asked. " Miss Bryce 
 has had these seats fixed so ingeniously to get the 
 best shade ; but then, she always sees the best way 
 to do everything." 
 
 Chalmers stretched himself upon the rustic seat 
 his aunt had indicated. " That is where you and 
 Uncle Solon differ," he remarked, repressing a 
 yawn, and thinking wistfully of a certain gay cir- 
 cle he had abandoned the previous evening at the 
 seaside. 
 
 " Uncle Solon ! " repeated Mrs. Pomeroy im- 
 patiently. " I suppose the poor old fellow has 
 droned you nearly to death. He is no more Miss 
 Bryce's uncle than you are. He is some distant 
 relative that her father left on her hands when 
 he died. But she is as good to him as an own 
 daughter could be." 
 
 The warm interest in the speaker's voice sur- 
 prised Chalmers mildly.
 
 MARY ANNIE 263 
 
 After a moment's silence he followed the bent of 
 his thoughts and began speaking of mutual friends. 
 While he was talking there came across the grass 
 toward him a girl on a bicycle. Her dark skirt, 
 high, trim leather boots, and dark hat were relieved 
 by a light shirt waist whose sleeves fluttered breez- 
 ily as she swiftly advanced. 
 
 Owen's speech grew slower. There was a style 
 about this girl. As she passed them he caught his 
 breath. He felt the conscious power of her pose 
 and expression. He flushed at the brief, smiling 
 glance she flung at Mrs. Pomeroy. 
 
 " I thought you said all the boarders had gone ! " 
 he ejaculated. 
 
 His aunt watched him closely. " They have." 
 
 " Don't tell me that is Mary Annie ! " 
 
 " There now ! I thought I was n't in my dotage," 
 said Mrs. Pomeroy triumphantly. 
 
 Chalmers did not hear her. He had turned in 
 time to see the lithe figure jump from the wheel and 
 pause to give directions to a workman who was 
 mending a fence. 
 
 " Well, Lawrence is a good deal of a town," he 
 said at last. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " Lawrence is where she teaches, is n't it ? I sup- 
 pose she is engaged to somebody there." 
 
 " Indeed she is n't. She told me herself she did 
 not meet a man the whole winter whom she pre- 
 ferred to a book."
 
 264 MARY ANNIE 
 
 " Then where is he ? " 
 
 " There is n't any he." 
 
 " Certainly there is. Uncle Solon confided in 
 me. It seems it is already a question of the trous- 
 seau." 
 
 " For pity's sake, Owen Chalmers, tell me at once 
 all you know about it. I have spent hours cogita- 
 ting over that girl's future ! " 
 
 " Nothing, absolutely. If I had seen her then, 
 I should have been tempted to draw him out." 
 
 Mrs. Pomeroy was sitting up very straight, and 
 her eyes had a far-away look. " That would n't be 
 right," she said decidedly. " Miss Bryce must have 
 some powerful motive for reserve, for we have had 
 many talks together when it would have naturally 
 come out. I am very much astonished and yes, 
 disappointed." The lady gave a short laugh. " I 
 might as well make an open confession now." 
 
 Her nephew returned her look curiously. 
 
 " Go ahead, Aunt Jane." 
 
 . " I sent for you with the cold-blooded intention 
 that you should fall in love with this country flower, 
 this nonesuch, as the people about here would 
 call her." 
 
 " Oh, my subtle aunt ! " 
 
 " Yes, I was prepared to combat your mother 
 and sisters if necessary. Let me tell you, young 
 man, that it is the greatest compliment I ever paid 
 you that I thought you worthy of her." 
 
 Owen smiled. " A glimpse was enough to see
 
 MART ANNIE 265 
 
 that she is a queen. I perceive that I have had a 
 narrow escape from at least aspiring to Mary Annie 
 the First, and incidentally to Uncle Solon." 
 
 " I hope you will always be able to treat the sit- 
 uation humorously," returned Mrs. Pomeroy with 
 such impressive gravity that her nephew, seasoned 
 society man that he was, had difficulty in refrain- 
 ing from laughter. 
 
 The supper that night appealed to a hungry 
 man, and lent added charm to the hostess who dis- 
 pensed it. There were but the three of them at 
 table. 
 
 "Uncle Solon likes supper of a different sort 
 and at a different time," explained Miss Bryce 
 when Owen in expansive mood mentioned his drive 
 home from the depot in a manner which implied 
 that making the acquaintance of Mr. Bryce had 
 been one of the social events of his life. 
 
 His aunt's countenance betrayed resignation as 
 she observed that Mary Annie was making the 
 impression that she had hoped for. 
 
 The folds of the girl's thin green gown inclosed 
 her beautiful figure as the calyx does the rosebud. 
 Before the meal was finished Chalmers, in spite of 
 his knowledge that the rose had been gathered, 
 grew restive under the entirely cool attitude she 
 maintained toward him. 
 
 " She is a queen," he repeated to his aunt when 
 they were again alone. " Do you suppose she con- 
 descended to make that shortcake ? "
 
 266 MARY ANNIE 
 
 " I know she did," replied Mrs. Pomeroy tragi- 
 cally. 
 
 " Heavens ! That settles it. 
 
 " ' To know her is to love her, 
 And love but her forever. 
 For Nature made her what she is, 
 And ne'er made sic anither ! ' " 
 
 " Oh, Owen, don't joke ! Who can it be ? " 
 
 " How can I guess ? It is enough that it is 
 somebody. A pretty trick you have played me." 
 
 Chalmers had no mustache to twist, so he tor- 
 tured his watch chain as he stood, his feet planted 
 apart, a half humorous, half earnest smile play- 
 ing over his face as he recalled the sweep of Mary 
 Annie's lashes and the curves of her velvet lips. 
 
 The next morning Owen, in knickerbockers, was 
 on hand when Miss Bryce brought out her wheel. 
 
 " Perhaps you will let me ride with you," he said, 
 rolling his bicycle to where she stood. 
 
 She shook her head decidedly, and her smile 
 might have been intended for the cat that rubbed 
 against her well-fitting boot. " It is not pleasant 
 where I am going, but there are pretty rides about 
 here. You will enjoy exploring. I have a busi- 
 ness errand to do myself. Wheels are a wonder- 
 ful saving of time and strength, are n't they ? Good 
 morning," and she was off. 
 
 Chalmers looked after her with a distinct griev- 
 ance. " Run away, little boy," her manner seemed 
 to say. " You have time to play. I have n't."
 
 MARY ANNIE 2G7 
 
 He mounted his bicycle and rode a few minutes 
 aimlessly. Soon he wheeled about and returned to 
 the house. A vision of Solon Bryce sitting on 
 a log and whittling had passed through his mind. 
 The vision proved a reality, and the young man 
 took a seat beside this rough bit of lichen which 
 dwelt near the rose. 
 
 k> Miss Bryce seems full of business this morn- 
 ing," he hazarded. 
 
 " Yes, we 're all some busy," responded Uncle 
 Solon, changing the straw he was chewing to the 
 other side of his mouth. " I Ve got some kindlin' 
 to chop presently. Mary Annie 's workin' the farm 
 on shares this season. It 's ag'in my judgment. 
 Takes a lot o' lookin' after. I 'm all fer peace 
 myself, but Mary Annie ain't. She 's gone over 
 in the plowed ground naow. She 's got to under- 
 stand every last plan Woodward 's got." Uncle 
 Solon chuckled with deliberate enjoyment. " One 
 thing I Ve got to be thankful for, anyway : I ain't 
 Woodward ! " 
 
 Chalmers was astonished at the number and in- 
 tensity of emotions which suddenly ran riot beneath 
 his calm exterior. The only idea which cleared 
 itself in his mind was a suspicion followed by a 
 yearning to relinquish the identity of Owen Chal- 
 mers, the favorite of Fortune, and be one Wood- 
 ward, standing in the plowed ground with Mary 
 Annie, and responding to the lights and shadows 
 in her eyes.
 
 268 MARY ANNIE 
 
 His aunt approached restlessly, hesitated, then 
 spoke to Chalmers in a low tone. " It must be 
 somebody near by. I always carry the mail myself, 
 and always call for it." 
 
 Uncle Solon glanced up as, after this oracular 
 utterance, the lady disappeared. 
 
 " Seems if Mis' Pomeroy had somethin' on her 
 mind ; but women don't take no peace anyway. If 
 'taint one thing, 't is another." 
 
 " It is somebody near by," said Owen to his aunt 
 when, later, he had followed and found her. " It 
 is one Woodward, who works the farm for her." 
 
 " I don't remember the name," said Mrs. Pome- 
 roy, her lips nearly quivering. "Did Uncle Solon 
 teUyou so?" 
 
 " No, but she has gone to see the man now. She 
 refused to let me go with her. Eveiything points 
 to it. I am going fishing," added Owen ab- 
 ruptly. 
 
 " To see if there is truth in the adage ? " Mrs. 
 Pomeroy's smile had a tear in it. " There is not. 
 There are n't as good fish either in sea or brook 
 as she is ; but I '11 try not to be angry with 
 her." 
 
 Owen had to try, too, as days passed. Mary 
 Annie was such a will-o'-the-wisp ! She was the 
 busiest person he had ever known. He believed 
 she made errands to avoid him. 
 
 One afternoon he could hardly believe his 
 good fortune he beheld her sewing out under
 
 MARY ANNIE 269 
 
 the elm tree. She wore the green gown. It was 
 the color of the tiniest, youngest leaves above her, 
 and he thought of dryads as he hurriedly ap- 
 proached. 
 
 " So you do sometimes behave like ordinary 
 mortals ? " he said, as he took the vacant chair 
 near her. 
 
 " Always," she returned, with that sweet, rare 
 smile whose curves he was always watching for since 
 he had begun to live. He had an unnamed contempt 
 for the aimless wandering which he had called life 
 before the day when he met Uncle Solon at the 
 little country station. 
 
 His eyes fell on the fine hemstitched band she 
 was sewing. " Is that for the trousseau ? " he 
 asked bluntly. 
 
 Her eyes lifted to his with wonder. " Yes," 
 she replied. " What in the world made you think 
 of that ? " 
 
 " I guessed it." His eyes had a gloomy fire, 
 his voice a ring which sounded over-serious even to 
 his own ears. 
 
 She shook her head. " Do you always make 
 such uncanny guesses ? I shall be afraid of you." 
 
 " I wish you would n't," he said simply. He 
 took an end of the long band as it hung near him 
 and examined it. " Do you call this tape ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 He had never heard Mary Annie laugh before, 
 and a 'wondering smile banished the Byronic gloom
 
 270 MARY ANNIE 
 
 from his countenance as the girl's infectious amuse- 
 ment burst forth. 
 
 " Was I so very funny ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes, you were very funny," she assured him. 
 
 " It must be a wonderful thing to be going to 
 be married," he ventured, after watching her deft 
 fingers awhile in silence. 
 
 " Yes," she agreed, without lifting those lashes. 
 " It is a very serious thing, certainly ; almost an 
 awful thing." 
 
 She looked so adorable as she said it that Chal- 
 mers's heart tightened. The muscles of his brow 
 contracted, too, but that was because he saw Uncle 
 Solon approaching. There was a fatuous smile 
 on the old man's face, a smile of content at having 
 discovered Owen. The latter had not considered 
 that the friendliness which he had displayed in 
 often seeking Mr. Bryce's society might prove a 
 boomerang which would recoil upon him and ruin 
 a rare tete-a-tete. 
 
 " Do you know what struck me jest naow as I 
 was comin' along ? " asked Uncle Solon. 
 
 " No," returned Chalmers, wishing that, what- 
 ever it was, it had hit harder. 
 
 " I 've ben wonderin' ever sence you come who 
 you put me in mind of. I 've got it naow. Mary 
 Annie," addressing the girl, " it 's that feller was 
 on your burer. Mr. Chalmers is the very livin' 
 image of him." 
 
 The startled girl glanced up at the weather-
 
 MARY ANNIE 271 
 
 beaten face. " You are mistaken. There was no 
 photograph." 
 
 " No, 't wa'n't a photygraph. 'T was done aout 
 in pen and ink. Don't you remember it ? 'T was 
 the day 'fore Mr. Chalmers come. I went to your 
 room 'cause I 'd cut my finger, and I see it then. 
 Wall," exasperated, " if you hain't ever noticed 
 that that picter favors Mr. Chalmers you hain't 
 got eyes. It 's ben pesterin' me ever sence he 
 come. I '11 g' right upstairs naow and git it." 
 The old man was turning away with unprecedented 
 energy when the girl detained him. 
 
 " No, no," she said hastily. A scarlet flood 
 poured over her face. " It is n't there, Uncle 
 Solon. It has gone." 
 
 " I tell ye I kin find it, and I '11 prove I 'in 
 right." 
 
 "No, Mr. Bryce. Why take the trouble?" 
 put in Chalmers. His heart was beating madly 
 at sight of the agitation in the face and attitude 
 of the always cool, always poised girl, but he 
 spoke calmly. " Don't go. I '11 take your word 
 for it." 
 
 " Like ye as two peas in a pod," grumbled the 
 old man crossly. " 'T would make ye laugh to 
 see it." 
 
 There was a constraint over the cosy party at 
 supper that day, and in the evening Owen an- 
 nounced to his aunt that he should return to town 
 the next morning.
 
 272 MARY ANNIE 
 
 " But you have only been here a week," faltered 
 the lady. 
 
 " I know." Chalmers was walking up and down 
 the room, his tall form making the ceiling seem 
 lower than ever. " The thing I have always scoffed 
 at has come to me. There is nothing for me to 
 do but to get away." 
 
 Some sight suddenly drew him to the window. 
 The sun had sunk from the cloudy sky, but the 
 moon was rising. Stooping, he passed out through 
 the low window upon the piazza. 
 
 " Do you ride without a lantern after dark on 
 these country roads, Miss Bryce ? " 
 
 " It will be moonlight, and I know every inch 
 of the way." 
 
 " Sha'n't I go with you ? I " He hesitated ; 
 it would seem such an irrelevant fact to her. " I 
 go away to-morrow." 
 
 There was an instant's silence before the answer 
 came. " No, I thank you. I must see Mr. Wood- 
 ward about something I forgot ; but I shall be back 
 in half an hour." 
 
 She had not returned in half an hour nor in an 
 hour. Chalmers was watching. Whatever her 
 motive for going to Woodward even at evening 
 rather than to allow him to come to her, he thought 
 she was running a risk. The moon she had relied 
 upon was long ago obscured. 
 
 " There ain't no call to fret," remarked Uncle 
 Solon when Owen went to him. He looked up
 
 MARY ANNIE 273 
 
 from his newspaper and grinned. " Mary Annie 
 may have took a notion to visit the selectmen and 
 labor with 'em abaout good roads. She 's got that 
 bee in her bunnet naow." 
 
 " Can you tell me where this Woodward lives ? " 
 asked Chalmers gravely. 
 
 " Straight east till ye strike the fust crossroad. 
 Turn to yer left and it 's the fust house." 
 
 Two minutes later Owen's bicycle lantern was 
 sending its little stream of light along the country 
 road as he sped on an errand whose foolishness he 
 suspected until he was hailed by a woman's voice. 
 There in the dark, by the side of the road, sat 
 Miss Bryce, her wheel lying beside her. 
 
 " Your knife, please. Cut my boot," she said 
 breathlessly. 
 
 He brought the lantern and knelt beside her, 
 freeing the swelled foot with all the skill he could 
 bring to bear. 
 
 " I '11 never go wheeling again without a knife," 
 she said faintly. 
 
 " Or a lantern. Are you in great pain ? " 
 
 " It feels better already. I ran into a stick of 
 wood that must have fallen from some wagon. 
 I was thinking of something else, and oh, I 
 was so glad to see your light ! " 
 
 The warmth of her voice, her nearness and help- 
 lessness all stirred him. 
 
 "Shall I go and get Mr. Woodward?" he 
 asked constrainedly.
 
 274 MART ANNIE 
 
 The lantern revealed her beautiful, surprised 
 eyes. 
 
 " I thought perhaps you would rather he helped 
 you than I." 
 
 She caught her lip in her teeth. " Oh, I don't 
 think I could let him he is a real good man, but 
 I 'd rather he did n't touch me." 
 
 Chalmers was still on his knees. He leaned 
 toward her. " Then who is it ? " he asked despe- 
 rately. " A great misfortune has befallen me. It 
 is cowardly, perhaps, for me to speak of it ; but I 
 go to-morrow. Who is the man ? " 
 
 " What man ? " faintly. 
 
 " Why should you mind telling me ? The man 
 the trousseau is for." 
 
 " Oh ! " Silence. " That ruffling was n't for 
 me ; I 'm making it for a girl in Lawrence." 
 
 " But I know Mr. Bryce told me you wrote 
 him of your own trousseau." 
 
 Mary Annie colored finely there in the dark. 
 "Did he tell you that ? " She smiled. "That 
 was only nonsense." 
 
 Owen began to breathe as if he had been run- 
 ning. " Then is n't there anybody ? " 
 
 " N o," hesitatingly, then decidedly, " No." 
 
 " Mary you have the loveliest name in the 
 world Mary, you have known me only a week." 
 
 " Oh, I have known you much longer. Mrs. 
 Pomeroy talked and then she had your picture. 
 I I made the sketch of it that Uncle Solon saw."
 
 MARY AXNIE 275 
 
 " Mary ! " ecstatically. 
 
 "But I tore it up the day after you came." 
 
 "Mary," dejectedly. Then, rising with sudden 
 remembrance, "I am stupidly selfish. You are 
 suffering. I will carry you home." 
 
 "Oh, no, indeed. Help me on my wheel. I 
 can pedal with one foot. This is not a bad sprain, 
 I am sure." 
 
 He lifted her carefully into the saddle. " You 
 will have to let me support you," he said, as the 
 wheel moved slowly. " Don't pedal. No need of 
 it." 
 
 " And your machine ? " 
 
 " Can lie there. Mary, may I change my plan 
 about going away ? " 
 
 " If you like." 
 
 " What does that mean ? I love you." 
 
 " But how can you ? " She objected in such a 
 sweet and unsteady voice that Owen held her closer. 
 " You don't know me.'' 
 
 " We will get acquainted now," he returned. 
 " Are you willing to try me, dear ? Do you care 
 just a little for me ? " 
 
 " It is n't at all according to my theory," she 
 answered slowly, happiness struggling with the 
 doubt in her voice, " but I 'm afraid I do." 
 
 Mrs. Pomeroy did not have so much trouble 
 with the relatives as she feared. She had Mary 
 Annie at her house that winter in Boston, and 
 showed her off to her heart's content.
 
 276 MARY ANNIE 
 
 An arrangement was made for Uncle Solon's 
 continued comfort at the old farm. Indeed, he 
 rather anticipated the unruffled future which he 
 foresaw would succeed the wedding. 
 
 This took place in June ; and the last thing the 
 bride did before the ceremony was to come, look- 
 ing like a fresh white rose, to the old man's room 
 to inspect his unwonted toilet. 
 
 "That tie won't do, Uncle Solon. Here is a 
 better one." She tied it in place herself, took his 
 wrinkled cheeks between her hands and kissed him 
 affectionately, then flitted down the narrow stairs 
 to where Chalmers, radiant, was waiting. 
 
 Mr. Bryce followed, wriggling his neck uncom- 
 fortably in his stiff collar, and as he descended a 
 murmured soliloquy was on his lips : 
 
 " I 'm all fer peace. Mary Annie ain't."
 
 BY A MINUTE 
 
 " FOE, sir, my daughter Helen 's a match for 
 any man," said Farmer Burchard, his hard face 
 harder as he spoke. " She won't go to her hus- 
 band empty-handed either. I cal'late to give 
 Helen Forest Farm if she marries to suit me; and 
 Forest Farm, Ezra Fairfax, is the prettiest pro- 
 perty in Middlesex County." 
 
 The farmer and his hired man were driving 
 along the road to the station, for Mr. Burchard 
 was going off on a week's trip to buy some cattle. 
 
 Ezra made no reply to this boast. He had 
 heard it a number of times, and as he loved Helen 
 Burchard with his whole heart it was not pleasant 
 to listen to, especially as he understood at this 
 time it was a warning note intended to prevent 
 any philandering in his employer's absence. 
 
 " I shall never have Forest Farm if that is the 
 price I must pay," declared Helen herself a few 
 hours later, looking into her lover's honest eyes. 
 The two had grown up together, the children of 
 neighbors. " I shall marry you or nobody, Ezra. 
 I love father, but his ambitions can't make wrong 
 right. Haci he been the one to die instead of your 
 father when we were children I might have been
 
 278 BY A MINUTE 
 
 your mother's ' help ' to-day." The girl smiled in 
 a way that warmed Ezra's despairing heart. 
 
 " If there were only something I could do to 
 change matters ! " he exclaimed. " I hate the 
 name of Forest Farm! I wish Hosea Hiiikley 
 had never sold it." 
 
 " He would n't if he could possibly have done 
 without the money, that is certain," remarked the 
 girl. " What a triumph father felt it to be when 
 he secured it before good Mr. Hosea died." 
 
 " Yes ; if that scamp of a brother of his had got 
 hold of it, I guess Mr. Burchard might have whis- 
 tled for Forest Farm. Jim Hinkley 's the biggest 
 rascal unhung, and he hates your father. He 'd 
 have liked to spite him by selling to somebody 
 else. Well," Ezra heaved a mighty sigh, " for my 
 part, I 'd be willing Jim had got it. I ought not 
 to let you cling to the thought of me, Helen ; it 
 will spoil your life." 
 
 The girl gazed at him with frank tenderness. 
 His sturdy form and bronzed face filled all her 
 horizon. "Can you stop thinking of me?" she 
 asked simply. 
 
 " God knows I can't," he answered, and then he 
 lifted his old hat with a reverent gesture and kissed 
 her. 
 
 The next day he was plodding along the street 
 to the village filled with the problem that always 
 absorbed him, when a stranger accosted him. He 
 looked up and beheld an elderly gentleman with
 
 BY A MINUTE 279 
 
 the stamp of city life upon his face, clothing, and 
 manner. 
 
 " Young man," the latter began, " can you tell 
 me the whereabouts of a place known as Forest 
 Farm?" 
 
 " Yes," replied Ezra. " Walk right ahead and 
 take the first turning to the left, and as soon as 
 you cross the creek you 're there ; " then, with a 
 bluntness which amused his interlocutor, he con- 
 tinued : " Were you thinking of renting it ? " 
 
 The stranger smiled leniently and tapped his 
 hand with a legal paper he held. " No, I was n't 
 thinking of renting it," he answered deliberately ; 
 " I am thinking of buying it. In fact, I have 
 just bought it. My daughter saw the place and 
 thought she would like it for a summer home, and 
 I have come down to take a look at it myself. 
 My deed here will assist me in locating bounda- 
 ries. I 'ni much obliged to you." 
 
 The kindly stranger bowed and moved on, leav- 
 ing Ezra to stare after him, his lips parted, his 
 thoughts in a turmoil. 
 
 His face reddened under its bronze. In some 
 uncomprehended way had his chance come ? Might 
 he do for Allan Burchard some service which 
 should win him Helen? 
 
 He made a swift movement to follow the stran- 
 ger, as suddenly changed his mind, and charged up 
 the village street at a pace which scattered the 
 children before him like leaves in the wind.
 
 280 BY A MINUTE 
 
 Squire Winslow, sitting at the desk in his sec- 
 ond-story office, looked startled as steps dashed up 
 the wooden stairs and the young man burst into 
 the room. " Well ! What 's the matter, Ezra 
 Fairfax ? " exclaimed the old man, pushing his 
 chair back, images of dire catastrophes crowding 
 through his brain. 
 
 " I don't know," gasped the other, dragging a 
 seat to the desk and falling into it. Then with 
 catches of the breath he told his story. 
 
 The squire pushed up his spectacles and listened, 
 frowning. " Certainly, I remember the transfer of 
 Forest Farm," he said. " I drew the deed. You 
 say Mr. Burchard is away. Could n't he have " 
 
 "No, he has only been gone since yesterday, 
 and he told me the day he left he was going to 
 give the place to his daughter. Jim Hinkley 's at 
 the bottom of this, somehow or other." 
 
 Squire Winslow found time even amid his prob- 
 lem to admire Ezra's keen, set face. 
 
 " There 's only one thing that could have made 
 it possible for Jim to meddle, and I suppose that 
 is just the thing that has happened," said the 
 squire, after grasping his stubbly chin in deep 
 thought. Ezra scrutinized him eagerly. 
 
 " I remember now. Mr. Burchard met Hosea 
 here in this office and paid the money and took 
 the deed. When I offered to mail it to the regis- 
 try, Mr. Burchard said he wanted to show it to his 
 wife first. He said he had business in Lowell the
 
 BY A MINUTE 281 
 
 next week and would take the deed to the registry 
 then himself. Now, perhaps, he forgot it ; then, 
 knowing Hosea's honesty, put it off from time to 
 time, and it has never been recorded. Jim Hink- 
 ley has wanted money pretty bad lately, and they 
 do say Satan takes care of his own. Anyway, he 
 must have put that very idea into Jim's head. 
 Jim probably looked the matter up, found things 
 just as he suspected, got a customer for Forest 
 Farm, and sold it." Squire "VVinslow misunder- 
 stood the abstracted thoughtfuluess that changed 
 his visitor's face. 
 
 " Brace up, my boy," he said kindly. " Get 
 back the grit I saw in your eyes a minute ago, and 
 perhaps we '11 beat Jim yet." He caught his 
 watch from his pocket. "No," he ejaculated, 
 " you can't get the deed and catch the last train 
 to Lowell." 
 
 "What what's the idea?" asked Ezra, sit- 
 ting up, alert again. 
 
 " Why, the stranger said he 'd just bought For- 
 est Farm. It 's likely he 's taking a look at the 
 property before recording his deed. If he records 
 his first you 've lost the farm : but if you could 
 any way get yours in" 
 
 " I see ! " Ezra sprang from his chair, a light 
 flashing all over his face. 
 
 Squire Winslow still had his watch in his hand 
 and his mouth open when, three steps at a time, 
 the young man was fleeing downstairs.
 
 282 BY A MINUTE 
 
 " Bless me ! " muttered the lawyer, and his own 
 hand trembled with excitement as he reached for 
 his hat and followed after, as swiftly as his older 
 limbs would carry him. 
 
 Ezra reached home in an incredibly short period. 
 Mrs. Burchard saw him coming, and was startled 
 by his look. She had a kindness for her daugh- 
 ter's lover, but did not dare to side with him. 
 
 " Where 's the key to Mr. Burchard's desk ? " 
 he cried. 
 
 " In its place," she answered apprehensively. 
 
 " So it is," he gasped with relief, feeling- behind 
 the secretary and producing it. "I saw Helen 
 out by the barn. Tell her to saddle Mark quick, 
 please." 
 
 " Has Mr. Burchard " she began. 
 
 " Quick ! " implored Ezra, rummaging among 
 the papers with desperate eagerness. 
 
 She obeyed and returned. " Where are you 
 going, Ezra Fairfax ? " 
 
 To Lowell." 
 
 "On Mark? What will Mr. Burchard say? 
 You know how he feels about that colt." 
 
 " Here it is ! " exclaimed Ezra joyously. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " The deed to Forest Farm. There 's a pur- 
 chaser " The young man dashed out of the 
 house, leaving the desk in confusion, and ran to 
 the barn. 
 
 Helen was tightening the saddle girths.
 
 BY A .IflXCTE 283 
 
 " What is this for ? " she asked, catching the 
 excitement in his face. 
 
 " It 's the only chance ! I can't talk ! " he ex- 
 claimed. He kissed her, sprang on the colt's back, 
 and galloped off. 
 
 " Helen, that boy is crazy ! " cried Mrs. Bur- 
 chard in distress, running out to meet her daugh- 
 ter. " You don't suppose he would dare to try to 
 sell Forest Farm ! He has carried the deed off." 
 
 " Trust Ezra," said Helen stoutly. "I do ; " 
 but her heart thumped, and she too felt more trou- 
 bled than ever before in her life. Might Ezra 
 really have brooded over his troubles until his 
 mind had become unhinged ? 
 
 Meanwhile the swift colt had met the squire on 
 the road, and the rider had reined up. 
 
 Silently he handed down the deed, which the 
 old man examined eagerly. " Just as I thought," 
 he said curtly ; " not recorded. Have you money ? 
 Not enough, perhaps, for everything. Here, take 
 this." 
 
 Ezra accepted the bill, and the brief instruc- 
 tions which the lawyer went on to give him. 
 
 " Better tell the Burchards, I guess. They '11 
 worry either way. Thank you, Squire Winslow." 
 Fairfax swiftly bent and wrung his old friend's 
 hand. 
 
 " God bless you ! " returned the lawyer unstead- 
 
 iiy. 
 
 It would take too long to describe the details of
 
 284 BY A MINUTE 
 
 that ride. The road was a "short cut" compared 
 to the roundabout way by rail from Edgecomb to 
 Lowell. The brave colt did his best, rolling an 
 eye around toward his rider occasionally as if to 
 ask why, when so many steep hills had been trav- 
 eled, he was still urged on ; but when, jaded and 
 worn, the two finally reached Lowell, the Registry 
 of Deeds was closed. Ezra's voice was unsteady 
 as he asked concerning the arrival of .the last train 
 from Edgecomb. He found that it was in, but it 
 too had arrived after registry hours. His chance 
 still remained. 
 
 He saw to his horse's comfort ; but for himself 
 there was no sleep that night. Too much hung in 
 the balance. 
 
 With the first rays of dawn he was walking 
 about the streets, waiting for the appointed hour. 
 
 He turned his steps toward the best hotel in the 
 place, and lounged near at breakfast time, but he 
 did not see the face he sought among the guests. 
 Suppose the stranger's deed had already been 
 recorded before that experimental visit to Edge- 
 comb ! Ezra set his teeth. 
 
 But nine o'clock drew on. He dared linger no 
 longer near the hotel, and moved away toward the 
 court-house. As he approached the long brick 
 building the hour sounded from a steeple. The 
 bell electrified him and he hurried on ; but sud- 
 denly a sight more moving still crossed his view. 
 A well-dressed man, whom Fairfax recognized only
 
 BY A MINUTE 285 
 
 too certainly, had just ascended the steps and was 
 entering the Registry office. For an instant things 
 turned black before the tired man ; then he nerved 
 himself, slouched his hat over his eyes, sprang up 
 the steps after the gentleman, shouldered him aside, 
 and edffinsr through the room ahead of him, reached 
 
 o o o * 
 
 the desk first and offered his shaking paper. 
 
 "Where are your manners, yoting feller?" 
 asked the registrar, glancing back at the some- 
 what annoyed and surprised look on the other 
 man's face. 
 
 Ezra's cold lips stammered something about hur- 
 rying. 
 
 " There 's time enough in this world for folks to 
 be civil. You 've got the day before you, have n't 
 you ? " said the clerk, looking, to Fairfax's acute 
 apprehension, as if he might be going to order him 
 aside in favor of the personage he had jostled. 
 
 The young man's excitement leaped from his 
 eyes, but the slouched hat hid them. It was none 
 of the registrar's business if this clumsy fellow's 
 lips were ashy. He still grumbled as he reached 
 for his rubber stamp. 
 
 The dull thud with which it struck the paper 
 sounded above the ringing in Ezra's ears. Then 
 the clerk glanced at the clock and proceeded to 
 write in its place, in legal form, the moment of 
 registration. Ezra's hungry eyes followed the 
 carelessly moving hand which unconsciously held 
 his fate.
 
 286 BY A MINUTE 
 
 " Nine hours and two minutes." 
 
 The words were written. Fairfax's unsteady 
 fingers dropped a silver dollar with a clash on the 
 desk. He staggered as he moved aside to let the 
 portly gentleman take his turn. 
 
 The registrar with a casual remark pulled the 
 second deed toward him, stamped it, then took up 
 the pen and \frote : 
 
 " Nine hours and three minutes." 
 
 Ezra held on by a corner of the desk, for the 
 clock, the prints, and the maps on the walls were 
 chasing one another madly around the room. 
 'Forest Farm was saved! And Helen? 
 
 Mr. Burchard returned home to find his strong, 
 quiet " hired man '" the hero of the village. Squire 
 Winslow, delighted not a little with his own pres- 
 ence of mind in the affair, had exploited Ezra's 
 victory far and wide. 
 
 " You know you always said, father, that Forest 
 Farm was to go with me," remarked Helen de- 
 murely, " so, logically, I go with the farm and 
 the farm is really Ezra's." 
 
 She opened her eyes at her parent innocently 
 and slipped her hand into her lover's, which was 
 close by. 
 
 Mr. Burchard, still confounded by the risk his 
 own carelessness had entailed, stared at them help- 
 lessly and yielded to the inevitable. 
 
 " Queer doings," he said to himself, and blinked 
 his eyes. " Queer doings ! "
 
 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 " JUST Nell's luck ! " said her sisters, with good- 
 natured envy or, if that is a paradox, then we 
 will say that acute wistfulness breathed in their 
 tones. 
 
 Certain it is that they both wished they might 
 be invited to visit at Mrs. Larrabee's country 
 house on a ridge of Orange Mountain, to vibrate 
 between the joys of New York and the loveliness 
 of spring in that locality, where a large income is 
 required to live near enough to nature's heart to 
 see her wild beauty in the time of birds and 
 blossoms. 
 
 The name of Larrabee had always stood to the 
 Morton girls as representative of high life in all 
 its fascinating ramifications. Their mother had 
 been a fast friend of Mrs. Larrabee in girlhood, 
 and Uncle Sam's postal system had preserved this 
 friendship in spite, or perhaps because, of the dis- 
 tance across which the two widows' letters had 
 traveled for many a year. 
 
 Every gala frock the Morton girls had ever 
 possessed had been made over from some garment 
 sent their mother by Mrs. Larrabee. This high- 
 placed friend's Christmas money bought their
 
 288 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 muffs and skates. The photographs of the ex- 
 terior and interior of her home were gazed upon 
 by them with reverent awe. Indeed, were it not 
 for the picture of their benefactress in Mrs. Mor- 
 ton's possession, the children would probably have 
 grown up with an idea that Mrs. Larrabee floated 
 above an inferior world on angelic pinions. As it 
 was, her thin features inspired them with a fixed 
 belief that flesh was undesirable, and her su- 
 periority to all the vulgar necessities of life went 
 without saying. 
 
 Now a letter had arrived bearing an invitation 
 to the eldest of the Morton girls to visit her. As 
 in the case of royalty, an invitation from this quar- 
 ter was equivalent to a command, especially when 
 the request improved upon that of royalty and 
 included a check for traveling expenses. 
 
 " I ask for Helen," wrote Mrs. Larrabee, " not 
 only because she is the eldest, but because her pic- 
 ture looks so much more like her mother than the 
 others'." 
 
 " Just Nell's luck ! " said the others, upon this. 
 
 " Helen, if you please," corrected that young 
 lady superbly. " Miss Helen Morton is going to 
 visit Mrs. Larrabee, of Crest View. New York 
 papers please take notice." 
 
 Upon this Miss Morton executed an astonishing 
 pirouette, ending in a deep courtesy, which elicited 
 a melancholy laugh from the Cinderellas she was 
 leaving. It was bad enough that they were not
 
 AT CREST VIEW 289 
 
 bidden to see the glories of Crest View ; but it was 
 worse yet to exist a whole month without Nell. 
 
 So, though Gertrude and Lucy thought it would 
 have been much more sensible in their mother's 
 friend to have cheered her spacious mansion with 
 the whole family of Morton, Helen alone set forth 
 one morning, in the midst of warm embraces, 
 much advice, and a few tears and flowers. 
 
 Harry Forsyth furnished the flowers, and had 
 some difficulty in not adding to the tears. In his 
 opinion, Mrs. Larrabee, if she belonged to the 
 superhuman species at all, was an angel of dark- 
 ness ; and he returned Helen's parting gladsome 
 smile with a gaze full of Byronic gloom. * 
 
 Miss Morton took out her fountain pen as soon 
 as the train started and began a letter home. She 
 knew what a gap her absence would make in cer- 
 tain quarters. 
 
 " Be good to Harry," she wrote. " Did you see 
 the look with which he cheered the traveler on 
 her way ? It ought to have touched me, but I feel 
 as if I had one of those red toy balloons inside me 
 to-day in place of a heart ; I feel so elated and 
 inflated ; and it would take more than a look from 
 Harry Forsyth to puncture it and let the rapture 
 out. But be good to him. He will like the one 
 best who talks most about me, and I will bequeath 
 him to either of you with pleasure. Seriously, I 
 feel that I must do a lot of thinking, and make up 
 my mind about H. by the time I come home. If 
 X)
 
 290 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 either of you would save me the trouble, I should 
 be so glad." 
 
 When Helen had changed cars in New York, 
 taken the suburban train, and reached the moun- 
 tain station, she found her hostess waiting for her. 
 
 A footman in light-colored livery spoke her name 
 and took her bag. Mrs. Larrabee put forth her 
 hand from the glistening carriage which Helen en- 
 tered, and, silver chains jingling and bay horses 
 prancing, they drove off with much state and cir- 
 cumstance. 
 
 Mrs. Larrabee bestowed upon her guest what 
 Helen decided was a spirituelle kiss, and they ex- 
 changed a gaze, on one side curiosity, on the other 
 eagerness and gratitude. 
 
 " Dear me ! You 're not nearly so much like 
 your mother as I expected ! " 
 
 The disappointed voice was like a dash of cold 
 water, but Helen replied gayly : " Then sometimes 
 photographic fidelity is n't faithful. I 'm sorry, 
 for we all like to look like mother." 
 
 " She was a nice girl." Mrs. Larrabee looked 
 away absently. There were two little worried lines 
 in her forehead, and they deepened as one of the 
 horses reared restively. 
 
 " Slowly, James," she called querulously. Helen 
 had been with her hostess but two minutes, and 
 yet she perceived already that Mrs. Larrabee not 
 only was not the angel of her transfiguring childish 
 dreams she was not even a happy woman.
 
 AT CfiEST VIEW 291 
 
 A little chill crept along her spine. " A month ! " 
 thought the girl, and the loving warmth of her 
 homely home-circle seemed very far away. 
 
 The satin touch of the elegant carriage-lining 
 seemed to repel her as something alien. Her 
 spirits rose. She was here because she had been 
 urged to come. She could go away when she 
 chose. 
 
 The horses pursued an ascending, winding road, 
 a turn in which brought them to the gates of Crest 
 View. A vast stretch of country suddenly un- 
 rolled itself far below. 
 
 " Oh, how fine ! " exclaimed the girl in de- 
 light. 
 
 " The view is very much admired," said Mrs. 
 Larrabee dispassionately. 
 
 " And what splendid trees you have ! " 
 
 " Yes, vegetation flourishes in New Jersey." 
 
 " And what large greenhouses ! How I shall 
 enjoy seeing them ! " 
 
 " The gardener is very proud of them." 
 
 " Does that fountain ever play ? " The en- 
 thusiastic girl looked eagerly toward the marble 
 cherubs and dolphins grouped above an empty 
 basin. 
 
 " Oh, yes," with cold listlessness, " if anybody 
 cares." 
 
 " Well, some one has come who does care very 
 much," said Helen smiling. " I like falling water 
 as well as I do an orchestra."
 
 292 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 Mrs. Larrabee regarded her curiously. " We 
 haven't an orchestra just now," she remarked 
 dryly. 
 
 The carriage stopped beneath the porte cochere, 
 which Helen had often viewed with reverence in a 
 photograph. 
 
 " Susannah will show you to your room, and 
 the dinner-bell will ring in an hour," were the 
 hostess's parting words. 
 
 Helen looked around upon her room with mingled 
 emotions when the maid had left her. It was per- 
 fect in every appointment. After her ablutions 
 she sat down at the dainty desk and continued the 
 letter to her family begun on the cars. 
 
 " I have taken the plunge, a cold plunge, I 
 assure you. Imagine the sap all squeezed out of 
 a poplar-tree, or picture an attenuated iceberg, and 
 you have my hostess. I 'm going down to dinner 
 in a minute. What will it be like ? I suspect 
 nobody but a professional sword-swallower could 
 make a meal here. I anticipate pokers with may- 
 onnaise, or yardsticks in cream ! " 
 
 But it was a good dinner indeed, a delicious 
 dinner that Helen found in the great dining- 
 room with its inspiring views. Only the colorless 
 hostess criticised the dishes and did not look out 
 of the windows. 
 
 She glanced up at Helen during the salad 
 course. " Can't you eat this either ? " she asked 
 in a vexed tone. " It has n't enough salt."
 
 AT CREST VIEW 293 
 
 Helen winked the water away from her eyes 
 and smiled in an embarrassed fashion. " It is very 
 good, and I am hungry ; but when I chance to 
 glance out there it is so beautiful that I choke up 
 and can't swallow." 
 
 " Dear me ! " said Mrs. Larrabee. " You are n't 
 at all like your mother. I don't remember that 
 she was imaginative." 
 
 The visitor bit her lip, but she answered 
 bravely : 
 
 " I 've only been sent on approval ; you can re- 
 turn me if I don't suit. I 'm afraid, though," - 
 here her voice faltered slightly, but she was proud 
 all night of the fact that she commanded it and 
 did n't cry, " I 'm only afraid that we can't re- 
 fund the money." 
 
 " What are you talking about, child ? I 'm glad 
 you 're here. I don't like to feel that there 's no- 
 body in the house I can speak to. But I 'in sorry 
 you can't see my cousin, Rebecca Harding. She is 
 the most agreeable woman I ever knew." 
 
 Curiosity surged up in Helen's brain to know 
 what traits Mrs. Larrabee would recommend so 
 highly. " I suppose Mrs. Harding enjoys this 
 beautiful place," she said tentatively. 
 
 " She thinks it is very exposed, and so it is." 
 
 " But in warm weather ? " 
 
 "Oh, we spend the summer at the seashore, 
 although the dampness there aggravates Rebecca's 
 neuraljria."
 
 294 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 Miss Morton hurriedly put a piece of shrimp in 
 her mouth. The picture of the two pampered 
 women chasing discomfort through the changing 
 seasons made her feel the necessity of something to 
 bite on, lest she astonish her hostess and disgrace 
 herself. 
 
 Two little homesick tears paid tribute to the 
 situation about midnight, when the guest had for 
 a long time been vainly wooing sleep in her lux- 
 urious bed ; but when they had once been dried 
 she knew nothing more until morning, and then 
 her elastic spirits rebounded with delight at the 
 beauty about her. 
 
 " I wish my eyes were telescopes," she said to 
 Mrs. Larrabee at breakfast, where that lady ap- 
 peared thinner, paler, more introspective than at 
 evening. 
 
 " Oh, the views," she replied in a tone that 
 plainly implied that there was no accounting for 
 tastes. " There are some field - glasses about. 
 Susannah shall get them for you after breakfast." 
 
 " And you will come out with me and tell me 
 what things are, won't you ? " said the girl reck- 
 lessly. 
 
 Mrs. Larrabee looked at her in astonishment. 
 " The grass will be wet for an hour ! " she an- 
 nounced. 
 
 But Helen felt unquenchable. Her cheeks were 
 glowing and her eyes sparkling with life. " I do 
 think you ought to be the happiest woman in the
 
 AT CREST r//nr 295 
 
 world ! " she said. " With such a home as this 
 and such power to do good ! Why, do you know, 
 we girls at home have always considered you as 
 nothing less than a patron saint ! " 
 
 " Humph ! I 'in afraid a near view will be dis- 
 illusioning," was Mrs. Larrabee's reply. Never- 
 theless her face looked as if a tiny drop of the oil 
 of gladness had softened it. 
 
 " I do wish," said Helen timidly, " that you felt 
 strong enough to enjoy your surroundings more." 
 
 " That is what Raymond says." 
 
 " Oh, I remember. Your son's name is Ray- 
 mond. Mother has a picture of him in a velvet 
 suit." 
 
 " Yes. He has gone West on business. He 
 and Rebecca left me at the same time. I hope 
 you can put up for a While with an invalid who 
 has very little to offer you beside scenery." 
 
 Helen's generous heart experienced a quick 
 revulsion of feeling. She determined not to send 
 the letter that lay unfinished upstairs in the drawer 
 of her wri ting-desk. "If I could give you my 
 eyes for a while you would know how happy I 
 shall be," she said warmly. 
 
 And just as hostess and guest had come at last 
 to what seemed a pleasant understanding the dis- 
 turbing cause made his appearance on the scene. 
 
 A flute-like whistle, the barking of dogs, a laugh 
 and shout, suddenly made confusion outside the 
 spacious windows.
 
 296 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 Mrs. Larrabee looked up sharply. " What, 
 Simpson ? " she said, addressing the butler. 
 
 And before the servant could reply a broad- 
 shouldered, plain-featured, square-jawed man of 
 twenty-five strode into the room with an air of 
 tardily suppressing laughter and strength to the 
 prescribed limits of the place. 
 
 " The bad penny, mother," he said, advancing 
 and kissing her cheek carefully. 
 
 " Raymond, you give me palpitation ! " she de- 
 clared, her hand on her heart. 
 
 " I 'm sorry," he answered mechanically ; for 
 whether he had played football, or broken a colt, 
 or raced a yacht, or only admired a new girl, he 
 had always been giving his mother palpitation. 
 " I considered a telegram, but concluded that see- 
 ing me in a condition of rude health would be less 
 of a shock. At the last minute it was decided 
 that I should n't go West ; that 's all." 
 
 Meanwhile the speaker had glanced at his mo- 
 ther's guest, and Mrs. Larrabee introduced him. 
 
 " You remember hearing about the Morton girls, 
 Raymond, the children of my old schoolmate." 
 
 There was more of warning than of enthusiasm 
 in the mother's tone, but Raymond did not notice 
 it, and Helen only vaguely perceived that just as 
 her hostess ignored the beauties of nature and art 
 about her so she failed to revel in this wealth of 
 youth and vitality which seemed to invest the 
 splendid home with its rightful soul.
 
 AT CREST VIEW 297 
 
 Susannah was not obliged to search for the field- 
 glasses. No longer did the guest lack a response 
 to her enthusiasm, while as for Raymond Larrabee 
 the good comradeship of this fearless girl was a 
 surprise and pleasure whose novelty did not wear 
 away with the weeks. 
 
 " It seems to me your business hours are short- 
 ening," said Mrs. Larrabee to him tartly one day 
 when he came in early from the city. Helen had 
 been reading aloud, and here laid down the book. 
 " I sent for Helen to be company for me in my lone- 
 liness. If you are going to begin to spend most of 
 your time at home, I need not have troubled her." 
 
 " It is such awfully nice weather for a ride, 
 mother ; but we '11 drive if you would rather go 
 with us.'* 
 
 tk Thank you. I think I will accept your con- 
 siderate offer," was the dignified reply. 
 
 So Raymond swallowed his disappointment. 
 The saddle-horses were left in the stables, and 
 Mrs. Larrabee held a silken wrap against her 
 cheek to keep the wind from an offending tooth, 
 and kept Helen beside her on the back seat of the 
 carriage, while Raymond yawned and drove the 
 horses at the unexciting pace she exacted. 
 
 That evening Helen remained in her room with 
 plenty of food for thought. She was trying to 
 subdue the indignation in her heart that had 
 finally arisen as the slow conviction of Mrs. Lar- 
 rabee's oft-displayed fears took possession of her.
 
 298 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 She had fulfilled her part of their unwritten con- 
 tract to the letter. No paid companion could be 
 more attentive and devoted than she had been. 
 Helen's conscience acquitted her. To go home 
 before the time was come would be to own herself 
 worsted. But one week was left. She would 
 brave it out. 
 
 The next morning she and Raymond took the 
 gallop which was their regular appetizer for the late 
 breakfast Mrs. Larrabee preferred. The sun fell 
 dazzlingly on the dewy grass. A bluebird called 
 to the folded buds. As they cantered homeward 
 in the full spring-tide of life, of year, of day, 
 Helen reined in her horse. 
 
 " Ray," she began, the lashes shading her spar- 
 kling eyes, " before we reach the house I want to 
 say something disagreeable." 
 
 He glanced at her, obvious admiration on his 
 plain features. " You could n't. Don't try." 
 
 She laughed. " How funny for you to pay 
 compliments ! " 
 
 "Not funny at all. I think that was rather 
 neat." 
 
 " Well, I 'm glad you are in that mood, for 
 what I have to ask of you demands a great deal 
 of chivalry." 
 
 " What 's up, now ? " 
 
 " Why oh, it 's not at all easy, you know," 
 Helen stammered and blushed, notwithstanding 
 the business-like tone in which she contrived to
 
 AT CREST VIEW 299 
 
 frame her sentence. " I want you to be so 
 awfully good as to to let me refuse you." 
 
 Raymond looked slowly at her and flicked his 
 riding-boot with his whip. " Oh ! is that all ? 
 "Well, you would be the first girl to have the 
 chance." 
 
 " And you know," she returned ingratiatingly, 
 and rather short of breath, " there must be a 
 first.'' 
 
 " You think so ? " with a short laugh. " Thank 
 you." 
 
 " No, no ! That is n't what I meant ! I 'm 
 confused, and you must forgive me ; but the point 
 is that your mother is evidently afraid that you 
 that I yes, she thinks and I have to stay 
 here a week longer " oh, how hard he made it, 
 staring at her so gravely ! " and we 've been 
 such good friends, it would make it so much pleas- 
 anter for us all if you could just tell her that 
 I did n't but " suddenly, and crimson with 
 blushes " I see you 're not willing. It 's no mat- 
 ter ; I can stand it '*- She suddenly struck her 
 horse with her whip. 
 
 The creature bounded forward, but Raymond 
 was too quick. He seized its bridle, and simulta- 
 neously threw his other arm around her waist to 
 preserve her from the shock. 
 
 " I nearly fell ! " she exclaimed reproachfully. 
 
 " No, you did n't," he answered, and quieting 
 the horses, he continued :
 
 300 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 " Of course, I 've noticed what you refer to ; 
 and what you say leads up to what is on my mind. 
 I 've wanted to ask your advice about something 
 myself or not so much your advice as your sym- 
 pathy and cooperation. Mother has always been 
 jealous when she even suspected there was a girl 
 in the case. Now I want to confess to you that I 
 am in love ; not passingly and superficially, but 
 with a feeling that will only deepen all my life. 
 Mother has not consented. She won't listen to 
 me. I want to show you this woman. She meets 
 me sometimes in the grounds here. She is coming 
 to-night. I want you to be at our meeting-place, 
 if you will." Raymond's lips, Helen noted, had 
 grown pale, and his words came with difficulty. 
 " Now, where do you think filial duty should cease 
 and a man's own life-happiness should begin to be 
 considered ? " 
 
 Helen, too, had lost color in her surprise. " I 
 don't know the woman, remember. It is too much 
 responsibility to take ! Don't ask me." 
 
 "Yes, I ask you to come and see her. If she 
 is all I believe her to be, have I not the right to 
 claim my own ? Don't refuse me this ! At the 
 head of the ravine at ten o'clock to-night. I claim 
 it in the name of our friendship." 
 
 Helen gazed between her horse's ears. 
 
 " I will come," she said at last. Then in silence 
 the two cantered homeward. 
 
 Helen sat long before her desk that morning,
 
 AT CREST VIEW 301 
 
 meditating over her home-letter ; but at last she 
 wrote : 
 
 " I have made up my mind about Harry For- 
 syth. What I am afraid he wants can never be. 
 But I am so homesick ! It seems to me the coming 
 week will never pass. I shall count the hours and 
 minutes ; and rest assured you will never get rid 
 of me again ! " 
 
 All day her mood was so strangely quiet that 
 Mrs. Larrabee was especially kind. Raymond 
 made a long afternoon in town, and at dinner was 
 abstracted. His mother made up her mind that 
 the young people had had a misunderstanding, and 
 she devoutly hoped it would last until Helen was 
 safely started on her homeward journey. 
 
 In the evening Raymond went to make a call, 
 and Helen read aloud to her hostess. The latter 
 always retired early, out of respect to her invalid- 
 ism, and a little before ten the girl went to the 
 window, hoping that some sign of weather would 
 release her from her promise. The full golden 
 moon returned her gaze calmly. The tall trees 
 beckoned in the hush of night. 
 
 Helen turned resolutely to her dressing-table. 
 Without a glance at her own pale face, she threw 
 a wrap about her head and shoulders and hurried 
 out. Softly leaving the house, she ran across the 
 smooth lawn in and out of shadows until she 
 reached the adjacent ravine, whose steep depth 
 was musical with a narrow tumbling brook.
 
 302 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 A man stepped into the moonlight. 
 
 " Thank you, Helen ! " he said warmly, holding 
 out his hand. She was arranging the lace about 
 her head and did not meet his movement. 
 
 " Are we early ? It is ten, is n't it ? " she 
 asked. 
 
 " Perhaps ; but while we wait, won't you answer 
 my question of this morning ? I think a great 
 deal of your opinion. You know mother, and you 
 know me. How long should I continue to pay 
 regard to her in this matter? I beg for your 
 sympathy and cooperation." 
 
 He looked so big and sturdy standing there, so 
 masterful and able to conduct his own affairs, 
 Helen felt a thrill at the idea of his depending 
 upon her in any degree. 
 
 " What are you afraid of?" she asked, with a 
 hardness and dryness that shocked herself. "Afraid 
 that your mother might have heart-failure if you 
 persisted, or that she would cut you off with a 
 shilling?" 
 
 The man's eyes shone with eagerness as he tried 
 to read her face, but her back was to the soft 
 moonlight. 
 
 " You have changed to me, Helen ! Why ? " 
 
 " Nothing except that our life was play, and 
 now it is earnest. Answer if I am to help you." 
 
 " It is very likely that mother would cut me off 
 with a shilling." 
 
 " And that restrains you ? "
 
 AT CREST VIEW 303 
 
 He could feel her scorn if he could not see it. 
 " Should it not, for the girl's sake ? This is a nice 
 place." 
 
 " What is a place worth ? Are n't you a strong 
 man ? You can be as kind to your mother as 
 ever kinder than ever ; but she shouldn't con- 
 trol you in this especially since you have made 
 this girl love you." 
 
 " I have hoped sometimes that I have ; but how 
 can I be sure ? " 
 
 " Sure ? Does n't she meet you here at night ? " 
 The acute voice changed to one that faltered. " I 
 wish she would hurry. I am cold." 
 
 Raymond advanced a step and enfolded her in 
 his arms. 
 
 She fluttered. " What are you doing ? " 
 
 " Warming you. Lean your head against me, 
 Helen ; that is the sympathy I want. Give me 
 your lips ; that is the cooperation I long for. You 
 must love me, for I love every inch of you, every 
 thought of you, every look of you. Do you remem- 
 ber what you asked me this morning ? Now, then, 
 refuse me if you dare ! " 
 
 His cheek was pressed against her hair, and she 
 was trembling and clinging to him. 
 
 " Oh, Raymond ! " she whispered, after a long 
 ]>:uise. " Let us sit up all night. We may never 
 have another ! " 
 
 " Why, sweetheart, where has all that courage 
 flown ? "
 
 304 AT CREST VIEW 
 
 " Oh we could n't hurt her feelings ! " 
 
 " Could n't ? I only hope she can't hurt ours." 
 
 " Why she can't," said Helen softly. 
 
 And, sure enough, Mrs. Larrabee could n't, 
 though she tried to conscientiously. 
 
 The lovers appeared before her in the morning, 
 her son announced cheerfully his desire to be dis- 
 inherited, and her visitor declared her willingness 
 to return home immediately in punishment for 
 having stolen her hostess's most valuable posses- 
 sion. 
 
 In short, they so completely took the wind out 
 of the outraged mother's sails that there was little 
 left her to do but press both hands upon her heart 
 and have palpitation unlimited, while she glared 
 upon them speechless for a minute. 
 
 " You are both of you selfish and ungrateful," 
 she announced at last. 
 
 " Please don't call me ungrateful ! " pleaded 
 Helen, throwing herself suddenly on her knees 
 beside the indignant woman. " I 've always been 
 grateful to you over and over again all my life ; 
 and did n't you send for me and make me stay 
 here, and throw temptation in my way ? And how 
 could I help loving him ? And I never knew it 
 at all till yesterday, and now I 'm going home " 
 
 " Indeed you are n't ! Nt until Rebecca Hard- 
 ing comes ! Don't say another word about it ! " 
 
 " And shall I send Mr. Bingham out to see
 
 AT CREST VIEW 305 
 
 about changing your will ?" asked Raymond duti- 
 fully. 
 
 " Thank you. I am able to attend to my own 
 business. You had better go into New York and 
 begin to work in earnest." 
 
 " Yes, I 'm going, mother." He stooped and 
 kissed her, and in so doing drew Helen into the 
 same embrace, so that Mrs. Larrabee was not only 
 in a tight place, but a loving one. 
 
 She bore it for a stiff instant, and then she 
 began to cry. 
 
 Raymond signaled eagerly across her bowed 
 head to his fiancee : " It 's all right." 
 
 And Helen nodded back through bright tears : 
 " It 's aU right." 
 
 Gertrude Morton, when she heard of it, said 
 again : " Just Nell's luck ! " Then added : " Poor 
 Harry Forsyth ! " 
 
 Her sister Lucy smiled complacently and patted 
 her fluffy hair. " Oh, I don't know," she remarked.
 
 CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S. A. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED BY 
 
 H. O. HOUGHTON AND CO.
 
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