diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/133-h/133-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/133-h/133-h.htm | 13821 |
1 files changed, 13821 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/133-h/133-h.htm b/old/133-h/133-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..21c4262 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/133-h/133-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13821 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Damnation of Theron Ware | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 133 ***</div> + <h1> + THE DAMNATION OF THERON WARE + </h1> + <h2> + by Harold Frederic + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART1"> <b>PART I</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> <b>PART II</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART3"> <b>PART III</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART4"> <b>PART IV</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER XXIX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XXXI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + PART I + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + No such throng had ever before been seen in the building during all its + eight years of existence. People were wedged together most uncomfortably + upon the seats; they stood packed in the aisles and overflowed the + galleries; at the back, in the shadows underneath these galleries, they + formed broad, dense masses about the doors, through which it would be + hopeless to attempt a passage. + </p> + <p> + The light, given out from numerous tin-lined circles of flaring gas-jets + arranged on the ceiling, fell full upon a thousand uplifted faces—some + framed in bonnets or juvenile curls, others bearded or crowned with + shining baldness—but all alike under the spell of a dominant emotion + which held features in abstracted suspense and focussed every eye upon a + common objective point. + </p> + <p> + The excitement of expectancy reigned upon each row of countenances, was + visible in every attitude—nay, seemed a part of the close, + overheated atmosphere itself. + </p> + <p> + An observer, looking over these compact lines of faces and noting the + uniform concentration of eagerness they exhibited, might have guessed that + they were watching for either the jury's verdict in some peculiarly + absorbing criminal trial, or the announcement of the lucky numbers in a + great lottery. These two expressions seemed to alternate, and even to + mingle vaguely, upon the upturned lineaments of the waiting throng—the + hope of some unnamed stroke of fortune and the dread of some adverse + decree. + </p> + <p> + But a glance forward at the object of this universal gaze would have + sufficed to shatter both hypotheses. Here was neither a court of justice + nor a tombola. It was instead the closing session of the annual Nedahma + Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Bishop was about to + read out the list of ministerial appointments for the coming year. This + list was evidently written in a hand strange to him, and the slow, + near-sighted old gentleman, having at last sufficiently rubbed the glasses + of his spectacles, and then adjusted them over his nose with annoying + deliberation, was now silently rehearsing his task to himself—the + while the clergymen round about ground their teeth and restlessly shuffled + their feet in impatience. + </p> + <p> + Upon a closer inspection of the assemblage, there were a great many of + these clergymen. A dozen or more dignified, and for the most part elderly, + brethren sat grouped about the Bishop in the pulpit. As many others, not + quite so staid in mien, and indeed with here and there almost a suggestion + of frivolity in their postures, were seated on the steps leading down from + this platform. A score of their fellows sat facing the audience, on chairs + tightly wedged into the space railed off round the pulpit; and then came + five or six rows of pews, stretching across the whole breadth of the + church, and almost solidly filled with preachers of the Word. + </p> + <p> + There were very old men among these—bent and decrepit veterans who + had known Lorenzo Dow, and had been ordained by elders who remembered + Francis Asbury and even Whitefield. They sat now in front places, leaning + forward with trembling and misshapen hands behind their hairy ears, + waiting to hear their names read out on the superannuated list, it might + be for the last time. + </p> + <p> + The sight of these venerable Fathers in Israel was good to the eyes, + conjuring up, as it did, pictures of a time when a plain and homely people + had been served by a fervent and devoted clergy—by preachers who + lacked in learning and polish, no doubt, but who gave their lives without + dream of earthly reward to poverty and to the danger and wearing toil of + itinerant missions through the rude frontier settlements. These pictures + had for their primitive accessories log-huts, rough household implements, + coarse clothes, and patched old saddles which told of weary years of + journeying; but to even the least sympathetic vision there shone upon them + the glorified light of the Cross and Crown. Reverend survivors of the + heroic times, their very presence there—sitting meekly at the + altar-rail to hear again the published record of their uselessness and of + their dependence upon church charity—was in the nature of a + benediction. + </p> + <p> + The large majority of those surrounding these patriarchs were middle-aged + men, generally of a robust type, with burly shoulders, and bushing beards + framing shaven upper lips, and who looked for the most part like honest + and prosperous farmers attired in their Sunday clothes. As exceptions to + this rule, there were scattered stray specimens of a more urban class, + worthies with neatly trimmed whiskers, white neckcloths, and even + indications of hair-oil—all eloquent of citified charges; and now + and again the eye singled out a striking and scholarly face, at once + strong and simple, and instinctively referred it to the faculty of one of + the several theological seminaries belonging to the Conference. + </p> + <p> + The effect of these faces as a whole was toward goodness, candor, and + imperturbable self-complacency rather than learning or mental astuteness; + and curiously enough it wore its pleasantest aspect on the countenances of + the older men. The impress of zeal and moral worth seemed to diminish by + regular gradations as one passed to younger faces; and among the very + beginners, who had been ordained only within the past day or two, this + decline was peculiarly marked. It was almost a relief to note the relative + smallness of their number, so plainly was it to be seen that they were not + the men their forbears had been. + </p> + <p> + And if those aged, worn-out preachers facing the pulpit had gazed instead + backward over the congregation, it may be that here too their old eyes + would have detected a difference—what at least they would have + deemed a decline. + </p> + <p> + But nothing was further from the minds of the members of the First M. E. + Church of Tecumseh than the suggestion that they were not an improvement + on those who had gone before them. They were undoubtedly the smartest and + most important congregation within the limits of the Nedahma Conference, + and this new church edifice of theirs represented alike a scale of outlay + and a standard of progressive taste in devotional architecture unique in + the Methodism of that whole section of the State. They had a right to be + proud of themselves, too. They belonged to the substantial order of the + community, with perhaps not so many very rich men as the Presbyterians + had, but on the other hand with far fewer extremely poor folk than the + Baptists were encumbered with. The pews in the first four rows of their + church rented for one hundred dollars apiece—quite up to the + Presbyterian highwater mark—and they now had almost abolished free + pews altogether. The oyster suppers given by their Ladies' Aid Society in + the basement of the church during the winter had established rank among + the fashionable events in Tecumseh's social calendar. + </p> + <p> + A comprehensive and satisfied perception of these advantages was uppermost + in the minds of this local audience, as they waited for the Bishop to + begin his reading. They had entertained this Bishop and his Presiding + Elders, and the rank and file of common preachers, in a style which could + not have been remotely approached by any other congregation in the + Conference. Where else, one would like to know, could the Bishop have been + domiciled in a Methodist house where he might have a sitting-room all to + himself, with his bedroom leading out of it? Every clergyman present had + been provided for in a private residence—even down to the Licensed + Exhorters, who were not really ministers at all when you came to think of + it, and who might well thank their stars that the Conference had assembled + among such open-handed people. There existed a dim feeling that these + Licensed Exhorters—an uncouth crew, with country store-keepers and + lumbermen and even a horse-doctor among their number—had taken + rather too much for granted, and were not exhibiting quite the proper + degree of gratitude over their reception. + </p> + <p> + But a more important issue hung now imminent in the balance—was + Tecumseh to be fairly and honorably rewarded for her hospitality by being + given the pastor of her choice? + </p> + <p> + All were agreed—at least among those who paid pew-rents—upon + the great importance of a change in the pulpit of the First M. E. Church. + A change in persons must of course take place, for their present pastor + had exhausted the three-year maximum of the itinerant system, but there + was needed much more than that. For a handsome and expensive church + building like this, and with such a modern and go-ahead congregation, it + was simply a vital necessity to secure an attractive and fashionable + preacher. They had held their own against the Presbyterians these past few + years only by the most strenuous efforts, and under the depressing + disadvantage of a minister who preached dreary out-of-date sermons, and + who lacked even the most rudimentary sense of social distinctions. The + Presbyterians had captured the new cashier of the Adams County Bank, who + had always gone to the Methodist Church in the town he came from, but now + was lost solely because of this tiresome old fossil of theirs; and there + were numerous other instances of the same sort, scarcely less grievous. + That this state of things must be altered was clear. + </p> + <p> + The unusually large local attendance upon the sessions of the Conference + had given some of the more guileless of visiting brethren a high notion of + Tecumseh's piety; and perhaps even the most sophisticated stranger never + quite realized how strictly it was to be explained by the anxiety to pick + out a suitable champion for the fierce Presbyterian competition. Big + gatherings assembled evening after evening to hear the sermons of those + selected to preach, and the church had been almost impossibly crowded at + each of the three Sunday services. Opinions had naturally differed a good + deal during the earlier stages of this scrutiny, but after last night's + sermon there could be but one feeling. The man for Tecumseh was the + Reverend Theron Ware. + </p> + <p> + The choice was an admirable one, from points of view much more exalted + than those of the local congregation. + </p> + <p> + You could see Mr. Ware sitting there at the end of the row inside the + altar-rail—the tall, slender young man with the broad white brow, + thoughtful eyes, and features moulded into that regularity of strength + which used to characterize the American Senatorial type in those far-away + days of clean-shaven faces and moderate incomes before the War. The + bright-faced, comely, and vivacious young woman in the second side pew was + his wife—and Tecumseh noted with approbation that she knew how to + dress. There were really no two better or worthier people in the building + than this young couple, who sat waiting along with the rest to hear their + fate. But unhappily they had come to know of the effort being made to + bring them to Tecumseh; and their simple pride in the triumph of the + husband's fine sermon had become swallowed up in a terribly anxious + conflict of hope and fear. Neither of them could maintain a satisfactory + show of composure as the decisive moment approached. The vision of + translation from poverty and obscurity to such a splendid post as this—truly + it was too dazzling for tranquil nerves. + </p> + <p> + The tedious Bishop had at last begun to call his roll of names, and the + good people of Tecumseh mentally ticked them off, one by one, as the list + expanded. They felt that it was like this Bishop—an unimportant and + commonplace figure in Methodism, not to be mentioned in the same breath + with Simpson and Janes and Kingsley—that he should begin with the + backwoods counties, and thrust all these remote and pitifully rustic + stations ahead of their own metropolitan charge. To these they listened + but listlessly—indifferent alike to the joy and to the dismay which + he was scattering among the divines before him. + </p> + <p> + The announcements were being doled out with stumbling hesitation. After + each one a little half-rustling movement through the crowded rows of + clergymen passed mute judgment upon the cruel blow this brother had + received, the reward justly given to this other, the favoritism by which a + third had profited. The Presiding Elders, whose work all this was, stared + with gloomy and impersonal abstraction down upon the rows of blackcoated + humanity spread before them. The ministers returned this fixed and + perfunctory gaze with pale, set faces, only feebly masking the emotions + which each new name stirred somewhere among them. The Bishop droned on + laboriously, mispronouncing words and repeating himself as if he were + reading a catalogue of unfamiliar seeds. + </p> + <p> + “First church of Tecumseh—Brother Abram G. Tisdale!” + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt about it! These were actually the words that had been + uttered. After all this outlay, all this lavish hospitality, all this + sacrifice of time and patience in sitting through those sermons, to draw + from the grab-bag nothing better than—a Tisdale! + </p> + <p> + A hum of outraged astonishment—half groan, half wrathful snort + bounded along from pew to pew throughout the body of the church. An echo + of it reached the Bishop, and so confused him that he haltingly repeated + the obnoxious line. Every local eye turned as by intuition to where the + calamitous Tisdale sat, and fastened malignantly upon him. + </p> + <p> + Could anything be worse? This Brother Tisdale was past fifty—a + spindling, rickety, gaunt old man, with a long horse-like head and + vacantly solemn face, who kept one or the other of his hands continually + fumbling his bony jaw. He had been withdrawn from routine service for a + number of years, doing a little insurance canvassing on his own account, + and also travelling for the Book Concern. Now that he wished to return to + parochial work, the richest prize in the whole list, Tecumseh, was given + to him—to him who had never been asked to preach at a Conference, + and whose archaic nasal singing of “Greenland's Icy Mountains” had made + even the Licensed Exhorters grin! It was too intolerably dreadful to think + of! + </p> + <p> + An embittered whisper to the effect that Tisdale was the Bishop's cousin + ran round from pew to pew. This did not happen to be true, but indignant + Tecumseh gave it entire credit. The throngs about the doors dwindled as by + magic, and the aisles cleared. Local interest was dead; and even some of + the pewholders rose and made their way out. One of these murmured audibly + to his neighbors as he departed that HIS pew could be had now for sixty + dollars. + </p> + <p> + So it happened that when, a little later on, the appointment of Theron + Ware to Octavius was read out, none of the people of Tecumseh either noted + or cared. They had been deeply interested in him so long as it seemed + likely that he was to come to them—before their clearly expressed + desire for him had been so monstrously ignored. But now what became of him + was no earthly concern of theirs. + </p> + <p> + After the Doxology had been sung and the Conference formally declared + ended, the Wares would fain have escaped from the flood of handshakings + and boisterous farewells which spread over the front part of the church. + But the clergymen were unusually insistent upon demonstrations of + cordiality among themselves—the more, perhaps, because it was + evident that the friendliness of their local hosts had suddenly evaporated—and, + of all men in the world, the present incumbent of the Octavius pulpit now + bore down upon them with noisy effusiveness, and defied evasion. + </p> + <p> + “Brother Ware—we have never been interduced—but let me clasp + your hand! And—Sister Ware, I presume—yours too!” + </p> + <p> + He was a portly man, who held his head back so that his face seemed all + jowl and mouth and sandy chin-whisker. He smiled broadly upon them with + half-closed eyes, and shook hands again. + </p> + <p> + “I said to 'em,” he went on with loud pretence of heartiness, “the minute + I heerd your name called out for our dear Octavius, 'I must go over an' + interduce myself.' It will be a heavy cross to part with those dear + people, Brother Ware, but if anything could wean me to the notion, so to + speak, it would be the knowledge that you are to take up my labors in + their midst. Perhaps—ah—perhaps they ARE jest a trifle close + in money matters, but they come out strong on revivals. They'll need a + good deal o' stirrin' up about parsonage expenses, but, oh! such seasons + of grace as we've experienced there together!” He shook his head, and + closed his eyes altogether, as if transported by his memories. + </p> + <p> + Brother Ware smiled faintly in decorous response, and bowed in silence; + but his wife resented the unctuous beaming of content on the other's wide + countenance, and could not restrain her tongue. + </p> + <p> + “You seem to bear up tolerably well under this heavy cross, as you call + it,” she said sharply. + </p> + <p> + “The will o' the Lord, Sister Ware—the will o' the Lord!” he + responded, disposed for the instant to put on his pompous manner with her, + and then deciding to smile again as he moved off. The circumstance that he + was to get an additional three hundred dollars yearly in his new place was + not mentioned between them. + </p> + <p> + By a mutual impulse the young couple, when they had at last gained the + cool open air, crossed the street to the side where over-hanging trees + shaded the infrequent lamps, and they might be comparatively alone. The + wife had taken her husband's arm, and pressed closely upon it as they + walked. For a time no word passed, but finally he said, in a grave voice,— + </p> + <p> + “It is hard upon you, poor girl.” + </p> + <p> + Then she stopped short, buried her face against his shoulder, and fell to + sobbing. + </p> + <p> + He strove with gentle, whispered remonstrance to win her from this mood, + and after a few moments she lifted her head and they resumed their walk, + she wiping her eyes as they went. + </p> + <p> + “I couldn't keep it in a minute longer!” she said, catching her breath + between phrases. “Oh, WHY do they behave so badly to us, Theron?” + </p> + <p> + He smiled down momentarily upon her as they moved along, and patted her + hand. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody must have the poor places, Alice,” he said consolingly. “I am a + young man yet, remember. We must take our turn, and be patient. For 'we + know that all things work together for good.'” + </p> + <p> + “And your sermon was so head-and-shoulders above all the others!” she went + on breathlessly. “Everybody said so! And Mrs. Parshall heard it so DIRECT + that you were to be sent here, and I know she told everybody how much I + was lotting on it—I wish we could go right off tonight without going + to her house—I shall be ashamed to look her in the face—and of + course she knows we're poked off to that miserable Octavius.—Why, + Theron, they tell me it's a worse place even than we've got now!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not at all,” he put in reassuringly. “It has grown to be a large town—oh, + quite twice the size of Tyre. It's a great Irish place, I've heard. Our + own church seems to be a good deal run down there. We must build it up + again; and the salary is better—a little.” + </p> + <p> + But he too was depressed, and they walked on toward their temporary + lodging in a silence full of mutual grief. It was not until they had come + within sight of this goal that he prefaced by a little sigh of resignation + these further words,— + </p> + <p> + “Come—let us make the best of it, my girl! After all, we are in the + hands of the Lord.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't, Theron!” she said hastily. “Don't talk to me about the Lord + tonight; I can't bear it!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + “Theron! Come out here! This is the funniest thing we have heard yet!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Ware stood on the platform of her new kitchen stoop. The bright flood + of May-morning sunshine completely enveloped her girlish form, clad in a + simple, fresh-starched calico gown, and shone in golden patches upon her + light-brown hair. She had a smile on her face, as she looked down at the + milk boy standing on the bottom step—a smile of a doubtful sort, + stormily mirthful. + </p> + <p> + “Come out a minute, Theron!” she called again; and in obedience to the + summons the tall lank figure of her husband appeared in the open doorway + behind her. A long loose, open dressing-gown dangled to his knees, and his + sallow, clean-shaven, thoughtful face wore a morning undress expression of + youthful good-nature. He leaned against the door-sill, crossed his large + carpet slippers, and looked up into the sky, drawing a long satisfied + breath. + </p> + <p> + “What a beautiful morning!” he exclaimed. “The elms over there are full of + robins. We must get up earlier these mornings, and take some walks.” + </p> + <p> + His wife indicated the boy with the milk-pail on his arm, by a wave of her + hand. + </p> + <p> + “Guess what he tells me!” she said. “It wasn't a mistake at all, our + getting no milk yesterday or the Sunday before. It seems that that's the + custom here, at least so far as the parsonage is concerned.” + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter, boy?” asked the young minister, drawling his words a + little, and putting a sense of placid irony into them. “Don't the cows + give milk on Sunday, then?” + </p> + <p> + The boy was not going to be chaffed. “Oh, I'll bring you milk fast enough + on Sundays, if you give me the word,” he said with nonchalance. “Only it + won't last long.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean—'won't last long'?”, asked Mrs. Ware, briskly. + </p> + <p> + The boy liked her—both for herself, and for the doughnuts fried with + her own hands, which she gave him on his morning round. He dropped his + half-defiant tone. + </p> + <p> + “The thing of it's this,” he explained. “Every new minister starts in + saying we can deliver to this house on Sundays, an' then gives us notice + to stop before the month's out. It's the trustees that does it.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Theron Ware uncrossed his feet and moved out on to the stoop + beside his wife. “What's that you say?” he interjected. “Don't THEY take + milk on Sundays?” + </p> + <p> + “Nope!” answered the boy. + </p> + <p> + The young couple looked each other in the face for a puzzled moment, then + broke into a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we'll try it, anyway,” said the preacher. “You can go on bringing + it Sundays till—till—” + </p> + <p> + “Till you cave in an' tell me to stop,” put in the boy. “All right!” and + he was off on the instant, the dipper jangling loud incredulity in his + pail as he went. + </p> + <p> + The Wares exchanged another glance as he disappeared round the corner of + the house, and another mutual laugh seemed imminent. Then the wife's face + clouded over, and she thrust her under-lip a trifle forward out of its + place in the straight and gently firm profile. + </p> + <p> + “It's just what Wendell Phillips said,” she declared. “'The Puritan's idea + of hell is a place where everybody has to mind his own business.'” + </p> + <p> + The young minister stroked his chin thoughtfully, and let his gaze wander + over the backyard in silence. The garden parts had not been spaded up, but + lay, a useless stretch of muddy earth, broken only by last year's + cabbage-stumps and the general litter of dead roots and vegetation. The + door of the tenantless chicken-coop hung wide open. Before it was a great + heap of ashes and cinders, soaked into grimy hardness by the recent spring + rains, and nearer still an ancient chopping-block, round which were + scattered old weather-beaten hardwood knots which had defied the axe, + parts of broken barrels and packing-boxes, and a nameless debris of tin + cans, clam-shells, and general rubbish. It was pleasanter to lift the + eyes, and look across the neighbors' fences to the green, waving tops of + the elms on the street beyond. How lofty and beautiful they were in the + morning sunlight, and with what matchless charm came the song of the + robins, freshly installed in their haunts among the new pale-green leaves! + Above them, in the fresh, scented air, glowed the great blue dome, radiant + with light and the purification of spring. + </p> + <p> + Theron lifted his thin, long-fingered hand, and passed it in a slow arch + of movement to comprehend this glorious upper picture. + </p> + <p> + “What matter anyone's ideas of hell,” he said, in soft, grave tones, “when + we have that to look at, and listen to, and fill our lungs with? It seems + to me that we never FEEL quite so sure of God's goodness at other times as + we do in these wonderful new mornings of spring.” + </p> + <p> + The wife followed his gesture, and her eyes rested for a brief moment, + with pleased interest, upon the trees and the sky. Then they reverted, + with a harsher scrutiny, to the immediate foreground. + </p> + <p> + “Those Van Sizers ought to be downright ashamed of themselves,” she said, + “to leave everything in such a muss as this. You MUST see about getting a + man to clean up the yard, Theron. It's no use your thinking of doing it + yourself. In the first place, it wouldn't look quite the thing, and, + second, you'd never get at it in all your born days. Or if a man would + cost too much, we might get a boy. I daresay Harvey would come around, + after he'd finished with his milk-route in the forenoon. We could give him + his dinner, you know, and I'd bake him some cookies. He's got the greatest + sweet-tooth you ever heard of. And then perhaps if we gave him a quarter, + or say half a dollar, he'd be quite satisfied. I'll speak to him in the + morning. We can save a dollar or so that way.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose every little does help,” commented Mr. Ware, with a doleful + lack of conviction. Then his face brightened. “I tell you what let's do!” + he exclaimed. “Get on your street dress, and we'll take a long walk, way + out into the country. You've never seen the basin, where they float the + log-rafts in, or the big sawmills. The hills beyond give you almost + mountain effects, they are so steep; and they say there's a sulphur spring + among the slate on the hill-side, somewhere, with trees all about it; and + we could take some sandwiches with us—” + </p> + <p> + “You forget,” put in Mrs. Ware,—“those trustees are coming at + eleven.” + </p> + <p> + “So they are!” assented the young minister, with something like a sigh. He + cast another reluctant, lingering glance at the sunlit elm boughs, and, + turning, went indoors. + </p> + <p> + He loitered for an aimless minute in the kitchen, where his wife, her + sleeves rolled to the elbow, now resumed the interrupted washing of the + breakfast dishes—perhaps with vague visions of that ever-receding + time to come when they might have a hired girl to do such work. Then he + wandered off into the room beyond, which served them alike as living-room + and study, and let his eye run along the two rows of books that + constituted his library. He saw nothing which he wanted to read. Finally + he did take down “Paley's Evidences,” and seated himself in the big + armchair—that costly and oversized anomaly among his humble + house-hold gods; but the book lay unopened on his knee, and his eyelids + half closed themselves in sign of revery. + </p> + <p> + This was his third charge—this Octavius which they both knew they + were going to dislike so much. + </p> + <p> + The first had been in the pleasant dairy and hop country many miles to the + south, on another watershed and among a different kind of people. Perhaps, + in truth, the grinding labor, the poverty of ideas, the systematic + selfishness of later rural experience, had not been lacking there; but + they played no part in the memories which now he passed in tender review. + He recalled instead the warm sunshine on the fertile expanse of fields; + the sleek, well-fed herds of “milkers” coming lowing down the road under + the maples; the prosperous and hospitable farmhouses, with their orchards + in blossom and their spacious red barns; the bountiful boiled dinners + which cheery housewives served up with their own skilled hands. Of course, + he admitted to himself, it would not be the same if he were to go back + there again. He was conscious of having moved along—was it, after + all, an advance?—to a point where it was unpleasant to sit at table + with the unfragrant hired man, and still worse to encounter the bucolic + confusion between the functions of knives and forks. But in those happy + days—young, zealous, himself farm-bred—these trifles had been + invisible to him, and life there among those kindly husbandmen had seemed, + by contrast with the gaunt surroundings and gloomy rule of the theological + seminary, luxuriously abundant and free. + </p> + <p> + It was there too that the crowning blessedness of his youth—nay, + should he not say of all his days?—had come to him. There he had + first seen Alice Hastings,—the bright-eyed, frank-faced, serenely + self-reliant girl, who now, less than four years thereafter, could be + heard washing the dishes out in the parsonage kitchen. + </p> + <p> + How wonderful she had seemed to him then! How beautiful and all-beneficent + the miracle still appeared! Though herself the daughter of a farmer, her + presence on a visit within the borders of his remote country charge had + seemed to make everything, there a hundred times more countrified than it + had ever been before. She was fresh from the refinements of a town + seminary: she read books; it was known that she could play upon the piano. + Her clothes, her manners, her way of speaking, the readiness of her + thoughts and sprightly tongue—not least, perhaps, the imposing + current understanding as to her father's wealth—placed her on a + glorified pinnacle far away from the girls of the neighborhood. These + honest and good-hearted creatures indeed called ceaseless attention to her + superiority by their deference and open-mouthed admiration, and treated it + as the most natural thing in the world that their young minister should be + visibly “taken” with her. + </p> + <p> + Theron Ware, in truth, left this first pastorate of his the following + spring, in a transfiguring halo of romance. His new appointment was to + Tyre—a somewhat distant village of traditional local pride and + substance—and he was to be married only a day or so before entering + upon his pastoral duties there. The good people among whom he had begun + his ministry took kindly credit to themselves that he had met his bride + while she was “visiting round” their countryside. In part by jocose + inquiries addressed to the expectant groom, in part by the confidences of + the postmaster at the corners concerning the bulk and frequency of the + correspondence passing between Theron and the now remote Alice—they + had followed the progress of the courtship through the autumn and winter + with friendly zest. When he returned from the Conference, to say good-bye + and confess the happiness that awaited him, they gave him a “donation”—quite + as if he were a married pastor with a home of his own, instead of a shy + young bachelor, who received his guests and their contributions in the + house where he boarded. + </p> + <p> + He went away with tears of mingled regret and proud joy in his eyes, + thinking a good deal upon their predictions of a distinguished career + before him, feeling infinitely strengthened and upborne by the hearty + fervor of their God-speed, and taking with him nearly two wagon-loads of + vegetables, apples, canned preserves, assorted furniture, glass dishes, + cheeses, pieced bedquilts, honey, feathers, and kitchen utensils. + </p> + <p> + Of the three years' term in Tyre, it was pleasantest to dwell upon the + beginning. + </p> + <p> + The young couple—after being married out at Alice's home in an + adjoining county, under the depressing conditions of a hopelessly + bedridden mother, and a father and brothers whose perceptions were + obviously closed to the advantages of a matrimonial connection with + Methodism—came straight to the house which their new congregation + rented as a parsonage. The impulse of reaction from the rather grim + cheerlessness of their wedding lent fresh gayety to their lighthearted, + whimsical start at housekeeping. They had never laughed so much in all + their lives as they did now in these first months—over their weird + ignorance of domestic details; with its mishaps, mistakes, and + entertaining discoveries; over the comical super-abundances and + shortcomings of their “donation” outfit; over the thousand and one quaint + experiences of their novel relation to each other, to the congregation, + and to the world of Tyre at large. + </p> + <p> + Theron, indeed, might be said never to have laughed before. Up to that + time no friendly student of his character, cataloguing his admirable + qualities, would have thought of including among them a sense of humor, + much less a bent toward levity. Neither his early strenuous battle to get + away from the farm and achieve such education as should serve to open to + him the gates of professional life, nor the later wave of religious + enthusiasm which caught him up as he stood on the border-land of manhood, + and swept him off into a veritable new world of views and aspirations, had + been a likely school of merriment. People had prized him for his innocent + candor and guileless mind, for his good heart, his pious zeal, his modesty + about gifts notably above the average, but it had occurred to none to + suspect in him a latent funny side. + </p> + <p> + But who could be solemn where Alice was?—Alice in a quandary over + the complications of her cooking stove; Alice boiling her potatoes all + day, and her eggs for half an hour; Alice ordering twenty pounds of steak + and half a pound of sugar, and striving to extract a breakfast beverage + from the unground coffee-bean? Clearly not so tenderly fond and + sympathetic a husband as Theron. He began by laughing because she laughed, + and grew by swift stages to comprehend, then frankly to share, her + amusement. From this it seemed only a step to the development of a humor + of his own, doubling, as it were, their sportive resources. He found + himself discovering a new droll aspect in men and things; his phraseology + took on a dryly playful form, fittingly to present conceits which danced + up, unabashed, quite into the presence of lofty and majestic truths. He + got from this nothing but satisfaction; it obviously involved increased + claims to popularity among his parishioners, and consequently magnified + powers of usefulness, and it made life so much more a joy and a thing to + be thankful for. Often, in the midst of the exchange of merry quip and + whimsical suggestion, bright blossoms on that tree of strength and + knowledge which he felt expanding now with a mighty outward pushing in all + directions, he would lapse into deep gravity, and ponder with a swelling + heart the vast unspeakable marvel of his blessedness, in being thus + enriched and humanized by daily communion with the most worshipful of + womankind. + </p> + <p> + This happy and good young couple took the affections of Tyre by storm. The + Methodist Church there had at no time held its head very high among the + denominations, and for some years back had been in a deplorably sinking + state, owing first to the secession of the Free Methodists and then to the + incumbency of a pastor who scandalized the community by marrying a black + man to a white woman. But the Wares changed all this. Within a month the + report of Theron's charm and force in the pulpit was crowding the church + building to its utmost capacity—and that, too, with some of Tyre's + best people. Equally winning was the atmosphere of jollity and juvenile + high spirits which pervaded the parsonage under these new conditions, and + which Theron and Alice seemed to diffuse wherever they went. + </p> + <p> + Thus swimmingly their first year sped, amid universal acclaim. Mrs. Ware + had a recognized social place, quite outside the restricted limits of + Methodism, and shone in it with an unflagging brilliancy altogether beyond + the traditions of Tyre. Delightful as she was in other people's houses, + she was still more naively fascinating in her own quaint and somewhat + harum-scarum domicile; and the drab, two-storied, tin-roofed little + parsonage might well have rattled its clapboards to see if it was not in + dreamland—so gay was the company, so light were the hearts, which it + sheltered in these new days. As for Theron, the period was one of + incredible fructification and output. He scarcely recognized for his own + the mind which now was reaching out on all sides with the arms of an + octopus, exploring unsuspected mines of thought, bringing in rich + treasures of deduction, assimilating, building, propounding as if by some + force quite independent of him. He could not look without blinking + timidity at the radiance of the path stretched out before him, leading + upward to dazzling heights of greatness. + </p> + <p> + At the end of this first year the Wares suddenly discovered that they were + eight hundred dollars in debt. + </p> + <p> + The second year was spent in arriving, by slow stages and with a cruel + wealth of pathetic detail, at a realization of what being eight hundred + dollars in debt meant. + </p> + <p> + It was not in their elastic and buoyant natures to grasp the full + significance of the thing at once, or easily. Their position in the social + structure, too, was all against clear-sightedness in material matters. A + general, for example, uniformed and in the saddle, advancing through the + streets with his staff in the proud wake of his division's massed walls of + bayonets, cannot be imagined as quailing at the glance thrown at him by + his tailor on the sidewalk. Similarly, a man invested with sacerdotal + authority, who baptizes, marries, and buries, who delivers judgments from + the pulpit which may not be questioned in his hearing, and who receives + from all his fellow-men a special deference of manner and speech, is in + the nature of things prone to see the grocer's book and the butcher's bill + through the little end of the telescope. + </p> + <p> + The Wares at the outset had thought it right to trade as exclusively as + possible with members of their own church society. This loyalty became a + principal element of martyrdom. Theron had his creditors seated in serried + rows before him, Sunday after Sunday. Alice had her critics consolidated + among those whom it was her chief duty to visit and profess friendship + for. These situations now began, by regular gradations, to unfold their + terrors. At the first intimation of discontent, the Wares made what seemed + to them a sweeping reduction in expenditure. When they heard that Brother + Potter had spoken of them as “poor pay,” they dismissed their hired girl. + A little later, Theron brought himself to drop a laboriously casual + suggestion as to a possible increase of salary, and saw with sinking + spirits the faces of the stewards freeze with dumb disapprobation. Then + Alice paid a visit to her parents, only to find her brothers doggedly + hostile to the notion of her being helped, and her father so much under + their influence that the paltry sum he dared offer barely covered the + expenses of her journey. With another turn of the screw, they sold the + piano she had brought with her from home, and cut themselves down to the + bare necessities of life, neither receiving company nor going out. They + never laughed now, and even smiles grew rare. + </p> + <p> + By this time Theron's sermons, preached under that stony glare of people + to whom he owed money, had degenerated to a pitiful level of commonplace. + As a consequence, the attendance became once more confined to the + insufficient membership of the church, and the trustees complained of + grievously diminished receipts. When the Wares, grown desperate, ventured + upon the experiment of trading outside the bounds of the congregation, the + trustees complained again, this time peremptorily. + </p> + <p> + Thus the second year dragged itself miserably to an end. Nor was relief + possible, because the Presiding Elder knew something of the circumstances, + and felt it his duty to send Theron back for a third year, to pay his + debts, and drain the cup of disciplinary medicine to its dregs. + </p> + <p> + The worst has been told. Beginning in utter blackness, this third year, in + the second month, brought a change as welcome as it was unlooked for. An + elderly and important citizen of Tyre, by name Abram Beekman, whom Theron + knew slightly, and had on occasions seen sitting in one of the back pews + near the door, called one morning at the parsonage, and electrified its + inhabitants by expressing a desire to wipe off all their old scores for + them, and give them a fresh start in life. As he put the suggestion, they + could find no excuse for rejecting it. He had watched them, and heard a + good deal about them, and took a fatherly sort of interest in them. He did + not deprecate their regarding the aid he proffered them in the nature of a + loan, but they were to make themselves perfectly easy about it, and never + return it at all unless they could spare it sometime with entire + convenience, and felt that they wanted to do so. As this amazing windfall + finally took shape, it enabled the Wares to live respectably through the + year, and to leave Tyre with something over one hundred dollars in hand. + </p> + <p> + It enabled them, too, to revive in a chastened form their old dream of + ultimate success and distinction for Theron. He had demonstrated clearly + enough to himself, during that brief season of unrestrained effulgence, + that he had within him the making of a great pulpit orator. He set to work + now, with resolute purpose, to puzzle out and master all the principles + which underlie this art, and all the tricks that adorn its superstructure. + He studied it, fastened his thoughts upon it, talked daily with Alice + about it. In the pulpit, addressing those people who had so darkened his + life and crushed the first happiness out of his home, he withheld himself + from any oratorical display which could afford them gratification. He put + aside, as well; the thought of attracting once more the non-Methodists of + Tyre, whose early enthusiasm had spread such pitfalls for his unwary feet. + He practised effects now by piecemeal, with an alert ear, and calculation + in every tone. An ambition, at once embittered and tearfully solicitous, + possessed him. + </p> + <p> + He reflected now, this morning, with a certain incredulous interest, upon + that unworthy epoch in his life history, which seemed so far behind him, + and yet had come to a close only a few weeks ago. The opportunity had been + given him, there at the Tecumseh Conference, to reveal his quality. He had + risen to its full limit of possibilities, and preached a great sermon in a + manner which he at least knew was unapproachable. He had made his most + powerful bid for the prize place, had trebly deserved success—and + had been banished instead to Octavius! + </p> + <p> + The curious thing was that he did not resent his failure. Alice had taken + it hard, but he himself was conscious of a sense of spiritual gain. The + influence of the Conference, with its songs and seasons of prayer and high + pressure of emotional excitement, was still strong upon him. It seemed + years and years since the religious side of him had been so stirred into + motion. He felt, as he lay back in the chair, and folded his hands over + the book on his knee, that he had indeed come forth from the fire purified + and strengthened. The ministry to souls diseased beckoned him with a new + and urgent significance. He smiled to remember that Mr. Beekman, speaking + in his shrewd and pointed way, had asked him whether, looking it all over, + he didn't think it would be better for him to study law, with a view to + sliding out of the ministry when a good chance offered. It amazed him now + to recall that he had taken this hint seriously, and even gone to the + length of finding out what books law-students began upon. + </p> + <p> + Thank God! all that was past and gone now. The Call sounded, resonant and + imperative, in his ears, and there was no impulse of his heart, no fibre + of his being, which did not stir in devout response. He closed his eyes, + to be the more wholly alone with the Spirit, that moved him. + </p> + <p> + The jangling of a bell in the hallway broke sharply upon his meditations, + and on the instant his wife thrust in her head from the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + “You'll have to go to the door, Theron!” she warned him, in a loud, swift + whisper. “I'm not fit to be seen. It is the trustees.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said, and rose slowly from sprawling recumbency to his + feet. “I'll go.” + </p> + <p> + “And don't forget,” she added strenuously; “I believe in Levi Gorringe! + I've seen him go past here with his rod and fish-basket twice in eight + days, and that's a good sign. He's got a soft side somewhere. And just + keep a stiff upper lip about the gas, and don't you let them jew you down + a solitary cent on that sidewalk.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Theron, again, and moved reluctantly toward the hall + door. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + When the three trustees had been shown in by the Rev. Mr. Ware, and had + taken seats, an awkward little pause ensued. The young minister looked + doubtingly from one face to another, the while they glanced with inquiring + interest about the room, noting the pictures and appraising the furniture + in their minds. + </p> + <p> + The obvious leader of the party, Loren Pierce, a rich quarryman, was an + old man of medium size and mean attire, with a square, beardless face as + hard and impassive in expression as one of his blocks of limestone. The + irregular, thin-lipped mouth, slightly sunken, and shut with vice-like + firmness, the short snub nose, and the little eyes squinting from + half-closed lids beneath slightly marked brows, seemed scarcely to attain + to the dignity of features, but evaded attention instead, as if feeling + that they were only there at all from plain necessity, and ought not to be + taken into account. Mr. Pierce's face did not know how to smile—what + was the use of smiles?—but its whole surface radiated secretiveness. + Portrayed on canvas by a master brush, with a ruff or a red robe for + masquerade, generations of imaginative amateurs would have seen in it vast + reaching plots, the skeletons of a dozen dynastic cupboards, the guarded + mysteries of half a century's international diplomacy. The amateurs would + have been wrong again. There was nothing behind Mr. Pierce's juiceless + countenance more weighty than a general determination to exact seven per + cent for his money, and some specific notions about capturing certain + brickyards which were interfering with his quarry-sales. But Octavius + watched him shamble along its sidewalks quite as the Vienna of dead and + forgotten yesterday might have watched Metternich. + </p> + <p> + Erastus Winch was of a breezier sort—a florid, stout, and sandy man, + who spent most of his life driving over evil country roads in a buggy, + securing orders for dairy furniture and certain allied lines of farm + utensils. This practice had given him a loud voice and a deceptively + hearty manner, to which the other avocation of cheese-buyer, which he + pursued at the Board of Trade meetings every Monday afternoon, had added a + considerable command of persuasive yet non-committal language. To look at + him, still more to hear him, one would have sworn he was a good fellow, a + trifle rough and noisy, perhaps, but all right at bottom. But the County + Clerk of Dearborn County could have told you of agriculturists who knew + Erastus from long and unhappy experience, and who held him to be even a + tighter man than Loren Pierce in the matter of a mortgage. + </p> + <p> + The third trustee, Levi Gorringe, set one wondering at the very first + glance what on earth he was doing in that company. Those who had known him + longest had the least notion; but it may be added that no one knew him + well. He was a lawyer, and had lived in Octavius for upwards of ten years; + that is to say, since early manhood. He had an office on the main street, + just under the principal photograph gallery. Doubtless he was sometimes in + this office; but his fellow-townsmen saw him more often in the street + doorway, with the stairs behind him, and the flaring show-cases of the + photographer on either side, standing with his hands in his pockets and an + unlighted cigar in his mouth, looking at nothing in particular. About + every other day he went off after breakfast into the country roundabout, + sometimes with a rod, sometimes with a gun, but always alone. He was a + bachelor, and slept in a room at the back of his office, cooking some of + his meals himself, getting others at a restaurant close by. Though he had + little visible practice, he was understood to be well-to-do and even more, + and people tacitly inferred that he “shaved notes.” The Methodists of + Octavius looked upon him as a queer fish, and through nearly a dozen years + had never quite outgrown their hebdomadal tendency to surprise at seeing + him enter their church. He had never, it is true, professed religion, but + they had elected him as a trustee now for a number of terms, all the same—partly + because he was their only lawyer, partly because he, like both his + colleagues, held a mortgage on the church edifice and lot. In person, Mr. + Gorringe was a slender man, with a skin of a clear, uniform citron tint, + black waving hair, and dark gray eyes, and a thin, high-featured face. He + wore a mustache and pointed chin-tuft; and, though he was of New England + parentage and had never been further south than Ocean Grove, he presented + a general effect of old Mississippian traditions and tastes startlingly at + variance with the standards of Dearborn County Methodism. Nothing could + convince some of the elder sisters that he was not a drinking man. + </p> + <p> + The three visitors had completed their survey of the room now; and Loren + Pierce emitted a dry, harsh little cough, as a signal that business was + about to begin. At this sound, Winch drew up his feet, and Gorringe untied + a parcel of account-books and papers that he held on his knee. Theron felt + that his countenance must be exhibiting to the assembled brethren an + unfortunate sense of helplessness in their hands. He tried to look more + resolute, and forced his lips into a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Brother Gorringe allus acts as Seckertary,” said Erastus Winch, beaming + broadly upon the minister, as if the mere mention of the fact promoted + jollity. “That's it, Brother Gorringe,—take your seat at Brother + Ware's desk. Mind the Dominie's pen don't play tricks on you, an' start + off writin' out sermons instid of figgers.” The humorist turned to Theron + as the lawyer walked over to the desk at the window. “I allus have to + caution him about that,” he remarked with great joviality. “An' do YOU + look out afterwards, Brother Ware, or else you'll catch that pen o' yours + scribblin' lawyer's lingo in place o' the Word.” + </p> + <p> + Theron felt bound to exhibit a grin in acknowledgment of this pleasantry. + The lawyer's change of position had involved some shifting of the others' + chairs, and the young minister found himself directly confronted by + Brother Pierce's hard and colorless old visage. Its little eyes were + watching him, as through a mask, and under their influence the smile of + politeness fled from his lips. The lawyer on his right, the cheese-buyer + to the left, seemed to recede into distance as he for the moment returned + the gaze of the quarryman. He waited now for him to speak, as if the + others were of no importance. + </p> + <p> + “We are a plain sort o' folks up in these parts,” said Brother Pierce, + after a slight further pause. His voice was as dry and rasping as his + cough, and its intonations were those of authority. “We walk here,” he + went on, eying the minister with a sour regard, “in a meek an' humble + spirit, in the straight an' narrow way which leadeth unto life. We ain't + gone traipsin' after strange gods, like some people that call themselves + Methodists in other places. We stick by the Discipline an' the ways of our + fathers in Israel. No new-fangled notions can go down here. Your wife'd + better take them flowers out of her bunnit afore next Sunday.” + </p> + <p> + Silence possessed the room for a few moments, the while Theron, pale-faced + and with brows knit, studied the pattern of the ingrain carpet. Then he + lifted his head, and nodded it in assent. “Yes,” he said; “we will do + nothing by which our 'brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made + weak.'” + </p> + <p> + Brother Pierce's parchment face showed no sign of surprise or pleasure at + this easy submission. “Another thing: We don't want no book-learnin' or + dictionary words in our pulpit,” he went on coldly. “Some folks may + stomach 'em; we won't. Them two sermons o' yours, p'r'aps they'd do down + in some city place; but they're like your wife's bunnit here, they're too + flowery to suit us. What we want to hear is the plain, old-fashioned Word + of God, without any palaver or 'hems and ha's. They tell me there's some + parts where hell's treated as played-out—where our ministers don't + like to talk much about it because people don't want to hear about it. + Such preachers ought to be put out. They ain't Methodists at all. What we + want here, sir, is straight-out, flat-footed hell—the burnin' lake + o' fire an' brim-stone. Pour it into 'em, hot an' strong. We can't have + too much of it. Work in them awful deathbeds of Voltaire an' Tom Paine, + with the Devil right there in the room, reachin' for 'em, an' they yellin' + for fright; that's what fills the anxious seat an' brings in souls hand + over fist.” + </p> + <p> + Theron's tongue dallied for an instant with the temptation to comment upon + these old-wife fables, which were so dear to the rural religious heart + when he and I were boys. But it seemed wiser to only nod again, and let + his mentor go on. + </p> + <p> + “We ain't had no trouble with the Free Methodists here,” continued Brother + Pierce, “jest because we kept to the old paths, an' seek for salvation in + the good old way. Everybody can shout 'Amen!' as loud and as long as the + Spirit moves him, with us. Some one was sayin' you thought we ought to + have a choir and an organ. No, sirree! No such tom-foolery for us! You'll + only stir up feelin' agin yourself by hintin' at such things. And then, + too, our folks don't take no stock in all that pack o' nonsense about + science, such as tellin' the age of the earth by crackin' up stones. I've + b'en in the quarry line all my life, an' I know it's all humbug! Why, they + say some folks are goin' round now preachin' that our grandfathers were + all monkeys. That comes from departin' from the ways of our forefathers, + an puttin' in organs an' choirs, an' deckin' our women-folks out with + gewgaws, an' apin' the fashions of the worldly. I shouldn't wonder if them + kind did have some monkey blood in 'em. You'll find we're a different sort + here.” + </p> + <p> + The young minister preserved silence for a little, until it became + apparent that the old trustee had had his say out. Even then he raised his + head slowly, and at last made answer in a hesitating and irresolute way. + </p> + <p> + “You have been very frank,” he said. “I am obliged to you. A clergyman + coming to a new charge cannot be better served than by having laid before + him a clear statement of the views and—and spiritual tendencies—of + his new flock, quite at the outset. I feel it to be of especial value in + this case, because I am young in years and in my ministry, and am + conscious of a great weakness of the flesh. I can see how daily contact + with a people so attached to the old, simple, primitive Methodism of + Wesley and Asbury may be a source of much strength to me. I may take it,” + he added upon second thought, with an inquiring glance at Mr. Winch, “that + Brother Pierce's description of our charge, and its tastes and needs, + meets with your approval?” + </p> + <p> + Erastus Winch nodded his head and smiled expansively. “Whatever Brother + Pierce says, goes!” he declared. The lawyer, sitting behind at the desk by + the window, said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “The place is jest overrun with Irish,” Brother Pierce began again. + “They've got two Catholic churches here now to our one, and they do jest + as they blamed please at the Charter elections. It'd be a good idee to + pitch into Catholics in general whenever you can. You could make a hit + that way. I say the State ought to make 'em pay taxes on their church + property. They've no right to be exempted, because they ain't Christians + at all. They're idolaters, that's what they are! I know 'em! I've had 'em + in my quarries for years, an' they ain't got no idee of decency or fair + dealin'. Every time the price of stone went up, every man of 'em would + jine to screw more wages out o' me. Why, they used to keep account o' the + amount o' business I done, an' figger up my profits, an' have the face to + come an' talk to me about 'em, as if that had anything to do with wages. + It's my belief their priests put 'em up to it. People don't begin to + reelize—that church of idolatry 'll be the ruin o' this country, if + it ain't checked in time. Jest you go at 'em hammer 'n' tongs! I've got + Eyetalians in the quarries now. They're sensible fellows: they know when + they're well off—a dollar a day, an' they're satisfied, an' + everything goes smooth.” + </p> + <p> + “But they're Catholics, the same as the Irish,” suddenly interjected the + lawyer, from his place by the window. Theron pricked up his ears at the + sound of his voice. There was an anti-Pierce note in it, so to speak, + which it did him good to hear. The consciousness of sympathy began on the + instant to inspire him with courage. + </p> + <p> + “I know some people SAY they are,” Brother Pierce guardedly retorted “but + I've summered an' wintered both kinds, an' I hold to it they're different. + I grant ye, the Eyetalians ARE some given to jabbin' knives into each + other, but they never git up strikes, an' they don't grumble about wages. + Why, look at the way they live—jest some weeds an' yarbs dug up on + the roadside, an' stewed in a kettle with a piece o' fat the size o' your + finger, an' a loaf o' bread, an' they're happy as a king. There's some + sense in THAT; but the Irish, they've got to have meat an' potatoes an' + butter jest as if—as if—” + </p> + <p> + “As if they'd b'en used to 'em at home,” put in Mr. Winch, to help his + colleague out. + </p> + <p> + The lawyer ostentatiously drew up his chair to the desk, and began turning + over the leaves of his biggest book. “It's getting on toward noon, + gentlemen,” he said, in an impatient voice. + </p> + <p> + The business meeting which followed was for a considerable time confined + to hearing extracts from the books and papers read in a swift and formal + fashion by Mr. Gorringe. If this was intended to inform the new pastor of + the exact financial situation in Octavius, it lamentably failed of its + purpose. Theron had little knowledge of figures; and though he tried hard + to listen, and to assume an air of comprehension, he did not understand + much of what he heard. In a general way he gathered that the church + property was put down at $12,000, on which there was a debt of $4,800. The + annual expenses were $2,250, of which the principal items were $800 for + his salary, $170 for the rent of the parsonage, and $319 for interest on + the debt. It seemed that last year the receipts had fallen just under + $2,000, and they now confronted the necessity of making good this deficit + during the coming year, as well as increasing the regular revenues. + Without much discussion, it was agreed that they should endeavor to secure + the services of a celebrated “debt-raiser,” early in the autumn, and + utilize him in the closing days of a revival. + </p> + <p> + Theron knew this “debt-raiser,” and had seen him at work—a burly, + bustling, vulgar man who took possession of the pulpit as if it were an + auctioneer's block, and pursued the task of exciting liberality in the + bosoms of the congregation by alternating prayer, anecdote, song, and + cheap buffoonery in a manner truly sickening. Would it not be preferable, + he feebly suggested, to raise the money by a festival, or fair, or some + other form of entertainment which the ladies could manage? + </p> + <p> + Brother Pierce shook his head with contemptuous emphasis. “Our women-folks + ain't that kind,” he said. “They did try to hold a sociable once, but + nobody came, and we didn't raise more 'n three or four dollars. It ain't + their line. They lack the worldly arts. As the Discipline commands, they + avoid the evil of putting on gold and costly apparel, and taking such + diversions as cannot be used in the name of the Lord Jesus.” + </p> + <p> + “Well—of course—if you prefer the 'debt-raiser'—” Theron + began, and took the itemized account from Gorringe's knee as an excuse for + not finishing the hateful sentence. + </p> + <p> + He looked down the foolscap sheet, line by line, with no special sense of + what it signified, until his eye caught upon this little section of the + report, bracketed by itself in the Secretary's neat hand: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + INTEREST CHARGE. + + First mortgage (1873) .. $1,000 ... (E. Winch) @7.. $ 70 + Second mortgage (1776).. 1,700 ... (L. Gorringe) @6.. 102 + Third mortgage (1878)... 2,100 ... (L. Pierce) @7.. 147 + ———- ——- + $4,800 $319 +</pre> + <p> + It was no news to him that the three mortgages on the church property were + held by the three trustees. But as he looked once more, another feature of + the thing struck him as curious. + </p> + <p> + “I notice that the rates of interest vary,” he remarked without thinking, + and then wished the words unsaid, for the two trustees in view moved + uneasily on their seats. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's nothing,” exclaimed Erastus Winch, with a boisterous display + of jollity. “It's only Brother Gorringe's pleasant little way of making a + contribution to our funds. You will notice that, at the date of all these + mortgages, the State rate of interest was seven per cent. Since then it's + b'en lowered to six. Well, when that happened, you see, Brother Gorringe, + not being a professin' member, and so not bound by our rules, he could + just as well as not let his interest down a cent. But Brother Pierce an' + me, we talked it over, an' we made up our minds we were tied hand an' foot + by our contract. You know how strong the Discipline lays it down that we + must be bound to the letter of our agreements. That bein' so, we seen it + in the light of duty not to change what we'd set our hands to. That's how + it is, Brother Ware.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand,” said Theron, with an effort at polite calmness of tone. + “And—is there anything else?” + </p> + <p> + “There's this,” broke in Brother Pierce: “we're commanded to be + law-abiding people, an' seven per cent WAS the law an' would be now if + them ragamuffins in the Legislation—” + </p> + <p> + “Surely we needn't go further into that,” interrupted the minister, + conscious of a growing stiffness in his moral spine. “Have we any other + business before us?” + </p> + <p> + Brother Pierce's little eyes snapped, and the wrinkles in his forehead + deepened angrily. “Business?” he demanded. “Yes, plenty of it. We've got + to reduce expenses. We're nigh onto $300 behind-hand this minute. Besides + your house-rent, you get $800 free an' clear—that is $15.38 every + week, an' only you an' your wife to keep out of it. Why, when I was your + age, young man, and after that too, I was glad to get $4 a week.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think my salary is under discussion, Mr. Pierce—” + </p> + <p> + “BROTHER Pierce!” suggested Winch, in a half-shuckling undertone. + </p> + <p> + “Brother Pierce, then!” echoed Theron, impatiently. “The Quarterly + Conference and the Estimating Committee deal with that. The trustees have + no more to do with it than the man in the moon.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, come, Brother Ware,” put in Erastus Winch, “we mustn't have no hard + feelin's. Brotherly love is what we're all lookin' after. Brother Pierce's + meanin' wasn't agin your drawin' your full salary, every cent of it, only—only + there are certain little things connected with the parsonage here that we + feel you ought to bear. F'r instance, there's the new sidewalk we had to + lay in front of the house here only a month ago. Of course, if the + treasury was flush we wouldn't say a word about it. An' then there's the + gas bill here. Seein' as you get your rent for nothin', it don't seem much + to ask that you should see to lightin' the place yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't think that either is a proper charge upon me,” interposed + Theron. “I decline to pay them.” + </p> + <p> + “We can have the gas shut off,” remarked Brother Pierce, coldly. + </p> + <p> + “As soon as you like,” responded the minister, sitting erect and tapping + the carpet nervously with his foot. “Only you must understand that I will + take the whole matter to the Quarterly Conference in July. I already see a + good many other interesting questions about the financial management of + this church which might be appropriately discussed there.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, come, Brother Ware!” broke in Trustee Winch, with a somewhat agitated + assumption of good-feeling. “Surely these are matters we ought to settle + amongst ourselves. We never yet asked outsiders to meddle with our + business here. It's our motto, Brother Ware. I say, if you've got a motto, + stand by it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, my motto,” said Theron, “is to be behaved decently to by those with + whom I have to deal; and I also propose to stand by it.” + </p> + <p> + Brother Pierce rose gingerly to his feet, with the hesitation of an old + man not sure about his knees. When he had straightened himself, he put on + his hat, and eyed the minister sternly from beneath its brim. + </p> + <p> + “The Lord gives us crosses grievous to our natur',” he said, “an' we're + told to bear 'em cheerfully as long as they're on our backs; but there + ain't nothin' said agin our unloadin' 'em in the ditch the minute we git + the chance. I guess you won't last here more 'n a twelvemonth.” + </p> + <p> + He pulled his soft and discolored old hat down over his brows with a + significantly hostile nod, and, turning, stumped toward the hall-door + without offering to shake hands. + </p> + <p> + The other trustees had risen likewise, in tacit recognition that the + meeting was over. Winch clasped the minister's hand in his own broad, hard + palm, and squeezed it in an exuberant grip. “Don't mind his little ways, + Brother Ware,” he urged in a loud, unctuous whisper, with a grinning + backward nod: “he's a trifle skittish sometimes when you don't give him + free rein; but he's all wool an' a yard wide when it comes to right-down + hard-pan religion. My love to Sister Ware;” and he followed the senior + trustee into the hall. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gorringe had been tying up his books and papers. He came now with the + bulky parcel under his arm, and his hat and stick in the other hand. He + could give little but his thumb to Theron to shake. His face wore a grave + expression, and not a line relaxed as, catching the minister's look, he + slowly covered his left eye in a deliberate wink. + </p> + <p> + “Well?—and how did it go off?” asked Alice, from where she knelt by + the oven door, a few minutes later. + </p> + <p> + For answer, Theron threw himself wearily into the big old farm + rocking-chair on the other side of the stove, and shook his head with a + lengthened sigh. + </p> + <p> + “If it wasn't for that man Gorringe of yours,” he said dejectedly, “I + think I should feel like going off—and learning a trade.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + On the following Sunday, young Mrs. Ware sat alone in the preacher's pew + through the morning service, and everybody noted that the roses had been + taken from her bonnet. In the evening she was absent, and after the + doxology and benediction several people, under the pretence of solicitude + for her health, tried to pump her husband as to the reason. He answered + their inquiries civilly enough, but with brevity: she had stayed at home + because she did not feel like coming out—this and nothing more. + </p> + <p> + The congregation dispersed under a gossip-laden cloud of consciousness + that there must be something queer about Sister Ware. There was a + tolerably general agreement, however, that the two sermons of the day had + been excellent. Not even Loren Pierce's railing commentary on the pastor's + introduction of an outlandish word like “epitome”—clearly forbidden + by the Discipline's injunction to plain language understood of the people—availed + to sap the satisfaction of the majority. + </p> + <p> + Theron himself comprehended that he had pleased the bulk of his auditors; + the knowledge left him curiously hot and cold. On the one hand, there was + joy in the apparent prospect that the congregation would back him up in a + stand against the trustees, if worst came to worst. But, on the other + hand, the bonnet episode entered his soul. It had been a source of bitter + humiliation to him to see his wife sitting there beneath the pulpit, shorn + by despotic order of the adornments natural to her pretty head. But he had + even greater pain in contemplating the effect it had produced on Alice + herself. She had said not a word on the subject, but her every glance and + gesture seemed to him eloquent of deep feeling about it. He made sure that + she blamed him for having defended his own gas and sidewalk rights with + successful vigor, but permitted the sacrifice of her poor little + inoffensive roses without a protest. In this view of the matter, indeed, + he blamed himself. Was it too late to make the error good? He ventured a + hint on this Sunday evening, when he returned to the parsonage and found + her reading an old weekly newspaper by the light of the kitchen lamp, to + the effect that he fancied there would be no great danger in putting those + roses back into her bonnet. Without lifting her eyes from the paper, she + answered that she had no earthly desire to wear roses in her bonnet, and + went on with her reading. + </p> + <p> + At breakfast the next morning Theron found himself in command of an + unusual fund of humorous good spirits, and was at pains to make the most + of it, passing whimsical comments on subjects which the opening day + suggested, recalling quaint and comical memories of the past, and striving + his best to force Alice into a laugh. Formerly her merry temper had always + ignited at the merest spark of gayety. Now she gave his jokes only a + dutiful half-smile, and uttered scarcely a word in response to his running + fire of talk. When the meal was finished, she went silently to work to + clear away the dishes. + </p> + <p> + Theron turned over in his mind the project of offering to help her, as he + had done so often in those dear old days when they laughingly began life + together. Something decided this project in the negative for him, and + after lingering moments he put on his hat and went out for a walk. + </p> + <p> + Not even the most doleful and trying hour of his bitter experience in Tyre + had depressed him like this. Looking back upon these past troubles, he + persuaded himself that he had borne them all with a light and cheerful + heart, simply because Alice had been one with him in every thought and + emotion. How perfect, how ideally complete, their sympathy had always + been! With what absolute unity of mind and soul they had trod that + difficult path together! And now—henceforth—was it to be + different? The mere suggestion of such a thing chilled his veins. He said + aloud to himself as he walked that life would be an intolerable curse if + Alice were to cease sharing it with him in every conceivable phase. + </p> + <p> + He had made his way out of town, and tramped along the country hill-road + for a considerable distance, before a merciful light began to lessen the + shadows in the picture of gloom with which his mind tortured itself. All + at once he stopped short, lifted his head, and looked about him. The broad + valley lay warm and tranquil in the May sunshine at his feet. In the + thicket up the side-hill above him a gray squirrel was chattering shrilly, + and the birds sang in a tireless choral confusion. Theron smiled, and drew + a long breath. The gay clamor of the woodland songsters, the placid + radiance of the landscape, were suddenly taken in and made a part of his + new mood. He listened, smiled once more, and then started in a leisurely + way back toward Octavius. + </p> + <p> + How could he have been so ridiculous as to fancy that Alice—his + Alice—had been changed into someone else? He marvelled now at his + own perverse folly. She was overworked—tired out—that was all. + The task of moving in, of setting the new household to rights, had been + too much for her. She must have a rest. They must get in a hired girl. + </p> + <p> + Once this decision about a servant fixed itself in the young minister's + mind, it drove out the last vestage of discomfort. He strode along now in + great content, revolving idly a dozen different plans for gilding and + beautifying this new life of leisure into which his sanguine thoughts + projected Alice. One of these particularly pleased him, and waxed in + definiteness as he turned it over and over. He would get another piano for + her, in place of that which had been sacrificed in Tyre. That beneficient + modern invention, the instalment plan, made this quite feasible—so + easy, in fact, that it almost seemed as if he should find his wife playing + on the new instrument when he got home. He would stop in at the music + store and see about it that very day. + </p> + <p> + Of course, now that these important resolutions had been taken, it would + be a good thing if he could do something to bring in some extra money. + This was by no means a new notion. He had mused over the possibility in a + formless way ever since that memorable discovery of indebtedness in Tyre, + and had long ago recognized the hopelessness of endeavor in every channel + save that of literature. Latterly his fancy had been stimulated by reading + an account of the profits which Canon Farrar had derived from his “Life of + Christ.” If such a book could command such a bewildering multitude of + readers, Theron felt there ought to be a chance for him. So clear did + constant rumination render this assumption that the young pastor in time + had come to regard this prospective book of his as a substantial asset, + which could be realized without trouble whenever he got around to it. + </p> + <p> + He had not, it is true, gone to the length of seriously considering what + should be the subject of his book. That had not seemed to him to matter + much, so long as it was scriptural. Familiarity with the process of + extracting a fixed amount of spiritual and intellectual meat from any + casual text, week after week, had given him an idea that any one of many + subjects would do, when the time came for him to make a choice. He + realized now that the time for a selection had arrived, and almost + simultaneously found himself with a ready-made decision in his mind. The + book should be about Abraham! + </p> + <p> + Theron Ware was extremely interested in the mechanism of his own brain, + and followed its workings with a lively curiosity. Nothing could be more + remarkable, he thought, than to thus discover that, on the instant of his + formulating a desire to know what he should write upon, lo, and behold! + there his mind, quite on its own initiative, had the answer waiting for + him! When he had gone a little further, and the powerful range of + possibilities in the son's revolt against the idolatry of his father, the + image-maker, in the exodus from the unholy city of Ur, and in the + influence of the new nomadic life upon the little deistic family group, + had begun to unfold itself before him, he felt that the hand of Providence + was plainly discernible in the matter. The book was to be blessed from its + very inception. + </p> + <p> + Walking homeward briskly now, with his eyes on the sidewalk and his mind + all aglow with crowding suggestions for the new work, and impatience to be + at it, he came abruptly upon a group of men and boys who occupied the + whole path, and were moving forward so noiselessly that he had not heard + them coming. He almost ran into the leader of this little procession, and + began a stammering apology, the final words of which were left unspoken, + so solemnly heedless of him and his talk were all the faces he saw. + </p> + <p> + In the centre of the group were four working-men, bearing between them an + extemporized litter of two poles and a blanket hastily secured across them + with spikes. Most of what this litter held was covered by another blanket, + rounded in coarse folds over a shapeless bulk. From beneath its farther + end protruded a big broom-like black beard, thrown upward at such an angle + as to hide everything beyond to those in front. The tall young minister, + stepping aside and standing tip-toe, could see sloping downward behind + this hedge of beard a pinched and chalk-like face, with wide-open, staring + eyes. Its lips, of a dull lilac hue, were moving ceaselessly, and made a + dry, clicking sound. + </p> + <p> + Theron instinctively joined himself to those who followed the litter—a + motley dozen of street idlers, chiefly boys. One of these in whispers + explained to him that the man was one of Jerry Madden's workmen in the + wagon-shops, who had been deployed to trim an elm-tree in front of his + employer's house, and, being unused to such work, had fallen from the top + and broken all his bones. They would have cared for him at Madden's house, + but he had insisted upon being taken home. His name was MacEvoy, and he + was Joey MacEvoy's father, and likewise Jim's and Hughey's and Martin's. + After a pause the lad, a bright-eyed, freckled, barefooted wee Irishman, + volunteered the further information that his big brother had run to bring + “Father Forbess,” on the chance that he might be in time to administer + “extry munction.” + </p> + <p> + The way of the silent little procession led through back streets—where + women hanging up clothes in the yards hurried to the gates, their aprons + full of clothes-pins, to stare open-mouthed at the passers-by—and + came to a halt at last in an irregular and muddy lane, before one of a + half dozen shanties reared among the ash-heaps and debris of the town's + most bedraggled outskirts. + </p> + <p> + A stout, middle-aged, red-armed woman, already warned by some messenger of + calamity, stood waiting on the roadside bank. There were whimpering + children clinging to her skirts, and a surrounding cluster of women of the + neighborhood, some of the more elderly of whom, shrivelled little crones + in tidy caps, and with their aprons to their eyes, were beginning in a + low-murmured minor the wail which presently should rise into the keen of + death. Mrs. MacEvoy herself made no moan, and her broad ruddy face was + stern in expression rather than sorrowful. When the litter stopped beside + her, she laid a hand for an instant on her husband's wet brow, and looked—one + could have sworn impassively—into his staring eyes. Then, still + without a word, she waved the bearers toward the door, and led the way + herself. + </p> + <p> + Theron, somewhat wonderingly, found himself, a minute later, inside a dark + and ill-smelling room, the air of which was humid with the steam from a + boiler of clothes on the stove, and not in other ways improved by the + presence of a jostling score of women, all straining their gaze upon the + open door of the only other apartment—the bed-chamber. Through this + they could see the workmen laying MacEvoy on the bed, and standing + awkwardly about thereafter, getting in the way of the wife and old Maggie + Quirk as they strove to remove the garments from his crushed limbs. As the + neighbors watched what could be seen of these proceedings, they whispered + among themselves eulogies of the injured man's industry and good temper, + his habit of bringing his money home to his wife, and the way he kept his + Father Mathew pledge and attended to his religious duties. They admitted + freely that, by the light of his example, their own husbands and sons left + much to be desired, and from this wandered easily off into domestic + digressions of their own. But all the while their eyes were bent upon the + bedroom door; and Theron made out, after he had grown accustomed to the + gloom and the smell, that many of them were telling their beads even while + they kept the muttered conversation alive. None of them paid any attention + to him, or seemed to regard his presence there as unusual. + </p> + <p> + Presently he saw enter through the sunlit street doorway a person of a + different class. The bright light shone for a passing instant upon a + fashionable, flowered hat, and upon some remarkably brilliant shade of red + hair beneath it. In another moment there had edged along through the + throng, to almost within touch of him, a tall young woman, the owner of + this hat and wonderful hair. She was clad in light and pleasing spring + attire, and carried a parasol with a long oxidized silver handle of a + quaint pattern. She looked at him, and he saw that her face was of a + lengthened oval, with a luminous rose-tinted skin, full red lips, and big + brown, frank eyes with heavy auburn lashes. She made a grave little + inclination of her head toward him, and he bowed in response. Since her + arrival, he noted, the chattering of the others had entirely ceased. + </p> + <p> + “I followed the others in, in the hope that I might be of some + assistance,” he ventured to explain to her in a low murmur, feeling that + at last here was some one to whom an explanation of his presence in this + Romish house was due. “I hope they won't feel that I have intruded.” + </p> + <p> + She nodded her head as if she quite understood. “They'll take the will for + the deed,” she whispered back. “Father Forbes will be here in a minute. Do + you know is it too late?” + </p> + <p> + Even as she spoke, the outer doorway was darkened by the commanding bulk + of a newcomer's figure. The flash of a silk hat, and the deferential way + in which the assembled neighbors fell back to clear a passage, made his + identity clear. Theron felt his blood tingle in an unaccustomed way as + this priest of a strange church advanced across the room—a + broad-shouldered, portly man of more than middle height, with a shapely, + strong-lined face of almost waxen pallor, and a firm, commanding tread. He + carried in his hands, besides his hat, a small leather-bound case. To this + and to him the women courtesied and bowed their heads as he passed. + </p> + <p> + “Come with me,” whispered the tall girl with the parasol to Theron; and he + found himself pushing along in her wake until they intercepted the priest + just outside the bedroom door. She touched Father Forbes on the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Just to tell you that I am here,” she said. The priest nodded with a + grave face, and passed into the other room. In a minute or two the + workmen, Mrs. MacEvoy, and her helper came out, and the door was shut + behind them. + </p> + <p> + “He is making his confession,” explained the young lady. “Stay here for a + minute.” + </p> + <p> + She moved over to where the woman of the house stood, glum-faced and + tearless, and whispered something to her. A confused movement among the + crowd followed, and out of it presently resulted a small table, covered + with a white cloth, and bearing on it two unlighted candles, a basin of + water, and a spoon, which was brought forward and placed in readiness + before the closed door. Some of those nearest this cleared space were + kneeling now, and murmuring a low buzz of prayer to the click of beads on + their rosaries. + </p> + <p> + The door opened, and Theron saw the priest standing in the doorway with an + uplifted hand. He wore now a surplice, with a purple band over his + shoulders, and on his pale face there shone a tranquil and tender light. + </p> + <p> + One of the workmen fetched from the stove a brand, lighted the two + candles, and bore the table with its contents into the bedroom. The young + woman plucked Theron's sleeve, and he dumbly followed her into the chamber + of death, making one of the group of a dozen, headed by Mrs. MacEvoy and + her children, which filled the little room, and overflowed now outward to + the street door. He found himself bowing with the others to receive the + sprinkled holy water from the priest's white fingers; kneeling with the + others for the prayers; following in impressed silence with the others the + strange ceremonial by which the priest traced crosses of holy oil with his + thumb upon the eyes, ears, nostrils, lips, hands, and feet of the dying + man, wiping off the oil with a piece of cotton-batting each time after he + had repeated the invocation to forgiveness for that particular sense. But + most of all he was moved by the rich, novel sound of the Latin as the + priest rolled it forth in the ASPERGES ME, DOMINE, and MISEREATUR VESTRI + OMNIPOTENS DEUS, with its soft Continental vowels and liquid R's. It + seemed to him that he had never really heard Latin before. Then the + astonishing young woman with the red hair declaimed the CONFITEOR, + vigorously and with a resonant distinctness of enunciation. It was a + different Latin, harsher and more sonorous; and while it still dominated + the murmured undertone of the other's prayers, the last moment came. + </p> + <p> + Theron had stood face to face with death at many other bedsides; no other + final scene had stirred him like this. It must have been the girl's Latin + chant, with its clanging reiteration of the great names—BEATUM + MICHAELEM ARCHANGELUM, BEATUM JOANNEM BAPTISTAM, SANCTOS APOSTOLOS PETRUM + ET PAULUM—invoked with such proud confidence in this squalid little + shanty, which so strangely affected him. + </p> + <p> + He came out with the others at last—the candles and the folded hands + over the crucifix left behind—and walked as one in a dream. Even by + the time that he had gained the outer doorway, and stood blinking at the + bright light and filling his lungs with honest air once more, it had begun + to seem incredible to him that he had seen and done all this. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + While Mr. Ware stood thus on the doorstep, through a minute of formless + musing, the priest and the girl came out, and, somewhat to his confusion, + made him one of their party. He felt himself flushing under the idea that + they would think he had waited for them—was thrusting himself upon + them. The notion prompted him to bow frigidly in response to Father + Forbes' pleasant “I am glad to meet you, sir,” and his outstretched hand. + </p> + <p> + “I dropped in by the—the merest accident,” Theron said. “I met them + bringing the poor man home, and—and quite without thinking, I obeyed + the impulse to follow them in, and didn't realize—” + </p> + <p> + He stopped short, annoyed by the reflection that this was his second + apology. The girl smiled placidly at him, the while she put up her + parasol. + </p> + <p> + “It did me good to see you there,” she said, quite as if she had known him + all her life. “And so it did the rest of us.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes permitted himself a soft little chuckle, approving rather + than mirthful, and patted her on the shoulder with the air of being fifty + years her senior instead of fifteen. To the minister's relief, he changed + the subject as the three started together toward the road. + </p> + <p> + “Then, again, no doctor was sent for!” he exclaimed, as if resuming a + familiar subject with the girl. Then he turned to Theron. “I dare-say you + have no such trouble; but with our poorer people it is very vexing. They + will not call in a physician, but hurry off first for the clergyman. I + don't know that it is altogether to avoid doctor's bills, but it amounts + to that in effect. Of course in this case it made no difference; but I + have had to make it a rule not to go out at night unless they bring me a + physician's card with his assurance that it is a genuine affair. Why, only + last winter, I was routed up after midnight, and brought off in the mud + and pelting rain up one of the new streets on the hillside there, simply + because a factory girl who was laced too tight had fainted at a dance. I + slipped and fell into a puddle in the darkness, ruined a new overcoat, and + got drenched to the skin; and when I arrived the girl had recovered and + was dancing away again, thirteen to the dozen. It was then that I made the + rule. I hope, Mr. Ware, that Octavius is producing a pleasant impression + upon you so far?” + </p> + <p> + “I scarcely know yet,” answered Theron. The genial talk of the priest, + with its whimsical anecdote, had in truth passed over his head. His mind + still had room for nothing but that novel death-bed scene, with the winged + captain of the angelic host, the Baptist, the glorified Fisherman and the + Preacher, all being summoned down in the pomp of liturgical Latin to help + MacEvoy to die. “If you don't mind my saying so,” he added hesitatingly, + “what I have just seen in there DID make a very powerful impression upon + me.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a very ancient ceremony,” said the priest; “probably Persian, like + the baptismal form, although, for that matter, we can never dig deep + enough for the roots of these things. They all turn up Turanian if we + probe far enough. Our ways separate here, I'm afraid. I am delighted to + have made your acquaintance, Mr. Ware. Pray look in upon me, if you can as + well as not. We are near neighbors, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes had shaken hands, and moved off up another street some + distance, before the voice of the girl recalled Theron to himself. + </p> + <p> + “Of course you knew HIM by name,” she was saying, “and he knew you by + sight, and had talked of you; but MY poor inferior sex has to be + introduced. I am Celia Madden. My father has the wagon-shops, and I—I + play the organ at the church.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I am delighted to make your acquaintance,” said Theron, conscious + as he spoke that he had slavishly echoed the formula of the priest. He + could think of nothing better to add than, “Unfortunately, we have no + organ in our church.” + </p> + <p> + The girl laughed, as they resumed their walk down the street. “I'm afraid + I couldn't undertake two,” she said, and laughed again. Then she spoke + more seriously. “That ceremony must have interested you a good deal, never + having seen it before. I saw that it was all new to you, and so I made + bold to take you under my wing, so to speak.” + </p> + <p> + “You were very kind,” said the young minister. “It was really a great + experience for me. May—may I ask, is it a part of your functions, in + the church, I mean, to attend these last rites?” + </p> + <p> + “Mercy, no!” replied the girl, spinning the parasol on her shoulder and + smiling at the thought. “No; it was only because MacEvoy was one of our + workmen, and really came by his death through father sending him up to + trim a tree. Ann MacEvoy will never forgive us that, the longest day she + lives. Did you notice her? She wouldn't speak to me. After you came out, I + tried to tell her that we would look out for her and the children; but all + she would say to me was: 'An' fwat would a wheelwright, an' him the father + of a family, be doin' up a tree?'” + </p> + <p> + They had come now upon the main street of the village, with its flagstone + sidewalk overhung by a lofty canopy of elm-boughs. Here, for the space of + a block, was concentrated such fashionable elegance of mansions and + ornamental lawns as Octavius had to offer; and it was presented with the + irregularity so characteristic of our restless civilization. Two or three + of the houses survived untouched from the earlier days—prim, + decorous structures, each with its gabled centre and lower wings, each + with its row of fluted columns supporting the classical roof of a piazza + across its whole front, each vying with the others in the whiteness of + those wooden walls enveloping its bright green blinds. One had to look + over picket fences to see these houses, and in doing so caught the notion + that they thus railed themselves off in pride at being able to remember + before the railroad came to the village, or the wagon-works were thought + of. + </p> + <p> + Before the neighboring properties the fences had been swept away, so that + one might stroll from the sidewalk straight across the well-trimmed sward + to any one of a dozen elaborately modern doorways. Some of the residences, + thus frankly proffering friendship to the passer-by, were of wood painted + in drabs and dusky reds, with bulging windows which marked the native + yearning for the mediaeval, and shingles that strove to be accounted + tiles. Others—a prouder, less pretentious sort—were of brick + or stone, with terra-cotta mouldings set into the walls, and with real + slates covering the riot of turrets and peaks and dormer peepholes + overhead. + </p> + <p> + Celia Madden stopped in front of the largest and most important-looking of + these new edifices, and said, holding out her hand: “Here I am, once more. + Good-morning, Mr. Ware.” + </p> + <p> + Theron hoped that his manner did not betray the flash of surprise he felt + in discovering that his new acquaintance lived in the biggest house in + Octavius. He remembered now that some one had pointed it out as the abode + of the owner of the wagon factories; but it had not occurred to him before + to associate this girl with that village magnate. It was stupid of him, of + course, because she had herself mentioned her father. He looked at her + again with an awkward smile, as he formally shook the gloved hand she gave + him, and lifted his soft hat. The strong noon sunlight, forcing its way + down between the elms, and beating upon her parasol of lace-edged, creamy + silk, made a halo about her hair and face at once brilliant and tender. He + had not seen before how beautiful she was. She nodded in recognition of + his salute, and moved up the lawn walk, spinning the sunshade on her + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Though the parsonage was only three blocks away, the young minister had + time to think about a good many things before he reached home. + </p> + <p> + First of all, he had to revise in part the arrangement of his notions + about the Irish. Save for an occasional isolated and taciturn figure among + the nomadic portion of the hired help in the farm country, Theron had + scarcely ever spoken to a person of this curiously alien race before. He + remembered now that there had been some dozen or more Irish families in + Tyre, quartered in the outskirts among the brickyards, but he had never + come in contact with any of them, or given to their existence even a + passing thought. So far as personal acquaintance went, the Irish had been + to him only a name. + </p> + <p> + But what a sinister and repellent name! His views on this general subject + were merely those common to his communion and his environment. He took it + for granted, for example, that in the large cities most of the poverty and + all the drunkenness, crime, and political corruption were due to the + perverse qualities of this foreign people—qualities accentuated and + emphasized in every evil direction by the baleful influence of a false and + idolatrous religion. It is hardly too much to say that he had never + encountered a dissenting opinion on this point. His boyhood had been spent + in those bitter days when social, political, and blood prejudices were + fused at white heat in the public crucible together. When he went to the + Church Seminary, it was a matter of course that every member of the + faculty was a Republican, and that every one of his classmates had come + from a Republican household. When, later on, he entered the ministry, the + rule was still incredulous of exceptions. One might as well have looked in + the Nedahma Conference for a divergence of opinion on the Trinity as for a + difference in political conviction. Indeed, even among the laity, Theron + could not feel sure that he had ever known a Democrat; that is, at all + closely. He understood very little about politics, it is true. If he had + been driven into a corner, and forced to attempt an explanation of this + tremendous partisan unity in which he had a share, he would probably have + first mentioned the War—the last shots of which were fired while he + was still in petticoats. Certainly his second reason, however, would have + been that the Irish were on the other side. + </p> + <p> + He had never before had occasion to formulate, even in his own thoughts, + this tacit race and religious aversion in which he had been bred. It rose + now suddenly in front of him, as he sauntered from patch to patch of + sunlight under the elms, like some huge, shadowy, and symbolic monument. + He looked at it with wondering curiosity, as at something he had heard of + all his life, but never seen before—an abhorrent spectacle, truly! + The foundations upon which its dark bulk reared itself were ignorance, + squalor, brutality and vice. Pigs wallowed in the mire before its base, + and burrowing into this base were a myriad of narrow doors, each bearing + the hateful sign of a saloon, and giving forth from its recesses of night + the sounds of screams and curses. Above were sculptured rows of lowering, + ape-like faces from Nast's and Keppler's cartoons, and out of these sprang + into the vague upper gloom—on the one side, lamp-posts from which + negroes hung by the neck, and on the other gibbets for dynamiters and + Molly Maguires, and between the two glowed a spectral picture of some + black-robed tonsured men, with leering satanic masks, making a bonfire of + the Bible in the public schools. + </p> + <p> + Theron stared this phantasm hard in the face, and recognized it for a very + tolerable embodiment of what he had heretofore supposed he thought about + the Irish. For an instant, the sight of it made him shiver, as if the + sunny May had of a sudden lapsed back into bleak December. Then he smiled, + and the bad vision went off into space. He saw instead Father Forbes, in + the white and purple vestments, standing by poor MacEvoy's bedside, with + his pale, chiselled, luminous, uplifted face, and he heard only the proud, + confident clanging of the girl's recital,—BEATUM MICHAELEM + ARCHANGELUM, BEATUM JOANNEM BAPTISTAM, PETRUM ET PAULUM—EM!—AM!—UM!—like + strokes on a great resonant alarm-bell, attuned for the hearing of heaven. + He caught himself on the very verge of feeling that heaven must have + heard. + </p> + <p> + Then he smiled again, and laid the matter aside, with a parting admission + that it had been undoubtedly picturesque and impressive, and that it had + been a valuable experience to him to see it. At least the Irish, with all + their faults, must have a poetic strain, or they would not have clung so + tenaciously to those curious and ancient forms. He recalled having heard + somewhere, or read, it might be, that they were a people much given to + songs and music. And the young lady, that very handsome and friendly Miss + Madden, had told him that she was a musician! He had a new pleasure in + turning this over in his mind. Of all the closed doors which his choice of + a career had left along his pathway, no other had for him such a magical + fascination as that on which was graven the lute of Orpheus. He knew not + even the alphabet of music, and his conceptions of its possibilities ran + but little beyond the best of the hymn-singing he had heard at + Conferences, yet none the less the longing for it raised on occasion such + mutiny in his soul that more than once he had specifically prayed against + it as a temptation. + </p> + <p> + Dangerous though some of its tendencies might be, there was no gainsaying + the fact that a love for music was in the main an uplifting influence—an + attribute of cultivation. The world was the sweeter and more gentle for + it. And this brought him to musing upon the odd chance that the two people + of Octavius who had given him the first notion of polish and intellectual + culture in the town should be Irish. The Romish priest must have been + vastly surprised at his intrusion, yet had been at the greatest pains to + act as if it were quite the usual thing to have Methodist ministers assist + at Extreme Unction. And the young woman—how gracefully, with what + delicacy, had she comprehended his position and robbed it of all its + possible embarrassments! It occurred to him that they must have passed, + there in front of her home, the very tree from which the luckless + wheelwright had fallen some hours before; and the fact that she had + forborne to point it out to him took form in his mind as an added proof of + her refinement of nature. + </p> + <p> + The midday dinner was a little more than ready when Theron reached home, + and let himself in by the front door. On Mondays, owing to the moisture + and “clutter” of the weekly washing in the kitchen, the table was laid in + the sitting-room, and as he entered from the hall the partner of his joys + bustled in by the other door, bearing the steaming platter of corned beef, + dumplings, cabbages, and carrots, with arms bared to the elbows, and a red + face. It gave him great comfort, however, to note that there were no signs + of the morning's displeasure remaining on this face; and he immediately + remembered again those interrupted projects of his about the piano and the + hired girl. + </p> + <p> + “Well! I'd just about begun to reckon that I was a widow,” said Alice, + putting down her fragrant burden. There was such an obvious suggestion of + propitiation in her tone that Theron went around and kissed her. He + thought of saying something about keeping out of the way because it was + “Blue Monday,” but held it back lest it should sound like a reproach. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what kind of a washerwoman does THIS one turn out to be?” he asked, + after they were seated, and he had invoked a blessing and was cutting + vigorously into the meat. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, so-so,” replied Alice; “she seems to be particular, but she's mortal + slow. If I hadn't stood right over her, we shouldn't have had the clothes + out till goodness knows when. And of course she's Irish!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what of THAT?” asked the minister, with a fine unconcern. + </p> + <p> + Alice looked up from her plate, with knife and fork suspended in air. + “Why, you know we were talking only the other day of what a pity it was + that none of our own people went out washing,” she said. “That Welsh woman + we heard of couldn't come, after all; and they say, too, that she presumes + dreadfully upon the acquaintance, being a church member, you know. So we + simply had to fall back on the Irish. And even if they do go and tell + their priest everything they see and hear, why, there's one comfort, they + can tell about US and welcome. Of course I see to it she doesn't snoop + around in here.” + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled. “That's all nonsense about their telling such things to + their priests,” he said with easy confidence. + </p> + <p> + “Why, you told me so yourself,” replied Alice, briskly. “And I've always + understood so, too; they're bound to tell EVERYTHING in confession. That's + what gives the Catholic Church such a tremendous hold. You've spoken of it + often.” + </p> + <p> + “It must have been by way of a figure of speech,” remarked Theron, not + with entire directness. “Women are great hands to separate one's + observations from their context, and so give them meanings quite + unintended. They are also great hands,” he added genially, “or at least + one of them is, at making the most delicious dumplings in the world. I + believe these are the best even you ever made.” + </p> + <p> + Alice was not unmindful of the compliment, but her thoughts were on other + things. “I shouldn't like that woman's priest, for example,” she said, “to + know that we had no piano.” + </p> + <p> + “But if he comes and stands outside our house every night and listens—as + of course he will,” said Theron, with mock gravity, “it is only a question + of time when he must reach that conclusion for himself. Our only chance, + however, is that there are some sixteen hundred other houses for him to + watch, so that he may not get around to us for quite a spell. Why, + seriously, Alice, what on earth do you suppose Father Forbes knows or + cares about our poor little affairs, or those of any other Protestant + household in this whole village? He has his work to do, just as I have + mine—only his is ten times as exacting in everything except sermons—and + you may be sure he is only too glad when it is over each day, without + bothering about things that are none of his business.” + </p> + <p> + “All the same I'm afraid of them,” said Alice, as if argument were + exhausted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + On the following morning young Mr. Ware anticipated events by inscribing + in his diary for the day, immediately after breakfast, these remarks: + “Arranged about piano. Began work upon book.” + </p> + <p> + The date indeed deserved to be distinguished from its fellows. Theron was + so conscious of its importance that he not only prophesied in the little + morocco-bound diary which Alice had given him for Christmas, but returned + after he had got out upon the front steps of the parsonage to have his hat + brushed afresh by her. + </p> + <p> + “Wonders will never cease,” she said jocosely. “With you getting + particular about your clothes, there isn't anything in this wide world + that can't happen now!” + </p> + <p> + “One doesn't go out to bring home a piano every day,” he made answer. + “Besides, I want to make such an impression upon the man that he will deal + gently with that first cash payment down. Do you know,” he added, watching + her turn the felt brim under the wisp-broom's strokes, “I'm thinking some + of getting me a regular silk stove-pipe hat.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't you, then?” she rejoined, but without any ring of glad + acquiescence in her tone. He fancied that her face lengthened a little, + and he instantly ascribed it to recollections of the way in which the + roses had been bullied out of her own headgear. + </p> + <p> + “You are quite sure, now, pet,” he made haste to change the subject, “that + the hired girl can wait just as well as not until fall?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, MY, yes!” Alice replied, putting the hat on his head, and smoothing + back his hair behind his ears. “She'd only be in the way now. You see, + with hot weather coming on, there won't be much cooking. We'll take all + our meals out here, and that saves so much work that really what remains + is hardly more than taking care of a bird-cage. And, besides, not having + her will almost half pay for the piano.” + </p> + <p> + “But when cold weather comes, you're sure you'll consent?” he urged. + </p> + <p> + “Like a shot!” she assured him, and, after a happy little caress, he + started out again on his momentous mission. + </p> + <p> + “Thurston's” was a place concerning which opinions differed in Octavius. + That it typified progress, and helped more than any other feature of the + village to bring it up to date, no one indeed disputed. One might move + about a great deal, in truth, and hear no other view expressed. But then + again one might stumble into conversation with one small storekeeper after + another, and learn that they united in resenting the existence of + “Thurston's,” as rival farmers might join to curse a protracted drought. + Each had his special flaming grievance. The little dry-goods dealers asked + mournfully how they could be expected to compete with an establishment + which could buy bankrupt stocks at a hundred different points, and make a + profit if only one-third of the articles were sold for more than they + would cost from the jobber? The little boot and shoe dealers, clothiers, + hatters, and furriers, the small merchants in carpets, crockery, and + furniture, the venders of hardware and household utensils, of leathern + goods and picture-frames, of wall-paper, musical instruments, and even + toys—all had the same pathetically unanswerable question to + propound. But mostly they put it to themselves, because the others were at + “Thurston's.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Theron Ware had entertained rather strong views on this subject, + and that only a week or two ago. One of his first acquaintances in + Octavius had been the owner of the principal book-store in the place—a + gentle and bald old man who produced the complete impression of a + bibliophile upon what the slightest investigation showed to be only a + meagre acquaintance with publishers' circulars. But at least he had the + air of loving his business, and the young minister had enjoyed a long talk + with, or rather, at him. Out of this talk had come the information that + the store was losing money. Not even the stationery department now showed + a profit worth mentioning. When Octavius had contained only five thousand + inhabitants, it boasted four book-stores, two of them good ones. Now, with + a population more than doubled, only these latter two survived, and they + must soon go to the wall. The reason? It was in a nutshell. A book which + sold at retail for one dollar and a half cost the bookseller ninety cents. + If it was at all a popular book, “Thurston's” advertised it at eighty-nine + cents—and in any case at a profit of only two or three cents. Of + course it was done to widen the establishment's patronage—to bring + people into the store. Equally of course, it was destroying the book + business and debauching the reading tastes of the community. Without the + profits from the light and ephemeral popular literature of the season, the + book-store proper could not keep up its stock of more solid works, and + indeed could not long keep open at all. On the other hand, “Thurston's” + dealt with nothing save the demand of the moment, and offered only the + books which were the talk of the week. Thus, in plain words, the book + trade was going to the dogs, and it was the same with pretty nearly every + other trade. + </p> + <p> + Theron was indignant at this, and on his return home told Alice that he + desired her to make no purchases whatever at “Thurston's.” He even + resolved to preach a sermon on the subject of the modern idea of admiring + the great for crushing the small, and sketched out some notes for it which + he thought solved the problem of flaying the local abuse without + mentioning it by name. They had lain on his desk now for ten days or more, + and on only the previous Friday he had speculated upon using them that + coming Sunday. + </p> + <p> + On this bright and cheerful Tuesday morning he walked with a blithe step + unhesitatingly down the main street to “Thurston's,” and entered without + any show of repugnance the door next to the window wherein, flanked by + dangling banjos and key-bugles built in pyramids, was displayed the sign, + “Pianos on the Instalment Plan.” + </p> + <p> + He was recognized by some responsible persons, and treated with + distinguished deference. They were charmed with the intelligence that he + desired a piano, and fascinated by his wish to pay for it only a little at + a time. They had special terms for clergymen, and made him feel as if + these were being extended to him on a silver charger by kneeling admirers. + </p> + <p> + It was so easy to buy things here that he was a trifle disturbed to find + his flowing course interrupted by his own entire ignorance as to what kind + of piano he wanted. He looked at all they had in stock, and heard them + played upon. They differed greatly in price, and, so he fancied, almost as + much in tone. It discouraged him to note, however, that several of those + he thought the finest in tone were among the very cheapest in the lot. + Pondering this, and staring in hopeless puzzlement from one to another of + the big black shiny monsters, he suddenly thought of something. + </p> + <p> + “I would rather not decide for myself,” he said, “I know so little about + it. If you don't mind, I will have a friend of mine, a skilled musician, + step in and make a selection. I have so much confidence in—in her + judgment.” He added hurriedly, “It will involve only a day or two's + delay.” + </p> + <p> + The next moment he was sorry he had spoken. What would they think when + they saw the organist of the Catholic church come to pick out a piano for + the Methodist parsonage? And how could he decorously prefer the request to + her to undertake this task? He might not meet her again for ages, and to + his provincial notions writing would have seemed out of the question. And + would it not be disagreeable to have her know that he was buying a piano + by part payments? Poor Alice's dread of the washerwoman's gossip occurred + to him, at this, and he smiled in spite of himself. Then all at once the + difficulty vanished. Of course it would come all right somehow. Everything + did. + </p> + <p> + He was on firmer ground, buying the materials for the new book, over on + the stationery side. His original intention had been to bestow this + patronage upon the old bookseller, but these suavely smart people in + “Thurston's” had had the effect of putting him on his honor when they + asked, “Would there be anything else?” and he had followed them + unresistingly. + </p> + <p> + He indulged to the full his whim that everything entering into the + construction of “Abraham” should be spick-and-span. He watched with his + own eyes a whole ream of broad glazed white paper being sliced down by the + cutter into single sheets, and thrilled with a novel ecstasy as he laid + his hand upon the spotless bulk, so wooingly did it invite him to begin. + He tried a score of pens before the right one came to hand. When a box of + these had been laid aside, with ink and pen-holders and a little bronze + inkstand, he made a sign that the outfit was complete. Or no—there + must be some blotting-paper. He had always used those blotting-pads given + away by insurance companies—his congregations never failed to + contain one or more agents, who had these to bestow by the armful—but + the book deserved a virgin blotter. + </p> + <p> + Theron stood by while all these things were being tied up together in a + parcel. The suggestion that they should be sent almost hurt him. Oh, no, + he would carry them home himself. So strongly did they appeal to his + sanguine imagination that he could not forbear hinting to the man who had + shown him the pianos and was now accompanying him to the door that this + package under his arm represented potentially the price of the piano he + was going to have. He did it in a roundabout way, with one of his droll, + hesitating smiles. The man did not understand at all, and Theron had not + the temerity to repeat the remark. He strode home with the precious bundle + as fast as he could. + </p> + <p> + “I thought it best, after all, not to commit myself to a selection,” he + explained about the piano at dinner-time. “In such a matter as this, the + opinion of an expert is everything. I am going to have one of the + principal musicians of the town go and try them all, and tell me which we + ought to have.” + </p> + <p> + “And while he's about it,” said Alice, “you might ask him to make a little + list of some of the new music. I've got way behind the times, being + without a piano so long. Tell him not any VERY difficult pieces, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know,” put in Theron, almost hastily, and began talking of other + things. His conversation was of the most rambling and desultory sort, + because all the while the two lobes of his brain, as it were, kept up a + dispute as to whether Alice ought to have been told that this “principal + musician” was of her own sex. It would certainly have been better, at the + outset, he decided; but to mention it now would be to invest the fact with + undue importance. Yes, that was quite clear; only the clearer it became, + from one point of view, the shadier it waxed from the other. The problem + really disturbed the young minister's mind throughout the meal, and his + abstraction became so marked at last that his wife commented upon it. + </p> + <p> + “A penny for your thoughts!” she said, with cheerful briskness. This + ancient formula of the farm-land had always rather jarred on Theron. It + presented itself now to his mind as a peculiarly aggravating banality. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to begin my book this afternoon,” he remarked impressively. + “There is a great deal to think about.” + </p> + <p> + It turned out that there was even more to think about than he had + imagined. After hours of solitary musing at his desk, or of pacing up and + down before his open book-shelves, Theron found the first shadows of a + May-day twilight beginning to fall upon that beautiful pile of white + paper, still unstained by ink. He saw the book he wanted to write before + him, in his mental vision, much more distinctly than ever, but the idea of + beginning it impetuously, and hurling it off hot and glowing week by week, + had faded away like a dream. + </p> + <p> + This long afternoon, spent face to face with a project born of his own + brain but yesterday, yet already so much bigger than himself, was really a + most fruitful time for the young clergyman. The lessons which cut most + deeply into our consciousness are those we learn from our children. + Theron, in this first day's contact with the offspring of his fancy, found + revealed to him an unsuspected and staggering truth. It was that he was an + extremely ignorant and rudely untrained young man, whose pretensions to + intellectual authority among any educated people would be laughed at with + deserved contempt. + </p> + <p> + Strangely enough, after he had weathered the first shock, this discovery + did not dismay Theron Ware. The very completeness of the conviction it + carried with it, saturated his mind with a feeling as if the fact had + really been known to him all along. And there came, too, after a little, + an almost pleasurable sense of the importance of the revelation. He had + been merely drifting in fatuous and conceited blindness. Now all at once + his eyes were open; he knew what he had to do. Ignorance was a thing to be + remedied, and he would forthwith bend all his energies to cultivating his + mind till it should blossom like a garden. In this mood, Theron mentally + measured himself against the more conspicuous of his colleagues in the + Conference. They also were ignorant, clownishly ignorant: the difference + was that they were doomed by native incapacity to go on all their lives + without ever finding it out. It was obvious to him that his case was + better. There was bright promise in the very fact that he had discovered + his shortcomings. + </p> + <p> + He had begun the afternoon by taking down from their places the various + works in his meagre library which bore more or less relation to the task + in hand. The threescore books which constituted his printed possessions + were almost wholly from the press of the Book Concern; the few exceptions + were volumes which, though published elsewhere, had come to him through + that giant circulating agency of the General Conference, and wore the + stamp of its approval. Perhaps it was the sight of these half-filled + shelves which started this day's great revolution in Theron's opinions of + himself. He had never thought much before about owning books. He had been + too poor to buy many, and the conditions of canvassing about among one's + parishioners which the thrifty Book Concern imposes upon those who would + have without buying, had always repelled him. Now, suddenly, as he moved + along the two shelves, he felt ashamed at their beggarly showing. + </p> + <p> + “The Land and the Book,” in three portly volumes, was the most pretentious + of the aids which he finally culled from his collection. Beside it he laid + out “Bible Lands,” “Rivers and Lakes of Scripture,” “Bible Manners and + Customs,” the “Genesis and Exodus” volume of Whedon's Commentary, some old + numbers of the “Methodist Quarterly Review,” and a copy of “Josephus” + which had belonged to his grandmother, and had seen him through many a + weary Sunday afternoon in boyhood. He glanced casually through these, one + by one, as he took them down, and began to fear that they were not going + to be of so much use as he had thought. Then, seating himself, he read + carefully through the thirteen chapters of Genesis which chronicle the + story of the founder of Israel. + </p> + <p> + Of course he had known this story from his earliest years. In almost every + chapter he came now upon a phrase or an incident which had served him as + the basis for a sermon. He had preached about Hagar in the wilderness, + about Lot's wife, about the visit of the angels, about the intended + sacrifice of Isaac, about a dozen other things suggested by the ancient + narrative. Somehow this time it all seemed different to him. The people he + read about were altered to his vision. Heretofore a poetic light had shone + about them, where indeed they had not glowed in a halo of sanctification. + Now, by some chance, this light was gone, and he saw them instead as + untutored and unwashed barbarians, filled with animal lusts and + ferocities, struggling by violence and foul chicanery to secure a foothold + in a country which did not belong to them—all rude tramps and + robbers of the uncivilized plain. + </p> + <p> + The apparent fact that Abram was a Chaldean struck him with peculiar + force. How was it, he wondered, that this had never occurred to him + before? Examining himself, he found that he had supposed vaguely that + there had been Jews from the beginning, or at least, say, from the flood. + But, no, Abram was introduced simply as a citizen of the Chaldean town of + Ur, and there was no hint of any difference in race between him and his + neighbors. It was specially mentioned that his brother, Lot's father, died + in Ur, the city of his nativity. Evidently the family belonged there, and + were Chaldeans like the rest. + </p> + <p> + I do not cite this as at all a striking discovery, but it did have a + curious effect upon Theron Ware. Up to that very afternoon, his notion of + the kind of book he wanted to write had been founded upon a popular book + called “Ruth the Moabitess,” written by a clergyman he knew very well, the + Rev. E. Ray Mifflin. This model performance troubled itself not at all + with difficult points, but went swimmingly along through scented summer + seas of pretty rhetoric, teaching nothing, it is true, but pleasing a good + deal and selling like hot cakes. Now, all at once Theron felt that he + hated that sort of book. HIS work should be of a vastly different order. + He might fairly assume, he thought, that if the fact that Abram was a + Chaldean was new to him, it would fall upon the world in general as a + novelty. Very well, then, there was his chance. He would write a learned + book, showing who the Chaldeans were, and how their manners and beliefs + differed from, and influenced— + </p> + <p> + It was at this psychological instant that the wave of self-condemnation + suddenly burst upon and submerged the young clergyman. It passed again, + leaving him staring fixedly at the pile of books he had taken down from + the shelves, and gasping a little, as if for breath. Then the humorous + side of the thing, perversely enough, appealed to him, and he grinned + feebly to himself at the joke of his having imagined that he could write + learnedly about the Chaldeans, or anything else. But, no, it shouldn't + remain a joke! His long mobile face grew serious under the new resolve. He + would learn what there was to be learned about the Chaldeans. He rose and + walked up and down the room, gathering fresh strength of purpose as this + inviting field of research spread out its vistas before him. Perhaps—yes, + he would incidentally explore the mysteries of the Moabitic past as well, + and thus put the Rev. E. Ray Mifflin to confusion on his own subject. That + would in itself be a useful thing, because Mifflin wore kid gloves at the + Conference, and affected an intolerable superiority of dress and demeanor, + and there would be general satisfaction among the plainer and worthier + brethren at seeing him taken down a peg. + </p> + <p> + Now for the first time there rose distinctly in Theron's mind that casual + allusion which Father Forbes had made to the Turanians. He recalled, too, + his momentary feeling of mortification at not knowing who the Turanians + were, at the time. Possibly, if he had probed this matter more deeply, now + as he walked and pondered in the little living-room, he might have traced + the whole of the afternoon's mental experiences to that chance remark of + the Romish priest. But this speculation did not detain him. He mused + instead upon the splendid library Father Forbes must have. + </p> + <p> + “Well, how does the book come on? Have you got to 'my Lady Keturah' yet?'” + </p> + <p> + It was Alice who spoke, opening the door from the kitchen, and putting in + her head with a pretence of great and solemn caution, but with a + correcting twinkle in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't got to anybody yet,” answered Theron, absently. “These big + things must be approached slowly.” + </p> + <p> + “Come out to supper, then, while the beans are hot,” said Alice. + </p> + <p> + The young minister sat through this other meal, again in deep abstraction. + His wife pursued her little pleasantry about Keturah, the second wife, + urging him with mock gravity to scold her roundly for daring to usurp + Sarah's place, but Theron scarcely heard her, and said next to nothing. He + ate sparingly, and fidgeted in his seat, waiting with obvious impatience + for the finish of the meal. At last he rose abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “I've got a call to make—something with reference to the book,” he + said. “I'll run out now, I think, before it gets dark.” + </p> + <p> + He put on his hat, and strode out of the house as if his errand was of the + utmost urgency. Once upon the street, however, his pace slackened. There + was still a good deal of daylight outside, and he loitered aimlessly + about, walking with bowed head and hands clasped behind him, until dusk + fell. Then he squared his shoulders, and started straight as the crow + flies toward the residence of Father Forbes. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + The new Catholic church was the largest and most imposing public building + in Octavius. Even in its unfinished condition, with a bald roofing of + weather-beaten boards marking on the stunted tower the place where a spire + was to begin later on, it dwarfed every other edifice of the sort in the + town, just as it put them all to shame in the matter of the throngs it + drew, rain or shine, to its services. + </p> + <p> + These facts had not heretofore been a source of satisfaction to the Rev. + Theron Ware. He had even alluded to the subject in terms which gave his + wife the impression that he actively deplored the strength and size of the + Catholic denomination in this new home of theirs, and was troubled in his + mind about Rome generally. But this evening he walked along the extended + side of the big structure, which occupied nearly half the block, and then, + turning the corner, passed in review its wide-doored, looming front, + without any hostile emotions whatever. In the gathering dusk it seemed + more massive than ever before, but he found himself only passively + considering the odd statement he had heard that all Catholic Church + property was deeded absolutely in the name of the Bishop of the diocese. + </p> + <p> + Only a narrow passage-way separated the church from the pastorate—a + fine new brick residence standing flush upon the street. Theron mounted + the steps, and looked about for a bell-pull. Search revealed instead a + little ivory button set in a ring of metal work. He picked at this for a + time with his finger-nail, before he made out the injunction, printed + across it, to push. Of course! how stupid of him! This was one of those + electric bells he had heard so much of, but which had not as yet made + their way to the class of homes he knew. For custodians of a mediaeval + superstition and fanaticism, the Catholic clergy seemed very much up to + date. This bell made him feel rather more a countryman than ever. + </p> + <p> + The door was opened by a tall gaunt woman, who stood in black relief + against the radiance of the hall-way while Theron, choosing his words with + some diffidence, asked if the Rev. Mr. Forbes was in. + </p> + <p> + “He is” came the hush-voiced answer. “He's at dinner, though.” + </p> + <p> + It took the young minister a second or two to bring into association in + his mind this evening hour and this midday meal. Then he began to say that + he would call again—it was nothing special—but the woman + suddenly cut him short by throwing the door wide open. + </p> + <p> + “It's Mr. Ware, is it not?” she asked, in a greatly altered tone. “Sure, + he'd not have you go away. Come inside—do, sir!—I'll tell + him.” + </p> + <p> + Theron, with a dumb show of reluctance, crossed the threshold. He noted + now that the woman, who had bustled down the hall on her errand, was + gray-haired and incredibly ugly, with a dark sour face, glowering black + eyes, and a twisted mouth. Then he saw that he was not alone in the + hall-way. Three men and two women, all poorly clad and obviously working + people, were seated in meek silence on a bench beyond the hat-rack. They + glanced up at him for an instant, then resumed their patient study of the + linoleum pattern on the floor at their feet. + </p> + <p> + “And will you kindly step in, sir?” the elderly Gorgon had returned to + ask. She led Mr. Ware along the hall-way to a door near the end, and + opened it for him to pass before her. + </p> + <p> + He entered a room in which for the moment he could see nothing but a + central glare of dazzling light beating down from a great shaded lamp upon + a circular patch of white table linen. Inside this ring of illumination + points of fire sparkled from silver and porcelain, and two bars of burning + crimson tracked across the cloth in reflection from tall glasses filled + with wine. The rest of the room was vague darkness; but the gloom seemed + saturated with novel aromatic odors, the appetizing scent of which bore + clear relation to what Theron's blinking eyes rested upon. + </p> + <p> + He was able now to discern two figures at the table, outside the glowing + circle of the lamp. They had both risen, and one came toward him with + cordial celerity, holding out a white plump hand in greeting. He took this + proffered hand rather limply, not wholly sure in the half-light that this + really was Father Forbes, and began once more that everlasting apology to + which he seemed doomed in the presence of the priest. It was broken + abruptly off by the other's protesting laughter. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mr. Ware, I beg of you,” the priest urged, chuckling with + hospitable mirth, “don't, don't apologize! I give you my word, nothing in + the world could have pleased us better than your joining us here tonight. + It was quite dramatic, your coming in as you did. We were speaking of you + at that very moment. Oh, I forgot—let me make you acquainted with my + friend—my very particular friend, Dr. Ledsmar. Let me take your hat; + pray draw up a chair. Maggie will have a place laid for you in a minute.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I assure you—I couldn't think of it—I've just eaten my—my—dinner,” + expostulated Theron. He murmured more inarticulate remonstrances a moment + later, when the grim old domestic appeared with plates, serviette, and + tableware for his use, but she went on spreading them before him as if she + heard nothing. Thus committed against a decent show of resistance, the + young minister did eat a little here and there of what was set before him, + and was human enough to regret frankly that he could not eat more. It + seemed to him very remarkable cookery, transfiguring so simple a thing as + a steak, for example, quite out of recognition, and investing the humble + potato with a charm he had never dreamed of. He wondered from time to time + if it would be polite to ask how the potatoes were cooked, so that he + might tell Alice. + </p> + <p> + The conversation at the table was not continuous, or even enlivened. After + the lapses into silence became marked, Theron began to suspect that his + refusal to drink wine had annoyed them—the more so as he had + drenched a large section of table-cloth in his efforts to manipulate a + siphon instead. He was greatly relieved, therefore, when Father Forbes + explained in an incidental way that Dr. Ledsmar and he customarily ate + their meals almost without a word. + </p> + <p> + “It's a philosophic fad of his,” the priest went on smilingly, “and I have + fallen in with it for the sake of a quiet life; so that when we do have + company—that is to say, once in a blue moon—we display no + manners to speak of.” + </p> + <p> + “I had always supposed—that is, I've always heard—that it was + more healthful to talk at meals,” said Theron. “Of course—what I + mean—I took it for granted all physicians thought so.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar laughed. “That depends so much upon the quality of the meals!” + he remarked, holding his glass up to the light. + </p> + <p> + He seemed a man of middle age and an equable disposition. Theron, stealing + stray glances at him around the lampshade, saw most distinctly of all a + broad, impressive dome of skull, which, though obviously the result of + baldness, gave the effect of quite belonging to the face. There were + gold-rimmed spectacles, through which shone now and again the vivid + sparkle of sharp, alert eyes, and there was a nose of some sort not easy + to classify, at once long and thick. The rest was thin hair and short + round beard, mouse-colored where the light caught them, but losing their + outlines in the shadows of the background. Theron had not heard of him + among the physicians of Octavius. He wondered if he might not be a doctor + of something else than medicine, and decided upon venturing the question. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, it is medicine,” replied Ledsmar. “I am a doctor three or four + times over, so far as parchments can make one. In some other respects, + though, I should think I am probably less of a doctor than anybody else + now living. I haven't practised—that is, regularly—for many + years, and I take no interest whatever in keeping abreast of what the + profession regards as its progress. I know nothing beyond what was being + taught in the sixties, and that I am glad to say I have mostly forgotten.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear me!” said Theron. “I had always supposed that Science was the most + engrossing of pursuits—that once a man took it up he never left it.” + </p> + <p> + “But that would imply a connection between Science and Medicine!” + commented the doctor. “My dear sir, they are not even on speaking terms.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall we go upstairs?” put in the priest, rising from his chair. “It will + be more comfortable to have our coffee there—unless indeed, Mr. + Ware, tobacco is unpleasant to you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my, no!” the young minister exclaimed, eager to free himself from the + suggestion of being a kill-joy. “I don't smoke myself; but I am very fond + of the odor, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes led the way out. It could be seen now that he wore a long + house-gown of black silk, skilfully moulded to his erect, shapely, and + rounded form. Though he carried this with the natural grace of a proud and + beautiful belle, there was no hint of the feminine in his bearing, or in + the contour of his pale, firm-set, handsome face. As he moved through the + hall-way, the five people whom Theron had seen waiting rose from their + bench, and two of the women began in humble murmurs, “If you please, + Father,” and “Good-evening to your Riverence;” but the priest merely + nodded and passed on up the staircase, followed by his guests. The people + sat down on their bench again. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes later, reclining at his ease in a huge low chair, and + feeling himself unaccountably at home in the most luxuriously appointed + and delightful little room he had ever seen, the Rev. Theron Ware sipped + his unaccustomed coffee and embarked upon an explanation of his errand. + Somehow the very profusion of scholarly symbols about him—the great + dark rows of encased and crowded book-shelves rising to the ceiling, the + classical engravings upon the wall, the revolving book-case, the + reading-stand, the mass of littered magazines, reviews, and papers at + either end of the costly and elaborate writing-desk—seemed to make + it the easier for him to explain without reproach that he needed + information about Abram. He told them quite in detail the story of his + book. + </p> + <p> + The two others sat watching him through a faint haze of scented smoke, + with polite encouragement on their faces. Father Forbes took the added + trouble to nod understandingly at the various points of the narrative, and + when it was finished gave one of his little approving chuckles. + </p> + <p> + “This skirts very closely upon sorcery,” he said smilingly. “Do you know, + there is perhaps not another man in the country who knows Assyriology so + thoroughly as our friend here, Dr. Ledsmar.” + </p> + <p> + “That's putting it too strong,” remarked the Doctor. “I only follow at a + distance—a year or two behind. But I daresay I can help you. You are + quite welcome to anything I have: my books cover the ground pretty well up + to last year. Delitzsch is very interesting; but Baudissin's 'Studien zur + Semitischen Religionsgeschichte' would come closer to what you need. There + are several other important Germans—Schrader, Bunsen, Duncker, + Hommel, and so on.” + </p> + <p> + “Unluckily I—I don't read German readily,” Theron explained with + diffidence. + </p> + <p> + “That's a pity,” said the doctor, “because they do the best work—not + only in this field, but in most others. And they do so much that the mass + defies translation. Well, the best thing outside of German of course is + Sayce. I daresay you know him, though.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware shook his head mournfully. “I don't seem to know any + one,” he murmured. + </p> + <p> + The others exchanged glances. + </p> + <p> + “But if I may ask, Mr. Ware,” pursued the doctor, regarding their guest + with interest through his spectacles, “why do you specially hit upon + Abraham? He is full of difficulties—enough, just now, at any rate, + to warn off the bravest scholar. Why not take something easier?” + </p> + <p> + Theron had recovered something of his confidence. “Oh, no,” he said, “that + is just what attracts me to Abraham. I like the complexities and + contradictions in his character. Take for instance all that strange and + picturesque episode of Hagar: see the splendid contrast between the craft + and commercial guile of his dealings in Egypt and with Abimelech, and the + simple, straightforward godliness of his later years. No, all those + difficulties only attract me. Do you happen to know—of course you + would know—do those German books, or the others, give anywhere any + additional details of the man himself and his sayings and doings—little + things which help, you know, to round out one's conception of the + individual?” + </p> + <p> + Again the priest and the doctor stole a furtive glance across the young + minister's head. It was Father Forbes who replied. + </p> + <p> + “I fear that you are taking our friend Abraham too literally, Mr. Ware,” + he said, in that gentle semblance of paternal tones which seemed to go so + well with his gown. “Modern research, you know, quite wipes him out of + existence as an individual. The word 'Abram' is merely an eponym—it + means 'exalted father.' Practically all the names in the Genesis + chronologies are what we call eponymous. Abram is not a person at all: he + is a tribe, a sept, a clan. In the same way, Shem is not intended for a + man; it is the name of a great division of the human race. Heber is simply + the throwing back into allegorical substance, so to speak, of the Hebrews; + Heth of the Hittites; Asshur of Assyria.” + </p> + <p> + “But this is something very new, this theory, isn't it?” queried Theron. + </p> + <p> + The priest smiled and shook his head. “Bless you, no! My dear sir, there + is nothing new. Epicurus and Lucretius outlined the whole Darwinian theory + more than two thousand years ago. As for this eponym thing, why Saint + Augustine called attention to it fifteen hundred years ago. In his 'De + Civitate Dei,' he expressly says of these genealogical names, 'GENTES NON + HOMINES;' that is, 'peoples, not persons.' It was as obvious to him—as + much a commonplace of knowledge—as it was to Ezekiel eight hundred + years before him.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems passing strange that we should not know it now, then,” commented + Theron; “I mean, that everybody shouldn't know it.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes gave a little purring chuckle. “Ah, there we get upon + contentious ground,” he remarked. “Why should 'everybody' be supposed to + know anything at all? What business is it of 'everybody's' to know things? + The earth was just as round in the days when people supposed it to be + flat, as it is now. So the truth remains always the truth, even though you + give a charter to ten hundred thousand separate numskulls to examine it by + the light of their private judgment, and report that it is as many + different varieties of something else. But of course that whole question + of private judgment versus authority is No-Man's-Land for us. We were + speaking of eponyms.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Theron; “it is very interesting.” + </p> + <p> + “There is a curious phase of the subject which hasn't been worked out + much,” continued the priest. “Probably the Germans will get at that too, + sometime. They are doing the best Irish work in other fields, as it is. I + spoke of Heber and Heth, in Genesis, as meaning the Hebrews and the + Hittites. Now my own people, the Irish, have far more ancient legends and + traditions than any other nation west of Athens; and you find in their + myth of the Milesian invasion and conquest two principal leaders called + Heber and Ith, or Heth. That is supposed to be comparatively modern—about + the time of Solomon's Temple. But these independent Irish myths go back to + the fall of the Tower of Babel, and they have there an ancestor, grandson + of Japhet, named Fenius Farsa, and they ascribe to him the invention of + the alphabet. They took their ancient name of Feine, the modern Fenian, + from him. Oddly enough, that is the name which the Romans knew the + Phoenicians by, and to them also is ascribed the invention of the + alphabet. The Irish have a holy salmon of knowledge, just like the + Chaldean man-fish. The Druids' tree-worship is identical with that of the + Chaldeans—those pagan groves, you know, which the Jews were always + being punished for building. You see, there is nothing new. Everything is + built on the ruins of something else. Just as the material earth is made + up of countless billions of dead men's bones, so the mental world is all + alive with the ghosts of dead men's thoughts and beliefs, the wraiths of + dead races' faiths and imaginings.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes paused, then added with a twinkle in his eye: “That + peroration is from an old sermon of mine, in the days when I used to + preach. I remember rather liking it, at the time.” + </p> + <p> + “But you still preach?” asked the Rev. Mr. Ware, with lifted brows. + </p> + <p> + “No! no more! I only talk now and again,” answered the priest, with what + seemed a suggestion of curtness. He made haste to take the conversation + back again. “The names of these dead-and-gone things are singularly + pertinacious, though. They survive indefinitely. Take the modern name + Marmaduke, for example. It strikes one as peculiarly modern, up-to-date, + doesn't it? Well, it is the oldest name on earth—thousands of years + older than Adam. It is the ancient Chaldean Meridug, or Merodach. He was + the young god who interceded continually between the angry, omnipotent Ea, + his father, and the humble and unhappy Damkina, or Earth, who was his + mother. This is interesting from another point of view, because this + Merodach or Marmaduke is, so far as we can see now, the original prototype + of our 'divine intermediary' idea. I daresay, though, that if we could go + back still other scores of centuries, we should find whole receding series + of types of this Christ-myth of ours.” + </p> + <p> + Theron Ware sat upright at the fall of these words, and flung a swift, + startled look about the room—the instinctive glance of a man + unexpectedly confronted with peril, and casting desperately about for + means of defence and escape. For the instant his mind was aflame with this + vivid impression—that he was among sinister enemies, at the mercy of + criminals. He half rose under the impelling stress of this feeling, with + the sweat standing on his brow, and his jaw dropped in a scared and + bewildered stare. + </p> + <p> + Then, quite as suddenly, the sense of shock was gone; and it was as if + nothing at all had happened. He drew a long breath, took another sip of + his coffee, and found himself all at once reflecting almost pleasurably + upon the charm of contact with really educated people. He leaned back in + the big chair again, and smiled to show these men of the world how much at + his ease he was. It required an effort, he discovered, but he made it + bravely, and hoped he was succeeding. + </p> + <p> + “It hasn't been in my power to at all lay hold of what the world keeps on + learning nowadays about its babyhood,” he said. “All I have done is to try + to preserve an open mind, and to maintain my faith that the more we know, + the nearer we shall approach the Throne.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar abruptly scuffled his feet on the floor, and took out his + watch. “I'm afraid—” he began. + </p> + <p> + “No, no! There's plenty of time,” remarked the priest, with his soft + half-smile and purring tones. “You finish your cigar here with Mr. Ware, + and excuse me while I run down and get rid of the people in the hall.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes tossed his cigar-end into the fender. Then he took from the + mantel a strange three-cornered black-velvet cap, with a dangling silk + tassel at the side, put it on his head, and went out. + </p> + <p> + Theron, being left alone with the doctor, hardly knew what to do or say. + He took up a paper from the floor beside him, but realized that it would + be impolite to go farther, and laid it on his knee. Some trace of that + earlier momentary feeling that he was in hostile hands came back, and + worried him. He lifted himself upright in the chair, and then became + conscious that what really disturbed him was the fact that Dr. Ledsmar had + turned in his seat, crossed his legs, and was contemplating him with a + gravely concentrated scrutiny through his spectacles. + </p> + <p> + This uncomfortable gaze kept itself up a long way beyond the point of good + manners; but the doctor seemed not to mind that at all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <p> + When Dr. Ledsmar finally spoke, it was in a kindlier tone than the young + minister had looked for. “I had half a notion of going to hear you preach + the other evening,” he said; “but at the last minute I backed out. I + daresay I shall pluck up the courage, sooner or later, and really go. It + must be fully twenty years since I last heard a sermon, and I had supposed + that that would suffice for the rest of my life. But they tell me that you + are worth while; and, for some reason or other, I find myself curious on + the subject.” + </p> + <p> + Involved and dubious though the compliment might be, Theron felt himself + flushing with satisfaction. He nodded his acknowledgment, and changed the + topic. + </p> + <p> + “I was surprised to hear Father Forbes say that he did not preach,” he + remarked. + </p> + <p> + “Why should he?” asked the doctor, indifferently. “I suppose he hasn't + more than fifteen parishioners in a thousand who would understand him if + he did, and of these probably twelve would join in a complaint to his + Bishop about the heterodox tone of his sermon. There is no point in his + going to all that pains, merely to incur that risk. Nobody wants him to + preach, and he has reached an age where personal vanity no longer tempts + him to do so. What IS wanted of him is that he should be the paternal, + ceremonial, authoritative head and centre of his flock, adviser, monitor, + overseer, elder brother, friend, patron, seigneur—whatever you like—everything + except a bore. They draw the line at that. You see how diametrically + opposed this Catholic point of view is to the Protestant.” + </p> + <p> + “The difference does seem extremely curious to me,” said Theron. “Now, + those people in the hall—” + </p> + <p> + “Go on,” put in the doctor, as the other faltered hesitatingly. “I know + what you were going to say. It struck you as odd that he should let them + wait on the bench there, while he came up here to smoke.” + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled faintly. “I WAS thinking that my—my parishioners + wouldn't have taken it so quietly. But of course—it is all so + different!” + </p> + <p> + “As chalk from cheese!” said Dr. Ledsmar, lighting a fresh cigar. “I + daresay every one you saw there had come either to take the pledge, or see + to it that one of the others took it. That is the chief industry in the + hall, so far as I have observed. Now discipline is an important element in + the machinery here. Coming to take the pledge implies that you have been + drunk and are now ashamed. Both states have their values, but they are + opposed. Sitting on that bench tends to develop penitence to the prejudice + of alcoholism. But at no stage would it ever occur to the occupant of the + bench that he was the best judge of how long he was to sit there, or that + his priest should interrupt his dinner or general personal routine, in + order to administer that pledge. Now, I daresay you have no people at all + coming to 'swear off.'” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware shook his head. “No; if a man with us got as bad as all + that, he wouldn't come near the church at all. He'd simply drop out, and + there would be an end to it.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite so,” interjected the doctor. “That is the voluntary system. But + these fellows can't drop out. There's no bottom to the Catholic Church. + Everything that's in, stays in. If you don't mind my saying so—of + course I view you all impartially from the outside—but it seems + logical to me that a church should exist for those who need its help, and + not for those who by their own profession are so good already that it is + they who help the church. Now, you turn a man out of your church who + behaves badly: that must be on the theory that his remaining in would + injure the church, and that in turn involves the idea that it is the + excellent character of the parishioners which imparts virtue to the + church. The Catholics' conception, you see, is quite the converse. Such + virtue as they keep in stock is on tap, so to speak, here in the church + itself, and the parishioners come and get some for themselves according to + their need for it. Some come every day, some only once a year, some + perhaps never between their baptism and their funeral. But they all have a + right here, the professional burglar every whit as much as the speckless + saint. The only stipulation is that they oughtn't to come under false + pretences: the burglar is in honor bound not to pass himself off to his + priest as the saint. But that is merely a moral obligation, established in + the burglar's own interest. It does him no good to come unless he feels + that he is playing the rules of the game, and one of these is confession. + If he cheats there, he knows that he is cheating nobody but himself, and + might much better have stopped away altogether.” + </p> + <p> + Theron nodded his head comprehendingly. He had a great many views about + the Romanish rite of confession which did not at all square with this + statement of the case, but this did not seem a specially fit time for + bringing them forth. There was indeed a sense of languid repletion in his + mind, as if it had been overfed and wanted to lie down for awhile. He + contented himself with nodding again, and murmuring reflectively, “Yes, it + is all strangely different.” + </p> + <p> + His tone was an invitation to silence; and the doctor turned his attention + to the cigar, studying its ash for a minute with an air of deep + meditation, and then solemnly blowing out a slow series of smoke-rings. + Theron watched him with an indolent, placid eye, wondering lazily if it + was, after all, so very pleasant to smoke. + </p> + <p> + There fell upon this silence—with a softness so delicate that it + came almost like a progression in the hush—the sound of sweet music. + For a little, strain and source were alike indefinite—an impalpable + setting to harmony of the mellowed light, the perfumed opalescence of the + air, the luxury and charm of the room. Then it rose as by a sweeping curve + of beauty, into a firm, calm, severe melody, delicious to the ear, but as + cold in the mind's vision as moonlit sculpture. It went on upward with + stately collectedness of power, till the atmosphere seemed all alive with + the trembling consciousness of the presence of lofty souls, sternly pure + and pitilessly great. + </p> + <p> + Theron found himself moved as he had never been before. He almost resented + the discovery, when it was presented to him by the prosaic, mechanical + side of his brain, that he was listening to organ-music, and that it came + through the open window from the church close by. He would fain have + reclined in his chair and closed his eyes, and saturated himself with the + uttermost fulness of the sensation. Yet, in absurd despite of himself, he + rose and moved over to the window. + </p> + <p> + Only a narrow alley separated the pastorate from the church; Mr. Ware + could have touched with a walking-stick the opposite wall. Indirectly + facing him was the arched and mullioned top of a great window. A dim light + from within shone through the more translucent portions of the glass + below, throwing out faint little bars of party-colored radiance upon the + blackness of the deep passage-way. He could vaguely trace by these the + outlines of some sort of picture on the window. There were human figures + in it, and—yes—up here in the centre, nearest him, was a + woman's head. There was a halo about it, engirdling rich, flowing waves of + reddish hair, the lights in which glowed like flame. The face itself was + barely distinguishable, but its half-suggested form raised a curious sense + of resemblance to some other face. He looked at it closely, blankly, the + noble music throbbing through his brain meanwhile. + </p> + <p> + “It's that Madden girl!” he suddenly heard a voice say by his side. Dr. + Ledsmar had followed him to the window, and was close at his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Theron's thoughts were upon the puzzling shadowed lineaments on the + stained glass. He saw now in a flash the resemblance which had baffled + him. “It IS like her, of course,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, unfortunately, it IS just like her,” replied the doctor, with a + hostile note in his voice. “Whenever I am dining here, she always goes in + and kicks up that racket. She knows I hate it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you mean that it is she who is playing,” remarked Theron. “I thought + you referred to—at least—I was thinking of—” + </p> + <p> + His sentence died off in inconsequence. He had a feeling that he did not + want to talk with the doctor about the stained-glass likeness. The music + had sunk away now into fragmentary and unconnected passages, broken here + and there by abrupt stops. Dr. Ledsmar stretched an arm out past him and + shut the window. “Let's hear as little of the row as we can,” he said, and + the two went back to their chairs. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me for the question,” the Rev. Mr. Ware said, after a pause which + began to affect him as constrained, “but something you said about dining—you + don't live here, then? In the house, I mean?” + </p> + <p> + The doctor laughed—a characteristically abrupt, dry little laugh, + which struck Theron at once as bearing a sort of black-sheep relationship + to the priest's habitual chuckle. “That must have been puzzling you no + end,” he said—“that notion that the pastorate kept a devil's + advocate on the premises. No, Mr. Ware, I don't live here. I inhabit a + house of my own—you may have seen it—an old-fashioned place up + beyond the race-course, with a sort of tower at the back, and a big + garden. But I dine here three or four times a week. It is an old + arrangement of ours. Vincent and I have been friends for many years now. + We are quite alone in the world, we two—much to our mutual + satisfaction. You must come up and see me some time; come up and have a + look over the books we were speaking of.” + </p> + <p> + “I am much obliged,” said Theron, without enthusiasm. The thought of the + doctor by himself did not attract him greatly. + </p> + <p> + The reservation in his tone seemed to interest the doctor. “I suppose you + are the first man I have asked in a dozen years,” he remarked, frankly + willing that the young minister should appreciate the favor extended him. + “It must be fully that since anybody but Vincent Forbes has been under my + roof; that is, of my own species, I mean.” + </p> + <p> + “You live there quite alone,” commented Theron. + </p> + <p> + “Quite—with my dogs and cats and lizards—and my Chinaman. I + mustn't forget him.” The doctor noted the inquiry in the other's lifted + brows, and smilingly explained. “He is my solitary servant. Possibly he + might not appeal to you much; but I can assure you he used to interest + Octavius a great deal when I first brought him here, ten years ago or so. + He afforded occupation for all the idle boys in the village for a + twelve-month at least. They used to lie in wait for him all day long, with + stones or horse-chestnuts or snowballs, according to the season. The + Irishmen from the wagon-works nearly killed him once or twice, but he + patiently lived it all down. The Chinaman has the patience to live + everything down—the Caucasian races included. He will see us all to + bed, will that gentleman with the pigtail!” + </p> + <p> + The music over in the church had lifted itself again into form and + sequence, and defied the closed window. If anything, it was louder than + before, and the sonorous roar of the bass-pedals seemed to be shaking the + very walls. It was something with a big-lunged, exultant, triumphing swing + in it—something which ought to have been sung on the battlefield at + the close of day by the whole jubilant army of victors. It was impossible + to pretend not to be listening to it; but the doctor submitted with an + obvious scowl, and bit off the tip of his third cigar with an annoyed air. + </p> + <p> + “You don't seem to care much for music,” suggested Mr. Ware, when a lull + came. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar looked up, lighted match in hand. “Say musicians!” he growled. + “Has it ever occurred to you,” he went on, between puffs at the flame, + “that the only animals who make the noises we call music are of the bird + family—a debased offshoot of the reptilian creation—the very + lowest types of the vertebrata now in existence? I insist upon the + parallel among humans. I have in my time, sir, had considerable + opportunities for studying close at hand the various orders of mammalia + who devote themselves to what they describe as the arts. It may sound a + harsh judgement, but I am convinced that musicians stand on the very + bottom rung of the ladder in the sub-cellar of human intelligence, even + lower than painters and actors.” + </p> + <p> + This seemed such unqualified nonsense to the Rev. Mr. Ware that he offered + no comment whatever upon it. He tried instead to divert his thoughts to + the stormy strains which rolled in through the vibrating brickwork, and to + picture to himself the large, capable figure of Miss Madden seated in the + half-light at the organ-board, swaying to and fro in a splendid ecstasy of + power as she evoked at will this superb and ordered uproar. But the doctor + broke insistently in upon his musings. + </p> + <p> + “All art, so-called, is decay,” he said, raising his voice. “When a race + begins to brood on the beautiful—so-called—it is a sign of + rot, of getting ready to fall from the tree. Take the Jews—those + marvellous old fellows—who were never more than a handful, yet have + imposed the rule of their ideas and their gods upon us for fifteen hundred + years. Why? They were forbidden by their most fundamental law to make + sculptures or pictures. That was at a time when the Egyptians, when the + Assyrians, and other Semites, were running to artistic riot. Every great + museum in the world now has whole floors devoted to statues from the Nile, + and marvellous carvings from the palaces of Sargon and Assurbanipal. You + can get the artistic remains of the Jews during that whole period into a + child's wheelbarrow. They had the sense and strength to penalize art; they + alone survived. They saw the Egyptians go, the Assyrians go, the Greeks + go, the late Romans go, the Moors in Spain go—all the artistic + peoples perish. They remained triumphing over all. Now at last their + long-belated apogee is here; their decline is at hand. I am told that in + this present generation in Europe the Jews are producing a great lot of + young painters and sculptors and actors, just as for a century they have + been producing famous composers and musicians. That means the end of the + Jews!” + </p> + <p> + “What! have you only got as far as that?” came the welcome interruption of + a cheery voice. Father Forbes had entered the room, and stood looking down + with a whimsical twinkle in his eye from one to the other of his guests. + </p> + <p> + “You must have been taken over the ground at a very slow pace, Mr. Ware,” + he continued, chuckling softly, “to have arrived merely at the collapse of + the New Jerusalem. I fancied I had given him time enough to bring you + straight up to the end of all of us, with that Chinaman of his gently + slapping our graves with his pigtail. That's where the doctor always winds + up, if he's allowed to run his course.” + </p> + <p> + “It has all been very interesting, extremely so, I assure you,” faltered + Theron. It had become suddenly apparent to him that he desired nothing so + much as to make his escape—that he had indeed only been waiting for + the host's return to do so. + </p> + <p> + He rose at this, and explained that he must be going. No special effort + being put forth to restrain him, he presently made his way out, Father + Forbes hospitably following him down to the door, and putting a very + gracious cordiality into his adieux. + </p> + <p> + The night was warm and black. Theron stood still in it the moment the + pastorate door had closed; the sudden darkness was so thick that it was as + if he had closed his eyes. His dominant sensation was of a deep relief and + rest after some undue fatigue. It crossed his mind that drunken men + probably felt like that as they leaned against things on their way home. + He was affected himself, he saw, by the weariness and half-nausea + following a mental intoxication. The conceit pleased him, and he smiled to + himself as he turned and took the first homeward steps. It must be growing + late, he thought. Alice would be wondering as she waited. + </p> + <p> + There was a street lamp at the corner, and as he walked toward it he noted + all at once that his feet were keeping step to the movement of the music + proceeding from the organ within the church—a vaguely processional + air, marked enough in measure, but still with a dreamy effect. It became a + pleasure to identify his progress with the quaint rhythm of sound as he + sauntered along. He discovered, as he neared the light, that he was + instinctively stepping over the seams in the flagstone sidewalk as he had + done as a boy. He smiled again at this. There was something exceptionally + juvenile and buoyant about his mood, now that he examined it. He set it + down as a reaction from that doctor's extravagant and incendiary talk. One + thing was certain—he would never be caught up at that house beyond + the race-course, with its reptiles and its Chinaman. Should he ever even + go to the pastorate again? He decided not to quite definitely answer THAT + in the negative, but as he felt now, the chances were all against it. + </p> + <p> + Turning the corner, and walking off into the shadows along the side of the + huge church building, Theron noted, almost at the end of the edifice, a + small door—the entrance to a porch coming out to the sidewalk—which + stood wide open. A thin, pale, vertical line of light showed that the + inner door, too, was ajar. + </p> + <p> + Through this wee aperture the organ-music, reduced and mellowed by + distance, came to him again with that same curious, intimate, personal + relation which had so moved him at the start, before the doctor closed the + window. It was as if it was being played for him alone. + </p> + <p> + He paused for a doubting minute or two, with bowed head, listening to the + exquisite harmony which floated out to caress and soothe and enfold him. + There was no spiritual, or at least pious, effect in it now. He fancied + that it must be secular music, or, if not, then something adapted to + marriage ceremonies—rich, vivid, passionate, a celebration of beauty + and the glory of possession, with its ruling note of joy only heightened + by soft, wooing interludes, and here and there the tremor of a fond, timid + little sob. + </p> + <p> + Theron turned away irresolutely, half frightened at the undreamt-of + impression this music was making upon him. Then, all at once, he wheeled + and stepped boldly into the porch, pushing the inner door open and hearing + it rustle against its leathern frame as it swung to behind him. + </p> + <p> + He had never been inside a Catholic church before. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <p> + Jeremiah Madden was supposed to be probably the richest man in Octavius. + There was no doubt at all about his being its least pretentious citizen. + </p> + <p> + The huge and ornate modern mansion which he had built, putting to shame + every other house in the place, gave an effect of ostentation to the + Maddens as a family; it seemed only to accentuate the air of humility + which enveloped Jeremiah as with a garment. Everybody knew some version of + the many tales afloat which, in a kindly spirit, illustrated the + incongruity between him and his splendid habitation. Some had it that he + slept in the shed. Others told whimsical stories of his sitting alone in + the kitchen evenings, smoking his old clay pipe, and sorrowing because the + second Mrs. Madden would not suffer the pigs and chickens to come in and + bear him company. But no matter how comic the exaggeration, these legends + were invariably amiable. It lay in no man's mouth to speak harshly of + Jeremiah Madden. + </p> + <p> + He had been born a Connemara peasant, and he would die one. When he was + ten years old he had seen some of his own family, and most of his + neighbors, starve to death. He could remember looking at the stiffened + figure of a woman stretched on the stones by the roadside, with the green + stain of nettles on her white lips. A girl five years or so older than + himself, also a Madden and distantly related, had started in despair off + across the mountains to the town where it was said the poor-law officers + were dealing out food. He could recall her coming back next day, wild-eyed + with hunger and the fever; the officers had refused her relief because her + bare legs were not wholly shrunken to the bone. “While there's a calf on + the shank, there's no starvation,” they had explained to her. The girl + died without profiting by this official apothegm. The boy found it burned + ineffaceably upon his brain. Now, after a lapse of more than forty years, + it seemed the thing that he remembered best about Ireland. + </p> + <p> + He had drifted westward as an unconsidered, unresisting item in that vast + flight of the famine years. Others whom he rubbed against in that + melancholy exodus, and deemed of much greater promise than himself, had + done badly. Somehow he did well. He learned the wheelwright's trade, and + really that seemed all there was to tell. The rest had been calm and + sequent progression—steady employment as a journeyman first; then + marriage and a house and lot; the modest start as a master; the move to + Octavius and cheap lumber; the growth of his business, always marked of + late years stupendous—all following naturally, easily, one thing out + of another. Jeremiah encountered the idea among his fellows, now and + again, that he was entitled to feel proud of all this. He smiled to + himself at the thought, and then sent a sigh after the smile. What was it + all but empty and transient vanity? The score of other Connemara boys he + had known—none very fortunate, several broken tragically in prison + or the gutter, nearly all now gone the way of flesh—were as good as + he. He could not have it in his heart to take credit for his success; it + would have been like sneering over their poor graves. + </p> + <p> + Jeremiah Madden was now fifty-three—a little man of a reddened, + weather-worn skin and a meditative, almost saddened, aspect. He had blue + eyes, but his scanty iron-gray hair showed raven black in its shadows. The + width and prominence of his cheek-bones dominated all one's recollections + of his face. The long vertical upper-lip and irregular teeth made, in + repose, an unshapely mouth; its smile, though, sweetened the whole + countenance. He wore a fringe of stiff, steel-colored beard, passing from + ear to ear under his chin. His week-day clothes were as simple as his + workaday manners, fitting his short black pipe and his steadfast devotion + to his business. On Sundays he dressed with a certain rigor of + respectability, all in black, and laid aside tobacco, at least to the + public view. He never missed going to the early Low Mass, quite alone. His + family always came later, at the ten o'clock High Mass. + </p> + <p> + There had been, at one time or another, a good many members of this + family. Two wives had borne Jeremiah Madden a total of over a dozen + children. Of these there survived now only two of the first Mrs. Madden's + offspring—Michael and Celia—and a son of the present wife, who + had been baptized Terence, but called himself Theodore. This minority of + the family inhabited the great new house on Main Street. Jeremiah went + every Sunday afternoon by himself to kneel in the presence of the + majority, there where they lay in Saint Agnes' consecrated ground. If the + weather was good, he generally extended his walk through the fields to an + old deserted Catholic burial-field, which had been used only in the first + years after the famine invasion, and now was clean forgotten. The old + wagon-maker liked to look over the primitive, neglected stones which + marked the graves of these earlier exiles. Fully half of the inscriptions + mentioned his County Galway—there were two naming the very parish + adjoining his. The latest date on any stone was of the remoter 'fifties. + They had all been stricken down, here in this strange land with its bitter + winters, while the memory of their own soft, humid, gentle west-coast air + was fresh within them. Musing upon the clumsy sculpture, with its + “R.I.P.,” or “Pray for the Soul of,” half to be guessed under the stain + and moss of a generation, there would seem to him but a step from this + present to that heart-rending, awful past. What had happened between was a + meaningless vision—as impersonal as the passing of the planets + overhead. He rarely had an impulse to tears in the new cemetery, where his + ten children were. He never left this weed-grown, forsaken old God's-acre + dry-eyed. + </p> + <p> + One must not construct from all this the image of a melancholy man, as his + fellows met and knew him. Mr. Madden kept his griefs, racial and + individual, for his own use. To the men about him in the offices and the + shops he presented day after day, year after year, an imperturbable + cheeriness of demeanor. He had been always fortunate in the selection of + lieutenants and chief helpers. Two of these had grown now into partners, + and were almost as much a part of the big enterprise as Jeremiah himself. + They spoke often of their inability to remember any unjust or petulant + word of his—much less any unworthy deed. Once they had seen him in a + great rage, all the more impressive because he said next to nothing. A + thoughtless fellow told a dirty story in the presence of some apprentices; + and Madden, listening to this, drove the offender implacably from his + employ. It was years now since any one who knew him had ventured upon lewd + pleasantries in his hearing. Jokes of the sort which women might hear he + was very fond of though he had not much humor of his own. Of books he knew + nothing whatever, and he made only the most perfunctory pretence now and + again of reading the newspapers. + </p> + <p> + The elder son Michael was very like his father—diligent, unassuming, + kindly, and simple—a plain, tall, thin red man of nearly thirty, who + toiled in paper cap and rolled-up shirt-sleeves as the superintendent in + the saw-mill, and put on no airs whatever as the son of the master. If + there was surprise felt at his not being taken into the firm as a partner, + he gave no hint of sharing it. He attended to his religious duties with + great zeal, and was President of the Sodality as a matter of course. This + was regarded as his blind side; and young employees who cultivated it, and + made broad their phylacteries under his notice, certainly had an added + chance of getting on well in the works. To some few whom he knew specially + well, Michael would confess that if he had had the brains for it, he + should have wished to be a priest. He displayed no inclination to marry. + </p> + <p> + The other son, Terence, was some eight years younger, and seemed the + product of a wholly different race. The contrast between Michael's sandy + skin and long gaunt visage and this dark boy's handsome, rounded face, + with its prettily curling black hair, large, heavily fringed brown eyes, + and delicately modelled features, was not more obvious than their + temperamental separation. This second lad had been away for years at + school,—indeed, at a good many schools, for no one seemed to manage + to keep him long. He had been with the Jesuits at Georgetown, with the + Christian Brothers at Manhattan; the sectarian Mt. St. Mary's and the + severely secular Annapolis had both been tried, and proved misfits. The + young man was home again now, and save that his name had become Theodore, + he appeared in no wise changed from the beautiful, wilful, bold, and showy + boy who had gone away in his teens. He was still rather small for his + years, but so gracefully moulded in form, and so perfectly tailored, that + the fact seemed rather an advantage than otherwise. He never dreamed of + going near the wagon-works, but he did go a good deal—in fact, most + of the time—to the Nedahma Club. His mother spoke often to her + friends about her fears for his health. He never spoke to his friends + about his mother at all. + </p> + <p> + The second Mrs. Madden did not, indeed, appeal strongly to the family + pride. She had been a Miss Foley, a dress-maker, and an old maid. Jeremiah + had married her after a brief widowerhood, principally because she was the + sister of his parish priest, and had a considerable reputation for piety. + It was at a time when the expansion of his business was promising certain + wealth, and suggesting the removal to Octavius. He was conscious of a + notion that his obligations to social respectability were increasing; it + was certain that the embarrassments of a motherless family were. Miss + Foley had shown a good deal of attention to his little children. She was + not ill-looking; she bore herself with modesty; she was the priest's + sister—the niece once removed of a vicar-general. And so it came + about. + </p> + <p> + Although those most concerned did not say so, everybody could see from the + outset the pity of its ever having come about at all. The pious and + stiffly respectable priest's sister had been harmless enough as a + spinster. It made the heart ache to contemplate her as a wife. Incredibly + narrow-minded, ignorant, suspicious, vain, and sour-tempered, she must + have driven a less equable and well-rooted man than Jeremiah Madden to + drink or flight. He may have had his temptations, but they made no mark on + the even record of his life. He only worked the harder, concentrating upon + his business those extra hours which another sort of home-life would have + claimed instead. The end of twenty years found him a rich man, but still + toiling pertinaciously day by day, as if he had his wage to earn. In the + great house which had been built to please, or rather placate, his wife, + he kept to himself as much as possible. The popular story of his smoking + alone in the kitchen was more or less true; only Michael as a rule sat + with him, too weak-lunged for tobacco himself, but reading stray scraps + from the papers to the lonely old man, and talking with him about the + works, the while Jeremiah meditatively sucked his clay pipe. One or two + evenings in the week the twain spent up in Celia's part of the house, + listening with the awe of simple, honest mechanics to the music she played + for them. + </p> + <p> + Celia was to them something indefinably less, indescribably more, than a + daughter and sister. They could not think there had ever been anything + like her before in the world; the notion of criticising any deed or word + of hers would have appeared to them monstrous and unnatural. + </p> + <p> + She seemed to have come up to this radiant and wise and marvellously + talented womanhood of hers, to their minds, quite spontaneously. There had + been a little Celia—a red-headed, sulky, mutinous slip of a girl, + always at war with her step-mother, and affording no special comfort or + hope to the rest of the family. Then there was a long gap, during which + the father, four times a year, handed Michael a letter he had received + from the superioress of a distant convent, referring with cold formality + to the studies and discipline by which Miss Madden might profit more if + she had been better brought up, and enclosing a large bill. Then all at + once they beheld a big Celia, whom they spoke of as being home again, but + who really seemed never to have been there before—a tall, handsome, + confident young woman, swift of tongue and apprehension, appearing to know + everything there was to be known by the most learned, able to paint + pictures, carve wood, speak in divers languages, and make music for the + gods, yet with it all a very proud lady, one might say a queen. + </p> + <p> + The miracle of such a Celia as this impressed itself even upon the + step-mother. Mrs. Madden had looked forward with a certain grim tightening + of her combative jaws to the home-coming of the “red-head.” She felt + herself much more the fine lady now than she had been when the girl went + away. She had her carriage now, and the magnificent new house was nearly + finished, and she had a greater number of ailments, and spent far more + money on doctor's bills, than any other lady in the whole section. The + flush of pride in her greatest achievement up to date—having the + most celebrated of New York physicians brought up to Octavius by special + train—still prickled in her blood. It was in all the papers, and the + admiration of the flatterers and “soft-sawdherers”—wives of Irish + merchants and smaller professional men who formed her social circle—was + raising visions in her poor head of going next year with Theodore to + Saratoga, and fastening the attention of the whole fashionable republic + upon the variety and resources of her invalidism. Mrs. Madden's fancy did + not run to the length of seeing her step-daughter also at Saratoga; it + pictured her still as the sullen and hated “red-head,” moping defiantly in + corners, or courting by her insolence the punishments which leaped against + their leash in the step-mother's mind to get at her. + </p> + <p> + The real Celia, when she came, fairly took Mrs. Madden's breath away. The + peevish little plans for annoyance and tyranny, the resolutions born of + ignorant and jealous egotism, found themselves swept out of sight by the + very first swirl of Celia's dress-train, when she came down from her room + robed in peacock blue. The step-mother could only stare. + </p> + <p> + Now, after two years of it, Mrs. Madden still viewed her step-daughter + with round-eyed uncertainty, not unmixed with wrathful fear. She still + drove about behind two magnificent horses; the new house had become almost + tiresome by familiarity; her pre-eminence in the interested minds of the + Dearborn County Medical Society was as towering as ever, but somehow it + was all different. There was a note of unreality nowadays in Mrs. + Donnelly's professions of wonder at her bearing up under her multiplied + maladies; there was almost a leer of mockery in the sympathetic smirk with + which the Misses Mangan listened to her symptoms. Even the doctors, though + they kept their faces turned toward her, obviously did not pay much + attention; the people in the street seemed no longer to look at her and + her equipage at all. Worst of all, something of the meaning of this + managed to penetrate her own mind. She caught now and again a dim glimpse + of herself as others must have been seeing her for years—as a + stupid, ugly, boastful, and bad-tempered old nuisance. And it was always + as if she saw this in a mirror held up by Celia. + </p> + <p> + Of open discord there had been next to none. Celia would not permit it, + and showed this so clearly from the start that there was scarcely need for + her saying it. It seemed hardly necessary for her to put into words any of + her desires, for that matter. All existing arrangements in the Madden + household seemed to shrink automatically and make room for her, whichever + way she walked. A whole quarter of the unfinished house set itself apart + for her. Partitions altered themselves; door-ways moved across to opposite + sides; a recess opened itself, tall and deep, for it knew not what statue—simply + because, it seemed, the Lady Celia willed it so. + </p> + <p> + When the family moved into this mansion, it was with a consciousness that + the only one who really belonged there was Celia. She alone could behave + like one perfectly at home. It seemed entirely natural to the others that + she should do just what she liked, shut them off from her portion of the + house, take her meals there if she felt disposed, and keep such hours as + pleased her instant whim. If she awakened them at midnight by her piano, + or deferred her breakfast to the late afternoon, they felt that it must be + all right, since Celia did it. She had one room furnished with only divans + and huge, soft cushions, its walls covered with large copies of statuary + not too strictly clothed, which she would suffer no one, not even the + servants, to enter. Michael fancied sometimes, when he passed the draped + entrance to this sacred chamber, that the portiere smelt of tobacco, but + he would not have spoken of it, even had he been sure. Old Jeremiah, whose + established habit it was to audit minutely the expenses of his household, + covered over round sums to Celia's separate banking account, upon the mere + playful hint of her holding her check-book up, without a dream of + questioning her. + </p> + <p> + That the step-mother had joy, or indeed anything but gall and wormwood, + out of all this is not to be pretended. There lingered along in the + recollection of the family some vague memories of her having tried to + assert an authority over Celia's comings and goings at the outset, but + they grouped themselves as only parts of the general disorder of moving + and settling, which a fort-night or so quite righted. Mrs. Madden still + permitted herself a certain license of hostile comment when her + step-daughter was not present, and listened with gratification to what the + women of her acquaintance ventured upon saying in the same spirit; but + actual interference or remonstrance she never offered nowadays. The two + rarely met, for that matter, and exchanged only the baldest and curtest + forms of speech. + </p> + <p> + Celia Madden interested all Octavius deeply. This she must have done in + any case, if only because she was the only daughter of its richest + citizen. But the bold, luxuriant quality of her beauty, the original and + piquant freedom of her manners, the stories told in gossip about her + lawlessness at home, her intellectual attainments, and artistic vagaries—these + were even more exciting. The unlikelihood of her marrying any one—at + least any Octavian—was felt to add a certain romantic zest to the + image she made on the local perceptions. There was no visible young + Irishman at all approaching the social and financial standard of the + Maddens; it was taken for granted that a mixed marriage was quite out of + the question in this case. She seemed to have more business about the + church than even the priest. She was always playing the organ, or drilling + the choir, or decorating the altars with flowers, or looking over the + robes of the acolytes for rents and stains, or going in or out of the + pastorate. Clearly this was not the sort of girl to take a Protestant + husband. + </p> + <p> + The gossip of the town concerning her was, however, exclusively + Protestant. The Irish spoke of her, even among themselves, but seldom. + There was no occasion for them to pretend to like her: they did not know + her, except in the most distant and formal fashion. Even the members of + the choir, of both sexes, had the sense of being held away from her at + haughty arm's length. No single parishioner dreamed of calling her friend. + But when they referred to her, it was always with a cautious and + respectful reticence. For one thing, she was the daughter of their chief + man, the man they most esteemed and loved. For another, reservations they + may have had in their souls about her touched close upon a delicately sore + spot. It could not escape their notice that their Protestant neighbors + were watching her with vigilant curiosity, and with a certain tendency to + wink when her name came into conversation along with that of Father + Forbes. It had never yet got beyond a tendency—the barest fluttering + suggestion of a tempted eyelid—but the whole Irish population of the + place felt themselves to be waiting, with clenched fists but sinking + hearts, for the wink itself. + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Theron Ware had not caught even the faintest hint of these + overtures to suspicion. + </p> + <p> + When he had entered the huge, dark, cool vault of the church, he could see + nothing at first but a faint light up over the gallery, far at the other + end. Then, little by little, his surroundings shaped themselves out of the + gloom. To his right was a rail and some broad steps rising toward a softly + confused mass of little gray vertical bars and the pale twinkle of tiny + spots of gilded reflection, which he made out in the dusk to be the + candles and trappings of the altar. Overhead the great arches faded away + from foundations of dimly discernible capitals into utter blackness. There + was a strange medicinal odor—as of cubeb cigarettes—in the + air. + </p> + <p> + After a little pause, he tiptoed noiselessly up the side aisle toward the + end of the church—toward the light above the gallery. This radiance + from a single gas-jet expanded as he advanced, and spread itself upward + over a burnished row of monster metal pipes, which went towering into the + darkness like giants. They were roaring at him now—a sonorous, + deafening, angry bellow, which made everything about him vibrate. The + gallery balustrade hid the keyboard and the organist from view. There were + only these jostling brazen tubes, as big round as trees and as tall, + trembling with their own furious thunder. It was for all the world as if + he had wandered into some vast tragical, enchanted cave, and was being + drawn against his will—like fascinated bird and python—toward + fate at the savage hands of these swollen and enraged genii. + </p> + <p> + He stumbled in the obscure light over a kneeling-bench, making a + considerable racket. On the instant the noise from the organ ceased, and + he saw the black figure of a woman rise above the gallery-rail and look + down. + </p> + <p> + “Who is it?” the indubitable voice of Miss Madden demanded sharply. + </p> + <p> + Theron had a sudden sheepish notion of turning and running. With the best + grace he could summon, he called out an explanation instead. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a minute. I'm through now. I'm coming down,” she returned. He + thought there was a note of amusement in her tone. + </p> + <p> + She came to him a moment later, accompanied by a thin, tall man, whom + Theron could barely see in the dark, now that the organ-light too was + gone. This man lighted a match or two to enable them to make their way + out. + </p> + <p> + When they were on the sidewalk, Celia spoke: “Walk on ahead, Michael!” she + said. “I have some matters to speak of with Mr. Ware.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <p> + “Well, what did you think of Dr. Ledsmar?” + </p> + <p> + The girl's abrupt question came as a relief to Theron. They were walking + along in a darkness so nearly complete that he could see next to nothing + of his companion. For some reason, this seemed to suggest a sort of + impropriety. He had listened to the footsteps of the man ahead—whom + he guessed to be a servant—and pictured him as intent upon getting + up early next morning to tell everybody that the Methodist minister had + stolen into the Catholic church at night to walk home with Miss Madden. + That was going to be very awkward—yes, worse than awkward! It might + mean ruin itself. She had mentioned aloud that she had matters to talk + over with him: that of course implied confidences, and the man might put + heaven only knew what construction on that. It was notorious that servants + did ascribe the very worst motives to those they worked for. The bare + thought of the delight an Irish servant would have in also dragging a + Protestant clergyman into the thing was sickening. And what could she want + to talk to him about, anyway? The minute of silence stretched itself out + upon his nerves into an interminable period of anxious unhappiness. Her + mention of the doctor at last somehow, seemed to lighten the situation. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I thought he was very smart.” he made haste to answer. “Wouldn't it + be better—to—keep close to your man? He—may—think + we've gone some other way.” + </p> + <p> + “It wouldn't matter if he did,” remarked Celia. She appeared to comprehend + his nervousness and take pity on it, for she added, “It is my brother + Michael, as good a soul as ever lived. He is quite used to my ways.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware drew a long comforting breath. “Oh, I see! He went with + you to—bring you home.” + </p> + <p> + “To blow the organ,” said the girl in the dark, correctingly. “But about + that doctor; did you like him?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” Theron began, “'like' is rather a strong word for so short an + acquaintance. He talked very well; that is, fluently. But he is so + different from any other man I have come into contact with that—” + </p> + <p> + “What I wanted you to say was that you hated him,” put in Celia, firmly. + </p> + <p> + “I don't make a practice of saying that of anybody,” returned Theron, so + much at his ease again that he put an effect of gentle, smiling reproof + into the words. “And why specially should I make an exception for him?” + </p> + <p> + “Because he's a beast!” + </p> + <p> + Theron fancied that he understood. “I noticed that he seemed not to have + much of an ear for music,” he commented, with a little laugh. “He shut + down the window when you began to play. His doing so annoyed me, because I—I + wanted very much to hear it all. I never heard such music before. I—I + came into the church to hear more of it; but then you stopped!” + </p> + <p> + “I will play for you some other time,” Celia said, answering the reproach + in his tone. “But tonight I wanted to talk with you instead.” + </p> + <p> + She kept silent, in spite of this, so long now that Theron was on the + point of jestingly asking when the talk was to begin. Then she put a + question abruptly— + </p> + <p> + “It is a conventional way of putting it, but are you fond of poetry, Mr. + Ware?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes, I suppose I am,” replied Theron, much mystified. “I can't say + that I am any great judge; but I like the things that I like—and—” + </p> + <p> + “Meredith,” interposed Celia, “makes one of his women, Emilia in England, + say that poetry is like talking on tiptoe; like animals in cages, always + going to one end and back again. Does it impress you that way?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know that it does,” said he, dubiously. It seemed, however, to be + her whim to talk literature, and he went on: “I've hardly read Meredith at + all. I once borrowed his 'Lucile,' but somehow I never got interested in + it. I heard a recitation of his once, though—a piece about a dead + wife, and the husband and another man quarrelling as to whose portrait was + in the locket on her neck, and of their going up to settle the dispute, + and finding that it was the likeness of a third man, a young priest—and + though it was very striking, it didn't give me a thirst to know his other + poems. I fancied I shouldn't like them. But I daresay I was wrong. As I + get older, I find that I take less narrow views of literature—that + is, of course, of light literature—and that—that—” + </p> + <p> + Celia mercifully stopped him. “The reason I asked you was—” she + began, and then herself paused. “Or no,—never mind that—tell + me something else. Are you fond of pictures, statuary, the beautiful + things of the world? Do great works of art, the big achievements of the + big artists, appeal to you, stir you up?” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! that is something I can only guess at myself,” answered Theron, + humbly. “I have always lived in little places. I suppose, from your point + of view, I have never seen a good painting in my life. I can only say + this, though—that it has always weighed on my mind as a great and + sore deprivation, this being shut out from knowing what others mean when + they talk and write about art. Perhaps that may help you to get at what + you are after. If I ever went to New York, I feel that one of the first + things I should do would be to see all the picture galleries; is that what + you meant? And—would you mind telling me—why you—?” + </p> + <p> + “Why I asked you?” Celia supplied his halting question. “No, I DON'T mind. + I have a reason for wanting to know—to satisfy myself whether I had + guessed rightly or not—about the kind of man you are. I mean in the + matter of temperament and bent of mind and tastes.” + </p> + <p> + The girl seemed to be speaking seriously, and without intent to offend. + Theron did not find any comment ready, but walked along by her side, + wondering much what it was all about. + </p> + <p> + “I daresay you think me 'too familiar on short acquaintance,'” she + continued, after a little. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Miss Madden!” he protested perfunctorily. + </p> + <p> + “No; it is a matter of a good deal of importance,” she went on. “I can see + that you are going to be thrown into friendship, close contact, with + Father Forbes. He likes you, and you can't help liking him. There is + nobody else in this raw, overgrown, empty-headed place for you and him TO + like, nobody except that man, that Dr. Ledsmar. And if you like HIM, I + shall hate you! He has done mischief enough already. I am counting on you + to help undo it, and to choke him off from doing more. It would be + different if you were an ordinary Orthodox minister, all encased like a + terrapin in prejudices and nonsense. Of course, if you had been THAT kind, + we should never have got to know you at all. But when I saw you in + MacEvoy's cottage there, it was plain that you were one of US—I mean + a MAN, and not a marionette or a mummy. I am talking very frankly to you, + you see. I want you on my side, against that doctor and his heartless, + bloodless science.” + </p> + <p> + “I feel myself very heartily on your side,” replied Theron. She had set + their progress at a slower pace, now that the lights of the main street + were drawing near, as if to prolong their talk. All his earlier + reservations had fled. It was almost as if she were a parishioner of his + own. “I need hardly tell you that the doctor's whole attitude toward—toward + revelation—was deeply repugnant to me. It doesn't make it any the + less hateful to call it science. I am afraid, though,” he went on + hesitatingly, “that there are difficulties in the way of my helping, as + you call it. You see, the very fact of my being a Methodist minister, and + his being a Catholic priest, rather puts my interference out of the + question.” + </p> + <p> + “No; that doesn't matter a button,” said Celia, lightly. “None of us think + of that at all.” + </p> + <p> + “There is the other embarrassment, then,” pursued Theron, diffidently, + “that Father Forbes is a vastly broader and deeper scholar—in all + these matters—than I am. How could I possibly hope to influence him + by my poor arguments? I don't know even the alphabet of the language he + thinks in—on these subjects, I mean.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you don't!” interposed the girl, with a confidence which the + other, for all his meekness, rather winced under. “That wasn't what I + meant at all. We don't want arguments from our friends: we want + sympathies, sensibilities, emotional bonds. The right person's silence is + worth more for companionship than the wisest talk in the world from + anybody else. It isn't your mind that is needed here, or what you know; it + is your heart, and what you feel. You are full of poetry, of ideals, of + generous, unselfish impulses. You see the human, the warm-blooded side of + things. THAT is what is really valuable. THAT is how you can help!” + </p> + <p> + “You overestimate me sadly,” protested Theron, though with considerable + tolerance for her error in his tone. “But you ought to tell me something + about this Dr. Ledsmar. He spoke of being an old friend of the pr—of + Father Forbes.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes, they've always known each other; that is, for many years. They + were professors together in a college once, heaven only knows how long + ago. Then they separated, I fancy they quarrelled, too, before they + parted. The doctor came here, where some relative had left him the place + he lives in. Then in time the Bishop chanced to send Father Forbes here—that + was about three years ago,—and the two men after a while renewed + their old relations. They dine together; that is the doctor's stronghold. + He knows more about eating than any other man alive, I believe. He studies + it as you would study a language. He has taught old Maggie, at the + pastorate there, to cook like the mother of all the Delmonicos. And while + they sit and stuff themselves, or loll about afterward like gorged snakes, + they think it is smart to laugh at all the sweet and beautiful things in + life, and to sneer at people who believe in ideals, and to talk about + mankind being merely a fortuitous product of fermentation, and twaddle of + that sort. It makes me sick!” + </p> + <p> + “I can readily see,” said Theron, with sympathy, “how such a cold, + material, and infidel influence as that must shock and revolt an + essentially religious temperament like yours.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Madden looked up at him. They had turned into the main street, and + there was light enough for him to detect something startlingly like a grin + on her beautiful face. + </p> + <p> + “But I'm not religious at all, you know,” he heard her say. “I'm as Pagan + as—anything! Of course there are forms to be observed, and so on; I + rather like them than otherwise. I can make them serve very well for my + own system; for I am myself, you know, an out-an-out Greek.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I had supposed that you were full blooded Irish,” the Rev. Mr. Ware + found himself remarking, and then on the instant was overwhelmed by the + consciousness that he had said a foolish thing. Precisely where the folly + lay he did not know, but it was impossible to mistake the gesture of + annoyance which his companion had instinctively made at his words. She had + widened the distance between them now, and quickened her step. They went + on in silence till they were within a block of her house. Several people + had passed them who Theron felt sure must have recognized them both. + </p> + <p> + “What I meant was,” the girl all at once began, drawing nearer again, and + speaking with patient slowness, “that I find myself much more in sympathy + with the Greek thought, the Greek theology of the beautiful and the + strong, the Greek philosophy of life, and all that, than what is taught + nowadays. Personally, I take much more stock in Plato than I do in Peter. + But of course it is a wholly personal affair; I had no business to bother + you with it. And for that matter, I oughtn't to have troubled you with any + of our—” + </p> + <p> + “I assure you, Miss Madden!” the young minister began, with fervor. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she broke in, in a resigned and even downcast tone; “let it all be + as if I hadn't spoken. Don't mind anything I have said. If it is to be, it + will be. You can't say more than that, can you?” + </p> + <p> + She looked into his face again, and her large eyes produced an impression + of deep melancholy, which Theron found himself somehow impelled to share. + Things seemed all at once to have become very sad indeed. + </p> + <p> + “It is one of my unhappy nights,” she explained, in gloomy confidence. “I + get them every once in a while—as if some vicious planet or other + was crossing in front of my good star—and then I'm a caution to + snakes. I shut myself up—that's the only thing to do—and have + it out with myself I didn't know but the organ-music would calm me down, + but it hasn't. I shan't sleep a wink tonight, but just rage around from + one room to another, piling all the cushions from the divans on to the + floor, and then kicking them away again. Do YOU ever have fits like that?” + </p> + <p> + Theron was able to reply with a good conscience in the negative. It + occurred to him to add, with jocose intent: “I am curious to know, do + these fits, as you call them, occupy a prominent part in Grecian + philosophy as a general rule?” + </p> + <p> + Celia gave a little snort, which might have signified amusement, but did + not speak until they were upon her own sidewalk. “There is my brother, + waiting at the gate,” she said then, briefly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, I will bid you good-night here, I think,” Theron remarked, + coming to a halt, and offering his hand. “It must be getting very late, + and my—that is—I have to be up particularly early tomorrow. So + good-night; I hope you will be feeling ever so much better in spirits in + the morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that doesn't matter,” replied the girl, listlessly. “It's a very + paltry little affair, this life of ours, at the best of it. Luckily it's + soon done with—like a bad dream.” + </p> + <p> + “Tut! Tut! I won't have you talk like that!” interrupted Theron, with a + swift and smart assumption of authority. “Such talk isn't sensible, and it + isn't good. I have no patience with it!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, try and have a little patience with ME, anyway, just for tonight,” + said Celia, taking the reproof with gentlest humility, rather to her + censor's surprise. “I really am unhappy tonight, Mr. Ware, very unhappy. + It seems as if all at once the world had swelled out in size a + thousandfold, and that poor me had dwindled down to the merest wee little + red-headed atom—the most helpless and forlorn and lonesome of atoms + at that.” She seemed to force a sorrowful smile on her face as she added: + “But all the same it has done me good to be with you—I am sure it + has—and I daresay that by tomorrow I shall be quite out of the + blues. Good-night, Mr. Ware. Forgive my making such an exhibition of + myself I WAS going to be such a fine early Greek, you know, and I have + turned out only a late Milesian—quite of the decadence. I shall do + better next time. And good-night again, and ever so many thanks.” + </p> + <p> + She was walking briskly away toward the gate now, where the shadowy + Michael still patiently stood. Theron strode off in the opposite + direction, taking long, deliberate steps, and bowing his head in thought. + He had his hands behind his back, as was his wont, and the sense of their + recent contact with her firm, ungloved hands was, curiously enough, the + thing which pushed itself uppermost in his mind. There had been a frank, + almost manly vigor in her grasp; he said to himself that of course that + came from her playing so much on the keyboard; the exercise naturally + would give her large, robust hands. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he remembered about the piano; he had quite forgotten to solicit + her aid in selecting it. He turned, upon the impulse, to go back. She had + not entered the gate as yet, but stood, shiningly visible under the street + lamp, on the sidewalk, and she was looking in his direction. He turned + again like a shot, and started homeward. + </p> + <p> + The front door of the parsonage was unlocked, and he made his way on + tiptoe through the unlighted hall to the living-room. The stuffy air here + was almost suffocating with the evil smell of a kerosene lamp turned down + too low. Alice sat asleep in her old farmhouse rocking-chair, with an + inelegant darning-basket on the table by her side. The whole effect of the + room was as bare and squalid to Theron's newly informed eye as the + atmosphere was offensive to his nostrils. He coughed sharply, and his wife + sat up and looked at the clock. It was after eleven. + </p> + <p> + “Where on earth have you been?” she asked, with a yawn, turning up the + wick of her sewing-lamp again. + </p> + <p> + “You ought never to turn down a light like that,” said Theron, with a + complaining note in his voice. “It smells up the whole place. I never + dreamed of your sitting up for me like this. You ought to have gone to + bed.” + </p> + <p> + “But how could I guess that you were going to be so late?,” she retorted. + “And you haven't told me where you were. Is this book of yours going to + keep you up like this right along?” + </p> + <p> + The episode of the book was buried in the young minister's mind beneath + such a mass of subsequent experiences that it required an effort for him + to grasp what she was talking about. It seemed as if months had elapsed + since he was in earnest about that book; and yet he had left the house + full of it only a few hours before. He shook his wits together, and made + answer— + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bless you, no! Only there arose a very curious question. You have no + idea, literally no conception, of the interesting and important problems + which are raised by the mere fact of Abraham leaving the city of Ur. It's + amazing, I assure you. I hadn't realized it myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” remarked Alice, rising—and with good-humor and petulance + struggling sleepily ill her tone—“all I've got to say is, that if + Abraham hasn't anything better to do than to keep young ministers of the + gospel out, goodness knows where, till all hours of the night, I wish to + gracious he'd stayed in the city of Ur right straight along.” + </p> + <p> + “You have no idea what a scholarly man Dr. Ledsmar is,” Theron suddenly + found himself inspired to volunteer. “He has the most marvellous + collection of books—a whole library devoted to this very subject—and + he has put them all quite freely at my disposal. Extremely kind of him, + isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Ledsmar? Ledsmar?” queried Alice. “I don't seem to remember the name. He + isn't the little man with the birthmark, who sits in the pew behind the + Lovejoys, is he? I think some one said he was a doctor.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a horse doctor!” said Theron, with a sniff. “No; you haven't seen + this Dr. Ledsmar at all. I—I don't know that he attends any church + regularly. I scraped his acquaintance quite by accident. He is really a + character. He lives in the big house, just beyond the race-course, you + know—the one with the tower at the back—” + </p> + <p> + “No, I don't know. How should I? I've hardly poked my nose outside of the + yard since I have been here.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you shall go,” said the husband, consolingly. “You HAVE been cooped + up here too much, poor girl. I must take you out more, really. I don't + know that I could take you to the doctor's place—without an + invitation, I mean. He is very queer about some things. He lives there all + alone, for instance, with only a Chinaman for a servant. He told me I was + almost the only man he had asked under his roof for years. He isn't a + practising physician at all, you know. He is a scientist; he makes + experiments with lizards—and things.” + </p> + <p> + “Theron,” the wife said, pausing lamp in hand on her way to the bedroom, + “do you be careful, now! For all you know this doctor may be a loose man, + or pretty near an infidel. You've got to be mighty particular in such + matters, you know, or you'll have the trustees down on you like a + 'thousand of bricks.'” + </p> + <p> + “I will thank the trustees to mind their own business,” said Theron, + stiffly, and the subject dropped. + </p> + <p> + The bedroom window upstairs was open, and upon the fresh night air was + borne in the shrill, jangling sound of a piano, being played off somewhere + in the distance, but so vehemently that the noise imposed itself upon the + silence far and wide. Theron listened to this as he undressed. It + proceeded from the direction of the main street, and he knew, as by + instinct, that it was the Madden girl who was playing. The incongruity of + the hour escaped his notice. He mused instead upon the wild and tropical + tangle of moods, emotions, passions, which had grown up in that strange + temperament. He found something very pathetic in that picture she had + drawn of herself in forecast, roaming disconsolate through her rooms the + livelong night, unable to sleep. The woful moan of insomnia seemed to make + itself heard in every strain from her piano. + </p> + <p> + Alice heard it also, but being unillumined, she missed the romantic + pathos. “I call it disgraceful,” she muttered from her pillow, “for folks + to be banging away on a piano at this time of night. There ought to be a + law to prevent it.” + </p> + <p> + “It may be some distressed soul,” said Theron, gently, “seeking relief + from the curse of sleeplessness.” + </p> + <p> + The wife laughed, almost contemptuously. “Distressed fiddlesticks!” was + her only other comment. + </p> + <p> + The music went on for a long time—rising now to strident heights, + now sinking off to the merest tinkling murmur, and broken ever and again + by intervals of utter hush. It did not prevent Alice from at once falling + sound asleep; but Theron lay awake, it seemed to him, for hours, listening + tranquilly, and letting his mind wander at will through the pleasant + antechambers of Sleep, where are more unreal fantasies than Dreamland + itself affords. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <p> + For some weeks the Rev. Theron Ware saw nothing of either the priest or + the doctor, or the interesting Miss Madden. + </p> + <p> + There were, indeed, more urgent matters to think about. June had come; and + every succeeding day brought closer to hand the ordeal of his first + Quarterly Conference in Octavius. The waters grew distinctly rougher as + his pastoral bark neared this difficult passage. + </p> + <p> + He would have approached the great event with an easier mind if he could + have made out just how he stood with his congregation. Unfortunately + nothing in his previous experiences helped him in the least to measure or + guess at the feelings of these curious Octavians. Their Methodism seemed + to be sound enough, and to stick quite to the letter of the Discipline, so + long as it was expressed in formulae. It was its spirit which he felt to + be complicated by all sorts of conditions wholly novel to him. + </p> + <p> + The existence of a line of street-cars in the town, for example, would not + impress the casual thinker as likely to prove a rock in the path of + peaceful religion. Theron, in his simplicity, had even thought, when he + first saw these bobtailed cars bumping along the rails in the middle of + the main street, that they must be a great convenience to people living in + the outskirts, who wished to get in to church of a Sunday morning. He was + imprudent enough to mention this in conversation with one of his new + parishioners. Then he learned, to his considerable chagrin, that when this + line was built, some years before, a bitter war of words had been fought + upon the question of its being worked on the Sabbath day. The then + occupant of the Methodist pulpit had so distinguished himself above the + rest by the solemnity and fervor of his protests against this insolent + desecration of God's day that the Methodists of Octavius still felt + themselves peculiarly bound to hold this horse-car line, its management, + and everything connected with it, in unbending aversion. At least once a + year they were accustomed to expect a sermon denouncing it and all its + impious Sunday patrons. Theron made a mental resolve that this year they + should be disappointed. + </p> + <p> + Another burning problem, which he had not been called upon before to + confront, he found now entangled with the mysterious line which divided a + circus from a menagerie. Those itinerant tent-shows had never come his way + heretofore, and he knew nothing of that fine balancing proportion between + ladies in tights on horseback and cages full of deeply educational + animals, which, even as the impartial rain, was designed to embrace alike + the just and the unjust. There had arisen inside the Methodist society of + Octavius some painful episodes, connected with members who took their + children “just to see the animals,” and were convicted of having also + watched the Rose-Queen of the Arena, in her unequalled flying leap through + eight hoops, with an ardent and unashamed eye. One of these cases still + remained on the censorial docket of the church; and Theron understood that + he was expected to name a committee of five to examine and try it. This he + neglected to do. + </p> + <p> + He was no longer at all certain that the congregation as a whole liked his + sermons. The truth was, no doubt, that he had learned enough to cease + regarding the congregation as a whole. He could still rely upon carrying + along with him in his discourses from the pulpit a large majority of + interested and approving faces. But here, unhappily, was a case where the + majority did not rule. The minority, relatively small in numbers, was + prodigious in virile force. + </p> + <p> + More than twenty years had now elapsed since that minor schism in the + Methodist Episcopal Church, the result of which was the independent body + known as Free Methodists, had relieved the parent flock of its principal + disturbing element. The rupture came fittingly at that time when all the + “isms” of the argumentative fifties were hurled violently together into + the melting-pot of civil war. The great Methodist Church, South, had + broken bodily off on the question of State Rights. The smaller and + domestic fraction of Free Methodism separated itself upon an issue which + may be most readily described as one of civilization. The seceders + resented growth in material prosperity; they repudiated the introduction + of written sermons and organ-music; they deplored the increasing laxity in + meddlesome piety, the introduction of polite manners in the pulpit and + classroom, and the development of even a rudimentary desire among the + younger people of the church to be like others outside in dress and speech + and deportment. They did battle as long as they could, inside the fold, to + restore it to the severely straight and narrow path of primitive + Methodism. When the adverse odds became too strong for them, they quitted + the church and set up a Bethel for themselves. + </p> + <p> + Octavius chanced to be one of the places where they were able to hold + their own within the church organization. The Methodism of the town had + gone along without any local secession. It still held in full fellowship + the radicals who elsewhere had followed their unbridled bent into the + strongest emotional vagaries—where excited brethren worked + themselves up into epileptic fits, and women whirled themselves about in + weird religious ecstasies, like dervishes of the Orient, till they fell + headlong in a state of trance. Octavian Methodism was spared extravagances + of this sort, it is true, but it paid a price for the immunity. The people + whom an open split would have taken away remained to leaven and dominate + the whole lump. This small advanced section, with its men of a type all + the more aggressive from its narrowness, and women who went about solemnly + in plain gray garments, with tight-fitting, unadorned, mouse-colored + sunbonnets, had not been able wholly to enforce its views upon the social + life of the church members, but of its controlling influence upon their + official and public actions there could be no doubt. + </p> + <p> + The situation had begun to unfold itself to Theron from the outset. He had + recognized the episodes of the forbidden Sunday milk and of the flowers in + poor Alice's bonnet as typical of much more that was to come. No week + followed without bringing some new fulfilment of this foreboding. Now, at + the end of two months, he knew well enough that the hitherto dominant + minority was hostile to him and his ministry, and would do whatever it + could against him. + </p> + <p> + Though Theron at once decided to show fight, and did not at all waver in + that resolve, his courage was in the main of a despondent sort. Sometimes + it would flutter up to the point of confidence, or at least hopefulness, + when he met with substantial men of the church who obviously liked him, + and whom he found himself mentally ranging on his side, in the struggle + which was to come. But more often it was blankly apparent to him that, the + moment flags were flying and drums on the roll, these amiable fair-weather + friends would probably take to their heels. + </p> + <p> + Still, such as they were, his sole hope lay in their support. He must make + the best of them. He set himself doggedly to the task of gathering + together all those who were not his enemies into what, when the proper + time came, should be known as the pastor's party. There was plenty of + apostolic warrant for this. If there had not been, Theron felt that the + mere elementary demands of self-defence would have justified his use of + strategy. + </p> + <p> + The institution of pastoral calling, particularly that inquisitorial form + of it laid down in the Discipline, had never attracted Theron. He and + Alice had gone about among their previous flocks in quite a haphazard + fashion, without thought of system, much less of deliberate purpose. + Theron made lists now, and devoted thought and examination to the personal + tastes and characteristics of the people to be cultivated. There were + some, for example, who would expect him to talk pretty much as the + Discipline ordained—that is, to ask if they had family prayer, to + inquire after their souls, and generally to minister grace to his hearers—and + these in turn subdivided themselves into classes, ranging from those who + would wish nothing else to those who needed only a mild spiritual flavor. + There were others whom he would please much better by not talking shop at + all. Although he could ill afford it, he subscribed now for a daily paper + that he might have a perpetually renewed source of good conversational + topics for these more worldly calls. He also bought several pounds of + candy, pleasing in color, but warranted to be entirely harmless, and he + made a large mysterious mark on the inside of his new silk hat to remind + him not to go out calling without some of this in his pocket for the + children. + </p> + <p> + Alice, he felt, was not helping him in this matter as effectively as he + could have wished. Her attitude toward the church in Octavius might best + be described by the word “sulky.” Great allowance was to be made, he + realized, for her humiliation over the flowers in her bonnet. That might + justify her, fairly enough, in being kept away from meeting now and again + by headaches, or undefined megrims. But it ought not to prevent her from + going about and making friends among the kindlier parishioners who would + welcome such a thing, and whom he from time to time indicated to her. She + did go to some extent, it is true, but she produced, in doing so, an + effect of performing a duty. He did not find traces anywhere of her having + created a brilliant social impression. When they went out together, he was + peculiarly conscious of having to do the work unaided. + </p> + <p> + This was not at all like the Alice of former years, of other charges. Why, + she had been, beyond comparison, the most popular young woman in Tyre. + What possessed her to mope like this in Octavius? + </p> + <p> + Theron looked at her attentively nowadays, when she was unaware of his + gaze, to try if her face offered any answer to the riddle. It could not be + suggested that she was ill. Never in her life had she been looking so + well. She had thrown herself, all at once, and with what was to him an + unaccountable energy, into the creation and management of a flower-garden. + She was out the better part of every day, rain or shine, digging, + transplanting, pruning, pottering generally about among her plants and + shrubs. This work in the open air had given her an aspect of physical + well-being which it was impossible to be mistaken about. + </p> + <p> + Her husband was glad, of course, that she had found some occupation which + at once pleased her and so obviously conduced to health. This was so much + a matter of course, in fact, that he said to himself over and over again + that he was glad. Only—only, sometimes the thought WOULD force + itself upon his attention that if she did not spend so much of her time in + her own garden, she would have more time to devote to winning friends for + them in the Garden of the Lord—friends whom they were going to need + badly. + </p> + <p> + The young minister, in taking anxious stock of the chances for and against + him, turned over often in his mind the fact that he had already won rank + as a pulpit orator. His sermons had attracted almost universal attention + at Tyre, and his achievement before the Conference at Tecumseh, if it did + fail to receive practical reward, had admittedly distanced all the other + preaching there. It was a part of the evil luck pursuing him that here in + this perversely enigmatic Octavius his special gift seemed to be of no use + whatever. There were times, indeed, when he was tempted to think that bad + preaching was what Octavius wanted. + </p> + <p> + Somewhere he had heard of a Presbyterian minister, in charge of a big city + church, who managed to keep well in with a watchfully Orthodox + congregation, and at the same time establish himself in the affections of + the community at large, by simply preaching two kinds of sermons. In the + morning, when almost all who attended were his own communicants, he gave + them very cautious and edifying doctrinal discourses, treading loyally in + the path of the Westminster Confession. To the evening assemblages, made + up for the larger part of outsiders, he addressed broadly liberal sermons, + literary in form, and full of respectful allusions to modern science and + the philosophy of the day. Thus he filled the church at both services, and + put money in its treasury and his own fame before the world. There was of + course the obvious danger that the pious elders who in the forenoon heard + infant damnation vigorously proclaimed, would revolt when they heard after + supper that there was some doubt about even adults being damned at all. + But either because the same people did not attend both services, or + because the minister's perfect regularity in the morning was each week + regarded as a retraction of his latest vagaries of an evening, no trouble + ever came. + </p> + <p> + Theron had somewhat tentatively tried this on in Octavius. It was no good. + His parishioners were of the sort who would have come to church eight + times a day on Sunday, instead of two, if occasion offered. The hope that + even a portion of them would stop away, and that their places would be + taken in the evening by less prejudiced strangers who wished for + intellectual rather than theological food, fell by the wayside. The + yearned-for strangers did not come; the familiar faces of the morning + service all turned up in their accustomed places every evening. They were + faces which confused and disheartened Theron in the daytime. Under the + gaslight they seemed even harder and more unsympathetic. He timorously + experimented with them for an evening or two, then abandoned the effort. + </p> + <p> + Once there had seemed the beginning of a chance. The richest banker in + Octavius—a fat, sensual, hog-faced old bachelor—surprised + everybody one evening by entering the church and taking a seat. Theron + happened to know who he was; even if he had not known, the suppressed + excitement visible in the congregation, the way the sisters turned round + to look, the way the more important brethren put their heads together and + exchanged furtive whispers—would have warned him that big game was + in view. He recalled afterward with something like self-disgust the eager, + almost tremulous pains he himself took to please this banker. There was a + part of the sermon, as it had been written out, which might easily give + offence to a single man of wealth and free notions of life. With the + alertness of a mental gymnast, Theron ran ahead, excised this portion, and + had ready when the gap was reached some very pretty general remarks, all + the more effective and eloquent, he felt, for having been extemporized. + People said it was a good sermon; and after the benediction and dispersion + some of the officials and principal pew-holders remained to talk over the + likelihood of a capture having been effected. Theron did not get away + without having this mentioned to him, and he was conscious of sharing + deeply the hope of the brethren—with the added reflection that it + would be a personal triumph for himself into the bargain. He was ashamed + of this feeling a little later, and of his trick with the sermon. But this + chastening product of introspection was all the fruit which the incident + bore. The banker never came again. + </p> + <p> + Theron returned one afternoon, a little earlier than usual, from a group + of pastoral calls. Alice, who was plucking weeds in a border at the shady + side of the house, heard his step, and rose from her labors. He was + walking slowly, and seemed weary. He took off his high hat, as he saw her, + and wiped his brow. The broiling June sun was still high overhead. + Doubtless it was its insufferable heat which was accountable for the worn + lines in his face and the spiritless air which the wife's eye detected. + She went to the gate, and kissed him as he entered. + </p> + <p> + “I believe if I were you,” she said, “I'd carry an umbrella such scorching + days as this. Nobody'd think anything of it. I don't see why a minister + shouldn't carry one as much as a woman carries a parasol.” + </p> + <p> + Theron gave her a rueful, meditative sort of smile. “I suppose people + really do think of us as a kind of hybrid female,” he remarked. Then, + holding his hat in his hand, he drew a long breath of relief at finding + himself in the shade, and looked about him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, you've got more posies here, on this one side of the house alone, + than mother had in her whole yard,” he said, after a little. “Let's see—I + know that one: that's columbine, isn't it? And that's London pride, and + that's ragged robin. I don't know any of the others.” + </p> + <p> + Alice recited various unfamiliar names, as she pointed out the several + plants which bore them, and he listened with a kindly semblance of + interest. + </p> + <p> + They strolled thus to the rear of the house, where thick clumps of + fragrant pinks lined both sides of the path. She picked some of these for + him, and gave him more names with which to label the considerable number + of other plants he saw about him. + </p> + <p> + “I had no idea we were so well provided as all this,” he commented at + last. “Those Van Sizers must have been tremendous hands for flowers. You + were lucky in following such people.” + </p> + <p> + “Van Sizers!” echoed Alice, with contempt. “All they left was old tomato + cans and clamshells. Why, I've put in every blessed one of these myself, + all except those peonies, there, and one brier on the side wall.” + </p> + <p> + “Good for you!” exclaimed Theron, approvingly. Then it occurred to him to + ask, “But where did you get them all? Around among our friends?” + </p> + <p> + “Some few,” responded Alice, with a note of hesitation in her voice. + “Sister Bult gave me the verbenas, there, and the white pinks were a + present from Miss Stevens. But most of them Levi Gorringe was good enough + to send me—from his garden.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know that Gorringe had a garden,” said Theron. “I thought he + lived over his law-office, in the brick block, there.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know that it's exactly HIS,” explained Alice; “but it's a + big garden somewhere outside, where he can have anything he likes.” She + went on with a little laugh: “I didn't like to question him too closely, + for fear he'd think I was looking a gift horse in the mouth—or else + hinting for more. It was quite his own offer, you know. He picked them all + out for me, and brought them here, and lent me a book telling me just what + to do with each one. And in a few days, now, I am to have another big + batch of plants—dahlias and zinnias and asters and so on; I'm almost + ashamed to take them. But it's such a change to find some one in this + Octavius who isn't all self!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Gorringe is a good fellow,” said Theron. “I wish he was a professing + member.” Then some new thought struck him. “Alice,” he exclaimed, “I + believe I'll go and see him this very afternoon. I don't know why it + hasn't occurred to me before: he's just the man whose advice I need most. + He knows these people here; he can tell me what to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Aren't you too tired now?” suggested Alice, as Theron put on his hat. + </p> + <p> + “No, the sooner the better,” he replied, moving now toward the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” she began, “if I were you, I wouldn't say too much about—that + is, I—but never mind.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked her husband. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing whatever,” replied Alice, positively. “It was only some nonsense + of mine;” and Theron, placidly accepting the feminine whim, went off down + the street again. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware found Levi Gorringe's law-office readily enough, but its + owner was not in. He probably would be back again, though, in a quarter of + an hour or so, the boy said, and the minister at once decided to wait. + </p> + <p> + Theron was interested in finding that this office-boy was no other than + Harvey—the lad who brought milk to the parsonage every morning. He + remembered now that he had heard good things of this urchin, as to the + hard work he did to help his mother, the Widow Semple, in her struggle to + keep a roof over her head; and also bad things, in that he did not come + regularly either to church or Sunday-school. The clergyman recalled, too, + that Harvey had impressed him as a character. + </p> + <p> + “Well, sonny, are you going to be a lawyer?” he asked, as he seated + himself by the window, and looked about him, first at the dusty litter of + old papers, pamphlets, and tape-bound documents in bundles which crowded + the stuffy chamber, and then at the boy himself. + </p> + <p> + Harvey was busy at a big box—a rough pine dry-goods box which bore + the flaring label of an express company, and also of a well-known seed + firm in a Western city, and which the boy had apparently just opened. He + was lifting from it, and placing on the table after he had shaken off the + sawdust and moss in which they were packed, small parcels of what looked + in the fading light to be half-dried plants. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know—I rather guess not,” he made answer, as he + pursued his task. “So far as I can make out, this wouldn't be the place to + start in at, if I WAS going to be a lawyer. A boy can learn here + first-rate how to load cartridges and clean a gun, and braid trout-flies + on to leaders, but I don't see much law laying around loose. Anyway,” he + went on, “I couldn't afford to read law, and not be getting any wages. I + have to earn money, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Theron felt that he liked the boy. “Yes,” he said, with a kindly tone; + “I've heard that you are a good, industrious youngster. I daresay Mr. + Gorringe will see to it that you get a chance to read law, and get wages + too.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I can read all there is here and welcome,” the boy explained, + stepping toward the window to decipher the label on a bundle of roots in + his hand, “but that's no good unless there's regular practice coming into + the office all the while. THAT'S how you learn to be a lawyer. But + Gorringe don't have what I call a practice at all. He just sees men in the + other room there, with the door shut, and whatever there is to do he does + it all himself.” + </p> + <p> + The minister remembered a stray hint somewhere that Mr. Gorringe was a + money-lender—what was colloquially called a “note-shaver.” To his + rustic sense, there was something not quite nice about that occupation. It + would be indecorous, he felt, to encourage further talk about it from the + boy. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing there?” he inquired, to change the subject. + </p> + <p> + “Sorting out some plants,” replied Harvey. “I don't know what's got into + Gorringe lately. This is the third big box he's had since I've been here—that + is, in six weeks—besides two baskets full of rose-bushes. I don't + know what he does with them. He carries them off himself somewhere. I've + had kind of half a notion that he's figurin' on getting married. I can't + think of anything else that would make a man spend money like water—just + for flowers and bushes. They do get foolish, you know, when they've got + marriage on the brain.” + </p> + <p> + Theron found himself only imperfectly following the theories of the young + philosopher. It was his fact that monopolized the minister's attention. + </p> + <p> + “But as I understand it,” he remarked hesitatingly, “Brother Gorringe—or + rather Mr. Gorringe—gets all the plants he wants, everything he + likes, from a big garden somewhere outside. I don't know that it is + exactly his; but I remember hearing something to that effect.” + </p> + <p> + The boy slapped the last litter off his hands, and, as he came to the + window, shook his head. “These don't come from no garden outside,” he + declared. “They come from the dealers', and he pays solid cash for 'em. + The invoice for this lot alone was thirty-one dollars and sixty cents. + There it is on the table. You can see it for yourself.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware did not offer to look. “Very likely these are for the garden I + was speaking of,” he said. “Of course you can't go on taking plants out of + a garden indefinitely without putting others in.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know anything about any garden that he takes plants out of,” + answered Harvey, and looked meditatively for a minute or two out upon the + street below. Then he turned to the minister. “Your wife's doing a good + deal of gardening this spring, I notice,” he said casually. “You'd hardly + think it was the same place, she's fixed it up so. If she wants any extra + hoeing done, I can always get off Saturday afternoons.” + </p> + <p> + “I will remember,” said Theron. He also looked out of the window; and + nothing more was said until, a few moments later, Mr. Gorringe himself + came in. + </p> + <p> + The lawyer seemed both surprised and pleased at discovering the identity + of his visitor, with whom he shook hands in almost an excess of + cordiality. He spread a large newspaper over the pile of seedling plants + on the table, pushed the packing-box under the table with his foot, and + said almost peremptorily to the boy, “You can go now!” Then he turned + again to Theron. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Mr. Ware, I'm glad to see you,” he repeated, and drew up a chair by + the window. “Things are going all right with you, I hope.” + </p> + <p> + Theron noted again the waving black hair, the dark skin, and the carefully + trimmed mustache and chin-tuft which gave the lawyer's face a combined + effect of romance and smartness. No; it was the eyes, cool, shrewd, + dark-gray eyes, which suggested this latter quality. The recollection of + having seen one of them wink, in deliberate hostility of sarcasm, when + those other trustees had their backs turned, came mercifully at the moment + to recall the young minister to his errand. + </p> + <p> + “I thought I would drop in and have a chat with you,” he said, getting + better under way as he went on. “Quarterly Conference is only a fortnight + off, and I am a good deal at sea about what is going to happen.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not a church member, you know,” interposed Gorringe. “That shuts me + out of the Quarterly Conference.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas, yes!” said Theron. “I wish it didn't. I'm afraid I'm not going to + have any friends to spare there.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you afraid of?” asked the lawyer, seeming now to be wholly at + his ease again “They can't eat you.” + </p> + <p> + “No, they keep me too lean for that,” responded Theron, with a pensive + smile. “I WAS going to ask, you know, for an increase of salary, or an + extra allowance. I don't see how I can go on as it is. The sum fixed by + the last Quarterly Conference of the old year, and which I am getting now, + is one hundred dollars less than my predecessor had. That isn't fair, and + it isn't right. But so far from its looking as if I could get an increase, + the prospect seems rather that they will make me pay for the gas and that + sidewalk. I never recovered more than about half of my moving expenses, as + you know, and—and, frankly, I don't know which way to turn. It keeps + me miserable all the while.” + </p> + <p> + “That's where you're wrong,” said Mr. Gorringe. “If you let things like + that worry you, you'll keep a sore skin all your life. You take my advice + and just go ahead your own gait, and let other folks do the worrying. They + ARE pretty close-fisted here, for a fact, but you can manage to rub along + somehow. If you should get into any real difficulties, why, I guess—” + the lawyer paused to smile in a hesitating, significant way—“I guess + some road out can be found all right. The main thing is, don't fret, and + don't allow your wife to—to fret either.” + </p> + <p> + He stopped abruptly. Theron nodded in recognition of his amiable tone, and + then found the nod lengthening itself out into almost a bow as the thought + spread through his mind that this had been nothing more nor less than a + promise to help him with money if worst came to worst. He looked at Levi + Gorringe, and said to himself that the intuition of women was wonderful. + Alice had picked him out as a friend of theirs merely by seeing him pass + the house. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he said; “I am specially anxious to keep my wife from worrying. She + was surrounded in her girlhood by a good deal of what, relatively, we + should call luxury, and that makes it all the harder for her to be a poor + minister's wife. I had quite decided to get her a hired girl, come what + might, but she thinks she'd rather get on without one. Her health is + better, I must admit, than it was when we came here. She works out in her + garden a great deal, and that seems to agree with her.” + </p> + <p> + “Octavius is a healthy place—that's generally admitted,” replied the + lawyer, with indifference. He seemed not to be interested in Mrs. Ware's + health, but looked intently out through the window at the buildings + opposite, and drummed with his fingers on the arms of his chair. + </p> + <p> + Theron made haste to revert to his errand. “Of course, your not being in + the Quarterly Conference,” he said, “renders certain things impossible. + But I didn't know but you might have some knowledge of how matters are + going, what plans the officials of the church had; they seem to have + agreed to tell me nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I HAVE heard this much,” responded Gorringe. “They're figuring on + getting the Soulsbys here to raise the debt and kind o' shake things up + generally. I guess that's about as good as settled. Hadn't you heard of + it?” + </p> + <p> + “Not a breath!” exclaimed Theron, mournfully. “Well,” he added upon + reflection, “I'm sorry, downright sorry. The debt-raiser seems to me about + the lowest-down thing we produce. I've heard of those Soulsbys; I think I + saw HIM indeed once at Conference, but I believe SHE is the head of the + firm.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; she wears the breeches, I understand,” said Gorringe sententiously. + </p> + <p> + “I HAD hoped,” the young minister began with a rueful sigh, “in fact, I + felt quite confident at the outset that I could pay off this debt, and put + the church generally on a new footing, by giving extra attention to my + pulpit work. It is hardly for me to say it, but in other places where I + have been, my preaching has been rather—rather a feature in the town + itself. I have always been accustomed to attract to our services a good + many non-members, and that, as you know, helps tremendously from a money + point of view. But somehow that has failed here. I doubt if the average + congregations are a whit larger now than they were when I came in April. I + know the collections are not.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” commented the lawyer, slowly; “you'll never do anything in that line + in Octavius. You might, of course, if you were to stay here and work hard + at it for five or six years—” + </p> + <p> + “Heaven forbid!” groaned Mr. Ware. + </p> + <p> + “Quite so,” put in the other. “The point is that the Methodists here are a + little set by themselves. I don't know that they like one another + specially, but I do know that they are not what you might call popular + with people outside. Now, a new preacher at the Presbyterian church, or + even the Baptist—he might have a chance to create talk, and make a + stir. But Methodist—no! People who don't belong won't come near the + Methodist church here so long as there's any other place with a roof on it + to go to. Give a dog a bad name, you know. Well, the Methodists here have + got a bad name; and if you could preach like Henry Ward Beecher himself + you wouldn't change it, or get folks to come and hear you.” + </p> + <p> + “I see what you mean,” Theron responded. “I'm not particularly surprised + myself that Octavius doesn't love us, or look to us for intellectual + stimulation. I myself leave that pulpit more often than otherwise feeling + like a wet rag—utterly limp and discouraged. But, if you don't mind + my speaking of it, YOU don't belong, and yet YOU come.” + </p> + <p> + It was evident that the lawyer did not mind. He spoke freely in reply. + “Oh, yes, I've got into the habit of it. I began going when I first came + here, and—and so it grew to be natural for me to go. Then, of + course, being the only lawyer you have, a considerable amount of my + business is mixed up in one way or another with your membership; you see + those are really the things which settle a man in a rut, and keep him + there.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose your people were Methodists,” said Theron, to fill in the + pause, “and that is how you originally started with us.” + </p> + <p> + Levi Gorringe shook his head. He leaned back, half closed his eyes, put + his finger-tips together, and almost smiled as if something in retrospect + pleased and moved him. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said; “I went to the church first to see a girl who used to go + there. It was long before your time. All her family moved away years ago. + You wouldn't know any of them. I was younger then, and I didn't know as + much as I do now. I worshipped the very ground that girl walked on, and + like a fool I never gave her so much as a hint of it. Looking back now, I + can see that I might have had her if I'd asked her. But I went instead and + sat around and looked at her at church and Sunday-school and + prayer-meetings Thursday nights, and class-meetings after the sermon. She + was devoted to religion and church work; and, thinking it would please + her, I joined the church on probation. Men can fool themselves easier than + they can other people. I actually believed at the time that I had + experienced religion. I felt myself full of all sorts of awakenings of the + soul and so forth. But it was really that girl. You see I'm telling you + the thing just as it was. I was very happy. I think it was the happiest + time of my life. I remember there was a love-feast while I was on + probation; and I sat down in front, right beside her, and we ate the + little square chunks of bread and drank the water together, and I held one + corner of her hymn-book when we stood up and sang. That was the nearest I + ever got to her, or to full membership in the church. That very next week, + I think it was, we learned that she had got engaged to the minister's son—a + young man who had just become a minister himself. They got married, and + went away—and I—somehow I never took up my membership when the + six months' probation was over. That's how it was.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very interesting,” remarked Theron, softly, after a little silence—“and + very full of human nature.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now you see,” said the lawyer, “what I mean when I say that there + hasn't been another minister here since, that I should have felt like + telling this story to. They wouldn't have understood it at all. They would + have thought it was blasphemy for me to say straight out that what I took + for experiencing religion was really a girl. But you are different. I felt + that at once, the first time I saw you. In a pulpit or out of it, what I + like in a human being is that he SHOULD be human.” + </p> + <p> + “It pleases me beyond measure that you should like me, then” returned the + young minister, with frank gratification shining on his face. “The world + is made all the sweeter and more lovable by these—these elements of + romance. I am not one of those who would wish to see them banished or + frowned upon. I don't mind admitting to you that there is a good deal in + Methodism—I mean the strict practice of its letter which you find + here in Octavius—that is personally distasteful to me. I read the + other day of an English bishop who said boldly, publicly, that no modern + nation could practise the principles laid down in the Sermon on the Mount + and survive for twenty-four hours.” + </p> + <p> + “Ha, ha! That's good!” laughed the lawyer. + </p> + <p> + “I felt that it was good, too,” pursued Theron. “I am getting to see a + great many things differently, here in Octavius. Our Methodist Discipline + is like the Beatitudes—very helpful and beautiful, if treated as + spiritual suggestion, but more or less of a stumbling-block if insisted + upon literally. I declare!” he added, sitting up in his chair, “I never + talked like this to a living soul before in all my life. Your confidences + were contagious.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware rose as he spoke, and took up his hat. + </p> + <p> + “Must you be going?” asked the lawyer, also rising. “Well, I'm glad I + haven't shocked you. Come in oftener when you are passing. And if you see + anything I can help you in, always tell me.” + </p> + <p> + The two men shook hands, with an emphatic and lingering clasp. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad,” said Theron, “that you didn't stop coming to church just + because you lost the girl.” + </p> + <p> + Levi Gorringe answered the minister's pleasantry with a smile which curled + his mustache upward, and expanded in little wrinkles at the ends of his + eyes. “No,” he said jestingly. “I'm death on collecting debts; and I + reckon that the church still owes me a girl. I'll have one yet.” + </p> + <p> + So, with merriment the echoes of which pleasantly accompanied Theron down + the stairway, the two men parted. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <p> + Though time lagged in passing with a slowness which seemed born of studied + insolence, there did arrive at last a day which had something definitive + about it to Theron's disturbed and restless mind. It was a Thursday, and + the prayer-meeting to be held that evening would be the last before the + Quarterly Conference, now only four days off. + </p> + <p> + For some reason, the young minister found himself dwelling upon this fact, + and investing it with importance. But yesterday the Quarterly Conference + had seemed a long way ahead. Today brought it alarmingly close to hand. He + had not heretofore regarded the weekly assemblage for prayer and song as a + thing calling for preparation, or for any preliminary thought. Now on this + Thursday morning he went to his desk after breakfast, which was a sign + that he wanted the room to himself, quite as if he had the task of a + weighty sermon before him. He sat at the desk all the forenoon, doing no + writing, it is true, but remembering every once in a while, when his mind + turned aside from the book in his hands, that there was that + prayer-meeting in the evening. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes he reached the point of vaguely wondering why this strictly + commonplace affair should be forcing itself thus upon his attention. Then, + with a kind of mental shiver at the recollection that this was Thursday, + and that the great struggle came on Monday, he would go back to his book. + </p> + <p> + There were a half-dozen volumes on the open desk before him. He had taken + them out from beneath a pile of old “Sunday-School Advocates” and church + magazines, where they had lain hidden from Alice's view most of the week. + If there had been a locked drawer in the house, he would have used it + instead to hold these books, which had come to him in a neat parcel, which + also contained an amiable note from Dr. Ledsmar, recalling a pleasant + evening in May, and expressing the hope that the accompanying works would + be of some service. Theron had glanced at the backs of the uppermost two, + and discovered that their author was Renan. Then he had hastily put the + lot in the best place he could think of to escape his wife's observation. + </p> + <p> + He realized now that there had been no need for this secrecy. Of the other + four books, by Sayce, Budge, Smith, and Lenormant, three indeed revealed + themselves to be published under religious auspices. As for Renan, he + might have known that the name would be meaningless to Alice. The feeling + that he himself was not much wiser in this matter than his wife may have + led him to pass over the learned text-books on Chaldean antiquity, and + even the volume of Renan which appeared to be devoted to Oriental + inscriptions, and take up his other book, entitled in the translation, + “Recollections of my Youth.” This he rather glanced through, at the + outset, following with a certain inattention the introductory sketches and + essays, which dealt with an unfamiliar, and, to his notion, somewhat + preposterous Breton racial type. Then, little by little, it dawned upon + him that there was a connected story in all this; and suddenly he came + upon it, out in the open, as it were. It was the story of how a deeply + devout young man, trained from his earliest boyhood for the sacred office, + and desiring passionately nothing but to be worthy of it, came to a point + where, at infinite cost of pain to himself and of anguish to those dearest + to him, he had to declare that he could no longer believe at all in + revealed religion. + </p> + <p> + Theron Ware read this all with an excited interest which no book had ever + stirred in him before. Much of it he read over and over again, to make + sure that he penetrated everywhere the husk of French habits of thought + and Catholic methods in which the kernel was wrapped. He broke off midway + in this part of the book to go out to the kitchen to dinner, and began the + meal in silence. To Alice's questions he replied briefly that he was + preparing himself for the evening's prayer-meeting. She lifted her brows + in such frank surprise at this that he made a further and somewhat + rambling explanation about having again taken up the work on his book—the + book about Abraham. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you said you'd given that up altogether,” she remarked. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, “I WAS discouraged about it for a while. But a man never + does anything big without getting discouraged over and over again while + he's doing it. I don't say now that I shall write precisely THAT book—I'm + merely reading scientific works about the period, just now—but if + not that, I shall write some other book. Else how will you get that + piano?” he added, with an attempt at a smile. + </p> + <p> + “I thought you had given that up, too!” she replied ruefully. Then before + he could speak, she went on: “Never mind the piano; that can wait. What + I've got on my mind just now isn't piano; it's potatoes. Do you know, I + saw some the other day at Rasbach's, splendid potatoes—these are + some of them—and fifteen cents a bushel cheaper than those dried-up + old things Brother Barnum keeps, and so I bought two bushels. And Sister + Barnum met me on the street this morning, and threw it in my face that the + Discipline commands us to trade with each other. Is there any such + command?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the husband. “It's Section 33. Don't you remember? I looked it + up in Tyre. We are to 'evidence our desire of salvation by doing good, + especially to them that are of the household of faith, or groaning so to + be; by employing them preferably to others; buying one of another; helping + each other in business'—and so on. Yes, it's all there.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I told her I didn't believe it was,” put in Alice, “and I said that + even if it was, there ought to be another section about selling potatoes + to their minister for more than they're worth—potatoes that turn all + green when you boil them, too. I believe I'll read up that old Discipline + myself, and see if it hasn't got some things that I can talk back with.” + </p> + <p> + “The very section before that, Number 32, enjoins members against + 'uncharitable or unprofitable conversation—particularly speaking + evil of magistrates or ministers.' You'd have 'em there, I think.” Theron + had begun cheerfully enough, but the careworn, preoccupied look returned + now to his face. “I'm sorry if we've fallen out with the Barnums,” he + said. “His brother-in-law, Davis, the Sunday-school superintendent, is a + member of the Quarterly Conference, you know, and I've been hoping that he + was on my side. I've been taking a good deal of pains to make up to him.” + </p> + <p> + He ended with a sigh, the pathos of which impressed Alice. “If you think + it will do any good,” she volunteered, “I'll go and call on the Davises + this very afternoon. I'm sure to find her at home,—she's tied hand + and foot with that brood of hers—and you'd better give me some of + that candy for them.” + </p> + <p> + Theron nodded his approval and thanks, and relapsed into silence. When the + meal was over, he brought out the confectionery to his wife, and without a + word went back to that remarkable book. + </p> + <p> + When Alice returned toward the close of day, to prepare the simple tea + which was always laid a half-hour earlier on Thursdays and Sundays, she + found her husband where she had left him, still busy with those new + scientific works. She recounted to him some incidents of her call upon + Mrs. Davis, as she took off her hat and put on the big kitchen apron—how + pleased Mrs. Davis seemed to be; how her affection for her sister-in-law, + the grocer's wife, disclosed itself to be not even skin-deep; how the + children leaped upon the candy as if they had never seen any before; and + how, in her belief, Mr. Davis would be heart and soul on Theron's side at + the Conference. + </p> + <p> + To her surprise, the young minister seemed not at all interested. He + hardly looked at her during her narrative, but reclined in the easy-chair + with his head thrown back, and an abstracted gaze wandering aimlessly + about the ceiling. When she avowed her faith in the Sunday-school + superintendent's loyal partisanship, which she did with a pardonable pride + in having helped to make it secure, her husband even closed his eyes, and + moved his head with a gesture which plainly bespoke indifference. + </p> + <p> + “I expected you'd be tickled to death,” she remarked, with evident + disappointment. + </p> + <p> + “I've a bad headache,” he explained, after a minute's pause. + </p> + <p> + “No wonder!” Alice rejoined, sympathetically enough, but with a note of + reproof as well. “What can you expect, staying cooped up in here all day + long, poring over those books? People are all the while remarking that you + study too much. I tell them, of course, that you're a great hand for + reading, and always were; but I think myself it would be better if you got + out more, and took more exercise, and saw people. You know lots and + slathers more than THEY do now, or ever will, if you never opened another + book.” + </p> + <p> + Theron regarded her with an expression which she had never seen on his + face before. “You don't realize what you are saying,” he replied slowly. + He sighed as he added, with increased gravity, “I am the most ignorant man + alive!” + </p> + <p> + Alice began a little laugh of wifely incredulity, and then let it die away + as she recognized that he was really troubled and sad in his mind. She + bent over to kiss him lightly on the brow, and tiptoed her way out into + the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + “I believe I will let you make my excuses at the prayer-meeting this + evening,” he said all at once, as the supper came to an end. He had eaten + next to nothing during the meal, and had sat in a sort of brown-study from + which Alice kindly forbore to arouse him. “I don't know—I hardly + feel equal to it. They won't take it amiss—for once—if you + explain to them that I—I am not at all well.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I do hope you're not coming down with anything!” Alice had risen too, + and was gazing at him with a solicitude the tenderness of which at once + comforted, and in some obscure way jarred on his nerves. “Is there + anything I can do—or shall I go for a doctor? We've got mustard in + the house, and senna—I think there's some senna left—and + Jamaica ginger.” + </p> + <p> + Theron shook his head wearily at her. “Oh, no,—no!” he expostulated. + “It isn't anything that needs drugs, or doctors either. It's just mental + worry and fatigue, that's all. An evening's quiet rest in the big chair, + and early to bed—that will fix me up all right.” + </p> + <p> + “But you'll read; and that will make your head worse,” said Alice. + </p> + <p> + “No, I won't read any more,” he promised her, walking slowly into the + sitting-room, and settling himself in the big chair, the while she brought + out a pillow from the adjoining best bedroom, and adjusted it behind his + head. “That's nice! I'll just lie quiet here, and perhaps doze a little + till you come back. I feel in the mood for the rest; it will do me all + sorts of good.” + </p> + <p> + He closed his eyes; and Alice, regarding his upturned face anxiously, + decided that already it looked more at peace than awhile ago. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I hope you'll be better when I get back,” she said, as she began + preparations for the evening service. These consisted in combing stiffly + back the strands of light-brown hair which, during the day, had + exuberantly loosened themselves over her temples into something almost + like curls; in fastening down upon this rebellious hair a plain + brown-straw bonnet, guiltless of all ornament save a binding ribbon of + dull umber hue; and in putting on a thin dark-gray shawl and a pair of + equally subdued lisle-thread gloves. Thus attired, she made a mischievous + little grimace of dislike at her puritanical image in the looking-glass + over the mantel, and then turned to announce her departure. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm off,” she said. Theron opened his eyes to take in this figure + of his wife dressed for prayer-meeting, and then closed them again + abruptly. “All right,” he murmured, and then he heard the door shut behind + her. + </p> + <p> + Although he had been alone all day, there seemed to be quite a unique + value and quality in this present solitude. He stretched out his legs on + the opposite chair, and looked lazily about him, with the feeling that at + last he had secured some leisure, and could think undisturbed to his + heart's content. There were nearly two hours of unbroken quiet before him; + and the mere fact of his having stepped aside from the routine of his duty + to procure it; marked it in his thoughts as a special occasion, which + ought in the nature of things to yield more than the ordinary harvest of + mental profit. + </p> + <p> + Theron's musings were broken in upon from time to time by rumbling + outbursts of hymn-singing from the church next door. Surely, he said to + himself, there could be no other congregation in the Conference, or in all + Methodism, which sang so badly as these Octavians did. The noise, as it + came to him now and again, divided itself familiarly into a main strain of + hard, high, sharp, and tinny female voices, with three or four concurrent + and clashing branch strains of part-singing by men who did not know how. + How well he already knew these voices! Through two wooden walls he could + detect the conceited and pushing note of Brother Lovejoy, who tried always + to drown the rest out, and the lifeless, unmeasured weight of shrill + clamor which Sister Barnum hurled into every chorus, half closing her eyes + and sticking out her chin as she did so. They drawled their hymns too, + these people, till Theron thought he understood that injunction in the + Discipline against singing too slowly. It had puzzled him heretofore; now + he felt that it must have been meant in prophecy for Octavius. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible not to recall in contrast that other church music he had + heard, a month before, and the whole atmosphere of that other pastoral + sitting room, from which he had listened to it. The startled and crowded + impressions of that strange evening had been lying hidden in his mind all + this while, driven into a corner by the pressure of more ordinary, + everyday matters. They came forth now, and passed across his brain—no + longer confusing and distorted, but in orderly and intelligible sequence. + Their earlier effect had been one of frightened fascination. Now he looked + them over calmly as they lifted themselves, one by one, and found himself + not shrinking at all, or evading anything, but dwelling upon each in turn + as a natural and welcome part of the most important experience of his + life. + </p> + <p> + The young minister had arrived, all at once, at this conclusion. He did + not question at all the means by which he had reached it. Nothing was + clearer to his mind than the conclusion itself—that his meeting, + with the priest and the doctor was the turning-point in his career. They + had lifted him bodily out of the slough of ignorance, of contact with low + minds and sordid, narrow things, and put him on solid ground. This book he + had been reading—this gentle, tender, lovable book, which had as + much true piety in it as any devotional book he had ever read, and yet, + unlike all devotional books, put its foot firmly upon everything which + could not be proved in human reason to be true—must be merely one of + a thousand which men like Father Forbes and Dr. Ledsmar knew by heart. The + very thought that he was on the way now to know them, too, made Theron + tremble. The prospect wooed him, and he thrilled in response, with the + wistful and delicate eagerness of a young lover. + </p> + <p> + Somehow, the fact that the priest and the doctor were not religious men, + and that this book which had so impressed and stirred him was nothing more + than Renan's recital of how he, too, ceased to be a religious man, did not + take a form which Theron could look square in the face. It wore the shape, + instead, of a vague premise that there were a great many different kinds + of religions—the past and dead races had multiplied these in their + time literally into thousands—and that each no doubt had its central + support of truth somewhere for the good men who were in it, and that to + call one of these divine and condemn all the others was a part fit only + for untutored bigots. Renan had formally repudiated Catholicism, yet could + write in his old age with the deepest filial affection of the Mother + Church he had quitted. Father Forbes could talk coolly about the + “Christ-myth” without even ceasing to be a priest, and apparently a very + active and devoted priest. Evidently there was an intellectual world, a + world of culture and grace, of lofty thoughts and the inspiring communion + of real knowledge, where creeds were not of importance, and where men + asked one another, not “Is your soul saved?” but “Is your mind well + furnished?” Theron had the sensation of having been invited to become a + citizen of this world. The thought so dazzled him that his impulses were + dragging him forward to take the new oath of allegiance before he had had + time to reflect upon what it was he was abandoning. + </p> + <p> + The droning of the Doxology from the church outside stirred Theron + suddenly out of his revery. It had grown quite dark, and he rose and lit + the gas. “Blest be the Tie that Binds,” they were singing. He paused, with + hand still in air, to listen. That well-worn phrase arrested his + attention, and gave itself a new meaning. He was bound to those people, it + was true, but he could never again harbor the delusion that the tie + between them was blessed. There was vaguely present in his mind the + consciousness that other ties were loosening as well. Be that as it might, + one thing was certain. He had passed definitely beyond pretending to + himself that there was anything spiritually in common between him and the + Methodist Church of Octavius. The necessity of his keeping up the pretence + with others rose on the instant like a looming shadow before his mental + vision. He turned away from it, and bent his brain to think of something + else. + </p> + <p> + The noise of Alice opening the front door came as a pleasant digression. A + second later it became clear from the sound of voices that she had brought + some one back with her, and Theron hastily stretched himself out again in + the armchair, with his head back in the pillow, and his feet on the other + chair. He had come mighty near forgetting that he was an invalid, and he + protected himself the further now by assuming an air of lassitude verging + upon prostration. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; there's a light burning. It's all right,” he heard Alice say. She + entered the room, and Theron's head was too bad to permit him to turn it, + and see who her companion was. + </p> + <p> + “Theron dear,” Alice began, “I knew you'd be glad to see HER, even if you + were out of sorts; and I persuaded her just to run in for a minute. Let me + introduce you to Sister Soulsby. Sister Soulsby—my husband.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware sat upright with an energetic start, and fastened upon + the stranger a look which conveyed anything but the satisfaction his wife + had been so sure about. It was at the first blush an undisguised scowl, + and only some fleeting memory of that reflection about needing now to + dissemble, prevented him from still frowning as he rose to his feet, and + perfunctorily held out his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Delighted, I'm sure,” he mumbled. Then, looking up, he discovered that + Sister Soulsby knew he was not delighted, and that she seemed not to mind + in the least. + </p> + <p> + “As your good lady said, I just ran in for a moment,” she remarked, + shaking his limp hand with a brisk, business-like grasp, and dropping it. + “I hate bothering sick people, but as we're to be thrown together a good + deal this next week or so, I thought I'd like to lose no time in saying + 'howdy.' I won't keep you up now. Your wife has been sweet enough to ask + me to move my trunk over here in the morning, so that you'll see enough of + me and to spare.” + </p> + <p> + Theron looked falteringly into her face, as he strove for words which + should sufficiently mask the disgust this intelligence stirred within him. + A debt-raiser in the town was bad enough! A debt-raiser quartered in the + very parsonage!—he ground his teeth to think of it. + </p> + <p> + Alice read his hesitation aright. “Sister Soulsby went to the hotel,” she + hastily put in; “and Loren Pierce was after her to come and stay at his + house, and I ventured to tell her that I thought we could make her more + comfortable here.” She accompanied this by so daring a grimace and nod + that her husband woke up to the fact that a point in Conference politics + was involved. + </p> + <p> + He squeezed a doubtful smile upon his features. “We shall both do our + best,” he said. It was not easy, but he forced increasing amiability into + his glance and tone. “Is Brother Soulsby here, too?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + The debt-raiser shook her head—again the prompt, decisive movement, + so like a busy man of affairs. “No,” she answered. “He's doing supply down + on the Hudson this week, but he'll be here in time for the Sunday morning + love-feast. I always like to come on ahead, and see how the land lies. + Well, good-night! Your head will be all right in the morning.” + </p> + <p> + Precisely what she meant by this assurance, Theron did not attempt to + guess. He received her adieu, noted the masterful manner in which she + kissed his wife, and watched her pass out into the hall, with the feeling + uppermost that this was a person who decidedly knew her way about. Much as + he was prepared to dislike her, and much as he detested the vulgar methods + her profession typified, he could not deny that she seemed a very capable + sort of woman. + </p> + <p> + This mental concession did not prevent his fixing upon Alice, when she + returned to the room, a glance of obvious disapproval. + </p> + <p> + “Theron,” she broke forth, to anticipate his reproach, “I did it for the + best. The Pierces would have got her if I hadn't cut in. I thought it + would help to have her on our side. And, besides, I like her. She's the + first sister I've seen since we've been in this hole that's had a kind + word for me—or—or sympathized with me! And—and—if + you're going to be offended—I shall cry!” + </p> + <p> + There were real tears on her lashes, ready to make good the threat. “Oh, I + guess I wouldn't,” said Theron, with an approach to his old, half-playful + manner. “If you like her, that's the chief thing.” + </p> + <p> + Alice shook her tear-drops away. “No,” she replied, with a wistful smile; + “the chief thing is to have her like you. She's as smart as a steel trap—that + woman is—and if she took the notion, I believe she could help get us + a better place.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <p> + The ensuing week went by with a buzz and whirl, circling about Theron + Ware's dizzy consciousness like some huge, impalpable teetotum sent + spinning under Sister Soulsby's resolute hands. Whenever his vagrant + memory recurred to it, in after months, he began by marvelling, and ended + with a shudder of repulsion. + </p> + <p> + It was a week crowded with events, which seemed to him to shoot past so + swiftly that in effect they came all of a heap. He never essayed the task, + in retrospect, of arranging them in their order of sequence. They had, + however, a definite and interdependent chronology which it is worth the + while to trace. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Soulsby brought her trunk round to the parsonage bright and early on + Friday morning, and took up her lodgement in the best bedroom, and her + headquarters in the house at large, with a cheerful and business-like + manner. She desired nothing so much, she said, as that people should not + put themselves out on her account, or allow her to get in their way. She + appeared to mean this, too, and to have very good ideas about securing its + realization. + </p> + <p> + During both Friday and the following day, indeed, Theron saw her only at + the family meals. There she displayed a hearty relish for all that was set + before her which quite won Mrs. Ware's heart, and though she talked rather + more than Theron found himself expecting from a woman, he could not deny + that her conversation was both seemly and entertaining. She had evidently + been a great traveller, and referred to things she had seen in Savannah or + Montreal or Los Angeles in as matter-of-fact fashion as he could have + spoken of a visit to Tecumseh. Theron asked her many questions about these + and other far-off cities, and her answers were all so pat and showed so + keen and clear an eye that he began in spite of himself to think of her + with a certain admiration. + </p> + <p> + She in turn plied him with inquiries about the principal pew-holders and + members of his congregation—their means, their disposition, and the + measure of their devotion. She put these queries with such intelligence, + and seemed to assimilate his replies with such an alert understanding, + that the young minister was spurred to put dashes of character in his + descriptions, and set forth the idiosyncrasies and distinguishing earmarks + of his flock with what he felt afterward might have been too free a + tongue. But at the time her fine air of appreciation led him captive. He + gossiped about his parishioners as if he enjoyed it. He made a specially + happy thumb-nail sketch for her of one of his trustees, Erastus Winch, the + loud-mouthed, ostentatiously jovial, and really cold-hearted cheese-buyer. + She was particularly interested in hearing about this man. The personality + of Winch seemed to have impressed her, and she brought the talk back to + him more than once, and prompted Theron to the very threshold of + indiscretion in his confidences on the subject. + </p> + <p> + Save at meal-times, Sister Soulsby spent the two days out around among the + Methodists of Octavius. She had little or nothing to say about what she + thus saw and heard, but used it as the basis for still further inquiries. + She told more than once, however, of how she had been pressed here or + there to stay to dinner or supper, and how she had excused herself. “I've + knocked about too much,” she would explain to the Wares, “not to fight shy + of random country cooking. When I find such a born cook as you are—well + I know when I'm well off.” Alice flushed with pleased pride at this, and + Theron himself felt that their visitor showed great good sense. By + Saturday noon, the two women were calling each other by their first names. + Theron learned with a certain interest that Sister Soulsby's Christian + name was Candace. + </p> + <p> + It was only natural that he should give even more thought to her than to + her quaint and unfamiliar old Ethiopian name. She was undoubtedly a very + smart woman. To his surprise she had never introduced in her talk any of + the stock religious and devotional phrases which official Methodists so + universally employed in mutual converse. She might have been an insurance + agent, or a school-teacher, visiting in a purely secular household, so + little parade of cant was there about her. + </p> + <p> + He caught himself wondering how old she was. She seemed to have been + pretty well over the whole American continent, and that must take years of + time. Perhaps, however, the exertion of so much travel would tend to age + one in appearance. Her eyes were still youthful—decidedly wise eyes, + but still juvenile. They had sparkled with almost girlish merriment at + some of his jokes. She turned them about a good deal when she spoke, + making their glances fit and illustrate the things she said. He had never + met any one whose eyes played so constant and prominent a part in their + owner's conversation. Theron had never seen a play; but he had encountered + the portraits of famous queens of the drama several times in illustrated + papers or shop windows, and it occurred to him that some of the more + marked contortions of Sister Soulsby's eyes—notably a trick she had + of rolling them swiftly round and plunging them, so to speak, into an + intent, yearning, one might almost say devouring, gaze at the speaker—were + probably employed by eminent actresses like Ristori and Fanny Davenport. + </p> + <p> + The rest of Sister Soulsby was undoubtedly subordinated in interest to + those eyes of hers. Sometimes her face seemed to be reviving temporarily a + comeliness which had been constant in former days; then again it would + look decidedly, organically, plain. It was the worn and loose-skinned face + of a nervous, middle-aged woman, who had had more than her share of + trouble, and drank too much tea. She wore the collar of her dress rather + low; and Theron found himself wondering at this, because, though long and + expansive, her neck certainly showed more cords and cavities than + consorted with his vague ideal of statuesque beauty. Then he wondered at + himself for thinking about it, and abruptly reined up his fancy, only to + find that it was playing with speculations as to whether her yellowish + complexion was due to that tea-drinking or came to her as a legacy of + Southern blood. + </p> + <p> + He knew that she was born in the South because she said so. From the same + source he learned that her father had been a wealthy planter, who was + ruined by the war, and sank into a premature grave under the weight of his + accumulated losses. The large dark rings around her eyes grew deeper still + in their shadows when she told about this, and her ordinarily sharp voice + took on a mellow cadence, with a soft, drawling accent, turning U's into + O's, and having no R's to speak of. Theron had imbibed somewhere in early + days the conviction that the South was the land of romance, of cavaliers + and gallants and black eyes flashing behind mantillas and outspread fans, + and somehow when Sister Soulsby used this intonation she suggested all + these things. + </p> + <p> + But almost all her talk was in another key—a brisk, direct, + idiomatic manner of speech, with an intonation hinting at no section in + particular. It was merely that of the city-dweller as distinguished from + the rustic. She was of about Alice's height, perhaps a shade taller. It + did not escape the attention of the Wares that she wore clothes of a more + stylish cut and a livelier arrangement of hues than any Alice had ever + dared own, even in lax-minded Tyre. The two talked of this in their room + on Friday night; and Theron explained that congregations would tolerate + things of this sort with a stranger which would be sharply resented in the + case of local folk whom they controlled. It was on this occasion that + Alice in turn told Theron she was sure Mrs. Soulsby had false teeth—a + confidence which she immediately regretted as an act of treachery to her + sex. + </p> + <p> + On Saturday afternoon, toward evening, Brother Soulsby arrived, and was + guided to the parsonage by his wife, who had gone to the depot to meet + him. They must have talked over the situation pretty thoroughly on the + way, for by the time the new-comer had washed his face and hands and put + on a clean collar, Sister Soulsby was ready to announce her plan of + campaign in detail. + </p> + <p> + Her husband was a man of small stature and, like herself, of uncertain + age. He had a gentle, if rather dry, clean-shaven face, and wore his + dust-colored hair long behind. His little figure was clad in black clothes + of a distinctively clerical fashion, and he had a white neck-cloth neatly + tied under his collar. The Wares noted that he looked clean and amiable + rather than intellectually or spiritually powerful, as he took the vacant + seat between theirs, and joined them in concentrating attention upon Mrs. + Soulsby. + </p> + <p> + This lady, holding herself erect and alert on the edge of the low, big + easy-chair had the air of presiding over a meeting. + </p> + <p> + “My idea is,” she began, with an easy implication that no one else's idea + was needed, “that your Quarterly Conference, when it meets on Monday, must + be adjourned to Tuesday. We will have the people all out tomorrow morning + to love-feast, and announcement can be made there, and at the morning + service afterward, that a series of revival meetings are to be begun that + same evening. Mr. Soulsby and I can take charge in the evening, and we'll + see to it that THAT packs the house—fills the church to overflowing + Monday evening. Then we'll quietly turn the meeting into a debt-raising + convention, before they know where they are, and we'll wipe off the best + part of the load. Now, don't you see,” she turned her eyes full upon + Theron as she spoke, “you want to hold your Quarterly Conference AFTER + this money's been raised, not before.” + </p> + <p> + “I see what you mean,” Mr. Ware responded gravely. “But—” + </p> + <p> + “But what!” Sister Soulsby interjected, with vivacity. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Theron, picking his words, “in the first place, it rests with + the Presiding Elder to say whether an adjournment can be made until + Tuesday, not with me.” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right. Leave that to me,” said the lady. + </p> + <p> + “In the second place,” Theron went on, still more hesitatingly, “there + seems a certain—what shall I say?—indirection in—in—” + </p> + <p> + “In getting them together for a revival, and springing a debt-raising on + them?” Sister Soulsby put in. “Why, man alive, that's the best part of it. + You ought to be getting some notion by this time what these Octavius folks + of yours are like. I've only been here two days, but I've got their + measure down to an allspice. Supposing you were to announce tomorrow that + the debt was to be raised Monday. How many men with bank-accounts would + turn up, do you think? You could put them all in your eye, sir—all + in your eye!” + </p> + <p> + “Very possibly you're right,” faltered the young minister. + </p> + <p> + “Right? Why, of course I'm right,” she said, with placid confidence. + “You've got to take folks as you find them; and you've got to find them + the best way you can. One place can be worked, managed, in one way, and + another needs quite a different way, and both ways would be dead frosts—complete + failures—in a third.” + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby coughed softly here, and shuffled his feet for an instant + on the carpet. His wife resumed her remarks with slightly abated + animation, and at a slower pace. + </p> + <p> + “My experience,” she said, “has shown me that the Apostle was right. To + properly serve the cause, one must be all things to all men. I have known + very queer things indeed turn out to be means of grace. You simply CAN'T + get along without some of the wisdom of the serpent. We are commanded to + have it, for that matter. And now, speaking of that, do you know when the + Presiding Elder arrives in town today, and where he is going to eat supper + and sleep?” + </p> + <p> + Theron shook his head. “All I know is he isn't likely to come here,” he + said, and added sadly, “I'm afraid he's not an admirer of mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps that's not all his fault,” commented Sister Soulsby. “I'll tell + you something. He came in on the same train as my husband, and that old + trustee Pierce of yours was waiting for him with his buggy, and I saw like + a flash what was in the wind, and the minute the train stopped I caught + the Presiding Elder, and invited him in your name to come right here and + stay; told him you and Alice were just set on his coming—wouldn't + take no for an answer. Of course he couldn't come—I knew well enough + he had promised old Pierce—but we got in our invitation anyway, and + it won't do you any harm. Now, that's what I call having some gumption—wisdom + of the serpent, and so on.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure,” remarked Alice, “I should have been mortified to death if he + had come. We lost the extension-leaf to our table in moving, and four is + all it'll seat decently.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby smiled winningly into the wife's honest face. “Don't you + see, dear,” she explained patiently, “I only asked him because I knew he + couldn't come. A little butter spreads a long way, if it's only + intelligently warmed.” + </p> + <p> + “It was certainly very ingenious of you,” Theron began almost stiffly. + Then he yielded to the humanities, and with a kindling smile added, “And + it was as kind as kind could be. I'm afraid you're wrong about it's doing + me any good, but I can see how well you meant it, and I'm grateful.” + </p> + <p> + “We COULD have sneaked in the kitchen table, perhaps, while he was out in + the garden, and put on the extra long tablecloth,” interjected Alice, + musingly. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby smiled again at Sister Ware, but without any words this + time; and Alice on the instant rose, with the remark that she must be + going out to see about supper. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to insist on coming out to help you,” Mrs. Soulsby declared, + “as soon as I've talked over one little matter with your husband. Oh, yes, + you must let me this time. I insist!” + </p> + <p> + As the kitchen door closed behind Mrs. Ware, a swift and apparently + significant glance shot its way across from Sister Soulsby's roving, + eloquent eyes to the calmer and smaller gray orbs of her husband. He rose + to his feet, made some little explanation about being a gardener himself, + and desiring to inspect more closely some rhododendrons he had noticed in + the garden, and forthwith moved decorously out by the other door into the + front hall. They heard his footsteps on the gravel beneath the window + before Mrs. Soulsby spoke again. + </p> + <p> + “You're right about the Presiding Elder, and you're wrong,” she said. “He + isn't what one might call precisely in love with you. Oh, I know the story—how + you got into debt at Tyre, and he stepped in and insisted on your being + denied Tecumseh and sent here instead.” + </p> + <p> + “HE was responsible for that, then, was he?” broke in Theron, with + contracted brows. + </p> + <p> + “Why, don't you make any effort to find out anything at ALL?” she asked + pertly enough, but with such obvious good-nature that he could not but + have pleasure in her speech. “Why, of course he did it! Who else did you + suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the young minister, despondently, “if he's as much against me + as all that, I might as well hang up my fiddle and go home.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby gave a little involuntary groan of impatience. She bent + forward, and, lifting her eyes, rolled them at him in a curve of downward + motion which suggested to his fancy the image of two eagles in a concerted + pounce upon a lamb. + </p> + <p> + “My friend,” she began, with a new note of impressiveness in her voice, + “if you'll pardon my saying it, you haven't got the spunk of a mouse. If + you're going to lay down, and let everybody trample over you just as they + please, you're right! You MIGHT as well go home. But now here, this is + what I wanted to say to you: Do you just keep your hands off these next + few days, and leave this whole thing to me. I'll pull it into shipshape + for you. No—wait a minute—don't interrupt now. I have taken a + liking to you. You've got brains, and you've got human nature in you, and + heart. What you lack is SABE—common-sense. You'll get that, too, in + time, and meanwhile I'm not going to stand by and see you cut up and fed + to the dogs for want of it. I'll get you through this scrape, and put you + on your feet again, right-side-up-with care, because, as I said, I like + you. I like your wife, too, mind. She's a good, honest little soul, and + she worships the very ground you tread on. Of course, as long as people + WILL marry in their teens, the wrong people will get yoked up together. + But that's neither here nor there. She's a kind sweet little body, and + she's devoted to you, and it isn't every intellectual man that gets even + that much. But now it's a go, is it? You promise to keep quiet, do you, + and leave the whole show absolutely to me? Shake hands on it.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby had risen, and stood now holding out her hand in a frank, + manly fashion. Theron looked at the hand, and made mental notes that there + were a good many veins discernible on the small wrist, and that the + forearm seemed to swell out more than would have been expected in a woman + producing such a general effect of leanness. He caught the shine of a thin + bracelet-band of gold under the sleeve. A delicate, significant odor just + hinted its presence in the air about this outstretched arm—something + which was not a perfume, yet deserved as gracious a name. + </p> + <p> + He rose to his feet, and took the proffered hand with a deliberate + gesture, as if he had been cautiously weighing all the possible arguments + for and against this momentous compact. + </p> + <p> + “I promise,” he said gravely, and the two palms squeezed themselves + together in an earnest clasp. + </p> + <p> + “Right you are,” exclaimed the lady, once more with cheery vivacity. + “Mind, when it's all over, I'm going to give you a good, serious, + downright talking to—a regular hoeing-over. I'm not sure I shan't + give you a sound shaking into the bargain. You need it. And now I'm going + out to help Alice.” + </p> + <p> + The Reverend Mr. Ware remained standing after his new friend had left the + room, and his meditative face wore an even unusual air of abstraction. He + strolled aimlessly over, after a time, to the desk by the window, and + stood there looking out at the slight figure of Brother Soulsby, who was + bending over and attentively regarding some pink blossoms on a shrub + through what seemed to be a pocket magnifying-glass. + </p> + <p> + What remained uppermost in his mind was not this interesting woman's + confident pledge of championship in his material difficulties. He found + himself dwelling instead upon her remark about the incongruous results of + early marriages. He wondered idly if the little man in the white tie, + fussing out there over that rhododendron-bush, had figured in her thoughts + as an example of these evils. Then he reflected that they had been + mentioned in clear relation to talk about Alice. + </p> + <p> + Now that he faced this question, it was as if he had been consciously + ignoring and putting it aside for a long time. How was it, he asked + himself now, that Alice, who had once seemed so bright and keen-witted, + who had in truth started out immeasurably his superior in swiftness of + apprehension and readiness in humorous quips and conceits, should have + grown so dull? For she was undoubtedly slow to understand things nowadays. + Her absurd lugging in of the extension-table problem, when the great + strategic point of that invitation foisted upon the Presiding Elder came + up, was only the latest sample of a score of these heavy-minded + exhibitions that recalled themselves to him. And outsiders were apparently + beginning to notice it. He knew by intuition what those phrases, “good, + honest little soul” and “kind, sweet little body” signified, when another + woman used them to a husband about his wife. The very employment of that + word “little” was enough, considering that there was scarcely more than a + hair's difference between Mrs. Soulsby and Alice, and that they were both + rather tall than otherwise, as the stature of women went. + </p> + <p> + What she had said about the chronic misfortunes of intellectual men in + such matters gave added point to those meaning phrases. Nobody could deny + that geniuses and men of conspicuous talent had as a rule, all through + history, contracted unfortunate marriages. In almost every case where + their wives were remembered at all, it was on account of their abnormal + stupidity, or bad temper, or something of that sort. Take Xantippe, for + example, and Shakespeare's wife, and—and—well, there was + Byron, and Bulwer-Lytton, and ever so many others. + </p> + <p> + Of course there was nothing to be done about it. These things happened, + and one could only put the best possible face on them, and live one's + appointed life as patiently and contentedly as might be. And Alice + undoubtedly merited all the praise which had been so generously bestowed + upon her. She was good and honest and kindly, and there could be no doubt + whatever as to her utter devotion to him. These were tangible, solid + qualities, which must always secure respect for her. It was true that she + no longer seemed to be very popular among people. He questioned whether + men, for instance, like Father Forbes and Dr. Ledsmar would care much + about her. Visions of the wifeless and academic calm in which these men + spent their lives—an existence consecrated to literature and + knowledge and familiarity with all the loftiest and noblest thoughts of + the past—rose and enveloped him in a cloud of depression. No such + lot would be his! He must labor along among ignorant and spiteful + narrow-minded people to the end of his days, pocketing their insults and + fawning upon the harsh hands of jealous nonentities who happened to be his + official masters, just to keep a roof over his head—or rather + Alice's. He must sacrifice everything to this, his ambitions, his + passionate desires to do real good in the world on a large scale, his + mental freedom, yes, even his chance of having truly elevating, + intellectual friendships. For it was plain enough that the men whose + friendship would be of genuine and stimulating profit to him would not + like her. Now that he thought of it, she seemed latterly to make no + friends at all. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, as he watched in a blank sort of way Brother Soulsby take out a + penknife, and lop an offending twig from a rose-bush against the fence, + something occurred to him. There was a curious exception to that rule of + Alice's isolation. She had made at least one friend. Levi Gorringe seemed + to like her extremely. + </p> + <p> + As if his mind had been a camera, Theron snapped a shutter down upon this + odd, unbidden idea, and turned away from the window. + </p> + <p> + The sounds of an active, almost strenuous conversation in female voices + came from the kitchen. Theron opened the door noiselessly, and put in his + head, conscious of something furtive in his intention. + </p> + <p> + “You must dreen every drop of water off the spinach, mind, before you put + it over, or else—” + </p> + <p> + It was Sister Soulsby's sharp and penetrating tones which came to him. + Theron closed the door again, and surrendered himself once more to the + circling whirl of his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <p> + A love-feast at nine in the morning opened the public services of a Sunday + still memorable in the annals of Octavius Methodism. + </p> + <p> + This ceremony, which four times a year preceded the sessions of the + Quarterly Conference, was not necessarily an event of importance. It was + an occasion upon which the brethren and sisters who clung to the + old-fashioned, primitive ways of the itinerant circuit-riders, let + themselves go with emphasized independence, putting up more vehement + prayers than usual, and adding a special fervor of noise to their “Amens!” + and other interjections—and that was all. + </p> + <p> + It was Theron's first love-feast in Octavius, and as the big class-room in + the church basement began to fill up, and he noted how the men with ultra + radical views and the women clad in the most ostentatious drabs and grays + were crowding into the front seats, he felt his spirits sinking. He had + literally to force himself from sentence to sentence, when the time came + for him to rise and open the proceedings with an exhortation. He had + eagerly offered this function to the Presiding Elder, the Rev. Aziel P. + Larrabee, who sat in severe silence on the little platform behind him, but + had been informed that the dignitary would lead off in giving testimony + later on. So Theron, feeling all the while the hostile eyes of the Elder + burning holes in his back, dragged himself somehow through the task. He + had never known any such difficulty of speech before. The relief was + almost overwhelming when he came to the customary part where all are + adjured to be as brief as possible in witnessing for the Lord, because the + time belongs to all the people, and the Discipline forbids the feast to + last more than ninety minutes. He delivered this injunction to brevity + with marked earnestness, and then sat down abruptly. + </p> + <p> + There was some rather boisterous singing, during which the stewards, + beginning with the platform, passed plates of bread cut in small cubes, + and water in big plated pitchers and tumblers, about among the + congregation, threading their way between the long wooden benches + ordinarily occupied at this hour by the children of the Sunday-school, and + helping each brother and sister in turn. They held by the old custom, here + in Octavius, and all along the seats the sexes alternated, as they do at a + polite dinner-table. + </p> + <p> + Theron impassively watched the familiar scene. The early nervousness had + passed away. He felt now that he was not in the least afraid of these + people, even with the Presiding Elder thrown in. Folks who sang with such + unintelligence, and who threw themselves with such undignified fervor into + this childish business of the bread and water, could not be formidable + antagonists for a man of intellect. He had never realized before what a + spectacle the Methodist love-feast probably presented to outsiders. What + must they think of it! + </p> + <p> + He had noticed that the Soulsbys sat together, in the centre and toward + the front. Next to Brother Soulsby sat Alice. He thought she looked pale + and preoccupied, and set it down in passing to her innate distaste for the + somber garments she was wearing, and for the company she perforce found + herself in. Another head was in the way, and for a time Theron did not + observe who sat beside Alice on the other side. When at last he saw that + it was Levi Gorringe, his instinct was to wonder what the lawyer must be + saying to himself about these noisy and shallow enthusiasts. A recurring + emotion of loyalty to the simple people among whom, after all, he had + lived his whole life, prompted him to feel that it wasn't wholly nice of + Gorringe to come and enjoy this revelation of their foolish side, as if it + were a circus. There was some vague memory in his mind which associated + Gorringe with other love-feasts, and with a cynical attitude toward them. + Oh, yes! he had told how he went to one just for the sake of sitting + beside the girl he admired—and was pursuing. + </p> + <p> + The stewards had completed their round, and the loud, discordant singing + came to an end. There ensued a little pause, during which Theron turned to + the Presiding Elder with a gesture of invitation to take charge of the + further proceedings. The Elder responded with another gesture, calling his + attention to something going on in front. + </p> + <p> + Brother and Sister Soulsby, to the considerable surprise of everybody, had + risen to their feet, and were standing in their places, quite motionless, + and with an air of professional self-assurance dimly discernible under a + large show of humility. They stood thus until complete silence had been + secured. Then the woman, lifting her head, began to sing. The words were + “Rock of Ages,” but no one present had heard the tune to which she wedded + them. Her voice was full and very sweet, and had in it tender cadences + which all her hearers found touching. She knew how to sing, and she put + forth the words so that each was distinctly intelligible. There came a + part where Brother Soulsby, lifting his head in turn, took up a tuneful + second to her air. Although the two did not, as one could hear by + listening closely, sing the same words at the same time, they produced + none the less most moving and delightful harmonies of sound. + </p> + <p> + The experience was so novel and charming that listeners ran ahead in their + minds to fix the number of verses there were in the hymn, and to hope that + none would be left out. Toward the end, when some of the intolerably + self-conceited local singers, fancying they had caught the tune, started + to join in, they were stopped by an indignant “sh-h!” which rose from all + parts of the class-room; and the Soulsbys, with a patient and pensive + kindliness written on their uplifted faces, gave that verse over again. + </p> + <p> + What followed seemed obviously restrained and modified by the effect of + this unlooked-for and tranquillizing overture. The Presiding Elder was + known to enjoy visits to old-fashioned congregations like that of + Octavius, where he could indulge to the full his inner passion for + high-pitched passionate invocations and violent spiritual demeanor, but + this time he spoke temperately, almost soothingly. The most tempestuous of + the local witnesses for the Lord gave in their testimony in relatively + pacific tones, under the influence of the spell which good music had laid + upon the gathering. There was the deepest interest as to what the two + visitors would do in this way. Brother Soulsby spoke first, very briefly + and in well rounded and well-chosen, if conventional, phrases. His wife, + following him, delivered in a melodious monotone some equally hackneyed + remarks. The assemblage, listening in rapt attention, felt the suggestion + of reserved power in every sentence she uttered, and burst forth, as she + dropped into her seat, in a loud chorus of approving ejaculations. The + Soulsbys had captured Octavius with their first outer skirmish line. + </p> + <p> + Everything seemed to move forward now with a new zest and spontaneity. + Theron had picked out for the occasion the best of those sermons which he + had prepared in Tyre, at the time when he was justifying his ambition to + be accounted a pulpit orator. It was orthodox enough, but had been planned + as the framework for picturesque and emotional rhetoric rather than + doctrinal edification. He had never dreamed of trying it on Octavius + before, and only on the yesterday had quavered at his own daring in + choosing it now. Nothing but the desire to show Sister Soulsby what was in + him had held him to the selection. + </p> + <p> + Something of this same desire no doubt swayed and steadied him now in the + pulpit. The labored slowness of his beginning seemed to him to be due to + nervous timidity, until suddenly, looking down into those big eyes of + Sister Soulsby's, which were bent gravely upon him from where she sat + beside Alice in the minister's pew, he remembered that it was instead the + studied deliberation which art had taught him. He went on, feeling more + and more that the skill and histrionic power of his best days were + returning to him, were as marked as ever—nay, had never triumphed + before as they were triumphing now. The congregation watched and listened + with open, steadfast eyes and parted lips. For the first time in all that + weary quarter, their faces shone. The sustaining sparkle of their gaze + lifted him to a peroration unrivalled in his own recollection of himself. + </p> + <p> + He sat down, and bent his head forward upon the open Bible, breathing + hard, but suffused with a glow of satisfaction. His ears caught the music + of that sighing rustle through the audience which bespeaks a profound + impression. He could scarcely keep the fingers of his hands, covering his + bowed face in a devotional posture as they were, from drumming a jubilant + tattoo. His pulses did this in every vein, throbbing with excited + exultation. The insistent whim seized him, as he still bent thus before + his people, to whisper to his own heart, “At last!—The dogs!” + </p> + <p> + The announcement that in the evening a series of revival meetings was to + be inaugurated, had been made at the love-feast, and it was repeated now + from the pulpit, with the added statement that for the once the + class-meetings usually following this morning service would be suspended. + Then Theron came down the steps, conscious after a fashion that the + Presiding Elder had laid a propitiatory hand on his shoulder and spoken + amiably about the sermon, and that several groups of more or less + important parishioners were waiting in the aisle and the vestibule to + shake hands and tell him how much they had enjoyed the sermon. His mind + perversely kept hold of the thought that all this came too late. He + politely smiled his way along out, and, overtaking the Soulsbys and his + wife near the parsonage gate, went in with them. + </p> + <p> + At the cold, picked-up noonday meal which was the Sunday rule of the + house, Theron rather expected that his guests would talk about the sermon, + or at any rate about the events of the morning. A Sabbath chill seemed to + have settled upon both their tongues. They ate almost in silence, and + their sparse remarks touched upon topics far removed from church affairs. + Alice too, seemed strangely disinclined to conversation. The husband knew + her face and its varying moods so well that he could see she was laboring + under some very powerful and deep emotion. No doubt it was the sermon, the + oratorical swing of which still tingled in his own blood, that had so + affected her. If she had said so, it would have pleased him, but she said + nothing. + </p> + <p> + After dinner, Brother Soulsby disappeared in his bedroom, with the remark + that he guessed he would lie down awhile. Sister Soulsby put on her + bonnet, and, explaining that she always prepared herself for an evening's + work by a long solitary walk, quitted the house. Alice, after she had put + the dinner things away, went upstairs, and stayed there. Left to himself, + Theron spent the afternoon in the easy-chair, and, in the intervals of + confused introspection, read “Recollections of my Youth” through again + from cover to cover. + </p> + <p> + He went through the remarkable experiences attending the opening of the + revival, when evening came, as one in a dream. Long before the hour for + the service arrived, the sexton came in to tell him that the church was + already nearly full, and that it was going to be impossible to present any + distinction in the matter of pews. When the party from the parsonage went + over—after another cold and mostly silent meal—it was to find + the interior of the church densely packed, and people being turned away + from the doors. + </p> + <p> + Theron was supposed to preside over what followed, and he did sit on the + central chair in the pulpit, between the Presiding Elder and Brother + Soulsby, and on the several needful occasions did rise and perfunctorily + make the formal remarks required of him. The Elder preached a short, but + vigorously phrased sermon. The Soulsbys sang three or four times—on + each occasion with familiar hymnal words set to novel, concerted music—and + then separately exhorted the assemblage. The husband's part seemed well + done. If his speech lacked some of the fire of the divine girdings which + older Methodists recalled, it still led straight, and with kindling + fervency, up to a season of power. The wife took up the word as he sat + down. She had risen from one of the side-seats; and, speaking as she + walked, she moved forward till she stood within the altar-rail, + immediately under the pulpit, and from this place, facing the listening + throng, she delivered her harangue. Those who watched her words most + intently got the least sense of meaning from them. The phrases were all + familiar enough—“Jesus a very present help,” “Sprinkled by the + Blood,” “Comforted by the Word,” “Sanctified by the Spirit,” “Born into + the Kingdom,” and a hundred others—but it was as in the case of her + singing: the words were old; the music was new. + </p> + <p> + What Sister Soulsby said did not matter. The way she said it—the + splendid, searching sweep of her great eyes; the vibrating roll of her + voice, now full of tears, now scornful, now boldly, jubilantly triumphant; + the sympathetic swaying of her willowy figure under the stress of her + eloquence—was all wonderful. When she had finished, and stood, + flushed and panting, beneath the shadow of the pulpit, she held up a hand + deprecatingly as the resounding “Amens!” and “Bless the Lords!” began to + well up about her. + </p> + <p> + “You have heard us sing,” she said, smiling to apologize for her shortness + of breath. “Now we want to hear you sing!” + </p> + <p> + Her husband had risen as she spoke, and on the instant, with a far greater + volume of voice than they had hitherto disclosed, the two began “From + Greenland's Icy Mountains,” in the old, familiar tune. It did not need + Sister Soulsby's urgent and dramatic gesture to lift people to their feet. + The whole assemblage sprang up, and, under the guidance of these two + powerful leading voices, thundered the hymn out as Octavius had never + heard it before. + </p> + <p> + While its echoes were still alive, the woman began speaking again. “Don't + sit down!” she cried. “You would stand up if the President of the United + States was going by, even if he was only going fishing. How much more + should you stand up in honor of living souls passing forward to find their + Saviour!” + </p> + <p> + The psychological moment was upon them. Groans and cries arose, and a + palpable ferment stirred the throng. The exhortation to sinners to declare + themselves, to come to the altar, was not only on the revivalist's lips: + it seemed to quiver in the very air, to be borne on every inarticulate + exclamation in the clamor of the brethren. A young woman, with a dazed and + startled look in her eyes, rose in the body of the church tremblingly + hesitated for a moment, and then, with bowed head and blushing cheeks, + pressed her way out from the end of a crowded pew and down the aisle to + the rail. A triumphant outburst of welcoming ejaculations swelled to the + roof as she knelt there, and under its impetus others followed her + example. With interspersed snatches of song and shouted encouragements the + excitement reached its height only when twoscore people, mostly young, + were tightly clustered upon their knees about the rail, and in the space + opening upon the aisle. Above the confusion of penitential sobs and moans, + and the hysterical murmurings of members whose conviction of entire + sanctity kept them in their seats, could be heard the voices of the + Presiding Elder, the Soulsbys, and the elderly deacons of the church, who + moved about among the kneeling mourners, bending over them and patting + their shoulders, and calling out to them: “Fasten your thoughts on Jesus!” + “Oh, the Precious Blood!” “Blessed be His Name!” “Seek Him, and you shall + find Him!” “Cling to Jesus, and Him Crucified!” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Theron Ware did not, with the others, descend from the pulpit. + Seated where he could not see Sister Soulsby, he had failed utterly to be + moved by the wave of enthusiasm she had evoked. What he heard her say + disappointed him. He had expected from her more originality, more spice of + her own idiomatic, individual sort. He viewed with a cold sense of + aloofness the evidences of her success when they began to come forward and + abase themselves at the altar. The instant resolve that, come what might, + he would not go down there among them, sprang up ready-made in his mind. + He saw his two companions pass him and descend the pulpit stairs, and + their action only hardened his resolution. If an excuse were needed, he + was presiding, and the place to preside in was the pulpit. But he waived + in his mind the whole question of an excuse. + </p> + <p> + After a little, he put his hand over his face, leaning the elbow forward + on the reading-desk. The scene below would have thrilled him to the marrow + six months—yes, three months ago. He put a finger across his eyes + now, to half shut it out. The spectacle of these silly young “mourners”—kneeling + they knew not why, trembling at they could not tell what, pledging + themselves frantically to dogmas and mysteries they knew nothing of, under + the influence of a hubbub of outcries as meaningless in their way, and + inspiring in much the same way, as the racket of a fife and drum corps—the + spectacle saddened and humiliated him now. He was conscious of a dawning + sense of shame at being even tacitly responsible for such a thing. His + fancy conjured up the idea of Dr. Ledsmar coming in and beholding this + maudlin and unseemly scene, and he felt his face grow hot at the bare + thought. + </p> + <p> + Looking through his fingers, Theron all at once saw something which caught + at his breath with a sharp clutch. Alice had risen from the minister's pew—the + most conspicuous one in the church—and was moving down the aisle + toward the rail, her uplifted face chalk-like in its whiteness, and her + eyes wide-open, looking straight ahead. + </p> + <p> + The young pastor could scarcely credit his sight. He thrust aside his + hand, and bent forward, only to see his wife sink upon her knees among the + rest, and to hear this notable accession to the “mourners” hailed by a + tumult of approving shouts. Then, remembering himself, he drew back and + put up his hand, shutting out the strange scene altogether. To see nothing + at all was a relief, and under cover he closed his eyes, and bit his teeth + together. + </p> + <p> + A fresh outburst of thanksgivings, spreading noisily through the + congregation, prompted him to peer through his fingers again. Levi + Gorringe was making his way down the aisle—was at the moment quite + in front. Theron found himself watching this man with the stern composure + of a fatalist. The clamant brethren down below were stirred to new + excitement by the thought that the sceptical lawyer, so long with them, + yet not of them, had been humbled and won by the outpourings of the + Spirit. Theron's perceptions were keener. He knew that Gorringe was coming + forward to kneel beside Alice; The knowledge left him curiously + undisturbed. He saw the lawyer advance, gently insinuate himself past the + form of some kneeling mourner who was in his way, and drop on his knees + close beside the bowed figure of Alice. The two touched shoulders as they + bent forward beneath Sister Soulsby's outstretched hands, held over them + as in a blessing. Theron looked fixedly at them, and professed to himself + that he was barely interested. + </p> + <p> + A little afterward, he was standing up in his place, and reading aloud a + list of names which one of the stewards had given him. They were the names + of those who had asked that evening to be taken into the church as members + on probation. The sounds of the recent excitement were all hushed now, + save as two or three enthusiasts in a corner raised their voices in abrupt + greeting of each name in its turn, but Theron felt somehow that this noise + had been transferred to the inside of his head. A continuous buzzing went + on there, so that the sound of his voice was far-off and unfamiliar in his + ears. + </p> + <p> + He read through the list—comprising some fifteen items—and + pronounced the names with great distinctness. It was necessary to take + pains with this, because the only name his blurred eyes seemed to see + anywhere on the foolscap sheet was that of Levi Gorringe. When he had + finished and was taking his seat, some one began speaking to him from the + body of the church. He saw that this was the steward, who was explaining + to him that the most important name of the lot—that of Brother + Gorringe—had not been read out. + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled and shook his head. Then, when the Presiding Elder touched + him on the arm, and assured him that he had not mentioned the name in + question, he replied quite simply, and with another smile, “I thought it + was the only name I did read out.” + </p> + <p> + Then he sat down abruptly, and let his head fall to one side. There were + hurried movements inside the pulpit, and people in the audience had begun + to stand up wonderingly, when the Presiding Elder, with uplifted hands, + confronted them. + </p> + <p> + “We will omit the Doxology, and depart quietly after the benediction,” he + said. “Brother Ware seems to have been overcome by the heat.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <p> + When Theron woke next morning, Alice seemed to have dressed and left the + room—a thing which had never happened before. + </p> + <p> + This fact connected itself at once in his brain with the recollection of + her having made an exhibition of herself the previous evening—going + forward before all eyes to join the unconverted and penitent sinners, as + if she were some tramp or shady female, instead of an educated lady, a + professing member from her girlhood, and a minister's wife. It crossed his + mind that probably she had risen and got away noiselessly, for very shame + at looking him in the face, after such absurd behavior. + </p> + <p> + Then he remembered more, and grasped the situation. He had fainted in + church, and had been brought home and helped to bed. Dim memories of + unaccustomed faces in the bedroom, of nauseous drugs and hushed voices, + came to him out of the night-time. Now that he thought of it, he was a + sick man. Having settled this, he went off to sleep again, a feverish and + broken sleep, and remained in this state most of the time for the + following twenty-four hours. In the brief though numerous intervals of + waking, he found certain things clear in his mind. One was that he was + annoyed with Alice, but would dissemble his feelings. Another was that it + was much pleasanter to be ill than to be forced to attend and take part in + those revival meetings. These two ideas came and went in a lazy, drowsy + fashion, mixing themselves up with other vagrant fancies, yet always + remaining on top. + </p> + <p> + In the evening the singing from the church next door filled his room. The + Soulsbys' part of it was worth keeping awake for. He turned over and + deliberately dozed when the congregation sang. + </p> + <p> + Alice came up a number of times during the day to ask how he felt, and to + bring him broth or toast-water. On several occasions, when he heard her + step, the perverse inclination mastered him to shut his eyes, and pretend + to be asleep, so that she might tip-toe out again. She had a depressed and + thoughtful air, and spoke to him like one whose mind was on something + else. Neither of them alluded to what had happened the previous evening. + Toward the close of the long day, she came to ask him whether he would + prefer her to remain in the house, instead of attending the meeting. + </p> + <p> + “Go, by all means,” he said almost curtly. + </p> + <p> + The Presiding Elder and the Sunday-school superintendent called early + Tuesday morning at the parsonage to make brotherly inquiries, and Theron + was feeling so much better that he himself suggested their coming upstairs + to see him. The Elder was in good spirits; he smiled approvingly, and even + put in a jocose word or two while the superintendent sketched for the + invalid in a cheerful way the leading incidents of the previous evening. + </p> + <p> + There had been an enormous crowd, even greater than that of Sunday night, + and everybody had been looking forward to another notable and exciting + season of grace. These expectations were especially heightened when Sister + Soulsby ascended the pulpit stairs and took charge of the proceedings. She + deferred to Paul's views about women preachers on Sundays, she said; but + on weekdays she had just as much right to snatch brands from the burning + as Paul, or Peter, or any other man. She went on like that, in a breezy, + off-hand fashion which tickled the audience immensely, and led to the + liveliest anticipations of what would happen when she began upon the + evening's harvest of souls. + </p> + <p> + But it was something else that happened. At a signal from Sister Soulsby + the steward got up, and, in an unconcerned sort of way, went through the + throng to the rear of the church, locked the doors, and put the keys in + their pockets. The sister dryly explained now to the surprised + congregation that there was a season for all things, and that on the + present occasion they would suspend the glorious work of redeeming fallen + human nature, and take up instead the equally noble task of raising some + fifteen hundred dollars which the church needed in its business. The doors + would only be opened again when this had been accomplished. + </p> + <p> + The brethren were much taken aback by this trick, and they permitted + themselves to exchange a good many scowling and indignant glances, the + while their professional visitors sang another of their delightfully novel + sacred duets. Its charm of harmony for once fell upon unsympathetic ears. + But then Sister Soulsby began another monologue, defending this way of + collecting money, chaffing the assemblage with bright-eyed impudence on + their having been trapped, and scoring, one after another, neat and jocose + little personal points on local characteristics, at which everybody but + the individual touched grinned broadly. She was so droll and cheeky, and + withal effective in her talk, that she quite won the crowd over. She told + a story about a woodchuck which fairly brought down the house. + </p> + <p> + “A man,” she began, with a quizzical twinkle in her eye, “told me once + about hunting a woodchuck with a pack of dogs, and they chased it so hard + that it finally escaped only by climbing a butternut-tree. 'But, my + friend,' I said to him, 'woodchucks can't climb trees—butternut-trees + or any other kind—and you know it!' All he said in reply to me was: + 'This woodchuck had to climb a tree!' And that's the way with this + congregation. You think you can't raise $1,500, but you've GOT to.” + </p> + <p> + So it went on. She set them all laughing; and then, with a twist of the + eyes and a change of voice, lo, and behold, she had them nearly crying in + the same breath. Under the pressure of these jumbled emotions, brethren + began to rise up in their pews and say what they would give. The wonderful + woman had something smart and apt to say about each fresh contribution, + and used it to screw up the general interest a notch further toward + benevolent hysteria. With songs and jokes and impromptu exhortations and + prayers she kept the thing whirling, until a sort of duel of generosity + began between two of the most unlikely men—Erastus Winch and Levi + Gorringe. Everybody had been surprised when Winch gave his first $50; but + when he rose again, half an hour afterward, and said that, owing to the + high public position of some of the new members on probation, he foresaw a + great future for the church, and so felt moved to give another $25, there + was general amazement. Moved by a common instinct, all eyes were turned + upon Levi Gorringe, and he, without the slightest hesitation, stood up and + said he would give $100. There was something in his tone which must have + annoyed Brother Winch, for he shot up like a dart, and called out, “Put me + down for fifty more;” and that brought Gorringe to his feet with an added + $50, and then the two went on raising each other till the assemblage was + agape with admiring stupefaction. + </p> + <p> + This gladiatorial combat might have been going on till now, the + Sunday-school superintendent concluded, if Winch hadn't subsided. The + amount of the contributions hadn't been figured up yet, for Sister Soulsby + kept the list; but there had been a tremendous lot of money raised. Of + that there could be no doubt. + </p> + <p> + The Presiding Elder now told Theron that the Quarterly Conference had been + adjourned yesterday till today. He and Brother Davis were even now on + their way to attend the session in the church next door. The Elder added, + with an obvious kindly significance, that though Theron was too ill to + attend it, he guessed his absence would do him no harm. Then the two men + left the room, and Theron went to sleep again. + </p> + <p> + Another almost blank period ensued, this time lasting for forty-eight + hours. The young minister was enfolded in the coils of a fever of some + sort, which Brother Soulsby, who had dabbled considerably in medicine, + admitted that he was puzzled about. Sometimes he thought that it was + typhoid, and then again there were symptoms which looked suspiciously like + brain fever. The Methodists of Octavius counted no physician among their + numbers, and when, on the second day, Alice grew scared, and decided, with + Brother Soulsby's assent, to call in professional advice, the only + doctor's name she could recall was that of Ledsmar. She was conscious of + an instinctive dislike for the vague image of him her fancy had conjured + up, but the reflection that he was Theron's friend, and so probably would + be more moderate in his charges, decided her. + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby showed a most comforting tact and swiftness of + apprehension when Alice, in mentioning Dr. Ledsmar's name, disclosed by + her manner a fear that his being sent for would create talk among the + church people. He volunteered at once to act as messenger himself, and, + with no better guide than her dim hints at direction, found the doctor and + brought him back to the parsonage. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar expressly disclaimed to Soulsby all pretence of professional + skill, and made him understand that he went along solely because he liked + Mr. Ware, and was interested in him, and in any case would probably be of + as much use as the wisest of strange physicians—a view which the + little revivalist received with comprehending nods of tacit acquiescence. + Ledsmar came, and was taken up to the sick-room. He sat on the bedside and + talked with Theron awhile, and then went downstairs again. To Alice's + anxious inquiries, he replied that it seemed to him merely a case of + over-work and over-worry, about which there was not the slightest occasion + for alarm. + </p> + <p> + “But he says the strangest things,” the wife put in. “He has been quite + delirious at times.” + </p> + <p> + “That means only that his brain is taking a rest as well as his body,” + remarked Ledsmar. “That is Nature's way of securing an equilibrium of + repose—of recuperation. He will come out of it with his mind all the + fresher and clearer.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe he knows shucks!” was Alice's comment when she closed the + street door upon Dr. Ledsmar. “Anybody could have come in and looked at a + sick man and said, 'Leave him alone.' You expect something more from a + doctor. It's his business to say what to do. And I suppose he'll charge + two dollars for just telling me that my husband was resting!” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Brother Soulsby, “he said he never practised, and that he would + come only as a friend.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it isn't my idea of a friend—not to prescribe a single + thing,” protested Alice. + </p> + <p> + Yet it seemed that no prescription was needed, after all. The next morning + Theron woke to find himself feeling quite restored in spirits and nerves. + He sat up in bed, and after an instant of weakly giddiness, recognized + that he was all right again. Greatly pleased, he got up, and proceeded to + dress himself. There were little recurring hints of faintness and vertigo, + while he was shaving, but he had the sense to refer these to the fact that + he was very, very hungry. He went downstairs, and smiled with the pleased + pride of a child at the surprise which his appearance at the door created. + Alice and the Soulsbys were at breakfast. He joined them, and ate + voraciously, declaring that it was worth a month's illness to have things + taste so good once more. + </p> + <p> + “You still look white as a sheet,” said Alice, warningly. “If I were you, + I'd be careful in my diet for a spell yet.” + </p> + <p> + For answer, Theron let Sister Soulsby help him again to ham and eggs. He + talked exclusively to Sister Soulsby, or rather invited her by his manner + to talk to him, and listened and watched her with indolent content. There + was a sort of happy and purified languor in his physical and mental being, + which needed and appreciated just this—to sit next a bright and + attractive woman at a good breakfast, and be ministered to by her + sprightly conversation, by the flash of her informing and inspiring eyes, + and the nameless sense of support and repose which her near proximity + exhaled. He felt himself figuratively leaning against Sister Soulsby's + buoyant personality, and resting. + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby, like the intelligent creature he was, ate his breakfast + in peace; but Alice would interpose remarks from time to time. Theron was + conscious of a certain annoyance at this, and knew that he was showing it + by an exaggerated display of interest in everything Sister Soulsby said, + and persisted in it. There trembled in the background of his thoughts ever + and again the recollection of a grievance against his wife—an + offence which she had committed—but he put it aside as something to + be grappled and dealt with when he felt again like taking up the serious + and disagreeable things of life. For the moment, he desired only to be + amused by Sister Soulsby. Her casual mention of the fact that she and her + husband were taking their departure that very day, appealed to him as an + added reason for devoting his entire attention to her. + </p> + <p> + “You mustn't forget that famous talking-to you threatened me with—that + 'regular hoeing-over,' you know,” he reminded her, when he found himself + alone with her after breakfast. He smiled as he spoke, in frank enjoyment + of the prospect. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby nodded, and aided with a roll of her eyes the effect of + mock-menace in her uplifted forefinger. “Oh, never fear,” she cried. + “You'll catch it hot and strong. But that'll keep till afternoon. Tell me, + do you feel strong enough to go in next door and attend the trustees' + meeting this forenoon? It's rather important that you should be there, if + you can spur yourself up to it. By the way, you haven't asked what + happened at the Quarterly Conference yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + Theron sighed, and made a little grimace of repugnance. “If you knew how + little I cared!” he said. “I did hope you'd forget all about mentioning + that—and everything else connected with—the next door. You + talk so much more interestingly about other things.” + </p> + <p> + “Here's gratitude for you!” exclaimed Sister Soulsby, with a gay + simulation of despair. “Why, man alive, do you know what I've done for + you? I got around on the Presiding Elder's blind side, I captured old + Pierce, I wound Winch right around my little finger, I worked two or three + of the class-leaders—all on your account. The result was you went + through as if you'd had your ears pinned back, and been greased all over. + You've got an extra hundred dollars added to your salary; do you hear? On + the sixth question of the order of business the Elder ruled that the + recommendation of the last conference's estimating committee could be + revised (between ourselves he was wrong, but that doesn't matter), and so + you're in clover. And very friendly things were said about you, too.” + </p> + <p> + “It was very kind of you,” said Theron. “I am really extremely grateful to + you.” He shook her by the hand to make up for what he realized to be a + lack of fervor in his tones. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then,” Sister Soulsby replied, “you pull yourself together, and + take your place as chairman of the trustees' meeting, and see to it that, + whatever comes up, you side with old Pierce and Winch.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, THEY'RE my friends now, are they?” asked Theron, with a faint play of + irony about his lips. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that's your ticket this election,” she answered briskly, “and mind + you vote it straight. Don't bother about reasons now. Just take it from + me, as the song says, 'that things have changed since Willie died.' That's + all. And then come back here, and this afternoon we'll have a good + old-fashioned jaw.” + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware, walking with ostentatious feebleness, and forcing a + conventional smile upon his wan face, duly made his unexpected appearance + at the trustees' meeting in one of the smaller classrooms. He received + their congratulations gravely, and shook hands with all three. It required + an effort to do this impartially, because, upon sight of Levi Gorringe, + there rose up suddenly within him an emotion of fierce dislike and enmity. + In some enigmatic way his thoughts had kept themselves away from Gorringe + ever since Sunday evening. Now they concentrated with furious energy and + swiftness upon him. Theron seemed able in a flash of time to coordinate + many recollections of Gorringe—the early liking Alice had professed + for him, the mystery of those purchased plants in her garden, the story of + the girl he had lost in church, his offer to lend him money, the way in + which he had sat beside Alice at the love-feast and followed her to the + altar-rail in the evening. These raced abreast through the young + minister's brain, yet with each its own image, and its relation to the + others clearly defined. + </p> + <p> + He found the nerve, all the same, to take this third trustee by the hand, + and to thank him for his congratulations, and even to say, with a surface + smile of welcome, “It is BROTHER Gorringe, now, I remember.” + </p> + <p> + The work before the meeting was chiefly of a routine kind. In most places + this would have been transacted by the stewards; but in Octavius these + minor officials had degenerated into mere ceremonial abstractions, who + humbly ratified, or by arrangement anticipated, the will of the powerful, + mortgage-owning trustees. Theron sat languidly at the head of the table + while these common-place matters passed in their course, noting the + intonations of Gorringe's voice as he read from his secretary's book, and + finding his ear displeased by them. No issue arose upon any of these + trivial affairs, and the minister, feeling faint and weary in the heat, + wondered why Sister Soulsby had insisted on his coming. + </p> + <p> + All at once he sat up straight, with an instinctive warning in his mind + that here was the thing. Gorringe had taken up the subject of the + “debt-raising” evening, and read out its essentials as they had been + embodied in a report of the stewards. The gross sum obtained, in cash and + promises, was $1,860. The stewards had collected of this a trifle less + than half, but hoped to get it all in during the ensuing quarter. There + were, also, the bill of Mr. and Mrs. Soulsby for $150, and the increases + of $100 in the pastor's salary and $25 in the apportioned contribution of + the charge toward the Presiding Elder's maintenance, the two latter items + of which the Quarterly Conference had sanctioned. + </p> + <p> + “I want to hear the names of the subscribers and their amounts read out,” + put in Brother Pierce. + </p> + <p> + When this was done, it became apparent that much more than half of the + entire amount had been offered by two men. Levi Gorringe's $450 and + Erastus Winch's $425 left only $985 to be divided up among some seventy or + eighty other members of the congregation. + </p> + <p> + Brother Pierce speedily stopped the reading of these subordinate names. + “They're of no concern whatever,” he said, despite the fact that his own + might have been reached in time. “Those first names are what I was getting + at. Have those two first amounts, the big ones, be'n paid?” + </p> + <p> + “One has—the other not,” replied Gorringe. + </p> + <p> + “PRE-cisely,” remarked the senior trustee. “And I'm goin' to move that it + needn't be paid, either. When Brother Winch, here, began hollerin' out + those extra twenty-fives and fifties, that evening, it was under a + complete misapprehension. He'd be'n on the Cheese Board that same Monday + afternoon, and he'd done what he thought was a mighty big stroke of + business, and he felt liberal according. I know just what that feelin' is + myself. If I'd be'n makin' a mint o' money, instead o' losin' all the + while, as I do, I'd 'a' done just the same. But the next day, lo, and + behold, Brother Winch found that it was all a mistake—he hadn't made + a single penny.” + </p> + <p> + “Fact is, I lost by the whole transaction,” put in Erastus Winch, + defiantly. + </p> + <p> + “Just so,” Brother Pierce went on. “He lost money. You have his own word + for it. Well, then, I say it would be a burning shame for us to consent to + touch one penny of what he offered to give, in the fullness of his heart, + while he was laborin' under that delusion. And I move he be not asked for + it. We've got quite as much as we need, without it. I put my motion.” + </p> + <p> + “That is, YOU don't put it,” suggested Winch, correctingly. “You move it, + and Brother Ware, whom we're all so glad to see able to come and preside—he'll + put it.” + </p> + <p> + There was a moment's silence. “You've heard the motion,” said Theron, + tentatively, and then paused for possible remarks. He was not going to + meddle in this thing himself, and Gorringe was the only other who might + have an opinion to offer. The necessities of the situation forced him to + glance at the lawyer inquiringly. He did so, and turned his eyes away + again like a shot. Gorringe was looking him squarely in the face, and the + look was freighted with satirical contempt. + </p> + <p> + The young minister spoke between clinched teeth. “All those in favor will + say aye.” + </p> + <p> + Brothers Pierce and Winch put up a simultaneous and confident “Aye.” + </p> + <p> + “No, you don't!” interposed the lawyer, with deliberate, sneering + emphasis. “I decidedly protest against Winch's voting. He's directly + interested, and he mustn't vote. Your chairman knows that perfectly well.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I think Brother Winch ought not to vote,” decided Theron, with great + calmness. He saw now what was coming, and underneath his surface composure + there were sharp flutterings. + </p> + <p> + “Very well, then,” said Gorringe. “I vote no, and it's a tie. It rests + with the chairman now to cast the deciding vote, and say whether this + interesting arrangement shall go through or not.” + </p> + <p> + “Me?” said Theron, eying the lawyer with a cool self-control which had + come all at once to him. “Me? Oh, I vote Aye.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <p> + “Well, I did what you told me to do,” Theron Ware remarked to Sister + Soulsby, when at last they found themselves alone in the sitting-room + after the midday meal. + </p> + <p> + It had taken not a little strategic skirmishing to secure the room to + themselves for the hospitable Alice, much touched by the thought of her + new friend's departure that very evening had gladly proposed to let all + the work stand over until night, and devote herself entirely to Sister + Soulsby. When, finally, Brother Soulsby conceived and deftly executed the + coup of interesting her in the budding of roses, and then leading her off + into the garden to see with her own eyes how it was done, Theron had a + sense of being left alone with a conspirator. The notion impelled him to + plunge at once into the heart of their mystery. + </p> + <p> + “I did what you told me to do,” he repeated, looking up from his low + easy-chair to where she sat by the desk; “and I dare say you won't be + surprised when I add that I have no respect for myself for doing it.” + </p> + <p> + “And yet you would go and do it right over again, eh?” the woman said, in + bright, pert tones, nodding her head, and smiling at him with roguish, + comprehending eyes. “Yes, that's the way we're built. We spend our lives + doing that sort of thing.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know that you would precisely grasp my meaning,” said the young + minister, with a polite effort in his words to mask the untoward side of + the suggestion. “It is a matter of conscience with me; and I am pained and + shocked at myself.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby drummed for an absent moment with her thin, nervous fingers + on the desk-top. “I guess maybe you'd better go and lie down again,” she + said gently. “You're a sick man, still, and it's no good your worrying + your head just now with things of this sort. You'll see them differently + when you're quite yourself again.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” pleaded Theron. “Do let us have our talk out! I'm all right. My + mind is clear as a bell. Truly, I've really counted on this talk with + you.” + </p> + <p> + “But there's something else to talk about, isn't there, besides—besides + your conscience?” she asked. Her eyes bent upon him a kindly pressure as + she spoke, which took all possible harshness from her meaning. + </p> + <p> + Theron answered the glance rather than her words. “I know that you are my + friend,” he said simply. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby straightened herself, and looked down upon him with a new + intentness. “Well, then,” she began, “let's thrash this thing out right + now, and be done with it. You say it's hurt your conscience to do just one + little hundredth part of what there was to be done here. Ask yourself what + you mean by that. Mind, I'm not quarrelling, and I'm not thinking about + anything except just your own state of mind. You think you soiled your + hands by doing what you did. That is to say, you wanted ALL the dirty work + done by other people. That's it, isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “The Rev. Mr. Ware sat up, in turn, and looked doubtingly into his + companion's face. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we were going to be frank, you know,” she added, with a pleasant play + of mingled mirth and honest liking in her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said, picking his words, “my point would rather be that—that + there ought not to have been any of what you yourself call this—this + 'dirty work.' THAT is my feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “Now we're getting at it,” said Sister Soulsby, briskly. “My dear friend, + you might just as well say that potatoes are unclean and unfit to eat + because manure is put into the ground they grow in. Just look at the case. + Your church here was running behind every year. Your people had got into a + habit of putting in nickels instead of dimes, and letting you sweat for + the difference. That's a habit, like tobacco, or biting your fingernails, + or anything else. Either you were all to come to smash here, or the people + had to be shaken up, stood on their heads, broken of their habit. It's my + business—mine and Soulsby's—to do that sort of thing. We came + here and we did it—did it up brown, too. We not only raised all the + money the church needs, and to spare, but I took a personal shine to you, + and went out of my way to fix up things for you. It isn't only the extra + hundred dollars, but the whole tone of the congregation is changed toward + you now. You'll see that they'll be asking to have you back here, next + spring. And you're solid with your Presiding Elder, too. Well, now, tell + me straight—is that worth while, or not?” + </p> + <p> + “I've told you that I am very grateful,” answered the minister, “and I say + it again, and I shall never be tired of repeating it. But—but it was + the means I had in mind.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite so,” rejoined the sister, patiently. “If you saw the way a hotel + dinner was cooked, you wouldn't be able to stomach it. Did you ever see a + play? In a theatre, I mean. I supposed not. But you'll understand when I + say that the performance looks one way from where the audience sit, and + quite a different way when you are behind the scenes. THERE you see that + the trees and houses are cloth, and the moon is tissue paper, and the + flying fairy is a middle-aged woman strung up on a rope. That doesn't + prove that the play, out in front, isn't beautiful and affecting, and all + that. It only shows that everything in this world is produced by machinery—by + organization. The trouble is that you've been let in on the stage, behind + the scenes, so to speak, and you're so green—if you'll pardon me—that + you want to sit down and cry because the trees ARE cloth, and the moon IS + a lantern. And I say, don't be such a goose!” + </p> + <p> + “I see what you mean,” Theron said, with an answering smile. He added, + more gravely, “All the same, the Winch business seems to me—” + </p> + <p> + “Now the Winch business is my own affair,” Sister Soulsby broke in + abruptly. “I take all the responsibility for that. You need know nothing + about it. You simply voted as you did on the merits of the case as he + presented them—that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “But—” Theron began, and then paused. Something had occurred to him, + and he knitted his brows to follow its course of expansion in his mind. + Suddenly he raised his head. “Then you arranged with Winch to make those + bogus offers—just to lead others on?” he demanded. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby's large eyes beamed down upon him in reply, at first in + open merriment, then more soberly, till their regard was almost pensive. + </p> + <p> + “Let us talk of something else,” she said. “All that is past and gone. It + has nothing to do with you, anyway. I've got some advice to give you about + keeping up this grip you've got on your people.” + </p> + <p> + The young minister had risen to his feet while she spoke. He put his hands + in his pockets, and with rounded shoulders began slowly pacing the room. + After a turn or two he came to the desk, and leaned against it. + </p> + <p> + “I doubt if it's worth while going into that,” he said, in the solemn tone + of one who feels that an irrevocable thing is being uttered. She waited to + hear more, apparently. “I think I shall go away—give up the + ministry,” he added. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby's eyes revealed no such shock of consternation as he, + unconsciously, had looked for. They remained quite calm; and when she + spoke, they deepened, to fit her speech, with what he read to be a gaze of + affectionate melancholy—one might say pity. She shook her head + slowly. + </p> + <p> + “No—don't let any one else hear you say that,” she replied. “My poor + young friend, it's no good to even think it. The real wisdom is to school + yourself to move along smoothly, and not fret, and get the best of what's + going. I've known others who felt as you do—of course there are + times when every young man of brains and high notions feels that way—but + there's no help for it. Those who tried to get out only broke themselves. + Those who stayed in, and made the best of it—well, one of them will + be a bishop in another ten years.” + </p> + <p> + Theron had started walking again. “But the moral degradation of it!” he + snapped out at her over his shoulder. “I'd rather earn the meanest living, + at an honest trade, and be free from it.” + </p> + <p> + “That may all be,” responded Sister Soulsby. “But it isn't a question of + what you'd rather do. It's what you can do. How could you earn a living? + What trade or business do you suppose you could take up now, and get a + living out of? Not one, my man, not one.” + </p> + <p> + Theron stopped and stared at her. This view of his capabilities came upon + him with the force and effect of a blow. + </p> + <p> + “I don't discover, myself,” he began stumblingly, “that I'm so + conspicuously inferior to the men I see about me who do make livings, and + very good ones, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course you're not,” she replied with easy promptness; “you're greatly + the other way, or I shouldn't be taking this trouble with you. But you're + what you are because you're where you are. The moment you try on being + somewhere else, you're done for. In all this world nobody else comes to + such unmerciful and universal grief as the unfrocked priest.” + </p> + <p> + The phrase sent Theron's fancy roving. “I know a Catholic priest,” he said + irrelevantly, “who doesn't believe an atom in—in things.” + </p> + <p> + “Very likely,” said Sister Soulsby. “Most of us do. But you don't hear him + talking about going and earning his living, I'll bet! Or if he does, he + takes powerful good care not to go, all the same. They've got horse-sense, + those priests. They're artists, too. They know how to allow for the + machinery behind the scenes.” + </p> + <p> + “But it's all so different,” urged the young minister; “the same things + are not expected of them. Now I sat the other night and watched those + people you got up around the altar-rail, groaning and shouting and crying, + and the others jumping up and down with excitement, and Sister Lovejoy—did + you see her?—coming out of her pew and regularly waltzing in the + aisle, with her eyes shut, like a whirling dervish—I positively + believe it was all that made me ill. I couldn't stand it. I can't stand it + now. I won't go back to it! Nothing shall make me!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh-h, yes, you will,” she rejoined soothingly. “There's nothing else to + do. Just put a good face on it, and make up your mind to get through by + treading on as few corns as possible, and keeping your own toes well in, + and you'll be surprised how easy it'll all come to be. You were speaking + of the revival business. Now that exemplifies just what I was saying—it's + a part of our machinery. Now a church is like everything else,—it's + got to have a boss, a head, an authority of some sort, that people will + listen to and mind. The Catholics are different, as you say. Their church + is chuck-full of authority—all the way from the Pope down to the + priest—and accordingly they do as they're told. But the Protestants—your + Methodists most of all—they say 'No, we won't have any authority, we + won't obey any boss.' Very well, what happens? We who are responsible for + running the thing, and raising the money and so on—we have to put on + a spurt every once in a while, and work up a general state of excitement; + and while it's going, don't you see that THAT is the authority, the motive + power, whatever you like to call it, by which things are done? Other + denominations don't need it. We do, and that's why we've got it.” + </p> + <p> + “But the mean dishonesty of it all!” Theron broke forth. He moved about + again, his bowed face drawn as with bodily suffering. “The low-born + tricks, the hypocrisies! I feel as if I could never so much as look at + these people here again without disgust.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, now that's where you make your mistake,” Sister Soulsby put in + placidly. “These people of yours are not a whit worse than other people. + They've got their good streaks and their bad streaks, just like the rest + of us. Take them by and large, they're quite on a par with other folks the + whole country through.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe there's another congregation in the Conference where—where + this sort of thing would have been needed, or, I might say, tolerated,” + insisted Theron. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you're right,” the other assented; “but that only shows that your + people here are different from the others—not that they're worse. + You don't seem to realize: Octavius, so far as the Methodists are + concerned, is twenty or thirty years behind the times. Now that has its + advantages and its disadvantages. The church here is tough and coarse, and + full of grit, like a grindstone; and it does ministers from other more + niminy-piminy places all sorts of good to come here once in a while and + rub themselves up against it. It scours the rust and mildew off from their + piety, and they go back singing and shouting. But of course it's had a + different effect with you. You're razor-steel instead of scythe-steel, and + the grinding's been too rough and violent for you. But you see what I + mean. These people here really take their primitive Methodism seriously. + To them the profession of entire sanctification is truly a genuine thing. + Well, don't you see, when people just know that they're saved, it doesn't + seem to them to matter so much what they do. They feel that ordinary rules + may well be bent and twisted in the interest of people so supernaturally + good as they are. That's pure human nature. It's always been like that.” + </p> + <p> + Theron paused in his walk to look absently at her. “That thought,” he + said, in a vague, slow way, “seems to be springing up in my path, + whichever way I turn. It oppresses me, and yet it fascinates me—this + idea that the dead men have known more than we know, done more than we do; + that there is nothing new anywhere; that—” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind the dead men,” interposed Sister Soulsby. “Just you come and + sit down here. I hate to have you straddling about the room when I'm + trying to talk to you.” + </p> + <p> + Theron obeyed, and as he sank into the low seat, Sister Soulsby drew up + her chair, and put her hand on his shoulder. Her gaze rested upon his with + impressive steadiness. + </p> + <p> + “And now I want to talk seriously to you, as a friend,” she began. “You + mustn't breathe to any living soul the shadow of a hint of this nonsense + about leaving the ministry. I could see how you were feeling—I saw + the book you were reading the first time I entered this room—and + that made me like you; only I expected to find you mixing up more worldly + gumption with your Renan. Well, perhaps I like you all the better for not + having it—for being so delightfully fresh. At any rate, that made me + sail in and straighten your affairs for you. And now, for God's sake, keep + them straight. Just put all notions of anything else out of your head. + Watch your chief men and women, and be friends with them. Keep your eye + open for what they think you ought to do, and do it. Have your own ideas + as much as you like, read what you like, say 'Damn' under your breath as + much as you like, but don't let go of your job. I've knocked about too + much, and I've seen too many promising young fellows cut their own throats + for pure moonshine, not to have a right to say that.” + </p> + <p> + Theron could not be insensible to the friendly hand on his shoulder, or to + the strenuous sincerity of the voice which thus adjured him. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said vaguely, smiling up into her earnest eyes, “if we agree + that it IS moonshine.” + </p> + <p> + “See here!” she exclaimed, with renewed animation, patting his shoulder in + a brisk, automatic way, to point the beginnings of her confidences: “I'll + tell you something. It's about myself. I've got a religion of my own, and + it's got just one plank in it, and that is that the time to separate the + sheep from the goats is on Judgment Day, and that it can't be done a + minute before.” + </p> + <p> + The young minister took in the thought, and turned it about in his mind, + and smiled upon it. + </p> + <p> + “And that brings me to what I'm going to tell you,” Sister Soulsby + continued. She leaned back in her chair, and crossed her knees so that one + well-shaped and artistically shod foot poised itself close to Theron's + hand. Her eyes dwelt upon his face with an engaging candor. + </p> + <p> + “I began life,” she said, “as a girl by running away from a stupid home + with a man that I knew was married already. After that, I supported myself + for a good many years—generally, at first, on the stage. I've been a + front-ranker in Amazon ballets, and I've been leading lady in comic opera + companies out West. I've told fortunes in one room of a mining-camp hotel + where the biggest game of faro in the Territory went on in another. I've + been a professional clairvoyant, and I've been a professional medium, and + I've been within one vote of being indicted by a grand jury, and the money + that bought that vote was put up by the smartest and most famous + train-gambler between Omaha and 'Frisco, a gentleman who died in his boots + and took three sheriff's deputies along with him to Kingdom-Come. Now, + that's MY record.” + </p> + <p> + Theron looked earnestly at her, and said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “And now take Soulsby,” she went on. “Of course I take it for granted + there's a good deal that he has never felt called upon to mention. He + hasn't what you may call a talkative temperament. But there is also a good + deal that I do know. He's been an actor, too, and to this day I'd back him + against Edwin Booth himself to recite 'Clarence's Dream.' And he's been a + medium, and then he was a travelling phrenologist, and for a long time he + was advance agent for a British Blondes show, and when I first saw him he + was lecturing on female diseases—and he had HIS little turn with a + grand jury too. In fact, he was what you may call a regular bad old + rooster.” + </p> + <p> + Again Theron suffered the pause to lapse without comment—save for an + amorphous sort of conversation which he felt to be going on between his + eyes and those of Sister Soulsby. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then,” she resumed, “so much for us apart. Now about us together. + We liked each other from the start. We compared notes, and we found that + we had both soured on living by fakes, and that we were tired of the road, + and wanted to settle down and be respectable in our old age. We had a + little money—enough to see us through a year or two. Soulsby had + always hungered and longed to own a garden and raise flowers, and had + never been able to stay long enough in one place to see so much as a + bean-pod ripen. So we took a little place in a quiet country village down + on the Southern Tier, and he planted everything three deep all over the + place, and I bought a roomful of cheap good books, and we started in. We + took to it like ducks to water for a while, and I don't say that we + couldn't have stood it out, just doing nothing, to this very day; but as + luck would have it, during the first winter there was a revival at the + local Methodist church, and we went every evening—at first just to + kill time, and then because we found we liked the noise and excitement and + general racket of the thing. After it was all over each of us found that + the other had been mighty near going up to the rail and joining the + mourners. And another thing had occurred to each of us, too—that is, + what tremendous improvements there were possible in the way that amateur + revivalist worked up his business. This stuck in our crops, and we figured + on it all through the winter.—Well, to make a long story short, we + finally went into the thing ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me one thing,” interposed Theron. “I'm anxious to understand it all + as we go along. Were you and he at any time sincerely converted?—that + is, I mean, genuinely convicted of sin and conscious of—you know + what I mean!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bless you, yes,” responded Sister Soulsby. “Not only once—dozens + of times—I may say every time. We couldn't do good work if we + weren't. But that's a matter of temperament—of emotions.” + </p> + <p> + “Precisely. That was what I was getting at,” explained Theron. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, hear what I was getting at,” she went on. “You were talking + very loudly here about frauds and hypocrisies and so on, a few minutes + ago. Now I say that Soulsby and I do good, and that we're good fellows. + Now take him, for example. There isn't a better citizen in all Chemung + County than he is, or a kindlier neighbor, or a better or more charitable + man. I've known him to stay up a whole winter's night in a poor Irishman's + stinking and freezing stable, trying to save his cart-horse for him, that + had been seized with some sort of fit. The man's whole livelihood, and his + family's, was in that horse; and when it died, Soulsby bought him another, + and never told even ME about it. Now that I call real piety, if you like.” + </p> + <p> + “So do I,” put in Theron, cordially. + </p> + <p> + “And this question of fraud,” pursued his companion,—“look at it in + this light. You heard us sing. Well, now, I was a singer, of course, but + Soulsby hardly knew one note from another. I taught him to sing, and he + went at it patiently and diligently, like a little man. And I invented + that scheme of finding tunes which the crowd didn't know, and so couldn't + break in on and smother. I simply took Chopin—he is full of sixths, + you know—and I got all sorts of melodies out of his waltzes and + mazurkas and nocturnes and so on, and I trained Soulsby just to sing those + sixths so as to make the harmony, and there you are. He couldn't sing by + himself any more than a crow, but he's got those sixths of his down to a + hair. Now that's machinery, management, organization. We take these tunes, + written by a devil-may-care Pole who was living with George Sand openly at + the time, and pass 'em off on the brethren for hymns. It's a fraud, yes; + but it's a good fraud. So they are all good frauds. I say frankly that I'm + glad that the change and the chance came to help Soulsby and me to be good + frauds.” + </p> + <p> + “And the point is that I'm to be a good fraud, too,” commented the young + minister. + </p> + <p> + She had risen, and he got to his feet as well. He instinctively sought for + her hand, and pressed it warmly, and held it in both his, with an + exuberance of gratitude and liking in his manner. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby danced her eyes at him with a saucy little shake of the + head. “I'm afraid you'll never make a really GOOD fraud,” she said. “You + haven't got it in you. Your intentions are all right, but your execution + is hopelessly clumsy. I came up to your bedroom there twice while you were + sick, just to say 'howdy,' and you kept your eyes shut, and all the while + a blind horse could have told that you were wide awake.” + </p> + <p> + “I must have thought it was my wife,” said Theron. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART III + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <p> + When the lingering dusk finally settled down upon this long summer + evening, the train bearing the Soulsbys homeward was already some score of + miles on its way, and the Methodists of Octavius had nearly finished their + weekly prayer-meeting. + </p> + <p> + After the stirring events of the revival, it was only to be expected that + this routine, home-made affair should suffer from a reaction. The + attendance was larger than usual, perhaps, but the proceedings were + spiritless and tame. Neither the pastor nor his wife was present at the + beginning, and the class-leader upon whom control devolved made but feeble + headway against the spell of inertia which the hot night-air laid upon the + gathering. Long pauses intervened between the perfunctory praise-offerings + and supplications, and the hymns weariedly raised from time to time fell + again in languor by the wayside. + </p> + <p> + Alice came in just as people were beginning to hope that some one would + start the Doxology, and bring matters to a close. Her appearance + apparently suggested this to the class-leader, for in a few moments the + meeting had been dismissed, and some of the members, on their way out, + were shaking hands with their minister's wife, and expressing the polite + hope that he was better. The worried look in her face, and the obvious + stains of recent tears upon her cheeks imparted an added point and fervor + to these inquiries, but she replied to all in tones of studied + tranquillity that, although not feeling well enough to attend + prayer-meeting, Brother Ware was steadily recovering strength, and + confidently expected to be in complete health by Sunday. They left her, + and could hardly wait to get into the vestibule to ask one another in + whispers what on earth she could have been crying about. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Brother Ware improved his convalescent state by pacing slowly up + and down under the elms on the side of the street opposite the Catholic + church. There were no houses here for a block and more; the sidewalk was + broken in many places, so that passers-by avoided it; the overhanging + boughs shrouded it all in obscurity; it was preeminently a place to be + alone in. + </p> + <p> + Theron had driven to the depot with his guests an hour before, and after a + period of pleasant waiting on the platform, had said good-bye to them as + the train moved away. Then he turned to Alice, who had also accompanied + them in the carriage, and was conscious of a certain annoyance at her + having come. That long familiar talk of the afternoon had given him the + feeling that he was entitled to bid farewell to Sister Soulsby—to + both the Soulsbys—by himself. + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid folks will think it strange—neither of us attending the + prayer-meeting,” he said, with a suggestion of reproof in his tone, as + they left the station-yard. + </p> + <p> + “If we get back in time, I'll run in for a minute,” answered Alice, with + docility. + </p> + <p> + “No—no,” he broke in. “I'm not equal to walking so fast. You run on + ahead, and explain matters, and I will come along slowly.” + </p> + <p> + “The hack we came in is still there in the yard,” the wife suggested. “We + could drive home in that. I don't believe it would cost more than a + quarter—and if you're feeling badly—” + </p> + <p> + “But I am NOT feeling badly,” Theron replied, with frank impatience. “Only + I feel—I feel that being alone with my thoughts would be good for + me.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, certainly—by all means!” Alice had said, and turned sharply on + her heel. + </p> + <p> + Being alone with these thoughts, Theron strolled aimlessly about, and did + not think at all. The shadows gathered, and fireflies began to disclose + their tiny gleams among the shrubbery in the gardens. A lamp-lighter came + along, and passed him, leaving in his wake a straggling double line of + lights, glowing radiantly against the black-green of the trees. This + recalled to Theron that he had heard that the town council lit the street + lamps by the almanac, and economized gas when moonshine was due. The idea + struck him as droll, and he dwelt upon it in various aspects, smiling at + some of its comic possibilities. Looking up in the middle of one of these + whimsical conceits, the sportive impulse died suddenly within him. He + realized that it was dark, and that the massive black bulk reared against + the sky on the other side of the road was the Catholic church. The other + fact, that he had been there walking to and fro for some time, was borne + in upon him more slowly. He turned, and resumed the pacing up and down + with a still more leisurely step, musing upon the curious way in which + people's minds all unconsciously follow about where instincts and + intuitions lead. + </p> + <p> + No doubt it was what Sister Soulsby had said about Catholics which had + insensibly guided his purposeless stroll in this direction. What a woman + that was! Somehow the purport of her talk—striking, and even + astonishing as he had found it—did not stand out so clearly in his + memory as did the image of the woman herself. She must have been extremely + pretty once. For that matter she still was a most attractive-looking + woman. It had been a genuine pleasure to have her in the house—to + see her intelligent responsive face at the table—to have it in one's + power to make drafts at will upon the fund of sympathy and appreciation, + of facile mirth and ready tenderness in those big eyes of hers. He liked + that phrase she had used about herself—“a good fellow.” It seemed to + fit her to a “t.” And Soulsby was a good fellow too. All at once it + occurred to him to wonder whether they were married or not. + </p> + <p> + But really that was no affair of his, he reflected. A citizen of the + intellectual world should be above soiling his thoughts with mean + curiosities of that sort, and he drove the impertinent query down again + under the surface of his mind. He refused to tolerate, as well, sundry + vagrant imaginings which rose to cluster about and literalize the romance + of her youth which Sister Soulsby had so frankly outlined. He would think + upon nothing but her as he knew her,—the kindly, quick-witted, + capable and charming woman who had made such a brilliant break in the + monotony of life at that dull parsonage of his. The only genuine happiness + in life must consist in having bright, smart, attractive women like that + always about. + </p> + <p> + The lights were visible now in the upper rooms of Father Forbes' pastorate + across the way. Theron paused for a second to consider whether he wanted + to go over and call on the priest. He decided that mentally he was too + fagged and flat for such an undertaking. He needed another sort of + companionship—some restful, soothing human contact, which should + exact nothing from him in return, but just take charge of him, with soft, + wise words and pleasant plays of fancy, and jokes and—and—something + of the general effect created by Sister Soulsby's eyes. The thought + expanded itself, and he saw that he had never realized before—nay, + never dreamt before—what a mighty part the comradeship of talented, + sweet-natured and beautiful women must play in the development of genius, + the achievement of lofty aims, out in the great world of great men. To + know such women—ah, that would never fall to his hapless lot. + </p> + <p> + The priest's lamps blinked at him through the trees. He remembered that + priests were supposed to be even further removed from the possibilities of + such contact than he was himself. His memory reverted to that horribly + ugly old woman whom Father Forbes had spoken of as his housekeeper. Life + under the same roof with such a hag must be even worse than—worse + than— + </p> + <p> + The young minister did not finish the comparison, even in the privacy of + his inner soul. He stood instead staring over at the pastorate, in a kind + of stupor of arrested thought. The figure of a woman passed in view at the + nearest window—a tall figure with pale summer clothes of some sort, + and a broad summer hat—a flitting effect of diaphanous shadow + between him and the light which streamed from the casement. + </p> + <p> + Theron felt a little shiver run over him, as if the delicate coolness of + the changing night-air had got into his blood. The window was open, and + his strained hearing thought it caught the sound of faint laughter. He + continued to gaze at the place where the vision had appeared, the while a + novel and strange perception unfolded itself upon his mind. + </p> + <p> + He had come there in the hope of encountering Celia Madden. + </p> + <p> + Now that he looked this fact in the face, there was nothing remarkable + about it. In truth, it was simplicity itself. He was still a sick man, + weak in body and dejected in spirits. The thought of how unhappy and + unstrung he was came to him now with an insistent pathos that brought + tears to his eyes. He was only obeying the universal law of nature—the + law which prompts the pallid spindling sprout of the potato in the cellar + to strive feebly toward the light. + </p> + <p> + From where he stood in the darkness he stretched out his hands in the + direction of that open window. The gesture was his confession to the + overhanging boughs, to the soft night-breeze, to the stars above—and + it bore back to him something of the confessional's vague and wistful + solace. He seemed already to have drawn down into his soul a taste of the + refreshment it craved. He sighed deeply, and the hot moisture smarted + again upon his eyelids, but this time not all in grief. With his tender + compassion for himself there mingled now a flutter of buoyant prescience, + of exquisite expectancy. + </p> + <p> + Fate walked abroad this summer night. The street door of the pastorate + opened, and in the flood of illumination which spread suddenly forth over + the steps and sidewalk, Theron saw again the tall form, with the + indefinitely light-hued flowing garments and the wide straw hat. He heard + a tuneful woman's voice call out “Good-night, Maggie,” and caught no + response save the abrupt closing of the door, which turned everything + black again with a bang. He listened acutely for another instant, and then + with long, noiseless strides made his way down his deserted side of the + street. He moderated his pace as he turned to cross the road at the + corner, and then, still masked by the trees, halted altogether, in a + momentary tumult of apprehension. No—yes—it was all right. The + girl sauntered out from the total darkness into the dim starlight of the + open corner. + </p> + <p> + “Why, bless me, is that you, Miss Madden?” + </p> + <p> + Celia seemed to discern readily enough, through the accents of surprise, + the identity of the tall, slim man who addressed her from the shadows. + </p> + <p> + “Good-evening, Mr. Ware,” she said, with prompt affability. “I'm so glad + to find you out again. We heard you were ill.” + </p> + <p> + “I have been very ill,” responded Theron, as they shook hands and walked + on together. He added, with a quaver in his voice, “I am still far from + strong. I really ought not to be out at all. But—but the longing for—for—well, + I COULDN'T stay in any longer. Even if it kills me, I shall be glad I came + out tonight.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we won't talk of killing,” said Celia. “I don't believe in illnesses + myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But you believe in collapses of the nerves,” put in Theron, with gentle + sadness, “in moral and spiritual and mental breakdowns. I remember how I + was touched by the way you told me YOU suffered from them. I had to take + what you said then for granted. I had had no experience of it myself. But + now I know what it is.” He drew a long, pathetic sigh. “Oh, DON'T I know + what it is!” he repeated gloomily. + </p> + <p> + “Come, my friend, cheer up,” Celia purred at him, in soothing tones. He + felt that there was a deliciously feminine and sisterly intuition in her + speech, and in the helpful, nurse-like way in which she drew his arm + through hers. He leaned upon this support, and was glad of it in every + fibre of his being. + </p> + <p> + “Do you remember? You promised—that last time I saw you—to + play for me,” he reminded her. They were passing the little covered + postern door at the side and rear of the church as he spoke, and he made a + half halt to point the coincidence. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, there's no one to blow the organ,” she said, divining his suggestion. + “And I haven't the key—and, besides, the organ is too heavy and + severe for an invalid. It would overwhelm you tonight.” + </p> + <p> + “Not as you would know how to play it for me,” urged Theron, pensively. “I + feel as if good music to-night would make me well again. I am really very + ill and weak—and unhappy!” + </p> + <p> + The girl seemed moved by the despairing note in his voice. She invited him + by a sympathetic gesture to lean even more directly on her arm. + </p> + <p> + “Come home with me, and I'll play Chopin to you,” she said, in + compassionate friendliness. “He is the real medicine for bruised and + wounded nerves. You shall have as much of him as you like.” + </p> + <p> + The idea thus unexpectedly thrown forth spread itself like some vast and + inexpressibly alluring vista before Theron's imagination. The spice of + adventure in it fascinated his mind as well, but for a shrinking moment + the flesh was weak. + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid your people would—would think it strange,” he faltered—and + began also to recall that he had some people of his own who would be even + more amazed. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense,” said Celia, in fine, bold confidence, and with a reassuring + pressure on his arm. “I allow none of my people to question what I do. + They never dream of such a preposterous thing. Besides, you will see none + of them. Mrs. Madden is at the seaside, and my father and brother have + their own part of the house. I shan't listen for a minute to your not + coming. Come, I'm your doctor. I'm to make you well again.” + </p> + <p> + There was further conversation, and Theron more or less knew that he was + bearing a part in it, but his whole mind seemed concentrated, in a sort of + delicious terror, upon the wonderful experience to which every footstep + brought him nearer. His magnetized fancy pictured a great spacious parlor, + such as a mansion like the Maddens' would of course contain, and there + would be a grand piano, and lace curtains, and paintings in gold frames, + and a chandelier, and velvet easy-chairs, and he would sit in one of + these, surrounded by all the luxury of the rich, while Celia played to + him. There would be servants about, he presumed, and very likely they + would recognize him, and of course they would talk about it to Tom, Dick + and Harry afterward. But he said to himself defiantly that he didn't care. + </p> + <p> + He withdrew his arm from hers as they came upon the well-lighted main + street. He passed no one who seemed to know him. Presently they came to + the Madden place, and Celia, without waiting for the gravelled walk, + struck obliquely across the lawn. Theron, who had been lagging behind with + a certain circumspection, stepped briskly to her side now. Their progress + over the soft, close-cropped turf in the dark together, with the scent of + lilies and perfumed shrubs heavy on the night air, and the majestic bulk + of the big silent house rising among the trees before them, gave him a + thrilling sense of the glory of individual freedom. + </p> + <p> + “I feel a new man already,” he declared, as they swung along on the grass. + He breathed a long sigh of content, and drew nearer, so that their + shoulders touched now and again as they walked. In a minute more they were + standing on the doorstep, and Theron heard the significant jingle of a + bunch of keys which his companion was groping for in her elusive pocket. + He was conscious of trembling a little at the sound. + </p> + <p> + It seemed that, unlike other people, the Maddens did not have their parlor + on the ground-floor, opening off the front hall. Theron stood in the + complete darkness of this hall, till Celia had lit one of several candles + which were in their hand-sticks on a sort of sideboard next the hat-rack. + She beckoned him with a gesture of her head, and he followed her up a + broad staircase, magnificent in its structural appointments of inlaid + woods, and carpeted with what to his feet felt like down. The tiny light + which his guide bore before her half revealed, as they passed in their + ascent, tall lengths of tapestry, and the dull glint of armor and brazen + discs in shadowed niches on the nearer wall. Over the stair-rail lay an + open space of such stately dimensions, bounded by terminal lines of + decoration so distant in the faint candle-flicker, that the young country + minister could think of no word but “palatial” to fit it all. + </p> + <p> + At the head of the flight, Celia led the way along a wide corridor to + where it ended. Here, stretched from side to side, and suspended from + broad hoops of a copper-like metal, was a thick curtain, of a uniform + color which Theron at first thought was green, and then decided must be + blue. She pushed its heavy folds aside, and unlocked another door. He + passed under the curtain behind her, and closed the door. + </p> + <p> + The room into which he had made his way was not at all after the fashion + of any parlor he had ever seen. In the obscure light it was difficult to + tell what it resembled. He made out what he took to be a painter's easel, + standing forth independently in the centre of things. There were rows of + books on rude, low shelves. Against one of the two windows was a big, flat + writing-table—or was it a drawing-table?—littered with papers. + Under the other window was a carpenter's bench, with a large mound of + something at one end covered with a white cloth. On a table behind the + easel rose a tall mechanical contrivance, the chief feature of which was a + thick upright spiral screw. The floor was of bare wood stained brown. The + walls of this queer room had photographs and pictures, taken apparently + from illustrated papers, pinned up at random for their only ornament. + </p> + <p> + Celia had lighted three or four other candles on the mantel. She caught + the dumfounded expression with which her guest was surveying his + surroundings, and gave a merry little laugh. + </p> + <p> + “This is my workshop,” she explained. “I keep this for the things I do + badly—things I fool with. If I want to paint, or model in clay, or + bind books, or write, or draw, or turn on the lathe, or do some + carpentering, here's where I do it. All the things that make a mess which + has to be cleaned up—they are kept out here—because this is as + far as the servants are allowed to come.” + </p> + <p> + She unlocked still another door as she spoke—a door which was also + concealed behind a curtain. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” she said, holding up the candle so that its reddish flare rounded + with warmth the creamy fulness of her chin and throat, and glowed upon her + hair in a flame of orange light—“now I will show you what is my very + own.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <p> + Theron Ware looked about him with frankly undisguised astonishment. + </p> + <p> + The room in which he found himself was so dark at first that it yielded + little to the eye, and that little seemed altogether beyond his + comprehension. His gaze helplessly followed Celia and her candle about as + she busied herself in the work of illumination. When she had finished, and + pinched out the taper, there were seven lights in the apartment—lights + beaming softly through half-opaque alternating rectangles of blue and + yellow glass. They must be set in some sort of lanterns around against the + wall, he thought, but the shape of these he could hardly make out. + </p> + <p> + Gradually his sight adapted itself to this subdued light, and he began to + see other things. These queer lamps were placed, apparently, so as to shed + a special radiance upon some statues which stood in the corners of the + chamber, and upon some pictures which were embedded in the walls. Theron + noted that the statues, the marble of which lost its aggressive whiteness + under the tinted lights, were mostly of naked men and women; the pictures, + four or five in number, were all variations of a single theme—the + Virgin Mary and the Child. + </p> + <p> + A less untutored vision than his would have caught more swiftly the scheme + of color and line in which these works of art bore their share. The walls + of the room were in part of flat upright wooden columns, terminating high + above in simple capitals, and they were all painted in pale amber and + straw and primrose hues, irregularly wavering here and there toward + suggestions of white. Between these pilasters were broader panels of + stamped leather, in gently varying shades of peacock blue. These + contrasted colors vaguely interwove and mingled in what he could see of + the shadowed ceiling far above. They were repeated in the draperies and + huge cushions and pillows of the low, wide divan which ran about three + sides of the room. Even the floor, where it revealed itself among the + scattered rugs, was laid in a mosaic pattern of matched woods, which, like + the rugs, gave back these same shifting blues and uncertain yellows. + </p> + <p> + The fourth side of the apartment was broken in outline at one end by the + door through which they had entered, and at the other by a broad, square + opening, hung with looped-back curtains of a thin silken stuff. Between + the two apertures rose against the wall what Theron took at first glance + to be an altar. There were pyramidal rows of tall candles here on either + side, each masked with a little silken hood; below, in the centre, a + shelf-like projection supported what seemed a massive, carved casket, and + in the beautiful intricacies of this, and the receding canopy of delicate + ornamentation which depended above it, the dominant color was white, + deepening away in its shadows, by tenderly minute gradations, to the tints + which ruled the rest of the room. + </p> + <p> + Celia lighted some of the high, thick tapers in these candelabra, and + opened the top of the casket. Theron saw with surprise that she had + uncovered the keyboard of a piano. He viewed with much greater amazement + her next proceeding—which was to put a cigarette between her lips, + and, bending over one of the candles with it for an instant, turn to him + with a filmy, opalescent veil of smoke above her head. + </p> + <p> + “Make yourself comfortable anywhere,” she said, with a gesture which + comprehended all the divans and pillows in the place. “Will you smoke?” + </p> + <p> + “I have never tried since I was a little boy,” said Theron, “but I think I + could. If you don't mind, I should like to see.” + </p> + <p> + Lounging at his ease on the oriental couch, Theron experimented cautiously + upon the unaccustomed tobacco, and looked at Celia with what he felt to be + the confident quiet of a man of the world. She had thrown aside her hat, + and in doing so had half released some of the heavy strands of hair coiled + at the back of her head. His glance instinctively rested upon this + wonderful hair of hers. There was no mistaking the sudden fascination its + disorder had for his eye. + </p> + <p> + She stood before him with the cigarette poised daintily between thumb and + finger of a shapely hand, and smiled comprehendingly down on her guest. + </p> + <p> + “I suffered the horrors of the damned with this hair of mine when I was a + child,” she said. “I daresay all children have a taste for persecuting + red-heads; but it's a specialty with Irish children. They get hold somehow + of an ancient national superstition, or legend, that red hair was brought + into Ireland by the Danes. It's been a term of reproach with us since + Brian Boru's time to call a child a Dane. I used to be pursued and baited + with it every day of my life, until the one dream of my ambition was to + get old enough to be a Sister of Charity, so that I might hide my hair + under one of their big beastly white linen caps. I've got rather away from + that ideal since, I'm afraid,” she added, with a droll downward curl of + her lip. + </p> + <p> + “Your hair is very beautiful,” said Theron, in the calm tone of a + connoisseur. + </p> + <p> + “I like it myself,” Celia admitted, and blew a little smoke-ring toward + him. “I've made this whole room to match it. The colors, I mean,” she + explained, in deference to his uplifted brows. “Between us, we make up + what Whistler would call a symphony. That reminds me—I was going to + play for you. Let me finish the cigarette first.” + </p> + <p> + Theron felt grateful for her reticence about the fact that he had laid his + own aside. “I have never seen a room at all like this,” he remarked. “You + are right; it does fit you perfectly.” + </p> + <p> + She nodded her sense of his appreciation. “It is what I like,” she said. + “It expresses ME. I will not have anything about me—or anybody + either—that I don't like. I suppose if an old Greek could see it, it + would make him sick, but it represents what I mean by being a Greek. It is + as near as an Irishman can get to it.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember your puzzling me by saying that you were a Greek.” + </p> + <p> + Celia laughed, and tossed the cigarette-end away. “I'd puzzle you more, + I'm afraid, if I tried to explain to you what I really meant by it. I + divide people up into two classes, you know—Greeks and Jews. Once + you get hold of that principle, all other divisions and classifications, + such as by race or language or nationality, seem pure foolishness. It is + the only true division there is. It is just as true among negroes or wild + Indians who never heard of Greece or Jerusalem, as it is among white + folks. That is the beauty of it. It works everywhere, always.” + </p> + <p> + “Try it on me,” urged Theron, with a twinkling eye. “Which am I?” + </p> + <p> + “Both,” said the girl, with a merry nod of the head. “But now I'll play. I + told you you were to hear Chopin. I prescribe him for you. He is the + Greekiest of the Greeks. THERE was a nation where all the people were + artists, where everybody was an intellectual aristocrat, where the + Philistine was as unknown, as extinct, as the dodo. Chopin might have + written his music for them.” + </p> + <p> + “I am interested in Shopang,” put in Theron, suddenly recalling Sister + Soulsby's confidences as to the source of her tunes. “He lived with—what's + his name—George something. We were speaking about him only this + afternoon.” + </p> + <p> + Celia looked down into her visitor's face at first inquiringly, then with + a latent grin about her lips. “Yes—George something,” she said, in a + tone which mystified him. + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Ware was sitting up, a minute afterward, in a ferment of + awakened consciousness that he had never heard the piano played before. + After a little, he noiselessly rearranged the cushions, and settled + himself again in a recumbent posture. It was beyond his strength to follow + that first impulse, and keep his mind abreast with what his ears took in. + He sighed and lay back, and surrendered his senses to the mere unthinking + charm of it all. + </p> + <p> + It was the Fourth Prelude that was singing in the air about him—a + simple, plaintive strain wandering at will over a surface of steady + rhythmic movement underneath, always creeping upward through mysteries of + sweetness, always sinking again in cadences of semi-tones. With only a + moment's pause, there came the Seventh Waltz—a rich, bold confusion + which yet was not confused. Theron's ears dwelt with eager delight upon + the chasing medley of swift, tinkling sounds, but it left his thoughts + free. + </p> + <p> + From where he reclined, he turned his head to scrutinize, one by one, the + statues in the corners. No doubt they were beautiful—for this was a + department in which he was all humility—and one of them, the figure + of a broad-browed, stately, though thick-waisted woman, bending slightly + forward and with both arms broken off, was decently robed from the hips + downward. The others were not robed at all. Theron stared at them with the + erratic, rippling jangle of the waltz in his ears, and felt that he + possessed a new and disturbing conception of what female emancipation + meant in these later days. Roving along the wall, his glance rested again + upon the largest of the Virgin pictures—a full-length figure in + sweeping draperies, its radiant, aureoled head upturned in rapt adoration, + its feet resting on a crescent moon which shone forth in bluish silver + through festooned clouds of cherubs. The incongruity between the unashamed + statues and this serene incarnation of holy womanhood jarred upon him for + the instant. Then his mind went to the piano. + </p> + <p> + Without a break the waltz had slowed and expanded into a passage of what + might be church music, an exquisitely modulated and gently solemn chant, + through which a soft, lingering song roved capriciously, forcing the + listener to wonder where it was coming out, even while it caressed and + soothed to repose. + </p> + <p> + He looked from the Madonna to Celia. Beyond the carelessly drooping braids + and coils of hair which blazed between the candles, he could see the + outline of her brow and cheek, the noble contour of her lifted chin and + full, modelled throat, all pink as the most delicate rose leaf is pink, + against the cool lights of the altar-like wall. The sight convicted him in + the court of his own soul as a prurient and mean-minded rustic. In the + presence of such a face, of such music, there ceased to be any such thing + as nudity, and statues no more needed clothes than did those slow, deep, + magnificent chords which came now, gravely accumulating their spell upon + him. + </p> + <p> + “It is all singing!” the player called out to him over her shoulder, in a + minute of rest. “That is what Chopin does—he sings!” + </p> + <p> + She began, with an effect of thinking of something else, the Sixth + Nocturne, and Theron at first thought she was not playing anything in + particular, so deliberately, haltingly, did the chain of charm unwind + itself into sequence. Then it came closer to him than the others had done. + The dreamy, wistful, meditative beauty of it all at once oppressed and + inspired him. He saw Celia's shoulders sway under the impulse of the + RUBATO license—the privilege to invest each measure with the stress + of the whole, to loiter, to weep, to run and laugh at will—and the + music she made spoke to him as with a human voice. There was the wooing + sense of roses and moonlight, of perfumes, white skins, alluring + languorous eyes, and then— + </p> + <p> + “You know this part, of course,” he heard her say. + </p> + <p> + On the instant they had stepped from the dark, scented, starlit garden, + where the nightingale sang, into a great cathedral. A sombre and lofty + anthem arose, and filled the place with the splendor of such dignified + pomp of harmony and such suggestions of measureless choral power and + authority that Theron sat abruptly up, then was drawn resistlessly to his + feet. He stood motionless in the strange room, feeling most of all that + one should kneel to hear such music. + </p> + <p> + “This you'll know too—the funeral march from the Second Sonata,” she + was saying, before he realized that the end of the other had come. He sank + upon the divan again, bending forward and clasping his hands tight around + his knees. His heart beat furiously as he listened to the weird, mediaeval + processional, with its wild, clashing chords held down in the bondage of + an orderly sadness. There was a propelling motion in the thing—a + sense of being borne bodily along—which affected him like dizziness. + He breathed hard through the robust portions of stern, vigorous noise, and + rocked himself to and fro when, as rosy morn breaks upon a storm-swept + night, the drums are silenced for the sweet, comforting strain of solitary + melody. The clanging minor harmonies into which the march relapses came to + their abrupt end. Theron rose once more, and moved with a hesitating step + to the piano. + </p> + <p> + “I want to rest a little,” he said, with his hand on her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “Whew! so do I,” exclaimed Celia, letting her hands fall with an + exaggerated gesture of weariness. “The sonatas take it out of one! They + are hideously difficult, you know. They are rarely played.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know,” remarked Theron. She seemed not to mind his hand upon her + shoulder, and he kept it there. “I didn't know anything about music at + all. What I do know now is that—that this evening is an event in my + life.” + </p> + <p> + She looked up at him and smiled. He read unsuspected tendernesses and + tolerances of friendship in the depths of her eyes, which emboldened him + to stir the fingers of that audacious hand in a lingering, caressing trill + upon her shoulder. The movement was of the faintest, but having ventured + it, he drew his hand abruptly away. + </p> + <p> + “You are getting on,” she said to him. There was an enigmatic twinkle in + the smile with which she continued to regard him. “We are Hellenizing you + at a great rate.” + </p> + <p> + A sudden thought seemed to strike her. She shifted her eyes toward vacancy + with a swift, abstracted glance, reflected for a moment, then let a + sparkling half-wink and the dimpling beginnings of an almost roguish smile + mark her assent to the conceit, whatever it might be. + </p> + <p> + “I will be with you in a moment,” he heard her say; and while the words + were still in his ears she had risen and passed out of sight through the + broad, open doorway to the right. The looped curtains fell together behind + her. Presently a mellow light spread over their delicately translucent + surface—a creamy, undulating radiance which gave the effect of + moving about among the myriad folds of the silk. + </p> + <p> + Theron gazed at these curtains for a little, then straightened his + shoulders with a gesture of decision, and, turning on his heel, went over + and examined the statues in the further corners minutely. + </p> + <p> + “If you would like some more, I will play you the Berceuse now.” + </p> + <p> + Her voice came to him with a delicious shock. He wheeled round and beheld + her standing at the piano, with one hand resting, palm upward, on the + keys. She was facing him. Her tall form was robed now in some shapeless, + clinging drapery, lustrous and creamy and exquisitely soft, like the + curtains. The wonderful hair hung free and luxuriant about her neck and + shoulders, and glowed with an intensity of fiery color which made all the + other hues of the room pale and vague. A fillet of faint, sky-like blue + drew a gracious span through the flame of red above her temples, and from + this there rose the gleam of jewels. Her head inclined gently, gravely, + toward him—with the posture of that armless woman in marble he had + been studying—and her brown eyes, regarding him from the shadows, + emitted light. + </p> + <p> + “It is a lullaby—the only one he wrote,” she said, as Theron, + pale-faced and with tightened lips, approached her. “No—you mustn't + stand there,” she added, sinking into the seat before the instrument; “go + back and sit where you were.” + </p> + <p> + The most perfect of lullabies, with its swaying abandonment to cooing + rhythm, ever and again rising in ripples to the point of insisting on + something, one knows not what, and then rocking, melting away once more, + passed, so to speak, over Theron's head. He leaned back upon the cushions, + and watched the white, rounded forearm which the falling folds of this + strange, statue-like drapery made bare. + </p> + <p> + There was more that appealed to his mood in the Third Ballade. It seemed + to him that there were words going along with it—incoherent and + impulsive yet very earnest words, appealing to him in strenuous argument + and persuasion. Each time he almost knew what they said, and strained + after their meaning with a passionate desire, and then there would come a + kind of cuckoo call, and everything would swing dancing off again into a + mockery of inconsequence. + </p> + <p> + Upon the silence there fell the pure, liquid, mellifluous melody of a + soft-throated woman singing to her lover. + </p> + <p> + “It is like Heine—simply a love-poem,” said the girl, over her + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + Theron followed now with all his senses, as she carried the Ninth Nocturne + onward. The stormy passage, which she banged finely forth, was in truth a + lover's quarrel; and then the mild, placid flow of sweet harmonies into + which the furore sank, dying languorously away upon a silence all alive + with tender memories of sound—was that not also a part of love? + </p> + <p> + They sat motionless through a minute—the man on the divan, the girl + at the piano—and Theron listened for what he felt must be the + audible thumping of his heart. + </p> + <p> + Then, throwing back her head, with upturned face, Celia began what she had + withheld for the last—the Sixteenth Mazurka. This strange foreign + thing she played with her eyes closed, her head tilted obliquely so that + Theron could see the rose-tinted, beautiful countenance, framed as if + asleep in the billowing luxuriance of unloosed auburn hair. He fancied her + beholding visions as she wrought the music—visions full of barbaric + color and romantic forms. As his mind swam along with the gliding, tricksy + phantom of a tune, it seemed as if he too could see these visions—as + if he gazed at them through her eyes. + </p> + <p> + It could not be helped. He lifted himself noiselessly to his feet, and + stole with caution toward her. He would hear the rest of this weird, + voluptuous fantasy standing thus, so close behind her that he could look + down upon her full, uplifted lace—so close that, if she moved, that + glowing nimbus of hair would touch him. + </p> + <p> + There had been some curious and awkward pauses in this last piece, which + Theron, by some side cerebration, had put down to her not watching what + her fingers did. There came another of these pauses now—an odd, + unaccountable halt in what seemed the middle of everything. He stared + intently down upon her statuesque, dreaming face during the hush, and + caught his breath as he waited. There fell at last a few faltering + ascending notes, making a half-finished strain, and then again there was + silence. + </p> + <p> + Celia opened her eyes, and poured a direct, deep gaze into the face above + hers. Its pale lips were parted in suspense, and the color had faded from + its cheeks. + </p> + <p> + “That is the end,” she said, and, with a turn of her lithe body, stood + swiftly up, even while the echoes of the broken melody seemed panting in + the air about her for completion. + </p> + <p> + Theron put his hands to his face, and pressed them tightly against eyes + and brow for an instant. Then, throwing them aside with an expansive + downward sweep of the arms, and holding them clenched, he returned Celia's + glance. It was as if he had never looked into a woman's eyes before. + </p> + <p> + “It CAN'T be the end!” he heard himself saying, in a low voice charged + with deep significance. He held her gaze in the grasp of his with + implacable tenacity. There was a trouble about breathing, and the mosaic + floor seemed to stir under his feet. He clung defiantly to the one idea of + not releasing her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “How COULD it be the end?” he demanded, lifting an uncertain hand to his + breast as he spoke, and spreading it there as if to control the tumultuous + fluttering of his heart. “Things don't end that way!” + </p> + <p> + A sharp, blinding spasm of giddiness closed upon and shook him, while the + brave words were on his lips. He blinked and tottered under it, as it + passed, and then backed humbly to his divan and sat down, gasping a + little, and patting his hand on his heart. There was fright written all + over his whitened face. + </p> + <p> + “We—we forgot that I am a sick man,” he said feebly, answering + Celia's look of surprised inquiry with a forced, wan smile. “I was afraid + my heart had gone wrong.” + </p> + <p> + She scrutinized him for a further moment, with growing reassurance in her + air. Then, piling up the pillows and cushions behind him for support, for + all the world like a big sister again, she stepped into the inner room, + and returned with a flagon of quaint shape and a tiny glass. She poured + this latter full to the brim of a thick yellowish, aromatic liquid, and + gave it him to drink. + </p> + <p> + “This Benedictine is all I happen to have,” she said. “Swallow it down. It + will do you good.” + </p> + <p> + Theron obeyed her. It brought tears to his eyes; but, upon reflection, it + was grateful and warming. He did feel better almost immediately. A great + wave of comfort seemed to enfold him as he settled himself back on the + divan. For that one flashing instant he had thought that he was dying. He + drew a long grateful breath of relief, and smiled his content. + </p> + <p> + Celia had seated herself beside him, a little away. She sat with her head + against the wall, and one foot curled under her, and almost faced him. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say we forced the pace a little,” she remarked, after a pause, + looking down at the floor, with the puckers of a ruminating amusement + playing in the corners of her mouth. “It doesn't do for a man to get to be + a Greek all of a sudden. He must work along up to it gradually.” + </p> + <p> + He remembered the music. “Oh, if I only knew how to tell you,” he murmured + ecstatically, “what a revelation your playing has been to me! I had never + imagined anything like it. I shall think of it to my dying day.” + </p> + <p> + He began to remember as well the spirit that was in the air when the music + ended. The details of what he had felt and said rose vaguely in his mind. + Pondering them, his eye roved past Celia's white-robed figure to the + broad, open doorway beyond. The curtains behind which she had disappeared + were again parted and fastened back. A dim light was burning within, out + of sight, and its faint illumination disclosed a room filled with white + marbles, white silks, white draperies of varying sorts, which shaped + themselves, as he looked, into the canopy and trappings of an + extravagantly over-sized and sumptuous bed. He looked away again. + </p> + <p> + “I wish you would tell me what you really mean by that Greek idea of + yours,” he said with the abruptness of confusion. + </p> + <p> + Celia did not display much enthusiasm in the tone of her answer. “Oh,” she + said almost indifferently, “lots of things. Absolute freedom from moral + bugbears, for one thing. The recognition that beauty is the only thing in + life that is worth while. The courage to kick out of one's life everything + that isn't worth while; and so on.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Theron, watching the mingled delicacy and power of the bared + arm and the shapely grace of the hand which she had lifted to her face, “I + am going to get you to teach it ALL to me.” The memories began crowding in + upon him now, and the baffling note upon which the mazurka had stopped + short chimed like a tuning-fork in his ears. “I want to be a Greek myself, + if you're one. I want to get as close to you—to your ideal, that is, + as I can. You open up to me a whole world that I had not even dreamed + existed. We swore our friendship long ago, you know: and now, after + tonight—you and the music have decided me. I am going to put the + things out of MY life that are not worthwhile. Only you must help me; you + must tell me how to begin.” + </p> + <p> + He looked up as he spoke, to enforce the almost tender entreaty of his + words. The spectacle of a yawn, only fractionally concealed behind those + talented fingers, chilled his soft speech, and sent a flush over his face. + He rose on the instant. + </p> + <p> + Celia was nothing abashed at his discovery. She laughed gayly in + confession of her fault, and held her hand out to let him help her + disentangle her foot from her draperies, and get off the divan. It seemed + to be her meaning that he should continue holding her hand after she was + also standing. + </p> + <p> + “You forgive me, don't you?” she urged smilingly. “Chopin always first + excites me, then sends me to sleep. You see how YOU sleep tonight!” + </p> + <p> + The brown, velvety eyes rested upon him, from under their heavy lids, with + a languorous kindliness. Her warm, large palm clasped his in frank liking. + </p> + <p> + “I don't want to sleep at all,” Mr. Ware was impelled to say. “I want to + lie awake and think about—about everything all over again.” + </p> + <p> + She smiled drowsily. “And you're sure you feel strong enough to walk + home?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he replied, with a lingering dilatory note, which deepened upon + reflection into a sigh. “Oh, yes.” + </p> + <p> + He followed her and her candle down the magnificent stairway again. She + blew the light out in the hall, and, opening the front door, stood with + him for a silent moment on the threshold. Then they shook hands once more, + and with a whispered good-night, parted. + </p> + <p> + Celia, returning to the blue and yellow room, lighted a cigarette and + helped herself to some Benedictine in the glass which Theron had used. She + looked meditatively at this little glass for a moment, turning it about in + her fingers with a smile. The smile warmed itself suddenly into a joyous + laugh. She tossed the glass aside, and, holding out her flowing skirts + with both hands, executed a swinging pirouette in front of the gravely + beautiful statue of the armless woman. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <p> + It was apparent to the Rev. Theron Ware, from the very first moment of + waking next morning, that both he and the world had changed over night. + The metamorphosis, in the harsh toils of which he had been laboring + blindly so long, was accomplished. He stood forth, so to speak, in a new + skin, and looked about him, with perceptions of quite an altered kind, + upon what seemed in every way a fresh existence. He lacked even the + impulse to turn round and inspect the cocoon from which he had emerged. + Let the past bury the past. He had no vestige of interest in it. + </p> + <p> + The change was not premature. He found himself not in the least confused + by it, or frightened. Before he had finished shaving, he knew himself to + be easily and comfortably at home in his new state, and master of all its + requirements. + </p> + <p> + It seemed as if Alice, too, recognized that he had become another man, + when he went down and took his chair at the breakfast table. They had + exchanged no words since their parting in the depot-yard the previous + evening—an event now faded off into remote vagueness in Theron's + mind. He smiled brilliantly in answer to the furtive, half-sullen, + half-curious glance she stole at him, as she brought the dishes in. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! potatoes warmed up in cream!” he said, with hearty pleasure in his + tone. “What a mind-reader you are, to be sure!” + </p> + <p> + “I'm glad you're feeling so much better,” she said briefly, taking her + seat. + </p> + <p> + “Better?” he returned. “I'm a new being!” + </p> + <p> + She ventured to look him over more freely, upon this assurance. He + perceived and catalogued, one by one, the emotions which the small brain + was expressing through those shallow blue eyes of hers. She was turning + over this, that, and the other hostile thought and childish grievance—most + of all she was dallying with the idea of asking him where he had been till + after midnight. He smiled affably in the face of this scattering fire of + peevish glances, and did not dream of resenting any phase of them all. + </p> + <p> + “I am going down to Thurston's this morning, and order that piano sent up + today,” he announced presently, in a casual way. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Theron, can we afford it?” the wife asked, regarding him with + surprise. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, easily enough,” he replied light-heartedly. “You know they've + increased my salary.” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head. “No, I didn't. How should I? You don't realize it,” + she went on, dolefully, “but you're getting so you don't tell me the least + thing about your affairs nowadays.” + </p> + <p> + Theron laughed aloud. “You ought to be grateful—such melancholy + affairs as mine have been till now,” he declared—“that is, if it + weren't absurd to think such a thing.” Then, more soberly, he explained: + “No, my girl, it is you who don't realize. I am carrying big projects in + my mind—big, ambitious thoughts and plans upon which great things + depend. They no doubt make me seem preoccupied and absent-minded; but it + is a wife's part to understand, and make allowances, and not intrude + trifles which may throw everything out of gear. Don't think I'm scolding, + my girl. I only speak to reassure you and—and help you to + comprehend. Of course I know that you wouldn't willingly embarrass my—my + career.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not,” responded Alice, dubiously; “but—but—” + </p> + <p> + “But what? Theron felt compelled by civility to say, though on the instant + he reproached himself for the weakness of it. + </p> + <p> + “Well—I hardly know how to say it,” she faltered, “but it was nicer + in the old days, before you bothered your head about big projects, and + your career, as you call it, and were just a good, earnest, simple young + servant of the Lord. Oh, Theron!” she broke forth suddenly, with tearful + zeal, “I get sometimes lately almost scared lest you should turn out to be + a—a BACKSLIDER!” + </p> + <p> + The husband sat upright, and hardened his countenance. But yesterday the + word would have had in it all sorts of inherited terrors for him. This + morning's dawn of a new existence revealed it as merely an empty and + stupid epithet. + </p> + <p> + “These are things not to be said,” he admonished her, after a moment's + pause, and speaking with carefully measured austerity. “Least of all are + they to be said to a clergyman—by his wife.” + </p> + <p> + It was on the tip of Alice's tongue to retort, “Better by his wife than by + outsiders!” but she bit her lips, and kept the gibe back. A rebuke of this + form and gravity was a novelty in their relations. The fear that it had + been merited troubled, even while it did not convince, her mind, and the + puzzled apprehension was to be read plainly enough on her face. + </p> + <p> + Theron, noting it, saw a good deal more behind. Really, it was amazing how + much wiser he had grown all at once. He had been married for years, and it + was only this morning that he suddenly discovered how a wife ought to be + handled. He continued to look sternly away into space for a little. Then + his brows relaxed slowly and under the visible influence of melting + considerations. He nodded his head, turned toward her abruptly, and broke + the silence with labored amiability. + </p> + <p> + “Come, come—the day began so pleasantly—it was so good to feel + well again—let us talk about the piano instead. That is,” he added, + with an obvious overture to playfulness, “if the thought of having a piano + is not too distasteful to you.” + </p> + <p> + Alice yielded almost effusively to his altered mood. They went together + into the sitting-room, to measure and decide between the two available + spaces which were at their disposal, and he insisted with resolute + magnanimity on her settling this question entirely by herself. When at + last he mentioned the fact that it was Friday, and he would look over some + sermon memoranda before he went out, Alice retired to the kitchen in + openly cheerful spirits. + </p> + <p> + Theron spread some old manuscript sermons before him on his desk, and took + down his scribbling-book as well. But there his application flagged, and + he surrendered himself instead, chin on hand, to staring out at the + rhododendron in the yard. He recalled how he had seen Soulsby patiently + studying this identical bush. The notion of Soulsby, not knowing at all + how to sing, yet diligently learning those sixths, brought a smile to his + mind; and then he seemed to hear Celia calling out over her shoulder, + “That's what Chopin does—he sings!” The spirit of that wonderful + music came back to him, enfolded him in its wings. It seemed to raise + itself up—a palpable barrier between him and all that he had known + and felt and done before. That was his new birth—that marvellous + night with the piano. The conceit pleased him—not the less because + there flashed along with it the thought that it was a poet that had been + born. Yes; the former country lout, the narrow zealot, the untutored slave + groping about in the dark after silly superstitions, cringing at the scowl + of mean Pierces and Winches, was dead. There was an end of him, and good + riddance. In his place there had been born a Poet—he spelled the + word out now unabashed—a child of light, a lover of beauty and sweet + sounds, a recognizable brother to Renan and Chopin—and Celia! + </p> + <p> + Out of the soothing, tenderly grateful revery, a practical suggestion + suddenly took shape. He acted upon it without a moment's delay, getting + out his letter-pad, and writing hurriedly— + </p> + <p> + “Dear Miss Madden,—Life will be more tolerable to me if before + nightfall I can know that there is a piano under my roof. Even if it + remains dumb, it will be some comfort to have it here and look at it, and + imagine how a great master might make it speak. + </p> + <p> + “Would it be too much to beg you to look in at Thurston's, say at eleven + this forenoon, and give me the inestimable benefit of your judgment in + selecting an instrument? + </p> + <p> + “Do not trouble to answer this, for I am leaving home now, but shall call + at Thurston's at eleven, and wait. + </p> + <p> + “Thanking you in anticipation, + </p> + <p> + “I am—” + </p> + <p> + Here Theron's fluency came to a sharp halt. There were adverbs enough and + to spare on the point of his pen, but the right one was not easy to come + at. “Gratefully,” “faithfully,” “sincerely,” “truly”—each in turn + struck a false note. He felt himself not quite any of these things. At + last he decided to write just the simple word “yours,” and then wavered + between satisfaction at his boldness, dread lest he had been over-bold, + and, worst of the lot, fear that she would not notice it one way or the + other—all the while he sealed and addressed the letter, put it + carefully in an inner pocket, and got his hat. + </p> + <p> + There was a moment's hesitation as to notifying the kitchen of his + departure. The interests of domestic discipline seemed to point the other + way. He walked softly through the hall, and let himself out by the front + door without a sound. + </p> + <p> + Down by the canal bridge he picked out an idle boy to his mind—a lad + whose aspect appeared to promise intelligence as a messenger, combined + with large impartiality in sectarian matters. He was to have ten cents on + his return; and he might report himself to his patron at the bookstore + yonder. + </p> + <p> + Theron was grateful to the old bookseller for remaining at his desk in the + rear. There was a tacit compliment in the suggestion that he was not a + mere customer, demanding instant attention. Besides, there was no keeping + “Thurston's” out of conversations in this place. + </p> + <p> + Loitering along the shelves, the young minister's eye suddenly found + itself arrested by a name on a cover. There were a dozen narrow volumes in + uniform binding, huddled together under a cardboard label of “Eminent + Women Series.” Oddly enough, one of these bore the title “George Sand.” + Theron saw there must be some mistake, as he took the book down, and + opened it. His glance hit by accident upon the name of Chopin. Then he + read attentively until almost the stroke of eleven. + </p> + <p> + “We have to make ourselves acquainted with all sorts of queer phases of + life,” he explained in self-defence to the old bookseller, then counting + out the money for the book from his lean purse. He smiled as he added, + “There seems something almost wrong about taking advantage of the + clergyman's discount for a life of George Sand.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” answered the other, pleasantly. “Guess she wasn't so much + different from the rest of 'em—except that she didn't mind + appearances. We know about her. We don't know about the others.” + </p> + <p> + “I must hurry,” said Theron, turning on his heel. The haste with which he + strode out of the store, crossed the street, and made his way toward + Thurston's, did not prevent his thinking much upon the astonishing things + he had encountered in this book. Their relation to Celia forced itself + more and more upon his mind. He could recall the twinkle in her eye, the + sub-mockery in her tone, as she commented with that half-contemptuous “Yes—George + something!” upon his blundering ignorance. His mortification at having + thus exposed his dull rusticity was swallowed up in conjectures as to just + what her tolerant familiarity with such things involved. He had never + before met a young unmarried woman who would have confessed to him any + such knowledge. But then, of course, he had never known a girl who + resembled Celia in any other way. He recognized vaguely that he must + provide himself with an entire new set of standards by which to measure + and comprehend her. But it was for the moment more interesting to wonder + what her standards were. Did she object to George Sand's behavior? Or did + she sympathize with that sort of thing? Did those statues, and the + loose-flowing diaphonous toga and unbound hair, the cigarettes, the fiery + liqueur, the deliberately sensuous music—was he to believe that they + signified—? + </p> + <p> + “Good-morning, Mr. Ware. You have managed by a miracle to hit on one of my + punctual days,” said Celia. + </p> + <p> + She was standing on the doorstep, at the entrance to the musical + department of Thurston's. He had not noticed before the fact that the sun + was shining. The full glare of its strong light, enveloping her figure as + she stood, and drawing the dazzled eye for relief to the bower of softened + color, close beneath her parasol of creamy silk and lace, was what struck + him now first of all. It was as if Celia had brought the sun with her. + </p> + <p> + Theron shook hands with her, and found joy in the perception, that his own + hand trembled. He put boldly into words the thought that came to him. + </p> + <p> + “It was generous of you,” he said, “to wait for me out here, where all + might delight in the sight of you, instead of squandering the privilege on + a handful of clerks inside.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Madden beamed upon him, and nodded approval. + </p> + <p> + “Alcibiades never turned a prettier compliment,” she remarked. They went + in together at this, and Theron made a note of the name. + </p> + <p> + During the ensuing half-hour, the young minister followed about even more + humbly than the clerks in Celia's commanding wake. There were a good many + pianos in the big show-room overhead, and Theron found himself almost awed + by their size and brilliancy of polish, and the thought of the tremendous + sum of money they represented altogether. Not so with the organist. She + ordered them rolled around this way or that, as if they had been so many + checkers on a draught-board. She threw back their covers with the scant + ceremony of a dispensary dentist opening paupers' mouths. She exploited + their several capacities with masterful hands, not deigning to seat + herself, but just slightly bending forward, and sweeping her fingers up + and down their keyboards—able, domineering fingers which pounded, + tinkled, meditated, assented, condemned, all in a flash, and amid what + affected the layman's ears as a hopelessly discordant hubbub. + </p> + <p> + Theron moved about in the group, nursing her parasol in his arms, and + watching her. The exaggerated deference which the clerks and salesmen + showed to her as the rich Miss Madden, seemed to him to be mixed with a + certain assertion of the claims of good-fellowship on the score of her + being a musician. There undoubtedly was a sense of freemasonry between + them. They alluded continually in technical terms to matters of which he + knew nothing, and were amused at remarks of hers which to him carried no + meaning whatever. It was evident that the young men liked her, and that + their liking pleased her. It thrilled him to think that she knew he liked + her, too, and to recall what abundant proofs she had given that here, + also, she had pleasure in the fact. He clung insistently to the memory of + these evidences. They helped him to resist a disagreeable tendency to feel + himself an intruder, an outsider, among these pianoforte experts. + </p> + <p> + When it was all over, Celia waved the others aside, and talked with + Theron. “I suppose you want me to tell you the truth,” she said. “There's + nothing here really good. It is always much better to buy of the makers + direct.” + </p> + <p> + “Do they sell on the instalment plan?” he asked. There was a wistful + effect in his voice which caught her attention. + </p> + <p> + She looked away—out through the window on the street below—for + a moment. Then her eyes returned to his, and regarded him with a + comforting, friendly, half-motherly glance, recalling for all the world + the way Sister Soulsby had looked at him at odd times. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you want it at once—I see,” she remarked softly. “Well, this + Adelberger is the best value for the money.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware followed her finger, and beheld with dismay that it pointed + toward the largest instrument in the room—a veritable leviathan + among pianos. The price of this had been mentioned as $600. He turned over + the fact that this was two-thirds his yearly salary, and found the courage + to shake his head. + </p> + <p> + “It would be too large—much too large—for the room,” he + explained. “And, besides, it is more than I like to pay—or CAN pay, + for that matter.” It was pitiful to be explaining such details, but there + was no help for it. + </p> + <p> + They picked out a smaller one, which Celia said was at least of fair + quality. “Now leave all the bargaining to me,” she adjured him. “These + prices that they talk about in the piano trade are all in the air. There + are tremendous discounts, if one knows how to insist upon them. All you + have to do is to tell them to send it to your house—you wanted it + today, you said?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—in memory of yesterday,” he murmured. + </p> + <p> + She herself gave the directions, and Thurston's people, now all salesmen + again, bowed grateful acquiescence. Then she sailed regally across the + room and down the stairs, drawing Theron in her train. The hirelings made + salaams to him as well; it would have been impossible to interpose + anything so trivial and squalid as talk about terms and dates of payment. + </p> + <p> + “I am ever so much obliged to you,” he said fervently, in the comparative + solitude of the lower floor. She had paused to look at something in the + book-department. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I was entirely at your service; don't mention it,” she replied, + reaching forth her hand in an absent way for her parasol. + </p> + <p> + He held up instead the volume he had purchased. “Guess what that is! You + never would guess in this wide world!” His manner was surcharged with a + sense of the surreptitious. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, there's no good trying, IS there?” commented Celia, her + glance roving again toward the shelves. + </p> + <p> + “It is a life of George Sand,” whispered Theron. “I've been reading it + this morning—all the Chopin part—while I was waiting for you.” + </p> + <p> + To his surprise, there was an apparently displeased contraction of her + brows as he made this revelation. For the instant, a dreadful fear of + having offended her seized upon and sickened him. But then her face + cleared, as by magic. She smiled, and let her eyes twinkle in laughter at + him, and lifted a forefinger in the most winning mockery of admonition. + </p> + <p> + “Naughty! naughty!” she murmured back, with a roguishly solemn wink. + </p> + <p> + He had no response ready for this, but mutely handed her the parasol. The + situation had suddenly grown too confused for words, or even sequent + thoughts. Uppermost across the hurly-burly of his mind there scudded the + singular reflection that he should never hear her play on that new piano + of his. Even as it flashed by out of sight, he recognized it for one of + the griefs of his life; and the darkness which followed seemed nothing but + a revolt against the idea of having a piano at all. He would countermand + the order. He would—but she was speaking again. + </p> + <p> + They had strolled toward the door, and her voice was as placidly + conventional as if the talk had never strayed from the subject of pianos. + Theron with an effort pulled himself together, and laid hold of her words. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you will be going the other way,” she was saying. “I shall have + to be at the church all day. We have just got a new Mass over from Vienna, + and I'm head over heels in work at it. I can have Father Forbes to myself + today, too. That bear of a doctor has got the rheumatism, and can't come + out of his cave, thank Heaven!” + </p> + <p> + And then she was receding from view, up the sunlit, busy sidewalk, and + Theron, standing on the doorstep, ruefully rubbed his chin. She had said + he was going the other way, and, after a little pause, he made her words + good, though each step he took seemed all in despite of his personal + inclinations. Some of the passers-by bowed to him, and one or two paused + as if to shake hands and exchange greetings. He nodded responses + mechanically, but did not stop. It was as if he feared to interrupt the + process of lifting his reluctant feet and propelling them forward, lest + they should wheel and scuttle off in the opposite direction. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI + </h2> + <p> + Deliberate as his progress was, the diminishing number of store-fronts + along the sidewalk, and the increasing proportion of picket-fences + enclosing domestic lawns, forced upon Theron's attention the fact that he + was nearing home. It was a trifle past the hour for his midday meal. He + was not in the least hungry; still less did he feel any desire just now to + sit about in that library living-room of his. Why should he go home at + all? There was no reason whatever—save that Alice would be expecting + him. Upon reflection, that hardly amounted to a reason. Wives, with their + limited grasp of the realities of life, were always expecting their + husbands to do things which it turned out not to be feasible for them to + do. The customary male animal spent a considerable part of his life in + explaining to his mate why it had been necessary to disappoint or upset + her little plans for his comings and goings. It was in the very nature of + things that it should be so. + </p> + <p> + Sustained by these considerations, Mr. Ware slackened his steps, then + halted irresolutely, and after a minute's hesitation, entered the small + temperance restaurant before which, as by intuition, he had paused. The + elderly woman who placed on the tiny table before him the tea and rolls he + ordered, was entirely unknown to him, he felt sure, yet none the less she + smiled at him, and spoke almost familiarly—“I suppose Mrs. Ware is + at the seaside, and you are keeping bachelor's hall?” + </p> + <p> + “Not quite that,” he responded stiffly, and hurried through the meagre and + distasteful repast, to avoid any further conversation. + </p> + <p> + There was an idea underlying her remark, however, which recurred to him + when he had paid his ten cents and got out on the street again. There was + something interesting in the thought of Alice at the seaside. Neither of + them had ever laid eyes on salt water, but Theron took for granted the + most extravagant landsman's conception of its curative and invigorating + powers. It was apparent to him that he was going to pay much greater + attention to Alice's happiness and well-being in the future than he had + latterly done. He had bought her, this very day, a superb new piano. He + was going to simply insist on her having a hired girl. And this seaside + notion—why, that was best of all. + </p> + <p> + His fancy built up pleasant visions of her feasting her delighted eyes + upon the marvel of a great ocean storm, or roaming along a beach strewn + with wonderful marine shells, exhibiting an innocent joy in their beauty. + The fresh sea-breeze blew through her hair, as he saw her in mind's eye, + and brought the hardy flush of health back upon her rather pallid cheeks. + He was prepared already hardly to know her, so robust and revivified would + she have become, by the time he went down to the depot to meet her on her + return. + </p> + <p> + For his imagination stopped short of seeing himself at the seaside. It + sketched instead pictures of whole weeks of solitary academic calm, alone + with his books and his thoughts. The facts that he had no books, and that + nobody dreamed of interfering with his thoughts, subordinated themselves + humbly to his mood. The prospect, as he mused fondly upon it, expanded to + embrace the priest's and the doctor's libraries; the thoughts which he + longed to be alone with involved close communion with their thoughts. It + could not but prove a season of immense mental stimulation and ethical + broadening. It would have its lofty poetic and artistic side as well; the + languorous melodies of Chopin stole over his revery, as he dwelt upon + these things, and soft azure and golden lights modelled forth the + exquisite outlines of tall marble forms. + </p> + <p> + He opened the gate leading to Dr. Ledsmar's house. His walk had brought + him quite out of the town, and up, by a broad main highway which yet took + on all sorts of sylvan charms, to a commanding site on the hillside. + Below, in the valley, lay Octavius, at one end half-hidden in factory + smoke, at the other, where narrow bands of water gleamed upon the surface + of a broad plain piled symmetrically with lumber, presenting an oddly + incongruous suggestion of forest odors and the simplicity of the + wilderness. In the middle distance, on gradually rising ground, stretched + a wide belt of dense, artificial foliage, peeping through which tiled + turrets and ornamented chimneys marked the polite residences of those who, + though they neither stoked the furnace fires to the west, nor sawed the + lumber on the east, lived in purple and fine linen from the profits of + this toil. Nearer at hand, pastures with grazing cows on the one side of + the road, and the nigh, weather-stained board fence of the race-course on + the other, completed the jumble of primitive rusticity and urban + complications characterizing the whole picture. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar's house, toward which Theron's impulses had been secretly + leading him ever since Celia's parting remark about the rheumatism, was of + that spacious and satisfying order of old-fashioned houses which men of + leisure and means built for themselves while the early traditions of a + sparse and contented homogeneous population were still strong in the + Republic. There was a hospitable look about its wide veranda, its broad, + low bulk, and its big, double front door, which did not fit at all with + the sketch of a man-hating recluse that the doctor had drawn of himself. + </p> + <p> + Theron had prepared his mind for the effect of being admitted by a + Chinaman, and was taken somewhat aback when the door was opened by the + doctor himself. His reception was pleasant enough, almost cordial, but the + sense of awkwardness followed him into his host's inner room and rested + heavily upon his opening speech. + </p> + <p> + “I heard, quite by accident, that you were ill,” he said, laying aside his + hat. + </p> + <p> + “It's nothing at all,” replied Ledsmar. “Merely a stiff shoulder that I + wear from time to time in memory of my father. It ought to be quite gone + by nightfall. It was good of you to come, all the same. Sit down if you + can find a chair. As usual, we are littered up to our eyes here. That's it—throw + those things on the floor.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware carefully deposited an armful of pamphlets on the rug at his + feet, and sat down. Litter was indeed the word for what he saw about him. + Bookcases, chairs, tables, the corners of the floor, were all buried deep + under disorderly strata of papers, diagrams, and opened books. One could + hardly walk about without treading on them. The dust which danced up into + the bar of sunshine streaming in from the window, as the doctor stepped + across to another chair, gave Theron new ideas about the value of Chinese + servants. + </p> + <p> + “I must thank you, first of all, doctor,” he began, “for your kindness in + coming when I was ill. 'I was sick, and ye visited me.'” + </p> + <p> + “You mustn't think of it that way,” said Ledsmar; “your friend came for + me, and of course I went; and gladly too. There was nothing that I could + do, or that anybody could do. Very interesting man, that friend of yours. + And his wife, too—both quite out of the common. I don't know when + I've seen two such really genuine people. I should like to have known more + of them. Are they still here?” + </p> + <p> + “They went yesterday,” Theron replied. His earlier shyness had worn off, + and he felt comfortably at his ease. “I don't know,” he went on, “that the + word 'genuine' is just what would have occurred to me to describe the + Soulsbys. They are very interesting people, as you say—MOST + interesting—and there was a time, I dare say, when I should have + believed in their sincerity. But of course I saw them and their + performance from the inside—like one on the stage of a theatre, you + know, instead of in the audience, and—well, I understand things + better than I used to.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor looked over his spectacles at him with a suggestion of inquiry + in his glance, and Theron continued: “I had several long talks with her; + she told me very frankly the whole story of her life—and and it was + decidedly queer, I can assure you! I may say to you—you will + understand what I mean—that since my talk with you, and the books + you lent me, I see many things differently. Indeed, when I think upon it + sometimes my old state of mind seems quite incredible to me. I can use no + word for my new state short of illumination.” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar continued to regard his guest with that calm, interrogatory + scrutiny of his. He did not seem disposed to take up the great issue of + illumination. “I suppose,” he said after a little, “no woman can come in + contact with a priest for any length of time WITHOUT telling him the + 'story of her life,' as you call it. They all do it. The thing amounts to + a law.” + </p> + <p> + The young minister's veins responded with a pleasurable thrill to the use + of the word “priest” in obvious allusion to himself. “Perhaps in fairness + I ought to explain,” he said, “that in her case it was only done in the + course of a long talk about myself. I might say that it was by way of + kindly warning to me. She saw how I had become unsettled in many—many + of my former views—and she was nervous lest this should lead me to—to—” + </p> + <p> + “To throw up the priesthood,” the doctor interposed upon his hesitation. + “Yes, I know the tribe. Why, my dear sir, your entire profession would + have perished from the memory of mankind, if it hadn't been for women. It + is a very curious subject. Lots of thinkers have dipped into it, but no + one has gone resolutely in with a search-light and exploited the whole + thing. Our boys, for instance, traverse in their younger years all the + stages of the childhood of the race. They have terrifying dreams of awful + monsters and giant animals of which they have never so much as heard in + their waking hours; they pass through the lust for digging caves, building + fires, sleeping out in the woods, hunting with bows and arrows—all + remote ancestral impulses; they play games with stones, marbles, and so on + at regular stated periods of the year which they instinctively know, just + as they were played in the Bronze Age, and heaven only knows how much + earlier. But the boy goes through all this, and leaves it behind him—so + completely that the grown man feels himself more a stranger among boys of + his own place who are thinking and doing precisely the things he thought + and did a few years before, than he would among Kurds or Esquimaux. But + the woman is totally different. She is infinitely more precocious as a + girl. At an age when her slow brother is still stubbing along somewhere in + the neolithic period, she has flown way ahead to a kind of mediaeval + stage, or dawn of mediaevalism, which is peculiarly her own. Having got + there, she stays there; she dies there. The boy passes her, as the + tortoise did the hare. He goes on, if he is a philosopher, and lets her + remain in the dark ages, where she belongs. If he happens to be a fool, + which is customary, he stops and hangs around in her vicinity.” + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled. “We priests,” he said, and paused again to enjoy the words—“I + suppose I oughtn't to inquire too closely just where we belong in the + procession.” + </p> + <p> + “We are considering the question impersonally,” said the doctor. “First of + all, what you regard as religion is especially calculated to attract + women. They remain as superstitious today, down in the marrow of their + bones, as they were ten thousand years ago. Even the cleverest of them are + secretly afraid of omens, and respect auguries. Think of the broadest + women you know. One of them will throw salt over her shoulder if she + spills it. Another drinks money from her cup by skimming the bubbles in a + spoon. Another forecasts her future by the arrangement of tea-grounds. + They make the constituency to which an institution based on mysteries, + miracles, and the supernatural generally, would naturally appeal. + Secondly, there is the personality of the priest.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” assented Ware. There rose up before him, on the instant, the + graceful, portly figure and strong, comely face of Father Forbes. + </p> + <p> + “Women are not a metaphysical people. They do not easily follow + abstractions. They want their dogmas and religious sentiments embodied in + a man, just as they do their romantic fancies. Of course you Protestants, + with your married clergy, see less of the effects of this than celibates + do, but even with you there is a great deal in it. Why, the very + institution of celibacy itself was forced upon the early Christian Church + by the scandal of rich Roman ladies loading bishops and handsome priests + with fabulous gifts until the passion for currying favor with women of + wealth, and marrying them or wheedling their fortunes from them, debauched + the whole priesthood. You should read your Jerome.” + </p> + <p> + “I will—certainly,” said the listener, resolving to remember the + name and refer it to the old bookseller. + </p> + <p> + “Well, whatever laws one sect or another makes, the woman's attitude + toward the priest survives. She desires to see him surrounded by + flower-pots and candles, to have him smelling of musk. She would like to + curl his hair, and weave garlands in it. Although she is not learned + enough to have ever heard of such things, she intuitively feels in his + presence a sort of backwash of the old pagan sensuality and lascivious + mysticism which enveloped the priesthood in Greek and Roman days. Ugh! It + makes one sick!” + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar rose, as he spoke, and dismissed the topic with a dry little + laugh. “Come, let me show you round a bit,” he said. “My shoulder is + easier walking than sitting.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you never written a book yourself?” asked Theron, getting to his + feet. + </p> + <p> + “I have a thing on serpent-worship,” the scientist replied—“written + years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't tell you how I should enjoy reading it,” urged the other. + </p> + <p> + The doctor laughed again. “You'll have to learn German, then, I 'm afraid. + It is still in circulation in Germany, I believe, on its merits as a + serious book. I haven't a copy of the edition in English. THAT was all + exhausted by collectors who bought it for its supposed obscenity, like + Burton's 'Arabian Nights.' Come this way, and I will show you my + laboratory.” + </p> + <p> + They moved out of the room, and through a passage, Ledsmar talking as he + led the way. “I took up that subject, when I was at college, by a curious + chance. I kept a young monkey in my rooms, which had been born in + captivity. I brought home from a beer hall—it was in Germany—some + pretzels one night, and tossed one toward the monkey. He jumped toward it, + then screamed and ran back shuddering with fright. I couldn't understand + it at first. Then I saw that the curled pretzel, lying there on the floor, + was very like a little coiled-up snake. The monkey had never seen a snake, + but it was in his blood to be afraid of one. That incident changed my + whole life for me. Up to that evening, I had intended to be a lawyer.” + </p> + <p> + Theron did not feel sure that he had understood the point of the anecdote. + He looked now, without much interest, at some dark little tanks containing + thick water, a row of small glass cases with adders and other lesser + reptiles inside, and a general collection of boxes, jars, and similar + receptacles connected with the doctor's pursuits. Further on was a smaller + chamber, with a big empty furnace, and shelves bearing bottles and + apparatus like a drugstore. + </p> + <p> + It was pleasanter in the conservatory—a low, spacious structure with + broad pathways between the plants, and an awning over the sunny side of + the roof. The plants were mostly orchids, he learned. He had read of them, + but never seen any before. No doubt they were curious; but he discovered + nothing to justify the great fuss made about them. The heat grew + oppressive inside, and he was glad to emerge into the garden. He paused + under the grateful shade of a vine-clad trellis, took off his hat, and + looked about him with a sigh of relief. Everything seemed old-fashioned + and natural and delightfully free from pretence in the big, overgrown + field of flowers and shrubs. + </p> + <p> + Theron recalled with some surprise Celia's indictment of the doctor as a + man with no poetry in his soul. “You must be extremely fond of flowers,” + he remarked. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar shrugged his well shoulder. “They have their points,” he said + briefly. “These are all dioecious here. Over beyond are monoecious + species. My work is to test the probabilities for or against Darwin's + theory that hermaphroditism in plants is a late by-product of these + earlier forms.” + </p> + <p> + “And is his theory right?” asked Mr. Ware, with a polite show of interest. + </p> + <p> + “We may know in the course of three or four hundred years,” replied + Ledsmar. He looked up into his guest's face with a quizzical half-smile. + “That is a very brief period for observation when such a complicated + question as sex is involved,” he added. “We have been studying the female + of our own species for some hundreds of thousands of years, and we haven't + arrived at the most elementary rules governing her actions.” + </p> + <p> + They had moved along to a bed of tall plants, the more forward of which + were beginning to show bloom. “Here another task will begin next month,” + the doctor observed. “These are salvias, pentstemons, and antirrhinums, or + snapdragons, planted very thick for the purpose. Humble-bees bore holes + through their base, to save the labor of climbing in and out of the + flowers, and we don't quite know yet why some hive-bees discover and + utilize these holes at once, while others never do. It may be merely the + old-fogy conservatism of the individual, or there may be a law in it.” + </p> + <p> + These seemed very paltry things for a man of such wisdom to bother his + head about. Theron looked, as he was bidden, at the rows of hives shining + in the hot sun on a bench along the wall, but offered no comment beyond a + casual, “My mother was always going to keep bees, but somehow she never + got around to it. They say it pays very well, though.” + </p> + <p> + “The discovery of the reason why no bee will touch the nectar of the + EPIPACTIS LATIFOLIA, though it is sweet to our taste, and wasps are greedy + for it, WOULD pay,” commented the doctor. “Not like a blue rhododendron, + in mere money, but in recognition. Lots of men have achieved a half-column + in the 'Encyclopedia Britannica' on a smaller basis than that.” + </p> + <p> + They stood now at the end of the garden, before a small, dilapidated + summer-house. On the bench inside, facing him, Theron saw a strange + recumbent figure stretched at full length, apparently sound asleep, or it + might be dead. Looking closer, with a startled surprise, he made out the + shaven skull and outlandish garb of a Chinaman. He turned toward his guide + in the expectation of a scene. + </p> + <p> + The doctor had already taken out a note-book and pencil, and was drawing + his watch from his pocket. He stepped into the summer-house, and, lifting + the Oriental's limp arm, took account of his pulse. Then, with head bowed + low, side-wise, he listened for the heart-action. Finally, he somewhat + brusquely pushed back one of the Chinaman's eyelids, and made a minute + inspection of what the operation disclosed. Returning to the light, he + inscribed some notes in his book, put it back in his pocket, and came out. + In answer to Theron's marvelling stare, he pointed toward a pipe of odd + construction lying on the floor beneath the sleeper. + </p> + <p> + “This is one of my regular afternoon duties,” he explained, again with the + whimsical half-smile. “I am increasing his dose monthly by regular stages, + and the results promise to be rather remarkable. Heretofore, observations + have been made mostly on diseased or morbidly deteriorated subjects. This + fellow of mine is strong as an ox, perfectly nourished, and watched over + intelligently. He can assimilate opium enough to kill you and me and every + other vertebrate creature on the premises, without turning a hair, and he + hasn't got even fairly under way yet.” + </p> + <p> + The thing was unpleasant, and the young minister turned away. They walked + together up the path toward the house. His mind was full now of the + hostile things which Celia had said about the doctor. He had vaguely + sympathized with her then, upon no special knowledge of his own. Now he + felt that his sentiments were vehemently in accord with hers. The doctor + WAS a beast. + </p> + <p> + And yet—as they moved slowly along through the garden the thought + took sudden shape in his mind—it would be only justice for him to + get also the doctor's opinion of Celia. Even while they offended and + repelled him, he could not close his eyes to the fact that the doctor's + experiments and occupations were those of a patient and exact man of + science—a philosopher. And what he had said about women—there + was certainly a great deal of acumen and shrewd observation in that. If he + would only say what he really thought about Celia, and about her relations + with the priest! Yes, Theron recognized now there was nothing else that he + so much needed light upon as those puzzling ties between Celia and Father + Forbes. + </p> + <p> + He paused, with a simulated curiosity, about one of the flower-beds. + “Speaking of women and religion”—he began, in as casual a tone as he + could command—“I notice curiously enough in my own case, that as I + develop in what you may call the—the other direction, my wife, who + formerly was not especially devote, is being strongly attracted by the + most unthinking and hysterical side of—of our church system.” + </p> + <p> + The doctor looked at him, nodded, and stooped to nip some buds from a + stalk in the bed. + </p> + <p> + “And another case,” Theron went on—“of course it was all so new and + strange to me—but the position which Miss Madden seems to occupy + about the Catholic Church here—I suppose you had her in mind when + you spoke.” + </p> + <p> + Ledsmar stood up. “My mind has better things to busy itself with than mad + asses of that description,” he replied. “She is not worth talking about—a + mere bundle of egotism, ignorance, and red-headed lewdness. If she were + even a type, she might be worth considering; but she is simply an abnormal + sport, with a little brain addled by notions that she is like Hypatia, and + a large impudence rendered intolerable by the fact that she has money. Her + father is a decent man. He ought to have her whipped.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware drew himself erect, as he listened to these outrageous words. It + would be unmanly, he felt, to allow such comments upon an absent friend to + pass unrebuked. Yet there was the courtesy due to a host to be considered. + His mind, fluttering between these two extremes, alighted abruptly upon a + compromise. He would speak so as to show his disapproval, yet not so as to + prevent his finding out what he wanted to know. The desire to hear Ledsmar + talk about Celia and the priest seemed now to have possessed him for a + long time, to have dictated his unpremeditated visit out here, to have + been growing in intensity all the while he pretended to be interested in + orchids and bees and the drugged Chinaman. It tugged passionately at his + self-control as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot in the least assent to your characterization of the lady,” he + began with rhetorical dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Bless me!” interposed the doctor, with deceptive cheerfulness, “that is + not required of you at all. It is a strictly personal opinion, offered + merely as a contribution to the general sum of hypotheses.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” Theron went on, feeling his way, “of course, I gathered that + evening that you had prejudices in the matter; but these are rather apart + from the point I had in view. We were speaking, you will remember, of the + traditional attitude of women toward priests—wanting to curl their + hair and put flowers in it, you know, and that suggested to me some + individual illustrations, and it occurred to me to wonder just what were + the relations between Miss Madden and—and Father Forbes. She said + this morning, for instance—I happened to meet her, quite by accident—that + she was going to the church to practise a new piece, and that she could + have Father Forbes to herself all day. Now that would be quite an + impossible remark in our—that is, in any Protestant circles—and + purely as a matter of comparison, I was curious to ask you just how much + there was in it. I ask you, because going there so much you have had + exceptional opportunities for—” + </p> + <p> + A sharp exclamation from his companion interrupted the clergyman's + hesitating monologue. It began like a high-pitched, violent word, but + dwindled suddenly into a groan of pain. The doctor's face, too, which had + on the flash of Theron's turning seemed given over to unmixed anger, took + on an expression of bodily suffering instead. + </p> + <p> + “My shoulder has grown all at once excessively painful,” he said hastily. + “I'm afraid I must ask you to excuse me, Mr. Ware.” + </p> + <p> + Carrying the afflicted side with ostentatious caution, he led the way + without ado round the house to the front gate on the road. He had put his + left hand under his coat to press it against his aching shoulder, and his + right hung palpably helpless. This rendered it impossible for him to shake + hands with his guest in parting. + </p> + <p> + “You're sure there's nothing I can do,” said Theron, lingering on the + outer side of the gate. “I used to rub my father's shoulders and back; I'd + gladly—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not for worlds!” groaned the doctor. His anguish was so impressive + that Theron, as he walked down the road, quite missed the fact that there + had been no invitation to come again. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Ledsmar stood for a minute or two, his gaze meditatively following the + retreating figure. Then he went in, opening the front door with his right + hand, and carrying himself once more as if there were no such thing as + rheumatism in the world. He wandered on through the hall into the + laboratory, and stopped in front of the row of little tanks full of water. + </p> + <p> + Some deliberation was involved in whatever his purpose might be, for he + looked from one tank to another with a pondering, dilatory gaze. At last + he plunged his hand into the opaque fluid and drew forth a long, slim, + yellowish-green lizard, with a coiling, sinuous tail and a pointed, evil + head. The reptile squirmed and doubled itself backward around his wrist, + darting out and in with dizzy swiftness its tiny forked tongue. + </p> + <p> + The doctor held the thing up to the light, and, scrutinizing it through + his spectacles, nodded his head in sedate approval. A grim smile curled in + his beard. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you are the type,” he murmured to it, with evident enjoyment in the + conceit. “Your name isn't Johnny any more. It's the Rev. Theron Ware.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII + </h2> + <p> + The annual camp-meeting of the combined Methodist districts of Octavius + and Thessaly was held this year in the second half of September, a little + later than usual. Of the nine days devoted to this curious survival of + primitive Wesleyanism, the fifth fell upon a Saturday. On the noon of that + day the Rev. Theron Ware escaped for some hours from the burden of work + and incessant observation which he shared with twenty other preachers, and + walked alone in the woods. + </p> + <p> + The scene upon which he turned his back was one worth looking at. A + spacious, irregularly defined clearing in the forest lay level as a + tennis-court, under the soft haze of autumn sunlight. In the centre was a + large, roughly constructed frame building, untouched by paint, but stained + and weather-beaten with time. Behind it were some lines of horse-sheds, + and still further on in that direction, where the trees began, the eye + caught fragmentary glimpses of low roofs and the fronts of tiny cottages, + withdrawn from full view among the saplings and underbrush. At the other + side of the clearing, fully fourscore tents were pitched, some gray and + mended, others dazzlingly white in their newness. The more remote of these + tents fell into an orderly arrangement of semi-circular form, facing that + part of the engirdling woods where the trees were largest, and their + canopy of overhanging foliage was lifted highest from the ground. Inside + this half-ring of tents were many rounded rows of benches, which followed + in narrowing lines the idea of an amphitheatre cut in two. In the centre, + just under the edge of the roof of boughs, rose a wooden pagoda, in form + not unlike an open-air stand for musicians. In front of this, and leading + from it on the level of its floor, there projected a platform, railed + round with aggressively rustic woodwork. The nearest benches came close + about this platform. + </p> + <p> + At the hour when Theron started away, there were few enough signs of life + about this encampment. The four or five hundred people who were in + constant residence were eating their dinners in the big boarding-house, or + the cottages or the tents. It was not the time of day for strangers. Even + when services were in progress by daylight, the regular attendants did not + make much of a show, huddled in a gray-black mass at the front of the + auditorium, by comparison with the great green and blue expanses of nature + about them. + </p> + <p> + The real spectacle was in the evening when, as the shadows gathered, big + clusters of kerosene torches, hung on the trees facing the audience were + lighted. The falling darkness magnified the glow of the lights, and the + size and importance of what they illumined. The preacher, bending forward + over the rails of the platform, and fastening his eyes upon the abashed + faces of those on the “anxious seat” beneath him, borrowed an effect of + druidical mystery from the wall of blackness about him, from the + flickering reflections on the branches far above, from the cool night air + which stirred across the clearing. The change was in the blood of those + who saw and heard him, too. The decorum and half-heartedness of their + devotions by day deepened under the glare of the torches into a fervent + enthusiasm, even before the services began. And if there was in the rustic + pulpit a man whose prayers or exhortations could stir their pulses, they + sang and groaned and bellowed out their praises with an almost barbarous + license, such as befitted the wilderness. + </p> + <p> + But in the evening not all were worshippers. For a dozen miles round on + the country-side, young farm-workers and their girls regarded the + camp-meeting as perhaps the chief event of the year—no more to be + missed than the country fair or the circus, and offering, from many points + of view, more opportunities for genuine enjoyment than either. Their + behavior when they came was pretty bad—not the less so because all + the rules established by the Presiding Elders for the regulation of + strangers took it for granted that they would act as viciously as they + knew how. These sight-seers sometimes ventured to occupy the back benches + where the light was dim. More often they stood outside, in the circular + space between the tents and the benches, and mingled cat-calls, drovers' + yelps, and all sorts of mocking cries and noises with the “Amens” of the + earnest congregation. Their rough horse-play on the fringe of the + sanctified gathering was grievous enough; everybody knew that much worse + things went on further out in the surrounding darkness. Indeed, popular + report gave to these external phases of the camp-meeting an even more evil + fame than attached to the later moonlight husking-bees, or the least + reputable of the midwinter dances at Dave Randall's low halfway house. + </p> + <p> + Cynics said that the Methodists found consolation for this scandal in the + large income they derived from their unruly visitors' gate-money. This was + unfair. No doubt the money played its part, but there was something else + far more important. The pious dwellers in the camp, intent upon reviving + in their poor modern way the character and environment of the heroic early + days, felt the need of just this hostile and scoffing mob about them to + bring out the spirit they sought. Theirs was pre-eminently a fighting + religion, which languished in peaceful fair weather, but flamed high in + the storm. The throng of loafers and light-minded worldlings of both + sexes, with their jeering interruptions and lewd levity of conduct, + brought upon the scene a kind of visible personal devil, with whom the + chosen could do battle face to face. The daylight services became more and + more perfunctory, as the sojourn in the woods ran its course, and interest + concentrated itself upon the night meetings, for the reason that THEN came + the fierce wrestle with a Beelzebub of flesh and blood. And it was not so + one-sided a contest, either! + </p> + <p> + No evening passed without its victories for the pulpit. Careless or + mischievous young people who were pushed into the foremost ranks of the + mockers, and stood grinning and grimacing under the lights, would of a + sudden feel a spell clamped upon them. They would hear a strange, + quavering note in the preacher's voice, catch the sense of a piercing, + soul-commanding gleam in his eye—not at all to be resisted. These + occult forces would take control of them, drag them forward as in a dream + to the benches under the pulpit, and abase them there like worms in the + dust. And then the preacher would descend, and the elders advance, and the + torch-fires would sway and dip before the wind of the mighty roar that + went up in triumph from the brethren. + </p> + <p> + These combats with Satan at close quarters, if they made the week-day + evenings exciting, reacted with an effect of crushing dulness upon the + Sunday services. The rule was to admit no strangers to the grounds from + Saturday night to Monday morning. Every year attempts were made to rescind + or modify this rule, and this season at least three-fourths of the laymen + in attendance had signed a petition in favor of opening the gates. The two + Presiding Elders, supported by a dozen of the older preachers, resisted + the change, and they had the backing of the more bigoted section of the + congregation from Octavius. The controversy reached a point where Theron's + Presiding Elder threatened to quit the grounds, and the leaders of the + open-Sunday movement spoke freely of the ridiculous figure which its + cranks and fanatics made poor Methodism cut in the eyes of modern go-ahead + American civilization. Then Theron Ware saw his opportunity, and preached + an impromptu sermon upon the sanctity of the Sabbath, which ended all + discussion. Sometimes its arguments seemed to be on one side, sometimes on + the other, but always they were clothed with so serene a beauty of + imagery, and moved in such a lofty and rarefied atmosphere of spiritual + exaltation, that it was impossible to link them to so sordid a thing as + this question of gate-money. When he had finished, nobody wanted the gates + opened. The two factions found that the difference between them had melted + out of existence. They sat entranced by the charm of the sermon; then, + glancing around at the empty benches, glaringly numerous in the afternoon + sunlight, they whispered regrets that ten thousand people had not been + there to hear that marvellous discourse. Theron's conquest was of + exceptional dimensions. The majority, whose project he had defeated, were + strangers who appreciated and admired his effort most. The little minority + of his own flock, though less susceptible to the influence of graceful + diction and delicately balanced rhetoric, were proud of the distinction he + had reflected upon them, and delighted with him for having won their + fight. The Presiding Elders wrung his hand with a significant grip. The + extremists of his own charge beamed friendship upon him for the first + time. He was the veritable hero of the week. + </p> + <p> + The prestige of this achievement made it the easier for Theron to get away + by himself next day, and walk in the woods. A man of such power had a + right to solitude. Those who noted his departure from the camp remembered + with pleasure that he was to preach again on the morrow. He was going to + commune with God in the depths of the forest, that the Message next day + might be clearer and more luminous still. + </p> + <p> + Theron strolled for a little, with an air of aimlessness, until he was + well outside the more or less frequented neighborhood of the camp. Then he + looked at the sun and the lay of the land with that informing scrutiny of + which the farm-bred boy never loses the trick, turned, and strode at a + rattling pace down the hillside. He knew nothing personally of this piece + of woodland—a spur of the great Adirondack wilderness thrust + southward into the region of homesteads and dairies and hop-fields—but + he had prepared himself by a study of the map, and he knew where he wanted + to go. Very Soon he hit upon the path he had counted upon finding, and at + this he quickened his gait. + </p> + <p> + Three months of the new life had wrought changes in Theron. He bore + himself more erectly, for one thing; his shoulders were thrown back, and + seemed thicker. The alteration was even more obvious in his face. The + effect of lank, wistful, sallow juvenility had vanished. It was the + countenance of a mature, well-fed, and confident man, firmer and more + rounded in its outlines, and with a glow of health on its whole surface. + Under the chin were the suggestions of fulness which bespeak an easy mind. + His clothes were new; the frock-coat fitted him, and the thin, + dark-colored autumn overcoat, with its silk lining exposed at the breast, + gave a masculine bulk and shape to his figure. He wore a shining tall hat, + and, in haste though he was, took pains not to knock it against + low-hanging branches. + </p> + <p> + All had gone well—more than well—with him. The second + Quarterly Conference had passed without a ripple. Both the attendance and + the collections at his church were larger than ever before, and the tone + of the congregation toward him was altered distinctly for the better. As + for himself, he viewed with astonished delight the progress he had made in + his own estimation. He had taken Sister Soulsby's advice, and the results + were already wonderful. He had put aside, once and for all, the thousand + foolish trifles and childish perplexities which formerly had racked his + brain, and worried him out of sleep and strength. He borrowed all sorts of + books boldly now from the Octavius public library, and could swim with a + calm mastery and enjoyment upon the deep waters into which Draper and + Lecky and Laing and the rest had hurled him. He dallied pleasurably, a + little languorously, with a dozen aspects of the case against revealed + religion, ranging from the mild heterodoxy of Andover's qualms to the rude + Ingersoll's rollicking negation of God himself, as a woman of coquetry + might play with as many would-be lovers. They amused him; they were all + before him to choose; and he was free to postpone indefinitely the act of + selection. There was a sense of the luxurious in this position which + softened bodily as well as mental fibres. He ceased to grow indignant at + things below or outside his standards, and he bought a small book which + treated of the care of the hand and finger nails. + </p> + <p> + Alice had accepted with deference his explanation that shapely hands + played so important a part in pulpit oratory. For that matter, she now + accepted whatever he said or did with admirable docility. It was months + since he could remember her venturing upon a critical attitude toward him. + </p> + <p> + She had not wished to leave home, for the seaside or any other resort, + during the summer, but had worked outside in her garden more than usual. + This was inexpensive, and it seemed to do her as much good as a holiday + could have done. Her new devotional zeal was now quite an odd thing; it + had not slackened at all from the revival pitch. At the outset she had + tried several times to talk with her husband upon this subject. He had + discouraged conversation about her soul and its welfare, at first + obliquely, then, under compulsion, with some directness. His thoughts were + absorbed, he said, by the contemplation of vast, abstract schemes of + creation and the government of the universe, and it only diverted and + embarrassed his mind to try to fasten it upon the details of personal + salvation. Thereafter the topic was not broached between them. + </p> + <p> + She bestowed a good deal of attention, too, upon her piano. The knack of a + girlish nimbleness of touch had returned to her after a few weeks, and she + made music which Theron supposed was very good—for her. It pleased + him, at all events, when he sat and listened to it; but he had a far + greater pleasure, as he listened, in dwelling upon the memories of the + yellow and blue room which the sounds always brought up. Although three + months had passed, Thurston's had never asked for the first payment on the + piano, or even sent in a bill. This impressed him as being peculiarly + graceful behavior on his part, and he recognized its delicacy by not going + near Thurston's at all. + </p> + <p> + An hour's sharp walk, occasionally broken by short cuts across open + pastures, but for the most part on forest paths, brought Theron to the + brow of a small knoll, free from underbrush, and covered sparsely with + beech-trees. The ground was soft with moss and the powdered remains of + last year's foliage; the leaves above him were showing the first yellow + stains of autumn. A sweet smell of ripening nuts was thick upon the air, + and busy rustlings and chirpings through the stillness told how the + chipmunks and squirrels were attending to their harvest. + </p> + <p> + Theron had no ears for these noises of the woodland. He had halted, and + was searching through the little vistas offered between the stout gray + trunks of the beeches for some sign of a more sophisticated sort. Yes! + there were certainly voices to be heard, down in the hollow. And now, + beyond all possibility of mistake, there came up to him the low, rhythmic + throb of music. It was the merest faint murmur of music, made up almost + wholly of groaning bass notes, but it was enough. He moved down the slope, + swiftly at first, then with increasing caution. The sounds grew louder as + he advanced, until he could hear the harmony of the other strings in its + place beside the uproar of the big fiddles, and distinguish from both the + measured noise of many feet moving as one. + </p> + <p> + He reached a place from which, himself unobserved, he could overlook much + of what he had come to see. + </p> + <p> + The bottom of the glade below him lay out in the full sunshine, as flat + and as velvety in its fresh greenness as a garden lawn. Its open expanse + was big enough to accommodate several distinct crowds, and here the crowds + were—one massed about an enclosure in which young men were playing + at football, another gathered further off in a horse-shoe curve at the end + of a baseball diamond, and a third thronging at a point where the shade of + overhanging woods began, focussed upon a centre of interest which Theron + could not make out. Closer at hand, where a shallow stream rippled along + over its black-slate bed, some little boys, with legs bared to the thighs, + were paddling about, under the charge of two men clad in long black gowns. + There were others of these frocked monitors scattered here and there upon + the scene—pallid, close-shaven, monkish figures, who none the less + wore modern hats, and superintended with knowledge the games of the + period. Theron remembered that these were the Christian Brothers, the + semi-monastic teachers of the Catholic school. + </p> + <p> + And this was the picnic of the Catholics of Octavius. He gazed in mingled + amazement and exhilaration upon the spectacle. There seemed to be + literally thousands of people on the open fields before him, and + apparently there were still other thousands in the fringes of the woods + round about. The noises which arose from this multitude—the shouts + of the lads in the water, the playful squeals of the girls in the swings, + the fused uproar of the more distant crowds, and above all the diligent, + ordered strains of the dance-music proceeding from some invisible distance + in the greenwood—charmed his ears with their suggestion of universal + merriment. He drew a long breath—half pleasure, half wistful regret—as + he remembered that other gathering in the forest which he had left behind. + </p> + <p> + At any rate, it should be well behind him today, whatever the morrow might + bring! Evidently he was on the wrong side of the circle for the + headquarters of the festivities. He turned and walked to the right through + the beeches, making a detour, under cover, of the crowds at play. At last + he rounded the long oval of the clearing, and found himself at the very + edge of that largest throng of all, which had been too far away for + comprehension at the beginning. There was no mystery now. A rough, narrow + shed, fully fifty feet in length, imposed itself in an arbitrary line + across the face of this crowd, dividing it into two compact halves. Inside + this shed, protected all round by a waist-high barrier of boards, on top + of which ran a flat, table-like covering, were twenty men in their + shirt-sleeves, toiling ceaselessly to keep abreast of the crowd's thirst + for beer. The actions of these bartenders greatly impressed Theron. They + moved like so many machines, using one hand, apparently, to take money and + give change, and with the other incessantly sweeping off rows of empty + glasses, and tossing forward in their place fresh, foaming glasses five at + a time. Hundreds of arms and hands were continually stretched out, on both + sides of the shed, toward this streaming bar, and through the babel of + eager cries rose without pause the racket of mallets tapping new kegs. + </p> + <p> + Theron had never seen any considerable number of his fellow-citizens + engaged in drinking lager beer before. His surprise at the facility of + those behind the bar began to yield, upon observation, to a profound + amazement at the thirst of those before it. The same people seemed to be + always in front, emptying the glasses faster than the busy men inside + could replenish them, and clamoring tirelessly for more. Newcomers had to + force their way to the bar by violent efforts, and once there they stayed + until pushed bodily aside. There were actually women to be seen here and + there in the throng, elbowing and shoving like the rest for a place at the + front. Some of the more gallant young men fought their way outward, from + time to time, carrying for safety above their heads glasses of beer which + they gave to young and pretty girls standing on the fringe of the crowd, + among the trees. + </p> + <p> + Everywhere a remarkable good-humor prevailed. Once a sharp fight broke + out, just at the end of the bar nearest Theron, and one young man was + knocked down. A rush of the onlookers confused everything before the + minister's eyes for a minute, and then he saw the aggrieved combatant up + on his legs again, consenting under the kindly pressure of the crowd to + shake hands with his antagonist, and join him in more beer. The incident + caught his fancy. There was something very pleasingly human, he thought, + in this primitive readiness to resort to fisticuffs, and this frank and + genial reconciliation. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps there was something contagious in this wholesale display of + thirst, for the Rev. Mr. Ware became conscious of a notion that he should + like to try a glass of beer. He recalled having heard that lager was + really a most harmless beverage. Of course it was out of the question that + he should show himself at the bar. Perhaps some one would bring him out a + glass, as if he were a pretty girl. He looked about for a possible + messenger. Turning, he found himself face to face with two smiling people, + into whose eyes he stared for an instant in dumfounded blankness. Then his + countenance flashed with joy, and he held out both hands in greeting. It + was Father Forbes and Celia. + </p> + <p> + “We stole down upon you unawares,” said the priest, in his cheeriest + manner. He wore a brown straw hat, and loose clothes hardly at all + clerical in form, and had Miss Madden's arm drawn lightly within his own. + “We could barely believe our eyes—that it could be you whom we saw, + here among the sinners!” + </p> + <p> + “I am in love with your sinners,” responded Theron, as he shook hands with + Celia, and trusted himself to look fully into her eyes. “I've had five + days of the saints, over in another part of the woods, and they've bored + the head off me.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII + </h2> + <p> + At the command of Father Forbes, a lad who was loitering near them went + down through the throng to the bar, and returned with three glasses of + beer. It pleased the Rev. Mr. Ware that the priest should have taken it + for granted that he would do as the others did. He knocked his glass + against theirs in compliance with a custom strange to him, but which they + seemed to understand very well. The beer itself was not so agreeable to + the taste as he had expected, but it was cold and refreshing. + </p> + <p> + When the boy had returned with the glasses, the three stood for a moment + in silence, meditatively watching the curious scene spread below them. + Beyond the bar, Theron could catch now through the trees regularly + recurring glimpses of four or five swings in motion. These were nearest + him, and clearest to the vision as well, at the instant when they reached + their highest forward point. The seats were filled with girls, some of + them quite grown young women, and their curving upward sweep through the + air was disclosing at its climax a remarkable profusion of white skirts + and black stockings. The sight struck him as indecorous in the extreme, + and he turned his eyes away. They met Celia's; and there was something + latent in their brown depths which prompted him, after a brief dalliance + of interchanging glances, to look again at the swings. + </p> + <p> + “That old maid Curran is really too ridiculous, with those white stockings + of hers,” remarked Celia; “some friend ought to tell her to dye them.” + </p> + <p> + “Or pad them,” suggested Father Forbes, with a gay little chuckle. “I + daresay the question of swings and ladies' stockings hardly arises with + you, over at the camp-meeting, Mr. Ware?” + </p> + <p> + Theron laughed aloud at the conceit. “I should say not!” he replied. + </p> + <p> + “I'm just dying to see a camp-meeting!” said Celia. “You hear such racy + accounts of what goes on at them.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't go, I beg of you!” urged Theron, with doleful emphasis. “Don't + let's even talk about them. I should like to feel this afternoon as if + there was no such thing within a thousand miles of me as a camp-meeting. + Do you know, all this interests me enormously. It is a revelation to me to + see these thousands of good, decent, ordinary people, just frankly + enjoying themselves like human beings. I suppose that in this whole huge + crowd there isn't a single person who will mention the subject of his soul + to any other person all day long.” + </p> + <p> + “I should think the assumption was a safe one,” said the priest, + smilingly, “unless,” he added on afterthought, “it be by way of a genial + profanity. There used to be some old Clare men who said 'Hell to my soul!' + when they missed at quoits, but I haven't heard it for a long time. I + daresay they're all dead.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall never forget that death-bed—where I saw you first,” + remarked Theron, musingly. “I date from that experience a whole new life. + I have been greatly struck lately, in reading our 'Northern Christian + Advocate' to see in the obituary notices of prominent Methodists how over + and over again it is recorded that they got religion in their youth + through being frightened by some illness of their own, or some epidemic + about them. The cholera year of 1832 seems to have made Methodists hand + over fist. Even to this day our most successful revivalists, those who + work conversions wholesale wherever they go, do it more by frightful + pictures of hell-fire surrounding the sinner's death-bed than anything + else. You could hear the same thing at our camp-meeting tonight, if you + were there.” + </p> + <p> + “There isn't so much difference as you think,” said Father Forbes, + dispassionately. “Your people keep examining their souls, just as children + keep pulling up the bulbs they have planted to see are there any roots + yet. Our people are more satisfied to leave their souls alone, once they + have been planted, so to speak, by baptism. But fear of hell governs them + both, pretty much alike. As I remember saying to you once before, there is + really nothing new under the sun. Even the saying isn't new. Though there + seem to have been the most tremendous changes in races and civilizations + and religions, stretching over many thousands of years, yet nothing is in + fact altered very much. Where religions are concerned, the human race are + still very like savages in a dangerous wood in the dark, telling one + another ghost stories around a camp-fire. They have always been like + that.” + </p> + <p> + “What nonsense!” cried Celia. “I have no patience with such gloomy + rubbish. The Greeks had a religion full of beauty and happiness and + light-heartedness, and they weren't frightened of death at all. They made + the image of death a beautiful boy, with a torch turned down. Their + greatest philosophers openly preached and practised the doctrine of + suicide when one was tired of life. Our own early Church was full of these + broad and beautiful Greek ideas. You know that yourself! And it was only + when your miserable Jeromes and Augustines and Cyrils brought in the + abominable meannesses and cruelties of the Jewish Old Testament, and + stamped out the sane and lovely Greek elements in the Church, that + Christians became the poor, whining, cowardly egotists they are, troubling + about their little tin-pot souls, and scaring themselves in their churches + by skulls and crossbones.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Celia,” interposed the priest, patting her shoulder gently, “we + will have no Greek debate today. Mr. Ware has been permitted to taboo + camp-meetings, and I claim the privilege to cry off on Greeks. Look at + those fellows down there, trampling over one another to get more beer. + What have they to do with Athens, or Athens with them? I take it, Mr. + Ware,” he went on, with a grave face but a twinkling eye, “that what we + are observing here in front of us is symbolical of a great ethical and + theological revolution, which in time will modify and control the destiny + of the entire American people. You see those young Irishmen there, + struggling like pigs at a trough to get their fill of German beer. That + signifies a conquest of Teuton over Kelt more important and far-reaching + in its results than the landing of Hengist and Horsa. The Kelt has come to + grief heretofore—or at least been forced to play second fiddle to + other races—because he lacked the right sort of a drink. He has in + his blood an excess of impulsive, imaginative, even fantastic qualities. + It is much easier for him to make a fool of himself, to begin with, than + it is for people of slower wits and more sluggish temperaments. When you + add whiskey to that, or that essence of melancholia which in Ireland they + call 'porther,' you get the Kelt at his very weakest and worst. These + young men down there are changing all that. They have discovered lager. + Already many of them can outdrink the Germans at their own beverage. The + lager-drinking Irishman in a few generations will be a new type of + humanity—the Kelt at his best. He will dominate America. He will be + THE American. And his church—with the Italian element thrown clean + out of it, and its Pope living, say, in Baltimore or Georgetown—will + be the Church of America.” + </p> + <p> + “Let us have some more lager at once,” put in Celia. “This revolution + can't be hurried forward too rapidly.” + </p> + <p> + Theron could not feel sure how much of the priest's discourse was in jest, + how much in earnest. “It seems to me,” he said, “that as things are going, + it doesn't look much as if the America of the future will trouble itself + about any kind of a church. The march of science must very soon produce a + universal scepticism. It is in the nature of human progress. What all + intelligent men recognize today, the masses must surely come to see in + time.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes laughed outright this time. “My dear Mr. Ware,” he said, as + they touched glasses again, and sipped the fresh beer that had been + brought them, “of all our fictions there is none so utterly baseless and + empty as this idea that humanity progresses. The savage's natural + impression is that the world he sees about him was made for him, and that + the rest of the universe is subordinated to him and his world, and that + all the spirits and demons and gods occupy themselves exclusively with him + and his affairs. That idea was the basis of every pagan religion, and it + is the basis of the Christian religion, simply because it is the + foundation of human nature. That foundation is just as firm and unshaken + today as it was in the Stone Age. It will always remain, and upon it will + always be built some kind of a religious superstructure. 'Intelligent + men,' as you call them, really have very little influence, even when they + all pull one way. The people as a whole soon get tired of them. They give + too much trouble. The most powerful forces in human nature are + self-protection and inertia. The middle-aged man has found out that the + chief wisdom in life is to bend to the pressures about him, to shut up and + do as others do. Even when he thinks he has rid his own mind of + superstitions, he sees that he will best enjoy a peaceful life by leaving + other peoples' superstitions alone. That is always the ultimate view of + the crowd.” + </p> + <p> + “But I don't see,” observed Theron, “granting that all this is true, how + you think the Catholic Church will come out on top. I could understand it + of Unitarianism, or Universalism, or the Episcopal Church, where nobody + seems to have to believe particularly in anything except the beauty of its + burial service, but I should think the very rigidity of the Catholic creed + would make it impossible. There everything is hard and fast; nothing is + elastic; there is no room for compromise.” + </p> + <p> + “The Church is always compromising,” explained the priest, “only it does + it so slowly that no one man lives long enough to quite catch it at the + trick. No; the great secret of the Catholic Church is that it doesn't + debate with sceptics. No matter what points you make against it, it is + never betrayed into answering back. It simply says these things are sacred + mysteries, which you are quite free to accept and be saved, or reject and + be damned. There is something intelligible and fine about an attitude like + that. When people have grown tired of their absurd and fruitless wrangling + over texts and creeds which, humanly speaking, are all barbaric nonsense, + they will come back to repose pleasantly under the Catholic roof, in that + restful house where things are taken for granted. There the manners are + charming, the service excellent, the decoration and upholstery most + acceptable to the eye, and the music”—he made a little mock bow here + to Celia—“the music at least is divine. There you have nothing to do + but be agreeable, and avoid scandal, and observe the convenances. You are + no more expected to express doubts about the Immaculate Conception than + you are to ask the lady whom you take down to dinner how old she is. Now + that is, as I have said, an intelligent and rational church for people to + have. As the Irish civilize themselves—you observe them diligently + engaged in the process down below there—and the social roughness of + their church becomes softened and ameliorated, Americans will inevitably + be attracted toward it. In the end, it will embrace them all, and be + modified by them, and in turn influence their development, till you will + have a new nation and a new national church, each representative of the + other.” + </p> + <p> + “And all this is to be done by lager beer!” Theron ventured to comment, + jokingly. He was conscious of a novel perspiration around the bridge of + his nose, which was obviously another effect of the drink. + </p> + <p> + The priest passed the pleasantry by. “No,” he said seriously; “what you + must see is that there must always be a church. If one did not exist, it + would be necessary to invent it. It is needed, first and foremost, as a + police force. It is needed, secondly, so to speak, as a fire insurance. It + provides the most even temperature and pure atmosphere for the growth of + young children. It furnishes the best obtainable social machinery for + marrying off one's daughters, getting to know the right people, patching + up quarrels, and so on. The priesthood earn their salaries as the agents + for these valuable social arrangements. Their theology is thrown in as a + sort of intellectual diversion, like the ritual of a benevolent + organization. There are some who get excited about this part of it, just + as one hears of Free-Masons who believe that the sun rises and sets to + exemplify their ceremonies. Others take their duties more quietly, and, + understanding just what it all amounts to, make the best of it, like you + and me.” + </p> + <p> + Theron assented to the philosophy and the compliment by a grave bow. “Yes, + that is the idea—to make the best of it,” he said, and fastened his + regard boldly this time upon the swings. + </p> + <p> + “We were both ordained by our bishops,” continued the priest, “at an age + when those worthy old gentlemen would not have trusted our combined wisdom + to buy a horse for them.” + </p> + <p> + “And I was married,” broke in Theron, with an eagerness almost vehement, + “when I had only just been ordained! At the worst, YOU had only the Church + fastened upon your back, before you were old enough to know what you + wanted. It is easy enough to make the best of THAT, but it is different + with me.” + </p> + <p> + A marked silence followed this outburst. The Rev. Mr. Ware had never + spoken of his marriage to either of these friends before; and something in + their manner seemed to suggest that they did not find the subject + inviting, now that it had been broached. He himself was filled with a + desire to say more about it. He had never clearly realized before what a + genuine grievance it was. The moisture at the top of his nose merged + itself into tears in the corners of his eyes, as the cruel enormity of the + sacrifice he had made in his youth rose before him. His whole life had + been fettered and darkened by it. He turned his gaze from the swings + toward Celia, to claim the sympathy he knew she would feel for him. + </p> + <p> + But Celia was otherwise engaged. A young man had come up to her—a + tall and extremely thin young man, soberly dressed, and with a long, + gaunt, hollow-eyed face, the skin of which seemed at once florid and pale. + He had sandy hair and the rough hands of a workman; but he was speaking to + Miss Madden in the confidential tones of an equal. + </p> + <p> + “I can do nothing at all with him,” this newcomer said to her. “He'll not + be said by me. Perhaps he'd listen to you!” + </p> + <p> + “It's likely I'll go down there!” said Celia. “He may do what he likes for + all me! Take my advice, Michael, and just go your way, and leave him to + himself. There was a time when I would have taken out my eyes for him, but + it was love wasted and thrown away. After the warnings he's had, if he + WILL bring trouble on himself, let's make it no affair of ours.” + </p> + <p> + Theron had found himself exchanging glances of inquiry with this young + man. “Mr. Ware,” said Celia, here, “let me introduce you to my brother + Michael—my full brother.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware remembered him now, and began, in response to the other's formal + bow, to say something about their having met in the dark, inside the + church. But Celia held up her hand. “I'm afraid, Mr. Ware,” she said + hurriedly, “that you are in for a glimpse of the family skeleton. I will + apologize for the infliction in advance.” + </p> + <p> + Wonderingly, Theron followed her look, and saw another young man who had + come up the path from the crowd below, and was close upon them. The + minister recognized in him a figure which had seemed to be the centre of + almost every group about the bar that he had studied in detail. He was a + small, dapper, elegantly attired youth, with dark hair, and the handsome, + regularly carved face of an actor. He advanced with a smiling countenance + and unsteady step—his silk hat thrust back upon his head, his + frock-coat and vest unbuttoned, and his neckwear disarranged—and + saluted the company with amiability. + </p> + <p> + “I saw you up here, Father Forbes,” he said, with a thickened and erratic + utterance. “Whyn't you come down and join us? I'm setting 'em up for + everybody. You got to take care of the boys, you know. I'll blow in the + last cent I've got in the world for the boys, every time, and they know + it. They're solider for me than they ever were for anybody. That's how it + is. If you stand by the boys, the boys'll stand by you. I'm going to the + Assembly for this district, and they ain't nobody can stop me. The boys + are just red hot for me. Wish you'd come down, Father Forbes, and address + a few words to the meeting—just mention that I'm a candidate, and + say I'm bound to win, hands down. That'll make you solid with the boys, + and we'll be all good fellows together. Come on down!” + </p> + <p> + The priest affably disengaged his arm from the clutch which the speaker + had laid upon it, and shook his head in gentle deprecation. “No, no; you + must excuse me, Theodore,” he said. “We mustn't meddle in politics, you + know.” + </p> + <p> + “Politics be damned!” urged Theodore, grabbing the priest's other arm, and + tugging at it stoutly to pull him down the path. “I say, boys” he shouted + to those below, “here's Father Forbes, and he's going to come down and + address the meeting. Come on, Father! Come down, and have a drink with the + boys!” + </p> + <p> + It was Celia who sharply pulled his hand away from the priest's arm this + time. “Go away with you!” she snapped in low, angry tones at the intruder. + “You should be ashamed of yourself! If you can't keep sober yourself, you + can at least keep your hands off the priest. I should think you'd have + more decency, when you're in such a state as this, than to come where I + am. If you've no respect for yourself, you might have that much respect + for me! And before strangers, too! + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I mustn't come where YOU are, eh?” remarked the peccant Theodore, + straightening himself with an elaborate effort. “You've bought these + woods, have you? I've got a hundred friends here, all the same, for every + one you'll ever have in your life, Red-head, and don't you forget it.” + </p> + <p> + “Go and spend your money with them, then, and don't come insulting decent + people,” said Celia. + </p> + <p> + “Before strangers, too!” the young man called out, with beery sarcasm. + “Oh, we'll take care of the strangers all right.” He had not seemed to be + aware of Theron's presence, much less his identity, before; but he turned + to him now with a knowing grin. “I'm running for the Assembly, Mr. Ware,” + he said, speaking loudly and with deliberate effort to avoid the drunken + elisions and comminglings to which his speech tended, “and I want you to + fix up the Methodists solid for me. I'm going to drive over to the + camp-meeting tonight, me and some of the boys in a barouche, and I'll put + a twenty-dollar bill on their plate. Here it is now, if you want to see + it.” + </p> + <p> + As the young man began fumbling in a vest-pocket, Theron gathered his wits + together. + </p> + <p> + “You'd better not go this evening,” he said, as convincingly as he knew + how; “because the gates will be closed very early, and the + Saturday-evening services are of a particularly special nature, quite + reserved for those living on the grounds.” + </p> + <p> + “Rats!” said Theodore, raising his head, and abandoning the search for the + bill. “Why don't you speak out like a man, and say you think I'm too + drunk?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think that is a question which need arise between us, Mr. + Madden,” murmured Theron, confusedly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't you make any mistake! A hell of a lot of questions arise + between us, Mr. Ware,” cried Theodore, with a sudden accession of vigor in + tone and mien. “And one of 'em is—go away from me, Michael!—one + of 'em is, I say, why don't you leave our girls alone? They've got their + own priests to make fools of themselves over, without any sneak of a + Protestant parson coming meddling round them. You're a married man into + the bargain; and you've got in your house this minute a piano that my + sister bought and paid for. Oh, I've seen the entry in Thurston's books! + You have the cheek to talk to me about being drunk—why—” + </p> + <p> + These remarks were never concluded, for Father Forbes here clapped a hand + abruptly over the offending mouth, and flung his free arm in a tight grip + around the young man's waist. “Come with me, Michael!” he said, and the + two men led the reluctant and resisting Theodore at a sharp pace off into + the woods. + </p> + <p> + Theron and Celia stood and watched them disappear among the undergrowth. + “It's the dirty Foley blood that's in him,” he heard her say, as if + between clenched teeth. + </p> + <p> + The girl's big brown eyes, when Theron looked into them again, were still + fixed upon the screen of foliage, and dilated like those of a Medusa mask. + The blood had gone away, and left the fair face and neck as white, it + seemed to him, as marble. Even her lips, fiercely bitten together, + appeared colorless. The picture of consuming and powerless rage which she + presented, and the shuddering tremor which ran over her form, as visible + as the quivering track of a gust of wind across a pond, awed and + frightened him. + </p> + <p> + Tenderness toward her helpless state came too, and uppermost. He drew her + arm into his, and turned their backs upon the picnic scene. + </p> + <p> + “Let us walk a little up the path into the woods,” he said, “and get away + from all this.” + </p> + <p> + “The further away the better,” she answered bitterly, and he felt the + shiver run through her again as she spoke. + </p> + <p> + The methodical waltz-music from that unseen dancing platform rose again + above all other sounds. They moved up the woodland path, their steps + insensibly falling into the rhythm of its strains, and vanished from sight + among the trees. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV + </h2> + <p> + Theron and Celia walked in silence for some minutes, until the noises of + the throng they had left behind were lost. The path they followed had + grown indefinite among the grass and creepers of the forest carpet; now it + seemed to end altogether in a little copse of young birches, the + delicately graceful stems of which were clustered about a parent stump, + long since decayed and overgrown with lichens and layers of thick moss. + </p> + <p> + As the two paused, the girl suddenly sank upon her knees, then threw + herself face forward upon the soft green bark which had formed itself + above the roots of the ancient mother-tree. Her companion looked down in + pained amazement at what he saw. Her body shook with the violence of + recurring sobs, or rather gasps of wrath and grief Her hands, with + stiffened, claw-like fingers, dug into the moss and tangle of tiny vines, + and tore them by the roots. The half-stifled sounds of weeping that arose + from where her face grovelled in the leaves were terrible to his ears. He + knew not what to say or do, but gazed in resourceless suspense at the + strange figure she made. It seemed a cruelly long time that she lay there, + almost at his feet, struggling fiercely with the fury that was in her. + </p> + <p> + All at once the paroxysms passed away, the sounds of wild weeping ceased. + Celia sat up, and with her handkerchief wiped the tears and leafy + fragments from her face. She rearranged her hat and the braids of her hair + with swift, instinctive touches, brushed the woodland debris from her + front, and sprang to her feet. + </p> + <p> + “I'm all right now,” she said briskly. There was palpable effort in her + light tone, and in the stormy sort of smile which she forced upon her + blotched and perturbed countenance, but they were only too welcome to + Theron's anxious mood. + </p> + <p> + “Thank God!” he blurted out, all radiant with relief. “I feared you were + going to have a fit—or something.” + </p> + <p> + Celia laughed, a little artificially at first, then with a genuine + surrender to the comic side of his visible fright. The mirth came back + into the brown depths of her eyes again, and her face cleared itself of + tear-stains and the marks of agitation. “I AM a nice quiet party for a + Methodist minister to go walking in the woods with, am I not?” she cried, + shaking her skirts and smiling at him. + </p> + <p> + “I am not a Methodist minister—please!” answered Theron—“at + least not today—and here—with you! I am just a man—nothing + more—a man who has escaped from lifelong imprisonment, and feels for + the first time what it is to be free!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my friend,” Celia said, shaking her head slowly, “I'm afraid you + deceive yourself. You are not by any means free. You are only looking out + of the window of your prison, as you call it. The doors are locked, just + the same.” + </p> + <p> + “I will smash them!” he declared, with confidence. “Or for that matter, I + HAVE smashed them—battered them to pieces. You don't realize what + progress I have made, what changes there have been in me since that night, + you remember that wonderful night! I am quite another being, I assure you! + And really it dates from way beyond that—why, from the very first + evening, when I came to you in the church. The window in Father Forbes' + room was open, and I stood by it listening to the music next door, and I + could just faintly see on the dark window across the alley-way a + stained-glass picture of a woman. I suppose it was the Virgin Mary. She + had hair like yours, and your face, too; and that is why I went into the + church and found you. Yes, that is why.” + </p> + <p> + Celia regarded him with gravity. “You will get yourself into great + trouble, my friend,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “That's where you're wrong,” put in Theron. “Not that I'd mind any trouble + in this wide world, so long as you called me 'my friend,' but I'm not + going to get into any at all. I know a trick worth two of that. I've + learned to be a showman. I can preach now far better than I used to, and I + can get through my work in half the time, and keep on the right side of my + people, and get along with perfect smoothness. I was too green before. I + took the thing seriously, and I let every mean-fisted curmudgeon and crazy + fanatic worry me, and keep me on pins and needles. I don't do that any + more. I've taken a new measure of life. I see now what life is really + worth, and I'm going to have my share of it. Why should I deliberately + deny myself all possible happiness for the rest of my days, simply because + I made a fool of myself when I was in my teens? Other men are not + eternally punished like that, for what they did as boys, and I won't + submit to it either. I will be as free to enjoy myself as—as Father + Forbes.” + </p> + <p> + Celia smiled softly, and shook her head again. “Poor man, to call HIM + free!” she said: “why, he is bound hand and foot. You don't in the least + realize how he is hedged about, the work he has to do, the thousand + suspicious eyes that watch his every movement, eager to bring the Bishop + down upon him. And then think of his sacrifice—the great sacrifice + of all—to never know what love means, to forswear his manhood, to + live a forlorn, celibate life—you have no idea how sadly that + appeals to a woman.” + </p> + <p> + “Let us sit down here for a little,” said Theron; “we seem at the end of + the path.” She seated herself on the root-based mound, and he reclined at + her side, with an arm carelessly extended behind her on the moss. + </p> + <p> + “I can see what you mean,” he went on, after a pause. “But to me, do you + know, there is an enormous fascination in celibacy. You forget that I know + the reverse of the medal. I know how the mind can be cramped, the nerves + harassed, the ambitions spoiled and rotted, the whole existence darkened + and belittled, by—by the other thing. I have never talked to you + before about my marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think we'd better talk about it now,” observed Celia. “There must + be many more amusing topics.” + </p> + <p> + He missed the spirit of her remark. “You are right,” he said slowly. “It + is too sad a thing to talk about. But there! it is my load, and I bear it, + and there's nothing more to be said.” + </p> + <p> + Theron drew a heavy sigh, and let his fingers toy abstractedly with a + ribbon on the outer edge of Celia's penumbra of apparel. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said. “We mustn't snivel, and we mustn't sulk. When I get into a + rage it makes me ill, and I storm my way through it and tear things, but + it doesn't last long, and I come out of it feeling all the better. I don't + know that I've ever seen your wife. I suppose she hasn't got red hair?” + </p> + <p> + “I think it's a kind of light brown,” answered Theron, with an effect of + exerting his memory. + </p> + <p> + “It seems that you only take notice of hair in stained-glass windows,” was + Celia's comment. + </p> + <p> + “Oh-h!” he murmured reproachfully, “as if—as if—but I won't + say what I was going to.” + </p> + <p> + “That's not fair!” she said. The little touch of whimsical mockery which + she gave to the serious declaration was delicious to him. “You have me at + such a disadvantage! Here am I rattling out whatever comes into my head, + exposing all my lightest emotions, and laying bare my very heart in + candor, and you meditate, you turn things over cautiously in your mind, + like a second Machiavelli. I grow afraid of you; you are so subtle and + mysterious in your reserves.” + </p> + <p> + Theron gave a tug at the ribbon, to show the joy he had in her delicate + chaff. “No, it is you who are secretive,” he said. “You never told me + about—about the piano.” + </p> + <p> + The word was out! A minute before it had seemed incredible to him that he + should ever have the courage to utter it—but here it was. He laid + firm hold upon the ribbon, which it appeared hung from her waist, and drew + himself a trifle nearer to her. “I could never have consented to take it, + I'm afraid,” he went on in a low voice, “if I had known. And even as it + is, I fear it won't be possible.” + </p> + <p> + “What are you afraid of?” asked Celia. “Why shouldn't you take it? People + in your profession never do get anything unless it's given to them, do + they? I've always understood it was like that. I've often read of donation + parties—that's what they're called, isn't it?—where everybody + is supposed to bring some gift to the minister. Very well, then, I've + simply had a donation party of my own, that's all. Unless you mean that my + being a Catholic makes a difference. I had supposed you were quite free + from that kind of prejudice.” + </p> + <p> + “So I am! Believe me, I am!” urged Theron. “When I'm with you, it seems + impossible to realize that there are people so narrow and contracted in + their natures as to take account of such things. It is another atmosphere + that I breathe near you. How could you imagine that such a thought—about + our difference of creed—would enter my head? In fact,” he concluded + with a nervous half-laugh, “there isn't any such difference. Whatever your + religion is, it's mine too. You remember—you adopted me as a Greek.” + </p> + <p> + “Did I?” she rejoined. “Well, if that's the case, it leaves you without a + leg to stand on. I challenge you to find any instance where a Greek made + any difficulties about accepting a piano from a friend. But seriously—while + we are talking about it—you introduced the subject: I didn't—I + might as well explain to you that I had no such intention, when I picked + the instrument out. It was later, when I was talking to Thurston's people + about the price, that the whim seized me. Now it is the one fixed rule of + my life to obey my whims. Whatever occurs to me as a possibly pleasant + thing to do, straight like a hash, I go and do it. It is the only way that + a person with means, with plenty of money, can preserve any freshness of + character. If they stop to think what it would be prudent to do, they get + crusted over immediately. That is the curse of rich people—they + teach themselves to distrust and restrain every impulse toward unusual + actions. They get to feel that it is more necessary for them to be + cautious and conventional than it is for others. I would rather work at a + wash-tub than occupy that attitude toward my bank account. I fight against + any sign of it that I detect rising in my mind. The instant a wish occurs + to me, I rush to gratify it. That is my theory of life. That accounts for + the piano; and I don't see that you've anything to say about it at all.” + </p> + <p> + It seemed very convincing, this theory of life. Somehow, the thought of + Miss Madden's riches had never before assumed prominence in Theron's mind. + Of course her father was very wealthy, but it had not occurred to him that + the daughter's emancipation might run to the length of a personal fortune. + He knew so little of rich people and their ways! + </p> + <p> + He lifted his head, and looked up at Celia with an awakened humility and + awe in his glance. The glamour of a separate banking-account shone upon + her. Where the soft woodland light played in among the strands of her + disordered hair, he saw the veritable gleam of gold. A mysterious new + suggestion of power blended itself with the beauty of her face, was + exhaled in the faint perfume of her garments. He maintained a timorous + hold upon the ribbon, wondering at his hardihood in touching it, or being + near her at all. + </p> + <p> + “What surprises me,” he heard himself saying, “is that you are contented + to stay in Octavius. I should think that you would travel—go abroad—see + the beautiful things of the world, surround yourself with the luxuries of + big cities—and that sort of thing.” + </p> + <p> + Celia regarded the forest prospect straight in front of her with a pensive + gaze. “Sometime—no doubt I will sometime,” she said abstractedly. + </p> + <p> + “One reads so much nowadays,” he went on, “of American heiresses going to + Europe and marrying dukes and noblemen. I suppose you will do that too. + Princes would fight one another for you.” + </p> + <p> + The least touch of a smile softened for an instant the impassivity of her + countenance. Then she stared harder than ever at the vague, leafy + distance. “That is the old-fashioned idea,” she said, in a musing tone, + “that women must belong to somebody, as if they were curios, or statues, + or race-horses. You don't understand, my friend, that I have a different + view. I am myself, and I belong to myself, exactly as much as any man. The + notion that any other human being could conceivably obtain the slightest + property rights in me is as preposterous, as ridiculous, as—what + shall I say?—as the notion of your being taken out with a chain on + your neck and sold by auction as a slave, down on the canal bridge. I + should be ashamed to be alive for another day, if any other thought were + possible to me.” + </p> + <p> + “That is not the generally accepted view, I should think,” faltered + Theron. + </p> + <p> + “No more is it the accepted view that young married Methodist ministers + should sit out alone in the woods with red-headed Irish girls. No, my + friend, let us find what the generally accepted views are, and as fast as + we find them set our heels on them. There is no other way to live like + real human beings. What on earth is it to me that other women crawl about + on all-fours, and fawn like dogs on any hand that will buckle a collar + onto them, and toss them the leavings of the table? I am not related to + them. I have nothing to do with them. They cannot make any rules for me. + If pride and dignity and independence are dead in them, why, so much the + worse for them! It is no affair of mine. Certainly it is no reason why I + should get down and grovel also. No; I at least stand erect on my legs.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ware sat up, and stared confusedly, with round eyes and parted lips, + at his companion. Instinctively his brain dragged forth to the surface + those epithets which the doctor had hurled in bitter contempt at her—“mad + ass, a mere bundle of egotism, ignorance, and red-headed lewdness.” The + words rose in their order on his memory, hard and sharp-edged, like + arrow-heads. But to sit there, quite at her side; to breathe the same air, + and behold the calm loveliness of her profile; to touch the ribbon of her + dress—and all the while to hold these poisoned darts of abuse + levelled in thought at her breast—it was monstrous. He could have + killed the doctor at that moment. With an effort, he drove the foul things + from his mind—scattered them back into the darkness. He felt that he + had grown pale, and wondered if she had heard the groan that seemed to + have been forced from him in the struggle. Or was the groan imaginary? + </p> + <p> + Celia continued to sit unmoved, composedly looking upon vacancy. Theron's + eyes searched her face in vain for any sign of consciousness that she had + astounded and bewildered him. She did not seem to be thinking of him at + all. The proud calm of her thoughtful countenance suggested instead + occupation with lofty and remote abstractions and noble ideals. + Contemplating her, he suddenly perceived that what she had been saying was + great, wonderful, magnificent. An involuntary thrill ran through his veins + at recollection of her words. His fancy likened it to the sensation he + used to feel as a youth, when the Fourth of July reader bawled forth that + opening clause: “When, in the course of human events, it becomes + necessary,” etc. It was nothing less than another Declaration of + Independence he had been listening to. + </p> + <p> + He sank again recumbent at her side, and stretched the arm behind her, + nearer than before. “Apparently, then, you will never marry.” His voice + trembled a little. + </p> + <p> + “Most certainly not!” said Celia. + </p> + <p> + “You spoke so feelingly a little while ago,” he ventured along, with + hesitation, “about how sadly the notion of a priest's sacrificing himself—never + knowing what love meant—appealed to a woman. I should think that the + idea of sacrificing herself would seem to her even sadder still.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember that we mentioned THAT,” she replied. “How do you mean—sacrificing + herself?” + </p> + <p> + Theron gathered some of the outlying folds of her dress in his hand, and + boldly patted and caressed them. “You, so beautiful and so free, with such + fine talents and abilities,” he murmured; “you, who could have the whole + world at your feet—are you, too, never going to know what love + means? Do you call that no sacrifice? To me it is the most terrible that + my imagination can conceive.” + </p> + <p> + Celia laughed—a gentle, amused little laugh, in which Theron's ears + traced elements of tenderness. “You must regulate that imagination of + yours,” she said playfully. “It conceives the thing that is not. Pray, + when”—and here, turning her head, she bent down upon his face a gaze + of arch mock-seriousness—“pray, when did I describe myself in these + terms? When did I say that I should never know what love meant?” + </p> + <p> + For answer Theron laid his head down upon his arm, and closed his eyes, + and held his face against the draperies encircling her. “I cannot think!” + he groaned. + </p> + <p> + The thing that came uppermost in his mind, as it swayed and rocked in the + tempest of emotion, was the strange reminiscence of early childhood in it + all. It was like being a little boy again, nestling in an innocent, + unthinking transport of affection against his mother's skirts. The tears + he felt scalding his eyes were the spontaneous, unashamed tears of a + child; the tremulous and exquisite joy which spread, wave-like, over him, + at once reposeful and yearning, was full of infantile purity and + sweetness. He had not comprehended at all before what wellsprings of + spiritual beauty, what limpid depths of idealism, his nature contained. + </p> + <p> + “We were speaking of our respective religions,” he heard Celia say, as + imperturbably as if there had been no digression worth mentioning. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he assented, and moved his head so that he looked up at her back + hair, and the leaves high above, mottled against the sky. The wish to lie + there, where now he could just catch the rose-leaf line of her under-chin + as well, was very strong upon him. “Yes?” he repeated. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot talk to you like that,” she said; and he sat up again + shamefacedly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—I think we were speaking of religions—some time ago,” he + faltered, to relieve the situation. The dreadful thought that she might be + annoyed began to oppress him. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you said whatever my religion was, it was yours too. That entitles + you at least to be told what the religion is. Now, I am a Catholic.” + </p> + <p> + Theron, much mystified, nodded his head. Could it be possible—was + there coming a deliberate suggestion that he should become a convert? “Yes—I + know,” he murmured. + </p> + <p> + “But I should explain that I am only a Catholic in the sense that its + symbolism is pleasant to me. You remember what Schopenhauer said—you + cannot have the water by itself: you must also have the jug that it is in. + Very well; the Catholic religion is my jug. I put into it the things I + like. They were all there long ago, thousands of years ago. The Jews threw + them out; we will put them back again. We will restore art and poetry and + the love of beauty, and the gentle, spiritual, soulful life. The Greeks + had it; and Christianity would have had it too, if it hadn't been for + those brutes they call the Fathers. They loved ugliness and dirt and the + thought of hell-fire. They hated women. In all the earlier stages of the + Church, women were very prominent in it. Jesus himself appreciated women, + and delighted to have them about him, and talk with them and listen to + them. That was the very essence of the Greek spirit; and it breathed into + Christianity at its birth a sweetness and a grace which twenty generations + of cranks and savages like Paul and Jerome and Tertullian weren't able to + extinguish. But the very man, Cyril, who killed Hypatia, and thus began + the dark ages, unwittingly did another thing which makes one almost + forgive him. To please the Egyptians, he secured the Church's acceptance + of the adoration of the Virgin. It is that idea which has kept the Greek + spirit alive, and grown and grown, till at last it will rule the world. It + was only epileptic Jews who could imagine a religion without sex in it.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember the pictures of the Virgin in your room,” said Theron, feeling + more himself again. “I wondered if they quite went with the statues.” + </p> + <p> + The remark won a smile from Celia's lips. + </p> + <p> + “They get along together better than you suppose,” she answered. “Besides, + they are not all pictures of Mary. One of them, standing on the moon, is + of Isis with the infant Horus in her arms. Another might as well be + Mahamie, bearing the miraculously born Buddha, or Olympias with her child + Alexander, or even Perictione holding her babe Plato—all these were + similar cases, you know. Almost every religion had its Immaculate + Conception. What does it all come to, except to show us that man turns + naturally toward the worship of the maternal idea? That is the deepest of + all our instincts—love of woman, who is at once daughter and wife + and mother. It is that that makes the world go round.” + </p> + <p> + Brave thoughts shaped themselves in Theron's mind, and shone forth in a + confident yet wistful smile on his face. + </p> + <p> + “It is a pity you cannot change estates with me for one minute,” he said, + in steady, low tone. “Then you would realize the tremendous truth of what + you have been saying. It is only your intellect that has reached out and + grasped the idea. If you were in my place, you would discover that your + heart was bursting with it as well.” + </p> + <p> + Celia turned and looked at him. + </p> + <p> + “I myself,” he went on, “would not have known, half an hour ago, what you + meant by the worship of the maternal idea. I am much older than you. I am + a strong, mature man. But when I lay down there, and shut my eyes—because + the charm and marvel of this whole experience had for the moment overcome + me—the strangest sensation seized upon me. It was absolutely as if I + were a boy again, a good, pure-minded, fond little child, and you were the + mother that I idolized.” + </p> + <p> + Celia had not taken her eyes from his face. “I find myself liking you + better at this moment,” she said, with gravity, “than I have ever liked + you before.” + </p> + <p> + Then, as by a sudden impulse, she sprang to her feet. “Come!” she cried, + her voice and manner all vivacity once more, “we have been here long + enough.” + </p> + <p> + Upon the instant, as Theron was more laboriously getting up, it became + apparent to them both that perhaps they had been there too long. + </p> + <p> + A boy with a gun under his arm, and two gray squirrels tied by the tails + slung across his shoulder, stood at the entrance to the glade, some dozen + paces away, regarding them with undisguised interest. Upon the discovery + that he was in turn observed, he resumed his interrupted progress through + the woods, whistling softly as he went, and vanished among the trees. + </p> + <p> + “Heavens above!” groaned Theron, shudderingly. + </p> + <p> + “Know him?” he went on, in answer to the glance of inquiry on his + companion's face. “I should think I did! He spades my—my wife's + garden for her. He used to bring our milk. He works in the law office of + one of my trustees—the one who isn't friendly to me, but is very + friendly indeed with my—with Mrs. Ware. Oh, what shall I do? It may + easily mean my ruin!” + </p> + <p> + Celia looked at him attentively. The color had gone out of his face, and + with it the effect of earnestness and mental elevation which, a minute + before, had caught her fancy. “Somehow, I fear that I do not like you + quite so much just now, my friend,” she remarked. + </p> + <p> + “In God's name, don't say that!” urged Theron. He raised his voice in + agitated entreaty. “You don't know what these people are—how they + would leap at the barest hint of a scandal about me. In my position I am a + thousand times more defenceless than any woman. Just a single whisper, and + I am done for!” + </p> + <p> + “Let me point out to you, Mr. Ware,” said Celia, slowly, “that to be seen + sitting and talking with me, whatever doubts it may raise as to a + gentleman's intellectual condition, need not necessarily blast his social + reputation beyond all hope whatever.” + </p> + <p> + Theron stared at her, as if he had not grasped her meaning. Then he winced + visibly under it, and put out his hands to implore her. “Forgive me! + Forgive me!” he pleaded. “I was beside myself for the moment with the + fright of the thing. Oh, say you do forgive me, Celia!” He made haste to + support this daring use of her name. “I have been so happy today—so + deeply, so vastly happy—like the little child I spoke of—and + that is so new in my lonely life—that—the suddenness of the + thing—it just for the instant unstrung me. Don't be too hard on me + for it! And I had hoped, too—I had had such genuine heartfelt + pleasure in the thought—that, an hour or two ago, when you were + unhappy, perhaps it had been some sort of consolation to you that I was + with you.” + </p> + <p> + Celia was looking away. When he took her hand she did not withdraw it, but + turned and nodded in musing general assent to what he had said. “Yes, we + have both been unstrung, as you call it, today,” she said, decidedly out + of pitch. “Let each forgive the other, and say no more about it.” + </p> + <p> + She took his arm, and they retraced their steps along the path, again in + silence. The labored noise of the orchestra, as it were, returned to meet + them. They halted at an intersecting footpath. + </p> + <p> + “I go back to my slavery—my double bondage,” said Theron, letting + his voice sink to a sigh. “But even if I am put on the rack for it, I + shall have had one day of glory.” + </p> + <p> + “I think you may kiss me, in memory of that one day—or of a few + minutes in that day,” said Celia. + </p> + <p> + Their lips brushed each other in a swift, almost perfunctory caress. + </p> + <p> + Theron went his way at a hurried pace, the sobered tones of her “good-bye” + beating upon his brain with every measure of the droning waltz-music. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART4" id="link2H_PART4"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART IV + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV + </h2> + <p> + The memory of the kiss abode with Theron. Like Aaron's rod, it swallowed + up one by one all competing thoughts and recollections, and made his brain + its slave. + </p> + <p> + Even as he strode back through the woods to the camp-meeting, it was the + kiss that kept his feet in motion, and guided their automatic course. All + along the watches of the restless night, it was the kiss that bore him + sweet company, and wandered with him from one broken dream of bliss to + another. Next day, it was the kiss that made of life for him a sort of + sunlit wonderland. He preached his sermon in the morning, and took his + appointed part in the other services of afternoon and evening, apparently + to everybody's satisfaction: to him it was all a vision. + </p> + <p> + When the beautiful full moon rose, this Sunday evening, and glorified the + clearing and the forest with its mellow harvest radiance, he could have + groaned with the burden of his joy. He went out alone into the light, and + bared his head to it, and stood motionless for a long time. In all his + life, he had never been impelled as powerfully toward earnest and soulful + thanksgiving. The impulse to kneel, there in the pure, tender moonlight, + and lift up offerings of praise to God, kept uppermost in his mind. Some + formless resignation restrained him from the act itself, but the spirit of + it hallowed his mood. He gazed up at the broad luminous face of the + satellite. “You are our God,” he murmured. “Hers and mine! You are the + most beautiful of heavenly creatures, as she is of the angels on earth. I + am speechless with reverence for you both.” + </p> + <p> + It was not until the camp-meeting broke up, four days later, and Theron + with the rest returned to town, that the material aspects of what had + happened, and might be expected to happen, forced themselves upon his + mind. The kiss was a child of the forest. So long as Theron remained in + the camp, the image of the kiss, which was enshrined in his heart and + ministered to by all his thoughts, continued enveloped in a haze of sylvan + mystery, like a dryad. Suggestions of its beauty and holiness came to him + in the odors of the woodland, at the sight of wild flowers and + water-lilies. When he walked alone in unfamiliar parts of the forest, he + carried about with him the half-conscious idea of somewhere coming upon a + strange, hidden pool which mortal eye had not seen before—a deep, + sequestered mere of spring-fed waters, walled in by rich, tangled growths + of verdure, and bearing upon its virgin bosom only the shadows of the + primeval wilderness, and the light of the eternal skies. His fancy dwelt + upon some such nook as the enchanted home of the fairy that possessed his + soul. The place, though he never found it, became real to him. As he + pictured it, there rose sometimes from among the lily-pads, stirring the + translucent depths and fluttering over the water's surface drops like + gems, the wonderful form of a woman, with pale leaves wreathed in her + luxuriant red hair, and a skin which gave forth light. + </p> + <p> + With the homecoming to Octavius, his dreams began to take more account of + realities. In a day or two he was wide awake, and thinking hard. The kiss + was as much as ever the ceaseless companion of his hours, but it no longer + insisted upon shrouding itself in vines and woodland creepers, or + outlining itself in phosphorescent vagueness against mystic backgrounds of + nymph-haunted glades. It advanced out into the noonday, and assumed + tangible dimensions and substance. He saw that it was related to the facts + of his daily life, and had, in turn, altered his own relations to all + these facts. + </p> + <p> + What ought he to do? What COULD he do? Apparently, nothing but wait. He + waited for a week—then for another week. The conclusion that the + initiative had been left to him began to take shape in his mind. From this + it seemed but a step to the passionate resolve to act at once. + </p> + <p> + Turning the situation over and over in his anxious thoughts, two things + stood out in special prominence. One was that Celia loved him. The other + was that the boy in Gorringe's law office, and possibly Gorringe, and + heaven only knew how many others besides, had reasons for suspecting this + to be true. + </p> + <p> + And what about Celia? Side by side with the moving rapture of thinking + about her as a woman, there rose the substantial satisfaction of + contemplating her as Miss Madden. She had kissed him, and she was very + rich. The things gradually linked themselves before his eyes. He tried a + thousand varying guesses at what she proposed to do, and each time reined + up his imagination by the reminder that she was confessedly a creature of + whims, who proposed to do nothing, but was capable of all things. + </p> + <p> + And as to the boy. If he had blabbed what he saw, it was incredible that + somebody should not take the subject up, and impart a scandalous twist to + it, and send it rolling like a snowball to gather up exaggeration and foul + innuendo till it was big enough to overwhelm him. What would happen to him + if a formal charge were preferred against him? He looked it up in the + Discipline. Of course, if his accusers magnified their mean suspicions and + calumnious imaginings to the point of formulating a charge, it would be + one of immorality. They could prove nothing; there was nothing to prove. + At the worst, it was an indiscretion, which would involve his being + admonished by his Presiding Elder. Or if these narrow bigots confused + slanders with proofs, and showed that they intended to convict him, then + it would be open to him to withdraw from the ministry, in advance of his + condemnation. His relation to the church would be the same as if he had + been expelled, but to the outer world it would be different. And supposing + he did withdraw from the ministry? + </p> + <p> + Yes; this was the important point. What if he did abandon this mistaken + profession of his? On its mental side the relief would be prodigious, + unthinkable. But on the practical side, the bread-and-butter side? For + some days Theron paused with a shudder when he reached this question. The + thought of the plunge into unknown material responsibilities gave him a + sinking heart. He tried to imagine himself lecturing, canvassing for books + or insurance policies, writing for newspapers—and remained + frightened. But suddenly one day it occurred to him that these qualms and + forebodings were sheer folly. Was not Celia rich? Would she not with + lightning swiftness draw forth that check-book, like the flashing sword of + a champion from its scabbard, and run to his relief? Why, of course. It + was absurd not to have thought of that before. + </p> + <p> + He recalled her momentary anger with him, that afternoon in the woods, + when he had cried out that discovery would mean ruin to him. He saw + clearly enough now that she had been grieved at his want of faith in her + protection. In his flurry of fright, he had lost sight of the fact that, + if exposure and trouble came to him, she would naturally feel that she had + been the cause of his martyrdom. It was plain enough now. If he got into + hot water, it would be solely on account of his having been seen with her. + He had walked into the woods with her—“the further the better” had + been her own words—out of pure kindliness, and the desire to lead + her away from the scene of her brother's and her own humiliation. But why + amplify arguments? Her own warm heart would tell her, on the instant, how + he had been sacrificed for her sake, and would bring her, eager and + devoted, to his succor. + </p> + <p> + That was all right, then. Slowly, from this point, suggestions expanded + themselves. The future could be, if he willed it, one long serene triumph + of love, and lofty intellectual companionship, and existence softened and + enriched at every point by all that wealth could command, and the most + exquisite tastes suggest. Should he will it! Ah! the question answered + itself. But he could not enter upon this beckoning heaven of a future + until he had freed himself. When Celia said to him, “Come!” he must not be + in the position to reply, “I should like to, but unfortunately I am tied + by the leg.” He should have to leave Octavius, leave the ministry, leave + everything. He could not begin too soon to face these contingencies. + </p> + <p> + Very likely Celia had not thought it out as far as this. With her, it was + a mere vague “sometime I may.” But the harder masculine sense, Theron + felt, existed for the very purpose of correcting and giving point to these + loose feminine notions of time and space. It was for him to clear away the + obstacles, and map the plans out with definite decision. + </p> + <p> + One warm afternoon, as he lolled in his easy-chair under the open window + of his study, musing upon the ever-shifting phases of this vast, + complicated, urgent problem, some chance words from the sidewalk in front + came to his ears, and, coming, remained to clarify his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + Two ladies whose voices were strange to him had stopped—as so many + people almost daily stopped—to admire the garden of the parsonage. + One of them expressed her pleasure in general terms. Said the other— + </p> + <p> + “My husband declares those dahlias alone couldn't be matched for thirty + dollars, and that some of those gladiolus must have cost three or four + dollars apiece. I know we've spent simply oceans of money on our garden, + and it doesn't begin to compare with this.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems like a sinful waste to me,” said her companion. + </p> + <p> + “No-o,” the other hesitated. “No, I don't think quite that—if you + can afford it just as well as not. But it does seem to me that I'd rather + live in a little better house, and not spend it ALL on flowers. Just LOOK + at that cactus!” + </p> + <p> + The voices died away. Theron sat up, with a look of arrested thought upon + his face, then sprang to his feet and moved hurriedly through the parlor + to an open front window. Peering out with caution he saw that the two + women receding from view were fashionably dressed and evidently came from + homes of means. He stared after them in a blank way until they turned a + corner. + </p> + <p> + He went into the hall then, put on his frock-coat and hat, and stepped out + into the garden. He was conscious of having rather avoided it heretofore—not + altogether without reasons of his own, lying unexamined somewhere in the + recesses of his mind. Now he walked slowly about, and examined the flowers + with great attentiveness. The season was advancing, and he saw that many + plants had gone out of bloom. But what a magnificent plenitude of blossoms + still remained! + </p> + <p> + Thirty dollars' worth of dahlias—that was what the stranger had + said. Theron hardly brought himself to credit the statement; but all the + same it was apparent to even his uninformed eye that these huge, + imbricated, flowering masses, with their extraordinary half-colors, must + be unusual. He remembered that the boy in Gorringe's office had spoken of + just one lot of plants costing thirty-one dollars and sixty cents, and + there had been two other lots as well. The figures remained surprisingly + distinct in his memory. It was no good deceiving himself any longer: of + course these were the plants that Gorringe had spent his money upon, here + all about him. + </p> + <p> + As he surveyed them with a sour regard, a cool breeze stirred across the + garden. The tall, over-laden flower-spikes of gladioli bent and nodded at + him; the hollyhocks and flaming alvias, the clustered blossoms on the + standard roses, the delicately painted lilies on their stilt-like stems, + fluttered in the wind, and seemed all bowing satirically to him. “Yes, + Levi Gorringe paid for us!” He almost heard their mocking declaration. + </p> + <p> + Out in the back-yard, where a longer day of sunshine dwelt, there were + many other flowers, and notably a bed of geraniums which literally made + the eye ache. Standing at this rear corner of the house, he caught the + droning sound of Alice's voice, humming a hymn to herself as she went + about her kitchen work. He saw her through the open window. She was + sweeping, and had a sort of cap on her head which did not add to the + graces of her appearance. He looked at her with a hard glance, recalling + as a fresh grievance the ten days of intolerable boredom he had spent + cooped up in a ridiculous little tent with her, at the camp-meeting. She + must have realized at the time how odious the enforced companionship was + to him. Yes, beyond doubt she did. It came back to him now that they had + spoken but rarely to each other. She had not even praised his sermon upon + the Sabbath-question, which every one else had been in raptures over. For + that matter she no longer praised anything he did, and took obvious pains + to preserve toward him a distant demeanor. So much the better, he felt + himself thinking. If she chose to behave in that offish and unwifely + fashion, she could blame no one but herself for its results. + </p> + <p> + She had seen him, and came now to the window, watering-pot and broom in + hand. She put her head out, to breathe a breath of dustless air, and began + as if she would smile on him. Then her face chilled and stiffened, as she + caught his look. + </p> + <p> + “Shall you be home for supper?” she asked, in her iciest tone. + </p> + <p> + He had not thought of going out before. The question, and the manner of + it, gave immediate urgency to the idea of going somewhere. “I may or I may + not,” he replied. “It is quite impossible for me to say.” He turned on his + heel with this, and walked briskly out of the yard and down the street. + </p> + <p> + It was the most natural thing that presently he should be strolling past + the Madden house, and letting a covert glance stray over its front and the + grounds about it, as he loitered along. Every day since his return from + the woods he had given the fates this chance of bringing Celia to meet + him, without avail. He had hung about in the vicinity of the Catholic + church on several evenings as well, but to no purpose. The organ inside + was dumb, and he could detect no signs of Celia's presence on the curtains + of the pastorate next door. This day, too, there was no one visible at the + home of the Maddens, and he walked on, a little sadly. It was weary work + waiting for the signal that never came. + </p> + <p> + But there were compensations. His mind reverted doggedly to the flowers in + his garden, and to Alice's behavior toward him. They insisted upon + connecting themselves in his thoughts. Why should Levi Gorringe, a + money-lender, and therefore the last man in the world to incur reckless + expenditure, go and buy perhaps a hundred dollars, worth of flowers for + his wife's garden? It was time—high time—to face this + question. And his experiencing religion afterward, just when Alice did, + and marching down to the rail to kneel beside her—that was a thing + to be thought of, too. + </p> + <p> + Meditation, it is true, hardly threw fresh light upon the matter. It was + incredible, of course, that there should be anything wrong. To even shape + a thought of Alice in connection with gallantry would be wholly + impossible. Nor could it be said that Gorringe, in his new capacity as a + professing church-member, had disclosed any sign of ulterior motives, or + of insincerity. Yet there the facts were. While Theron pondered them, + their mystery, if they involved a mystery, baffled him altogether. But + when he had finished, he found himself all the same convinced that neither + Alice nor Gorringe would be free to blame him for anything he might do. He + had grounds for complaint against them. If he did not himself know just + what these grounds were, it was certain enough that THEY knew. Very well, + then, let them take the responsibility for what happened. + </p> + <p> + It was indeed awkward that at the moment, as Theron chanced to emerge + temporarily from his brown-study, his eyes fell full upon the spare, + well-knit form of Levi Gorringe himself, standing only a few feet away, in + the staircase entrance to his law office. His lean face, browned by the + summer's exposure, had a more Arabian aspect than ever. His hands were in + his pockets, and he held an unlighted cigar between his teeth. He looked + the Rev. Mr. Ware over calmly, and nodded recognition. + </p> + <p> + Theron had halted instinctively. On the instant he would have given a + great deal not to have stopped at all. It was stupid of him to have + paused, but it would not do now to go on without words of some sort. He + moved over to the door-way, and made a half-hearted pretence of looking at + the photographs in one of the show-cases at its side. As Mr. Gorringe did + not take his hands from his pockets, there was no occasion for any formal + greeting. + </p> + <p> + “I had no idea that they took such good pictures in Octavius,” Theron + remarked after a minute's silence, still bending in examination of the + photographs. + </p> + <p> + “They ought to; they charge New York prices,” observed the lawyer, + sententiously. + </p> + <p> + Theron found in the words confirmation of his feeling that Gorringe was + not naturally a lavish or extravagant man. Rather was he a careful and + calculating man, who spent money only for a purpose. Though the minister + continued gazing at the stiff presentments of local beauties and swains, + his eyes seemed to see salmon-hued hollyhocks and spotted lilies instead. + Suddenly a resolve came to him. He stood erect, and faced his trustee. + </p> + <p> + “Speaking of the price of things,” he said, with an effort of arrogance in + his measured tone, “I have never had an opportunity before of mentioning + the subject of the flowers you have so kindly furnished for my—for + MY garden.” + </p> + <p> + “Why mention it now?” queried Gorringe, with nonchalance. He turned his + cigar about with a movement of his lips, and worked it into the corner of + his mouth. He did not find it necessary to look at Theron at all. + </p> + <p> + “Because—” began Mr. Ware, and then hesitated—“because—well, + it raises a question of my being under obligation, which I—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, sir,” said the lawyer; “put that out of your mind. You are no + more under obligation to me than I am to you. Oh, no, make yourself easy + about that. Neither of us owes the other anything.” + </p> + <p> + “Not even good-will—I take that to be your meaning,” retorted + Theron, with some heat. + </p> + <p> + “The words are yours, sir,” responded Gorringe, coolly. “I do not object + to them.” + </p> + <p> + “As you like,” put in the other. “If it be so, why, then all the more + reason why I should, under the circumstances—” + </p> + <p> + “Under what circumstances?” interposed the lawyer. “Let us be clear about + this thing as we go along. To what circumstances do you refer?” + </p> + <p> + He had turned his eyes now, and looked Theron in the face. A slight + protrusion of his lower jaw had given the cigar an upward tilt under the + black mustache. + </p> + <p> + “The circumstances are that you have brought or sent to my garden a great + many very expensive flower-plants and bushes and so on.” + </p> + <p> + “And you object? I had not supposed that clergymen in general—and + you in particular—were so sensitive. Have donation parties, then, + gone out of date?” + </p> + <p> + “I understand your sneer well enough,” retorted Theron, “but that can + pass. The main point is, that you did me the honor to send these plants—or + to smuggle them in—but never once deigned to hint to me that you had + done so. No one told me. Except by mere accident, I should not have known + to this day where they came from.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gorringe twisted the cigar at another angle, with lines of grim + amusement about the corner of his mouth. “I should have thought,” he said + with dry deliberation, “that possibly this fact might have raised in your + mind the conceivable hypothesis that the plants might not be intended for + you at all.” + </p> + <p> + “That is precisely it, sir,” said Theron. There were people passing, and + he was forced to keep his voice down. It would have been a relief, he + felt, to shout. “That is it—they were not intended for me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, what are you talking about?” The lawyer's speech had become + abrupt almost to incivility. + </p> + <p> + “I think my remarks have been perfectly clear,” said the minister, with + dignity. It was a new experience to be addressed in that fashion. It + occurred to him to add, “Please remember that I am not in the witness-box, + to be bullied or insulted by a professional.” + </p> + <p> + Gorringe studied Theron's face attentively with a cold, searching + scrutiny. “You may thank your stars you're not!” he said, with + significance. + </p> + <p> + What on earth could he mean? The words and the menacing tone greatly + impressed Theron. Indeed, upon reflection, he found that they frightened + him. The disposition to adopt a high tone with the lawyer was melting + away. + </p> + <p> + “I do not see,” he began, and then deliberately allowed his voice to take + on an injured and plaintive inflection—“I do not see why you should + adopt this tone toward me—Brother Gorringe.” + </p> + <p> + The lawyer scowled, and bit sharply into the cigar, but said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “If I have unconsciously offended you in any way,” Theron went on, “I beg + you to tell me how. I liked you from the beginning of my pastorate here, + and the thought that latterly we seemed to be drifting apart has given me + much pain. But now it is still more distressing to find you actually + disposed to quarrel with me. Surely, Brother Gorringe, between a pastor + and a probationer who—” + </p> + <p> + “No,” Gorringe broke in; “quarrel isn't the word for it. There isn't any + quarrel, Mr. Ware.” He stepped down from the door-stone to the sidewalk as + he spoke, and stood face to face with Theron. Working-men with + dinner-pails, and factory girls, were passing close to them, and he + lowered his voice to a sharp, incisive half-whisper as he added, “It + wouldn't be worth any grown man's while to quarrel with so poor a creature + as you are.” + </p> + <p> + Theron stood confounded, with an empty stare of bewilderment on his face. + It rose in his mind that the right thing to feel was rage, righteous + indignation, fury; but for the life of him, he could not muster any manly + anger. The character of the insult stupefied him. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know that I have anything to say to you in reply,” he remarked, + after what seemed to him a silence of minutes. His lips framed the words + automatically, but they expressed well enough the blank vacancy of his + mind. The suggestion that anybody deemed him a “poor creature” grew more + astounding, incomprehensible, as it swelled in his brain. + </p> + <p> + “No, I suppose not,” snapped Gorringe. “You're not the sort to stand up to + men; your form is to go round the corner and take it out of somebody + weaker than yourself—a defenceless woman, for instance.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh—ho!” said Theron. The exclamation had uttered itself. The sound + of it seemed to clarify his muddled thoughts; and as they ranged + themselves in order, he began to understand. “Oh—ho!” he said again, + and nodded his head in token of comprehension. + </p> + <p> + The lawyer, chewing his cigar with increased activity, glared at him. + “What do you mean?” he demanded peremptorily. + </p> + <p> + “Mean?” said the minister. “Oh, nothing that I feel called upon to explain + to you.” + </p> + <p> + It was passing strange, but his self-possession had all at once returned + to him. As it became more apparent that the lawyer was losing his temper, + Theron found the courage to turn up the corners of his lips in show of a + bitter little smile of confidence. He looked into the other's dusky face, + and flaunted this smile at it in contemptuous defiance. “It is not a + subject that I can discuss with propriety—at this stage,” he added. + </p> + <p> + “Damn you! Are you talking about those flowers?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I am not talking about anything in particular,” returned Theron, “not + even the curious choice of language which my latest probationer seems to + prefer.” + </p> + <p> + “Go and strike my name off the list!” said Gorringe, with rising passion. + “I was a fool to ever have it there. To think of being a probationer of + yours—my God!” + </p> + <p> + “That will be a pity—from one point of view,” remarked Theron, still + with the ironical smile on his lips. “You seemed to enter upon the new + life with such deliberation and fixity of purpose, too! I can imagine the + regrets your withdrawal will cause, in certain quarters. I only hope that + it will not discourage those who accompanied you to the altar, and shared + your enthusiasm at the time.” He had spoken throughout with studied + slowness and an insolent nicety of utterance. + </p> + <p> + “You had better go away!” broke forth Gorringe. “If you don't, I shall + forget myself.” + </p> + <p> + “For the first time?” asked Theron. Then, warned by the flash in the + lawyer's eye, he turned on his heel and sauntered, with a painstaking + assumption of a mind quite at ease, up the street. + </p> + <p> + Gorringe's own face twitched and his veins tingled as he looked after him. + He spat the shapeless cigar out of his mouth into the gutter, and, drawing + forth another from his pocket, clenched it between his teeth, his gaze + following the tall form of the Methodist minister till it was merged in + the crowd. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm damned!” he said aloud to himself. + </p> + <p> + The photographer had come down to take in his showcases for the night. He + looked up from his task at the exclamation, and grinned inquiringly. + </p> + <p> + “I've just been talking to a man,” said the lawyer, “who's so much meaner + than any other man I ever heard of that it takes my breath away. He's got + a wife that's as pure and good as gold, and he knows it, and she worships + the ground he walks on, and he knows that too. And yet the scoundrel is + around trying to sniff out some shadow of a pretext for misusing her worse + than he's already done. Yes, sir; he'd be actually tickled to death if he + could nose up some hint of a scandal about her—something that he + could pretend to believe, and work for his own advantage to levy + blackmail, or get rid of her, or whatever suited his book. I didn't think + there was such an out-and-out cur on this whole footstool. I almost wish, + by God, I'd thrown him into the canal!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you lawyers must run against some pretty snide specimens,” remarked + the photographer, lifting one of the cases from its sockets. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI + </h2> + <p> + Theron spent half an hour in aimless strolling about the streets. From + earliest boyhood his mind had always worked most clearly when he walked + alone. Every mental process which had left a mark upon his memory and his + career—the daydreams of future academic greatness and fame which had + fashioned themselves in his brain as a farm lad; the meditations, + raptures, and high resolves of his student period at the seminary; the + more notable sermons and powerful discourse by which he had revealed the + genius that was in him to astonished and delighted assemblages—all + were associated in his retrospective thoughts with solitary rambles. + </p> + <p> + He had a very direct and vivid consciousness now that it was good to be on + his legs, and alone. He had never in his life been more sensible of the + charm of his own companionship. The encounter with Gorringe seemed to have + cleared all the clouds out of his brain, and restored lightness to his + heart. After such an object lesson, the impossibility of his continuing to + sacrifice himself to a notion of duty to these low-minded and + coarse-natured villagers was beyond all argument. There could no longer be + any doubt about his moral right to turn his back upon them, to wash his + hands of the miserable combination of hypocrisy and hysterics which they + called their spiritual life. + </p> + <p> + And the question of Gorringe and Alice, that too stood precisely where he + wanted it. Even in his own thoughts, he preferred to pursue it no further. + Between them somewhere an offence of concealment, it might be of + conspiracy, had been committed against him. It was no business of his to + say more, or to think more. He rested his case simply on the fact, which + could not be denied, and which he was not in the least interested to have + explained, one way or the other. The recollection of Gorringe's obvious + disturbance of mind was especially pleasant to him. He himself had been + magnanimous almost to the point of weakness. He had gone out of his way to + call the man “brother,” and to give him an opportunity of behaving like a + gentleman; but his kindly forbearance had been wasted. Gorringe was not + the man to understand generous feelings, much less rise to their level. He + had merely shown that he would be vicious if he knew how. It was more + important and satisfactory to recall that he had also shown a complete + comprehension of the injured husband's grievance. The fact that he had + recognized it was enough—was, in fact, everything. + </p> + <p> + In the background of his thoughts Theron had carried along a notion of + going and dining with Father Forbes when the time for the evening meal + should arrive. The idea in itself attracted him, as a fitting capstone to + his resolve not to go home to supper. It gave just the right kind of + character to his domestic revolt. But when at last he stood on the + doorstep of the pastorate, waiting for an answer to the tinkle of the + electric bell he had heard ring inside, his mind contained only the single + thought that now he should hear something about Celia. Perhaps he might + even find her there; but he put that suggestion aside as slightly + unpleasant. + </p> + <p> + The hag-faced housekeeper led him, as before, into the dining-room. It was + still daylight, and he saw on the glance that the priest was alone at the + table, with a book beside him to read from as he ate. + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes rose and came forward, greeting his visitor with profuse + urbanity and smiles. If there was a perfunctory note in the invitation to + sit down and share the meal, Theron did not catch it. He frankly displayed + his pleasure as he laid aside his hat, and took the chair opposite his + host. + </p> + <p> + “It is really only a few months since I was here, in this room, before,” + he remarked, as the priest closed his book and tossed it to one side, and + the housekeeper came in to lay another place. “Yet it might have been + years, many long years, so tremendous is the difference that the lapse of + time has wrought in me.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid we have nothing to tempt you very much, Mr. Ware,” remarked + Father Forbes, with a gesture of his plump white hand which embraced the + dishes in the centre of the table. “May I send you a bit of this boiled + mutton? I have very homely tastes when I am by myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I was saying,” Theron observed, after some moments had passed in silence, + “that I date such a tremendous revolution in my thoughts, my beliefs, my + whole mind and character, from my first meeting with you, my first coming + here. I don't know how to describe to you the enormous change that has + come over me; and I owe it all to you.” + </p> + <p> + “I can only hope, then, that it is entirely of a satisfactory nature,” + said the priest, politely smiling. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it is so splendidly satisfactory!” said Theron, with fervor. “I look + back at myself now with wonder and pity. It seems incredible that, such a + little while ago, I should have been such an ignorant and unimaginative + clod of earth, content with such petty ambitions and actually proud of my + limitations.” + </p> + <p> + “And you have larger ambitions now?” asked the other. “Pray let me help + you to some potatoes. I am afraid that ambitions only get in our way and + trip us up. We clergymen are like street-car horses. The more steadily we + jog along between the rails, the better it is for us.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't intend to remain in the ministry,” declared Theron. The + statement seemed to him a little bald, now that he had made it; and as his + companion lifted his brows in surprise, he added stumblingly: “That is, as + I feel now, it seems to me impossible that I should remain much longer. + With you, of course, it is different. You have a thousand things to + interest and pleasantly occupy you in your work and its ceremonies, so + that mere belief or non-belief in the dogma hardly matters. But in our + church dogma is everything. If you take that away, or cease to have its + support, the rest is intolerable, hideous.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes cut another slice of mutton for himself. “It is a pretty + serious business to make such a change at your time of life. I take it for + granted you will think it all over very carefully before you commit + yourself.” He said this with an almost indifferent air, which rather + chilled his listener's enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, yes,”, Theron made answer; “I shall do nothing rash. But I have a + good many plans for the future.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes did not ask what these were, and a brief further period of + silence fell upon the table. + </p> + <p> + “I hope everything went off smoothly at the picnic,” Theron ventured, at + last. “I have not seen any of you since then.” + </p> + <p> + The priest shook his head and sighed. “No,” he said. “It is a bad + business. I have had a great deal of unhappiness out of it this past + fortnight. That young man who was rude to you—of course it was mere + drunken, irresponsible nonsense on his part—has got himself into a + serious scrape, I'm afraid. It is being kept quite within the family, and + we hope to manage so that it will remain there, but it has terribly upset + his father and his sister. But that, after all, is not so hard to bear as + the other affliction that has come upon the Maddens. You remember Michael, + the other brother? He seems to have taken cold that evening, or perhaps + over-exerted himself. He has been seized with quick consumption. He will + hardly last till snow flies.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I am GRIEVED to hear that!” Theron spoke with tremulous earnestness. + It seemed to him as if Michael were in some way related to him. + </p> + <p> + “It is very hard upon them all,” the priest went on. “Michael is as sweet + and holy a character as it is possible for any one to think of. He is the + apple of his father's eye. They were inseparable, those two. Do you know + the father, Mr. Madden?” + </p> + <p> + Theron shook his head. “I think I have seen him,” he said. “A small man, + with gray whiskers.” + </p> + <p> + “A peasant,” said Father Forbes, “but with a heart of gold. Poor man! he + has had little enough out of his riches. Ah, the West Coast people, what + tragedies I have seen among them over here! They have rudimentary lung + organizations, like a frog's, to fit the mild, wet soft air they live in. + The sharp air here kills them off like flies in a frost. Whole families + go. I should think there are a dozen of old Jeremiah's children in the + cemetery. If Michael could have passed his twenty-eighth year, there would + have been hope for him, at least till his thirty-fifth. These pulmonary + things seem to go by sevens, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't know,” said Theron. “It is very strange—and very sad.” His + startled mind was busy, all at once, with conjectures as to Celia's age. + </p> + <p> + “The sister—Miss Madden—seems extremely strong,” he remarked + tentatively. + </p> + <p> + “Celia may escape the general doom,” said the priest. His guest noted that + he clenched his shapely white hand on the table as he spoke, and that his + gentle, carefully modulated voice had a gritty hardness in its tone. “THAT + would be too dreadful to think of,” he added. + </p> + <p> + Theron shuddered in silence, and strove to shut his mind against the + thought. + </p> + <p> + “She has taken Michael's illness so deeply to heart,” the priest + proceeded, “and devoted herself to him so untiringly that I get a little + nervous about her. I have been urging her to go away and get a change of + air and scene, if only for a few days. She does not sleep well, and that + is always a bad thing.” + </p> + <p> + “I think I remember her telling me once that sometimes she had sleepless + spells,” said Theron. “She said that then she banged on her piano at all + hours, or dragged the cushions about from room to room, like a wild woman. + A very interesting young lady, don't you find her so?” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes let a wan smile play on his lips. “What, our Celia?” he + said. “Interesting! Why, Mr. Ware, there is no one like her in the world. + She is as unique as—what shall I say?—as the Irish are among + races. Her father and mother were both born in mud-cabins, and she—she + might be the daughter of a hundred kings, except that they seem mostly + rather under-witted than otherwise. She always impresses me as a sort of + atavistic idealization of the old Kelt at his finest and best. There in + Ireland you got a strange mixture of elementary early peoples, walled off + from the outer world by the four seas, and free to work out their own + racial amalgam on their own lines. They brought with them at the outset a + great inheritance of Eastern mysticism. Others lost it, but the Irish, all + alone on their island, kept it alive and brooded on it, and rooted their + whole spiritual side in it. Their religion is full of it; their blood is + full of it; our Celia is fuller of it than anybody else. The Ireland of + two thousand years ago is incarnated in her. They are the merriest people + and the saddest, the most turbulent and the most docile, the most talented + and the most unproductive, the most practical and the most visionary, the + most devout and the most pagan. These impossible contradictions war + ceaselessly in their blood. When I look at Celia, I seem to see in my + mind's eye the fair young-ancestral mother of them all.” + </p> + <p> + Theron gazed at the speaker with open admiration. “I love to hear you + talk,” he said simply. + </p> + <p> + An unbidden memory flitted upward in his mind. Those were the very words + that Alice had so often on her lips in their old courtship days. How + curious it was! He looked at the priest, and had a quaint sensation of + feeling as a romantic woman must feel in the presence of a specially + impressive masculine personality. It was indeed strange that this + soft-voiced, portly creature in a gown, with his white, fat hands and his + feline suavity of manner, should produce such a commanding and unique + effect of virility. No doubt this was a part of the great sex mystery + which historically surrounded the figure of the celibate priest as with an + atmosphere. Women had always been prostrating themselves before it. + Theron, watching his companion's full, pallid face in the lamp-light, + tried to fancy himself in the priest's place, looking down upon these + worshipping female forms. He wondered what the celibate's attitude really + was. The enigma fascinated him. + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes, after his rhetorical outburst, had been eating. He pushed + aside his cheese-plate. “I grow enthusiastic on the subject of my race + sometimes,” he remarked, with the suggestion of an apology. “But I make up + for it other times—most of the time—by scolding them. If it + were not such a noble thing to be an Irishman, it would be ridiculous.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah,” said Theron, deprecatingly, “who would not be enthusiastic in + talking of Miss Madden? What you said about her was perfect. As you spoke, + I was thinking how proud and thankful we ought to be for the privilege of + knowing her—we who do know her well—although of course your + friendship with her is vastly more intimate than mine—than mine + could ever hope to be.” + </p> + <p> + The priest offered no comment, and Theron went on: “I hardly know how to + describe the remarkable impression she makes upon me. I can't imagine to + myself any other young woman so brilliant or broad in her views, or so + courageous. Of course, her being so rich makes it easier for her to do + just what she wants to do, but her bravery is astonishing all the same. We + had a long and very sympathetic talk in the woods, that day of the picnic, + after we left you. I don't know whether she spoke to you about it?” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes made a movement of the head and eyes which seemed to + negative the suggestion. + </p> + <p> + “Her talk,” continued Theron, “gave me quite new ideas of the range and + capacity of the female mind. I wonder that everybody in Octavius isn't + full of praise and admiration for her talents and exceptional character. + In such a small town as this, you would think she would be the centre of + attention—the pride of the place.” + </p> + <p> + “I think she has as much praise as is good for her,” remarked the priest, + quietly. + </p> + <p> + “And here's a thing that puzzles me,” pursued Mr. Ware. “I was immensely + surprised to find that Dr. Ledsmar doesn't even think she is smart—or + at least he professes the utmost intellectual contempt for her, and says + he dislikes her into the bargain. But of course she dislikes him, too, so + that's only natural. But I can't understand his denying her great + ability.” + </p> + <p> + The priest smiled in a dubious way. “Don't borrow unnecessary alarm about + that, Mr. Ware,” he said, with studied smoothness of modulated tones. + “These two good friends of mine have much enjoyment out of the idea that + they are fighting for the mastery over my poor unstable character. It has + grown to be a habit with them, and a hobby as well, and they pursue it + with tireless zest. There are not many intellectual diversions open to us + here, and they make the most of this one. It amuses them, and it is not + without its charms for me, in my capacity as an interested observer. It is + a part of the game that they should pretend to themselves that they detest + each other. In reality I fancy that they like each other very much. At any + rate, there is nothing to be disturbed about.” + </p> + <p> + His mellifluous tones had somehow the effect of suggesting to Theron that + he was an outsider and would better mind his own business. Ah, if this + purring pussy-cat of a priest only knew how little of an outsider he + really was! The thought gave him an easy self-control. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” he said, “our warm mutual friendship makes the observation of + these little individual vagaries merely a part of a delightful whole. I + should not dream of discussing Miss Madden's confidences to me, or the + doctor's either, outside our own little group.” + </p> + <p> + Father Forbes reached behind him and took from a chair his black + three-cornered cap with the tassel. “Unfortunately I have a sick call + waiting me,” he said, gathering up his gown and slowly rising. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I saw the man sitting in the hall,” remarked Theron, getting to his + feet. + </p> + <p> + “I would ask you to go upstairs and wait,” the priest went on, “but my + return, unhappily, is quite uncertain. Another evening I may be more + fortunate. I am leaving town tomorrow for some days, but when I get back—” + </p> + <p> + The polite sentence did not complete itself. Father Forbes had come out + into the hall, giving a cool nod to the working-man, who rose from the + bench as they passed, and shook hands with his guest on the doorstep. + </p> + <p> + When the door had closed upon Mr. Ware, the priest turned to the man. “You + have come about those frames,” he said. “If you will come upstairs, I will + show you the prints, and you can give me a notion of what can be done with + them. I rather fancy the idea of a triptych in carved old English, if you + can manage it.” + </p> + <p> + After the workman had gone away, Father Forbes put on slippers and an old + loose soutane, lighted a cigar, and, pushing an easy-chair over to the + reading lamp, sat down with a book. Then something occurred to him, and he + touched the house-bell at his elbow. + </p> + <p> + “Maggie,” he said gently, when the housekeeper appeared at the door, “I + will have the coffee and FINE CHAMPAGNE up here, if it is no trouble. And—oh, + Maggie—I was compelled this evening to turn the blameless visit of + the framemaker into a venial sin, and that involves a needless wear and + tear of conscience. I think that—hereafter—you understand?—I + am not invariably at home when the Rev. Mr. Ware does me the honor to + call.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII + </h2> + <p> + That night brought the first frost of the season worth counting. In the + morning, when Theron came downstairs, his casual glance through the window + caught a desolate picture of blackened dahlia stalks and shrivelled + blooms. The gayety and color of the garden were gone, and in their place + was shabby and dishevelled ruin. He flung the sash up and leaned out. The + nipping autumn air was good to breathe. He looked about him, surveying the + havoc the frost had wrought among the flowers, and smiled. + </p> + <p> + At breakfast he smiled again—a mirthless and calculated smile. “I + see that Brother Gorringe's flowers have come to grief over night,” he + remarked. + </p> + <p> + Alice looked at him before she spoke, and saw on his face a confirmation + of the hostile hint in his voice. She nodded in a constrained way, and + said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Or rather, I should say,” Theron went on, with deliberate words, “the + late Brother Gorringe's flowers.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean—LATE” asked his wife, swiftly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, calm yourself!” replied the husband. “He is not dead. He has only + intimated to me his desire to sever his connection. I may add that he did + so in a highly offensive manner.” + </p> + <p> + “I am very sorry,” said Alice, in a low tone, and with her eyes on her + plate. + </p> + <p> + “I took it for granted you would be grieved at his backsliding,” remarked + Theron, making his phrases as pointed as he could. “He was such a + promising probationer, and you took such a keen interest in his spiritual + awakening. But the frost has nipped his zeal—along with the hundred + or more dollars' worth of flowers by which he testified his faith. I find + something interesting in their having been blasted simultaneously.” + </p> + <p> + Alice dropped all pretence of interest in her breakfast. With a flushed + face and lips tightly compressed, she made a movement as if to rise from + her chair. Then, changing her mind, she sat bolt upright and faced her + husband. + </p> + <p> + “I think we had better have this out right now,” she said, in a voice + which Theron hardly recognized. “You have been hinting round the subject + long enough—too long. There are some things nobody is obliged to put + up with, and this is one of them. You will oblige me by saying out in so + many words what it is you are driving at.” + </p> + <p> + The outburst astounded Theron. He laid down his knife and fork, and gazed + at his wife in frank surprise. She had so accustomed him, of late, to a + demeanor almost abject in its depressed docility that he had quite + forgotten the Alice of the old days, when she had spirit and courage + enough for two, and a notable tongue of her own. The flash in her eyes and + the lines of resolution about her mouth and chin for a moment daunted him. + Then he observed by a flutter of the frill at her wrist that she was + trembling. + </p> + <p> + “I am sure I have nothing to 'say out in so many words,' as you put it,” + he replied, forcing his voice into cool, impassive tones. “I merely + commented upon a coincidence, that was all. If, for any reason under the + sun, the subject chances to be unpleasant to you, I have no earthly desire + to pursue it.” + </p> + <p> + “But I insist upon having it pursued!” returned Alice. “I've had just all + I can stand of your insinuations and innuendoes, and it's high time we had + some plain talk. Ever since the revival, you have been dropping sly, + underhand hints about Mr. Gorringe and—and me. Now I ask you what + you mean by it.” + </p> + <p> + Yes, there was a shake in her voice, and he could see how her bosom heaved + in a tremor of nervousness. It was easy for him to be very calm. + </p> + <p> + “It is you who introduce these astonishing suggestions, not I,” he replied + coldly. “It is you who couple your name with his—somewhat to my + surprise, I admit—but let me suggest that we drop the subject. You + are excited just now, and you might say things that you would prefer to + leave unsaid. It would surely be better for all concerned to say no more + about it.” + </p> + <p> + Alice, staring across the table at him with knitted brows, emitted a sharp + little snort of indignation. “Well, I never! Theron, I wouldn't have + thought it of you!” + </p> + <p> + “There are so many things you wouldn't have thought, on such a variety of + subjects,” he observed, with a show of resuming his breakfast. “But why + continue? We are only angering each other.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind that,” she replied, with more control over her speech. “I + guess things have come to a pass where a little anger won't do any harm. I + have a right to insist on knowing what you mean by your insinuations.” + </p> + <p> + Theron sighed. “Why will you keep harping on the thing?” he asked wearily. + “I have displayed no curiosity. I don't ask for any explanations. I think + I mentioned that the man had behaved insultingly to me—but that + doesn't matter. I don't bring it up as a grievance. I am very well able to + take care of myself. I have no wish to recur to the incident in any way. So + far as I am concerned, the topic is dismissed.” + </p> + <p> + “Listen to me!” broke in Alice, with eager gravity. She hesitated, as he + looked up with a nod of attention, and reflected as well as she was able + among her thoughts for a minute or two. “This is what I want to say to + you. Ever since we came to this hateful Octavius, you and I have been + drifting apart—or no, that doesn't express it—simply rushing + away from each other. It only began last spring, and now the space between + us is so wide that we are worse than complete strangers. For strangers at + least don't hate each other, and I've had a good many occasions lately to + see that you positively do hate me—” + </p> + <p> + “What grotesque absurdity” interposed Theron, impatiently. + </p> + <p> + “No, it isn't absurdity; it's gospel truth,” retorted Alice. “And—don't + interrupt me—there have been times, too, when I have had to ask + myself if I wasn't getting almost to hate you in return. I tell you this + frankly.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you are undoubtedly frank,” commented the husband, toying with his + teaspoon. “A hypercritical person might consider, almost too frank.” + </p> + <p> + Alice scanned his face closely while he spoke, and held her breath as if + in expectant suspense. Her countenance clouded once more. “You don't + realize, Theron,” she said gravely; “your voice when you speak to me, your + look, your manner, they have all changed. You are like another man—some + man who never loved me, and doesn't even know me, much less like me. I + want to know what the end of it is to be. Up to the time of your sickness + last summer, until after the Soulsbys went away, I didn't let myself get + downright discouraged. It seemed too monstrous for belief that you should + go away out of my life like that. It didn't seem possible that God could + allow such a thing. It came to me that I had been lax in my Christian + life, especially in my position as a minister's wife, and that this was my + punishment. I went to the altar, to intercede with Him, and to try to + loose my burden at His feet. But nothing has come of it. I got no help + from you.” + </p> + <p> + “Really, Alice,” broke in Theron, “I explained over and over again to you + how preoccupied I was—with the book—and affairs generally.” + </p> + <p> + “I got no assistance from Heaven either,” she went on, declining the + diversion he offered. “I don't want to talk impiously, but if there is a + God, he has forgotten me, his poor heart-broken hand-maiden.” + </p> + <p> + “You are talking impiously, Alice,” observed her husband. “And you are + doing me cruel injustice, into the bargain.” + </p> + <p> + “I only wish I were!” she replied; “I only wish to God I were!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, accept my complete assurance that you ARE—that your + whole conception of me, and of what you are pleased to describe as my + change toward you, is an entire and utter mistake. Of course, the married + state is no more exempt from the universal law of growth, development, + alteration, than any other human institution. On its spiritual side, of + course, viewed either as a sacrament, or as—” + </p> + <p> + “Don't let us go into that,” interposed Alice, abruptly. “In fact, there + is no good in talking any more at all. It is as if we didn't speak the + same language. You don't understand what I say; it makes no impression + upon your mind.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite to the contrary,” he assured her; “I have been deeply interested + and concerned in all you have said. I think you are laboring under a great + delusion, and I have tried my best to convince you of it; but I have never + heard you speak more intelligibly or, I might say, effectively.” + </p> + <p> + A little gleam of softness stole over Alice's face. “If you only gave me a + little more credit for intelligence,” she said, “you would find that I am + not such a blockhead as you think I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Come, come!” he said, with a smiling show of impatience. “You really + mustn't impute things to me wholesale, like that.” + </p> + <p> + She was glad to answer the smile in kind. “No; but truly,” she pleaded, + “you don't realize it, but you have grown into a way of treating me as if + I had absolutely no mind at all.” + </p> + <p> + “You have a very admirable mind,” he responded, and took up his teaspoon + again. She reached for his cup, and poured out hot coffee for him. An + almost cheerful spirit had suddenly descended upon the breakfast table. + </p> + <p> + “And now let me say the thing I have been aching to say for months,” she + began in less burdened voice. + </p> + <p> + He lifted his brows. “Haven't things been discussed pretty fully already?” + he asked. + </p> + <p> + The doubtful, harassed expression clouded upon her face at his words, and + she paused. “No,” she said resolutely, after an instant's reflection; “it + is my duty to discuss this, too. It is a misunderstanding all round. You + remember that I told you Mr. Gorringe had given me some plants, which he + got from some garden or other?” + </p> + <p> + “If you really wish to go on with the subject—yes I have a + recollection of that particular falsehood of his.” + </p> + <p> + “He did it with the kindest and friendliest motives in the world!” + protested Alice. “He saw how down-in-the-mouth and moping I was here, + among these strangers—and I really was getting quite peaked and + run-down—and he said I stayed indoors too much and it would do me + all sorts of good to work in the garden, and he would send me some plants. + The next I knew, here they were, with a book about mixing soils and + planting, and so on. When I saw him next, and thanked him, I suppose I + showed some apprehension about his having laid out money on them, and he, + just to ease my mind, invented the story about his getting them for + nothing. When I found out the truth—I got it out of that boy, Harvey + Semple—he admitted it quite frankly—said he was wrong to + deceive me.” + </p> + <p> + “This was in the fine first fervor of his term of probation, I suppose,” + put in Theron. He made no effort to dissemble the sneer in his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” answered Alice, with a touch of acerbity, “I have told you now, + and it is off my mind. There never would have been the slightest + concealment about it, if you hadn't begun by keeping me at arm's length, + and making it next door to impossible to speak to you at all, and if—” + </p> + <p> + “And if he hadn't lied.” Theron, as he finished her sentence for her, rose + from the table. Dallying for a brief moment by his chair, there seemed the + magnetic premonition in the air of some further and kindlier word. Then he + turned and walked sedately into the next room, and closed the door behind + him. The talk was finished; and Alice, left alone, passed the knuckle of + her thumb over one swimming eye and then the other, and bit her lips and + swallowed down the sob that rose in her throat. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII + </h2> + <p> + It was early afternoon when Theron walked out of his yard, bestowing no + glance upon the withered and tarnished show of the garden, and started + with a definite step down the street. The tendency to ruminative + loitering, which those who saw him abroad always associated with his tall, + spare figure, was not suggested today. He moved forward like a man with a + purpose. + </p> + <p> + All the forenoon in the seclusion of the sitting-room, with a book opened + before him, he had been thinking hard. It was not the talk with Alice that + occupied his thoughts. That rose in his mind from time to time, only as a + disagreeable blur, and he refused to dwell upon it. It was nothing to him, + he said to himself, what Gorringe's motives in lying had been. As for + Alice, he hardened his heart against her. Just now it was her mood to try + and make up to him. But it had been something different yesterday, and who + could say what it would be tomorrow? He really had passed the limit of + patience with her shifting emotional vagaries, now lurching in this + direction, now in that. She had had her chance to maintain a hold upon his + interest and imagination, and had let it slip. These were the accidents of + life, the inevitable harsh happenings in the great tragedy of Nature. They + could not be helped, and there was nothing more to be said. + </p> + <p> + He had bestowed much more attention upon what the priest had said the + previous evening. He passed in review all the glowing tributes Father + Forbes had paid to Celia. They warmed his senses as he recalled them, but + they also, in a curious, indefinite way, caused him uneasiness. There had + been a personal fervor about them which was something more than priestly. + He remembered how the priest had turned pale and faltered when the + question whether Celia would escape the general doom of her family came + up. It was not a merely pastoral agitation that, he felt sure. + </p> + <p> + A hundred obscure hints, doubts, stray little suspicions, crowded upward + together in his thoughts. It became apparent to him now that from the + outset he had been conscious of something queer—yes, from that very + first day when he saw the priest and Celia together, and noted their + glance of recognition inside the house of death. He realized now, upon + reflection, that the tone of other people, his own parishioners and his + casual acquaintances in Octavius alike, had always had a certain note of + reservation in it when it touched upon Miss Madden. Her running in and out + of the pastorate at all hours, the way the priest patted her on the + shoulder before others, the obvious dislike the priest's ugly old + housekeeper bore her, the astonishing freedom of their talk with each + other—these dark memories loomed forth out of a mass of sinister + conjecture. + </p> + <p> + He could bear the uncertainty no longer. Was it indeed not entirely his + own fault that it had existed thus long? No man with the spirit of a mouse + would have shilly-shallied in this preposterous fashion, week after week, + with the fever of a beautiful woman's kiss in his blood, and the woman + herself living only round the corner. The whole world had been as good as + offered to him—a bewildering world of wealth and beauty and + spiritual exaltation and love—and he, like a weak fool, had waited + for it to be brought to him on a salver, as it were, and actually forced + upon his acceptance! “That is my failing,” he reflected; “these miserable + ecclesiastical bandages of mine have dwarfed my manly side. The meanest of + Thurston's clerks would have shown a more adventurous spirit and a bolder + nerve. If I do not act at once, with courage and resolution, everything + will be lost. Already she must think me unworthy of the honor it was in + her sweet will to bestow.” Then he remembered that she was now always at + home. “Not another hour of foolish indecision!” he whispered to himself. + “I will put my destiny to the test. I will see her today!” + </p> + <p> + A middle-aged, plain-faced servant answered his ring at the door-bell of + the Madden mansion. She was palpably Irish, and looked at him with a + saddened preoccupation in her gray eyes, holding the door only a little + ajar. + </p> + <p> + Theron had got out one of his cards. “I wish to make inquiry about young + Mr. Madden—Mr. Michael Madden,” he said, holding the card forth + tentatively. “I have only just heard of his illness, and it has been a + great grief to me.” + </p> + <p> + “He is no better,” answered the woman, briefly. + </p> + <p> + “I am the Rev. Mr. Ware,” he went on, “and you may say that, if he is well + enough, I should be glad to see him.” + </p> + <p> + The servant peered out at him with a suddenly altered expression, then + shook her head. “I don't think he would be wishing to see YOU,” she + replied. It was evident from her tone that she suspected the visitor's + intentions. + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled in spite of himself. “I have not come as a clergyman,” he + explained, “but as a friend of the family. If you will tell Miss Madden + that I am here, it will do just as well. Yes, we won't bother him. If you + will kindly hand my card to his sister.” + </p> + <p> + When the domestic turned at this and went in, Theron felt like throwing + his hat in the air, there where he stood. The woman's churlish sectarian + prejudices had played ideally into his hands. In no other imaginable way + could he have asked for Celia so naturally. He wondered a little that a + servant at such a grand house as this should leave callers standing on the + doorstep. Still more he wondered what he should say to the lady of his + dream when he came into her presence. + </p> + <p> + “Will you please to walk this way?” The woman had returned. She closed the + door noiselessly behind him, and led the way, not up the sumptuous + staircase, as Theron had expected, but along through the broad hall, past + several large doors, to a small curtained archway at the end. She pushed + aside this curtain, and Theron found himself in a sort of conservatory, + full of the hot, vague light of sunshine falling through ground-glass. The + air was moist and close, and heavy with the smell of verdure and wet + earth. A tall bank of palms, with ferns sprawling at their base, reared + itself directly in front of him. The floor was of mosaic, and he saw now + that there were rugs upon it, and that there were chairs and sofas, and + other signs of habitation. It was, indeed, only half a greenhouse, for the + lower part of it was in rosewood panels, with floral paintings on them, + like a room. + </p> + <p> + Moving to one side of the barrier of palms, he discovered, to his great + surprise, the figure of Michael, sitting propped up with pillows in a huge + easy-chair. The sick man was looking at him with big, gravely intent eyes. + His face did not show as much change as Theron had in fancy pictured. It + had seemed almost as bony and cadaverous on the day of the picnic. The + hands spread out on the chair-arms were very white and thin, though, and + the gaze in the blue eyes had a spectral quality which disturbed him. + </p> + <p> + Michael raised his right hand, and Theron, stepping forward, took it + limply in his for an instant. Then he laid it down again. The touch of + people about to die had always been repugnant to him. He could feel on his + own warm palm the very damp of the grave. + </p> + <p> + “I only heard from Father Forbes last evening of your—your + ill-health,” he said, somewhat hesitatingly. He seated himself on a bench + beneath the palms, facing the invalid, but still holding his hat. “I hope + very sincerely that you will soon be all right again.” + </p> + <p> + “My sister is lying down in her room,” answered Michael. He had not once + taken his sombre and embarrassing gaze from the other's face. The voice in + which he uttered this uncalled-for remark was thin in fibre, cold and + impassive. It fell upon Theron's ears with a suggestion of hidden meaning. + He looked uneasily into Michael's eyes, and then away again. They seemed + to be looking straight through him, and there was no shirking the + sensation that they saw and comprehended things with an unnatural + prescience. + </p> + <p> + “I hope she is feeling better,” Theron found himself saying. “Father + Forbes mentioned that she was a little under the weather. I dined with him + last night.” + </p> + <p> + “I am glad that you came,” said Michael, after a little pause. His + earnest, unblinking eyes seemed to supplement his tongue with speech of + their own. “I do be thinking a great deal about you. I have matters to + speak of to you, now that you are here.” + </p> + <p> + Theron bowed his head gently, in token of grateful attention. He tried the + experiment of looking away from Michael, but his glance went back again + irresistibly, and fastened itself upon the sick man's gaze, and clung + there. + </p> + <p> + “I am next door to a dead man,” he went on, paying no heed to the other's + deprecatory gesture. “It is not years or months with me, but weeks. Then I + go away to stand up for judgment on my sins, and if it is His merciful + will, I shall see God. So I say my good-byes now, and so you will let me + speak plainly, and not think ill of what I say. You are much changed, Mr. + Ware, since you came to Octavius, and it is not a change for the good.” + </p> + <p> + Theron lifted his brows in unaffected surprise, and put inquiry into his + glance. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know if Protestants will be saved, in God's good time, or not,” + continued Michael. “I find there are different opinions among the clergy + about that, and of course it is not for me, only a plain mechanic, to be + sure where learned and pious scholars are in doubt. But I am sure about + one thing. Those Protestants, and others too, mind you, who profess and + preach good deeds, and themselves do bad deeds—they will never be + saved. They will have no chance at all to escape hell-fire.” + </p> + <p> + “I think we are all agreed upon that, Mr. Madden,” said Theron, with + surface suavity. + </p> + <p> + “Then I say to you, Mr. Ware, you are yourself in a bad path. Take the + warning of a dying man, sir, and turn from it!” + </p> + <p> + The impulse to smile tugged at Theron's facial muscles. This was really + too droll. He looked up at the ceiling, the while he forced his + countenance into a polite composure, then turned again to Michael, with + some conciliatory commonplace ready for utterance. But he said nothing, + and all suggestion of levity left his mind, under the searching inspection + bent upon him by the young man's hollow eyes. What did Michael suspect? + What did he know? What was he hinting at, in this strange talk of his? + </p> + <p> + “I saw you often on the street when first you came here,” continued + Michael. “I knew the man who was here before you—that is, by sight—and + he was not a good man. But your face, when you came, pleased me. I liked + to look at you. I was tormented just then, do you see, that so many + decent, kindly people, old school-mates and friends and neighbors of mine—and, + for that matter, others all over the country must lose their souls because + they were Protestants. At my boyhood and young manhood, that thought took + the joy out of me. Sometimes I usen't to sleep a whole night long, for + thinking that some lad I had been playing with, perhaps in his own house, + that very day, would be taken when he died, and his mother too, when she + died, and thrown into the flames of hell for all eternity. It made me so + unhappy that finally I wouldn't go to any Protestant boy's house, and have + his mother be nice to me, and give me cake and apples—and me + thinking all the while that they were bound to be damned, no matter how + good they were to me.” + </p> + <p> + The primitive humanity of this touched Theron, and he nodded approbation + with a tender smile in his eyes, forgetting for the moment that a personal + application of the monologue had been hinted at. + </p> + <p> + “But then later, as I grew up,” the sick man went on, “I learned that it + was not altogether certain. Some of the authorities, I found, maintained + that it was doubtful, and some said openly that there must be salvation + possible for good people who lived in ignorance of the truth through no + fault of their own. Then I had hope one day, and no hope the next, and as + I did my work I thought it over, and in the evenings my father and I + talked it over, and we settled nothing of it at all. Of course, how could + we?” + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever discuss the question with your sister?” it occurred suddenly + to Theron to interpose. He was conscious of some daring in doing so, and + he fancied that Michael's drawn face clouded a little at his words. + </p> + <p> + “My sister is no theologian,” he answered briefly. “Women have no call to + meddle with such matters. But I was saying—it was in the middle of + these doubtings of mine that you came here to Octavius, and I noticed you + on the streets, and once in the evening—I made no secret of it to my + people—I sat in the back of your church and heard you preach. As I + say, I liked you. It was your face, and what I thought it showed of the + man underneath it, that helped settle my mind more than anything else. I + said to myself: 'Here is a young man, only about my own age, and he has + education and talents, and he does not seek to make money for himself, or + a great name, but he is content to live humbly on the salary of a + book-keeper, and devote all his time to prayer and the meditation of his + religion, and preaching, and visiting the sick and the poor, and + comforting them. His very face is a pleasure and a help for those in + suffering and trouble to look at. The very sight of it makes one believe + in pure thoughts and merciful deeds. I will not credit it that God intends + damning such a man as that, or any like him!'” + </p> + <p> + Theron bowed, with a slow, hesitating gravity of manner, and deep, not + wholly complacent, attention on his face. Evidently all this was by way of + preparation for something unpleasant. + </p> + <p> + “That was only last spring,” said Michael. His tired voice sank for a + sentence or two into a meditative half-whisper. “And it was MY last spring + of all. I shall not be growing weak any more, or drawing hard breaths, + when the first warm weather comes. It will be one season to me hereafter, + always the same.” He lifted his voice with perceptible effort. “I am + talking too much. The rest I can say in a word. Only half a year has gone + by, and you have another face on you entirely. I had noticed the small + changes before, one by one. I saw the great change, all of a sudden, the + day of the picnic. I see it a hundred times more now, as you sit there. If + it seemed to me like the face of a saint before, it is more like the face + of a bar-keeper now!” + </p> + <p> + This was quite too much. Theron rose, flushed to the temples, and scowled + down at the helpless man in the chair. He swallowed the sharp words which + came uppermost, and bit and moistened his lips as he forced himself to + remember that this was a dying man, and Celia's brother, to whom she was + devoted, and whom he himself felt he wanted to be very fond of. He got the + shadow of a smile on to his countenance. + </p> + <p> + “I fear you HAVE tired yourself unduly,” he said, in as non-contentious a + tone as he could manage. He even contrived a little deprecatory laugh. “I + am afraid your real quarrel is with the air of Octavius. It agrees with me + so wonderfully—I am getting as fat as a seal. But I do hope I am not + paying for it by such a wholesale deterioration inside. If my own opinion + could be of any value, I should assure you that I feel myself an + infinitely better and broader and stronger man than I was when I came + here.” + </p> + <p> + Michael shook his head dogmatically. “That is the greatest pity of all,” + he said, with renewed earnestness. “You are entirely deceived about + yourself. You do not at all realize how you have altered your direction, + or where you are going. It was a great misfortune for you, sir, that you + did not keep among your own people. That poor half-brother of mine, though + the drink was in him when he said that same to you, never spoke a truer + word. Keep among your own people, Mr. Ware! When you go among others—you + know what I mean—you have no proper understanding of what their + sayings and doings really mean. You do not realize that they are held up + by the power of the true Church, as a little child learning to walk is + held up with a belt by its nurse. They can say and do things, and no harm + at all come to them, which would mean destruction to you, because they + have help, and you are walking alone. And so be said by me, Mr. Ware! Go + back to the way you were brought up in, and leave alone the people whose + ways are different from yours. You are a married man, and you are the + preacher of a religion, such as it is. There can be nothing better for you + than to go and strive to be a good husband, and to set a good example to + the people of your Church, who look up to you—and mix yourself up no + more with outside people and outside notions that only do you mischief. + And that is what I wanted to say to you.” + </p> + <p> + Theron took up his hat. “I take in all kindness what you have felt it your + duty to say to me, Mr. Madden,” he said. “I am not sure that I have + altogether followed you, but I am very sure you mean it well.” + </p> + <p> + “I mean well by you,” replied Michael, wearily moving his head on the + pillow, and speaking in an undertone of languor and pain, “and I mean well + by others, that are nearer to me, and that I have a right to care more + about. When a man lies by the site of his open grave, he does not be + meaning ill to any human soul.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—thanks—quite so!” faltered Theron. He dallied for an + instant with the temptation to seek some further explanation, but the + sight of Michael's half-closed eyes and worn-out expression decided him + against it. It did not seem to be expected, either, that he should shake + hands, and with a few perfunctory words of hope for the invalid's + recovery, which fell with a jarring note of falsehood upon his own ears, + he turned and left the room. As he did so, Michael touched a bell on the + table beside him. + </p> + <p> + Theron drew a long breath in the hall, as the curtain fell behind him. It + was an immense relief to escape from the oppressive humidity and heat of + the flower-room, and from that ridiculous bore of a Michael as well. + </p> + <p> + The middle-aged, grave-faced servant, warned by the bell, stood waiting to + conduct him to the door. + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry to have missed Miss Madden,” he said to her. “She must be + quite worn out. Perhaps later in the day—” + </p> + <p> + “She will not be seeing anybody today,” returned the woman. “She is going + to New York this evening, and she is taking some rest against the + journey.” + </p> + <p> + “Will she be away long?” he asked mechanically. The servant's answer, “I + have no idea,” hardly penetrated his consciousness at all. + </p> + <p> + He moved down the steps, and along the gravel to the street, in a maze of + mental confusion. When he reached the sidewalk, under the familiar elms, + he paused, and made a definite effort to pull his thoughts together, and + take stock of what had happened, of what was going to happen; but the + thing baffled him. It was as if some drug had stupefied his faculties. + </p> + <p> + He began to walk, and gradually saw that what he was thinking about was + the fact of Celia's departure for New York that evening. He stared at this + fact, at first in its nakedness, then clothed with reassuring suggestions + that this was no doubt a trip she very often made. There was a blind sense + of comfort in this idea, and he rested himself upon it. Yes, of course, + she travelled a great deal. New York must be as familiar to her as + Octavius was to him. Her going there now was quite a matter of course—the + most natural thing in the world. + </p> + <p> + Then there burst suddenly uppermost in his mind the other fact—that + Father Forbes was also going to New York that evening. The two things + spindled upward, side by side, yet separately, in his mental vision; then + they twisted and twined themselves together. He followed their + convolutions miserably, walking as if his eyes were shut. + </p> + <p> + In slow fashion matters defined and arranged themselves before him. The + process of tracing their sequence was all torture, but there was no + possibility, no notion, of shirking any detail of the pain. The priest had + spoken of his efforts to persuade Celia to go away for a few days, for + rest and change of air and scene. He must have known only too well that + she was going, but of that he had been careful to drop no hint. The + possibility of accident was too slight to be worth considering. People on + such intimate terms as Celia and the priest—people with such + facilities for seeing each other whenever they desired—did not find + themselves on the same train of cars, with the same long journey in view, + by mere chance. + </p> + <p> + Theron walked until dusk began to close in upon the autumn day. It grew + colder, as he turned his face homeward. He wondered if it would freeze + again over-night, and then remembered the shrivelled flowers in his wife's + garden. For a moment they shaped themselves in a picture before his mind's + eye; he saw their blackened foliage, their sicklied, drooping stalks, and + wilted blooms, and as he looked, they restored themselves to the vigor and + grace and richness of color of summer-time, as vividly as if they had been + painted on a canvas. Or no, the picture he stared at was not on canvas, + but on the glossy, varnished panel of a luxurious sleeping-car. He shook + his head angrily and blinked his eyes again and again, to prevent their + seeing, seated together in the open window above this panel, the two + people he knew were there, gloved and habited for the night's journey, + waiting for the train to start. + </p> + <p> + “Very much to my surprise,” he found himself saying to Alice, watching her + nervously as she laid the supper-table, “I find I must go to Albany + tonight. That is, it isn't absolutely necessary, for that matter, but I + think it may easily turn out to be greatly to my advantage to go. + Something has arisen—I can't speak about it as yet—but the + sooner I see the Bishop about it the better. Things like that occur in a + man's life, where boldly striking out a line of action, and following it + up without an instant's delay, may make all the difference in the world to + him. Tomorrow it might be too late; and, besides, I can be home the sooner + again.” + </p> + <p> + Alice's face showed surprise, but no trace of suspicion. She spoke with + studied amiability during the meal, and deferred with such unexpected tact + to his implied desire not to be questioned as to the mysterious motives of + the journey, that his mood instinctively softened and warmed toward her, + as they finished supper. + </p> + <p> + He smiled a little. “I do hope I shan't have to go on tomorrow to New + York; but these Bishops of ours are such gad-abouts one never knows where + to catch them. As like as not Sanderson may be down in New York, on + Book-Concern business or something; and if he is, I shall have to chase + him up. But, after all, perhaps the trip will do me good—the change + of air and scene, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure I hope so,” said Alice, honestly enough. “If you do go on to New + York, I suppose you'll go by the river-boat. Everybody talks so much of + that beautiful sail down the Hudson.” + </p> + <p> + “That's an idea!” exclaimed Theron, welcoming it with enthusiasm. “It + hadn't occurred to me. If I do have to go, and it is as lovely as they + make out, the next time I promise I won't go without you, my girl. I HAVE + been rather out of sorts lately,” he continued. “When I come back, I + daresay I shall be feeling better, more like my old self. Then I'm going + to try, Alice, to be nicer to you than I have been of late. I'm afraid + there was only too much truth in what you said this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind what I said this morning—or any other time,” broke in + Alice, softly. “Don't ever remember it again, Theron, if only—only—” + </p> + <p> + He rose as she spoke, moved round the table to where she sat, and, bending + over her, stopped the faltering sentence with a kiss. When was it, he + wondered, that he had last kissed her? It seemed years, ages, ago. + </p> + <p> + An hour later, with hat and overcoat on, and his valise in his hand, he + stood on the doorstep of the parsonage, and kissed her once more before he + turned and descended into the darkness. He felt like whistling as his feet + sounded firmly on the plank sidewalk beyond the gate. It seemed as if he + had never been in such capital good spirits before in his life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX + </h2> + <p> + The train was at a standstill somewhere, and the dull, ashen beginnings of + daylight had made a first feeble start toward effacing the lamps in the + car-roof, when the new day opened for Theron. A man who had just come in + stopped at the seat upon which he had been stretched through the night, + and, tapping him brusquely on the knee, said, “I'm afraid I must trouble + you, sir.” After a moment of sleep-burdened confusion, he sat up, and the + man took the other half of the seat and opened a newspaper, still damp + from the press. It was morning, then. + </p> + <p> + Theron rubbed a clear space upon the clouded window with his thumb, and + looked out. There was nothing to be seen but a broad stretch of tracks, + and beyond this the shadowed outlines of wagons and machinery in a yard, + with a background of factory buildings. + </p> + <p> + The atmosphere in the car was vile beyond belief. He thought of opening + the window, but feared that the peremptory-looking man with the paper, who + had wakened him and made him sit up, might object. They were the only + people in the car who were sitting up. Backwards and forwards, on either + side of the narrow aisle, the dim light disclosed recumbent forms, curled + uncomfortably into corners, or sprawling at difficult angles which + involved the least interference with one another. Here and there an + upturned face gave a livid patch of surface for the mingled play of the + gray dawn and the yellow lamp-light. A ceaseless noise of snoring was in + the air. + </p> + <p> + He got up and walked to the tank of ice-water at the end of the aisle, and + took a drink from the most inaccessible portion of the common tin-cup's + rim. The happy idea of going out on the platform struck him, and he acted + upon it. The morning air was deliciously cool and fresh by contrast, and + he filled his lungs with it again and again. Standing here, he could + discern beyond the buildings to the right the faint purplish outlines of + great rounded hills. Some workmen, one of them bearing a torch, were + crouching along under the side of the train, pounding upon the resonant + wheels with small hammers. He recalled having heard the same sound in the + watches of the night, during a prolonged halt. Some one had said it was + Albany. He smiled in spite of himself at the thought that Bishop Sanderson + would never know about the visit he had missed. + </p> + <p> + Swinging himself to the ground, he bent sidewise and looked forward down + the long train. There were five, six, perhaps more, sleeping-cars on in + front. Which one of them, he wondered—and then there came the sharp + “All aboard!” from the other side, and he bundled up the steps again, and + entered the car as the train slowly resumed its progress. + </p> + <p> + He was wide-awake now, and quite at his ease. He took his seat, and + diverted himself by winking gravely at a little child facing him on the + next seat but one. There were four other children in the family party, + encamped about the tired and still sleeping mother whose back was turned + to Theron. He recalled now having noticed this poor woman last night, in + the first stage of his journey—how she fed her brood from one of the + numerous baskets piled under their feet, and brought water in a tin dish + of her own from the tank to use in washing their faces with a rag, and + loosened their clothes to dispose them for the night's sleep. The face of + the woman, her manner and slatternly aspect, and the general effect of her + belongings, bespoke squalid ignorance and poverty. Watching her, Theron + had felt curiously interested in the performance. In one sense, it was + scarcely more human than the spectacle of a cat licking her kittens, or a + cow giving suck to her calf. Yet, in another, was there anything more + human? + </p> + <p> + The child who had wakened before the rest regarded him with placidity, + declining to be amused by his winkings, but exhibiting no other emotion. + She had been playing by herself with a couple of buttons tied on a string, + and after giving a civil amount of attention to Theron's grimaces, she + turned again to the superior attractions of this toy. Her self-possession, + her capacity for self-entertainment, the care she took not to arouse the + others, all impressed him very much. He felt in his pocket for a small + coin, and, reaching forward, offered it to her. She took it calmly, + bestowed a tranquil gaze upon him for a moment, and went back to the + buttons. Her indifference produced an unpleasant sensation upon him + somehow, and he rubbed the steaming window clear again, and stared out of + it. + </p> + <p> + The wide river lay before him, flanked by a precipitous wall of cliffs + which he knew instantly must be the Palisades. There was an advertisement + painted on them which he tried in vain to read. He was surprised to find + they interested him so slightly. He had heard all his life of the Hudson, + and especially of it just at this point. The reality seemed to him almost + commonplace. His failure to be thrilled depressed him for the moment. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose those ARE the Palisades?” he asked his neighbor. + </p> + <p> + The man glanced up from his paper, nodded, and made as if to resume his + reading. But his eye had caught something in the prospect through the + window which arrested his attention. “By George!” he exclaimed, and lifted + himself to get a clearer view. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked Theron, peering forth as well. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing; only Barclay Wendover's yacht is still there. There's been a + hitch of some sort. They were to have left yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that it—that long black thing?” queried Theron. “That can't be a + yacht, can it?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think it is?” answered the other. They were looking at a + slim, narrow hull, lying at anchor, silent and motionless on the drab + expanse of water. “If that ain't a yacht, they haven't begun building any + yet. They're taking her over to the Mediterranean for a cruise, you know—around + India and Japan for the winter, and home by the South Sea islands. Friend + o' mine's in the party. Wouldn't mind the trip myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But do you mean to say,” asked Theron, “that that little shell of a thing + can sail across the ocean? Why, how many people would she hold?” + </p> + <p> + The man laughed. “Well,” he said, “there's room for two sets of quadrilles + in the chief saloon, if the rest keep their legs well up on the sofas. But + there's only ten or a dozen in the party this time. More than that rather + get in one another's way, especially with so many ladies on board.” + </p> + <p> + Theron asked no more questions, but bent his head to see the last of this + wonderful craft. The sight of it, and what he had heard about it, suddenly + gave point and focus to his thoughts. He knew at last what it was that had + lurked, formless and undesignated, these many days in the background of + his dreams. The picture rose in his mind now of Celia as the mistress of a + yacht. He could see her reclining in a low easy-chair upon the polished + deck, with the big white sails billowing behind her, and the sun shining + upon the deep blue waves, and glistening through the splash of spray in + the air, and weaving a halo of glowing gold about her fair head. Ah, how + the tender visions crowded now upon him! Eternal summer basked round this + enchanted yacht of his fancy—summer sought now in Scottish firths or + Norwegian fiords, now in quaint old Southern harbors, ablaze with the hues + of strange costumes and half-tropical flowers and fruits, now in far-away + Oriental bays and lagoons, or among the coral reefs and palm-trees of the + luxurious Pacific. He dwelt upon these new imaginings with the fervent + longing of an inland-born boy. Every vague yearning he had ever felt + toward salt-water stirred again in his blood at the thought of the sea—with + Celia. + </p> + <p> + Why not? She had never visited any foreign land. “Sometime,” she had said, + “sometime, no doubt I will.” He could hear again the wistful, musing tone + of her voice. The thought had fascinations for her, it was clear. How + irresistibly would it not appeal to her, presented with the added charm of + a roving, vagrant independence on the high seas, free to speed in her + snow-winged chariot wherever she willed over the deep, loitering in this + place, or up-helm-and-away to another, with no more care or weight of + responsibility than the gulls tossing through the air in her wake! + </p> + <p> + Theron felt, rather than phrased to himself, that there would not be “ten + or a dozen in the party” on that yacht. Without defining anything in his + mind, he breathed in fancy the same bold ocean breeze which filled the + sails, and toyed with Celia's hair; he looked with her as she sat by the + rail, and saw the same waves racing past, the same vast dome of cloud and + ether that were mirrored in her brown eyes, and there was no one else + anywhere near them. Even the men in sailors' clothes, who would be pulling + at ropes, or climbing up tarred ladders, kept themselves considerately + outside the picture. Only Celia sat there, and at her feet, gazing up + again into her face as in the forest, the man whose whole being had been + consecrated to her service, her worship, by the kiss. + </p> + <p> + “You've passed it now. I was trying to point out the Jumel house to you—where + Aaron Burr lived, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Theron roused himself from his day-dream, and nodded with a confused smile + at his neighbor. “Thanks,” he faltered; “I didn't hear you. The train + makes such a noise, and I must have been dozing.” + </p> + <p> + He looked about him. The night aspect, as of a tramps' lodging-house, had + quite disappeared from the car. Everybody was sitting up; and the more + impatient were beginning to collect their bundles and hand-bags from the + racks and floor. An expressman came through, jangling a huge bunch of + brass checks on leathern thongs over his arm, and held parley with + passengers along the aisle. Outside, citified streets, with stores and + factories, were alternating in the moving panorama with open fields; and, + even as he looked, these vacant spaces ceased altogether, and successive + regular lines of pavement, between two tall rows of houses all alike, + began to stretch out, wheel to the right, and swing off out of view, for + all the world like the avenues of hop-poles he remembered as a boy. Then + was a long tunnel, its darkness broken at stated intervals by brief bursts + of daylight from overhead, and out of this all at once the train drew up + its full length in some vast, vaguely lighted enclosure, and stopped. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, this is New York,” said the man, folding up his paper, and springing + to his feet. The narrow aisle was filled with many others who had been + prompter still; and Theron stood, bag in hand, waiting till this energetic + throng should have pushed itself bodily past him forth from the car. Then + he himself made his way out, drifting with a sense of helplessness in + their resolute wake. There rose in his mind the sudden conviction that he + would be too late. All the passengers in the forward sleepers would be + gone before he could get there. Yet even this terror gave him no new power + to get ahead of anybody else in the tightly packed throng. + </p> + <p> + Once on the broad platform, the others started off briskly; they all + seemed to know just where they wanted to go, and to feel that no instant + of time was to be lost in getting there. Theron himself caught some of + this urgent spirit, and hurled himself along in the throng with reckless + haste, knocking his bag against peoples' legs, but never pausing for + apology or comment until he found himself abreast of the locomotive at the + head of the train. He drew aside from the main current here, and began + searching the platform, far and near, for those he had travelled so far to + find. + </p> + <p> + The platform emptied itself. Theron lingered on in puzzled hesitation, and + looked about him. In the whole immense station, with its acres of tracks + and footways, and its incessantly shifting processions of people, there + was visible nobody else who seemed also in doubt, or who appeared capable + of sympathizing with indecision in any form. Another train came in, some + way over to the right, and before it had fairly stopped, swarms of eager + men began boiling out of each end of each car, literally precipitating + themselves over one another, it seemed to Theron, in their excited dash + down the steps. As they caught their footing below, they started racing + pell-mell down the platform to its end; there he saw them, looking more + than ever like clustered bees in the distance, struggling vehemently in a + dense mass up a staircase in the remote corner of the building. + </p> + <p> + “What are those folks running for? Is there a fire?” he asked an + amiable-faced young mulatto, in the uniform of the sleeping-car service, + who passed him with some light hand-bags. + </p> + <p> + “No; they's Harlem people, I guess—jes' catchin' the Elevated—that's + all, sir,” he answered obligingly. + </p> + <p> + At the moment some passengers emerged slowly from one of the + sleeping-cars, and came loitering toward him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, are there people still in these cars?” he asked eagerly. “Haven't + they all gone?” + </p> + <p> + “Some has; some ain't,” the porter replied. “They most generally take + their time about it. They ain't no hurry, so long's they get out 'fore + we're drawn round to the drill-yard.” + </p> + <p> + There was still hope, then. Theron took up his bag and walked forward, + intent upon finding some place from which he could watch unobserved the + belated stragglers issuing from the sleeping-cars. He started back all at + once, confronted by a semi-circle of violent men with whips and badges, + who stunned his hearing by a sudden vociferous outburst of shouts and + yells. They made furious gestures at him with their whips and fists, to + enforce the incoherent babel of their voices; and in these gestures, as in + their faces and cries, there seemed a great deal of menace and very little + invitation. There was a big policeman sauntering near by, and Theron got + the idea that it was his presence alone which protected him from open + violence at the hands of these savage hackmen. He tightened his clutch on + his valise, and, turning his back on them and their uproar, tried to brave + it out and stand where he was. But the policeman came lounging slowly + toward him, with such authority in his swaying gait, and such urban + omniscience written all over his broad, sandy face, that he lost heart, + and beat an abrupt retreat off to the right, where there were a number of + doorways, near which other people had ventured to put down baggage on the + floor. + </p> + <p> + Here, somewhat screened from observation, he stood for a long time, + watching at odd moments the ceaselessly varying phases of the strange + scene about him, but always keeping an eye on the train he had himself + arrived in. It was slow and dispiriting work. A dozen times his heart + failed him, and he said to himself mournfully that he had had his journey + for nothing. Then some new figure would appear, alighting from the steps + of a sleeper, and hope revived in his breast. + </p> + <p> + At last, when over half an hour of expectancy had been marked off by the + big clock overhead, his suspense came to an end. He saw Father Forbes' + erect and substantial form, standing on the car platform nearest of all, + balancing himself with his white hands on the rails, waiting for + something. Then after a little he came down, followed by a black porter, + whose arms were burdened by numerous bags and parcels. The two stood a + minute or so more in hesitation at the side of the steps. Then Celia + descended, and the three advanced. + </p> + <p> + The importance of not being discovered was uppermost in Theron's mind, now + that he saw them actually coming toward him. He had avoided this the + previous evening, in the Octavius depot, with some skill, he flattered + himself. It gave him a pleasurable sense of being a man of affairs, almost + a detective, to be confronted by the necessity now of baffling observation + once again. He was still rather without plans for keeping them in view, + once they left the station. He had supposed that he would be able to hear + what hotel they directed their driver to take them to, and, failing that, + he had fostered a notion, based upon a story he had read when a boy, of + throwing himself into another carriage, and bidding his driver to pursue + them in hot haste, and on his life not fail to track them down. These + devices seemed somewhat empty, now that the urgent moment was at hand; and + as he drew back behind some other loiterers, out of view, he sharply + racked his wits for some way of coping with this most pressing problem. + </p> + <p> + It turned out, however, that there was no difficulty at all. Father Forbes + and Celia seemed to have no use for the hackmen, but moved straight + forward toward the street, through the doorway next to that in which + Theron cowered. He stole round, and followed them at a safe distance, + making Celia's hat, and the portmanteau perched on the shoulder of the + porter behind her, his guides. To his surprise, they still kept on their + course when they had reached the sidewalk, and went over the pavement + across an open square which spread itself directly in front of the + station. Hanging as far behind as he dared, he saw them pass to the other + sidewalk diagonally opposite, proceed for a block or so along this, and + then separate at a corner. Celia and the negro lad went down a side + street, and entered the door of a vast, tall red-brick building which + occupied the whole block. The priest, turning on his heel, came back again + and went boldly up the broad steps of the front entrance to this same + structure, which Theron now discovered to be the Murray Hill Hotel. + </p> + <p> + Fortune had indeed favored him. He not only knew where they were, but he + had been himself a witness to the furtive way in which they entered the + house by different doors. Nothing in his own limited experience of hotels + helped him to comprehend the notion of a separate entrance for ladies and + their luggage. He did not feel quite sure about the significance of what + he had observed, in his own mind. But it was apparent to him that there + was something underhanded about it. + </p> + <p> + After lingering awhile on the steps of the hotel, and satisfying himself + by peeps through the glass doors that the coast was clear, he ventured + inside. The great corridor contained many people, coming, going, or + standing about, but none of them paid any attention to him. At last he + made up his mind, and beckoned a colored boy to him from a group gathered + in the shadows of the big central staircase. Explaining that he did not at + that moment wish a room, but desired to leave his bag, the boy took him to + a cloak-room, and got him a check for the thing. With this in his pocket + he felt himself more at his ease, and turned to walk away. Then suddenly + he wheeled, and, bending his body over the counter of the cloak-room, + astonished the attendant inside by the eagerness with which he scrutinized + the piled rows of portmanteaus, trunks, overcoats, and bundles in the + little enclosure. + </p> + <p> + “What is it you want? Here's your bag, if you're looking for that,” this + man said to him. + </p> + <p> + “No, thanks; it's nothing,” replied Theron, straightening himself again. + He had had a narrow escape. Father Forbes and Celia, walking side by side, + had come down the small passage in which he stood, and had passed him so + closely that he had felt her dress brush against him. Fortunately he had + seen them in time, and by throwing himself half into the cloak-room, had + rendered recognition impossible. + </p> + <p> + He walked now in the direction they had taken, till he came to the polite + colored man at an open door on the left, who was bowing people into the + breakfast room. Standing in the doorway, he looked about him till his eye + lighted upon his two friends, seated at a small table by a distant window, + with a black waiter, card in hand, bending over in consultation with them. + </p> + <p> + Returning to the corridor, he made bold now to march up to the desk and + examine the register. The priest's name was not there. He found only the + brief entry, “Miss Madden, Octavius,” written, not by her, but by Father + Forbes. On the line were two numbers in pencil, with an “and” between + them. An indirect question to one of the clerks helped him to an + explanation of this. When there were two numbers, it meant that the guest + in question had a parlor as well as a bedroom. + </p> + <p> + Here he drew a long, satisfied breath, and turned away. The first half of + his quest stood completed—and that much more fully and easily than + he had dared to hope. He could not but feel a certain new respect for + himself as a man of resource and energy. He had demonstrated that people + could not fool with him with impunity. + </p> + <p> + It remained to decide what he would do with his discovery, now that it had + been so satisfactorily made. As yet, he had given this hardly a thought. + Even now, it did not thrust itself forward as a thing demanding instant + attention. It was much more important, first of all, to get a good + breakfast. He had learned that there was another and less formal + eating-place, downstairs in the basement by the bar, with an entrance from + the street. He walked down by the inner stairway instead, feeling himself + already at home in the big hotel. He ordered an ample breakfast, and came + out while it was being served to wash and have his boots blacked, and he + gave the man a quarter of a dollar. His pockets were filled with silver + quarters, half-dollars, and dollars almost to a burdensome point, and in + his valise was a bag full of smaller change, including many rolls of + copper cents which Alice always counted and packed up on Mondays. In the + hurry of leaving he had brought with him the church collections for the + past two weeks. It occurred to him that he must keep a strict account of + his expenditure. Meanwhile he gave ten cents to another man in a + silk-sleeved cardigan jacket, who had merely stood by and looked at him + while his boots were being polished. There was a sense of metropolitan + affluence in the very atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + The little table in the adjoining room, on which Theron found his meal in + waiting for him, seemed a vision of delicate napery and refined + appointments in his eyes. He was wolfishly hungry, and the dishes he + looked upon gave him back assurances by sight and smell that he was very + happy as well. The servant in attendance had an extremely white apron and + a kindly black face. He bowed when Theron looked at him, with the air of a + lifelong admirer and humble friend. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you'll have claret with your breakfast, sir?” he remarked, as + if it were a matter of course. + </p> + <p> + “Why, certainly,” answered Theron, stretching his legs contentedly under + the table, and tucking the corner of his napkin in his neckband.—“Certainly, + my good man.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX + </h2> + <p> + At ten o'clock Theron, loitering near the bookstall in the corridor, saw + Father Forbes come downstairs, pass out through the big front doors, get + into a carriage, and drive away. + </p> + <p> + This relieved him of a certain sense of responsibility, and he retired to + a corner sofa and sat down. The detective side of him being off duty, so + to speak, there was leisure at last for reflection upon the other aspects + of his mission. Yes; it was high time for him to consider what he should + do next. + </p> + <p> + It was easier to recognize this fact, however, than to act upon it. His + mind was full of tricksy devices for eluding this task of serious thought + which he sought to impose upon it. It seemed so much pleasanter not to + think at all—but just to drift. He found himself watching with envy + the men who, as they came out from their breakfast, walked over to the + bookstall, and bought cigars from the row of boxes nestling there among + the newspaper piles. They had such evident delight in the work of + selection; they took off the ends of the cigars so carefully, and lighted + them with such meditative attention,—he could see that he was + wofully handicapped by not knowing how to smoke. He had had the most + wonderful breakfast of his life, but even in the consciousness of + comfortable repletion which pervaded his being, there was an obstinate + sense of something lacking. No doubt a good cigar was the thing needed to + round out the perfection of such a breakfast. He half rose once, fired by + a sudden resolution to go over and get one. But of course that was + nonsense; it would only make him sick. He sat down, and determinedly set + himself to thinking. + </p> + <p> + The effort finally brought fruit—and of a kind which gave him a very + unhappy quarter of an hour. The lover part of him was uppermost now, + insistently exposing all its raw surfaces to the stings and scalds of + jealousy. Up to this moment, his brain had always evaded the direct + question of how he and the priest relatively stood in Celia's estimation. + It forced itself remorselessly upon him now; and his thoughts, so far from + shirking the subject, seemed to rise up to meet it. It was extremely + unpleasant, all this. + </p> + <p> + But then a calmer view asserted itself. Why go out of his way to invent + anguish for himself? The relations between Celia and the priest, whatever + they might be, were certainly of old standing. They had begun before his + time. His own romance was a more recent affair, and must take its place, + of course, subject to existing conditions. + </p> + <p> + It was all right for him to come to New York, and satisfy his legitimate + curiosity as to the exact character and scope of these conditions. But it + was foolish to pretend to be amazed or dismayed at the discovery of their + existence. They were a part of the situation which he, with his eyes wide + open, had accepted. It was his function to triumph over them, to supplant + them, to rear the edifice of his own victorious passion upon their ruins. + It was to this that Celia's kiss had invited him. It was for this that he + had come to New York. To let his purpose be hampered or thwarted now by + childish doubts and jealousies would be ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + He rose, and holding himself very erect, walked with measured deliberation + across the corridor and up the broad staircase. There was an elevator near + at hand, he had noticed, but he preferred the stairs. One or two of the + colored boys clustered about the foot of the stairs looked at him, and he + had a moment of dreadful apprehension lest they should stop his progress. + Nothing was said, and he went on. The numbers on the first floor were not + what he wanted, and after some wandering about he ascended to the next, + and then to the third. Every now and then he encountered attendants, but + intuitively he bore himself with an air of knowing what he was about which + protected him from inquiry. + </p> + <p> + Finally he came upon the hall-way he sought. Passing along, he found the + doors bearing the numbers he had memorized so well. They were quite close + together, and there was nothing to help him guess which belonged to the + parlor. He hesitated, gazing wistfully from one to the other. In the + instant of indecision, even while his alert ear caught the sound of feet + coming along toward the passage in which he stood, a thought came to + quicken his resolve. It became apparent to him that his discovery gave him + a certain new measure of freedom with Celia, a sort of right to take + things more for granted than heretofore. He chose a door at random, and + rapped distinctly on the panel. + </p> + <p> + “Come!” + </p> + <p> + The voice he knew for Celia's. The single word, however, recalled the + usage of Father Forbes, which he had noted more than once at the + pastorate, when Maggie had knocked. + </p> + <p> + He straightened his shoulders, took his hat off, and pushed open the door. + It WAS the parlor—a room of sofas, pianos, big easy-chairs, and + luxurious bric-a-brac. A tall woman was walking up and down in it, with + bowed head. Her back was at the moment toward him; and he looked at her, + saying to himself that this was the lady of his dreams, the enchantress of + the kiss, the woman who loved him—but somehow it did not seem to his + senses to be Celia. + </p> + <p> + She turned, and moved a step or two in his direction before she + mechanically lifted her eyes and saw who was standing in her doorway. She + stopped short, and regarded him. Her face was in the shadow, and he could + make out nothing of its expression, save that there was a general effect + of gravity about it. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot receive you,” she said. “You must go away. You have no business + to come like this without sending up your card.” + </p> + <p> + Theron smiled at her. The notion of taking in earnest her inhospitable + words did not at all occur to him. He could see now that her face had + vexed and saddened lines upon it, and the sharpness of her tone remained + in his ears. But he smiled again gently, to reassure her. + </p> + <p> + “I ought to have sent up my name, I know,” he said, “but I couldn't bear + to wait. I just saw your name on the register and—you WILL forgive + me, won't you?—I ran to you at once. I know you won't have the heart + to send me away!” + </p> + <p> + She stood where she had halted, her arms behind her, looking him fixedly + in the face. He had made a movement to advance, and offer his hand in + greeting, but her posture checked the impulse. His courage began to falter + under her inspection. + </p> + <p> + “Must I really go down again?” he pleaded. “It's a crushing penalty to + suffer for such little indiscretion. I was so excited to find you were + here—I never stopped to think. Don't send me away; please don't!” + </p> + <p> + Celia raised her head. “Well, shut the door, then,” she said, “since you + are so anxious to stay. You would have done much better, though, very much + better indeed, to have taken the hint and gone away.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you shake hands with me, Celia?” he asked softly, as he came near + her. + </p> + <p> + “Sit there, please!” she made answer, indicating a chair in the middle of + the room. He obeyed her, but to his surprise, instead of seating herself + as well, she began walking up and down the length of the floor again. + After a turn or two she stopped in front of him, and looked him full in + the eye. The light from the windows was on her countenance now, and its + revelations vaguely troubled him. It was a Celia he had never seen before + who confronted him. + </p> + <p> + “I am much occupied by other matters,” she said, speaking with cold + impassivity, “but still I find myself curious to know just what limits you + set to your dishonesty.” + </p> + <p> + Theron stared up at her. His lips quivered, but no speech came to them. If + this was all merely fond playfulness, it was being carried to a + heart-aching point. + </p> + <p> + “I saw you hiding about in the depot at home last evening,” she went on. + “You come up here, pretending to have discovered me by accident, but I saw + you following me from the Grand Central this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did both these things,” said Theron, boldly. A fine bravery + tingled in his veins all at once. He looked into her face and found the + spirit to disregard its frowning aspect. “Yes, I did them,” he repeated + defiantly. “That is not the hundredth part, or the thousandth part, of + what I would do for your sake. I have got way beyond caring for any + consequences. Position, reputation, the good opinion of fools—what + are they? Life itself—what does it amount to? Nothing at all—with + you in the balance!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—but I am not in the balance,” observed Celia, quietly. “That is + where you have made your mistake.” + </p> + <p> + Theron laid aside his hat. Women were curious creatures, he reflected. + Some were susceptible to one line of treatment, some to another. His own + reading of Celia had always been that she liked opposition, of a smart, + rattling, almost cheeky, sort. One got on best with her by saying bright + things. He searched his brain now for some clever quip that would strike + sparks from the adamantine mood which for the moment it was her whim to + assume. To cover the process, he smiled a little. Then her beauty, as she + stood before him, her queenly form clad in a more stiffly fashionable + dress than he had seen her wearing before, appealed afresh and + overwhelmingly to him. He rose to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “Have you forgotten our talk in the woods?” he murmured with a wooing + note. “Have you forgotten the kiss?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head calmly. “I have forgotten nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why play with me so cruelly now?” he went on, in a voice of tender + deprecation. “I know you don't mean it, but all the same it bruises my + heart a little. I build myself so wholly upon you, I have made existence + itself depend so completely upon your smile, upon a soft glance in your + eyes, that when they are not there, why, I suffer, I don't know how to + live at all. So be kinder to me, Celia!” + </p> + <p> + “I was kinder, as you call it, when you came in,” she replied. “I told you + to go away. That was pure kindness—more kindness than you deserved.” + </p> + <p> + Theron looked at his hat, where it stood on the carpet by his feet. He + felt tears coming into his eyes. “You tell me that you remember,” he said, + in depressed tones, “and yet you treat me like this! Perhaps I am wrong. + No doubt it is my own fault. I suppose I ought not to have come down here + at all.” + </p> + <p> + Celia nodded her head in assent to this view. + </p> + <p> + “But I swear that I was helpless in the matter,” he burst forth. “I HAD to + come! It would have been literally impossible for me to have stayed at + home, knowing that you were here, and knowing also that—that—” + </p> + <p> + “Go on!” said Celia, thrusting forth her under-lip a trifle, and hardening + still further the gleam in her eye, as he stumbled over his sentence and + left it unfinished. “What was the other thing that you were 'knowing'?” + </p> + <p> + “Knowing—” he took up the word hesitatingly—“knowing that life + would be insupportable to me if I could not be near you.” + </p> + <p> + She curled her lip at him. “You skated over the thin spot very well,” she + commented. “It was on the tip of your tongue to mention the fact that + Father Forbes came with me. Oh, I can read you through and through, Mr. + Ware.” + </p> + <p> + In a misty way Theron felt things slipping from his grasp. The rising + moisture blurred his eyes as their gaze clung to Celia. + </p> + <p> + “Then if you do read me,” he protested, “you must know how utterly my + heart and brain are filled with you. No other man in all the world can + yield himself so absolutely to the woman he worships as I can. You have + taken possession of me so wholly, I am not in the least master of myself + any more. I don't know what I say or what I do. I am not worthy of you, I + know. No man alive could be that. But no one else will idolize and + reverence you as I do. Believe me when I say that, Celia! And how can you + blame me, in your heart, for following you? 'Whither thou goest, I will + go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, + and thy God my God; where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be + buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee + and me!'” + </p> + <p> + Celia shrugged her shoulders, and moved a few steps away from him. + Something like despair seized upon him. + </p> + <p> + “Surely,” he urged with passion, “surely I have a right to remind you of + the kiss!” + </p> + <p> + She turned. “The kiss,” she said meditatively. “Yes, you have a right to + remind me of it. Oh, yes, an undoubted right. You have another right too—the + right to have the kiss explained to you. It was of the good-bye order. It + signified that we weren't to meet again, and that just for one little + moment I permitted myself to be sorry for you. That was all.” + </p> + <p> + He held himself erect under the incredible words, and gazed blankly at + her. The magnitude of what he confronted bewildered him; his mind was + incapable of taking it in. “You mean—” he started to say, and then + stopped, helplessly staring into her face, with a dropped jaw. It was too + much to try to think what she meant. + </p> + <p> + A little side-thought sprouted in the confusion of his brain. It grew + until it spread a bitter smile over his pale face. “I know so little about + kisses,” he said; “I am such a greenhorn at that sort of thing. You should + have had pity on my inexperience, and told me just what brand of kiss it + was I was getting. Probably I ought to have been able to distinguish, but + you see I was brought up in the country—on a farm. They don't have + kisses in assorted varieties there.” + </p> + <p> + She bowed her head slightly. “Yes, you are entitled to say that,” she + assented. “I was to blame, and it is quite fair that you should tell me + so. You spoke of your inexperience, your innocence. That was why I kissed + you in saying good-bye. It was in memory of that innocence of yours, to + which you yourself had been busy saying good-bye ever since I first saw + you. The idea seemed to me to mean something at the moment. I see now that + it was too subtle. I do not usually err on that side.” + </p> + <p> + Theron kept his hold upon her gaze, as if it afforded him bodily support. + He felt that he ought to stoop and take up his hat, but he dared not look + away from her. “Do you not err now, on the side of cruelty?” he asked her + piteously. + </p> + <p> + It seemed for the instant as if she were wavering, and he swiftly thrust + forth other pleas. “I admit that I did wrong to follow you to New York. I + see that now. But it was an offence committed in entire good faith. Think + of it, Celia! I have never seen you since that day—that day in the + woods. I have waited—and waited—with no sign from you, no + chance of seeing you at all. Think what that meant to me! Everything in + the world had been altered for me, torn up by the roots. I was a new + being, plunged into a new existence. The kiss had done that. But until I saw + you again, I could not tell whether this vast change in me and my life was + for good or for bad—whether the kiss had come to me as a blessing or + a curse. The suspense was killing me, Celia! That is why, when I learned + that you were coming here, I threw everything to the winds and followed + you. You blame me for it, and I bow my head and accept the blame. But are + you justified in punishing me so terribly—in going on after I have + confessed my error, and cutting my heart into little strips, putting me to + death by torture?” + </p> + <p> + “Sit down,” said Celia, with a softened weariness in her voice. She seated + herself in front of him as he sank into his chair again. “I don't want to + give you unnecessary pain, but you have insisted on forcing yourself into + a position where there isn't anything else but pain. I warned you to go + away, but you wouldn't. No matter how gently I may try to explain things + to you, you are bound to get nothing but suffering out of the explanation. + Now shall I still go on?” + </p> + <p> + He inclined his head in token of assent, and did not lift it again, but + raised toward her a disconsolate gaze from a pallid, drooping face. + </p> + <p> + “It is all in a single word, Mr. Ware,” she proceeded, in low tones. “I + speak for others as well as myself, mind you—we find that you are a + bore.” + </p> + <p> + Theron's stiffened countenance remained immovable. He continued to stare + unblinkingly up into her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “We were disposed to like you very much when we first knew you,” Celia + went on. “You impressed us as an innocent, simple, genuine young + character, full of mother's milk. It was like the smell of early spring in + the country to come in contact with you. Your honesty of nature, your + sincerity in that absurd religion of yours, your general NAIVETE of mental + and spiritual get-up, all pleased us a great deal. We thought you were + going to be a real acquisition.” + </p> + <p> + “Just a moment—whom do you mean by 'we'?” He asked the question + calmly enough, but in a voice with an effect of distance in it. + </p> + <p> + “It may not be necessary to enter into that,” she replied. “Let me go on. + But then it became apparent, little by little, that we had misjudged you. + We liked you, as I have said, because you were unsophisticated and + delightfully fresh and natural. Somehow we took it for granted you would + stay so. But that is just what you didn't do—just what you hadn't + the sense to try to do. Instead, we found you inflating yourself with all + sorts of egotisms and vanities. We found you presuming upon the + friendships which had been mistakenly extended to you. Do you want + instances? You went to Dr. Ledsmar's house that very day after I had been + with you to get a piano at Thurston's, and tried to inveigle him into + talking scandal about me. You came to me with tales about him. You went to + Father Forbes, and sought to get him to gossip about us both. Neither of + those men will ever ask you inside his house again. But that is only one + part of it. Your whole mind became an unpleasant thing to contemplate. You + thought it would amuse and impress us to hear you ridiculing and reviling + the people of your church, whose money supports you, and making a mock of + the things they believe in, and which you for your life wouldn't dare let + them know you didn't believe in. You talked to us slightingly about your + wife. What were you thinking of, not to comprehend that that would disgust + us? You showed me once—do you remember?—a life of George Sand + that you had just bought,—bought because you had just discovered + that she had an unclean side to her life. You chuckled as you spoke to me + about it, and you were for all the world like a little nasty boy, giggling + over something dirty that older people had learned not to notice. These + are merely random incidents. They are just samples, picked hap-hazard, of + the things in you which have been opening our eyes, little by little, to + our mistake. I can understand that all the while you really fancied that + you were expanding, growing, in all directions. What you took to be + improvement was degeneration. When you thought that you were impressing us + most by your smart sayings and doings, you were reminding us most of the + fable about the donkey trying to play lap-dog. And it wasn't even an + honest, straightforward donkey at that!” + </p> + <p> + She uttered these last words sorrowfully, her hands clasped in her lap, + and her eyes sinking to the floor. A silence ensued. Then Theron reached a + groping hand out for his hat, and, rising, walked with a lifeless, + automatic step to the door. + </p> + <p> + He had it half open, when the impossibility of leaving in this way towered + suddenly in his path and overwhelmed him. He slammed the door to, and + turned as if he had been whirled round by some mighty wind. He came toward + her, with something almost menacing in the vigor of his movements, and in + the wild look upon his white, set face. Halting before her, he covered the + tailor-clad figure, the coiled red hair, the upturned face with its + simulated calm, the big brown eyes, the rings upon the clasped fingers, + with a sweeping, comprehensive glare of passion. + </p> + <p> + “This is what you have done to me, then!” + </p> + <p> + His voice was unrecognizable in his own ears—hoarse and broken, but + with a fright-compelling something in it which stimulated his rage. The + horrible notion of killing her, there where she sat, spread over the chaos + of his mind with an effect of unearthly light—red and abnormally + evil. It was like that first devilish radiance ushering in Creation, of + which the first-fruit was Cain. Why should he not kill her? In all ages, + women had been slain for less. Yes—and men had been hanged. + Something rose and stuck in his dry throat; and as he swallowed it down, + the sinister flare of murderous fascination died suddenly away into + darkness. The world was all black again—plunged in the Egyptian + night which lay upon the face of the deep while the earth was yet without + form and void. He was alone on it—alone among awful, planetary + solitudes which crushed him. + </p> + <p> + The sight of Celia, sitting motionless only a pace in front of him, was + plain enough to his eyes. It was an illusion. She was really a star, many + millions of miles away. These things were hard to understand; but they + were true, none the less. People seemed to be about him, but in fact he + was alone. He recalled that even the little child in the car, playing with + those two buttons on a string, would have nothing to do with him. Take his + money, yes; take all he would give her—but not smile at him, not + come within reach of him! Men closed the doors of their houses against + him. The universe held him at arm's length as a nuisance. + </p> + <p> + He was standing with one knee upon a sofa. Unconsciously he had moved + round to the side of Celia; and as he caught the effect of her face now in + profile, memory-pictures began at once building themselves in his brain—pictures + of her standing in the darkened room of the cottage of death, declaiming + the CONFITEOR; of her seated at the piano, under the pure, mellowed + candle-light; of her leaning her chin on her hands, and gazing + meditatively at the leafy background of the woods they were in; of her + lying back, indolently content, in the deck-chair on the yacht of his + fancy—that yacht which a few hours before had seemed so brilliantly + and bewitchingly real to him, and now—now—! + </p> + <p> + He sank in a heap upon the couch, and, burying his face among its + cushions, wept and groaned aloud. His collapse was absolute. He sobbed + with the abandonment of one who, in the veritable presence of death, lets + go all sense of relation to life. + </p> + <p> + Presently some one was touching him on the shoulder—an incisive, + pointed touch—and he checked himself, and lifted his face. + </p> + <p> + “You will have to get up, and present some sort of an appearance, and go + away at once,” Celia said to him in low, rapid tones. “Some gentlemen are + at the door, whom I have been waiting for.” + </p> + <p> + As he stupidly sat up and tried to collect his faculties, Celia had opened + the door and admitted two visitors. The foremost was Father Forbes; and + he, with some whispered, smiling words, presented to her his companion, a + tall, robust, florid man of middle-age, with a frock-coat and a gray + mustache, sharply waxed. The three spoke for a moment together. Then the + priest's wandering eye suddenly lighted upon the figure on the sofa. He + stared, knitted his brows, and then lifted them in inquiry as he turned to + Celia. + </p> + <p> + “Poor man!” she said readily, in tones loud enough to reach Theron. “It is + our neighbor, Father, the Rev. Mr. Ware. He hit upon my name in the + register quite unexpectedly, and I had him come up. He is in sore distress—a + great and sudden bereavement. He is going now. Won't you speak to him in + the hall—a few words, Father? It would please him. He is terribly + depressed.” + </p> + <p> + The words had drawn Theron to his feet, as by some mechanical process. He + took up his hat and moved dumbly to the door. It seemed to him that Celia + intended offering to shake hands; but he went past her with only some + confused exchange of glances and a murmured word or two. The tall + stranger, who drew aside to let him pass, had acted as if he expected to + be introduced. Theron, emerging into the hall, leaned against the wall and + looked dreamily at the priest, who had stepped out with him. + </p> + <p> + “I am very sorry to learn that you are in trouble, Mr. Ware,” Father + Forbes said, gently enough, but in hurried tones. “Miss Madden is also in + trouble. I mentioned to you that her brother had got into a serious + scrape. I have brought my old friend, General Brady, to consult with her + about the matter. He knows all the parties concerned, and he can set + things right if anybody can.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a mistake about me—I 'm not in any trouble at all,” said + Theron. “I just dropped in to make a friendly call.” + </p> + <p> + The priest glanced sharply at him, noting with a swift, informed scrutiny + how he sprawled against the wall, and what vacuity his eyes and loosened + lips expressed. + </p> + <p> + “Then you have a talent for the inopportune amounting to positive genius,” + said Father Forbes, with a stormy smile. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me this, Father Forbes,” the other demanded, with impulsive + suddenness, “is it true that you don't want me in your house again? Is + that the truth or not?” + </p> + <p> + “The truth is always relative, Mr. Ware,” replied the priest, turning + away, and closing the door of the parlor behind him with a decisive sound. + </p> + <p> + Left alone, Theron started to make his way downstairs. He found his legs + wavering under him and making zigzag movements of their own in a + bewildering fashion. He referred this at first, in an outburst of fresh + despair, to the effects of his great grief. Then, as he held tight to the + banister and governed his descent step by step, it occurred to him that it + must be the wine he had had for breakfast. Upon examination, he was not so + unhappy, after all. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI + </h2> + <p> + At the second peal of the door-bell, Brother Soulsby sat up in bed. It was + still pitch-dark, and the memory of the first ringing fluttered musically + in his awakening consciousness as a part of some dream he had been having. + </p> + <p> + “Who the deuce can that be?” he mused aloud, in querulous resentment at + the interruption. + </p> + <p> + “Put your head out of the window, and ask,” suggested his wife, drowsily. + </p> + <p> + The bell-pull scraped violently in its socket, and a third outburst of + shrill reverberations clamored through the silent house. + </p> + <p> + “Whatever you do, I'd do it before he yanked the whole thing to pieces,” + added the wife, with more decision. + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby was wide awake now. He sprang to the floor, and, groping + about in the obscurity, began drawing on some of his clothes. He rapped on + the window during the process, to show that the house was astir, and a + minute afterward made his way out of the room and down the stairs, the + boards creaking under his stockinged feet as he went. + </p> + <p> + Nearly a quarter of an hour passed before he returned. Sister Soulsby, + lying in sleepy quiescence, heard vague sounds of voices at the front + door, and did not feel interested enough to lift her head and listen. A + noise of footsteps on the sidewalk followed, first receding from the door, + then turning toward it, this second time marking the presence of more than + one person. There seemed in this the implication of a guest, and she shook + off the dozing impulses which enveloped her faculties, and waited to hear + more. There came up, after further muttering of male voices, the + undeniable chink of coins striking against one another. Then more + footsteps, the resonant slam of a carriage door out in the street, the + grinding of wheels turning on the frosty road, and the racket of a vehicle + and horses going off at a smart pace into the night. Somebody had come, + then. She yawned at the thought, but remained well awake, tracing idly in + her mind, as various slight sounds rose from the lower floor, the + different things Soulsby was probably doing. Their spare room was down + there, directly underneath, but curiously enough no one seemed to enter + it. The faint murmur of conversation which from time to time reached her + came from the parlor instead. At last she heard her husband's soft tread + coming up the staircase, and still there had been no hint of employing the + guest-chamber. What could he be about? she wondered. + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby came in, bearing a small lamp in his hand, the reddish + light of which, flaring upward, revealed an unlooked-for display of + amusement on his thin, beardless face. He advanced to the bedside, shading + the glare from her blinking eyes with his palm, and grinned. + </p> + <p> + “A thousand guesses, old lady,” he said, with a dry chuckle, “and you + wouldn't have a ghost of a chance. You might guess till Hades froze over + seven feet thick, and still you wouldn't hit it.” + </p> + <p> + She sat up in turn. “Good gracious, man,” she began, “you don't mean—” + Here the cheerful gleam in his small eyes reassured her, and she sighed + relief, then smiled confusedly. “I half thought, just for the minute,” she + explained, “it might be some bounder who'd come East to try and blackmail + me. But no, who is it—and what on earth have you done with him?” + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby cackled in merriment. “It's Brother Ware of Octavius, out + on a little bat, all by himself. He says he's been on the loose only two + days; but it looks more like a fortnight.” + </p> + <p> + “OUR Brother Ware?” she regarded him with open-eyed surprise. + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes, I suppose he's OUR Brother Ware—some,” returned Soulsby, + genially. “He seems to think so, anyway.” + </p> + <p> + “But tell me about it!” she urged eagerly. “What's the matter with him? + How does he explain it?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he explains it pretty badly, if you ask me,” said Soulsby, with a + droll, joking eye and a mock-serious voice. He seated himself on the side + of the bed, facing her, and still considerately shielding her from the + light of the lamp he held. “But don't think I suggested any explanations. + I've been a mother myself. He's merely filled himself up to the neck with + rum, in the simple, ordinary, good old-fashioned way. That's all. What is + there to explain about that?” + </p> + <p> + She looked meditatively at him for a time, shaking her head. “No, + Soulsby,” she said gravely, at last. “This isn't any laughing matter. You + may be sure something bad has happened, to set him off like that. I'm + going to get up and dress right now. What time is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Now don't you do anything of the sort,” he urged persuasively. “It isn't + five o'clock; it'll be dark for nearly an hour yet. Just you turn over, + and have another nap. He's all right. I put him on the sofa, with the + buffalo robe round him. You'll find him there, safe and sound, when it's + time for white folks to get up. You know how it breaks you up all day, not + to get your full sleep.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care if it makes me look as old as the everlasting hills,” she + said. “Can't you understand, Soulsby? The thing worries me—gets on + my nerves. I couldn't close an eye, if I tried. I took a great fancy to + that young man. I told you so at the time.” + </p> + <p> + Soulsby nodded, and turned down the wick of his lamp a trifle. “Yes, I + know you did,” he remarked in placidly non-contentious tones. “I can't say + I saw much in him myself, but I daresay you're right.” There followed a + moment's silence, during which he experimented in turning the wick up + again. “But, anyway,” he went on, “there isn't anything you can do. He'll + sleep it off, and the longer he's left alone the better. It isn't as if we + had a hired girl, who'd come down and find him there, and give the whole + thing away. He's fixed up there perfectly comfortable; and when he's had + his sleep out, and wakes up on his own account, he'll be feeling a heap + better.” + </p> + <p> + The argument might have carried conviction, but on the instant the sound + of footsteps came to them from the room below. The subdued noise rose + regularly, as of one pacing to and fro. + </p> + <p> + “No, Soulsby, YOU come back to bed, and get YOUR sleep out. I'm going + downstairs. It's no good talking; I'm going.” + </p> + <p> + Brother Soulsby offered no further opposition, either by talk or demeanor, + but returned contentedly to bed, pulling the comforter over his ears, and + falling into the slow, measured respiration of tranquil slumber before his + wife was ready to leave the room. + </p> + <p> + The dim, cold gray of twilight was sifting furtively through the lace + curtains of the front windows when Mrs. Soulsby, lamp in hand, entered the + parlor. She confronted a figure she would have hardly recognized. The man + seemed to have been submerged in a bath of disgrace. From the crown of his + head to the soles of his feet, everything about him was altered, + distorted, smeared with an intangible effect of shame. In the vague gloom + of the middle distance, between lamp and window, she noticed that his + shoulders were crouched, like those of some shambling tramp. The frowsy + shadows of a stubble beard lay on his jaw and throat. His clothes were + crumpled and hung awry; his boots were stained with mud. The silk hat on + the piano told its battered story with dumb eloquence. + </p> + <p> + Lifting the lamp, she moved forward a step, and threw its light upon his + face. A little groan sounded involuntarily upon her lips. Out of a mask of + unpleasant features, swollen with drink and weighted by the physical + craving for rest and sleep, there stared at her two bloodshot eyes, + shining with the wild light of hysteria. The effect of dishevelled hair, + relaxed muscles, and rough, half-bearded lower face lent to these eyes, as + she caught their first glance, an unnatural glare. The lamp shook in her + hand for an instant. Then, ashamed of herself, she held out her other hand + fearlessly to him. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me all about it, Theron,” she said calmly, and with a soothing, + motherly intonation in her voice. + </p> + <p> + He did not take the hand she offered, but suddenly, with a wailing moan, + cast himself on his knees at her feet. He was so tall a man that the + movement could have no grace. He abased his head awkwardly, to bury it + among the folds of the skirts at her ankles. She stood still for a moment, + looking down upon him. Then, blowing out the light, she reached over and + set the smoking lamp on the piano near by. The daylight made things + distinguishable in a wan, uncertain way, throughout the room. + </p> + <p> + “I have come out of hell, for the sake of hearing some human being speak + to me like that!” + </p> + <p> + The thick utterance proceeded in a muffled fashion from where his face + grovelled against her dress. Its despairing accents appealed to her, but + even more was she touched by the ungainly figure he made, sprawling on the + carpet. + </p> + <p> + “Well, since you are out, stay out,” she answered, as reassuringly as she + could. “But get up and take a seat here beside me, like a sensible man, + and tell me all about it. Come! I insist!” + </p> + <p> + In obedience to her tone, and the sharp tug at his shoulder with which she + emphasized it, he got slowly to his feet, and listlessly seated himself on + the sofa to which she pointed. He hung his head, and began catching his + breath with a periodical gasp, half hiccough, half sob. + </p> + <p> + “First of all,” she said, in her brisk, matter-of-fact manner, “don't you + want to lie down there again, and have me tuck you up snug with the + buffalo robe, and go to sleep? That would be the best thing you could do.” + </p> + <p> + He shook his head disconsolately, from side to side. “I can't!” he + groaned, with a swifter recurrence of the sob-like convulsions. “I'm dying + for sleep, but I'm too—too frightened!” + </p> + <p> + “Come, I'll sit beside you till you drop off,” she said, with masterful + decision. He suffered himself to be pushed into recumbency on the couch, + and put his head with docility on the pillow she brought from the spare + room. When she had spread the fur over him, and pushed her chair close to + the sofa, she stood by it for a little, looking down in meditation at his + demoralized face. Under the painful surface-blur of wretchedness and + fatigued debauchery, she traced reflectively the lineaments of the younger + and cleanlier countenance she had seen a few months before. Nothing + essential had been taken away. There was only this pestiferous overlaying + of shame and cowardice to be removed. The face underneath was still all + right. + </p> + <p> + With a soft, maternal touch, she smoothed the hair from his forehead into + order. Then she seated herself, and, when he got his hand out from under + the robe and thrust it forth timidly, she took it in hers and held it in a + warm, sympathetic grasp. He closed his eyes at this, and gradually the + paroxysmal catch in his breathing lapsed. The daylight strengthened, until + at last tiny flecks of sunshine twinkled in the meshes of the further + curtains at the window. She fancied him asleep, and gently sought to + disengage her hand, but his fingers clutched at it with vehemence, and his + eyes were wide open. + </p> + <p> + “I can't sleep at all,” he murmured. “I want to talk.” + </p> + <p> + “There 's nothing in the world to hinder you,” she commented smilingly. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you the solemn truth,” he said, lifting his voice in dogged + assertion: “the best sermon I ever preached in my life, I preached only + three weeks ago, at the camp-meeting. It was admitted by everybody to be + far and away my finest effort! They will tell you the same!” + </p> + <p> + “It's quite likely,” assented Sister Soulsby. “I quite believe it.” + </p> + <p> + “Then how can anybody say that I've degenerated, that I've become a fool?” + he demanded. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't heard anybody hint at such a thing,” she answered quietly. + </p> + <p> + “No, of course, YOU haven't heard them!” he cried. “I heard them, though!” + Then, forcing himself to a sitting posture, against the restraint of her + hand, he flung back the covering. “I'm burning hot already! Yes, those + were the identical words: I haven't improved; I've degenerated. People + hate me; they won't have me in their houses. They say I'm a nuisance and a + bore. I'm like a little nasty boy. That's what they say. Even a young man + who was dying—lying right on the edge of his open grave—told + me solemnly that I reminded him of a saint once, but I was only fit for a + barkeeper now. They say I really don't know anything at all. And I'm not + only a fool, they say, I'm a dishonest fool into the bargain!” + </p> + <p> + “But who says such twaddle as that?” she returned consolingly. The + violence of his emotion disturbed her. “You mustn't imagine such things. + You are among friends here. Other people are your friends, too. They have + the very highest opinion of you.” + </p> + <p> + “I haven't a friend on earth but you!” he declared solemnly. His eyes + glowed fiercely, and his voice sank into a grave intensity of tone. “I was + going to kill myself. I went on to the big bridge to throw myself off, and + a policeman saw me trying to climb over the railing, and he grabbed me and + marched me away. Then he threw me out at the entrance, and said he would + club my head off if I came there again. And then I went and stood and let + the cable-cars pass close by me, and twenty times I thought I had the + nerve to throw myself under the next one, and then I waited for the next—and + I was afraid! And then I was in a crowd somewhere, and the warning came to + me that I was going to die. The fool needn't go kill himself: God would + take care of that. It was my heart, you know. I've had that terrible + fluttering once before. It seized me this time, and I fell down in the + crowd, and some people walked over me, but some one else helped me up, and + let me sit down in a big lighted hallway, the entrance to some theatre, + and some one brought me some brandy, but somebody else said I was drunk, + and they took it away again, and put me out. They could see I was a fool, + that I hadn't a friend on earth. And when I went out, there was a big + picture of a woman in tights, and the word 'Amazons' overhead—and + then I remembered you. I knew you were my friend—the only one I have + on earth.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very flattering—to be remembered like that,” said Sister + Soulsby, gently. The disposition to laugh was smothered by a pained + perception of the suffering he was undergoing. His face had grown drawn + and haggard under the burden of his memories as he rambled on. + </p> + <p> + “So I came straight to you,” he began again. “I had just money enough left + to pay my fare. The rest is in my valise at the hotel—the Murray + Hill Hotel. It belongs to the church. I stole it from the church. When I + am dead they can get it back again!” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby forced a smile to her lips. “What nonsense you talk—about + dying!” she exclaimed. “Why, man alive, you'll sleep this all off like a + top, if you'll only lie down and give yourself a chance. Come, now, you + must do as you're told.” + </p> + <p> + With a resolute hand, she made him lie down again, and once more covered + him with the fur. He submitted, and did not even offer to put out his arm + this time, but looked in piteous dumbness at her for a long time. While + she sat thus in silence, the sound of Brother Soulsby moving about + upstairs became audible. + </p> + <p> + Theron heard it, and the importance of hurrying on some further disclosure + seemed to suggest itself. “I can see you think I'm just drunk,” he said, + in low, sombre tones. “Of course that's what HE thought. The hackman + thought so, and so did the conductor, and everybody. But I hoped you would + know better. I was sure you would see that it was something worse than + that. See here, I'll tell you. Then you'll understand. I've been drinking + for two days and one whole night, on my feet all the while, wandering + alone in that big strange New York, going through places where they + murdered men for ten cents, mixing myself up with the worst people in low + bar-rooms and dance-houses, and they saw I had money in my pocket, too, + and yet nobody touched me, or offered to lay a finger on me. Do you know + why? They understood that I wanted to get drunk, and couldn't. The Indians + won't harm an idiot, or lunatic, you know. Well, it was the same with + these vilest of the vile. They saw that I was a fool whom God had taken + hold of, to break his heart first, and then to craze his brain, and then + to fling him on a dunghill to die like a dog. They believe in God, those + people. They're the only ones who do, it seems to me. And they wouldn't + interfere when they saw what He was doing to me. But I tell you I wasn't + drunk. I haven't been drunk. I'm only heart-broken, and crushed out of + shape and life—that's all. And I've crawled here just to have a + friend by me when—when I come to the end.” + </p> + <p> + “You're not talking very sensibly, or very bravely either, Theron Ware,” + remarked his companion. “It's cowardly to give way to notions like that.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I 'm not afraid to die; don't think that,” he remonstrated wearily. + “If there is a Judgment, it has hit me as hard as it can already. There + can't be any hell worse than that I've gone through. Here I am talking + about hell,” he continued, with a pained contraction of the muscles about + his mouth—a stillborn, malformed smile—“as if I believed in + one! I've got way through all my beliefs, you know. I tell you that + frankly.” + </p> + <p> + “It's none of my business,” she reassured him. “I'm not your Bishop, or + your confessor. I'm just your friend, your pal, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Look here!” he broke in, with some animation and a new intensity of + glance and voice. “If I was going to live, I'd have some funny things to + tell. Six months ago I was a good man. I not only seemed to be good, to + others and to myself, but I was good. I had a soul; I had a conscience. I + was going along doing my duty, and I was happy in it. We were poor, Alice + and I, and people behaved rather hard toward us, and sometimes we were a + little down in the mouth about it; but that was all. We really were happy; + and I—I really was a good man. Here's the kind of joke God plays! + You see me here six months after. Look at me! I haven't got an honest hair + in my head. I'm a bad man through and through, that's what I am. I look + all around at myself, and there isn't an atom left anywhere of the good + man I used to be. And, mind you, I never lifted a finger to prevent the + change. I didn't resist once; I didn't make any fight. I just walked + deliberately down-hill, with my eyes wide open. I told myself all the + while that I was climbing uphill instead, but I knew in my heart that it + was a lie. Everything about me was a lie. I wouldn't be telling the truth, + even now, if—if I hadn't come to the end of my rope. Now, how do you + explain that? How can it be explained? Was I really rotten to the core all + the time, years ago, when I seemed to everybody, myself and the rest, to + be good and straight and sincere? Was it all a sham, or does God take a + good man and turn him into an out-and-out bad one, in just a few months—in + the time that it takes an ear of corn to form and ripen and go off with + the mildew? Or isn't there any God at all—but only men who live and + die like animals? And that would explain my case, wouldn't it? I got + bitten and went vicious and crazy, and they've had to chase me out and + hunt me to my death like a mad dog! Yes, that makes it all very simple. It + isn't worth while to discuss me at all as if I had a soul, is it? I'm just + one more mongrel cur that's gone mad, and must be put out of the way. + That's all.” + </p> + <p> + “See here,” said Sister Soulsby, alertly, “I half believe that a good + cuffing is what you really stand in need of. Now you stop all this + nonsense, and lie quiet and keep still! Do you hear me?” + </p> + <p> + The jocose sternness which she assumed, in words and manner, seemed to + soothe him. He almost smiled up at her in a melancholy way, and sighed + profoundly. + </p> + <p> + “I've told you MY religion before,” she went on with gentleness. “The + sheep and the goats are to be separated on Judgment Day, but not a minute + sooner. In other words, as long as human life lasts, good, bad, and + indifferent are all braided up together in every man's nature, and every + woman's too. You weren't altogether good a year ago, any more than you're + altogether bad now. You were some of both then; you're some of both now. + If you've been making an extra sort of fool of yourself lately, why, now + that you recognize it, the only thing to do is to slow steam, pull up, and + back engine in the other direction. In that way you'll find things will + even themselves up. It's a see-saw with all of us, Theron Ware—sometimes + up; sometimes down. But nobody is rotten clear to the core.” + </p> + <p> + He closed his eyes, and lay in silence for a time. + </p> + <p> + “This is what day of the week?” he asked, at last. + </p> + <p> + “Friday, the nineteenth.” + </p> + <p> + “Wednesday—that would be the seventeenth. That was the day ordained + for my slaughter. On that morning, I was the happiest man in the world. No + king could have been so proud and confident as I was. A wonderful romance + had come to me. The most beautiful young woman in the world, the most + talented too, was waiting for me. An express train was carrying me to her, + and it couldn't go fast enough to keep up with my eagerness. She was very + rich, and she loved me, and we were to live in eternal summer, wherever we + liked, on a big, beautiful yacht. No one else had such a life before him + as that. It seemed almost too good for me, but I thought I had grown and + developed so much that perhaps I would be worthy of it. Oh, how happy I + was! I tell you this because—because YOU are not like the others. + You will understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I understand,” she said patiently. “Well—you were being so + happy.” + </p> + <p> + “That was in the morning—Wednesday the seventeenth—early in + the morning. There was a little girl in the car, playing with some + buttons, and when I tried to make friends with her, she looked at me, and + she saw, right at a glance, that I was a fool. 'Out of the mouths of babes + and sucklings,' you know. She was the first to find it out. It began like + that, early in the morning. But then after that everybody knew it. They + had only to look at me and they said: 'Why, this is a fool—like a + little nasty boy; we won't let him into our houses; we find him a bore.' + That is what they said.” + </p> + <p> + “Did SHE say it?” Sister Soulsby permitted herself to ask. + </p> + <p> + For answer Theron bit his lips, and drew his chin under the fur, and + pushed his scowling face into the pillow. The spasmodic, sob-like gasps + began to shake him again. She laid a compassionate hand upon his hot brow. + </p> + <p> + “That is why I made my way here to you,” he groaned piteously. “I knew you + would sympathize; I could tell it all to you. And it was so awful, to die + there alone in the strange city—I couldn't do it—with nobody + near me who liked me, or thought well of me. Alice would hate me. There + was no one but you. I wanted to be with you—at the last.” + </p> + <p> + His quavering voice broke off in a gust of weeping, and his face frankly + surrendered itself to the distortions of a crying child's countenance, + wide-mouthed and tragically grotesque in its abandonment of control. + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby, as her husband's boots were heard descending the stairs, + rose, and drew the robe up to half cover his agonized visage. She patted + the sufferer softly on the head, and then went to the stair-door. + </p> + <p> + “I think he'll go to sleep now,” she said, lifting her voice to the + new-comer, and with a backward nod toward the couch. “Come out into the + kitchen while I get breakfast, or into the sitting-room, or somewhere, so + as not to disturb him. He's promised me to lie perfectly quiet, and try to + sleep.” + </p> + <p> + When they had passed together out of the room, she turned. “Soulsby,” she + said with half-playful asperity, “I'm disappointed in you. For a man who's + knocked about as much as you have, I must say you've picked up an + astonishingly small outfit of gumption. That poor creature in there is no + more drunk than I am. He's been drinking—yes, drinking like a fish; + but it wasn't able to make him drunk. He's past being drunk; he's + grief-crazy. It's a case of 'woman.' Some girl has made a fool of him, and + decoyed him up in a balloon, and let him drop. He's been hurt bad, too.” + </p> + <p> + “We have all been hurt in our day and generation,” responded Brother + Soulsby, genially. “Don't you worry; he'll sleep that off too. It takes + longer than drink, and it doesn't begin to be so pleasant, but it can be + slept off. Take my word for it, he'll be a different man by noon.” + </p> + <p> + When noon came, however, Brother Soulsby was on his way to summon one of + the village doctors. Toward nightfall, he went out again to telegraph for + Alice. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXII + </h2> + <p> + Spring fell early upon the pleasant southern slopes of the Susquehanna + country. The snow went off as by magic. The trees budded and leaved before + their time. The birds came and set up their chorus in the elms, while + winter seemed still a thing of yesterday. + </p> + <p> + Alice, clad gravely in black, stood again upon a kitchen-stoop, and looked + across an intervening space of back-yards and fences to where the tall + boughs, fresh in their new verdure, were silhouetted against the pure blue + sky. The prospect recalled to her irresistibly another sunlit morning, a + year ago, when she had stood in the doorway of her own kitchen, and + surveyed a scene not unlike this; it might have been with the same + carolling robins, the same trees, the same azure segment of the tranquil, + speckless dome. Then she was looking out upon surroundings novel and + strange to her, among which she must make herself at home as best she + could. But at least the ground was secure under her feet; at least she had + a home, and a word from her lips could summon her husband out, to stand + beside her with his arm about her, and share her buoyant, hopeful joy in + the promises of spring. + </p> + <p> + To think that that was only one little year ago—the mere revolution + of four brief seasons! And now—! + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby, wiping her hands on her apron, came briskly out upon the + stoop. Some cheerful commonplace was on her tongue, but a glance at + Alice's wistful face kept it back. She passed an arm around her waist + instead, and stood in silence, looking at the elms. + </p> + <p> + “It brings back memories to me—all this,” said Alice, nodding her + head, and not seeking to dissemble the tears which sprang to her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “The men will be down in a minute, dear,” the other reminded her. “They'd + nearly finished packing before I put the biscuits in the oven. We mustn't + wear long faces before folks, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know,” murmured Alice. Then, with a sudden impulse, she turned to + her companion. “Candace,” she said fervently, “we're alone here for the + moment; I must tell you that if I don't talk gratitude to you, it's simply + and solely because I don't know where to begin, or what to say. I'm just + dumfounded at your goodness. It takes my speech away. I only know this, + Candace: God will be very good to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Tut! tut!” replied Sister Soulsby, “that's all right, you dear thing. I + know just how you feel. Don't dream of being under obligation to explain + it to me, or to thank us at all. We've had all sorts of comfort out of the + thing—Soulsby and I. We used to get downright lonesome, here all by + ourselves, and we've simply had a winter of pleasant company instead, that + s all. Besides, there's solid satisfaction in knowing that at last, for + once in our lives we've had a chance to be of some real use to somebody + who truly needed it. You can't imagine how stuck up that makes us in our + own conceit. We feel as if we were George Peabody and Lady Burdett-Coutts, + and several other philanthropists thrown in. No, seriously, don't think of + it again. We're glad to have been able to do it all; and if you only go + ahead now, and prosper and be happy, why, that will be the only reward we + want.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope we shall do well,” said Alice. “Only tell me this, Candace. You do + think I was right, don't you, in insisting on Theron's leaving the + ministry altogether? He seems convinced enough now that it was the right + thing to do; but I grow nervous sometimes lest he should find it harder + than he thought to get along in business, and regret the change—and + blame me.” + </p> + <p> + “I think you may rest easy in your mind about that,” the other responded. + “Whatever else he does, he will never want to come within gunshot of a + pulpit again. It came too near murdering him for that.” + </p> + <p> + Alice looked at her doubtfully. “Something came near murdering him, I + know. But it doesn't seem to me that I would say it was the ministry. And + I guess you know pretty well yourself what it was. Of course, I've never + asked any questions, and I've hushed up everybody at Octavius who tried to + quiz me about it—his disappearance and my packing up and leaving, + and all that—and I've never discussed the question with you—but—” + </p> + <p> + “No, and there's no good going into it now,” put in Sister Soulsby, with + amiable decisiveness. “It's all past and gone. In fact, I hardly remember + much about it now myself. He simply got into deep water, poor soul, and + we've floated him out again, safe and sound. That's all. But all the same, + I was right in what I said. He was a mistake in the ministry.” + </p> + <p> + “But if you'd known him in previous years,” urged Alice, plaintively, + “before we were sent to that awful Octavius. He was the very ideal of all + a young minister should be. People used to simply worship him, he was such + a perfect preacher, and so pure-minded and friendly with everybody, and + threw himself into his work so. It was all that miserable, contemptible + Octavius that did the mischief.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby slowly shook her head. “If there hadn't been a screw loose + somewhere,” she said gently, “Octavius wouldn't have hurt him. No, take my + word for it, he never was the right man for the place. He seemed to be, no + doubt, but he wasn't. When pressure was put on him, it found out his weak + spot like a shot, and pushed on it, and—well, it came near smashing + him, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “And do you think he'll always be a—a back-slider,” mourned Alice. + </p> + <p> + “For mercy's sake, don't ever try to have him pretend to be anything + else!” exclaimed the other. “The last state of that man would be worse + than the first. You must make up your mind to that. And you mustn't show + that you're nervous about it. You mustn't get nervous! You mustn't be + afraid of things. Just you keep a stiff upper lip, and say you WILL get + along, you WILL be happy. That's your only chance, Alice. He isn't going + to be an angel of light, or a saint, or anything of that sort, and it's no + good expecting it. But he'll be just an average kind of man—a little + sore about some things, a little wiser than he was about some others. You + can get along perfectly with him, if you only keep your courage up, and + don't show the white feather.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know; but I've had it pretty well taken out of me,” commented + Alice. “It used to come easy to me to be cheerful and resolute and all + that; but it's different now.” + </p> + <p> + Sister Soulsby stole a swift glance at the unsuspecting face of her + companion which was not all admiration, but her voice remained patiently + affectionate. “Oh, that'll all come back to you, right enough. You'll have + your hands full, you know, finding a house, and unpacking all your old + furniture, and buying new things, and getting your home settled. It'll + keep you so busy you won't have time to feel strange or lonesome, one bit. + You'll see how it'll tone you up. In a year's time you won't know yourself + in the looking-glass.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my health is good enough,” said Alice; “but I can't help thinking, + suppose Theron should be taken sick again, away out there among strangers. + You know he's never appeared to me to have quite got his strength back. + These long illnesses, you know, they always leave a mark on a man.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense! He's strong as an ox,” insisted Sister Soulsby. “You mark my + word, he'll thrive in Seattle like a green bay-tree.” + </p> + <p> + “Seattle!” echoed Alice, meditatively. “It sounds like the other end of + the world, doesn't it?” + </p> + <p> + The noise of feet in the house broke upon the colloquy, and the women went + indoors, to join the breakfast party. During the meal, it was Brother + Soulsby who bore the burden of the conversation. He was full of the future + of Seattle and the magnificent impending development of that Pacific + section. He had been out there, years ago, when it was next door to + uninhabited. He had visited the district twice since, and the changes + discoverable each new time were more wonderful than anything Aladdin's + lamp ever wrought. He had secured for Theron, through some of his friends + in Portland, the superintendency of a land and real estate company, which + had its headquarters in Seattle, but ambitiously linked its affairs with + the future of all Washington Territory. In an hour's time the hack would + come to take the Wares and their baggage to the depot, the first stage in + their long journey across the continent to their new home. Brother Soulsby + amiably filled the interval with reminiscences of the Oregon of twenty + years back, with instructive dissertations upon the soil, climate, and + seasons of Puget Sound and the Columbia valley, and, above all, with + helpful characterizations of the social life which had begun to take form + in this remotest West. He had nothing but confidence, to all appearances, + in the success of his young friend, now embarking on this new career. He + seemed so sanguine about it that the whole atmosphere of the breakfast + room lightened up, and the parting meal, surrounded by so many temptations + to distraught broodings and silences as it was, became almost jovial in + its spirit. + </p> + <p> + At last, it was time to look for the carriage. The trunks and hand-bags + were ready in the hall, and Sister Soulsby was tying up a package of + sandwiches for Alice to keep by her in the train. + </p> + <p> + Theron, with hat in hand, and overcoat on arm, loitered restlessly into + the kitchen, and watched this proceeding for a moment. Then he sauntered + out upon the stoop, and, lifting his head and drawing as long a breath as + he could, looked over at the elms. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the face was older and graver; it was hard to tell. The long + winter's illness, with its recurring crises and sustained confinement, had + bleached his skin and reduced his figure to gauntness, but there was none + the less an air of restored and secure good health about him. Only in the + eyes themselves, as they rested briefly upon the prospect, did a + substantial change suggest itself. They did not dwell fondly upon the + picture of the lofty, spreading boughs, with their waves of sap-green + leafage stirring against the blue. They did not soften and glow this time, + at the thought of how wholly one felt sure of God's goodness in these + wonderful new mornings of spring. + </p> + <p> + They looked instead straight through the fairest and most moving spectacle + in nature's processional, and saw afar off, in conjectural vision, a + formless sort of place which was Seattle. They surveyed its impalpable + outlines, its undefined dimensions, with a certain cool glitter of + hard-and-fast resolve. There rose before his fancy, out of the chaos of + these shapeless imaginings, some faces of men, then more behind them, then + a great concourse of uplifted countenances, crowded close together as far + as the eye could reach. They were attentive faces all, rapt, eager, + credulous to a degree. Their eyes were admiringly bent upon a common + object of excited interest. They were looking at HIM; they strained their + ears to miss no cadence of his voice. Involuntarily he straightened + himself, stretched forth his hand with the pale, thin fingers gracefully + disposed, and passed it slowly before him from side to side, in a + comprehensive, stately gesture. The audience rose at him, as he dropped + his hand, and filled his day-dream with a mighty roar of applause, in + volume like an ocean tempest, yet pitched for his hearing alone. + </p> + <p> + He smiled, shook himself with a little delighted tremor, and turned on the + stoop to the open door. + </p> + <p> + “What Soulsby said about politics out there interested me enormously,” he + remarked to the two women. “I shouldn't be surprised if I found myself + doing something in that line. I can speak, you know, if I can't do + anything else. Talk is what tells, these days. Who knows? I may turn up in + Washington a full-blown senator before I'm forty. Stranger things have + happened than that, out West!” + </p> + <p> + “We'll come down and visit you then, Soulsby and I,” said Sister Soulsby, + cheerfully. “You shall take us to the White House, Alice, and introduce + us.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it isn't likely I would come East,” said Alice, pensively. “Most + probably I'd be left to amuse myself in Seattle. But there—I think + that's the carriage driving up to the door.” + </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 133 ***</div> + </body> +</html> + |