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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..89f32ba --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52110 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52110) diff --git a/old/52110-8.txt b/old/52110-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 90be71b..0000000 --- a/old/52110-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9667 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Key Note, by Clara Louise Burnham - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Key Note - - -Author: Clara Louise Burnham - - - -Release Date: May 20, 2016 [eBook #52110] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEY NOTE*** - - -E-text prepared by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/keynotenovel00burniala - - - - - -THE KEY NOTE - -A Novel - -by - -CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Logo] - -Boston and New York -Houghton Mifflin Company -The Riverside Press Cambridge -1921 - -Copyright, 1921, by Clara Louise Burnham -All Rights Reserved - - -TO - -JOSEPHINE - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE RAPSCALLION 1 - - II. VERONICA 19 - - III. A FRIENDLY PACT 45 - - IV. BIOGRAPHY 70 - - V. A FIRELIGHT INTERVIEW 90 - - VI. THE HAUNTED FARM 110 - - VII. ANOTHER WOUND 125 - - VIII. SKETCHES 137 - - IX. A WORKING PLAN 151 - - X. NICHOLAS GAYNE CONFIDES 164 - - XI. THE NEWPORT LETTER 181 - - XII. COUSIN HERBERT 194 - - XIII. THE LAW 208 - - XIV. THE WILL 222 - - XV. A SUDDEN JOURNEY 234 - - XVI. THE NEW CLIENT 246 - - XVII. THE HEIR 262 - -XVIII. DIANA'S IDEAL 276 - - XIX. MOONLIGHT 293 - - XX. REUNION 303 - - XXI. GOOD-BYES 317 - - XXII. THE DINNER PARTY 329 - -XXIII. THE MOON-GODDESS 345 - - - - -THE KEY NOTE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE RAPSCALLION - - -The sea glittered in all directions. The grassy field, humpy with knolls -and lumpy with gray rock, sloped down toward the near-by water. Bunches -of savin and bay and groups of Christmas trees flourished in the fresh -June air, and exhilarating balsamic odors assailed Miss Burridge's -nostrils as she stood in the doorway viewing the landscape o'er and -reflectively picking her teeth with a pin. - -"It's an awful sightly place to fail in, anyway," she thought. - -Her one boarder came and stood beside her. She was a young woman with a -creamy skin, regular features, dark, dreaming eyes, and a pleasant, slow -smile. - -"Are you gathering inspiration, Miss Burridge?" she asked, settling a -white tam-o'-shanter on her smooth brown locks. - -"I hope so, Miss Wilbur. I need it." - -"How could any one help it!" was Diana Wilbur's soft exclamation, as she -took a deep breath and gazed at the illimitable be-diamonded blue. - -Priscilla Burridge turned her middle-aged gaze upon the enthusiasm of -the twentieth year beside her. - -"Do you know of any inspiration that would make me able to get the -carpenter to come and jack up the saggin' corner of that piazza?" she -asked. "Or get the plumber to mend the broken pipe in the kitchen?" - -Miss Wilbur's dreaming gaze came back to the bony figure in brown -calico. - -"It seems almost sacrilege, doesn't it," she said in a voice of awe, "to -speak of carpenters and plumbers in a place like this? Such odors, such -crystal beauty untouched by the desecrating hand of man." - -Miss Priscilla snorted. "If I don't get hold of the desecrating hand of -man pretty soon, you'll be havin' a stream o' water come down on your -bed, the first rain." - -The girl's attitude of adoration remained unchanged. - -"I noticed that little rift," she said slowly. "As I lay in bed this -morning, I looked up at a spot of sapphire that seemed like a day-star -full of promise of this transcendent beauty." - -Miss Wilbur's pretty lips moved but little when she spoke and her slow -utterance gave the effect of a recitation. - -Miss Priscilla, for all her harassment, could not forbear a smile. - -"I'm certainly glad you're so easily pleased, but you don't know Casco -Bay as well as I do, or that day-star would look powerful stormy to you. -When it rains here, all other rains are mere imitations. It comes down -from the sky and up from the ground, and the wind blows it east and -west, and the porch furniture turns somersets out into the field, and -windows and doors go back on you and give up the fight and let the water -in everywhere, while the thunder rolls like the day o' judgment." - -The ardent light in the depths of the young girl's eyes glowed deeper. - -"I should expect a storm here to be inexorably superb!" she declared. - -Miss Priscilla heaved a sigh, half dejection, half exasperation, and -turned into the house. - -"Drat that plumber!" she said. "I've only had a few days of it, but I'm -sick of luggin' water in from that well." - -"Why, Miss Burridge," said her boarder solicitously, "I haven't fully -realized--let me bring in a supply." - -"No, no, indeed, Miss Wilbur," exclaimed Miss Priscilla, as she moved -through the living-room of the house into the kitchen, closely followed -by Diana. "It ain't that I ain't able to do it, but it makes me darned -mad when I know there's no need of it." - -"But I desire to, Miss Burridge," averred the young girl. "Any form of -movement here cannot fail to be one of joy." She seized an empty bucket -from the sink and went out the back door. - -Small groves of evergreen dotted the incline behind the house, and on -the right hand soon became a wood-road of stately fir and spruce, which -led to a sun-warmed grassy slope which, like every hill of the lovely -isle, led down to the jagged rocks that fringed its irregular shore. - -"My muscular strength is not excessive," panted Diana, struggling up to -the back door with her heavy bucket. "I'll fill it only half-full next -time." - -"You ain't goin' to fill it at all," declared Miss Priscilla -emphatically, taking the pail from her. "That'll last me a long time, -and when it's gone, I'll get more myself. 'T ain't that it does me a bit -of hurt, but it riles me when I know there ain't any need of it." - -She set the pail down beside the sink, filled the kettle from it, and -set it on the oil stove while Diana sat down on the back doorstep. Then -she proceeded: - -"One o' the most disagreeable things about this world is that we do seem -to need men. They're strong and they don't wear skirts to stumble on, -and when they're willin' and clever, they certainly do fill a need; but -it does seem as if they were created to disappoint women. They don't -know any more about keepin' their promises than they do about the other -side o' the moon." - -Diana nodded. "It is observable, I think," she said, "that men's natural -regard for ethics is inferior to that of women." - -Miss Priscilla sniffed. "Now it isn't only the plumber and the -carpenter. I came here and saw 'em both over a month ago and explained -my needs; explained that I ain't calc'latin' to take in boarders to -break their legs on broken piazzas, or drown 'em in their beds. I -explained all this when I rented the house, and when I arrived this week -I naturally expected to find those things attended to; and there's Phil -Barrison, too. I've known him most of his life. He has relatives here on -the island, and when I heard he was comin' to stay with 'em on his -vacation, I asked him if he wouldn't be a kind of a handy-man to me and -he said he would. He got here before I did, but far as I can make out -he's been fishin' ever since. A lot of help he's been. Oh, I knew well -enough he was a broken reed. If ever a rapscallion lived, Phil's it. -'Tain't natural for any young one to be so smart as he was. Do you -believe in school he found out that by openin' and shuttin' his -geography real slow, he could set the teacher to yawnin', and, of -course, she'd set the rest of 'em off, and Phil just had a beautiful -time. His pranks was always funny ones." - -Diana Wilbur gave her slow, rare smile. "What an interesting bit of -hypnosis!" she remarked. - -"Hey? Well, when that boy got older, he was real ambitious to study. -He's got one o' those voices that ought to belong to a cherubim instead -of a limb like him, and he wanted lessons. So he got the job of janitor -in our church one winter. I got onto him later. When he'd oversleep some -awful cold mornin' and arrive too late to get the furnace to workin' -right, that rascal would drive the mercury up and loosen the bulb of the -thermometer so that when the folks came in and went over to it to see -just how cold they _was_ goin' to be, they'd see it register over -sixty-five and of course they'd take their seats real satisfied." - -Miss Wilbur smiled again. "Your friend certainly showed great resource -and ingenuity. When those traits are joined to lofty principle, they -should lift him to heights of success. Oh,"--the speaker's attitude and -voice suddenly changed, and she lifted her finger to impose silence on -the cooking utensils which Miss Burridge was dropping into the -sink,--"listen!" - -Mingled with the roulade of a song sparrow on the roof, came the flute -of a human voice sounding and approaching through the field. - - - "Thou'rt like unto a flower, - So pure, so sweet, so fair--" - - -The one road of the island swept over a height at some distance behind -the house and the singer had left it, and was striding down the incline -and through the meadow toward Miss Burridge's. The still air brought the -song while the singer was still hidden, but at last the girl saw him, -and the volume of rich tone increased. At last he came bounding up the -slope over which Diana had struggled with her heavy bucket a few minutes -before, and then paused at sight of the stranger. - -He was a tall, broad-shouldered youth in a dark-blue flannel shirt and -nondescript trousers. He was bareheaded, and locks of his thick blond -hair were tumbling over his forehead. He looked at Diana with curious, -unembarrassed blue eyes, and, lips parted, stopped in the act of -speaking. - -Miss Burridge came to the door. "Well, at last, Phil," she remarked. - -"I only just heard this morning that you had come," he said. "Here's a -peace offering." He lifted the two mackerel that were hanging from his -hand. - -"Beauties," vouchsafed Miss Burridge. "Are they cleaned?" - -"Well, if you don't look a gift horse--" - -"Well, now, I ain't goin' to clean 'em," said Miss Burridge doggedly. -"I've been rubbed the wrong way ever since I landed--" - -Philip laughed. "And you won't do it to them, eh? Well, I guess I can -rub 'em the wrong way for you--" His unabashed eyes were still regarding -Diana as impersonally as though they had both been children of five. - -"Excuse me, I am obstructing the passage," said the girl, rising. - -"This is Miss Diana Wilbur, Phil. I suppose you're Mr. Barrison now -that you have sung in New York." - -The young fellow bowed to the girl who acknowledged the greeting. - -"What is the name of those beautiful creatures?" she asked with her -usual gentle simplicity of manner. - -"These? Oh, these are mackerel." - -"Jewels of the deep, surely," she said. - -"They are rather dressy," returned Philip. - -Diana bathed him in the light of her serene brown gaze. - -"I am so ignorant of the names of the denizens of the sea," she said. "I -come from Philadelphia." - -Philip returned her look with dancing stars in his eyes. "I'd have said -Boston if you only wore eyeglasses." - -"Oh, that _is_ the humorous tradition, is it not?" she returned. - -"Now, don't you drip 'em in here," said Miss Burridge, as the young -fellow started to enter the kitchen door. "If you're really goin' to be -clever and clean 'em, I'll give you the knife and everything right -outdoors." - -"Then I think I would better withdraw," said Diana hastily. "I cannot -bear to see the mutilation of such a rich specimen of Nature's -handiwork; but, oh, Mr. Barrison, not without one word concerning the -heavenly song that floated across the field as you came. Miss Burridge -calls you Phil;--'Philomel with melody!' _I_ should say. Au revoir. I -will go down among the pebbles for a while." - -She vanished, and Philip regarded Miss Burridge, who returned his gaze. - -"_Good night!_" he said at last. - -"Sh! Sh!" warned Miss Priscilla, and tiptoed across the kitchen. When -she had looked from a window and seen her boarder's sweater and tam -proceeding among the grassy hummocks toward the sea, she returned, -bringing out the materials for Philip's operations on the fish. - -"I'll bring a rhetoric instead of finny denizens of the deep, the next -time I come," he continued, settling to his job. - -Miss Priscilla took her boarder's deserted seat on the doorstep. - -"Going to open a young ladies' seminary here, and got the teacher all -secured?" - -"Nothing of the kind, Phil, and there's only one explanation of her," -declared Miss Priscilla impressively. "You've been in art galleries and -seen these statues of Venus and Apollo and all that tribe?" - -"I have." - -"Well, sir, all I can think of is that one o' their Dianas got down off -her perch some dark night, and managed to get hold o' some girl clothes, -and came here to this island. She _says_ she has come to recuperate from -unwise vigils caused by vaulting ambition at school. I said it over to -myself till I learned it." - -"_I_ should say her trouble might be indigestion from devouring -dictionaries," remarked Philip. - -"Well, anyway, she's a sweet girl and it's all as natural as breathing -to her. At first I accused her in my own mind of affectation, but, -there! she hasn't got an affected bone in her body, and she's willin' -and simple as a child. You'd ought to 'a' seen her luggin' water up the -hill for me this mornin'. That reminds me. You promised to give me a -lift this summer when I needed it." - -"At so much a lift," remarked Philip. - -"Of course. Well, the first thing I want you to do is to get the -carpenter and the plumber and knock their heads together, and then bring -'em here, one in each hand, so's I can have my house ready when the -folks come. Why, my new stove ain't even put up. Mr. Buell, the -plumber, promised me faithful he'd come this mornin'. I'm cookin' on an -old kerosene stove there was here and managin' to keep Miss Wilbur from -sheer starvation." - -"Miss Wilbur? Is that the fair Diana? Where did you get the 'old -master'? Did she find you waiting when she got off the pedestal?" - -"No, I found her waiting. She came to the island on a misunderstandin'. -There wasn't any one ready so early in the season to make strangers -comfortable, and it seems she took a fancy to this place and I found her -here sittin' on the steps when I arrived. She said she had been on the -island a week and had walked up to this piazza every pleasant day, and -she'd like to live here." - -"Did she really say it as plain as that?" - -"Well--I don't suppose those were her exact words, but she made me -understand that she was willin' to come right in for better or for worse -just so's she could have a room up there in front where the dawn--yes, -she said something about the dawn, I forget whether it was purple or -rosy--" - -"Mottled, perhaps," suggested Philip. - -"Well, anyway, I told her the dawn came awful early in the day this part -o' the year, and that probably she'd be better satisfied in one o' the -back rooms; but she was firm on the _dawn_, so she's got it. But I draw -the line at her gettin' midnight shower-baths, and that's what she will -get if that wretch of a Matt Blake don't get here before the next storm -and put on the shingles." - -"And I have to tell the plumber that you have to 'haul water' too. Is -that it? The well is some little distance. Rather hard on the statue, -wasn't it, to do the hauling? She'll wish she'd stayed in the gallery. -I'll bring in a lot before I go." - -"Don't go, Philip," begged Miss Priscilla. "Supposin' you don't go, not -till you can leave me whole-footed. The men'll come sooner and work -better if they know there's a man here. Your grandma won't care if her -visit's interrupted for a little while. I'll feed you with your own -mackerel and you can bet I know how to cook 'em." - -"Do you think Matt Blake realizes that I'm a man?" The teeth Philip -showed in his smile were an asset for a singer. "He helped teach me to -walk, you know." - -"Well, now, you teach _him_" retorted Miss Priscilla. "Show him how to -walk in this direction. I don't want to make a fizzle of this thing. I -found there wa'n't anybody goin' to run the place this summer, so I -thought it might be a good job for me. I never took a thought that it -was goin' to be so hard to get help. They tell me there ain't any -servants any more; and there are enough folks writin' for rooms to fill -me up entirely. I can do the _cookin'_ myself--" - -"Now, Miss Burridge, you aren't leading up to asking me to put on an -apron and wait on table, are you? You must remember I'm recuperating -also from a too vaulting ambition." - -"Recuperatin', nothin'! You're the huskiest-lookin' thing I ever saw. -No, I ain't goin' to ask you to wait on table; but I've got an idea. -We're too out o' the way here for me to get college boys. They'd rather -go to the mountains and so on--fashionable resorts. But I've got a -niece, if she don't feel too big of herself to do that sort of thing; -she might come. I'm goin' to ask her anyway. I haven't seen her for -years 'cause her mother's been gone a long time and her father went out -to Jersey to live, but I've no doubt she's a nice girl. Her name's -Veronica. Isn't that a beater? I told my sister I couldn't see why she -didn't name her Japonica and be done with it." - -"It's the name of a saint," remarked Philip. - -"Well, I hope she's enough of one to come and help me out. I'm goin' to -ask her." - -"Better get Miss Wilbur to write her about the rosy dawn and the jeweled -denizens. I'm afraid you'll be too truthful and tell about the leaks. -With an 'old master' and a saint, you ought to get on swimmingly." - -"Well, will you stay with me a few days?" said Miss Priscilla coaxingly. -"If I had a rapscallion to add to the menagerie--" - -"Do you mean ménage, Miss Burridge?" - -"I'll call it anything in the world you like, if you'll only stand by -me, Phil." - -"All right." The young fellow tossed the second cleaned fish on to the -plate. "Let me wash my hands and I'll go and throw out a line for the -plumber." - -"You're a good boy," returned Miss Burridge, relieved. "I do think, -Philip, that in the main you are a good boy! Who's that comin' over?" -Miss Burridge craned her neck and narrowed her eyes the better to -observe a bicycle which appeared across the field. - -The apparition of any human being was exciting to one responsible for -the comfort of others in this Arcadia, where modern conveniences could -only be obtained by effort both spasmodic and continuous. - -"Oh, it's Marley Hughes from the post-office." - -A youngster of fourteen came wheeling nonchalantly over the bumps of the -field, and finally jumped off his machine and came leisurely up the rise -among the trees. - -"I hoped you might be Matt Blake," said Miss Priscilla. "He's got as far -as to have the shingles here." - -"Well, I ain't," remarked Marley in the pleasant, drawling, leisurely, -island voice. - -"What you got for me?" inquired Miss Burridge. - -"Telegram." The boy brought the store envelope from his pocket. - -"Oh, I hate 'em," said Miss Burridge apprehensively. - -Marley held it aggravatingly away from Philip's extended hand. "Take it -back if you want me ter," he said with a grin. "It's ten cents anyway, -whether you take it or not." - -"Oh, yes, I've got the money right here." Miss Priscilla turned to a -shelf over the sink and took a dime from a purse which lay there. - -"Here." She gave it to Marley, who without more ado jumped on his wheel -and coasted down among the trees and off over the soft grass. - -"You open it, Phil. My spectacles ain't here anyway," said Miss -Priscilla anxiously. - -So Philip tore open the envelope. The look of amazement which overspread -his face as the message greeted him caused Miss Burridge to exclaim -fearfully: "Speak out, speak out, Phil." - -"They must have taken this down wrong at the store," he said. Then he -read the scrawled words slowly. "'Look in broiler oven for legs.'" - -The cryptic sentence appeared to have a magical effect upon Miss -Priscilla. Her face beamed and she threw up her hands in thanksgiving. - -"Glory be!" she exclaimed devoutly. - -"What am I stumbling on?" said Philip. "Have you taken to wiring in -cipher?" - -"You _see_" said Miss Priscilla excitedly, reaching for the telegram -which Philip yielded, "it _came_ without any _legs_. Mr. Buell himself -looked it over on the wharf and said he couldn't find 'em anywhere; and, -of course, it was a terrible anxiety to me and I wrote to them right -off, and I was goin' to get Mr. Buell to set it up without the legs if -necessary and stick somethin' else under. Come and help me look, Phil." - -Miss Burridge seized the young fellow's arm and dragged him into the -kitchen, where in one corner reposed the new stove in its shining -newness, its parts piled ignominiously lop-sided. Talking all the time, -its owner pulled open one door after another, as Philip disengaged them, -and at last she laid hands on the missing treasure. - -"Now I'll give you as good a dinner as ever comes off this stove if -you'll go and get those men and bring 'em up here," she said. "Don't -leave me till I'm whole-footed, Phil." - -"Want feet as well as legs, do you?" he chuckled. "All right. See you -later if I can get Blake and Buell. If I can't, I suppose I'd better -drown myself." - -"No, no, don't do that, Phil. _You're_ better than nothing, yourself." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -VERONICA - - -For the next few days the right moment for Philip to desert Miss -Burridge never seemed to arrive, and by that time the new establishment -had come to be in very good running order, which was fortunate, as the -expected boarders' dates were drawing near. - -Diana approached Philip one morning with a pleased countenance. He was -encouraging the hopeful little sweet peas that stood in a green row -below the porch. She came and sat on the rail above and watched him. - -"Miss Burridge is going to allow me to name our domicile," she -announced. - -"Brave woman!" said Philip, coaxing the brown earth up against the line -of green with his trowel. - -"Which of us is brave?" asked Diana, smiling,--"Miss Priscilla or -myself?" - -"What are you going to call it? Olympus?" - -"Why should I?" Diana gave a soft, gurgling laugh. - -"I thought perhaps it might bring happy memories and prove a palliation -of nostalgia." - -"I always have a feeling that you are amusing yourself with me, Mr. -Barrison." - -"Have you any objection to my seeing that you are a goddess? What have -you done with Apollo, by the way? Couldn't you persuade him to leave the -gallery?" - -"To what gallery do you refer? I do not particularly care for handsome -men," was Miss Wilbur's thoughtful response. - -"I'm sorry I'm so beautiful, then," said Philip, extending his little -earth barricade. - -Diana looked down from her balcony on his tumbling blond hair. - -"You have a very good presence for your purpose," she said. - -"What is my purpose?" - -"The concert stage, is it not? Perhaps even opera, later?" - -"Yes, divine huntress, if I ever succeed in making it." - -"You will make it unless you are unpardonably dilatory and neglectful. -Every time you utter a musical tone it sends a vibration coursing -through my nerves with a pleasant thrill." - -Philip looked up at the speaker with his sea-blue, curious gaze, which -she received serenely. - -"Bully for you, Miss Wilbur. That's all I can say. Bully for you." - -"I am glad if that encourages you," she said kindly. "It is quite -outside my own volition." - -"Then I don't need to thank you, eh?" - -"Oh, not in the least." - -Philip laughed and stooped again to his job. - -"Let me see, Apollo--he struck liars and knew how to prescribe for the -croup, didn't he, besides being a looker beyond all comers?" - -Diana smiled. "You think of everything in terms of humor, do you not?" -she rejoined. - -"Perhaps--of most things, but not of you." - -"Oh, I think of me most of all." - -"Far from it," said Philip. "I wouldn't dare. If my voice gives you a -thrill, yours gives me a chill." - -"I can't believe that really," said Diana equably, watching Philip's -expert handling of the trowel. "You are always laughing at me. I don't -in the least understand why, but it doesn't matter at all. I think it is -a quite laudable mission to make people laugh. What a good gardener you -are, Mr. Barrison." - -"Oh, isn't he, though!" exclaimed Miss Priscilla, emerging from the -house. "Think of my luck that Phil really likes to fuss with flowers. -Ox-chains couldn't drag him to do it if he didn't like to." - -"Really?" returned Diana. "Is she not maligning you, Mr. Barrison? Are -you really the slave of caprice?" - -"I deny it," said Philip. "It doesn't sound nice." - -"It would be a dire thing for you," declared the girl. "But you do not -ask me what I am naming the Inn." - -"Oh, it is an Inn, is it?" - -"Yes," put in Miss Priscilla. "Since the leaks are mended, both pipes -and roof, and the stove's up and the chimney draws, I think we can call -it that." - -"What is it, then? 'The Dew Drop'?" inquired Philip. - -"I particularly dislike puns," said Diana quietly. "I like 'The -Wayside.' Why shouldn't we call it 'The Wayside Inn'?" - -"You have my permission," said Philip. - -"We do not need anything original, but we do need a name that is lovely. -'The Wayside Inn' is lovely." - -"So be it," said Philip. - -"And you're not forgettin' what you are goin' to do to-morrow, are you, -dear boy?" said Miss Priscilla ingratiatingly. - -"Not if it isn't to go again for the plumber," replied Philip. "His -wrenches and hammers are too handy; and I'm sure one more call up here -would render him dangerous." - -"Mr. Buell is a very pleasant man," said Diana. "So is Mr. Blake, the -carpenter. I have learned such interesting expressions from them. Mr. -Blake was showing me the fault in one of the gables of this house. He -said the builder had given the roof a 'too quick yank.' Is not that -quaint?" - -"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Philip up into the girl's serious face. "Bully for -Matt. You may get the vernacular, after all." - -"I'm not quick," said Diana. "I'm afraid I should not prove an apt -pupil." - -"But, Philip," said Miss Priscilla, "about to-morrow. You know you'll -have to get the early boat to go to meet Veronica. It's perfectly -splendid of you to go, dear boy. I don't know how I could spare the -time. I've got to get several rooms ready for to-morrow, and the child -is such an utter stranger in this part o' the world." - -"Oh, yes, I'll go," said Philip carelessly. "I think the Inn will be -relieved that I can get a hair-cut. My tresses are nearly ready to braid -now." - -Diana smiled pensively. "I think you are very amusing, Mr. Barrison," -she said. - -Philip vaulted up over the railing and took a seat beside her, regarding -his earth-stained hands and then her serene countenance, whose gaze was -bent upon him. He shook his head to toss the blond forelock out of his -eyes. - -"So my voice gives you a thrill, eh?" - -"Oh, decidedly," was the devout response. - -"That's a good thing. I thought perhaps you couldn't really be roused -from your dreaminess before the fourth of July, but I have some tones -that in that case will be warranted to set you and the echoes going at -the same time." - -Diana clasped her hands. "Oh, utter them," she begged. - -"Can't," laughed Philip, wiping his warm forehead with his shirt-sleeve. -"The stage isn't set." - -Diana continued to look imploringly ardent. "'Drink to me only with -thine eyes,'" she suggested. - -"That's the only way they'll let you do it nowadays," responded Philip, -kicking the heels of his sneakers gently against the railing. - -Miss Burridge looked over her spectacles at Diana in her beseeching -attitude, and her eyes widened still further as the girl went on slowly -with her brown gaze fixed on Philip's quizzical countenance: - - - "How can I bear to leave thee! - One parting kiss I give thee--" - - -"Dear me," thought Miss Priscilla. "I'd never have believed it of her." -And it occurred to her for the first time that Philip Barrison was a -handsome man. - -"Fare_well_," went on Diana, with soft fervor. "'Farewell, my own true -love--'" - -"Farewell," sang Philip, falling into the trap and finishing the phrase. -"'Farewe-ell, my own--true--love.'" - -"Oh," breathed Diana, and the way her clasped hands fell upon her heart -caused Miss Priscilla much embarrassment. - -"I can scarcely wait," said the girl slowly, "to hear you sing a real -song with a real accompaniment. There is such rare penetrating richness -in the quality of your voice." - -Miss Burridge cleared her throat. "I shouldn't wonder if Miss Wilbur was -a real help to you, Phil," she said. "Young folks need encouragement." - -"And soap-suds," added Philip, regarding his earthy hands and glancing -merrily up at Diana, who was still standing in her attitude of -adoration; but there was no answering merriment in those brown orbs. Her -brain might tell her later that Miss Burridge's patronizing remark had -been amusing, but she would be obliged to think it over. - -Philip jumped off the railing, whistling, and followed Miss Priscilla -into the house and to the sink, while Diana, reminiscently humming "The -Soldier's Farewell," descended the steps and wandered away. - - -When, the next day in town, Philip stood in the Union Station waiting -for Veronica's train, he wondered how he was to know her, but -remembering that Miss Burridge spoke of having instructed her to go the -first thing to the transfer office about her trunk, he turned his steps -thither as the crowds poured off the train. All Boston seemed to have -decided to come to Maine for the summer. - -Soon he saw her--he felt at once it was she--looking about undecidedly -as she came. She was a short, plump girl of seventeen or eighteen, at -present bent a little sideways from the weight of the suitcase she was -carrying. Philip strode forward and seized the suitcase with one hand -while he lifted his hat with the other. - -"Here, you let that alone!" said the girl decidedly, her round eyes -snapping. - -"Isn't this Miss Trueman?" - -"Why, yes, it is," she returned, but she still looked suspicious and -clung to her suitcase. Nobody need think she wasn't up to all the -tricks. "Did my aunt send you to meet me?" - -"She certainly did." - -"Then you know her name. What's her name?" The upward look was so -childlike in its shrewdness that it stirred the spirit of mischief. - -"Why--let me see, Lucilla, isn't it?" - -"You give me that suitcase this minute." The girl pulled on the handle -with a muscular little hand. - -"Why, Veronica," Philip's smile became a laugh. "Santa Veronica, what a -very unsaintlike voice and expression you're using." - -She laughed, too, then, and relinquished her burden. "You do know me. -Who are you?" - -"Miss Burridge's man-of-all-work. Name, Philip Barrison." - -"So she gave you such a job as this. How did you pick me out?" - -"That wild look around for the transfer office." They were now moving -toward it. - -"It wasn't wild. I didn't need you at all. Aunt Priscilla needn't have -bothered. I have a tongue in my head and money in my pocket, and Puppa -said that's all anybody needs if she has any brains." - -"But I have to do what my employer orders, you see," replied Philip. - -Veronica looked him over. Fresh from the barber and in correct summer -garb, he was an extremely good-looking object. - -"Oh, yes, it isn't your fault," she returned generously, "but is it a -swell place Aunt Priscilla's got?" She looked him over again while he -stopped at the transfer window and checked her trunk. - -"The Wayside Inn," replied Philip with dignity. - -"Well, I've come to help her," said the girl. "But I've never done any -serving. I haven't any uniform or anything like that." - -"It isn't necessary. Look at me. I don't look like a footman--or a -butler--or anything like that, do I?" - -"No," said Veronica, her round eyes very serious. "You look like -a--like a common--gentleman." - -"Thank you, Miss Trueman. I'll try to deserve your praise." - -Philip took her and her suitcase across town in a cab, and aboard the -little steamer, and found the best spot he could for them to sit. - -"Puppa says this bay is noted for its picturesqueness," said Veronica, -when they were settled. - -"Quite right," returned Philip, putting in her lap one of the magazines -he had bought on the wharf. - -"No, thank you," she returned. "I shan't read. I'm going to look. -Puppa'll expect me to tell him all about it. He was delighted at my -having a chance to come to the seashore. He thought it would do my -health so much good." - -Philip regarded her round cheeks, round eyes, and round, rosy mouth. - -"Your health? You look to me as though if you felt any better you'd have -to call the doctor." - -"Yes, I'm not really ailing--but I freckle. Isn't it a shame?" She put -one hand to her nose which had an upward tilt. - -"Oh, that's all right," laughed Philip. "Call 'em beauty spots." - -She sat, pensively continuing to cover her nose with her silk-gloved -hand. - -"Perhaps you're hungry. I ought to have bought you some chocolates," -said Philip. "Perhaps there's time still." He looked at his watch. - -Veronica smiled. It was a pleasant operation to view and disclosed a -dimple. "Did Aunt Priscilla give you money to buy me candy? Don't -bother. I have some gum. Would you like some?" As she spoke, she opened -her handbag. - -Philip bent a dreadful frown upon her. "Do you chew gum?" he asked -severely. - -"Yes, sometimes, of course. Everybody does." - -"Then you deserve to freckle. You deserve all the awful things that can -befall a girl." - -"Well, for a hired man," said Veronica, her hand pausing in its -exploration, "you have the most nerve of any one I ever saw." - -She seemed quite heated by this condemnation, and instead of the gum -drew out a vanity box and, looking in the mirror, powdered her nose -deliberately. - -Philip opened his magazine. The whistle blew and the boat began to back -out of the slip. Veronica regarded her companion from time to time out -of the tail of her eye, and at a moment when his manner indicated -absorption in what he was reading, she replaced the vanity case in her -bag and when her hand reappeared, it conveyed something to her mouth. - -"I wouldn't," said Philip, without looking up. She colored hotly. - -"Nobody asked you to," she retorted. - -Then all was silence while the steamer, getting its direction, began -moving toward the islands that dotted the bay. - -The girl suddenly started. - -"If there aren't those people!" she ejaculated. - -"What people?" asked Philip. - -"They came on in the same car with me from Boston. See that dark man -over there with a young boy? I couldn't help noticing them on the train. -You see how stupid the boy looks. He seemed so helpless, and the man -just ignored him when he asked questions, and treated him so mean. I -just hate that man." - -Philip regarded the couple. They presented a contrast. The man was -heavily built with a sallow, dark face, his restless eyes and body -continually moving with what seemed an habitual impatience. The boy, -perhaps fourteen years of age, had a vacant look, his lips were parted, -and his position, slumped down in a camp-chair, indicated a total lack -of interest in his surroundings. - -"Tell me about Aunt Priscilla," said Veronica suddenly. "I haven't seen -her since I was twelve years old. My mother died then. She was Aunt -Priscilla's sister and Aunt Pris was willing to take me if Pa wanted her -to, but he didn't and we moved away, and I've never seen her since. Of -course, she writes sometimes and so do I. Has she many boarders?" - -"Only one so far, but then she's a goddess. You've read your mythology, -haven't you? This is the goddess Diana." - -"Say, you're awfully fresh, do you know that?" remarked Veronica. "You -treat me all the time as if I was a baby. I've graduated from high -school and very likely I know just as much as you do." - -"I shouldn't doubt that," returned Philip. "On the level, you'll see -when you get to the Inn that I'm telling the truth. Diana is passing -for the present under the title of Miss Wilbur." - -"One boarder!" exclaimed Veronica with troubled brow. "Why, Aunt -Priscilla doesn't need two helpers like you and me." - -"Oh, there are plenty more boarders coming," said Philip. "This boat may -be full of them for all we know. She is expecting people to-night. Let's -look around and decide who we'll take up there with us." - -"I'll tell you one person I'd choose first of all. See that woman with -her back to us with a blue motor veil around her shoulders? I noticed -her just when I was pointing out that devil and the boy to you." - -"You use strong language, Miss Trueman. Couldn't you spare my feelings -and call our dark friend Mephisto?" - -"Sounds too good for him. I'd like to use me-fist-o on him, I know -that." Veronica giggled, and went on: "Do you see her?" - -"I do. My vision is excellent." - -"Well, she was on the train, too, and once I saw her smile at that poor -shy boy and show him how to get a drink of water. We were all in a day -car. Chair car crowded. You can't see her face, but she's the sweetest -thing." Then with a change of voice: "Oh, wouldn't it jar you! There's -fuss-tail. See that dame with the white flower in her hat, looking over -the rail? I suppose she's watching to see if the fishes behave -themselves. She was on the train, too, and nothing suited her from -Boston to Portland. She was too hot, or she felt a draught, or she -didn't like the fruit the train-boy brought, or something else was -wrong, every minute." - -"We won't take her, then," said Philip. - -"I should say not. She'd sour the milk. What's the island like?" - -"Diana says it resembles Arcadia strikingly, and she ought to know." - -"But I never was in Arcadia," objected Veronica. - -"Well, it is just a green hill popping right up out of the Atlantic, -with plenty of New England rocks in the fields, and drifts of daisies -and wild roses for decoration, and huge rocky teeth around the shore -that grind the waves into spray and spit it up flying toward the sky." - -"What kind of folks? Just folks that come in summer?" - -"Not at all. Old families. New England's aristocracy. These islands are -the only place where there are no aliens, just the simon-pure -descendants of Plymouth Rock. As I say aristocrats. I was born there." - -"You were?" returned Veronica curiously. - -"I were." - -"Well, I was born in Maine, in Bangor. I guess that's just about as -good." - -"No, it's not as good," said Philip gravely. "Nevertheless, I forgive -you." - -"Tell me more about the island." - -"Well, it has one road." - -"Only one street?" - -"No, no street. Just one road which has its source in a green field on -the south and loses itself in the beach on the north after it has passed -the by-path that leads to the haunted farm." - -"Oh, go away!" scoffed Veronica. - -"I can't. The walking won't be good for another hour." - -"Who lives at the farm?" - -"The ha'nts." - -"Nobody else?" - -"No, it isn't likely. It's at the head of Brook Cove where the pirates -used to come in at a day when it was laughable to think that passenger -boats would ever touch at this island." - -Veronica's eyes grew rounder than before. - -"Do you suppose there's gold packed in around there if people could -only find it?" - -"I don't, but a great many people thought there might be. It is much -more fun to hunt for pirate gold than to go fishing in squally weather, -and it has been hunted for, faithfully." - -"And not any found?" said Veronica sympathetically. - -"That's the mournful fact." - -"But who were the farmers, and why did they stop farming? Was it the -ghosts?" - -"No, I think it was the rocks. It was found more profitable to farm the -sea. You know abandoned farms are fashionable in New England, anyway, so -the ghosts have a rather swell residence at the old Dexter place. I -spent the first eight years of my life on the island. Then it was an -undiscovered Arcadia. Now--why, you will go up to The Wayside Inn in a -motor--that is, if I can get hold of Bill Lindsay before somebody else -grabs him. Lots of people know a good thing when they see it, and lots -of people have seen the island." - -The wharf was full of people to welcome the little steamer as it drew -in, and there was a grand rush of passengers for the coveted motor. It -seemed to Veronica that she heard her aunt's name on many lips, and -Philip found himself feeling responsible for the trunk checks of -everybody who was seeking Miss Burridge. - -The upshot of it all was, by the time he had safeguarded the baggage of -the arrivals and sent them on their way, he and Veronica were left to -climb the road and pursue the walk toward home. - -"Didn't that old hawk-nose say he was going to Aunt Priscilla's?" - -"It's a very good-looking nose," remarked Philip. "But so far as I could -see, all your friends of the train were bound for the same place." - -"He'll be lucky," said Veronica viciously, "if I don't put Paris green -in his tea. Oh, what a beautiful view of the sea!" she exclaimed as they -reached the summit of the hill. - -They had not walked far when Bill Lindsay's Ford came whirring back over -the much-traveled road, and he turned around for them. - -"After all," said Philip, as the machine started back up the island, -"your lady of the blue veil should set off the affliction of Mephisto's -presence." - -"Did she come?" asked Veronica delightedly. - -"Yes, didn't you see me pack her in with the woman whose halo won't fit? -The dull boy sat between them." - -"Well," said Veronica, "then there's no great loss without some small -gain." - -When the motor reached the Inn, Miss Priscilla was pleased with the way -Veronica dropped her hat and jacket in the kitchen, and after drinking -the one cup of cocoa upon which her aunt insisted, was ready to help her -carry in the late supper for the new guests with whom Philip sat down at -table. Veronica, coming and going, tried to make out his status in the -house. - -"That Mr. Barrison you sent to meet me," she said to her aunt when the -meal was over, "told me he was your man-of-all-work. He don't act much -like it." - -"Law, child," Miss Priscilla laughed. "He has been lately. Phil's a dear -boy when he isn't a wretch, and he's helped me out ever since I came. I -won't ever forget how good he's been. Now, let's sit down and let me see -you eat this fresh omelette and tell me all about yourself. I see you're -just like your mother, handy and capable, and let me tell you, it takes -a big load off me, Veronica." - -Just as she finished speaking, Diana Wilbur came in from the twilight -stroll she had been taking. - -"Miss Wilbur, this is my little niece, Veronica Trueman," said Miss -Priscilla. "She has come to help me, and high time, too. Four people -came to-night and there will be more to-morrow." - -Diana approached the newcomer and looked down upon her kindly after -taking her offered hand. - -"You must have had an inspiring ride down the bay, Miss Veronica," she -said. "I have been taking a walk to see the sun set. It was heavenly -to-night. Such translucent rose-color, and violet that shimmered into -turquoise, and robin's-egg blue. How fortunate for the new people to get -that first impression! Well, Miss Burridge," Diana sighed. "Of course we -must be glad to see them, but it has been a very subtle joy to retire -and to waken with no human sounds about us. I shall always remember this -last two weeks." - -"I'm glad you feel that way," said Miss Priscilla. "I thought, though, -that you'd heard lots o' sounds. Phil makes enough noise for a regiment -when he is dressin' in the mornin'." - -"You can scarcely call such melodious tones noise, can you?" replied -Miss Wilbur gently. "His flute is more liquid than that of the hermit -thrush." - -"I never heard him play the flute." Miss Priscilla looked surprised. - -"I refer to the marvelous, God-bestowed instrument that dwells within -him," explained Diana. - -"I think myself," said Miss Priscilla, clearing her throat, "that it's -kind o' cozy to hear a man whistlin' and shoutin' around in the mornin' -while he's dressin'. I suppose he'll be leavin' us pretty soon now. I -hate to see him go, he's gettin' the plants into such good shape; and -wasn't he good about scythin' paths so we wouldn't get wet to our knees -every time we left the house? I don't know how you ever had the courage -to wade over to this piazza before I came, Miss Wilbur." - -"Mr. Barrison certainly did smooth our paths." - -"He told me he was Aunt Priscilla's man-of-all-work," said Veronica, -busy with her omelette. - -"So he has been," replied Diana seriously: "out of the goodness of his -heart and the cleverness of his hands; but he is a great artist, Miss -Veronica, or at least he will be." - -"Do you mean he paints?" - -"No, he sings: and it is singing--such as must have sounded when the -stars sang together." - -"Dear me," said Veronica, "I wish I'd asked him to pipe up when we were -on the boat." - -Diana let her gaze rest for a moment of silence on the sacrilegious -speaker, then she excused herself, saying she would go up to her room. - -As soon as the door had closed behind her, Veronica looked up and -bestowed upon her aunt a meaning wink. - -"She's got it bad, hasn't she?" she said. - -Miss Burridge put her finger to her lips warningly. "Sh!" she breathed. -"Sometimes I think she has: but, law, Phil's nothing but a boy." - -"And she's nothing but a girl," said Veronica practically. "That's the -way it usually begins." - -Miss Burridge laughed. "What do you know about it, you child?" - -"Not so much as I'd like to. Puppa would never let anybody stay after -ten o'clock, and you don't really get warmed up before ten o'clock." - -"Why, Veronica Trueman, how you talk!" - -"Don't speak of how I talk!" said Veronica. "Hasn't that Miss Wilbur got -language! I guess Mr. Barrison likes her, too. He told me she was a -goddess." - -"Oh, Phil's just full of fun. He always will be a rapscallion at heart, -no matter how great he ever gets to be." - -"Well, he doesn't want anybody else to stop saying prunes and prisms. He -didn't even want me to chew gum. Anybody that's as unnatural as that had -better marry a goddess. Now, let's go for those dishes, Aunt Priscilla." - -"You good child!" said Miss Burridge appreciatively. "I can't really ask -Genevieve to stay in the evenin'. She's the little girl who comes every -day and prepares vegetables and washes dishes. Now, one minute, -Veronica, while I get the names o' these new people straight. I've got -their letters here." Miss Priscilla took them down from the -chimney-piece. "There's Mrs. Lowell, _she_'s alone, and Miss Emerson, -_she_'s alone, and Mr. Nicholas Gayne and his nephew, Herbert Gayne. I -wonder how long I'll remember that." - -"I know them all," said Veronica sententiously. "The whole bunch came on -in the same car with me from Boston. It's my plan to poison Mr. Gayne." - -"Don't talk that way, child." - -"You'll agree to it when you see how mean he is to his nephew. The boy -isn't all there." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Has rooms to let in the upper story, you know." Veronica touched her -round forehead. "Mrs. Lowell is a queen and Miss Emerson isn't; or else -Miss Emerson is a queen and Mrs. Lowell isn't. I'll know which is -t'other to-morrow." - -"You seem to have made up your mind about them all." - -"Oh, yes!" said Veronica. "You don't have to eat a whole jar of butter -to find out whether it's good. All I need is a three-minute taste of -anybody, and I had three hours and a half of them. Now, come on, Aunt -Priscilla, let's put some transparent water in the metal bowl, and the -snowy foam of soap within it." She rolled up her naughty eyes as she -spoke. - -Miss Burridge gave the girl a rebuking look, and then laughed. "Don't -you go to makin' fun of her now," she said. "She's my star boarder, no -matter who else comes, I'm in love with her whether Phil is or not. -She's genuine, that girl is,--genuine." - -"And you don't want me to be imitation," giggled Veronica. "I see." - -Then the two went at the clearing-up and dish-washing in high -good-humor. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A FRIENDLY PACT - - -"You, Veronica," said Miss Burridge one morning, looking out of the -kitchen window. "I feel sorry for that young boy." - -"I told you you would. Old Nick should worry what his nephew does with -himself all day." - -"Veronica!" Miss Priscilla gave the girl a warning wink and motioned -with her hand toward the sink where Genevieve, her hair in a tight braid -and her slender figure attired in a scanty calico frock, was looking -over the bib of an apron much too large for her, and washing the -breakfast dishes. - -"Excuse me," said Veronica demurely. "I meant to say Mr. Gayne. -Genevieve, you must never call Mr. Gayne 'Old Nick.' Do you hear?" - -"Veronica!" pleaded Miss Burridge. - -"Oh, we all know Mr. Gayne," said Genevieve, in her piercing, high voice -which always seemed designed to be heard through the tumult of a storm -at sea. - -"He has been here before, then?" asked Miss Burridge. - -"Pretty near all last summer. He comes to paint, you know." - -"No, I didn't know he was an artist." - -"Oh, yes, he paints somethin' grand, but I never saw any of his -pitchers." - -"Was his nephew with him last summer?" - -"No, I don't believe so. I never saw anybody around with him. He spent -most of his time up to the Dexter farm. He said he could paint the -prettiest pitchers there. It was him seen the first ghost." - -"What are you talking about, Genevieve?" asked Miss Burridge, while -Veronica busied herself drying the glass and silver. - -"Oh, yes," she put in. "That is the haunted farm. Mr. Barrison was -telling me about it." - -"Yep," said Genevieve. "Folks had said so a long time and heard awful -queer noises up there, but Mr. Gayne was the first who really seen the -spook." - -"I'm not surprised that he had a visitor," said Veronica. "Dollars to -doughnuts, it had horns and hoofs and a tail." - -"That's what Uncle Zip said," remarked Genevieve. "He said 't wa'n't -anything but an old stray white cow." - -Veronica laughed, and her aunt met her mischievous look with an -impressive shake of the head. "Mind me, now," she said, and Veronica did -not pursue the subject. - -The long porch across the front of the Inn made, sometimes a sunny, and -sometimes a foggy, meeting-place for the members of the family. It -boasted a hammock and some weather-beaten chairs, and Miss Myrna Emerson -was not tardy in discovering the one of these which offered the most -comfort. She was a lady of uncertain age and certain ideas. One of the -latter was that it was imperative that she should be comfortable. - -"I should think Miss Burridge would have some decent chairs here," she -said one morning, dilating her thin nostrils with displeasure as she -took possession of the most hopeful of the seats. - -The remark was addressed to Diana who was perched on the piazza rail. - -"Doubtless they will be added," she said, "should Miss Burridge find -that her undertaking proves sufficiently remunerative." - -"She charges enough, so far as that goes," declared Miss Emerson curtly, -but finding the chair unexpectedly comfortable, she settled back and -complained no further. - -Philip was out on the grass painting on a long board the words "Ye -Wayside Inn." Herbert Gayne stood watching him listlessly. His uncle was -stretched in the hammock. Mrs. Lowell came out upon the porch. Mr. Gayne -moved reluctantly, but he did arise. Men usually did exert themselves at -the advent of this tall, slender lady with the radiant smile and -laughing eyes. - -"Perhaps you would like the hammock, Mrs. Lowell," he said -perfunctorily. - -"Offer it to me some time later in the day," she responded pleasantly, -and he tumbled back into the couch with obvious relief. - -Mrs. Lowell approached the rail and observed Philip's labors. - -"Where are you going to hang that sign?" she asked in her charming -voice. "Across the front of the house, I judge." - -"Oh, no," replied Philip. "We can't hope to attract the fish. I am going -to hang it at the back where Bill Lindsay's flivver will feel the lure -before it gets here." - -"Across the back of the house," cried Miss Emerson in alarm. "I hope -nowhere near my window." - -"The sign will depend from iron rings," explained Diana. - -"I know they'll squeak," said Miss Emerson positively; "and if they do, -Mr. Barrison, you'll simply have to take it down." - -No one replied to this warning. So Miss Emerson dilated her nostrils -again with an air of determination and leaned back in her chair. - -The eyes of both Mrs. Lowell and Diana were upon the young boy whose -watching face betrayed no inspiration from the fresh morning. He had an -ungainly, neglected appearance from his rough hair to his worn shoes. -His clothes were partially outgrown and shabby. - -"Bert," called his uncle from the hammock. The boy looked up. "Come -here. Don't you hear me?" The boy started toward the piazza steps with a -shuffling gait. - -"You're slower than molasses in January," said Mr. Gayne lazily. "Go up -to my room and get my field-glasses. They're on the dresser, I think." - -Without a word the boy went into the house and Diana and Mrs. Lowell -exchanged a look. Each was hoping the messenger would be successful and -not draw upon himself a reprimand from the dark, impatient man smoking -in the hammock. - -The boy returned empty-handed. "They--they weren't there," he said. - -"Weren't where, stu--" Mr. Gayne encountered Mrs. Lowell's gaze as he -was in the middle of his epithet. Her eyes were not laughing now, and he -restrained himself. "Weren't on the dresser, do you mean?" he continued -in a quieter tone. "Well, didn't you look about any?" - -"Yes, sir. I looked on the--the trunk and on the--the floor." - -Mr. Gayne emitted an inarticulate sound which, but for the presence of -the ladies, would evidently have been articulate. "Oh, well," he -groaned, rising to a sitting posture on the side of the hammock, "I -suppose I shall have to galvanize my old bones and go after them -myself." - -His nephew's blank look did not change. He stood as if awaiting further -orders, and his listless eyes met Mrs. Lowell's kindly gaze. - -"It is good fun to look through field-glasses in a place like this, -isn't it, Bertie?" she said. - -The boy's surprise at being addressed was evident. "I--I don't know," he -replied. - -His uncle laughed. "That's all the answer you'll ever get out of him, -Mrs. Lowell. He's the champion don't-know-er." - -The boy's blank look continued the same. It was evident that his -uncle's description of him was nothing new. - -"I don't believe that," said Mrs. Lowell. "I think Bertie and I are -going to be friends. I like boys." - -The look she was giving the lad as she spoke seemed for a moment to -attract his attention. - -"You won't--you won't like me," he said in his usual wooden manner. - -"Children and fools," laughed his uncle, rising from the hammock. - -"Mr. Gayne!" exclaimed Diana, electrified out of her customary serenity. - -The man's restless, dark eyes glanced quickly from the face of one woman -to another, even alighting upon Miss Emerson whose countenance only gave -its usual indication that the lady had just detected a very unpleasant -odor. - -He laughed again, good-naturedly, and as he passed his nephew gave him a -careless, friendly pat on the shoulder. The unexpected touch startled -the boy and made him cringe. - -"Bert believes honesty is the best policy," he said. "Don't you, Bert?" - -"Yes, sir," replied the boy automatically. - -"Sit down here a minute, won't you, Bertie?" asked Mrs. Lowell, making a -place beside her on the piazza rail. The boy obeyed. "Have you ever -seen this great ocean before?" - -"No. Yes. I don't know." - -"Why, yes, you do know, of course," said Mrs. Lowell, with a soft little -laugh, very intimate and pleasant. "You know whether you have seen the -ocean before." - -The boy regarded her, and in the surprise of being really challenged to -think, he meditated. - -"No," he said, at last. "I've never been here before." - -"Isn't it a beautiful place?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"I don't know," returned the boy after a hesitation. Then he looked down -on the grass at Philip. - -"Do you want to go back and watch Mr. Barrison paint?" - -"Yes." - -"All right. Run along. We'll talk some other time." - -The boy rose and shuffled across the porch and down the steps. - -"Mrs. Lowell, it is heart-breaking!" exclaimed Diana softly. - -Her companion nodded. - -"The situation is incomprehensible," said Diana. "It seems as if Mr. -Gayne had some ulterior design which impelled him to stultify any -outcropping of intelligence in his nephew. Have you not observed it from -the moment of their arrival?" - -"Yes, and before we arrived. I noticed them on the train." - -"If there's anything I can't bear to have around, it's an idiot," said -Miss Emerson. "It gives me the creeps. If he hangs about much, I shall -complain to Miss Burridge." - -The sweep of the ocean and the rush of the wind made her remark -inaudible beyond the piazza. Mrs. Lowell turned to her. - -"I think we all have a mission right there, perhaps, Miss Emerson. The -boy is not an idiot. I have observed him closely enough to be convinced -of that. He is a plant in a dark cellar, and I wonder how many years he -has been there. His uncle's methods turn him into an automaton. If you -keep your arm in a sling a few weeks you know it loses its power to act. -The boy's brain seems to have been treated the same way. His uncle's -every word holds the law over him that he cannot think, or reason, and -that he is the stupidest creature living." - -"That is true," said Diana. "That is just what he does." - -Miss Emerson sniffed. "Well, I didn't come up to Maine on a mission. I -came to rest, and I don't propose to have that gawk prowling around -where I am." - -Nicholas Gayne appeared, his binoculars in his hand. "Would you ladies -like to look at the shipping?" he said, approaching. His manner was -ingratiating, and Diana conquered the resentment filling her heart -sufficiently to accept the glasses from his hand. He was conscious that -he had not made a good impression. "The mackerel boats are going out to -sea after yesterday's storm," he remarked. "You will see how wonderfully -near you can bring them." - -Diana adjusted the glass and exclaimed over its power. Miss Emerson -jumped up from her chair. - -"That's something I want to see," she said, and Diana handed her the -glass while Nicholas Gayne scowled at the spinster's brown -"transformation." He was not desirous of propitiating Miss Emerson, who, -however, pressed him into the service of helping her adjust the screws -to suit her eyes, and was effusive in her appreciation of the effect. - -"You surely are a benefactor, Mr. Gayne," she said at last, with -enthusiasm. - -"Let me be a benefactor to Mrs. Lowell, too," he returned, and the lady -yielded up the glass. - -"That is the great Penguin Light beyond Crag Island," he said, as Mrs. -Lowell accepted the binoculars. "The trees hide it in the daytime, it is -so distant, but at night you will see it flash out." - -"It is so interesting that you are familiar here, Mr. Gayne," said Miss -Emerson. "You must tell us all about the island and show us the -prettiest places." - -The owner of the binoculars stirred restlessly under the appealing smile -the lady was bestowing upon him. - -"For myself, I just love to walk," she added suggestively. - -"I don't do much walking," he returned shortly. "I come here to sketch." - -"Oh, an artist!" exclaimed Miss Emerson, clasping her hands in the -extremity of her delight. "Do you allow any one to watch you work? Such -a pleasure as it would be." - -"It isn't, though," said Nicholas Gayne with an uncomfortable -side-glance at his admirer. "My daubs aren't worth watching." - -"Oh, that will do for you to say," she returned archly. "I have done -some sketching myself. Perhaps I could persuade you to take a pupil." - -"Nothing doing," returned the artist hastily. "We all come up here to -rest, don't we?" he added. - -"Oh, I suppose so," sighed Miss Emerson. "But I do hope you will give me -the great pleasure of seeing your work sometime." She sank back into her -chair with a sigh. - -"That is a very fine glass," remarked Mrs. Lowell as she returned it to -its owner. His brow cleared as he received it. - -"Well, I must be off," he said. "I mustn't waste time under these -favoring skies." - -"Oh, Miss Wilbur," said Miss Emerson, addressing the young girl. -"Wouldn't it be lovely if Mr. Gayne would let us go with him and watch -him sketch?" - -"I am quite ignorant of his art," returned Diana, rising from her seat. -"And I still have a great deal of exploring to do on my own account." - -Nicholas Gayne cast an admiring glance at the statuesque lines of her -face and figure. - -"Perhaps you will let me make a sketch of you one of these days, Miss -Wilbur." He approached the piazza rail as he spoke and his voice -carried down to where Philip was painting under the eyes of the silent, -watching boy. - -Philip looked up, and, catching the expression with which Gayne seemed -to be appraising the young girl, he ruined one of the _n_'s in Inn so -that it had to be painted out and done over. - -Veronica, her duties finished for the time being, sallied out of doors -and approaching Philip looked curiously at his work. - -"There's nothing the matter with that," she said encouragingly, and the -others came down from the piazza to praise the painter. Miss Emerson -followed, but she looked at the sign doubtfully. - -"One can't help being sensitive, can one?" she said to Gayne. "And the -wind blows so hard all the time up here, I'm afraid that sign is going -to squeak." - -"Show me your window," said Philip good-naturedly, "and I'll see if we -can't avoid it." - -So they all went around to the back of the house where Philip had his -ladder waiting and the sign was finally placed to the satisfaction of -everybody except Miss Emerson, who considered it on probation. - -Nicholas Gayne was still conscious that he had not made a pleasing -impression in his treatment of his nephew and it was no part of his -programme to attract attention. He approached the boy now. - -"What are you going to do with yourself, Bert?" - -"I don't know," was the answer. - -"Want to come with me?" - -"No, sir." - -"Well, that's plain enough," said Gayne, laughing and looking around on -the company. - -"He's a very foolish boy," said Miss Emerson, "when he has an -opportunity to watch you sketch." - -"Oh, Mr. Gayne!" cried Veronica. "Don't go until you tell us about the -haunted farm." - -"Where did you ever hear about that?" asked the artist, looking with -some favor on Veronica's round and dimpled personality. "I thought you -were a stranger here." - -"I am, but Genevieve Wilks has just been telling me that you really saw -the spook." - -Gayne laughed. "When I came up here last summer, I was told about the -haunted farm, and, of course, I was interested in it at once. There are -some particularly good views from there. So, naturally, I became one of -the ha'nts myself and spent a lot of time with them." - -"Oh, but tell us what it looked like," persisted Veronica. "Did you -really think you saw one?" - -"What a subject for this time of a clear, sunny day," said Gayne, -lightly. "Wait until the thunder rolls some stormy night," and, lifting -his cap, he hurried away through the field, his sketch-book under his -arm. - -Diana looked after his receding form. - -"It is odd how little like an artist Mr. Gayne looks," she said. - -"You mean he should have long hair and dreamy eyes?" asked Philip. - -"I think it is the eyes," replied Diana thoughtfully. "I cannot picture -his looking with concentration and persistence at anything." - -"Oh, I've seen him make a pretty good stab at it," said Philip dryly, -thinking of the manner in which he had on several occasions seen him -stare at Diana. - -At this point the dull boy found his tongue. - -"I wouldn't go up there," he said haltingly. - -"Up where?" asked Mrs. Lowell encouragingly. - -"Up to that farm. It's full of nettles that sting, and then, when it's -dark, ghosts." - -The group exchanged glances. - -"Who told you that?" asked Philip. - -"Uncle Nick." - -It did not increase the general admiration of Mr. Gayne that he should -take such means for securing safety from his nephew's companionship. - -Mrs. Lowell took the boy's arm. "I want to go down to the water," she -said. "Will you go with me?" - -"Are you afraid to go alone?" he asked. - -"I should like it better if you went with me." - -He allowed himself to be led around the house, then on among the grassy -hummocks and clump of bay and savin and countless blueberry bushes. - -"Do you see what quantities of blueberries we are going to have?" asked -Mrs. Lowell. - -"Are we?" - -"Yes. These are berry bushes. Do you like blueberries?" - -"I don't know." - -Mrs. Lowell laughed and shook the arm she was still holding. "You do -know, Bertie," she said. "You must have eaten lots of blueberries." Her -merry eyes held his dull ones as she spoke. "I don't like to hear you -say you don't know, all the time." - -"What difference does it make?" he returned. - -"All the difference in the world. The most important thing in life is -for us to _know_. There are such quantities of beautiful things for us -to know. This day, for instance. We can know it is beautiful, can't we?" - -When they reached the stony beach, she released his arm and sat down -among the pebbles. He did not look at them or at the sea; but at her. -She wore a blue dress and her brown hair was ruffling in the wind. - -"Do you like stones?" she asked. - -"I--" he began. - -She lifted her hand and laughed again into his eyes. "Careful!" she -said. "Don't say you don't know." - -The boy's look altered from dullness to perplexity. "But I don't--" he -began slowly. - -"Then find out right now," she said, lifting a hand full of the smooth -pebbles while the tide seethed and hissed near them. She held out her -hand to him. - -"Pick out the prettiest," she said, and he began pulling them over with -his forefinger. - -"I love stones," she went on. "See how the ocean has polished them for -us. Years and years of polishing has gone to these, and yet we can pick -them up on a bright summer morning and have them for our own if we want -them." - -"There's one sort of green," said Bertie. "Green. That's like me. Uncle -Nick says I'm green." - -"Uncle Nick doesn't know everything," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, as she -took the pebble he had chosen and, laying her handkerchief on the beach, -placed the green pebble upon it. "Now, see if we can find some that you -can see the light through. There is one now. See, that one is almost -transparent. It is translucent. That is what translucent means. Isn't it -a pretty word--and a pretty stone? Hold it up to your eye." - -The boy obeyed, a slight look of interest coming into his face. Mrs. -Lowell studying him realized what an attractive face his might be. It -was as if the promising bud of a flower had been blighted in -mid-opening. - -"Let us put all the best pebbles on my handkerchief and take them home -with us. Have you a father and mother, Bertie?" - -"No." - -"Do you remember them?" - -The boy hesitated and glanced into the kind face bent toward him. Its -expression gave the lonely lad a strange sensation. A lump came into his -throat and moisture suddenly gathered in his eyes. He swallowed the -lump. - -"Uncle Nick doesn't want me--to talk about her," he stammered. - -"Your mother, do you mean, Bertie?" - -The tender tone was too much for the boy. He had to swallow faster and -nodded. In a minute two drops ran down his cheeks. He ignored them and -began throwing pebbles into the water. - -The figure that he made in his outgrown trousers and faded old sweater, -trying to control himself, moved his companion, and the sign of his -emotion encouraged her. Perhaps he was not so stupid as he seemed. - -"I think it would be nice to make a collection of stones while we are -here," she said. "I'm sure Miss Burridge will let us have a glass jar. -See this one." - -Bertie dashed the back of his hand across his eyes and turned to look at -the small pebble she offered. - -"Isn't that a little beauty?" - -"I--" - -"Careful!" his companion smiled as she said it and pretended to frown at -him in such a merry way that the hint of a smile appeared on his face. - -"Uncle Nick likes to have me say I don't know. He says it's honest." - -"Well, no two people could be more different than Uncle Nick and me. I -want you to _know_, and I want you to say so, because it's what we all -have a right to. It is what God wants of us; and, Bertie, if you ever -feel like talking about your mother to me, you must do so." - -The boy glanced up at her, then down at the pebbles which he pulled over -in silence. - -"Where do you and your uncle live?" - -"In Newark." - -"Do you go to school there?" - -"No." - -"Where do you go to school?" - -"Nowhere." - -"Where did you learn to read and write then, Bertie?" - -"In school. I went when--when _she_ was here." - -"Your mother?" - -"Yes." - -"And have you brothers and sisters?" - -"No. Just Uncle Nick." - -"Does he give you studies to learn?" Mrs. Lowell's catechism was given -in such gentle, interested tones that the answers had come easily up to -now. - -Now the boy hesitated, and she began to expect the stereotyped answer -which he had learned was most pleasing, and the easiest way out with his -uncle. - -"I--" he began, and caught her look. "Sometimes," he added. "But Uncle -Nick says it isn't any use--and I don't care anyway, because--she isn't -here." - -Again Mrs. Lowell could see the spasm in his throat and face. It passed -and left the usual dull listlessness of expression. - -"Your mother was very sweet," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, and some -acknowledgment lighted his eyes as he suddenly looked up at her. "I know -that because she made such a deep impression on the little boy she left. -How old were you, Bertie, in that happy time when she was here?" - -"I--it was Christmas, and there have been--five Christmases since. I -remember them on my fingers, and one hand is gone." - -Mrs. Lowell met his shifting look with the steady, kind gaze which was -so fraught with sympathy that his forlorn, neglected soul turned towards -its warmth like a struggling flower to the sun. - -"I'll tell you what I think would be beautiful, Bertie," she said. "And -it is for you to do everything you do for her, just as if she were here, -or as if you were going to see her to-morrow. Did she ever talk to you -about God?" - -"Yes. I said prayers that Christmas--and I got a sled." - -"Do you ever say prayers now?" - -"No. It--it doesn't do any good if you--if you live with Uncle Nick. -He--he won't let God give you--anything." - -"Let me tell you something wonderful, Bertie. Nobody--not even Uncle -Nick--can stand between you and God. You know the way your mother loved -you? God loves you that way, too. Like a Father and Mother both. So, -whenever you think of your mother's love, think of God's love, too. It -is just as real. In fact, it was God, you know, who made her love you." - -The boy looked up at this. - -"Yes. So, whenever you think of God, remember that 'I don't know' must -never come into your thought. You _do_ know, and you _can_ know better -every day." - -"Uncle Nick won't like it if I know anything." - -"Dear child!" burst from Mrs. Lowell at this unconscious revelation of -blight. "We will have a secret from Uncle Nick. I am so glad you have -told me about your dear mother, and now you are going to start doing -everything in the way you think would make her happy if she were here. I -am sure she loved everything beautiful. She loved flowers and birds and -this splendid ocean that is going to catch us in a minute if we don't -move back. What do you say to letting it catch us! Supposing we take off -our shoes and stockings and wade. Doesn't that foam look tempting?" - -Color rose in the speaker's cheeks as she finished, and the vitality in -her voice was infectious. - -"It's--it'll be cold," said the boy. - -"Let it. Come on, it will be fun." - -She was already taking off her shoes and he followed suit. It gave her a -pang to see the holes in his faded socks, but she caught up her skirts -and he pulled up his trousers and shrinkingly followed her. The June -water was still reminiscent of ice, and she squealed as the foam curled -around her ankles, and Bertie hopped up and down until color came into -his face, too. The incoming tide, noisier and noisier, drove them -farther and farther up the beach, until finally they sat down together -on a rock at a safe distance from the water, and the sunlight fell hotly -on their glistening feet. - -"That was fun!" said Mrs. Lowell, laughing and breathing fast. "Do you -know how to swim, Bertie?" - -"I--no, I don't." - -"That would be a nice thing to learn while you are here. You learn and -then teach me." - -"Me? Teach you?" - -"Of course. Why not? There's a cove in the island where they all swim." - -Bertie looked off on the billows. "Would my mother like that?" he asked. - -"I'm sure she would, and she would like the collection of stones we are -going to make, and she would like you to help Miss Burridge by weeding -the garden that they have started. There are so many delightful things -to do in the world, and you are going to do them all--for her." - -"All for her," echoed Bertie. "And not tell Uncle Nick," he added. - -"No. You and I will keep the secret." - -Mrs. Lowell looked at him with a smile, and the neglected boy, his dull -wits stimulated by this amazing experience of comradeship, smiled back -at her, the smile of the little child who in that far-away happy -Christmas had received a sled. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -BIOGRAPHY - - -"Well, good-bye, Miss Priscilla," said Philip, coming into the kitchen a -few mornings afterward. "This landlubber life won't do for me any -longer." - -Small Genevieve was at the sink washing dishes and Veronica was drying -them. - -Miss Burridge slid her last loaf of bread into the oven and then stood -up and faced him. - -"Philip Barrison," she said emphatically, "you have been a blessing for -these weeks. I hate to see you go. Now, how much do I owe you for all -the good things you've done for me?" - -Philip laughed and, throwing his arms around her, gave her a hearty -smack on the cheek. - -"What do I owe you for popovers and corn fritters?" he rejoined. "Just -don't let Veronica chew gum, nor let Genevieve flirt with Marley Hughes -and we'll call it square." - -Genevieve turned up her little nose and giggled, and Veronica looked -scornful. - -"Now, don't you tell me that Puppa liked it," he continued to her. -"Besides, anybody that lives with your Aunt Pris has so many nicer -things to chew there is no excuse. Oh, Miss Priscilla, how I hate to say -adieu to the waffles!" - -"Well, you must come real often, Phil. I heard you was goin' to give us -a concert at the hall sometime this summer. Is that so? I do hope you -will." - -"I shouldn't wonder. My accompanist is coming to-day and we shall do a -little work and a lot of fishing." - -"Is he a young feller? You must bring him up to play croquet with the -girls." - -"Well, I don't know whether he has any experience as an Alpine climber -or not." - -"Why, I don't think it's such an awful bad ground. Do you, Veronica?" - -"Not if he's real nice and hasn't any whiskers," replied the girl. -"Heaven knows he'll be better than nothing. Such a place as this and not -a beau! It's a crime." - -"How about me?" inquired Philip modestly. - -Veronica lifted her upper lip disdainfully. "Oh, you, with your lectures -and your goddesses! What earthly good are you?" - -"Cr-rushed!" exclaimed Philip. - -"Talked to Mrs. Lowell all last evening on the piazza in that lovely -moonlight. The idea of wasting it on a _Mrs._ I suppose there's a _Mr._ -to her." - -"Yes, and he's coming before the summer is over. The worst of it is she -seems to like him." - -"Children, children," said Miss Burridge, and she winked toward the back -of Genevieve's head. Well she knew the alertness of the ears that were -holding back those tight braids of hair. - -"Yes, my accompanist, Barney, is a broth of a boy, but I shall tell him, -Veronica, that ten o'clock is the limit, the very extreme limit." - -The girl flushed and laughed. "You mind your business now, Mr. Barrison, -and I'll attend to mine. I'm perfectly capable of it." - -"Very well. I'll simply keep Puppa's address on my desk, and I won't use -it unless I really have to," said Phil, in a conscientious tone which -nearly caused Veronica to throw a cup at him. - -"Go along now if you must, Philip," said Miss Priscilla. "And I do thank -you, dear boy. We shall miss you every minute. Give my love to your -grandmother. I wish she could get up as far as this. You tell her so." - -"All right, I will. Do you know where Miss Wilbur is?" - -"Aha!" said Veronica softly. - -"I don't want to go without saying good-bye to her." - -"I should hope not," jeered Veronica. "I suppose you won't see her again -all summer." - -"Oh, yes, I shall, unless Barney Kelly cuts me out." - -"Sure, it's Oirish he is, thin?" - -"Faith, and he is, and a bit chipped off the original blarney stone at -that. Trust him not, Veronica." - -"I only hope I'll get the chance, but if you're going to set him on the -goddess, what sort of a look-in will I have? I've got five on my nose -already." - -"Five what, woman?" - -"Freckles. Can't you see them from there? It will be fulsome flattery if -you say you can't." - -Philip squinted up his eyes and came nearer to examine. - -"You remember what I said. Tell Barney they're beauty spots--'golden -kisses of the sun.'" - -"Oh, ain't that pretty!" shouted Genevieve. "I'm speckled with 'em jest -like a turkey egg, but I don't mind 'em the way Veronica does. I've got -some powder at home and I powder over 'em." - -"At your age, Genevieve!" exclaimed Philip sternly. "What shall I do -with the extravagance and artificiality of this generation! Don't you -know, Genevieve, that the money you spend for powder should go into the -missionary box? You poor, lost, little soul!" - -Genevieve giggled delightedly, and Miss Burridge, at the window, -exclaimed: - -"There's Miss Wilbur now, Phil, looking at the garden bed." - -"If I were she," said Veronica, "I wouldn't have a word to say to you -after the way you wasted last evening." - -"If only she thought so, too!" groaned Philip. "But I'm not in it with -her astronomy map for June. She is a hundred times more interested to -know where Jupiter and Venus are than where I am--natural, I -suppose--all in the family." He threw open the kitchen door and, -standing on the step, threw kisses toward the group within. - -"Good-bye, summer!" he sang. "_Good-bye, good-bye._" - -The beauty of his voice had its usual effect on Diana, who stood by the -strip of green, growing things, looking in his direction, her lips -slightly parted over her pretty teeth. - -"You see I'm good-bye-ing," he said, approaching her. - -"Are you leaving us?" she returned, allowing her clasped hands to fall -apart. "See how well the sweet peas are doing." - -"Yes, I'm leaving you all in good shape. Do you think you can go on -behaving yourselves without my watchful guardianship and Christian -example?" - -"I think we shall miss you. Mr. Gayne is not a fair exchange." - -"Thank you. Mrs. Lowell was talking to me about that outfit last -evening. She is quite stirred up about the boy." - -"Yes," rejoined Diana. "I think she is a wonderful woman. She has taken -him down to the beach with her again this morning. She believes that Mr. -Gayne is his nephew's enemy rather than his guardian. She believes he -has some reason for desiring to blight any buddings of intelligence in -the boy, and uses an outrageous method of suppression over him all the -time. It would be so much easier to let it go, and most of us would, I'm -sure, rather than spend vacation hours in such insipid company, or have -any dealings with that--that impossible uncle; but Mrs. Lowell will not -relinquish her efforts." - -"Yes, she is a brilliant, fearless sort of woman," said Philip. "I -shouldn't wonder if she gave Gayne a disagreeable quarter of an hour -before she gets through with him." - -"One has to exercise care, however," returned Diana, "lest the man -become angered and visit his ill-humor on the boy. I am often obliged to -constrain myself to civility when I yearn to hurl--" she hesitated. - -"Plates? Oh, do say you long to throw a plate at him!" - -Diana gave her remote moonbeam smile. - -"I must admit that 'invective' was in my mind. A rather strong word for -girls to use." - -"A splendid word. A good long one, too. You might try hurling -polysyllables at him some day and see him blink." - -Diana shook her head. "That sort of man is a pachyderm. He would never -flinch at verbal missiles. Since you must go, I wish some other -agreeable man would join our group and converse with him at table." - -Philip smiled. "Surely you have noticed that Miss Emerson is not averse -to assuming all responsibility?" - -"Mr. Barrison," said Diana gravely, "I hope when I am--am elderly and -unmarried, that I shall not seek to attract men." - -"Miss Wilbur," returned Philip, with a solemnity fitting hers, and -regarding the symmetry and grace of her lovely head, "don't spend any -time worrying about that; for some inner voice assures me that you will -never be elderly and unmarried." - -"The future is on the knees of the gods," she returned serenely. - -"Then I don't need to lose any sleep on account of your posing for one -of Mr. Gayne's wonderful sketches?" - -Diana brought the brown velvet of her eyes to bear fully upon him. It -even seemed hopeful that a spark would glow in them. - -"I loathe the man," she said slowly. - -"Forgive me, divine one. Well, I must go now. Why won't you take me -home? I should like you to meet my grandmother, and think of the -pitfalls and mantraps of the island road if I risk myself alone: Bill -Lindsay's Ford! Marley Hughes's bicycle! Lou Buell's gray mare taking -him to mend somebody's broken pipe! Matt Blake's express wagon! Come and -keep my courage up." - -"You have a grandmother on this island?" - -"I'll prove it if you'll come with me." - -Diana smiled and moved along beside him. "It doesn't seem a real, -mundane, earthly place to me yet," she said. "It must be wonderful to -have a solid _pied-ŕ-terre_ here. They tell me there are many summer -cottages, but they are far from our Inn and I haven't realized them yet. -I am hoping my parents will consent to purchasing some ground here for -me." - -"Where do you usually go in summer?" - -"Our cottage is at Newport, but I like better Pittsfield, where we go in -the autumn." - -Philip looked around at her as she moved along through the field beside -him. "Is your middle name Biddle?" he asked. - -"No, I have no middle name." - -"I thought in Philadelphia only the descendants of the Biddles had -cottages at Newport and Pittsfield." - -Diana smiled. "I know that is a stock bit of humor. What was that about -an Englishman who said he had seen Niagara Falls and almost every other -wonder of America except a Biddle? He had not yet seen one." - -"When do you laugh, Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip suddenly. - -"Why, whenever anything amuses me, of course." - -"Yet you like the island, although it has never amused you yet. I have -lived in the house with you for two weeks and I haven't heard you -laugh." - -Diana looked up at him and laughed softly. "How amusing!" she said. - -He nodded. "It's very good-looking, very. Do that again sometime. How -did you happen to run away from family this season?" - -"I was tired and almost ill, and some people at home had been here and -told me about it. So I came, really incontinently. I did not wait to -perfect arrangements, and when I arrived in a severe rainstorm one -evening, I found great kindness at the house my friends had told me of, -but no clean towels. They were going to have a supply later, but -meanwhile I lost my heart to the view from our Inn piazza and Miss -Burridge found me there one day and took me in for better or for worse. -That explains me. Now, what explains your having a grandmother here?" - -"Her daughter marrying my father, I imagine. My grandfather was a -sea-captain, Cap'n Steve Dorking. He had given up the sea by the time I -came along." - -"Here? Were you born here?" - -"Yes." - -"That explains the maritime tints in your eyes. Even when they laugh -the sparkle is like the sun on the water. Continue, please." - -"Well, my father, who came here to fish, met my mother, fell in love, -married her, and took her away. He was very clever at everything except -making money, it seems, so my mother came home within a year to welcome -me on to the planet. My grandfather had a small farm, and I was his -shadow and one of his 'hands' until I was eight years old." - -"Was it a happy life?" - -"It was. I remember especially the smell of Grammy's buttery, -sweet-smelling cookies, and gingerbread, and apple pies with cinnamon. -It smells the same way now. Do you wonder I like to come back?" - -"You stimulate my appetite," said Diana. - -"Oh, she'll give you some. There were many jolly things in those days to -brighten the life of a country boy. The way the soft grass felt to bare -feet in the spring, and in the frosty autumn mornings when we went to -the yard to milk and would scare up the cows so those same bare feet -could stand in the warm place where the cows had lain. Then came winter -and snowdrifts--making snow huts and coasting down the hills. Sliding -and skating on the ice-filled hollows. It was all great. I'm glad I had -it." - -"You test my credulity, Mr. Barrison, when you speak of ice and snow in -this poetic home of summer breezes." - -He looked down at her. "We will have a winter house-party at Grammy's -sometime and convince you." - -"So at eight years of age you went out into the world?" - -"Yes, at my dear mother's apron strings. My father had spent some time -with us every year and at last secured a living salary and took us to -town. The first thing I did in the glitter of the blinking lamp-posts -was to fall in love. I prayed every night for a long time that I might -marry that girl. She had long curls and I reached just to her ear. I -received her wedding cards a year or so ago. I was always praying for -something, but only one of my prayers has ever been answered. I was -always very devout in a thunderstorm, and I prayed that I might not be -struck by lightning and I never have been yet." - -"When was your wonderful voice discovered?" - -"Look here, Miss Wilbur, you are tempting me to a whole biography, and -it isn't interesting." - -"Yes, I am interested in--in your mother." - -"My poor mother," said Philip, in a different tone. "When I was twelve -years old my father was taken ill and soon left us. My mother had to -struggle and I had to stop school and go to work. The first job I got -was lathing a house. I walked seven miles into the country and put the -laths on that house. I worked hard for a whole week and received twelve -dollars and seventy-five cents. It was a ten-dollar gold piece, two -silver dollars, fifty cents, and a quarter." - -Diana lifted sympathetic eyes. - -"I bought a suit of clothes and gave up the gold piece. The perfect lady -clerk failed to give me credit for it and six months afterward the store -sent the bill to my mother. I put up a heated argument, you may be sure, -and before the matter was settled, the perfect lady clerk skipped with -another woman's husband. So the powers inclined to believe me rather -than her." - -"Poor little boy," put in Diana. "But your music?" - -"Yes. Well, our minister's wife took an interest in me and gave me -lessons on the organ. I never would practice, though. I would pick out -hymns with one finger while I stood on one foot and pumped the pedal -with the other. It was results I was after; but the cornet allured me, -and I learned to play that well enough to join the Sunday-School -orchestra. - -"A cousin of my mother's came to our rescue sufficiently to let me go to -school, and in all my spare time I did odd jobs, some of them pretty -strenuous; but I was a strong youngster, and evidently bore a charmed -life, for I challenged fate on trains, on top of buildings, and in -engine rooms. But I'll spare you the harrowing details. At the spring -commencement of the high school, I was invited to sing a solo. I warbled -good old 'Loch Lomond' and forgot the words and was mortified almost to -death, but the audience was enthusiastic, I have always believed out of -pity." - -"No no," breathed Diana. - -"Well, at any rate, they insisted on an encore, and I was so braced up -by the applause and so furious at myself that I gave them 'The Owl and -the Pussy Cat."' - -"Oh." - -"I see you don't know it. Well, next day I met a lady on the street who -was very musical, it seemed, and she invited me to come to her house and -talk over studying music. She said I had a great responsibility. Oh, you -don't want to hear all this!" - -"I do, I do." - -"My mother passed away soon afterward, and the musical friend in -need--good friend she was, and is--told me of a town a hundred miles -away where there were vacancies she knew of in choir positions. She -would give me a letter of introduction and she believed I could qualify -for one of them. I didn't tell her the slimness of my cash after my dear -mother's funeral expenses were paid, and she didn't know. So I traveled -that hundred miles on a freight train. When I first boarded it, I -crawled into the fire-box of a new engine that was being transported -over that line. It grew very cold before we had gone far, and I crawled -out and climbed over the coal tender and opened the hole where they put -the water in. I climbed down into that empty place and lighted a match -only to find that there were about twenty bums there ahead of me. I -didn't stay there long, for I was good and plenty afraid; some of them -looked desperate. I climbed out again and went along the train till I -came to a flat-car loaded with a new threshing machine. I saw a brakeman -coming along with a lantern, and I knew if he saw me he'd put me off. So -I climbed into the back of the threshing machine and down into its very -depths, and after a while, when I had become chilled to the marrow, the -train came to a halt. I crawled out and down to the ground and ran -around to get warm. They were doing some switching and I saw they added -two cars to the train. One had stock in one end and hay and grain in the -other. They had to leave the door open to let in air for the stock, and -up I climbed and hid under the straw and slept soundly the rest of the -journey. Oh, I was dirty when I arrived! But my precious letter was safe -in an inside pocket, and with the contents of the little bundle I had, -and the expenditure of part of my small stock of money, I made myself -decent and presented my letter of introduction. The organist of one of -the churches tried me out. He liked my voice so much that he engaged me -and was even interested enough to let me live at his house; but three -dollars a Sunday was the salary and the voice lessons I engaged would be -four dollars a week, so, of course, I had to go to work at once, and I -got a job in a big sash and door factory where I worked like a horse -ten hours a day." - -"Why, Mr. Barrison," sighed Diana, "you are a hero." - -Philip laughed. "I had no leisure to think about that. Times grew very -slack and there began to be great danger that I would lose my job in the -factory. They said they would have to lay me off unless I would -whitewash an old building they had bought to store lumber. So I was -given a brush and a barrel of lime-water and told to go at it. If I lost -my job, I wouldn't be able to live. So I wrapped my feet in sacks to try -to keep warm--it was late November--and went at it: and there were -girls, Miss Wilbur, girls! And I couldn't put it over them after Tom -Sawyer's fashion. Well, I had sung there just thirteen Sundays when the -blow fell. The committee told me very kindly that they wanted to try -another tenor. I went home from that talk with a heart heavy as lead. I -could not sleep, and near midnight I began to cry. Yes, I did cry. I was -twenty-one and I had voted, but I was the most broken-hearted boy in the -State. I must have cried for two or three hours, pitying myself to the -utmost, up three flights of stairs in that little attic room, with the -rain pouring on the roof over my head, when all at once I jumped out of -bed as dry-eyed as if I'd never shed a tear and, lifting my right hand -as high as possible, I made a vow. I said--So help me, God, I will -become a singer if I have to walk over everybody in the attempt. I will -learn to sing, and these mutts will listen to me and pay to hear me, -too. Then I jumped back into bed and fell asleep instantly." - -"Splendid!" said Diana. "And how did you keep the vow?" - -"Well, next morning I began to figure what I must do. I knew I hadn't -enough education. I remembered that three years before I had won a -scholarship for twenty weeks' free tuition in a business college in -Portland, and I decided that I would need fifty dollars. The same cousin -who had helped me before to go to school, came across. I quit my job, -paid my bills, and left for Portland, getting there at Christmas. I sang -at the Christmas-tree exercises in my home church. I went to school as I -planned, took care of the furnace for the rent of my room, took care of -three horses, got the janitorship of a church--" - -Diana looked up with a sudden smile. "And forced up the thermometer -when you overslept." - -Philip burst into a hearty laugh. "Did Miss Burridge give me away? I -tell you I saved that church lots of coal that winter." - -"Oh, continue. I did not mean to interrupt you, for now you are coming -to the climax." - -"Nothing very wonderful, Miss Wilbur, but I found I had that to give -that people were willing to pay for, and I began going about in country -places giving recitals, mixing humorous recitations in with the groups -of songs, playing my own accompaniments and sometimes having to shovel a -path through the snow to the town hall before my audience could come in. -I wonder if Caruso ever had to shovel snow away from the Metropolitan -Opera House before his friends could get in to hear him! After that I -worked my way through two years at college, studying with a good voice -teacher. Then came the war. I got through with little more than a -scratch and was in one of the first regiments to be sent home after the -armistice was signed. The lady who first discovered my voice had -influential musical friends in New York. She sent me to them, and, to -make a long story a little shorter, last winter I was under an -excellent management, obtained a church position, and have sung at a -good many recitals. The coming winter looks hopeful." Philip put his -hand on his heart and bowed. "Thanking you for your kind attention--here -we are at Grammy's." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -A FIRELIGHT INTERVIEW - - -Their path had led away from the main road across a field toward a -buff-colored house set on a rise of ground like a billow in a green sea. -Where the hill descended beyond, there grew a flourishing apple orchard. - -"Since my grandfather's death, the little farm is overgrown," said -Philip. "My grandmother gets a neighbor to cut the hay and milk her cow, -and so leaves the cares of the world behind her." - -A climbing rosebush nearly covered one side of the cottage, and -old-fashioned perennials clung about its base. Nothing was yet in bloom; -but soon the daisies in the field would lie in white drifts and the wild -roses, large and of a deep pink, would soften the ledges of rock -cropping out everywhere in the sweet-smelling fields. - -Philip opened the door and ushered his companion into a small hallway -covered with oilcloth, then into a sunny living-room, shining clean, -with a floor varnished in yellow and strewn with rag rugs. An old lady, -seated in one of the comfortable rocking-chairs, rose to meet them. Her -face, the visitor thought, was one of the sweetest she had ever seen. - -"What a pretty girl she must have been!" she reflected. - -Around her neck the old lady wore a string of gold beads, and the thick -gray hair growing becomingly around her low forehead was carried back -and confined in a black net. The simple charm of her welcome to the -young girl was the perfection of good manners and her voice was low and -pleasant. - -"I'm glad you've brought my boy back, Miss Wilbur, I've been missing -him." - -"That's right, Grammy. Give me a good character," said Philip hugging -her and kissing her cheek. "I must have waffles, though. I'm spoiled." - -Here a woman appeared at the door of the passageway that led to the -kitchen. She was very wrinkled and care-worn in appearance, yet -sprightly in her movements and manner. Many of her teeth were missing -and her thin hair was strained back out of the way. She wore a large -checked apron over her calico dress. - -"Hello, there, Aunt Maria," said Philip. "This is Miss Wilbur, one of -the guests at Miss Burridge's." - -"Happy to meet you," said Aunt Maria, but casually, in the manner of -one who has but slight time for trivial things like social amenities. -Then she fixed Philip with a severe stare. "Is this the day you was -expectin' the New York man?" - -"It is, Aunt Maria. Don't tell me you weren't sure and haven't plenty on -hand for two man-sized appetites." - -"Well, I thought 'twas. I guess I can feed you." Aunt Maria's severity -lapsed in a semi-toothless smile. "How's Priscilla Burridge gettin' -along?" - -"Famously," replied Philip. "She's given me waffles every morning." - -"H'm!" grunted Aunt Maria. "I guess I can cook anything Priscilla -Burridge can, give me the ingregiencies." - -"The principal ingredient is a waffle iron. I'll send for one for you." - -Diana had meanwhile been placed in a seat near her hostess, where she -faced the line of cheerful red geraniums on the window-sill. - -"Your first visit to the island, Miss Wilbur?" asked the old lady. - -"Yes, Mrs. Dorking; but not the last, I assure you." - -"You like it, then?" - -"I think it is a fairy-tale place." - -"Miss Wilbur has been accustomed to a summer home where the hand of man -has been very busy and the foot of man has trodden out nearly all of -Nature's earmarks. She finds she likes the raw material better," said -Philip, leaning against the mantelpiece where odd shells and quaint -China objects, half-dog, half-dragon, stood as memorials to Captain -Steve Dorking's cruises. The swords of two swordfishes, elaborately -carved, leaned near him. - -"The island's filling up," said the old lady. "A lot of the summer -people came yesterday and from now on they'll flock in." - -"Are you glad to see them come?" asked Diana. - -"Yes," returned Mrs. Dorking, a rising inflection in her kindly voice. -"They're most of them good friends of mine." - -"I should say she is glad," remarked Philip. "She sits here in state and -receives them all, don't you, Grammy?" - -"I don't know as there's much state about it." The old lady smiled, and -leaned toward Diana. "Miss Wilbur, I guess you've found out already that -Philip is the foolishest boy that ever lived. We can't afford to mind -his talk, can we?" - -"But his singing, Mrs. Dorking," Diana looked up at Philip's tow head -towering toward the low ceiling. "It doesn't greatly matter how he talks -when he can sing as he does." - -"Yes," returned the old lady, again with the moderate rising inflection. -"I will say Philip's got a real pretty voice." - -"And there is a piano!" said Diana, wistfully looking across the room at -the ancient square instrument. - -"That is a very polite name for it," remarked Philip. - -"Oh, Mr. Barrison, could you, won't you, sing some song of the sea?" The -girl clasped her hands in prospect. "I'm your guest, you know. It is not -quite possible to refuse." - -"Of the sea, eh?" Philip looked at his watch. "I think we have time -before the boat comes. I'll make a bargain with you. I'll sing you a -song if you will go down to the boat with me and meet my accompanist." - -"Oh, is your accompanist coming?" - -"Even so. But when is an accompanist not an accompanist? Answer: When he -comes to the sea to fish. I've lured you far from home and dinner, so -you come to the boat with me and I'll send you home in Bill Lindsay's -chariot." - -"Very well, but--please sing!" - -"Oh, yes. A song of the sea is the order, I understand. Meanwhile, I -accompany myself on the harp." - -Philip moved over to the piano. It was placed so he could look over the -case at his listeners. He ran his fingers over the yellow keys which -gave out a thin, tinkling sound, and then plunged into song: - - - "The owl and the pussy cat went to sea - In a beautiful pea-green boat, - They took some honey and plenty of money - Wrapped up in a five-pound note. - The owl looked up to the stars above - And sang to a small guitar, - 'Oh, lovely Pussy, Oh, Pussy, my love, - What a beautiful Pussy you are!'" - - * * * * * - -Philip had never seen Diana look as lovely as when he finished and rose. -There was no doubt now that she could laugh. His enunciation was -perfect, and the alternations of sentimentality and fire with which he -had delivered the nonsense made it thrilling in the little room where -his velvet, vibrant tones at moments shook the shells on the -mantelpiece, while they flowed around the listener's heart. - -"That was delectable," laughed Diana, applauding, her eyes moist with -excitement. - -"Yes, ain't that a funny tune?" said Mrs. Dorking, looking with -affectionate pride at her grandson as he emerged around the end of the -piano. - -"We have to be off, Grammy," he said, "or Barney will be lost in the -shuffle." - -Mrs. Dorking rose and urged Diana warmly to come again, and the girl -promised that she would do so. When they were outside she spoke: - -"Is your Aunt Maria your grandmother's sister?" - -"Oh, no." Philip laughed. "She is a good village-aunt who helps in the -home. She likes to look harassed and overworked, but she adores having -charge of the house since my grandfather's death, and is devoted to -Grammy. Barney Kelly will have to look out for himself, for Aunt Maria -is an excellent cook and Kelly would be inclined to umbumpum if he -didn't mortify the flesh. He's a Canuck and one of the best fellows -going." - -"And are those summer cottages?" asked Diana, her glance sweeping over -an adjacent field. It was high ground sloping gradually to the sea, and -was dotted with shingled cottages of varying shapes and sizes. - -"Yes, that was my grandfather's pasture, and many a time I've gone -there for the cows. But one woman after another besieged him for the -ground, and he sold it off." - -"If I had some land here, I would prefer to be more isolated," said -Diana. - -"Then you would better speak quick," said Philip. "The country seems to -have its eye on Casco Bay. There comes the boat around the point now." - -They hastened their pace and went down a flight of steps which led to -the wharf. It was a busy spot full of people and trunks and barrels and -boxes. Everybody greeted Philip and looked at Diana, and Philip -presently descried the peering face of a man on the upper deck of the -approaching boat. He was dressed in a double-breasted suit of a fine -check and carried a stick which, presently descrying Philip's blond -head, he shook in his direction and, picking up his bag, turned and went -downstairs at the call: "Land from the lower deck." The newcomer was -evidently alive all over and impatient of the delay to the moment when -he could run up the gangplank. From time to time he shook his stick -toward Philip, and gazed at the girl beside him. At last he gained the -wharf, set down his bag and shook hands with Philip. Being presented to -Miss Wilbur, he took off his hat and disclosed tight curly hair, -close-clipped and groomed to the last degree of shine. - -"Perfectly heavenly sail we've had down, or up, I don't know which it -is," he exclaimed with a burr to his _r_'s which increased the -enthusiastic effect of his speech. - -"I told you it was paradise," said Philip. - -"And you proved it by bringing one o' the angels with you," returned -Kelly, smiling at Diana. - -She regarded him with her usual serenity. "I see that, like Mr. -Barrison, you enjoy using hyperbole," she said. - -"Really," returned Kelly curiously. "Am I that clever? Yes, old chap, -here's my check. I have a box somewhere around these diggings." - -"Now, wait a minute," said Philip. "I lured Miss Wilbur down here with -me to meet you and now I must return her honorably to her dinner. _Oh_, -Bill." - -He pushed through the crowd to where the motor stood, the center of new -arrivals. "Save one seat, Bill," he said. "Lady for Miss Burridge's." - -There was some good-natured crowding, but there being two more -passengers for Miss Burridge's, Diana was squeezed in, and Barney Kelly, -his hat waving from his hand, quite eclipsed Philip in the attentiveness -with which he bade her godspeed. - -"Who's the Vere de Vere?" he asked when Bill Lindsay had whipped up his -engine and moved off. - -"A young lady from Philadelphia," returned Philip, a trifle stiffly. - -"Aren't touchy about her, are you? Great Scott, boy, you haven't had -time! Now, if it had been me, a day's enough. Fire and tow. Fire and -tow. You'd supply the tow all right, old cotton-top, but I'll be hanged -if I can see where she'd provide the spark. Don't you touch that bag, -Barrison," for Philip had caught up his guest's suitcase. "Like a -condemned fool, I put the scores in it instead of in the box. There must -be some horse here that wouldn't take it quite so much to heart as I -do." - -"All right," said Philip. "It can come up with your trunk. Here, -Matt,"--for the too-popular carpenter was expressman as well,--"this is -my friend Mr. Kelly. He aids and abets me when I shriek at the public -and he's loaded up his bag with music. Bring it along with his trunk, -will you? Here's the check. Mr. Blake, Barney." - -The newcomer shook hands with the long-legged, long-armed thin man in -his shirtsleeves, and Matt Blake appraised the stranger out of his blue, -grave, shrewd island eyes. - -"Just crazy about this place already, Mr. Blake, just crazy about it," -the newcomer assured him, and Matt Blake nodded his old straw hat and -listed the volatile Barney as "another nut." - - -It was about a week afterward that opportunity found Mrs. Lowell and -Nicholas Gayne together one evening in the living-room of the Inn. It -was cool and a wood fire blazed on the hearth, but the night was still -inviting and had lured the others to put on wraps and stay out of doors. - -When Mrs. Lowell came in, Gayne was in a wicker rocker before the fire, -his legs stretched out, and, as the lady entered, he drew them in and -rose. - -"You are choosing the better part, too, are you?" he said, not doubting -that his presence was proving as much of an attraction as the fire. Two -other men had arrived, teachers from a boys' school, Evans and Pratt by -name, and it was probable that Miss Emerson was figuratively sitting at -the feet of one of them and asking questions about the stars. At all -events, she was out of doors. Nicholas Gayne had looked up -apprehensively at Mrs. Lowell's entrance, fearing the worst; and his -relief caused him to be quite effusive in his welcome of the lady and -the manner in which he brought forward a chair for her. - -"Have you had a good day?" she asked as she seated herself and he fell -back into his rocker. - -"It has been a nice day, yes." - -"I meant as to your work." - -"My work?" - -"Yes, your sketching." - -"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Fine. Very clear. Very good views." - -"I suppose you elaborate these in your studio in town." - -"What? Oh, well--it isn't much of a studio at that. It is more or less -on the side--my art work. I--I make no pretensions. Everybody's got to -have a fad to be truly happy, haven't they? I like to scrawl and daub a -little." - -"You are modest. I've been expecting you would show us some of these -views. This place is surely one to tempt the artist. Doubtless you have -seen some of Frederic Waugh's canvases done from the sketches he made -here." - -"Eh? Who? Oh, yes, of course," replied Gayne lamely. "Strange that that -Miss Wilbur should ever have struck this island. I understand she's the -daughter of the steel man. I suppose she's slumming." Gayne laughed. - -Mrs. Lowell could not force a responsive smile. "She is a very charming -girl." After a pause: "I've had several talks with your nephew, Mr. -Gayne." - -Her companion shook off the ash from his cigar into the fire. - -"You did the talking, I'm sure," he responded dryly, and his manner made -her determined to be doubly careful how she proceeded. - -"This place should build him up," she said. "He seems a rather fragile -boy." - -"Yes. He grew too fast; makes him rather weedy. Too bad he didn't keep -pace mentally. He's weedy there, too." - -"I should think it might be well to have him tutored for an hour a day -while he is here." Mrs. Lowell tried to speak carelessly as she kept -her eyes on the blaze. - -"How could you find a tutor in a place like this?" was the -response. "Surely Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans--I understand they are -teachers--wouldn't take kindly to the task of trying to find Bert's -brains while they're on their vacation." - -"No, I was thinking of a very simple plan. Miss Burridge's niece, -Veronica, would perhaps be glad to work with the boy an hour a day. She -has a good common education." - -"Nothing doing, Mrs. Lowell." Nicholas Gayne sat up in his chair and -evidently put a constraint upon himself. "You come upon this problem as -a new one and you think you understand it, but you don't. You think it's -not hopeless, but it is. The boy began by being backward and he's got -worse and worse all his life. He couldn't keep up with any class in -school and I finally took him out. Oh, I've done my best, believe _me_. -I had a tutor come to the house for a while, but I was finally convinced -that Bert hadn't the equipment to think _with_. Of course, there's -schools for deficient children, but have you got any idea what they -cost? I'm a poor man. I couldn't pay what they tax you. Bert'll end up -in an institution, that's the place for him; but I'm soft-hearted. I'll -keep him with me as long as I can. The doctors all warn you that it -isn't safe. That kind of weak intellect is liable to take a dangerous -turn any time. There's thousands of cases where relations have insisted -on keeping morons like Bert near them too long. I only hope I shan't. -Just take my advice, Mrs. Lowell, and don't have much to say to the boy. -He gets along best when he's left alone. It doesn't do to try to wake up -that kind of a brain. There's no normal balance there, and any -sharpening is liable to make it take a wrong shoot. I've been on this -problem five years, and, believe _me_, I know something about it." - -The speaker's voice grew more and more blustering as he proceeded, and -Mrs. Lowell could feel her limbs trembling with the intensity of her own -feeling and the necessity for concealing her thoughts from him. - -"He is your brother's child, I understand," she said quietly, when Gayne -had made his last emphatic gesture and sunk back in his chair, red in -the face. - -"Yes, he is. These things are awful in a family." - -"Awful," echoed Mrs. Lowell. - -The next morning, after breakfast, she went to Diana's room and -knocked. The girl welcomed her in. She was shaking a blanket. - -"I do enjoy making my bed so much," she said. "I learned how at school." - -"Then let me watch you do it while I talk to you." The visitor sat down, -and Diana went on in the most earnest manner to tuck in sheets and pat -and smooth pillows as if her life depended on the squareness of corners. - -"I had a talk with Mr. Gayne last night." - -"I observed you through the window. I felt a certainty that you were not -happy." - -"It was an ordeal, but I verified my suspicions--my worst suspicions. -The man is planning to get his nephew out of the way, to have him shut -up." - -Diana left the flap of a pillow-case to its fate and faced her caller. - -"To incarcerate him!" - -"Yes. In an asylum. Some state institution. He has been training the boy -toward that end. You have seen it. I have seen it. What is his motive? -That is the question." - -"Don't you think it may be merely to rid himself of a burden which -hampers his life?" - -"But his own flesh and blood!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Does any one -live who would go to such lengths without a greater reason? Miss Wilbur, -let us see what the man does in these daily rambles of his. I am -convinced that his artistic pose is a cloak. He didn't even know who -Frederic Waugh was." - -"Oh, but to accompany the creature!" protested Diana. - -"No, of course, we shouldn't find out anything by accompanying him -except that he cannot sketch, and I'm sure of that already. But let us -go to walk this morning, and why not visit the haunted farm?" - -"No reason except that he knows we are aware that he haunts the place, -which, if I were a ghost, would make it immune from my visits." - -"Yes, but he cannot expect us to remember or care where he goes. I feel -I must be doing something about this, no matter how slight, and--and -don't let Miss Emerson join us as we go out." - -"Perish the thought!" said Diana devoutly. - -"God will not let this outrage take place," said Mrs. Lowell, her -thought leaping back from Miss Emerson to the neglected boy. "I wish I -could ask Bertie to go with us, but I feel I must be very careful not to -let his uncle suspect the depth of my interest." - -"Miss Emerson is very timorous about horned cattle," said Diana. "We can -remember that. Sunburn, too. She has a great dread of becoming tanned." - -With these encouraging considerations the two amateur detectives stole -downstairs. Mrs. Lowell went to the kitchen where Veronica was as usual -at this hour drying the breakfast dishes. - -"Miss Veronica," she said, "would you do a little missionary work this -morning?" - -"I'd like to hear about it first," was the cautious reply. - -"Veronica is ready for every good word and work, Mrs. Lowell," put in -Miss Burridge, "but she's a busy child." - -"I know that, but I wondered if she could give half an hour to playing a -game of croquet with Bert Gayne." - -"Oh, land!" exclaimed the girl, aghast. "He won't want to." - -"That's the point, Miss Veronica,"--Mrs. Lowell looked with her loving, -radiant gaze into the young girl's eyes. "We want to make him know that -young people don't shrink from him. He knows that I don't. I want him -to know that an attractive young girl like you doesn't either. You can -see that his mind is sick. He has had great sorrow." - -"Sure!" said Veronica. "It's sorrow enough to have that uncle of his." - -"Ve-ronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge with one of her warning looks at -the back of Genevieve's head. - -"You know now what I meant by calling it missionary work," said Mrs. -Lowell. "Think about it if you have time. You will find the boy dull and -distrustful. I have great hopes of you. Try to make him bright and -trustful. I know it can't be done in a minute." The speaker again smiled -confidentially into the girl's eyes. - -Diana appeared in the entrance. - -"Miss Emerson is in the hammock," she said softly. "Shall we take the -back way?" - -They slipped out the kitchen door and Veronica scrubbed a plate already -dry. - -"Mrs. Lowell is the sweetest, prettiest, most darling woman I ever saw," -she stated. - -"But nothin' like that Miss Diana," uttered Genevieve in, for her, a -lowered voice. "She's so grand it scares me when she looks at me, and -Matt Blake says her father owns the whole of Pennsylvania." - -Veronica turned up an already aspiring nose and grunted disparagingly. -It was hard to forgive Diana for being a goddess and not chewing gum. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE HAUNTED FARM - - -"'Where every prospect pleases,'" said Diana, "'and only man is vile.'" - -They had crossed the field and come up to the height of the road which -commanded an extensive view of the bay and other islands. They stood -still for a minute. - -"Are you at all interested in metaphysics, Miss Diana?" asked her -companion. - -"I think I am. I am interested in everything." - -"I don't like the latter half of that quotation," said Mrs. Lowell. "It -stands to reason that God couldn't create anything vile." - -"No, of course," agreed the girl. "It is man who makes himself vile." - -"God's man couldn't do that either," returned Mrs. Lowell. "There is no -potentiality in him for vileness." - -"Then," said Diana, "how do you explain Mr. Gayne and his like?" - -"He is a man whose real selfhood is buried under a mass of selfishness -and cruelty, the beliefs of error and mortality. God doesn't even know -what the poor creature believes, and all his mistakes and blundering -will have to be blotted out finally by suffering, unless he should learn -to turn to the Love that is always available; for God can't know -anything unlike Himself." - -"Your ideas are quite new to me," said the girl. "I am an Episcopalian." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled. She understood this final tone. - -"Then you are satisfied, I see." - -"So far as religion goes, yes." - -"Religion goes all the way, my dear girl." - -They turned to the right and continued their walk. - -"The islanders call this direction 'up-along,' Mr. Blake told me," said -Diana. "If we had turned south we should have gone 'down-along.' Isn't -that quaint? Mr. Barrison's grandmother lives down-along. He took me to -see her the other day, the sweetest old lady." - -"That refreshing young man hails from here, then?" - -"Yes. He is the Viking type, is he not? I can picture him in the prow of -one of those strange Norse ships. Physically he seems an anachronism." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled. "Physically, perhaps, but colloquially he is -certainly an up-to-the-minute American." - -"He is an eminent singer and has shown himself a hero in arriving at -that point." - -"A hero, really?" - -"Yes, but most unconsciously so." - -"He is certainly as unaffected and straightforward as a child," said -Mrs. Lowell. "I hope he will sing for us." - -"I have heard him once," said Diana. "It was merely a nonsense song, -because he had only an heirloom of a piano--a harp he called it, and I -imagine harpsichords did sound similar to that. Now, we are on a high -point of the island, Mrs. Lowell." - -They paused again and, looking off, saw a vast ocean in all directions, -foam breaking on its ledges. Mrs. Lowell drew a long breath of delight. - -"'Every prospect pleases,'" she said. - -"Does it not seem a pity," returned Diana, "that it is our duty to hunt -for a vile, imitation man?" - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "He is scarcely even an imitation," she replied. -"But come," she sighed, "let us go after him. I wonder what gave this -farm its reputation." They walked on. - -"I'll ask Mr. Blake," began Diana. "Oh, here he comes now." - -The carpenter was returning down the island preparing to take up his -freight duties on the wharf. Diana accosted him and introduced him to -Mrs. Lowell. - -The latter shook hands with Matt, her radiant smile beaming, "I am glad -to meet you, Mr. Blake," she said. "You seem to be Miss Wilbur's oracle. -She is always quoting you, and I am rather curious about this farm up -here. Why do they call it haunted?" - -"Oh," said Blake, "let any place be left empty a few years, and windows -get loose, and blinds bang, and it's called haunted." - -"I suppose that is often true," said Mrs. Lowell. "It is an abandoned -farm, then?" - -"Yes, for many years." - -"I don't know why I have never inspected it," said Diana, "when who -knows but it is the very homestead for me?" - -Matt Blake shook his head and smiled. "The old house is crumbling away. -There is a part of it that'll keep the rain off, and there Mr. Gayne -keeps his stuff." - -"Stuff?" echoed Mrs. Lowell interrogatively. - -"Brushes and paints and pencils and all his outfit," said Blake. - -"Oh, oh, yes," replied the lady. "You know in the West a squatter claims -complete rights to the land he has settled on. I hope Mr. Gayne hasn't -established an ownership up there that will make us seem like intruders. -We thought we would like to see this exciting place." - -"'Tain't exciting," said Matt Blake with another shake of the head. -"It's asleep and snoring, the Dexter farm is." - -"Who does own the place?" asked Diana with interest. - -"It would take a pretty smart lawyer to find that out," was the reply. -"It's been in litigation longer than it's been haunted. There's three -women, I believe, pullin' and haulin' on it." - -"I think I might pull and haul, too, if I find I like it," said Diana -with her most dreamy serenity, and Matt Blake laughed. - -"Well, you won't," he returned. "'Twould give a body the Injun blues to -live there. How Mr. Gayne can stand it even in the daytime is a mystery -to me; and there don't either o' the claimants really want it. They live -around the State somewheres. I s'pose it would be hard to buy 'em out -at that, because landowners here seem to think the island's goin' to -turn into a regular Newport and that they'll make a fortune if they only -hang on." - -"Do not speak such desecrating words!" begged Diana. "Do not hint at -waking the island from its alluring, scented dream." - -Matt Blake gave her a patient stare. "Just as you say," he returned. He -had already, as a fruit of many interviews with Diana, given her up as a -conundrum. He tipped his hat and continued on his way. - -The two companions pursued theirs, and soon came to where a rather steep -hill led down to the northern beach. - -"Now, we do not go down there unless we wish to be 'set across.' That is -what they call it: set across to the next island, our near neighbor." - -"We must do it some day," replied Mrs. Lowell, looking at that other -green hill rising out of the sea. - -As they stood gazing, they saw a man run across the rocks on its shore -and hail a rowboat which came to meet him. - -"It is within rowing distance, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell. - -"Yes. Little Genevieve told me, one can always find some fisherman who -is willing to act as a ferry." Diana looked about. "I think we shall be -obliged to ask our path to the farm. Let us go to that cottage over -there. It is probably on our way." - -They proceeded to a house near the road where cats and chickens seemed -equally numerous, and knocked. - -"Will you tell us how to get to the Dexter farm?" asked Diana of the -woman who answered the summons. - -The woman pointed. "You go right up that way to Brook Cove and you'll -really be on the farm then if you keep to the right bank. You'll see the -old house near a big willow tree." - -They thanked her and moved on. - -"What pleasant voices these people have," said Diana. "They have not -been obliged to shout above clanging trolleys and auto horns." - -"No; all except Genevieve," returned Mrs. Lowell. "I should guess that -she had been brought up in a boiler factory." - -"Yet it is a piercing sweetness," protested Diana. - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The island can do no wrong, eh?" - -"Perhaps I am somewhat partial," admitted the girl. - -They sprang along over the rough hillside, and at last came to a deep, -precipitous cleft in its shore. The rocky sides of the hollow were -decked with clumps of clinging shrub and evergreen and the clear water -lapped a miniature beach. - -"Why Brook Cove?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "I suppose there must be one about -here. What a mystery the springs are in the midst of all this salt -water. Miss Burridge says everybody has a well." - -Diana gave her her most dreamy and seraphic look. - - - "Angels fold their wings and rest - In this haven of the blest," - - -she replied. - -"I wish only angels did," sighed Mrs. Lowell. "You remind me of our -errand." - -"Don't you think we might spare a few minutes for repose?" asked Diana, -looking wistfully at the bank where the grass grew close and green to -the very edge of the chasm. - -"You want to sit down and let your feet hang over," laughed Mrs. Lowell. -"You may as well confess it." - -As she spoke, a man appeared on the other side of the cove. He skirted -it and, hurrying, passed them and disappeared in a grove of fir trees. - -Mrs. Lowell looked at her companion with large eyes. - -"All the Sherlock Holmes in me responds to that man," she said in a low -tone. "This is no time to let our feet hang over. He probably is the -very one who came across in the rowboat and he is on an errand. His -whole manner showed it. We're on the right bank. So we're on the farm -now. Let us go into those woods and see what happens." - -"Shall we not be intruding?" said Diana, hesitating. - -"I hope so," returned Mrs. Lowell valiantly, and she seized her -companion's hand and drew her toward the grove. There a winding path -greeted them, a lover's lane, between close-growing firs, and together -they sped along the scented aisle. The man was the swifter and, by the -time they emerged from the fir grove, he was approaching a huge willow -tree near the crumbling farmhouse built in a hollow with protecting -mounds of green hills and trees on three sides of it. - -They saw Gayne come out of the house and shake hands with the man, -giving him a most effusive welcome, but before he had had opportunity -to do more than this, the host descried the other visitors. - -The eyes of both young women being excellent, they were able to observe -the lightning change which took place in the pleased excitement of his -face. The ugly frown that appeared was banished as soon as he could -control himself. He said something to the other man, and the latter -walked on to a rise of ground where he stood to enjoy the view, and -Gayne came to meet the ladies. - -"Ah, good-day," he said with as pleasant a manner as he could command. -"Your explorations are leading you far this morning." - -"Is this the Dexter farm?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"The very same," replied Gayne lightly. "I see its creepy reputation has -aroused your curiosity. Too bad there isn't more here to gratify it. It -is a very tame place by daylight, as you see." - -"The house is a ruin, they tell me. Doesn't it seem a pity that should -have been allowed? The place is full of possibilities, isn't it?" - -"I should say not," returned Gayne, speaking curtly in spite of his best -efforts. "It is about the least attractive part of the island. Far from -the open ocean, no place to bathe, cuddled into a hollow, no views." - -Mrs. Lowell met his impatient look. - -"I thought the very reason you chose this for a sort of artist camp was -on account of the views," she said pleasantly. - -"A headquarters. A headquarters only," said Gayne quickly. "I haven't -locomotor ataxia, you know," he added, laughing; "I can still get -about." - -"I should like very much to see that old house," said Mrs. Lowell, her -gaze wandering over to it. "We interrupted your greeting of a friend. -Please don't let us detain you. We will just roam around here a bit." - -Nicholas Gayne hesitated for an instant as the young women moved toward -the house, but he followed them. - -"There is nothing to see, I assure you, and it's an unsafe place. The -floors are rotting; you are liable to fall through anywhere. I really -feel as if I ought to beg you to confine your curiosity to the outside." - -"You speak quite like the owner of the place," said Mrs. Lowell, with an -access of dignity not lost upon Gayne. "We will absolve you if any -accident befalls us." - -The man's frown at her reply was so unpleasant that Diana felt some -timidity and took her friend's arm. - -"Another time, perhaps," she suggested. - -"Why not now, since we are here," returned Mrs. Lowell calmly. "A -haunted house isn't to be seen every day." She smiled. "Do join your -friend, Mr. Gayne. He seems to have found some view well worth looking -at. We shall not stay long." - -"Oh, take your time," returned Gayne, seeing that he could not prevent -the intrusion, and altering his manner to that of a host. "Perhaps you -would like to see my artist camp as you call it. I did find one spot -where there is a dry season and my canvases can be safe." - -He led the way into the farmhouse. The paper on the little hallway in -oval designs of faded green landscapes had peeled and was hanging from -the wall. They passed into a living-room where tattered and splintered -furniture and a rusty stove met the eye. Back of this was the artist's -den evidently. A table stood in the center, on which reposed a palette, -some brushes, a couple of sketch-books, and a portfolio. Against the -side of the room were a few canvases leaning against the wall, and in -bold relief, supported against the table, stood a pickaxe and a shovel. - -Mrs. Lowell regarded Gayne's flushed countenance as he picked up the -tools and pushed them behind a screen. - -"Your still-life studies, appropriate to an abandoned farm?" she -laughed. - -"They don't look very artistic, I must say," returned Gayne. "Of course, -I'm an amateur of the amateurs," he went on, picking up the portfolio -(he pronounced it _amatoor_), "but a man is all the better for having a -fad, no matter how footless. Since you are here and have caught me -red-handed, you may as well know the worst." - -He opened the portfolio and threw down a couple of crayon sketches of -woods, water, and rocks. - -"But these are good!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell, in a tone of such -astonishment that it could scarcely be considered complimentary. - -Gayne shrugged his shoulders, as Diana, looking over her friend, added -her approval. - -"I make no pretensions," he repeated. "I amuse myself." - -His guests lingered a minute over the sketches, then looked about the -forlorn old homestead, but as each step was closely accompanied by -Gayne, they soon took their departure, passing the stranger on his -knoll as they walked toward the sea, over grassy hill and fragrant -spruce-filled hollow. The stranger, as they passed, kept his hands -folded behind him and stared stolidly ahead. - -"Were you ever more astonished?" asked Mrs. Lowell in a low tone as if -the balsamic breeze could carry her words back. - -"Your suspicion that the man is sailing under false colors seems to be -incorrect," replied Diana. - -"He's a rascal!" declared Mrs. Lowell with conviction. - -"Artists often are, I believe," returned Diana. - -"I wish with all my heart I could know what he and his visitor will talk -about during the next half-hour, and what that pick and shovel meant. -Why was he so sorry to see us?" Mrs. Lowell's brows drew together in -perplexity. - -"Perhaps they are going to search for smugglers' treasures, or pirate -gold," suggested Diana. - -Her companion smiled. "Perhaps so. The man has some reason for promoting -the foolish ghost talk and resenting visitors to his preserves. Of -course, the treasure idea is as foolish as the phantoms, and just as -little likely to fool a modern man in his senses." - -Diana shook her head. "It is certainly rather irritating to have him -assume jurisdiction over that ruin which is open and free to all," she -said. "I dislike his personality extremely, but his pencil has a sure -touch and those sketches showed an appreciation of values." - -"If he did them," said Mrs. Lowell thoughtfully. - -Diana smiled. "You surely are consistent." - -Her companion drew a deep breath. "A man who can treat that fragile, -sensitive, lonely boy as he does--his own brother's son at that--can -plan to crush him and sweep him out of his way as he would an -insect--that man is dangerously wicked, and so long as the matter has -come to my notice, I must share in the responsibility." - -"He would be a merciless enemy," said Diana warningly. - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I shall pray for the wisdom of the serpent -and the harmlessness of the dove," she said. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ANOTHER WOUND - - -Meanwhile Veronica, her morning work finished, had started out to oblige -Mrs. Lowell. As she tripped around the house in search of the -unfortunate boy, she suspected herself of hoping she should not find -him. She summoned recollections of the Boston train and of various -occasions since, when her sympathy for him had been roused, and by the -time she espied him lying against a rock in the sunshine, her courage -had risen sufficiently to address him. - -"Good-morning, Bertie," she said. - -He started, as was his habit when addressed, and turned his apathetic -face toward her. - -"Do you like to play croquet?" - -The boy rose to a sitting position. - -"I--" he began, then some recollection came to him. "I never did play," -he finished; then, his stolid eyes meeting the fresh young face: "You -don't need to be kind to me," he added bluntly. - -Much disconcerted, Veronica flushed. - -"What do you mean?" she returned. "I like to play croquet. I'll teach -you." - -"No," said the boy. "Uncle Nick said--said this morning that--that when -people were--were kind to me, it was because they--they pitied me -because I was a fool." The boy swallowed. "You can--go away, please." - -Veronica's round eyes snapped with indignation. "Your Uncle Nick's the -fool to say such a thing," she returned, her cheeks growing very red. -"Don't you believe him. You and I are the youngest people here. Don't -you think we ought to play together a little?" - -"No. You pity me. Go away, please." - -"Now, Bertie, I wish you wouldn't talk to me like that." - -He averted his head and was silent, and Veronica stood there, -uncertainly. - -"I wonder if you are stronger than I am," she said at last. - -"I don't know." - -"The grass is too long on the croquet ground. I want to mow it. The -lawnmower is pretty heavy. Do you think you could help me?" - -The boy lay still for a minute more without meeting her eyes again. Then -he pulled himself up slowly and walked beside her back to the shed. - -"Mr. Barrison makes fun of our croquet ground because it is rough. I -want him to see an improvement when he comes again." Veronica led the -way to where the mower stood, and the boy took hold of it and drew it -after him back to the desired spot. - -"I'll pull up all the wickets," said the girl eagerly, and, as she did -so, she cast a side-glance at her companion, waiting, and she thought -his face the most hopeless and sad she had ever looked upon. She could -feel her own eyes sting. - -"None of that, none of that," she told herself. - -"Now, don't you get too tired," she said. "Let me take my turn." She -followed him as he went across the ground once and back again. She -chattered of the weather, the sea, the song sparrows, and he answered -never a word, just pushed the clicking little machine until the -perspiration stood out on his forehead. - -"Now, you must let me take it," said Veronica. "I didn't mean that I -couldn't do any of it. I just felt it would be tiresome to do it all." - -She insisted, and the boy yielded the lawnmower to her, and, standing -still, took out his handkerchief and wiped his face. - -Veronica pushed the mower valiantly up and down the ground. It was a -cumbrous one and somewhat rusty. So the effort she let appear was not -all assumed. When she returned, the boy took it from her and went to -work again. He was on the last lap when Mrs. Lowell and Diana appeared, -coming up from the sea, having returned from their ramble by the rocky -shore instead of by the road. Mrs. Lowell's face lighted as she saw what -was going on, and she cast a grateful look at Veronica as she -approached. - -"Good for you, Bertie," she said, as he at last dropped the mower and -again wiped his hot face. "It is fine of you to help Veronica." - -He looked at her for a second mutely, and then turned away. - -"Thank you," called Veronica as he moved off. "I'll bring you an extra -large piece of pie this noon. I must go in and set the table now," she -added to the others, and she winked at Mrs. Lowell who followed her into -the house. - -"You succeeded better than I hoped," said Mrs. Lowell. "Activity is what -that boy needs." - -"I wish whipping-posts hadn't been abolished," said Veronica. "I could -see Uncle Nick tied up there and enjoy the activity that followed." - -Then she told Mrs. Lowell of the reception Bertie had given her and all -he had said. - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head in silence and laid her hand on the girl's -shoulder. "You can see we have work to do there," she replied. "We must -not be discouraged." - -Diana had heard the recital. "What an extraordinary circumstance it is," -she said, "that strangers should be endeavoring to build for the boy -while his next of kin systematically tears down." - -"That is what I was telling you," replied Mrs. Lowell. "The man is -pursuing a system." She shook her head again, and added as if to -herself: "But he cannot defy Omnipotence." - -It was probably a very good thing for Mr. Gayne that he did not return -to-day to the noon dinner. The waitress would have been likely to give -him cool soup, warm water, and the undesirable portions of meat and -vegetables. She served the boy with the best of everything. In the -chatter about the table, he was never included, so his silence was not -noticeable, but Mrs. Lowell observed the pallor under the sunburn, the -hopeless droop of the mouth, and the languid appetite that should have -been voracious in a growing boy fresh from exercise. - -After dinner she stopped him, the others all having gone out on the -piazza. He was moving toward the stairway. - -"Where are you going, Bertie?" - -"Upstairs." - -"I don't think we ought to waste this weather in the house. Do you?" - -"I don't know." - -"Well, I do. It is liable to change any time now. We have had so much -sunshine. We ought to make the most of it." - -"You go out, then," said the boy. - -"But I would rather you came, too." - -"No. You pity me, that's all." - -"No," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "I pity your uncle, not you." - -The boy stared at her, unmoved. - -"I pity him because he doesn't know how to make you happy." - -"You don't need to--to take any trouble," was the stolid reply. - -"It isn't a trouble. I like you. I like to have you with me. I went up -to the farm this morning--the haunted farm." - -"Did--did you see anything?" - -"Yes. Supposing we go down to the beach and I'll tell you about it. You -shall carry two cushions for us; then if you want to take a nap you can -do so while I read." - -"I would rather--rather be alone." - -Mrs. Lowell met his wretched eyes with her irresistible smile which had -in it selflessness, love, and courage. - -"No, you wouldn't, dear boy. Besides, it is an impossibility. We are -never alone. You know the Father we talked about the other day, the One -who showed your mother how to love you. He is with us all the time, and -no one and nothing can separate us from Him, no matter what seems to -be." - -"Could I see Him if I--if I died? Because I'd like to--to die and -see--my mother." - -"You will see her at the right time," said Mrs. Lowell. "You have a -great deal to do for her first. Were you going upstairs to sleep? No -doubt you are sleepy after all that mowing. It was very kind of you to -do it for Veronica." - -"I didn't do it for her." There was no stammering in the declaration. -"She thought I did, but I didn't." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled again and nodded. "I understand," she said. "I'm -sorry I didn't know your mother. I believe she would like you to go -outdoors with me now." - -"You don't--don't need to--to have me. I'm--I'm all right." - -Mrs. Lowell could see the wound throb. - -"I know I don't need to. I should think you could see that I really want -you." - -He hesitated and looked away. - -"Now," she went on, "I will go up to my room and get some cushions and -my books and we will have a nice read or a nice snooze, and perhaps get -some more stones for our collection. Perhaps you have some book you -would like to bring." - -"I haven't any books--except a paper one." - -"Bring it," said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "I would like to see it. Let -us meet down here in five minutes, then." - -She went up the stairs and the boy followed. - -When she came down again, the corridor and living-room were empty. -Perhaps the lad had decided against her plan after all. She sank down in -a chair by the door and closed her eyes. - -"Dear Father," she prayed, "Thy will be done, and may my thought be ever -ready to separate between the real and the unreal. Let me not be -discouraged by the seeming, but may I remember every moment what Thy -will is, and that Thine omnipotent Love is ever present. Let me reflect -Thine intelligence and take my human footsteps wisely. Let me know that -Thy Truth will uncover the error that is to be met, and that I cannot be -dismayed, for Thou art with me, and underneath are the everlasting -arms." - -Footsteps sounded on the uncarpeted stairs and she looked up and saw -Bertie. - -"I thought I wouldn't come," he said. "Then I thought you--you might -wait--" - -"You see I did," said Mrs. Lowell, "and here are the cushions. Will you -take them, please?" - -The boy picked them up and they set forth. - -As they crossed the piazza, Mrs. Lowell nodded to Miss Emerson and the -two men with her. These followed the pair with their eyes as they -descended the steps, and started across the field. - -"By Jove, that young nut is in luck," said Mr. Evans, a short, thick-set -man, with spectacles. - -"Why, do you think Mrs. Lowell is so attractive?" asked Miss Emerson. - -"Of course. Don't you?" - -"Why, I think she's a very good-looking woman," was the reply. "Her -husband is coming up later." - -Mr. Evans shook his head mournfully. "I'm afraid it won't make any -difference to me. I've tried to prattle to her a little, but she doesn't -hear me, or, if she does, I've been weighed and found wanting. I talked -to her quite a while my first morning here. As soon as I saw her I -determined to make hay while the sun shone, but I soon found I couldn't -make any, or even cut any ice either. So, since then, I just look at her -from afar." - -"I'm sure you're too easily discouraged," said Miss Emerson with some -acerbity. "You underrate your own attractiveness, Mr. Evans. Any woman -who would rather spend her time with that poor, forlorn image of a boy -than with men of intellect, cannot be so very interesting, herself." - -Mr. Pratt, a tall, slender, long-necked gentleman, here spoke: "I judge -from what Mr. Gayne says that the boy is pretty far gone mentally. He -said he supposed he really shouldn't have brought him up here. Gayne has -a heavy burden on his hands evidently. It's naturally hard to bring -one's self to shutting up any one who is your own kin, and, as Gayne -says, you're between the devil and the deep sea, for you may put it off -too long. It looks like a case of dangerous melancholia to me." - -Miss Emerson shuddered. "All I know is that if Mrs. Lowell was as -sensitive as I am, she never in the world could bear to have that boy -around with her as much as she does. Mr. Gayne, an artist as he is! What -he must suffer in that constant association!" - -"He doesn't seem to be much with his nephew," remarked Mr. Evans. - -"Well, I should think rooming with him was enough," retorted the lady. -"He has a cot for the boy right in his own room." - -"Well, it isn't my business," yawned the other. "Come on, Pratt. I hear -they've taken a horse-mackerel and it's down on the wharf. Let's go and -see it." - -"Oh, I think those giant fish are so interesting!" exclaimed Miss -Emerson, sitting up alertly. - -Mr. Evans nodded at her over his shoulder as the two friends started -off. - -"After your siesta you ought to get Miss Wilbur and come down," he said. - -"I don't want any siesta," thought the lady crossly. "Why did I get into -this hammock? They would probably have asked me if I hadn't been lying -down." - -She had not yet discovered the domestic status of the two men, although -she had put out many a feeler to learn whether they were unprotected -males. She was wearing one of her prettiest dresses since their arrival, -but the emergency sport suit of baronet satin would not come forth from -its hanger on any such uncertainty. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -SKETCHES - - -"Our pebbles are getting a good washing, aren't they?" said Mrs. Lowell, -when she and her protégé had reached the shore. - -The tide was high and she had Bert put the cushions in front of a rock -which sprang from the grass on the edge of the stony beach. He followed -her directions apathetically. - -"Put your pillow against the rock. See, there is a nice slanting place. -Perhaps you will take a little nap. The sea is making a rather -thunderous lullaby. Try it. I shan't mind; for here are my books and my -writing-paper and pencils galore." - -The boy sank down beside her in the place she indicated and looked at -the materials in her lap. She had opened a leather case and showed a -tablet of paper fitted at the side with a case for pencils. - -"Do you ever write letters, Bertie?" - -"I--no." - -"When you and your uncle leave home, is there no one for you to write -back to?" - -"There's Cora." - -"Your housekeeper?" - -The boy nodded, his eyes still on the books and materials in his -friend's lap. She, alert to meet any show of interest on his part, took -up one of the books. - -"Do you ever read the Bible, Bertie?" - -"I don't--no, I never did." - -"Didn't your mother ever read it to you?" - -The boy looked up into her eyes. "Yes, about the shepherd." - -"I'm so glad that you know that psalm," she returned gently. "Can you -say it? The Lord is my shepherd?" - -He shook his head, and again his eyes dropped to the contents of her -lap. - -"It is like a game of magic music," she thought. "There is something -here I should do. Divine Harmony, Divine Love, show me what it is!" - -"Are you looking at this?" She took up the other book and pointed to the -gold cross and crown on its cover. Then she offered it to him. - -He shook his head. - -"Veronica told me that your uncle hurt your feelings this morning," went -on Mrs. Lowell, laying the book down. - -The boy's brows drew together and his gaze sought the ground. - -"You know the Bible is the most beautiful book in the world. It has -hundreds of verses as lovely as those about the shepherd. This is one: -Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that -fear him. Fear Him means fear to displease Him on account of our love -for Him and His love for us." - -It was so long since the boy had heard any mention of love that he -looked up at her, still gloomily. - -"You know how unhappy you always were when you displeased your mother, -and you know how she pitied you for your mistake and drew you back to -her--and forgave you." - -"Yes--yes, I do." - -"That is the way God does with us. So you see it isn't a bad thing to be -pitied with love. If you ever think again of what your uncle said, just -turn away from it and know that Love is taking care of you every minute. -God is always here, waiting to bless us." - -"I'd--I'd rather see Him," said the boy. - -"Your friends are His messengers," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"What--what friends have I?" - -"Me, for one," replied his companion. As she leaned toward him with her -spontaneous grace, he met her affectionate regard with his piteous eyes. - -"Did God--did God send you to--to me?" - -"I'm sure He did," she returned slowly. - -"Then--then can I--take one of your pencils?" - -Mrs. Lowell looked down at her writing-tablet. - -"Certainly," she said, passing the whole affair to him. - -A remarkable transformation took place in the boy's face. He took the -folding case with its complete outfit and his companion regarded him in -surprise. His eyes lighted and color came stealing up over face and -brow. He looked over his shoulder apprehensively, then back at her. - -"You won't tell him?" he said. - -"Who? Your uncle?" - -"Yes. He would beat me." - -"Why? Doesn't he like you to write letters?" - -The first smile she had ever seen on the boy's face altered it now as he -looked at her, and her heart beat faster in a mystified sense that some -cruelly bolted door had been pushed ajar. - -"You can have that portfolio for your own, Bertie," she said. - -"No, no, he'd kill me." - -"What can you mean, dear child?" - -The boy started up from his cushion and perched on top of the rock, -glancing along the shore. Mrs. Lowell leaned forward and saw his hand -with the pencil move swiftly here and there on the blank sheet. She said -not a word, but watched the slender young face with the new alertness in -the eyes. - -The tide was making its splendid slow retreat, the gulls were wheeling -and crying, and white as their wings the daisy drifts were beginning to -appear on the uplands. Activity, growing, unfolding, all about her, the -watcher felt this waif to be part of it. One of God's little ones who -could not be kept in bondage. - -At last the boy came down again and gave her his work. She looked at it -in amazement. The curve of the shore, the groups of spruces, a distant -cottage, the light clouds on the blue were all sketched in with a sure -touch. - -"Who taught you this, Bertie?" - -"Nobody--but I watched my mother. She was an artist. She let me draw -beside her. She knew I could. She said so. I'll show you. You won't -tell?" - -"Never." - -The boy drew from his pocket a small folded paper. He took off the -paper and revealed oiled silk. He unfolded this and a small pen-and-ink -sketch came to view. It was of a woman's face, slightly smiling. There -was expression in the long-lashed eyes, eyes like the boy's own. The -hair waved off the forehead. Bertie held the treasure for Mrs. Lowell to -see, but did not relinquish it. - -"Is this your mother?" - -"Yes." - -"Who did it?" - -"I did." - -"When, Bertie, when?" - -"After--afterward," he answered, and his companion could hear that some -obstruction stopped his speech. - -"It is very--very lovely," said Mrs. Lowell slowly, and the boy looked -over his shoulder again, apprehensively. - -"Did you say your uncle forbade you to sketch?" - -The boy folded the little picture back carefully in its wrappings and -replaced it in his pocket. - -"Why do you suppose your uncle did that?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"I don't know." - -"Don't you really, Bertie?" she asked, dreading the signs of dullness -she perceived altering his face as the brightness died away. - -"I guess it was because he said it--it wasted my time. He took -everything except this." The boy's hand rested on the pocket that held -the treasure. "He didn't find this." - -"Took what? Your materials, your sketching things?" - -"Everything. He gets very--very angry if I take a pencil. Twice he has -whipped me for it." - -"But, Bertie, please try to make me understand. Mr. Gayne is an artist -himself, he says." - -"Yes. He says he--has money enough to live and I haven't. He says I just -hang on him. So I must chop wood and--and wash windows, and Cora makes -me scrub the floors. He says if he wants to waste time painting he can, -but I must not." - -Mrs. Lowell regarded the boy closely. "Your uncle showed me some very -charming sketches up at the farm this morning." - -"Did he?" returned the boy listlessly. "He never was an artist -when--when she was here." - -"That is strange, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell. "Strange that he should -be able suddenly to do such good things?" - -"No," said Bertie simply. "It is easy." - -They were both silent for a time. The portfolio lay on the stones -between them. The boy suddenly picked it up. - -"I must tear this," he said. - -Mrs. Lowell caught his hand just as he started to pull the sketch from -the tablet. - -"Won't you give it to me, Bertie?" she asked. - -He hesitated. "He'll find it." - -"Indeed he will not. It will go into the bottom of my trunk." - -The boy took his hand away and she recovered the portfolio. He had -replaced the pencil in the case. - -"I should so like to give you the pencil," she said. - -The boy shook his head decidedly. "No. He'd find it," he answered. - -"I am very much interested about your mother being an artist," said Mrs. -Lowell. "You know you are going to do everything you can to please her. -She would be very sorry that your uncle has not made you happy. I am -sure she wanted you to use your talent. So, very often we will take -walks and I will get better materials for you than this, and you shall -make many sketches." - -The boy's brows drew together. It was evident that he was in such -fetters of fear that the prospect was a mixed pleasure. - -"Do you remember your father? When did he die?" - -"I don't know. It was before--" - -"Was he a kind father, and kind to your dear mother?" - -"I don't know. Everybody was angry with her, all the rich people, -because she--she ran away to marry him. Then she was left all--alone -with me and--and she sold pictures and we were--" The voice stopped. - -"Yes, I know you were happy. Then when she went away your uncle took -you?" - -"Yes, and Cora." - -"And wasn't Cora kind to you?" - -Bertie shook his head. "I don't know," he said. It seemed as if the -recollection of his uncle's housekeeper made him retreat at once into -the protective shell. - -"Just let me ask you one more question. Your Uncle Nick was here at the -island last summer. He didn't bring you with him. Where were you then?" - -"Home." - -"Alone?" - -"No, with Cora." - -"But wouldn't Cora like you to draw a pretty picture for her?" - -"No. She knows Uncle Nick would hit her." - -"What did you do all summer?" - -"Helped Cora. Then, when she was drunk, I went in the park. Sometimes I -slept there." - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I'm glad your uncle brought you this time." - -"Cora wouldn't stay. They had the worst fight of all. They were always -fighting." - -"Bertie, dear," said Mrs. Lowell tenderly, "try to know all the time -that God is taking care of you and leading you. We know He will. Uncle -Nick must know it, too, sometime." - -"Know what?" exclaimed the boy with a start. - -"That God takes care of His children. Your uncle is one, and I am one, -and you are one. We shall have to keep some secrets from Uncle Nick -until he grows kinder and knows that the only way to be happy is to -love. I should like to know your mother's people." - -"Uncle Nick says they're all dead." - -"Do you know their name?" - -"No." - -"Think, Bertie. What was your mother's name?" - -"Helen." - -"What else? Can't you remember--the name on her paintings, perhaps?" - -The boy was silent and his brow was puzzled. He reached into a pocket. - -"I brought my book," he said, drawing forth a worn and much-thumbed -pamphlet. - -"I'm so glad you did," she returned. - -He did not offer it to her, but she looked over his shoulder as he -turned the leaves of the catalogue of an exhibition of paintings. - -"There are two of my mother's," he said. He indicated the small -reproductions of two landscapes and Mrs. Lowell studied them with -interest. - -"I can see that they must be charming," she said. "Have you any of her -pictures?" - -"There was one," said the boy, and he had to wait for a time before he -could add: "Uncle Nick sold it." - -"Let us see if there may be a list of the exhibitors," said Mrs. Lowell. -"May I take it a minute?" - -Bertie yielded the pamphlet and she turned to the front of the book. -Yes, there was the list and her eye quickly caught the name: Helen -Loring Gayne. - -"Your mother's name was Loring, then." - -"It's my name, too. Herbert Loring Gayne." - -"Where did her people live, Bertie?" - -"In Boston. I can always remember that because--because--when Uncle Nick -is angry at what I--I do, he says don't try any Boston on me, and -then--then I know he means my mother, because he--he didn't like--" - -The boy's voice hesitated and stopped. - -Mrs. Lowell called his attention to some of the other pictures in the -pamphlet, speaking of the artists whose names were known to her, and he -finally restored his treasure to his pocket. - -When they again reached the Inn, they found Nicholas Gayne walking up -and down the piazza. He came to the head of the steps. - -"This is too much, Mrs. Lowell," he said with an effort at bluff good -nature, "for you to burden yourself with a young hobble-de-hoy like Bert -when you take your rambles." - -"If I like it I suppose you have no objections," she returned -pleasantly. "I assure you I had to urge him to accompany me. Too bad -there aren't some young people of his own age here." - -"He wouldn't know what to say to them if there were, would you, Bert?" - -"No, sir," was the reply, and the boy started to go into the house. - -"Here, what are you doing?" said his uncle, catching him roughly by the -arm. "You haven't said good-bye to the lady after her kindness in -dragging you around." - -Mrs. Lowell controlled herself to speak calmly. "I tell Bert it would be -a good thing for him to learn to swim while he is here." - -"That's the talk!" ejaculated his uncle, throwing the arm off as roughly -as he had grasped it. "Go in and win, Bert. I'll get you a bathing suit. -Show 'em you ain't any milk sop. Take the dives with the best of them." - -The boy stood with his eyes downcast. - -"And don't sulk," went on his uncle with exasperation. "For Heaven's -sake, don't sulk. That's the way it is, Mrs. Lowell, if you try to think -up some jolly thing for him to do, he stands like an image. No more -backbone than a jellyfish." - -"Everybody doesn't like the water," returned Mrs. Lowell, moved now by -the dread that the man might suspect her influence and remove the boy. - -"Well, how did you like the farm?" he pursued. - -"What a pleasant place it is," she returned, seating herself on the -piazza rail. "No wonder you like to spend time there. I haven't -forgotten those charming sketches you showed me, either." - -Gayne made a clumsy bow. "You flatter me," he said. "I make no claims." - -The lady looked down on the garden border. - -"The sweet peas look thirsty, Bertie," she said. "Let's water them." - -The boy followed her in silence to where the coiled hose lay, and his -uncle looked after them, a thoughtful frown gathering on his dark brow. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -A WORKING PLAN - - -Mrs. Lowell knocked for admittance at Diana's door that evening, and -entering found the girl sitting at the little desk she had added to Miss -Burridge's furnishings, surrounded by books and papers. - -"Is it an inopportune time?" asked the caller, hesitating. - -Diana rose smiling. "That can never be for you," she replied. - -"Thank you, dear child. I am so full, I long to talk to you. You may -have a helpful suggestion." - -"I shall be pleased to act as your confidante. Sit here, Mrs. Lowell. I -was just writing my mother how fortunate I am in the fact that you are -here. I encounter a good deal of difficulty in persuading my mother that -I am not in a desert place and am not doing penance. I am very desirous -of restraining her from coming to see for herself. I should be aghast at -the prospect of taking care of her and her maid here. Yet, when I pile -up superlatives, she decides that I have fallen in love with an Indian -and is increasingly disturbed." - -The girl looked very pretty in the peach-colored negligee she was -wearing, its precious laces falling over Miss Burridge's cheap chairs -and matting, and her thick bright-brown hair in disorder. - -"Oh, tell her he isn't an Indian; tell her he is a Viking." - -Diana's serene gaze did not falter, though her color rose. - -"I do not mind your badinage," she returned, "for when I fall in love, -it is going to be with a supremely unattractive man externally. I shall -be the only woman who knows and understands his charm, then other women -will not infringe my rights. After you hear Mr. Barrison sing, you will -understand that in his career, women will bow before him like flowers in -an irresistible gust of wind. I cannot imagine a worse fate for a girl -than to share that career; the more brilliant it might be, the more -crushing to her happiness. But this interview is getting turned about. I -was to be the confidante, not you." - -"Then this is my tale, my dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "I have discovered -who did those sketches Mr. Gayne showed us this morning." - -"Then you were right, and they were not his own?" - -"Bertie's mother did them, and he inherits her talent: this poor child -whom the man is trying to blot out of normal life." - -"What makes you certain?" - -"Because he did one before my eyes down by the shore to-day, with a -swift, sure touch, and that thin, sad face of his lighted till he looked -like a different being. His parents are dead. His mother was an artist. -He worked with her. As soon as she left the child, his uncle forbade him -to draw, and took all his materials away from him, whipped him if he -found a pencil in his possession. Those sketches we saw were done either -by the boy or his mother. There is no doubt of it. She eloped with his -father, estranging her family from her. She was a Loring of Boston." - -Diana regarded the speaker with admiration. "How wonderful for you to -obtain so much information from such a source." - -"Oh, it was little by little, of course. I told him his uncle had shown -us some good sketches and asked him if it was not strange that Mr. Gayne -could do them, taking up the art so late in life; for it seems he took -it up only as Bertie laid it down; and the boy's reply was significant. -He said: 'Oh, no, it is easy.' He seemed to have no suspicion, but then -he hasn't life or interest enough to harbor suspicion. He just endures." - -Mrs. Lowell went on to tell of Cora and the drudgery of the boy's dull -and dulling existence, and her listener's eyes lost their customary -serenity. - -"It must not be," said the girl at last, as her companion ceased. "Have -you made a diagnosis?" - -"I only feel that the 'root of all evil' must be at the bottom of it," -replied Mrs. Lowell. "The Old Nick, as Veronica calls him, must believe -there is money to be secured, and that if he can only prove that his -nephew is incompetent, he can gain charge of it. Bertie told me that his -mother's people were rich." - -"Of course, then, that is the key; but it does not explain what the man -is doing with pickaxe and shovel up at my farm." - -"Your farm, my dear?" - -"Perhaps," said Diana carelessly. "But that is not interesting us now. -Mrs. Lowell, I adore the unselfishness which has caused you to give your -time to this boy. I have tried to converse with him, but his lack of -responsiveness seems to obscure the clarity of my mental processes. I -wish, however, to have a hand in his salvation. The thing to do now, it -appears to me, is to discover this Loring family. That will take money -and I will supply it." - -"My dear Miss Diana!" - -"Drop the Miss, please. I feel honored by your friendship. Do you know -of a good lawyer?" - -"My husband is a lawyer." - -"Then, please, ask him to proceed at once." - -The girl's dignity and beauty added charm to the sense of power in an -emergency which money sometimes gives. "It is galling that we cannot -take the boy away from that brute immediately," she added. - -"Oh, we must be so careful," exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Rather than let us -do one thing to clear and brighten Bertie's mind his uncle would send -him off the island. We must not show dislike or suspicion; and God will -guide us in the footsteps we must take. He is taking care of the child -now, through us." - -"Really, Mrs. Lowell, your faith is very beautiful," said Diana. - -"Everybody should have it. Why go alone while the Bible is right there -with its marvelous promises? God's children are not puppets pulled by -wires, and so people complain that the promises are not kept. We are -made in His image and likeness, tributary only to Him--every good thing -is possible to us if we turn toward Him instead of away from Him." - -"Mr. Gayne appears to have turned away," said Diana dryly. - -"Yes, he made me shudder this afternoon when he talked of Bertie's -learning to swim. It was as if he hoped it might be the child's end." - -Diana shook her head. "He doesn't want that." - -"No, so I consoled myself afterward, but his malignant spirit bursts -forth in spite of him occasionally." - -Mrs. Lowell rose and the girl followed her example. The older woman -approached and placed her hands on Diana's shoulders. - -"I thank God," she said, "for your cooperation. I will write to my -husband to-night." - -"Is he as--as religious as you are?" - -"Not perhaps in the same way. He does not see quite as I do, but he is a -good man and loves everything good." Some recollection made the speaker -smile. "I try his soul at times by not doing what he calls minding my -own business. For instance, once I saw a young fellow at an elevated -station in New York, dazed by drink. I was in haste and on an important -errand, but I couldn't take my train and leave him there. So I went and -sat down beside him and asked him where he was going. He said, to the -Brooklyn ferry, but he was thick and helpless. I called a little colored -boy carrying a large milliner's box, and I asked him if his errand -needed to be done immediately. He was pretty doubtful, but he finally -said no. So I told him I would check his box and leave a dollar with it -for him when he returned, if he would take this young man straight to -the Brooklyn ferry and see that he did not go in anywhere on the way. He -said he would do so, and I gave him his check and car fare and some -nickels for telephoning, and asked him to call me up that evening. I -wrote my telephone number and left it with the box. He promised, and my -train came along and I had to leave them. About six o'clock that -afternoon, the telephone rang. It was my messenger. He said that when he -got the young man downstairs to go to the train for the ferry, his -charge became violently sick. After that, he came to himself and gave a -different direction to the boy. The address of an office building. He -was pale and shaky. So the boy stayed with him. They went up in an -elevator and into an office where the young man said that he had brought -the money. They sent for some one from another office, and to this -person the young man gave a roll of a thousand dollars. - -"Of course, I was quite excited, and happy over this news, and I thanked -my messenger and said: 'See what God has helped us to do to-day. That -young man might have been robbed, and would have been suspected of theft -by his employer and lost his character and his position.' My husband was -sitting near by, reading the paper, and he looked up and said: 'Who on -earth are you talking to?' I just answered: 'A little darky boy!' and -went on, while my husband stared. When I told him the whole story, he -laughed and shook his head. 'Hopeless,' he said, 'hopeless.' He is quite -conservative, and he would like me to stay in the beaten track." - -"That was fine," said Diana. "Mr. Lowell will be in sympathy with this -case, I hope, and undertake it with his whole heart. I am going to give -you a check to send him as a retainer. Then he will know that this is a -serious business matter." - -The girl sat down at her desk and wrote the check and Mrs. Lowell took -it thankfully. She went to her room and wrote her letter. In due time -she received a reply. - - - _Dear One_, - - I see you have again ceased minding your own business and I am - really very proud of you in spite of your obstinacy. I thought in - the wilds of Casco Bay, you might get away from responsibilities - for awhile, but I might have known that, unless I set you adrift on - an iceberg, you would find some lame, or halt, or blind, to succor. - Even then, I think the iceberg would melt at your presence, and in - short order you would be down among the mermaids explaining to them - that it was error to get out on the rocks to do their hair and sing - to sailors. - - Your story is very interesting, and while I believe that Boston is - as full of Lorings as it is of beans, Miss Wilbur has made it - possible to ring every Loring doorbell and ask down which steps ran - the eloping daughter. Rest assured, as her lawyer I shall do my - best in this affair. Owing to Mr. Wilbur's prominence in the public - prints, his connections are pretty well known, and I thought I - associated Herbert Loring, the railroad president, with him. I - suppose Miss Wilbur would have told you if there were anything in - that. - - -The remainder of the letter dealt with different subjects, and, when -Mrs. Lowell had finished it, she hastened to her friend, and put her -question. - -"I will send my father a telegram at once," responded the girl. - -That form of speech was not strictly accurate, as it was rather an -elaborate operation to send a telegram from the island. However, it was -finally accomplished. This was the message to her father: - - - Have you any friends named Loring? Have we any relatives or - connections by marriage of that name? - - DIANA - - -The day after the girl had given her check to Mrs. Lowell, Bertie Gayne -was not seen about the Inn all the morning. At dinnertime he returned -with his uncle. Mr. Gayne's manner was disarmingly bluff and hearty. He -had a cheerful word for everybody. The boy's silent manner and -uninterested look were just as usual. Mrs. Lowell managed to catch his -eye once or twice, but he gave no sign of understanding. - -The horse-mackerel were running and the island population was all -excited. The taking of one of the huge fish was an event, and very -lucrative for the captors. The talk of the table was all on this -subject, and Nicholas Gayne entered into it with zest. - -After dinner everybody went out in front of the house to view the -telltale disturbances in the waters of the bay, where numerous small -boats were hanging about awaiting their opportunity. Veronica eagerly -joined the watchers as soon as she was at liberty. - -"Let us walk down nearer the water," proposed Diana. - -Mr. Gayne's field-glasses were being handed about, and she was afraid -they would be offered to her. So she and Veronica moved down across the -field and seated themselves on the grass against a convenient rock. - -"Where do you think Bertie was this morning?" she asked. - -"Uncle took him off with him." - -"Up to the farm?" - -"I suppose so. Mr. Gayne seems to think that farm might get away if he -didn't see it for twenty-four hours." - -"I wonder if he will not be wishing to purchase it one of these days," -said Diana. - -"I'd buy some clothes for Bert first if I was in his place. Everything -the boy has seems to have been bought for his little brother." - -"Did you ever read 'Nicholas Nickleby,' Veronica?" - -"Yes, I have." The younger girl looked around brightly. "I know who -you're thinking of--Smike. I've thought of Smike ever since they came." - -Diana received her look with a smile. One touch of nature made them kin -for the moment, and Diana, all unconscious of her companion's mental -reservations, did not know that at this moment she was nearer than she -had ever been to being forgiven for her various perfections. - -"All my childhood," said Diana, "I used to wish I could have done -something for Smike." - -"I've wished that, too," said Veronica. - -"Now we have an opportunity," returned Diana. "You are young and -sportive and you made a good beginning." - -"Oh, I did--_not_," returned Veronica. "You might as well try to sport -with a hearse. Everything you say to him he turns his eyes on you all -darkened up with those lashes, regular mourning, and you don't know -where to look, yourself, nor what to say. Yes, I did want to help Smike, -but so long as the law won't let us string Mr. Gayne up somewhere, lots -of times I wish they'd gone to some other island. Isn't it a pity he -hasn't got spunk enough to run away? Even Smike ran away." - -"I am glad this boy is not inclined to do that," returned Diana, "for I -feel that he has friends here and that something good should come of his -summer." - -"Not if Mr. Gayne can help it," declared Veronica. "He was afraid Mrs. -Lowell was giving Bert too good a time with these walks and talks." She -nodded her head. "Believe me, that is the reason--" - -"Well, we have found you," said a voice behind them. It was a voice -which made color steal up into Diana's cheeks. The girls both looked -around quickly. - -Philip Barrison was approaching, and with him a shorter man. Both were -bareheaded. - -"The blarney stone!" thought Veronica. She had been wondering when Mr. -Barrison would bring him, and now she gave him what she herself would -have described as the "once-over" as he smiled at Diana and lifted his -hand to his tightly waved hair in salute. - -What Veronica saw caused her to lift her hand to the bridge of her nose -and cover its small proportions with two fingers, from both sides of -which her round eyes gazed seriously. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -NICHOLAS GAYNE CONFIDES - - -"Are you interested in the horse-mackerel, too?" asked Diana. - -The two men sat down on the grass near the girls as Barney Kelly -answered: "Moderately, Miss Wilbur. Moderately interested. Being allowed -to witness anything from _terra firma_ invests it with a certain charm. -Barrison has been merciless, I assure you, simply merciless." - -"The man came here to fish," said Philip, "and I've only tried to be -hospitable." - -"Deep-sea fishing," groaned his friend. "If you ever hear any tenderfoot -express ambitions to go deep-sea fishing, tell him to see me if -possible, otherwise write or wire me before he embarks." - -"Did you find the motion disconcerting?" asked Diana. - -Barney looked at Philip. "Don't you think I might admit as much as -that?" - -Philip laughed and bit the red clover he had pulled from a bunch near -him. - -"First," said Kelly, "you are waked at an hour when all men should -sleep; then you are forced to eat at a time when your soul rebels at -such outrage; after that, you go aboard beneath the stars, and you chug, -chug, miles into the darkness; but the chug-chugging you soon find to be -the best part of it for when you arrive midway between here and -Liverpool, you anchor. The sky and the sea begin to get hopelessly mixed -up. Why should I try to describe the writhings of all nature! They put a -heavy rope into your hands, it slides through your fists and removes the -skin before any one remembers that you have no gloves on. Oh, let Dante -try! I can't!" - -Philip laughed. "Then I took him out next day to the pound and let him -help draw the net." - -"The smell of that boat, Miss Wilbur!" Kelly's eyes rolled fiercely. - -"I'm afraid you won't like the island," volunteered Veronica, who, when -she laughed had forgotten her nose and dropped her hand. - -"My dear Miss Trueman, how can I tell, when I am never allowed to stay -on it? This man, when he couldn't think of anything else hydraulic to -do, has made me go in bathing in water at a temperature which no humane -person will credit when I tell them. To-day, I struck. I said to him, -do for Heaven's sake do something to show that you are at least -amphibious. So he consented to bring me up here to meet his friends, and -I shall be pleasantly surprised if you young ladies don't turn into -mermaids right before my eyes, as they do in the movies, and pop off -that beach into the water." - -Veronica giggled so joyously that the speaker turned away from Diana's -serene smile and regarded her. "I assure you," he added slowly and -solemnly, "that if you do, I shall not follow you. So if you wish the -pleasure of my society you won't unfold any graceful, glittering tails." - -Veronica giggled again, and, if she had only known it, her dimples were -warranted at any time to divert attention from those afflicting little -freckles. - -"I can see that Kelly will be fruit for you, Veronica, on that croquet -ground," said Philip. - -The guest clasped his hands rapturously. "Do you guarantee, Miss -Veronica, that croquet at this island is unfailingly played on land?" - -"Hold on, Barney, don't go too fast; it's the kind of croquet you play -with an alpenstock in one hand and a mallet in the other." - -"It is not, Mr. Barrison," declared Veronica stoutly. "Bert has mowed -it." - -"That poor little chap? Did you work him in? Good for you. It's what he -needs." - -"When are you going to have Mr. Barrison sing for us, Mr. Kelly?" asked -Diana. - -Barney shrugged his shoulders. "A poor worm of an accompanist can't -answer that, Miss Wilbur." - -"But I suppose you will be practicing, or rehearsing at times, will you -not?" - -"Yes. I understand there is a piano in the little Casino that was -pointed out to me. I understand--eh, Barrison?" - -Philip nodded. "Yes, they have allowed me to engage an hour a day on -that piano for a while, for some work we have to do." - -Diana's face lighted beautifully. "And may one--may one sit on the -piazza?" she asked beseechingly. - -"I should advise one not to," said Philip, "unless one has been -inoculated for strong language." - -"I should not in the least mind what you said." - -"But you would what Barney says, at times." - -"The verdure about the hall is free," said Diana doubtfully. - -"Yes, if you don't mind a baseball in the eye once in a while. That is -where the boys do congregate." - -"He's a most ungrateful ass--Barrison," said Barney warmly. "Of course -you shall sit on the piazza if you care about it. I promise to restrain -my _penchant_ for calling him pet names in private. I have to do it, you -see, to strike a balance. At performances, who so meek as the -accompanist! Barrison stands there, dolled up in his dress-clothes, -probably a white carnation in his buttonhole; the women down front -gazing at him and ruining their best gloves. I gaze at him, too,"--Kelly -looked up with meek worship,--"like a flower at the sun, waiting for the -sultan to throw the handkerchief, or, in other words, give me a careless -nod, indicating that I may come to life. At last he does so, and I begin -to play--subserviently, unostentatiously. Very few in the house know -that I am there. He reaches his climax, he finishes with a pianissimo -that curls around all the women's hearts, draws them out and strings -them on a wire before him. Then the applause bursts forth. He bows over -and over again, until he looks like a blond mandarin, and I rise, but -nobody knows it, and when he has passed me on his way off the stage, I -come to heel like a well-trained dog, and--there we are!" - -As Kelly finished his harangue with a gesture of both hands, the girls -were laughing and Diana was quite flushed. - -"What a fool you are, Barney," said Philip calmly, still biting the -honey out of the red clover. "He plays like a house afire," he added, -turning to the girls. "You will be delighted." - -"Oh, yes," said Kelly. "On the road I get a group. I play the Chopin and -Grieg things that the girls practice at home, and they get out their -vanity cases and prink and wait for Barrison to come on again." - -"Oh, cut it out, you idiot!" exclaimed Philip, jumping up. "I don't -believe they're going to get one of those mackerel. Let's amuse little -Veronica and go up and have a game of croquet." - -Meanwhile Mr. Gayne had again taken his nephew with him to the farm. - -"In spite of all I say," he told the boy, "you will bother those ladies -at the Inn. So if you come along with me, I'll know where you are." And -the lad answered him not at all, but plodded up the road. - -He did, however, think of some of the things Mrs. Lowell had said to -him. Some of the love and courage that emanated from her gave him a -novel certainty that he was not altogether friendless, and the wild -roses that began to peep at him from the roadside suggested the idea -that she would like it if he brought some home to her. In the idle hours -of the afternoon he might gather some, and some of the myriad daisies -and Indian paintbrush that decked the fields. But his heart sank at the -prospect of what his uncle would say if he attempted to carry back a -bouquet when they returned. - -Gayne forbade the boy to enter the house when they reached their -destination, just as he had done in the morning. So Bertie, his hands in -his pockets, wandered about the surrounding fields and in the spruce -groves, and picked up the shells the crows had dropped and emptied. Once -he found a ridge of grass unusually long and green, and heard a -whispering, and investigating found a narrow brook which murmured as it -flowed. He followed along its bank until he came to the cove it had -named, and watched the sparse stream cascade over the granite and fall -thinly down its steep wall. The wet rock glistened in the sun, it seemed -to the boy as if with tears. He threw himself down beside it and, -leaning on his elbow, rested his head on his hand. Through the cut -between this island and the next, boats were passing coming in from the -foaming waves of the sea to the quiet waters of the sound. Life, beauty, -peace. The boy closed his eyes. The longing to portray it all rose in -him like an anguish. He felt his old torpidity to be better than this. -Why should his new friend stir up a craving for the impossible? She -meant to be kind. She seemed really to like him; and she had liked his -drawing and had wanted him to do more. She would find that it was -impossible, and he hoped that she would make no more effort. He squeezed -his eyelids together to keep back stinging drops. He felt shame at his -own weakness. Uncle Nick had said he had no more backbone than a -jellyfish and he felt this was true. He had no physical strength to -defend himself, none to take his fortunes into his own hands, as he felt -most boys would do, run away and do something to keep himself from -starvation. - -For years he had been fed as an animal might have been fed: at any hour -that suited Cora, and with anything she might happen to have in the -house. He was undernourished, neglected, crushed, and spiritless. He -despised his weakness as much as his uncle despised him, and he was -conscious that it was a new estimate of himself that he was now making, -an estimate due to the awakening of thought that had come to him through -that lady who meant to be kind. He felt very bitterly toward her as he -lay there, his eyes closed to the loveliness of sea and sky. - -He had lain there half an hour when Matt Blake came across from the road -and passed near him. - -"Poor youngster," he thought. "I guess it's true he ain't all there." -The feeling that the boy was not capable of responding kept him from -calling out some sort of greeting as he passed, and he went on through -the spruce grove to the farm-house. "Hello the house," he called. - -"That you, Blake?" came from within. "Yes, I'm out here at the back. -Come in." - -The carpenter made his way through to the studio, and there Nicholas -Gayne rose from an armchair to meet him, and swayed slightly as he -stood. - -"You sent for me," said Blake, regarding the other's red-rimmed eyes. - -"Yes, and you'll be glad I did when you see this, eh, old man?" - -Gayne lurched toward the screen and took a bottle from behind it, and -held it out triumphantly. "Kind o' dizzy 'cause I been asleep and you -waked me sudden. 'Twas the shock, you see, the shock." He lurched back -toward the table where there was a glass. He filled this half-full and -offered it to his caller. "It's the real thing, the real thing," he -said. - -"I smell that it is," returned Blake dryly. "That's too stiff for me. -No, no, Gayne," he added as the latter started to raise it to his own -lips, and he took the glass from him, "you've had too much now. If you -want anything of me, tell me while you've got sense enough to talk." - -"You insult me, Blake," said the other with dignity. "I'm a gentleman -and I know when I've had enough, and I know when I've had too much. Some -folks never know that, but I do." - -The carpenter regarded him impassively, and set the bottle and glass out -of his reach. "Now go ahead. Tell me what you want." - -"Want you to shingle the kitchen so's I can--can cook there. Come and -I'll show you." He opened a door in the studio which led into a damp -room where the rain had fallen unmolested. "Want you to shingle this -room." - -"Nothing doing," said the carpenter. - -"You won't say that when I show you what I've got here." Gayne's speech -was thick and he took Blake's arm and led him across to a large covered -stone crock sitting on a bench. "Home brew, Matt. Home brew. We can have -many a cozy evening here when this gets into shape." - -"Going to keep a horse?" asked the carpenter, lifting up what appeared -to be a nosebag. - -"No, no, that's strainer. You leave it to me, Matt. I'll give you -something'll make your hair curl. All you got to do is shingle--" - -"You ain't going to pay for having somebody else's property shingled?" - -"'Tain't going to be somebody else's. Going to be mine. I'm going to buy -the farm. There's a fortune on it." The speaker's legs were planted far -apart to preserve his equilibrium, but even at that he swayed so far -toward his visitor that Blake put up his hand to hold him off. - -"Which have you found, gold or oil?" he asked, laughing. - -His host assumed an impressive dignity. "Not gold, not oil. Spring." - -"A spring? Of course you have. They're all over the lots. You'd better -patronize 'em, too. You certainly need to put more water in it." - -"I'm goin' tell you secret, Blake," said Gayne. - -"Better not," said the carpenter good-naturedly. - -"Goin' tell you. I've found mineral spring here." - -"That so?" was the unperturbed reply. - -"Great and won-wonderful water. Don't tell anybody." - -"All right." - -"Had chemist 'zamine it. Says it's got everything in it to cure you. -Fortune in it. Fortune. You don't b'lieve me." - -"Sounds a little fishy," remarked Blake. - -"Lemme take your arm--I'll lead you to it." - -The visitor supplied the arm and Gayne's heavy weight hung upon it. They -went out of doors and Gayne stopped and looked around cautiously. -"Where's that brat?" he demanded. - -"Do you mean the boy? He's over there by the cove. Asleep, I think." - -"Then come on. Can't trust him 'cause they're the kind that speak the -truth. Fools, you know. Can trust you, Blake. Trust you anywhere." - -"Thank you," returned the visitor dryly. - -At some distance from the house, in a hollow overhung with rocks, the -heavy weight on Matt's arm became heavier and Gayne pushed away some -turf and stones with his foot, disclosing a puddle of dark-colored -water. He stooped and, picking up a rusty tin cup, half-filled it, and -presented it to his companion whose arm he released. - -"There, if you don't b'lieve me!" he said triumphantly. - -The carpenter accepted the cup doubtfully and smelled of it. "Phew!" he -exclaimed with a grimace. - -"'Course," said the other. "Sulphur. Won'ful sulphur spring. Cure you of -ever'thing. Had it an'lyzed. Drink it." - -Blake took a cautious sip. - -"Tell you, Matt," said Gayne, speaking slowly and nodding with tipsy -solemnity, "'twas m' guardian angel guided me to that spring." - -The carpenter glanced at him with disfavor. "One sniff's enough to -convince anybody o' that," he remarked. "At that, it's better for you -than the stuff you've got in there on the table. Now, look here, Gayne, -you're going to be sorry to-morrow you told me about this--" - -"Wouldn't tell anybody else," vowed Gayne, solemnly, seizing his -companion by the arm and pushing back the concealing turf and stones -with his foot. "Nobody else on this earth. Fools own the farm put up the -price if they knew." - -"But what I was going to say is you needn't be sorry," went on Blake. -"I'm not going to tell a soul. I don't want to be mixed up in your -affairs, but do you think you can understand if I talk to you?" - -"Un'stand! Well!" exclaimed Gayne. "I'm a man o' brains I'll have you -know." - -"Well, if you've got any, use 'em now," said Blake impatiently. "There -ain't any money in a mineral spring unless you've got piles o' dough to -put it on the market. Don't you know that?" - -"I sh'd say so," nodded Gayne, triumphant again. "That's just what I'm -goin' to have: piles o' dough. Bushels." - -"Where are you goin' to get it?" - -"Well, I'll tell you, Matt, 'cause you're a good friend and you know how -to hold your tongue. That boy out there, that poor numskull is the heir -to a big enough fortune to f'nance twenty springs." - -"He is?" returned Blake, astonished. "What do you mean?" - -"His grandfather is one of the richest men in Boston. Went to see him -once. Took my proofs with me. Wouldn't look at 'em. Turned me out. He's -sick as the devil. Always travelin' 'round tryin' to get well. I -wouldn't--I would not give him one cup o' this water." Gayne gestured -impressively as he made the ferocious declaration. "Just come home from -Europe now. Saw it in the paper," he added. - -"Then he'll leave his money where it won't do you any good," said Blake. - -"I'll break the will. I've thought it all out. I'm a man o' brains. -Bert'll get the money." - -"Perhaps the boy won't want to spend it on springs." - -A crafty change came over Gayne's face and he smiled. "He won't have any -say. I'm his guardian, ain't I? And he's non compos, ain't he? He'll be -put where he belongs, believe me." - -"You'll shut him up, do you mean?" asked Blake, frowning. - -"F'r his own good. You understand?" - -"Your guardian angel suggested that to you, too, probably." - -"Prob'bly did, Matt," was the pious reply. "If all his kind was shut up -there'd be less crime in the papers. I put it off and put it off, but I -ought to do it and do it soon." - -The carpenter regarded the speaker in silence for some moments. Gayne's -eyes were closing and opening sleepily. - -"Now, see here, man. You go in the house and sleep this off. I'll take -the boy down-along with me." - -"I won't allow it," Gayne shook his head. "Women at the house pamperin' -him. I won't have it. He'll stay where I am till I get him settled for -life." - -"I'm goin' to take the boy along with me," repeated Blake, speaking -louder. "You're in no state for him to see you. Where'd you get your -stuff, anyway?" - -"Chemist p'esc'iption," said Gayne, as his companion drew him along at -as swift a pace as possible. - -"Well, next time, drink out o' your own mud puddle. I think it comes -from the lower regions, anyway. You might as well be getting used to -it." - -Gayne laughed, but rather feebly. He was beginning to wonder just what -he had said to his friend. - -Matt got him into the house and into the lop-sided armchair where he had -found him, and he fell asleep at once. Then the carpenter took the -partly filled glass from the table and held it up to the light. - -"I'd like it," he mused, "but, by thunder, that loafer's worse 'n a -temperance lecture." And he threw the whiskey out of an open window. - -The bottle he placed behind the screen; then, with one last disgusted -look at his host, whose head was hanging sideways with the mouth open, -he left the house. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE NEWPORT LETTER - - -Blake went back through the grove of firs to the cove bank and there he -saw the boy again. He had sunk down on his back and, as Blake -approached, appeared to be asleep. The man stooped over him. - -"Hello, kid," he said. - -As the boy did not move, Matt shook him gently by the shoulder. Bert -jumped up with a start. - -"I didn't--didn't hear you," he said. Then, looking up and seeing that -it was a stranger, he got to his feet. - -"Does--does Uncle Nick want me?" he asked. - -Blake shook his head. "No, he's busy. You better go down the road with -me." - -"He told me--told me to wait for him," said the boy. - -"Well, he doesn't want you now. He wants you to go along with me. I've -just left him." - -Upon this the boy followed obediently, and they walked together over the -field to the road. Blake occasionally looked at the unsmiling young -face as he cogitated on Gayne's plans for the lad. - -"Like it pretty well here?" he asked. - -"No--yes--I don't know," was the answer. - -The delicacy and refinement of the boy's face, and the utter -hopelessness of it, stirred his companion, as he considered the one he -had left in the tattered armchair. They walked on in silence until they -had nearly reached the little island cemetery. Then the boy's long -lashes lifted. He seemed to be gazing at the shafts and headstones. - -"Uncle Nick says the--the ghosts don't have far to walk," he remarked. - -The carpenter put his hand on Bert's shoulder. "Stuff and nonsense," he -said. "You're too big a boy to believe that foolishness." - -The dark eyes regarded him. "That's what Mrs. Lowell says. She says God -takes care of us." - -The carpenter nodded. "That's right," he returned emphatically. "I hope -He's got His eye on you right now and will see you through. You tie to -Mrs. Lowell and you believe what she says." - -"Uncle Nick doesn't want me to. He says I'm--I'm better off alone." - -"You're the best judge of that, I should say," remarked Matt bluntly. -"We're all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I -hope you'll get 'em, kid. Stand up for yourself. Do you like Mrs. -Lowell?" - -"I--I don't know.--It isn't any use for me to--to like her. Uncle Nick -doesn't." They began to pass hedges of wild roses. "She likes--likes -flowers," added the boy. - -"Take her some, that's right, take her some," said Blake, stopping and -going to the side of the road. - -"You won't tell Uncle Nick?" said Bert anxiously. - -"No, blast him, I won't tell him. Here, I've got a knife. They know how -to defend themselves all right, don't they?" - -Bert gathered some of the flowers, amazingly large and deep of color -they were, and Matt cut more, and a charming bunch was in the boy's hand -at last. Blake noted that the sight of it brought color into the pale -face. - -"This must be another secret," said Bert. "Mrs. Lowell and I have some -already." - -They plodded on again. - -"That's right," said Blake. "Hold 'em tight. That Mrs. Lowell and Miss -Wilbur are friends worth having, I'm thinking." The man frowned at his -own thoughts. The creed of the island had, as its first article: Mind -your own business. Matt wished he could go to Mrs. Lowell and pour out -to her all he had learned this afternoon, but had his pledged word not -prevented, his own habit and training would have made it difficult. - -When they reached the field which divided the road from the Inn, Blake -parted from the boy, who started off for home with his prize. He -stumbled over the knolls while looking at the blossoms, and inhaling -their delicious fragrance. - -When he had nearly reached the house, he met the quartette of croquet -players, the girls escorting the men to the road. - -Veronica and Barney Kelly came first and Diana and Philip followed. - -"Oh, how lovely, Bertie!" exclaimed Veronica, stopping and stooping the -five sun-kisses to smell deep of the roses. - -"They are not--they are not for you," said the boy hastily. - -"You've no taste, then," said Kelly, while Veronica laughed. "Have you a -better girl than this one?" - -Bertie pushed on in nervous haste, and Diana's smile did not detain -him. - -"Not for you either, apparently," remarked Philip. - -"No," said Veronica. "I'm _good_, Miss Wilbur is _better_, but his -_best_ girl is at home on the porch." - -There the boy found her, and luckily alone. He advanced holding out his -gift without a word. She colored with pleasure as she accepted it, -holding it in one hand and caressing it with the other as from time to -time she took the sweet breath of the roses. - -"Thank you so much, Bertie!" she exclaimed. "It must have taken you a -long time to gather so many." - -"No--he had a knife." - -"Who, your uncle?" - -"No--Mr. Blake. Uncle Nick mustn't know. You won't tell him?" - -"No, dear child, I won't tell him." She looked in the boy's face for a -reflection of her own pleasure, but there was none. He remained -standing. - -"Sit down, Bertie, you have had a long walk." - -He did so with some reluctance. "This is the last--last time I'll sit -with you," he said. - -"Are you going away?" she asked, much concerned. - -"No, but--but Uncle Nick doesn't--doesn't want me to speak to you--and -you make me sad." - -"How do I make you sad, Bertie?" - -"Talking about--about things," he said vaguely. "If I don't think and -don't talk, then--then it's better. Uncle Nick says so and--and I--it is -so." - -"Very well, Bertie," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "All I want is what -is best for you." - -He looked at her sweet face with the affection in the eyes. She was -wearing a white dress and the blossoms were a roseate glow against it. -He struggled against all that he blindly felt she represented: all he -had lost, all that would have kept the present and the future from being -blank. His face suffused with color, his eyes with tears. - -"I can't bear it!" he said suddenly, with more force than she had -supposed was in him, and rising with an energy of movement that sent his -chair over with a crash, he fled into the house. - -Mrs. Lowell bent her head over the flowers for minutes, and, when she -raised it, there was dew upon them. She looked off a moment in thought, -then rose, went into the house and upstairs to the Gayne room. The door -was ajar. She could hear the boy sobbing. Entering, she saw him -stretched on his cot, and she approached, drawing a chair beside it. - -Seating herself, she put a hand on his tightly doubled arm and looked at -the averted, dark head, its face buried in the pillow. - -She spoke to him quietly: "Bertie, I am going to do just as you plan and -not ask you to go about with me any more, but I want you to remember all -the time that I love you and am thinking of you, and knowing that better -times are coming for you. No human being can have as much power over us -as God has. He isn't going to forget His own children whom He has -created. So the more you think about Him, knowing that He is -all-powerful and all-loving, the sooner you will feel His help coming to -you. We don't know just how or when, but be sure it will come if you -won't listen to discouragement. Discouragement is like a cloud that -hides the sun, and God is the sun of the whole universe. You are trying -to hide away from Him when you weep and let thoughts of grief and -despair come in." - -Her voice carried through the nervous, dry sobs, and they lessened as -she talked. When she finished, the dark head lay still on the pillow. -She patted the thin arm. - -"Now I will leave you, Bertie," she went on. "Try to think about the -Shepherd. 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.' Say that over and -over to yourself, and know that it is true. Some day all these things -that seem barriers to everything that you feel makes life worth living, -will melt away. Think about it, and be hopeful, dear child. Remember I -am in the house when you want me, and remember that I love to help you. -Good-bye, dear." - -She stooped over the averted face and kissed the boy's temple. Then she -passed out and down the stairs. - - -The answer to Diana's telegram came from her mother, and read as -follows: - - - Your father away on the yacht. Be cautious socially. No Loring - relatives or friends in this country. Letter follows. - - -The letter did follow with great promptness. It was the old story of the -worried hen who had hatched a duck. - - - _My dear child_: - - You say you are feeling very well again, sleeping soundly and - eating with good appetite. Then do come home at once. I have - submitted to your wild-goose chase because the doctor approved, and - it was evidently working well, but I haven't really had an easy - minute since you left. When you said that even taking a maid with - you would make you nervous, and I allowed you to go off to a - strange island quite alone, I put a great constraint upon myself. - Your wire shows me that you are encountering some of the - circumstances which I feared, and which will lead to future - embarrassment. Some people are evidently trying to claim - acquaintance or even relationship with our family. I wired you that - there were no Lorings connected with us in this country. It was an - odd coincidence that just after I sent the message to you, I picked - up a newspaper and saw that Herbert Loring had returned from Paris - and was staying at the Copley-Plaza. I am quite certain _he_ has - not emigrated to your island. So my message is true enough. He is a - distant cousin of your father's and though not an old man is a very - broken one, owing to family troubles. Seeing his name in the paper - brought up sad memories and made me thankful for a good, - conscientious daughter who will always remember what is due her - family, and now, when you are thrown among ordinary people, such as - you have never come in contact with, is a good time to speak of - such a tragedy. Mr. Loring's only child was a daughter, a pretty, - artistic girl of whom he was inordinately proud and fond. She - became infatuated with a man whom her father forbade her even to - see. She eloped with him. Oh, the agony she caused that father, who - had lost his wife years before. Of course, he did the only thing - possible in such a case--forbade her name to be mentioned. He - became very ill, and, as soon as he was convalescent, gave up - business and went abroad. He has spent all the years since--about - fifteen, I think--in traveling about, trying to recover his health - and divert his mind. Now the poor, weary man has come back again. I - am wondering if he will open his house. He is wealthy, and, if his - health is restored, he may do so and take up life again. I am sure - your father will wish to communicate with Mr. Loring as soon as he - returns from his cruise. Perhaps the lonely man will accept an - invitation to visit us. - - I think it a grave question whether the artistic temperament does - not furnish more sorrow than joy to the world. I am proud and - thankful that I have a daughter to whom an infatuation would be an - impossibility. Come back, Diana, if you feel strong enough. I - promise to preserve you from gayety if you wish me to do so. I do - not feel at all easy about you. Please write and set a date for - coming, explaining also all that lay behind your wire. Your - affectionate - - MOTHER - - -By the time Diana finished reading this letter, her hands were -trembling. - -She hurried to Mrs. Lowell's room. A rather stifled voice bade her -enter. Her friend was stooping over the washstand bathing her eyes. Her -face, as she looked up through the splashing, showed an April smile. - -"I knew it was you," she said. "I recognized the step, and I knew you -wouldn't mind discovering that I cry once in a while." - -"My dear Mrs. Lowell, I'm sorry for whatever distresses you." - -"Oh, it is just that dear talented, wretched boy. I couldn't help -weeping a few little weeps; but what happy thing has happened to you, my -dear?" she added, catching the excitement in the girl's face. She dried -her own finally, and came forward and Diana put the letter into her -hands. - -They both stood in silence until Mrs. Lowell had finished reading and -looked up. Her cheeks were as flushed as Diana's, and they exchanged a -radiant gaze and then sat down. - -"One always weeps too soon," said Mrs. Lowell at last. - -"I was thinking," said Diana, looking off, "that it might be a good plan -for me to go to Mr. Loring myself." - -"You good girl! Do you know him?" - -"Not at all, but any one can go to the Copley-Plaza, and I can tell him -I am his cousin." - -"You're a precious child. When had you thought of going?" - -"Immediately," said Diana, with recovered serenity. - -"Shall I go to Boston with you?" - -"It will not be necessary, I think." - -"But your mother would prefer it, I am sure. Yes, I see that I should -go," added Mrs. Lowell, casting a glance at the rich stationery in her -hand with its heading "Idlewild, Newport, R. I." She could feel the -probable disapproval of this move which Mrs. Wilbur would feel. - -Nicholas Gayne did not come back to the Inn to supper that afternoon. -Bertie came to the table expecting his uncle would be there and not -daring to absent himself, but he showed the effect of his unwonted -outburst in such extra pallor and lassitude that Veronica was moved to -give him her choicest offerings. Mrs. Lowell thought it best for his -calm not to take any notice of him, but she and Diana found it difficult -to control the excitement that beset their hearts as they looked at him: -the drooping bird in the cage of a cruel and neglectful master, the key -that would unlock its door almost in their hands. - -The next morning they took the early boat from the island, leaving word -that they were going to Boston for a few days. Miss Burridge gave them -their coffee and toast and bade them God-speed, little reckoning how -appropriate was the prayer for them. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -COUSIN HERBERT - - -Arrived at the hotel in Boston, an inquiry for Herbert Loring revealed -that he was still there, but indisposed and not seeing visitors. - -In the suite Diana engaged, the two friends discussed ways and means, -and it was decided that Diana should write a note to the invalid and -make herself known. - - - _My dear Mr. Loring_ (she wrote), - - I might perhaps call you Cousin Herbert, for I believe my father, - Charles Wilbur, claims relationship, and, if you grant me - permission, I certainly shall do so. I believe you and my father - had time to see something of one another before steel swallowed him - up and you became absorbed in railroads. My mother is at our - cottage in Newport, and is wondering whether you could be induced - to visit us when Father returns from a cruise he is taking. I am - here in the hotel for a short time, and would like very much to - call on you if there is some half-hour when you would feel like - seeing a relative, even though you could not grant a similar - privilege to an outsider. I shall be so glad if you can allow me to - make your acquaintance. It would be a satisfaction to my parents to - hear from you by word of mouth. My mother saw by the papers that - you were back in this country and she wrote me of it. I have been - on one of the islands in Casco Bay where one gets very near to - Nature's heart: the best thing that can happen to a tired - schoolgirl. - - Kindly let me hear from you, and I shall be grateful if you will - see me. After all, though we are strangers, blood is thicker than - water! - - Yours cordially - - DIANA WILBUR - - -"This is most extraordinary, upon my word, it is most extraordinary," -was Herbert Loring's comment when he had read this communication. His -words might have been addressed to thin air or to Marlitt, his man; and -Marlitt knew by experience that it was well not to appropriate them -until he had received some further hint. So he stood at attention and -looked with interest at the view from an opposite window. - -His employer was a haggard man, with a white mustache and gray hair. He -was immaculately groomed and was seated in a reclining chair, his feet -supported on the footrest. He wore a rich dressing-gown of gray silk. -One noticed that his left arm was never raised, but with his right hand -he now stroked his mustache. There were pouches under the eyes he lifted -to his valet. - -"Here is a schoolgirl in the hotel who wants to come to see me; says -she's my cousin. I'm a nice figure to receive a schoolgirl." - -Marlitt raised his eyebrows. "You are certainly in shape to receive -anybody, sir. But this young lady? May she be an impostor, sir?" - -"No. I think not." Marlitt perceived that the note was an agreeable -incident. "She says she is the daughter of Wilbur, the Philadelphia -steel man. It's odd that they should not have forgotten me." - -"Begging your pardon, sir, I think if you were not so determined to deny -yourself to friends, you would find that no one who had once known you -would have forgotten." - -The sick man glanced back at the note in his lap. It escaped him on the -slippery silk and he made an involuntary effort with the useless arm to -recover it. He frowned, and Marlitt, stooping quickly, picked up the -sheet and restored it. The invalid read the letter once again. - -"Send word to this young lady that I will see her at three-thirty -to-day," he said at last. - -With much rejoicing, Diana, when she had received this word, arrayed -herself for the call. She wore a thin gray gown with a rose at the -girdle, and Mrs. Lowell, regarding her with admiration, thought no one -could be better equipped externally to win the fastidious masculine -heart. - -Herbert Loring thought so, too, when at the appointed hour she entered -his room, and he received a swift impression of her fine quality. - -"Welcome, my little cousin," he said as he met her eyes and the serene -and charming smile irradiating her youthful beauty. "I am a useless -hulk; can't get out of this chair without help. So you will pardon me." - -She put her hand in the one he offered, and Marlitt placed a chair -beside him in such fashion that she faced him. - -"That makes it the more gracious of you to receive me," she replied. - -"I should never have known what I missed, had I refused," he said -gallantly. "My friend Wilbur has a very beautiful daughter." - -Marlitt disappeared into the next room, and Diana blushed. - -"Even in spite of sunburn?" she said. - -"I was really touched, Cousin Diana, that your parents should remember -me sufficiently for you to take the trouble to come to see me. It is a -long time since anything has pleased me so much. I have been such a -rover that I am a stranger in my own land." - -Diana had not expected to feel guilty of false pretences, but this -speech accused her even while it lent her increased courage, since his -was a heart that could be touched. - -"I hope you will visit us," she said, "after I return to Newport." - -"Are you on your way there now?" - -"No, not quite yet. It is difficult to tear one's self away from Casco -Bay after one once falls under the spell." - -Loring nodded. "I know the environment. Very piney and fresh and all -that. Cold water though, very cold." - -"Yes, but we all take dips in it." - -"Youth!" said the sick man, shaking his head. "Youth!" - -"If one does not swim, I know it is quite too cold," said Diana. "I am -glad you are familiar with that country, for then you can sympathize -with my enthusiasm. I long to have a place there of my own and, perhaps -with such congruity of taste, you and I together can persuade my parents -that it would not be too erratic in me to buy a part of that green hill -and be there a little while every year." - -The invalid nodded. "I'll say Amen to anything you indicate," he -returned readily. - -How devoutly Diana hoped this promise might be kept! - -"I have another reason for being glad to meet a man relative just now," -she went on. "There are some people at the Inn where I am staying who -present such a strange problem. When injustice is obviously being done, -one longs to help." - -Her companion nodded. "That is natural, but usually futile," he said. -"It is a very good rule to 'keep off the grass.'" - -"Yes, but this affair makes me very unhappy, Cousin Herbert." - -"A shame," he returned, and he would like to have patted her pretty -hand, but she was on his left side. "Too bad there is always some -serpent in paradise. Don't be too tender-hearted, my dear. Don't be too -tender-hearted. It doesn't pay. Of course, where-ever you go people will -try to lay you under tribute. You must learn to wear an armor, a full -suit of chain armor under your dainty costumes." - -"This is not a question of money," said Diana, her heart beating faster -and, for the first time, she quaked at the full realization of her -errand. "Would you let me tell you about it, Cousin Herbert?" - -"Why, of course, my child, if it is any satisfaction to you to confide -in such a useless old cripple as I have become." - -"You are far from that," returned the girl, steadying the voice which -threatened to waver. "Your opinion on the subject will be very valuable -to me." - -The sick man lifted his heavy eyebrows and smoothed his mustache. "Then -proceed, by all means," he said. "One thing I have in tragic abundance -is time; and I am flattered." - -"There is a man at our Inn," began Diana, her fingers tightly -intertwined in her lap, "who has a young boy in his power. The lad is -his nephew. He shows every sign of years of neglect. The uncle -continually betrays himself, and scarcely tries to hide the fact that he -is looking forward to incarcerating the boy in some institution for the -deranged." - -"Simply to get rid of him?" - -"No; there is money back in the family somewhere, and we--I have come to -the conviction that this man believes the boy will fall heir to it, and -that, if he is safely out of the way, the uncle as guardian will get -control of this money." - -"What sort of mentality does the boy seem to have?" - -"He is a sensitive, fine-grained lad with just the sort of nature which -persistent brutality will blight and paralyze. He has been so neglected -that he has little physical resistance and one can see him being -gradually crushed with as little hope of escape as the fly in the -spider's web." - -"And you take it greatly to heart, eh?" said the invalid, regarding the -girl's flushed face and appealing eyes. - -"Wouldn't any one?" she asked. - -"A confounded nuisance to have such a circumstance mar your vacation." - -"Oh, think of the boy's side of it, Cousin Herbert!" - -"You want my opinion? I think the law could take a hand there." - -"Yes; but the law is so slow!" Diana swallowed. "So near a relative as -an uncle, own brother to the boy's father, can put up a hypocritical -fight and establish a very strong claim." - -Herbert Loring shook his head. "My dear child, in your position, if you -begin on this Quixotic business, there will be no end to it, believe me. -You can't right all the wrongs in the world, and you will have the pack -in full cry after you if it is known that you have let down the bars. -You can state this case to a lawyer, and put it in his hands with the -understanding that you will pay the bills, but your identity must be -kept secret. Then let them fight it out. You can't do any more than -that. A pity I didn't know you were here this morning. My lawyer was -with me." The speaker's tired eyes smiled and the corners of his -mustache lifted slightly. "I have celebrated my return by destroying my -will and the new business was to have been finished this morning, but I -was uncertain about some matters that the lawyer is looking up to-day. -He will come to-morrow morning to draw up the new will, and before he -goes I will send for you and you shall tell him about your boy and his -ogre of an uncle." - -Diana's heart was beating fast now. She summoned all her courage. "What -is so exciting to me, Cousin Herbert," she began,--and he wondered to -hear the wavering in her voice,--"is that lately I have learned that -this lad is related to some one rich and powerful who could rescue him -at once." - -A puzzled frown came in Loring's forehead. - -"Any one I know?" he asked. - -"Surely, or I should not trouble you at a time when you are not feeling -strong. Cousin Herbert, this neglected boy belongs to you. He is your -grandson." Diana unconsciously stretched her clasped hands toward him. - -A strange white change came over her listener's face and the expression -that awoke in the eyes that met hers was terrible to her. - -"This is the explanation of your desire to make my acquaintance," he -said in a changed voice. - -She was so frightened that she seemed to hear her own heartbeats. "The -boy's name is Gayne. Herbert Loring Gayne," she went on, desperately. - -"Miss Wilbur, you have ventured in where angels would fear to tread," -said the sick man sternly, "but you awake no memory. That room where you -intrude is bare and empty. You--" - -"He is talented," pleaded Diana. "Very talented as an artist. Any family -might be proud to own him and bring him out of a cellar into the -sunshine. Think of the interest in life it would give you. Think it -over, Cousin Herbert. Just be willing to see him once--" - -While she was talking, her companion touched the bell on the table -beside him and the words died on her lips as the valet came into the -room. - -"I am tired, Marlitt," said the invalid huskily. "Miss Wilbur is ready -to go." His head fell back against a down pillow. "Pardon my not -attending you to the door," he added, ignoring the girl's wet-eyed -confusion. She gathered herself together and rose. - -"Thank you for allowing me to come in," she said, inclining her head; -then she turned toward the door which Marlitt held open. - -She continued to hold her head high until she reached her own apartment, -where Mrs. Lowell was waiting. The latter started to her feet as she -viewed her friend's entrance and noted her excited color and trembling -lips. - -Diana succeeded in uttering one word, "Hopeless," then she succumbed -into Mrs. Lowell's arms and fell into wild weeping on her shoulder. - -Led to a couch, she lay upon it and continued weeping while Mrs. Lowell -sat beside her and held her hand comfortingly. - -"We did right to come, however," she said, when, after a time, the girl -was quiet, "and you fulfilled your duty bravely in going to him. You -cannot tell what fruit your visit may bring forth. Don't try to tell me -about it now. He has suffered a terrible wound to his pride and heart, -and even after many years it could smart when touched. We mustn't be -discouraged. Our mission is a righteous one and so God is on our side, -and if we don't accomplish the child's deliverance in this way, we shall -in some other way. I am going to read to you one of the most inspired -and inspiring poems ever written," and, taking up her Bible, Mrs. Lowell -turned its pages and read aloud the ninety-first psalm. - -At seven o'clock they had dinner served in their room, and Diana -recounted her experience with the invalid before they retired for the -night. Mrs. Lowell again talked to her calmly and comfortingly and the -girl's mortified pride and disappointed heart finally quieted and she -slept. - -The next morning the two friends discussed plans over the breakfast -which was served in their room. When later the waiter arrived to carry -away the tray, he was so full of news that he was obliged to speak. - -"Big excitement in the house," he said. "Gentleman dead in his bed. Big -man, too. Used to be president of big railroad. Wouldn't wonder if the -papers had extrys out in a few minutes." - -Diana caught Mrs. Lowell's hand and the latter spoke to the man: "What -name?" - -"Why it's Herbert Loring. I guess that'll make some stir." - -It certainly made some stir in Diana's heart. It was throbbing. When the -waiter had left the room, she lifted horrified eyes to her friend. - -"Do you think I killed him?" she murmured. - -"No, no, dear child." - -"I noticed he was paralyzed on one side," said the girl, "but the valet -will tell them that I excited him so that he dismissed me. Shall I pay -our bill and we go away at once?" - -"Just as you like, dear." - -"I couldn't do that," said Diana suddenly. "I cannot be a coward." - -"Then let us stay right here," said Mrs. Lowell quietly. "You may be -questioned, and it will be better to be found easily. I suppose there -will have to be an inquest or some such formality." - -"Oh, it is dreadful!" exclaimed the girl. "If my mother knew this, she -would never allow me to escape from under her wing again. She has a -horror of anything even unconventional." - -"Just be calm and strong in the right, Diana, and if any one comes to -question you, try not to lose your self-control. I know you have a great -deal. I shall stay beside you." - -"Yes, I beg of you not to leave me. Poor Mr. Loring. Poor Cousin -Herbert. How much sorrow he must have had. So proud a man to become -helpless." - -Only five minutes later two cards were presented at the door. One was -that of a doctor, the other of a lawyer. Mrs. Lowell sent word that the -men were to be admitted. - -Diana had on the peach-colored negligee and, when the two callers were -ushered into the living-room of her suite, they found a pale, large-eyed -girl standing with their cards in her hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE LAW - - -One of the cards which Diana held read Ernst Veldt, M.D., the other was -that of Luther Wrenn, Attorney at Law. - -"Be seated, gentlemen," said Diana. "I know the urgency of your errand -and, therefore, I would not detain you while I dressed. This is my -friend, Mrs. Lowell. We were just finishing breakfast when the shocking -news was brought to us. Mrs. Lowell, Dr. Veldt and Mr. Wrenn." - -The portentous expression in the face of the two visitors did not -lighten as they bowed and took possession of the chairs Diana indicated. -Thrills of dread were coursing down her spine and her knees were weak -enough to cause her to be glad to take her own seat. She felt a horrible -uncertainty as to her own responsibility in the tragedy. - -The physician, as the most aggrieved party, spoke first: "Mr. Loring was -my patient," he said, speaking with some accent. "From what his valet -tells us you should be able to throw some light on what has occurred." -The speaker's frown darkened as he spoke. This wretched girl had robbed -him, no one could tell of how much. "Mr. Loring did not know you, had -never seen you--" - -"Let me question the young lady," interrupted the lawyer. If this girl -in the rich garments and the luxurious suite were an adventuress -planning to get money from the sick man, she had staged herself well. -She was beautiful and her eyes now were large with horror, perhaps with -guilt. - -"How did you manage to get into Mr. Loring's apartment?" - -"I wrote him a note requesting him to see me," faltered Diana. "He -is--he is a sort of relation of mine." - -"It would be a little difficult to tell just what relation, I dare say," -put in the doctor, nodding. "Odd that you couldn't let a sick man get a -bit acclimated on his return before you forced yourself, an utter -stranger, into his rooms--" - -"Wait a bit, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer, interrupting again. "Let us -have your full name, please," he added, turning to the culprit. - -"Diana Wilbur," said the girl. "Did you not find the note I wrote Mr. -Loring?" - -"No. The valet followed his master's orders and destroyed the note as -soon as you were gone. Marlitt is completely unstrung. He couldn't -remember anything about your communication except that Mr. Loring told -him that he was about to have a visit from a schoolgirl. Marlitt said -that you finally left the room in tears and that his master collapsed." - -"And it looks like manslaughter, that's what it looks like, -manslaughter," said the doctor angrily. - -Diana's very lips grew pale. "Oh, gentlemen," she said, and her quiet -voice trembled, "please be very careful what you say. Supposing anything -about me should get into the papers." - -"Yes, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer quickly, "we should be careful in our -accusations. Remember that Mr. Loring had sustained two strokes before -his return. His interview with me yesterday morning was a draught upon -him." - -Diana turned toward the lawyer and clasped her hands. "Oh, yes," she -said. "He told me he had destroyed his will--" - -"Aha," said the doctor, nodding his big gray head again, "we begin to -see light. His will. That is what you were interested in, eh? A sort of -relation, eh?" - -"Gentlemen," said Mrs. Lowell suddenly taking part in the interview, "I -think it might help you in your judgments to know that Miss Wilbur is -the only child of Charles Wilbur, the steel man of Philadelphia." - -Her announcement had a dramatic effect. The doctor's mouth opened mutely -as he stared. The lawyer's brow cleared and he looked curiously at Diana -and bowed. - -"You see," said the girl unsteadily, "it would be dreadful if anything -about me in connection with this shocking occurrence should get into the -papers, for I meant no harm. Mr. Loring was a distant connection of my -father's and I went to him in behalf of some one else--" she hesitated. - -"Can you tell why your visit should have so excited him?" asked the -lawyer. - -"Yes. It was because I spoke of his daughter." - -"Will you repeat to us just what you said to him?" - -"I will tell _you_. It is a matter for a lawyer." - -"Miss Wilbur," said Dr. Veldt, rising and speaking in a voice which he -strove not to make too unlike his previous manner, "we cannot tell, -until the post mortem takes place, just what caused this death, but I -hope the result of the investigation may be enlightenment that will set -your mind at rest. Since you wish to speak with Mr. Wrenn, I will leave -you and hope that he will be able to assist you in your problem, -whatever it may be. Good-morning." And with what grace he could muster, -the physician left the room. - -Diana sank back in her chair and Mrs. Lowell saw her exhaustion. - -"Shall I tell our story to Mr. Wrenn?" she asked. - -The girl nodded. - -"Miss Wilbur has generously thrown herself into the thick of a problem -which has been absorbing me in the last weeks," she began, and then she -proceeded to tell the details of their experience. - -The lawyer listened with close attention. "So, on the impulse of the -moment, we came to Boston, arriving yesterday morning, and Miss Wilbur's -request to see Mr. Loring was met by an appointment by him for -three-thirty, which she kept." - -"He was very gracious to me," said Diana, "and I was very hopeful at -first." She stopped to control the quivering of her lips. - -"How did you proceed?" asked the lawyer kindly. - -"I told him the boy's story, and he advised me to keep out of that sort -of entanglement in another's affairs. I was frightened then, but I -continued because, of course, I could not relinquish the matter there, -and finally, I told him that the boy was his grandson." Diana's voice -stopped again, and she shook her head. - -"He became excited, heated?" asked the lawyer encouragingly. - -"No; cold, stern. He--he repulsed me and utterly repudiated the whole -matter. He said there was not even the--the echo of a memory left." -Diana lifted her handkerchief to her eyes. - -"Poor little Helen. I knew her well," said the lawyer thoughtfully. - -"You did know Bertie's mother?" said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "Then -you will be able to judge of the sketch a lonely little boy made of -her." - -"We had put this matter into the hands of Mrs. Lowell's husband, who is -a lawyer in New York," said Diana. "We expected to have a long search -for Bertie's grandfather, but, as Mrs. Lowell has told you, my mother, -all unconsciously gave us the information we needed, and then--Oh, Mr. -Wrenn, how could I do otherwise, and yet it is--so dreadful to think--" -Again Diana covered her eyes. - -"Don't think it, Miss Wilbur," said the lawyer decidedly. "You did what -was womanly and brave. Had you come to me, instead of going directly to -Mr. Loring, it might possibly have been better, but how can we know? My -client and old friend was immovably set against the daughter who defied -him, and if the intense feeling which your plea roused in him was a -boomerang that laid him low, that is not your fault, and couldn't -possibly have been foreseen. Now, dismiss that fear from your thoughts. -A condition has arisen which perhaps has not occurred to either of you -ladies. From what you tell me, it looks as if the boy who has interested -you may really be Herbert Loring's grandson. That will have to be -proved, and doubtless the avaricious uncle has the proofs if they exist. -That once accomplished, this lad will be sole heir to a considerable -fortune, for there is no will." - -Mrs. Lowell and Diana exchanged a look. - -"Mr. Wrenn," said Mrs. Lowell quickly, "Mr. Gayne is capable of any -brutality. He will see Mr. Loring's death in the papers--" - -"But he does not know that there is no will," the lawyer reminded her, -"and he will probably come to me with proofs that the boy should -inherit. That would naturally be his next step. Do you think the boy's -mentality has been hopelessly impaired?" - -"I do not," said Mrs. Lowell, and her face grew radiant. "When once the -slave is freed, God will take care of Bertie's mentality." - -The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon her gravely. "Young Herbert has a -good friend in you," he said. - -"Oh, Mr. Wrenn," exclaimed Diana fervently, "if you can get Mrs. Lowell -to supervise his life for the next five years, you will do the best -thing that could be done for him in all the world." - -The lawyer nodded, still with thoughtful eyes on Mrs. Lowell's speaking -face. She was thanking God as she sat there that the crushing burden was -being lifted from one of His little ones. - -"Mr. Loring's funeral will be a rather sad and perfunctory ceremony," -said Mr. Wrenn. "For several years he has absented himself from this -country most of the time. He is not rich in even poor relations. I -remember a few names which were mentioned in the will which was -destroyed yesterday, and I am sure he would wish me to respect his -wishes and give moderate sums to those beneficiaries, for he stated that -he should not change that clause. I wonder if you ladies might be -willing to stay over for the funeral. I am certain that Mr. Gayne will -attend it and see me afterward." - -A compassion that swept through Diana at remembrance of the tired eyes -and the helpless figure in its rich wrappings caused her to give her -consent to remain for the funeral. - -She wired her mother that, being in Boston for a few days, she should -attend that ceremony, and was disconcerted to receive a return message -stating that her mother would also attend, her father not having -returned from his cruise. She showed this to Mrs. Lowell, and the latter -was privately amused at the consternation betrayed by the girl at the -prospect of welcoming a parent. - -"Of course, it won't be necessary to trouble her with any details," said -Mrs. Lowell, and Diana pressed her hand in token that she appreciated -the comfort of her perception. - -The first thought Mrs. Lowell had, upon seeing Mrs. Wilbur, was: "What a -handsome man Diana's father must be," for the girl did not get her -beauty from this plump little lady with the short nose, wide mouth, and -small eyes. Even Mrs. Wilbur's grand air, erect carriage, and perfect -dress could not make her a stately figure, although it was her habit to -consider herself one, and her plump little jeweled hand wielded a -lorgnette in a manner which entitled her to a Roman nose and impressive -height. Her maid, Léonie, was with her, and looked after her mistress -with what seemed to Mrs. Lowell an amazing knowledge of her needs and -wishes. - -"Look at your hands!" was Mrs. Wilbur's greeting of her daughter. "I -know you have not worn gloves." - -Diana bent down to her in all meekness. "Not continuously, Mamma," she -said. "They will very soon blanch again." - -"You're coming right home with me after this sad, sad affair, of -course," continued Mrs. Wilbur. "How strange that you happened to be in -Boston, and fortunate, too. Your father would have liked us to show this -attention." By this time they were in Mrs. Wilbur's suite in the hotel, -and she turned to Mrs. Lowell. "I am grateful to you for taking care of -this child of mine," she said. "I don't like to tell her how well she -looks, for it encourages her in such a prank as this island summer." - -"It has proved a good plan for her, I'm sure," responded Mrs. Lowell. - -"But enough is enough," said Mrs. Wilbur. "She is rested now and our -friends are always asking for her. No more island." - -"Dear Mamma, do not be so determined, for Mrs. Lowell and I just came -here for a few days and I shall have to return and gather my belongings -together at least." - -"Very well, then I will go with you and look at it myself." - -Mrs. Lowell could with difficulty repress a smile at the way Diana's -eyes enlarged with apprehension. - -"You would not like it, dear, you would not like it," she said -earnestly. - -"Then why do you?" responded her mother defiantly. - -"Because I like roughing it. I like camping." - -"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "I am so near, I may as well look at it." - -"What would you do in a house without a bathroom?" asked Diana. - -The blank, incredulous look with which Mrs. Wilbur met her daughter's -question made Mrs. Lowell expect her parted lips to utter: "There ain't -no such animal." But the lady merely said, reproachfully: "How can you -like it there, Diana?" - -"My ancestors had no bathtubs," replied the girl. "Then, besides, we -have the ocean." - -"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "the funeral comes first. I suppose Mr. -Loring was confined to his room so you couldn't happen to see him about -the hotel." - -Diana cast a glance at Mrs. Lowell before she replied: "I did see him, -though, Mamma." The girl felt very certain that the episode could never -be finished without this fact transpiring. - -"You did?" Mrs. Wilbur sat up with great interest. "That explains why -you have seemed to me a little sad ever since I came. You saw the poor -man. How did it happen?" - -"I wrote him a note and asked him if I could call. I reminded him that -we were related--" She hesitated. - -"Why, Diana Wilbur, I never heard of anything so extraordinary! You dear -lamb, how pleased your father will be! Mrs. Lowell," she turned to that -lady, "do you wonder I'm proud of this child? Do you believe that one -young girl in a thousand would take the trouble to pay such an attention -to an elderly relative whom she had never seen?" - -Mrs. Lowell was saved from the embarrassment of replying, for Diana -spoke hurriedly: - -"It isn't what you think, Mamma. I went to him on an errand--some one -else's errand." - -Mrs. Wilbur put up her lorgnette the better to view her daughter's -crimsoning cheeks and quivering lips. - -"Tell me what it was, at once," she commanded. "Who dared to make use of -you in such a way?" - -"No one," protested the girl. "It was my own idea, but please don't ask -me to tell you of it now. I have had such a shock--I am really not able -to talk about it yet." - -"Very well, then, I will wait." Mrs. Wilbur's dilated nostrils expressed -her displeasure. "But this proves that you are, just as I have felt, too -young to be wandering about on your own. I should not have allowed you -to leave me." As she finished, the mother swept Mrs. Lowell with a -condemning glance in which she withdrew all her previous approval of -that lady. - -Mrs. Lowell understood it, but she spoke pleasantly: "When the right -time comes for you to learn what brought us to Boston, you will find -that your daughter deserves only approval," she said in her quiet, -cheerful manner. - -Mrs. Wilbur's nostrils still dilated and she used her fan in a majestic -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE WILL - - -Herbert Loring's funeral was conducted in the church to which he had -been a contributor for many years. Distant connections of the family, -old business friends, and curiosity-seekers made a gathering of average -size, and among those seated, toward the back of the audience, was -Nicholas Gayne. - -The astute lawyer's expectation of a visit from him was not -disappointed. Indeed, Luther Wrenn came to his office at an earlier hour -than usual the following morning, entirely in honor of that gentleman. - -On the drive to the cemetery the day of the funeral, Mr. Wrenn had -placed Diana, her mother, and Mrs. Lowell in the motor with himself. -There was little said on the way out. The lawyer was well known by -reputation to Mrs. Wilbur, and the only drawback to her satisfaction in -the arrangement was Diana's preoccupation and the knowledge that -interesting information was being kept back from her. Mrs. Wilbur had -not only sent lavish gifts of flowers to the church, but, there seeming -to be no one but paid workers to attend to the decorations, she had -personally supervised them, and, coming back from the cemetery, the -lawyer expressed his appreciation of her kindness and her presence in a -manner to apply much balm. However, he turned directly from his -respectful laudation of Mrs. Wilbur to her daughter. - -"How long can you and Mrs. Lowell stay on?" he asked, and the mother -became alert. His manner signified previous acquaintance with Diana. - -"Just as long as is necessary," was the girl's surprising reply. - -"I am certain that Gayne will call on me the first thing to-morrow -morning, and I should like you to remain near the telephone if you -will." - -"Certainly," replied Diana. - -"Mr. Wrenn, I don't understand what you are asking of my daughter," said -Mrs. Wilbur crisply. - -"Ah,"--the lawyer bowed gravely. "Perhaps you have not been told of the -surprising turn events have taken. It is a matter which requires secrecy -until identities are established and evil-doers circumvented. Let me -congratulate you, Mrs. Wilbur, on a remarkably fine and intelligent -daughter. She is a credit to your bringing-up. Not many mothers can -boast of having instilled such prudence." - -The lady leaned back in her corner, not certain whether to accept this -disarming, or to insist immediately upon her rights. She decided to -compromise and wait until they reached the hotel. - -"My daughter tells you she can wait in Boston as long as is necessary," -she said at last, "and her mother will have to understand the -necessity." - -"Certainly, Mrs. Wilbur," responded the lawyer. "We have found ourselves -in a totally unexpected situation. Mr. Herbert Loring destroyed his will -and died before he could make another." - -Mrs. Wilbur exclaimed. Mr. Loring was known to be wealthy and she was -interested in fortunes. Her brain began working actively on the -probabilities of the heirs. - -"The next strange event is that your young daughter has probably found -the heir." - -Mrs. Wilbur raised her lorgnette and regarded Diana, drooping opposite, -as if she were a new discovery. - -"I wish to understand," she said with dignity. - -"It seems that Mr. Loring's disobedient daughter left a son whose -existence has been unsuspected unless Mr. Loring himself knew of it, -which he never betrayed. Your daughter and Mrs. Lowell have found the -boy." - -"Not I," protested Diana. "Mrs. Lowell, in her sweet unselfishness, -deserves all the credit. I should have paid no attention to him, but -I--it was through your letter, Mamma, that I found the boy's -grandfather." - -"We all had a hand in it, then, it seems," said Mrs. Wilbur. - -"The boy's uncle has possession of him. His father and mother are both -dead, and, according to these ladies, the uncle can qualify as the -world's meanest man. So we proceed carefully until the proofs which he -is supposed to have are in hand. You, Mrs. Wilbur, will aid us in -silence on the subject until the right time for speaking." - -"How old is he, Diana?" burst forth the lady. "What does he look like? -Is he clever and worthy of such a heritage?" - -"He is a poor, shabby, ill-treated boy about fourteen years old. He has -never had a chance, but I scarcely know him. Mrs. Lowell is the one who -discovered him and cared for him." - -Mrs. Wilbur glanced at Mrs. Lowell, but she could not bring herself to -ask her a question. She felt a vague jealousy and sense of injury at -finding this stranger in her child's confidence and aiding and abetting -her in so much independence of action. - -As soon as possible after the reception of Mrs. Wilbur's enlightening -letter at the island, Mrs. Lowell had wired her husband that the search -was ended before it had begun, and he returned Diana's check with -congratulations. - -"What an amazed boy that will be, Mr. Wrenn," remarked Mrs. Wilbur. -"What is his name?" - -"Herbert Loring Gayne." - -"H'm. I suppose his mother had all sorts of hope that with a son of that -name she could placate her father." - -"Doubtless she did," replied the lawyer, "and I wish it might have -proved so. Perhaps they would both have been alive to-day had she -succeeded, but my old friend Loring never mentioned her to me and I -don't know what efforts she made. There must be a good deal of delay -before the young heir can come into his own." - -"I suppose so," sighed Mrs. Wilbur. "That tiresome law moves slowly." - -Diana looked up with sudden attention. "But we must not be dilatory in -rescuing the boy." - -Mr. Wrenn nodded. "If he is proved to be the right one." - -"There can be no doubt of it," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"Not to charming, sympathetic ladies, of course," returned the lawyer -with a smile. - -"I feel that every day counts," said Mrs. Lowell. "He must be removed -from that mental malaria as soon as possible." - -"I will--" began Diana, and then she glanced at her mother,--"I mean -Mamma will gladly finance him, I'm sure, for the present." - -"Perhaps," said Mrs. Wilbur with dignity, "when you see fit to tell me -the whole story. I'm sure I haven't it yet." - -"There is no reason to burden you, Mamma, with disagreeable -considerations," said Diana meekly. "I can myself look after the boy's -needs." - -"Yes, she can," said Mrs. Wilbur in an offended tone. "What do you -think, Mr. Wrenn, of a father who insists on giving a young girl an -unlimited check-book, not requiring her to give any account of what she -does with money?" - -The lawyer smiled at the embarrassed culprit. "I think that your -husband has proved himself a very good reader of character all through -his career." - -Mrs. Wilbur bounced back into her corner. She didn't intend to bounce; -she intended to lean back gracefully, with an air of renouncing all -interest in this matter which had proceeded so far without her -coöperation, but just at that moment the car went over a -"thank-you-ma'am." - -As has already been said, Luther Wrenn, the following morning, sought -his office at an earlier hour than was customary, and Nicholas Gayne was -there before him. - -He did not keep him waiting long, and the stocky figure and dark face -soon appeared in the private office. - -The lawyer regarded the stranger over his eye-glasses. - -"I didn't have any card," said the visitor. "My name is Gayne, Nicholas -Gayne." - -"Be seated, sir. What is your errand?" - -"I would like to be present at the reading of the Herbert Loring will." -The speaker's manner was confident, and he seemed endeavoring to repress -excitement. - -"Indeed? Are you a relative?" - -"No, but my nephew is. I have a great surprise for you, Mr. Wrenn. My -nephew is Herbert Loring's grandson and namesake." Nicholas Gayne -marveled at the self-control of a lawyer, for Luther Wrenn's expression -did not change. "I visited Mr. Loring before he went abroad the last -time, but he would not listen to me or look at my proofs. So I suppose -he has not mentioned his grandson in his will, and, if that is the fact, -I wish to retain you to break the will." This declaration was made with -great energy and a flash of the speaker's dark eyes. - -"You have proofs, then," said Mr. Wrenn, after a short hesitation, -perhaps to make sure of the retention of that self-control. - -"Yes, right here." Gayne caught up from the floor a small black leather -bag, and opened it. "Here are the letters Bert's mother wrote her father -to try for a reconciliation. Returned unopened, you see. Here is her -picture. Perhaps you knew her." - -Luther Wrenn took the small card photograph and gazed at it long. - -"My brother was an irresponsible sort of chap. At the time he met Miss -Loring, he had put through a good deal and was riding on top of the -wave. She was artistic in her tastes, and he met her through the artist -set at Gloucester, where she was that summer, and she took a fancy to -him that her father couldn't break off. Unfortunate, you'll say, but -Lambert was a stunning-looking chap and she decided firmly on her -course. So now here is this boy and the law should protect his rights. -Here's the record of his birth fourteen years ago, in her own writing; -perhaps you know her writing." Gayne was talking fast and excitedly, and -Wrenn took from his hand one after another of the proofs he offered and -laid them on his desk with no change of countenance. - -"What sort of a boy is your nephew?" he asked. "A bright boy?" - -Gayne's face changed. He looked away. "Well, no. I can't say he is. Bert -is delicate. He needs all sorts of care, care that takes heaps of money -to pay for. I haven't been able to do for him what I'd like to. As soon -as you get his money for him, I shall engage professional care and see -that he has the best. I'm a good business man, if I do say it, and I'll -see that his funds multiply until he is able to look after his fortune -himself." - -Luther Wrenn nodded. "I see," he said; and he did, very plainly. "Now, -there will be no reading of the will, Mr. Gayne. That is all attended -to. So you may leave this matter with me." - -"Was the boy mentioned?" asked Gayne eagerly. - -"No; no mention of him." - -"You think you can get some money, though, don't you?" - -"Possibly. I'll see you again." - -"There ain't any kind of doubt that he's the genuine grandson," said -Gayne, rising reluctantly, as the lawyer got to his feet. - -"Your proofs seem to be convincing," was the grave reply. - -"Well, could you--couldn't you advance me something now for Bert's care? -He needs a lot of things, that boy does." - -"You go too swiftly, Mr. Gayne. Come back here at three o'clock day -after to-morrow." - -Gayne looked at the papers and picture strewn on the lawyer's desk. "I -don't know about leaving the only proofs of our rights that I've got." - -Luther Wrenn turned to the desk and gathered them up. "Certainly. Take -them to some lawyer in whom you have confidence." - -"Oh, pshaw, no," said Gayne sheepishly. "I didn't mean that. You were -Mr. Loring's lawyer. You're the one to handle the case." - -"Good-day, then, Mr. Gayne." - -"Good-day," and Nicholas took his departure. - -As soon as the door had closed behind him, Wrenn seated himself at the -desk and called up the Copley-Plaza. Diana was waiting. - -"Miss Wilbur?" - -"Yes." - -"Mr. Wrenn speaking. Mr. Gayne has been here. Please wire at once to the -island and get some one to bring the boy to your hotel as soon as -possible." - -"Yes, Mr. Wrenn." - -"I think Mr. Barrison is the one to ask," said Diana to Mrs. Lowell, who -was waiting near. - -So it was that an hour later Philip Barrison was called to the telephone -at the island store to receive a telegram. - -"I know what it is!" exclaimed Barney Kelly. "'All Saints' is going to -outbid 'The Apostles' for you. You're the rising young beggar." - -He wandered down with Philip to the store and loitered about outside -talking to Matt Blake. When Philip reappeared, it was with a hurried -air. - -"Want anything in Boston?" he asked. - -"Of course, we do--the Brahms, but what's up?" - -"I've got to go. Wire from Miss Wilbur." - -"Aha," said Kelly, following Philip's long strides to the express wagon -which Blake was just mounting. - -"No, no, no," returned Philip. "Naught personal. No such luck. Hello, -Matt, going up-along?" - -"Yes." - -"See you later, Kelly, I have to go up to Miss Burridge's." And Philip -jumped into the seat beside the driver. - -"No, you guessed wrong. You're going to see me right along," returned -Barney, hopping up on the tail of the wagon and letting his feet hang -over, while he whistled cheerily. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -A SUDDEN JOURNEY - - -"I have to get the afternoon boat, Matt," explained Philip. "Miss Wilbur -wants me to bring the Gayne boy to Boston in a hurry." - -Blake looked around alertly as his horse pulled slowly up the hill to -the road. "Miss Wilbur?" he repeated. "Why didn't his uncle send for -him? He is there." - -"Is he?" asked Philip carelessly. "I didn't know the island had been -deprived of his artistic presence." - -"Yes. You bet he lit out when he saw by the paper that the millionaire -he's had his eye on was dead." Blake shook his head. "There must be -something doing or Miss Wilbur wouldn't be sending for the kid." - -"Oh, you know she and Mrs. Lowell made a protégé of him. My idea is they -want to give him some kind of a treat, but I must say I'm surprised at -the importance she seems to put on my bringing him--dead or alive, as -you might say. She says if he holds back, through fear of his uncle's -displeasure, to tell the boy his uncle is there." - -"Oh, yes, he's there, believe me. Keep it under your hat, but that old -souse has got it all fixed that the boy is the grandson of that Herbert -Loring who has just died, and that he's going to get a slice o' the -money. Now you might as well know, Phil, as long as you're doing the -errand, that Gayne's a skunk. He's counting on shutting that boy up and -gettin' the money himself. He told me so one time when he was half-seas -over. Believe me, I feel sorry for that kid. If he ever had any spirit, -he's had it squeezed out of him. By George, I'd like to have those -ladies know Gayne's plans." - -"They certainly must be greatly interested in the boy to take all this -trouble," said Philip. "I knew they were very much stirred up over -Gayne's treatment of Bert, but I don't know whether they're aware of how -far he intends to carry it. I'm glad you've told me this. I fancy we -shall find that their plan is to give the boy a show or two and some -ice-cream instead of a fortune. Bert Gayne, Herbert Loring's heir!" -scoffed Philip. "Don't make me laugh. My lip's cracked. However, I'll -oblige those two corking women and bring him to them, by the scruff of -the neck, if necessary. Ever see the Copley-Plaza, Matt? If you did, you -can make a picture of me making a grand entrance there with Bert." - -"I do feel sorry for that kid," repeated Blake with feeling. - -"So do I, and after what you say, I'm wondering why Gayne is keeping -himself in the background and letting the goddess Diana take charge." - -"I wish her luck," said Matt emphatically. "I wish her luck." - -Arrived where the road branches away to the Inn, Philip and his friend -left the wagon and struck off through the field. Halfway across they met -Miss Emerson, walking triumphantly between Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans, a -parasol over her shoulder. It is not well to sun soft ripples of hair, -when the head that grew them is far across the seas. - -"Good-morning," she cried gayly; "we're going to the post-office. Can we -do anything for you?" - -"Thank you," said Barney. "We've just come from there. You might write -me a letter or two, Miss Emerson, while you're waiting. I've been -neglected since I've been here." - -"I shall be delighted," she returned, regarding his tanned face and -permanent wave with high approval. "I love to write. I even like pencil -and paper games, verbarium, and crambo, and all those. I've been trying -to convert these men. I wish you would both come up and spend the -evening and let me show you how much fun it is." - -There was a wild look in the grave faces of her escorts which advised -caution. - -"You're always so kind, Miss Emerson," said Kelly. - -"Shall we see you at dinner?" she asked. - -"Depends on how good your eyes are," said Philip pleasantly. "We dine at -home and then I'm off for Boston." - -"Really? How can you bear to leave here!" Miss Emerson waved her parasol -as the young men nodded and passed on. - -"I think that Mr. Kelly is perfectly delightful," she said as they -pursued their way. "So full of fun always." Then she proceeded to tell -her captives how many words could be made from the one: c-a-r-p-e-t. - -Philip and Barney walked around to the front of the Inn and there were -Veronica and the unconscious young Herbert, leaning over the sweet-pea -bed. Veronica was using the trowel and the boy was weeding. He glanced -up under his lashes, then went on with his work. Veronica rose and -welcomed the arrivals. - -"You see, Aunt Priscilla keeps us at it, Mr. Barrison. She isn't going -to have your garden neglected, and just look at the buds." - -"Fine. In another week they'll be a show." - -"And a smell," said Barney fervently. "I adore them. You look rather -sweet-peaish yourself, Miss Veronica," he added, regarding her gingham -gown of fine pink-and-white checks. "Do you know you're going to have me -on your hands the next few days?" - -"What's going to happen?" asked Veronica. - -"There is going to be a dance at the hall to-night," suggested Barney. - -"I know it," returned Veronica. "Can you dance?" - -Barney looked at her reproachfully. "It's a land sport. How can you ask? -A duck can swim and Kelly can dance. Will you take me? I'm shy." - -"If Mr. Barrison will allow it," said Veronica with a demure glance at -Philip. - -"Not a word to Puppa. I promise," he said. - -"What a pity Miss Diana isn't here!" she exclaimed. - -"I shall see her to-morrow," returned Philip. - -"You going to Boston?" - -"'M-h'm." - -"That's what I'm telling you," said Kelly. "You mustn't allow me to get -lonely. We'll row in the cove." - -"Really go near the water?" replied Veronica, laughing incredulously. - -"Yes. Aunt Maria is stuffing me like a Thanksgiving turkey. No tennis, I -just natchelly had to get a boat--without a motor, be it well -understood." - -"That's fun," said Veronica, her eyes shining. She hoped Philip would -stay away indefinitely. "If Mr. Kelly could really dance--" - -Meanwhile Philip had stood watching the boy's slender hands pulling out -weeds. - -"Aren't you going to speak to me, Bert?" - -"I--yes. How do you do?" The lad was so used to being overlooked by -everybody except Mrs. Lowell and Diana that Philip's question surprised -him and he rose and looked at him. - -"Do you miss Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip. - -"Yes." - -"His uncle has gone, too," said Veronica. "We have had some good times -all alone, haven't we, Bert? He is learning to play croquet and he helps -me with the garden." - -The boy regarded her in silence and with no change of expression. Philip -thought or imagined that in his dull, undeveloped way he resented the -girl's kindly tone of patronage. He caught the lad's eye again. - -"I am going to see Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur. Would you like to go -with me to see them?" - -Color stole up into Bert's face and he brushed the clinging soil from -his hands. - -"Yes.--No," he said. - -"I am going to Boston this afternoon," continued Philip, in a quiet, -matter-of-fact tone. "The ladies would like to have you come with me." - -"No," returned the boy. "I have to--to wait here for--for Uncle Nick." - -"Oh, he is there, too," returned Philip. "They have made some plan. We -shall be all together there just as we were here. It won't take you long -to get ready. I'll help you." - -"No," said the boy breathlessly. "Uncle Nick--" - -"But Mrs. Lowell wants you." - -"No. Uncle Nick doesn't want--Mrs. Lowell--" - -"Oh, boy, you know Mrs. Lowell wouldn't ask you to do anything that -would get you into any trouble," said Philip pleasantly. "Perhaps your -uncle has decided not to come back to the island. At any rate, they want -you there in Boston and they sent me a telegram asking me to bring you. -So it is up to us to do what they say. Don't you think so? Come upstairs -and I'll help you get ready." - -The boy's stolid habit of obedience stood Philip in good stead now. With -heightened color, but no other change in his face, he followed to his -room, washed his face and hands, and got into his shabby best while -Philip found a comb and brush and toothbrush, and put them into a paper -parcel. Returning downstairs, they found Veronica consuming with -curiosity, but considerably entertained by her future dance partner, who -was teaching her a new step by means of his blunt finger-tips on the -porch rail. - -"I'm going to take Bert home to dinner with me, Veronica. So say -good-bye and expect us when you see us. Where's Miss Burridge?" - -"Oh, Aunt Priscilla!" shouted Veronica at the kitchen door. "Come out. -Bertie Gayne is going to Boston with Mr. Barrison." - -Miss Burridge emerged wiping her hands on a towel. The other went to -meet her. - -"How nice!" she said, beaming. "What a nice outing for Bertie. That's -real clever of you, Philip. How did you happen to think of it?" - -"Well, his friends in Boston want him," said Philip, and he administered -a wink which Miss Burridge understood sufficiently to postpone a -catechism until later. The boy allowed her and Veronica to shake his -passive hand in bidding him good-bye and then he went away with his -companions with no further questioning. - -When they were gone, Miss Burridge exclaimed her astonishment. - -"Mr. Barrison received a wire, that's all I know," said Veronica. "The -youngster's in mortal terror of his uncle, but Mr. Barrison told him his -uncle was there and it was all right. Miss Wilbur or else Mrs. Lowell -sent the telegram. Sort of queer they should be hobnobbing with old -Nick, but perhaps he let them send the wire to save expense." - -Philip made conscientious efforts to entertain his young charge on -their trip. In Portland, where they spent the night, he bought some -magazines, naturally guessing that the more filled with pictures they -were the better, and he was puzzled at the evident shrinking from the -illustrations that the boy displayed. - -"Something seriously off with the poor little nut," he thought. "Any boy -likes to look at pictures." - -So he left him in peace and let him stare apathetically from the car -window all the way to Boston, or doze in his corner. - -Philip wired Diana just before they took the train, and she ordered -luncheon to be served in her rooms. She wished very much that some kind -turn of Fortune's wheel would call her mother forth to the shops that -morning, but by reason of the fragments Mrs. Wilbur overheard passing -between her child and Mrs. Lowell or the lawyer, her curiosity as to -this waif who might be going to carry on the Loring fortunes became -sufficiently vivid to determine her to remain where she could oversee -all that her daughter did. - -"Who did you say is bringing the boy on?" she asked Diana that morning. - -"His name is Barrison." - -"You wired him to do this?" - -"Yes, Mamma." - -"How could you ask it? Is he a servant?" - -"No, Mamma, he is a professional singer taking his vacation at the -island." - -Mrs. Wilbur looked at the girl closely. "You must have become rather -friendly with him to ask such a favor?" - -Mrs. Lowell glanced up from a glove she was mending. "Everybody is -friendly at the island, Mrs. Wilbur. It is one of the assets of the -simple life. As one of the men at the Inn said: 'Every time you go out -the door, you wade up to your knees in the milk of human kindness.'" - -Mrs. Wilbur regarded her coldly. "An inexperienced schoolgirl cannot -discriminate," she said. "I felt all the time that Diana should not go -there." - -Her dominating tone was significant of the relation she, contrary to the -experience of most American mothers, had succeeded in retaining with her -daughter. The average American girl of Diana's age would have had no -difficulty in telling her mother that the expected boy would be -embarrassed by the presence of a stranger and requesting her, more or -less agreeably, to return to her apartments. Not so Diana. Her mother -plied her now with additional questions about Herbert Loring's heir. - -"For mercy's sake," said Mrs. Wilbur at last, "I should judge from what -you say that the boy isn't far off melancholia." - -Mrs. Lowell sighed unconsciously. Mrs. Wilbur heard her, but did not -understand the reason for it. - -"Well, don't ask me to lunch with him. I am sure he would make me -nervous," added the lady. - -"I think it quite likely he would, Mamma," said her daughter dutifully, -one of her problems disappearing. "There certainly will be an -interesting evolution observable in him very soon, but just at first his -limitations might annoy you." - -"Well, I'll just stay long enough to look at him and then I will go," -returned Mrs. Wilbur. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE NEW CLIENT - - -She used her lorgnette upon the pair of guests when they were ushered -in, but her interest in the silent boy was quickly transferred to the -tall, attractive blond man with the flashing smile and sparkling eyes, -who greeted her daughter with such accustomed friendliness. - -"Mamma, may I present Mr. Barrison," said Diana serenely. - -Philip's smile vanished and he bowed. His manner, Mrs. Wilbur thought, -was unpleasantly good. - -"And this is Herbert Gayne, Mamma," went on Diana. - -The boy's eyes roved to the plump lady, who came forward and took his -hand. - -"I knew your grandfather, my dear child," she said, and she glanced over -his shabby figure, appalled that the name of Loring could ever fall so -low. - -Bertie said nothing. What did the lady mean by talking about his -grandfather? No one but his mother had ever done that. - -A slight smile touched his lips as Mrs. Lowell greeted him, and then he -looked over his shoulder and all about the flower-strewn room. - -"Your uncle is not here," she said quietly. "He isn't coming, Bertie. We -are going to have lunch alone." - -The boy's melancholy eyes lifted to hers questioningly. She nodded -reassuringly. - -"Mr. Barrison, this is the key to Bert's room," said Diana. "Will you go -up with him and then return here? Luncheon will be ready." - -Philip took the key, and, wondering, escorted his charge to the -elevator. "Bert's room," he said to himself. When they arrived there, -the flowers on the dresser caused him to remember Matt Blake's absurd -account, and he felt his first questioning as to whether ice-cream and a -show or two did really cover the plans of these ladies for the boy. "But -where is Uncle Nick?" was his mental query. - -Herbert, second, looked about his bathroom. He had never seen anything -in the slightest degree like it. - -"Treating you pretty well, aren't they, old man?" said Philip, opening -his bag and taking out the boy's worn brush and broken comb. - -"Uncle Nick will be mad," said Bert. - -"I heard Mrs. Lowell say that he wasn't coming," remarked Philip. - -"Of course--he'll come," returned the boy. "And he'll--he'll beat me." - -"Bet you a thousand dollars he won't," said Philip. "Have you any money -with you?" - -The boy felt in his pockets and brought forth a penny. - -"That's all right," said Philip gayly. "If your Uncle Nick beats you, -I'll give you a thousand dollars. If he doesn't, you are to give me that -penny. Understand?" - -Philip's smile was infectious. The corners of the boy's mouth twitched a -little. The flowers on the dresser smelled sweet, so did the soap he was -using. It was all like a wonderful dream, but over its brightness hung a -dark cloud: Uncle Nick. - -"All right," he said vaguely. - -"Say, make it snappy, boy. I'm as hungry as a bear, aren't you? Here's a -nailbrush. Better use it." - -Bert hurried, and finally dried his hands and brushed his hair -obediently. As much as he noticed anybody he had always noticed and -liked Philip from the day that he watched him paint the Inn sign, and -now, in spite of his apprehensions, he felt some stimulation from the -company of this big strong man who was going to give him a thousand -dollars if Uncle Nick should beat him. - -While he was brushing his hair, the telephone rang. Philip answered it. -It was Diana speaking. - -"I want to thank you so much for doing this errand for us. I know you -must be mystified by the urgency of my wire, and this is my best way to -tell you in a few words what has occurred. You can see that the matter -is confidential, for time and labor and the law will be necessary to -adjust matters, but I feel we owe it to you to tell you all. Of course, -the boy knows nothing as yet--" - -When Philip finally turned from the telephone, he met his companion's -troubled gaze, the hairbrush hung suspended in the air. - -"Was it Uncle Nick?" he asked. - -"No," returned Philip. He continued to sit still for a minute, regarding -the unconscious millionaire with the penny in the pocket of his outgrown -trousers. "It's all right, old man. Miss Wilbur wants us to come down to -lunch, that's all." - -As they went to the elevator to descend, the boy spoke again: "Uncle -Nick hates--he hates Mrs. Lowell," he said. - -"Good thing he isn't coming, then, isn't it?" returned Philip. - -"But he'll--he will come sometime," said Bert with conviction. - -Arrived at Diana's suite, they found luncheon ready to be served. Mrs. -Wilbur had vanished, not without some uneasy comments upon Philip, which -Diana had answered with such utter serenity as to quiet any suspicion -she might have entertained that there was something personal in her -child's extraordinary attachment to the wilderness. - -The four sat down to the charming little meal, and, in spite of the -boy's unconquerable apprehensions, he ate pretty well, as he sat there -opposite Philip and between Mrs. Lowell and Diana. - -The former asked him about the garden and the croquet ground, while -Philip addressed himself to Diana, who wore the gray gown with a rose at -the belt, although she had felt she could never put it on again. The -contents of a suitcase do not admit of much variety of costume. - -"I'm almost dumb with surprise at your news," he said. - -"Of course you would be." - -"Does the ogre know of the arrival of relatives?" - -"He has not the least suspicion of it. He will be told to-morrow." - -"Can a can be tied to him?" - -Bert was telling about weeding the garden with Veronica, and Diana -leaned a little toward Philip. "What--what was your question?" - -Philip smiled. "I asked if it would be possible to eliminate the -gentleman." - -"I think so. Mr. Loring's lawyer is, of course, attending to the whole -matter and is to see him for the second time to-morrow. Does any one -doubt that truth is stranger than fiction?" - -"No." Philip looked across at Mrs. Lowell and the sweet regard she was -bending upon the boy, who was trying in his hesitating way to tell her -something about the beach. - -Bert put his hand in his pocket, and Philip wondered if he were going to -produce his capital, but instead he drew forth a little yellow stone and -offered it to his friend. - -"That is unusually lovely," she said, and held it up to the light before -she handed it back. - -"No, it is for you," said the boy. Sad as he may have maintained that -it made him to be in this lady's company, her gentle presence was -irresistible to him, and his face, as he handed back to her the little -stone, had a more interested expression than his friends had ever seen -it wear. - -"It is to go--with the others in--in a bottle," he said. - -"It is almost too nice for that. I think this is a little gem. Supposing -I take it to a lapidary, a man who polishes stones, and have it made -into a scarf-pin for you." - -"No, for you," said the boy. - -Philip and Diana exchanged a look. - -"There is 'the greatest thing in the world' working again," he said. - -They had just finished dessert when Miss Wilbur was called to the -telephone. - -"Ask him to come up to my room," she answered. - -"Is it--Uncle Nick?" asked Bert, his light extinguished. - -"No," returned Mrs. Lowell, smiling reassuringly. "You must remember I -told you he is not coming." - -Philip gave the boy his gay smile. "Bert thought he was going to make a -thousand dollars," he said; but the rusty springs of the lad's mind -could not respond quickly. He looked at the young man questioningly. -"Don't you remember," added Philip, "we have a bet up, one thousand -dollars to a cent?" - -The boy did not answer. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Nothing -which could be said was able entirely to quiet the apprehension that his -uncle would walk in upon him, surrounded as he was by forbidden -companions, and a luxury which his tyrant had not been invited to share. - -"The gentleman who is coming to call on us is one who knew your mother," -said Mrs. Lowell. "You will like to meet him." - -"Is he--is he angry with her, too?" asked the boy quickly. - -"No, dear child," returned Mrs. Lowell, compassion surging through her -for this young life which knew so much of anger and so little of -anything else. - -The noiseless waiters were removing all signs of the luncheon when the -door opened and Luther Wrenn entered. - -As soon as he had greeted the ladies and Philip had been introduced, his -smooth-shaven, keen face at once centered on the boy. Mrs. Lowell, her -hand on Bert's arm, guided him to stand. - -"This is Herbert Gayne, Mr. Wrenn, and this is your mother's friend, -Bertie." - -The boy's plaintive, spiritless gaze and the passive hand which the -lawyer took bore out all he had heard of him, but Mrs. Lowell's -expressive face was courageous and the lawyer sat down beside Herbert -Loring's heir determined not to be outdone by her in hopefulness. Of -course, he had been painstakingly told every detail concerning the boy -which Mrs. Lowell had discovered, and it was a very kindly look with -which he regarded his new client as they were seated near together. - -"I brought my introduction with me, Herbert," he said, and feeling in a -breast-pocket he drew forth the card photograph which had yesterday been -put into his hands. - -Color streamed over the boy's face when he saw it. "It is--it is like -one I lost," he said, and he held it between his hands, studying it. - -"You shall have this one, then," said Mr. Wrenn. "I was fond of your -mother, Herbert." - -"They were angry with her," said the boy, and his lip quivered at some -memory. - -"Yes, her father felt very badly because she went away from him, but he -has gone to her now. Did you know that?" - -The boy lifted his eyes to the thin, kindly face. "No," he said. - -"Yes," went on Mr. Wrenn quietly. "Her father has gone to her in that -pleasant world where she is." - -"I want to go," burst forth the boy, holding the picture tightly. - -"All in good time," returned the lawyer. "You have some work to do for -her here first." - -"Do you mean--weed the garden?" - -"I mean quite a lot of very pleasant things. I'll tell you about them -later." - -"But Uncle Nick won't--won't let me. He--I don't know whether I can hide -this picture." A sudden panic seemed to seize the boy, and he looked -toward the door. It was not possible that his uncle would not come in -upon all these totally forbidden proceedings. - -"See here, Herbert,"--Mr. Wrenn leaned toward the lad, speaking very -kindly. "I think it quite likely that you will never see your uncle -again." - -Some thought made the boy's eyes dilate. "He hasn't--gone where--where -my mother is--has he?" - -"No." - -"I'm--I'm glad. He'd--he'd spoil heaven," declared Bertie earnestly. - -Luther Wrenn nodded slowly. "An excellent description," he said. The -three observers of the interview smiled. "Do you think you might adopt -me in his place?" added the lawyer. - -"He--he wouldn't let me. He'll come," said the boy with conviction. - -"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn, with reassuring calm, "I know more about -this than you do. I talked with your uncle yesterday and I think he will -give you to me." - -The boy's lips fell apart and he stared at the speaker gravely. - -"To me, and to Mrs. Lowell. How would you like that?" - -It was evident that this information could not be credited entirely, but -the boy glanced around at Mrs. Lowell, who still sat close beside him, -and she looked as if she believed this marvel. Unconsciously he pressed -the picture against his breast. Luther Wrenn regarded the thin wrists -and ankles protruding from the worn coat and trousers. - -"Have you your sketch of your mother?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "Will you -show it to Mr. Wrenn?" - -The boy put his hand in a pocket and drew out the small folded square, -and the lawyer felt some obstruction in his throat as he saw the worn -tissue paper and the morsel of oiled silk being so tenderly unrolled. - -"When I lost the one like--like this, I tried to--to make another," the -boy explained. - -Luther Wrenn put on his eye-glasses and examined the little sketch. He -looked at Mrs. Lowell and nodded. "Save this," he said to the boy. "Go -on being careful of it, for you will always be glad you made it, but you -need never hide anything again. Do you understand that? We will get a -case for this photograph so you can carry it in your pocket, and I can -have an enlargement made of it so you can have it framed on your wall." - -"I haven't--haven't any money," said Bertie, overwhelmed by these novel -prospects, and convinced that this kindly visitor must be laboring under -some great delusion. "I just have--have one cent, but--but I have to -give that to--to Mr. Barrison if Uncle Nick doesn't--doesn't beat me. He -bet me a thousand dollars." - -Luther Wrenn gave a queer broken sort of laugh and wiped his -eye-glasses. "Mr. Barrison has won," he said. "Always pay your debts, -Herbert." - -"Do you mean I--I shall give him the cent?" - -"Your last cent, yes. He was right, you see, and it belongs to him." - -The boy took out the penny and, rising gravely, crossed to Philip and -proffered the coin. - -Philip accepted it and bowed. "You are an honorable gentleman," he said. - -Bert returned quickly to his chair and again possessed himself of the -picture which he had given Mrs. Lowell to hold during the financial -transaction. - -"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn slowly, "I see that you were thinking -that photograph cases and frames cost money. You will be glad to know -that your grandfather--your mother's father, who has now gone to -her--has left you some of his money. If you think of anything especial -that you would like to have while you are here in Boston, you can buy -it." - -No one present ever forgot the boy's face as he spoke, looking up into -the lawyer's eyes. "A pencil?" he said. - -Luther Wrenn nodded and swallowed again. "Yes, pencils, paper, -sketch-blocks, brushes, paints, anything you want. Just tell Mr. -Barrison. I think he will take you out presently and get you the clothes -you need--" The boy looked down over his old suit, quite dazed, and more -than ever certain that all this must be a dream and that he should waken -on his cot at the island and find the familiar dark face bending over -him and some greeting, like "Get up, stupid," assailing his ears. - -But he did not waken. Mrs. Lowell put her arm around his shoulders and -gave him a little squeeze, and when he looked up he found her smiling at -him. - -Mr. Wrenn addressed her. "The more I see of the boy, the more I -recognize a resemblance to his mother." He rose and crossed to Philip, -who got to his feet. "Mr. Barrison, we are greatly indebted to you, and -we wish to be more so. Can you oblige us by dressing this young client -of mine this afternoon?" - -"Delighted," replied Philip. - -"What has he brought with him?" - -"A brush and comb and toothbrush, all veterans, and all wounded." - -"Very well. If you will get for him everything a boy needs for the -remainder of the summer only, I shall be greatly obliged. Mrs. Lowell -will make the list, I am sure, and you can help her if she gets lost. -Have everything charged to me. Here is my card with the order, and here -is a check for your traveling expenses on this trip." - -"It is too much," said Philip as he saw the figure. - -"Pretty accurate," said the lawyer. "I am calculating that you will stay -in town over one night at least. If there is a balance you might send -some roses to"--the door opened and a very dignified and extremely -curious little lady entered: a quite plump and not entirely pleased -little lady--"some roses to Mrs. Wilbur," finished the lawyer. - -"Do you hear that, Mrs. Wilbur?" asked Philip. "Mr. Wrenn is telling me -I may send you roses. Is that one word for me and two for himself?" - -The lady shrugged her marvelously fitted shoulders, but she smiled. Even -she could not help responding to Philip's vital spark. "It is my own -private feeling that some attention should be paid to me," she returned, -lifting her chin. - -Philip approached her. "Name your color!" he exclaimed with an air of -devotion. - -"I think it will be a real pleasure to him, Mamma," said Diana, smiling, -"to turn from an immersion in sublunary matters like socks and neckties -to a poetic purchase." - -"Why should Mr. Barrison be about to bathe in socks and neckties?" - -"He is kind enough to take the matter off my hands, Mrs. Wilbur, and -make our young friend fit," said the lawyer. - -The lady lifted her lorgnette and surveyed the silent boy. - -Mr. Wrenn approached him. "Herbert, you have no reason to like the name -of Gayne. What do you say to dropping it? What do you say to being -Herbert Loring, Second?" - -"If Mrs. Lowell says so," he responded. He might have said: "What's in a -name?" For the excited color had settled in his cheeks. Let them call -him what they liked. He was going, boldly and unafraid, to have a -pencil. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE HEIR - - -Luther Wrenn gave himself the luxury of calling at the Copley-Plaza the -next morning, perhaps as a bracer for his afternoon appointment. When he -sent up his name, he received a summons to come to a room on the floor -above Diana's. - -Entering, he found the group he had left yesterday, minus Mrs. Wilbur, -chatting and laughing before a boy's wardrobe spread out on the bed. As -he shook hands with the boy himself, the lawyer looked him over with -satisfaction. From the barber to the haberdasher, the lad had evidently -been served well; and though pale and thin, Herbert Loring, Second, -stood there a credit to his name already, and full of promise for the -future. A wardrobe trunk in steamer size stood at one side of the room -and a fine suitcase beside it. - -"Is everything all right, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn, with a hand on the -boy's shoulder and his eyes wandering over the variety of apparel laid -out on the bed. "Nothing seems to be missing." - -"I have--I have blue pyjamas," said the boy. - -"And did they sleep all right, eh?" - -"They did not," said Philip. "I had the other room opening off Bert's -bath and I prowled once in a while to see how the land lay, and the -electric light was evidently too easy. He was always examining his box." - -"What box is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn. - -The boy was keeping lifted eyes on him, not quite sure whether this -dispenser of gifts was going to be displeased at the burning of midnight -electricity. At the question he hurried to a table and brought the new -sketching materials which had interfered with his dreams. - -Mr. Wrenn gave the boy's shoulder a little shake and laughed. "They -won't run away in the night," he said. "Better sleep and keep your eyes -bright. When do you plan to return to the island, Mrs. Lowell?" - -She was sitting with Diana by the bed, where they were sewing markers on -Bert's new possessions. "If your afternoon interview proves -satisfactory, and you can arrange that we shall not be molested, I think -we might go to-morrow," she replied. - -"Want to go back to the island, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn. The appealing -eyes, so like Helen Loring's, were winning him more and more with their -trustfulness. - -"I--I don't care where we go if he--if nobody takes me away from--from -Mrs. Lowell." - -"You dear youngster," said that lady, her swift needle stitching busily. - -"Well, it is my intention that nobody shall, for the present. Of course, -when these charming ladies hamper themselves with husbands, it brings in -an element of uncertainty. What sort of a man is Monroe Lowell, now? I -suppose his wife is entirely impartial." - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The finest ever," she said, "but I see signs of -impatience beginning to show in his letters. So I hope he will soon join -us. Probably I know what you are thinking of, Mr. Wrenn, but let us not -cross any bridges until we come to them. The right way is sure to open." - -The lawyer nodded. "I will let you have a bulletin as soon as the final -farewells are said this afternoon. I hope to secure the island from -further intrusion." - -Diana looked up from her work. "Would it not be well to offer him money -not to return?" - -Philip, who was engaged in snipping the markers apart, spoke: "If he -comes, I can take the bone of contention to my place until the hurricane -is passed." - -"I am quite certain he will not go," said Mrs. Lowell quietly. - -"Why is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn. "I must confess to some qualms myself." - -"Because it is not right for him to go," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"My dear young lady," the lawyer smiled, "if that is the only ground for -your belief, my limited observation of the gentleman suggests that he -never has done anything right in his life unless by accident. But no -money, Miss Diana. Start that once with that individual and you will be -purchasing something from him at intervals the rest of his life. I must -be off. Good-bye, Herbert." - -The boy started. He had been hanging over his treasures and handling -them, oblivious to everything around him. This gentleman, who knew his -mother and had showered upon him so many benefits, was looking at him -now with kind, serious eyes, and Bert became mindful of a little talk -Mrs. Lowell had had with him this morning. - -He walked up to the lawyer and held out his slender hand. "I thank -you--sir," he said. - -"Good boy. I will see you again before you leave," and, bowing to the -others, Mr. Wrenn went out, Philip accompanying him to the elevator. - -"Thank you, Mr. Barrison, for your good offices," he said as they shook -hands. - -"Never had so much fun in my life," said Philip. "Made me wish I had -half a dozen of my own and the coin to treat them like that." - -The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon him and smiled. "Are events shaping -themselves toward that end? That extremely charming young woman who has -been making you the slave of the lamp is enough to turn any man's head." - -Philip flushed. "Any man's head _would_ be turned," he responded -quickly, "if he thought of her as approachable. No, some common mortal -for me some day, I hope, but she's a goddess, you know." - -The young fellow smiled and the lawyer still regarded him, and placed a -hand on his shoulder. - -"Never let anything like money rob you," he said slowly and with -emphasis. "Goddesses have been known to stoop to mortals before this." - -"I think her parents would see to that," responded Philip, laughing. - -The elevator came, and with one more nod of farewell the lawyer -disappeared. - -"Fierce job he's got before him," muttered Philip as he returned to the -dry goods, refusing to allow his mind to dwell on his new friend's -surpassingly ignorant suggestions. - -Promptly at the appointed time Nicholas Gayne presented himself at the -lawyer's office and was admitted to the sanctum. His air of assurance -almost reached the swaggering stage, and his "How are you?" breathed a -suggestion of a fortifying beverage. Without waiting for permission, he -fell into the chair near the desk. - -"Well, are you satisfied?" he asked triumphantly. - -"Yes, I am satisfied that the boy is my old friend's grandson." - -"I knew you would be. Now, how soon do you think you can fix it up?" - -"Fix what up?" - -"The inheritance." - -"I told you the boy was not mentioned in the will." - -"I know that, but what's the law for if it can't get justice done?" came -the impatient question, and Gayne's chin shot out belligerently. - -"It can and will get justice done," said Luther Wrenn slowly, "but it -will take time." - -"Oh, of course, I know it will, but you can advance money on a sure -thing, and I'll make it worth your while as soon as the cash is in my -hands." - -"In yours?" The lawyer tapped his desk with a paper-cutter. - -"Yes. I told you the boy's delicate. He needs care." - -"I'm sure he does. It may take a year to straighten out the matter of -the will." - -"It don't need to," said Gayne angrily. "I've had the expense of Bert -for five years and I ought to be reimbursed and provided with enough -money to care for him right, until he gets all that's coming to him." - -Luther Wrenn looked for a silent minute at the dark, impatient face and -thick, powerful shoulders and hands, and recalled the boy's panic. - -"I have obtained a good deal of information as to the occurrences of the -past years as they affect Mr. Loring's grandson," he said quietly, and -his visitor scowled at him, startled. - -"I'm a poor man," he blustered. "I told you I hadn't been able to care -for him right." - -"If you would like," went on the lawyer slowly, "to be relieved of the -boy, I am willing to take charge of him from now on for his mother's -sake." - -"For his mother's sake," sneered Gayne. "You know damned well that it's -because you know you can get hold of the money that ought to be his." - -"You have been drinking, Mr. Gayne, and the reason I don't have you put -out of the office is because we shall never meet again, and it is always -well to settle matters out of court if possible. I am going to tell you, -instead of asking a judge to do so, why I am taking Helen Loring's boy -away from you." - -"Lambert Gayne's boy and my nephew!" roared Gayne. "Where do you get -that stuff? Take him away from me, after all the expense--" - -"Be quiet, Mr. Gayne, or I shall have to forego my peaceful plans. I -have a man outside prepared to take you; so it would be better for you -to listen to me." - -Nicholas Gayne looked behind him in angry amazement. - -"What have you done for that helpless boy?" went on Wrenn quietly. -"Have you endeavored to have him properly taught and cared for? Have you -allowed him the happiness, which would have cost you nothing, of -exercising the talent inherited from his mother?" - -"I'm a poor man,"--the declaration came with a loud burst. "He couldn't -spend his time like a nabob." - -"No. So you took no pains to have him educated. You allowed him to be -made to scrub floors and wash windows and do any menial work which a -lazy, dissolute woman could put upon him. You allowed a creature like -Cora to be his companion, caring less than nothing for the possible -degradation of the boy's mind and body." - -Nicholas Gayne started up from his chair, purple in the face with -surprise and fury. - -"All this you did with the one single base intention of so beating down -any sign of mental efficiency in your nephew that in time you could get -the handling of his heritage." - -As the words fell clearly and concisely from the lawyer's lips, Nicholas -Gayne's muddled brain worked fast. Where could this devil of a lawyer -have learned so much in two days? The boy was at the island. It must be -the women. That Mrs. Lowell! But how could she have connected Bert with -Herbert Loring in the first place, and how could she, with her slight -opportunity, have elicited so much from the dull boy and communicated -with Luther Wrenn? Gayne wished his brain were clearer, but, looking at -the stony calm of the lawyer's face and the cold accusation in his eyes, -he realized that the combination of legal power and money made it very -hard in instances like this for a poor man like himself to get his -rights. - -"Now, I will detain you only a minute longer, Mr. Gayne. Herbert Loring, -Second, as he will after this be called, is now at the Copley-Plaza with -friends." Gayne stared and seized the back of the chair from which he -had risen, apparently for support. "I shall provide for him as I think -best. It is too early as yet to tell whether your criminal treatment of -the child has worked permanent injury. Time and the tenderest, wisest -care will be necessary to establish that, and, meanwhile, you will be -left in freedom. We desire to avoid all publicity, and, if you keep out -of the way and do not intrude and awaken in the boy brutal and sad -associations, we may succeed in restoring him to a normal condition, -but, I assure you, if you even show your face near the boy or interfere -in any degree, you will be called upon to answer serious charges, and -witnesses will be easy to procure." - -The purple had faded from Nicholas Gayne's face and it was ashy under -the sunburn. He opened his lips to speak, but no sound came. Mr. Wrenn -touched a button on his desk and the office door opened. Gayne started -and looked toward it. - -"I feel that we understand each other perfectly, Mr. Gayne," said the -lawyer, pleasantly. "Good-afternoon." - -Nicholas Gayne mumbled something and, moving as swiftly as his unsteady -knees would permit, he disappeared from that office, fear engulfing all -his other emotions. He wondered which of the men in plain clothes, whom -he saw moving about outside, was the one who might have been his escort. - -Luther Wrenn took up the telephone and called Diana. - -"Mr. Wrenn speaking." - -An excited voice answered, all serenity thrown to the winds. "Oh, Mr. -Wrenn, is it over?" - -"Yes, Miss Diana, and very satisfactorily. I'm a little tired and I -believe I won't make you another call to-day." - -"I'm _sure_ you must be tired," sympathetically. - -"I just wanted you and Mrs. Lowell to know that you may plan to take the -nine o'clock train for Portland to-morrow morning with as much freedom -as if our precious uncle had passed away from the planet." - -"Thank you, thank you." - -"And, by the way, Miss Diana, you may tell Mr. Barrison, too." - -"Oh, of course, I should." - -"Do you know, I find him a very engaging young man. Why, why are your -cheeks blooming so? Can't one say as much as that for relaxation after a -nasty quarter of an hour?" - -A soft gurgle of laughter went to the listening lawyer. - -"I did not know you ever condescended to such play, Mr. Wrenn." - -"Well, don't tell, will you? My best wishes to you all, and especially -to Herbert, and tell him I shall come to the island to look him over in -a short time." - -"Do. Mr. Barrison will take you fishing." - -"Is he always successful? Does he know just what bait to use?" - -Another soft gurgle. "You don't understand, Mr. Wrenn. He uses too much -bait. He catches too many fish. Good-bye. My mother has just come in. -She is going with us to Maine." A pause. "She hopes to see you there. -Good-bye." - -Before the arrival of the Copley-Plaza contingent at the island, Matt -Blake received the following letter: - - - _Dear Matt_: - - You know the business that brought me to Boston. I proved my - position all right. The old man's lawyer couldn't deny it, but the - boy, not being named in the will, as, of course, I knew he wouldn't - be, the lawyer said it would take a long time before he could get - anything for Bert, and advised me to put the boy into his hands. So - I'm going to let him run matters to suit himself. - - I'm asking you if you will be good enough to pack up my stuff at - the island and send everything on C.O.D. to the address on the card - I enclose. You know what I found at the farm, but I've got to wait - till I can get some backing before I can do anything about it. Keep - it under your hat, though. You know what I left at the farm, too: - out in the kitchen. Take that for your trouble. I don't know what - I'm going to do next. What I do know is that a lawyer has no more - blood than a turnip, and that a man can go to the expense and - trouble of taking care of a boy for five years and then be asked to - hand him over to those that know he'll have money, without even a - thank you for all he has done. I'm disgusted with the world. - - Your friend, - NICHOLAS GAYNE - - -When he read this, Matt Blake looked off thoughtfully, his thin lips -twitching. - -"I hope Phil Barrison can tell me all that's between those lines," he -thought. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -DIANA'S IDEAL - - -"Come here, Aunt Priscilla," called Veronica at the top of her lungs. It -was a joyous call, and Miss Burridge hurried into the dining-room where, -a few minutes before, she had left Veronica sweeping, and found her -standing still and confronting a boy who stood, hat in hand, while on -the floor beside him reposed a new and handsome suitcase. - -"Would you know him, Aunt Priscilla?" - -Miss Burridge pulled down her spectacles and gazed at the trim figure -with the immaculately brushed and parted hair. - -"It ain't Bertie Gayne? Why, it is! Where are the other folks? Somebody -has been being awful good to you." - -How could it be possible that the boy they sent away a few days ago -could be the same one who looked at them now with happy eyes and a faint -smile. - -"They're coming," he answered. "Mr. Blake brought me up--in his wagon, -and the others had to wait--for the car, and they were going to take a -drive." - -Matt Blake here appeared in the open doorway from the piazza, bearing -on his back a shining new trunk. - -"Where's this going?" he asked. - -"I'll show you," said the boy, and they made a procession up the stairs, -Bert leading and the women bringing up the rear, full to the lips of -questions ready to pour out upon Matt, who was smiling, eyes twinkling -under his burden, at the amazed countenances of Miss Burridge and -Veronica. - -"Where's your Uncle Nick?" asked Veronica when they reached the bedroom. - -"No," said Bert quickly; "no, he isn't coming." - -"Isn't?" cried Miss Burridge as Blake set the trunk down. "Matt, has Mr. -Gayne come into money?" - -"This Mr. Gayne has," returned Blake, grinning and indicating the boy. - -"No, my name isn't Gayne any more," said Bert gravely. "I am Herbert -Loring, Second." - -"That so?" said Matt. "There you have it, ladies. You've read about the -Prince and the Pauper, haven't you? You sent away the pauper and got -back the prince." - -"Yes," said the boy; "my grandfather gave me all these things because -he didn't need money any more." - -While the boy spoke, Blake noticed that he was looking at Nicholas -Gayne's trunk. - -"Kind o' in the way, ain't it? That's a good place for yours to stand. -We'll pull Mr. Gayne's trunk out here where I can pack it. He wants me -to send him all his things." - -Bert's face looked as if sunlight suddenly struck it. It was as if now -only he entirely credited the fact that there was nothing to apprehend -in the way of a reckoning. - -"You are going to send all Uncle Nick's things to him?" - -"Yes, everything but you," replied Matt jocosely. - -"But I--I don't belong to him any more," explained Bert eagerly. "He -gave me to--to the lawyer." - -"Good work," said Blake, and, lifting the lid of the old trunk, he fell -to opening the dresser drawers. - -"Matt Blake," said Miss Burridge, "_will_ you tell me what has -happened?" - -"Ever hear of Herbert Loring, one o' Boston's rich men? Well, he died -suddenly and this boy's his grandson, and the lawyer has persuaded Mr. -Gayne to take his hands off." As an addendum to his explanation, Matt -bestowed upon Miss Burridge a wink which seemed to say: "More anon." - -"And Mr. Gayne isn't coming back?" asked Miss Burridge, sundry financial -considerations occurring to her. - -"I guess he'll pay up all right," said Blake, reading her thought. "You -make out what he owes. I'll see to it. Come on, Herbert Loring, help me -to get your uncle's duds together so I won't be packing any o' yours." - -"That wouldn't make--make any difference," said the boy, "because Mrs. -Lowell said for me not to wear them any more." And he turned to with a -will, emptying dresser and closet while Matt packed. - -"I hear the motor," said Veronica suddenly. - -Miss Burridge had been in a flutter ever since Diana's telegram, saying -that her mother and maid would return with her. Miss Priscilla's outlook -on life was placidly democratic, but somehow the prospect of having to -care for the wife of the steel magnate loomed as something overwhelming. -She and Veronica hurried downstairs to meet the guests. Mrs. Lowell and -Diana were in high spirits. Léonie had fortunately discovered some -resemblance in the island to a fishing village of her childhood and had -sat with Bill Lindsay on the front seat coming up. He understood her -trim appearance, even if half of what she said so volubly was lost to -him. - -The springs of the machine were not reminiscent of Mrs. Wilbur's -Rolls-Royce, and her lorgnette had not yet been able to discover what -charm this corner of the world had exercised upon her daughter. She had -been predisposed, from her first view of Philip Barrison, to give him -the credit, or discredit; and during the trip from Boston, she had kept -one eye upon every move he or Diana had made toward the other. But the -examination had revealed nothing. Philip had not even been assiduous -toward herself. She would have suspected that instantly. As a matter of -fact, almost all the way to Portland, he had concentrated his attention -on a book of Brahms' songs, which were welcomed effusively by a -curly-headed Irishman in white sweater and trousers who met them when -they landed from the island steamer. - -"Is it the mother of the goddess, then?" he said when he was presented. -"You lost your heart, I'm sure, to that ride down the bay, Mrs. -Wilbur." - -"It was very lovely. I should like to come around here in the yacht -sometime. The rudder chain, or whatever it was on that little boat, -nearly banged a hole in my head." - -Diana smiled on Kelly. "Mamma has begun roughing it, that's all," she -said. "I warned her." - -Philip had telephoned down to bespeak the motor in order that the august -Mrs. Wilbur might not be obliged to linger on the wharf where, on -account of the adjacent fish-house, the odors were not always of Araby, -and the only seat was a weather-worn board a little wider than a -knife-blade. - -Diana leaned out of the car just before they drove away and offered him -her hand. "Have I thanked you nearly enough, Mr. Barrison?" she asked, -and Barney Kelly observed her melting eyes. "You have filled in every -need and been an untold help to us all in this affair. Even Mr. Wrenn -said the nicest things about you." - -"And about you," returned Philip pressing her willing hand. "I think Mr. -Wrenn has had the time of his life the last few days." - -"It has been very exciting, very happy--" - -"Had we not better start, Diana?" put in Mrs. Wilbur. "I just caught a -glimpse of a dreadful fish over there by a post. Do they catch whales -here?" - -"They stop at nothing, Mrs. Wilbur," Barney assured her. "Good-bye, -good-bye." - -The motor sped off with a grinding noise. - -"You've put in your time well, eh, Barrison?" - -"What makes you think so?" - -"My word! If Miss Wilbur ever turned those lamps on me with that look in -them, I'd fly right in and singe my wings for life." - -"I don't intend to singe mine," said Philip quietly. "They think I've -been useful in this one-act play they've been staging and they are -grateful, that's all. The goddess is as transparent and honest as any -child that ever lived. She doesn't want to light any flame for the moth, -she has far too big a soul. Did you notice that the boy I took away -looked different from the one we brought back to-day?" - -"It wasn't the same one, was it?" - -"Yes, with a few renovations in mind and body. I'll tell you about it as -we go along." - - -When Mrs. Wilbur went out on the Inn piazza and was assailed with the -island sights and odors, the snowy daisy drifts, the dark evergreens, -the rock-lashed foam dragging at the pebbles and flinging them back with -a never-ceasing crescendo and diminuendo, the soaring, sweeping gulls -above and beneath the blue, she did not speak for a time, and it was a -place where her lorgnette failed. - -Léonie, however, kept up a joyous undertone. "Mais, c'est comme chez -moi. C'est vraiment comme chez moi, et Mr. Beel, he will take me to see -ze poisson." - -"Mr. Beel" kept his word, and not once, but many times, did Mrs. Wilbur -look about vainly for her maid in a place where there was no bell to -ring for her, and no clocks for her to see when she was without, and -Bill's motor was running up and down the road in such a convenient way -for him to stop and take on an eager passenger, for whom no fishing boat -was too dirty, and who could swim as well as any fish in the bay. - -"Do let her go, Mamma," Diana said one morning when they were alone. -"She is having a real vacation. When you are once attired and your hair -is dressed, can I not perform any other office for you?" - -"But I don't know which is the maid, Léonie or I," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"First she had to have a sweater and I sent for that. Then she wanted a -bathing-suit and I sent for that. Then she bought herself some fishing -tackle and, if she can't get out in a boat, she sits on the wharf with -her feet hanging over and fishes for those--those--" - -"Cunners?" suggested Diana. - -"Yes; and she knows every one of the island boys, and how does she know -when I need her? She doesn't think anything about it." - -"That's it," returned Diana, nodding. "She has lost her head. That is -what we all do. You will, too, Mamma. I heard you laughing and laughing -with Mr. Kelly yesterday." - -"He is such a droll creature," said Mrs. Wilbur, with a reminiscent -smile. "It's such a queer place here," she went on with a puzzled brow. -"You could put this whole Inn into the ballroom at Newport, and there -isn't space enough to turn around in the little rooms; yet out of doors -it is all space, and something in the air makes you want to run and -jump. I might as well tell you, Diana, my mind is just getting set at -rest on the subject of Mr. Barrison. Your craze for this place seemed -unnatural, and when I first saw him in Boston, I suspected that he was -the cause." The lady met her daughter's calm eyes which contradicted her -changing color. - -"What should have disturbed you about that?" asked the girl quietly. - -"Disturbed me! That you should have come off here alone and fallen in -love with nobody knows who?" - -"Oh, a good many people are learning who. That is really the chief -trouble with him: I mean from a girl's standpoint. He is rapidly -becoming one of the stars of the musical world." - -"And why is that a drawback?" Mrs. Wilbur began to feel somewhat -bewildered by her daughter's attitude. - -Diana's color was rather high, but she turned toward her mother with -entire calm. "I am not going to marry a man whom other women besiege. My -husband will be rather short. I think he will stoop and be nearsighted -and wear spectacles. He will incline to baldness, but he will be very -charming--to me, and he will be mine." The smile that accompanied this -declaration was so winning that Mrs. Wilbur was startled. - -"Diana, have you met any such person?" she returned. "I don't like the -sound of him at all!" - -"Not yet," admitted Diana. "But I keep him in mind. He fights off other -types." - -"Supposing," said Mrs. Wilbur sharply, "some very desirable man, as -attractive as Mr. Barrison, for instance, were to say he wouldn't marry -you, because you are too pretty--other men would look at you." - -"You do think he is attractive, do you, Mamma?" - -"Why--certainly," returned Mrs. Wilbur, not quite sure even yet that the -admission was safe. - -"The cases are not parallel," said Diana. "Women as a rule are more -faithful, and men are conceited. The average man must have severe -lessons before he believes that the woman who has loved him will turn to -some one else." - -"Why, Diana, I am surprised at you. You talk in such a sophisticated -way; but, my dear, let me remind you that you have some one beside -yourself to please when you marry. Your father may give you an unlimited -check-book, but he won't give you _carte blanche_ when it comes to -marrying. He isn't going to welcome into the family any insignificant -little scarecrow such as you are counting on." - -If Philip wanted to hear Diana laugh, it was a pity he wasn't near now, -for she burst forth so merrily that Veronica peeped out the window. - -"I see you are going to be as difficult as I am, Mamma," she said at -last. - -It was soon after this that the cottage people with one accord begged -Philip to give a recital in the hall. The summer colony was an -appreciative and cultured one. Many of them had known Philip from his -boyhood, and were watching his career with interest. So it was an -occasion of intimacy and delight. - -When the evening arrived, the hall was decked with flowers, and the -singer and his accompanist appeared in white flannels. Philip was his -own programme, announcing his songs and receiving at times stentorian -requests for special encores. - -Mrs. Wilbur, as she looked and listened, felt that she gained an -understanding of Diana's arguments: not that, in any case, she desired -this young man for a son-in-law, but she was greatly surprised at the -beauty of his voice and his art. It was a feast he gave them that night -in the uncalculating opulence of his youth and strength: Arias from -"Bohčme" and "La Tosca"; the "Dream Song" from "Manon"; ballads; a group -of modern French songs; another of old English. Barney Kelly's -accompanying was perfect. He was among strangers, and he was as serious -throughout as if they were performing in Carnegie Hall. Despite the fact -that the piano was an upright, he played a group of Chopin, Palmgren, -and Debussy with great charm, and the contingent from the Inn led the -strong applause. As he bowed, Kelly recognized Veronica's rosy, serious -face and wildly active hands. - -At the close of the recital, Mrs. Wilbur was more excited than she had -been for years. - -"He's _wonderful_, Diana," she said, standing up while she was still in -the throes of hand-clapping. "_Wonderful!_ We must try to get him for an -October date in Pittsfield. Our room is quite large enough. He will make -a sensation." - -"Yes," said Diana, rather faintly. "That is the easiest thing he does." -Her face was pale. The possible charmer with the bald head and -spectacles had had a hard fight to-night. - -Barney Kelly disappeared through some back door while Philip's -enthusiastic friends gathered around him, and Veronica dashed out on the -front piazza, cleared the steps in two bounds, and the July moon aided -her progress between the bushes to the back of the hall where a figure -in white was straying. - -"Mr. Kelly," she called breathlessly, "you were perfectly splendid. Why -didn't you stay and let the people tell you so?" - -"Oh, I don't know them," said Barney carelessly. "And they want to eat -up Barrison." - -"But they want to eat up you, too. Didn't you see how crazy they were -about that last funny out-of-tune thing you played?" - -Kelly laughed. - -"And don't you go away; they're going to dance." - -"Oh, do they want me to play?" - -"Don't you dare to play! Don't you dare to let them know you can." -Barney laughed again. "Well, of course, they know now you can, but not -dance music." - -"You're a very nice child, Veronica." Barney looked at her little -dimpled rose face, and the pale green dress she wore. - -"Well, if I am, then come around to the front piazza with me. They're -setting back the chairs." - -Meanwhile Mrs. Wilbur was drawing Diana toward the group surrounding -Philip. "I don't know what to say to you that won't sound too effusive," -she said as soon as she could get his attention and his hand. "Will you -come to us in October and sing a recital?" - -"I shall be glad to, if I can. I will see about my dates." As Philip -replied, he looked at Diana. She gave him a pale smile and said nothing. -More people approached and Mrs. Wilbur drew away, her daughter with her. - -"Miss Diana," said Philip, across the heads of the crowd, "they are -going to dance. Will you stay?" - -Diana nodded. "You like to dance, Mamma. You stay, too." - -"Oh, not in this little place where everybody will be stepping on every -one else. Beside, Léonie's beau is waiting outside to take us home. I -will go with Miss Burridge and tell Bill to come back for you in an -hour. I suppose you don't need a chaperon for I don't see your ideal -here to-night, Diana," in a lowered voice. "You were right about Mr. -Barrison. Let us pray that women don't make a complete fool of him. You -don't look just right, dear. Don't stay late. I'll tell Bill to come -back in an hour. Oh, there is that comical Mr. Kelly." Mrs. Wilbur -sailed up to him. "Thank you so much for this evening. You were -delightful, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Barrison is most fortunate in having -you." - -"But you're not going, Mrs. Wilbur?" - -"Yes; good-night." - -"No, not until you've danced once with me. There, the music is just -going to begin." And, sure enough, Miss Burridge stood back and waited -while Mrs. Wilbur's little satin-clad feet tripped lightly around in the -dance with the volatile Barney, and she talked to him about the date in -October and promised she would dance with him again at that time. - -Mrs. Lowell and Herbert had been enjoying the concert and had told -Philip so, and now stood back watching the dancing. - -"Would you like to learn to dance?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"No." - -"It sounds better to say, 'No, Mrs. Lowell,' or, 'No, I thank you.'" - -"Then I will," said the boy. - -"I like to dance," said Mrs. Lowell, "and I wish you would learn." - -"Then I will," said the boy again. - -The music had thrilled his artist soul. It seemed all a part of the -entrancing night, a part of the safe world of love into which he had -been guided. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -MOONLIGHT - - -Mrs. Wilbur looked back into the hall from the piazza before she stepped -into the motor. Diana was already dancing with Philip Barrison. She -watched their smooth movements for a minute, then turned to Mrs. Lowell -who had just emerged with her boy. - -"This--this gathering, this settlement here, seems rather like a family -party, doesn't it?" she said, with a sort of troubled curiosity. - -"Yes; nearly all of these people have known each other for many -summers." - -"I feel a little strange to go and leave Diana." - -"I don't think you need," replied Mrs. Lowell. - -"I suppose," said Mrs. Wilbur, "if the steed were going to be stolen, it -would have happened before this. The stable door has been open for -weeks." - -"Quite so," said Mrs. Lowell, laughing. "It is so light, Bert and I are -going to walk up to the Inn." - -"I am going to send the car back for Diana in one hour," declared Mrs. -Wilbur. Her daughter's theories were all very well, but this was a -distractingly beautiful night and the echoes of that marvelous voice -were even yet thrilling her own nerves. Léonie was sitting at the front -of the car with Bill Lindsay, and Mrs. Wilbur mounted into the back seat -with Miss Burridge. - -"I suppose Miss Veronica will return with my daughter," she said. - -"I only hope so," returned Miss Burridge resignedly. "Mr. Kelly has -promised to see to her." - -"I don't feel like dancing," said Diana, as her partner guided her -through the narrow spaces. - -"No one would suspect it," he replied. "I was just thinking that this -night was to be superlative in all directions." - -"But how can one endure this silly music when '_Manon! Manon!_' is -echoing through the heart!" - -Philip did not reply, nor did he release her until the gay strumming at -the piano ceased. Then they went out on the piazza. The laughing, -chattering young people were streaming out into the air, and occupying -every available seat. The field surrounding the hall was light as day. - -"Let us go down to the rocks," said Philip. - -"I mustn't because my mother is going to send the car back for me in one -hour. You've no idea how firmly my mother can say 'one hour' and mean -it." - -"There should be no rules on a night like this," Philip regarded his -companion, pale in the moonlight as her pale, filmy garments. "I feel -like quoting a choice spirit of my childhood days. He was trying to get -me to go on a tear of some kind with him, and I told him my mother would -worry. He said, 'Oh, come on. Scoldings don't hurt, whippings don't last -long, and she da'sn't kill you.'" - -Diana smiled. "Now that she is here, she likes to tuck me in," she said. - -"I would she had waited until after the moon. Well, let us go to the -near rocks. I will keep watch of the time." - -They went down the populous steps. - -"Oh, Mr. Barrison!" exclaimed a woman upon whom he nearly trod. "What -ecstasy you have given us!" - -It was Miss Emerson. She was cooling off from a dance with Mr. Pratt, -and was in high feather, because neither he nor Mr. Evans knew another -woman present, save Veronica, and her acquaintance, though not wide, -seemed intensive. - -"Yes, that was corking," said Mr. Evans. "We sure do thank you. Say, -folks, I'm tired. I'm going to trot along." - -"Back to the Inn?" asked Philip with interest. - -"Yes. Anything I can do for you?" - -"If you will be so kind. Mrs. Wilbur has just gone. Will you be kind -enough to tell her not to worry if her daughter is a little later than -she expected? Tell her you left her in good hands and we are going to -walk up after a while." - -"Certainly. Be glad to," replied Evans. - -"Oh," breathed Diana, softly, as they moved on into the glory of the -night, "I'm quite sure you should not have done that." - -"Do you want to be shut up in a tin Lizzie to-night?" - -"No, nor anywhere." - -Philip led her to the shore and found a corner among the rocks from -which they could watch the beaten silver of the billows rushing -tumultuously landward, breaking in foam about their eyrie, and slipping -back in myriad bridal veils. - -"There is always one night in the summer, and this is the night," said -Philip. "Think of viewing the moon in company with the goddess herself! -If you only wouldn't mind leaning against my arm. I'm sorry to have that -rock cutting into your dandy gown." - -"Thank you, but it doesn't. I have a very good place here." - -"Comfortable enough to tell me that you liked the music?" - -Diana looked around at him slowly, and he laughed softly. - -"Yes, I know you did. I know if I ever could sing, I sang to-night. -There was something new in it. It taught me something, something I've -been waiting for. They've always told me, my teachers, that the one -thing I needed was to fall in love. It must have happened--happened, -somehow, when I wasn't looking." Philip crossed his arms behind his -head, leaned back and looked at the high sailing moon. "Thank you, great -goddess Diana, I am at your feet. You have dropped upon me a spark of -the divine fire. I build you an altar. The flame shall never go out." - -The girl beside him bit her lip and silence fell between them. The -bright billows swept in and crashed apart. - -"I suppose that is what love means to an artist," she said at last. -"The nourishing of his art. That is all." - -"That is all it can mean to me," he answered; "but isn't it enough? An -object to worship with all a man's strength, receiving the return of -inspiration?" - -She looked at him as he lay there reclining against the rock, his -upturned face not seeking hers. This evening had shown her in miniature -the truth of all she had felt and, because her heart was beating fast, -she clung more strongly than ever to the spectacled gentleman with the -scanty hair. - -"Say something, divine one," he said suddenly, turning to her. - -"Don't confuse me with the moon, Mr. Barrison," she warned him. - -"But at least can't you congratulate me?" - -"Yes, I can, on many things; but--don't fall in love with any ideal less -impersonal than a planet." - -"I don't intend to, but why these words of wisdom?" - -"Because any--any mere mortal girl married to you would be miserable." - -"Oh, come, now!" Philip sat up, and frowned at her with a quizzical -smile. "So you think I ought to try kindness first, do you? Why?" - -Diana turned her fair moonlit face directly to him. "Because you cannot -ever belong to yourself, even. Much less to her." - -"I don't quite get that." - -"I can't speak for all girls, but for myself, if I ever have a husband, -I want--I want to creep off into a corner with him." - -"A corner like this rock?" - -"This is big enough." - -"How would that suit the great Charles Wilbur?" - -"It would not suit him. I know that. The homely little stoop-shouldered -man, with the lovely soul, whom I mean to marry, will not altogether -please my father." - -Philip's eyes grew big in the moonlight. "Have you picked him out?" - -"Yes, as an ideal. Other women will leave me in possession of him." - -"Ah," Philip nodded, "I begin to see." They were both silent again. At -last Philip spoke again. "I deny that that girl you are warning me away -from would have such a rocky time. What do you suppose I should care for -the babble, no matter how kind it was, how sweet even, of other women? -I should see only her." - -"You think so," said Diana. "I know you think so. And at first it would -probably be so, but a singer's appetite for flattery grows. Of course it -does. I'm not blaming you. It's just your career." - -Silence again, until Philip spoke. "Very well, I shall hunt you out in -your corner with your faithful gnome, and I shall beg: (he sang) 'Drink -to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine.'" - -Philip sang the song entirely through, slowly and deliberately, and -Diana closed her eyes, and the laces on her sleeve trembled. The glory -of the night, the glory of the voice were all one. She shrank into her -corner and held desperately to her ideal. - -When he had finished, Philip looked at her. Her head rested back upon -the rock, her eyes were closed. The mysterious light lent her face a -strange radiance. - -"Diana," he said, and there was a thrill in his voice, "you are well -named. Goddess of the moon you certainly are, and this night is an epoch -in my life. I love, and in spite of your skepticism I shall be true." -She opened her eyes and looked at him, and he drew a long, quick -breath. "I can't let you stay here any longer. Your wrap isn't enough. -Now we will sprint up to the Inn. Do you feel like it?" - -"Oh, is it over?" she said softly. - -"Yes, or else it has just begun. I am not sure which," he answered, and -rising he gave her his hand and helped her to her feet. "The moon is no -farther away from me than you," he said in the moment while he held her -hand. "I am not going to forget it." - -"Then it is I!" she thought, with a bound of the heart that turned her -faint. - -They scarcely spoke on the long, heavenly walk up the island. The sea -was starry as the sky with the lights of fishing boats, and -phosphorescence gleamed where the water was in shadow. - -When he took her hand for good-night on the piazza of the Inn, she said: -"I haven't thanked you for this wonderful evening. You know I -do--Philomel." - -He smiled down at her. "That reminds me of our first meeting here. -'Philomel with melody,' you said. I remember what I had been singing, -too. It is still true." He kissed her hand, jumped over the piazza rail, -narrowly missing the sweet peas, and strode away. The girl stood in the -shadow watching the tall, white figure and listening to the waves of -song that floated back through the moonlight. - - - "Thou'rt like unto a flower - So sweet, so pure, so fair--" - - -"What shall I do!" murmured the poor, bewildered moon-goddess on the -piazza. "What shall I _do_!" - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -REUNION - - -There was one case of happiness without drawbacks on the island at this -time. It was in the humble starved heart of Herbert Loring, Second. Each -morning Mrs. Lowell came into his room after breakfast and made his bed, -taught him how to take care of his belongings, and read with him from -the books she loved. All traces of Nicholas Gayne's occupation having -been removed, and every article the boy had used in the past dispensed -with, his fresh new possessions were neatly arranged, and he waked each -morning to a new and wonderful life. Mrs. Lowell encouraged his artistic -work and allowed him to spend as much time upon it as he wished. All -fear being removed, his appetite revived, and one could almost daily see -the flesh return upon his bones. His good friend, finding that his -sapped energies recoiled from muscular effort, did not urge him to swim -or to row, but fed his mind and heart and awaited his rebuilding. - -His story became known on the island, and from being ignored or -contemptuously pitied, the good-looking boy in the simple, smart sports -clothes was the object on all sides of a friendly curiosity, which he -could not understand and frequently rebuffed through his very directness -and inexperience. It was his weekly duty to write to Mr. Wrenn, and this -was a dreaded task, but Mrs. Lowell explained to him that he had his -grandfather's name, and that he must begin to learn to fill his place in -the world; and his pitifully childish writing and misspelling had to be -corrected under the eyes that were still sad at such times. - -"I'm so ignorant, such a baby!" he exclaimed one morning when this trial -was being undergone. - -"But you needn't mind it, need you, since it isn't your fault?" returned -Mrs. Lowell cheerfully. "So many good years are coming for you to study -and learn in." - -"What will happen when the summer is over?" asked the boy. "Are you -going to take me with you? Will Mr. Lowell like me?" - -"Indeed, he will. I am going to have you live near me." - -"Not with you?" - -"No, Bert, that wouldn't be best. I have been corresponding with a very -nice young man whom I have known a long time, and he will be pleased to -live with you and give you lessons." - -"In drawing?" asked the boy. - -"No, sir." Mrs. Lowell gave him the gay, smiling look he liked: it was -so full of everything cheerful and kind. "No, sir, reading and writing -and 'rithmetic." - -"Oh," returned Bert, looking very serious. - -"First you must give your time to study. Education is the foundation. -Then, later, when you have gone through college--Oh, how proud I shall -be when I go to see you graduate!" - -"Shall you ever be proud of me?" asked the boy slowly. - -"If you will let me," she answered. "It all remains with you." - -"Then--then I'll try. I would rather stay with Mr. Blake when you go -away, but if you want me to, I'll live with the young man." - -"You will like him. He is only twenty years old, and he wants to go to -college when he gets money enough. So he is glad to do tutoring now. -That means helping a younger boy to learn." - -"He will laugh at me," remarked Bert, looking off moodily. "I would -rather stay with Mr. Blake and paint the snow on the evergreens." - -"Oh, no, dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "That wouldn't please your -grandfather. Besides, wouldn't you miss me?" - -"I don't like Mr. Lowell," remarked the boy. - -His friend laughed and took his hand between both her own. "We shall all -love each other," she said, "and I shall hope to see you every day." - -Bert thoughtfully visualized the boat carrying her away without him, and -decided to be glad of the other horn of the dilemma. He had learned to -smile, and he did so now, looking at her so trustfully that she patted -his hand as she laid it down. - -"That's a good boy," she said. - - -On the morning after the concert, Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child rather -anxiously. - -"Is it ever considered malarial here?" she asked. - -"The opposite extreme," said Diana. - -"Well, you look pale. You stayed out of doors too long. The night air -anywhere--" - -"Oh, but it has such a pleasant way of growing warmer here at evening. -I wasn't cold, indeed, Mamma." - -"And I heard that divine voice going back through the field singing -Rubinstein," said Mrs. Wilbur. She sighed. "I am glad you are so -matter-of-fact, Diana. He made me feel like a matinée girl, that man." -Mrs. Wilbur was already planning her autumn musicale, and in fancy saw -the air dark with automobiles parked in rows about the Wilbur residence -in Pittsfield. - -She left Diana now to go upstairs to make her list, and the girl went -out of doors to gather sweet peas for the living-room. Pausing when her -hands were full of the color and fragrance, she turned about to view the -fresh morning landscape. As she did so she heard a gay whistling that -grew louder as it neared. - - - "The owl and the pussy cat went to sea - In a beautiful pea-green boat--" - - -The thrill of delicious terror, which had come over her on waking from -her short sleep that morning, constricted her heart now. - -Philip approached. "Good-morrow, fair one; posing for a study of -Aurora?" - -Diana looked around at him with deliberation. "I was deciding what -individuals of the fauna and flora here were most marked." - -Philip ducked his face down into her bouquet. "You chose the sweet pea, -of course." - -"No, I decided on swallows and daisies. The swallows are ravishing: so -fearless and so beautiful. Have you noticed how they dart past, nearly -brushing our cheeks, and how the sun brings out glints of blue in their -plumage? I often mistake them for bluebirds with that touch of color on -their breasts." - -"Daisies and swallows," said Philip musingly. "They do seem to belong -especially. It makes me think of a song." He paused. "Did you hear that -booming of a new whistle this morning? There's a stranger in the cove, a -swell yacht. I thought you might like to come down and see it." - -"Yes, I should. Let me put the flowers in water and I will be with you." -She reappeared quickly, and they struck off across the field to the -road. - -"How could I know it was a strange whistle?" asked the girl. - -"I suppose you wouldn't, but to us islanders every familiar whistle is -like the voice of a friend. Kelly is waiting for us in his boat. We want -to row out to the beauty." - -"It was very kind of you to come 'way up here for me," said Diana. - -There came walking toward them along the road a man in white trousers, -dark-blue coat, and cap with a gold insignia. - -"That must be some one from the yacht now," said Philip. - -Diana looked up, looked again, and with a cry of delight, ran forward -straight into the arms of the man. - -"Daddy, Daddy!" she cried, "how good of you!" - -The tall, handsome stranger, with silver threads in his brown mustache, -glanced up at his daughter's escort while he kissed her. - -"I had to look you up, you know," he said while she held him tight, her -arms around his neck. - -Loosing him, she half turned to Philip. "This is Mr. Barrison, Daddy. We -were just going down to see who was the stranger in the cove." - -Mr. Wilbur shook hands with the tanned, blond youth in a perfunctory -manner, scarcely looking at him. - -"Mamma is here. Did you know it?" cried Diana. - -"No. You don't say so! Kill both my birds with one stone, eh?" - -The girl held out her hand to Philip. "I shall have to go back, Mr. -Barrison. Daddy, take your card and write an order for Mr. Barrison and -his friend to go over the yacht. They were just going to row out to it, -and I was going with them. How little I thought it was you, dearest." -She kissed him again and fumbled at her father's buttons. - -Philip thought there was some reluctance in the cool glance the -yachtsman flung him again. "Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Wilbur. Another -time, perhaps." - -"No, this minute," said Diana. Mr. Wilbur got at an inside pocket. "Mr. -Barrison will take you deep-sea fishing if you can stay a few days. You -have often spoken of it." - -"A fisherman, eh?" said Mr. Wilbur, as he took out his card and wrote -upon it. - -Diana laughed nervously. "Oh, no, Daddy, but he knows the ropes here." -She handed the card to Philip. "The Idlewild is worth visiting," she -said, "and you never can tell with these yachtsmen. They slip off -sometimes in the middle of the night. A bird in the hand, you know." She -smiled. "Au revoir." - -Philip, holding his card, looked after them as they went on up the -road. Diana was hanging on her father's arm. The young fellow's face -flushed deeply under the tan, and his lips came together firmly. - -"That girl is worth all the adoration a man can waste on her," he -thought. "I don't know that he is such a fool at that." - - -"What a summer, Veronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge when she found that -Charles Wilbur was going to eat mackerel and sweet potatoes at her table -that noon. - -"Some do have greatness thrust upon them, Aunt Priscilla. First the -arrival of Prince Herbert, then King Charles himself." - -"Yes, my knees feel kind o' queer, Veronica, and I think we'd better -have the lobster salad this noon instead of saving it for night." - -The other boarders eliminated themselves, so that the Wilbur family -could occupy the piazza after dinner. Mr. Wilbur had praised the cooking -and Veronica had carried the good report to the kitchen. He sat now with -his wife and daughter, one on each side of him, and, as he smoked his -cigar, looked off on the glory that is Casco Bay. - -"You're pretty nearly on a boat here, aren't you?" he said. - -"It is the most wonderful place in the world," said Diana fervently. - -He turned to her and pinched her chin. The excited color that had risen -in her happy surprise had faded. "You're not a good advertisement for -it," he said. "You didn't eat anything at dinner and you look as if you -had been up all night." - -"I do think Diana feels the effect of all the excitement she went -through in Boston," said Mrs. Wilbur; and forthwith she proceeded to -tell the story of the grandson of her husband's old friend, and Diana's -part in it. He had met the boy at table and he listened with absorbed -interest. - -"Well, little girl, well," he said kindly, "that was some experience. -You'll have to brace up now." - -"Oh, I'm going to, Daddy, and I want to purchase some of this island. I -love it here. It inspires me." - -"Better hold on," was the quiet response. "Why not take this place next -summer? Engage Miss Burridge as cook and housekeeper, then bring some -guests and run up here for a week or so, off and on, when you feel like -it." - -"That might be pleasant," returned Diana. - -Her father smiled and patted her. "You are not always going to be a -tired schoolgirl. Home may hold out more attractions next summer than -you think." - -"You don't know the rocks and the walks here yet, Daddy," said Diana -wistfully. - -"How many walks shall I have to take before you are ready to go back -with me?" - -"Of course we're going back with Daddy," said Mrs. Wilbur warningly. - -"You like the yacht, don't you, Diana?" he asked. - -"Indeed, I do. It was only that you were going to have such gay people -this summer, and I couldn't be gay." - -"I understand, dear. I've ditched the gay people now, and we will have a -family party only, going back." - -"That will be delightful," replied Diana. - -"We haven't told you the most wonderful thing yet," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"There is a most charming singer on the island. He gave a recital last -night. Nothing commonplace. A very unusual voice. I'm engaging him for -Pittsfield, Charles. He thinks he can come for a recital. He is young -and little known yet, and so will be a novelty. I want you to hear him. -You'll be wild, too." - -"I promise not to be," responded her husband. - -"But you can't help it, dear. Diana, why shouldn't we have a little -dinner on the yacht and Mr. Barrison would probably sing afterward, and -your father could hear him. Let me see now. Who would we have?" - -"I don't care," put in Mr. Wilbur, "so long as you have that sparkling -person who sat beside the boy at dinner." - -"Mrs. Lowell," said Diana. "I'm so glad you appreciate Mrs. Lowell, -Daddy." - -"I'm not blind in one eye and I can see out of the other. I have my -hearing, too, and her voice is as fresh as a robin's." - -"But, oh, speaking of voices!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, rolling up her -eyes. "Well, then, Diana, supposing we have just Mr. Barrison and Mr. -Kelly and Mrs. Lowell." - -"And Veronica," said Diana. - -"The young person who waits on the table," explained Mrs. Wilbur. "She -and her aunt, Miss Burridge, are very worthy people." - -"Veronica and Mr. Kelly are such good friends," said Diana. "It would be -too bad not to ask her." - -"Mr. Kelly is Mr. Barrison's accompanist," put in Mrs. Wilbur. - -"Barrison?" repeated Mr. Wilbur. "Isn't that the name of the husky I -met on the road just now?" The speaker removed his cigar to ask his -daughter the question. - -"Yes, Mamma, Mr. Barrison came up to take me down to row out in Mr. -Kelly's boat to see the stranger in the cove. So when we encountered -Daddy on the road, I persuaded him to give them an order to go over the -yacht." - -In spite of herself, the missing color came back into the girl's cheeks -while she related this, and Charles Wilbur, whom no circumstance -connected with his daughter ever escaped, observed it. - -When next he was alone with his wife, he asked a few questions as to -Diana's regard for the singer. - -"No, no, my dear," she returned scornfully. "You don't know Diana. We -have an extraordinary daughter, there is no mistake about _that_, but -she was telling me the other day of her ideal for a husband. He is a -fright, I can assure you, but full of charm and all that. She doesn't -want to marry any man who is attractive to women." - -"Wants to fool the vamps, eh?" was the laughing reply. - -"Why doesn't she look at her daddy?" was the affectionate response. -"The most attractive being on earth and one who never gave me a -heartache?" - -Charles Wilbur slipped his arm around his wife and kissed her. They were -the best of friends. - -"Don't you know, my dear, that a girl's father is always unique? He -isn't a man." - -"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, harking back to her find. "But, Charlie, -you don't know how delighted I am to have such a prize for Pittsfield. I -must show you my list." - -She produced it and Mr. Wilbur, frowning patiently, looked it over. He -hated lists. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -GOOD-BYES - - -But before the dinner party came off, Philip Barrison did take the steel -man deep-sea fishing. Barney Kelly was so overwhelmed by the luxury of -the yacht that he refrained from saying a word against the nocturnal -expedition. He happened to meet Veronica down at the post-office and -gave her his reasons. - -"I say it's only fair that Mr. Wilbur should be racked and tortured," he -said. "Any man so deep in the lap of luxury should learn a little of how -the other half lives. That yacht is the slickest thing I ever saw. The -deep-cushioned armchairs on the deck are upholstered in a light-green -leather that you would think a drop of water would deface, and the salt -spray doesn't faze it in the least. Then the master's room with its twin -beds is divided from the bathroom by a sliding door which is a huge -mirror, and the dining-saloon is in mahogany with the exquisite china -and glass all enameled with the yacht's flag." - -Veronica's mouth always grew very small when she was deeply interested -and her eyes very wide, and they looked so now as she listened. - -"Just think," she said, "I am going to see it." - -"Good work. I wanted you to." - -"I'm going to eat off those dishes and sit in the easy-chairs." - -"What's happening?" - -"A dinner party, and you are in it. Miss Diana told me." - -"I shall be careful to eat nothing between now and then," declared -Barney, "for I suspect that _chef_ of being an artist. Let us not count -on it too much, though, Veronica. Barrison takes Mr. Wilbur on that -unspeakable expedition to-morrow morning. We all may be thrown out of -that dinner party by the violence of his feelings." - -As it turned out, however, Kelly's apprehensions were not realized. Mr. -Wilbur's wife and daughter were on the yacht to greet him when he -returned from his novel experience at nearly noon of the next day. He -had changed his clothing at "Grammy's" and was full of praise of that -old gentlewoman. - -"Nice people as ever lived, those folks," he said as he stretched -himself out in a _chaise longue_ on the deck under the awning, and was -served with iced drinks. - -"Mamma hasn't met Mr. Barrison's grandmother," said Diana as she placed -the cigars beside her father. - -"Oh, he comes of superior people, you can see that," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"Charlie, I'm going to invite Mrs. Coolidge." - -"All right. I guess she can stand it." - -"Stand it!" echoed Mrs. Wilbur. "You don't know what you're talking -about." - -"He is still thinking about the fishing, Mamma," put in Diana. - -"Yes, and young Barrison," said Mr. Wilbur. "He's a tonic, that chap. -The way he went over that boat, regular Douglas Fairbanks stunts he did. -He's a hundred-per-cent man, whether he can sing or not." The speaker -regarded his daughter out of the tail of his eye as he talked, and he -saw the slight compression of her lips and the glow in her eyes. - -"I offered him a cigar, but he shook his head: 'My voice is my fortune, -sir,' he said." - -"Sensible," said Mrs. Wilbur, not looking up from the silk she was -knitting. - -"When are you giving your dinner party?" - -"To-morrow night." - -"That is good, for we must be on our way," said Mr. Wilbur. He yawned. -"I'm dead to the world. I must go to sleep." - -"Daddy," said Diana, "are we really going away at once?" - -He took her hand, and it was cold. "Yes, I think we shall have to be -off." He regarded her with affectionate thoughtfulness. "I want to go -somewhere and find some roses for you." - -The roses suddenly bloomed in the girl's face under his searching eyes. - -"You want to go with your old dad, don't you?" he added affectionately. - -"Of course I do, dearest," she answered, and he forgave her the lie -because she looked so pretty in her embarrassment. "But I have packing -to do, you know. I can't go without any warning." - -He continued to gaze at her and to hold her cold hand. - -"That young Caruso of yours is quite a boy," he said irrelevantly. "No -lugs, honest, substantial." - -"He is more than that, Daddy. He is a self-made man." - -"Did a good job, too; physically at least." - -"No; more than that; he has been a hero to get where he is in his art." - -"Told you so, eh?" - -"No, indeed." The roses bloomed brighter. The hand twitched in his. "He -gratified my curiosity one day by telling me his experiences. He thinks -they were entirely commonplace. He was very poor and with no influence, -but his persistence and determination won." - -"That's the stuff," returned Charles Wilbur quietly. "I like the way he -treats his grandmother, too." - -"And, Charlie," said his wife, looking up from her work, "I believe I'll -invite some people from Lenox. I'll have a house party." - -"Very well, my dear." Her husband smiled toward her preoccupied face, -and released his daughter's hand. - -"Now, you run along up to the Inn, Diana," said Mrs. Wilbur, "and pack. -Then have Mr. Blake bring the trunk and our bags aboard this afternoon." - -"Not go back to the Inn at all, afterward, then?" asked Diana. - -"No. There won't be any necessity. I told that perfectly crazy Léonie to -have my things and hers ready and bring them aboard before dinner. She -looked at me as if I had struck her down." - -"Poor Léonie," breathed Diana. - -Mrs. Wilbur shrugged her shoulders. "I shall be lucky if she doesn't -tell me she has decided to marry Bill Lindsay and stay here." The lady -laughed and looked at her husband. "I should have to invite them to take -their wedding trip on the yacht, for I can't let her go until she has -shown some one else how to do my hair." - -"Let her teach me, immediately, to-day," said Diana quickly. - -Her mother stared at her. "You don't want her to marry Bill Lindsay, I -hope!" - -"I do not care whom she marries," returned Diana with amazing spirit. -"The important, colossally important thing is that she should marry whom -she pleases, when she pleases." - -Mrs. Wilbur continued to stare while her husband's closed eyes opened -and he also regarded Diana as she stood up, her hands clenched. - -"That was Helen Loring's creed," said Mrs. Wilbur dryly. "There is a -better one. Don't forget that." - -The girl's head drooped and the roses faded. - -Ten minutes later she went down the awning-guarded steps at the yacht's -side, and entered the waiting boat with its shining brasses and natty, -white-uniformed sailors, to go ashore. - - -Miss Burridge was quite touched by the feeling displayed by her star -boarder at their parting. - -"I do not remember any period of my life which has been so happy as the -last six weeks," said the girl, her lip quivering. "Would you take care -of me if I should take the Inn for next summer and come here with -friends a part of the season?" - -"Take the Inn, Miss Wilbur?" - -"Yes. My father said that might be more sensible than for me to build -here. I would make satisfactory arrangements with you. Perhaps Veronica -would come with you, then you wouldn't mind if you had the place to -yourselves much of the season." - -"Of course, I should like an easy berth like that, Miss Wilbur." Miss -Burridge laughed with a suspicion of moisture around her lashes at the -pressure of Diana's hands, and the seriousness of her plaintive eyes. - -"I must say good-bye to Bertie. I wonder where he is." - -"Up in his room, I think. He came in a few minutes ago." - -There Diana found him. He looked up from the stretcher over which he was -working and was surprised to see his friend in her street clothes. - -"Are you going to Boston again?" he asked. - -"I am leaving permanently," she answered, and she took his hand and drew -him down to a seat beside her. He looked at her as she bit her lip while -she smiled on him, and he thought she was going to cry. "We shall be -here a couple more nights, but I shall be on the yacht. Have you seen -it, Bertie? Would you like to come down with me now and go over it?" - -"I'd like to make a sketch of it." The boy looked interested. - -"Very well, you shall. Bill is coming for us in a few minutes. You drive -down with us; but I want to tell you, before we go, how happy I am for -you." - -"You don't look happy at all, Miss Diana. You look sad. Are you sad?" - -"I am a little bit--leaving here, and all the friends. Do you know that -we are related in some far-off way, Bertie? You might call me Cousin -Diana. You mustn't forget me." - -"No, I won't forget you," replied the boy, noticing that her lip -quivered. "Mrs. Lowell will write to you." - -"Yes, I'm sure she will," said Diana, touching her eyes quickly with her -handkerchief, "and Mrs. Lowell is a wonderful friend. She has told me of -her arrangements for you, told me about the fine, strapping young -fellow, Mr. Lawrence, who is going to be your companion and tutor. I -expect when I see you next that you will stand up, straight as a young -soldier--" - -"Straight as--as Mr. Barrison," said Bert, pulling his slender shoulders -back hopefully. - -"Yes, as--as he is, and I know you will like this young Mr. Lawrence, -and do every thing just as Mrs. Lowell desires to have you. I am glad -you can stay on longer here, for it is--it is a place to be happy, isn't -it, Bertie?" - -Diana's lips quivered again dangerously. "There, I hear the motor. Bring -your sketch-book, and come." - -They descended to where Léonie was standing beside the bags in her trim -street clothes. Matt Blake's wagon was waiting, too, and he carried -Diana's trunk, and the various and sundry suitcases and bags which -represented the Wilbur party, out to his wagon. - -Miss Burridge and Veronica saw them off. Mrs. Lowell was away in the -woods with her bird-glasses, and the other boarders were fortunately -absent. Diana left her good-byes for them, and then with a lump in her -throat got into the car. Léonie sat in front with her cavalier, and all -the way down the road, her head was popping out and a stream of "adieux" -pouring forth upon animate and inanimate objects alike. - -Herbert Loring sat beside his friend and, feeling wonderingly her need -for comfort, slipped his hand into hers, and she held it tightly. - -Diana had many good-byes to say at the float, while her baggage was -being lifted into the yacht's boat, waiting with its picturesque crew. -At last they were off, and Bertie's eyes were greedily fixed on the -lines of the handsome white yacht. - -After the trunks were placed on the yacht, she let Bert look about, but -he was eager to get his sketch. So she allowed him to descend again into -the small boat and put him in command of it. So he was taken to the -point he indicated and remained there until he was satisfied with his -sketch. Then the flashing oars fell into position and he was rowed back -to the shore. Diana waved him a last good-bye. Her father was taking his -much-needed forty winks, her mother was downstairs somewhere, and Léonie -stood near her, straining her eyes toward the float and waving to a -waiting figure thereon. - -"Adieu, charmante, belle île," she murmured, sniffing audibly. -"Mademoiselle, c'est comme si je quittais chez moi." - -"Oui, Léonie. Nous reviendrons quelque jour." - -There was a difference in their situations. Léonie had no hope of -entertaining Bill Lindsay at dinner. - -That function came off the next evening. Mr. Wilbur had spent much of -the afternoon with Philip Barrison. The latter had taken him out to the -pound and he had watched the drawing of the nets, and had had long -confabs with the fishermen, listening to their stories, scattering -cigars like hail, and enjoying himself thoroughly. - -He returned to the yacht in high good humor and made ready for the -farewell festivity. - -"That's a regular fellow, Barrison," he said to his wife, as he was -making his toilet. - -"Oh, you wait," she replied. - -"I don't care a darn how he sings," remarked Mr. Wilbur, "but in his -case a man's a man for a' that. I don't wonder--" he stopped. - -"What don't you wonder, dear?" - -"Oh--at his popularity. My dear, dear Laura," he added after a pause, -smiling at his reflection in the glass as he used his military brushes, -"you're a wonderful woman." - -"Why, thank you, Charlie. What have I done now?" As he did not reply, -but continued to smile into his own eyes, she gave his arm a little -squeeze as she passed him. "I won _you_, anyway," she said triumphantly, -"and I need a compliment or two, for I never knew Diana to be so strange -and changeable as she has been to-day. The dear girl can't be well, and -I don't think I have realized quite the awfulness of her experience with -Herbert Loring. She was actually in danger for a time of being accused -of hastening his death. Why, it was dreadful." - -"Poor Diana, poor little girl," returned Charles Wilbur ruminatively. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE DINNER PARTY - - -Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were the first of the dinner guests to arrive. -They were received with remarkable effusiveness by Diana as links with -the life she was reluctantly leaving. - -"Did you see anything of our musician friends as you came down to the -float?" asked Mrs. Wilbur. - -"No, not just now," replied Mrs. Lowell, "but earlier in the day, I had -occasion to go to the post-office and there I found Mr. Kelly in a state -of great excitement. It seems that Mr. Barrison has been summoned to New -York to have his voice tried out for the opera. There is some trouble -and disappointment about a tenor who was expected." - -"That _is_ exciting," remarked Mr. Wilbur, looking approvingly at the -lady with the fresh robin-voice and the charming costume. - -"Miss Veronica and I are all eyes, Mr. Wilbur," she continued. "I'm sure -you allow newcomers to stare as much as they please." - -"Certainly. Let me show you some of our snug arrangements for 'a life -on the ocean wave.'" - -The guests followed him, and Mrs. Wilbur and her daughter regarded one -another, the elder with some consternation, the younger with brilliant -eyes and flaming cheeks. - -"I do hope he won't have to break his date with me," said Mrs. Wilbur. - -"Perhaps to sing with the Metropolitan is more important," returned -Diana. - -"You never have taken any interest in my plan," said her mother, her -eyes snapping. "I'm sure I don't know what has come over you on this -island. From the time you came back to the yacht yesterday, I have had -to speak twice to make you hear anything, and I've been afraid every -minute that you would let your father see that you were depressed at -leaving this foolish place and going with him." - -"I am perfectly willing to go, Mamma," was the docile reply, the change -of heart that had taken place in the last fifteen minutes not being -explained. - -"Well, I'm glad to hear it," declared Mrs. Wilbur, placated. "You are -looking wonderfully well to-night, Diana. Clinging stuff suits you, and -in that silver girdle you have quite a classical appearance." - -"Do I look statuesque, Mamma?" Diana smiled, but not pensively. Her eyes -were alive with anticipation of this one more, this last evening. -"To-day I have been remembering my first days at the island, all alone -with Miss Burridge, the long, cold evenings with their wonderful -coloring, the vesper songs of the hardy robins and sparrows; the -grinding pebbles swept back and forth on the beach; the entrancing odors -that one cannot name, so mingled of balsam and sea--the great spaces of -earth and sky--" Something seemed to stop the rush of reminiscence. - -Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child's kindling face with fond admiration. -"Yes," she returned, laughing softly, "I know how all that captured you, -but what has it to do with your being statuesque?" - -"Oh,"--Diana seemed to come to herself with a little start,--"Miss -Burridge used to say sometimes that I looked like a statue," she -returned, rather lamely. - -Motor boats were constantly putt-putt-ing around the yacht. - -"I'm glad," said Mrs. Wilbur, looking down upon them now, "that this is -the last night we are to stay here. Didn't those inquisitive little -things keep you awake all last night, just like gnats?" - -"I didn't sleep much," admitted Diana. - -"There they come," said Mrs. Wilbur, suddenly, looking across at the -float. - -Two men in white flannels were stepping aboard the waiting boat whose -brasses flashed in the light of the lowering sun. Diana's heart bounded -toward her throat. - -"Well, I shall make him understand that he must tell me just as soon as -he knows himself," said Mrs. Wilbur rather fretfully, watching the -approach. - -The dinner party was a gay one. When the guests were seated at table, -they looked out through a wide semicircle of glass at the familiar -sights of the cove--its wooded shore, and the silhouettes of great waves -far out against the horizon. - -"I shall not forgive Kelly for giving me away," said Philip when his -host congratulated him on his call to New York. "How shall I feel when -you all hear that I didn't pass muster?" - -"Believe me," said Barney feelingly, "if that proves to be the case, -you'll all have cause to congratulate him. The life of an American -singer in a Grand Opera Company is one fight, if it isn't an inferno. -The call-boy forgets to call him, the prompter forgets to prompt him. -Every curtain-call is begrudged him." - -"I'm glad you're husky, Barrison," remarked Mr. Wilbur. - -"Yes," laughed Philip. "Kelly has been an industrious crępe-hanger ever -since the letter arrived. At the same time he shoves me on." - -"Oh, certainly," said Barney, setting his lips energetically. "Must be -done. I think he's safe to win." - -"I am thinking about October and Pittsfield," said Mrs. Wilbur ruefully. - -Philip turned toward her. "I think there is little doubt that I shall be -with you," he answered. - -"Mamma doesn't mean that," declared Diana of the steadily burning -cheeks. "She wants you to succeed, of course." - -"Yes, Barrison," added her father, "but when your voice fails, we know -what you can do: skip around a vessel at sea for the movies." - -"You rather liked that fracas, didn't you, Mr. Wilbur?" returned Philip. - -"Indeed, I did. When you come here to recuperate from the atrocities of -singer allies, I'll join you and we will repeat the dose." - -"Dose is the word," put in Kelly in an undertone. - -When finally the party adjourned to the deck, they fell into groups: -Mrs. Lowell and Diana, Veronica and Barney, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur and -Philip. The sun had gone down, and the western sky was still crimson. - -Diana put her hand over in Mrs. Lowell's lap. "We know how violet the -sea looks this minute from the Inn piazza," she said. "You will go on -seeing it." - -"And you will carry it away," returned Mrs. Lowell. "That, and many -another picture which you will stop to look at sometimes on a winter -day." - -"Yes, they are mine," said Diana gravely. "Even this pond of a cove with -the green banks and woods rising all about it. This is a picture that I -love, too." - -"Bert was quite troubled because he thought you seemed sad at leaving." - -"Good little sympathetic fellow," said Diana. "I don't want to believe, -Mrs. Lowell, that this is good-bye for us." - -"I hope it is not. New York and Philadelphia are not far apart, but you -will begin to be absorbed in other interests as soon as this yacht -leaves the cove." - -Diana shook her head. "My memory is not so short." - -Mrs. Lowell looked at her with thoughtful affection. "I hope they won't -spoil you, my dear," she said wistfully. "It is very remarkable that you -have come along so far with 'a heart at leisure from itself.'" - -"Oh, do you think I have that?" returned Diana, looking up with seeking -eyes. - -"I do, my dear. The key note of happy usefulness is unselfishness. I -have been surprised by your unselfishness, Diana--under circumstances -that usually make for the other thing." - -"But, Mrs. Lowell, I am frightfully selfish!" exclaimed the girl. "You -don't know!" - -Her friend smiled. "Well, if you see it, that is half the battle. The -other half is putting it down--destroying it." - -"It is usually about--about people," said Diana unsteadily. "I--I am -afraid I am a monopolist--" - -"My word, but you people are interested in each other," said Philip -Barrison, suddenly appearing beside them. "Just lift your eyes." - -They looked up and saw the moon rising majestically above the -hill-road, and the cove beginning to glitter. - -"Now that mustn't make any difference," said Mrs. Wilbur firmly. "The -moon won't run away and Mr. Barrison has consented to sing for us." - -"The minutes are going so fast, so fast," thought Diana, "and there will -be no more." - -Mrs. Wilbur herded her group together and convoyed them to the -music-room. - -"This is really an especial treat for Mr. Wilbur," she said to Philip. -"You know he is the only one of us who hasn't heard you." - -"And you needn't imagine," added Mr. Wilbur, "that you are singing for -the impresario of the Metropolitan, either. So long as I am the chief -beneficiary to-night, it is only fair to tell you, Barrison, that -musically I am very despicable. 'The Last Rose of Summer,' and 'Annie -Laurie,' are where I am. So don't waste any _moderne_ stuff on me." - -Philip smiled as he moved to the piano, and the company chose their -places. Mrs. Wilbur took a seat beside her husband, enveloped in the -anticipatory glow of the matinée girl. - -"I want to be where I can hold your hand if I need to, dear," she said. -Her husband glanced at Diana, flushed and grave, as she placed herself -on a low stool near the door, then back at the upstanding white figure -beside the piano. - -Philip said a few words to his accompanist as Barney's fingers strayed -softly over the keys--then a familiar strain began, and the heralded -voice was heard: - - - "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms - That I gaze on so fondly to-day--" - - -At the close, the host was smiling and nodding while his wife's eyes -challenged him in mute triumph. Philip discoursed with Barney a few -moments and apparently the pigeonholes of the accompanist's mind were -well-stored and the contents available, for the old favorite was -followed by "If I but Knew," "At Parting," "To Mary," and so on, Mr. -Wilbur growing more enthusiastic at each number. - -"You can speak, young man, so as to be understood, and you're the singer -for me," he said. "You have been very indulgent. Now if you don't mind, -let us have 'Drink to me only.'" - -Philip, for the first time, turned and looked directly at Diana. Her -father noticed it. He was becoming every moment more alert as to the -hundred-per-cent man in the white flannels. - -The song followed. Diana, on her low seat, had her elbows on her knees -and her chin in her hands, and never once looked at the singer. - -"I have one more for you," said Philip when the applause had died away. -"It is a song of Maude Valérie White's, which I think fits into your -category, Mr. Wilbur. It has been haunting me of late." - -He turned for a few words to the accomplished Barney, during which Diana -looked up questioningly, apprehensively. She felt she could not bear -much more of the beating upon her heart-strings. - -Philip turned back, and, after only one running chord of prelude, began -to sing: - - - "Let us forget we loved each other much, - Let us forget we ever have to part. - Let us forget that any look or touch - First let in either to the other's heart. - - "Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass, - And hear the larks and see the swallows pass. - Only we'll live awhile as children play, - Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -The last note was one of those high ones which Kelly had stated did such -fell work upon the feminine heart, and Mrs. Wilbur's lips were tremulous -as she met her husband's eyes. - -"Say, my dear," he said, while clapping his hands manfully, "you have -Barrison sing that at Pittsfield, and I'll come to your party and make -love to you the rest of the night." - -Philip smiled and nodded, and drifted away from the piano, while Barney -got up and stretched his legs. - -"Where's Diana?" exclaimed her father, and instantly condemned himself -for drawing attention to her departure. - -"Oh, but she heard it, I'm sure," said Mrs. Wilbur apologetically, still -wiping her eyes. "I'm sure no one appreciates your singing more than -Diana." - -"Gone to look after her moon, probably," said Philip. "You know a -goddess has her duties." - -"There have been things going on," thought Charles Wilbur, with -ever-deepening conviction. "Mr. Kelly, you are a wizard," he said, -shaking Barney by the hand while Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were thanking -Philip. - -"You have both been so good to us," said Mrs. Wilbur warmly. "Why, -Diana, where have you been? We missed you," she added, as the girl came -into the room. - -"I wanted to see if the steward understood," she replied. "I think, if -we go on deck now, we shall have something else refreshing after this -delightful feast." Her father watched the girl approach Barney. "Mr. -Kelly, you are wonderful. I remember the comical things you said about -your insignificance at recitals. I've seen again how apocryphal those -statements are." - -Her father continued to watch for her thanks to Philip. Apparently there -were none forthcoming, and fortunately Mrs. Wilbur was too busy talking -to him herself to notice it. - -"But won't Mr. Kelly play something before we leave?" she said -supplicatingly. - -"Oh, no, my dear lady," returned Barney lightly. "One has no appetite -for dinner after dessert." - -They went on deck, and the moon was glorifying the still cove. -Apparently the motor boats had sated their curiosity as to the yacht, -and all was peaceful. The company sat about in a social group and ate -and drank. Barney Kelly told some amusing experiences which he and -Philip had had on the road last season. Diana scarcely heard his -anecdotes, but she laughed with the rest. - - - "Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -The words sang themselves over and over in her heart, and her cheeks -still burned. The minutes were flying, flying, and Philip was sitting -near her mother, who waited on him assiduously and rallied him upon his -lack of appetite. - -"Say, boy," said Kelly at last, "do you know we have a cart-load of -music to look over and we ought to do it to-night?" - -Then they would go. She would not see him alone again! - -"Mrs. Lowell, are you ready?" asked Philip. "We four will have a grand -moonlight walk up to the Inn." - -"No, indeed," replied that lady. "The faithful Bill is expecting us. I -know how busy you and Mr. Kelly must be." - -"Oh, dear!" burst forth Veronica. It was almost her first utterance of -the evening. "Isn't it a shame that the pleasantest things in life are -always the shortest!" She did wish Mrs. Lowell would not be so -considerate of the men's time. "Miss Diana, don't you really feel just a -little bit sorry to go and leave us?" - -"I do, indeed," returned Diana, receiving the girl's offered hand in her -cold one. "The best way probably is to remember Mr. Barrison's song and -live as children play--'without to-morrow, without yesterday.' It has -been a--a wonderful playtime." - -"But there will be a to-morrow," said Philip, approaching her. "Will you -come to the opera next winter and hear me peep a few lines like 'Madam, -the carriage waits'?" He smiled radiantly. "That is, if I get in at -all." - -"Certainly, all your friends will be there," she returned, with -palpitating dignity. How could he speak so gayly? Probably the dazzling -possibilities of the future had effaced for him the memories that glowed -in her. That is what life with him would be: a constant craving, and a -constant disappointment. - -"I want a word with you, Barrison, before we break up," said Mr. Wilbur. -"You have been some star in this island visit of mine." He took Philip's -arm and walked apart with him. - -"Oh, Mr. Kelly, see the phosphorescence," cried Veronica from where she -had moved near the rail. Barney followed her. - -"What do you suppose Mr. Wilbur wants with Barrison?" said Kelly softly, -as they leaned over the rail. "Going to write him a check for a million, -maybe. He'd never miss it." - -"I don't believe Mr. Barrison will need anybody else's millions. He -made a lump come right up in my throat when he sang that last song about -forgetting and sitting on the daisies. I just wished I was in love with -somebody so I could be miserable all night like girls in books. -But"--Veronica sighed--"I am the most unsentimental girl in the world." - -"I wonder if that is what makes you so nice," said Barney, regarding her -mignonne face instead of the phosphorescence. "You're a little brick. Do -you know it? Are you coming back here again next summer?" - -"Perhaps," returned Veronica demurely. "But meanwhile I live in Newark; -quite near New York." - -"I know, my dear, but when I get submerged, even little bricks can't -make me come to the surface to breathe. Do you think your father would -let you come over to lunch with me sometimes?" - -"You can ask him," replied Veronica. - -"Oh, dear, is that the way you feel about it?" - -"Just the way." - -"All ashore that's going ashore." It was Philip's voice. "Come on, -Kelly, and Little V." - -Diana had been talking with Mrs. Lowell. She kissed her now hurriedly, -and stood rigid. The time had come. She would never go to the opera. She -would never see him again. Meanwhile, she joined her mother's gracious -reception of the parting courtesies, and shook hands with all the guests -alike. They went down the guarded stairway. It was midnight, and the -cove was very still. Diana could not watch the departure of the small -boat. - -"I'm tired," she said, stifling a yawn. "Good-night, dears." - -She disappeared quickly. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur stood by the rail and waved -to the departing boat-load. - -"What a delightful evening it has been," said the lady with a sigh. "But -wasn't it strange that Mr. Barrison wasn't hungry after singing? I -thought people always were. Didn't you think the sandwiches were as good -as usual?" - -"Better. I was as hungry as a hunter--or a sailor. Great air, this, -Laura." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THE MOON-GODDESS - - -In the twin beds of the master's room on the yacht Idlewild two persons -lay wide awake at one-thirty o'clock that morning. - -One of them finally said softly and tentatively: "Charlie, are you -awake?" - -"I am, my dear," came the reply, "and I should like to ask whether it is -simply insomnia with you, or whether you are suffering from incipient -St. Vitus?" - -"Why, I thought I had been keeping so still. It was the same way after I -heard that man sing the last time. I couldn't sleep for hours. Isn't he -all I said? I'll warrant he is keeping you awake, too." - -"I think he is." - -"There!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur triumphantly. "You do consider him -extraordinary, don't you?" - -"I do. So much so that I have asked him to go out with us to-morrow -night--Oh, it's to-night, isn't it? The Captain says we will leave at -nine-thirty, and go as far as Portland." - -"Why, I think that is fine," said Mrs. Wilbur, greatly surprised. -"Well," she added, after a pause, "you could scarcely give a greater -proof of your liking, for I know how careful you are not to commit -yourself to being bored by anybody on the yacht. Why didn't he tell me -when he left to-night?" - -"Because he did not expect to accept. He may do so yet, however. I told -him he might decide at the last minute." - -"Why did he hesitate? Perhaps because you didn't invite Mr. Kelly." - -"Oh, but I did. I told him they might reign supreme in the music-room -and work as much as they pleased." - -"How delightful! Then why didn't he jump at such a prospect? I suppose -because they wouldn't get to New York so quickly." - -"No, he has considerable latitude concerning the date for arrival in New -York. I'll tell you just what he replied when I asked him. He looked me -straight in the eye and he said: 'Thank you, Mr. Wilbur, but it wouldn't -do me any good to take such a trip. It's best for me to play safe. I've -passed the age when it is permissible to cry for the moon.' He said it -slowly, with pauses. He was perfectly willing I should know what he -meant, and he saw that I did know." - -"Will you kindly tell me"--Mrs. Wilbur sat up in bed and looked across -at her husband, bewildered--"what the man was talking about?" - -"Can't you possibly think it out?" asked Charles Wilbur quietly. - -She frowned into the darkness. "You don't mean--he teases Diana about -being goddess of the moon--" She paused. - -"You're getting warm, dear, very warm," remarked her husband. - -"Why, Charlie, it's impossible!" Then hotly: "He is very wise. Nothing -would induce Diana to think of him." - -"You wouldn't like it, eh?" - -"Why, the idea! It's an impossible idea! I was a little apprehensive at -first, when I saw how attractive he was and knew that she had been up -here alone with him so long, but I soon saw there was nothing in it, and -you should hear what Diana says--" - -"Yes, I know young girls say a great many things besides their prayers." - -"Well, what did you say to him when he answered you like that?" Mrs. -Wilbur's tone was tense. - -"I told him that he might think it over, and that I should be glad to -have him come." - -"Charles Wilbur!" exclaimed his wife severely. She threw off a down -cover as if minded to rise. - -"Cover yourself up, dear. It's rather cool." - -"But that was encouraging him, Charlie." - -"I think he perceived it dimly. He looked at me--a long gaze--by George, -he's a good-looking boy--and he didn't say a word. Then we shook hands -and rejoined the others." - -"You have done very wrong," declared Mrs. Wilbur, pulling back the -cover, but not lying down. - -"What do you want for Diana, Laura? A title?" - -"You needn't use that tone. I haven't thought out what I want for -Diana." - -"I _have_. I want happiness for her. From the day of my arrival here, I -have seen signs. I'm a rich man, but there is one thing I can't buy for -my only child, and that is happiness. Diana is a fastidious, carefully -bred girl, unspoiled as they make 'em, yet, of course, just as liable to -fall for an infatuation as Helen Loring was." - -"But she hasn't, she has not, Charlie," interrupted his wife -impetuously. "You don't know--" - -"It is you who do not know, my dear. You have been so in love with him -yourself, and so obsessed with the joy of springing him on Mrs. Coolidge -and your other musical friends, that you haven't seen what was going on -under your nose any more than if you were a dear little bat." - -"Don't you call me a dear little bat! Diana is much more my child than -yours. A mother understands her daughter far better than the father can. -The idea of your high-handedly taking this matter into your hands -without even consulting me!" - -"Don't get excited, Laura. I'm not forcing anything. You've had your -innings. You didn't even notice what that last song of Barrison's did to -Diana to-night." - -"Mere emotionality. The same thing that keeps me awake after I hear him -sing. That proves nothing. It should even make you pull away from him -instead of pulling for him. You're crazy, Charles. He has hypnotized -you. The idea that a mere thrilling tenor voice and a fine figure could -make you lay down your common sense." Mrs. Wilbur's voice quavered and -she felt under her pillow for her handkerchief. - -Her husband smiled in the darkness. "Wait, dear. I don't care whether -Diana marries a singer or not. I want her to marry a real man. I was on -the lookout for infatuation when I saw you so captivated, and I began to -inquire into the facts. I found an all-American chap who had had a -struggle from childhood and won out over poverty and discouragement by -hitching his wagon to a star. He volunteered during the late war and was -slightly wounded. He has a clean inheritance, good muscle, and plenty of -red blood. I don't care for the blue kind, myself. In short, he is the -sort of man I am perfectly willing our daughter should marry, _if she -wants to_." - -"I tell you--" - -"Yes, I know. You tell me she doesn't want to. Now, I have an idea we -shall very soon learn the truth about that. Barrison has shown that he -knows how to get what he wants. In this case, I can see how our money -will stick in his crop." - -"Ho!" from the other bed. A tremendous aspiration. - -"Don't blow me out of the room, dearie. I know people will laugh at that -idea, but I have had lots of experience in reading character. Barrison -will have a great deal to overcome in his own mind. He will not feel -free to approach Diana. Perhaps, after all, the affair will amount to -nothing. All right, if it does. I'm a passenger, now that I feel sure -the boy is a clean specimen." - -"Has it come to this!" ejaculated Mrs. Wilbur slowly. "That Diana Wilbur -is to be given to a clean specimen!" - -"If she so desires," returned the other. "Now I'm going to ask a big -thing of you, Laura. It is not to speak to Diana on this subject until -she speaks to you. She knows nothing of my invitation to Barrison. We -can't handle the matter any further with good effect until the -principals declare themselves. You know our girl. You know it is a hall -mark of genuineness, a proof of pure metal when she likes a man or a -woman. Can't you trust her?" - -Mrs. Wilbur was lying down now. Her husband heard a sniff or two stifled -in a pillow. - -"I wasn't anybody when you married me, Laura," he went on gently. -"Weren't we just as happy when we economized on taking a taxi as we are -in this yacht? Our boy would be nearly twenty-three now if he had lived. -I would have liked my son to look at me with as clear eyes, to have -known as little of self-indulgence as Barrison. It is all up to the -children, but wouldn't there be points in being mother-in-law to that -voice, when you come to think it over?" - -No answer, and soon Charles Wilbur completed his infamy by a long and -regular breathing that assured his wife that he was sleeping the sleep -of the unjust and the outrageous. - -Léonie arose a few hours later to a hard day. Mrs. Wilbur had a headache -and did not leave her bed. Diana, with dark shadows under her eyes, came -in to make a dutiful visit of condolence, and was well snubbed. She -retreated to the deck, where her father was cheerfully watching the life -of the cove. - -"Good-morning, dear," he said, turning and putting his arm around her. -"We have your mother laid out, haven't we?" - -"Why, Daddy, what is the matter? The coördination of her nervous system -seems entirely thrown out." - -He smiled heartlessly. "She didn't sleep much, honey. Neither did you," -regarding her closely. - -"No, Daddy," she replied, rather breathlessly. "I seem to be more -reposeful when the yacht is in motion." - -"'Rocked in the cradle of the deep,' eh? Want to go ashore this -morning?" - -"No, I think not. Mrs. Lowell is coming out for tea this afternoon, a -little good-bye visit." - -"All right, then. What do you say to some cribbage?" - -"Fine, if we cannot be of any assistance to Mamma. Are you sure?" - -"Yes, my love. She has been drinking heavily of 'the wine of -astonishment' and must sleep it off. If there is any humble pie on -board, you might have Léonie take her some for luncheon." - -"What are you talking about, Daddy? Poor Mamma!" - -"Yes, she is absolutely one of the finest. I thought so when she was -eighteen, and cute, with a little turn-up nose and dimples something -like that Veronica girl, and I think so now; but the best of women must -sometimes lie by until they get a new perspective." - -"Daddy, I don't understand you. You and Mamma have--have differed about -something, I fear." - -"Well, it--it might be described that way. Morris,"--turning toward his -valet who was near,--"the cribbage-board, please." - -Diana strove valiantly not to have a miserable day. She played cribbage -with her father until luncheon was served on deck. Then she gave orders -for her tea, and Léonie came to remind her of her promise that she might -show Bill Lindsay over the yacht. He arrived about the same time as Mrs. -Lowell, and Léonie, frightened to death of her mistress's strange mood, -besought Diana to remain with her mother while she should fulfill the -promise to her island pal, and bid him a long and racking farewell. - -So Diana left Mrs. Lowell with her father while she ventured to her -mother's bedside and sat down, silently. A handkerchief, redolent of -cologne, covered the sufferer's eyes. - -"Who is that?" came faintly from the blinded one. - -"It is I, Mamma," said Diana meekly. "Are you feeling a little better?" - -"Diana,"--the voice was still faint but stern,--"have I been a good -mother to you?" - -"Mamma, dear, there never was a better. How can you ask?" - -"Because no one else thinks so." - -Diana threw herself on her knees beside the bed and took the hand that -was outside the rosy silk coverlet. "Dearest, I am not feeling very -well to-day and you will destroy my poise if you say such things. My -heart feels sore for some reason, so do not give it any blows. You know -how Daddy and I think there is nobody in the world like you. Daddy was -talking about it this morning and telling me how cute and pretty you -were when he first knew you,"--Diana's voice began to quaver,--"told me -about your dimples and everything, and how you were just as attractive -to him now as you had been then, and"--Diana succumbed and tears fell on -the hand she held--"and if I am ever married, Mamma,--I do so hope that -in twenty-five years afterward--he--he will feel that way about me." - -One eye emerged from the cologne bandage and viewed the girl's lovely, -bowed head. - -"Now, don't cry, Diana," firmly. "Why in the world should you cry? You -have a wonderful life opening before you. You've known nothing yet but -school, and I want you to spend a little time thinking of the -possibilities of the future. With your looks and the money at your -command, there is no social experience among the highest-placed and most -cultivated people abroad and at home that you may not enjoy. You've -heard the saying: 'Of the unspoken word you are master, the spoken word -is master of you.' It is the same with actions. You are deliberate by -nature, and exquisite by breeding. Never commit yourself to anything -impulsively. No mother would be a good mother who did not say as much as -this to you." - -Diana experienced a sudden stricture of the heart that dried her eyes -and held her motionless over the hand she held. She knew all at once the -cause of her parents' difference. She had never in her life been able to -conceal anything from her father. She flushed deeply. Whatever he had -said to her mother must have been in Philip's favor. With thoughts, -humble, frightened, resentful, racing through her mind, she did not know -how long she had been kneeling there when Léonie came in with soft step, -and she looked up to see her mother's eye again eclipsed. She remembered -Mrs. Lowell. - -"Léonie is here now and I must go, dearest. Mrs. Lowell has come out for -some tea. Shall Léonie bring you some?" - -"No. I want nothing. I am feeling better, Diana. Don't distress yourself -about me." - -The girl kissed the forehead above the bandage and passing Léonie saw -that her eyes, too, were red. - -"I wonder if this day will ever be over", she thought dismally. - -She found her father and Mrs. Lowell having a visit, charming to each of -them, and tea was served at once. - -While they were eating and drinking, the island steamer came into the -cove and up to its landing. - -"I suppose our delightful musician friends are leaving on that boat," -said Mrs. Lowell. "Shan't we stand at the rail, and wave a good-bye?" - -"No, I wouldn't," returned Diana hastily. "Everybody except the right -ones will take the greeting to themselves, and--" Indeed, she would not -wave to Philip after his cruelty in singing that song! And obeying it so -literally as not to manage one word of farewell to her alone! - -"Little snob, eh, Mrs. Lowell?" said her father. - -The steamer was turning around to leave. - -"He is going!" cried Diana's heart. The whole day to have passed with no -sign from him! Cruel! Cruel! "You know, Daddy, Mrs. Lowell and I must -see something of each other the coming winter if only for Bert's sake. -He is related to us." - -The passenger boat was passing near now. The yacht felt its waves. Diana -turned her eyes toward it in spite of herself. Some people were waving -handkerchiefs toward the handsome yacht, and the Captain whistled three -times. The yacht replied, and Charles Wilbur stood up and saluted. -Diana's heart beat hard and painfully. She looked back at the tea-table. - -"Tell us, Daddy, just what relation Mr. Herbert Loring was to you." - -"Why, it was this way. My grandmother and his mother were--" - -Diana never knew what they were, for the island steamer was moving -toward the mouth of the cove. Handkerchiefs were waving from the stern. -It receded. It rounded the rocks at the farthest point, and disappeared. - -"That is very interesting, indeed," said Mrs. Lowell. "I shall tell -Bert. He will be glad and proud of the connection. I have a fine boy -there, Mr. Wilbur. I am hoping my husband won't mind my taking such a -responsibility." She rose to go. - -"You have a good ally in Luther Wrenn," remarked Mr. Wilbur, arranging -her wrap. - -"Yes, and in you, I hope?" - -"Certainly. At your service. A big responsibility awaits that youngster. -Let us hope he will grow up to be as clean-cut and simply honest as -young Barrison." - -"You do like him, don't you?" said Mrs. Lowell with her direct look. - -"Very much, so far. I don't know how he may carry sail in the prosperity -before him, but so far he seems to be all to the good." - -The small boat was summoned for the guest. Bill Lindsay had gone off in -the dory that brought him. Diana went alone with her friend to the head -of the awninged stairway. - -Mrs. Lowell saw the marks of distress in the young face, and she held -the girl's hand for a minute. "God bless you," she said, and kissed her -lovingly. "Trust Him, my dear," she added meaningly. "He is taking care -of you. Claim it and know it. Good-bye." - -Diana watched the boat glide toward the shore. "This awful day is nearly -over," she thought. "I feel as if my good angel was going away in that -boat." - -Mrs. Wilbur did not arise for dinner. Diana and her father ate it alone -in state. Keen to do her duty and grateful to him for his attitude -toward the man whom she must henceforth forget, she had dressed herself -in her prettiest gown. At twenty, pensive eyes with shadows about them -are not unbecoming, and her father looked across at her admiringly. - -"The Count de No-Account or some other titles, should be here to-night, -my dear. The moon-goddess is too lovely to beam upon no one more -thrilling than her humdrum old daddy." - -"As if any one could come up to him," rejoined Diana affectionately. -"You remind me of the way Mamma was talking this afternoon, of all the -possibilities money opens to a girl, abroad and at home. She did not -stop to think what a standard she had set up by marrying you." - -Her father nodded slowly, regarding her with a curious smile. "Indeed. -So little Mamma was able to sit up with a comforter around her and show -you the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, was she? Well, -well. Foxy little Mamma." - -Diana blushed violently and busied herself with her salad. "I am sorry -we have to sleep in Portland harbor to-night. It won't be quiet for -Mamma." - -There were no more personalities during the meal. The girl and her -father went on deck and watched the sunset together, after which Mr. -Wilbur said he would go down and see his wife, and Diana was left alone. -She had a deeply cushioned seat moved near the yacht's rail in the -stern, and leaned back to watch the cove darken and the lights flash out -on the other boats. Her thoughts ran over a résumé of the summer. How -long the weeks stretched out in retrospect! How they had fled in -passing! Presently, the moon arose over the hill-road. She thought of -last evening when their group had welcomed it. Philip had said that -night on the rocks that he should not forget that she was as distant -from him as that planet, and he had kept his word. Not to see his merry -eyes again. Not to see the sensitiveness of his smile when he looked at -her. Not to hear him call her a goddess, not to hear him sing except as -others heard him. - - - "Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass, - And hear the larks, and see the swallows pass. - Only we'll live awhile as children play, - Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -She had heard the song all day, and her heart now felt sick and empty as -she sat there, that golden moon beaming down upon her alone, and -striking to silver the ripples across the cove. She leaned among her -cushions and turned her face aside. Her eyes began to smart, and she -closed them. The wind as usual had gone down with the sun, and the -awning fringes were but faintly stirred. - -Suddenly she felt that the boat was moving. So smooth and silent its -motion, that, when she looked up, the yacht was halfway out of the cove. -She leaned forward. - -"Oh, good-bye," she murmured, and she held out her hands toward the -wooded bank. "Good-bye. Oh, good-bye, Isola Bella. I shall always love -you, and every blade of grass, and every daisy, and every swallow." - -Tears veiled the shadowy woods. She dashed them away, and resisted the -sob that rose in her throat. The yacht moved swiftly out into the waves -of the summer sea. It was now only the end of the wooded bluff which she -could perceive in the moonlight. She leaned back again, and, covering -her eyes, relaxed, holding her quivering lip between her teeth. - -A neighboring movement made her look up, expecting her father. - -Philip Barrison stood there. - -She caught her breath. "It is impossible!" she gasped. - -"Yes, it is." He took her outstretched hands and sank down beside her. -"It is a midsummer night's dream; but I couldn't--I tried, Diana, but I -couldn't resist. Your father asked me--said I might come--even at the -last minute." At each pause Philip kissed the hands he was holding. "Are -you--that is the one vital question--are you glad I came, my goddess?" - -The look she gave him in the moonlight made him take her quickly in his -arms, and she sank into them with the certainty of the bird that finds -its nest. - -"I don't know how I dared this, Diana,--dared the future, I mean. How -can I be the right one to win the prize of the whole world?" - -"Because you are the only man in the whole world for me, and you felt -it, and I felt it. Oh, Philip, I won't be so selfish as in the way I -have talked to you. I am never going to grudge that others should admire -you." - -"No, you never will," he answered. "The sparkle of what others may say -is like the phosphorescence down there in the unlighted places. The -radiance and glow filling my whole being now is an eternal thing. I -can't believe it yet, it will take me a long time to believe it, but, -oh, my beautiful one, I wish, I do wish you were a poor girl!" - -She lifted her head from his breast, looking at him with glorified eyes. -"I should be," she said slowly, "if you did not love me--Philomel." - -They kissed, and the moon shone down on the beaten foam of the snowy -wake in a long, ineffable silence. - - - - -The Riverside Press -CAMBRIDGE ˇ MASSACHUSETTS -U ˇ S ˇ A - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEY NOTE*** - - -******* This file should be named 52110-8.txt or 52110-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/2/1/1/52110 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - diff --git a/old/52110-8.zip b/old/52110-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index d880876..0000000 --- a/old/52110-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52110-h.zip b/old/52110-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 1d63714..0000000 --- a/old/52110-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52110-h/52110-h.htm b/old/52110-h/52110-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index f8a8893..0000000 --- a/old/52110-h/52110-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9742 +0,0 @@ -<!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"> -<head> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Key Note, by Clara Louise Burnham</title> - <style type="text/css"> - - p { margin-top: .75em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .75em; - } - - p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} - p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; - } - h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } - #id1 { font-size: smaller } - - - hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; - } - - body{margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; - } - - table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse: collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} - - .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; - text-indent: 0px; - } /* page numbers */ - - .center {text-align: center;} - .smaller {font-size: smaller;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .space-above {margin-top: 3em;} - .right {text-align: right;} - .left {text-align: left;} - .s3 {display: inline; margin-left: 3em;} - - .poem {display: inline-block; text-align: left;} - .poem br {display: none;} - .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} - .poem div {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} - - hr.full { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Key Note, by Clara Louise Burnham</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Key Note</p> -<p>Author: Clara Louise Burnham</p> -<p>Release Date: May 20, 2016 [eBook #52110]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEY NOTE***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Martin Pettit<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/keynotenovel00burniala"> - https://archive.org/details/keynotenovel00burniala</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p class="bold2">THE KEY NOTE</p> - -<hr /> - -<h1>THE KEY NOTE</h1> - -<p class="bold2"><i>A Novel</i></p> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM</p> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/i003.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above">BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br />HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br />The Riverside Press Cambridge<br />1921</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">TO<br />JOSEPHINE</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td>I.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Rapscallion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Veronica</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">A Friendly Pact</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IV.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Biography</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>V.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">A Firelight Interview</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VI.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Haunted Farm</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Another Wound</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VIII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Sketches</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IX.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">A Working Plan</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>X.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Nicholas Gayne Confides</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XI.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Newport Letter</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_181">181</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Cousin Herbert</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Law</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIV.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Will</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XV.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">A Sudden Journey</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVI.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The New Client</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Heir</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVIII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Diana's Ideal</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIX.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Moonlight</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XX.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Reunion</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXI.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">Good-byes</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Dinner Party</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_329">329</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XXIII.</td> - <td class="left"> <span class="smcap">The Moon-Goddess</span></td> - <td><a href="#Page_345">345</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">THE KEY NOTE</p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/dec.jpg" alt="decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER I</span> <span class="smaller">THE RAPSCALLION</span></h2> - -<p>The sea glittered in all directions. The grassy field, humpy with knolls -and lumpy with gray rock, sloped down toward the near-by water. Bunches -of savin and bay and groups of Christmas trees flourished in the fresh -June air, and exhilarating balsamic odors assailed Miss Burridge's -nostrils as she stood in the doorway viewing the landscape o'er and -reflectively picking her teeth with a pin.</p> - -<p>"It's an awful sightly place to fail in, anyway," she thought.</p> - -<p>Her one boarder came and stood beside her. She was a young woman with a -creamy skin, regular features, dark, dreaming eyes, and a pleasant, slow -smile.</p> - -<p>"Are you gathering inspiration, Miss Burridge?" she asked, settling a -white tam-o'-shanter on her smooth brown locks.</p> - -<p>"I hope so, Miss Wilbur. I need it."</p> - -<p>"How could any one help it!" was Diana Wilbur's soft exclamation, as she -took a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> deep breath and gazed at the illimitable be-diamonded blue.</p> - -<p>Priscilla Burridge turned her middle-aged gaze upon the enthusiasm of -the twentieth year beside her.</p> - -<p>"Do you know of any inspiration that would make me able to get the -carpenter to come and jack up the saggin' corner of that piazza?" she -asked. "Or get the plumber to mend the broken pipe in the kitchen?"</p> - -<p>Miss Wilbur's dreaming gaze came back to the bony figure in brown -calico.</p> - -<p>"It seems almost sacrilege, doesn't it," she said in a voice of awe, "to -speak of carpenters and plumbers in a place like this? Such odors, such -crystal beauty untouched by the desecrating hand of man."</p> - -<p>Miss Priscilla snorted. "If I don't get hold of the desecrating hand of -man pretty soon, you'll be havin' a stream o' water come down on your -bed, the first rain."</p> - -<p>The girl's attitude of adoration remained unchanged.</p> - -<p>"I noticed that little rift," she said slowly. "As I lay in bed this -morning, I looked up at a spot of sapphire that seemed like a day-star -full of promise of this transcendent beauty."</p> - -<p>Miss Wilbur's pretty lips moved but little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> when she spoke and her slow -utterance gave the effect of a recitation.</p> - -<p>Miss Priscilla, for all her harassment, could not forbear a smile.</p> - -<p>"I'm certainly glad you're so easily pleased, but you don't know Casco -Bay as well as I do, or that day-star would look powerful stormy to you. -When it rains here, all other rains are mere imitations. It comes down -from the sky and up from the ground, and the wind blows it east and -west, and the porch furniture turns somersets out into the field, and -windows and doors go back on you and give up the fight and let the water -in everywhere, while the thunder rolls like the day o' judgment."</p> - -<p>The ardent light in the depths of the young girl's eyes glowed deeper.</p> - -<p>"I should expect a storm here to be inexorably superb!" she declared.</p> - -<p>Miss Priscilla heaved a sigh, half dejection, half exasperation, and -turned into the house.</p> - -<p>"Drat that plumber!" she said. "I've only had a few days of it, but I'm -sick of luggin' water in from that well."</p> - -<p>"Why, Miss Burridge," said her boarder solicitously, "I haven't fully -realized—let me bring in a supply."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p><p>"No, no, indeed, Miss Wilbur," exclaimed Miss Priscilla, as she moved -through the living-room of the house into the kitchen, closely followed -by Diana. "It ain't that I ain't able to do it, but it makes me darned -mad when I know there's no need of it."</p> - -<p>"But I desire to, Miss Burridge," averred the young girl. "Any form of -movement here cannot fail to be one of joy." She seized an empty bucket -from the sink and went out the back door.</p> - -<p>Small groves of evergreen dotted the incline behind the house, and on -the right hand soon became a wood-road of stately fir and spruce, which -led to a sun-warmed grassy slope which, like every hill of the lovely -isle, led down to the jagged rocks that fringed its irregular shore.</p> - -<p>"My muscular strength is not excessive," panted Diana, struggling up to -the back door with her heavy bucket. "I'll fill it only half-full next -time."</p> - -<p>"You ain't goin' to fill it at all," declared Miss Priscilla -emphatically, taking the pail from her. "That'll last me a long time, -and when it's gone, I'll get more myself. 'T ain't that it does me a bit -of hurt, but it riles me when I know there ain't any need of it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p><p>She set the pail down beside the sink, filled the kettle from it, and -set it on the oil stove while Diana sat down on the back doorstep. Then -she proceeded:</p> - -<p>"One o' the most disagreeable things about this world is that we do seem -to need men. They're strong and they don't wear skirts to stumble on, -and when they're willin' and clever, they certainly do fill a need; but -it does seem as if they were created to disappoint women. They don't -know any more about keepin' their promises than they do about the other -side o' the moon."</p> - -<p>Diana nodded. "It is observable, I think," she said, "that men's natural -regard for ethics is inferior to that of women."</p> - -<p>Miss Priscilla sniffed. "Now it isn't only the plumber and the -carpenter. I came here and saw 'em both over a month ago and explained -my needs; explained that I ain't calc'latin' to take in boarders to -break their legs on broken piazzas, or drown 'em in their beds. I -explained all this when I rented the house, and when I arrived this week -I naturally expected to find those things attended to; and there's Phil -Barrison, too. I've known him most of his life. He has relatives here on -the island, and when I heard he was comin'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> to stay with 'em on his -vacation, I asked him if he wouldn't be a kind of a handy-man to me and -he said he would. He got here before I did, but far as I can make out -he's been fishin' ever since. A lot of help he's been. Oh, I knew well -enough he was a broken reed. If ever a rapscallion lived, Phil's it. -'Tain't natural for any young one to be so smart as he was. Do you -believe in school he found out that by openin' and shuttin' his -geography real slow, he could set the teacher to yawnin', and, of -course, she'd set the rest of 'em off, and Phil just had a beautiful -time. His pranks was always funny ones."</p> - -<p>Diana Wilbur gave her slow, rare smile. "What an interesting bit of -hypnosis!" she remarked.</p> - -<p>"Hey? Well, when that boy got older, he was real ambitious to study. -He's got one o' those voices that ought to belong to a cherubim instead -of a limb like him, and he wanted lessons. So he got the job of janitor -in our church one winter. I got onto him later. When he'd oversleep some -awful cold mornin' and arrive too late to get the furnace to workin' -right, that rascal would drive the mercury up and loosen the bulb of the -thermometer so that when the folks came in and went over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> to it to see -just how cold they <i>was</i> goin' to be, they'd see it register over -sixty-five and of course they'd take their seats real satisfied."</p> - -<p>Miss Wilbur smiled again. "Your friend certainly showed great resource -and ingenuity. When those traits are joined to lofty principle, they -should lift him to heights of success. Oh,"—the speaker's attitude and -voice suddenly changed, and she lifted her finger to impose silence on -the cooking utensils which Miss Burridge was dropping into the -sink,—"listen!"</p> - -<p>Mingled with the roulade of a song sparrow on the roof, came the flute -of a human voice sounding and approaching through the field.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Thou'rt like unto a flower,</div> -<div>So pure, so sweet, so fair—"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The one road of the island swept over a height at some distance behind -the house and the singer had left it, and was striding down the incline -and through the meadow toward Miss Burridge's. The still air brought the -song while the singer was still hidden, but at last the girl saw him, -and the volume of rich tone increased. At last he came bounding up the -slope over which Diana had struggled with her heavy bucket a few minutes -before, and then paused at sight of the stranger.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>He was a tall, broad-shouldered youth in a dark-blue flannel shirt and -nondescript trousers. He was bareheaded, and locks of his thick blond -hair were tumbling over his forehead. He looked at Diana with curious, -unembarrassed blue eyes, and, lips parted, stopped in the act of -speaking.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge came to the door. "Well, at last, Phil," she remarked.</p> - -<p>"I only just heard this morning that you had come," he said. "Here's a -peace offering." He lifted the two mackerel that were hanging from his -hand.</p> - -<p>"Beauties," vouchsafed Miss Burridge. "Are they cleaned?"</p> - -<p>"Well, if you don't look a gift horse—"</p> - -<p>"Well, now, I ain't goin' to clean 'em," said Miss Burridge doggedly. -"I've been rubbed the wrong way ever since I landed—"</p> - -<p>Philip laughed. "And you won't do it to them, eh? Well, I guess I can -rub 'em the wrong way for you—" His unabashed eyes were still regarding -Diana as impersonally as though they had both been children of five.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, I am obstructing the passage," said the girl, rising.</p> - -<p>"This is Miss Diana Wilbur, Phil. I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>suppose you're Mr. Barrison now -that you have sung in New York."</p> - -<p>The young fellow bowed to the girl who acknowledged the greeting.</p> - -<p>"What is the name of those beautiful creatures?" she asked with her -usual gentle simplicity of manner.</p> - -<p>"These? Oh, these are mackerel."</p> - -<p>"Jewels of the deep, surely," she said.</p> - -<p>"They are rather dressy," returned Philip.</p> - -<p>Diana bathed him in the light of her serene brown gaze.</p> - -<p>"I am so ignorant of the names of the denizens of the sea," she said. "I -come from Philadelphia."</p> - -<p>Philip returned her look with dancing stars in his eyes. "I'd have said -Boston if you only wore eyeglasses."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that <i>is</i> the humorous tradition, is it not?" she returned.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't you drip 'em in here," said Miss Burridge, as the young -fellow started to enter the kitchen door. "If you're really goin' to be -clever and clean 'em, I'll give you the knife and everything right -outdoors."</p> - -<p>"Then I think I would better withdraw," said Diana hastily. "I cannot -bear to see the mutilation of such a rich specimen of Nature's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -handiwork; but, oh, Mr. Barrison, not without one word concerning the -heavenly song that floated across the field as you came. Miss Burridge -calls you Phil;—'Philomel with melody!' <i>I</i> should say. Au revoir. I -will go down among the pebbles for a while."</p> - -<p>She vanished, and Philip regarded Miss Burridge, who returned his gaze.</p> - -<p>"<i>Good night!</i>" he said at last.</p> - -<p>"Sh! Sh!" warned Miss Priscilla, and tiptoed across the kitchen. When -she had looked from a window and seen her boarder's sweater and tam -proceeding among the grassy hummocks toward the sea, she returned, -bringing out the materials for Philip's operations on the fish.</p> - -<p>"I'll bring a rhetoric instead of finny denizens of the deep, the next -time I come," he continued, settling to his job.</p> - -<p>Miss Priscilla took her boarder's deserted seat on the doorstep.</p> - -<p>"Going to open a young ladies' seminary here, and got the teacher all -secured?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing of the kind, Phil, and there's only one explanation of her," -declared Miss Priscilla impressively. "You've been in art galleries and -seen these statues of Venus and Apollo and all that tribe?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>"I have."</p> - -<p>"Well, sir, all I can think of is that one o' their Dianas got down off -her perch some dark night, and managed to get hold o' some girl clothes, -and came here to this island. She <i>says</i> she has come to recuperate from -unwise vigils caused by vaulting ambition at school. I said it over to -myself till I learned it."</p> - -<p>"<i>I</i> should say her trouble might be indigestion from devouring -dictionaries," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Well, anyway, she's a sweet girl and it's all as natural as breathing -to her. At first I accused her in my own mind of affectation, but, -there! she hasn't got an affected bone in her body, and she's willin' -and simple as a child. You'd ought to 'a' seen her luggin' water up the -hill for me this mornin'. That reminds me. You promised to give me a -lift this summer when I needed it."</p> - -<p>"At so much a lift," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Of course. Well, the first thing I want you to do is to get the -carpenter and the plumber and knock their heads together, and then bring -'em here, one in each hand, so's I can have my house ready when the -folks come. Why, my new stove ain't even put up. Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> Buell, the -plumber, promised me faithful he'd come this mornin'. I'm cookin' on an -old kerosene stove there was here and managin' to keep Miss Wilbur from -sheer starvation."</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur? Is that the fair Diana? Where did you get the 'old -master'? Did she find you waiting when she got off the pedestal?"</p> - -<p>"No, I found her waiting. She came to the island on a misunderstandin'. -There wasn't any one ready so early in the season to make strangers -comfortable, and it seems she took a fancy to this place and I found her -here sittin' on the steps when I arrived. She said she had been on the -island a week and had walked up to this piazza every pleasant day, and -she'd like to live here."</p> - -<p>"Did she really say it as plain as that?"</p> - -<p>"Well—I don't suppose those were her exact words, but she made me -understand that she was willin' to come right in for better or for worse -just so's she could have a room up there in front where the dawn—yes, -she said something about the dawn, I forget whether it was purple or -rosy—"</p> - -<p>"Mottled, perhaps," suggested Philip.</p> - -<p>"Well, anyway, I told her the dawn came awful early in the day this part -o' the year,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> and that probably she'd be better satisfied in one o' the -back rooms; but she was firm on the <i>dawn</i>, so she's got it. But I draw -the line at her gettin' midnight shower-baths, and that's what she will -get if that wretch of a Matt Blake don't get here before the next storm -and put on the shingles."</p> - -<p>"And I have to tell the plumber that you have to 'haul water' too. Is -that it? The well is some little distance. Rather hard on the statue, -wasn't it, to do the hauling? She'll wish she'd stayed in the gallery. -I'll bring in a lot before I go."</p> - -<p>"Don't go, Philip," begged Miss Priscilla. "Supposin' you don't go, not -till you can leave me whole-footed. The men'll come sooner and work -better if they know there's a man here. Your grandma won't care if her -visit's interrupted for a little while. I'll feed you with your own -mackerel and you can bet I know how to cook 'em."</p> - -<p>"Do you think Matt Blake realizes that I'm a man?" The teeth Philip -showed in his smile were an asset for a singer. "He helped teach me to -walk, you know."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, you teach <i>him</i>" retorted Miss Priscilla. "Show him how to -walk in this direction. I don't want to make a fizzle of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> this thing. I -found there wa'n't anybody goin' to run the place this summer, so I -thought it might be a good job for me. I never took a thought that it -was goin' to be so hard to get help. They tell me there ain't any -servants any more; and there are enough folks writin' for rooms to fill -me up entirely. I can do the <i>cookin'</i> myself—"</p> - -<p>"Now, Miss Burridge, you aren't leading up to asking me to put on an -apron and wait on table, are you? You must remember I'm recuperating -also from a too vaulting ambition."</p> - -<p>"Recuperatin', nothin'! You're the huskiest-lookin' thing I ever saw. -No, I ain't goin' to ask you to wait on table; but I've got an idea. -We're too out o' the way here for me to get college boys. They'd rather -go to the mountains and so on—fashionable resorts. But I've got a -niece, if she don't feel too big of herself to do that sort of thing; -she might come. I'm goin' to ask her anyway. I haven't seen her for -years 'cause her mother's been gone a long time and her father went out -to Jersey to live, but I've no doubt she's a nice girl. Her name's -Veronica. Isn't that a beater? I told my sister I couldn't see why she -didn't name her Japonica and be done with it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p><p>"It's the name of a saint," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Well, I hope she's enough of one to come and help me out. I'm goin' to -ask her."</p> - -<p>"Better get Miss Wilbur to write her about the rosy dawn and the jeweled -denizens. I'm afraid you'll be too truthful and tell about the leaks. -With an 'old master' and a saint, you ought to get on swimmingly."</p> - -<p>"Well, will you stay with me a few days?" said Miss Priscilla coaxingly. -"If I had a rapscallion to add to the menagerie—"</p> - -<p>"Do you mean ménage, Miss Burridge?"</p> - -<p>"I'll call it anything in the world you like, if you'll only stand by -me, Phil."</p> - -<p>"All right." The young fellow tossed the second cleaned fish on to the -plate. "Let me wash my hands and I'll go and throw out a line for the -plumber."</p> - -<p>"You're a good boy," returned Miss Burridge, relieved. "I do think, -Philip, that in the main you are a good boy! Who's that comin' over?" -Miss Burridge craned her neck and narrowed her eyes the better to -observe a bicycle which appeared across the field.</p> - -<p>The apparition of any human being was exciting to one responsible for -the comfort of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> others in this Arcadia, where modern conveniences could -only be obtained by effort both spasmodic and continuous.</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's Marley Hughes from the post-office."</p> - -<p>A youngster of fourteen came wheeling nonchalantly over the bumps of the -field, and finally jumped off his machine and came leisurely up the rise -among the trees.</p> - -<p>"I hoped you might be Matt Blake," said Miss Priscilla. "He's got as far -as to have the shingles here."</p> - -<p>"Well, I ain't," remarked Marley in the pleasant, drawling, leisurely, -island voice.</p> - -<p>"What you got for me?" inquired Miss Burridge.</p> - -<p>"Telegram." The boy brought the store envelope from his pocket.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I hate 'em," said Miss Burridge apprehensively.</p> - -<p>Marley held it aggravatingly away from Philip's extended hand. "Take it -back if you want me ter," he said with a grin. "It's ten cents anyway, -whether you take it or not."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, I've got the money right here." Miss Priscilla turned to a -shelf over the sink and took a dime from a purse which lay there.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p><p>"Here." She gave it to Marley, who without more ado jumped on his wheel -and coasted down among the trees and off over the soft grass.</p> - -<p>"You open it, Phil. My spectacles ain't here anyway," said Miss -Priscilla anxiously.</p> - -<p>So Philip tore open the envelope. The look of amazement which overspread -his face as the message greeted him caused Miss Burridge to exclaim -fearfully: "Speak out, speak out, Phil."</p> - -<p>"They must have taken this down wrong at the store," he said. Then he -read the scrawled words slowly. "'Look in broiler oven for legs.'"</p> - -<p>The cryptic sentence appeared to have a magical effect upon Miss -Priscilla. Her face beamed and she threw up her hands in thanksgiving.</p> - -<p>"Glory be!" she exclaimed devoutly.</p> - -<p>"What am I stumbling on?" said Philip. "Have you taken to wiring in -cipher?"</p> - -<p>"You <i>see</i>" said Miss Priscilla excitedly, reaching for the telegram -which Philip yielded, "it <i>came</i> without any <i>legs</i>. Mr. Buell himself -looked it over on the wharf and said he couldn't find 'em anywhere; and, -of course, it was a terrible anxiety to me and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> wrote to them right -off, and I was goin' to get Mr. Buell to set it up without the legs if -necessary and stick somethin' else under. Come and help me look, Phil."</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge seized the young fellow's arm and dragged him into the -kitchen, where in one corner reposed the new stove in its shining -newness, its parts piled ignominiously lop-sided. Talking all the time, -its owner pulled open one door after another, as Philip disengaged them, -and at last she laid hands on the missing treasure.</p> - -<p>"Now I'll give you as good a dinner as ever comes off this stove if -you'll go and get those men and bring 'em up here," she said. "Don't -leave me till I'm whole-footed, Phil."</p> - -<p>"Want feet as well as legs, do you?" he chuckled. "All right. See you -later if I can get Blake and Buell. If I can't, I suppose I'd better -drown myself."</p> - -<p>"No, no, don't do that, Phil. <i>You're</i> better than nothing, yourself."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER II</span> <span class="smaller">VERONICA</span></h2> - -<p>For the next few days the right moment for Philip to desert Miss -Burridge never seemed to arrive, and by that time the new establishment -had come to be in very good running order, which was fortunate, as the -expected boarders' dates were drawing near.</p> - -<p>Diana approached Philip one morning with a pleased countenance. He was -encouraging the hopeful little sweet peas that stood in a green row -below the porch. She came and sat on the rail above and watched him.</p> - -<p>"Miss Burridge is going to allow me to name our domicile," she -announced.</p> - -<p>"Brave woman!" said Philip, coaxing the brown earth up against the line -of green with his trowel.</p> - -<p>"Which of us is brave?" asked Diana, smiling,—"Miss Priscilla or -myself?"</p> - -<p>"What are you going to call it? Olympus?"</p> - -<p>"Why should I?" Diana gave a soft, gurgling laugh.</p> - -<p>"I thought perhaps it might bring happy memories and prove a palliation -of nostalgia."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><p>"I always have a feeling that you are amusing yourself with me, Mr. -Barrison."</p> - -<p>"Have you any objection to my seeing that you are a goddess? What have -you done with Apollo, by the way? Couldn't you persuade him to leave the -gallery?"</p> - -<p>"To what gallery do you refer? I do not particularly care for handsome -men," was Miss Wilbur's thoughtful response.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry I'm so beautiful, then," said Philip, extending his little -earth barricade.</p> - -<p>Diana looked down from her balcony on his tumbling blond hair.</p> - -<p>"You have a very good presence for your purpose," she said.</p> - -<p>"What is my purpose?"</p> - -<p>"The concert stage, is it not? Perhaps even opera, later?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, divine huntress, if I ever succeed in making it."</p> - -<p>"You will make it unless you are unpardonably dilatory and neglectful. -Every time you utter a musical tone it sends a vibration coursing -through my nerves with a pleasant thrill."</p> - -<p>Philip looked up at the speaker with his sea-blue, curious gaze, which -she received serenely.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p><p>"Bully for you, Miss Wilbur. That's all I can say. Bully for you."</p> - -<p>"I am glad if that encourages you," she said kindly. "It is quite -outside my own volition."</p> - -<p>"Then I don't need to thank you, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, not in the least."</p> - -<p>Philip laughed and stooped again to his job.</p> - -<p>"Let me see, Apollo—he struck liars and knew how to prescribe for the -croup, didn't he, besides being a looker beyond all comers?"</p> - -<p>Diana smiled. "You think of everything in terms of humor, do you not?" -she rejoined.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps—of most things, but not of you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I think of me most of all."</p> - -<p>"Far from it," said Philip. "I wouldn't dare. If my voice gives you a -thrill, yours gives me a chill."</p> - -<p>"I can't believe that really," said Diana equably, watching Philip's -expert handling of the trowel. "You are always laughing at me. I don't -in the least understand why, but it doesn't matter at all. I think it is -a quite laudable mission to make people laugh. What a good gardener you -are, Mr. Barrison."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, isn't he, though!" exclaimed Miss Priscilla, emerging from the -house. "Think of my luck that Phil really likes to fuss with flowers. -Ox-chains couldn't drag him to do it if he didn't like to."</p> - -<p>"Really?" returned Diana. "Is she not maligning you, Mr. Barrison? Are -you really the slave of caprice?"</p> - -<p>"I deny it," said Philip. "It doesn't sound nice."</p> - -<p>"It would be a dire thing for you," declared the girl. "But you do not -ask me what I am naming the Inn."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it is an Inn, is it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," put in Miss Priscilla. "Since the leaks are mended, both pipes -and roof, and the stove's up and the chimney draws, I think we can call -it that."</p> - -<p>"What is it, then? 'The Dew Drop'?" inquired Philip.</p> - -<p>"I particularly dislike puns," said Diana quietly. "I like 'The -Wayside.' Why shouldn't we call it 'The Wayside Inn'?"</p> - -<p>"You have my permission," said Philip.</p> - -<p>"We do not need anything original, but we do need a name that is lovely. -'The Wayside Inn' is lovely."</p> - -<p>"So be it," said Philip.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p><p>"And you're not forgettin' what you are goin' to do to-morrow, are you, -dear boy?" said Miss Priscilla ingratiatingly.</p> - -<p>"Not if it isn't to go again for the plumber," replied Philip. "His -wrenches and hammers are too handy; and I'm sure one more call up here -would render him dangerous."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Buell is a very pleasant man," said Diana. "So is Mr. Blake, the -carpenter. I have learned such interesting expressions from them. Mr. -Blake was showing me the fault in one of the gables of this house. He -said the builder had given the roof a 'too quick yank.' Is not that -quaint?"</p> - -<p>"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Philip up into the girl's serious face. "Bully for -Matt. You may get the vernacular, after all."</p> - -<p>"I'm not quick," said Diana. "I'm afraid I should not prove an apt -pupil."</p> - -<p>"But, Philip," said Miss Priscilla, "about to-morrow. You know you'll -have to get the early boat to go to meet Veronica. It's perfectly -splendid of you to go, dear boy. I don't know how I could spare the -time. I've got to get several rooms ready for to-morrow, and the child -is such an utter stranger in this part o' the world."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, yes, I'll go," said Philip carelessly. "I think the Inn will be -relieved that I can get a hair-cut. My tresses are nearly ready to braid -now."</p> - -<p>Diana smiled pensively. "I think you are very amusing, Mr. Barrison," -she said.</p> - -<p>Philip vaulted up over the railing and took a seat beside her, regarding -his earth-stained hands and then her serene countenance, whose gaze was -bent upon him. He shook his head to toss the blond forelock out of his -eyes.</p> - -<p>"So my voice gives you a thrill, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, decidedly," was the devout response.</p> - -<p>"That's a good thing. I thought perhaps you couldn't really be roused -from your dreaminess before the fourth of July, but I have some tones -that in that case will be warranted to set you and the echoes going at -the same time."</p> - -<p>Diana clasped her hands. "Oh, utter them," she begged.</p> - -<p>"Can't," laughed Philip, wiping his warm forehead with his shirt-sleeve. -"The stage isn't set."</p> - -<p>Diana continued to look imploringly ardent. "'Drink to me only with -thine eyes,'" she suggested.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p><p>"That's the only way they'll let you do it nowadays," responded Philip, -kicking the heels of his sneakers gently against the railing.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge looked over her spectacles at Diana in her beseeching -attitude, and her eyes widened still further as the girl went on slowly -with her brown gaze fixed on Philip's quizzical countenance:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"How can I bear to leave thee!</div> -<div>One parting kiss I give thee—"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Dear me," thought Miss Priscilla. "I'd never have believed it of her." -And it occurred to her for the first time that Philip Barrison was a -handsome man.</p> - -<p>"Fare<i>well</i>," went on Diana, with soft fervor. "'Farewell, my own true -love—'"</p> - -<p>"Farewell," sang Philip, falling into the trap and finishing the phrase. -"'Farewe-ell, my own—true—love.'"</p> - -<p>"Oh," breathed Diana, and the way her clasped hands fell upon her heart -caused Miss Priscilla much embarrassment.</p> - -<p>"I can scarcely wait," said the girl slowly, "to hear you sing a real -song with a real accompaniment. There is such rare penetrating richness -in the quality of your voice."</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge cleared her throat. "I shouldn't wonder if Miss Wilbur was -a real<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> help to you, Phil," she said. "Young folks need encouragement."</p> - -<p>"And soap-suds," added Philip, regarding his earthy hands and glancing -merrily up at Diana, who was still standing in her attitude of -adoration; but there was no answering merriment in those brown orbs. Her -brain might tell her later that Miss Burridge's patronizing remark had -been amusing, but she would be obliged to think it over.</p> - -<p>Philip jumped off the railing, whistling, and followed Miss Priscilla -into the house and to the sink, while Diana, reminiscently humming "The -Soldier's Farewell," descended the steps and wandered away.</p> - -<p class="space-above">When, the next day in town, Philip stood in the Union Station waiting -for Veronica's train, he wondered how he was to know her, but -remembering that Miss Burridge spoke of having instructed her to go the -first thing to the transfer office about her trunk, he turned his steps -thither as the crowds poured off the train. All Boston seemed to have -decided to come to Maine for the summer.</p> - -<p>Soon he saw her—he felt at once it was she—looking about undecidedly -as she came. She was a short, plump girl of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>seventeen or eighteen, at -present bent a little sideways from the weight of the suitcase she was -carrying. Philip strode forward and seized the suitcase with one hand -while he lifted his hat with the other.</p> - -<p>"Here, you let that alone!" said the girl decidedly, her round eyes -snapping.</p> - -<p>"Isn't this Miss Trueman?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, it is," she returned, but she still looked suspicious and -clung to her suitcase. Nobody need think she wasn't up to all the -tricks. "Did my aunt send you to meet me?"</p> - -<p>"She certainly did."</p> - -<p>"Then you know her name. What's her name?" The upward look was so -childlike in its shrewdness that it stirred the spirit of mischief.</p> - -<p>"Why—let me see, Lucilla, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"You give me that suitcase this minute." The girl pulled on the handle -with a muscular little hand.</p> - -<p>"Why, Veronica," Philip's smile became a laugh. "Santa Veronica, what a -very unsaintlike voice and expression you're using."</p> - -<p>She laughed, too, then, and relinquished her burden. "You do know me. -Who are you?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Burridge's man-of-all-work. Name, Philip Barrison."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>"So she gave you such a job as this. How did you pick me out?"</p> - -<p>"That wild look around for the transfer office." They were now moving -toward it.</p> - -<p>"It wasn't wild. I didn't need you at all. Aunt Priscilla needn't have -bothered. I have a tongue in my head and money in my pocket, and Puppa -said that's all anybody needs if she has any brains."</p> - -<p>"But I have to do what my employer orders, you see," replied Philip.</p> - -<p>Veronica looked him over. Fresh from the barber and in correct summer -garb, he was an extremely good-looking object.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, it isn't your fault," she returned generously, "but is it a -swell place Aunt Priscilla's got?" She looked him over again while he -stopped at the transfer window and checked her trunk.</p> - -<p>"The Wayside Inn," replied Philip with dignity.</p> - -<p>"Well, I've come to help her," said the girl. "But I've never done any -serving. I haven't any uniform or anything like that."</p> - -<p>"It isn't necessary. Look at me. I don't look like a footman—or a -butler—or anything like that, do I?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Veronica, her round eyes very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> serious. "You look like -a—like a common—gentleman."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Miss Trueman. I'll try to deserve your praise."</p> - -<p>Philip took her and her suitcase across town in a cab, and aboard the -little steamer, and found the best spot he could for them to sit.</p> - -<p>"Puppa says this bay is noted for its picturesqueness," said Veronica, -when they were settled.</p> - -<p>"Quite right," returned Philip, putting in her lap one of the magazines -he had bought on the wharf.</p> - -<p>"No, thank you," she returned. "I shan't read. I'm going to look. -Puppa'll expect me to tell him all about it. He was delighted at my -having a chance to come to the seashore. He thought it would do my -health so much good."</p> - -<p>Philip regarded her round cheeks, round eyes, and round, rosy mouth.</p> - -<p>"Your health? You look to me as though if you felt any better you'd have -to call the doctor."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'm not really ailing—but I freckle. Isn't it a shame?" She put -one hand to her nose which had an upward tilt.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, that's all right," laughed Philip. "Call 'em beauty spots."</p> - -<p>She sat, pensively continuing to cover her nose with her silk-gloved -hand.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you're hungry. I ought to have bought you some chocolates," -said Philip. "Perhaps there's time still." He looked at his watch.</p> - -<p>Veronica smiled. It was a pleasant operation to view and disclosed a -dimple. "Did Aunt Priscilla give you money to buy me candy? Don't -bother. I have some gum. Would you like some?" As she spoke, she opened -her handbag.</p> - -<p>Philip bent a dreadful frown upon her. "Do you chew gum?" he asked -severely.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sometimes, of course. Everybody does."</p> - -<p>"Then you deserve to freckle. You deserve all the awful things that can -befall a girl."</p> - -<p>"Well, for a hired man," said Veronica, her hand pausing in its -exploration, "you have the most nerve of any one I ever saw."</p> - -<p>She seemed quite heated by this condemnation, and instead of the gum -drew out a vanity box and, looking in the mirror, powdered her nose -deliberately.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p><p>Philip opened his magazine. The whistle blew and the boat began to back -out of the slip. Veronica regarded her companion from time to time out -of the tail of her eye, and at a moment when his manner indicated -absorption in what he was reading, she replaced the vanity case in her -bag and when her hand reappeared, it conveyed something to her mouth.</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't," said Philip, without looking up. She colored hotly.</p> - -<p>"Nobody asked you to," she retorted.</p> - -<p>Then all was silence while the steamer, getting its direction, began -moving toward the islands that dotted the bay.</p> - -<p>The girl suddenly started.</p> - -<p>"If there aren't those people!" she ejaculated.</p> - -<p>"What people?" asked Philip.</p> - -<p>"They came on in the same car with me from Boston. See that dark man -over there with a young boy? I couldn't help noticing them on the train. -You see how stupid the boy looks. He seemed so helpless, and the man -just ignored him when he asked questions, and treated him so mean. I -just hate that man."</p> - -<p>Philip regarded the couple. They presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> a contrast. The man was -heavily built with a sallow, dark face, his restless eyes and body -continually moving with what seemed an habitual impatience. The boy, -perhaps fourteen years of age, had a vacant look, his lips were parted, -and his position, slumped down in a camp-chair, indicated a total lack -of interest in his surroundings.</p> - -<p>"Tell me about Aunt Priscilla," said Veronica suddenly. "I haven't seen -her since I was twelve years old. My mother died then. She was Aunt -Priscilla's sister and Aunt Pris was willing to take me if Pa wanted her -to, but he didn't and we moved away, and I've never seen her since. Of -course, she writes sometimes and so do I. Has she many boarders?"</p> - -<p>"Only one so far, but then she's a goddess. You've read your mythology, -haven't you? This is the goddess Diana."</p> - -<p>"Say, you're awfully fresh, do you know that?" remarked Veronica. "You -treat me all the time as if I was a baby. I've graduated from high -school and very likely I know just as much as you do."</p> - -<p>"I shouldn't doubt that," returned Philip. "On the level, you'll see -when you get to the Inn that I'm telling the truth. Diana is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> passing -for the present under the title of Miss Wilbur."</p> - -<p>"One boarder!" exclaimed Veronica with troubled brow. "Why, Aunt -Priscilla doesn't need two helpers like you and me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, there are plenty more boarders coming," said Philip. "This boat may -be full of them for all we know. She is expecting people to-night. Let's -look around and decide who we'll take up there with us."</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you one person I'd choose first of all. See that woman with -her back to us with a blue motor veil around her shoulders? I noticed -her just when I was pointing out that devil and the boy to you."</p> - -<p>"You use strong language, Miss Trueman. Couldn't you spare my feelings -and call our dark friend Mephisto?"</p> - -<p>"Sounds too good for him. I'd like to use me-fist-o on him, I know -that." Veronica giggled, and went on: "Do you see her?"</p> - -<p>"I do. My vision is excellent."</p> - -<p>"Well, she was on the train, too, and once I saw her smile at that poor -shy boy and show him how to get a drink of water. We were all in a day -car. Chair car crowded. You can't see her face, but she's the sweetest -thing." Then with a change of voice: "Oh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> wouldn't it jar you! There's -fuss-tail. See that dame with the white flower in her hat, looking over -the rail? I suppose she's watching to see if the fishes behave -themselves. She was on the train, too, and nothing suited her from -Boston to Portland. She was too hot, or she felt a draught, or she -didn't like the fruit the train-boy brought, or something else was -wrong, every minute."</p> - -<p>"We won't take her, then," said Philip.</p> - -<p>"I should say not. She'd sour the milk. What's the island like?"</p> - -<p>"Diana says it resembles Arcadia strikingly, and she ought to know."</p> - -<p>"But I never was in Arcadia," objected Veronica.</p> - -<p>"Well, it is just a green hill popping right up out of the Atlantic, -with plenty of New England rocks in the fields, and drifts of daisies -and wild roses for decoration, and huge rocky teeth around the shore -that grind the waves into spray and spit it up flying toward the sky."</p> - -<p>"What kind of folks? Just folks that come in summer?"</p> - -<p>"Not at all. Old families. New England's aristocracy. These islands are -the only place where there are no aliens, just the simon-pure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -descendants of Plymouth Rock. As I say aristocrats. I was born there."</p> - -<p>"You were?" returned Veronica curiously.</p> - -<p>"I were."</p> - -<p>"Well, I was born in Maine, in Bangor. I guess that's just about as -good."</p> - -<p>"No, it's not as good," said Philip gravely. "Nevertheless, I forgive -you."</p> - -<p>"Tell me more about the island."</p> - -<p>"Well, it has one road."</p> - -<p>"Only one street?"</p> - -<p>"No, no street. Just one road which has its source in a green field on -the south and loses itself in the beach on the north after it has passed -the by-path that leads to the haunted farm."</p> - -<p>"Oh, go away!" scoffed Veronica.</p> - -<p>"I can't. The walking won't be good for another hour."</p> - -<p>"Who lives at the farm?"</p> - -<p>"The ha'nts."</p> - -<p>"Nobody else?"</p> - -<p>"No, it isn't likely. It's at the head of Brook Cove where the pirates -used to come in at a day when it was laughable to think that passenger -boats would ever touch at this island."</p> - -<p>Veronica's eyes grew rounder than before.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>"Do you suppose there's gold packed in around there if people could -only find it?"</p> - -<p>"I don't, but a great many people thought there might be. It is much -more fun to hunt for pirate gold than to go fishing in squally weather, -and it has been hunted for, faithfully."</p> - -<p>"And not any found?" said Veronica sympathetically.</p> - -<p>"That's the mournful fact."</p> - -<p>"But who were the farmers, and why did they stop farming? Was it the -ghosts?"</p> - -<p>"No, I think it was the rocks. It was found more profitable to farm the -sea. You know abandoned farms are fashionable in New England, anyway, so -the ghosts have a rather swell residence at the old Dexter place. I -spent the first eight years of my life on the island. Then it was an -undiscovered Arcadia. Now—why, you will go up to The Wayside Inn in a -motor—that is, if I can get hold of Bill Lindsay before somebody else -grabs him. Lots of people know a good thing when they see it, and lots -of people have seen the island."</p> - -<p>The wharf was full of people to welcome the little steamer as it drew -in, and there was a grand rush of passengers for the coveted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> motor. It -seemed to Veronica that she heard her aunt's name on many lips, and -Philip found himself feeling responsible for the trunk checks of -everybody who was seeking Miss Burridge.</p> - -<p>The upshot of it all was, by the time he had safeguarded the baggage of -the arrivals and sent them on their way, he and Veronica were left to -climb the road and pursue the walk toward home.</p> - -<p>"Didn't that old hawk-nose say he was going to Aunt Priscilla's?"</p> - -<p>"It's a very good-looking nose," remarked Philip. "But so far as I could -see, all your friends of the train were bound for the same place."</p> - -<p>"He'll be lucky," said Veronica viciously, "if I don't put Paris green -in his tea. Oh, what a beautiful view of the sea!" she exclaimed as they -reached the summit of the hill.</p> - -<p>They had not walked far when Bill Lindsay's Ford came whirring back over -the much-traveled road, and he turned around for them.</p> - -<p>"After all," said Philip, as the machine started back up the island, -"your lady of the blue veil should set off the affliction of Mephisto's -presence."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>"Did she come?" asked Veronica delightedly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, didn't you see me pack her in with the woman whose halo won't fit? -The dull boy sat between them."</p> - -<p>"Well," said Veronica, "then there's no great loss without some small -gain."</p> - -<p>When the motor reached the Inn, Miss Priscilla was pleased with the way -Veronica dropped her hat and jacket in the kitchen, and after drinking -the one cup of cocoa upon which her aunt insisted, was ready to help her -carry in the late supper for the new guests with whom Philip sat down at -table. Veronica, coming and going, tried to make out his status in the -house.</p> - -<p>"That Mr. Barrison you sent to meet me," she said to her aunt when the -meal was over, "told me he was your man-of-all-work. He don't act much -like it."</p> - -<p>"Law, child," Miss Priscilla laughed. "He has been lately. Phil's a dear -boy when he isn't a wretch, and he's helped me out ever since I came. I -won't ever forget how good he's been. Now, let's sit down and let me see -you eat this fresh omelette and tell me all about yourself. I see you're -just like your mother, handy and capable, and let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> me tell you, it takes -a big load off me, Veronica."</p> - -<p>Just as she finished speaking, Diana Wilbur came in from the twilight -stroll she had been taking.</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur, this is my little niece, Veronica Trueman," said Miss -Priscilla. "She has come to help me, and high time, too. Four people -came to-night and there will be more to-morrow."</p> - -<p>Diana approached the newcomer and looked down upon her kindly after -taking her offered hand.</p> - -<p>"You must have had an inspiring ride down the bay, Miss Veronica," she -said. "I have been taking a walk to see the sun set. It was heavenly -to-night. Such translucent rose-color, and violet that shimmered into -turquoise, and robin's-egg blue. How fortunate for the new people to get -that first impression! Well, Miss Burridge," Diana sighed. "Of course we -must be glad to see them, but it has been a very subtle joy to retire -and to waken with no human sounds about us. I shall always remember this -last two weeks."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you feel that way," said Miss Priscilla. "I thought, though, -that you'd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> heard lots o' sounds. Phil makes enough noise for a regiment -when he is dressin' in the mornin'."</p> - -<p>"You can scarcely call such melodious tones noise, can you?" replied -Miss Wilbur gently. "His flute is more liquid than that of the hermit -thrush."</p> - -<p>"I never heard him play the flute." Miss Priscilla looked surprised.</p> - -<p>"I refer to the marvelous, God-bestowed instrument that dwells within -him," explained Diana.</p> - -<p>"I think myself," said Miss Priscilla, clearing her throat, "that it's -kind o' cozy to hear a man whistlin' and shoutin' around in the mornin' -while he's dressin'. I suppose he'll be leavin' us pretty soon now. I -hate to see him go, he's gettin' the plants into such good shape; and -wasn't he good about scythin' paths so we wouldn't get wet to our knees -every time we left the house? I don't know how you ever had the courage -to wade over to this piazza before I came, Miss Wilbur."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Barrison certainly did smooth our paths."</p> - -<p>"He told me he was Aunt Priscilla's man-of-all-work," said Veronica, -busy with her omelette.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p><p>"So he has been," replied Diana seriously: "out of the goodness of his -heart and the cleverness of his hands; but he is a great artist, Miss -Veronica, or at least he will be."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean he paints?"</p> - -<p>"No, he sings: and it is singing—such as must have sounded when the -stars sang together."</p> - -<p>"Dear me," said Veronica, "I wish I'd asked him to pipe up when we were -on the boat."</p> - -<p>Diana let her gaze rest for a moment of silence on the sacrilegious -speaker, then she excused herself, saying she would go up to her room.</p> - -<p>As soon as the door had closed behind her, Veronica looked up and -bestowed upon her aunt a meaning wink.</p> - -<p>"She's got it bad, hasn't she?" she said.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge put her finger to her lips warningly. "Sh!" she breathed. -"Sometimes I think she has: but, law, Phil's nothing but a boy."</p> - -<p>"And she's nothing but a girl," said Veronica practically. "That's the -way it usually begins."</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge laughed. "What do you know about it, you child?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>"Not so much as I'd like to. Puppa would never let anybody stay after -ten o'clock, and you don't really get warmed up before ten o'clock."</p> - -<p>"Why, Veronica Trueman, how you talk!"</p> - -<p>"Don't speak of how I talk!" said Veronica. "Hasn't that Miss Wilbur got -language! I guess Mr. Barrison likes her, too. He told me she was a -goddess."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Phil's just full of fun. He always will be a rapscallion at heart, -no matter how great he ever gets to be."</p> - -<p>"Well, he doesn't want anybody else to stop saying prunes and prisms. He -didn't even want me to chew gum. Anybody that's as unnatural as that had -better marry a goddess. Now, let's go for those dishes, Aunt Priscilla."</p> - -<p>"You good child!" said Miss Burridge appreciatively. "I can't really ask -Genevieve to stay in the evenin'. She's the little girl who comes every -day and prepares vegetables and washes dishes. Now, one minute, -Veronica, while I get the names o' these new people straight. I've got -their letters here." Miss Priscilla took them down from the -chimney-piece. "There's Mrs. Lowell, <i>she</i>'s alone, and Miss Emerson, -<i>she</i>'s alone, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Mr. Nicholas Gayne and his nephew, Herbert Gayne. I -wonder how long I'll remember that."</p> - -<p>"I know them all," said Veronica sententiously. "The whole bunch came on -in the same car with me from Boston. It's my plan to poison Mr. Gayne."</p> - -<p>"Don't talk that way, child."</p> - -<p>"You'll agree to it when you see how mean he is to his nephew. The boy -isn't all there."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"Has rooms to let in the upper story, you know." Veronica touched her -round forehead. "Mrs. Lowell is a queen and Miss Emerson isn't; or else -Miss Emerson is a queen and Mrs. Lowell isn't. I'll know which is -t'other to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"You seem to have made up your mind about them all."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes!" said Veronica. "You don't have to eat a whole jar of butter -to find out whether it's good. All I need is a three-minute taste of -anybody, and I had three hours and a half of them. Now, come on, Aunt -Priscilla, let's put some transparent water in the metal bowl, and the -snowy foam of soap within it." She rolled up her naughty eyes as she -spoke.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>Miss Burridge gave the girl a rebuking look, and then laughed. "Don't -you go to makin' fun of her now," she said. "She's my star boarder, no -matter who else comes, I'm in love with her whether Phil is or not. -She's genuine, that girl is,—genuine."</p> - -<p>"And you don't want me to be imitation," giggled Veronica. "I see."</p> - -<p>Then the two went at the clearing-up and dish-washing in high -good-humor.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER III</span> <span class="smaller">A FRIENDLY PACT</span></h2> - -<p>"You, Veronica," said Miss Burridge one morning, looking out of the -kitchen window. "I feel sorry for that young boy."</p> - -<p>"I told you you would. Old Nick should worry what his nephew does with -himself all day."</p> - -<p>"Veronica!" Miss Priscilla gave the girl a warning wink and motioned -with her hand toward the sink where Genevieve, her hair in a tight braid -and her slender figure attired in a scanty calico frock, was looking -over the bib of an apron much too large for her, and washing the -breakfast dishes.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me," said Veronica demurely. "I meant to say Mr. Gayne. -Genevieve, you must never call Mr. Gayne 'Old Nick.' Do you hear?"</p> - -<p>"Veronica!" pleaded Miss Burridge.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we all know Mr. Gayne," said Genevieve, in her piercing, high voice -which always seemed designed to be heard through the tumult of a storm -at sea.</p> - -<p>"He has been here before, then?" asked Miss Burridge.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p><p>"Pretty near all last summer. He comes to paint, you know."</p> - -<p>"No, I didn't know he was an artist."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, he paints somethin' grand, but I never saw any of his -pitchers."</p> - -<p>"Was his nephew with him last summer?"</p> - -<p>"No, I don't believe so. I never saw anybody around with him. He spent -most of his time up to the Dexter farm. He said he could paint the -prettiest pitchers there. It was him seen the first ghost."</p> - -<p>"What are you talking about, Genevieve?" asked Miss Burridge, while -Veronica busied herself drying the glass and silver.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," she put in. "That is the haunted farm. Mr. Barrison was -telling me about it."</p> - -<p>"Yep," said Genevieve. "Folks had said so a long time and heard awful -queer noises up there, but Mr. Gayne was the first who really seen the -spook."</p> - -<p>"I'm not surprised that he had a visitor," said Veronica. "Dollars to -doughnuts, it had horns and hoofs and a tail."</p> - -<p>"That's what Uncle Zip said," remarked Genevieve. "He said 't wa'n't -anything but an old stray white cow."</p> - -<p>Veronica laughed, and her aunt met her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> mischievous look with an -impressive shake of the head. "Mind me, now," she said, and Veronica did -not pursue the subject.</p> - -<p>The long porch across the front of the Inn made, sometimes a sunny, and -sometimes a foggy, meeting-place for the members of the family. It -boasted a hammock and some weather-beaten chairs, and Miss Myrna Emerson -was not tardy in discovering the one of these which offered the most -comfort. She was a lady of uncertain age and certain ideas. One of the -latter was that it was imperative that she should be comfortable.</p> - -<p>"I should think Miss Burridge would have some decent chairs here," she -said one morning, dilating her thin nostrils with displeasure as she -took possession of the most hopeful of the seats.</p> - -<p>The remark was addressed to Diana who was perched on the piazza rail.</p> - -<p>"Doubtless they will be added," she said, "should Miss Burridge find -that her undertaking proves sufficiently remunerative."</p> - -<p>"She charges enough, so far as that goes," declared Miss Emerson curtly, -but finding the chair unexpectedly comfortable, she settled back and -complained no further.</p> - -<p>Philip was out on the grass painting on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> long board the words "Ye -Wayside Inn." Herbert Gayne stood watching him listlessly. His uncle was -stretched in the hammock. Mrs. Lowell came out upon the porch. Mr. Gayne -moved reluctantly, but he did arise. Men usually did exert themselves at -the advent of this tall, slender lady with the radiant smile and -laughing eyes.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you would like the hammock, Mrs. Lowell," he said -perfunctorily.</p> - -<p>"Offer it to me some time later in the day," she responded pleasantly, -and he tumbled back into the couch with obvious relief.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell approached the rail and observed Philip's labors.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going to hang that sign?" she asked in her charming -voice. "Across the front of the house, I judge."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," replied Philip. "We can't hope to attract the fish. I am going -to hang it at the back where Bill Lindsay's flivver will feel the lure -before it gets here."</p> - -<p>"Across the back of the house," cried Miss Emerson in alarm. "I hope -nowhere near my window."</p> - -<p>"The sign will depend from iron rings," explained Diana.</p> - -<p>"I know they'll squeak," said Miss <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>Emerson positively; "and if they do, -Mr. Barrison, you'll simply have to take it down."</p> - -<p>No one replied to this warning. So Miss Emerson dilated her nostrils -again with an air of determination and leaned back in her chair.</p> - -<p>The eyes of both Mrs. Lowell and Diana were upon the young boy whose -watching face betrayed no inspiration from the fresh morning. He had an -ungainly, neglected appearance from his rough hair to his worn shoes. -His clothes were partially outgrown and shabby.</p> - -<p>"Bert," called his uncle from the hammock. The boy looked up. "Come -here. Don't you hear me?" The boy started toward the piazza steps with a -shuffling gait.</p> - -<p>"You're slower than molasses in January," said Mr. Gayne lazily. "Go up -to my room and get my field-glasses. They're on the dresser, I think."</p> - -<p>Without a word the boy went into the house and Diana and Mrs. Lowell -exchanged a look. Each was hoping the messenger would be successful and -not draw upon himself a reprimand from the dark, impatient man smoking -in the hammock.</p> - -<p>The boy returned empty-handed. "They—they weren't there," he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p><p>"Weren't where, stu—" Mr. Gayne encountered Mrs. Lowell's gaze as he -was in the middle of his epithet. Her eyes were not laughing now, and he -restrained himself. "Weren't on the dresser, do you mean?" he continued -in a quieter tone. "Well, didn't you look about any?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. I looked on the—the trunk and on the—the floor."</p> - -<p>Mr. Gayne emitted an inarticulate sound which, but for the presence of -the ladies, would evidently have been articulate. "Oh, well," he -groaned, rising to a sitting posture on the side of the hammock, "I -suppose I shall have to galvanize my old bones and go after them -myself."</p> - -<p>His nephew's blank look did not change. He stood as if awaiting further -orders, and his listless eyes met Mrs. Lowell's kindly gaze.</p> - -<p>"It is good fun to look through field-glasses in a place like this, -isn't it, Bertie?" she said.</p> - -<p>The boy's surprise at being addressed was evident. "I—I don't know," he -replied.</p> - -<p>His uncle laughed. "That's all the answer you'll ever get out of him, -Mrs. Lowell. He's the champion don't-know-er."</p> - -<p>The boy's blank look continued the same.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> It was evident that his -uncle's description of him was nothing new.</p> - -<p>"I don't believe that," said Mrs. Lowell. "I think Bertie and I are -going to be friends. I like boys."</p> - -<p>The look she was giving the lad as she spoke seemed for a moment to -attract his attention.</p> - -<p>"You won't—you won't like me," he said in his usual wooden manner.</p> - -<p>"Children and fools," laughed his uncle, rising from the hammock.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gayne!" exclaimed Diana, electrified out of her customary serenity.</p> - -<p>The man's restless, dark eyes glanced quickly from the face of one woman -to another, even alighting upon Miss Emerson whose countenance only gave -its usual indication that the lady had just detected a very unpleasant -odor.</p> - -<p>He laughed again, good-naturedly, and as he passed his nephew gave him a -careless, friendly pat on the shoulder. The unexpected touch startled -the boy and made him cringe.</p> - -<p>"Bert believes honesty is the best policy," he said. "Don't you, Bert?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," replied the boy automatically.</p> - -<p>"Sit down here a minute, won't you, Bertie?" asked Mrs. Lowell, making a -place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> beside her on the piazza rail. The boy obeyed. "Have you ever -seen this great ocean before?"</p> - -<p>"No. Yes. I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, you do know, of course," said Mrs. Lowell, with a soft little -laugh, very intimate and pleasant. "You know whether you have seen the -ocean before."</p> - -<p>The boy regarded her, and in the surprise of being really challenged to -think, he meditated.</p> - -<p>"No," he said, at last. "I've never been here before."</p> - -<p>"Isn't it a beautiful place?" asked Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," returned the boy after a hesitation. Then he looked down -on the grass at Philip.</p> - -<p>"Do you want to go back and watch Mr. Barrison paint?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"All right. Run along. We'll talk some other time."</p> - -<p>The boy rose and shuffled across the porch and down the steps.</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Lowell, it is heart-breaking!" exclaimed Diana softly.</p> - -<p>Her companion nodded.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><p>"The situation is incomprehensible," said Diana. "It seems as if Mr. -Gayne had some ulterior design which impelled him to stultify any -outcropping of intelligence in his nephew. Have you not observed it from -the moment of their arrival?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and before we arrived. I noticed them on the train."</p> - -<p>"If there's anything I can't bear to have around, it's an idiot," said -Miss Emerson. "It gives me the creeps. If he hangs about much, I shall -complain to Miss Burridge."</p> - -<p>The sweep of the ocean and the rush of the wind made her remark -inaudible beyond the piazza. Mrs. Lowell turned to her.</p> - -<p>"I think we all have a mission right there, perhaps, Miss Emerson. The -boy is not an idiot. I have observed him closely enough to be convinced -of that. He is a plant in a dark cellar, and I wonder how many years he -has been there. His uncle's methods turn him into an automaton. If you -keep your arm in a sling a few weeks you know it loses its power to act. -The boy's brain seems to have been treated the same way. His uncle's -every word holds the law over him that he cannot think, or reason, and -that he is the stupidest creature living."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p><p>"That is true," said Diana. "That is just what he does."</p> - -<p>Miss Emerson sniffed. "Well, I didn't come up to Maine on a mission. I -came to rest, and I don't propose to have that gawk prowling around -where I am."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne appeared, his binoculars in his hand. "Would you ladies -like to look at the shipping?" he said, approaching. His manner was -ingratiating, and Diana conquered the resentment filling her heart -sufficiently to accept the glasses from his hand. He was conscious that -he had not made a good impression. "The mackerel boats are going out to -sea after yesterday's storm," he remarked. "You will see how wonderfully -near you can bring them."</p> - -<p>Diana adjusted the glass and exclaimed over its power. Miss Emerson -jumped up from her chair.</p> - -<p>"That's something I want to see," she said, and Diana handed her the -glass while Nicholas Gayne scowled at the spinster's brown -"transformation." He was not desirous of propitiating Miss Emerson, who, -however, pressed him into the service of helping her adjust the screws -to suit her eyes, and was effusive in her appreciation of the effect.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p><p>"You surely are a benefactor, Mr. Gayne," she said at last, with -enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"Let me be a benefactor to Mrs. Lowell, too," he returned, and the lady -yielded up the glass.</p> - -<p>"That is the great Penguin Light beyond Crag Island," he said, as Mrs. -Lowell accepted the binoculars. "The trees hide it in the daytime, it is -so distant, but at night you will see it flash out."</p> - -<p>"It is so interesting that you are familiar here, Mr. Gayne," said Miss -Emerson. "You must tell us all about the island and show us the -prettiest places."</p> - -<p>The owner of the binoculars stirred restlessly under the appealing smile -the lady was bestowing upon him.</p> - -<p>"For myself, I just love to walk," she added suggestively.</p> - -<p>"I don't do much walking," he returned shortly. "I come here to sketch."</p> - -<p>"Oh, an artist!" exclaimed Miss Emerson, clasping her hands in the -extremity of her delight. "Do you allow any one to watch you work? Such -a pleasure as it would be."</p> - -<p>"It isn't, though," said Nicholas Gayne with an uncomfortable -side-glance at his admirer. "My daubs aren't worth watching."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, that will do for you to say," she returned archly. "I have done -some sketching myself. Perhaps I could persuade you to take a pupil."</p> - -<p>"Nothing doing," returned the artist hastily. "We all come up here to -rest, don't we?" he added.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I suppose so," sighed Miss Emerson. "But I do hope you will give me -the great pleasure of seeing your work sometime." She sank back into her -chair with a sigh.</p> - -<p>"That is a very fine glass," remarked Mrs. Lowell as she returned it to -its owner. His brow cleared as he received it.</p> - -<p>"Well, I must be off," he said. "I mustn't waste time under these -favoring skies."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Miss Wilbur," said Miss Emerson, addressing the young girl. -"Wouldn't it be lovely if Mr. Gayne would let us go with him and watch -him sketch?"</p> - -<p>"I am quite ignorant of his art," returned Diana, rising from her seat. -"And I still have a great deal of exploring to do on my own account."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne cast an admiring glance at the statuesque lines of her -face and figure.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you will let me make a sketch of you one of these days, Miss -Wilbur." He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> approached the piazza rail as he spoke and his voice -carried down to where Philip was painting under the eyes of the silent, -watching boy.</p> - -<p>Philip looked up, and, catching the expression with which Gayne seemed -to be appraising the young girl, he ruined one of the <i>n</i>'s in Inn so -that it had to be painted out and done over.</p> - -<p>Veronica, her duties finished for the time being, sallied out of doors -and approaching Philip looked curiously at his work.</p> - -<p>"There's nothing the matter with that," she said encouragingly, and the -others came down from the piazza to praise the painter. Miss Emerson -followed, but she looked at the sign doubtfully.</p> - -<p>"One can't help being sensitive, can one?" she said to Gayne. "And the -wind blows so hard all the time up here, I'm afraid that sign is going -to squeak."</p> - -<p>"Show me your window," said Philip good-naturedly, "and I'll see if we -can't avoid it."</p> - -<p>So they all went around to the back of the house where Philip had his -ladder waiting and the sign was finally placed to the satisfaction of -everybody except Miss Emerson, who considered it on probation.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><p>Nicholas Gayne was still conscious that he had not made a pleasing -impression in his treatment of his nephew and it was no part of his -programme to attract attention. He approached the boy now.</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do with yourself, Bert?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," was the answer.</p> - -<p>"Want to come with me?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's plain enough," said Gayne, laughing and looking around on -the company.</p> - -<p>"He's a very foolish boy," said Miss Emerson, "when he has an -opportunity to watch you sketch."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Gayne!" cried Veronica. "Don't go until you tell us about the -haunted farm."</p> - -<p>"Where did you ever hear about that?" asked the artist, looking with -some favor on Veronica's round and dimpled personality. "I thought you -were a stranger here."</p> - -<p>"I am, but Genevieve Wilks has just been telling me that you really saw -the spook."</p> - -<p>Gayne laughed. "When I came up here last summer, I was told about the -haunted farm, and, of course, I was interested in it at once. There are -some particularly good views from there. So, naturally, I became one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> -the ha'nts myself and spent a lot of time with them."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but tell us what it looked like," persisted Veronica. "Did you -really think you saw one?"</p> - -<p>"What a subject for this time of a clear, sunny day," said Gayne, -lightly. "Wait until the thunder rolls some stormy night," and, lifting -his cap, he hurried away through the field, his sketch-book under his -arm.</p> - -<p>Diana looked after his receding form.</p> - -<p>"It is odd how little like an artist Mr. Gayne looks," she said.</p> - -<p>"You mean he should have long hair and dreamy eyes?" asked Philip.</p> - -<p>"I think it is the eyes," replied Diana thoughtfully. "I cannot picture -his looking with concentration and persistence at anything."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I've seen him make a pretty good stab at it," said Philip dryly, -thinking of the manner in which he had on several occasions seen him -stare at Diana.</p> - -<p>At this point the dull boy found his tongue.</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't go up there," he said haltingly.</p> - -<p>"Up where?" asked Mrs. Lowell encouragingly.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p><p>"Up to that farm. It's full of nettles that sting, and then, when it's -dark, ghosts."</p> - -<p>The group exchanged glances.</p> - -<p>"Who told you that?" asked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick."</p> - -<p>It did not increase the general admiration of Mr. Gayne that he should -take such means for securing safety from his nephew's companionship.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell took the boy's arm. "I want to go down to the water," she -said. "Will you go with me?"</p> - -<p>"Are you afraid to go alone?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I should like it better if you went with me."</p> - -<p>He allowed himself to be led around the house, then on among the grassy -hummocks and clump of bay and savin and countless blueberry bushes.</p> - -<p>"Do you see what quantities of blueberries we are going to have?" asked -Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"Are we?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. These are berry bushes. Do you like blueberries?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell laughed and shook the arm she was still holding. "You do -know, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Bertie," she said. "You must have eaten lots of blueberries." Her -merry eyes held his dull ones as she spoke. "I don't like to hear you -say you don't know, all the time."</p> - -<p>"What difference does it make?" he returned.</p> - -<p>"All the difference in the world. The most important thing in life is -for us to <i>know</i>. There are such quantities of beautiful things for us -to know. This day, for instance. We can know it is beautiful, can't we?"</p> - -<p>When they reached the stony beach, she released his arm and sat down -among the pebbles. He did not look at them or at the sea; but at her. -She wore a blue dress and her brown hair was ruffling in the wind.</p> - -<p>"Do you like stones?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I—" he began.</p> - -<p>She lifted her hand and laughed again into his eyes. "Careful!" she -said. "Don't say you don't know."</p> - -<p>The boy's look altered from dullness to perplexity. "But I don't—" he -began slowly.</p> - -<p>"Then find out right now," she said, lifting a hand full of the smooth -pebbles while the tide seethed and hissed near them. She held out her -hand to him.</p> - -<p>"Pick out the prettiest," she said, and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> began pulling them over with -his forefinger.</p> - -<p>"I love stones," she went on. "See how the ocean has polished them for -us. Years and years of polishing has gone to these, and yet we can pick -them up on a bright summer morning and have them for our own if we want -them."</p> - -<p>"There's one sort of green," said Bertie. "Green. That's like me. Uncle -Nick says I'm green."</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick doesn't know everything," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, as she -took the pebble he had chosen and, laying her handkerchief on the beach, -placed the green pebble upon it. "Now, see if we can find some that you -can see the light through. There is one now. See, that one is almost -transparent. It is translucent. That is what translucent means. Isn't it -a pretty word—and a pretty stone? Hold it up to your eye."</p> - -<p>The boy obeyed, a slight look of interest coming into his face. Mrs. -Lowell studying him realized what an attractive face his might be. It -was as if the promising bud of a flower had been blighted in -mid-opening.</p> - -<p>"Let us put all the best pebbles on my handkerchief and take them home -with us. Have you a father and mother, Bertie?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p><p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Do you remember them?"</p> - -<p>The boy hesitated and glanced into the kind face bent toward him. Its -expression gave the lonely lad a strange sensation. A lump came into his -throat and moisture suddenly gathered in his eyes. He swallowed the -lump.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick doesn't want me—to talk about her," he stammered.</p> - -<p>"Your mother, do you mean, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>The tender tone was too much for the boy. He had to swallow faster and -nodded. In a minute two drops ran down his cheeks. He ignored them and -began throwing pebbles into the water.</p> - -<p>The figure that he made in his outgrown trousers and faded old sweater, -trying to control himself, moved his companion, and the sign of his -emotion encouraged her. Perhaps he was not so stupid as he seemed.</p> - -<p>"I think it would be nice to make a collection of stones while we are -here," she said. "I'm sure Miss Burridge will let us have a glass jar. -See this one."</p> - -<p>Bertie dashed the back of his hand across his eyes and turned to look at -the small pebble she offered.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p><p>"Isn't that a little beauty?"</p> - -<p>"I—"</p> - -<p>"Careful!" his companion smiled as she said it and pretended to frown at -him in such a merry way that the hint of a smile appeared on his face.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick likes to have me say I don't know. He says it's honest."</p> - -<p>"Well, no two people could be more different than Uncle Nick and me. I -want you to <i>know</i>, and I want you to say so, because it's what we all -have a right to. It is what God wants of us; and, Bertie, if you ever -feel like talking about your mother to me, you must do so."</p> - -<p>The boy glanced up at her, then down at the pebbles which he pulled over -in silence.</p> - -<p>"Where do you and your uncle live?"</p> - -<p>"In Newark."</p> - -<p>"Do you go to school there?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Where do you go to school?"</p> - -<p>"Nowhere."</p> - -<p>"Where did you learn to read and write then, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"In school. I went when—when <i>she</i> was here."</p> - -<p>"Your mother?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>"And have you brothers and sisters?"</p> - -<p>"No. Just Uncle Nick."</p> - -<p>"Does he give you studies to learn?" Mrs. Lowell's catechism was given -in such gentle, interested tones that the answers had come easily up to -now.</p> - -<p>Now the boy hesitated, and she began to expect the stereotyped answer -which he had learned was most pleasing, and the easiest way out with his -uncle.</p> - -<p>"I—" he began, and caught her look. "Sometimes," he added. "But Uncle -Nick says it isn't any use—and I don't care anyway, because—she isn't -here."</p> - -<p>Again Mrs. Lowell could see the spasm in his throat and face. It passed -and left the usual dull listlessness of expression.</p> - -<p>"Your mother was very sweet," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, and some -acknowledgment lighted his eyes as he suddenly looked up at her. "I know -that because she made such a deep impression on the little boy she left. -How old were you, Bertie, in that happy time when she was here?"</p> - -<p>"I—it was Christmas, and there have been—five Christmases since. I -remember them on my fingers, and one hand is gone."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell met his shifting look with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> steady, kind gaze which was -so fraught with sympathy that his forlorn, neglected soul turned towards -its warmth like a struggling flower to the sun.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you what I think would be beautiful, Bertie," she said. "And -it is for you to do everything you do for her, just as if she were here, -or as if you were going to see her to-morrow. Did she ever talk to you -about God?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. I said prayers that Christmas—and I got a sled."</p> - -<p>"Do you ever say prayers now?"</p> - -<p>"No. It—it doesn't do any good if you—if you live with Uncle Nick. -He—he won't let God give you—anything."</p> - -<p>"Let me tell you something wonderful, Bertie. Nobody—not even Uncle -Nick—can stand between you and God. You know the way your mother loved -you? God loves you that way, too. Like a Father and Mother both. So, -whenever you think of your mother's love, think of God's love, too. It -is just as real. In fact, it was God, you know, who made her love you."</p> - -<p>The boy looked up at this.</p> - -<p>"Yes. So, whenever you think of God, remember that 'I don't know' must -never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> come into your thought. You <i>do</i> know, and you <i>can</i> know better -every day."</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick won't like it if I know anything."</p> - -<p>"Dear child!" burst from Mrs. Lowell at this unconscious revelation of -blight. "We will have a secret from Uncle Nick. I am so glad you have -told me about your dear mother, and now you are going to start doing -everything in the way you think would make her happy if she were here. I -am sure she loved everything beautiful. She loved flowers and birds and -this splendid ocean that is going to catch us in a minute if we don't -move back. What do you say to letting it catch us! Supposing we take off -our shoes and stockings and wade. Doesn't that foam look tempting?"</p> - -<p>Color rose in the speaker's cheeks as she finished, and the vitality in -her voice was infectious.</p> - -<p>"It's—it'll be cold," said the boy.</p> - -<p>"Let it. Come on, it will be fun."</p> - -<p>She was already taking off her shoes and he followed suit. It gave her a -pang to see the holes in his faded socks, but she caught up her skirts -and he pulled up his trousers and shrinkingly followed her. The June -water was still reminiscent of ice, and she squealed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> as the foam curled -around her ankles, and Bertie hopped up and down until color came into -his face, too. The incoming tide, noisier and noisier, drove them -farther and farther up the beach, until finally they sat down together -on a rock at a safe distance from the water, and the sunlight fell hotly -on their glistening feet.</p> - -<p>"That was fun!" said Mrs. Lowell, laughing and breathing fast. "Do you -know how to swim, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"I—no, I don't."</p> - -<p>"That would be a nice thing to learn while you are here. You learn and -then teach me."</p> - -<p>"Me? Teach you?"</p> - -<p>"Of course. Why not? There's a cove in the island where they all swim."</p> - -<p>Bertie looked off on the billows. "Would my mother like that?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I'm sure she would, and she would like the collection of stones we are -going to make, and she would like you to help Miss Burridge by weeding -the garden that they have started. There are so many delightful things -to do in the world, and you are going to do them all—for her."</p> - -<p>"All for her," echoed Bertie. "And not tell Uncle Nick," he added.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>"No. You and I will keep the secret."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell looked at him with a smile, and the neglected boy, his dull -wits stimulated by this amazing experience of comradeship, smiled back -at her, the smile of the little child who in that far-away happy -Christmas had received a sled.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IV</span> <span class="smaller">BIOGRAPHY</span></h2> - -<p>"Well, good-bye, Miss Priscilla," said Philip, coming into the kitchen a -few mornings afterward. "This landlubber life won't do for me any -longer."</p> - -<p>Small Genevieve was at the sink washing dishes and Veronica was drying -them.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge slid her last loaf of bread into the oven and then stood -up and faced him.</p> - -<p>"Philip Barrison," she said emphatically, "you have been a blessing for -these weeks. I hate to see you go. Now, how much do I owe you for all -the good things you've done for me?"</p> - -<p>Philip laughed and, throwing his arms around her, gave her a hearty -smack on the cheek.</p> - -<p>"What do I owe you for popovers and corn fritters?" he rejoined. "Just -don't let Veronica chew gum, nor let Genevieve flirt with Marley Hughes -and we'll call it square."</p> - -<p>Genevieve turned up her little nose and giggled, and Veronica looked -scornful.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't you tell me that Puppa liked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> it," he continued to her. -"Besides, anybody that lives with your Aunt Pris has so many nicer -things to chew there is no excuse. Oh, Miss Priscilla, how I hate to say -adieu to the waffles!"</p> - -<p>"Well, you must come real often, Phil. I heard you was goin' to give us -a concert at the hall sometime this summer. Is that so? I do hope you -will."</p> - -<p>"I shouldn't wonder. My accompanist is coming to-day and we shall do a -little work and a lot of fishing."</p> - -<p>"Is he a young feller? You must bring him up to play croquet with the -girls."</p> - -<p>"Well, I don't know whether he has any experience as an Alpine climber -or not."</p> - -<p>"Why, I don't think it's such an awful bad ground. Do you, Veronica?"</p> - -<p>"Not if he's real nice and hasn't any whiskers," replied the girl. -"Heaven knows he'll be better than nothing. Such a place as this and not -a beau! It's a crime."</p> - -<p>"How about me?" inquired Philip modestly.</p> - -<p>Veronica lifted her upper lip disdainfully. "Oh, you, with your lectures -and your goddesses! What earthly good are you?"</p> - -<p>"Cr-rushed!" exclaimed Philip.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>"Talked to Mrs. Lowell all last evening on the piazza in that lovely -moonlight. The idea of wasting it on a <i>Mrs.</i> I suppose there's a <i>Mr.</i> -to her."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and he's coming before the summer is over. The worst of it is she -seems to like him."</p> - -<p>"Children, children," said Miss Burridge, and she winked toward the back -of Genevieve's head. Well she knew the alertness of the ears that were -holding back those tight braids of hair.</p> - -<p>"Yes, my accompanist, Barney, is a broth of a boy, but I shall tell him, -Veronica, that ten o'clock is the limit, the very extreme limit."</p> - -<p>The girl flushed and laughed. "You mind your business now, Mr. Barrison, -and I'll attend to mine. I'm perfectly capable of it."</p> - -<p>"Very well. I'll simply keep Puppa's address on my desk, and I won't use -it unless I really have to," said Phil, in a conscientious tone which -nearly caused Veronica to throw a cup at him.</p> - -<p>"Go along now if you must, Philip," said Miss Priscilla. "And I do thank -you, dear boy. We shall miss you every minute. Give my love to your -grandmother. I wish she could get up as far as this. You tell her so."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>"All right, I will. Do you know where Miss Wilbur is?"</p> - -<p>"Aha!" said Veronica softly.</p> - -<p>"I don't want to go without saying good-bye to her."</p> - -<p>"I should hope not," jeered Veronica. "I suppose you won't see her again -all summer."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, I shall, unless Barney Kelly cuts me out."</p> - -<p>"Sure, it's Oirish he is, thin?"</p> - -<p>"Faith, and he is, and a bit chipped off the original blarney stone at -that. Trust him not, Veronica."</p> - -<p>"I only hope I'll get the chance, but if you're going to set him on the -goddess, what sort of a look-in will I have? I've got five on my nose -already."</p> - -<p>"Five what, woman?"</p> - -<p>"Freckles. Can't you see them from there? It will be fulsome flattery if -you say you can't."</p> - -<p>Philip squinted up his eyes and came nearer to examine.</p> - -<p>"You remember what I said. Tell Barney they're beauty spots—'golden -kisses of the sun.'"</p> - -<p>"Oh, ain't that pretty!" shouted Genevieve. "I'm speckled with 'em jest -like a turkey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> egg, but I don't mind 'em the way Veronica does. I've got -some powder at home and I powder over 'em."</p> - -<p>"At your age, Genevieve!" exclaimed Philip sternly. "What shall I do -with the extravagance and artificiality of this generation! Don't you -know, Genevieve, that the money you spend for powder should go into the -missionary box? You poor, lost, little soul!"</p> - -<p>Genevieve giggled delightedly, and Miss Burridge, at the window, -exclaimed:</p> - -<p>"There's Miss Wilbur now, Phil, looking at the garden bed."</p> - -<p>"If I were she," said Veronica, "I wouldn't have a word to say to you -after the way you wasted last evening."</p> - -<p>"If only she thought so, too!" groaned Philip. "But I'm not in it with -her astronomy map for June. She is a hundred times more interested to -know where Jupiter and Venus are than where I am—natural, I -suppose—all in the family." He threw open the kitchen door and, -standing on the step, threw kisses toward the group within.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye, summer!" he sang. "<i>Good-bye, good-bye.</i>"</p> - -<p>The beauty of his voice had its usual effect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> on Diana, who stood by the -strip of green, growing things, looking in his direction, her lips -slightly parted over her pretty teeth.</p> - -<p>"You see I'm good-bye-ing," he said, approaching her.</p> - -<p>"Are you leaving us?" she returned, allowing her clasped hands to fall -apart. "See how well the sweet peas are doing."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'm leaving you all in good shape. Do you think you can go on -behaving yourselves without my watchful guardianship and Christian -example?"</p> - -<p>"I think we shall miss you. Mr. Gayne is not a fair exchange."</p> - -<p>"Thank you. Mrs. Lowell was talking to me about that outfit last -evening. She is quite stirred up about the boy."</p> - -<p>"Yes," rejoined Diana. "I think she is a wonderful woman. She has taken -him down to the beach with her again this morning. She believes that Mr. -Gayne is his nephew's enemy rather than his guardian. She believes he -has some reason for desiring to blight any buddings of intelligence in -the boy, and uses an outrageous method of suppression over him all the -time. It would be so much easier to let it go, and most of us would, I'm -sure, rather than spend vacation hours in such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> insipid company, or have -any dealings with that—that impossible uncle; but Mrs. Lowell will not -relinquish her efforts."</p> - -<p>"Yes, she is a brilliant, fearless sort of woman," said Philip. "I -shouldn't wonder if she gave Gayne a disagreeable quarter of an hour -before she gets through with him."</p> - -<p>"One has to exercise care, however," returned Diana, "lest the man -become angered and visit his ill-humor on the boy. I am often obliged to -constrain myself to civility when I yearn to hurl—" she hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Plates? Oh, do say you long to throw a plate at him!"</p> - -<p>Diana gave her remote moonbeam smile.</p> - -<p>"I must admit that 'invective' was in my mind. A rather strong word for -girls to use."</p> - -<p>"A splendid word. A good long one, too. You might try hurling -polysyllables at him some day and see him blink."</p> - -<p>Diana shook her head. "That sort of man is a pachyderm. He would never -flinch at verbal missiles. Since you must go, I wish some other -agreeable man would join our group and converse with him at table."</p> - -<p>Philip smiled. "Surely you have noticed that Miss Emerson is not averse -to assuming all responsibility?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p><p>"Mr. Barrison," said Diana gravely, "I hope when I am—am elderly and -unmarried, that I shall not seek to attract men."</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur," returned Philip, with a solemnity fitting hers, and -regarding the symmetry and grace of her lovely head, "don't spend any -time worrying about that; for some inner voice assures me that you will -never be elderly and unmarried."</p> - -<p>"The future is on the knees of the gods," she returned serenely.</p> - -<p>"Then I don't need to lose any sleep on account of your posing for one -of Mr. Gayne's wonderful sketches?"</p> - -<p>Diana brought the brown velvet of her eyes to bear fully upon him. It -even seemed hopeful that a spark would glow in them.</p> - -<p>"I loathe the man," she said slowly.</p> - -<p>"Forgive me, divine one. Well, I must go now. Why won't you take me -home? I should like you to meet my grandmother, and think of the -pitfalls and mantraps of the island road if I risk myself alone: Bill -Lindsay's Ford! Marley Hughes's bicycle! Lou Buell's gray mare taking -him to mend somebody's broken pipe! Matt Blake's express wagon! Come and -keep my courage up."</p> - -<p>"You have a grandmother on this island?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p><p>"I'll prove it if you'll come with me."</p> - -<p>Diana smiled and moved along beside him. "It doesn't seem a real, -mundane, earthly place to me yet," she said. "It must be wonderful to -have a solid <i>pied-à-terre</i> here. They tell me there are many summer -cottages, but they are far from our Inn and I haven't realized them yet. -I am hoping my parents will consent to purchasing some ground here for -me."</p> - -<p>"Where do you usually go in summer?"</p> - -<p>"Our cottage is at Newport, but I like better Pittsfield, where we go in -the autumn."</p> - -<p>Philip looked around at her as she moved along through the field beside -him. "Is your middle name Biddle?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No, I have no middle name."</p> - -<p>"I thought in Philadelphia only the descendants of the Biddles had -cottages at Newport and Pittsfield."</p> - -<p>Diana smiled. "I know that is a stock bit of humor. What was that about -an Englishman who said he had seen Niagara Falls and almost every other -wonder of America except a Biddle? He had not yet seen one."</p> - -<p>"When do you laugh, Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip suddenly.</p> - -<p>"Why, whenever anything amuses me, of course."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p><p>"Yet you like the island, although it has never amused you yet. I have -lived in the house with you for two weeks and I haven't heard you -laugh."</p> - -<p>Diana looked up at him and laughed softly. "How amusing!" she said.</p> - -<p>He nodded. "It's very good-looking, very. Do that again sometime. How -did you happen to run away from family this season?"</p> - -<p>"I was tired and almost ill, and some people at home had been here and -told me about it. So I came, really incontinently. I did not wait to -perfect arrangements, and when I arrived in a severe rainstorm one -evening, I found great kindness at the house my friends had told me of, -but no clean towels. They were going to have a supply later, but -meanwhile I lost my heart to the view from our Inn piazza and Miss -Burridge found me there one day and took me in for better or for worse. -That explains me. Now, what explains your having a grandmother here?"</p> - -<p>"Her daughter marrying my father, I imagine. My grandfather was a -sea-captain, Cap'n Steve Dorking. He had given up the sea by the time I -came along."</p> - -<p>"Here? Were you born here?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p><p>"That explains the maritime tints in your eyes. Even when they laugh -the sparkle is like the sun on the water. Continue, please."</p> - -<p>"Well, my father, who came here to fish, met my mother, fell in love, -married her, and took her away. He was very clever at everything except -making money, it seems, so my mother came home within a year to welcome -me on to the planet. My grandfather had a small farm, and I was his -shadow and one of his 'hands' until I was eight years old."</p> - -<p>"Was it a happy life?"</p> - -<p>"It was. I remember especially the smell of Grammy's buttery, -sweet-smelling cookies, and gingerbread, and apple pies with cinnamon. -It smells the same way now. Do you wonder I like to come back?"</p> - -<p>"You stimulate my appetite," said Diana.</p> - -<p>"Oh, she'll give you some. There were many jolly things in those days to -brighten the life of a country boy. The way the soft grass felt to bare -feet in the spring, and in the frosty autumn mornings when we went to -the yard to milk and would scare up the cows so those same bare feet -could stand in the warm place where the cows had lain. Then came winter -and snowdrifts—making snow huts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> and coasting down the hills. Sliding -and skating on the ice-filled hollows. It was all great. I'm glad I had -it."</p> - -<p>"You test my credulity, Mr. Barrison, when you speak of ice and snow in -this poetic home of summer breezes."</p> - -<p>He looked down at her. "We will have a winter house-party at Grammy's -sometime and convince you."</p> - -<p>"So at eight years of age you went out into the world?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, at my dear mother's apron strings. My father had spent some time -with us every year and at last secured a living salary and took us to -town. The first thing I did in the glitter of the blinking lamp-posts -was to fall in love. I prayed every night for a long time that I might -marry that girl. She had long curls and I reached just to her ear. I -received her wedding cards a year or so ago. I was always praying for -something, but only one of my prayers has ever been answered. I was -always very devout in a thunderstorm, and I prayed that I might not be -struck by lightning and I never have been yet."</p> - -<p>"When was your wonderful voice discovered?"</p> - -<p>"Look here, Miss Wilbur, you are tempting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> me to a whole biography, and -it isn't interesting."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I am interested in—in your mother."</p> - -<p>"My poor mother," said Philip, in a different tone. "When I was twelve -years old my father was taken ill and soon left us. My mother had to -struggle and I had to stop school and go to work. The first job I got -was lathing a house. I walked seven miles into the country and put the -laths on that house. I worked hard for a whole week and received twelve -dollars and seventy-five cents. It was a ten-dollar gold piece, two -silver dollars, fifty cents, and a quarter."</p> - -<p>Diana lifted sympathetic eyes.</p> - -<p>"I bought a suit of clothes and gave up the gold piece. The perfect lady -clerk failed to give me credit for it and six months afterward the store -sent the bill to my mother. I put up a heated argument, you may be sure, -and before the matter was settled, the perfect lady clerk skipped with -another woman's husband. So the powers inclined to believe me rather -than her."</p> - -<p>"Poor little boy," put in Diana. "But your music?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Well, our minister's wife took an interest in me and gave me -lessons on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>organ. I never would practice, though. I would pick out -hymns with one finger while I stood on one foot and pumped the pedal -with the other. It was results I was after; but the cornet allured me, -and I learned to play that well enough to join the Sunday-School -orchestra.</p> - -<p>"A cousin of my mother's came to our rescue sufficiently to let me go to -school, and in all my spare time I did odd jobs, some of them pretty -strenuous; but I was a strong youngster, and evidently bore a charmed -life, for I challenged fate on trains, on top of buildings, and in -engine rooms. But I'll spare you the harrowing details. At the spring -commencement of the high school, I was invited to sing a solo. I warbled -good old 'Loch Lomond' and forgot the words and was mortified almost to -death, but the audience was enthusiastic, I have always believed out of -pity."</p> - -<p>"No no," breathed Diana.</p> - -<p>"Well, at any rate, they insisted on an encore, and I was so braced up -by the applause and so furious at myself that I gave them 'The Owl and -the Pussy Cat."'</p> - -<p>"Oh."</p> - -<p>"I see you don't know it. Well, next day I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> met a lady on the street who -was very musical, it seemed, and she invited me to come to her house and -talk over studying music. She said I had a great responsibility. Oh, you -don't want to hear all this!"</p> - -<p>"I do, I do."</p> - -<p>"My mother passed away soon afterward, and the musical friend in -need—good friend she was, and is—told me of a town a hundred miles -away where there were vacancies she knew of in choir positions. She -would give me a letter of introduction and she believed I could qualify -for one of them. I didn't tell her the slimness of my cash after my dear -mother's funeral expenses were paid, and she didn't know. So I traveled -that hundred miles on a freight train. When I first boarded it, I -crawled into the fire-box of a new engine that was being transported -over that line. It grew very cold before we had gone far, and I crawled -out and climbed over the coal tender and opened the hole where they put -the water in. I climbed down into that empty place and lighted a match -only to find that there were about twenty bums there ahead of me. I -didn't stay there long, for I was good and plenty afraid; some of them -looked desperate. I climbed out again and went along the train<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> till I -came to a flat-car loaded with a new threshing machine. I saw a brakeman -coming along with a lantern, and I knew if he saw me he'd put me off. So -I climbed into the back of the threshing machine and down into its very -depths, and after a while, when I had become chilled to the marrow, the -train came to a halt. I crawled out and down to the ground and ran -around to get warm. They were doing some switching and I saw they added -two cars to the train. One had stock in one end and hay and grain in the -other. They had to leave the door open to let in air for the stock, and -up I climbed and hid under the straw and slept soundly the rest of the -journey. Oh, I was dirty when I arrived! But my precious letter was safe -in an inside pocket, and with the contents of the little bundle I had, -and the expenditure of part of my small stock of money, I made myself -decent and presented my letter of introduction. The organist of one of -the churches tried me out. He liked my voice so much that he engaged me -and was even interested enough to let me live at his house; but three -dollars a Sunday was the salary and the voice lessons I engaged would be -four dollars a week, so, of course, I had to go to work at once, and I -got a job in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> big sash and door factory where I worked like a horse -ten hours a day."</p> - -<p>"Why, Mr. Barrison," sighed Diana, "you are a hero."</p> - -<p>Philip laughed. "I had no leisure to think about that. Times grew very -slack and there began to be great danger that I would lose my job in the -factory. They said they would have to lay me off unless I would -whitewash an old building they had bought to store lumber. So I was -given a brush and a barrel of lime-water and told to go at it. If I lost -my job, I wouldn't be able to live. So I wrapped my feet in sacks to try -to keep warm—it was late November—and went at it: and there were -girls, Miss Wilbur, girls! And I couldn't put it over them after Tom -Sawyer's fashion. Well, I had sung there just thirteen Sundays when the -blow fell. The committee told me very kindly that they wanted to try -another tenor. I went home from that talk with a heart heavy as lead. I -could not sleep, and near midnight I began to cry. Yes, I did cry. I was -twenty-one and I had voted, but I was the most broken-hearted boy in the -State. I must have cried for two or three hours, pitying myself to the -utmost, up three flights of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> stairs in that little attic room, with the -rain pouring on the roof over my head, when all at once I jumped out of -bed as dry-eyed as if I'd never shed a tear and, lifting my right hand -as high as possible, I made a vow. I said—So help me, God, I will -become a singer if I have to walk over everybody in the attempt. I will -learn to sing, and these mutts will listen to me and pay to hear me, -too. Then I jumped back into bed and fell asleep instantly."</p> - -<p>"Splendid!" said Diana. "And how did you keep the vow?"</p> - -<p>"Well, next morning I began to figure what I must do. I knew I hadn't -enough education. I remembered that three years before I had won a -scholarship for twenty weeks' free tuition in a business college in -Portland, and I decided that I would need fifty dollars. The same cousin -who had helped me before to go to school, came across. I quit my job, -paid my bills, and left for Portland, getting there at Christmas. I sang -at the Christmas-tree exercises in my home church. I went to school as I -planned, took care of the furnace for the rent of my room, took care of -three horses, got the janitorship of a church—"</p> - -<p>Diana looked up with a sudden smile. "And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> forced up the thermometer -when you overslept."</p> - -<p>Philip burst into a hearty laugh. "Did Miss Burridge give me away? I -tell you I saved that church lots of coal that winter."</p> - -<p>"Oh, continue. I did not mean to interrupt you, for now you are coming -to the climax."</p> - -<p>"Nothing very wonderful, Miss Wilbur, but I found I had that to give -that people were willing to pay for, and I began going about in country -places giving recitals, mixing humorous recitations in with the groups -of songs, playing my own accompaniments and sometimes having to shovel a -path through the snow to the town hall before my audience could come in. -I wonder if Caruso ever had to shovel snow away from the Metropolitan -Opera House before his friends could get in to hear him! After that I -worked my way through two years at college, studying with a good voice -teacher. Then came the war. I got through with little more than a -scratch and was in one of the first regiments to be sent home after the -armistice was signed. The lady who first discovered my voice had -influential musical friends in New York. She sent me to them, and, to -make a long story a little shorter, last winter I was under an -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>excellent management, obtained a church position, and have sung at a -good many recitals. The coming winter looks hopeful." Philip put his -hand on his heart and bowed. "Thanking you for your kind attention—here -we are at Grammy's."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER V</span> <span class="smaller">A FIRELIGHT INTERVIEW</span></h2> - -<p>Their path had led away from the main road across a field toward a -buff-colored house set on a rise of ground like a billow in a green sea. -Where the hill descended beyond, there grew a flourishing apple orchard.</p> - -<p>"Since my grandfather's death, the little farm is overgrown," said -Philip. "My grandmother gets a neighbor to cut the hay and milk her cow, -and so leaves the cares of the world behind her."</p> - -<p>A climbing rosebush nearly covered one side of the cottage, and -old-fashioned perennials clung about its base. Nothing was yet in bloom; -but soon the daisies in the field would lie in white drifts and the wild -roses, large and of a deep pink, would soften the ledges of rock -cropping out everywhere in the sweet-smelling fields.</p> - -<p>Philip opened the door and ushered his companion into a small hallway -covered with oilcloth, then into a sunny living-room, shining clean, -with a floor varnished in yellow and strewn with rag rugs. An old lady, -seated in one of the comfortable rocking-chairs, rose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> to meet them. Her -face, the visitor thought, was one of the sweetest she had ever seen.</p> - -<p>"What a pretty girl she must have been!" she reflected.</p> - -<p>Around her neck the old lady wore a string of gold beads, and the thick -gray hair growing becomingly around her low forehead was carried back -and confined in a black net. The simple charm of her welcome to the -young girl was the perfection of good manners and her voice was low and -pleasant.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you've brought my boy back, Miss Wilbur, I've been missing -him."</p> - -<p>"That's right, Grammy. Give me a good character," said Philip hugging -her and kissing her cheek. "I must have waffles, though. I'm spoiled."</p> - -<p>Here a woman appeared at the door of the passageway that led to the -kitchen. She was very wrinkled and care-worn in appearance, yet -sprightly in her movements and manner. Many of her teeth were missing -and her thin hair was strained back out of the way. She wore a large -checked apron over her calico dress.</p> - -<p>"Hello, there, Aunt Maria," said Philip. "This is Miss Wilbur, one of -the guests at Miss Burridge's."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p><p>"Happy to meet you," said Aunt Maria, but casually, in the manner of -one who has but slight time for trivial things like social amenities. -Then she fixed Philip with a severe stare. "Is this the day you was -expectin' the New York man?"</p> - -<p>"It is, Aunt Maria. Don't tell me you weren't sure and haven't plenty on -hand for two man-sized appetites."</p> - -<p>"Well, I thought 'twas. I guess I can feed you." Aunt Maria's severity -lapsed in a semi-toothless smile. "How's Priscilla Burridge gettin' -along?"</p> - -<p>"Famously," replied Philip. "She's given me waffles every morning."</p> - -<p>"H'm!" grunted Aunt Maria. "I guess I can cook anything Priscilla -Burridge can, give me the ingregiencies."</p> - -<p>"The principal ingredient is a waffle iron. I'll send for one for you."</p> - -<p>Diana had meanwhile been placed in a seat near her hostess, where she -faced the line of cheerful red geraniums on the window-sill.</p> - -<p>"Your first visit to the island, Miss Wilbur?" asked the old lady.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Mrs. Dorking; but not the last, I assure you."</p> - -<p>"You like it, then?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p><p>"I think it is a fairy-tale place."</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur has been accustomed to a summer home where the hand of man -has been very busy and the foot of man has trodden out nearly all of -Nature's earmarks. She finds she likes the raw material better," said -Philip, leaning against the mantelpiece where odd shells and quaint -China objects, half-dog, half-dragon, stood as memorials to Captain -Steve Dorking's cruises. The swords of two swordfishes, elaborately -carved, leaned near him.</p> - -<p>"The island's filling up," said the old lady. "A lot of the summer -people came yesterday and from now on they'll flock in."</p> - -<p>"Are you glad to see them come?" asked Diana.</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned Mrs. Dorking, a rising inflection in her kindly voice. -"They're most of them good friends of mine."</p> - -<p>"I should say she is glad," remarked Philip. "She sits here in state and -receives them all, don't you, Grammy?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know as there's much state about it." The old lady smiled, and -leaned toward Diana. "Miss Wilbur, I guess you've found out already that -Philip is the foolishest boy that ever lived. We can't afford to mind -his talk, can we?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p><p>"But his singing, Mrs. Dorking," Diana looked up at Philip's tow head -towering toward the low ceiling. "It doesn't greatly matter how he talks -when he can sing as he does."</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned the old lady, again with the moderate rising inflection. -"I will say Philip's got a real pretty voice."</p> - -<p>"And there is a piano!" said Diana, wistfully looking across the room at -the ancient square instrument.</p> - -<p>"That is a very polite name for it," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Barrison, could you, won't you, sing some song of the sea?" The -girl clasped her hands in prospect. "I'm your guest, you know. It is not -quite possible to refuse."</p> - -<p>"Of the sea, eh?" Philip looked at his watch. "I think we have time -before the boat comes. I'll make a bargain with you. I'll sing you a -song if you will go down to the boat with me and meet my accompanist."</p> - -<p>"Oh, is your accompanist coming?"</p> - -<p>"Even so. But when is an accompanist not an accompanist? Answer: When he -comes to the sea to fish. I've lured you far from home and dinner, so -you come to the boat with me and I'll send you home in Bill Lindsay's -chariot."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>"Very well, but—please sing!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. A song of the sea is the order, I understand. Meanwhile, I -accompany myself on the harp."</p> - -<p>Philip moved over to the piano. It was placed so he could look over the -case at his listeners. He ran his fingers over the yellow keys which -gave out a thin, tinkling sound, and then plunged into song:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"The owl and the pussy cat went to sea</div> -<div>In a beautiful pea-green boat,</div> -<div>They took some honey and plenty of money</div> -<div>Wrapped up in a five-pound note.</div> -<div>The owl looked up to the stars above</div> -<div>And sang to a small guitar,</div> -<div>'Oh, lovely Pussy, Oh, Pussy, my love,</div> -<div>What a beautiful Pussy you are!'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> - -<p>Philip had never seen Diana look as lovely as when he finished and rose. -There was no doubt now that she could laugh. His enunciation was -perfect, and the alternations of sentimentality and fire with which he -had delivered the nonsense made it thrilling in the little room where -his velvet, vibrant tones at moments shook the shells on the -mantelpiece, while they flowed around the listener's heart.</p> - -<p>"That was delectable," laughed Diana, applauding, her eyes moist with -excitement.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, ain't that a funny tune?" said Mrs. Dorking, looking with -affectionate pride at her grandson as he emerged around the end of the -piano.</p> - -<p>"We have to be off, Grammy," he said, "or Barney will be lost in the -shuffle."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Dorking rose and urged Diana warmly to come again, and the girl -promised that she would do so. When they were outside she spoke:</p> - -<p>"Is your Aunt Maria your grandmother's sister?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no." Philip laughed. "She is a good village-aunt who helps in the -home. She likes to look harassed and overworked, but she adores having -charge of the house since my grandfather's death, and is devoted to -Grammy. Barney Kelly will have to look out for himself, for Aunt Maria -is an excellent cook and Kelly would be inclined to umbumpum if he -didn't mortify the flesh. He's a Canuck and one of the best fellows -going."</p> - -<p>"And are those summer cottages?" asked Diana, her glance sweeping over -an adjacent field. It was high ground sloping gradually to the sea, and -was dotted with shingled cottages of varying shapes and sizes.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, that was my grandfather's pasture, and many a time I've gone -there for the cows. But one woman after another besieged him for the -ground, and he sold it off."</p> - -<p>"If I had some land here, I would prefer to be more isolated," said -Diana.</p> - -<p>"Then you would better speak quick," said Philip. "The country seems to -have its eye on Casco Bay. There comes the boat around the point now."</p> - -<p>They hastened their pace and went down a flight of steps which led to -the wharf. It was a busy spot full of people and trunks and barrels and -boxes. Everybody greeted Philip and looked at Diana, and Philip -presently descried the peering face of a man on the upper deck of the -approaching boat. He was dressed in a double-breasted suit of a fine -check and carried a stick which, presently descrying Philip's blond -head, he shook in his direction and, picking up his bag, turned and went -downstairs at the call: "Land from the lower deck." The newcomer was -evidently alive all over and impatient of the delay to the moment when -he could run up the gangplank. From time to time he shook his stick -toward Philip, and gazed at the girl beside him. At last he gained the -wharf, set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> down his bag and shook hands with Philip. Being presented to -Miss Wilbur, he took off his hat and disclosed tight curly hair, -close-clipped and groomed to the last degree of shine.</p> - -<p>"Perfectly heavenly sail we've had down, or up, I don't know which it -is," he exclaimed with a burr to his <i>r</i>'s which increased the -enthusiastic effect of his speech.</p> - -<p>"I told you it was paradise," said Philip.</p> - -<p>"And you proved it by bringing one o' the angels with you," returned -Kelly, smiling at Diana.</p> - -<p>She regarded him with her usual serenity. "I see that, like Mr. -Barrison, you enjoy using hyperbole," she said.</p> - -<p>"Really," returned Kelly curiously. "Am I that clever? Yes, old chap, -here's my check. I have a box somewhere around these diggings."</p> - -<p>"Now, wait a minute," said Philip. "I lured Miss Wilbur down here with -me to meet you and now I must return her honorably to her dinner. <i>Oh</i>, -Bill."</p> - -<p>He pushed through the crowd to where the motor stood, the center of new -arrivals. "Save one seat, Bill," he said. "Lady for Miss Burridge's."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>There was some good-natured crowding, but there being two more -passengers for Miss Burridge's, Diana was squeezed in, and Barney Kelly, -his hat waving from his hand, quite eclipsed Philip in the attentiveness -with which he bade her godspeed.</p> - -<p>"Who's the Vere de Vere?" he asked when Bill Lindsay had whipped up his -engine and moved off.</p> - -<p>"A young lady from Philadelphia," returned Philip, a trifle stiffly.</p> - -<p>"Aren't touchy about her, are you? Great Scott, boy, you haven't had -time! Now, if it had been me, a day's enough. Fire and tow. Fire and -tow. You'd supply the tow all right, old cotton-top, but I'll be hanged -if I can see where she'd provide the spark. Don't you touch that bag, -Barrison," for Philip had caught up his guest's suitcase. "Like a -condemned fool, I put the scores in it instead of in the box. There must -be some horse here that wouldn't take it quite so much to heart as I -do."</p> - -<p>"All right," said Philip. "It can come up with your trunk. Here, -Matt,"—for the too-popular carpenter was expressman as well,—"this is -my friend Mr. Kelly. He aids and abets me when I shriek at the public -and he's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> loaded up his bag with music. Bring it along with his trunk, -will you? Here's the check. Mr. Blake, Barney."</p> - -<p>The newcomer shook hands with the long-legged, long-armed thin man in -his shirtsleeves, and Matt Blake appraised the stranger out of his blue, -grave, shrewd island eyes.</p> - -<p>"Just crazy about this place already, Mr. Blake, just crazy about it," -the newcomer assured him, and Matt Blake nodded his old straw hat and -listed the volatile Barney as "another nut."</p> - -<p class="space-above">It was about a week afterward that opportunity found Mrs. Lowell and -Nicholas Gayne together one evening in the living-room of the Inn. It -was cool and a wood fire blazed on the hearth, but the night was still -inviting and had lured the others to put on wraps and stay out of doors.</p> - -<p>When Mrs. Lowell came in, Gayne was in a wicker rocker before the fire, -his legs stretched out, and, as the lady entered, he drew them in and -rose.</p> - -<p>"You are choosing the better part, too, are you?" he said, not doubting -that his presence was proving as much of an attraction as the fire. Two -other men had arrived, teachers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> from a boys' school, Evans and Pratt by -name, and it was probable that Miss Emerson was figuratively sitting at -the feet of one of them and asking questions about the stars. At all -events, she was out of doors. Nicholas Gayne had looked up -apprehensively at Mrs. Lowell's entrance, fearing the worst; and his -relief caused him to be quite effusive in his welcome of the lady and -the manner in which he brought forward a chair for her.</p> - -<p>"Have you had a good day?" she asked as she seated herself and he fell -back into his rocker.</p> - -<p>"It has been a nice day, yes."</p> - -<p>"I meant as to your work."</p> - -<p>"My work?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, your sketching."</p> - -<p>"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Fine. Very clear. Very good views."</p> - -<p>"I suppose you elaborate these in your studio in town."</p> - -<p>"What? Oh, well—it isn't much of a studio at that. It is more or less -on the side—my art work. I—I make no pretensions. Everybody's got to -have a fad to be truly happy, haven't they? I like to scrawl and daub a -little."</p> - -<p>"You are modest. I've been expecting you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> would show us some of these -views. This place is surely one to tempt the artist. Doubtless you have -seen some of Frederic Waugh's canvases done from the sketches he made -here."</p> - -<p>"Eh? Who? Oh, yes, of course," replied Gayne lamely. "Strange that that -Miss Wilbur should ever have struck this island. I understand she's the -daughter of the steel man. I suppose she's slumming." Gayne laughed.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell could not force a responsive smile. "She is a very charming -girl." After a pause: "I've had several talks with your nephew, Mr. -Gayne."</p> - -<p>Her companion shook off the ash from his cigar into the fire.</p> - -<p>"You did the talking, I'm sure," he responded dryly, and his manner made -her determined to be doubly careful how she proceeded.</p> - -<p>"This place should build him up," she said. "He seems a rather fragile -boy."</p> - -<p>"Yes. He grew too fast; makes him rather weedy. Too bad he didn't keep -pace mentally. He's weedy there, too."</p> - -<p>"I should think it might be well to have him tutored for an hour a day -while he is here."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> Mrs. Lowell tried to speak carelessly as she kept -her eyes on the blaze.</p> - -<p>"How could you find a tutor in a place like this?" was the response. -"Surely Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans—I understand they are -teachers—wouldn't take kindly to the task of trying to find Bert's -brains while they're on their vacation."</p> - -<p>"No, I was thinking of a very simple plan. Miss Burridge's niece, -Veronica, would perhaps be glad to work with the boy an hour a day. She -has a good common education."</p> - -<p>"Nothing doing, Mrs. Lowell." Nicholas Gayne sat up in his chair and -evidently put a constraint upon himself. "You come upon this problem as -a new one and you think you understand it, but you don't. You think it's -not hopeless, but it is. The boy began by being backward and he's got -worse and worse all his life. He couldn't keep up with any class in -school and I finally took him out. Oh, I've done my best, believe <i>me</i>. -I had a tutor come to the house for a while, but I was finally convinced -that Bert hadn't the equipment to think <i>with</i>. Of course, there's -schools for deficient children, but have you got any idea what they -cost? I'm a poor man. I couldn't pay what they tax you. Bert'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> end up -in an institution, that's the place for him; but I'm soft-hearted. I'll -keep him with me as long as I can. The doctors all warn you that it -isn't safe. That kind of weak intellect is liable to take a dangerous -turn any time. There's thousands of cases where relations have insisted -on keeping morons like Bert near them too long. I only hope I shan't. -Just take my advice, Mrs. Lowell, and don't have much to say to the boy. -He gets along best when he's left alone. It doesn't do to try to wake up -that kind of a brain. There's no normal balance there, and any -sharpening is liable to make it take a wrong shoot. I've been on this -problem five years, and, believe <i>me</i>, I know something about it."</p> - -<p>The speaker's voice grew more and more blustering as he proceeded, and -Mrs. Lowell could feel her limbs trembling with the intensity of her own -feeling and the necessity for concealing her thoughts from him.</p> - -<p>"He is your brother's child, I understand," she said quietly, when Gayne -had made his last emphatic gesture and sunk back in his chair, red in -the face.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he is. These things are awful in a family."</p> - -<p>"Awful," echoed Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p><p>The next morning, after breakfast, she went to Diana's room and -knocked. The girl welcomed her in. She was shaking a blanket.</p> - -<p>"I do enjoy making my bed so much," she said. "I learned how at school."</p> - -<p>"Then let me watch you do it while I talk to you." The visitor sat down, -and Diana went on in the most earnest manner to tuck in sheets and pat -and smooth pillows as if her life depended on the squareness of corners.</p> - -<p>"I had a talk with Mr. Gayne last night."</p> - -<p>"I observed you through the window. I felt a certainty that you were not -happy."</p> - -<p>"It was an ordeal, but I verified my suspicions—my worst suspicions. -The man is planning to get his nephew out of the way, to have him shut -up."</p> - -<p>Diana left the flap of a pillow-case to its fate and faced her caller.</p> - -<p>"To incarcerate him!"</p> - -<p>"Yes. In an asylum. Some state institution. He has been training the boy -toward that end. You have seen it. I have seen it. What is his motive? -That is the question."</p> - -<p>"Don't you think it may be merely to rid himself of a burden which -hampers his life?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><p>"But his own flesh and blood!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Does any one -live who would go to such lengths without a greater reason? Miss Wilbur, -let us see what the man does in these daily rambles of his. I am -convinced that his artistic pose is a cloak. He didn't even know who -Frederic Waugh was."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but to accompany the creature!" protested Diana.</p> - -<p>"No, of course, we shouldn't find out anything by accompanying him -except that he cannot sketch, and I'm sure of that already. But let us -go to walk this morning, and why not visit the haunted farm?"</p> - -<p>"No reason except that he knows we are aware that he haunts the place, -which, if I were a ghost, would make it immune from my visits."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but he cannot expect us to remember or care where he goes. I feel -I must be doing something about this, no matter how slight, and—and -don't let Miss Emerson join us as we go out."</p> - -<p>"Perish the thought!" said Diana devoutly.</p> - -<p>"God will not let this outrage take place," said Mrs. Lowell, her -thought leaping back from Miss Emerson to the neglected boy. "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> wish I -could ask Bertie to go with us, but I feel I must be very careful not to -let his uncle suspect the depth of my interest."</p> - -<p>"Miss Emerson is very timorous about horned cattle," said Diana. "We can -remember that. Sunburn, too. She has a great dread of becoming tanned."</p> - -<p>With these encouraging considerations the two amateur detectives stole -downstairs. Mrs. Lowell went to the kitchen where Veronica was as usual -at this hour drying the breakfast dishes.</p> - -<p>"Miss Veronica," she said, "would you do a little missionary work this -morning?"</p> - -<p>"I'd like to hear about it first," was the cautious reply.</p> - -<p>"Veronica is ready for every good word and work, Mrs. Lowell," put in -Miss Burridge, "but she's a busy child."</p> - -<p>"I know that, but I wondered if she could give half an hour to playing a -game of croquet with Bert Gayne."</p> - -<p>"Oh, land!" exclaimed the girl, aghast. "He won't want to."</p> - -<p>"That's the point, Miss Veronica,"—Mrs. Lowell looked with her loving, -radiant gaze into the young girl's eyes. "We want to make him know that -young people don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> shrink from him. He knows that I don't. I want him -to know that an attractive young girl like you doesn't either. You can -see that his mind is sick. He has had great sorrow."</p> - -<p>"Sure!" said Veronica. "It's sorrow enough to have that uncle of his."</p> - -<p>"Ve-ronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge with one of her warning looks at -the back of Genevieve's head.</p> - -<p>"You know now what I meant by calling it missionary work," said Mrs. -Lowell. "Think about it if you have time. You will find the boy dull and -distrustful. I have great hopes of you. Try to make him bright and -trustful. I know it can't be done in a minute." The speaker again smiled -confidentially into the girl's eyes.</p> - -<p>Diana appeared in the entrance.</p> - -<p>"Miss Emerson is in the hammock," she said softly. "Shall we take the -back way?"</p> - -<p>They slipped out the kitchen door and Veronica scrubbed a plate already -dry.</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Lowell is the sweetest, prettiest, most darling woman I ever saw," -she stated.</p> - -<p>"But nothin' like that Miss Diana," uttered Genevieve in, for her, a -lowered voice. "She's so grand it scares me when she looks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> at me, and -Matt Blake says her father owns the whole of Pennsylvania."</p> - -<p>Veronica turned up an already aspiring nose and grunted disparagingly. -It was hard to forgive Diana for being a goddess and not chewing gum.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VI</span> <span class="smaller">THE HAUNTED FARM</span></h2> - -<p>"'Where every prospect pleases,'" said Diana, "'and only man is vile.'"</p> - -<p>They had crossed the field and come up to the height of the road which -commanded an extensive view of the bay and other islands. They stood -still for a minute.</p> - -<p>"Are you at all interested in metaphysics, Miss Diana?" asked her -companion.</p> - -<p>"I think I am. I am interested in everything."</p> - -<p>"I don't like the latter half of that quotation," said Mrs. Lowell. "It -stands to reason that God couldn't create anything vile."</p> - -<p>"No, of course," agreed the girl. "It is man who makes himself vile."</p> - -<p>"God's man couldn't do that either," returned Mrs. Lowell. "There is no -potentiality in him for vileness."</p> - -<p>"Then," said Diana, "how do you explain Mr. Gayne and his like?"</p> - -<p>"He is a man whose real selfhood is buried under a mass of selfishness -and cruelty, the beliefs of error and mortality. God doesn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> even know -what the poor creature believes, and all his mistakes and blundering -will have to be blotted out finally by suffering, unless he should learn -to turn to the Love that is always available; for God can't know -anything unlike Himself."</p> - -<p>"Your ideas are quite new to me," said the girl. "I am an Episcopalian."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell smiled. She understood this final tone.</p> - -<p>"Then you are satisfied, I see."</p> - -<p>"So far as religion goes, yes."</p> - -<p>"Religion goes all the way, my dear girl."</p> - -<p>They turned to the right and continued their walk.</p> - -<p>"The islanders call this direction 'up-along,' Mr. Blake told me," said -Diana. "If we had turned south we should have gone 'down-along.' Isn't -that quaint? Mr. Barrison's grandmother lives down-along. He took me to -see her the other day, the sweetest old lady."</p> - -<p>"That refreshing young man hails from here, then?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. He is the Viking type, is he not? I can picture him in the prow of -one of those strange Norse ships. Physically he seems an anachronism."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p><p>Mrs. Lowell smiled. "Physically, perhaps, but colloquially he is -certainly an up-to-the-minute American."</p> - -<p>"He is an eminent singer and has shown himself a hero in arriving at -that point."</p> - -<p>"A hero, really?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, but most unconsciously so."</p> - -<p>"He is certainly as unaffected and straightforward as a child," said -Mrs. Lowell. "I hope he will sing for us."</p> - -<p>"I have heard him once," said Diana. "It was merely a nonsense song, -because he had only an heirloom of a piano—a harp he called it, and I -imagine harpsichords did sound similar to that. Now, we are on a high -point of the island, Mrs. Lowell."</p> - -<p>They paused again and, looking off, saw a vast ocean in all directions, -foam breaking on its ledges. Mrs. Lowell drew a long breath of delight.</p> - -<p>"'Every prospect pleases,'" she said.</p> - -<p>"Does it not seem a pity," returned Diana, "that it is our duty to hunt -for a vile, imitation man?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell laughed. "He is scarcely even an imitation," she replied. -"But come," she sighed, "let us go after him. I wonder what gave this -farm its reputation." They walked on.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p><p>"I'll ask Mr. Blake," began Diana. "Oh, here he comes now."</p> - -<p>The carpenter was returning down the island preparing to take up his -freight duties on the wharf. Diana accosted him and introduced him to -Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>The latter shook hands with Matt, her radiant smile beaming, "I am glad -to meet you, Mr. Blake," she said. "You seem to be Miss Wilbur's oracle. -She is always quoting you, and I am rather curious about this farm up -here. Why do they call it haunted?"</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Blake, "let any place be left empty a few years, and windows -get loose, and blinds bang, and it's called haunted."</p> - -<p>"I suppose that is often true," said Mrs. Lowell. "It is an abandoned -farm, then?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, for many years."</p> - -<p>"I don't know why I have never inspected it," said Diana, "when who -knows but it is the very homestead for me?"</p> - -<p>Matt Blake shook his head and smiled. "The old house is crumbling away. -There is a part of it that'll keep the rain off, and there Mr. Gayne -keeps his stuff."</p> - -<p>"Stuff?" echoed Mrs. Lowell interrogatively.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p><p>"Brushes and paints and pencils and all his outfit," said Blake.</p> - -<p>"Oh, oh, yes," replied the lady. "You know in the West a squatter claims -complete rights to the land he has settled on. I hope Mr. Gayne hasn't -established an ownership up there that will make us seem like intruders. -We thought we would like to see this exciting place."</p> - -<p>"'Tain't exciting," said Matt Blake with another shake of the head. -"It's asleep and snoring, the Dexter farm is."</p> - -<p>"Who does own the place?" asked Diana with interest.</p> - -<p>"It would take a pretty smart lawyer to find that out," was the reply. -"It's been in litigation longer than it's been haunted. There's three -women, I believe, pullin' and haulin' on it."</p> - -<p>"I think I might pull and haul, too, if I find I like it," said Diana -with her most dreamy serenity, and Matt Blake laughed.</p> - -<p>"Well, you won't," he returned. "'Twould give a body the Injun blues to -live there. How Mr. Gayne can stand it even in the daytime is a mystery -to me; and there don't either o' the claimants really want it. They live -around the State somewheres. I s'pose it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> would be hard to buy 'em out -at that, because landowners here seem to think the island's goin' to -turn into a regular Newport and that they'll make a fortune if they only -hang on."</p> - -<p>"Do not speak such desecrating words!" begged Diana. "Do not hint at -waking the island from its alluring, scented dream."</p> - -<p>Matt Blake gave her a patient stare. "Just as you say," he returned. He -had already, as a fruit of many interviews with Diana, given her up as a -conundrum. He tipped his hat and continued on his way.</p> - -<p>The two companions pursued theirs, and soon came to where a rather steep -hill led down to the northern beach.</p> - -<p>"Now, we do not go down there unless we wish to be 'set across.' That is -what they call it: set across to the next island, our near neighbor."</p> - -<p>"We must do it some day," replied Mrs. Lowell, looking at that other -green hill rising out of the sea.</p> - -<p>As they stood gazing, they saw a man run across the rocks on its shore -and hail a rowboat which came to meet him.</p> - -<p>"It is within rowing distance, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p><p>"Yes. Little Genevieve told me, one can always find some fisherman who -is willing to act as a ferry." Diana looked about. "I think we shall be -obliged to ask our path to the farm. Let us go to that cottage over -there. It is probably on our way."</p> - -<p>They proceeded to a house near the road where cats and chickens seemed -equally numerous, and knocked.</p> - -<p>"Will you tell us how to get to the Dexter farm?" asked Diana of the -woman who answered the summons.</p> - -<p>The woman pointed. "You go right up that way to Brook Cove and you'll -really be on the farm then if you keep to the right bank. You'll see the -old house near a big willow tree."</p> - -<p>They thanked her and moved on.</p> - -<p>"What pleasant voices these people have," said Diana. "They have not -been obliged to shout above clanging trolleys and auto horns."</p> - -<p>"No; all except Genevieve," returned Mrs. Lowell. "I should guess that -she had been brought up in a boiler factory."</p> - -<p>"Yet it is a piercing sweetness," protested Diana.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The island can do no wrong, eh?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>"Perhaps I am somewhat partial," admitted the girl.</p> - -<p>They sprang along over the rough hillside, and at last came to a deep, -precipitous cleft in its shore. The rocky sides of the hollow were -decked with clumps of clinging shrub and evergreen and the clear water -lapped a miniature beach.</p> - -<p>"Why Brook Cove?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "I suppose there must be one about -here. What a mystery the springs are in the midst of all this salt -water. Miss Burridge says everybody has a well."</p> - -<p>Diana gave her her most dreamy and seraphic look.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Angels fold their wings and rest</div> -<div>In this haven of the blest,"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>she replied.</p> - -<p>"I wish only angels did," sighed Mrs. Lowell. "You remind me of our -errand."</p> - -<p>"Don't you think we might spare a few minutes for repose?" asked Diana, -looking wistfully at the bank where the grass grew close and green to -the very edge of the chasm.</p> - -<p>"You want to sit down and let your feet hang over," laughed Mrs. Lowell. -"You may as well confess it."</p> - -<p>As she spoke, a man appeared on the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> side of the cove. He skirted -it and, hurrying, passed them and disappeared in a grove of fir trees.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell looked at her companion with large eyes.</p> - -<p>"All the Sherlock Holmes in me responds to that man," she said in a low -tone. "This is no time to let our feet hang over. He probably is the -very one who came across in the rowboat and he is on an errand. His -whole manner showed it. We're on the right bank. So we're on the farm -now. Let us go into those woods and see what happens."</p> - -<p>"Shall we not be intruding?" said Diana, hesitating.</p> - -<p>"I hope so," returned Mrs. Lowell valiantly, and she seized her -companion's hand and drew her toward the grove. There a winding path -greeted them, a lover's lane, between close-growing firs, and together -they sped along the scented aisle. The man was the swifter and, by the -time they emerged from the fir grove, he was approaching a huge willow -tree near the crumbling farmhouse built in a hollow with protecting -mounds of green hills and trees on three sides of it.</p> - -<p>They saw Gayne come out of the house and shake hands with the man, -giving him a most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> effusive welcome, but before he had had opportunity -to do more than this, the host descried the other visitors.</p> - -<p>The eyes of both young women being excellent, they were able to observe -the lightning change which took place in the pleased excitement of his -face. The ugly frown that appeared was banished as soon as he could -control himself. He said something to the other man, and the latter -walked on to a rise of ground where he stood to enjoy the view, and -Gayne came to meet the ladies.</p> - -<p>"Ah, good-day," he said with as pleasant a manner as he could command. -"Your explorations are leading you far this morning."</p> - -<p>"Is this the Dexter farm?" asked Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"The very same," replied Gayne lightly. "I see its creepy reputation has -aroused your curiosity. Too bad there isn't more here to gratify it. It -is a very tame place by daylight, as you see."</p> - -<p>"The house is a ruin, they tell me. Doesn't it seem a pity that should -have been allowed? The place is full of possibilities, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"I should say not," returned Gayne, speaking curtly in spite of his best -efforts. "It is about the least attractive part of the island.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> Far from -the open ocean, no place to bathe, cuddled into a hollow, no views."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell met his impatient look.</p> - -<p>"I thought the very reason you chose this for a sort of artist camp was -on account of the views," she said pleasantly.</p> - -<p>"A headquarters. A headquarters only," said Gayne quickly. "I haven't -locomotor ataxia, you know," he added, laughing; "I can still get -about."</p> - -<p>"I should like very much to see that old house," said Mrs. Lowell, her -gaze wandering over to it. "We interrupted your greeting of a friend. -Please don't let us detain you. We will just roam around here a bit."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne hesitated for an instant as the young women moved toward -the house, but he followed them.</p> - -<p>"There is nothing to see, I assure you, and it's an unsafe place. The -floors are rotting; you are liable to fall through anywhere. I really -feel as if I ought to beg you to confine your curiosity to the outside."</p> - -<p>"You speak quite like the owner of the place," said Mrs. Lowell, with an -access of dignity not lost upon Gayne. "We will absolve you if any -accident befalls us."</p> - -<p>The man's frown at her reply was so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>unpleasant that Diana felt some -timidity and took her friend's arm.</p> - -<p>"Another time, perhaps," she suggested.</p> - -<p>"Why not now, since we are here," returned Mrs. Lowell calmly. "A -haunted house isn't to be seen every day." She smiled. "Do join your -friend, Mr. Gayne. He seems to have found some view well worth looking -at. We shall not stay long."</p> - -<p>"Oh, take your time," returned Gayne, seeing that he could not prevent -the intrusion, and altering his manner to that of a host. "Perhaps you -would like to see my artist camp as you call it. I did find one spot -where there is a dry season and my canvases can be safe."</p> - -<p>He led the way into the farmhouse. The paper on the little hallway in -oval designs of faded green landscapes had peeled and was hanging from -the wall. They passed into a living-room where tattered and splintered -furniture and a rusty stove met the eye. Back of this was the artist's -den evidently. A table stood in the center, on which reposed a palette, -some brushes, a couple of sketch-books, and a portfolio. Against the -side of the room were a few canvases leaning against the wall, and in -bold relief, supported against the table, stood a pickaxe and a shovel.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p><p>Mrs. Lowell regarded Gayne's flushed countenance as he picked up the -tools and pushed them behind a screen.</p> - -<p>"Your still-life studies, appropriate to an abandoned farm?" she -laughed.</p> - -<p>"They don't look very artistic, I must say," returned Gayne. "Of course, -I'm an amateur of the amateurs," he went on, picking up the portfolio -(he pronounced it <i>amatoor</i>), "but a man is all the better for having a -fad, no matter how footless. Since you are here and have caught me -red-handed, you may as well know the worst."</p> - -<p>He opened the portfolio and threw down a couple of crayon sketches of -woods, water, and rocks.</p> - -<p>"But these are good!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell, in a tone of such -astonishment that it could scarcely be considered complimentary.</p> - -<p>Gayne shrugged his shoulders, as Diana, looking over her friend, added -her approval.</p> - -<p>"I make no pretensions," he repeated. "I amuse myself."</p> - -<p>His guests lingered a minute over the sketches, then looked about the -forlorn old homestead, but as each step was closely accompanied by -Gayne, they soon took their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> departure, passing the stranger on his -knoll as they walked toward the sea, over grassy hill and fragrant -spruce-filled hollow. The stranger, as they passed, kept his hands -folded behind him and stared stolidly ahead.</p> - -<p>"Were you ever more astonished?" asked Mrs. Lowell in a low tone as if -the balsamic breeze could carry her words back.</p> - -<p>"Your suspicion that the man is sailing under false colors seems to be -incorrect," replied Diana.</p> - -<p>"He's a rascal!" declared Mrs. Lowell with conviction.</p> - -<p>"Artists often are, I believe," returned Diana.</p> - -<p>"I wish with all my heart I could know what he and his visitor will talk -about during the next half-hour, and what that pick and shovel meant. -Why was he so sorry to see us?" Mrs. Lowell's brows drew together in -perplexity.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps they are going to search for smugglers' treasures, or pirate -gold," suggested Diana.</p> - -<p>Her companion smiled. "Perhaps so. The man has some reason for promoting -the foolish ghost talk and resenting visitors to his preserves. Of -course, the treasure idea is as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> foolish as the phantoms, and just as -little likely to fool a modern man in his senses."</p> - -<p>Diana shook her head. "It is certainly rather irritating to have him -assume jurisdiction over that ruin which is open and free to all," she -said. "I dislike his personality extremely, but his pencil has a sure -touch and those sketches showed an appreciation of values."</p> - -<p>"If he did them," said Mrs. Lowell thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>Diana smiled. "You surely are consistent."</p> - -<p>Her companion drew a deep breath. "A man who can treat that fragile, -sensitive, lonely boy as he does—his own brother's son at that—can -plan to crush him and sweep him out of his way as he would an -insect—that man is dangerously wicked, and so long as the matter has -come to my notice, I must share in the responsibility."</p> - -<p>"He would be a merciless enemy," said Diana warningly.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I shall pray for the wisdom of the serpent -and the harmlessness of the dove," she said.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VII</span> <span class="smaller">ANOTHER WOUND</span></h2> - -<p>Meanwhile Veronica, her morning work finished, had started out to oblige -Mrs. Lowell. As she tripped around the house in search of the -unfortunate boy, she suspected herself of hoping she should not find -him. She summoned recollections of the Boston train and of various -occasions since, when her sympathy for him had been roused, and by the -time she espied him lying against a rock in the sunshine, her courage -had risen sufficiently to address him.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, Bertie," she said.</p> - -<p>He started, as was his habit when addressed, and turned his apathetic -face toward her.</p> - -<p>"Do you like to play croquet?"</p> - -<p>The boy rose to a sitting position.</p> - -<p>"I—" he began, then some recollection came to him. "I never did play," -he finished; then, his stolid eyes meeting the fresh young face: "You -don't need to be kind to me," he added bluntly.</p> - -<p>Much disconcerted, Veronica flushed.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" she returned. "I like to play croquet. I'll teach -you."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p><p>"No," said the boy. "Uncle Nick said—said this morning that—that when -people were—were kind to me, it was because they—they pitied me -because I was a fool." The boy swallowed. "You can—go away, please."</p> - -<p>Veronica's round eyes snapped with indignation. "Your Uncle Nick's the -fool to say such a thing," she returned, her cheeks growing very red. -"Don't you believe him. You and I are the youngest people here. Don't -you think we ought to play together a little?"</p> - -<p>"No. You pity me. Go away, please."</p> - -<p>"Now, Bertie, I wish you wouldn't talk to me like that."</p> - -<p>He averted his head and was silent, and Veronica stood there, -uncertainly.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if you are stronger than I am," she said at last.</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>"The grass is too long on the croquet ground. I want to mow it. The -lawnmower is pretty heavy. Do you think you could help me?"</p> - -<p>The boy lay still for a minute more without meeting her eyes again. Then -he pulled himself up slowly and walked beside her back to the shed.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Barrison makes fun of our croquet ground because it is rough. I -want him to see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> an improvement when he comes again." Veronica led the -way to where the mower stood, and the boy took hold of it and drew it -after him back to the desired spot.</p> - -<p>"I'll pull up all the wickets," said the girl eagerly, and, as she did -so, she cast a side-glance at her companion, waiting, and she thought -his face the most hopeless and sad she had ever looked upon. She could -feel her own eyes sting.</p> - -<p>"None of that, none of that," she told herself.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't you get too tired," she said. "Let me take my turn." She -followed him as he went across the ground once and back again. She -chattered of the weather, the sea, the song sparrows, and he answered -never a word, just pushed the clicking little machine until the -perspiration stood out on his forehead.</p> - -<p>"Now, you must let me take it," said Veronica. "I didn't mean that I -couldn't do any of it. I just felt it would be tiresome to do it all."</p> - -<p>She insisted, and the boy yielded the lawnmower to her, and, standing -still, took out his handkerchief and wiped his face.</p> - -<p>Veronica pushed the mower valiantly up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> and down the ground. It was a -cumbrous one and somewhat rusty. So the effort she let appear was not -all assumed. When she returned, the boy took it from her and went to -work again. He was on the last lap when Mrs. Lowell and Diana appeared, -coming up from the sea, having returned from their ramble by the rocky -shore instead of by the road. Mrs. Lowell's face lighted as she saw what -was going on, and she cast a grateful look at Veronica as she -approached.</p> - -<p>"Good for you, Bertie," she said, as he at last dropped the mower and -again wiped his hot face. "It is fine of you to help Veronica."</p> - -<p>He looked at her for a second mutely, and then turned away.</p> - -<p>"Thank you," called Veronica as he moved off. "I'll bring you an extra -large piece of pie this noon. I must go in and set the table now," she -added to the others, and she winked at Mrs. Lowell who followed her into -the house.</p> - -<p>"You succeeded better than I hoped," said Mrs. Lowell. "Activity is what -that boy needs."</p> - -<p>"I wish whipping-posts hadn't been abolished," said Veronica. "I could -see Uncle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> Nick tied up there and enjoy the activity that followed."</p> - -<p>Then she told Mrs. Lowell of the reception Bertie had given her and all -he had said.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell shook her head in silence and laid her hand on the girl's -shoulder. "You can see we have work to do there," she replied. "We must -not be discouraged."</p> - -<p>Diana had heard the recital. "What an extraordinary circumstance it is," -she said, "that strangers should be endeavoring to build for the boy -while his next of kin systematically tears down."</p> - -<p>"That is what I was telling you," replied Mrs. Lowell. "The man is -pursuing a system." She shook her head again, and added as if to -herself: "But he cannot defy Omnipotence."</p> - -<p>It was probably a very good thing for Mr. Gayne that he did not return -to-day to the noon dinner. The waitress would have been likely to give -him cool soup, warm water, and the undesirable portions of meat and -vegetables. She served the boy with the best of everything. In the -chatter about the table, he was never included, so his silence was not -noticeable, but Mrs. Lowell observed the pallor under the sunburn, the -hopeless droop of the mouth, and the languid appetite that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> should have -been voracious in a growing boy fresh from exercise.</p> - -<p>After dinner she stopped him, the others all having gone out on the -piazza. He was moving toward the stairway.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"Upstairs."</p> - -<p>"I don't think we ought to waste this weather in the house. Do you?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Well, I do. It is liable to change any time now. We have had so much -sunshine. We ought to make the most of it."</p> - -<p>"You go out, then," said the boy.</p> - -<p>"But I would rather you came, too."</p> - -<p>"No. You pity me, that's all."</p> - -<p>"No," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "I pity your uncle, not you."</p> - -<p>The boy stared at her, unmoved.</p> - -<p>"I pity him because he doesn't know how to make you happy."</p> - -<p>"You don't need to—to take any trouble," was the stolid reply.</p> - -<p>"It isn't a trouble. I like you. I like to have you with me. I went up -to the farm this morning—the haunted farm."</p> - -<p>"Did—did you see anything?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Supposing we go down to the beach<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> and I'll tell you about it. You -shall carry two cushions for us; then if you want to take a nap you can -do so while I read."</p> - -<p>"I would rather—rather be alone."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell met his wretched eyes with her irresistible smile which had -in it selflessness, love, and courage.</p> - -<p>"No, you wouldn't, dear boy. Besides, it is an impossibility. We are -never alone. You know the Father we talked about the other day, the One -who showed your mother how to love you. He is with us all the time, and -no one and nothing can separate us from Him, no matter what seems to -be."</p> - -<p>"Could I see Him if I—if I died? Because I'd like to—to die and -see—my mother."</p> - -<p>"You will see her at the right time," said Mrs. Lowell. "You have a -great deal to do for her first. Were you going upstairs to sleep? No -doubt you are sleepy after all that mowing. It was very kind of you to -do it for Veronica."</p> - -<p>"I didn't do it for her." There was no stammering in the declaration. -"She thought I did, but I didn't."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell smiled again and nodded. "I understand," she said. "I'm -sorry I didn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> know your mother. I believe she would like you to go -outdoors with me now."</p> - -<p>"You don't—don't need to—to have me. I'm—I'm all right."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell could see the wound throb.</p> - -<p>"I know I don't need to. I should think you could see that I really want -you."</p> - -<p>He hesitated and looked away.</p> - -<p>"Now," she went on, "I will go up to my room and get some cushions and -my books and we will have a nice read or a nice snooze, and perhaps get -some more stones for our collection. Perhaps you have some book you -would like to bring."</p> - -<p>"I haven't any books—except a paper one."</p> - -<p>"Bring it," said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "I would like to see it. Let -us meet down here in five minutes, then."</p> - -<p>She went up the stairs and the boy followed.</p> - -<p>When she came down again, the corridor and living-room were empty. -Perhaps the lad had decided against her plan after all. She sank down in -a chair by the door and closed her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Dear Father," she prayed, "Thy will be done, and may my thought be ever -ready to separate between the real and the unreal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> Let me not be -discouraged by the seeming, but may I remember every moment what Thy -will is, and that Thine omnipotent Love is ever present. Let me reflect -Thine intelligence and take my human footsteps wisely. Let me know that -Thy Truth will uncover the error that is to be met, and that I cannot be -dismayed, for Thou art with me, and underneath are the everlasting -arms."</p> - -<p>Footsteps sounded on the uncarpeted stairs and she looked up and saw -Bertie.</p> - -<p>"I thought I wouldn't come," he said. "Then I thought you—you might -wait—"</p> - -<p>"You see I did," said Mrs. Lowell, "and here are the cushions. Will you -take them, please?"</p> - -<p>The boy picked them up and they set forth.</p> - -<p>As they crossed the piazza, Mrs. Lowell nodded to Miss Emerson and the -two men with her. These followed the pair with their eyes as they -descended the steps, and started across the field.</p> - -<p>"By Jove, that young nut is in luck," said Mr. Evans, a short, thick-set -man, with spectacles.</p> - -<p>"Why, do you think Mrs. Lowell is so attractive?" asked Miss Emerson.</p> - -<p>"Of course. Don't you?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>"Why, I think she's a very good-looking woman," was the reply. "Her -husband is coming up later."</p> - -<p>Mr. Evans shook his head mournfully. "I'm afraid it won't make any -difference to me. I've tried to prattle to her a little, but she doesn't -hear me, or, if she does, I've been weighed and found wanting. I talked -to her quite a while my first morning here. As soon as I saw her I -determined to make hay while the sun shone, but I soon found I couldn't -make any, or even cut any ice either. So, since then, I just look at her -from afar."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure you're too easily discouraged," said Miss Emerson with some -acerbity. "You underrate your own attractiveness, Mr. Evans. Any woman -who would rather spend her time with that poor, forlorn image of a boy -than with men of intellect, cannot be so very interesting, herself."</p> - -<p>Mr. Pratt, a tall, slender, long-necked gentleman, here spoke: "I judge -from what Mr. Gayne says that the boy is pretty far gone mentally. He -said he supposed he really shouldn't have brought him up here. Gayne has -a heavy burden on his hands evidently. It's naturally hard to bring -one's self to shutting up any one who is your own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> kin, and, as Gayne -says, you're between the devil and the deep sea, for you may put it off -too long. It looks like a case of dangerous melancholia to me."</p> - -<p>Miss Emerson shuddered. "All I know is that if Mrs. Lowell was as -sensitive as I am, she never in the world could bear to have that boy -around with her as much as she does. Mr. Gayne, an artist as he is! What -he must suffer in that constant association!"</p> - -<p>"He doesn't seem to be much with his nephew," remarked Mr. Evans.</p> - -<p>"Well, I should think rooming with him was enough," retorted the lady. -"He has a cot for the boy right in his own room."</p> - -<p>"Well, it isn't my business," yawned the other. "Come on, Pratt. I hear -they've taken a horse-mackerel and it's down on the wharf. Let's go and -see it."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I think those giant fish are so interesting!" exclaimed Miss -Emerson, sitting up alertly.</p> - -<p>Mr. Evans nodded at her over his shoulder as the two friends started -off.</p> - -<p>"After your siesta you ought to get Miss Wilbur and come down," he said.</p> - -<p>"I don't want any siesta," thought the lady crossly. "Why did I get into -this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>hammock? They would probably have asked me if I hadn't been lying -down."</p> - -<p>She had not yet discovered the domestic status of the two men, although -she had put out many a feeler to learn whether they were unprotected -males. She was wearing one of her prettiest dresses since their arrival, -but the emergency sport suit of baronet satin would not come forth from -its hanger on any such uncertainty.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER VIII</span> <span class="smaller">SKETCHES</span></h2> - -<p>"Our pebbles are getting a good washing, aren't they?" said Mrs. Lowell, -when she and her protégé had reached the shore.</p> - -<p>The tide was high and she had Bert put the cushions in front of a rock -which sprang from the grass on the edge of the stony beach. He followed -her directions apathetically.</p> - -<p>"Put your pillow against the rock. See, there is a nice slanting place. -Perhaps you will take a little nap. The sea is making a rather -thunderous lullaby. Try it. I shan't mind; for here are my books and my -writing-paper and pencils galore."</p> - -<p>The boy sank down beside her in the place she indicated and looked at -the materials in her lap. She had opened a leather case and showed a -tablet of paper fitted at the side with a case for pencils.</p> - -<p>"Do you ever write letters, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"I—no."</p> - -<p>"When you and your uncle leave home, is there no one for you to write -back to?"</p> - -<p>"There's Cora."</p> - -<p>"Your housekeeper?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>The boy nodded, his eyes still on the books and materials in his -friend's lap. She, alert to meet any show of interest on his part, took -up one of the books.</p> - -<p>"Do you ever read the Bible, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"I don't—no, I never did."</p> - -<p>"Didn't your mother ever read it to you?"</p> - -<p>The boy looked up into her eyes. "Yes, about the shepherd."</p> - -<p>"I'm so glad that you know that psalm," she returned gently. "Can you -say it? The Lord is my shepherd?"</p> - -<p>He shook his head, and again his eyes dropped to the contents of her -lap.</p> - -<p>"It is like a game of magic music," she thought. "There is something -here I should do. Divine Harmony, Divine Love, show me what it is!"</p> - -<p>"Are you looking at this?" She took up the other book and pointed to the -gold cross and crown on its cover. Then she offered it to him.</p> - -<p>He shook his head.</p> - -<p>"Veronica told me that your uncle hurt your feelings this morning," went -on Mrs. Lowell, laying the book down.</p> - -<p>The boy's brows drew together and his gaze sought the ground.</p> - -<p>"You know the Bible is the most beautiful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> book in the world. It has -hundreds of verses as lovely as those about the shepherd. This is one: -Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that -fear him. Fear Him means fear to displease Him on account of our love -for Him and His love for us."</p> - -<p>It was so long since the boy had heard any mention of love that he -looked up at her, still gloomily.</p> - -<p>"You know how unhappy you always were when you displeased your mother, -and you know how she pitied you for your mistake and drew you back to -her—and forgave you."</p> - -<p>"Yes—yes, I do."</p> - -<p>"That is the way God does with us. So you see it isn't a bad thing to be -pitied with love. If you ever think again of what your uncle said, just -turn away from it and know that Love is taking care of you every minute. -God is always here, waiting to bless us."</p> - -<p>"I'd—I'd rather see Him," said the boy.</p> - -<p>"Your friends are His messengers," said Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"What—what friends have I?"</p> - -<p>"Me, for one," replied his companion. As she leaned toward him with her -spontaneous grace, he met her affectionate regard with his piteous eyes.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><p>"Did God—did God send you to—to me?"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure He did," she returned slowly.</p> - -<p>"Then—then can I—take one of your pencils?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell looked down at her writing-tablet.</p> - -<p>"Certainly," she said, passing the whole affair to him.</p> - -<p>A remarkable transformation took place in the boy's face. He took the -folding case with its complete outfit and his companion regarded him in -surprise. His eyes lighted and color came stealing up over face and -brow. He looked over his shoulder apprehensively, then back at her.</p> - -<p>"You won't tell him?" he said.</p> - -<p>"Who? Your uncle?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. He would beat me."</p> - -<p>"Why? Doesn't he like you to write letters?"</p> - -<p>The first smile she had ever seen on the boy's face altered it now as he -looked at her, and her heart beat faster in a mystified sense that some -cruelly bolted door had been pushed ajar.</p> - -<p>"You can have that portfolio for your own, Bertie," she said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>"No, no, he'd kill me."</p> - -<p>"What can you mean, dear child?"</p> - -<p>The boy started up from his cushion and perched on top of the rock, -glancing along the shore. Mrs. Lowell leaned forward and saw his hand -with the pencil move swiftly here and there on the blank sheet. She said -not a word, but watched the slender young face with the new alertness in -the eyes.</p> - -<p>The tide was making its splendid slow retreat, the gulls were wheeling -and crying, and white as their wings the daisy drifts were beginning to -appear on the uplands. Activity, growing, unfolding, all about her, the -watcher felt this waif to be part of it. One of God's little ones who -could not be kept in bondage.</p> - -<p>At last the boy came down again and gave her his work. She looked at it -in amazement. The curve of the shore, the groups of spruces, a distant -cottage, the light clouds on the blue were all sketched in with a sure -touch.</p> - -<p>"Who taught you this, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"Nobody—but I watched my mother. She was an artist. She let me draw -beside her. She knew I could. She said so. I'll show you. You won't -tell?"</p> - -<p>"Never."</p> - -<p>The boy drew from his pocket a small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> folded paper. He took off the -paper and revealed oiled silk. He unfolded this and a small pen-and-ink -sketch came to view. It was of a woman's face, slightly smiling. There -was expression in the long-lashed eyes, eyes like the boy's own. The -hair waved off the forehead. Bertie held the treasure for Mrs. Lowell to -see, but did not relinquish it.</p> - -<p>"Is this your mother?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Who did it?"</p> - -<p>"I did."</p> - -<p>"When, Bertie, when?"</p> - -<p>"After—afterward," he answered, and his companion could hear that some -obstruction stopped his speech.</p> - -<p>"It is very—very lovely," said Mrs. Lowell slowly, and the boy looked -over his shoulder again, apprehensively.</p> - -<p>"Did you say your uncle forbade you to sketch?"</p> - -<p>The boy folded the little picture back carefully in its wrappings and -replaced it in his pocket.</p> - -<p>"Why do you suppose your uncle did that?" asked Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Don't you really, Bertie?" she asked,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> dreading the signs of dullness -she perceived altering his face as the brightness died away.</p> - -<p>"I guess it was because he said it—it wasted my time. He took -everything except this." The boy's hand rested on the pocket that held -the treasure. "He didn't find this."</p> - -<p>"Took what? Your materials, your sketching things?"</p> - -<p>"Everything. He gets very—very angry if I take a pencil. Twice he has -whipped me for it."</p> - -<p>"But, Bertie, please try to make me understand. Mr. Gayne is an artist -himself, he says."</p> - -<p>"Yes. He says he—has money enough to live and I haven't. He says I just -hang on him. So I must chop wood and—and wash windows, and Cora makes -me scrub the floors. He says if he wants to waste time painting he can, -but I must not."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell regarded the boy closely. "Your uncle showed me some very -charming sketches up at the farm this morning."</p> - -<p>"Did he?" returned the boy listlessly. "He never was an artist -when—when she was here."</p> - -<p>"That is strange, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell. "Strange that he should -be able suddenly to do such good things?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><p>"No," said Bertie simply. "It is easy."</p> - -<p>They were both silent for a time. The portfolio lay on the stones -between them. The boy suddenly picked it up.</p> - -<p>"I must tear this," he said.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell caught his hand just as he started to pull the sketch from -the tablet.</p> - -<p>"Won't you give it to me, Bertie?" she asked.</p> - -<p>He hesitated. "He'll find it."</p> - -<p>"Indeed he will not. It will go into the bottom of my trunk."</p> - -<p>The boy took his hand away and she recovered the portfolio. He had -replaced the pencil in the case.</p> - -<p>"I should so like to give you the pencil," she said.</p> - -<p>The boy shook his head decidedly. "No. He'd find it," he answered.</p> - -<p>"I am very much interested about your mother being an artist," said Mrs. -Lowell. "You know you are going to do everything you can to please her. -She would be very sorry that your uncle has not made you happy. I am -sure she wanted you to use your talent. So, very often we will take -walks and I will get better materials for you than this, and you shall -make many sketches."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p><p>The boy's brows drew together. It was evident that he was in such -fetters of fear that the prospect was a mixed pleasure.</p> - -<p>"Do you remember your father? When did he die?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. It was before—"</p> - -<p>"Was he a kind father, and kind to your dear mother?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know. Everybody was angry with her, all the rich people, -because she—she ran away to marry him. Then she was left all—alone -with me and—and she sold pictures and we were—" The voice stopped.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know you were happy. Then when she went away your uncle took -you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and Cora."</p> - -<p>"And wasn't Cora kind to you?"</p> - -<p>Bertie shook his head. "I don't know," he said. It seemed as if the -recollection of his uncle's housekeeper made him retreat at once into -the protective shell.</p> - -<p>"Just let me ask you one more question. Your Uncle Nick was here at the -island last summer. He didn't bring you with him. Where were you then?"</p> - -<p>"Home."</p> - -<p>"Alone?"</p> - -<p>"No, with Cora."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p><p>"But wouldn't Cora like you to draw a pretty picture for her?"</p> - -<p>"No. She knows Uncle Nick would hit her."</p> - -<p>"What did you do all summer?"</p> - -<p>"Helped Cora. Then, when she was drunk, I went in the park. Sometimes I -slept there."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I'm glad your uncle brought you this time."</p> - -<p>"Cora wouldn't stay. They had the worst fight of all. They were always -fighting."</p> - -<p>"Bertie, dear," said Mrs. Lowell tenderly, "try to know all the time -that God is taking care of you and leading you. We know He will. Uncle -Nick must know it, too, sometime."</p> - -<p>"Know what?" exclaimed the boy with a start.</p> - -<p>"That God takes care of His children. Your uncle is one, and I am one, -and you are one. We shall have to keep some secrets from Uncle Nick -until he grows kinder and knows that the only way to be happy is to -love. I should like to know your mother's people."</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick says they're all dead."</p> - -<p>"Do you know their name?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Think, Bertie. What was your mother's name?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>"Helen."</p> - -<p>"What else? Can't you remember—the name on her paintings, perhaps?"</p> - -<p>The boy was silent and his brow was puzzled. He reached into a pocket.</p> - -<p>"I brought my book," he said, drawing forth a worn and much-thumbed -pamphlet.</p> - -<p>"I'm so glad you did," she returned.</p> - -<p>He did not offer it to her, but she looked over his shoulder as he -turned the leaves of the catalogue of an exhibition of paintings.</p> - -<p>"There are two of my mother's," he said. He indicated the small -reproductions of two landscapes and Mrs. Lowell studied them with -interest.</p> - -<p>"I can see that they must be charming," she said. "Have you any of her -pictures?"</p> - -<p>"There was one," said the boy, and he had to wait for a time before he -could add: "Uncle Nick sold it."</p> - -<p>"Let us see if there may be a list of the exhibitors," said Mrs. Lowell. -"May I take it a minute?"</p> - -<p>Bertie yielded the pamphlet and she turned to the front of the book. -Yes, there was the list and her eye quickly caught the name: Helen -Loring Gayne.</p> - -<p>"Your mother's name was Loring, then."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p><p>"It's my name, too. Herbert Loring Gayne."</p> - -<p>"Where did her people live, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"In Boston. I can always remember that because—because—when Uncle Nick -is angry at what I—I do, he says don't try any Boston on me, and -then—then I know he means my mother, because he—he didn't like—"</p> - -<p>The boy's voice hesitated and stopped.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell called his attention to some of the other pictures in the -pamphlet, speaking of the artists whose names were known to her, and he -finally restored his treasure to his pocket.</p> - -<p>When they again reached the Inn, they found Nicholas Gayne walking up -and down the piazza. He came to the head of the steps.</p> - -<p>"This is too much, Mrs. Lowell," he said with an effort at bluff good -nature, "for you to burden yourself with a young hobble-de-hoy like Bert -when you take your rambles."</p> - -<p>"If I like it I suppose you have no objections," she returned -pleasantly. "I assure you I had to urge him to accompany me. Too bad -there aren't some young people of his own age here."</p> - -<p>"He wouldn't know what to say to them if there were, would you, Bert?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p><p>"No, sir," was the reply, and the boy started to go into the house.</p> - -<p>"Here, what are you doing?" said his uncle, catching him roughly by the -arm. "You haven't said good-bye to the lady after her kindness in -dragging you around."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell controlled herself to speak calmly. "I tell Bert it would be -a good thing for him to learn to swim while he is here."</p> - -<p>"That's the talk!" ejaculated his uncle, throwing the arm off as roughly -as he had grasped it. "Go in and win, Bert. I'll get you a bathing suit. -Show 'em you ain't any milk sop. Take the dives with the best of them."</p> - -<p>The boy stood with his eyes downcast.</p> - -<p>"And don't sulk," went on his uncle with exasperation. "For Heaven's -sake, don't sulk. That's the way it is, Mrs. Lowell, if you try to think -up some jolly thing for him to do, he stands like an image. No more -backbone than a jellyfish."</p> - -<p>"Everybody doesn't like the water," returned Mrs. Lowell, moved now by -the dread that the man might suspect her influence and remove the boy.</p> - -<p>"Well, how did you like the farm?" he pursued.</p> - -<p>"What a pleasant place it is," she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>returned, seating herself on the -piazza rail. "No wonder you like to spend time there. I haven't -forgotten those charming sketches you showed me, either."</p> - -<p>Gayne made a clumsy bow. "You flatter me," he said. "I make no claims."</p> - -<p>The lady looked down on the garden border.</p> - -<p>"The sweet peas look thirsty, Bertie," she said. "Let's water them."</p> - -<p>The boy followed her in silence to where the coiled hose lay, and his -uncle looked after them, a thoughtful frown gathering on his dark brow.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER IX</span> <span class="smaller">A WORKING PLAN</span></h2> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell knocked for admittance at Diana's door that evening, and -entering found the girl sitting at the little desk she had added to Miss -Burridge's furnishings, surrounded by books and papers.</p> - -<p>"Is it an inopportune time?" asked the caller, hesitating.</p> - -<p>Diana rose smiling. "That can never be for you," she replied.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, dear child. I am so full, I long to talk to you. You may -have a helpful suggestion."</p> - -<p>"I shall be pleased to act as your confidante. Sit here, Mrs. Lowell. I -was just writing my mother how fortunate I am in the fact that you are -here. I encounter a good deal of difficulty in persuading my mother that -I am not in a desert place and am not doing penance. I am very desirous -of restraining her from coming to see for herself. I should be aghast at -the prospect of taking care of her and her maid here. Yet, when I pile -up superlatives, she decides that I have fallen in love with an Indian -and is increasingly disturbed."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p><p>The girl looked very pretty in the peach-colored negligee she was -wearing, its precious laces falling over Miss Burridge's cheap chairs -and matting, and her thick bright-brown hair in disorder.</p> - -<p>"Oh, tell her he isn't an Indian; tell her he is a Viking."</p> - -<p>Diana's serene gaze did not falter, though her color rose.</p> - -<p>"I do not mind your badinage," she returned, "for when I fall in love, -it is going to be with a supremely unattractive man externally. I shall -be the only woman who knows and understands his charm, then other women -will not infringe my rights. After you hear Mr. Barrison sing, you will -understand that in his career, women will bow before him like flowers in -an irresistible gust of wind. I cannot imagine a worse fate for a girl -than to share that career; the more brilliant it might be, the more -crushing to her happiness. But this interview is getting turned about. I -was to be the confidante, not you."</p> - -<p>"Then this is my tale, my dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "I have discovered -who did those sketches Mr. Gayne showed us this morning."</p> - -<p>"Then you were right, and they were not his own?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p><p>"Bertie's mother did them, and he inherits her talent: this poor child -whom the man is trying to blot out of normal life."</p> - -<p>"What makes you certain?"</p> - -<p>"Because he did one before my eyes down by the shore to-day, with a -swift, sure touch, and that thin, sad face of his lighted till he looked -like a different being. His parents are dead. His mother was an artist. -He worked with her. As soon as she left the child, his uncle forbade him -to draw, and took all his materials away from him, whipped him if he -found a pencil in his possession. Those sketches we saw were done either -by the boy or his mother. There is no doubt of it. She eloped with his -father, estranging her family from her. She was a Loring of Boston."</p> - -<p>Diana regarded the speaker with admiration. "How wonderful for you to -obtain so much information from such a source."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it was little by little, of course. I told him his uncle had shown -us some good sketches and asked him if it was not strange that Mr. Gayne -could do them, taking up the art so late in life; for it seems he took -it up only as Bertie laid it down; and the boy's reply was significant. -He said: 'Oh, no, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> is easy.' He seemed to have no suspicion, but then -he hasn't life or interest enough to harbor suspicion. He just endures."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell went on to tell of Cora and the drudgery of the boy's dull -and dulling existence, and her listener's eyes lost their customary -serenity.</p> - -<p>"It must not be," said the girl at last, as her companion ceased. "Have -you made a diagnosis?"</p> - -<p>"I only feel that the 'root of all evil' must be at the bottom of it," -replied Mrs. Lowell. "The Old Nick, as Veronica calls him, must believe -there is money to be secured, and that if he can only prove that his -nephew is incompetent, he can gain charge of it. Bertie told me that his -mother's people were rich."</p> - -<p>"Of course, then, that is the key; but it does not explain what the man -is doing with pickaxe and shovel up at my farm."</p> - -<p>"Your farm, my dear?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Diana carelessly. "But that is not interesting us now. -Mrs. Lowell, I adore the unselfishness which has caused you to give your -time to this boy. I have tried to converse with him, but his lack of -responsiveness seems to obscure the clarity of my mental processes. I -wish, however, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> have a hand in his salvation. The thing to do now, it -appears to me, is to discover this Loring family. That will take money -and I will supply it."</p> - -<p>"My dear Miss Diana!"</p> - -<p>"Drop the Miss, please. I feel honored by your friendship. Do you know -of a good lawyer?"</p> - -<p>"My husband is a lawyer."</p> - -<p>"Then, please, ask him to proceed at once."</p> - -<p>The girl's dignity and beauty added charm to the sense of power in an -emergency which money sometimes gives. "It is galling that we cannot -take the boy away from that brute immediately," she added.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we must be so careful," exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Rather than let us -do one thing to clear and brighten Bertie's mind his uncle would send -him off the island. We must not show dislike or suspicion; and God will -guide us in the footsteps we must take. He is taking care of the child -now, through us."</p> - -<p>"Really, Mrs. Lowell, your faith is very beautiful," said Diana.</p> - -<p>"Everybody should have it. Why go alone while the Bible is right there -with its marvelous promises? God's children are not puppets<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> pulled by -wires, and so people complain that the promises are not kept. We are -made in His image and likeness, tributary only to Him—every good thing -is possible to us if we turn toward Him instead of away from Him."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Gayne appears to have turned away," said Diana dryly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he made me shudder this afternoon when he talked of Bertie's -learning to swim. It was as if he hoped it might be the child's end."</p> - -<p>Diana shook her head. "He doesn't want that."</p> - -<p>"No, so I consoled myself afterward, but his malignant spirit bursts -forth in spite of him occasionally."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell rose and the girl followed her example. The older woman -approached and placed her hands on Diana's shoulders.</p> - -<p>"I thank God," she said, "for your cooperation. I will write to my -husband to-night."</p> - -<p>"Is he as—as religious as you are?"</p> - -<p>"Not perhaps in the same way. He does not see quite as I do, but he is a -good man and loves everything good." Some recollection made the speaker -smile. "I try his soul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> at times by not doing what he calls minding my -own business. For instance, once I saw a young fellow at an elevated -station in New York, dazed by drink. I was in haste and on an important -errand, but I couldn't take my train and leave him there. So I went and -sat down beside him and asked him where he was going. He said, to the -Brooklyn ferry, but he was thick and helpless. I called a little colored -boy carrying a large milliner's box, and I asked him if his errand -needed to be done immediately. He was pretty doubtful, but he finally -said no. So I told him I would check his box and leave a dollar with it -for him when he returned, if he would take this young man straight to -the Brooklyn ferry and see that he did not go in anywhere on the way. He -said he would do so, and I gave him his check and car fare and some -nickels for telephoning, and asked him to call me up that evening. I -wrote my telephone number and left it with the box. He promised, and my -train came along and I had to leave them. About six o'clock that -afternoon, the telephone rang. It was my messenger. He said that when he -got the young man downstairs to go to the train for the ferry, his -charge became violently sick. After<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> that, he came to himself and gave a -different direction to the boy. The address of an office building. He -was pale and shaky. So the boy stayed with him. They went up in an -elevator and into an office where the young man said that he had brought -the money. They sent for some one from another office, and to this -person the young man gave a roll of a thousand dollars.</p> - -<p>"Of course, I was quite excited, and happy over this news, and I thanked -my messenger and said: 'See what God has helped us to do to-day. That -young man might have been robbed, and would have been suspected of theft -by his employer and lost his character and his position.' My husband was -sitting near by, reading the paper, and he looked up and said: 'Who on -earth are you talking to?' I just answered: 'A little darky boy!' and -went on, while my husband stared. When I told him the whole story, he -laughed and shook his head. 'Hopeless,' he said, 'hopeless.' He is quite -conservative, and he would like me to stay in the beaten track."</p> - -<p>"That was fine," said Diana. "Mr. Lowell will be in sympathy with this -case, I hope, and undertake it with his whole heart. I am going to give -you a check to send him as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> retainer. Then he will know that this is a -serious business matter."</p> - -<p>The girl sat down at her desk and wrote the check and Mrs. Lowell took -it thankfully. She went to her room and wrote her letter. In due time -she received a reply.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Dear One</i>,</p> - -<p>I see you have again ceased minding your own business and I am -really very proud of you in spite of your obstinacy. I thought in -the wilds of Casco Bay, you might get away from responsibilities -for awhile, but I might have known that, unless I set you adrift on -an iceberg, you would find some lame, or halt, or blind, to succor. -Even then, I think the iceberg would melt at your presence, and in -short order you would be down among the mermaids explaining to them -that it was error to get out on the rocks to do their hair and sing -to sailors.</p> - -<p>Your story is very interesting, and while I believe that Boston is -as full of Lorings as it is of beans, Miss Wilbur has made it -possible to ring every Loring doorbell and ask down which steps ran -the eloping daughter. Rest assured, as her lawyer I shall do my -best in this affair. Owing to Mr. Wilbur's prominence in the public -prints, his connections are pretty well known, and I thought I -associated Herbert Loring, the railroad president, with him. I -suppose Miss Wilbur would have told you if there were anything in -that.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The remainder of the letter dealt with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>different subjects, and, when -Mrs. Lowell had finished it, she hastened to her friend, and put her -question.</p> - -<p>"I will send my father a telegram at once," responded the girl.</p> - -<p>That form of speech was not strictly accurate, as it was rather an -elaborate operation to send a telegram from the island. However, it was -finally accomplished. This was the message to her father:</p> - -<blockquote><p>Have you any friends named Loring? Have we any relatives or -connections by marriage of that name?</p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Diana</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>The day after the girl had given her check to Mrs. Lowell, Bertie Gayne -was not seen about the Inn all the morning. At dinnertime he returned -with his uncle. Mr. Gayne's manner was disarmingly bluff and hearty. He -had a cheerful word for everybody. The boy's silent manner and -uninterested look were just as usual. Mrs. Lowell managed to catch his -eye once or twice, but he gave no sign of understanding.</p> - -<p>The horse-mackerel were running and the island population was all -excited. The taking of one of the huge fish was an event, and very -lucrative for the captors. The talk of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> table was all on this -subject, and Nicholas Gayne entered into it with zest.</p> - -<p>After dinner everybody went out in front of the house to view the -telltale disturbances in the waters of the bay, where numerous small -boats were hanging about awaiting their opportunity. Veronica eagerly -joined the watchers as soon as she was at liberty.</p> - -<p>"Let us walk down nearer the water," proposed Diana.</p> - -<p>Mr. Gayne's field-glasses were being handed about, and she was afraid -they would be offered to her. So she and Veronica moved down across the -field and seated themselves on the grass against a convenient rock.</p> - -<p>"Where do you think Bertie was this morning?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Uncle took him off with him."</p> - -<p>"Up to the farm?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose so. Mr. Gayne seems to think that farm might get away if he -didn't see it for twenty-four hours."</p> - -<p>"I wonder if he will not be wishing to purchase it one of these days," -said Diana.</p> - -<p>"I'd buy some clothes for Bert first if I was in his place. Everything -the boy has seems to have been bought for his little brother."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p><p>"Did you ever read 'Nicholas Nickleby,' Veronica?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I have." The younger girl looked around brightly. "I know who -you're thinking of—Smike. I've thought of Smike ever since they came."</p> - -<p>Diana received her look with a smile. One touch of nature made them kin -for the moment, and Diana, all unconscious of her companion's mental -reservations, did not know that at this moment she was nearer than she -had ever been to being forgiven for her various perfections.</p> - -<p>"All my childhood," said Diana, "I used to wish I could have done -something for Smike."</p> - -<p>"I've wished that, too," said Veronica.</p> - -<p>"Now we have an opportunity," returned Diana. "You are young and -sportive and you made a good beginning."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I did—<i>not</i>," returned Veronica. "You might as well try to sport -with a hearse. Everything you say to him he turns his eyes on you all -darkened up with those lashes, regular mourning, and you don't know -where to look, yourself, nor what to say. Yes, I did want to help Smike, -but so long as the law won't let us string Mr. Gayne up somewhere, lots -of times I wish they'd<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> gone to some other island. Isn't it a pity he -hasn't got spunk enough to run away? Even Smike ran away."</p> - -<p>"I am glad this boy is not inclined to do that," returned Diana, "for I -feel that he has friends here and that something good should come of his -summer."</p> - -<p>"Not if Mr. Gayne can help it," declared Veronica. "He was afraid Mrs. -Lowell was giving Bert too good a time with these walks and talks." She -nodded her head. "Believe me, that is the reason—"</p> - -<p>"Well, we have found you," said a voice behind them. It was a voice -which made color steal up into Diana's cheeks. The girls both looked -around quickly.</p> - -<p>Philip Barrison was approaching, and with him a shorter man. Both were -bareheaded.</p> - -<p>"The blarney stone!" thought Veronica. She had been wondering when Mr. -Barrison would bring him, and now she gave him what she herself would -have described as the "once-over" as he smiled at Diana and lifted his -hand to his tightly waved hair in salute.</p> - -<p>What Veronica saw caused her to lift her hand to the bridge of her nose -and cover its small proportions with two fingers, from both sides of -which her round eyes gazed seriously.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER X</span> <span class="smaller">NICHOLAS GAYNE CONFIDES</span></h2> - -<p>"Are you interested in the horse-mackerel, too?" asked Diana.</p> - -<p>The two men sat down on the grass near the girls as Barney Kelly -answered: "Moderately, Miss Wilbur. Moderately interested. Being allowed -to witness anything from <i>terra firma</i> invests it with a certain charm. -Barrison has been merciless, I assure you, simply merciless."</p> - -<p>"The man came here to fish," said Philip, "and I've only tried to be -hospitable."</p> - -<p>"Deep-sea fishing," groaned his friend. "If you ever hear any tenderfoot -express ambitions to go deep-sea fishing, tell him to see me if -possible, otherwise write or wire me before he embarks."</p> - -<p>"Did you find the motion disconcerting?" asked Diana.</p> - -<p>Barney looked at Philip. "Don't you think I might admit as much as -that?"</p> - -<p>Philip laughed and bit the red clover he had pulled from a bunch near -him.</p> - -<p>"First," said Kelly, "you are waked at an hour when all men should -sleep; then you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> are forced to eat at a time when your soul rebels at -such outrage; after that, you go aboard beneath the stars, and you chug, -chug, miles into the darkness; but the chug-chugging you soon find to be -the best part of it for when you arrive midway between here and -Liverpool, you anchor. The sky and the sea begin to get hopelessly mixed -up. Why should I try to describe the writhings of all nature! They put a -heavy rope into your hands, it slides through your fists and removes the -skin before any one remembers that you have no gloves on. Oh, let Dante -try! I can't!"</p> - -<p>Philip laughed. "Then I took him out next day to the pound and let him -help draw the net."</p> - -<p>"The smell of that boat, Miss Wilbur!" Kelly's eyes rolled fiercely.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you won't like the island," volunteered Veronica, who, when -she laughed had forgotten her nose and dropped her hand.</p> - -<p>"My dear Miss Trueman, how can I tell, when I am never allowed to stay -on it? This man, when he couldn't think of anything else hydraulic to -do, has made me go in bathing in water at a temperature which no humane -person will credit when I tell them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> To-day, I struck. I said to him, -do for Heaven's sake do something to show that you are at least -amphibious. So he consented to bring me up here to meet his friends, and -I shall be pleasantly surprised if you young ladies don't turn into -mermaids right before my eyes, as they do in the movies, and pop off -that beach into the water."</p> - -<p>Veronica giggled so joyously that the speaker turned away from Diana's -serene smile and regarded her. "I assure you," he added slowly and -solemnly, "that if you do, I shall not follow you. So if you wish the -pleasure of my society you won't unfold any graceful, glittering tails."</p> - -<p>Veronica giggled again, and, if she had only known it, her dimples were -warranted at any time to divert attention from those afflicting little -freckles.</p> - -<p>"I can see that Kelly will be fruit for you, Veronica, on that croquet -ground," said Philip.</p> - -<p>The guest clasped his hands rapturously. "Do you guarantee, Miss -Veronica, that croquet at this island is unfailingly played on land?"</p> - -<p>"Hold on, Barney, don't go too fast; it's the kind of croquet you play -with an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>alpenstock in one hand and a mallet in the other."</p> - -<p>"It is not, Mr. Barrison," declared Veronica stoutly. "Bert has mowed -it."</p> - -<p>"That poor little chap? Did you work him in? Good for you. It's what he -needs."</p> - -<p>"When are you going to have Mr. Barrison sing for us, Mr. Kelly?" asked -Diana.</p> - -<p>Barney shrugged his shoulders. "A poor worm of an accompanist can't -answer that, Miss Wilbur."</p> - -<p>"But I suppose you will be practicing, or rehearsing at times, will you -not?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. I understand there is a piano in the little Casino that was -pointed out to me. I understand—eh, Barrison?"</p> - -<p>Philip nodded. "Yes, they have allowed me to engage an hour a day on -that piano for a while, for some work we have to do."</p> - -<p>Diana's face lighted beautifully. "And may one—may one sit on the -piazza?" she asked beseechingly.</p> - -<p>"I should advise one not to," said Philip, "unless one has been -inoculated for strong language."</p> - -<p>"I should not in the least mind what you said."</p> - -<p>"But you would what Barney says, at times."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p><p>"The verdure about the hall is free," said Diana doubtfully.</p> - -<p>"Yes, if you don't mind a baseball in the eye once in a while. That is -where the boys do congregate."</p> - -<p>"He's a most ungrateful ass—Barrison," said Barney warmly. "Of course -you shall sit on the piazza if you care about it. I promise to restrain -my <i>penchant</i> for calling him pet names in private. I have to do it, you -see, to strike a balance. At performances, who so meek as the -accompanist! Barrison stands there, dolled up in his dress-clothes, -probably a white carnation in his buttonhole; the women down front -gazing at him and ruining their best gloves. I gaze at him, too,"—Kelly -looked up with meek worship,—"like a flower at the sun, waiting for the -sultan to throw the handkerchief, or, in other words, give me a careless -nod, indicating that I may come to life. At last he does so, and I begin -to play—subserviently, unostentatiously. Very few in the house know -that I am there. He reaches his climax, he finishes with a pianissimo -that curls around all the women's hearts, draws them out and strings -them on a wire before him. Then the applause bursts forth. He bows over -and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> over again, until he looks like a blond mandarin, and I rise, but -nobody knows it, and when he has passed me on his way off the stage, I -come to heel like a well-trained dog, and—there we are!"</p> - -<p>As Kelly finished his harangue with a gesture of both hands, the girls -were laughing and Diana was quite flushed.</p> - -<p>"What a fool you are, Barney," said Philip calmly, still biting the -honey out of the red clover. "He plays like a house afire," he added, -turning to the girls. "You will be delighted."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," said Kelly. "On the road I get a group. I play the Chopin and -Grieg things that the girls practice at home, and they get out their -vanity cases and prink and wait for Barrison to come on again."</p> - -<p>"Oh, cut it out, you idiot!" exclaimed Philip, jumping up. "I don't -believe they're going to get one of those mackerel. Let's amuse little -Veronica and go up and have a game of croquet."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Mr. Gayne had again taken his nephew with him to the farm.</p> - -<p>"In spite of all I say," he told the boy, "you will bother those ladies -at the Inn. So if you come along with me, I'll know where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> you are." And -the lad answered him not at all, but plodded up the road.</p> - -<p>He did, however, think of some of the things Mrs. Lowell had said to -him. Some of the love and courage that emanated from her gave him a -novel certainty that he was not altogether friendless, and the wild -roses that began to peep at him from the roadside suggested the idea -that she would like it if he brought some home to her. In the idle hours -of the afternoon he might gather some, and some of the myriad daisies -and Indian paintbrush that decked the fields. But his heart sank at the -prospect of what his uncle would say if he attempted to carry back a -bouquet when they returned.</p> - -<p>Gayne forbade the boy to enter the house when they reached their -destination, just as he had done in the morning. So Bertie, his hands in -his pockets, wandered about the surrounding fields and in the spruce -groves, and picked up the shells the crows had dropped and emptied. Once -he found a ridge of grass unusually long and green, and heard a -whispering, and investigating found a narrow brook which murmured as it -flowed. He followed along its bank until he came to the cove it had -named, and watched the sparse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> stream cascade over the granite and fall -thinly down its steep wall. The wet rock glistened in the sun, it seemed -to the boy as if with tears. He threw himself down beside it and, -leaning on his elbow, rested his head on his hand. Through the cut -between this island and the next, boats were passing coming in from the -foaming waves of the sea to the quiet waters of the sound. Life, beauty, -peace. The boy closed his eyes. The longing to portray it all rose in -him like an anguish. He felt his old torpidity to be better than this. -Why should his new friend stir up a craving for the impossible? She -meant to be kind. She seemed really to like him; and she had liked his -drawing and had wanted him to do more. She would find that it was -impossible, and he hoped that she would make no more effort. He squeezed -his eyelids together to keep back stinging drops. He felt shame at his -own weakness. Uncle Nick had said he had no more backbone than a -jellyfish and he felt this was true. He had no physical strength to -defend himself, none to take his fortunes into his own hands, as he felt -most boys would do, run away and do something to keep himself from -starvation.</p> - -<p>For years he had been fed as an animal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> might have been fed: at any hour -that suited Cora, and with anything she might happen to have in the -house. He was undernourished, neglected, crushed, and spiritless. He -despised his weakness as much as his uncle despised him, and he was -conscious that it was a new estimate of himself that he was now making, -an estimate due to the awakening of thought that had come to him through -that lady who meant to be kind. He felt very bitterly toward her as he -lay there, his eyes closed to the loveliness of sea and sky.</p> - -<p>He had lain there half an hour when Matt Blake came across from the road -and passed near him.</p> - -<p>"Poor youngster," he thought. "I guess it's true he ain't all there." -The feeling that the boy was not capable of responding kept him from -calling out some sort of greeting as he passed, and he went on through -the spruce grove to the farm-house. "Hello the house," he called.</p> - -<p>"That you, Blake?" came from within. "Yes, I'm out here at the back. -Come in."</p> - -<p>The carpenter made his way through to the studio, and there Nicholas -Gayne rose from an armchair to meet him, and swayed slightly as he -stood.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p>"You sent for me," said Blake, regarding the other's red-rimmed eyes.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and you'll be glad I did when you see this, eh, old man?"</p> - -<p>Gayne lurched toward the screen and took a bottle from behind it, and -held it out triumphantly. "Kind o' dizzy 'cause I been asleep and you -waked me sudden. 'Twas the shock, you see, the shock." He lurched back -toward the table where there was a glass. He filled this half-full and -offered it to his caller. "It's the real thing, the real thing," he -said.</p> - -<p>"I smell that it is," returned Blake dryly. "That's too stiff for me. -No, no, Gayne," he added as the latter started to raise it to his own -lips, and he took the glass from him, "you've had too much now. If you -want anything of me, tell me while you've got sense enough to talk."</p> - -<p>"You insult me, Blake," said the other with dignity. "I'm a gentleman -and I know when I've had enough, and I know when I've had too much. Some -folks never know that, but I do."</p> - -<p>The carpenter regarded him impassively, and set the bottle and glass out -of his reach. "Now go ahead. Tell me what you want."</p> - -<p>"Want you to shingle the kitchen so's I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> can—can cook there. Come and -I'll show you." He opened a door in the studio which led into a damp -room where the rain had fallen unmolested. "Want you to shingle this -room."</p> - -<p>"Nothing doing," said the carpenter.</p> - -<p>"You won't say that when I show you what I've got here." Gayne's speech -was thick and he took Blake's arm and led him across to a large covered -stone crock sitting on a bench. "Home brew, Matt. Home brew. We can have -many a cozy evening here when this gets into shape."</p> - -<p>"Going to keep a horse?" asked the carpenter, lifting up what appeared -to be a nosebag.</p> - -<p>"No, no, that's strainer. You leave it to me, Matt. I'll give you -something'll make your hair curl. All you got to do is shingle—"</p> - -<p>"You ain't going to pay for having somebody else's property shingled?"</p> - -<p>"'Tain't going to be somebody else's. Going to be mine. I'm going to buy -the farm. There's a fortune on it." The speaker's legs were planted far -apart to preserve his equilibrium, but even at that he swayed so far -toward his visitor that Blake put up his hand to hold him off.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p><p>"Which have you found, gold or oil?" he asked, laughing.</p> - -<p>His host assumed an impressive dignity. "Not gold, not oil. Spring."</p> - -<p>"A spring? Of course you have. They're all over the lots. You'd better -patronize 'em, too. You certainly need to put more water in it."</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' tell you secret, Blake," said Gayne.</p> - -<p>"Better not," said the carpenter good-naturedly.</p> - -<p>"Goin' tell you. I've found mineral spring here."</p> - -<p>"That so?" was the unperturbed reply.</p> - -<p>"Great and won-wonderful water. Don't tell anybody."</p> - -<p>"All right."</p> - -<p>"Had chemist 'zamine it. Says it's got everything in it to cure you. -Fortune in it. Fortune. You don't b'lieve me."</p> - -<p>"Sounds a little fishy," remarked Blake.</p> - -<p>"Lemme take your arm—I'll lead you to it."</p> - -<p>The visitor supplied the arm and Gayne's heavy weight hung upon it. They -went out of doors and Gayne stopped and looked around cautiously. -"Where's that brat?" he demanded.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p><p>"Do you mean the boy? He's over there by the cove. Asleep, I think."</p> - -<p>"Then come on. Can't trust him 'cause they're the kind that speak the -truth. Fools, you know. Can trust you, Blake. Trust you anywhere."</p> - -<p>"Thank you," returned the visitor dryly.</p> - -<p>At some distance from the house, in a hollow overhung with rocks, the -heavy weight on Matt's arm became heavier and Gayne pushed away some -turf and stones with his foot, disclosing a puddle of dark-colored -water. He stooped and, picking up a rusty tin cup, half-filled it, and -presented it to his companion whose arm he released.</p> - -<p>"There, if you don't b'lieve me!" he said triumphantly.</p> - -<p>The carpenter accepted the cup doubtfully and smelled of it. "Phew!" he -exclaimed with a grimace.</p> - -<p>"'Course," said the other. "Sulphur. Won'ful sulphur spring. Cure you of -ever'thing. Had it an'lyzed. Drink it."</p> - -<p>Blake took a cautious sip.</p> - -<p>"Tell you, Matt," said Gayne, speaking slowly and nodding with tipsy -solemnity, "'twas m' guardian angel guided me to that spring."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p><p>The carpenter glanced at him with disfavor. "One sniff's enough to -convince anybody o' that," he remarked. "At that, it's better for you -than the stuff you've got in there on the table. Now, look here, Gayne, -you're going to be sorry to-morrow you told me about this—"</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't tell anybody else," vowed Gayne, solemnly, seizing his -companion by the arm and pushing back the concealing turf and stones -with his foot. "Nobody else on this earth. Fools own the farm put up the -price if they knew."</p> - -<p>"But what I was going to say is you needn't be sorry," went on Blake. -"I'm not going to tell a soul. I don't want to be mixed up in your -affairs, but do you think you can understand if I talk to you?"</p> - -<p>"Un'stand! Well!" exclaimed Gayne. "I'm a man o' brains I'll have you -know."</p> - -<p>"Well, if you've got any, use 'em now," said Blake impatiently. "There -ain't any money in a mineral spring unless you've got piles o' dough to -put it on the market. Don't you know that?"</p> - -<p>"I sh'd say so," nodded Gayne, triumphant again. "That's just what I'm -goin' to have: piles o' dough. Bushels."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p><p>"Where are you goin' to get it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I'll tell you, Matt, 'cause you're a good friend and you know how -to hold your tongue. That boy out there, that poor numskull is the heir -to a big enough fortune to f'nance twenty springs."</p> - -<p>"He is?" returned Blake, astonished. "What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"His grandfather is one of the richest men in Boston. Went to see him -once. Took my proofs with me. Wouldn't look at 'em. Turned me out. He's -sick as the devil. Always travelin' 'round tryin' to get well. I -wouldn't—I would not give him one cup o' this water." Gayne gestured -impressively as he made the ferocious declaration. "Just come home from -Europe now. Saw it in the paper," he added.</p> - -<p>"Then he'll leave his money where it won't do you any good," said Blake.</p> - -<p>"I'll break the will. I've thought it all out. I'm a man o' brains. -Bert'll get the money."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps the boy won't want to spend it on springs."</p> - -<p>A crafty change came over Gayne's face and he smiled. "He won't have any -say. I'm his guardian, ain't I? And he's non compos,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> ain't he? He'll be -put where he belongs, believe me."</p> - -<p>"You'll shut him up, do you mean?" asked Blake, frowning.</p> - -<p>"F'r his own good. You understand?"</p> - -<p>"Your guardian angel suggested that to you, too, probably."</p> - -<p>"Prob'bly did, Matt," was the pious reply. "If all his kind was shut up -there'd be less crime in the papers. I put it off and put it off, but I -ought to do it and do it soon."</p> - -<p>The carpenter regarded the speaker in silence for some moments. Gayne's -eyes were closing and opening sleepily.</p> - -<p>"Now, see here, man. You go in the house and sleep this off. I'll take -the boy down-along with me."</p> - -<p>"I won't allow it," Gayne shook his head. "Women at the house pamperin' -him. I won't have it. He'll stay where I am till I get him settled for -life."</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' to take the boy along with me," repeated Blake, speaking -louder. "You're in no state for him to see you. Where'd you get your -stuff, anyway?"</p> - -<p>"Chemist p'esc'iption," said Gayne, as his companion drew him along at -as swift a pace as possible.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p><p>"Well, next time, drink out o' your own mud puddle. I think it comes -from the lower regions, anyway. You might as well be getting used to -it."</p> - -<p>Gayne laughed, but rather feebly. He was beginning to wonder just what -he had said to his friend.</p> - -<p>Matt got him into the house and into the lop-sided armchair where he had -found him, and he fell asleep at once. Then the carpenter took the -partly filled glass from the table and held it up to the light.</p> - -<p>"I'd like it," he mused, "but, by thunder, that loafer's worse 'n a -temperance lecture." And he threw the whiskey out of an open window.</p> - -<p>The bottle he placed behind the screen; then, with one last disgusted -look at his host, whose head was hanging sideways with the mouth open, -he left the house.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XI</span> <span class="smaller">THE NEWPORT LETTER</span></h2> - -<p>Blake went back through the grove of firs to the cove bank and there he -saw the boy again. He had sunk down on his back and, as Blake -approached, appeared to be asleep. The man stooped over him.</p> - -<p>"Hello, kid," he said.</p> - -<p>As the boy did not move, Matt shook him gently by the shoulder. Bert -jumped up with a start.</p> - -<p>"I didn't—didn't hear you," he said. Then, looking up and seeing that -it was a stranger, he got to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Does—does Uncle Nick want me?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Blake shook his head. "No, he's busy. You better go down the road with -me."</p> - -<p>"He told me—told me to wait for him," said the boy.</p> - -<p>"Well, he doesn't want you now. He wants you to go along with me. I've -just left him."</p> - -<p>Upon this the boy followed obediently, and they walked together over the -field to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> road. Blake occasionally looked at the unsmiling young -face as he cogitated on Gayne's plans for the lad.</p> - -<p>"Like it pretty well here?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No—yes—I don't know," was the answer.</p> - -<p>The delicacy and refinement of the boy's face, and the utter -hopelessness of it, stirred his companion, as he considered the one he -had left in the tattered armchair. They walked on in silence until they -had nearly reached the little island cemetery. Then the boy's long -lashes lifted. He seemed to be gazing at the shafts and headstones.</p> - -<p>"Uncle Nick says the—the ghosts don't have far to walk," he remarked.</p> - -<p>The carpenter put his hand on Bert's shoulder. "Stuff and nonsense," he -said. "You're too big a boy to believe that foolishness."</p> - -<p>The dark eyes regarded him. "That's what Mrs. Lowell says. She says God -takes care of us."</p> - -<p>The carpenter nodded. "That's right," he returned emphatically. "I hope -He's got His eye on you right now and will see you through. You tie to -Mrs. Lowell and you believe what she says."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p><p>"Uncle Nick doesn't want me to. He says I'm—I'm better off alone."</p> - -<p>"You're the best judge of that, I should say," remarked Matt bluntly. -"We're all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I -hope you'll get 'em, kid. Stand up for yourself. Do you like Mrs. -Lowell?"</p> - -<p>"I—I don't know.—It isn't any use for me to—to like her. Uncle Nick -doesn't." They began to pass hedges of wild roses. "She likes—likes -flowers," added the boy.</p> - -<p>"Take her some, that's right, take her some," said Blake, stopping and -going to the side of the road.</p> - -<p>"You won't tell Uncle Nick?" said Bert anxiously.</p> - -<p>"No, blast him, I won't tell him. Here, I've got a knife. They know how -to defend themselves all right, don't they?"</p> - -<p>Bert gathered some of the flowers, amazingly large and deep of color -they were, and Matt cut more, and a charming bunch was in the boy's hand -at last. Blake noted that the sight of it brought color into the pale -face.</p> - -<p>"This must be another secret," said Bert. "Mrs. Lowell and I have some -already."</p> - -<p>They plodded on again.</p> - -<p>"That's right," said Blake. "Hold 'em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> tight. That Mrs. Lowell and Miss -Wilbur are friends worth having, I'm thinking." The man frowned at his -own thoughts. The creed of the island had, as its first article: Mind -your own business. Matt wished he could go to Mrs. Lowell and pour out -to her all he had learned this afternoon, but had his pledged word not -prevented, his own habit and training would have made it difficult.</p> - -<p>When they reached the field which divided the road from the Inn, Blake -parted from the boy, who started off for home with his prize. He -stumbled over the knolls while looking at the blossoms, and inhaling -their delicious fragrance.</p> - -<p>When he had nearly reached the house, he met the quartette of croquet -players, the girls escorting the men to the road.</p> - -<p>Veronica and Barney Kelly came first and Diana and Philip followed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how lovely, Bertie!" exclaimed Veronica, stopping and stooping the -five sun-kisses to smell deep of the roses.</p> - -<p>"They are not—they are not for you," said the boy hastily.</p> - -<p>"You've no taste, then," said Kelly, while Veronica laughed. "Have you a -better girl than this one?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p><p>Bertie pushed on in nervous haste, and Diana's smile did not detain -him.</p> - -<p>"Not for you either, apparently," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"No," said Veronica. "I'm <i>good</i>, Miss Wilbur is <i>better</i>, but his -<i>best</i> girl is at home on the porch."</p> - -<p>There the boy found her, and luckily alone. He advanced holding out his -gift without a word. She colored with pleasure as she accepted it, -holding it in one hand and caressing it with the other as from time to -time she took the sweet breath of the roses.</p> - -<p>"Thank you so much, Bertie!" she exclaimed. "It must have taken you a -long time to gather so many."</p> - -<p>"No—he had a knife."</p> - -<p>"Who, your uncle?"</p> - -<p>"No—Mr. Blake. Uncle Nick mustn't know. You won't tell him?"</p> - -<p>"No, dear child, I won't tell him." She looked in the boy's face for a -reflection of her own pleasure, but there was none. He remained -standing.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, Bertie, you have had a long walk."</p> - -<p>He did so with some reluctance. "This is the last—last time I'll sit -with you," he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p><p>"Are you going away?" she asked, much concerned.</p> - -<p>"No, but—but Uncle Nick doesn't—doesn't want me to speak to you—and -you make me sad."</p> - -<p>"How do I make you sad, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>"Talking about—about things," he said vaguely. "If I don't think and -don't talk, then—then it's better. Uncle Nick says so and—and I—it is -so."</p> - -<p>"Very well, Bertie," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "All I want is what -is best for you."</p> - -<p>He looked at her sweet face with the affection in the eyes. She was -wearing a white dress and the blossoms were a roseate glow against it. -He struggled against all that he blindly felt she represented: all he -had lost, all that would have kept the present and the future from being -blank. His face suffused with color, his eyes with tears.</p> - -<p>"I can't bear it!" he said suddenly, with more force than she had -supposed was in him, and rising with an energy of movement that sent his -chair over with a crash, he fled into the house.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell bent her head over the flowers for minutes, and, when she -raised it, there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> was dew upon them. She looked off a moment in thought, -then rose, went into the house and upstairs to the Gayne room. The door -was ajar. She could hear the boy sobbing. Entering, she saw him -stretched on his cot, and she approached, drawing a chair beside it.</p> - -<p>Seating herself, she put a hand on his tightly doubled arm and looked at -the averted, dark head, its face buried in the pillow.</p> - -<p>She spoke to him quietly: "Bertie, I am going to do just as you plan and -not ask you to go about with me any more, but I want you to remember all -the time that I love you and am thinking of you, and knowing that better -times are coming for you. No human being can have as much power over us -as God has. He isn't going to forget His own children whom He has -created. So the more you think about Him, knowing that He is -all-powerful and all-loving, the sooner you will feel His help coming to -you. We don't know just how or when, but be sure it will come if you -won't listen to discouragement. Discouragement is like a cloud that -hides the sun, and God is the sun of the whole universe. You are trying -to hide away from Him when you weep and let thoughts of grief and -despair come in."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p><p>Her voice carried through the nervous, dry sobs, and they lessened as -she talked. When she finished, the dark head lay still on the pillow. -She patted the thin arm.</p> - -<p>"Now I will leave you, Bertie," she went on. "Try to think about the -Shepherd. 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.' Say that over and -over to yourself, and know that it is true. Some day all these things -that seem barriers to everything that you feel makes life worth living, -will melt away. Think about it, and be hopeful, dear child. Remember I -am in the house when you want me, and remember that I love to help you. -Good-bye, dear."</p> - -<p>She stooped over the averted face and kissed the boy's temple. Then she -passed out and down the stairs.</p> - -<p class="space-above">The answer to Diana's telegram came from her mother, and read as -follows:</p> - -<blockquote><p>Your father away on the yacht. Be cautious socially. No Loring -relatives or friends in this country. Letter follows.</p></blockquote> - -<p>The letter did follow with great promptness. It was the old story of the -worried hen who had hatched a duck.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p><blockquote><p><i>My dear child</i>:</p> - -<p>You say you are feeling very well again, sleeping soundly and -eating with good appetite. Then do come home at once. I have -submitted to your wild-goose chase because the doctor approved, and -it was evidently working well, but I haven't really had an easy -minute since you left. When you said that even taking a maid with -you would make you nervous, and I allowed you to go off to a -strange island quite alone, I put a great constraint upon myself. -Your wire shows me that you are encountering some of the -circumstances which I feared, and which will lead to future -embarrassment. Some people are evidently trying to claim -acquaintance or even relationship with our family. I wired you that -there were no Lorings connected with us in this country. It was an -odd coincidence that just after I sent the message to you, I picked -up a newspaper and saw that Herbert Loring had returned from Paris -and was staying at the Copley-Plaza. I am quite certain <i>he</i> has -not emigrated to your island. So my message is true enough. He is a -distant cousin of your father's and though not an old man is a very -broken one, owing to family troubles. Seeing his name in the paper -brought up sad memories and made me thankful for a good, -conscientious daughter who will always remember what is due her -family, and now, when you are thrown among ordinary people, such as -you have never come in contact with, is a good time to speak of -such a tragedy. Mr. Loring's only child was a daughter, a pretty, -artistic girl of whom he was inordinately proud<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> and fond. She -became infatuated with a man whom her father forbade her even to -see. She eloped with him. Oh, the agony she caused that father, who -had lost his wife years before. Of course, he did the only thing -possible in such a case—forbade her name to be mentioned. He -became very ill, and, as soon as he was convalescent, gave up -business and went abroad. He has spent all the years since—about -fifteen, I think—in traveling about, trying to recover his health -and divert his mind. Now the poor, weary man has come back again. I -am wondering if he will open his house. He is wealthy, and, if his -health is restored, he may do so and take up life again. I am sure -your father will wish to communicate with Mr. Loring as soon as he -returns from his cruise. Perhaps the lonely man will accept an -invitation to visit us.</p> - -<p>I think it a grave question whether the artistic temperament does -not furnish more sorrow than joy to the world. I am proud and -thankful that I have a daughter to whom an infatuation would be an -impossibility. Come back, Diana, if you feel strong enough. I -promise to preserve you from gayety if you wish me to do so. I do -not feel at all easy about you. Please write and set a date for -coming, explaining also all that lay behind your wire.</p> - -<p class="right">Your affectionate<span class="s3"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Mother</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>By the time Diana finished reading this letter, her hands were -trembling.</p> - -<p>She hurried to Mrs. Lowell's room. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> rather stifled voice bade her -enter. Her friend was stooping over the washstand bathing her eyes. Her -face, as she looked up through the splashing, showed an April smile.</p> - -<p>"I knew it was you," she said. "I recognized the step, and I knew you -wouldn't mind discovering that I cry once in a while."</p> - -<p>"My dear Mrs. Lowell, I'm sorry for whatever distresses you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it is just that dear talented, wretched boy. I couldn't help -weeping a few little weeps; but what happy thing has happened to you, my -dear?" she added, catching the excitement in the girl's face. She dried -her own finally, and came forward and Diana put the letter into her -hands.</p> - -<p>They both stood in silence until Mrs. Lowell had finished reading and -looked up. Her cheeks were as flushed as Diana's, and they exchanged a -radiant gaze and then sat down.</p> - -<p>"One always weeps too soon," said Mrs. Lowell at last.</p> - -<p>"I was thinking," said Diana, looking off, "that it might be a good plan -for me to go to Mr. Loring myself."</p> - -<p>"You good girl! Do you know him?"</p> - -<p>"Not at all, but any one can go to the Copley-Plaza, and I can tell him -I am his cousin."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p><p>"You're a precious child. When had you thought of going?"</p> - -<p>"Immediately," said Diana, with recovered serenity.</p> - -<p>"Shall I go to Boston with you?"</p> - -<p>"It will not be necessary, I think."</p> - -<p>"But your mother would prefer it, I am sure. Yes, I see that I should -go," added Mrs. Lowell, casting a glance at the rich stationery in her -hand with its heading "Idlewild, Newport, R. I." She could feel the -probable disapproval of this move which Mrs. Wilbur would feel.</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne did not come back to the Inn to supper that afternoon. -Bertie came to the table expecting his uncle would be there and not -daring to absent himself, but he showed the effect of his unwonted -outburst in such extra pallor and lassitude that Veronica was moved to -give him her choicest offerings. Mrs. Lowell thought it best for his -calm not to take any notice of him, but she and Diana found it difficult -to control the excitement that beset their hearts as they looked at him: -the drooping bird in the cage of a cruel and neglectful master, the key -that would unlock its door almost in their hands.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p><p>The next morning they took the early boat from the island, leaving word -that they were going to Boston for a few days. Miss Burridge gave them -their coffee and toast and bade them God-speed, little reckoning how -appropriate was the prayer for them.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XII</span> <span class="smaller">COUSIN HERBERT</span></h2> - -<p>Arrived at the hotel in Boston, an inquiry for Herbert Loring revealed -that he was still there, but indisposed and not seeing visitors.</p> - -<p>In the suite Diana engaged, the two friends discussed ways and means, -and it was decided that Diana should write a note to the invalid and -make herself known.</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>My dear Mr. Loring</i> (she wrote),</p> - -<p>I might perhaps call you Cousin Herbert, for I believe my father, -Charles Wilbur, claims relationship, and, if you grant me -permission, I certainly shall do so. I believe you and my father -had time to see something of one another before steel swallowed him -up and you became absorbed in railroads. My mother is at our -cottage in Newport, and is wondering whether you could be induced -to visit us when Father returns from a cruise he is taking. I am -here in the hotel for a short time, and would like very much to -call on you if there is some half-hour when you would feel like -seeing a relative, even though you could not grant a similar -privilege to an outsider. I shall be so glad if you can allow me to -make your acquaintance. It would be a satisfaction to my parents to -hear from you by word of mouth. My mother saw by the papers that -you were back in this country and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> wrote me of it. I have been -on one of the islands in Casco Bay where one gets very near to -Nature's heart: the best thing that can happen to a tired -schoolgirl.</p> - -<p>Kindly let me hear from you, and I shall be grateful if you will -see me. After all, though we are strangers, blood is thicker than -water!</p> - -<p class="right">Yours cordially<span class="s3"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Diana Wilbur</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>"This is most extraordinary, upon my word, it is most extraordinary," -was Herbert Loring's comment when he had read this communication. His -words might have been addressed to thin air or to Marlitt, his man; and -Marlitt knew by experience that it was well not to appropriate them -until he had received some further hint. So he stood at attention and -looked with interest at the view from an opposite window.</p> - -<p>His employer was a haggard man, with a white mustache and gray hair. He -was immaculately groomed and was seated in a reclining chair, his feet -supported on the footrest. He wore a rich dressing-gown of gray silk. -One noticed that his left arm was never raised, but with his right hand -he now stroked his mustache. There were pouches under the eyes he lifted -to his valet.</p> - -<p>"Here is a schoolgirl in the hotel who wants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> to come to see me; says -she's my cousin. I'm a nice figure to receive a schoolgirl."</p> - -<p>Marlitt raised his eyebrows. "You are certainly in shape to receive -anybody, sir. But this young lady? May she be an impostor, sir?"</p> - -<p>"No. I think not." Marlitt perceived that the note was an agreeable -incident. "She says she is the daughter of Wilbur, the Philadelphia -steel man. It's odd that they should not have forgotten me."</p> - -<p>"Begging your pardon, sir, I think if you were not so determined to deny -yourself to friends, you would find that no one who had once known you -would have forgotten."</p> - -<p>The sick man glanced back at the note in his lap. It escaped him on the -slippery silk and he made an involuntary effort with the useless arm to -recover it. He frowned, and Marlitt, stooping quickly, picked up the -sheet and restored it. The invalid read the letter once again.</p> - -<p>"Send word to this young lady that I will see her at three-thirty -to-day," he said at last.</p> - -<p>With much rejoicing, Diana, when she had received this word, arrayed -herself for the call. She wore a thin gray gown with a rose at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> -girdle, and Mrs. Lowell, regarding her with admiration, thought no one -could be better equipped externally to win the fastidious masculine -heart.</p> - -<p>Herbert Loring thought so, too, when at the appointed hour she entered -his room, and he received a swift impression of her fine quality.</p> - -<p>"Welcome, my little cousin," he said as he met her eyes and the serene -and charming smile irradiating her youthful beauty. "I am a useless -hulk; can't get out of this chair without help. So you will pardon me."</p> - -<p>She put her hand in the one he offered, and Marlitt placed a chair -beside him in such fashion that she faced him.</p> - -<p>"That makes it the more gracious of you to receive me," she replied.</p> - -<p>"I should never have known what I missed, had I refused," he said -gallantly. "My friend Wilbur has a very beautiful daughter."</p> - -<p>Marlitt disappeared into the next room, and Diana blushed.</p> - -<p>"Even in spite of sunburn?" she said.</p> - -<p>"I was really touched, Cousin Diana, that your parents should remember -me sufficiently for you to take the trouble to come to see me. It is a -long time since anything has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> pleased me so much. I have been such a -rover that I am a stranger in my own land."</p> - -<p>Diana had not expected to feel guilty of false pretences, but this -speech accused her even while it lent her increased courage, since his -was a heart that could be touched.</p> - -<p>"I hope you will visit us," she said, "after I return to Newport."</p> - -<p>"Are you on your way there now?"</p> - -<p>"No, not quite yet. It is difficult to tear one's self away from Casco -Bay after one once falls under the spell."</p> - -<p>Loring nodded. "I know the environment. Very piney and fresh and all -that. Cold water though, very cold."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but we all take dips in it."</p> - -<p>"Youth!" said the sick man, shaking his head. "Youth!"</p> - -<p>"If one does not swim, I know it is quite too cold," said Diana. "I am -glad you are familiar with that country, for then you can sympathize -with my enthusiasm. I long to have a place there of my own and, perhaps -with such congruity of taste, you and I together can persuade my parents -that it would not be too erratic in me to buy a part of that green hill -and be there a little while every year."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p><p>The invalid nodded. "I'll say Amen to anything you indicate," he -returned readily.</p> - -<p>How devoutly Diana hoped this promise might be kept!</p> - -<p>"I have another reason for being glad to meet a man relative just now," -she went on. "There are some people at the Inn where I am staying who -present such a strange problem. When injustice is obviously being done, -one longs to help."</p> - -<p>Her companion nodded. "That is natural, but usually futile," he said. -"It is a very good rule to 'keep off the grass.'"</p> - -<p>"Yes, but this affair makes me very unhappy, Cousin Herbert."</p> - -<p>"A shame," he returned, and he would like to have patted her pretty -hand, but she was on his left side. "Too bad there is always some -serpent in paradise. Don't be too tender-hearted, my dear. Don't be too -tender-hearted. It doesn't pay. Of course, where-ever you go people will -try to lay you under tribute. You must learn to wear an armor, a full -suit of chain armor under your dainty costumes."</p> - -<p>"This is not a question of money," said Diana, her heart beating faster -and, for the first time, she quaked at the full realization<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> of her -errand. "Would you let me tell you about it, Cousin Herbert?"</p> - -<p>"Why, of course, my child, if it is any satisfaction to you to confide -in such a useless old cripple as I have become."</p> - -<p>"You are far from that," returned the girl, steadying the voice which -threatened to waver. "Your opinion on the subject will be very valuable -to me."</p> - -<p>The sick man lifted his heavy eyebrows and smoothed his mustache. "Then -proceed, by all means," he said. "One thing I have in tragic abundance -is time; and I am flattered."</p> - -<p>"There is a man at our Inn," began Diana, her fingers tightly -intertwined in her lap, "who has a young boy in his power. The lad is -his nephew. He shows every sign of years of neglect. The uncle -continually betrays himself, and scarcely tries to hide the fact that he -is looking forward to incarcerating the boy in some institution for the -deranged."</p> - -<p>"Simply to get rid of him?"</p> - -<p>"No; there is money back in the family somewhere, and we—I have come to -the conviction that this man believes the boy will fall heir to it, and -that, if he is safely out of the way, the uncle as guardian will get -control of this money."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p><p>"What sort of mentality does the boy seem to have?"</p> - -<p>"He is a sensitive, fine-grained lad with just the sort of nature which -persistent brutality will blight and paralyze. He has been so neglected -that he has little physical resistance and one can see him being -gradually crushed with as little hope of escape as the fly in the -spider's web."</p> - -<p>"And you take it greatly to heart, eh?" said the invalid, regarding the -girl's flushed face and appealing eyes.</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't any one?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"A confounded nuisance to have such a circumstance mar your vacation."</p> - -<p>"Oh, think of the boy's side of it, Cousin Herbert!"</p> - -<p>"You want my opinion? I think the law could take a hand there."</p> - -<p>"Yes; but the law is so slow!" Diana swallowed. "So near a relative as -an uncle, own brother to the boy's father, can put up a hypocritical -fight and establish a very strong claim."</p> - -<p>Herbert Loring shook his head. "My dear child, in your position, if you -begin on this Quixotic business, there will be no end to it, believe me. -You can't right all the wrongs in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> the world, and you will have the pack -in full cry after you if it is known that you have let down the bars. -You can state this case to a lawyer, and put it in his hands with the -understanding that you will pay the bills, but your identity must be -kept secret. Then let them fight it out. You can't do any more than -that. A pity I didn't know you were here this morning. My lawyer was -with me." The speaker's tired eyes smiled and the corners of his -mustache lifted slightly. "I have celebrated my return by destroying my -will and the new business was to have been finished this morning, but I -was uncertain about some matters that the lawyer is looking up to-day. -He will come to-morrow morning to draw up the new will, and before he -goes I will send for you and you shall tell him about your boy and his -ogre of an uncle."</p> - -<p>Diana's heart was beating fast now. She summoned all her courage. "What -is so exciting to me, Cousin Herbert," she began,—and he wondered to -hear the wavering in her voice,—"is that lately I have learned that -this lad is related to some one rich and powerful who could rescue him -at once."</p> - -<p>A puzzled frown came in Loring's forehead.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>"Any one I know?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Surely, or I should not trouble you at a time when you are not feeling -strong. Cousin Herbert, this neglected boy belongs to you. He is your -grandson." Diana unconsciously stretched her clasped hands toward him.</p> - -<p>A strange white change came over her listener's face and the expression -that awoke in the eyes that met hers was terrible to her.</p> - -<p>"This is the explanation of your desire to make my acquaintance," he -said in a changed voice.</p> - -<p>She was so frightened that she seemed to hear her own heartbeats. "The -boy's name is Gayne. Herbert Loring Gayne," she went on, desperately.</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur, you have ventured in where angels would fear to tread," -said the sick man sternly, "but you awake no memory. That room where you -intrude is bare and empty. You—"</p> - -<p>"He is talented," pleaded Diana. "Very talented as an artist. Any family -might be proud to own him and bring him out of a cellar into the -sunshine. Think of the interest in life it would give you. Think it -over, Cousin Herbert. Just be willing to see him once—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p><p>While she was talking, her companion touched the bell on the table -beside him and the words died on her lips as the valet came into the -room.</p> - -<p>"I am tired, Marlitt," said the invalid huskily. "Miss Wilbur is ready -to go." His head fell back against a down pillow. "Pardon my not -attending you to the door," he added, ignoring the girl's wet-eyed -confusion. She gathered herself together and rose.</p> - -<p>"Thank you for allowing me to come in," she said, inclining her head; -then she turned toward the door which Marlitt held open.</p> - -<p>She continued to hold her head high until she reached her own apartment, -where Mrs. Lowell was waiting. The latter started to her feet as she -viewed her friend's entrance and noted her excited color and trembling -lips.</p> - -<p>Diana succeeded in uttering one word, "Hopeless," then she succumbed -into Mrs. Lowell's arms and fell into wild weeping on her shoulder.</p> - -<p>Led to a couch, she lay upon it and continued weeping while Mrs. Lowell -sat beside her and held her hand comfortingly.</p> - -<p>"We did right to come, however," she said, when, after a time, the girl -was quiet, "and you fulfilled your duty bravely in going to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> him. You -cannot tell what fruit your visit may bring forth. Don't try to tell me -about it now. He has suffered a terrible wound to his pride and heart, -and even after many years it could smart when touched. We mustn't be -discouraged. Our mission is a righteous one and so God is on our side, -and if we don't accomplish the child's deliverance in this way, we shall -in some other way. I am going to read to you one of the most inspired -and inspiring poems ever written," and, taking up her Bible, Mrs. Lowell -turned its pages and read aloud the ninety-first psalm.</p> - -<p>At seven o'clock they had dinner served in their room, and Diana -recounted her experience with the invalid before they retired for the -night. Mrs. Lowell again talked to her calmly and comfortingly and the -girl's mortified pride and disappointed heart finally quieted and she -slept.</p> - -<p>The next morning the two friends discussed plans over the breakfast -which was served in their room. When later the waiter arrived to carry -away the tray, he was so full of news that he was obliged to speak.</p> - -<p>"Big excitement in the house," he said. "Gentleman dead in his bed. Big -man, too. Used to be president of big railroad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> Wouldn't wonder if the -papers had extrys out in a few minutes."</p> - -<p>Diana caught Mrs. Lowell's hand and the latter spoke to the man: "What -name?"</p> - -<p>"Why it's Herbert Loring. I guess that'll make some stir."</p> - -<p>It certainly made some stir in Diana's heart. It was throbbing. When the -waiter had left the room, she lifted horrified eyes to her friend.</p> - -<p>"Do you think I killed him?" she murmured.</p> - -<p>"No, no, dear child."</p> - -<p>"I noticed he was paralyzed on one side," said the girl, "but the valet -will tell them that I excited him so that he dismissed me. Shall I pay -our bill and we go away at once?"</p> - -<p>"Just as you like, dear."</p> - -<p>"I couldn't do that," said Diana suddenly. "I cannot be a coward."</p> - -<p>"Then let us stay right here," said Mrs. Lowell quietly. "You may be -questioned, and it will be better to be found easily. I suppose there -will have to be an inquest or some such formality."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it is dreadful!" exclaimed the girl. "If my mother knew this, she -would never allow me to escape from under her wing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> again. She has a -horror of anything even unconventional."</p> - -<p>"Just be calm and strong in the right, Diana, and if any one comes to -question you, try not to lose your self-control. I know you have a great -deal. I shall stay beside you."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I beg of you not to leave me. Poor Mr. Loring. Poor Cousin -Herbert. How much sorrow he must have had. So proud a man to become -helpless."</p> - -<p>Only five minutes later two cards were presented at the door. One was -that of a doctor, the other of a lawyer. Mrs. Lowell sent word that the -men were to be admitted.</p> - -<p>Diana had on the peach-colored negligee and, when the two callers were -ushered into the living-room of her suite, they found a pale, large-eyed -girl standing with their cards in her hand.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIII</span> <span class="smaller">THE LAW</span></h2> - -<p>One of the cards which Diana held read Ernst Veldt, M.D., the other was -that of Luther Wrenn, Attorney at Law.</p> - -<p>"Be seated, gentlemen," said Diana. "I know the urgency of your errand -and, therefore, I would not detain you while I dressed. This is my -friend, Mrs. Lowell. We were just finishing breakfast when the shocking -news was brought to us. Mrs. Lowell, Dr. Veldt and Mr. Wrenn."</p> - -<p>The portentous expression in the face of the two visitors did not -lighten as they bowed and took possession of the chairs Diana indicated. -Thrills of dread were coursing down her spine and her knees were weak -enough to cause her to be glad to take her own seat. She felt a horrible -uncertainty as to her own responsibility in the tragedy.</p> - -<p>The physician, as the most aggrieved party, spoke first: "Mr. Loring was -my patient," he said, speaking with some accent. "From what his valet -tells us you should be able to throw some light on what has occurred." -The speaker's frown darkened as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> spoke. This wretched girl had robbed -him, no one could tell of how much. "Mr. Loring did not know you, had -never seen you—"</p> - -<p>"Let me question the young lady," interrupted the lawyer. If this girl -in the rich garments and the luxurious suite were an adventuress -planning to get money from the sick man, she had staged herself well. -She was beautiful and her eyes now were large with horror, perhaps with -guilt.</p> - -<p>"How did you manage to get into Mr. Loring's apartment?"</p> - -<p>"I wrote him a note requesting him to see me," faltered Diana. "He -is—he is a sort of relation of mine."</p> - -<p>"It would be a little difficult to tell just what relation, I dare say," -put in the doctor, nodding. "Odd that you couldn't let a sick man get a -bit acclimated on his return before you forced yourself, an utter -stranger, into his rooms—"</p> - -<p>"Wait a bit, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer, interrupting again. "Let us -have your full name, please," he added, turning to the culprit.</p> - -<p>"Diana Wilbur," said the girl. "Did you not find the note I wrote Mr. -Loring?"</p> - -<p>"No. The valet followed his master's orders and destroyed the note as -soon as you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> were gone. Marlitt is completely unstrung. He couldn't -remember anything about your communication except that Mr. Loring told -him that he was about to have a visit from a schoolgirl. Marlitt said -that you finally left the room in tears and that his master collapsed."</p> - -<p>"And it looks like manslaughter, that's what it looks like, -manslaughter," said the doctor angrily.</p> - -<p>Diana's very lips grew pale. "Oh, gentlemen," she said, and her quiet -voice trembled, "please be very careful what you say. Supposing anything -about me should get into the papers."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer quickly, "we should be careful in our -accusations. Remember that Mr. Loring had sustained two strokes before -his return. His interview with me yesterday morning was a draught upon -him."</p> - -<p>Diana turned toward the lawyer and clasped her hands. "Oh, yes," she -said. "He told me he had destroyed his will—"</p> - -<p>"Aha," said the doctor, nodding his big gray head again, "we begin to -see light. His will. That is what you were interested in, eh? A sort of -relation, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Gentlemen," said Mrs. Lowell suddenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> taking part in the interview, "I -think it might help you in your judgments to know that Miss Wilbur is -the only child of Charles Wilbur, the steel man of Philadelphia."</p> - -<p>Her announcement had a dramatic effect. The doctor's mouth opened mutely -as he stared. The lawyer's brow cleared and he looked curiously at Diana -and bowed.</p> - -<p>"You see," said the girl unsteadily, "it would be dreadful if anything -about me in connection with this shocking occurrence should get into the -papers, for I meant no harm. Mr. Loring was a distant connection of my -father's and I went to him in behalf of some one else—" she hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Can you tell why your visit should have so excited him?" asked the -lawyer.</p> - -<p>"Yes. It was because I spoke of his daughter."</p> - -<p>"Will you repeat to us just what you said to him?"</p> - -<p>"I will tell <i>you</i>. It is a matter for a lawyer."</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur," said Dr. Veldt, rising and speaking in a voice which he -strove not to make too unlike his previous manner, "we cannot tell, -until the post mortem takes place, just what caused this death, but I -hope the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> result of the investigation may be enlightenment that will set -your mind at rest. Since you wish to speak with Mr. Wrenn, I will leave -you and hope that he will be able to assist you in your problem, -whatever it may be. Good-morning." And with what grace he could muster, -the physician left the room.</p> - -<p>Diana sank back in her chair and Mrs. Lowell saw her exhaustion.</p> - -<p>"Shall I tell our story to Mr. Wrenn?" she asked.</p> - -<p>The girl nodded.</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur has generously thrown herself into the thick of a problem -which has been absorbing me in the last weeks," she began, and then she -proceeded to tell the details of their experience.</p> - -<p>The lawyer listened with close attention. "So, on the impulse of the -moment, we came to Boston, arriving yesterday morning, and Miss Wilbur's -request to see Mr. Loring was met by an appointment by him for -three-thirty, which she kept."</p> - -<p>"He was very gracious to me," said Diana, "and I was very hopeful at -first." She stopped to control the quivering of her lips.</p> - -<p>"How did you proceed?" asked the lawyer kindly.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p><p>"I told him the boy's story, and he advised me to keep out of that sort -of entanglement in another's affairs. I was frightened then, but I -continued because, of course, I could not relinquish the matter there, -and finally, I told him that the boy was his grandson." Diana's voice -stopped again, and she shook her head.</p> - -<p>"He became excited, heated?" asked the lawyer encouragingly.</p> - -<p>"No; cold, stern. He—he repulsed me and utterly repudiated the whole -matter. He said there was not even the—the echo of a memory left." -Diana lifted her handkerchief to her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Poor little Helen. I knew her well," said the lawyer thoughtfully.</p> - -<p>"You did know Bertie's mother?" said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "Then -you will be able to judge of the sketch a lonely little boy made of -her."</p> - -<p>"We had put this matter into the hands of Mrs. Lowell's husband, who is -a lawyer in New York," said Diana. "We expected to have a long search -for Bertie's grandfather, but, as Mrs. Lowell has told you, my mother, -all unconsciously gave us the information we needed, and then—Oh, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> -Wrenn, how could I do otherwise, and yet it is—so dreadful to think—" -Again Diana covered her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Don't think it, Miss Wilbur," said the lawyer decidedly. "You did what -was womanly and brave. Had you come to me, instead of going directly to -Mr. Loring, it might possibly have been better, but how can we know? My -client and old friend was immovably set against the daughter who defied -him, and if the intense feeling which your plea roused in him was a -boomerang that laid him low, that is not your fault, and couldn't -possibly have been foreseen. Now, dismiss that fear from your thoughts. -A condition has arisen which perhaps has not occurred to either of you -ladies. From what you tell me, it looks as if the boy who has interested -you may really be Herbert Loring's grandson. That will have to be -proved, and doubtless the avaricious uncle has the proofs if they exist. -That once accomplished, this lad will be sole heir to a considerable -fortune, for there is no will."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell and Diana exchanged a look.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Wrenn," said Mrs. Lowell quickly, "Mr. Gayne is capable of any -brutality. He will see Mr. Loring's death in the papers—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><p>"But he does not know that there is no will," the lawyer reminded her, -"and he will probably come to me with proofs that the boy should -inherit. That would naturally be his next step. Do you think the boy's -mentality has been hopelessly impaired?"</p> - -<p>"I do not," said Mrs. Lowell, and her face grew radiant. "When once the -slave is freed, God will take care of Bertie's mentality."</p> - -<p>The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon her gravely. "Young Herbert has a -good friend in you," he said.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Wrenn," exclaimed Diana fervently, "if you can get Mrs. Lowell -to supervise his life for the next five years, you will do the best -thing that could be done for him in all the world."</p> - -<p>The lawyer nodded, still with thoughtful eyes on Mrs. Lowell's speaking -face. She was thanking God as she sat there that the crushing burden was -being lifted from one of His little ones.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Loring's funeral will be a rather sad and perfunctory ceremony," -said Mr. Wrenn. "For several years he has absented himself from this -country most of the time. He is not rich in even poor relations. I -remember a few names which were mentioned in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> will which was -destroyed yesterday, and I am sure he would wish me to respect his -wishes and give moderate sums to those beneficiaries, for he stated that -he should not change that clause. I wonder if you ladies might be -willing to stay over for the funeral. I am certain that Mr. Gayne will -attend it and see me afterward."</p> - -<p>A compassion that swept through Diana at remembrance of the tired eyes -and the helpless figure in its rich wrappings caused her to give her -consent to remain for the funeral.</p> - -<p>She wired her mother that, being in Boston for a few days, she should -attend that ceremony, and was disconcerted to receive a return message -stating that her mother would also attend, her father not having -returned from his cruise. She showed this to Mrs. Lowell, and the latter -was privately amused at the consternation betrayed by the girl at the -prospect of welcoming a parent.</p> - -<p>"Of course, it won't be necessary to trouble her with any details," said -Mrs. Lowell, and Diana pressed her hand in token that she appreciated -the comfort of her perception.</p> - -<p>The first thought Mrs. Lowell had, upon seeing Mrs. Wilbur, was: "What a -handsome<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> man Diana's father must be," for the girl did not get her -beauty from this plump little lady with the short nose, wide mouth, and -small eyes. Even Mrs. Wilbur's grand air, erect carriage, and perfect -dress could not make her a stately figure, although it was her habit to -consider herself one, and her plump little jeweled hand wielded a -lorgnette in a manner which entitled her to a Roman nose and impressive -height. Her maid, Léonie, was with her, and looked after her mistress -with what seemed to Mrs. Lowell an amazing knowledge of her needs and -wishes.</p> - -<p>"Look at your hands!" was Mrs. Wilbur's greeting of her daughter. "I -know you have not worn gloves."</p> - -<p>Diana bent down to her in all meekness. "Not continuously, Mamma," she -said. "They will very soon blanch again."</p> - -<p>"You're coming right home with me after this sad, sad affair, of -course," continued Mrs. Wilbur. "How strange that you happened to be in -Boston, and fortunate, too. Your father would have liked us to show this -attention." By this time they were in Mrs. Wilbur's suite in the hotel, -and she turned to Mrs. Lowell. "I am grateful to you for taking care of -this child of mine," she said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> "I don't like to tell her how well she -looks, for it encourages her in such a prank as this island summer."</p> - -<p>"It has proved a good plan for her, I'm sure," responded Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"But enough is enough," said Mrs. Wilbur. "She is rested now and our -friends are always asking for her. No more island."</p> - -<p>"Dear Mamma, do not be so determined, for Mrs. Lowell and I just came -here for a few days and I shall have to return and gather my belongings -together at least."</p> - -<p>"Very well, then I will go with you and look at it myself."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell could with difficulty repress a smile at the way Diana's -eyes enlarged with apprehension.</p> - -<p>"You would not like it, dear, you would not like it," she said -earnestly.</p> - -<p>"Then why do you?" responded her mother defiantly.</p> - -<p>"Because I like roughing it. I like camping."</p> - -<p>"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "I am so near, I may as well look at it."</p> - -<p>"What would you do in a house without a bathroom?" asked Diana.</p> - -<p>The blank, incredulous look with which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> Mrs. Wilbur met her daughter's -question made Mrs. Lowell expect her parted lips to utter: "There ain't -no such animal." But the lady merely said, reproachfully: "How can you -like it there, Diana?"</p> - -<p>"My ancestors had no bathtubs," replied the girl. "Then, besides, we -have the ocean."</p> - -<p>"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "the funeral comes first. I suppose Mr. -Loring was confined to his room so you couldn't happen to see him about -the hotel."</p> - -<p>Diana cast a glance at Mrs. Lowell before she replied: "I did see him, -though, Mamma." The girl felt very certain that the episode could never -be finished without this fact transpiring.</p> - -<p>"You did?" Mrs. Wilbur sat up with great interest. "That explains why -you have seemed to me a little sad ever since I came. You saw the poor -man. How did it happen?"</p> - -<p>"I wrote him a note and asked him if I could call. I reminded him that -we were related—" She hesitated.</p> - -<p>"Why, Diana Wilbur, I never heard of anything so extraordinary! You dear -lamb, how pleased your father will be! Mrs. Lowell," she turned to that -lady, "do you wonder I'm proud of this child? Do you believe that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> one -young girl in a thousand would take the trouble to pay such an attention -to an elderly relative whom she had never seen?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell was saved from the embarrassment of replying, for Diana -spoke hurriedly:</p> - -<p>"It isn't what you think, Mamma. I went to him on an errand—some one -else's errand."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur put up her lorgnette the better to view her daughter's -crimsoning cheeks and quivering lips.</p> - -<p>"Tell me what it was, at once," she commanded. "Who dared to make use of -you in such a way?"</p> - -<p>"No one," protested the girl. "It was my own idea, but please don't ask -me to tell you of it now. I have had such a shock—I am really not able -to talk about it yet."</p> - -<p>"Very well, then, I will wait." Mrs. Wilbur's dilated nostrils expressed -her displeasure. "But this proves that you are, just as I have felt, too -young to be wandering about on your own. I should not have allowed you -to leave me." As she finished, the mother swept Mrs. Lowell with a -condemning glance in which she withdrew all her previous approval of -that lady.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>Mrs. Lowell understood it, but she spoke pleasantly: "When the right -time comes for you to learn what brought us to Boston, you will find -that your daughter deserves only approval," she said in her quiet, -cheerful manner.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur's nostrils still dilated and she used her fan in a majestic silence.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIV</span> <span class="smaller">THE WILL</span></h2> - -<p>Herbert Loring's funeral was conducted in the church to which he had -been a contributor for many years. Distant connections of the family, -old business friends, and curiosity-seekers made a gathering of average -size, and among those seated, toward the back of the audience, was -Nicholas Gayne.</p> - -<p>The astute lawyer's expectation of a visit from him was not -disappointed. Indeed, Luther Wrenn came to his office at an earlier hour -than usual the following morning, entirely in honor of that gentleman.</p> - -<p>On the drive to the cemetery the day of the funeral, Mr. Wrenn had -placed Diana, her mother, and Mrs. Lowell in the motor with himself. -There was little said on the way out. The lawyer was well known by -reputation to Mrs. Wilbur, and the only drawback to her satisfaction in -the arrangement was Diana's preoccupation and the knowledge that -interesting information was being kept back from her. Mrs. Wilbur had -not only sent lavish gifts of flowers to the church, but, there seeming -to be no one but paid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> workers to attend to the decorations, she had -personally supervised them, and, coming back from the cemetery, the -lawyer expressed his appreciation of her kindness and her presence in a -manner to apply much balm. However, he turned directly from his -respectful laudation of Mrs. Wilbur to her daughter.</p> - -<p>"How long can you and Mrs. Lowell stay on?" he asked, and the mother -became alert. His manner signified previous acquaintance with Diana.</p> - -<p>"Just as long as is necessary," was the girl's surprising reply.</p> - -<p>"I am certain that Gayne will call on me the first thing to-morrow -morning, and I should like you to remain near the telephone if you -will."</p> - -<p>"Certainly," replied Diana.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Wrenn, I don't understand what you are asking of my daughter," said -Mrs. Wilbur crisply.</p> - -<p>"Ah,"—the lawyer bowed gravely. "Perhaps you have not been told of the -surprising turn events have taken. It is a matter which requires secrecy -until identities are established and evil-doers circumvented. Let me -congratulate you, Mrs. Wilbur, on a remarkably fine and intelligent -daughter. She is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> credit to your bringing-up. Not many mothers can -boast of having instilled such prudence."</p> - -<p>The lady leaned back in her corner, not certain whether to accept this -disarming, or to insist immediately upon her rights. She decided to -compromise and wait until they reached the hotel.</p> - -<p>"My daughter tells you she can wait in Boston as long as is necessary," -she said at last, "and her mother will have to understand the -necessity."</p> - -<p>"Certainly, Mrs. Wilbur," responded the lawyer. "We have found ourselves -in a totally unexpected situation. Mr. Herbert Loring destroyed his will -and died before he could make another."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur exclaimed. Mr. Loring was known to be wealthy and she was -interested in fortunes. Her brain began working actively on the -probabilities of the heirs.</p> - -<p>"The next strange event is that your young daughter has probably found -the heir."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur raised her lorgnette and regarded Diana, drooping opposite, -as if she were a new discovery.</p> - -<p>"I wish to understand," she said with dignity.</p> - -<p>"It seems that Mr. Loring's disobedient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> daughter left a son whose -existence has been unsuspected unless Mr. Loring himself knew of it, -which he never betrayed. Your daughter and Mrs. Lowell have found the -boy."</p> - -<p>"Not I," protested Diana. "Mrs. Lowell, in her sweet unselfishness, -deserves all the credit. I should have paid no attention to him, but -I—it was through your letter, Mamma, that I found the boy's -grandfather."</p> - -<p>"We all had a hand in it, then, it seems," said Mrs. Wilbur.</p> - -<p>"The boy's uncle has possession of him. His father and mother are both -dead, and, according to these ladies, the uncle can qualify as the -world's meanest man. So we proceed carefully until the proofs which he -is supposed to have are in hand. You, Mrs. Wilbur, will aid us in -silence on the subject until the right time for speaking."</p> - -<p>"How old is he, Diana?" burst forth the lady. "What does he look like? -Is he clever and worthy of such a heritage?"</p> - -<p>"He is a poor, shabby, ill-treated boy about fourteen years old. He has -never had a chance, but I scarcely know him. Mrs. Lowell is the one who -discovered him and cared for him."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur glanced at Mrs. Lowell, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> she could not bring herself to -ask her a question. She felt a vague jealousy and sense of injury at -finding this stranger in her child's confidence and aiding and abetting -her in so much independence of action.</p> - -<p>As soon as possible after the reception of Mrs. Wilbur's enlightening -letter at the island, Mrs. Lowell had wired her husband that the search -was ended before it had begun, and he returned Diana's check with -congratulations.</p> - -<p>"What an amazed boy that will be, Mr. Wrenn," remarked Mrs. Wilbur. -"What is his name?"</p> - -<p>"Herbert Loring Gayne."</p> - -<p>"H'm. I suppose his mother had all sorts of hope that with a son of that -name she could placate her father."</p> - -<p>"Doubtless she did," replied the lawyer, "and I wish it might have -proved so. Perhaps they would both have been alive to-day had she -succeeded, but my old friend Loring never mentioned her to me and I -don't know what efforts she made. There must be a good deal of delay -before the young heir can come into his own."</p> - -<p>"I suppose so," sighed Mrs. Wilbur. "That tiresome law moves slowly."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p><p>Diana looked up with sudden attention. "But we must not be dilatory in -rescuing the boy."</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenn nodded. "If he is proved to be the right one."</p> - -<p>"There can be no doubt of it," said Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"Not to charming, sympathetic ladies, of course," returned the lawyer -with a smile.</p> - -<p>"I feel that every day counts," said Mrs. Lowell. "He must be removed -from that mental malaria as soon as possible."</p> - -<p>"I will—" began Diana, and then she glanced at her mother,—"I mean -Mamma will gladly finance him, I'm sure, for the present."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," said Mrs. Wilbur with dignity, "when you see fit to tell me -the whole story. I'm sure I haven't it yet."</p> - -<p>"There is no reason to burden you, Mamma, with disagreeable -considerations," said Diana meekly. "I can myself look after the boy's -needs."</p> - -<p>"Yes, she can," said Mrs. Wilbur in an offended tone. "What do you -think, Mr. Wrenn, of a father who insists on giving a young girl an -unlimited check-book, not requiring her to give any account of what she -does with money?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p><p>The lawyer smiled at the embarrassed culprit. "I think that your -husband has proved himself a very good reader of character all through -his career."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur bounced back into her corner. She didn't intend to bounce; -she intended to lean back gracefully, with an air of renouncing all -interest in this matter which had proceeded so far without her -coöperation, but just at that moment the car went over a -"thank-you-ma'am."</p> - -<p>As has already been said, Luther Wrenn, the following morning, sought -his office at an earlier hour than was customary, and Nicholas Gayne was -there before him.</p> - -<p>He did not keep him waiting long, and the stocky figure and dark face -soon appeared in the private office.</p> - -<p>The lawyer regarded the stranger over his eye-glasses.</p> - -<p>"I didn't have any card," said the visitor. "My name is Gayne, Nicholas -Gayne."</p> - -<p>"Be seated, sir. What is your errand?"</p> - -<p>"I would like to be present at the reading of the Herbert Loring will." -The speaker's manner was confident, and he seemed endeavoring to repress -excitement.</p> - -<p>"Indeed? Are you a relative?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p><p>"No, but my nephew is. I have a great surprise for you, Mr. Wrenn. My -nephew is Herbert Loring's grandson and namesake." Nicholas Gayne -marveled at the self-control of a lawyer, for Luther Wrenn's expression -did not change. "I visited Mr. Loring before he went abroad the last -time, but he would not listen to me or look at my proofs. So I suppose -he has not mentioned his grandson in his will, and, if that is the fact, -I wish to retain you to break the will." This declaration was made with -great energy and a flash of the speaker's dark eyes.</p> - -<p>"You have proofs, then," said Mr. Wrenn, after a short hesitation, -perhaps to make sure of the retention of that self-control.</p> - -<p>"Yes, right here." Gayne caught up from the floor a small black leather -bag, and opened it. "Here are the letters Bert's mother wrote her father -to try for a reconciliation. Returned unopened, you see. Here is her -picture. Perhaps you knew her."</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn took the small card photograph and gazed at it long.</p> - -<p>"My brother was an irresponsible sort of chap. At the time he met Miss -Loring, he had put through a good deal and was riding on top of the -wave. She was artistic in her tastes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> and he met her through the artist -set at Gloucester, where she was that summer, and she took a fancy to -him that her father couldn't break off. Unfortunate, you'll say, but -Lambert was a stunning-looking chap and she decided firmly on her -course. So now here is this boy and the law should protect his rights. -Here's the record of his birth fourteen years ago, in her own writing; -perhaps you know her writing." Gayne was talking fast and excitedly, and -Wrenn took from his hand one after another of the proofs he offered and -laid them on his desk with no change of countenance.</p> - -<p>"What sort of a boy is your nephew?" he asked. "A bright boy?"</p> - -<p>Gayne's face changed. He looked away. "Well, no. I can't say he is. Bert -is delicate. He needs all sorts of care, care that takes heaps of money -to pay for. I haven't been able to do for him what I'd like to. As soon -as you get his money for him, I shall engage professional care and see -that he has the best. I'm a good business man, if I do say it, and I'll -see that his funds multiply until he is able to look after his fortune -himself."</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn nodded. "I see," he said; and he did, very plainly. "Now, -there will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> no reading of the will, Mr. Gayne. That is all attended -to. So you may leave this matter with me."</p> - -<p>"Was the boy mentioned?" asked Gayne eagerly.</p> - -<p>"No; no mention of him."</p> - -<p>"You think you can get some money, though, don't you?"</p> - -<p>"Possibly. I'll see you again."</p> - -<p>"There ain't any kind of doubt that he's the genuine grandson," said -Gayne, rising reluctantly, as the lawyer got to his feet.</p> - -<p>"Your proofs seem to be convincing," was the grave reply.</p> - -<p>"Well, could you—couldn't you advance me something now for Bert's care? -He needs a lot of things, that boy does."</p> - -<p>"You go too swiftly, Mr. Gayne. Come back here at three o'clock day -after to-morrow."</p> - -<p>Gayne looked at the papers and picture strewn on the lawyer's desk. "I -don't know about leaving the only proofs of our rights that I've got."</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn turned to the desk and gathered them up. "Certainly. Take -them to some lawyer in whom you have confidence."</p> - -<p>"Oh, pshaw, no," said Gayne sheepishly. "I didn't mean that. You were -Mr. Loring's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> lawyer. You're the one to handle the case."</p> - -<p>"Good-day, then, Mr. Gayne."</p> - -<p>"Good-day," and Nicholas took his departure.</p> - -<p>As soon as the door had closed behind him, Wrenn seated himself at the -desk and called up the Copley-Plaza. Diana was waiting.</p> - -<p>"Miss Wilbur?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Wrenn speaking. Mr. Gayne has been here. Please wire at once to the -island and get some one to bring the boy to your hotel as soon as -possible."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Mr. Wrenn."</p> - -<p>"I think Mr. Barrison is the one to ask," said Diana to Mrs. Lowell, who -was waiting near.</p> - -<p>So it was that an hour later Philip Barrison was called to the telephone -at the island store to receive a telegram.</p> - -<p>"I know what it is!" exclaimed Barney Kelly. "'All Saints' is going to -outbid 'The Apostles' for you. You're the rising young beggar."</p> - -<p>He wandered down with Philip to the store and loitered about outside -talking to Matt Blake. When Philip reappeared, it was with a hurried -air.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p><p>"Want anything in Boston?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Of course, we do—the Brahms, but what's up?"</p> - -<p>"I've got to go. Wire from Miss Wilbur."</p> - -<p>"Aha," said Kelly, following Philip's long strides to the express wagon -which Blake was just mounting.</p> - -<p>"No, no, no," returned Philip. "Naught personal. No such luck. Hello, -Matt, going up-along?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"See you later, Kelly, I have to go up to Miss Burridge's." And Philip -jumped into the seat beside the driver.</p> - -<p>"No, you guessed wrong. You're going to see me right along," returned -Barney, hopping up on the tail of the wagon and letting his feet hang -over, while he whistled cheerily.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XV</span> <span class="smaller">A SUDDEN JOURNEY</span></h2> - -<p>"I have to get the afternoon boat, Matt," explained Philip. "Miss Wilbur -wants me to bring the Gayne boy to Boston in a hurry."</p> - -<p>Blake looked around alertly as his horse pulled slowly up the hill to -the road. "Miss Wilbur?" he repeated. "Why didn't his uncle send for -him? He is there."</p> - -<p>"Is he?" asked Philip carelessly. "I didn't know the island had been -deprived of his artistic presence."</p> - -<p>"Yes. You bet he lit out when he saw by the paper that the millionaire -he's had his eye on was dead." Blake shook his head. "There must be -something doing or Miss Wilbur wouldn't be sending for the kid."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you know she and Mrs. Lowell made a protégé of him. My idea is they -want to give him some kind of a treat, but I must say I'm surprised at -the importance she seems to put on my bringing him—dead or alive, as -you might say. She says if he holds back, through fear of his uncle's -displeasure, to tell the boy his uncle is there."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, he's there, believe me. Keep it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> under your hat, but that old -souse has got it all fixed that the boy is the grandson of that Herbert -Loring who has just died, and that he's going to get a slice o' the -money. Now you might as well know, Phil, as long as you're doing the -errand, that Gayne's a skunk. He's counting on shutting that boy up and -gettin' the money himself. He told me so one time when he was half-seas -over. Believe me, I feel sorry for that kid. If he ever had any spirit, -he's had it squeezed out of him. By George, I'd like to have those -ladies know Gayne's plans."</p> - -<p>"They certainly must be greatly interested in the boy to take all this -trouble," said Philip. "I knew they were very much stirred up over -Gayne's treatment of Bert, but I don't know whether they're aware of how -far he intends to carry it. I'm glad you've told me this. I fancy we -shall find that their plan is to give the boy a show or two and some -ice-cream instead of a fortune. Bert Gayne, Herbert Loring's heir!" -scoffed Philip. "Don't make me laugh. My lip's cracked. However, I'll -oblige those two corking women and bring him to them, by the scruff of -the neck, if necessary. Ever see the Copley-Plaza, Matt? If you did, you -can make a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> picture of me making a grand entrance there with Bert."</p> - -<p>"I do feel sorry for that kid," repeated Blake with feeling.</p> - -<p>"So do I, and after what you say, I'm wondering why Gayne is keeping -himself in the background and letting the goddess Diana take charge."</p> - -<p>"I wish her luck," said Matt emphatically. "I wish her luck."</p> - -<p>Arrived where the road branches away to the Inn, Philip and his friend -left the wagon and struck off through the field. Halfway across they met -Miss Emerson, walking triumphantly between Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans, a -parasol over her shoulder. It is not well to sun soft ripples of hair, -when the head that grew them is far across the seas.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning," she cried gayly; "we're going to the post-office. Can we -do anything for you?"</p> - -<p>"Thank you," said Barney. "We've just come from there. You might write -me a letter or two, Miss Emerson, while you're waiting. I've been -neglected since I've been here."</p> - -<p>"I shall be delighted," she returned, regarding his tanned face and -permanent wave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> with high approval. "I love to write. I even like pencil -and paper games, verbarium, and crambo, and all those. I've been trying -to convert these men. I wish you would both come up and spend the -evening and let me show you how much fun it is."</p> - -<p>There was a wild look in the grave faces of her escorts which advised -caution.</p> - -<p>"You're always so kind, Miss Emerson," said Kelly.</p> - -<p>"Shall we see you at dinner?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Depends on how good your eyes are," said Philip pleasantly. "We dine at -home and then I'm off for Boston."</p> - -<p>"Really? How can you bear to leave here!" Miss Emerson waved her parasol -as the young men nodded and passed on.</p> - -<p>"I think that Mr. Kelly is perfectly delightful," she said as they -pursued their way. "So full of fun always." Then she proceeded to tell -her captives how many words could be made from the one: c-a-r-p-e-t.</p> - -<p>Philip and Barney walked around to the front of the Inn and there were -Veronica and the unconscious young Herbert, leaning over the sweet-pea -bed. Veronica was using the trowel and the boy was weeding. He glanced -up under his lashes, then went on with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> work. Veronica rose and -welcomed the arrivals.</p> - -<p>"You see, Aunt Priscilla keeps us at it, Mr. Barrison. She isn't going -to have your garden neglected, and just look at the buds."</p> - -<p>"Fine. In another week they'll be a show."</p> - -<p>"And a smell," said Barney fervently. "I adore them. You look rather -sweet-peaish yourself, Miss Veronica," he added, regarding her gingham -gown of fine pink-and-white checks. "Do you know you're going to have me -on your hands the next few days?"</p> - -<p>"What's going to happen?" asked Veronica.</p> - -<p>"There is going to be a dance at the hall to-night," suggested Barney.</p> - -<p>"I know it," returned Veronica. "Can you dance?"</p> - -<p>Barney looked at her reproachfully. "It's a land sport. How can you ask? -A duck can swim and Kelly can dance. Will you take me? I'm shy."</p> - -<p>"If Mr. Barrison will allow it," said Veronica with a demure glance at -Philip.</p> - -<p>"Not a word to Puppa. I promise," he said.</p> - -<p>"What a pity Miss Diana isn't here!" she exclaimed.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p><p>"I shall see her to-morrow," returned Philip.</p> - -<p>"You going to Boston?"</p> - -<p>"'M-h'm."</p> - -<p>"That's what I'm telling you," said Kelly. "You mustn't allow me to get -lonely. We'll row in the cove."</p> - -<p>"Really go near the water?" replied Veronica, laughing incredulously.</p> - -<p>"Yes. Aunt Maria is stuffing me like a Thanksgiving turkey. No tennis, I -just natchelly had to get a boat—without a motor, be it well -understood."</p> - -<p>"That's fun," said Veronica, her eyes shining. She hoped Philip would -stay away indefinitely. "If Mr. Kelly could really dance—"</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Philip had stood watching the boy's slender hands pulling out -weeds.</p> - -<p>"Aren't you going to speak to me, Bert?"</p> - -<p>"I—yes. How do you do?" The lad was so used to being overlooked by -everybody except Mrs. Lowell and Diana that Philip's question surprised -him and he rose and looked at him.</p> - -<p>"Do you miss Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p><p>"His uncle has gone, too," said Veronica. "We have had some good times -all alone, haven't we, Bert? He is learning to play croquet and he helps -me with the garden."</p> - -<p>The boy regarded her in silence and with no change of expression. Philip -thought or imagined that in his dull, undeveloped way he resented the -girl's kindly tone of patronage. He caught the lad's eye again.</p> - -<p>"I am going to see Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur. Would you like to go -with me to see them?"</p> - -<p>Color stole up into Bert's face and he brushed the clinging soil from -his hands.</p> - -<p>"Yes.—No," he said.</p> - -<p>"I am going to Boston this afternoon," continued Philip, in a quiet, -matter-of-fact tone. "The ladies would like to have you come with me."</p> - -<p>"No," returned the boy. "I have to—to wait here for—for Uncle Nick."</p> - -<p>"Oh, he is there, too," returned Philip. "They have made some plan. We -shall be all together there just as we were here. It won't take you long -to get ready. I'll help you."</p> - -<p>"No," said the boy breathlessly. "Uncle Nick—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p><p>"But Mrs. Lowell wants you."</p> - -<p>"No. Uncle Nick doesn't want—Mrs. Lowell—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, boy, you know Mrs. Lowell wouldn't ask you to do anything that -would get you into any trouble," said Philip pleasantly. "Perhaps your -uncle has decided not to come back to the island. At any rate, they want -you there in Boston and they sent me a telegram asking me to bring you. -So it is up to us to do what they say. Don't you think so? Come upstairs -and I'll help you get ready."</p> - -<p>The boy's stolid habit of obedience stood Philip in good stead now. With -heightened color, but no other change in his face, he followed to his -room, washed his face and hands, and got into his shabby best while -Philip found a comb and brush and toothbrush, and put them into a paper -parcel. Returning downstairs, they found Veronica consuming with -curiosity, but considerably entertained by her future dance partner, who -was teaching her a new step by means of his blunt finger-tips on the -porch rail.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to take Bert home to dinner with me, Veronica. So say -good-bye and expect us when you see us. Where's Miss Burridge?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, Aunt Priscilla!" shouted Veronica at the kitchen door. "Come out. -Bertie Gayne is going to Boston with Mr. Barrison."</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge emerged wiping her hands on a towel. The other went to -meet her.</p> - -<p>"How nice!" she said, beaming. "What a nice outing for Bertie. That's -real clever of you, Philip. How did you happen to think of it?"</p> - -<p>"Well, his friends in Boston want him," said Philip, and he administered -a wink which Miss Burridge understood sufficiently to postpone a -catechism until later. The boy allowed her and Veronica to shake his -passive hand in bidding him good-bye and then he went away with his -companions with no further questioning.</p> - -<p>When they were gone, Miss Burridge exclaimed her astonishment.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Barrison received a wire, that's all I know," said Veronica. "The -youngster's in mortal terror of his uncle, but Mr. Barrison told him his -uncle was there and it was all right. Miss Wilbur or else Mrs. Lowell -sent the telegram. Sort of queer they should be hobnobbing with old -Nick, but perhaps he let them send the wire to save expense."</p> - -<p>Philip made conscientious efforts to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>entertain his young charge on -their trip. In Portland, where they spent the night, he bought some -magazines, naturally guessing that the more filled with pictures they -were the better, and he was puzzled at the evident shrinking from the -illustrations that the boy displayed.</p> - -<p>"Something seriously off with the poor little nut," he thought. "Any boy -likes to look at pictures."</p> - -<p>So he left him in peace and let him stare apathetically from the car -window all the way to Boston, or doze in his corner.</p> - -<p>Philip wired Diana just before they took the train, and she ordered -luncheon to be served in her rooms. She wished very much that some kind -turn of Fortune's wheel would call her mother forth to the shops that -morning, but by reason of the fragments Mrs. Wilbur overheard passing -between her child and Mrs. Lowell or the lawyer, her curiosity as to -this waif who might be going to carry on the Loring fortunes became -sufficiently vivid to determine her to remain where she could oversee -all that her daughter did.</p> - -<p>"Who did you say is bringing the boy on?" she asked Diana that morning.</p> - -<p>"His name is Barrison."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p><p>"You wired him to do this?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Mamma."</p> - -<p>"How could you ask it? Is he a servant?"</p> - -<p>"No, Mamma, he is a professional singer taking his vacation at the -island."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur looked at the girl closely. "You must have become rather -friendly with him to ask such a favor?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell glanced up from a glove she was mending. "Everybody is -friendly at the island, Mrs. Wilbur. It is one of the assets of the -simple life. As one of the men at the Inn said: 'Every time you go out -the door, you wade up to your knees in the milk of human kindness.'"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur regarded her coldly. "An inexperienced schoolgirl cannot -discriminate," she said. "I felt all the time that Diana should not go -there."</p> - -<p>Her dominating tone was significant of the relation she, contrary to the -experience of most American mothers, had succeeded in retaining with her -daughter. The average American girl of Diana's age would have had no -difficulty in telling her mother that the expected boy would be -embarrassed by the presence of a stranger and requesting her, more or -less agreeably, to return to her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>apartments. Not so Diana. Her mother -plied her now with additional questions about Herbert Loring's heir.</p> - -<p>"For mercy's sake," said Mrs. Wilbur at last, "I should judge from what -you say that the boy isn't far off melancholia."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell sighed unconsciously. Mrs. Wilbur heard her, but did not -understand the reason for it.</p> - -<p>"Well, don't ask me to lunch with him. I am sure he would make me -nervous," added the lady.</p> - -<p>"I think it quite likely he would, Mamma," said her daughter dutifully, -one of her problems disappearing. "There certainly will be an -interesting evolution observable in him very soon, but just at first his -limitations might annoy you."</p> - -<p>"Well, I'll just stay long enough to look at him and then I will go," -returned Mrs. Wilbur.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVI</span> <span class="smaller">THE NEW CLIENT</span></h2> - -<p>She used her lorgnette upon the pair of guests when they were ushered -in, but her interest in the silent boy was quickly transferred to the -tall, attractive blond man with the flashing smile and sparkling eyes, -who greeted her daughter with such accustomed friendliness.</p> - -<p>"Mamma, may I present Mr. Barrison," said Diana serenely.</p> - -<p>Philip's smile vanished and he bowed. His manner, Mrs. Wilbur thought, -was unpleasantly good.</p> - -<p>"And this is Herbert Gayne, Mamma," went on Diana.</p> - -<p>The boy's eyes roved to the plump lady, who came forward and took his -hand.</p> - -<p>"I knew your grandfather, my dear child," she said, and she glanced over -his shabby figure, appalled that the name of Loring could ever fall so -low.</p> - -<p>Bertie said nothing. What did the lady mean by talking about his -grandfather? No one but his mother had ever done that.</p> - -<p>A slight smile touched his lips as Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> Lowell greeted him, and then he -looked over his shoulder and all about the flower-strewn room.</p> - -<p>"Your uncle is not here," she said quietly. "He isn't coming, Bertie. We -are going to have lunch alone."</p> - -<p>The boy's melancholy eyes lifted to hers questioningly. She nodded -reassuringly.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Barrison, this is the key to Bert's room," said Diana. "Will you go -up with him and then return here? Luncheon will be ready."</p> - -<p>Philip took the key, and, wondering, escorted his charge to the -elevator. "Bert's room," he said to himself. When they arrived there, -the flowers on the dresser caused him to remember Matt Blake's absurd -account, and he felt his first questioning as to whether ice-cream and a -show or two did really cover the plans of these ladies for the boy. "But -where is Uncle Nick?" was his mental query.</p> - -<p>Herbert, second, looked about his bathroom. He had never seen anything -in the slightest degree like it.</p> - -<p>"Treating you pretty well, aren't they, old man?" said Philip, opening -his bag and taking out the boy's worn brush and broken comb.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p><p>"Uncle Nick will be mad," said Bert.</p> - -<p>"I heard Mrs. Lowell say that he wasn't coming," remarked Philip.</p> - -<p>"Of course—he'll come," returned the boy. "And he'll—he'll beat me."</p> - -<p>"Bet you a thousand dollars he won't," said Philip. "Have you any money -with you?"</p> - -<p>The boy felt in his pockets and brought forth a penny.</p> - -<p>"That's all right," said Philip gayly. "If your Uncle Nick beats you, -I'll give you a thousand dollars. If he doesn't, you are to give me that -penny. Understand?"</p> - -<p>Philip's smile was infectious. The corners of the boy's mouth twitched a -little. The flowers on the dresser smelled sweet, so did the soap he was -using. It was all like a wonderful dream, but over its brightness hung a -dark cloud: Uncle Nick.</p> - -<p>"All right," he said vaguely.</p> - -<p>"Say, make it snappy, boy. I'm as hungry as a bear, aren't you? Here's a -nailbrush. Better use it."</p> - -<p>Bert hurried, and finally dried his hands and brushed his hair -obediently. As much as he noticed anybody he had always noticed and -liked Philip from the day that he watched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> him paint the Inn sign, and -now, in spite of his apprehensions, he felt some stimulation from the -company of this big strong man who was going to give him a thousand -dollars if Uncle Nick should beat him.</p> - -<p>While he was brushing his hair, the telephone rang. Philip answered it. -It was Diana speaking.</p> - -<p>"I want to thank you so much for doing this errand for us. I know you -must be mystified by the urgency of my wire, and this is my best way to -tell you in a few words what has occurred. You can see that the matter -is confidential, for time and labor and the law will be necessary to -adjust matters, but I feel we owe it to you to tell you all. Of course, -the boy knows nothing as yet—"</p> - -<p>When Philip finally turned from the telephone, he met his companion's -troubled gaze, the hairbrush hung suspended in the air.</p> - -<p>"Was it Uncle Nick?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"No," returned Philip. He continued to sit still for a minute, regarding -the unconscious millionaire with the penny in the pocket of his outgrown -trousers. "It's all right, old man. Miss Wilbur wants us to come down to -lunch, that's all."</p> - -<p>As they went to the elevator to descend,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> the boy spoke again: "Uncle -Nick hates—he hates Mrs. Lowell," he said.</p> - -<p>"Good thing he isn't coming, then, isn't it?" returned Philip.</p> - -<p>"But he'll—he will come sometime," said Bert with conviction.</p> - -<p>Arrived at Diana's suite, they found luncheon ready to be served. Mrs. -Wilbur had vanished, not without some uneasy comments upon Philip, which -Diana had answered with such utter serenity as to quiet any suspicion -she might have entertained that there was something personal in her -child's extraordinary attachment to the wilderness.</p> - -<p>The four sat down to the charming little meal, and, in spite of the -boy's unconquerable apprehensions, he ate pretty well, as he sat there -opposite Philip and between Mrs. Lowell and Diana.</p> - -<p>The former asked him about the garden and the croquet ground, while -Philip addressed himself to Diana, who wore the gray gown with a rose at -the belt, although she had felt she could never put it on again. The -contents of a suitcase do not admit of much variety of costume.</p> - -<p>"I'm almost dumb with surprise at your news," he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p><p>"Of course you would be."</p> - -<p>"Does the ogre know of the arrival of relatives?"</p> - -<p>"He has not the least suspicion of it. He will be told to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"Can a can be tied to him?"</p> - -<p>Bert was telling about weeding the garden with Veronica, and Diana -leaned a little toward Philip. "What—what was your question?"</p> - -<p>Philip smiled. "I asked if it would be possible to eliminate the -gentleman."</p> - -<p>"I think so. Mr. Loring's lawyer is, of course, attending to the whole -matter and is to see him for the second time to-morrow. Does any one -doubt that truth is stranger than fiction?"</p> - -<p>"No." Philip looked across at Mrs. Lowell and the sweet regard she was -bending upon the boy, who was trying in his hesitating way to tell her -something about the beach.</p> - -<p>Bert put his hand in his pocket, and Philip wondered if he were going to -produce his capital, but instead he drew forth a little yellow stone and -offered it to his friend.</p> - -<p>"That is unusually lovely," she said, and held it up to the light before -she handed it back.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p><p>"No, it is for you," said the boy. Sad as he may have maintained that -it made him to be in this lady's company, her gentle presence was -irresistible to him, and his face, as he handed back to her the little -stone, had a more interested expression than his friends had ever seen -it wear.</p> - -<p>"It is to go—with the others in—in a bottle," he said.</p> - -<p>"It is almost too nice for that. I think this is a little gem. Supposing -I take it to a lapidary, a man who polishes stones, and have it made -into a scarf-pin for you."</p> - -<p>"No, for you," said the boy.</p> - -<p>Philip and Diana exchanged a look.</p> - -<p>"There is 'the greatest thing in the world' working again," he said.</p> - -<p>They had just finished dessert when Miss Wilbur was called to the -telephone.</p> - -<p>"Ask him to come up to my room," she answered.</p> - -<p>"Is it—Uncle Nick?" asked Bert, his light extinguished.</p> - -<p>"No," returned Mrs. Lowell, smiling reassuringly. "You must remember I -told you he is not coming."</p> - -<p>Philip gave the boy his gay smile. "Bert thought he was going to make a -thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> dollars," he said; but the rusty springs of the lad's mind -could not respond quickly. He looked at the young man questioningly. -"Don't you remember," added Philip, "we have a bet up, one thousand -dollars to a cent?"</p> - -<p>The boy did not answer. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Nothing -which could be said was able entirely to quiet the apprehension that his -uncle would walk in upon him, surrounded as he was by forbidden -companions, and a luxury which his tyrant had not been invited to share.</p> - -<p>"The gentleman who is coming to call on us is one who knew your mother," -said Mrs. Lowell. "You will like to meet him."</p> - -<p>"Is he—is he angry with her, too?" asked the boy quickly.</p> - -<p>"No, dear child," returned Mrs. Lowell, compassion surging through her -for this young life which knew so much of anger and so little of -anything else.</p> - -<p>The noiseless waiters were removing all signs of the luncheon when the -door opened and Luther Wrenn entered.</p> - -<p>As soon as he had greeted the ladies and Philip had been introduced, his -smooth-shaven, keen face at once centered on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> boy. Mrs. Lowell, her -hand on Bert's arm, guided him to stand.</p> - -<p>"This is Herbert Gayne, Mr. Wrenn, and this is your mother's friend, -Bertie."</p> - -<p>The boy's plaintive, spiritless gaze and the passive hand which the -lawyer took bore out all he had heard of him, but Mrs. Lowell's -expressive face was courageous and the lawyer sat down beside Herbert -Loring's heir determined not to be outdone by her in hopefulness. Of -course, he had been painstakingly told every detail concerning the boy -which Mrs. Lowell had discovered, and it was a very kindly look with -which he regarded his new client as they were seated near together.</p> - -<p>"I brought my introduction with me, Herbert," he said, and feeling in a -breast-pocket he drew forth the card photograph which had yesterday been -put into his hands.</p> - -<p>Color streamed over the boy's face when he saw it. "It is—it is like -one I lost," he said, and he held it between his hands, studying it.</p> - -<p>"You shall have this one, then," said Mr. Wrenn. "I was fond of your -mother, Herbert."</p> - -<p>"They were angry with her," said the boy, and his lip quivered at some -memory.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, her father felt very badly because she went away from him, but he -has gone to her now. Did you know that?"</p> - -<p>The boy lifted his eyes to the thin, kindly face. "No," he said.</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on Mr. Wrenn quietly. "Her father has gone to her in that -pleasant world where she is."</p> - -<p>"I want to go," burst forth the boy, holding the picture tightly.</p> - -<p>"All in good time," returned the lawyer. "You have some work to do for -her here first."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean—weed the garden?"</p> - -<p>"I mean quite a lot of very pleasant things. I'll tell you about them -later."</p> - -<p>"But Uncle Nick won't—won't let me. He—I don't know whether I can hide -this picture." A sudden panic seemed to seize the boy, and he looked -toward the door. It was not possible that his uncle would not come in -upon all these totally forbidden proceedings.</p> - -<p>"See here, Herbert,"—Mr. Wrenn leaned toward the lad, speaking very -kindly. "I think it quite likely that you will never see your uncle -again."</p> - -<p>Some thought made the boy's eyes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>dilate. "He hasn't—gone where—where -my mother is—has he?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"I'm—I'm glad. He'd—he'd spoil heaven," declared Bertie earnestly.</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn nodded slowly. "An excellent description," he said. The -three observers of the interview smiled. "Do you think you might adopt -me in his place?" added the lawyer.</p> - -<p>"He—he wouldn't let me. He'll come," said the boy with conviction.</p> - -<p>"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn, with reassuring calm, "I know more about -this than you do. I talked with your uncle yesterday and I think he will -give you to me."</p> - -<p>The boy's lips fell apart and he stared at the speaker gravely.</p> - -<p>"To me, and to Mrs. Lowell. How would you like that?"</p> - -<p>It was evident that this information could not be credited entirely, but -the boy glanced around at Mrs. Lowell, who still sat close beside him, -and she looked as if she believed this marvel. Unconsciously he pressed -the picture against his breast. Luther Wrenn regarded the thin wrists -and ankles protruding from the worn coat and trousers.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p><p>"Have you your sketch of your mother?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "Will you -show it to Mr. Wrenn?"</p> - -<p>The boy put his hand in a pocket and drew out the small folded square, -and the lawyer felt some obstruction in his throat as he saw the worn -tissue paper and the morsel of oiled silk being so tenderly unrolled.</p> - -<p>"When I lost the one like—like this, I tried to—to make another," the -boy explained.</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn put on his eye-glasses and examined the little sketch. He -looked at Mrs. Lowell and nodded. "Save this," he said to the boy. "Go -on being careful of it, for you will always be glad you made it, but you -need never hide anything again. Do you understand that? We will get a -case for this photograph so you can carry it in your pocket, and I can -have an enlargement made of it so you can have it framed on your wall."</p> - -<p>"I haven't—haven't any money," said Bertie, overwhelmed by these novel -prospects, and convinced that this kindly visitor must be laboring under -some great delusion. "I just have—have one cent, but—but I have to -give that to—to Mr. Barrison if Uncle Nick doesn't—doesn't beat me. He -bet me a thousand dollars."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p><p>Luther Wrenn gave a queer broken sort of laugh and wiped his -eye-glasses. "Mr. Barrison has won," he said. "Always pay your debts, -Herbert."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean I—I shall give him the cent?"</p> - -<p>"Your last cent, yes. He was right, you see, and it belongs to him."</p> - -<p>The boy took out the penny and, rising gravely, crossed to Philip and -proffered the coin.</p> - -<p>Philip accepted it and bowed. "You are an honorable gentleman," he said.</p> - -<p>Bert returned quickly to his chair and again possessed himself of the -picture which he had given Mrs. Lowell to hold during the financial -transaction.</p> - -<p>"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn slowly, "I see that you were thinking -that photograph cases and frames cost money. You will be glad to know -that your grandfather—your mother's father, who has now gone to -her—has left you some of his money. If you think of anything especial -that you would like to have while you are here in Boston, you can buy -it."</p> - -<p>No one present ever forgot the boy's face as he spoke, looking up into -the lawyer's eyes. "A pencil?" he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p><p>Luther Wrenn nodded and swallowed again. "Yes, pencils, paper, -sketch-blocks, brushes, paints, anything you want. Just tell Mr. -Barrison. I think he will take you out presently and get you the clothes -you need—" The boy looked down over his old suit, quite dazed, and more -than ever certain that all this must be a dream and that he should waken -on his cot at the island and find the familiar dark face bending over -him and some greeting, like "Get up, stupid," assailing his ears.</p> - -<p>But he did not waken. Mrs. Lowell put her arm around his shoulders and -gave him a little squeeze, and when he looked up he found her smiling at -him.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenn addressed her. "The more I see of the boy, the more I -recognize a resemblance to his mother." He rose and crossed to Philip, -who got to his feet. "Mr. Barrison, we are greatly indebted to you, and -we wish to be more so. Can you oblige us by dressing this young client -of mine this afternoon?"</p> - -<p>"Delighted," replied Philip.</p> - -<p>"What has he brought with him?"</p> - -<p>"A brush and comb and toothbrush, all veterans, and all wounded."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p><p>"Very well. If you will get for him everything a boy needs for the -remainder of the summer only, I shall be greatly obliged. Mrs. Lowell -will make the list, I am sure, and you can help her if she gets lost. -Have everything charged to me. Here is my card with the order, and here -is a check for your traveling expenses on this trip."</p> - -<p>"It is too much," said Philip as he saw the figure.</p> - -<p>"Pretty accurate," said the lawyer. "I am calculating that you will stay -in town over one night at least. If there is a balance you might send -some roses to"—the door opened and a very dignified and extremely -curious little lady entered: a quite plump and not entirely pleased -little lady—"some roses to Mrs. Wilbur," finished the lawyer.</p> - -<p>"Do you hear that, Mrs. Wilbur?" asked Philip. "Mr. Wrenn is telling me -I may send you roses. Is that one word for me and two for himself?"</p> - -<p>The lady shrugged her marvelously fitted shoulders, but she smiled. Even -she could not help responding to Philip's vital spark. "It is my own -private feeling that some attention should be paid to me," she returned, -lifting her chin.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p><p>Philip approached her. "Name your color!" he exclaimed with an air of -devotion.</p> - -<p>"I think it will be a real pleasure to him, Mamma," said Diana, smiling, -"to turn from an immersion in sublunary matters like socks and neckties -to a poetic purchase."</p> - -<p>"Why should Mr. Barrison be about to bathe in socks and neckties?"</p> - -<p>"He is kind enough to take the matter off my hands, Mrs. Wilbur, and -make our young friend fit," said the lawyer.</p> - -<p>The lady lifted her lorgnette and surveyed the silent boy.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenn approached him. "Herbert, you have no reason to like the name -of Gayne. What do you say to dropping it? What do you say to being -Herbert Loring, Second?"</p> - -<p>"If Mrs. Lowell says so," he responded. He might have said: "What's in a -name?" For the excited color had settled in his cheeks. Let them call -him what they liked. He was going, boldly and unafraid, to have a pencil.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVII</span> <span class="smaller">THE HEIR</span></h2> - -<p>Luther Wrenn gave himself the luxury of calling at the Copley-Plaza the -next morning, perhaps as a bracer for his afternoon appointment. When he -sent up his name, he received a summons to come to a room on the floor -above Diana's.</p> - -<p>Entering, he found the group he had left yesterday, minus Mrs. Wilbur, -chatting and laughing before a boy's wardrobe spread out on the bed. As -he shook hands with the boy himself, the lawyer looked him over with -satisfaction. From the barber to the haberdasher, the lad had evidently -been served well; and though pale and thin, Herbert Loring, Second, -stood there a credit to his name already, and full of promise for the -future. A wardrobe trunk in steamer size stood at one side of the room -and a fine suitcase beside it.</p> - -<p>"Is everything all right, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn, with a hand on the -boy's shoulder and his eyes wandering over the variety of apparel laid -out on the bed. "Nothing seems to be missing."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p><p>"I have—I have blue pyjamas," said the boy.</p> - -<p>"And did they sleep all right, eh?"</p> - -<p>"They did not," said Philip. "I had the other room opening off Bert's -bath and I prowled once in a while to see how the land lay, and the -electric light was evidently too easy. He was always examining his box."</p> - -<p>"What box is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn.</p> - -<p>The boy was keeping lifted eyes on him, not quite sure whether this -dispenser of gifts was going to be displeased at the burning of midnight -electricity. At the question he hurried to a table and brought the new -sketching materials which had interfered with his dreams.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenn gave the boy's shoulder a little shake and laughed. "They -won't run away in the night," he said. "Better sleep and keep your eyes -bright. When do you plan to return to the island, Mrs. Lowell?"</p> - -<p>She was sitting with Diana by the bed, where they were sewing markers on -Bert's new possessions. "If your afternoon interview proves -satisfactory, and you can arrange that we shall not be molested, I think -we might go to-morrow," she replied.</p> - -<p>"Want to go back to the island, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn. The appealing -eyes, so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> like Helen Loring's, were winning him more and more with their -trustfulness.</p> - -<p>"I—I don't care where we go if he—if nobody takes me away from—from -Mrs. Lowell."</p> - -<p>"You dear youngster," said that lady, her swift needle stitching busily.</p> - -<p>"Well, it is my intention that nobody shall, for the present. Of course, -when these charming ladies hamper themselves with husbands, it brings in -an element of uncertainty. What sort of a man is Monroe Lowell, now? I -suppose his wife is entirely impartial."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The finest ever," she said, "but I see signs of -impatience beginning to show in his letters. So I hope he will soon join -us. Probably I know what you are thinking of, Mr. Wrenn, but let us not -cross any bridges until we come to them. The right way is sure to open."</p> - -<p>The lawyer nodded. "I will let you have a bulletin as soon as the final -farewells are said this afternoon. I hope to secure the island from -further intrusion."</p> - -<p>Diana looked up from her work. "Would it not be well to offer him money -not to return?"</p> - -<p>Philip, who was engaged in snipping the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> markers apart, spoke: "If he -comes, I can take the bone of contention to my place until the hurricane -is passed."</p> - -<p>"I am quite certain he will not go," said Mrs. Lowell quietly.</p> - -<p>"Why is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn. "I must confess to some qualms myself."</p> - -<p>"Because it is not right for him to go," said Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"My dear young lady," the lawyer smiled, "if that is the only ground for -your belief, my limited observation of the gentleman suggests that he -never has done anything right in his life unless by accident. But no -money, Miss Diana. Start that once with that individual and you will be -purchasing something from him at intervals the rest of his life. I must -be off. Good-bye, Herbert."</p> - -<p>The boy started. He had been hanging over his treasures and handling -them, oblivious to everything around him. This gentleman, who knew his -mother and had showered upon him so many benefits, was looking at him -now with kind, serious eyes, and Bert became mindful of a little talk -Mrs. Lowell had had with him this morning.</p> - -<p>He walked up to the lawyer and held out his slender hand. "I thank -you—sir," he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p><p>"Good boy. I will see you again before you leave," and, bowing to the -others, Mr. Wrenn went out, Philip accompanying him to the elevator.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Mr. Barrison, for your good offices," he said as they shook -hands.</p> - -<p>"Never had so much fun in my life," said Philip. "Made me wish I had -half a dozen of my own and the coin to treat them like that."</p> - -<p>The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon him and smiled. "Are events shaping -themselves toward that end? That extremely charming young woman who has -been making you the slave of the lamp is enough to turn any man's head."</p> - -<p>Philip flushed. "Any man's head <i>would</i> be turned," he responded -quickly, "if he thought of her as approachable. No, some common mortal -for me some day, I hope, but she's a goddess, you know."</p> - -<p>The young fellow smiled and the lawyer still regarded him, and placed a -hand on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Never let anything like money rob you," he said slowly and with -emphasis. "Goddesses have been known to stoop to mortals before this."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><p>"I think her parents would see to that," responded Philip, laughing.</p> - -<p>The elevator came, and with one more nod of farewell the lawyer -disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Fierce job he's got before him," muttered Philip as he returned to the -dry goods, refusing to allow his mind to dwell on his new friend's -surpassingly ignorant suggestions.</p> - -<p>Promptly at the appointed time Nicholas Gayne presented himself at the -lawyer's office and was admitted to the sanctum. His air of assurance -almost reached the swaggering stage, and his "How are you?" breathed a -suggestion of a fortifying beverage. Without waiting for permission, he -fell into the chair near the desk.</p> - -<p>"Well, are you satisfied?" he asked triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I am satisfied that the boy is my old friend's grandson."</p> - -<p>"I knew you would be. Now, how soon do you think you can fix it up?"</p> - -<p>"Fix what up?"</p> - -<p>"The inheritance."</p> - -<p>"I told you the boy was not mentioned in the will."</p> - -<p>"I know that, but what's the law for if it can't get justice done?" came -the impatient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> question, and Gayne's chin shot out belligerently.</p> - -<p>"It can and will get justice done," said Luther Wrenn slowly, "but it -will take time."</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course, I know it will, but you can advance money on a sure -thing, and I'll make it worth your while as soon as the cash is in my -hands."</p> - -<p>"In yours?" The lawyer tapped his desk with a paper-cutter.</p> - -<p>"Yes. I told you the boy's delicate. He needs care."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure he does. It may take a year to straighten out the matter of -the will."</p> - -<p>"It don't need to," said Gayne angrily. "I've had the expense of Bert -for five years and I ought to be reimbursed and provided with enough -money to care for him right, until he gets all that's coming to him."</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn looked for a silent minute at the dark, impatient face and -thick, powerful shoulders and hands, and recalled the boy's panic.</p> - -<p>"I have obtained a good deal of information as to the occurrences of the -past years as they affect Mr. Loring's grandson," he said quietly, and -his visitor scowled at him, startled.</p> - -<p>"I'm a poor man," he blustered. "I told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> you I hadn't been able to care -for him right."</p> - -<p>"If you would like," went on the lawyer slowly, "to be relieved of the -boy, I am willing to take charge of him from now on for his mother's -sake."</p> - -<p>"For his mother's sake," sneered Gayne. "You know damned well that it's -because you know you can get hold of the money that ought to be his."</p> - -<p>"You have been drinking, Mr. Gayne, and the reason I don't have you put -out of the office is because we shall never meet again, and it is always -well to settle matters out of court if possible. I am going to tell you, -instead of asking a judge to do so, why I am taking Helen Loring's boy -away from you."</p> - -<p>"Lambert Gayne's boy and my nephew!" roared Gayne. "Where do you get -that stuff? Take him away from me, after all the expense—"</p> - -<p>"Be quiet, Mr. Gayne, or I shall have to forego my peaceful plans. I -have a man outside prepared to take you; so it would be better for you -to listen to me."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne looked behind him in angry amazement.</p> - -<p>"What have you done for that helpless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> boy?" went on Wrenn quietly. -"Have you endeavored to have him properly taught and cared for? Have you -allowed him the happiness, which would have cost you nothing, of -exercising the talent inherited from his mother?"</p> - -<p>"I'm a poor man,"—the declaration came with a loud burst. "He couldn't -spend his time like a nabob."</p> - -<p>"No. So you took no pains to have him educated. You allowed him to be -made to scrub floors and wash windows and do any menial work which a -lazy, dissolute woman could put upon him. You allowed a creature like -Cora to be his companion, caring less than nothing for the possible -degradation of the boy's mind and body."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne started up from his chair, purple in the face with -surprise and fury.</p> - -<p>"All this you did with the one single base intention of so beating down -any sign of mental efficiency in your nephew that in time you could get -the handling of his heritage."</p> - -<p>As the words fell clearly and concisely from the lawyer's lips, Nicholas -Gayne's muddled brain worked fast. Where could this devil of a lawyer -have learned so much in two days? The boy was at the island. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> must be -the women. That Mrs. Lowell! But how could she have connected Bert with -Herbert Loring in the first place, and how could she, with her slight -opportunity, have elicited so much from the dull boy and communicated -with Luther Wrenn? Gayne wished his brain were clearer, but, looking at -the stony calm of the lawyer's face and the cold accusation in his eyes, -he realized that the combination of legal power and money made it very -hard in instances like this for a poor man like himself to get his -rights.</p> - -<p>"Now, I will detain you only a minute longer, Mr. Gayne. Herbert Loring, -Second, as he will after this be called, is now at the Copley-Plaza with -friends." Gayne stared and seized the back of the chair from which he -had risen, apparently for support. "I shall provide for him as I think -best. It is too early as yet to tell whether your criminal treatment of -the child has worked permanent injury. Time and the tenderest, wisest -care will be necessary to establish that, and, meanwhile, you will be -left in freedom. We desire to avoid all publicity, and, if you keep out -of the way and do not intrude and awaken in the boy brutal and sad -associations, we may succeed in restoring him to a normal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> condition, -but, I assure you, if you even show your face near the boy or interfere -in any degree, you will be called upon to answer serious charges, and -witnesses will be easy to procure."</p> - -<p>The purple had faded from Nicholas Gayne's face and it was ashy under -the sunburn. He opened his lips to speak, but no sound came. Mr. Wrenn -touched a button on his desk and the office door opened. Gayne started -and looked toward it.</p> - -<p>"I feel that we understand each other perfectly, Mr. Gayne," said the -lawyer, pleasantly. "Good-afternoon."</p> - -<p>Nicholas Gayne mumbled something and, moving as swiftly as his unsteady -knees would permit, he disappeared from that office, fear engulfing all -his other emotions. He wondered which of the men in plain clothes, whom -he saw moving about outside, was the one who might have been his escort.</p> - -<p>Luther Wrenn took up the telephone and called Diana.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Wrenn speaking."</p> - -<p>An excited voice answered, all serenity thrown to the winds. "Oh, Mr. -Wrenn, is it over?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Diana, and very satisfactorily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> I'm a little tired and I -believe I won't make you another call to-day."</p> - -<p>"I'm <i>sure</i> you must be tired," sympathetically.</p> - -<p>"I just wanted you and Mrs. Lowell to know that you may plan to take the -nine o'clock train for Portland to-morrow morning with as much freedom -as if our precious uncle had passed away from the planet."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, thank you."</p> - -<p>"And, by the way, Miss Diana, you may tell Mr. Barrison, too."</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course, I should."</p> - -<p>"Do you know, I find him a very engaging young man. Why, why are your -cheeks blooming so? Can't one say as much as that for relaxation after a -nasty quarter of an hour?"</p> - -<p>A soft gurgle of laughter went to the listening lawyer.</p> - -<p>"I did not know you ever condescended to such play, Mr. Wrenn."</p> - -<p>"Well, don't tell, will you? My best wishes to you all, and especially -to Herbert, and tell him I shall come to the island to look him over in -a short time."</p> - -<p>"Do. Mr. Barrison will take you fishing."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p><p>"Is he always successful? Does he know just what bait to use?"</p> - -<p>Another soft gurgle. "You don't understand, Mr. Wrenn. He uses too much -bait. He catches too many fish. Good-bye. My mother has just come in. -She is going with us to Maine." A pause. "She hopes to see you there. -Good-bye."</p> - -<p>Before the arrival of the Copley-Plaza contingent at the island, Matt -Blake received the following letter:</p> - -<blockquote><p><i>Dear Matt</i>:</p> - -<p>You know the business that brought me to Boston. I proved my -position all right. The old man's lawyer couldn't deny it, but the -boy, not being named in the will, as, of course, I knew he wouldn't -be, the lawyer said it would take a long time before he could get -anything for Bert, and advised me to put the boy into his hands. So -I'm going to let him run matters to suit himself.</p> - -<p>I'm asking you if you will be good enough to pack up my stuff at -the island and send everything on C.O.D. to the address on the card -I enclose. You know what I found at the farm, but I've got to wait -till I can get some backing before I can do anything about it. Keep -it under your hat, though. You know what I left at the farm, too: -out in the kitchen. Take that for your trouble. I don't know what -I'm going to do next. What I do know is that a lawyer has no more -blood than a turnip, and that a man can go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> to the expense and -trouble of taking care of a boy for five years and then be asked to -hand him over to those that know he'll have money, without even a -thank you for all he has done. I'm disgusted with the world.</p> - -<p class="right">Your friend,<span class="s3"> </span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Nicholas Gayne</span></p></blockquote> - -<p>When he read this, Matt Blake looked off thoughtfully, his thin lips twitching.</p> - -<p>"I hope Phil Barrison can tell me all that's between those lines," he thought.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XVIII</span> <span class="smaller">DIANA'S IDEAL</span></h2> - -<p>"Come here, Aunt Priscilla," called Veronica at the top of her lungs. It -was a joyous call, and Miss Burridge hurried into the dining-room where, -a few minutes before, she had left Veronica sweeping, and found her -standing still and confronting a boy who stood, hat in hand, while on -the floor beside him reposed a new and handsome suitcase.</p> - -<p>"Would you know him, Aunt Priscilla?"</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge pulled down her spectacles and gazed at the trim figure -with the immaculately brushed and parted hair.</p> - -<p>"It ain't Bertie Gayne? Why, it is! Where are the other folks? Somebody -has been being awful good to you."</p> - -<p>How could it be possible that the boy they sent away a few days ago -could be the same one who looked at them now with happy eyes and a faint -smile.</p> - -<p>"They're coming," he answered. "Mr. Blake brought me up—in his wagon, -and the others had to wait—for the car, and they were going to take a -drive."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p><p>Matt Blake here appeared in the open doorway from the piazza, bearing -on his back a shining new trunk.</p> - -<p>"Where's this going?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I'll show you," said the boy, and they made a procession up the stairs, -Bert leading and the women bringing up the rear, full to the lips of -questions ready to pour out upon Matt, who was smiling, eyes twinkling -under his burden, at the amazed countenances of Miss Burridge and -Veronica.</p> - -<p>"Where's your Uncle Nick?" asked Veronica when they reached the bedroom.</p> - -<p>"No," said Bert quickly; "no, he isn't coming."</p> - -<p>"Isn't?" cried Miss Burridge as Blake set the trunk down. "Matt, has Mr. -Gayne come into money?"</p> - -<p>"This Mr. Gayne has," returned Blake, grinning and indicating the boy.</p> - -<p>"No, my name isn't Gayne any more," said Bert gravely. "I am Herbert -Loring, Second."</p> - -<p>"That so?" said Matt. "There you have it, ladies. You've read about the -Prince and the Pauper, haven't you? You sent away the pauper and got -back the prince."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said the boy; "my grandfather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> gave me all these things because -he didn't need money any more."</p> - -<p>While the boy spoke, Blake noticed that he was looking at Nicholas -Gayne's trunk.</p> - -<p>"Kind o' in the way, ain't it? That's a good place for yours to stand. -We'll pull Mr. Gayne's trunk out here where I can pack it. He wants me -to send him all his things."</p> - -<p>Bert's face looked as if sunlight suddenly struck it. It was as if now -only he entirely credited the fact that there was nothing to apprehend -in the way of a reckoning.</p> - -<p>"You are going to send all Uncle Nick's things to him?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, everything but you," replied Matt jocosely.</p> - -<p>"But I—I don't belong to him any more," explained Bert eagerly. "He -gave me to—to the lawyer."</p> - -<p>"Good work," said Blake, and, lifting the lid of the old trunk, he fell -to opening the dresser drawers.</p> - -<p>"Matt Blake," said Miss Burridge, "<i>will</i> you tell me what has -happened?"</p> - -<p>"Ever hear of Herbert Loring, one o' Boston's rich men? Well, he died -suddenly and this boy's his grandson, and the lawyer has persuaded Mr. -Gayne to take his hands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> off." As an addendum to his explanation, Matt -bestowed upon Miss Burridge a wink which seemed to say: "More anon."</p> - -<p>"And Mr. Gayne isn't coming back?" asked Miss Burridge, sundry financial -considerations occurring to her.</p> - -<p>"I guess he'll pay up all right," said Blake, reading her thought. "You -make out what he owes. I'll see to it. Come on, Herbert Loring, help me -to get your uncle's duds together so I won't be packing any o' yours."</p> - -<p>"That wouldn't make—make any difference," said the boy, "because Mrs. -Lowell said for me not to wear them any more." And he turned to with a -will, emptying dresser and closet while Matt packed.</p> - -<p>"I hear the motor," said Veronica suddenly.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge had been in a flutter ever since Diana's telegram, saying -that her mother and maid would return with her. Miss Priscilla's outlook -on life was placidly democratic, but somehow the prospect of having to -care for the wife of the steel magnate loomed as something overwhelming. -She and Veronica hurried downstairs to meet the guests. Mrs. Lowell and -Diana were in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> high spirits. Léonie had fortunately discovered some -resemblance in the island to a fishing village of her childhood and had -sat with Bill Lindsay on the front seat coming up. He understood her -trim appearance, even if half of what she said so volubly was lost to -him.</p> - -<p>The springs of the machine were not reminiscent of Mrs. Wilbur's -Rolls-Royce, and her lorgnette had not yet been able to discover what -charm this corner of the world had exercised upon her daughter. She had -been predisposed, from her first view of Philip Barrison, to give him -the credit, or discredit; and during the trip from Boston, she had kept -one eye upon every move he or Diana had made toward the other. But the -examination had revealed nothing. Philip had not even been assiduous -toward herself. She would have suspected that instantly. As a matter of -fact, almost all the way to Portland, he had concentrated his attention -on a book of Brahms' songs, which were welcomed effusively by a -curly-headed Irishman in white sweater and trousers who met them when -they landed from the island steamer.</p> - -<p>"Is it the mother of the goddess, then?" he said when he was presented. -"You lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> your heart, I'm sure, to that ride down the bay, Mrs. -Wilbur."</p> - -<p>"It was very lovely. I should like to come around here in the yacht -sometime. The rudder chain, or whatever it was on that little boat, -nearly banged a hole in my head."</p> - -<p>Diana smiled on Kelly. "Mamma has begun roughing it, that's all," she -said. "I warned her."</p> - -<p>Philip had telephoned down to bespeak the motor in order that the august -Mrs. Wilbur might not be obliged to linger on the wharf where, on -account of the adjacent fish-house, the odors were not always of Araby, -and the only seat was a weather-worn board a little wider than a -knife-blade.</p> - -<p>Diana leaned out of the car just before they drove away and offered him -her hand. "Have I thanked you nearly enough, Mr. Barrison?" she asked, -and Barney Kelly observed her melting eyes. "You have filled in every -need and been an untold help to us all in this affair. Even Mr. Wrenn -said the nicest things about you."</p> - -<p>"And about you," returned Philip pressing her willing hand. "I think Mr. -Wrenn has had the time of his life the last few days."</p> - -<p>"It has been very exciting, very happy—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p><p>"Had we not better start, Diana?" put in Mrs. Wilbur. "I just caught a -glimpse of a dreadful fish over there by a post. Do they catch whales -here?"</p> - -<p>"They stop at nothing, Mrs. Wilbur," Barney assured her. "Good-bye, -good-bye."</p> - -<p>The motor sped off with a grinding noise.</p> - -<p>"You've put in your time well, eh, Barrison?"</p> - -<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> - -<p>"My word! If Miss Wilbur ever turned those lamps on me with that look in -them, I'd fly right in and singe my wings for life."</p> - -<p>"I don't intend to singe mine," said Philip quietly. "They think I've -been useful in this one-act play they've been staging and they are -grateful, that's all. The goddess is as transparent and honest as any -child that ever lived. She doesn't want to light any flame for the moth, -she has far too big a soul. Did you notice that the boy I took away -looked different from the one we brought back to-day?"</p> - -<p>"It wasn't the same one, was it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, with a few renovations in mind and body. I'll tell you about it as -we go along."</p> - -<p class="space-above">When Mrs. Wilbur went out on the Inn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> piazza and was assailed with the -island sights and odors, the snowy daisy drifts, the dark evergreens, -the rock-lashed foam dragging at the pebbles and flinging them back with -a never-ceasing crescendo and diminuendo, the soaring, sweeping gulls -above and beneath the blue, she did not speak for a time, and it was a -place where her lorgnette failed.</p> - -<p>Léonie, however, kept up a joyous undertone. "Mais, c'est comme chez -moi. C'est vraiment comme chez moi, et Mr. Beel, he will take me to see -ze poisson."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Beel" kept his word, and not once, but many times, did Mrs. Wilbur -look about vainly for her maid in a place where there was no bell to -ring for her, and no clocks for her to see when she was without, and -Bill's motor was running up and down the road in such a convenient way -for him to stop and take on an eager passenger, for whom no fishing boat -was too dirty, and who could swim as well as any fish in the bay.</p> - -<p>"Do let her go, Mamma," Diana said one morning when they were alone. -"She is having a real vacation. When you are once attired and your hair -is dressed, can I not perform any other office for you?"</p> - -<p>"But I don't know which is the maid,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> Léonie or I," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"First she had to have a sweater and I sent for that. Then she wanted a -bathing-suit and I sent for that. Then she bought herself some fishing -tackle and, if she can't get out in a boat, she sits on the wharf with -her feet hanging over and fishes for those—those—"</p> - -<p>"Cunners?" suggested Diana.</p> - -<p>"Yes; and she knows every one of the island boys, and how does she know -when I need her? She doesn't think anything about it."</p> - -<p>"That's it," returned Diana, nodding. "She has lost her head. That is -what we all do. You will, too, Mamma. I heard you laughing and laughing -with Mr. Kelly yesterday."</p> - -<p>"He is such a droll creature," said Mrs. Wilbur, with a reminiscent -smile. "It's such a queer place here," she went on with a puzzled brow. -"You could put this whole Inn into the ballroom at Newport, and there -isn't space enough to turn around in the little rooms; yet out of doors -it is all space, and something in the air makes you want to run and -jump. I might as well tell you, Diana, my mind is just getting set at -rest on the subject of Mr. Barrison. Your craze for this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> place seemed -unnatural, and when I first saw him in Boston, I suspected that he was -the cause." The lady met her daughter's calm eyes which contradicted her -changing color.</p> - -<p>"What should have disturbed you about that?" asked the girl quietly.</p> - -<p>"Disturbed me! That you should have come off here alone and fallen in -love with nobody knows who?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, a good many people are learning who. That is really the chief -trouble with him: I mean from a girl's standpoint. He is rapidly -becoming one of the stars of the musical world."</p> - -<p>"And why is that a drawback?" Mrs. Wilbur began to feel somewhat -bewildered by her daughter's attitude.</p> - -<p>Diana's color was rather high, but she turned toward her mother with -entire calm. "I am not going to marry a man whom other women besiege. My -husband will be rather short. I think he will stoop and be nearsighted -and wear spectacles. He will incline to baldness, but he will be very -charming—to me, and he will be mine." The smile that accompanied this -declaration was so winning that Mrs. Wilbur was startled.</p> - -<p>"Diana, have you met any such person?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> she returned. "I don't like the -sound of him at all!"</p> - -<p>"Not yet," admitted Diana. "But I keep him in mind. He fights off other -types."</p> - -<p>"Supposing," said Mrs. Wilbur sharply, "some very desirable man, as -attractive as Mr. Barrison, for instance, were to say he wouldn't marry -you, because you are too pretty—other men would look at you."</p> - -<p>"You do think he is attractive, do you, Mamma?"</p> - -<p>"Why—certainly," returned Mrs. Wilbur, not quite sure even yet that the -admission was safe.</p> - -<p>"The cases are not parallel," said Diana. "Women as a rule are more -faithful, and men are conceited. The average man must have severe -lessons before he believes that the woman who has loved him will turn to -some one else."</p> - -<p>"Why, Diana, I am surprised at you. You talk in such a sophisticated -way; but, my dear, let me remind you that you have some one beside -yourself to please when you marry. Your father may give you an unlimited -check-book, but he won't give you <i>carte blanche</i> when it comes to -marrying. He isn't going to welcome into the family any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>insignificant -little scarecrow such as you are counting on."</p> - -<p>If Philip wanted to hear Diana laugh, it was a pity he wasn't near now, -for she burst forth so merrily that Veronica peeped out the window.</p> - -<p>"I see you are going to be as difficult as I am, Mamma," she said at -last.</p> - -<p>It was soon after this that the cottage people with one accord begged -Philip to give a recital in the hall. The summer colony was an -appreciative and cultured one. Many of them had known Philip from his -boyhood, and were watching his career with interest. So it was an -occasion of intimacy and delight.</p> - -<p>When the evening arrived, the hall was decked with flowers, and the -singer and his accompanist appeared in white flannels. Philip was his -own programme, announcing his songs and receiving at times stentorian -requests for special encores.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur, as she looked and listened, felt that she gained an -understanding of Diana's arguments: not that, in any case, she desired -this young man for a son-in-law, but she was greatly surprised at the -beauty of his voice and his art. It was a feast he gave them that night -in the uncalculating opulence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> of his youth and strength: Arias from -"Bohème" and "La Tosca"; the "Dream Song" from "Manon"; ballads; a group -of modern French songs; another of old English. Barney Kelly's -accompanying was perfect. He was among strangers, and he was as serious -throughout as if they were performing in Carnegie Hall. Despite the fact -that the piano was an upright, he played a group of Chopin, Palmgren, -and Debussy with great charm, and the contingent from the Inn led the -strong applause. As he bowed, Kelly recognized Veronica's rosy, serious -face and wildly active hands.</p> - -<p>At the close of the recital, Mrs. Wilbur was more excited than she had -been for years.</p> - -<p>"He's <i>wonderful</i>, Diana," she said, standing up while she was still in -the throes of hand-clapping. "<i>Wonderful!</i> We must try to get him for an -October date in Pittsfield. Our room is quite large enough. He will make -a sensation."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Diana, rather faintly. "That is the easiest thing he does." -Her face was pale. The possible charmer with the bald head and -spectacles had had a hard fight to-night.</p> - -<p>Barney Kelly disappeared through some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> back door while Philip's -enthusiastic friends gathered around him, and Veronica dashed out on the -front piazza, cleared the steps in two bounds, and the July moon aided -her progress between the bushes to the back of the hall where a figure -in white was straying.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Kelly," she called breathlessly, "you were perfectly splendid. Why -didn't you stay and let the people tell you so?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't know them," said Barney carelessly. "And they want to eat -up Barrison."</p> - -<p>"But they want to eat up you, too. Didn't you see how crazy they were -about that last funny out-of-tune thing you played?"</p> - -<p>Kelly laughed.</p> - -<p>"And don't you go away; they're going to dance."</p> - -<p>"Oh, do they want me to play?"</p> - -<p>"Don't you dare to play! Don't you dare to let them know you can." -Barney laughed again. "Well, of course, they know now you can, but not -dance music."</p> - -<p>"You're a very nice child, Veronica." Barney looked at her little -dimpled rose face, and the pale green dress she wore.</p> - -<p>"Well, if I am, then come around to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> front piazza with me. They're -setting back the chairs."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Mrs. Wilbur was drawing Diana toward the group surrounding -Philip. "I don't know what to say to you that won't sound too effusive," -she said as soon as she could get his attention and his hand. "Will you -come to us in October and sing a recital?"</p> - -<p>"I shall be glad to, if I can. I will see about my dates." As Philip -replied, he looked at Diana. She gave him a pale smile and said nothing. -More people approached and Mrs. Wilbur drew away, her daughter with her.</p> - -<p>"Miss Diana," said Philip, across the heads of the crowd, "they are -going to dance. Will you stay?"</p> - -<p>Diana nodded. "You like to dance, Mamma. You stay, too."</p> - -<p>"Oh, not in this little place where everybody will be stepping on every -one else. Beside, Léonie's beau is waiting outside to take us home. I -will go with Miss Burridge and tell Bill to come back for you in an -hour. I suppose you don't need a chaperon for I don't see your ideal -here to-night, Diana," in a lowered voice. "You were right about Mr. -Barrison. Let us pray that women don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> make a complete fool of him. You -don't look just right, dear. Don't stay late. I'll tell Bill to come -back in an hour. Oh, there is that comical Mr. Kelly." Mrs. Wilbur -sailed up to him. "Thank you so much for this evening. You were -delightful, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Barrison is most fortunate in having -you."</p> - -<p>"But you're not going, Mrs. Wilbur?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; good-night."</p> - -<p>"No, not until you've danced once with me. There, the music is just -going to begin." And, sure enough, Miss Burridge stood back and waited -while Mrs. Wilbur's little satin-clad feet tripped lightly around in the -dance with the volatile Barney, and she talked to him about the date in -October and promised she would dance with him again at that time.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell and Herbert had been enjoying the concert and had told -Philip so, and now stood back watching the dancing.</p> - -<p>"Would you like to learn to dance?" asked Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"It sounds better to say, 'No, Mrs. Lowell,' or, 'No, I thank you.'"</p> - -<p>"Then I will," said the boy.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p><p>"I like to dance," said Mrs. Lowell, "and I wish you would learn."</p> - -<p>"Then I will," said the boy again.</p> - -<p>The music had thrilled his artist soul. It seemed all a part of the -entrancing night, a part of the safe world of love into which he had -been guided.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XIX</span> <span class="smaller">MOONLIGHT</span></h2> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur looked back into the hall from the piazza before she stepped -into the motor. Diana was already dancing with Philip Barrison. She -watched their smooth movements for a minute, then turned to Mrs. Lowell -who had just emerged with her boy.</p> - -<p>"This—this gathering, this settlement here, seems rather like a family -party, doesn't it?" she said, with a sort of troubled curiosity.</p> - -<p>"Yes; nearly all of these people have known each other for many -summers."</p> - -<p>"I feel a little strange to go and leave Diana."</p> - -<p>"I don't think you need," replied Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"I suppose," said Mrs. Wilbur, "if the steed were going to be stolen, it -would have happened before this. The stable door has been open for -weeks."</p> - -<p>"Quite so," said Mrs. Lowell, laughing. "It is so light, Bert and I are -going to walk up to the Inn."</p> - -<p>"I am going to send the car back for Diana in one hour," declared Mrs. -Wilbur. Her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> daughter's theories were all very well, but this was a -distractingly beautiful night and the echoes of that marvelous voice -were even yet thrilling her own nerves. Léonie was sitting at the front -of the car with Bill Lindsay, and Mrs. Wilbur mounted into the back seat -with Miss Burridge.</p> - -<p>"I suppose Miss Veronica will return with my daughter," she said.</p> - -<p>"I only hope so," returned Miss Burridge resignedly. "Mr. Kelly has -promised to see to her."</p> - -<p>"I don't feel like dancing," said Diana, as her partner guided her -through the narrow spaces.</p> - -<p>"No one would suspect it," he replied. "I was just thinking that this -night was to be superlative in all directions."</p> - -<p>"But how can one endure this silly music when '<i>Manon! Manon!</i>' is -echoing through the heart!"</p> - -<p>Philip did not reply, nor did he release her until the gay strumming at -the piano ceased. Then they went out on the piazza. The laughing, -chattering young people were streaming out into the air, and occupying -every available seat. The field surrounding the hall was light as day.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p><p>"Let us go down to the rocks," said Philip.</p> - -<p>"I mustn't because my mother is going to send the car back for me in one -hour. You've no idea how firmly my mother can say 'one hour' and mean -it."</p> - -<p>"There should be no rules on a night like this," Philip regarded his -companion, pale in the moonlight as her pale, filmy garments. "I feel -like quoting a choice spirit of my childhood days. He was trying to get -me to go on a tear of some kind with him, and I told him my mother would -worry. He said, 'Oh, come on. Scoldings don't hurt, whippings don't last -long, and she da'sn't kill you.'"</p> - -<p>Diana smiled. "Now that she is here, she likes to tuck me in," she said.</p> - -<p>"I would she had waited until after the moon. Well, let us go to the -near rocks. I will keep watch of the time."</p> - -<p>They went down the populous steps.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Barrison!" exclaimed a woman upon whom he nearly trod. "What -ecstasy you have given us!"</p> - -<p>It was Miss Emerson. She was cooling off from a dance with Mr. Pratt, -and was in high feather, because neither he nor Mr. Evans knew another -woman present, save Veronica,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> and her acquaintance, though not wide, -seemed intensive.</p> - -<p>"Yes, that was corking," said Mr. Evans. "We sure do thank you. Say, -folks, I'm tired. I'm going to trot along."</p> - -<p>"Back to the Inn?" asked Philip with interest.</p> - -<p>"Yes. Anything I can do for you?"</p> - -<p>"If you will be so kind. Mrs. Wilbur has just gone. Will you be kind -enough to tell her not to worry if her daughter is a little later than -she expected? Tell her you left her in good hands and we are going to -walk up after a while."</p> - -<p>"Certainly. Be glad to," replied Evans.</p> - -<p>"Oh," breathed Diana, softly, as they moved on into the glory of the -night, "I'm quite sure you should not have done that."</p> - -<p>"Do you want to be shut up in a tin Lizzie to-night?"</p> - -<p>"No, nor anywhere."</p> - -<p>Philip led her to the shore and found a corner among the rocks from -which they could watch the beaten silver of the billows rushing -tumultuously landward, breaking in foam about their eyrie, and slipping -back in myriad bridal veils.</p> - -<p>"There is always one night in the summer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> and this is the night," said -Philip. "Think of viewing the moon in company with the goddess herself! -If you only wouldn't mind leaning against my arm. I'm sorry to have that -rock cutting into your dandy gown."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, but it doesn't. I have a very good place here."</p> - -<p>"Comfortable enough to tell me that you liked the music?"</p> - -<p>Diana looked around at him slowly, and he laughed softly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know you did. I know if I ever could sing, I sang to-night. -There was something new in it. It taught me something, something I've -been waiting for. They've always told me, my teachers, that the one -thing I needed was to fall in love. It must have happened—happened, -somehow, when I wasn't looking." Philip crossed his arms behind his -head, leaned back and looked at the high sailing moon. "Thank you, great -goddess Diana, I am at your feet. You have dropped upon me a spark of -the divine fire. I build you an altar. The flame shall never go out."</p> - -<p>The girl beside him bit her lip and silence fell between them. The -bright billows swept in and crashed apart.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p><p>"I suppose that is what love means to an artist," she said at last. -"The nourishing of his art. That is all."</p> - -<p>"That is all it can mean to me," he answered; "but isn't it enough? An -object to worship with all a man's strength, receiving the return of -inspiration?"</p> - -<p>She looked at him as he lay there reclining against the rock, his -upturned face not seeking hers. This evening had shown her in miniature -the truth of all she had felt and, because her heart was beating fast, -she clung more strongly than ever to the spectacled gentleman with the -scanty hair.</p> - -<p>"Say something, divine one," he said suddenly, turning to her.</p> - -<p>"Don't confuse me with the moon, Mr. Barrison," she warned him.</p> - -<p>"But at least can't you congratulate me?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I can, on many things; but—don't fall in love with any ideal less -impersonal than a planet."</p> - -<p>"I don't intend to, but why these words of wisdom?"</p> - -<p>"Because any—any mere mortal girl married to you would be miserable."</p> - -<p>"Oh, come, now!" Philip sat up, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> frowned at her with a quizzical -smile. "So you think I ought to try kindness first, do you? Why?"</p> - -<p>Diana turned her fair moonlit face directly to him. "Because you cannot -ever belong to yourself, even. Much less to her."</p> - -<p>"I don't quite get that."</p> - -<p>"I can't speak for all girls, but for myself, if I ever have a husband, -I want—I want to creep off into a corner with him."</p> - -<p>"A corner like this rock?"</p> - -<p>"This is big enough."</p> - -<p>"How would that suit the great Charles Wilbur?"</p> - -<p>"It would not suit him. I know that. The homely little stoop-shouldered -man, with the lovely soul, whom I mean to marry, will not altogether -please my father."</p> - -<p>Philip's eyes grew big in the moonlight. "Have you picked him out?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, as an ideal. Other women will leave me in possession of him."</p> - -<p>"Ah," Philip nodded, "I begin to see." They were both silent again. At -last Philip spoke again. "I deny that that girl you are warning me away -from would have such a rocky time. What do you suppose I should care for -the babble, no matter how kind it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> was, how sweet even, of other women? -I should see only her."</p> - -<p>"You think so," said Diana. "I know you think so. And at first it would -probably be so, but a singer's appetite for flattery grows. Of course it -does. I'm not blaming you. It's just your career."</p> - -<p>Silence again, until Philip spoke. "Very well, I shall hunt you out in -your corner with your faithful gnome, and I shall beg: (he sang) 'Drink -to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine.'"</p> - -<p>Philip sang the song entirely through, slowly and deliberately, and -Diana closed her eyes, and the laces on her sleeve trembled. The glory -of the night, the glory of the voice were all one. She shrank into her -corner and held desperately to her ideal.</p> - -<p>When he had finished, Philip looked at her. Her head rested back upon -the rock, her eyes were closed. The mysterious light lent her face a -strange radiance.</p> - -<p>"Diana," he said, and there was a thrill in his voice, "you are well -named. Goddess of the moon you certainly are, and this night is an epoch -in my life. I love, and in spite of your skepticism I shall be true." -She opened her eyes and looked at him, and he drew a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> long, quick -breath. "I can't let you stay here any longer. Your wrap isn't enough. -Now we will sprint up to the Inn. Do you feel like it?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, is it over?" she said softly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, or else it has just begun. I am not sure which," he answered, and -rising he gave her his hand and helped her to her feet. "The moon is no -farther away from me than you," he said in the moment while he held her -hand. "I am not going to forget it."</p> - -<p>"Then it is I!" she thought, with a bound of the heart that turned her -faint.</p> - -<p>They scarcely spoke on the long, heavenly walk up the island. The sea -was starry as the sky with the lights of fishing boats, and -phosphorescence gleamed where the water was in shadow.</p> - -<p>When he took her hand for good-night on the piazza of the Inn, she said: -"I haven't thanked you for this wonderful evening. You know I -do—Philomel."</p> - -<p>He smiled down at her. "That reminds me of our first meeting here. -'Philomel with melody,' you said. I remember what I had been singing, -too. It is still true." He kissed her hand, jumped over the piazza rail, -narrowly missing the sweet peas, and strode<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> away. The girl stood in the -shadow watching the tall, white figure and listening to the waves of -song that floated back through the moonlight.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Thou'rt like unto a flower</div> -<div>So sweet, so pure, so fair—"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"What shall I do!" murmured the poor, bewildered moon-goddess on the -piazza. "What shall I <i>do</i>!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XX</span> <span class="smaller">REUNION</span></h2> - -<p>There was one case of happiness without drawbacks on the island at this -time. It was in the humble starved heart of Herbert Loring, Second. Each -morning Mrs. Lowell came into his room after breakfast and made his bed, -taught him how to take care of his belongings, and read with him from -the books she loved. All traces of Nicholas Gayne's occupation having -been removed, and every article the boy had used in the past dispensed -with, his fresh new possessions were neatly arranged, and he waked each -morning to a new and wonderful life. Mrs. Lowell encouraged his artistic -work and allowed him to spend as much time upon it as he wished. All -fear being removed, his appetite revived, and one could almost daily see -the flesh return upon his bones. His good friend, finding that his -sapped energies recoiled from muscular effort, did not urge him to swim -or to row, but fed his mind and heart and awaited his rebuilding.</p> - -<p>His story became known on the island, and from being ignored or -contemptuously pitied,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> the good-looking boy in the simple, smart sports -clothes was the object on all sides of a friendly curiosity, which he -could not understand and frequently rebuffed through his very directness -and inexperience. It was his weekly duty to write to Mr. Wrenn, and this -was a dreaded task, but Mrs. Lowell explained to him that he had his -grandfather's name, and that he must begin to learn to fill his place in -the world; and his pitifully childish writing and misspelling had to be -corrected under the eyes that were still sad at such times.</p> - -<p>"I'm so ignorant, such a baby!" he exclaimed one morning when this trial -was being undergone.</p> - -<p>"But you needn't mind it, need you, since it isn't your fault?" returned -Mrs. Lowell cheerfully. "So many good years are coming for you to study -and learn in."</p> - -<p>"What will happen when the summer is over?" asked the boy. "Are you -going to take me with you? Will Mr. Lowell like me?"</p> - -<p>"Indeed, he will. I am going to have you live near me."</p> - -<p>"Not with you?"</p> - -<p>"No, Bert, that wouldn't be best. I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> been corresponding with a very -nice young man whom I have known a long time, and he will be pleased to -live with you and give you lessons."</p> - -<p>"In drawing?" asked the boy.</p> - -<p>"No, sir." Mrs. Lowell gave him the gay, smiling look he liked: it was -so full of everything cheerful and kind. "No, sir, reading and writing -and 'rithmetic."</p> - -<p>"Oh," returned Bert, looking very serious.</p> - -<p>"First you must give your time to study. Education is the foundation. -Then, later, when you have gone through college—Oh, how proud I shall -be when I go to see you graduate!"</p> - -<p>"Shall you ever be proud of me?" asked the boy slowly.</p> - -<p>"If you will let me," she answered. "It all remains with you."</p> - -<p>"Then—then I'll try. I would rather stay with Mr. Blake when you go -away, but if you want me to, I'll live with the young man."</p> - -<p>"You will like him. He is only twenty years old, and he wants to go to -college when he gets money enough. So he is glad to do tutoring now. -That means helping a younger boy to learn."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p><p>"He will laugh at me," remarked Bert, looking off moodily. "I would -rather stay with Mr. Blake and paint the snow on the evergreens."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "That wouldn't please your -grandfather. Besides, wouldn't you miss me?"</p> - -<p>"I don't like Mr. Lowell," remarked the boy.</p> - -<p>His friend laughed and took his hand between both her own. "We shall all -love each other," she said, "and I shall hope to see you every day."</p> - -<p>Bert thoughtfully visualized the boat carrying her away without him, and -decided to be glad of the other horn of the dilemma. He had learned to -smile, and he did so now, looking at her so trustfully that she patted -his hand as she laid it down.</p> - -<p>"That's a good boy," she said.</p> - -<p class="space-above">On the morning after the concert, Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child rather -anxiously.</p> - -<p>"Is it ever considered malarial here?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"The opposite extreme," said Diana.</p> - -<p>"Well, you look pale. You stayed out of doors too long. The night air -anywhere—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, but it has such a pleasant way of growing warmer here at evening. -I wasn't cold, indeed, Mamma."</p> - -<p>"And I heard that divine voice going back through the field singing -Rubinstein," said Mrs. Wilbur. She sighed. "I am glad you are so -matter-of-fact, Diana. He made me feel like a matinée girl, that man." -Mrs. Wilbur was already planning her autumn musicale, and in fancy saw -the air dark with automobiles parked in rows about the Wilbur residence -in Pittsfield.</p> - -<p>She left Diana now to go upstairs to make her list, and the girl went -out of doors to gather sweet peas for the living-room. Pausing when her -hands were full of the color and fragrance, she turned about to view the -fresh morning landscape. As she did so she heard a gay whistling that -grew louder as it neared.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"The owl and the pussy cat went to sea</div> -<div>In a beautiful pea-green boat—"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The thrill of delicious terror, which had come over her on waking from -her short sleep that morning, constricted her heart now.</p> - -<p>Philip approached. "Good-morrow, fair one; posing for a study of -Aurora?"</p> - -<p>Diana looked around at him with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>deliberation. "I was deciding what -individuals of the fauna and flora here were most marked."</p> - -<p>Philip ducked his face down into her bouquet. "You chose the sweet pea, -of course."</p> - -<p>"No, I decided on swallows and daisies. The swallows are ravishing: so -fearless and so beautiful. Have you noticed how they dart past, nearly -brushing our cheeks, and how the sun brings out glints of blue in their -plumage? I often mistake them for bluebirds with that touch of color on -their breasts."</p> - -<p>"Daisies and swallows," said Philip musingly. "They do seem to belong -especially. It makes me think of a song." He paused. "Did you hear that -booming of a new whistle this morning? There's a stranger in the cove, a -swell yacht. I thought you might like to come down and see it."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I should. Let me put the flowers in water and I will be with you." -She reappeared quickly, and they struck off across the field to the -road.</p> - -<p>"How could I know it was a strange whistle?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you wouldn't, but to us islanders every familiar whistle is -like the voice of a friend. Kelly is waiting for us in his boat. We want -to row out to the beauty."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p><p>"It was very kind of you to come 'way up here for me," said Diana.</p> - -<p>There came walking toward them along the road a man in white trousers, -dark-blue coat, and cap with a gold insignia.</p> - -<p>"That must be some one from the yacht now," said Philip.</p> - -<p>Diana looked up, looked again, and with a cry of delight, ran forward -straight into the arms of the man.</p> - -<p>"Daddy, Daddy!" she cried, "how good of you!"</p> - -<p>The tall, handsome stranger, with silver threads in his brown mustache, -glanced up at his daughter's escort while he kissed her.</p> - -<p>"I had to look you up, you know," he said while she held him tight, her -arms around his neck.</p> - -<p>Loosing him, she half turned to Philip. "This is Mr. Barrison, Daddy. We -were just going down to see who was the stranger in the cove."</p> - -<p>Mr. Wilbur shook hands with the tanned, blond youth in a perfunctory -manner, scarcely looking at him.</p> - -<p>"Mamma is here. Did you know it?" cried Diana.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p><p>"No. You don't say so! Kill both my birds with one stone, eh?"</p> - -<p>The girl held out her hand to Philip. "I shall have to go back, Mr. -Barrison. Daddy, take your card and write an order for Mr. Barrison and -his friend to go over the yacht. They were just going to row out to it, -and I was going with them. How little I thought it was you, dearest." -She kissed him again and fumbled at her father's buttons.</p> - -<p>Philip thought there was some reluctance in the cool glance the -yachtsman flung him again. "Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Wilbur. Another -time, perhaps."</p> - -<p>"No, this minute," said Diana. Mr. Wilbur got at an inside pocket. "Mr. -Barrison will take you deep-sea fishing if you can stay a few days. You -have often spoken of it."</p> - -<p>"A fisherman, eh?" said Mr. Wilbur, as he took out his card and wrote -upon it.</p> - -<p>Diana laughed nervously. "Oh, no, Daddy, but he knows the ropes here." -She handed the card to Philip. "The Idlewild is worth visiting," she -said, "and you never can tell with these yachtsmen. They slip off -sometimes in the middle of the night. A bird in the hand, you know." She -smiled. "Au revoir."</p> - -<p>Philip, holding his card, looked after them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> as they went on up the -road. Diana was hanging on her father's arm. The young fellow's face -flushed deeply under the tan, and his lips came together firmly.</p> - -<p>"That girl is worth all the adoration a man can waste on her," he -thought. "I don't know that he is such a fool at that."</p> - -<p class="space-above">"What a summer, Veronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge when she found that -Charles Wilbur was going to eat mackerel and sweet potatoes at her table -that noon.</p> - -<p>"Some do have greatness thrust upon them, Aunt Priscilla. First the -arrival of Prince Herbert, then King Charles himself."</p> - -<p>"Yes, my knees feel kind o' queer, Veronica, and I think we'd better -have the lobster salad this noon instead of saving it for night."</p> - -<p>The other boarders eliminated themselves, so that the Wilbur family -could occupy the piazza after dinner. Mr. Wilbur had praised the cooking -and Veronica had carried the good report to the kitchen. He sat now with -his wife and daughter, one on each side of him, and, as he smoked his -cigar, looked off on the glory that is Casco Bay.</p> - -<p>"You're pretty nearly on a boat here, aren't you?" he said.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p><p>"It is the most wonderful place in the world," said Diana fervently.</p> - -<p>He turned to her and pinched her chin. The excited color that had risen -in her happy surprise had faded. "You're not a good advertisement for -it," he said. "You didn't eat anything at dinner and you look as if you -had been up all night."</p> - -<p>"I do think Diana feels the effect of all the excitement she went -through in Boston," said Mrs. Wilbur; and forthwith she proceeded to -tell the story of the grandson of her husband's old friend, and Diana's -part in it. He had met the boy at table and he listened with absorbed -interest.</p> - -<p>"Well, little girl, well," he said kindly, "that was some experience. -You'll have to brace up now."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm going to, Daddy, and I want to purchase some of this island. I -love it here. It inspires me."</p> - -<p>"Better hold on," was the quiet response. "Why not take this place next -summer? Engage Miss Burridge as cook and housekeeper, then bring some -guests and run up here for a week or so, off and on, when you feel like -it."</p> - -<p>"That might be pleasant," returned Diana.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p><p>Her father smiled and patted her. "You are not always going to be a -tired schoolgirl. Home may hold out more attractions next summer than -you think."</p> - -<p>"You don't know the rocks and the walks here yet, Daddy," said Diana -wistfully.</p> - -<p>"How many walks shall I have to take before you are ready to go back -with me?"</p> - -<p>"Of course we're going back with Daddy," said Mrs. Wilbur warningly.</p> - -<p>"You like the yacht, don't you, Diana?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I do. It was only that you were going to have such gay people -this summer, and I couldn't be gay."</p> - -<p>"I understand, dear. I've ditched the gay people now, and we will have a -family party only, going back."</p> - -<p>"That will be delightful," replied Diana.</p> - -<p>"We haven't told you the most wonderful thing yet," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"There is a most charming singer on the island. He gave a recital last -night. Nothing commonplace. A very unusual voice. I'm engaging him for -Pittsfield, Charles. He thinks he can come for a recital. He is young -and little known yet, and so will be a novelty. I want you to hear him. -You'll be wild, too."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p><p>"I promise not to be," responded her husband.</p> - -<p>"But you can't help it, dear. Diana, why shouldn't we have a little -dinner on the yacht and Mr. Barrison would probably sing afterward, and -your father could hear him. Let me see now. Who would we have?"</p> - -<p>"I don't care," put in Mr. Wilbur, "so long as you have that sparkling -person who sat beside the boy at dinner."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Lowell," said Diana. "I'm so glad you appreciate Mrs. Lowell, -Daddy."</p> - -<p>"I'm not blind in one eye and I can see out of the other. I have my -hearing, too, and her voice is as fresh as a robin's."</p> - -<p>"But, oh, speaking of voices!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, rolling up her -eyes. "Well, then, Diana, supposing we have just Mr. Barrison and Mr. -Kelly and Mrs. Lowell."</p> - -<p>"And Veronica," said Diana.</p> - -<p>"The young person who waits on the table," explained Mrs. Wilbur. "She -and her aunt, Miss Burridge, are very worthy people."</p> - -<p>"Veronica and Mr. Kelly are such good friends," said Diana. "It would be -too bad not to ask her."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Kelly is Mr. Barrison's accompanist," put in Mrs. Wilbur.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p><p>"Barrison?" repeated Mr. Wilbur. "Isn't that the name of the husky I -met on the road just now?" The speaker removed his cigar to ask his -daughter the question.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Mamma, Mr. Barrison came up to take me down to row out in Mr. -Kelly's boat to see the stranger in the cove. So when we encountered -Daddy on the road, I persuaded him to give them an order to go over the -yacht."</p> - -<p>In spite of herself, the missing color came back into the girl's cheeks -while she related this, and Charles Wilbur, whom no circumstance -connected with his daughter ever escaped, observed it.</p> - -<p>When next he was alone with his wife, he asked a few questions as to -Diana's regard for the singer.</p> - -<p>"No, no, my dear," she returned scornfully. "You don't know Diana. We -have an extraordinary daughter, there is no mistake about <i>that</i>, but -she was telling me the other day of her ideal for a husband. He is a -fright, I can assure you, but full of charm and all that. She doesn't -want to marry any man who is attractive to women."</p> - -<p>"Wants to fool the vamps, eh?" was the laughing reply.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p><p>"Why doesn't she look at her daddy?" was the affectionate response. -"The most attractive being on earth and one who never gave me a -heartache?"</p> - -<p>Charles Wilbur slipped his arm around his wife and kissed her. They were -the best of friends.</p> - -<p>"Don't you know, my dear, that a girl's father is always unique? He -isn't a man."</p> - -<p>"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, harking back to her find. "But, Charlie, -you don't know how delighted I am to have such a prize for Pittsfield. I -must show you my list."</p> - -<p>She produced it and Mr. Wilbur, frowning patiently, looked it over. He -hated lists.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXI</span> <span class="smaller">GOOD-BYES</span></h2> - -<p>But before the dinner party came off, Philip Barrison did take the steel -man deep-sea fishing. Barney Kelly was so overwhelmed by the luxury of -the yacht that he refrained from saying a word against the nocturnal -expedition. He happened to meet Veronica down at the post-office and -gave her his reasons.</p> - -<p>"I say it's only fair that Mr. Wilbur should be racked and tortured," he -said. "Any man so deep in the lap of luxury should learn a little of how -the other half lives. That yacht is the slickest thing I ever saw. The -deep-cushioned armchairs on the deck are upholstered in a light-green -leather that you would think a drop of water would deface, and the salt -spray doesn't faze it in the least. Then the master's room with its twin -beds is divided from the bathroom by a sliding door which is a huge -mirror, and the dining-saloon is in mahogany with the exquisite china -and glass all enameled with the yacht's flag."</p> - -<p>Veronica's mouth always grew very small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> when she was deeply interested -and her eyes very wide, and they looked so now as she listened.</p> - -<p>"Just think," she said, "I am going to see it."</p> - -<p>"Good work. I wanted you to."</p> - -<p>"I'm going to eat off those dishes and sit in the easy-chairs."</p> - -<p>"What's happening?"</p> - -<p>"A dinner party, and you are in it. Miss Diana told me."</p> - -<p>"I shall be careful to eat nothing between now and then," declared -Barney, "for I suspect that <i>chef</i> of being an artist. Let us not count -on it too much, though, Veronica. Barrison takes Mr. Wilbur on that -unspeakable expedition to-morrow morning. We all may be thrown out of -that dinner party by the violence of his feelings."</p> - -<p>As it turned out, however, Kelly's apprehensions were not realized. Mr. -Wilbur's wife and daughter were on the yacht to greet him when he -returned from his novel experience at nearly noon of the next day. He -had changed his clothing at "Grammy's" and was full of praise of that -old gentlewoman.</p> - -<p>"Nice people as ever lived, those folks," he said as he stretched -himself out in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span><i>chaise longue</i> on the deck under the awning, and was -served with iced drinks.</p> - -<p>"Mamma hasn't met Mr. Barrison's grandmother," said Diana as she placed -the cigars beside her father.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he comes of superior people, you can see that," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"Charlie, I'm going to invite Mrs. Coolidge."</p> - -<p>"All right. I guess she can stand it."</p> - -<p>"Stand it!" echoed Mrs. Wilbur. "You don't know what you're talking -about."</p> - -<p>"He is still thinking about the fishing, Mamma," put in Diana.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and young Barrison," said Mr. Wilbur. "He's a tonic, that chap. -The way he went over that boat, regular Douglas Fairbanks stunts he did. -He's a hundred-per-cent man, whether he can sing or not." The speaker -regarded his daughter out of the tail of his eye as he talked, and he -saw the slight compression of her lips and the glow in her eyes.</p> - -<p>"I offered him a cigar, but he shook his head: 'My voice is my fortune, -sir,' he said."</p> - -<p>"Sensible," said Mrs. Wilbur, not looking up from the silk she was -knitting.</p> - -<p>"When are you giving your dinner party?"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow night."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p><p>"That is good, for we must be on our way," said Mr. Wilbur. He yawned. -"I'm dead to the world. I must go to sleep."</p> - -<p>"Daddy," said Diana, "are we really going away at once?"</p> - -<p>He took her hand, and it was cold. "Yes, I think we shall have to be -off." He regarded her with affectionate thoughtfulness. "I want to go -somewhere and find some roses for you."</p> - -<p>The roses suddenly bloomed in the girl's face under his searching eyes.</p> - -<p>"You want to go with your old dad, don't you?" he added affectionately.</p> - -<p>"Of course I do, dearest," she answered, and he forgave her the lie -because she looked so pretty in her embarrassment. "But I have packing -to do, you know. I can't go without any warning."</p> - -<p>He continued to gaze at her and to hold her cold hand.</p> - -<p>"That young Caruso of yours is quite a boy," he said irrelevantly. "No -lugs, honest, substantial."</p> - -<p>"He is more than that, Daddy. He is a self-made man."</p> - -<p>"Did a good job, too; physically at least."</p> - -<p>"No; more than that; he has been a hero to get where he is in his art."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p><p>"Told you so, eh?"</p> - -<p>"No, indeed." The roses bloomed brighter. The hand twitched in his. "He -gratified my curiosity one day by telling me his experiences. He thinks -they were entirely commonplace. He was very poor and with no influence, -but his persistence and determination won."</p> - -<p>"That's the stuff," returned Charles Wilbur quietly. "I like the way he -treats his grandmother, too."</p> - -<p>"And, Charlie," said his wife, looking up from her work, "I believe I'll -invite some people from Lenox. I'll have a house party."</p> - -<p>"Very well, my dear." Her husband smiled toward her preoccupied face, -and released his daughter's hand.</p> - -<p>"Now, you run along up to the Inn, Diana," said Mrs. Wilbur, "and pack. -Then have Mr. Blake bring the trunk and our bags aboard this afternoon."</p> - -<p>"Not go back to the Inn at all, afterward, then?" asked Diana.</p> - -<p>"No. There won't be any necessity. I told that perfectly crazy Léonie to -have my things and hers ready and bring them aboard before dinner. She -looked at me as if I had struck her down."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span></p><p>"Poor Léonie," breathed Diana.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur shrugged her shoulders. "I shall be lucky if she doesn't -tell me she has decided to marry Bill Lindsay and stay here." The lady -laughed and looked at her husband. "I should have to invite them to take -their wedding trip on the yacht, for I can't let her go until she has -shown some one else how to do my hair."</p> - -<p>"Let her teach me, immediately, to-day," said Diana quickly.</p> - -<p>Her mother stared at her. "You don't want her to marry Bill Lindsay, I -hope!"</p> - -<p>"I do not care whom she marries," returned Diana with amazing spirit. -"The important, colossally important thing is that she should marry whom -she pleases, when she pleases."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur continued to stare while her husband's closed eyes opened -and he also regarded Diana as she stood up, her hands clenched.</p> - -<p>"That was Helen Loring's creed," said Mrs. Wilbur dryly. "There is a -better one. Don't forget that."</p> - -<p>The girl's head drooped and the roses faded.</p> - -<p>Ten minutes later she went down the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>awning-guarded steps at the yacht's -side, and entered the waiting boat with its shining brasses and natty, -white-uniformed sailors, to go ashore.</p> - -<p class="space-above">Miss Burridge was quite touched by the feeling displayed by her star -boarder at their parting.</p> - -<p>"I do not remember any period of my life which has been so happy as the -last six weeks," said the girl, her lip quivering. "Would you take care -of me if I should take the Inn for next summer and come here with -friends a part of the season?"</p> - -<p>"Take the Inn, Miss Wilbur?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. My father said that might be more sensible than for me to build -here. I would make satisfactory arrangements with you. Perhaps Veronica -would come with you, then you wouldn't mind if you had the place to -yourselves much of the season."</p> - -<p>"Of course, I should like an easy berth like that, Miss Wilbur." Miss -Burridge laughed with a suspicion of moisture around her lashes at the -pressure of Diana's hands, and the seriousness of her plaintive eyes.</p> - -<p>"I must say good-bye to Bertie. I wonder where he is."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p><p>"Up in his room, I think. He came in a few minutes ago."</p> - -<p>There Diana found him. He looked up from the stretcher over which he was -working and was surprised to see his friend in her street clothes.</p> - -<p>"Are you going to Boston again?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I am leaving permanently," she answered, and she took his hand and drew -him down to a seat beside her. He looked at her as she bit her lip while -she smiled on him, and he thought she was going to cry. "We shall be -here a couple more nights, but I shall be on the yacht. Have you seen -it, Bertie? Would you like to come down with me now and go over it?"</p> - -<p>"I'd like to make a sketch of it." The boy looked interested.</p> - -<p>"Very well, you shall. Bill is coming for us in a few minutes. You drive -down with us; but I want to tell you, before we go, how happy I am for -you."</p> - -<p>"You don't look happy at all, Miss Diana. You look sad. Are you sad?"</p> - -<p>"I am a little bit—leaving here, and all the friends. Do you know that -we are related in some far-off way, Bertie? You might call me Cousin -Diana. You mustn't forget me."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p><p>"No, I won't forget you," replied the boy, noticing that her lip -quivered. "Mrs. Lowell will write to you."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'm sure she will," said Diana, touching her eyes quickly with her -handkerchief, "and Mrs. Lowell is a wonderful friend. She has told me of -her arrangements for you, told me about the fine, strapping young -fellow, Mr. Lawrence, who is going to be your companion and tutor. I -expect when I see you next that you will stand up, straight as a young -soldier—"</p> - -<p>"Straight as—as Mr. Barrison," said Bert, pulling his slender shoulders -back hopefully.</p> - -<p>"Yes, as—as he is, and I know you will like this young Mr. Lawrence, -and do every thing just as Mrs. Lowell desires to have you. I am glad -you can stay on longer here, for it is—it is a place to be happy, isn't -it, Bertie?"</p> - -<p>Diana's lips quivered again dangerously. "There, I hear the motor. Bring -your sketch-book, and come."</p> - -<p>They descended to where Léonie was standing beside the bags in her trim -street clothes. Matt Blake's wagon was waiting, too, and he carried -Diana's trunk, and the various and sundry suitcases and bags which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> -represented the Wilbur party, out to his wagon.</p> - -<p>Miss Burridge and Veronica saw them off. Mrs. Lowell was away in the -woods with her bird-glasses, and the other boarders were fortunately -absent. Diana left her good-byes for them, and then with a lump in her -throat got into the car. Léonie sat in front with her cavalier, and all -the way down the road, her head was popping out and a stream of "adieux" -pouring forth upon animate and inanimate objects alike.</p> - -<p>Herbert Loring sat beside his friend and, feeling wonderingly her need -for comfort, slipped his hand into hers, and she held it tightly.</p> - -<p>Diana had many good-byes to say at the float, while her baggage was -being lifted into the yacht's boat, waiting with its picturesque crew. -At last they were off, and Bertie's eyes were greedily fixed on the -lines of the handsome white yacht.</p> - -<p>After the trunks were placed on the yacht, she let Bert look about, but -he was eager to get his sketch. So she allowed him to descend again into -the small boat and put him in command of it. So he was taken to the -point he indicated and remained there until he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> was satisfied with his -sketch. Then the flashing oars fell into position and he was rowed back -to the shore. Diana waved him a last good-bye. Her father was taking his -much-needed forty winks, her mother was downstairs somewhere, and Léonie -stood near her, straining her eyes toward the float and waving to a -waiting figure thereon.</p> - -<p>"Adieu, charmante, belle île," she murmured, sniffing audibly. -"Mademoiselle, c'est comme si je quittais chez moi."</p> - -<p>"Oui, Léonie. Nous reviendrons quelque jour."</p> - -<p>There was a difference in their situations. Léonie had no hope of -entertaining Bill Lindsay at dinner.</p> - -<p>That function came off the next evening. Mr. Wilbur had spent much of -the afternoon with Philip Barrison. The latter had taken him out to the -pound and he had watched the drawing of the nets, and had had long -confabs with the fishermen, listening to their stories, scattering -cigars like hail, and enjoying himself thoroughly.</p> - -<p>He returned to the yacht in high good humor and made ready for the -farewell festivity.</p> - -<p>"That's a regular fellow, Barrison," he said to his wife, as he was -making his toilet.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, you wait," she replied.</p> - -<p>"I don't care a darn how he sings," remarked Mr. Wilbur, "but in his -case a man's a man for a' that. I don't wonder—" he stopped.</p> - -<p>"What don't you wonder, dear?"</p> - -<p>"Oh—at his popularity. My dear, dear Laura," he added after a pause, -smiling at his reflection in the glass as he used his military brushes, -"you're a wonderful woman."</p> - -<p>"Why, thank you, Charlie. What have I done now?" As he did not reply, -but continued to smile into his own eyes, she gave his arm a little -squeeze as she passed him. "I won <i>you</i>, anyway," she said triumphantly, -"and I need a compliment or two, for I never knew Diana to be so strange -and changeable as she has been to-day. The dear girl can't be well, and -I don't think I have realized quite the awfulness of her experience with -Herbert Loring. She was actually in danger for a time of being accused -of hastening his death. Why, it was dreadful."</p> - -<p>"Poor Diana, poor little girl," returned Charles Wilbur ruminatively.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXII</span> <span class="smaller">THE DINNER PARTY</span></h2> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were the first of the dinner guests to arrive. -They were received with remarkable effusiveness by Diana as links with -the life she was reluctantly leaving.</p> - -<p>"Did you see anything of our musician friends as you came down to the -float?" asked Mrs. Wilbur.</p> - -<p>"No, not just now," replied Mrs. Lowell, "but earlier in the day, I had -occasion to go to the post-office and there I found Mr. Kelly in a state -of great excitement. It seems that Mr. Barrison has been summoned to New -York to have his voice tried out for the opera. There is some trouble -and disappointment about a tenor who was expected."</p> - -<p>"That <i>is</i> exciting," remarked Mr. Wilbur, looking approvingly at the -lady with the fresh robin-voice and the charming costume.</p> - -<p>"Miss Veronica and I are all eyes, Mr. Wilbur," she continued. "I'm sure -you allow newcomers to stare as much as they please."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p><p>"Certainly. Let me show you some of our snug arrangements for 'a life -on the ocean wave.'"</p> - -<p>The guests followed him, and Mrs. Wilbur and her daughter regarded one -another, the elder with some consternation, the younger with brilliant -eyes and flaming cheeks.</p> - -<p>"I do hope he won't have to break his date with me," said Mrs. Wilbur.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps to sing with the Metropolitan is more important," returned -Diana.</p> - -<p>"You never have taken any interest in my plan," said her mother, her -eyes snapping. "I'm sure I don't know what has come over you on this -island. From the time you came back to the yacht yesterday, I have had -to speak twice to make you hear anything, and I've been afraid every -minute that you would let your father see that you were depressed at -leaving this foolish place and going with him."</p> - -<p>"I am perfectly willing to go, Mamma," was the docile reply, the change -of heart that had taken place in the last fifteen minutes not being -explained.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad to hear it," declared Mrs. Wilbur, placated. "You are -looking wonderfully well to-night, Diana. Clinging stuff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> suits you, and -in that silver girdle you have quite a classical appearance."</p> - -<p>"Do I look statuesque, Mamma?" Diana smiled, but not pensively. Her eyes -were alive with anticipation of this one more, this last evening. -"To-day I have been remembering my first days at the island, all alone -with Miss Burridge, the long, cold evenings with their wonderful -coloring, the vesper songs of the hardy robins and sparrows; the -grinding pebbles swept back and forth on the beach; the entrancing odors -that one cannot name, so mingled of balsam and sea—the great spaces of -earth and sky—" Something seemed to stop the rush of reminiscence.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child's kindling face with fond admiration. -"Yes," she returned, laughing softly, "I know how all that captured you, -but what has it to do with your being statuesque?"</p> - -<p>"Oh,"—Diana seemed to come to herself with a little start,—"Miss -Burridge used to say sometimes that I looked like a statue," she -returned, rather lamely.</p> - -<p>Motor boats were constantly putt-putt-ing around the yacht.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad," said Mrs. Wilbur, looking down upon them now, "that this is -the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> night we are to stay here. Didn't those inquisitive little -things keep you awake all last night, just like gnats?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't sleep much," admitted Diana.</p> - -<p>"There they come," said Mrs. Wilbur, suddenly, looking across at the -float.</p> - -<p>Two men in white flannels were stepping aboard the waiting boat whose -brasses flashed in the light of the lowering sun. Diana's heart bounded -toward her throat.</p> - -<p>"Well, I shall make him understand that he must tell me just as soon as -he knows himself," said Mrs. Wilbur rather fretfully, watching the -approach.</p> - -<p>The dinner party was a gay one. When the guests were seated at table, -they looked out through a wide semicircle of glass at the familiar -sights of the cove—its wooded shore, and the silhouettes of great waves -far out against the horizon.</p> - -<p>"I shall not forgive Kelly for giving me away," said Philip when his -host congratulated him on his call to New York. "How shall I feel when -you all hear that I didn't pass muster?"</p> - -<p>"Believe me," said Barney feelingly, "if that proves to be the case, -you'll all have cause to congratulate him. The life of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> American -singer in a Grand Opera Company is one fight, if it isn't an inferno. -The call-boy forgets to call him, the prompter forgets to prompt him. -Every curtain-call is begrudged him."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you're husky, Barrison," remarked Mr. Wilbur.</p> - -<p>"Yes," laughed Philip. "Kelly has been an industrious crêpe-hanger ever -since the letter arrived. At the same time he shoves me on."</p> - -<p>"Oh, certainly," said Barney, setting his lips energetically. "Must be -done. I think he's safe to win."</p> - -<p>"I am thinking about October and Pittsfield," said Mrs. Wilbur ruefully.</p> - -<p>Philip turned toward her. "I think there is little doubt that I shall be -with you," he answered.</p> - -<p>"Mamma doesn't mean that," declared Diana of the steadily burning -cheeks. "She wants you to succeed, of course."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Barrison," added her father, "but when your voice fails, we know -what you can do: skip around a vessel at sea for the movies."</p> - -<p>"You rather liked that fracas, didn't you, Mr. Wilbur?" returned Philip.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I did. When you come here to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> recuperate from the atrocities of -singer allies, I'll join you and we will repeat the dose."</p> - -<p>"Dose is the word," put in Kelly in an undertone.</p> - -<p>When finally the party adjourned to the deck, they fell into groups: -Mrs. Lowell and Diana, Veronica and Barney, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur and -Philip. The sun had gone down, and the western sky was still crimson.</p> - -<p>Diana put her hand over in Mrs. Lowell's lap. "We know how violet the -sea looks this minute from the Inn piazza," she said. "You will go on -seeing it."</p> - -<p>"And you will carry it away," returned Mrs. Lowell. "That, and many -another picture which you will stop to look at sometimes on a winter -day."</p> - -<p>"Yes, they are mine," said Diana gravely. "Even this pond of a cove with -the green banks and woods rising all about it. This is a picture that I -love, too."</p> - -<p>"Bert was quite troubled because he thought you seemed sad at leaving."</p> - -<p>"Good little sympathetic fellow," said Diana. "I don't want to believe, -Mrs. Lowell, that this is good-bye for us."</p> - -<p>"I hope it is not. New York and Philadelphia are not far apart, but you -will begin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> to be absorbed in other interests as soon as this yacht -leaves the cove."</p> - -<p>Diana shook her head. "My memory is not so short."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell looked at her with thoughtful affection. "I hope they won't -spoil you, my dear," she said wistfully. "It is very remarkable that you -have come along so far with 'a heart at leisure from itself.'"</p> - -<p>"Oh, do you think I have that?" returned Diana, looking up with seeking -eyes.</p> - -<p>"I do, my dear. The key note of happy usefulness is unselfishness. I -have been surprised by your unselfishness, Diana—under circumstances -that usually make for the other thing."</p> - -<p>"But, Mrs. Lowell, I am frightfully selfish!" exclaimed the girl. "You -don't know!"</p> - -<p>Her friend smiled. "Well, if you see it, that is half the battle. The -other half is putting it down—destroying it."</p> - -<p>"It is usually about—about people," said Diana unsteadily. "I—I am -afraid I am a monopolist—"</p> - -<p>"My word, but you people are interested in each other," said Philip -Barrison, suddenly appearing beside them. "Just lift your eyes."</p> - -<p>They looked up and saw the moon rising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> majestically above the -hill-road, and the cove beginning to glitter.</p> - -<p>"Now that mustn't make any difference," said Mrs. Wilbur firmly. "The -moon won't run away and Mr. Barrison has consented to sing for us."</p> - -<p>"The minutes are going so fast, so fast," thought Diana, "and there will -be no more."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur herded her group together and convoyed them to the -music-room.</p> - -<p>"This is really an especial treat for Mr. Wilbur," she said to Philip. -"You know he is the only one of us who hasn't heard you."</p> - -<p>"And you needn't imagine," added Mr. Wilbur, "that you are singing for -the impresario of the Metropolitan, either. So long as I am the chief -beneficiary to-night, it is only fair to tell you, Barrison, that -musically I am very despicable. 'The Last Rose of Summer,' and 'Annie -Laurie,' are where I am. So don't waste any <i>moderne</i> stuff on me."</p> - -<p>Philip smiled as he moved to the piano, and the company chose their -places. Mrs. Wilbur took a seat beside her husband, enveloped in the -anticipatory glow of the matinée girl.</p> - -<p>"I want to be where I can hold your hand if I need to, dear," she said. -Her husband glanced at Diana, flushed and grave, as she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> placed herself -on a low stool near the door, then back at the upstanding white figure -beside the piano.</p> - -<p>Philip said a few words to his accompanist as Barney's fingers strayed -softly over the keys—then a familiar strain began, and the heralded -voice was heard:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Believe me, if all those endearing young charms</div> -<div>That I gaze on so fondly to-day—"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>At the close, the host was smiling and nodding while his wife's eyes -challenged him in mute triumph. Philip discoursed with Barney a few -moments and apparently the pigeonholes of the accompanist's mind were -well-stored and the contents available, for the old favorite was -followed by "If I but Knew," "At Parting," "To Mary," and so on, Mr. -Wilbur growing more enthusiastic at each number.</p> - -<p>"You can speak, young man, so as to be understood, and you're the singer -for me," he said. "You have been very indulgent. Now if you don't mind, -let us have 'Drink to me only.'"</p> - -<p>Philip, for the first time, turned and looked directly at Diana. Her -father noticed it. He was becoming every moment more alert as to the -hundred-per-cent man in the white flannels.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p><p>The song followed. Diana, on her low seat, had her elbows on her knees -and her chin in her hands, and never once looked at the singer.</p> - -<p>"I have one more for you," said Philip when the applause had died away. -"It is a song of Maude Valérie White's, which I think fits into your -category, Mr. Wilbur. It has been haunting me of late."</p> - -<p>He turned for a few words to the accomplished Barney, during which Diana -looked up questioningly, apprehensively. She felt she could not bear -much more of the beating upon her heart-strings.</p> - -<p>Philip turned back, and, after only one running chord of prelude, began -to sing:</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Let us forget we loved each other much,</div> -<div>Let us forget we ever have to part.</div> -<div>Let us forget that any look or touch</div> -<div>First let in either to the other's heart.</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass,</div> -<div>And hear the larks and see the swallows pass.</div> -<div>Only we'll live awhile as children play,</div> -<div>Without to-morrow, without yesterday."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The last note was one of those high ones which Kelly had stated did such -fell work upon the feminine heart, and Mrs. Wilbur's lips were tremulous -as she met her husband's eyes.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span></p><p>"Say, my dear," he said, while clapping his hands manfully, "you have -Barrison sing that at Pittsfield, and I'll come to your party and make -love to you the rest of the night."</p> - -<p>Philip smiled and nodded, and drifted away from the piano, while Barney -got up and stretched his legs.</p> - -<p>"Where's Diana?" exclaimed her father, and instantly condemned himself -for drawing attention to her departure.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but she heard it, I'm sure," said Mrs. Wilbur apologetically, still -wiping her eyes. "I'm sure no one appreciates your singing more than -Diana."</p> - -<p>"Gone to look after her moon, probably," said Philip. "You know a -goddess has her duties."</p> - -<p>"There have been things going on," thought Charles Wilbur, with -ever-deepening conviction. "Mr. Kelly, you are a wizard," he said, -shaking Barney by the hand while Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were thanking -Philip.</p> - -<p>"You have both been so good to us," said Mrs. Wilbur warmly. "Why, -Diana, where have you been? We missed you," she added, as the girl came -into the room.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p><p>"I wanted to see if the steward understood," she replied. "I think, if -we go on deck now, we shall have something else refreshing after this -delightful feast." Her father watched the girl approach Barney. "Mr. -Kelly, you are wonderful. I remember the comical things you said about -your insignificance at recitals. I've seen again how apocryphal those -statements are."</p> - -<p>Her father continued to watch for her thanks to Philip. Apparently there -were none forthcoming, and fortunately Mrs. Wilbur was too busy talking -to him herself to notice it.</p> - -<p>"But won't Mr. Kelly play something before we leave?" she said -supplicatingly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, my dear lady," returned Barney lightly. "One has no appetite -for dinner after dessert."</p> - -<p>They went on deck, and the moon was glorifying the still cove. -Apparently the motor boats had sated their curiosity as to the yacht, -and all was peaceful. The company sat about in a social group and ate -and drank. Barney Kelly told some amusing experiences which he and -Philip had had on the road last season. Diana scarcely heard his -anecdotes, but she laughed with the rest.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Without to-morrow, without yesterday."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p><p>The words sang themselves over and over in her heart, and her cheeks -still burned. The minutes were flying, flying, and Philip was sitting -near her mother, who waited on him assiduously and rallied him upon his -lack of appetite.</p> - -<p>"Say, boy," said Kelly at last, "do you know we have a cart-load of -music to look over and we ought to do it to-night?"</p> - -<p>Then they would go. She would not see him alone again!</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Lowell, are you ready?" asked Philip. "We four will have a grand -moonlight walk up to the Inn."</p> - -<p>"No, indeed," replied that lady. "The faithful Bill is expecting us. I -know how busy you and Mr. Kelly must be."</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear!" burst forth Veronica. It was almost her first utterance of -the evening. "Isn't it a shame that the pleasantest things in life are -always the shortest!" She did wish Mrs. Lowell would not be so -considerate of the men's time. "Miss Diana, don't you really feel just a -little bit sorry to go and leave us?"</p> - -<p>"I do, indeed," returned Diana, receiving the girl's offered hand in her -cold one. "The best way probably is to remember Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>Barrison's song and -live as children play—'without to-morrow, without yesterday.' It has -been a—a wonderful playtime."</p> - -<p>"But there will be a to-morrow," said Philip, approaching her. "Will you -come to the opera next winter and hear me peep a few lines like 'Madam, -the carriage waits'?" He smiled radiantly. "That is, if I get in at -all."</p> - -<p>"Certainly, all your friends will be there," she returned, with -palpitating dignity. How could he speak so gayly? Probably the dazzling -possibilities of the future had effaced for him the memories that glowed -in her. That is what life with him would be: a constant craving, and a -constant disappointment.</p> - -<p>"I want a word with you, Barrison, before we break up," said Mr. Wilbur. -"You have been some star in this island visit of mine." He took Philip's -arm and walked apart with him.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Kelly, see the phosphorescence," cried Veronica from where she -had moved near the rail. Barney followed her.</p> - -<p>"What do you suppose Mr. Wilbur wants with Barrison?" said Kelly softly, -as they leaned over the rail. "Going to write him a check for a million, -maybe. He'd never miss it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span></p><p>"I don't believe Mr. Barrison will need anybody else's millions. He -made a lump come right up in my throat when he sang that last song about -forgetting and sitting on the daisies. I just wished I was in love with -somebody so I could be miserable all night like girls in books. -But"—Veronica sighed—"I am the most unsentimental girl in the world."</p> - -<p>"I wonder if that is what makes you so nice," said Barney, regarding her -mignonne face instead of the phosphorescence. "You're a little brick. Do -you know it? Are you coming back here again next summer?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps," returned Veronica demurely. "But meanwhile I live in Newark; -quite near New York."</p> - -<p>"I know, my dear, but when I get submerged, even little bricks can't -make me come to the surface to breathe. Do you think your father would -let you come over to lunch with me sometimes?"</p> - -<p>"You can ask him," replied Veronica.</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear, is that the way you feel about it?"</p> - -<p>"Just the way."</p> - -<p>"All ashore that's going ashore." It was Philip's voice. "Come on, -Kelly, and Little V."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p><p>Diana had been talking with Mrs. Lowell. She kissed her now hurriedly, -and stood rigid. The time had come. She would never go to the opera. She -would never see him again. Meanwhile, she joined her mother's gracious -reception of the parting courtesies, and shook hands with all the guests -alike. They went down the guarded stairway. It was midnight, and the -cove was very still. Diana could not watch the departure of the small -boat.</p> - -<p>"I'm tired," she said, stifling a yawn. "Good-night, dears."</p> - -<p>She disappeared quickly. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur stood by the rail and waved -to the departing boat-load.</p> - -<p>"What a delightful evening it has been," said the lady with a sigh. "But -wasn't it strange that Mr. Barrison wasn't hungry after singing? I -thought people always were. Didn't you think the sandwiches were as good -as usual?"</p> - -<p>"Better. I was as hungry as a hunter—or a sailor. Great air, this, Laura."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span></p> - -<h2><span>CHAPTER XXIII</span> <span class="smaller">THE MOON-GODDESS</span></h2> - -<p>In the twin beds of the master's room on the yacht Idlewild two persons -lay wide awake at one-thirty o'clock that morning.</p> - -<p>One of them finally said softly and tentatively: "Charlie, are you -awake?"</p> - -<p>"I am, my dear," came the reply, "and I should like to ask whether it is -simply insomnia with you, or whether you are suffering from incipient -St. Vitus?"</p> - -<p>"Why, I thought I had been keeping so still. It was the same way after I -heard that man sing the last time. I couldn't sleep for hours. Isn't he -all I said? I'll warrant he is keeping you awake, too."</p> - -<p>"I think he is."</p> - -<p>"There!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur triumphantly. "You do consider him -extraordinary, don't you?"</p> - -<p>"I do. So much so that I have asked him to go out with us to-morrow -night—Oh, it's to-night, isn't it? The Captain says we will leave at -nine-thirty, and go as far as Portland."</p> - -<p>"Why, I think that is fine," said Mrs. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>Wilbur, greatly surprised. -"Well," she added, after a pause, "you could scarcely give a greater -proof of your liking, for I know how careful you are not to commit -yourself to being bored by anybody on the yacht. Why didn't he tell me -when he left to-night?"</p> - -<p>"Because he did not expect to accept. He may do so yet, however. I told -him he might decide at the last minute."</p> - -<p>"Why did he hesitate? Perhaps because you didn't invite Mr. Kelly."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but I did. I told him they might reign supreme in the music-room -and work as much as they pleased."</p> - -<p>"How delightful! Then why didn't he jump at such a prospect? I suppose -because they wouldn't get to New York so quickly."</p> - -<p>"No, he has considerable latitude concerning the date for arrival in New -York. I'll tell you just what he replied when I asked him. He looked me -straight in the eye and he said: 'Thank you, Mr. Wilbur, but it wouldn't -do me any good to take such a trip. It's best for me to play safe. I've -passed the age when it is permissible to cry for the moon.' He said it -slowly, with pauses. He was perfectly willing I should know what he -meant, and he saw that I did know."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p><p>"Will you kindly tell me"—Mrs. Wilbur sat up in bed and looked across -at her husband, bewildered—"what the man was talking about?"</p> - -<p>"Can't you possibly think it out?" asked Charles Wilbur quietly.</p> - -<p>She frowned into the darkness. "You don't mean—he teases Diana about -being goddess of the moon—" She paused.</p> - -<p>"You're getting warm, dear, very warm," remarked her husband.</p> - -<p>"Why, Charlie, it's impossible!" Then hotly: "He is very wise. Nothing -would induce Diana to think of him."</p> - -<p>"You wouldn't like it, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Why, the idea! It's an impossible idea! I was a little apprehensive at -first, when I saw how attractive he was and knew that she had been up -here alone with him so long, but I soon saw there was nothing in it, and -you should hear what Diana says—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know young girls say a great many things besides their prayers."</p> - -<p>"Well, what did you say to him when he answered you like that?" Mrs. -Wilbur's tone was tense.</p> - -<p>"I told him that he might think it over, and that I should be glad to -have him come."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p><p>"Charles Wilbur!" exclaimed his wife severely. She threw off a down -cover as if minded to rise.</p> - -<p>"Cover yourself up, dear. It's rather cool."</p> - -<p>"But that was encouraging him, Charlie."</p> - -<p>"I think he perceived it dimly. He looked at me—a long gaze—by George, -he's a good-looking boy—and he didn't say a word. Then we shook hands -and rejoined the others."</p> - -<p>"You have done very wrong," declared Mrs. Wilbur, pulling back the -cover, but not lying down.</p> - -<p>"What do you want for Diana, Laura? A title?"</p> - -<p>"You needn't use that tone. I haven't thought out what I want for -Diana."</p> - -<p>"I <i>have</i>. I want happiness for her. From the day of my arrival here, I -have seen signs. I'm a rich man, but there is one thing I can't buy for -my only child, and that is happiness. Diana is a fastidious, carefully -bred girl, unspoiled as they make 'em, yet, of course, just as liable to -fall for an infatuation as Helen Loring was."</p> - -<p>"But she hasn't, she has not, Charlie," interrupted his wife -impetuously. "You don't know—"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span></p><p>"It is you who do not know, my dear. You have been so in love with him -yourself, and so obsessed with the joy of springing him on Mrs. Coolidge -and your other musical friends, that you haven't seen what was going on -under your nose any more than if you were a dear little bat."</p> - -<p>"Don't you call me a dear little bat! Diana is much more my child than -yours. A mother understands her daughter far better than the father can. -The idea of your high-handedly taking this matter into your hands -without even consulting me!"</p> - -<p>"Don't get excited, Laura. I'm not forcing anything. You've had your -innings. You didn't even notice what that last song of Barrison's did to -Diana to-night."</p> - -<p>"Mere emotionality. The same thing that keeps me awake after I hear him -sing. That proves nothing. It should even make you pull away from him -instead of pulling for him. You're crazy, Charles. He has hypnotized -you. The idea that a mere thrilling tenor voice and a fine figure could -make you lay down your common sense." Mrs. Wilbur's voice quavered and -she felt under her pillow for her handkerchief.</p> - -<p>Her husband smiled in the darkness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> "Wait, dear. I don't care whether -Diana marries a singer or not. I want her to marry a real man. I was on -the lookout for infatuation when I saw you so captivated, and I began to -inquire into the facts. I found an all-American chap who had had a -struggle from childhood and won out over poverty and discouragement by -hitching his wagon to a star. He volunteered during the late war and was -slightly wounded. He has a clean inheritance, good muscle, and plenty of -red blood. I don't care for the blue kind, myself. In short, he is the -sort of man I am perfectly willing our daughter should marry, <i>if she -wants to</i>."</p> - -<p>"I tell you—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know. You tell me she doesn't want to. Now, I have an idea we -shall very soon learn the truth about that. Barrison has shown that he -knows how to get what he wants. In this case, I can see how our money -will stick in his crop."</p> - -<p>"Ho!" from the other bed. A tremendous aspiration.</p> - -<p>"Don't blow me out of the room, dearie. I know people will laugh at that -idea, but I have had lots of experience in reading character. Barrison -will have a great deal to overcome<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> in his own mind. He will not feel -free to approach Diana. Perhaps, after all, the affair will amount to -nothing. All right, if it does. I'm a passenger, now that I feel sure -the boy is a clean specimen."</p> - -<p>"Has it come to this!" ejaculated Mrs. Wilbur slowly. "That Diana Wilbur -is to be given to a clean specimen!"</p> - -<p>"If she so desires," returned the other. "Now I'm going to ask a big -thing of you, Laura. It is not to speak to Diana on this subject until -she speaks to you. She knows nothing of my invitation to Barrison. We -can't handle the matter any further with good effect until the -principals declare themselves. You know our girl. You know it is a hall -mark of genuineness, a proof of pure metal when she likes a man or a -woman. Can't you trust her?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur was lying down now. Her husband heard a sniff or two stifled -in a pillow.</p> - -<p>"I wasn't anybody when you married me, Laura," he went on gently. -"Weren't we just as happy when we economized on taking a taxi as we are -in this yacht? Our boy would be nearly twenty-three now if he had lived. -I would have liked my son to look at me with as clear eyes, to have -known as little of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>self-indulgence as Barrison. It is all up to the -children, but wouldn't there be points in being mother-in-law to that -voice, when you come to think it over?"</p> - -<p>No answer, and soon Charles Wilbur completed his infamy by a long and -regular breathing that assured his wife that he was sleeping the sleep -of the unjust and the outrageous.</p> - -<p>Léonie arose a few hours later to a hard day. Mrs. Wilbur had a headache -and did not leave her bed. Diana, with dark shadows under her eyes, came -in to make a dutiful visit of condolence, and was well snubbed. She -retreated to the deck, where her father was cheerfully watching the life -of the cove.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, dear," he said, turning and putting his arm around her. -"We have your mother laid out, haven't we?"</p> - -<p>"Why, Daddy, what is the matter? The coördination of her nervous system -seems entirely thrown out."</p> - -<p>He smiled heartlessly. "She didn't sleep much, honey. Neither did you," -regarding her closely.</p> - -<p>"No, Daddy," she replied, rather breathlessly. "I seem to be more -reposeful when the yacht is in motion."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span></p><p>"'Rocked in the cradle of the deep,' eh? Want to go ashore this -morning?"</p> - -<p>"No, I think not. Mrs. Lowell is coming out for tea this afternoon, a -little good-bye visit."</p> - -<p>"All right, then. What do you say to some cribbage?"</p> - -<p>"Fine, if we cannot be of any assistance to Mamma. Are you sure?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, my love. She has been drinking heavily of 'the wine of -astonishment' and must sleep it off. If there is any humble pie on -board, you might have Léonie take her some for luncheon."</p> - -<p>"What are you talking about, Daddy? Poor Mamma!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, she is absolutely one of the finest. I thought so when she was -eighteen, and cute, with a little turn-up nose and dimples something -like that Veronica girl, and I think so now; but the best of women must -sometimes lie by until they get a new perspective."</p> - -<p>"Daddy, I don't understand you. You and Mamma have—have differed about -something, I fear."</p> - -<p>"Well, it—it might be described that way. Morris,"—turning toward his -valet who was near,—"the cribbage-board, please."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p><p>Diana strove valiantly not to have a miserable day. She played cribbage -with her father until luncheon was served on deck. Then she gave orders -for her tea, and Léonie came to remind her of her promise that she might -show Bill Lindsay over the yacht. He arrived about the same time as Mrs. -Lowell, and Léonie, frightened to death of her mistress's strange mood, -besought Diana to remain with her mother while she should fulfill the -promise to her island pal, and bid him a long and racking farewell.</p> - -<p>So Diana left Mrs. Lowell with her father while she ventured to her -mother's bedside and sat down, silently. A handkerchief, redolent of -cologne, covered the sufferer's eyes.</p> - -<p>"Who is that?" came faintly from the blinded one.</p> - -<p>"It is I, Mamma," said Diana meekly. "Are you feeling a little better?"</p> - -<p>"Diana,"—the voice was still faint but stern,—"have I been a good -mother to you?"</p> - -<p>"Mamma, dear, there never was a better. How can you ask?"</p> - -<p>"Because no one else thinks so."</p> - -<p>Diana threw herself on her knees beside the bed and took the hand that -was outside<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> the rosy silk coverlet. "Dearest, I am not feeling very -well to-day and you will destroy my poise if you say such things. My -heart feels sore for some reason, so do not give it any blows. You know -how Daddy and I think there is nobody in the world like you. Daddy was -talking about it this morning and telling me how cute and pretty you -were when he first knew you,"—Diana's voice began to quaver,—"told me -about your dimples and everything, and how you were just as attractive -to him now as you had been then, and"—Diana succumbed and tears fell on -the hand she held—"and if I am ever married, Mamma,—I do so hope that -in twenty-five years afterward—he—he will feel that way about me."</p> - -<p>One eye emerged from the cologne bandage and viewed the girl's lovely, -bowed head.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't cry, Diana," firmly. "Why in the world should you cry? You -have a wonderful life opening before you. You've known nothing yet but -school, and I want you to spend a little time thinking of the -possibilities of the future. With your looks and the money at your -command, there is no social experience among the highest-placed and most -cultivated people abroad and at home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> that you may not enjoy. You've -heard the saying: 'Of the unspoken word you are master, the spoken word -is master of you.' It is the same with actions. You are deliberate by -nature, and exquisite by breeding. Never commit yourself to anything -impulsively. No mother would be a good mother who did not say as much as -this to you."</p> - -<p>Diana experienced a sudden stricture of the heart that dried her eyes -and held her motionless over the hand she held. She knew all at once the -cause of her parents' difference. She had never in her life been able to -conceal anything from her father. She flushed deeply. Whatever he had -said to her mother must have been in Philip's favor. With thoughts, -humble, frightened, resentful, racing through her mind, she did not know -how long she had been kneeling there when Léonie came in with soft step, -and she looked up to see her mother's eye again eclipsed. She remembered -Mrs. Lowell.</p> - -<p>"Léonie is here now and I must go, dearest. Mrs. Lowell has come out for -some tea. Shall Léonie bring you some?"</p> - -<p>"No. I want nothing. I am feeling better, Diana. Don't distress yourself -about me."</p> - -<p>The girl kissed the forehead above the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> bandage and passing Léonie saw -that her eyes, too, were red.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if this day will ever be over", she thought dismally.</p> - -<p>She found her father and Mrs. Lowell having a visit, charming to each of -them, and tea was served at once.</p> - -<p>While they were eating and drinking, the island steamer came into the -cove and up to its landing.</p> - -<p>"I suppose our delightful musician friends are leaving on that boat," -said Mrs. Lowell. "Shan't we stand at the rail, and wave a good-bye?"</p> - -<p>"No, I wouldn't," returned Diana hastily. "Everybody except the right -ones will take the greeting to themselves, and—" Indeed, she would not -wave to Philip after his cruelty in singing that song! And obeying it so -literally as not to manage one word of farewell to her alone!</p> - -<p>"Little snob, eh, Mrs. Lowell?" said her father.</p> - -<p>The steamer was turning around to leave.</p> - -<p>"He is going!" cried Diana's heart. The whole day to have passed with no -sign from him! Cruel! Cruel! "You know, Daddy, Mrs. Lowell and I must -see something of each<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> other the coming winter if only for Bert's sake. -He is related to us."</p> - -<p>The passenger boat was passing near now. The yacht felt its waves. Diana -turned her eyes toward it in spite of herself. Some people were waving -handkerchiefs toward the handsome yacht, and the Captain whistled three -times. The yacht replied, and Charles Wilbur stood up and saluted. -Diana's heart beat hard and painfully. She looked back at the tea-table.</p> - -<p>"Tell us, Daddy, just what relation Mr. Herbert Loring was to you."</p> - -<p>"Why, it was this way. My grandmother and his mother were—"</p> - -<p>Diana never knew what they were, for the island steamer was moving -toward the mouth of the cove. Handkerchiefs were waving from the stern. -It receded. It rounded the rocks at the farthest point, and disappeared.</p> - -<p>"That is very interesting, indeed," said Mrs. Lowell. "I shall tell -Bert. He will be glad and proud of the connection. I have a fine boy -there, Mr. Wilbur. I am hoping my husband won't mind my taking such a -responsibility." She rose to go.</p> - -<p>"You have a good ally in Luther Wrenn," remarked Mr. Wilbur, arranging -her wrap.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, and in you, I hope?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly. At your service. A big responsibility awaits that youngster. -Let us hope he will grow up to be as clean-cut and simply honest as -young Barrison."</p> - -<p>"You do like him, don't you?" said Mrs. Lowell with her direct look.</p> - -<p>"Very much, so far. I don't know how he may carry sail in the prosperity -before him, but so far he seems to be all to the good."</p> - -<p>The small boat was summoned for the guest. Bill Lindsay had gone off in -the dory that brought him. Diana went alone with her friend to the head -of the awninged stairway.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Lowell saw the marks of distress in the young face, and she held -the girl's hand for a minute. "God bless you," she said, and kissed her -lovingly. "Trust Him, my dear," she added meaningly. "He is taking care -of you. Claim it and know it. Good-bye."</p> - -<p>Diana watched the boat glide toward the shore. "This awful day is nearly -over," she thought. "I feel as if my good angel was going away in that -boat."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wilbur did not arise for dinner. Diana and her father ate it alone -in state. Keen to do her duty and grateful to him for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> his attitude -toward the man whom she must henceforth forget, she had dressed herself -in her prettiest gown. At twenty, pensive eyes with shadows about them -are not unbecoming, and her father looked across at her admiringly.</p> - -<p>"The Count de No-Account or some other titles, should be here to-night, -my dear. The moon-goddess is too lovely to beam upon no one more -thrilling than her humdrum old daddy."</p> - -<p>"As if any one could come up to him," rejoined Diana affectionately. -"You remind me of the way Mamma was talking this afternoon, of all the -possibilities money opens to a girl, abroad and at home. She did not -stop to think what a standard she had set up by marrying you."</p> - -<p>Her father nodded slowly, regarding her with a curious smile. "Indeed. -So little Mamma was able to sit up with a comforter around her and show -you the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, was she? Well, -well. Foxy little Mamma."</p> - -<p>Diana blushed violently and busied herself with her salad. "I am sorry -we have to sleep in Portland harbor to-night. It won't be quiet for -Mamma."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p><p>There were no more personalities during the meal. The girl and her -father went on deck and watched the sunset together, after which Mr. -Wilbur said he would go down and see his wife, and Diana was left alone. -She had a deeply cushioned seat moved near the yacht's rail in the -stern, and leaned back to watch the cove darken and the lights flash out -on the other boats. Her thoughts ran over a résumé of the summer. How -long the weeks stretched out in retrospect! How they had fled in -passing! Presently, the moon arose over the hill-road. She thought of -last evening when their group had welcomed it. Philip had said that -night on the rocks that he should not forget that she was as distant -from him as that planet, and he had kept his word. Not to see his merry -eyes again. Not to see the sensitiveness of his smile when he looked at -her. Not to hear him call her a goddess, not to hear him sing except as -others heard him.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass,</div> -<div>And hear the larks, and see the swallows pass.</div> -<div>Only we'll live awhile as children play,</div> -<div>Without to-morrow, without yesterday."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>She had heard the song all day, and her heart now felt sick and empty as -she sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> there, that golden moon beaming down upon her alone, and -striking to silver the ripples across the cove. She leaned among her -cushions and turned her face aside. Her eyes began to smart, and she -closed them. The wind as usual had gone down with the sun, and the -awning fringes were but faintly stirred.</p> - -<p>Suddenly she felt that the boat was moving. So smooth and silent its -motion, that, when she looked up, the yacht was halfway out of the cove. -She leaned forward.</p> - -<p>"Oh, good-bye," she murmured, and she held out her hands toward the -wooded bank. "Good-bye. Oh, good-bye, Isola Bella. I shall always love -you, and every blade of grass, and every daisy, and every swallow."</p> - -<p>Tears veiled the shadowy woods. She dashed them away, and resisted the -sob that rose in her throat. The yacht moved swiftly out into the waves -of the summer sea. It was now only the end of the wooded bluff which she -could perceive in the moonlight. She leaned back again, and, covering -her eyes, relaxed, holding her quivering lip between her teeth.</p> - -<p>A neighboring movement made her look up, expecting her father.</p> - -<p>Philip Barrison stood there.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span></p><p>She caught her breath. "It is impossible!" she gasped.</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is." He took her outstretched hands and sank down beside her. -"It is a midsummer night's dream; but I couldn't—I tried, Diana, but I -couldn't resist. Your father asked me—said I might come—even at the -last minute." At each pause Philip kissed the hands he was holding. "Are -you—that is the one vital question—are you glad I came, my goddess?"</p> - -<p>The look she gave him in the moonlight made him take her quickly in his -arms, and she sank into them with the certainty of the bird that finds -its nest.</p> - -<p>"I don't know how I dared this, Diana,—dared the future, I mean. How -can I be the right one to win the prize of the whole world?"</p> - -<p>"Because you are the only man in the whole world for me, and you felt -it, and I felt it. Oh, Philip, I won't be so selfish as in the way I -have talked to you. I am never going to grudge that others should admire -you."</p> - -<p>"No, you never will," he answered. "The sparkle of what others may say -is like the phosphorescence down there in the unlighted places. The -radiance and glow filling my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> whole being now is an eternal thing. I -can't believe it yet, it will take me a long time to believe it, but, -oh, my beautiful one, I wish, I do wish you were a poor girl!"</p> - -<p>She lifted her head from his breast, looking at him with glorified eyes. -"I should be," she said slowly, "if you did not love me—Philomel."</p> - -<p>They kissed, and the moon shone down on the beaten foam of the snowy -wake in a long, ineffable silence.</p> - -<p> </p> -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">The Riverside Press<br />CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS<br />U · S · A</p> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEY NOTE***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 52110-h.htm or 52110-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/2/1/1/52110">http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/1/1/52110</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition.</p> - -<p>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org</p> - -<p>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</p> - -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/old/52110-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/52110-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index bc83a32..0000000 --- a/old/52110-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52110-h/images/dec.jpg b/old/52110-h/images/dec.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 945b130..0000000 --- a/old/52110-h/images/dec.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52110-h/images/i003.jpg b/old/52110-h/images/i003.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b7f175d..0000000 --- a/old/52110-h/images/i003.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/52110.txt b/old/52110.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2a7374b..0000000 --- a/old/52110.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9667 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Key Note, by Clara Louise Burnham - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The Key Note - - -Author: Clara Louise Burnham - - - -Release Date: May 20, 2016 [eBook #52110] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KEY NOTE*** - - -E-text prepared by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/keynotenovel00burniala - - - - - -THE KEY NOTE - -A Novel - -by - -CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Logo] - -Boston and New York -Houghton Mifflin Company -The Riverside Press Cambridge -1921 - -Copyright, 1921, by Clara Louise Burnham -All Rights Reserved - - -TO - -JOSEPHINE - - - - -CONTENTS - - I. THE RAPSCALLION 1 - - II. VERONICA 19 - - III. A FRIENDLY PACT 45 - - IV. BIOGRAPHY 70 - - V. A FIRELIGHT INTERVIEW 90 - - VI. THE HAUNTED FARM 110 - - VII. ANOTHER WOUND 125 - - VIII. SKETCHES 137 - - IX. A WORKING PLAN 151 - - X. NICHOLAS GAYNE CONFIDES 164 - - XI. THE NEWPORT LETTER 181 - - XII. COUSIN HERBERT 194 - - XIII. THE LAW 208 - - XIV. THE WILL 222 - - XV. A SUDDEN JOURNEY 234 - - XVI. THE NEW CLIENT 246 - - XVII. THE HEIR 262 - -XVIII. DIANA'S IDEAL 276 - - XIX. MOONLIGHT 293 - - XX. REUNION 303 - - XXI. GOOD-BYES 317 - - XXII. THE DINNER PARTY 329 - -XXIII. THE MOON-GODDESS 345 - - - - -THE KEY NOTE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE RAPSCALLION - - -The sea glittered in all directions. The grassy field, humpy with knolls -and lumpy with gray rock, sloped down toward the near-by water. Bunches -of savin and bay and groups of Christmas trees flourished in the fresh -June air, and exhilarating balsamic odors assailed Miss Burridge's -nostrils as she stood in the doorway viewing the landscape o'er and -reflectively picking her teeth with a pin. - -"It's an awful sightly place to fail in, anyway," she thought. - -Her one boarder came and stood beside her. She was a young woman with a -creamy skin, regular features, dark, dreaming eyes, and a pleasant, slow -smile. - -"Are you gathering inspiration, Miss Burridge?" she asked, settling a -white tam-o'-shanter on her smooth brown locks. - -"I hope so, Miss Wilbur. I need it." - -"How could any one help it!" was Diana Wilbur's soft exclamation, as she -took a deep breath and gazed at the illimitable be-diamonded blue. - -Priscilla Burridge turned her middle-aged gaze upon the enthusiasm of -the twentieth year beside her. - -"Do you know of any inspiration that would make me able to get the -carpenter to come and jack up the saggin' corner of that piazza?" she -asked. "Or get the plumber to mend the broken pipe in the kitchen?" - -Miss Wilbur's dreaming gaze came back to the bony figure in brown -calico. - -"It seems almost sacrilege, doesn't it," she said in a voice of awe, "to -speak of carpenters and plumbers in a place like this? Such odors, such -crystal beauty untouched by the desecrating hand of man." - -Miss Priscilla snorted. "If I don't get hold of the desecrating hand of -man pretty soon, you'll be havin' a stream o' water come down on your -bed, the first rain." - -The girl's attitude of adoration remained unchanged. - -"I noticed that little rift," she said slowly. "As I lay in bed this -morning, I looked up at a spot of sapphire that seemed like a day-star -full of promise of this transcendent beauty." - -Miss Wilbur's pretty lips moved but little when she spoke and her slow -utterance gave the effect of a recitation. - -Miss Priscilla, for all her harassment, could not forbear a smile. - -"I'm certainly glad you're so easily pleased, but you don't know Casco -Bay as well as I do, or that day-star would look powerful stormy to you. -When it rains here, all other rains are mere imitations. It comes down -from the sky and up from the ground, and the wind blows it east and -west, and the porch furniture turns somersets out into the field, and -windows and doors go back on you and give up the fight and let the water -in everywhere, while the thunder rolls like the day o' judgment." - -The ardent light in the depths of the young girl's eyes glowed deeper. - -"I should expect a storm here to be inexorably superb!" she declared. - -Miss Priscilla heaved a sigh, half dejection, half exasperation, and -turned into the house. - -"Drat that plumber!" she said. "I've only had a few days of it, but I'm -sick of luggin' water in from that well." - -"Why, Miss Burridge," said her boarder solicitously, "I haven't fully -realized--let me bring in a supply." - -"No, no, indeed, Miss Wilbur," exclaimed Miss Priscilla, as she moved -through the living-room of the house into the kitchen, closely followed -by Diana. "It ain't that I ain't able to do it, but it makes me darned -mad when I know there's no need of it." - -"But I desire to, Miss Burridge," averred the young girl. "Any form of -movement here cannot fail to be one of joy." She seized an empty bucket -from the sink and went out the back door. - -Small groves of evergreen dotted the incline behind the house, and on -the right hand soon became a wood-road of stately fir and spruce, which -led to a sun-warmed grassy slope which, like every hill of the lovely -isle, led down to the jagged rocks that fringed its irregular shore. - -"My muscular strength is not excessive," panted Diana, struggling up to -the back door with her heavy bucket. "I'll fill it only half-full next -time." - -"You ain't goin' to fill it at all," declared Miss Priscilla -emphatically, taking the pail from her. "That'll last me a long time, -and when it's gone, I'll get more myself. 'T ain't that it does me a bit -of hurt, but it riles me when I know there ain't any need of it." - -She set the pail down beside the sink, filled the kettle from it, and -set it on the oil stove while Diana sat down on the back doorstep. Then -she proceeded: - -"One o' the most disagreeable things about this world is that we do seem -to need men. They're strong and they don't wear skirts to stumble on, -and when they're willin' and clever, they certainly do fill a need; but -it does seem as if they were created to disappoint women. They don't -know any more about keepin' their promises than they do about the other -side o' the moon." - -Diana nodded. "It is observable, I think," she said, "that men's natural -regard for ethics is inferior to that of women." - -Miss Priscilla sniffed. "Now it isn't only the plumber and the -carpenter. I came here and saw 'em both over a month ago and explained -my needs; explained that I ain't calc'latin' to take in boarders to -break their legs on broken piazzas, or drown 'em in their beds. I -explained all this when I rented the house, and when I arrived this week -I naturally expected to find those things attended to; and there's Phil -Barrison, too. I've known him most of his life. He has relatives here on -the island, and when I heard he was comin' to stay with 'em on his -vacation, I asked him if he wouldn't be a kind of a handy-man to me and -he said he would. He got here before I did, but far as I can make out -he's been fishin' ever since. A lot of help he's been. Oh, I knew well -enough he was a broken reed. If ever a rapscallion lived, Phil's it. -'Tain't natural for any young one to be so smart as he was. Do you -believe in school he found out that by openin' and shuttin' his -geography real slow, he could set the teacher to yawnin', and, of -course, she'd set the rest of 'em off, and Phil just had a beautiful -time. His pranks was always funny ones." - -Diana Wilbur gave her slow, rare smile. "What an interesting bit of -hypnosis!" she remarked. - -"Hey? Well, when that boy got older, he was real ambitious to study. -He's got one o' those voices that ought to belong to a cherubim instead -of a limb like him, and he wanted lessons. So he got the job of janitor -in our church one winter. I got onto him later. When he'd oversleep some -awful cold mornin' and arrive too late to get the furnace to workin' -right, that rascal would drive the mercury up and loosen the bulb of the -thermometer so that when the folks came in and went over to it to see -just how cold they _was_ goin' to be, they'd see it register over -sixty-five and of course they'd take their seats real satisfied." - -Miss Wilbur smiled again. "Your friend certainly showed great resource -and ingenuity. When those traits are joined to lofty principle, they -should lift him to heights of success. Oh,"--the speaker's attitude and -voice suddenly changed, and she lifted her finger to impose silence on -the cooking utensils which Miss Burridge was dropping into the -sink,--"listen!" - -Mingled with the roulade of a song sparrow on the roof, came the flute -of a human voice sounding and approaching through the field. - - - "Thou'rt like unto a flower, - So pure, so sweet, so fair--" - - -The one road of the island swept over a height at some distance behind -the house and the singer had left it, and was striding down the incline -and through the meadow toward Miss Burridge's. The still air brought the -song while the singer was still hidden, but at last the girl saw him, -and the volume of rich tone increased. At last he came bounding up the -slope over which Diana had struggled with her heavy bucket a few minutes -before, and then paused at sight of the stranger. - -He was a tall, broad-shouldered youth in a dark-blue flannel shirt and -nondescript trousers. He was bareheaded, and locks of his thick blond -hair were tumbling over his forehead. He looked at Diana with curious, -unembarrassed blue eyes, and, lips parted, stopped in the act of -speaking. - -Miss Burridge came to the door. "Well, at last, Phil," she remarked. - -"I only just heard this morning that you had come," he said. "Here's a -peace offering." He lifted the two mackerel that were hanging from his -hand. - -"Beauties," vouchsafed Miss Burridge. "Are they cleaned?" - -"Well, if you don't look a gift horse--" - -"Well, now, I ain't goin' to clean 'em," said Miss Burridge doggedly. -"I've been rubbed the wrong way ever since I landed--" - -Philip laughed. "And you won't do it to them, eh? Well, I guess I can -rub 'em the wrong way for you--" His unabashed eyes were still regarding -Diana as impersonally as though they had both been children of five. - -"Excuse me, I am obstructing the passage," said the girl, rising. - -"This is Miss Diana Wilbur, Phil. I suppose you're Mr. Barrison now -that you have sung in New York." - -The young fellow bowed to the girl who acknowledged the greeting. - -"What is the name of those beautiful creatures?" she asked with her -usual gentle simplicity of manner. - -"These? Oh, these are mackerel." - -"Jewels of the deep, surely," she said. - -"They are rather dressy," returned Philip. - -Diana bathed him in the light of her serene brown gaze. - -"I am so ignorant of the names of the denizens of the sea," she said. "I -come from Philadelphia." - -Philip returned her look with dancing stars in his eyes. "I'd have said -Boston if you only wore eyeglasses." - -"Oh, that _is_ the humorous tradition, is it not?" she returned. - -"Now, don't you drip 'em in here," said Miss Burridge, as the young -fellow started to enter the kitchen door. "If you're really goin' to be -clever and clean 'em, I'll give you the knife and everything right -outdoors." - -"Then I think I would better withdraw," said Diana hastily. "I cannot -bear to see the mutilation of such a rich specimen of Nature's -handiwork; but, oh, Mr. Barrison, not without one word concerning the -heavenly song that floated across the field as you came. Miss Burridge -calls you Phil;--'Philomel with melody!' _I_ should say. Au revoir. I -will go down among the pebbles for a while." - -She vanished, and Philip regarded Miss Burridge, who returned his gaze. - -"_Good night!_" he said at last. - -"Sh! Sh!" warned Miss Priscilla, and tiptoed across the kitchen. When -she had looked from a window and seen her boarder's sweater and tam -proceeding among the grassy hummocks toward the sea, she returned, -bringing out the materials for Philip's operations on the fish. - -"I'll bring a rhetoric instead of finny denizens of the deep, the next -time I come," he continued, settling to his job. - -Miss Priscilla took her boarder's deserted seat on the doorstep. - -"Going to open a young ladies' seminary here, and got the teacher all -secured?" - -"Nothing of the kind, Phil, and there's only one explanation of her," -declared Miss Priscilla impressively. "You've been in art galleries and -seen these statues of Venus and Apollo and all that tribe?" - -"I have." - -"Well, sir, all I can think of is that one o' their Dianas got down off -her perch some dark night, and managed to get hold o' some girl clothes, -and came here to this island. She _says_ she has come to recuperate from -unwise vigils caused by vaulting ambition at school. I said it over to -myself till I learned it." - -"_I_ should say her trouble might be indigestion from devouring -dictionaries," remarked Philip. - -"Well, anyway, she's a sweet girl and it's all as natural as breathing -to her. At first I accused her in my own mind of affectation, but, -there! she hasn't got an affected bone in her body, and she's willin' -and simple as a child. You'd ought to 'a' seen her luggin' water up the -hill for me this mornin'. That reminds me. You promised to give me a -lift this summer when I needed it." - -"At so much a lift," remarked Philip. - -"Of course. Well, the first thing I want you to do is to get the -carpenter and the plumber and knock their heads together, and then bring -'em here, one in each hand, so's I can have my house ready when the -folks come. Why, my new stove ain't even put up. Mr. Buell, the -plumber, promised me faithful he'd come this mornin'. I'm cookin' on an -old kerosene stove there was here and managin' to keep Miss Wilbur from -sheer starvation." - -"Miss Wilbur? Is that the fair Diana? Where did you get the 'old -master'? Did she find you waiting when she got off the pedestal?" - -"No, I found her waiting. She came to the island on a misunderstandin'. -There wasn't any one ready so early in the season to make strangers -comfortable, and it seems she took a fancy to this place and I found her -here sittin' on the steps when I arrived. She said she had been on the -island a week and had walked up to this piazza every pleasant day, and -she'd like to live here." - -"Did she really say it as plain as that?" - -"Well--I don't suppose those were her exact words, but she made me -understand that she was willin' to come right in for better or for worse -just so's she could have a room up there in front where the dawn--yes, -she said something about the dawn, I forget whether it was purple or -rosy--" - -"Mottled, perhaps," suggested Philip. - -"Well, anyway, I told her the dawn came awful early in the day this part -o' the year, and that probably she'd be better satisfied in one o' the -back rooms; but she was firm on the _dawn_, so she's got it. But I draw -the line at her gettin' midnight shower-baths, and that's what she will -get if that wretch of a Matt Blake don't get here before the next storm -and put on the shingles." - -"And I have to tell the plumber that you have to 'haul water' too. Is -that it? The well is some little distance. Rather hard on the statue, -wasn't it, to do the hauling? She'll wish she'd stayed in the gallery. -I'll bring in a lot before I go." - -"Don't go, Philip," begged Miss Priscilla. "Supposin' you don't go, not -till you can leave me whole-footed. The men'll come sooner and work -better if they know there's a man here. Your grandma won't care if her -visit's interrupted for a little while. I'll feed you with your own -mackerel and you can bet I know how to cook 'em." - -"Do you think Matt Blake realizes that I'm a man?" The teeth Philip -showed in his smile were an asset for a singer. "He helped teach me to -walk, you know." - -"Well, now, you teach _him_" retorted Miss Priscilla. "Show him how to -walk in this direction. I don't want to make a fizzle of this thing. I -found there wa'n't anybody goin' to run the place this summer, so I -thought it might be a good job for me. I never took a thought that it -was goin' to be so hard to get help. They tell me there ain't any -servants any more; and there are enough folks writin' for rooms to fill -me up entirely. I can do the _cookin'_ myself--" - -"Now, Miss Burridge, you aren't leading up to asking me to put on an -apron and wait on table, are you? You must remember I'm recuperating -also from a too vaulting ambition." - -"Recuperatin', nothin'! You're the huskiest-lookin' thing I ever saw. -No, I ain't goin' to ask you to wait on table; but I've got an idea. -We're too out o' the way here for me to get college boys. They'd rather -go to the mountains and so on--fashionable resorts. But I've got a -niece, if she don't feel too big of herself to do that sort of thing; -she might come. I'm goin' to ask her anyway. I haven't seen her for -years 'cause her mother's been gone a long time and her father went out -to Jersey to live, but I've no doubt she's a nice girl. Her name's -Veronica. Isn't that a beater? I told my sister I couldn't see why she -didn't name her Japonica and be done with it." - -"It's the name of a saint," remarked Philip. - -"Well, I hope she's enough of one to come and help me out. I'm goin' to -ask her." - -"Better get Miss Wilbur to write her about the rosy dawn and the jeweled -denizens. I'm afraid you'll be too truthful and tell about the leaks. -With an 'old master' and a saint, you ought to get on swimmingly." - -"Well, will you stay with me a few days?" said Miss Priscilla coaxingly. -"If I had a rapscallion to add to the menagerie--" - -"Do you mean menage, Miss Burridge?" - -"I'll call it anything in the world you like, if you'll only stand by -me, Phil." - -"All right." The young fellow tossed the second cleaned fish on to the -plate. "Let me wash my hands and I'll go and throw out a line for the -plumber." - -"You're a good boy," returned Miss Burridge, relieved. "I do think, -Philip, that in the main you are a good boy! Who's that comin' over?" -Miss Burridge craned her neck and narrowed her eyes the better to -observe a bicycle which appeared across the field. - -The apparition of any human being was exciting to one responsible for -the comfort of others in this Arcadia, where modern conveniences could -only be obtained by effort both spasmodic and continuous. - -"Oh, it's Marley Hughes from the post-office." - -A youngster of fourteen came wheeling nonchalantly over the bumps of the -field, and finally jumped off his machine and came leisurely up the rise -among the trees. - -"I hoped you might be Matt Blake," said Miss Priscilla. "He's got as far -as to have the shingles here." - -"Well, I ain't," remarked Marley in the pleasant, drawling, leisurely, -island voice. - -"What you got for me?" inquired Miss Burridge. - -"Telegram." The boy brought the store envelope from his pocket. - -"Oh, I hate 'em," said Miss Burridge apprehensively. - -Marley held it aggravatingly away from Philip's extended hand. "Take it -back if you want me ter," he said with a grin. "It's ten cents anyway, -whether you take it or not." - -"Oh, yes, I've got the money right here." Miss Priscilla turned to a -shelf over the sink and took a dime from a purse which lay there. - -"Here." She gave it to Marley, who without more ado jumped on his wheel -and coasted down among the trees and off over the soft grass. - -"You open it, Phil. My spectacles ain't here anyway," said Miss -Priscilla anxiously. - -So Philip tore open the envelope. The look of amazement which overspread -his face as the message greeted him caused Miss Burridge to exclaim -fearfully: "Speak out, speak out, Phil." - -"They must have taken this down wrong at the store," he said. Then he -read the scrawled words slowly. "'Look in broiler oven for legs.'" - -The cryptic sentence appeared to have a magical effect upon Miss -Priscilla. Her face beamed and she threw up her hands in thanksgiving. - -"Glory be!" she exclaimed devoutly. - -"What am I stumbling on?" said Philip. "Have you taken to wiring in -cipher?" - -"You _see_" said Miss Priscilla excitedly, reaching for the telegram -which Philip yielded, "it _came_ without any _legs_. Mr. Buell himself -looked it over on the wharf and said he couldn't find 'em anywhere; and, -of course, it was a terrible anxiety to me and I wrote to them right -off, and I was goin' to get Mr. Buell to set it up without the legs if -necessary and stick somethin' else under. Come and help me look, Phil." - -Miss Burridge seized the young fellow's arm and dragged him into the -kitchen, where in one corner reposed the new stove in its shining -newness, its parts piled ignominiously lop-sided. Talking all the time, -its owner pulled open one door after another, as Philip disengaged them, -and at last she laid hands on the missing treasure. - -"Now I'll give you as good a dinner as ever comes off this stove if -you'll go and get those men and bring 'em up here," she said. "Don't -leave me till I'm whole-footed, Phil." - -"Want feet as well as legs, do you?" he chuckled. "All right. See you -later if I can get Blake and Buell. If I can't, I suppose I'd better -drown myself." - -"No, no, don't do that, Phil. _You're_ better than nothing, yourself." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -VERONICA - - -For the next few days the right moment for Philip to desert Miss -Burridge never seemed to arrive, and by that time the new establishment -had come to be in very good running order, which was fortunate, as the -expected boarders' dates were drawing near. - -Diana approached Philip one morning with a pleased countenance. He was -encouraging the hopeful little sweet peas that stood in a green row -below the porch. She came and sat on the rail above and watched him. - -"Miss Burridge is going to allow me to name our domicile," she -announced. - -"Brave woman!" said Philip, coaxing the brown earth up against the line -of green with his trowel. - -"Which of us is brave?" asked Diana, smiling,--"Miss Priscilla or -myself?" - -"What are you going to call it? Olympus?" - -"Why should I?" Diana gave a soft, gurgling laugh. - -"I thought perhaps it might bring happy memories and prove a palliation -of nostalgia." - -"I always have a feeling that you are amusing yourself with me, Mr. -Barrison." - -"Have you any objection to my seeing that you are a goddess? What have -you done with Apollo, by the way? Couldn't you persuade him to leave the -gallery?" - -"To what gallery do you refer? I do not particularly care for handsome -men," was Miss Wilbur's thoughtful response. - -"I'm sorry I'm so beautiful, then," said Philip, extending his little -earth barricade. - -Diana looked down from her balcony on his tumbling blond hair. - -"You have a very good presence for your purpose," she said. - -"What is my purpose?" - -"The concert stage, is it not? Perhaps even opera, later?" - -"Yes, divine huntress, if I ever succeed in making it." - -"You will make it unless you are unpardonably dilatory and neglectful. -Every time you utter a musical tone it sends a vibration coursing -through my nerves with a pleasant thrill." - -Philip looked up at the speaker with his sea-blue, curious gaze, which -she received serenely. - -"Bully for you, Miss Wilbur. That's all I can say. Bully for you." - -"I am glad if that encourages you," she said kindly. "It is quite -outside my own volition." - -"Then I don't need to thank you, eh?" - -"Oh, not in the least." - -Philip laughed and stooped again to his job. - -"Let me see, Apollo--he struck liars and knew how to prescribe for the -croup, didn't he, besides being a looker beyond all comers?" - -Diana smiled. "You think of everything in terms of humor, do you not?" -she rejoined. - -"Perhaps--of most things, but not of you." - -"Oh, I think of me most of all." - -"Far from it," said Philip. "I wouldn't dare. If my voice gives you a -thrill, yours gives me a chill." - -"I can't believe that really," said Diana equably, watching Philip's -expert handling of the trowel. "You are always laughing at me. I don't -in the least understand why, but it doesn't matter at all. I think it is -a quite laudable mission to make people laugh. What a good gardener you -are, Mr. Barrison." - -"Oh, isn't he, though!" exclaimed Miss Priscilla, emerging from the -house. "Think of my luck that Phil really likes to fuss with flowers. -Ox-chains couldn't drag him to do it if he didn't like to." - -"Really?" returned Diana. "Is she not maligning you, Mr. Barrison? Are -you really the slave of caprice?" - -"I deny it," said Philip. "It doesn't sound nice." - -"It would be a dire thing for you," declared the girl. "But you do not -ask me what I am naming the Inn." - -"Oh, it is an Inn, is it?" - -"Yes," put in Miss Priscilla. "Since the leaks are mended, both pipes -and roof, and the stove's up and the chimney draws, I think we can call -it that." - -"What is it, then? 'The Dew Drop'?" inquired Philip. - -"I particularly dislike puns," said Diana quietly. "I like 'The -Wayside.' Why shouldn't we call it 'The Wayside Inn'?" - -"You have my permission," said Philip. - -"We do not need anything original, but we do need a name that is lovely. -'The Wayside Inn' is lovely." - -"So be it," said Philip. - -"And you're not forgettin' what you are goin' to do to-morrow, are you, -dear boy?" said Miss Priscilla ingratiatingly. - -"Not if it isn't to go again for the plumber," replied Philip. "His -wrenches and hammers are too handy; and I'm sure one more call up here -would render him dangerous." - -"Mr. Buell is a very pleasant man," said Diana. "So is Mr. Blake, the -carpenter. I have learned such interesting expressions from them. Mr. -Blake was showing me the fault in one of the gables of this house. He -said the builder had given the roof a 'too quick yank.' Is not that -quaint?" - -"Ha, ha, ha," laughed Philip up into the girl's serious face. "Bully for -Matt. You may get the vernacular, after all." - -"I'm not quick," said Diana. "I'm afraid I should not prove an apt -pupil." - -"But, Philip," said Miss Priscilla, "about to-morrow. You know you'll -have to get the early boat to go to meet Veronica. It's perfectly -splendid of you to go, dear boy. I don't know how I could spare the -time. I've got to get several rooms ready for to-morrow, and the child -is such an utter stranger in this part o' the world." - -"Oh, yes, I'll go," said Philip carelessly. "I think the Inn will be -relieved that I can get a hair-cut. My tresses are nearly ready to braid -now." - -Diana smiled pensively. "I think you are very amusing, Mr. Barrison," -she said. - -Philip vaulted up over the railing and took a seat beside her, regarding -his earth-stained hands and then her serene countenance, whose gaze was -bent upon him. He shook his head to toss the blond forelock out of his -eyes. - -"So my voice gives you a thrill, eh?" - -"Oh, decidedly," was the devout response. - -"That's a good thing. I thought perhaps you couldn't really be roused -from your dreaminess before the fourth of July, but I have some tones -that in that case will be warranted to set you and the echoes going at -the same time." - -Diana clasped her hands. "Oh, utter them," she begged. - -"Can't," laughed Philip, wiping his warm forehead with his shirt-sleeve. -"The stage isn't set." - -Diana continued to look imploringly ardent. "'Drink to me only with -thine eyes,'" she suggested. - -"That's the only way they'll let you do it nowadays," responded Philip, -kicking the heels of his sneakers gently against the railing. - -Miss Burridge looked over her spectacles at Diana in her beseeching -attitude, and her eyes widened still further as the girl went on slowly -with her brown gaze fixed on Philip's quizzical countenance: - - - "How can I bear to leave thee! - One parting kiss I give thee--" - - -"Dear me," thought Miss Priscilla. "I'd never have believed it of her." -And it occurred to her for the first time that Philip Barrison was a -handsome man. - -"Fare_well_," went on Diana, with soft fervor. "'Farewell, my own true -love--'" - -"Farewell," sang Philip, falling into the trap and finishing the phrase. -"'Farewe-ell, my own--true--love.'" - -"Oh," breathed Diana, and the way her clasped hands fell upon her heart -caused Miss Priscilla much embarrassment. - -"I can scarcely wait," said the girl slowly, "to hear you sing a real -song with a real accompaniment. There is such rare penetrating richness -in the quality of your voice." - -Miss Burridge cleared her throat. "I shouldn't wonder if Miss Wilbur was -a real help to you, Phil," she said. "Young folks need encouragement." - -"And soap-suds," added Philip, regarding his earthy hands and glancing -merrily up at Diana, who was still standing in her attitude of -adoration; but there was no answering merriment in those brown orbs. Her -brain might tell her later that Miss Burridge's patronizing remark had -been amusing, but she would be obliged to think it over. - -Philip jumped off the railing, whistling, and followed Miss Priscilla -into the house and to the sink, while Diana, reminiscently humming "The -Soldier's Farewell," descended the steps and wandered away. - - -When, the next day in town, Philip stood in the Union Station waiting -for Veronica's train, he wondered how he was to know her, but -remembering that Miss Burridge spoke of having instructed her to go the -first thing to the transfer office about her trunk, he turned his steps -thither as the crowds poured off the train. All Boston seemed to have -decided to come to Maine for the summer. - -Soon he saw her--he felt at once it was she--looking about undecidedly -as she came. She was a short, plump girl of seventeen or eighteen, at -present bent a little sideways from the weight of the suitcase she was -carrying. Philip strode forward and seized the suitcase with one hand -while he lifted his hat with the other. - -"Here, you let that alone!" said the girl decidedly, her round eyes -snapping. - -"Isn't this Miss Trueman?" - -"Why, yes, it is," she returned, but she still looked suspicious and -clung to her suitcase. Nobody need think she wasn't up to all the -tricks. "Did my aunt send you to meet me?" - -"She certainly did." - -"Then you know her name. What's her name?" The upward look was so -childlike in its shrewdness that it stirred the spirit of mischief. - -"Why--let me see, Lucilla, isn't it?" - -"You give me that suitcase this minute." The girl pulled on the handle -with a muscular little hand. - -"Why, Veronica," Philip's smile became a laugh. "Santa Veronica, what a -very unsaintlike voice and expression you're using." - -She laughed, too, then, and relinquished her burden. "You do know me. -Who are you?" - -"Miss Burridge's man-of-all-work. Name, Philip Barrison." - -"So she gave you such a job as this. How did you pick me out?" - -"That wild look around for the transfer office." They were now moving -toward it. - -"It wasn't wild. I didn't need you at all. Aunt Priscilla needn't have -bothered. I have a tongue in my head and money in my pocket, and Puppa -said that's all anybody needs if she has any brains." - -"But I have to do what my employer orders, you see," replied Philip. - -Veronica looked him over. Fresh from the barber and in correct summer -garb, he was an extremely good-looking object. - -"Oh, yes, it isn't your fault," she returned generously, "but is it a -swell place Aunt Priscilla's got?" She looked him over again while he -stopped at the transfer window and checked her trunk. - -"The Wayside Inn," replied Philip with dignity. - -"Well, I've come to help her," said the girl. "But I've never done any -serving. I haven't any uniform or anything like that." - -"It isn't necessary. Look at me. I don't look like a footman--or a -butler--or anything like that, do I?" - -"No," said Veronica, her round eyes very serious. "You look like -a--like a common--gentleman." - -"Thank you, Miss Trueman. I'll try to deserve your praise." - -Philip took her and her suitcase across town in a cab, and aboard the -little steamer, and found the best spot he could for them to sit. - -"Puppa says this bay is noted for its picturesqueness," said Veronica, -when they were settled. - -"Quite right," returned Philip, putting in her lap one of the magazines -he had bought on the wharf. - -"No, thank you," she returned. "I shan't read. I'm going to look. -Puppa'll expect me to tell him all about it. He was delighted at my -having a chance to come to the seashore. He thought it would do my -health so much good." - -Philip regarded her round cheeks, round eyes, and round, rosy mouth. - -"Your health? You look to me as though if you felt any better you'd have -to call the doctor." - -"Yes, I'm not really ailing--but I freckle. Isn't it a shame?" She put -one hand to her nose which had an upward tilt. - -"Oh, that's all right," laughed Philip. "Call 'em beauty spots." - -She sat, pensively continuing to cover her nose with her silk-gloved -hand. - -"Perhaps you're hungry. I ought to have bought you some chocolates," -said Philip. "Perhaps there's time still." He looked at his watch. - -Veronica smiled. It was a pleasant operation to view and disclosed a -dimple. "Did Aunt Priscilla give you money to buy me candy? Don't -bother. I have some gum. Would you like some?" As she spoke, she opened -her handbag. - -Philip bent a dreadful frown upon her. "Do you chew gum?" he asked -severely. - -"Yes, sometimes, of course. Everybody does." - -"Then you deserve to freckle. You deserve all the awful things that can -befall a girl." - -"Well, for a hired man," said Veronica, her hand pausing in its -exploration, "you have the most nerve of any one I ever saw." - -She seemed quite heated by this condemnation, and instead of the gum -drew out a vanity box and, looking in the mirror, powdered her nose -deliberately. - -Philip opened his magazine. The whistle blew and the boat began to back -out of the slip. Veronica regarded her companion from time to time out -of the tail of her eye, and at a moment when his manner indicated -absorption in what he was reading, she replaced the vanity case in her -bag and when her hand reappeared, it conveyed something to her mouth. - -"I wouldn't," said Philip, without looking up. She colored hotly. - -"Nobody asked you to," she retorted. - -Then all was silence while the steamer, getting its direction, began -moving toward the islands that dotted the bay. - -The girl suddenly started. - -"If there aren't those people!" she ejaculated. - -"What people?" asked Philip. - -"They came on in the same car with me from Boston. See that dark man -over there with a young boy? I couldn't help noticing them on the train. -You see how stupid the boy looks. He seemed so helpless, and the man -just ignored him when he asked questions, and treated him so mean. I -just hate that man." - -Philip regarded the couple. They presented a contrast. The man was -heavily built with a sallow, dark face, his restless eyes and body -continually moving with what seemed an habitual impatience. The boy, -perhaps fourteen years of age, had a vacant look, his lips were parted, -and his position, slumped down in a camp-chair, indicated a total lack -of interest in his surroundings. - -"Tell me about Aunt Priscilla," said Veronica suddenly. "I haven't seen -her since I was twelve years old. My mother died then. She was Aunt -Priscilla's sister and Aunt Pris was willing to take me if Pa wanted her -to, but he didn't and we moved away, and I've never seen her since. Of -course, she writes sometimes and so do I. Has she many boarders?" - -"Only one so far, but then she's a goddess. You've read your mythology, -haven't you? This is the goddess Diana." - -"Say, you're awfully fresh, do you know that?" remarked Veronica. "You -treat me all the time as if I was a baby. I've graduated from high -school and very likely I know just as much as you do." - -"I shouldn't doubt that," returned Philip. "On the level, you'll see -when you get to the Inn that I'm telling the truth. Diana is passing -for the present under the title of Miss Wilbur." - -"One boarder!" exclaimed Veronica with troubled brow. "Why, Aunt -Priscilla doesn't need two helpers like you and me." - -"Oh, there are plenty more boarders coming," said Philip. "This boat may -be full of them for all we know. She is expecting people to-night. Let's -look around and decide who we'll take up there with us." - -"I'll tell you one person I'd choose first of all. See that woman with -her back to us with a blue motor veil around her shoulders? I noticed -her just when I was pointing out that devil and the boy to you." - -"You use strong language, Miss Trueman. Couldn't you spare my feelings -and call our dark friend Mephisto?" - -"Sounds too good for him. I'd like to use me-fist-o on him, I know -that." Veronica giggled, and went on: "Do you see her?" - -"I do. My vision is excellent." - -"Well, she was on the train, too, and once I saw her smile at that poor -shy boy and show him how to get a drink of water. We were all in a day -car. Chair car crowded. You can't see her face, but she's the sweetest -thing." Then with a change of voice: "Oh, wouldn't it jar you! There's -fuss-tail. See that dame with the white flower in her hat, looking over -the rail? I suppose she's watching to see if the fishes behave -themselves. She was on the train, too, and nothing suited her from -Boston to Portland. She was too hot, or she felt a draught, or she -didn't like the fruit the train-boy brought, or something else was -wrong, every minute." - -"We won't take her, then," said Philip. - -"I should say not. She'd sour the milk. What's the island like?" - -"Diana says it resembles Arcadia strikingly, and she ought to know." - -"But I never was in Arcadia," objected Veronica. - -"Well, it is just a green hill popping right up out of the Atlantic, -with plenty of New England rocks in the fields, and drifts of daisies -and wild roses for decoration, and huge rocky teeth around the shore -that grind the waves into spray and spit it up flying toward the sky." - -"What kind of folks? Just folks that come in summer?" - -"Not at all. Old families. New England's aristocracy. These islands are -the only place where there are no aliens, just the simon-pure -descendants of Plymouth Rock. As I say aristocrats. I was born there." - -"You were?" returned Veronica curiously. - -"I were." - -"Well, I was born in Maine, in Bangor. I guess that's just about as -good." - -"No, it's not as good," said Philip gravely. "Nevertheless, I forgive -you." - -"Tell me more about the island." - -"Well, it has one road." - -"Only one street?" - -"No, no street. Just one road which has its source in a green field on -the south and loses itself in the beach on the north after it has passed -the by-path that leads to the haunted farm." - -"Oh, go away!" scoffed Veronica. - -"I can't. The walking won't be good for another hour." - -"Who lives at the farm?" - -"The ha'nts." - -"Nobody else?" - -"No, it isn't likely. It's at the head of Brook Cove where the pirates -used to come in at a day when it was laughable to think that passenger -boats would ever touch at this island." - -Veronica's eyes grew rounder than before. - -"Do you suppose there's gold packed in around there if people could -only find it?" - -"I don't, but a great many people thought there might be. It is much -more fun to hunt for pirate gold than to go fishing in squally weather, -and it has been hunted for, faithfully." - -"And not any found?" said Veronica sympathetically. - -"That's the mournful fact." - -"But who were the farmers, and why did they stop farming? Was it the -ghosts?" - -"No, I think it was the rocks. It was found more profitable to farm the -sea. You know abandoned farms are fashionable in New England, anyway, so -the ghosts have a rather swell residence at the old Dexter place. I -spent the first eight years of my life on the island. Then it was an -undiscovered Arcadia. Now--why, you will go up to The Wayside Inn in a -motor--that is, if I can get hold of Bill Lindsay before somebody else -grabs him. Lots of people know a good thing when they see it, and lots -of people have seen the island." - -The wharf was full of people to welcome the little steamer as it drew -in, and there was a grand rush of passengers for the coveted motor. It -seemed to Veronica that she heard her aunt's name on many lips, and -Philip found himself feeling responsible for the trunk checks of -everybody who was seeking Miss Burridge. - -The upshot of it all was, by the time he had safeguarded the baggage of -the arrivals and sent them on their way, he and Veronica were left to -climb the road and pursue the walk toward home. - -"Didn't that old hawk-nose say he was going to Aunt Priscilla's?" - -"It's a very good-looking nose," remarked Philip. "But so far as I could -see, all your friends of the train were bound for the same place." - -"He'll be lucky," said Veronica viciously, "if I don't put Paris green -in his tea. Oh, what a beautiful view of the sea!" she exclaimed as they -reached the summit of the hill. - -They had not walked far when Bill Lindsay's Ford came whirring back over -the much-traveled road, and he turned around for them. - -"After all," said Philip, as the machine started back up the island, -"your lady of the blue veil should set off the affliction of Mephisto's -presence." - -"Did she come?" asked Veronica delightedly. - -"Yes, didn't you see me pack her in with the woman whose halo won't fit? -The dull boy sat between them." - -"Well," said Veronica, "then there's no great loss without some small -gain." - -When the motor reached the Inn, Miss Priscilla was pleased with the way -Veronica dropped her hat and jacket in the kitchen, and after drinking -the one cup of cocoa upon which her aunt insisted, was ready to help her -carry in the late supper for the new guests with whom Philip sat down at -table. Veronica, coming and going, tried to make out his status in the -house. - -"That Mr. Barrison you sent to meet me," she said to her aunt when the -meal was over, "told me he was your man-of-all-work. He don't act much -like it." - -"Law, child," Miss Priscilla laughed. "He has been lately. Phil's a dear -boy when he isn't a wretch, and he's helped me out ever since I came. I -won't ever forget how good he's been. Now, let's sit down and let me see -you eat this fresh omelette and tell me all about yourself. I see you're -just like your mother, handy and capable, and let me tell you, it takes -a big load off me, Veronica." - -Just as she finished speaking, Diana Wilbur came in from the twilight -stroll she had been taking. - -"Miss Wilbur, this is my little niece, Veronica Trueman," said Miss -Priscilla. "She has come to help me, and high time, too. Four people -came to-night and there will be more to-morrow." - -Diana approached the newcomer and looked down upon her kindly after -taking her offered hand. - -"You must have had an inspiring ride down the bay, Miss Veronica," she -said. "I have been taking a walk to see the sun set. It was heavenly -to-night. Such translucent rose-color, and violet that shimmered into -turquoise, and robin's-egg blue. How fortunate for the new people to get -that first impression! Well, Miss Burridge," Diana sighed. "Of course we -must be glad to see them, but it has been a very subtle joy to retire -and to waken with no human sounds about us. I shall always remember this -last two weeks." - -"I'm glad you feel that way," said Miss Priscilla. "I thought, though, -that you'd heard lots o' sounds. Phil makes enough noise for a regiment -when he is dressin' in the mornin'." - -"You can scarcely call such melodious tones noise, can you?" replied -Miss Wilbur gently. "His flute is more liquid than that of the hermit -thrush." - -"I never heard him play the flute." Miss Priscilla looked surprised. - -"I refer to the marvelous, God-bestowed instrument that dwells within -him," explained Diana. - -"I think myself," said Miss Priscilla, clearing her throat, "that it's -kind o' cozy to hear a man whistlin' and shoutin' around in the mornin' -while he's dressin'. I suppose he'll be leavin' us pretty soon now. I -hate to see him go, he's gettin' the plants into such good shape; and -wasn't he good about scythin' paths so we wouldn't get wet to our knees -every time we left the house? I don't know how you ever had the courage -to wade over to this piazza before I came, Miss Wilbur." - -"Mr. Barrison certainly did smooth our paths." - -"He told me he was Aunt Priscilla's man-of-all-work," said Veronica, -busy with her omelette. - -"So he has been," replied Diana seriously: "out of the goodness of his -heart and the cleverness of his hands; but he is a great artist, Miss -Veronica, or at least he will be." - -"Do you mean he paints?" - -"No, he sings: and it is singing--such as must have sounded when the -stars sang together." - -"Dear me," said Veronica, "I wish I'd asked him to pipe up when we were -on the boat." - -Diana let her gaze rest for a moment of silence on the sacrilegious -speaker, then she excused herself, saying she would go up to her room. - -As soon as the door had closed behind her, Veronica looked up and -bestowed upon her aunt a meaning wink. - -"She's got it bad, hasn't she?" she said. - -Miss Burridge put her finger to her lips warningly. "Sh!" she breathed. -"Sometimes I think she has: but, law, Phil's nothing but a boy." - -"And she's nothing but a girl," said Veronica practically. "That's the -way it usually begins." - -Miss Burridge laughed. "What do you know about it, you child?" - -"Not so much as I'd like to. Puppa would never let anybody stay after -ten o'clock, and you don't really get warmed up before ten o'clock." - -"Why, Veronica Trueman, how you talk!" - -"Don't speak of how I talk!" said Veronica. "Hasn't that Miss Wilbur got -language! I guess Mr. Barrison likes her, too. He told me she was a -goddess." - -"Oh, Phil's just full of fun. He always will be a rapscallion at heart, -no matter how great he ever gets to be." - -"Well, he doesn't want anybody else to stop saying prunes and prisms. He -didn't even want me to chew gum. Anybody that's as unnatural as that had -better marry a goddess. Now, let's go for those dishes, Aunt Priscilla." - -"You good child!" said Miss Burridge appreciatively. "I can't really ask -Genevieve to stay in the evenin'. She's the little girl who comes every -day and prepares vegetables and washes dishes. Now, one minute, -Veronica, while I get the names o' these new people straight. I've got -their letters here." Miss Priscilla took them down from the -chimney-piece. "There's Mrs. Lowell, _she_'s alone, and Miss Emerson, -_she_'s alone, and Mr. Nicholas Gayne and his nephew, Herbert Gayne. I -wonder how long I'll remember that." - -"I know them all," said Veronica sententiously. "The whole bunch came on -in the same car with me from Boston. It's my plan to poison Mr. Gayne." - -"Don't talk that way, child." - -"You'll agree to it when you see how mean he is to his nephew. The boy -isn't all there." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Has rooms to let in the upper story, you know." Veronica touched her -round forehead. "Mrs. Lowell is a queen and Miss Emerson isn't; or else -Miss Emerson is a queen and Mrs. Lowell isn't. I'll know which is -t'other to-morrow." - -"You seem to have made up your mind about them all." - -"Oh, yes!" said Veronica. "You don't have to eat a whole jar of butter -to find out whether it's good. All I need is a three-minute taste of -anybody, and I had three hours and a half of them. Now, come on, Aunt -Priscilla, let's put some transparent water in the metal bowl, and the -snowy foam of soap within it." She rolled up her naughty eyes as she -spoke. - -Miss Burridge gave the girl a rebuking look, and then laughed. "Don't -you go to makin' fun of her now," she said. "She's my star boarder, no -matter who else comes, I'm in love with her whether Phil is or not. -She's genuine, that girl is,--genuine." - -"And you don't want me to be imitation," giggled Veronica. "I see." - -Then the two went at the clearing-up and dish-washing in high -good-humor. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A FRIENDLY PACT - - -"You, Veronica," said Miss Burridge one morning, looking out of the -kitchen window. "I feel sorry for that young boy." - -"I told you you would. Old Nick should worry what his nephew does with -himself all day." - -"Veronica!" Miss Priscilla gave the girl a warning wink and motioned -with her hand toward the sink where Genevieve, her hair in a tight braid -and her slender figure attired in a scanty calico frock, was looking -over the bib of an apron much too large for her, and washing the -breakfast dishes. - -"Excuse me," said Veronica demurely. "I meant to say Mr. Gayne. -Genevieve, you must never call Mr. Gayne 'Old Nick.' Do you hear?" - -"Veronica!" pleaded Miss Burridge. - -"Oh, we all know Mr. Gayne," said Genevieve, in her piercing, high voice -which always seemed designed to be heard through the tumult of a storm -at sea. - -"He has been here before, then?" asked Miss Burridge. - -"Pretty near all last summer. He comes to paint, you know." - -"No, I didn't know he was an artist." - -"Oh, yes, he paints somethin' grand, but I never saw any of his -pitchers." - -"Was his nephew with him last summer?" - -"No, I don't believe so. I never saw anybody around with him. He spent -most of his time up to the Dexter farm. He said he could paint the -prettiest pitchers there. It was him seen the first ghost." - -"What are you talking about, Genevieve?" asked Miss Burridge, while -Veronica busied herself drying the glass and silver. - -"Oh, yes," she put in. "That is the haunted farm. Mr. Barrison was -telling me about it." - -"Yep," said Genevieve. "Folks had said so a long time and heard awful -queer noises up there, but Mr. Gayne was the first who really seen the -spook." - -"I'm not surprised that he had a visitor," said Veronica. "Dollars to -doughnuts, it had horns and hoofs and a tail." - -"That's what Uncle Zip said," remarked Genevieve. "He said 't wa'n't -anything but an old stray white cow." - -Veronica laughed, and her aunt met her mischievous look with an -impressive shake of the head. "Mind me, now," she said, and Veronica did -not pursue the subject. - -The long porch across the front of the Inn made, sometimes a sunny, and -sometimes a foggy, meeting-place for the members of the family. It -boasted a hammock and some weather-beaten chairs, and Miss Myrna Emerson -was not tardy in discovering the one of these which offered the most -comfort. She was a lady of uncertain age and certain ideas. One of the -latter was that it was imperative that she should be comfortable. - -"I should think Miss Burridge would have some decent chairs here," she -said one morning, dilating her thin nostrils with displeasure as she -took possession of the most hopeful of the seats. - -The remark was addressed to Diana who was perched on the piazza rail. - -"Doubtless they will be added," she said, "should Miss Burridge find -that her undertaking proves sufficiently remunerative." - -"She charges enough, so far as that goes," declared Miss Emerson curtly, -but finding the chair unexpectedly comfortable, she settled back and -complained no further. - -Philip was out on the grass painting on a long board the words "Ye -Wayside Inn." Herbert Gayne stood watching him listlessly. His uncle was -stretched in the hammock. Mrs. Lowell came out upon the porch. Mr. Gayne -moved reluctantly, but he did arise. Men usually did exert themselves at -the advent of this tall, slender lady with the radiant smile and -laughing eyes. - -"Perhaps you would like the hammock, Mrs. Lowell," he said -perfunctorily. - -"Offer it to me some time later in the day," she responded pleasantly, -and he tumbled back into the couch with obvious relief. - -Mrs. Lowell approached the rail and observed Philip's labors. - -"Where are you going to hang that sign?" she asked in her charming -voice. "Across the front of the house, I judge." - -"Oh, no," replied Philip. "We can't hope to attract the fish. I am going -to hang it at the back where Bill Lindsay's flivver will feel the lure -before it gets here." - -"Across the back of the house," cried Miss Emerson in alarm. "I hope -nowhere near my window." - -"The sign will depend from iron rings," explained Diana. - -"I know they'll squeak," said Miss Emerson positively; "and if they do, -Mr. Barrison, you'll simply have to take it down." - -No one replied to this warning. So Miss Emerson dilated her nostrils -again with an air of determination and leaned back in her chair. - -The eyes of both Mrs. Lowell and Diana were upon the young boy whose -watching face betrayed no inspiration from the fresh morning. He had an -ungainly, neglected appearance from his rough hair to his worn shoes. -His clothes were partially outgrown and shabby. - -"Bert," called his uncle from the hammock. The boy looked up. "Come -here. Don't you hear me?" The boy started toward the piazza steps with a -shuffling gait. - -"You're slower than molasses in January," said Mr. Gayne lazily. "Go up -to my room and get my field-glasses. They're on the dresser, I think." - -Without a word the boy went into the house and Diana and Mrs. Lowell -exchanged a look. Each was hoping the messenger would be successful and -not draw upon himself a reprimand from the dark, impatient man smoking -in the hammock. - -The boy returned empty-handed. "They--they weren't there," he said. - -"Weren't where, stu--" Mr. Gayne encountered Mrs. Lowell's gaze as he -was in the middle of his epithet. Her eyes were not laughing now, and he -restrained himself. "Weren't on the dresser, do you mean?" he continued -in a quieter tone. "Well, didn't you look about any?" - -"Yes, sir. I looked on the--the trunk and on the--the floor." - -Mr. Gayne emitted an inarticulate sound which, but for the presence of -the ladies, would evidently have been articulate. "Oh, well," he -groaned, rising to a sitting posture on the side of the hammock, "I -suppose I shall have to galvanize my old bones and go after them -myself." - -His nephew's blank look did not change. He stood as if awaiting further -orders, and his listless eyes met Mrs. Lowell's kindly gaze. - -"It is good fun to look through field-glasses in a place like this, -isn't it, Bertie?" she said. - -The boy's surprise at being addressed was evident. "I--I don't know," he -replied. - -His uncle laughed. "That's all the answer you'll ever get out of him, -Mrs. Lowell. He's the champion don't-know-er." - -The boy's blank look continued the same. It was evident that his -uncle's description of him was nothing new. - -"I don't believe that," said Mrs. Lowell. "I think Bertie and I are -going to be friends. I like boys." - -The look she was giving the lad as she spoke seemed for a moment to -attract his attention. - -"You won't--you won't like me," he said in his usual wooden manner. - -"Children and fools," laughed his uncle, rising from the hammock. - -"Mr. Gayne!" exclaimed Diana, electrified out of her customary serenity. - -The man's restless, dark eyes glanced quickly from the face of one woman -to another, even alighting upon Miss Emerson whose countenance only gave -its usual indication that the lady had just detected a very unpleasant -odor. - -He laughed again, good-naturedly, and as he passed his nephew gave him a -careless, friendly pat on the shoulder. The unexpected touch startled -the boy and made him cringe. - -"Bert believes honesty is the best policy," he said. "Don't you, Bert?" - -"Yes, sir," replied the boy automatically. - -"Sit down here a minute, won't you, Bertie?" asked Mrs. Lowell, making a -place beside her on the piazza rail. The boy obeyed. "Have you ever -seen this great ocean before?" - -"No. Yes. I don't know." - -"Why, yes, you do know, of course," said Mrs. Lowell, with a soft little -laugh, very intimate and pleasant. "You know whether you have seen the -ocean before." - -The boy regarded her, and in the surprise of being really challenged to -think, he meditated. - -"No," he said, at last. "I've never been here before." - -"Isn't it a beautiful place?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"I don't know," returned the boy after a hesitation. Then he looked down -on the grass at Philip. - -"Do you want to go back and watch Mr. Barrison paint?" - -"Yes." - -"All right. Run along. We'll talk some other time." - -The boy rose and shuffled across the porch and down the steps. - -"Mrs. Lowell, it is heart-breaking!" exclaimed Diana softly. - -Her companion nodded. - -"The situation is incomprehensible," said Diana. "It seems as if Mr. -Gayne had some ulterior design which impelled him to stultify any -outcropping of intelligence in his nephew. Have you not observed it from -the moment of their arrival?" - -"Yes, and before we arrived. I noticed them on the train." - -"If there's anything I can't bear to have around, it's an idiot," said -Miss Emerson. "It gives me the creeps. If he hangs about much, I shall -complain to Miss Burridge." - -The sweep of the ocean and the rush of the wind made her remark -inaudible beyond the piazza. Mrs. Lowell turned to her. - -"I think we all have a mission right there, perhaps, Miss Emerson. The -boy is not an idiot. I have observed him closely enough to be convinced -of that. He is a plant in a dark cellar, and I wonder how many years he -has been there. His uncle's methods turn him into an automaton. If you -keep your arm in a sling a few weeks you know it loses its power to act. -The boy's brain seems to have been treated the same way. His uncle's -every word holds the law over him that he cannot think, or reason, and -that he is the stupidest creature living." - -"That is true," said Diana. "That is just what he does." - -Miss Emerson sniffed. "Well, I didn't come up to Maine on a mission. I -came to rest, and I don't propose to have that gawk prowling around -where I am." - -Nicholas Gayne appeared, his binoculars in his hand. "Would you ladies -like to look at the shipping?" he said, approaching. His manner was -ingratiating, and Diana conquered the resentment filling her heart -sufficiently to accept the glasses from his hand. He was conscious that -he had not made a good impression. "The mackerel boats are going out to -sea after yesterday's storm," he remarked. "You will see how wonderfully -near you can bring them." - -Diana adjusted the glass and exclaimed over its power. Miss Emerson -jumped up from her chair. - -"That's something I want to see," she said, and Diana handed her the -glass while Nicholas Gayne scowled at the spinster's brown -"transformation." He was not desirous of propitiating Miss Emerson, who, -however, pressed him into the service of helping her adjust the screws -to suit her eyes, and was effusive in her appreciation of the effect. - -"You surely are a benefactor, Mr. Gayne," she said at last, with -enthusiasm. - -"Let me be a benefactor to Mrs. Lowell, too," he returned, and the lady -yielded up the glass. - -"That is the great Penguin Light beyond Crag Island," he said, as Mrs. -Lowell accepted the binoculars. "The trees hide it in the daytime, it is -so distant, but at night you will see it flash out." - -"It is so interesting that you are familiar here, Mr. Gayne," said Miss -Emerson. "You must tell us all about the island and show us the -prettiest places." - -The owner of the binoculars stirred restlessly under the appealing smile -the lady was bestowing upon him. - -"For myself, I just love to walk," she added suggestively. - -"I don't do much walking," he returned shortly. "I come here to sketch." - -"Oh, an artist!" exclaimed Miss Emerson, clasping her hands in the -extremity of her delight. "Do you allow any one to watch you work? Such -a pleasure as it would be." - -"It isn't, though," said Nicholas Gayne with an uncomfortable -side-glance at his admirer. "My daubs aren't worth watching." - -"Oh, that will do for you to say," she returned archly. "I have done -some sketching myself. Perhaps I could persuade you to take a pupil." - -"Nothing doing," returned the artist hastily. "We all come up here to -rest, don't we?" he added. - -"Oh, I suppose so," sighed Miss Emerson. "But I do hope you will give me -the great pleasure of seeing your work sometime." She sank back into her -chair with a sigh. - -"That is a very fine glass," remarked Mrs. Lowell as she returned it to -its owner. His brow cleared as he received it. - -"Well, I must be off," he said. "I mustn't waste time under these -favoring skies." - -"Oh, Miss Wilbur," said Miss Emerson, addressing the young girl. -"Wouldn't it be lovely if Mr. Gayne would let us go with him and watch -him sketch?" - -"I am quite ignorant of his art," returned Diana, rising from her seat. -"And I still have a great deal of exploring to do on my own account." - -Nicholas Gayne cast an admiring glance at the statuesque lines of her -face and figure. - -"Perhaps you will let me make a sketch of you one of these days, Miss -Wilbur." He approached the piazza rail as he spoke and his voice -carried down to where Philip was painting under the eyes of the silent, -watching boy. - -Philip looked up, and, catching the expression with which Gayne seemed -to be appraising the young girl, he ruined one of the _n_'s in Inn so -that it had to be painted out and done over. - -Veronica, her duties finished for the time being, sallied out of doors -and approaching Philip looked curiously at his work. - -"There's nothing the matter with that," she said encouragingly, and the -others came down from the piazza to praise the painter. Miss Emerson -followed, but she looked at the sign doubtfully. - -"One can't help being sensitive, can one?" she said to Gayne. "And the -wind blows so hard all the time up here, I'm afraid that sign is going -to squeak." - -"Show me your window," said Philip good-naturedly, "and I'll see if we -can't avoid it." - -So they all went around to the back of the house where Philip had his -ladder waiting and the sign was finally placed to the satisfaction of -everybody except Miss Emerson, who considered it on probation. - -Nicholas Gayne was still conscious that he had not made a pleasing -impression in his treatment of his nephew and it was no part of his -programme to attract attention. He approached the boy now. - -"What are you going to do with yourself, Bert?" - -"I don't know," was the answer. - -"Want to come with me?" - -"No, sir." - -"Well, that's plain enough," said Gayne, laughing and looking around on -the company. - -"He's a very foolish boy," said Miss Emerson, "when he has an -opportunity to watch you sketch." - -"Oh, Mr. Gayne!" cried Veronica. "Don't go until you tell us about the -haunted farm." - -"Where did you ever hear about that?" asked the artist, looking with -some favor on Veronica's round and dimpled personality. "I thought you -were a stranger here." - -"I am, but Genevieve Wilks has just been telling me that you really saw -the spook." - -Gayne laughed. "When I came up here last summer, I was told about the -haunted farm, and, of course, I was interested in it at once. There are -some particularly good views from there. So, naturally, I became one of -the ha'nts myself and spent a lot of time with them." - -"Oh, but tell us what it looked like," persisted Veronica. "Did you -really think you saw one?" - -"What a subject for this time of a clear, sunny day," said Gayne, -lightly. "Wait until the thunder rolls some stormy night," and, lifting -his cap, he hurried away through the field, his sketch-book under his -arm. - -Diana looked after his receding form. - -"It is odd how little like an artist Mr. Gayne looks," she said. - -"You mean he should have long hair and dreamy eyes?" asked Philip. - -"I think it is the eyes," replied Diana thoughtfully. "I cannot picture -his looking with concentration and persistence at anything." - -"Oh, I've seen him make a pretty good stab at it," said Philip dryly, -thinking of the manner in which he had on several occasions seen him -stare at Diana. - -At this point the dull boy found his tongue. - -"I wouldn't go up there," he said haltingly. - -"Up where?" asked Mrs. Lowell encouragingly. - -"Up to that farm. It's full of nettles that sting, and then, when it's -dark, ghosts." - -The group exchanged glances. - -"Who told you that?" asked Philip. - -"Uncle Nick." - -It did not increase the general admiration of Mr. Gayne that he should -take such means for securing safety from his nephew's companionship. - -Mrs. Lowell took the boy's arm. "I want to go down to the water," she -said. "Will you go with me?" - -"Are you afraid to go alone?" he asked. - -"I should like it better if you went with me." - -He allowed himself to be led around the house, then on among the grassy -hummocks and clump of bay and savin and countless blueberry bushes. - -"Do you see what quantities of blueberries we are going to have?" asked -Mrs. Lowell. - -"Are we?" - -"Yes. These are berry bushes. Do you like blueberries?" - -"I don't know." - -Mrs. Lowell laughed and shook the arm she was still holding. "You do -know, Bertie," she said. "You must have eaten lots of blueberries." Her -merry eyes held his dull ones as she spoke. "I don't like to hear you -say you don't know, all the time." - -"What difference does it make?" he returned. - -"All the difference in the world. The most important thing in life is -for us to _know_. There are such quantities of beautiful things for us -to know. This day, for instance. We can know it is beautiful, can't we?" - -When they reached the stony beach, she released his arm and sat down -among the pebbles. He did not look at them or at the sea; but at her. -She wore a blue dress and her brown hair was ruffling in the wind. - -"Do you like stones?" she asked. - -"I--" he began. - -She lifted her hand and laughed again into his eyes. "Careful!" she -said. "Don't say you don't know." - -The boy's look altered from dullness to perplexity. "But I don't--" he -began slowly. - -"Then find out right now," she said, lifting a hand full of the smooth -pebbles while the tide seethed and hissed near them. She held out her -hand to him. - -"Pick out the prettiest," she said, and he began pulling them over with -his forefinger. - -"I love stones," she went on. "See how the ocean has polished them for -us. Years and years of polishing has gone to these, and yet we can pick -them up on a bright summer morning and have them for our own if we want -them." - -"There's one sort of green," said Bertie. "Green. That's like me. Uncle -Nick says I'm green." - -"Uncle Nick doesn't know everything," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, as she -took the pebble he had chosen and, laying her handkerchief on the beach, -placed the green pebble upon it. "Now, see if we can find some that you -can see the light through. There is one now. See, that one is almost -transparent. It is translucent. That is what translucent means. Isn't it -a pretty word--and a pretty stone? Hold it up to your eye." - -The boy obeyed, a slight look of interest coming into his face. Mrs. -Lowell studying him realized what an attractive face his might be. It -was as if the promising bud of a flower had been blighted in -mid-opening. - -"Let us put all the best pebbles on my handkerchief and take them home -with us. Have you a father and mother, Bertie?" - -"No." - -"Do you remember them?" - -The boy hesitated and glanced into the kind face bent toward him. Its -expression gave the lonely lad a strange sensation. A lump came into his -throat and moisture suddenly gathered in his eyes. He swallowed the -lump. - -"Uncle Nick doesn't want me--to talk about her," he stammered. - -"Your mother, do you mean, Bertie?" - -The tender tone was too much for the boy. He had to swallow faster and -nodded. In a minute two drops ran down his cheeks. He ignored them and -began throwing pebbles into the water. - -The figure that he made in his outgrown trousers and faded old sweater, -trying to control himself, moved his companion, and the sign of his -emotion encouraged her. Perhaps he was not so stupid as he seemed. - -"I think it would be nice to make a collection of stones while we are -here," she said. "I'm sure Miss Burridge will let us have a glass jar. -See this one." - -Bertie dashed the back of his hand across his eyes and turned to look at -the small pebble she offered. - -"Isn't that a little beauty?" - -"I--" - -"Careful!" his companion smiled as she said it and pretended to frown at -him in such a merry way that the hint of a smile appeared on his face. - -"Uncle Nick likes to have me say I don't know. He says it's honest." - -"Well, no two people could be more different than Uncle Nick and me. I -want you to _know_, and I want you to say so, because it's what we all -have a right to. It is what God wants of us; and, Bertie, if you ever -feel like talking about your mother to me, you must do so." - -The boy glanced up at her, then down at the pebbles which he pulled over -in silence. - -"Where do you and your uncle live?" - -"In Newark." - -"Do you go to school there?" - -"No." - -"Where do you go to school?" - -"Nowhere." - -"Where did you learn to read and write then, Bertie?" - -"In school. I went when--when _she_ was here." - -"Your mother?" - -"Yes." - -"And have you brothers and sisters?" - -"No. Just Uncle Nick." - -"Does he give you studies to learn?" Mrs. Lowell's catechism was given -in such gentle, interested tones that the answers had come easily up to -now. - -Now the boy hesitated, and she began to expect the stereotyped answer -which he had learned was most pleasing, and the easiest way out with his -uncle. - -"I--" he began, and caught her look. "Sometimes," he added. "But Uncle -Nick says it isn't any use--and I don't care anyway, because--she isn't -here." - -Again Mrs. Lowell could see the spasm in his throat and face. It passed -and left the usual dull listlessness of expression. - -"Your mother was very sweet," said Mrs. Lowell quietly, and some -acknowledgment lighted his eyes as he suddenly looked up at her. "I know -that because she made such a deep impression on the little boy she left. -How old were you, Bertie, in that happy time when she was here?" - -"I--it was Christmas, and there have been--five Christmases since. I -remember them on my fingers, and one hand is gone." - -Mrs. Lowell met his shifting look with the steady, kind gaze which was -so fraught with sympathy that his forlorn, neglected soul turned towards -its warmth like a struggling flower to the sun. - -"I'll tell you what I think would be beautiful, Bertie," she said. "And -it is for you to do everything you do for her, just as if she were here, -or as if you were going to see her to-morrow. Did she ever talk to you -about God?" - -"Yes. I said prayers that Christmas--and I got a sled." - -"Do you ever say prayers now?" - -"No. It--it doesn't do any good if you--if you live with Uncle Nick. -He--he won't let God give you--anything." - -"Let me tell you something wonderful, Bertie. Nobody--not even Uncle -Nick--can stand between you and God. You know the way your mother loved -you? God loves you that way, too. Like a Father and Mother both. So, -whenever you think of your mother's love, think of God's love, too. It -is just as real. In fact, it was God, you know, who made her love you." - -The boy looked up at this. - -"Yes. So, whenever you think of God, remember that 'I don't know' must -never come into your thought. You _do_ know, and you _can_ know better -every day." - -"Uncle Nick won't like it if I know anything." - -"Dear child!" burst from Mrs. Lowell at this unconscious revelation of -blight. "We will have a secret from Uncle Nick. I am so glad you have -told me about your dear mother, and now you are going to start doing -everything in the way you think would make her happy if she were here. I -am sure she loved everything beautiful. She loved flowers and birds and -this splendid ocean that is going to catch us in a minute if we don't -move back. What do you say to letting it catch us! Supposing we take off -our shoes and stockings and wade. Doesn't that foam look tempting?" - -Color rose in the speaker's cheeks as she finished, and the vitality in -her voice was infectious. - -"It's--it'll be cold," said the boy. - -"Let it. Come on, it will be fun." - -She was already taking off her shoes and he followed suit. It gave her a -pang to see the holes in his faded socks, but she caught up her skirts -and he pulled up his trousers and shrinkingly followed her. The June -water was still reminiscent of ice, and she squealed as the foam curled -around her ankles, and Bertie hopped up and down until color came into -his face, too. The incoming tide, noisier and noisier, drove them -farther and farther up the beach, until finally they sat down together -on a rock at a safe distance from the water, and the sunlight fell hotly -on their glistening feet. - -"That was fun!" said Mrs. Lowell, laughing and breathing fast. "Do you -know how to swim, Bertie?" - -"I--no, I don't." - -"That would be a nice thing to learn while you are here. You learn and -then teach me." - -"Me? Teach you?" - -"Of course. Why not? There's a cove in the island where they all swim." - -Bertie looked off on the billows. "Would my mother like that?" he asked. - -"I'm sure she would, and she would like the collection of stones we are -going to make, and she would like you to help Miss Burridge by weeding -the garden that they have started. There are so many delightful things -to do in the world, and you are going to do them all--for her." - -"All for her," echoed Bertie. "And not tell Uncle Nick," he added. - -"No. You and I will keep the secret." - -Mrs. Lowell looked at him with a smile, and the neglected boy, his dull -wits stimulated by this amazing experience of comradeship, smiled back -at her, the smile of the little child who in that far-away happy -Christmas had received a sled. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -BIOGRAPHY - - -"Well, good-bye, Miss Priscilla," said Philip, coming into the kitchen a -few mornings afterward. "This landlubber life won't do for me any -longer." - -Small Genevieve was at the sink washing dishes and Veronica was drying -them. - -Miss Burridge slid her last loaf of bread into the oven and then stood -up and faced him. - -"Philip Barrison," she said emphatically, "you have been a blessing for -these weeks. I hate to see you go. Now, how much do I owe you for all -the good things you've done for me?" - -Philip laughed and, throwing his arms around her, gave her a hearty -smack on the cheek. - -"What do I owe you for popovers and corn fritters?" he rejoined. "Just -don't let Veronica chew gum, nor let Genevieve flirt with Marley Hughes -and we'll call it square." - -Genevieve turned up her little nose and giggled, and Veronica looked -scornful. - -"Now, don't you tell me that Puppa liked it," he continued to her. -"Besides, anybody that lives with your Aunt Pris has so many nicer -things to chew there is no excuse. Oh, Miss Priscilla, how I hate to say -adieu to the waffles!" - -"Well, you must come real often, Phil. I heard you was goin' to give us -a concert at the hall sometime this summer. Is that so? I do hope you -will." - -"I shouldn't wonder. My accompanist is coming to-day and we shall do a -little work and a lot of fishing." - -"Is he a young feller? You must bring him up to play croquet with the -girls." - -"Well, I don't know whether he has any experience as an Alpine climber -or not." - -"Why, I don't think it's such an awful bad ground. Do you, Veronica?" - -"Not if he's real nice and hasn't any whiskers," replied the girl. -"Heaven knows he'll be better than nothing. Such a place as this and not -a beau! It's a crime." - -"How about me?" inquired Philip modestly. - -Veronica lifted her upper lip disdainfully. "Oh, you, with your lectures -and your goddesses! What earthly good are you?" - -"Cr-rushed!" exclaimed Philip. - -"Talked to Mrs. Lowell all last evening on the piazza in that lovely -moonlight. The idea of wasting it on a _Mrs._ I suppose there's a _Mr._ -to her." - -"Yes, and he's coming before the summer is over. The worst of it is she -seems to like him." - -"Children, children," said Miss Burridge, and she winked toward the back -of Genevieve's head. Well she knew the alertness of the ears that were -holding back those tight braids of hair. - -"Yes, my accompanist, Barney, is a broth of a boy, but I shall tell him, -Veronica, that ten o'clock is the limit, the very extreme limit." - -The girl flushed and laughed. "You mind your business now, Mr. Barrison, -and I'll attend to mine. I'm perfectly capable of it." - -"Very well. I'll simply keep Puppa's address on my desk, and I won't use -it unless I really have to," said Phil, in a conscientious tone which -nearly caused Veronica to throw a cup at him. - -"Go along now if you must, Philip," said Miss Priscilla. "And I do thank -you, dear boy. We shall miss you every minute. Give my love to your -grandmother. I wish she could get up as far as this. You tell her so." - -"All right, I will. Do you know where Miss Wilbur is?" - -"Aha!" said Veronica softly. - -"I don't want to go without saying good-bye to her." - -"I should hope not," jeered Veronica. "I suppose you won't see her again -all summer." - -"Oh, yes, I shall, unless Barney Kelly cuts me out." - -"Sure, it's Oirish he is, thin?" - -"Faith, and he is, and a bit chipped off the original blarney stone at -that. Trust him not, Veronica." - -"I only hope I'll get the chance, but if you're going to set him on the -goddess, what sort of a look-in will I have? I've got five on my nose -already." - -"Five what, woman?" - -"Freckles. Can't you see them from there? It will be fulsome flattery if -you say you can't." - -Philip squinted up his eyes and came nearer to examine. - -"You remember what I said. Tell Barney they're beauty spots--'golden -kisses of the sun.'" - -"Oh, ain't that pretty!" shouted Genevieve. "I'm speckled with 'em jest -like a turkey egg, but I don't mind 'em the way Veronica does. I've got -some powder at home and I powder over 'em." - -"At your age, Genevieve!" exclaimed Philip sternly. "What shall I do -with the extravagance and artificiality of this generation! Don't you -know, Genevieve, that the money you spend for powder should go into the -missionary box? You poor, lost, little soul!" - -Genevieve giggled delightedly, and Miss Burridge, at the window, -exclaimed: - -"There's Miss Wilbur now, Phil, looking at the garden bed." - -"If I were she," said Veronica, "I wouldn't have a word to say to you -after the way you wasted last evening." - -"If only she thought so, too!" groaned Philip. "But I'm not in it with -her astronomy map for June. She is a hundred times more interested to -know where Jupiter and Venus are than where I am--natural, I -suppose--all in the family." He threw open the kitchen door and, -standing on the step, threw kisses toward the group within. - -"Good-bye, summer!" he sang. "_Good-bye, good-bye._" - -The beauty of his voice had its usual effect on Diana, who stood by the -strip of green, growing things, looking in his direction, her lips -slightly parted over her pretty teeth. - -"You see I'm good-bye-ing," he said, approaching her. - -"Are you leaving us?" she returned, allowing her clasped hands to fall -apart. "See how well the sweet peas are doing." - -"Yes, I'm leaving you all in good shape. Do you think you can go on -behaving yourselves without my watchful guardianship and Christian -example?" - -"I think we shall miss you. Mr. Gayne is not a fair exchange." - -"Thank you. Mrs. Lowell was talking to me about that outfit last -evening. She is quite stirred up about the boy." - -"Yes," rejoined Diana. "I think she is a wonderful woman. She has taken -him down to the beach with her again this morning. She believes that Mr. -Gayne is his nephew's enemy rather than his guardian. She believes he -has some reason for desiring to blight any buddings of intelligence in -the boy, and uses an outrageous method of suppression over him all the -time. It would be so much easier to let it go, and most of us would, I'm -sure, rather than spend vacation hours in such insipid company, or have -any dealings with that--that impossible uncle; but Mrs. Lowell will not -relinquish her efforts." - -"Yes, she is a brilliant, fearless sort of woman," said Philip. "I -shouldn't wonder if she gave Gayne a disagreeable quarter of an hour -before she gets through with him." - -"One has to exercise care, however," returned Diana, "lest the man -become angered and visit his ill-humor on the boy. I am often obliged to -constrain myself to civility when I yearn to hurl--" she hesitated. - -"Plates? Oh, do say you long to throw a plate at him!" - -Diana gave her remote moonbeam smile. - -"I must admit that 'invective' was in my mind. A rather strong word for -girls to use." - -"A splendid word. A good long one, too. You might try hurling -polysyllables at him some day and see him blink." - -Diana shook her head. "That sort of man is a pachyderm. He would never -flinch at verbal missiles. Since you must go, I wish some other -agreeable man would join our group and converse with him at table." - -Philip smiled. "Surely you have noticed that Miss Emerson is not averse -to assuming all responsibility?" - -"Mr. Barrison," said Diana gravely, "I hope when I am--am elderly and -unmarried, that I shall not seek to attract men." - -"Miss Wilbur," returned Philip, with a solemnity fitting hers, and -regarding the symmetry and grace of her lovely head, "don't spend any -time worrying about that; for some inner voice assures me that you will -never be elderly and unmarried." - -"The future is on the knees of the gods," she returned serenely. - -"Then I don't need to lose any sleep on account of your posing for one -of Mr. Gayne's wonderful sketches?" - -Diana brought the brown velvet of her eyes to bear fully upon him. It -even seemed hopeful that a spark would glow in them. - -"I loathe the man," she said slowly. - -"Forgive me, divine one. Well, I must go now. Why won't you take me -home? I should like you to meet my grandmother, and think of the -pitfalls and mantraps of the island road if I risk myself alone: Bill -Lindsay's Ford! Marley Hughes's bicycle! Lou Buell's gray mare taking -him to mend somebody's broken pipe! Matt Blake's express wagon! Come and -keep my courage up." - -"You have a grandmother on this island?" - -"I'll prove it if you'll come with me." - -Diana smiled and moved along beside him. "It doesn't seem a real, -mundane, earthly place to me yet," she said. "It must be wonderful to -have a solid _pied-a-terre_ here. They tell me there are many summer -cottages, but they are far from our Inn and I haven't realized them yet. -I am hoping my parents will consent to purchasing some ground here for -me." - -"Where do you usually go in summer?" - -"Our cottage is at Newport, but I like better Pittsfield, where we go in -the autumn." - -Philip looked around at her as she moved along through the field beside -him. "Is your middle name Biddle?" he asked. - -"No, I have no middle name." - -"I thought in Philadelphia only the descendants of the Biddles had -cottages at Newport and Pittsfield." - -Diana smiled. "I know that is a stock bit of humor. What was that about -an Englishman who said he had seen Niagara Falls and almost every other -wonder of America except a Biddle? He had not yet seen one." - -"When do you laugh, Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip suddenly. - -"Why, whenever anything amuses me, of course." - -"Yet you like the island, although it has never amused you yet. I have -lived in the house with you for two weeks and I haven't heard you -laugh." - -Diana looked up at him and laughed softly. "How amusing!" she said. - -He nodded. "It's very good-looking, very. Do that again sometime. How -did you happen to run away from family this season?" - -"I was tired and almost ill, and some people at home had been here and -told me about it. So I came, really incontinently. I did not wait to -perfect arrangements, and when I arrived in a severe rainstorm one -evening, I found great kindness at the house my friends had told me of, -but no clean towels. They were going to have a supply later, but -meanwhile I lost my heart to the view from our Inn piazza and Miss -Burridge found me there one day and took me in for better or for worse. -That explains me. Now, what explains your having a grandmother here?" - -"Her daughter marrying my father, I imagine. My grandfather was a -sea-captain, Cap'n Steve Dorking. He had given up the sea by the time I -came along." - -"Here? Were you born here?" - -"Yes." - -"That explains the maritime tints in your eyes. Even when they laugh -the sparkle is like the sun on the water. Continue, please." - -"Well, my father, who came here to fish, met my mother, fell in love, -married her, and took her away. He was very clever at everything except -making money, it seems, so my mother came home within a year to welcome -me on to the planet. My grandfather had a small farm, and I was his -shadow and one of his 'hands' until I was eight years old." - -"Was it a happy life?" - -"It was. I remember especially the smell of Grammy's buttery, -sweet-smelling cookies, and gingerbread, and apple pies with cinnamon. -It smells the same way now. Do you wonder I like to come back?" - -"You stimulate my appetite," said Diana. - -"Oh, she'll give you some. There were many jolly things in those days to -brighten the life of a country boy. The way the soft grass felt to bare -feet in the spring, and in the frosty autumn mornings when we went to -the yard to milk and would scare up the cows so those same bare feet -could stand in the warm place where the cows had lain. Then came winter -and snowdrifts--making snow huts and coasting down the hills. Sliding -and skating on the ice-filled hollows. It was all great. I'm glad I had -it." - -"You test my credulity, Mr. Barrison, when you speak of ice and snow in -this poetic home of summer breezes." - -He looked down at her. "We will have a winter house-party at Grammy's -sometime and convince you." - -"So at eight years of age you went out into the world?" - -"Yes, at my dear mother's apron strings. My father had spent some time -with us every year and at last secured a living salary and took us to -town. The first thing I did in the glitter of the blinking lamp-posts -was to fall in love. I prayed every night for a long time that I might -marry that girl. She had long curls and I reached just to her ear. I -received her wedding cards a year or so ago. I was always praying for -something, but only one of my prayers has ever been answered. I was -always very devout in a thunderstorm, and I prayed that I might not be -struck by lightning and I never have been yet." - -"When was your wonderful voice discovered?" - -"Look here, Miss Wilbur, you are tempting me to a whole biography, and -it isn't interesting." - -"Yes, I am interested in--in your mother." - -"My poor mother," said Philip, in a different tone. "When I was twelve -years old my father was taken ill and soon left us. My mother had to -struggle and I had to stop school and go to work. The first job I got -was lathing a house. I walked seven miles into the country and put the -laths on that house. I worked hard for a whole week and received twelve -dollars and seventy-five cents. It was a ten-dollar gold piece, two -silver dollars, fifty cents, and a quarter." - -Diana lifted sympathetic eyes. - -"I bought a suit of clothes and gave up the gold piece. The perfect lady -clerk failed to give me credit for it and six months afterward the store -sent the bill to my mother. I put up a heated argument, you may be sure, -and before the matter was settled, the perfect lady clerk skipped with -another woman's husband. So the powers inclined to believe me rather -than her." - -"Poor little boy," put in Diana. "But your music?" - -"Yes. Well, our minister's wife took an interest in me and gave me -lessons on the organ. I never would practice, though. I would pick out -hymns with one finger while I stood on one foot and pumped the pedal -with the other. It was results I was after; but the cornet allured me, -and I learned to play that well enough to join the Sunday-School -orchestra. - -"A cousin of my mother's came to our rescue sufficiently to let me go to -school, and in all my spare time I did odd jobs, some of them pretty -strenuous; but I was a strong youngster, and evidently bore a charmed -life, for I challenged fate on trains, on top of buildings, and in -engine rooms. But I'll spare you the harrowing details. At the spring -commencement of the high school, I was invited to sing a solo. I warbled -good old 'Loch Lomond' and forgot the words and was mortified almost to -death, but the audience was enthusiastic, I have always believed out of -pity." - -"No no," breathed Diana. - -"Well, at any rate, they insisted on an encore, and I was so braced up -by the applause and so furious at myself that I gave them 'The Owl and -the Pussy Cat."' - -"Oh." - -"I see you don't know it. Well, next day I met a lady on the street who -was very musical, it seemed, and she invited me to come to her house and -talk over studying music. She said I had a great responsibility. Oh, you -don't want to hear all this!" - -"I do, I do." - -"My mother passed away soon afterward, and the musical friend in -need--good friend she was, and is--told me of a town a hundred miles -away where there were vacancies she knew of in choir positions. She -would give me a letter of introduction and she believed I could qualify -for one of them. I didn't tell her the slimness of my cash after my dear -mother's funeral expenses were paid, and she didn't know. So I traveled -that hundred miles on a freight train. When I first boarded it, I -crawled into the fire-box of a new engine that was being transported -over that line. It grew very cold before we had gone far, and I crawled -out and climbed over the coal tender and opened the hole where they put -the water in. I climbed down into that empty place and lighted a match -only to find that there were about twenty bums there ahead of me. I -didn't stay there long, for I was good and plenty afraid; some of them -looked desperate. I climbed out again and went along the train till I -came to a flat-car loaded with a new threshing machine. I saw a brakeman -coming along with a lantern, and I knew if he saw me he'd put me off. So -I climbed into the back of the threshing machine and down into its very -depths, and after a while, when I had become chilled to the marrow, the -train came to a halt. I crawled out and down to the ground and ran -around to get warm. They were doing some switching and I saw they added -two cars to the train. One had stock in one end and hay and grain in the -other. They had to leave the door open to let in air for the stock, and -up I climbed and hid under the straw and slept soundly the rest of the -journey. Oh, I was dirty when I arrived! But my precious letter was safe -in an inside pocket, and with the contents of the little bundle I had, -and the expenditure of part of my small stock of money, I made myself -decent and presented my letter of introduction. The organist of one of -the churches tried me out. He liked my voice so much that he engaged me -and was even interested enough to let me live at his house; but three -dollars a Sunday was the salary and the voice lessons I engaged would be -four dollars a week, so, of course, I had to go to work at once, and I -got a job in a big sash and door factory where I worked like a horse -ten hours a day." - -"Why, Mr. Barrison," sighed Diana, "you are a hero." - -Philip laughed. "I had no leisure to think about that. Times grew very -slack and there began to be great danger that I would lose my job in the -factory. They said they would have to lay me off unless I would -whitewash an old building they had bought to store lumber. So I was -given a brush and a barrel of lime-water and told to go at it. If I lost -my job, I wouldn't be able to live. So I wrapped my feet in sacks to try -to keep warm--it was late November--and went at it: and there were -girls, Miss Wilbur, girls! And I couldn't put it over them after Tom -Sawyer's fashion. Well, I had sung there just thirteen Sundays when the -blow fell. The committee told me very kindly that they wanted to try -another tenor. I went home from that talk with a heart heavy as lead. I -could not sleep, and near midnight I began to cry. Yes, I did cry. I was -twenty-one and I had voted, but I was the most broken-hearted boy in the -State. I must have cried for two or three hours, pitying myself to the -utmost, up three flights of stairs in that little attic room, with the -rain pouring on the roof over my head, when all at once I jumped out of -bed as dry-eyed as if I'd never shed a tear and, lifting my right hand -as high as possible, I made a vow. I said--So help me, God, I will -become a singer if I have to walk over everybody in the attempt. I will -learn to sing, and these mutts will listen to me and pay to hear me, -too. Then I jumped back into bed and fell asleep instantly." - -"Splendid!" said Diana. "And how did you keep the vow?" - -"Well, next morning I began to figure what I must do. I knew I hadn't -enough education. I remembered that three years before I had won a -scholarship for twenty weeks' free tuition in a business college in -Portland, and I decided that I would need fifty dollars. The same cousin -who had helped me before to go to school, came across. I quit my job, -paid my bills, and left for Portland, getting there at Christmas. I sang -at the Christmas-tree exercises in my home church. I went to school as I -planned, took care of the furnace for the rent of my room, took care of -three horses, got the janitorship of a church--" - -Diana looked up with a sudden smile. "And forced up the thermometer -when you overslept." - -Philip burst into a hearty laugh. "Did Miss Burridge give me away? I -tell you I saved that church lots of coal that winter." - -"Oh, continue. I did not mean to interrupt you, for now you are coming -to the climax." - -"Nothing very wonderful, Miss Wilbur, but I found I had that to give -that people were willing to pay for, and I began going about in country -places giving recitals, mixing humorous recitations in with the groups -of songs, playing my own accompaniments and sometimes having to shovel a -path through the snow to the town hall before my audience could come in. -I wonder if Caruso ever had to shovel snow away from the Metropolitan -Opera House before his friends could get in to hear him! After that I -worked my way through two years at college, studying with a good voice -teacher. Then came the war. I got through with little more than a -scratch and was in one of the first regiments to be sent home after the -armistice was signed. The lady who first discovered my voice had -influential musical friends in New York. She sent me to them, and, to -make a long story a little shorter, last winter I was under an -excellent management, obtained a church position, and have sung at a -good many recitals. The coming winter looks hopeful." Philip put his -hand on his heart and bowed. "Thanking you for your kind attention--here -we are at Grammy's." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -A FIRELIGHT INTERVIEW - - -Their path had led away from the main road across a field toward a -buff-colored house set on a rise of ground like a billow in a green sea. -Where the hill descended beyond, there grew a flourishing apple orchard. - -"Since my grandfather's death, the little farm is overgrown," said -Philip. "My grandmother gets a neighbor to cut the hay and milk her cow, -and so leaves the cares of the world behind her." - -A climbing rosebush nearly covered one side of the cottage, and -old-fashioned perennials clung about its base. Nothing was yet in bloom; -but soon the daisies in the field would lie in white drifts and the wild -roses, large and of a deep pink, would soften the ledges of rock -cropping out everywhere in the sweet-smelling fields. - -Philip opened the door and ushered his companion into a small hallway -covered with oilcloth, then into a sunny living-room, shining clean, -with a floor varnished in yellow and strewn with rag rugs. An old lady, -seated in one of the comfortable rocking-chairs, rose to meet them. Her -face, the visitor thought, was one of the sweetest she had ever seen. - -"What a pretty girl she must have been!" she reflected. - -Around her neck the old lady wore a string of gold beads, and the thick -gray hair growing becomingly around her low forehead was carried back -and confined in a black net. The simple charm of her welcome to the -young girl was the perfection of good manners and her voice was low and -pleasant. - -"I'm glad you've brought my boy back, Miss Wilbur, I've been missing -him." - -"That's right, Grammy. Give me a good character," said Philip hugging -her and kissing her cheek. "I must have waffles, though. I'm spoiled." - -Here a woman appeared at the door of the passageway that led to the -kitchen. She was very wrinkled and care-worn in appearance, yet -sprightly in her movements and manner. Many of her teeth were missing -and her thin hair was strained back out of the way. She wore a large -checked apron over her calico dress. - -"Hello, there, Aunt Maria," said Philip. "This is Miss Wilbur, one of -the guests at Miss Burridge's." - -"Happy to meet you," said Aunt Maria, but casually, in the manner of -one who has but slight time for trivial things like social amenities. -Then she fixed Philip with a severe stare. "Is this the day you was -expectin' the New York man?" - -"It is, Aunt Maria. Don't tell me you weren't sure and haven't plenty on -hand for two man-sized appetites." - -"Well, I thought 'twas. I guess I can feed you." Aunt Maria's severity -lapsed in a semi-toothless smile. "How's Priscilla Burridge gettin' -along?" - -"Famously," replied Philip. "She's given me waffles every morning." - -"H'm!" grunted Aunt Maria. "I guess I can cook anything Priscilla -Burridge can, give me the ingregiencies." - -"The principal ingredient is a waffle iron. I'll send for one for you." - -Diana had meanwhile been placed in a seat near her hostess, where she -faced the line of cheerful red geraniums on the window-sill. - -"Your first visit to the island, Miss Wilbur?" asked the old lady. - -"Yes, Mrs. Dorking; but not the last, I assure you." - -"You like it, then?" - -"I think it is a fairy-tale place." - -"Miss Wilbur has been accustomed to a summer home where the hand of man -has been very busy and the foot of man has trodden out nearly all of -Nature's earmarks. She finds she likes the raw material better," said -Philip, leaning against the mantelpiece where odd shells and quaint -China objects, half-dog, half-dragon, stood as memorials to Captain -Steve Dorking's cruises. The swords of two swordfishes, elaborately -carved, leaned near him. - -"The island's filling up," said the old lady. "A lot of the summer -people came yesterday and from now on they'll flock in." - -"Are you glad to see them come?" asked Diana. - -"Yes," returned Mrs. Dorking, a rising inflection in her kindly voice. -"They're most of them good friends of mine." - -"I should say she is glad," remarked Philip. "She sits here in state and -receives them all, don't you, Grammy?" - -"I don't know as there's much state about it." The old lady smiled, and -leaned toward Diana. "Miss Wilbur, I guess you've found out already that -Philip is the foolishest boy that ever lived. We can't afford to mind -his talk, can we?" - -"But his singing, Mrs. Dorking," Diana looked up at Philip's tow head -towering toward the low ceiling. "It doesn't greatly matter how he talks -when he can sing as he does." - -"Yes," returned the old lady, again with the moderate rising inflection. -"I will say Philip's got a real pretty voice." - -"And there is a piano!" said Diana, wistfully looking across the room at -the ancient square instrument. - -"That is a very polite name for it," remarked Philip. - -"Oh, Mr. Barrison, could you, won't you, sing some song of the sea?" The -girl clasped her hands in prospect. "I'm your guest, you know. It is not -quite possible to refuse." - -"Of the sea, eh?" Philip looked at his watch. "I think we have time -before the boat comes. I'll make a bargain with you. I'll sing you a -song if you will go down to the boat with me and meet my accompanist." - -"Oh, is your accompanist coming?" - -"Even so. But when is an accompanist not an accompanist? Answer: When he -comes to the sea to fish. I've lured you far from home and dinner, so -you come to the boat with me and I'll send you home in Bill Lindsay's -chariot." - -"Very well, but--please sing!" - -"Oh, yes. A song of the sea is the order, I understand. Meanwhile, I -accompany myself on the harp." - -Philip moved over to the piano. It was placed so he could look over the -case at his listeners. He ran his fingers over the yellow keys which -gave out a thin, tinkling sound, and then plunged into song: - - - "The owl and the pussy cat went to sea - In a beautiful pea-green boat, - They took some honey and plenty of money - Wrapped up in a five-pound note. - The owl looked up to the stars above - And sang to a small guitar, - 'Oh, lovely Pussy, Oh, Pussy, my love, - What a beautiful Pussy you are!'" - - * * * * * - -Philip had never seen Diana look as lovely as when he finished and rose. -There was no doubt now that she could laugh. His enunciation was -perfect, and the alternations of sentimentality and fire with which he -had delivered the nonsense made it thrilling in the little room where -his velvet, vibrant tones at moments shook the shells on the -mantelpiece, while they flowed around the listener's heart. - -"That was delectable," laughed Diana, applauding, her eyes moist with -excitement. - -"Yes, ain't that a funny tune?" said Mrs. Dorking, looking with -affectionate pride at her grandson as he emerged around the end of the -piano. - -"We have to be off, Grammy," he said, "or Barney will be lost in the -shuffle." - -Mrs. Dorking rose and urged Diana warmly to come again, and the girl -promised that she would do so. When they were outside she spoke: - -"Is your Aunt Maria your grandmother's sister?" - -"Oh, no." Philip laughed. "She is a good village-aunt who helps in the -home. She likes to look harassed and overworked, but she adores having -charge of the house since my grandfather's death, and is devoted to -Grammy. Barney Kelly will have to look out for himself, for Aunt Maria -is an excellent cook and Kelly would be inclined to umbumpum if he -didn't mortify the flesh. He's a Canuck and one of the best fellows -going." - -"And are those summer cottages?" asked Diana, her glance sweeping over -an adjacent field. It was high ground sloping gradually to the sea, and -was dotted with shingled cottages of varying shapes and sizes. - -"Yes, that was my grandfather's pasture, and many a time I've gone -there for the cows. But one woman after another besieged him for the -ground, and he sold it off." - -"If I had some land here, I would prefer to be more isolated," said -Diana. - -"Then you would better speak quick," said Philip. "The country seems to -have its eye on Casco Bay. There comes the boat around the point now." - -They hastened their pace and went down a flight of steps which led to -the wharf. It was a busy spot full of people and trunks and barrels and -boxes. Everybody greeted Philip and looked at Diana, and Philip -presently descried the peering face of a man on the upper deck of the -approaching boat. He was dressed in a double-breasted suit of a fine -check and carried a stick which, presently descrying Philip's blond -head, he shook in his direction and, picking up his bag, turned and went -downstairs at the call: "Land from the lower deck." The newcomer was -evidently alive all over and impatient of the delay to the moment when -he could run up the gangplank. From time to time he shook his stick -toward Philip, and gazed at the girl beside him. At last he gained the -wharf, set down his bag and shook hands with Philip. Being presented to -Miss Wilbur, he took off his hat and disclosed tight curly hair, -close-clipped and groomed to the last degree of shine. - -"Perfectly heavenly sail we've had down, or up, I don't know which it -is," he exclaimed with a burr to his _r_'s which increased the -enthusiastic effect of his speech. - -"I told you it was paradise," said Philip. - -"And you proved it by bringing one o' the angels with you," returned -Kelly, smiling at Diana. - -She regarded him with her usual serenity. "I see that, like Mr. -Barrison, you enjoy using hyperbole," she said. - -"Really," returned Kelly curiously. "Am I that clever? Yes, old chap, -here's my check. I have a box somewhere around these diggings." - -"Now, wait a minute," said Philip. "I lured Miss Wilbur down here with -me to meet you and now I must return her honorably to her dinner. _Oh_, -Bill." - -He pushed through the crowd to where the motor stood, the center of new -arrivals. "Save one seat, Bill," he said. "Lady for Miss Burridge's." - -There was some good-natured crowding, but there being two more -passengers for Miss Burridge's, Diana was squeezed in, and Barney Kelly, -his hat waving from his hand, quite eclipsed Philip in the attentiveness -with which he bade her godspeed. - -"Who's the Vere de Vere?" he asked when Bill Lindsay had whipped up his -engine and moved off. - -"A young lady from Philadelphia," returned Philip, a trifle stiffly. - -"Aren't touchy about her, are you? Great Scott, boy, you haven't had -time! Now, if it had been me, a day's enough. Fire and tow. Fire and -tow. You'd supply the tow all right, old cotton-top, but I'll be hanged -if I can see where she'd provide the spark. Don't you touch that bag, -Barrison," for Philip had caught up his guest's suitcase. "Like a -condemned fool, I put the scores in it instead of in the box. There must -be some horse here that wouldn't take it quite so much to heart as I -do." - -"All right," said Philip. "It can come up with your trunk. Here, -Matt,"--for the too-popular carpenter was expressman as well,--"this is -my friend Mr. Kelly. He aids and abets me when I shriek at the public -and he's loaded up his bag with music. Bring it along with his trunk, -will you? Here's the check. Mr. Blake, Barney." - -The newcomer shook hands with the long-legged, long-armed thin man in -his shirtsleeves, and Matt Blake appraised the stranger out of his blue, -grave, shrewd island eyes. - -"Just crazy about this place already, Mr. Blake, just crazy about it," -the newcomer assured him, and Matt Blake nodded his old straw hat and -listed the volatile Barney as "another nut." - - -It was about a week afterward that opportunity found Mrs. Lowell and -Nicholas Gayne together one evening in the living-room of the Inn. It -was cool and a wood fire blazed on the hearth, but the night was still -inviting and had lured the others to put on wraps and stay out of doors. - -When Mrs. Lowell came in, Gayne was in a wicker rocker before the fire, -his legs stretched out, and, as the lady entered, he drew them in and -rose. - -"You are choosing the better part, too, are you?" he said, not doubting -that his presence was proving as much of an attraction as the fire. Two -other men had arrived, teachers from a boys' school, Evans and Pratt by -name, and it was probable that Miss Emerson was figuratively sitting at -the feet of one of them and asking questions about the stars. At all -events, she was out of doors. Nicholas Gayne had looked up -apprehensively at Mrs. Lowell's entrance, fearing the worst; and his -relief caused him to be quite effusive in his welcome of the lady and -the manner in which he brought forward a chair for her. - -"Have you had a good day?" she asked as she seated herself and he fell -back into his rocker. - -"It has been a nice day, yes." - -"I meant as to your work." - -"My work?" - -"Yes, your sketching." - -"Oh. Oh, yes, of course. Fine. Very clear. Very good views." - -"I suppose you elaborate these in your studio in town." - -"What? Oh, well--it isn't much of a studio at that. It is more or less -on the side--my art work. I--I make no pretensions. Everybody's got to -have a fad to be truly happy, haven't they? I like to scrawl and daub a -little." - -"You are modest. I've been expecting you would show us some of these -views. This place is surely one to tempt the artist. Doubtless you have -seen some of Frederic Waugh's canvases done from the sketches he made -here." - -"Eh? Who? Oh, yes, of course," replied Gayne lamely. "Strange that that -Miss Wilbur should ever have struck this island. I understand she's the -daughter of the steel man. I suppose she's slumming." Gayne laughed. - -Mrs. Lowell could not force a responsive smile. "She is a very charming -girl." After a pause: "I've had several talks with your nephew, Mr. -Gayne." - -Her companion shook off the ash from his cigar into the fire. - -"You did the talking, I'm sure," he responded dryly, and his manner made -her determined to be doubly careful how she proceeded. - -"This place should build him up," she said. "He seems a rather fragile -boy." - -"Yes. He grew too fast; makes him rather weedy. Too bad he didn't keep -pace mentally. He's weedy there, too." - -"I should think it might be well to have him tutored for an hour a day -while he is here." Mrs. Lowell tried to speak carelessly as she kept -her eyes on the blaze. - -"How could you find a tutor in a place like this?" was the -response. "Surely Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans--I understand they are -teachers--wouldn't take kindly to the task of trying to find Bert's -brains while they're on their vacation." - -"No, I was thinking of a very simple plan. Miss Burridge's niece, -Veronica, would perhaps be glad to work with the boy an hour a day. She -has a good common education." - -"Nothing doing, Mrs. Lowell." Nicholas Gayne sat up in his chair and -evidently put a constraint upon himself. "You come upon this problem as -a new one and you think you understand it, but you don't. You think it's -not hopeless, but it is. The boy began by being backward and he's got -worse and worse all his life. He couldn't keep up with any class in -school and I finally took him out. Oh, I've done my best, believe _me_. -I had a tutor come to the house for a while, but I was finally convinced -that Bert hadn't the equipment to think _with_. Of course, there's -schools for deficient children, but have you got any idea what they -cost? I'm a poor man. I couldn't pay what they tax you. Bert'll end up -in an institution, that's the place for him; but I'm soft-hearted. I'll -keep him with me as long as I can. The doctors all warn you that it -isn't safe. That kind of weak intellect is liable to take a dangerous -turn any time. There's thousands of cases where relations have insisted -on keeping morons like Bert near them too long. I only hope I shan't. -Just take my advice, Mrs. Lowell, and don't have much to say to the boy. -He gets along best when he's left alone. It doesn't do to try to wake up -that kind of a brain. There's no normal balance there, and any -sharpening is liable to make it take a wrong shoot. I've been on this -problem five years, and, believe _me_, I know something about it." - -The speaker's voice grew more and more blustering as he proceeded, and -Mrs. Lowell could feel her limbs trembling with the intensity of her own -feeling and the necessity for concealing her thoughts from him. - -"He is your brother's child, I understand," she said quietly, when Gayne -had made his last emphatic gesture and sunk back in his chair, red in -the face. - -"Yes, he is. These things are awful in a family." - -"Awful," echoed Mrs. Lowell. - -The next morning, after breakfast, she went to Diana's room and -knocked. The girl welcomed her in. She was shaking a blanket. - -"I do enjoy making my bed so much," she said. "I learned how at school." - -"Then let me watch you do it while I talk to you." The visitor sat down, -and Diana went on in the most earnest manner to tuck in sheets and pat -and smooth pillows as if her life depended on the squareness of corners. - -"I had a talk with Mr. Gayne last night." - -"I observed you through the window. I felt a certainty that you were not -happy." - -"It was an ordeal, but I verified my suspicions--my worst suspicions. -The man is planning to get his nephew out of the way, to have him shut -up." - -Diana left the flap of a pillow-case to its fate and faced her caller. - -"To incarcerate him!" - -"Yes. In an asylum. Some state institution. He has been training the boy -toward that end. You have seen it. I have seen it. What is his motive? -That is the question." - -"Don't you think it may be merely to rid himself of a burden which -hampers his life?" - -"But his own flesh and blood!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Does any one -live who would go to such lengths without a greater reason? Miss Wilbur, -let us see what the man does in these daily rambles of his. I am -convinced that his artistic pose is a cloak. He didn't even know who -Frederic Waugh was." - -"Oh, but to accompany the creature!" protested Diana. - -"No, of course, we shouldn't find out anything by accompanying him -except that he cannot sketch, and I'm sure of that already. But let us -go to walk this morning, and why not visit the haunted farm?" - -"No reason except that he knows we are aware that he haunts the place, -which, if I were a ghost, would make it immune from my visits." - -"Yes, but he cannot expect us to remember or care where he goes. I feel -I must be doing something about this, no matter how slight, and--and -don't let Miss Emerson join us as we go out." - -"Perish the thought!" said Diana devoutly. - -"God will not let this outrage take place," said Mrs. Lowell, her -thought leaping back from Miss Emerson to the neglected boy. "I wish I -could ask Bertie to go with us, but I feel I must be very careful not to -let his uncle suspect the depth of my interest." - -"Miss Emerson is very timorous about horned cattle," said Diana. "We can -remember that. Sunburn, too. She has a great dread of becoming tanned." - -With these encouraging considerations the two amateur detectives stole -downstairs. Mrs. Lowell went to the kitchen where Veronica was as usual -at this hour drying the breakfast dishes. - -"Miss Veronica," she said, "would you do a little missionary work this -morning?" - -"I'd like to hear about it first," was the cautious reply. - -"Veronica is ready for every good word and work, Mrs. Lowell," put in -Miss Burridge, "but she's a busy child." - -"I know that, but I wondered if she could give half an hour to playing a -game of croquet with Bert Gayne." - -"Oh, land!" exclaimed the girl, aghast. "He won't want to." - -"That's the point, Miss Veronica,"--Mrs. Lowell looked with her loving, -radiant gaze into the young girl's eyes. "We want to make him know that -young people don't shrink from him. He knows that I don't. I want him -to know that an attractive young girl like you doesn't either. You can -see that his mind is sick. He has had great sorrow." - -"Sure!" said Veronica. "It's sorrow enough to have that uncle of his." - -"Ve-ronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge with one of her warning looks at -the back of Genevieve's head. - -"You know now what I meant by calling it missionary work," said Mrs. -Lowell. "Think about it if you have time. You will find the boy dull and -distrustful. I have great hopes of you. Try to make him bright and -trustful. I know it can't be done in a minute." The speaker again smiled -confidentially into the girl's eyes. - -Diana appeared in the entrance. - -"Miss Emerson is in the hammock," she said softly. "Shall we take the -back way?" - -They slipped out the kitchen door and Veronica scrubbed a plate already -dry. - -"Mrs. Lowell is the sweetest, prettiest, most darling woman I ever saw," -she stated. - -"But nothin' like that Miss Diana," uttered Genevieve in, for her, a -lowered voice. "She's so grand it scares me when she looks at me, and -Matt Blake says her father owns the whole of Pennsylvania." - -Veronica turned up an already aspiring nose and grunted disparagingly. -It was hard to forgive Diana for being a goddess and not chewing gum. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE HAUNTED FARM - - -"'Where every prospect pleases,'" said Diana, "'and only man is vile.'" - -They had crossed the field and come up to the height of the road which -commanded an extensive view of the bay and other islands. They stood -still for a minute. - -"Are you at all interested in metaphysics, Miss Diana?" asked her -companion. - -"I think I am. I am interested in everything." - -"I don't like the latter half of that quotation," said Mrs. Lowell. "It -stands to reason that God couldn't create anything vile." - -"No, of course," agreed the girl. "It is man who makes himself vile." - -"God's man couldn't do that either," returned Mrs. Lowell. "There is no -potentiality in him for vileness." - -"Then," said Diana, "how do you explain Mr. Gayne and his like?" - -"He is a man whose real selfhood is buried under a mass of selfishness -and cruelty, the beliefs of error and mortality. God doesn't even know -what the poor creature believes, and all his mistakes and blundering -will have to be blotted out finally by suffering, unless he should learn -to turn to the Love that is always available; for God can't know -anything unlike Himself." - -"Your ideas are quite new to me," said the girl. "I am an Episcopalian." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled. She understood this final tone. - -"Then you are satisfied, I see." - -"So far as religion goes, yes." - -"Religion goes all the way, my dear girl." - -They turned to the right and continued their walk. - -"The islanders call this direction 'up-along,' Mr. Blake told me," said -Diana. "If we had turned south we should have gone 'down-along.' Isn't -that quaint? Mr. Barrison's grandmother lives down-along. He took me to -see her the other day, the sweetest old lady." - -"That refreshing young man hails from here, then?" - -"Yes. He is the Viking type, is he not? I can picture him in the prow of -one of those strange Norse ships. Physically he seems an anachronism." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled. "Physically, perhaps, but colloquially he is -certainly an up-to-the-minute American." - -"He is an eminent singer and has shown himself a hero in arriving at -that point." - -"A hero, really?" - -"Yes, but most unconsciously so." - -"He is certainly as unaffected and straightforward as a child," said -Mrs. Lowell. "I hope he will sing for us." - -"I have heard him once," said Diana. "It was merely a nonsense song, -because he had only an heirloom of a piano--a harp he called it, and I -imagine harpsichords did sound similar to that. Now, we are on a high -point of the island, Mrs. Lowell." - -They paused again and, looking off, saw a vast ocean in all directions, -foam breaking on its ledges. Mrs. Lowell drew a long breath of delight. - -"'Every prospect pleases,'" she said. - -"Does it not seem a pity," returned Diana, "that it is our duty to hunt -for a vile, imitation man?" - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "He is scarcely even an imitation," she replied. -"But come," she sighed, "let us go after him. I wonder what gave this -farm its reputation." They walked on. - -"I'll ask Mr. Blake," began Diana. "Oh, here he comes now." - -The carpenter was returning down the island preparing to take up his -freight duties on the wharf. Diana accosted him and introduced him to -Mrs. Lowell. - -The latter shook hands with Matt, her radiant smile beaming, "I am glad -to meet you, Mr. Blake," she said. "You seem to be Miss Wilbur's oracle. -She is always quoting you, and I am rather curious about this farm up -here. Why do they call it haunted?" - -"Oh," said Blake, "let any place be left empty a few years, and windows -get loose, and blinds bang, and it's called haunted." - -"I suppose that is often true," said Mrs. Lowell. "It is an abandoned -farm, then?" - -"Yes, for many years." - -"I don't know why I have never inspected it," said Diana, "when who -knows but it is the very homestead for me?" - -Matt Blake shook his head and smiled. "The old house is crumbling away. -There is a part of it that'll keep the rain off, and there Mr. Gayne -keeps his stuff." - -"Stuff?" echoed Mrs. Lowell interrogatively. - -"Brushes and paints and pencils and all his outfit," said Blake. - -"Oh, oh, yes," replied the lady. "You know in the West a squatter claims -complete rights to the land he has settled on. I hope Mr. Gayne hasn't -established an ownership up there that will make us seem like intruders. -We thought we would like to see this exciting place." - -"'Tain't exciting," said Matt Blake with another shake of the head. -"It's asleep and snoring, the Dexter farm is." - -"Who does own the place?" asked Diana with interest. - -"It would take a pretty smart lawyer to find that out," was the reply. -"It's been in litigation longer than it's been haunted. There's three -women, I believe, pullin' and haulin' on it." - -"I think I might pull and haul, too, if I find I like it," said Diana -with her most dreamy serenity, and Matt Blake laughed. - -"Well, you won't," he returned. "'Twould give a body the Injun blues to -live there. How Mr. Gayne can stand it even in the daytime is a mystery -to me; and there don't either o' the claimants really want it. They live -around the State somewheres. I s'pose it would be hard to buy 'em out -at that, because landowners here seem to think the island's goin' to -turn into a regular Newport and that they'll make a fortune if they only -hang on." - -"Do not speak such desecrating words!" begged Diana. "Do not hint at -waking the island from its alluring, scented dream." - -Matt Blake gave her a patient stare. "Just as you say," he returned. He -had already, as a fruit of many interviews with Diana, given her up as a -conundrum. He tipped his hat and continued on his way. - -The two companions pursued theirs, and soon came to where a rather steep -hill led down to the northern beach. - -"Now, we do not go down there unless we wish to be 'set across.' That is -what they call it: set across to the next island, our near neighbor." - -"We must do it some day," replied Mrs. Lowell, looking at that other -green hill rising out of the sea. - -As they stood gazing, they saw a man run across the rocks on its shore -and hail a rowboat which came to meet him. - -"It is within rowing distance, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell. - -"Yes. Little Genevieve told me, one can always find some fisherman who -is willing to act as a ferry." Diana looked about. "I think we shall be -obliged to ask our path to the farm. Let us go to that cottage over -there. It is probably on our way." - -They proceeded to a house near the road where cats and chickens seemed -equally numerous, and knocked. - -"Will you tell us how to get to the Dexter farm?" asked Diana of the -woman who answered the summons. - -The woman pointed. "You go right up that way to Brook Cove and you'll -really be on the farm then if you keep to the right bank. You'll see the -old house near a big willow tree." - -They thanked her and moved on. - -"What pleasant voices these people have," said Diana. "They have not -been obliged to shout above clanging trolleys and auto horns." - -"No; all except Genevieve," returned Mrs. Lowell. "I should guess that -she had been brought up in a boiler factory." - -"Yet it is a piercing sweetness," protested Diana. - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The island can do no wrong, eh?" - -"Perhaps I am somewhat partial," admitted the girl. - -They sprang along over the rough hillside, and at last came to a deep, -precipitous cleft in its shore. The rocky sides of the hollow were -decked with clumps of clinging shrub and evergreen and the clear water -lapped a miniature beach. - -"Why Brook Cove?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "I suppose there must be one about -here. What a mystery the springs are in the midst of all this salt -water. Miss Burridge says everybody has a well." - -Diana gave her her most dreamy and seraphic look. - - - "Angels fold their wings and rest - In this haven of the blest," - - -she replied. - -"I wish only angels did," sighed Mrs. Lowell. "You remind me of our -errand." - -"Don't you think we might spare a few minutes for repose?" asked Diana, -looking wistfully at the bank where the grass grew close and green to -the very edge of the chasm. - -"You want to sit down and let your feet hang over," laughed Mrs. Lowell. -"You may as well confess it." - -As she spoke, a man appeared on the other side of the cove. He skirted -it and, hurrying, passed them and disappeared in a grove of fir trees. - -Mrs. Lowell looked at her companion with large eyes. - -"All the Sherlock Holmes in me responds to that man," she said in a low -tone. "This is no time to let our feet hang over. He probably is the -very one who came across in the rowboat and he is on an errand. His -whole manner showed it. We're on the right bank. So we're on the farm -now. Let us go into those woods and see what happens." - -"Shall we not be intruding?" said Diana, hesitating. - -"I hope so," returned Mrs. Lowell valiantly, and she seized her -companion's hand and drew her toward the grove. There a winding path -greeted them, a lover's lane, between close-growing firs, and together -they sped along the scented aisle. The man was the swifter and, by the -time they emerged from the fir grove, he was approaching a huge willow -tree near the crumbling farmhouse built in a hollow with protecting -mounds of green hills and trees on three sides of it. - -They saw Gayne come out of the house and shake hands with the man, -giving him a most effusive welcome, but before he had had opportunity -to do more than this, the host descried the other visitors. - -The eyes of both young women being excellent, they were able to observe -the lightning change which took place in the pleased excitement of his -face. The ugly frown that appeared was banished as soon as he could -control himself. He said something to the other man, and the latter -walked on to a rise of ground where he stood to enjoy the view, and -Gayne came to meet the ladies. - -"Ah, good-day," he said with as pleasant a manner as he could command. -"Your explorations are leading you far this morning." - -"Is this the Dexter farm?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"The very same," replied Gayne lightly. "I see its creepy reputation has -aroused your curiosity. Too bad there isn't more here to gratify it. It -is a very tame place by daylight, as you see." - -"The house is a ruin, they tell me. Doesn't it seem a pity that should -have been allowed? The place is full of possibilities, isn't it?" - -"I should say not," returned Gayne, speaking curtly in spite of his best -efforts. "It is about the least attractive part of the island. Far from -the open ocean, no place to bathe, cuddled into a hollow, no views." - -Mrs. Lowell met his impatient look. - -"I thought the very reason you chose this for a sort of artist camp was -on account of the views," she said pleasantly. - -"A headquarters. A headquarters only," said Gayne quickly. "I haven't -locomotor ataxia, you know," he added, laughing; "I can still get -about." - -"I should like very much to see that old house," said Mrs. Lowell, her -gaze wandering over to it. "We interrupted your greeting of a friend. -Please don't let us detain you. We will just roam around here a bit." - -Nicholas Gayne hesitated for an instant as the young women moved toward -the house, but he followed them. - -"There is nothing to see, I assure you, and it's an unsafe place. The -floors are rotting; you are liable to fall through anywhere. I really -feel as if I ought to beg you to confine your curiosity to the outside." - -"You speak quite like the owner of the place," said Mrs. Lowell, with an -access of dignity not lost upon Gayne. "We will absolve you if any -accident befalls us." - -The man's frown at her reply was so unpleasant that Diana felt some -timidity and took her friend's arm. - -"Another time, perhaps," she suggested. - -"Why not now, since we are here," returned Mrs. Lowell calmly. "A -haunted house isn't to be seen every day." She smiled. "Do join your -friend, Mr. Gayne. He seems to have found some view well worth looking -at. We shall not stay long." - -"Oh, take your time," returned Gayne, seeing that he could not prevent -the intrusion, and altering his manner to that of a host. "Perhaps you -would like to see my artist camp as you call it. I did find one spot -where there is a dry season and my canvases can be safe." - -He led the way into the farmhouse. The paper on the little hallway in -oval designs of faded green landscapes had peeled and was hanging from -the wall. They passed into a living-room where tattered and splintered -furniture and a rusty stove met the eye. Back of this was the artist's -den evidently. A table stood in the center, on which reposed a palette, -some brushes, a couple of sketch-books, and a portfolio. Against the -side of the room were a few canvases leaning against the wall, and in -bold relief, supported against the table, stood a pickaxe and a shovel. - -Mrs. Lowell regarded Gayne's flushed countenance as he picked up the -tools and pushed them behind a screen. - -"Your still-life studies, appropriate to an abandoned farm?" she -laughed. - -"They don't look very artistic, I must say," returned Gayne. "Of course, -I'm an amateur of the amateurs," he went on, picking up the portfolio -(he pronounced it _amatoor_), "but a man is all the better for having a -fad, no matter how footless. Since you are here and have caught me -red-handed, you may as well know the worst." - -He opened the portfolio and threw down a couple of crayon sketches of -woods, water, and rocks. - -"But these are good!" exclaimed Mrs. Lowell, in a tone of such -astonishment that it could scarcely be considered complimentary. - -Gayne shrugged his shoulders, as Diana, looking over her friend, added -her approval. - -"I make no pretensions," he repeated. "I amuse myself." - -His guests lingered a minute over the sketches, then looked about the -forlorn old homestead, but as each step was closely accompanied by -Gayne, they soon took their departure, passing the stranger on his -knoll as they walked toward the sea, over grassy hill and fragrant -spruce-filled hollow. The stranger, as they passed, kept his hands -folded behind him and stared stolidly ahead. - -"Were you ever more astonished?" asked Mrs. Lowell in a low tone as if -the balsamic breeze could carry her words back. - -"Your suspicion that the man is sailing under false colors seems to be -incorrect," replied Diana. - -"He's a rascal!" declared Mrs. Lowell with conviction. - -"Artists often are, I believe," returned Diana. - -"I wish with all my heart I could know what he and his visitor will talk -about during the next half-hour, and what that pick and shovel meant. -Why was he so sorry to see us?" Mrs. Lowell's brows drew together in -perplexity. - -"Perhaps they are going to search for smugglers' treasures, or pirate -gold," suggested Diana. - -Her companion smiled. "Perhaps so. The man has some reason for promoting -the foolish ghost talk and resenting visitors to his preserves. Of -course, the treasure idea is as foolish as the phantoms, and just as -little likely to fool a modern man in his senses." - -Diana shook her head. "It is certainly rather irritating to have him -assume jurisdiction over that ruin which is open and free to all," she -said. "I dislike his personality extremely, but his pencil has a sure -touch and those sketches showed an appreciation of values." - -"If he did them," said Mrs. Lowell thoughtfully. - -Diana smiled. "You surely are consistent." - -Her companion drew a deep breath. "A man who can treat that fragile, -sensitive, lonely boy as he does--his own brother's son at that--can -plan to crush him and sweep him out of his way as he would an -insect--that man is dangerously wicked, and so long as the matter has -come to my notice, I must share in the responsibility." - -"He would be a merciless enemy," said Diana warningly. - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I shall pray for the wisdom of the serpent -and the harmlessness of the dove," she said. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ANOTHER WOUND - - -Meanwhile Veronica, her morning work finished, had started out to oblige -Mrs. Lowell. As she tripped around the house in search of the -unfortunate boy, she suspected herself of hoping she should not find -him. She summoned recollections of the Boston train and of various -occasions since, when her sympathy for him had been roused, and by the -time she espied him lying against a rock in the sunshine, her courage -had risen sufficiently to address him. - -"Good-morning, Bertie," she said. - -He started, as was his habit when addressed, and turned his apathetic -face toward her. - -"Do you like to play croquet?" - -The boy rose to a sitting position. - -"I--" he began, then some recollection came to him. "I never did play," -he finished; then, his stolid eyes meeting the fresh young face: "You -don't need to be kind to me," he added bluntly. - -Much disconcerted, Veronica flushed. - -"What do you mean?" she returned. "I like to play croquet. I'll teach -you." - -"No," said the boy. "Uncle Nick said--said this morning that--that when -people were--were kind to me, it was because they--they pitied me -because I was a fool." The boy swallowed. "You can--go away, please." - -Veronica's round eyes snapped with indignation. "Your Uncle Nick's the -fool to say such a thing," she returned, her cheeks growing very red. -"Don't you believe him. You and I are the youngest people here. Don't -you think we ought to play together a little?" - -"No. You pity me. Go away, please." - -"Now, Bertie, I wish you wouldn't talk to me like that." - -He averted his head and was silent, and Veronica stood there, -uncertainly. - -"I wonder if you are stronger than I am," she said at last. - -"I don't know." - -"The grass is too long on the croquet ground. I want to mow it. The -lawnmower is pretty heavy. Do you think you could help me?" - -The boy lay still for a minute more without meeting her eyes again. Then -he pulled himself up slowly and walked beside her back to the shed. - -"Mr. Barrison makes fun of our croquet ground because it is rough. I -want him to see an improvement when he comes again." Veronica led the -way to where the mower stood, and the boy took hold of it and drew it -after him back to the desired spot. - -"I'll pull up all the wickets," said the girl eagerly, and, as she did -so, she cast a side-glance at her companion, waiting, and she thought -his face the most hopeless and sad she had ever looked upon. She could -feel her own eyes sting. - -"None of that, none of that," she told herself. - -"Now, don't you get too tired," she said. "Let me take my turn." She -followed him as he went across the ground once and back again. She -chattered of the weather, the sea, the song sparrows, and he answered -never a word, just pushed the clicking little machine until the -perspiration stood out on his forehead. - -"Now, you must let me take it," said Veronica. "I didn't mean that I -couldn't do any of it. I just felt it would be tiresome to do it all." - -She insisted, and the boy yielded the lawnmower to her, and, standing -still, took out his handkerchief and wiped his face. - -Veronica pushed the mower valiantly up and down the ground. It was a -cumbrous one and somewhat rusty. So the effort she let appear was not -all assumed. When she returned, the boy took it from her and went to -work again. He was on the last lap when Mrs. Lowell and Diana appeared, -coming up from the sea, having returned from their ramble by the rocky -shore instead of by the road. Mrs. Lowell's face lighted as she saw what -was going on, and she cast a grateful look at Veronica as she -approached. - -"Good for you, Bertie," she said, as he at last dropped the mower and -again wiped his hot face. "It is fine of you to help Veronica." - -He looked at her for a second mutely, and then turned away. - -"Thank you," called Veronica as he moved off. "I'll bring you an extra -large piece of pie this noon. I must go in and set the table now," she -added to the others, and she winked at Mrs. Lowell who followed her into -the house. - -"You succeeded better than I hoped," said Mrs. Lowell. "Activity is what -that boy needs." - -"I wish whipping-posts hadn't been abolished," said Veronica. "I could -see Uncle Nick tied up there and enjoy the activity that followed." - -Then she told Mrs. Lowell of the reception Bertie had given her and all -he had said. - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head in silence and laid her hand on the girl's -shoulder. "You can see we have work to do there," she replied. "We must -not be discouraged." - -Diana had heard the recital. "What an extraordinary circumstance it is," -she said, "that strangers should be endeavoring to build for the boy -while his next of kin systematically tears down." - -"That is what I was telling you," replied Mrs. Lowell. "The man is -pursuing a system." She shook her head again, and added as if to -herself: "But he cannot defy Omnipotence." - -It was probably a very good thing for Mr. Gayne that he did not return -to-day to the noon dinner. The waitress would have been likely to give -him cool soup, warm water, and the undesirable portions of meat and -vegetables. She served the boy with the best of everything. In the -chatter about the table, he was never included, so his silence was not -noticeable, but Mrs. Lowell observed the pallor under the sunburn, the -hopeless droop of the mouth, and the languid appetite that should have -been voracious in a growing boy fresh from exercise. - -After dinner she stopped him, the others all having gone out on the -piazza. He was moving toward the stairway. - -"Where are you going, Bertie?" - -"Upstairs." - -"I don't think we ought to waste this weather in the house. Do you?" - -"I don't know." - -"Well, I do. It is liable to change any time now. We have had so much -sunshine. We ought to make the most of it." - -"You go out, then," said the boy. - -"But I would rather you came, too." - -"No. You pity me, that's all." - -"No," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "I pity your uncle, not you." - -The boy stared at her, unmoved. - -"I pity him because he doesn't know how to make you happy." - -"You don't need to--to take any trouble," was the stolid reply. - -"It isn't a trouble. I like you. I like to have you with me. I went up -to the farm this morning--the haunted farm." - -"Did--did you see anything?" - -"Yes. Supposing we go down to the beach and I'll tell you about it. You -shall carry two cushions for us; then if you want to take a nap you can -do so while I read." - -"I would rather--rather be alone." - -Mrs. Lowell met his wretched eyes with her irresistible smile which had -in it selflessness, love, and courage. - -"No, you wouldn't, dear boy. Besides, it is an impossibility. We are -never alone. You know the Father we talked about the other day, the One -who showed your mother how to love you. He is with us all the time, and -no one and nothing can separate us from Him, no matter what seems to -be." - -"Could I see Him if I--if I died? Because I'd like to--to die and -see--my mother." - -"You will see her at the right time," said Mrs. Lowell. "You have a -great deal to do for her first. Were you going upstairs to sleep? No -doubt you are sleepy after all that mowing. It was very kind of you to -do it for Veronica." - -"I didn't do it for her." There was no stammering in the declaration. -"She thought I did, but I didn't." - -Mrs. Lowell smiled again and nodded. "I understand," she said. "I'm -sorry I didn't know your mother. I believe she would like you to go -outdoors with me now." - -"You don't--don't need to--to have me. I'm--I'm all right." - -Mrs. Lowell could see the wound throb. - -"I know I don't need to. I should think you could see that I really want -you." - -He hesitated and looked away. - -"Now," she went on, "I will go up to my room and get some cushions and -my books and we will have a nice read or a nice snooze, and perhaps get -some more stones for our collection. Perhaps you have some book you -would like to bring." - -"I haven't any books--except a paper one." - -"Bring it," said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "I would like to see it. Let -us meet down here in five minutes, then." - -She went up the stairs and the boy followed. - -When she came down again, the corridor and living-room were empty. -Perhaps the lad had decided against her plan after all. She sank down in -a chair by the door and closed her eyes. - -"Dear Father," she prayed, "Thy will be done, and may my thought be ever -ready to separate between the real and the unreal. Let me not be -discouraged by the seeming, but may I remember every moment what Thy -will is, and that Thine omnipotent Love is ever present. Let me reflect -Thine intelligence and take my human footsteps wisely. Let me know that -Thy Truth will uncover the error that is to be met, and that I cannot be -dismayed, for Thou art with me, and underneath are the everlasting -arms." - -Footsteps sounded on the uncarpeted stairs and she looked up and saw -Bertie. - -"I thought I wouldn't come," he said. "Then I thought you--you might -wait--" - -"You see I did," said Mrs. Lowell, "and here are the cushions. Will you -take them, please?" - -The boy picked them up and they set forth. - -As they crossed the piazza, Mrs. Lowell nodded to Miss Emerson and the -two men with her. These followed the pair with their eyes as they -descended the steps, and started across the field. - -"By Jove, that young nut is in luck," said Mr. Evans, a short, thick-set -man, with spectacles. - -"Why, do you think Mrs. Lowell is so attractive?" asked Miss Emerson. - -"Of course. Don't you?" - -"Why, I think she's a very good-looking woman," was the reply. "Her -husband is coming up later." - -Mr. Evans shook his head mournfully. "I'm afraid it won't make any -difference to me. I've tried to prattle to her a little, but she doesn't -hear me, or, if she does, I've been weighed and found wanting. I talked -to her quite a while my first morning here. As soon as I saw her I -determined to make hay while the sun shone, but I soon found I couldn't -make any, or even cut any ice either. So, since then, I just look at her -from afar." - -"I'm sure you're too easily discouraged," said Miss Emerson with some -acerbity. "You underrate your own attractiveness, Mr. Evans. Any woman -who would rather spend her time with that poor, forlorn image of a boy -than with men of intellect, cannot be so very interesting, herself." - -Mr. Pratt, a tall, slender, long-necked gentleman, here spoke: "I judge -from what Mr. Gayne says that the boy is pretty far gone mentally. He -said he supposed he really shouldn't have brought him up here. Gayne has -a heavy burden on his hands evidently. It's naturally hard to bring -one's self to shutting up any one who is your own kin, and, as Gayne -says, you're between the devil and the deep sea, for you may put it off -too long. It looks like a case of dangerous melancholia to me." - -Miss Emerson shuddered. "All I know is that if Mrs. Lowell was as -sensitive as I am, she never in the world could bear to have that boy -around with her as much as she does. Mr. Gayne, an artist as he is! What -he must suffer in that constant association!" - -"He doesn't seem to be much with his nephew," remarked Mr. Evans. - -"Well, I should think rooming with him was enough," retorted the lady. -"He has a cot for the boy right in his own room." - -"Well, it isn't my business," yawned the other. "Come on, Pratt. I hear -they've taken a horse-mackerel and it's down on the wharf. Let's go and -see it." - -"Oh, I think those giant fish are so interesting!" exclaimed Miss -Emerson, sitting up alertly. - -Mr. Evans nodded at her over his shoulder as the two friends started -off. - -"After your siesta you ought to get Miss Wilbur and come down," he said. - -"I don't want any siesta," thought the lady crossly. "Why did I get into -this hammock? They would probably have asked me if I hadn't been lying -down." - -She had not yet discovered the domestic status of the two men, although -she had put out many a feeler to learn whether they were unprotected -males. She was wearing one of her prettiest dresses since their arrival, -but the emergency sport suit of baronet satin would not come forth from -its hanger on any such uncertainty. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -SKETCHES - - -"Our pebbles are getting a good washing, aren't they?" said Mrs. Lowell, -when she and her protege had reached the shore. - -The tide was high and she had Bert put the cushions in front of a rock -which sprang from the grass on the edge of the stony beach. He followed -her directions apathetically. - -"Put your pillow against the rock. See, there is a nice slanting place. -Perhaps you will take a little nap. The sea is making a rather -thunderous lullaby. Try it. I shan't mind; for here are my books and my -writing-paper and pencils galore." - -The boy sank down beside her in the place she indicated and looked at -the materials in her lap. She had opened a leather case and showed a -tablet of paper fitted at the side with a case for pencils. - -"Do you ever write letters, Bertie?" - -"I--no." - -"When you and your uncle leave home, is there no one for you to write -back to?" - -"There's Cora." - -"Your housekeeper?" - -The boy nodded, his eyes still on the books and materials in his -friend's lap. She, alert to meet any show of interest on his part, took -up one of the books. - -"Do you ever read the Bible, Bertie?" - -"I don't--no, I never did." - -"Didn't your mother ever read it to you?" - -The boy looked up into her eyes. "Yes, about the shepherd." - -"I'm so glad that you know that psalm," she returned gently. "Can you -say it? The Lord is my shepherd?" - -He shook his head, and again his eyes dropped to the contents of her -lap. - -"It is like a game of magic music," she thought. "There is something -here I should do. Divine Harmony, Divine Love, show me what it is!" - -"Are you looking at this?" She took up the other book and pointed to the -gold cross and crown on its cover. Then she offered it to him. - -He shook his head. - -"Veronica told me that your uncle hurt your feelings this morning," went -on Mrs. Lowell, laying the book down. - -The boy's brows drew together and his gaze sought the ground. - -"You know the Bible is the most beautiful book in the world. It has -hundreds of verses as lovely as those about the shepherd. This is one: -Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that -fear him. Fear Him means fear to displease Him on account of our love -for Him and His love for us." - -It was so long since the boy had heard any mention of love that he -looked up at her, still gloomily. - -"You know how unhappy you always were when you displeased your mother, -and you know how she pitied you for your mistake and drew you back to -her--and forgave you." - -"Yes--yes, I do." - -"That is the way God does with us. So you see it isn't a bad thing to be -pitied with love. If you ever think again of what your uncle said, just -turn away from it and know that Love is taking care of you every minute. -God is always here, waiting to bless us." - -"I'd--I'd rather see Him," said the boy. - -"Your friends are His messengers," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"What--what friends have I?" - -"Me, for one," replied his companion. As she leaned toward him with her -spontaneous grace, he met her affectionate regard with his piteous eyes. - -"Did God--did God send you to--to me?" - -"I'm sure He did," she returned slowly. - -"Then--then can I--take one of your pencils?" - -Mrs. Lowell looked down at her writing-tablet. - -"Certainly," she said, passing the whole affair to him. - -A remarkable transformation took place in the boy's face. He took the -folding case with its complete outfit and his companion regarded him in -surprise. His eyes lighted and color came stealing up over face and -brow. He looked over his shoulder apprehensively, then back at her. - -"You won't tell him?" he said. - -"Who? Your uncle?" - -"Yes. He would beat me." - -"Why? Doesn't he like you to write letters?" - -The first smile she had ever seen on the boy's face altered it now as he -looked at her, and her heart beat faster in a mystified sense that some -cruelly bolted door had been pushed ajar. - -"You can have that portfolio for your own, Bertie," she said. - -"No, no, he'd kill me." - -"What can you mean, dear child?" - -The boy started up from his cushion and perched on top of the rock, -glancing along the shore. Mrs. Lowell leaned forward and saw his hand -with the pencil move swiftly here and there on the blank sheet. She said -not a word, but watched the slender young face with the new alertness in -the eyes. - -The tide was making its splendid slow retreat, the gulls were wheeling -and crying, and white as their wings the daisy drifts were beginning to -appear on the uplands. Activity, growing, unfolding, all about her, the -watcher felt this waif to be part of it. One of God's little ones who -could not be kept in bondage. - -At last the boy came down again and gave her his work. She looked at it -in amazement. The curve of the shore, the groups of spruces, a distant -cottage, the light clouds on the blue were all sketched in with a sure -touch. - -"Who taught you this, Bertie?" - -"Nobody--but I watched my mother. She was an artist. She let me draw -beside her. She knew I could. She said so. I'll show you. You won't -tell?" - -"Never." - -The boy drew from his pocket a small folded paper. He took off the -paper and revealed oiled silk. He unfolded this and a small pen-and-ink -sketch came to view. It was of a woman's face, slightly smiling. There -was expression in the long-lashed eyes, eyes like the boy's own. The -hair waved off the forehead. Bertie held the treasure for Mrs. Lowell to -see, but did not relinquish it. - -"Is this your mother?" - -"Yes." - -"Who did it?" - -"I did." - -"When, Bertie, when?" - -"After--afterward," he answered, and his companion could hear that some -obstruction stopped his speech. - -"It is very--very lovely," said Mrs. Lowell slowly, and the boy looked -over his shoulder again, apprehensively. - -"Did you say your uncle forbade you to sketch?" - -The boy folded the little picture back carefully in its wrappings and -replaced it in his pocket. - -"Why do you suppose your uncle did that?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"I don't know." - -"Don't you really, Bertie?" she asked, dreading the signs of dullness -she perceived altering his face as the brightness died away. - -"I guess it was because he said it--it wasted my time. He took -everything except this." The boy's hand rested on the pocket that held -the treasure. "He didn't find this." - -"Took what? Your materials, your sketching things?" - -"Everything. He gets very--very angry if I take a pencil. Twice he has -whipped me for it." - -"But, Bertie, please try to make me understand. Mr. Gayne is an artist -himself, he says." - -"Yes. He says he--has money enough to live and I haven't. He says I just -hang on him. So I must chop wood and--and wash windows, and Cora makes -me scrub the floors. He says if he wants to waste time painting he can, -but I must not." - -Mrs. Lowell regarded the boy closely. "Your uncle showed me some very -charming sketches up at the farm this morning." - -"Did he?" returned the boy listlessly. "He never was an artist -when--when she was here." - -"That is strange, isn't it?" said Mrs. Lowell. "Strange that he should -be able suddenly to do such good things?" - -"No," said Bertie simply. "It is easy." - -They were both silent for a time. The portfolio lay on the stones -between them. The boy suddenly picked it up. - -"I must tear this," he said. - -Mrs. Lowell caught his hand just as he started to pull the sketch from -the tablet. - -"Won't you give it to me, Bertie?" she asked. - -He hesitated. "He'll find it." - -"Indeed he will not. It will go into the bottom of my trunk." - -The boy took his hand away and she recovered the portfolio. He had -replaced the pencil in the case. - -"I should so like to give you the pencil," she said. - -The boy shook his head decidedly. "No. He'd find it," he answered. - -"I am very much interested about your mother being an artist," said Mrs. -Lowell. "You know you are going to do everything you can to please her. -She would be very sorry that your uncle has not made you happy. I am -sure she wanted you to use your talent. So, very often we will take -walks and I will get better materials for you than this, and you shall -make many sketches." - -The boy's brows drew together. It was evident that he was in such -fetters of fear that the prospect was a mixed pleasure. - -"Do you remember your father? When did he die?" - -"I don't know. It was before--" - -"Was he a kind father, and kind to your dear mother?" - -"I don't know. Everybody was angry with her, all the rich people, -because she--she ran away to marry him. Then she was left all--alone -with me and--and she sold pictures and we were--" The voice stopped. - -"Yes, I know you were happy. Then when she went away your uncle took -you?" - -"Yes, and Cora." - -"And wasn't Cora kind to you?" - -Bertie shook his head. "I don't know," he said. It seemed as if the -recollection of his uncle's housekeeper made him retreat at once into -the protective shell. - -"Just let me ask you one more question. Your Uncle Nick was here at the -island last summer. He didn't bring you with him. Where were you then?" - -"Home." - -"Alone?" - -"No, with Cora." - -"But wouldn't Cora like you to draw a pretty picture for her?" - -"No. She knows Uncle Nick would hit her." - -"What did you do all summer?" - -"Helped Cora. Then, when she was drunk, I went in the park. Sometimes I -slept there." - -Mrs. Lowell shook her head. "I'm glad your uncle brought you this time." - -"Cora wouldn't stay. They had the worst fight of all. They were always -fighting." - -"Bertie, dear," said Mrs. Lowell tenderly, "try to know all the time -that God is taking care of you and leading you. We know He will. Uncle -Nick must know it, too, sometime." - -"Know what?" exclaimed the boy with a start. - -"That God takes care of His children. Your uncle is one, and I am one, -and you are one. We shall have to keep some secrets from Uncle Nick -until he grows kinder and knows that the only way to be happy is to -love. I should like to know your mother's people." - -"Uncle Nick says they're all dead." - -"Do you know their name?" - -"No." - -"Think, Bertie. What was your mother's name?" - -"Helen." - -"What else? Can't you remember--the name on her paintings, perhaps?" - -The boy was silent and his brow was puzzled. He reached into a pocket. - -"I brought my book," he said, drawing forth a worn and much-thumbed -pamphlet. - -"I'm so glad you did," she returned. - -He did not offer it to her, but she looked over his shoulder as he -turned the leaves of the catalogue of an exhibition of paintings. - -"There are two of my mother's," he said. He indicated the small -reproductions of two landscapes and Mrs. Lowell studied them with -interest. - -"I can see that they must be charming," she said. "Have you any of her -pictures?" - -"There was one," said the boy, and he had to wait for a time before he -could add: "Uncle Nick sold it." - -"Let us see if there may be a list of the exhibitors," said Mrs. Lowell. -"May I take it a minute?" - -Bertie yielded the pamphlet and she turned to the front of the book. -Yes, there was the list and her eye quickly caught the name: Helen -Loring Gayne. - -"Your mother's name was Loring, then." - -"It's my name, too. Herbert Loring Gayne." - -"Where did her people live, Bertie?" - -"In Boston. I can always remember that because--because--when Uncle Nick -is angry at what I--I do, he says don't try any Boston on me, and -then--then I know he means my mother, because he--he didn't like--" - -The boy's voice hesitated and stopped. - -Mrs. Lowell called his attention to some of the other pictures in the -pamphlet, speaking of the artists whose names were known to her, and he -finally restored his treasure to his pocket. - -When they again reached the Inn, they found Nicholas Gayne walking up -and down the piazza. He came to the head of the steps. - -"This is too much, Mrs. Lowell," he said with an effort at bluff good -nature, "for you to burden yourself with a young hobble-de-hoy like Bert -when you take your rambles." - -"If I like it I suppose you have no objections," she returned -pleasantly. "I assure you I had to urge him to accompany me. Too bad -there aren't some young people of his own age here." - -"He wouldn't know what to say to them if there were, would you, Bert?" - -"No, sir," was the reply, and the boy started to go into the house. - -"Here, what are you doing?" said his uncle, catching him roughly by the -arm. "You haven't said good-bye to the lady after her kindness in -dragging you around." - -Mrs. Lowell controlled herself to speak calmly. "I tell Bert it would be -a good thing for him to learn to swim while he is here." - -"That's the talk!" ejaculated his uncle, throwing the arm off as roughly -as he had grasped it. "Go in and win, Bert. I'll get you a bathing suit. -Show 'em you ain't any milk sop. Take the dives with the best of them." - -The boy stood with his eyes downcast. - -"And don't sulk," went on his uncle with exasperation. "For Heaven's -sake, don't sulk. That's the way it is, Mrs. Lowell, if you try to think -up some jolly thing for him to do, he stands like an image. No more -backbone than a jellyfish." - -"Everybody doesn't like the water," returned Mrs. Lowell, moved now by -the dread that the man might suspect her influence and remove the boy. - -"Well, how did you like the farm?" he pursued. - -"What a pleasant place it is," she returned, seating herself on the -piazza rail. "No wonder you like to spend time there. I haven't -forgotten those charming sketches you showed me, either." - -Gayne made a clumsy bow. "You flatter me," he said. "I make no claims." - -The lady looked down on the garden border. - -"The sweet peas look thirsty, Bertie," she said. "Let's water them." - -The boy followed her in silence to where the coiled hose lay, and his -uncle looked after them, a thoughtful frown gathering on his dark brow. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -A WORKING PLAN - - -Mrs. Lowell knocked for admittance at Diana's door that evening, and -entering found the girl sitting at the little desk she had added to Miss -Burridge's furnishings, surrounded by books and papers. - -"Is it an inopportune time?" asked the caller, hesitating. - -Diana rose smiling. "That can never be for you," she replied. - -"Thank you, dear child. I am so full, I long to talk to you. You may -have a helpful suggestion." - -"I shall be pleased to act as your confidante. Sit here, Mrs. Lowell. I -was just writing my mother how fortunate I am in the fact that you are -here. I encounter a good deal of difficulty in persuading my mother that -I am not in a desert place and am not doing penance. I am very desirous -of restraining her from coming to see for herself. I should be aghast at -the prospect of taking care of her and her maid here. Yet, when I pile -up superlatives, she decides that I have fallen in love with an Indian -and is increasingly disturbed." - -The girl looked very pretty in the peach-colored negligee she was -wearing, its precious laces falling over Miss Burridge's cheap chairs -and matting, and her thick bright-brown hair in disorder. - -"Oh, tell her he isn't an Indian; tell her he is a Viking." - -Diana's serene gaze did not falter, though her color rose. - -"I do not mind your badinage," she returned, "for when I fall in love, -it is going to be with a supremely unattractive man externally. I shall -be the only woman who knows and understands his charm, then other women -will not infringe my rights. After you hear Mr. Barrison sing, you will -understand that in his career, women will bow before him like flowers in -an irresistible gust of wind. I cannot imagine a worse fate for a girl -than to share that career; the more brilliant it might be, the more -crushing to her happiness. But this interview is getting turned about. I -was to be the confidante, not you." - -"Then this is my tale, my dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "I have discovered -who did those sketches Mr. Gayne showed us this morning." - -"Then you were right, and they were not his own?" - -"Bertie's mother did them, and he inherits her talent: this poor child -whom the man is trying to blot out of normal life." - -"What makes you certain?" - -"Because he did one before my eyes down by the shore to-day, with a -swift, sure touch, and that thin, sad face of his lighted till he looked -like a different being. His parents are dead. His mother was an artist. -He worked with her. As soon as she left the child, his uncle forbade him -to draw, and took all his materials away from him, whipped him if he -found a pencil in his possession. Those sketches we saw were done either -by the boy or his mother. There is no doubt of it. She eloped with his -father, estranging her family from her. She was a Loring of Boston." - -Diana regarded the speaker with admiration. "How wonderful for you to -obtain so much information from such a source." - -"Oh, it was little by little, of course. I told him his uncle had shown -us some good sketches and asked him if it was not strange that Mr. Gayne -could do them, taking up the art so late in life; for it seems he took -it up only as Bertie laid it down; and the boy's reply was significant. -He said: 'Oh, no, it is easy.' He seemed to have no suspicion, but then -he hasn't life or interest enough to harbor suspicion. He just endures." - -Mrs. Lowell went on to tell of Cora and the drudgery of the boy's dull -and dulling existence, and her listener's eyes lost their customary -serenity. - -"It must not be," said the girl at last, as her companion ceased. "Have -you made a diagnosis?" - -"I only feel that the 'root of all evil' must be at the bottom of it," -replied Mrs. Lowell. "The Old Nick, as Veronica calls him, must believe -there is money to be secured, and that if he can only prove that his -nephew is incompetent, he can gain charge of it. Bertie told me that his -mother's people were rich." - -"Of course, then, that is the key; but it does not explain what the man -is doing with pickaxe and shovel up at my farm." - -"Your farm, my dear?" - -"Perhaps," said Diana carelessly. "But that is not interesting us now. -Mrs. Lowell, I adore the unselfishness which has caused you to give your -time to this boy. I have tried to converse with him, but his lack of -responsiveness seems to obscure the clarity of my mental processes. I -wish, however, to have a hand in his salvation. The thing to do now, it -appears to me, is to discover this Loring family. That will take money -and I will supply it." - -"My dear Miss Diana!" - -"Drop the Miss, please. I feel honored by your friendship. Do you know -of a good lawyer?" - -"My husband is a lawyer." - -"Then, please, ask him to proceed at once." - -The girl's dignity and beauty added charm to the sense of power in an -emergency which money sometimes gives. "It is galling that we cannot -take the boy away from that brute immediately," she added. - -"Oh, we must be so careful," exclaimed Mrs. Lowell. "Rather than let us -do one thing to clear and brighten Bertie's mind his uncle would send -him off the island. We must not show dislike or suspicion; and God will -guide us in the footsteps we must take. He is taking care of the child -now, through us." - -"Really, Mrs. Lowell, your faith is very beautiful," said Diana. - -"Everybody should have it. Why go alone while the Bible is right there -with its marvelous promises? God's children are not puppets pulled by -wires, and so people complain that the promises are not kept. We are -made in His image and likeness, tributary only to Him--every good thing -is possible to us if we turn toward Him instead of away from Him." - -"Mr. Gayne appears to have turned away," said Diana dryly. - -"Yes, he made me shudder this afternoon when he talked of Bertie's -learning to swim. It was as if he hoped it might be the child's end." - -Diana shook her head. "He doesn't want that." - -"No, so I consoled myself afterward, but his malignant spirit bursts -forth in spite of him occasionally." - -Mrs. Lowell rose and the girl followed her example. The older woman -approached and placed her hands on Diana's shoulders. - -"I thank God," she said, "for your cooperation. I will write to my -husband to-night." - -"Is he as--as religious as you are?" - -"Not perhaps in the same way. He does not see quite as I do, but he is a -good man and loves everything good." Some recollection made the speaker -smile. "I try his soul at times by not doing what he calls minding my -own business. For instance, once I saw a young fellow at an elevated -station in New York, dazed by drink. I was in haste and on an important -errand, but I couldn't take my train and leave him there. So I went and -sat down beside him and asked him where he was going. He said, to the -Brooklyn ferry, but he was thick and helpless. I called a little colored -boy carrying a large milliner's box, and I asked him if his errand -needed to be done immediately. He was pretty doubtful, but he finally -said no. So I told him I would check his box and leave a dollar with it -for him when he returned, if he would take this young man straight to -the Brooklyn ferry and see that he did not go in anywhere on the way. He -said he would do so, and I gave him his check and car fare and some -nickels for telephoning, and asked him to call me up that evening. I -wrote my telephone number and left it with the box. He promised, and my -train came along and I had to leave them. About six o'clock that -afternoon, the telephone rang. It was my messenger. He said that when he -got the young man downstairs to go to the train for the ferry, his -charge became violently sick. After that, he came to himself and gave a -different direction to the boy. The address of an office building. He -was pale and shaky. So the boy stayed with him. They went up in an -elevator and into an office where the young man said that he had brought -the money. They sent for some one from another office, and to this -person the young man gave a roll of a thousand dollars. - -"Of course, I was quite excited, and happy over this news, and I thanked -my messenger and said: 'See what God has helped us to do to-day. That -young man might have been robbed, and would have been suspected of theft -by his employer and lost his character and his position.' My husband was -sitting near by, reading the paper, and he looked up and said: 'Who on -earth are you talking to?' I just answered: 'A little darky boy!' and -went on, while my husband stared. When I told him the whole story, he -laughed and shook his head. 'Hopeless,' he said, 'hopeless.' He is quite -conservative, and he would like me to stay in the beaten track." - -"That was fine," said Diana. "Mr. Lowell will be in sympathy with this -case, I hope, and undertake it with his whole heart. I am going to give -you a check to send him as a retainer. Then he will know that this is a -serious business matter." - -The girl sat down at her desk and wrote the check and Mrs. Lowell took -it thankfully. She went to her room and wrote her letter. In due time -she received a reply. - - - _Dear One_, - - I see you have again ceased minding your own business and I am - really very proud of you in spite of your obstinacy. I thought in - the wilds of Casco Bay, you might get away from responsibilities - for awhile, but I might have known that, unless I set you adrift on - an iceberg, you would find some lame, or halt, or blind, to succor. - Even then, I think the iceberg would melt at your presence, and in - short order you would be down among the mermaids explaining to them - that it was error to get out on the rocks to do their hair and sing - to sailors. - - Your story is very interesting, and while I believe that Boston is - as full of Lorings as it is of beans, Miss Wilbur has made it - possible to ring every Loring doorbell and ask down which steps ran - the eloping daughter. Rest assured, as her lawyer I shall do my - best in this affair. Owing to Mr. Wilbur's prominence in the public - prints, his connections are pretty well known, and I thought I - associated Herbert Loring, the railroad president, with him. I - suppose Miss Wilbur would have told you if there were anything in - that. - - -The remainder of the letter dealt with different subjects, and, when -Mrs. Lowell had finished it, she hastened to her friend, and put her -question. - -"I will send my father a telegram at once," responded the girl. - -That form of speech was not strictly accurate, as it was rather an -elaborate operation to send a telegram from the island. However, it was -finally accomplished. This was the message to her father: - - - Have you any friends named Loring? Have we any relatives or - connections by marriage of that name? - - DIANA - - -The day after the girl had given her check to Mrs. Lowell, Bertie Gayne -was not seen about the Inn all the morning. At dinnertime he returned -with his uncle. Mr. Gayne's manner was disarmingly bluff and hearty. He -had a cheerful word for everybody. The boy's silent manner and -uninterested look were just as usual. Mrs. Lowell managed to catch his -eye once or twice, but he gave no sign of understanding. - -The horse-mackerel were running and the island population was all -excited. The taking of one of the huge fish was an event, and very -lucrative for the captors. The talk of the table was all on this -subject, and Nicholas Gayne entered into it with zest. - -After dinner everybody went out in front of the house to view the -telltale disturbances in the waters of the bay, where numerous small -boats were hanging about awaiting their opportunity. Veronica eagerly -joined the watchers as soon as she was at liberty. - -"Let us walk down nearer the water," proposed Diana. - -Mr. Gayne's field-glasses were being handed about, and she was afraid -they would be offered to her. So she and Veronica moved down across the -field and seated themselves on the grass against a convenient rock. - -"Where do you think Bertie was this morning?" she asked. - -"Uncle took him off with him." - -"Up to the farm?" - -"I suppose so. Mr. Gayne seems to think that farm might get away if he -didn't see it for twenty-four hours." - -"I wonder if he will not be wishing to purchase it one of these days," -said Diana. - -"I'd buy some clothes for Bert first if I was in his place. Everything -the boy has seems to have been bought for his little brother." - -"Did you ever read 'Nicholas Nickleby,' Veronica?" - -"Yes, I have." The younger girl looked around brightly. "I know who -you're thinking of--Smike. I've thought of Smike ever since they came." - -Diana received her look with a smile. One touch of nature made them kin -for the moment, and Diana, all unconscious of her companion's mental -reservations, did not know that at this moment she was nearer than she -had ever been to being forgiven for her various perfections. - -"All my childhood," said Diana, "I used to wish I could have done -something for Smike." - -"I've wished that, too," said Veronica. - -"Now we have an opportunity," returned Diana. "You are young and -sportive and you made a good beginning." - -"Oh, I did--_not_," returned Veronica. "You might as well try to sport -with a hearse. Everything you say to him he turns his eyes on you all -darkened up with those lashes, regular mourning, and you don't know -where to look, yourself, nor what to say. Yes, I did want to help Smike, -but so long as the law won't let us string Mr. Gayne up somewhere, lots -of times I wish they'd gone to some other island. Isn't it a pity he -hasn't got spunk enough to run away? Even Smike ran away." - -"I am glad this boy is not inclined to do that," returned Diana, "for I -feel that he has friends here and that something good should come of his -summer." - -"Not if Mr. Gayne can help it," declared Veronica. "He was afraid Mrs. -Lowell was giving Bert too good a time with these walks and talks." She -nodded her head. "Believe me, that is the reason--" - -"Well, we have found you," said a voice behind them. It was a voice -which made color steal up into Diana's cheeks. The girls both looked -around quickly. - -Philip Barrison was approaching, and with him a shorter man. Both were -bareheaded. - -"The blarney stone!" thought Veronica. She had been wondering when Mr. -Barrison would bring him, and now she gave him what she herself would -have described as the "once-over" as he smiled at Diana and lifted his -hand to his tightly waved hair in salute. - -What Veronica saw caused her to lift her hand to the bridge of her nose -and cover its small proportions with two fingers, from both sides of -which her round eyes gazed seriously. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -NICHOLAS GAYNE CONFIDES - - -"Are you interested in the horse-mackerel, too?" asked Diana. - -The two men sat down on the grass near the girls as Barney Kelly -answered: "Moderately, Miss Wilbur. Moderately interested. Being allowed -to witness anything from _terra firma_ invests it with a certain charm. -Barrison has been merciless, I assure you, simply merciless." - -"The man came here to fish," said Philip, "and I've only tried to be -hospitable." - -"Deep-sea fishing," groaned his friend. "If you ever hear any tenderfoot -express ambitions to go deep-sea fishing, tell him to see me if -possible, otherwise write or wire me before he embarks." - -"Did you find the motion disconcerting?" asked Diana. - -Barney looked at Philip. "Don't you think I might admit as much as -that?" - -Philip laughed and bit the red clover he had pulled from a bunch near -him. - -"First," said Kelly, "you are waked at an hour when all men should -sleep; then you are forced to eat at a time when your soul rebels at -such outrage; after that, you go aboard beneath the stars, and you chug, -chug, miles into the darkness; but the chug-chugging you soon find to be -the best part of it for when you arrive midway between here and -Liverpool, you anchor. The sky and the sea begin to get hopelessly mixed -up. Why should I try to describe the writhings of all nature! They put a -heavy rope into your hands, it slides through your fists and removes the -skin before any one remembers that you have no gloves on. Oh, let Dante -try! I can't!" - -Philip laughed. "Then I took him out next day to the pound and let him -help draw the net." - -"The smell of that boat, Miss Wilbur!" Kelly's eyes rolled fiercely. - -"I'm afraid you won't like the island," volunteered Veronica, who, when -she laughed had forgotten her nose and dropped her hand. - -"My dear Miss Trueman, how can I tell, when I am never allowed to stay -on it? This man, when he couldn't think of anything else hydraulic to -do, has made me go in bathing in water at a temperature which no humane -person will credit when I tell them. To-day, I struck. I said to him, -do for Heaven's sake do something to show that you are at least -amphibious. So he consented to bring me up here to meet his friends, and -I shall be pleasantly surprised if you young ladies don't turn into -mermaids right before my eyes, as they do in the movies, and pop off -that beach into the water." - -Veronica giggled so joyously that the speaker turned away from Diana's -serene smile and regarded her. "I assure you," he added slowly and -solemnly, "that if you do, I shall not follow you. So if you wish the -pleasure of my society you won't unfold any graceful, glittering tails." - -Veronica giggled again, and, if she had only known it, her dimples were -warranted at any time to divert attention from those afflicting little -freckles. - -"I can see that Kelly will be fruit for you, Veronica, on that croquet -ground," said Philip. - -The guest clasped his hands rapturously. "Do you guarantee, Miss -Veronica, that croquet at this island is unfailingly played on land?" - -"Hold on, Barney, don't go too fast; it's the kind of croquet you play -with an alpenstock in one hand and a mallet in the other." - -"It is not, Mr. Barrison," declared Veronica stoutly. "Bert has mowed -it." - -"That poor little chap? Did you work him in? Good for you. It's what he -needs." - -"When are you going to have Mr. Barrison sing for us, Mr. Kelly?" asked -Diana. - -Barney shrugged his shoulders. "A poor worm of an accompanist can't -answer that, Miss Wilbur." - -"But I suppose you will be practicing, or rehearsing at times, will you -not?" - -"Yes. I understand there is a piano in the little Casino that was -pointed out to me. I understand--eh, Barrison?" - -Philip nodded. "Yes, they have allowed me to engage an hour a day on -that piano for a while, for some work we have to do." - -Diana's face lighted beautifully. "And may one--may one sit on the -piazza?" she asked beseechingly. - -"I should advise one not to," said Philip, "unless one has been -inoculated for strong language." - -"I should not in the least mind what you said." - -"But you would what Barney says, at times." - -"The verdure about the hall is free," said Diana doubtfully. - -"Yes, if you don't mind a baseball in the eye once in a while. That is -where the boys do congregate." - -"He's a most ungrateful ass--Barrison," said Barney warmly. "Of course -you shall sit on the piazza if you care about it. I promise to restrain -my _penchant_ for calling him pet names in private. I have to do it, you -see, to strike a balance. At performances, who so meek as the -accompanist! Barrison stands there, dolled up in his dress-clothes, -probably a white carnation in his buttonhole; the women down front -gazing at him and ruining their best gloves. I gaze at him, too,"--Kelly -looked up with meek worship,--"like a flower at the sun, waiting for the -sultan to throw the handkerchief, or, in other words, give me a careless -nod, indicating that I may come to life. At last he does so, and I begin -to play--subserviently, unostentatiously. Very few in the house know -that I am there. He reaches his climax, he finishes with a pianissimo -that curls around all the women's hearts, draws them out and strings -them on a wire before him. Then the applause bursts forth. He bows over -and over again, until he looks like a blond mandarin, and I rise, but -nobody knows it, and when he has passed me on his way off the stage, I -come to heel like a well-trained dog, and--there we are!" - -As Kelly finished his harangue with a gesture of both hands, the girls -were laughing and Diana was quite flushed. - -"What a fool you are, Barney," said Philip calmly, still biting the -honey out of the red clover. "He plays like a house afire," he added, -turning to the girls. "You will be delighted." - -"Oh, yes," said Kelly. "On the road I get a group. I play the Chopin and -Grieg things that the girls practice at home, and they get out their -vanity cases and prink and wait for Barrison to come on again." - -"Oh, cut it out, you idiot!" exclaimed Philip, jumping up. "I don't -believe they're going to get one of those mackerel. Let's amuse little -Veronica and go up and have a game of croquet." - -Meanwhile Mr. Gayne had again taken his nephew with him to the farm. - -"In spite of all I say," he told the boy, "you will bother those ladies -at the Inn. So if you come along with me, I'll know where you are." And -the lad answered him not at all, but plodded up the road. - -He did, however, think of some of the things Mrs. Lowell had said to -him. Some of the love and courage that emanated from her gave him a -novel certainty that he was not altogether friendless, and the wild -roses that began to peep at him from the roadside suggested the idea -that she would like it if he brought some home to her. In the idle hours -of the afternoon he might gather some, and some of the myriad daisies -and Indian paintbrush that decked the fields. But his heart sank at the -prospect of what his uncle would say if he attempted to carry back a -bouquet when they returned. - -Gayne forbade the boy to enter the house when they reached their -destination, just as he had done in the morning. So Bertie, his hands in -his pockets, wandered about the surrounding fields and in the spruce -groves, and picked up the shells the crows had dropped and emptied. Once -he found a ridge of grass unusually long and green, and heard a -whispering, and investigating found a narrow brook which murmured as it -flowed. He followed along its bank until he came to the cove it had -named, and watched the sparse stream cascade over the granite and fall -thinly down its steep wall. The wet rock glistened in the sun, it seemed -to the boy as if with tears. He threw himself down beside it and, -leaning on his elbow, rested his head on his hand. Through the cut -between this island and the next, boats were passing coming in from the -foaming waves of the sea to the quiet waters of the sound. Life, beauty, -peace. The boy closed his eyes. The longing to portray it all rose in -him like an anguish. He felt his old torpidity to be better than this. -Why should his new friend stir up a craving for the impossible? She -meant to be kind. She seemed really to like him; and she had liked his -drawing and had wanted him to do more. She would find that it was -impossible, and he hoped that she would make no more effort. He squeezed -his eyelids together to keep back stinging drops. He felt shame at his -own weakness. Uncle Nick had said he had no more backbone than a -jellyfish and he felt this was true. He had no physical strength to -defend himself, none to take his fortunes into his own hands, as he felt -most boys would do, run away and do something to keep himself from -starvation. - -For years he had been fed as an animal might have been fed: at any hour -that suited Cora, and with anything she might happen to have in the -house. He was undernourished, neglected, crushed, and spiritless. He -despised his weakness as much as his uncle despised him, and he was -conscious that it was a new estimate of himself that he was now making, -an estimate due to the awakening of thought that had come to him through -that lady who meant to be kind. He felt very bitterly toward her as he -lay there, his eyes closed to the loveliness of sea and sky. - -He had lain there half an hour when Matt Blake came across from the road -and passed near him. - -"Poor youngster," he thought. "I guess it's true he ain't all there." -The feeling that the boy was not capable of responding kept him from -calling out some sort of greeting as he passed, and he went on through -the spruce grove to the farm-house. "Hello the house," he called. - -"That you, Blake?" came from within. "Yes, I'm out here at the back. -Come in." - -The carpenter made his way through to the studio, and there Nicholas -Gayne rose from an armchair to meet him, and swayed slightly as he -stood. - -"You sent for me," said Blake, regarding the other's red-rimmed eyes. - -"Yes, and you'll be glad I did when you see this, eh, old man?" - -Gayne lurched toward the screen and took a bottle from behind it, and -held it out triumphantly. "Kind o' dizzy 'cause I been asleep and you -waked me sudden. 'Twas the shock, you see, the shock." He lurched back -toward the table where there was a glass. He filled this half-full and -offered it to his caller. "It's the real thing, the real thing," he -said. - -"I smell that it is," returned Blake dryly. "That's too stiff for me. -No, no, Gayne," he added as the latter started to raise it to his own -lips, and he took the glass from him, "you've had too much now. If you -want anything of me, tell me while you've got sense enough to talk." - -"You insult me, Blake," said the other with dignity. "I'm a gentleman -and I know when I've had enough, and I know when I've had too much. Some -folks never know that, but I do." - -The carpenter regarded him impassively, and set the bottle and glass out -of his reach. "Now go ahead. Tell me what you want." - -"Want you to shingle the kitchen so's I can--can cook there. Come and -I'll show you." He opened a door in the studio which led into a damp -room where the rain had fallen unmolested. "Want you to shingle this -room." - -"Nothing doing," said the carpenter. - -"You won't say that when I show you what I've got here." Gayne's speech -was thick and he took Blake's arm and led him across to a large covered -stone crock sitting on a bench. "Home brew, Matt. Home brew. We can have -many a cozy evening here when this gets into shape." - -"Going to keep a horse?" asked the carpenter, lifting up what appeared -to be a nosebag. - -"No, no, that's strainer. You leave it to me, Matt. I'll give you -something'll make your hair curl. All you got to do is shingle--" - -"You ain't going to pay for having somebody else's property shingled?" - -"'Tain't going to be somebody else's. Going to be mine. I'm going to buy -the farm. There's a fortune on it." The speaker's legs were planted far -apart to preserve his equilibrium, but even at that he swayed so far -toward his visitor that Blake put up his hand to hold him off. - -"Which have you found, gold or oil?" he asked, laughing. - -His host assumed an impressive dignity. "Not gold, not oil. Spring." - -"A spring? Of course you have. They're all over the lots. You'd better -patronize 'em, too. You certainly need to put more water in it." - -"I'm goin' tell you secret, Blake," said Gayne. - -"Better not," said the carpenter good-naturedly. - -"Goin' tell you. I've found mineral spring here." - -"That so?" was the unperturbed reply. - -"Great and won-wonderful water. Don't tell anybody." - -"All right." - -"Had chemist 'zamine it. Says it's got everything in it to cure you. -Fortune in it. Fortune. You don't b'lieve me." - -"Sounds a little fishy," remarked Blake. - -"Lemme take your arm--I'll lead you to it." - -The visitor supplied the arm and Gayne's heavy weight hung upon it. They -went out of doors and Gayne stopped and looked around cautiously. -"Where's that brat?" he demanded. - -"Do you mean the boy? He's over there by the cove. Asleep, I think." - -"Then come on. Can't trust him 'cause they're the kind that speak the -truth. Fools, you know. Can trust you, Blake. Trust you anywhere." - -"Thank you," returned the visitor dryly. - -At some distance from the house, in a hollow overhung with rocks, the -heavy weight on Matt's arm became heavier and Gayne pushed away some -turf and stones with his foot, disclosing a puddle of dark-colored -water. He stooped and, picking up a rusty tin cup, half-filled it, and -presented it to his companion whose arm he released. - -"There, if you don't b'lieve me!" he said triumphantly. - -The carpenter accepted the cup doubtfully and smelled of it. "Phew!" he -exclaimed with a grimace. - -"'Course," said the other. "Sulphur. Won'ful sulphur spring. Cure you of -ever'thing. Had it an'lyzed. Drink it." - -Blake took a cautious sip. - -"Tell you, Matt," said Gayne, speaking slowly and nodding with tipsy -solemnity, "'twas m' guardian angel guided me to that spring." - -The carpenter glanced at him with disfavor. "One sniff's enough to -convince anybody o' that," he remarked. "At that, it's better for you -than the stuff you've got in there on the table. Now, look here, Gayne, -you're going to be sorry to-morrow you told me about this--" - -"Wouldn't tell anybody else," vowed Gayne, solemnly, seizing his -companion by the arm and pushing back the concealing turf and stones -with his foot. "Nobody else on this earth. Fools own the farm put up the -price if they knew." - -"But what I was going to say is you needn't be sorry," went on Blake. -"I'm not going to tell a soul. I don't want to be mixed up in your -affairs, but do you think you can understand if I talk to you?" - -"Un'stand! Well!" exclaimed Gayne. "I'm a man o' brains I'll have you -know." - -"Well, if you've got any, use 'em now," said Blake impatiently. "There -ain't any money in a mineral spring unless you've got piles o' dough to -put it on the market. Don't you know that?" - -"I sh'd say so," nodded Gayne, triumphant again. "That's just what I'm -goin' to have: piles o' dough. Bushels." - -"Where are you goin' to get it?" - -"Well, I'll tell you, Matt, 'cause you're a good friend and you know how -to hold your tongue. That boy out there, that poor numskull is the heir -to a big enough fortune to f'nance twenty springs." - -"He is?" returned Blake, astonished. "What do you mean?" - -"His grandfather is one of the richest men in Boston. Went to see him -once. Took my proofs with me. Wouldn't look at 'em. Turned me out. He's -sick as the devil. Always travelin' 'round tryin' to get well. I -wouldn't--I would not give him one cup o' this water." Gayne gestured -impressively as he made the ferocious declaration. "Just come home from -Europe now. Saw it in the paper," he added. - -"Then he'll leave his money where it won't do you any good," said Blake. - -"I'll break the will. I've thought it all out. I'm a man o' brains. -Bert'll get the money." - -"Perhaps the boy won't want to spend it on springs." - -A crafty change came over Gayne's face and he smiled. "He won't have any -say. I'm his guardian, ain't I? And he's non compos, ain't he? He'll be -put where he belongs, believe me." - -"You'll shut him up, do you mean?" asked Blake, frowning. - -"F'r his own good. You understand?" - -"Your guardian angel suggested that to you, too, probably." - -"Prob'bly did, Matt," was the pious reply. "If all his kind was shut up -there'd be less crime in the papers. I put it off and put it off, but I -ought to do it and do it soon." - -The carpenter regarded the speaker in silence for some moments. Gayne's -eyes were closing and opening sleepily. - -"Now, see here, man. You go in the house and sleep this off. I'll take -the boy down-along with me." - -"I won't allow it," Gayne shook his head. "Women at the house pamperin' -him. I won't have it. He'll stay where I am till I get him settled for -life." - -"I'm goin' to take the boy along with me," repeated Blake, speaking -louder. "You're in no state for him to see you. Where'd you get your -stuff, anyway?" - -"Chemist p'esc'iption," said Gayne, as his companion drew him along at -as swift a pace as possible. - -"Well, next time, drink out o' your own mud puddle. I think it comes -from the lower regions, anyway. You might as well be getting used to -it." - -Gayne laughed, but rather feebly. He was beginning to wonder just what -he had said to his friend. - -Matt got him into the house and into the lop-sided armchair where he had -found him, and he fell asleep at once. Then the carpenter took the -partly filled glass from the table and held it up to the light. - -"I'd like it," he mused, "but, by thunder, that loafer's worse 'n a -temperance lecture." And he threw the whiskey out of an open window. - -The bottle he placed behind the screen; then, with one last disgusted -look at his host, whose head was hanging sideways with the mouth open, -he left the house. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE NEWPORT LETTER - - -Blake went back through the grove of firs to the cove bank and there he -saw the boy again. He had sunk down on his back and, as Blake -approached, appeared to be asleep. The man stooped over him. - -"Hello, kid," he said. - -As the boy did not move, Matt shook him gently by the shoulder. Bert -jumped up with a start. - -"I didn't--didn't hear you," he said. Then, looking up and seeing that -it was a stranger, he got to his feet. - -"Does--does Uncle Nick want me?" he asked. - -Blake shook his head. "No, he's busy. You better go down the road with -me." - -"He told me--told me to wait for him," said the boy. - -"Well, he doesn't want you now. He wants you to go along with me. I've -just left him." - -Upon this the boy followed obediently, and they walked together over the -field to the road. Blake occasionally looked at the unsmiling young -face as he cogitated on Gayne's plans for the lad. - -"Like it pretty well here?" he asked. - -"No--yes--I don't know," was the answer. - -The delicacy and refinement of the boy's face, and the utter -hopelessness of it, stirred his companion, as he considered the one he -had left in the tattered armchair. They walked on in silence until they -had nearly reached the little island cemetery. Then the boy's long -lashes lifted. He seemed to be gazing at the shafts and headstones. - -"Uncle Nick says the--the ghosts don't have far to walk," he remarked. - -The carpenter put his hand on Bert's shoulder. "Stuff and nonsense," he -said. "You're too big a boy to believe that foolishness." - -The dark eyes regarded him. "That's what Mrs. Lowell says. She says God -takes care of us." - -The carpenter nodded. "That's right," he returned emphatically. "I hope -He's got His eye on you right now and will see you through. You tie to -Mrs. Lowell and you believe what she says." - -"Uncle Nick doesn't want me to. He says I'm--I'm better off alone." - -"You're the best judge of that, I should say," remarked Matt bluntly. -"We're all entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I -hope you'll get 'em, kid. Stand up for yourself. Do you like Mrs. -Lowell?" - -"I--I don't know.--It isn't any use for me to--to like her. Uncle Nick -doesn't." They began to pass hedges of wild roses. "She likes--likes -flowers," added the boy. - -"Take her some, that's right, take her some," said Blake, stopping and -going to the side of the road. - -"You won't tell Uncle Nick?" said Bert anxiously. - -"No, blast him, I won't tell him. Here, I've got a knife. They know how -to defend themselves all right, don't they?" - -Bert gathered some of the flowers, amazingly large and deep of color -they were, and Matt cut more, and a charming bunch was in the boy's hand -at last. Blake noted that the sight of it brought color into the pale -face. - -"This must be another secret," said Bert. "Mrs. Lowell and I have some -already." - -They plodded on again. - -"That's right," said Blake. "Hold 'em tight. That Mrs. Lowell and Miss -Wilbur are friends worth having, I'm thinking." The man frowned at his -own thoughts. The creed of the island had, as its first article: Mind -your own business. Matt wished he could go to Mrs. Lowell and pour out -to her all he had learned this afternoon, but had his pledged word not -prevented, his own habit and training would have made it difficult. - -When they reached the field which divided the road from the Inn, Blake -parted from the boy, who started off for home with his prize. He -stumbled over the knolls while looking at the blossoms, and inhaling -their delicious fragrance. - -When he had nearly reached the house, he met the quartette of croquet -players, the girls escorting the men to the road. - -Veronica and Barney Kelly came first and Diana and Philip followed. - -"Oh, how lovely, Bertie!" exclaimed Veronica, stopping and stooping the -five sun-kisses to smell deep of the roses. - -"They are not--they are not for you," said the boy hastily. - -"You've no taste, then," said Kelly, while Veronica laughed. "Have you a -better girl than this one?" - -Bertie pushed on in nervous haste, and Diana's smile did not detain -him. - -"Not for you either, apparently," remarked Philip. - -"No," said Veronica. "I'm _good_, Miss Wilbur is _better_, but his -_best_ girl is at home on the porch." - -There the boy found her, and luckily alone. He advanced holding out his -gift without a word. She colored with pleasure as she accepted it, -holding it in one hand and caressing it with the other as from time to -time she took the sweet breath of the roses. - -"Thank you so much, Bertie!" she exclaimed. "It must have taken you a -long time to gather so many." - -"No--he had a knife." - -"Who, your uncle?" - -"No--Mr. Blake. Uncle Nick mustn't know. You won't tell him?" - -"No, dear child, I won't tell him." She looked in the boy's face for a -reflection of her own pleasure, but there was none. He remained -standing. - -"Sit down, Bertie, you have had a long walk." - -He did so with some reluctance. "This is the last--last time I'll sit -with you," he said. - -"Are you going away?" she asked, much concerned. - -"No, but--but Uncle Nick doesn't--doesn't want me to speak to you--and -you make me sad." - -"How do I make you sad, Bertie?" - -"Talking about--about things," he said vaguely. "If I don't think and -don't talk, then--then it's better. Uncle Nick says so and--and I--it is -so." - -"Very well, Bertie," returned Mrs. Lowell quietly. "All I want is what -is best for you." - -He looked at her sweet face with the affection in the eyes. She was -wearing a white dress and the blossoms were a roseate glow against it. -He struggled against all that he blindly felt she represented: all he -had lost, all that would have kept the present and the future from being -blank. His face suffused with color, his eyes with tears. - -"I can't bear it!" he said suddenly, with more force than she had -supposed was in him, and rising with an energy of movement that sent his -chair over with a crash, he fled into the house. - -Mrs. Lowell bent her head over the flowers for minutes, and, when she -raised it, there was dew upon them. She looked off a moment in thought, -then rose, went into the house and upstairs to the Gayne room. The door -was ajar. She could hear the boy sobbing. Entering, she saw him -stretched on his cot, and she approached, drawing a chair beside it. - -Seating herself, she put a hand on his tightly doubled arm and looked at -the averted, dark head, its face buried in the pillow. - -She spoke to him quietly: "Bertie, I am going to do just as you plan and -not ask you to go about with me any more, but I want you to remember all -the time that I love you and am thinking of you, and knowing that better -times are coming for you. No human being can have as much power over us -as God has. He isn't going to forget His own children whom He has -created. So the more you think about Him, knowing that He is -all-powerful and all-loving, the sooner you will feel His help coming to -you. We don't know just how or when, but be sure it will come if you -won't listen to discouragement. Discouragement is like a cloud that -hides the sun, and God is the sun of the whole universe. You are trying -to hide away from Him when you weep and let thoughts of grief and -despair come in." - -Her voice carried through the nervous, dry sobs, and they lessened as -she talked. When she finished, the dark head lay still on the pillow. -She patted the thin arm. - -"Now I will leave you, Bertie," she went on. "Try to think about the -Shepherd. 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.' Say that over and -over to yourself, and know that it is true. Some day all these things -that seem barriers to everything that you feel makes life worth living, -will melt away. Think about it, and be hopeful, dear child. Remember I -am in the house when you want me, and remember that I love to help you. -Good-bye, dear." - -She stooped over the averted face and kissed the boy's temple. Then she -passed out and down the stairs. - - -The answer to Diana's telegram came from her mother, and read as -follows: - - - Your father away on the yacht. Be cautious socially. No Loring - relatives or friends in this country. Letter follows. - - -The letter did follow with great promptness. It was the old story of the -worried hen who had hatched a duck. - - - _My dear child_: - - You say you are feeling very well again, sleeping soundly and - eating with good appetite. Then do come home at once. I have - submitted to your wild-goose chase because the doctor approved, and - it was evidently working well, but I haven't really had an easy - minute since you left. When you said that even taking a maid with - you would make you nervous, and I allowed you to go off to a - strange island quite alone, I put a great constraint upon myself. - Your wire shows me that you are encountering some of the - circumstances which I feared, and which will lead to future - embarrassment. Some people are evidently trying to claim - acquaintance or even relationship with our family. I wired you that - there were no Lorings connected with us in this country. It was an - odd coincidence that just after I sent the message to you, I picked - up a newspaper and saw that Herbert Loring had returned from Paris - and was staying at the Copley-Plaza. I am quite certain _he_ has - not emigrated to your island. So my message is true enough. He is a - distant cousin of your father's and though not an old man is a very - broken one, owing to family troubles. Seeing his name in the paper - brought up sad memories and made me thankful for a good, - conscientious daughter who will always remember what is due her - family, and now, when you are thrown among ordinary people, such as - you have never come in contact with, is a good time to speak of - such a tragedy. Mr. Loring's only child was a daughter, a pretty, - artistic girl of whom he was inordinately proud and fond. She - became infatuated with a man whom her father forbade her even to - see. She eloped with him. Oh, the agony she caused that father, who - had lost his wife years before. Of course, he did the only thing - possible in such a case--forbade her name to be mentioned. He - became very ill, and, as soon as he was convalescent, gave up - business and went abroad. He has spent all the years since--about - fifteen, I think--in traveling about, trying to recover his health - and divert his mind. Now the poor, weary man has come back again. I - am wondering if he will open his house. He is wealthy, and, if his - health is restored, he may do so and take up life again. I am sure - your father will wish to communicate with Mr. Loring as soon as he - returns from his cruise. Perhaps the lonely man will accept an - invitation to visit us. - - I think it a grave question whether the artistic temperament does - not furnish more sorrow than joy to the world. I am proud and - thankful that I have a daughter to whom an infatuation would be an - impossibility. Come back, Diana, if you feel strong enough. I - promise to preserve you from gayety if you wish me to do so. I do - not feel at all easy about you. Please write and set a date for - coming, explaining also all that lay behind your wire. Your - affectionate - - MOTHER - - -By the time Diana finished reading this letter, her hands were -trembling. - -She hurried to Mrs. Lowell's room. A rather stifled voice bade her -enter. Her friend was stooping over the washstand bathing her eyes. Her -face, as she looked up through the splashing, showed an April smile. - -"I knew it was you," she said. "I recognized the step, and I knew you -wouldn't mind discovering that I cry once in a while." - -"My dear Mrs. Lowell, I'm sorry for whatever distresses you." - -"Oh, it is just that dear talented, wretched boy. I couldn't help -weeping a few little weeps; but what happy thing has happened to you, my -dear?" she added, catching the excitement in the girl's face. She dried -her own finally, and came forward and Diana put the letter into her -hands. - -They both stood in silence until Mrs. Lowell had finished reading and -looked up. Her cheeks were as flushed as Diana's, and they exchanged a -radiant gaze and then sat down. - -"One always weeps too soon," said Mrs. Lowell at last. - -"I was thinking," said Diana, looking off, "that it might be a good plan -for me to go to Mr. Loring myself." - -"You good girl! Do you know him?" - -"Not at all, but any one can go to the Copley-Plaza, and I can tell him -I am his cousin." - -"You're a precious child. When had you thought of going?" - -"Immediately," said Diana, with recovered serenity. - -"Shall I go to Boston with you?" - -"It will not be necessary, I think." - -"But your mother would prefer it, I am sure. Yes, I see that I should -go," added Mrs. Lowell, casting a glance at the rich stationery in her -hand with its heading "Idlewild, Newport, R. I." She could feel the -probable disapproval of this move which Mrs. Wilbur would feel. - -Nicholas Gayne did not come back to the Inn to supper that afternoon. -Bertie came to the table expecting his uncle would be there and not -daring to absent himself, but he showed the effect of his unwonted -outburst in such extra pallor and lassitude that Veronica was moved to -give him her choicest offerings. Mrs. Lowell thought it best for his -calm not to take any notice of him, but she and Diana found it difficult -to control the excitement that beset their hearts as they looked at him: -the drooping bird in the cage of a cruel and neglectful master, the key -that would unlock its door almost in their hands. - -The next morning they took the early boat from the island, leaving word -that they were going to Boston for a few days. Miss Burridge gave them -their coffee and toast and bade them God-speed, little reckoning how -appropriate was the prayer for them. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -COUSIN HERBERT - - -Arrived at the hotel in Boston, an inquiry for Herbert Loring revealed -that he was still there, but indisposed and not seeing visitors. - -In the suite Diana engaged, the two friends discussed ways and means, -and it was decided that Diana should write a note to the invalid and -make herself known. - - - _My dear Mr. Loring_ (she wrote), - - I might perhaps call you Cousin Herbert, for I believe my father, - Charles Wilbur, claims relationship, and, if you grant me - permission, I certainly shall do so. I believe you and my father - had time to see something of one another before steel swallowed him - up and you became absorbed in railroads. My mother is at our - cottage in Newport, and is wondering whether you could be induced - to visit us when Father returns from a cruise he is taking. I am - here in the hotel for a short time, and would like very much to - call on you if there is some half-hour when you would feel like - seeing a relative, even though you could not grant a similar - privilege to an outsider. I shall be so glad if you can allow me to - make your acquaintance. It would be a satisfaction to my parents to - hear from you by word of mouth. My mother saw by the papers that - you were back in this country and she wrote me of it. I have been - on one of the islands in Casco Bay where one gets very near to - Nature's heart: the best thing that can happen to a tired - schoolgirl. - - Kindly let me hear from you, and I shall be grateful if you will - see me. After all, though we are strangers, blood is thicker than - water! - - Yours cordially - - DIANA WILBUR - - -"This is most extraordinary, upon my word, it is most extraordinary," -was Herbert Loring's comment when he had read this communication. His -words might have been addressed to thin air or to Marlitt, his man; and -Marlitt knew by experience that it was well not to appropriate them -until he had received some further hint. So he stood at attention and -looked with interest at the view from an opposite window. - -His employer was a haggard man, with a white mustache and gray hair. He -was immaculately groomed and was seated in a reclining chair, his feet -supported on the footrest. He wore a rich dressing-gown of gray silk. -One noticed that his left arm was never raised, but with his right hand -he now stroked his mustache. There were pouches under the eyes he lifted -to his valet. - -"Here is a schoolgirl in the hotel who wants to come to see me; says -she's my cousin. I'm a nice figure to receive a schoolgirl." - -Marlitt raised his eyebrows. "You are certainly in shape to receive -anybody, sir. But this young lady? May she be an impostor, sir?" - -"No. I think not." Marlitt perceived that the note was an agreeable -incident. "She says she is the daughter of Wilbur, the Philadelphia -steel man. It's odd that they should not have forgotten me." - -"Begging your pardon, sir, I think if you were not so determined to deny -yourself to friends, you would find that no one who had once known you -would have forgotten." - -The sick man glanced back at the note in his lap. It escaped him on the -slippery silk and he made an involuntary effort with the useless arm to -recover it. He frowned, and Marlitt, stooping quickly, picked up the -sheet and restored it. The invalid read the letter once again. - -"Send word to this young lady that I will see her at three-thirty -to-day," he said at last. - -With much rejoicing, Diana, when she had received this word, arrayed -herself for the call. She wore a thin gray gown with a rose at the -girdle, and Mrs. Lowell, regarding her with admiration, thought no one -could be better equipped externally to win the fastidious masculine -heart. - -Herbert Loring thought so, too, when at the appointed hour she entered -his room, and he received a swift impression of her fine quality. - -"Welcome, my little cousin," he said as he met her eyes and the serene -and charming smile irradiating her youthful beauty. "I am a useless -hulk; can't get out of this chair without help. So you will pardon me." - -She put her hand in the one he offered, and Marlitt placed a chair -beside him in such fashion that she faced him. - -"That makes it the more gracious of you to receive me," she replied. - -"I should never have known what I missed, had I refused," he said -gallantly. "My friend Wilbur has a very beautiful daughter." - -Marlitt disappeared into the next room, and Diana blushed. - -"Even in spite of sunburn?" she said. - -"I was really touched, Cousin Diana, that your parents should remember -me sufficiently for you to take the trouble to come to see me. It is a -long time since anything has pleased me so much. I have been such a -rover that I am a stranger in my own land." - -Diana had not expected to feel guilty of false pretences, but this -speech accused her even while it lent her increased courage, since his -was a heart that could be touched. - -"I hope you will visit us," she said, "after I return to Newport." - -"Are you on your way there now?" - -"No, not quite yet. It is difficult to tear one's self away from Casco -Bay after one once falls under the spell." - -Loring nodded. "I know the environment. Very piney and fresh and all -that. Cold water though, very cold." - -"Yes, but we all take dips in it." - -"Youth!" said the sick man, shaking his head. "Youth!" - -"If one does not swim, I know it is quite too cold," said Diana. "I am -glad you are familiar with that country, for then you can sympathize -with my enthusiasm. I long to have a place there of my own and, perhaps -with such congruity of taste, you and I together can persuade my parents -that it would not be too erratic in me to buy a part of that green hill -and be there a little while every year." - -The invalid nodded. "I'll say Amen to anything you indicate," he -returned readily. - -How devoutly Diana hoped this promise might be kept! - -"I have another reason for being glad to meet a man relative just now," -she went on. "There are some people at the Inn where I am staying who -present such a strange problem. When injustice is obviously being done, -one longs to help." - -Her companion nodded. "That is natural, but usually futile," he said. -"It is a very good rule to 'keep off the grass.'" - -"Yes, but this affair makes me very unhappy, Cousin Herbert." - -"A shame," he returned, and he would like to have patted her pretty -hand, but she was on his left side. "Too bad there is always some -serpent in paradise. Don't be too tender-hearted, my dear. Don't be too -tender-hearted. It doesn't pay. Of course, where-ever you go people will -try to lay you under tribute. You must learn to wear an armor, a full -suit of chain armor under your dainty costumes." - -"This is not a question of money," said Diana, her heart beating faster -and, for the first time, she quaked at the full realization of her -errand. "Would you let me tell you about it, Cousin Herbert?" - -"Why, of course, my child, if it is any satisfaction to you to confide -in such a useless old cripple as I have become." - -"You are far from that," returned the girl, steadying the voice which -threatened to waver. "Your opinion on the subject will be very valuable -to me." - -The sick man lifted his heavy eyebrows and smoothed his mustache. "Then -proceed, by all means," he said. "One thing I have in tragic abundance -is time; and I am flattered." - -"There is a man at our Inn," began Diana, her fingers tightly -intertwined in her lap, "who has a young boy in his power. The lad is -his nephew. He shows every sign of years of neglect. The uncle -continually betrays himself, and scarcely tries to hide the fact that he -is looking forward to incarcerating the boy in some institution for the -deranged." - -"Simply to get rid of him?" - -"No; there is money back in the family somewhere, and we--I have come to -the conviction that this man believes the boy will fall heir to it, and -that, if he is safely out of the way, the uncle as guardian will get -control of this money." - -"What sort of mentality does the boy seem to have?" - -"He is a sensitive, fine-grained lad with just the sort of nature which -persistent brutality will blight and paralyze. He has been so neglected -that he has little physical resistance and one can see him being -gradually crushed with as little hope of escape as the fly in the -spider's web." - -"And you take it greatly to heart, eh?" said the invalid, regarding the -girl's flushed face and appealing eyes. - -"Wouldn't any one?" she asked. - -"A confounded nuisance to have such a circumstance mar your vacation." - -"Oh, think of the boy's side of it, Cousin Herbert!" - -"You want my opinion? I think the law could take a hand there." - -"Yes; but the law is so slow!" Diana swallowed. "So near a relative as -an uncle, own brother to the boy's father, can put up a hypocritical -fight and establish a very strong claim." - -Herbert Loring shook his head. "My dear child, in your position, if you -begin on this Quixotic business, there will be no end to it, believe me. -You can't right all the wrongs in the world, and you will have the pack -in full cry after you if it is known that you have let down the bars. -You can state this case to a lawyer, and put it in his hands with the -understanding that you will pay the bills, but your identity must be -kept secret. Then let them fight it out. You can't do any more than -that. A pity I didn't know you were here this morning. My lawyer was -with me." The speaker's tired eyes smiled and the corners of his -mustache lifted slightly. "I have celebrated my return by destroying my -will and the new business was to have been finished this morning, but I -was uncertain about some matters that the lawyer is looking up to-day. -He will come to-morrow morning to draw up the new will, and before he -goes I will send for you and you shall tell him about your boy and his -ogre of an uncle." - -Diana's heart was beating fast now. She summoned all her courage. "What -is so exciting to me, Cousin Herbert," she began,--and he wondered to -hear the wavering in her voice,--"is that lately I have learned that -this lad is related to some one rich and powerful who could rescue him -at once." - -A puzzled frown came in Loring's forehead. - -"Any one I know?" he asked. - -"Surely, or I should not trouble you at a time when you are not feeling -strong. Cousin Herbert, this neglected boy belongs to you. He is your -grandson." Diana unconsciously stretched her clasped hands toward him. - -A strange white change came over her listener's face and the expression -that awoke in the eyes that met hers was terrible to her. - -"This is the explanation of your desire to make my acquaintance," he -said in a changed voice. - -She was so frightened that she seemed to hear her own heartbeats. "The -boy's name is Gayne. Herbert Loring Gayne," she went on, desperately. - -"Miss Wilbur, you have ventured in where angels would fear to tread," -said the sick man sternly, "but you awake no memory. That room where you -intrude is bare and empty. You--" - -"He is talented," pleaded Diana. "Very talented as an artist. Any family -might be proud to own him and bring him out of a cellar into the -sunshine. Think of the interest in life it would give you. Think it -over, Cousin Herbert. Just be willing to see him once--" - -While she was talking, her companion touched the bell on the table -beside him and the words died on her lips as the valet came into the -room. - -"I am tired, Marlitt," said the invalid huskily. "Miss Wilbur is ready -to go." His head fell back against a down pillow. "Pardon my not -attending you to the door," he added, ignoring the girl's wet-eyed -confusion. She gathered herself together and rose. - -"Thank you for allowing me to come in," she said, inclining her head; -then she turned toward the door which Marlitt held open. - -She continued to hold her head high until she reached her own apartment, -where Mrs. Lowell was waiting. The latter started to her feet as she -viewed her friend's entrance and noted her excited color and trembling -lips. - -Diana succeeded in uttering one word, "Hopeless," then she succumbed -into Mrs. Lowell's arms and fell into wild weeping on her shoulder. - -Led to a couch, she lay upon it and continued weeping while Mrs. Lowell -sat beside her and held her hand comfortingly. - -"We did right to come, however," she said, when, after a time, the girl -was quiet, "and you fulfilled your duty bravely in going to him. You -cannot tell what fruit your visit may bring forth. Don't try to tell me -about it now. He has suffered a terrible wound to his pride and heart, -and even after many years it could smart when touched. We mustn't be -discouraged. Our mission is a righteous one and so God is on our side, -and if we don't accomplish the child's deliverance in this way, we shall -in some other way. I am going to read to you one of the most inspired -and inspiring poems ever written," and, taking up her Bible, Mrs. Lowell -turned its pages and read aloud the ninety-first psalm. - -At seven o'clock they had dinner served in their room, and Diana -recounted her experience with the invalid before they retired for the -night. Mrs. Lowell again talked to her calmly and comfortingly and the -girl's mortified pride and disappointed heart finally quieted and she -slept. - -The next morning the two friends discussed plans over the breakfast -which was served in their room. When later the waiter arrived to carry -away the tray, he was so full of news that he was obliged to speak. - -"Big excitement in the house," he said. "Gentleman dead in his bed. Big -man, too. Used to be president of big railroad. Wouldn't wonder if the -papers had extrys out in a few minutes." - -Diana caught Mrs. Lowell's hand and the latter spoke to the man: "What -name?" - -"Why it's Herbert Loring. I guess that'll make some stir." - -It certainly made some stir in Diana's heart. It was throbbing. When the -waiter had left the room, she lifted horrified eyes to her friend. - -"Do you think I killed him?" she murmured. - -"No, no, dear child." - -"I noticed he was paralyzed on one side," said the girl, "but the valet -will tell them that I excited him so that he dismissed me. Shall I pay -our bill and we go away at once?" - -"Just as you like, dear." - -"I couldn't do that," said Diana suddenly. "I cannot be a coward." - -"Then let us stay right here," said Mrs. Lowell quietly. "You may be -questioned, and it will be better to be found easily. I suppose there -will have to be an inquest or some such formality." - -"Oh, it is dreadful!" exclaimed the girl. "If my mother knew this, she -would never allow me to escape from under her wing again. She has a -horror of anything even unconventional." - -"Just be calm and strong in the right, Diana, and if any one comes to -question you, try not to lose your self-control. I know you have a great -deal. I shall stay beside you." - -"Yes, I beg of you not to leave me. Poor Mr. Loring. Poor Cousin -Herbert. How much sorrow he must have had. So proud a man to become -helpless." - -Only five minutes later two cards were presented at the door. One was -that of a doctor, the other of a lawyer. Mrs. Lowell sent word that the -men were to be admitted. - -Diana had on the peach-colored negligee and, when the two callers were -ushered into the living-room of her suite, they found a pale, large-eyed -girl standing with their cards in her hand. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -THE LAW - - -One of the cards which Diana held read Ernst Veldt, M.D., the other was -that of Luther Wrenn, Attorney at Law. - -"Be seated, gentlemen," said Diana. "I know the urgency of your errand -and, therefore, I would not detain you while I dressed. This is my -friend, Mrs. Lowell. We were just finishing breakfast when the shocking -news was brought to us. Mrs. Lowell, Dr. Veldt and Mr. Wrenn." - -The portentous expression in the face of the two visitors did not -lighten as they bowed and took possession of the chairs Diana indicated. -Thrills of dread were coursing down her spine and her knees were weak -enough to cause her to be glad to take her own seat. She felt a horrible -uncertainty as to her own responsibility in the tragedy. - -The physician, as the most aggrieved party, spoke first: "Mr. Loring was -my patient," he said, speaking with some accent. "From what his valet -tells us you should be able to throw some light on what has occurred." -The speaker's frown darkened as he spoke. This wretched girl had robbed -him, no one could tell of how much. "Mr. Loring did not know you, had -never seen you--" - -"Let me question the young lady," interrupted the lawyer. If this girl -in the rich garments and the luxurious suite were an adventuress -planning to get money from the sick man, she had staged herself well. -She was beautiful and her eyes now were large with horror, perhaps with -guilt. - -"How did you manage to get into Mr. Loring's apartment?" - -"I wrote him a note requesting him to see me," faltered Diana. "He -is--he is a sort of relation of mine." - -"It would be a little difficult to tell just what relation, I dare say," -put in the doctor, nodding. "Odd that you couldn't let a sick man get a -bit acclimated on his return before you forced yourself, an utter -stranger, into his rooms--" - -"Wait a bit, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer, interrupting again. "Let us -have your full name, please," he added, turning to the culprit. - -"Diana Wilbur," said the girl. "Did you not find the note I wrote Mr. -Loring?" - -"No. The valet followed his master's orders and destroyed the note as -soon as you were gone. Marlitt is completely unstrung. He couldn't -remember anything about your communication except that Mr. Loring told -him that he was about to have a visit from a schoolgirl. Marlitt said -that you finally left the room in tears and that his master collapsed." - -"And it looks like manslaughter, that's what it looks like, -manslaughter," said the doctor angrily. - -Diana's very lips grew pale. "Oh, gentlemen," she said, and her quiet -voice trembled, "please be very careful what you say. Supposing anything -about me should get into the papers." - -"Yes, Dr. Veldt," said the lawyer quickly, "we should be careful in our -accusations. Remember that Mr. Loring had sustained two strokes before -his return. His interview with me yesterday morning was a draught upon -him." - -Diana turned toward the lawyer and clasped her hands. "Oh, yes," she -said. "He told me he had destroyed his will--" - -"Aha," said the doctor, nodding his big gray head again, "we begin to -see light. His will. That is what you were interested in, eh? A sort of -relation, eh?" - -"Gentlemen," said Mrs. Lowell suddenly taking part in the interview, "I -think it might help you in your judgments to know that Miss Wilbur is -the only child of Charles Wilbur, the steel man of Philadelphia." - -Her announcement had a dramatic effect. The doctor's mouth opened mutely -as he stared. The lawyer's brow cleared and he looked curiously at Diana -and bowed. - -"You see," said the girl unsteadily, "it would be dreadful if anything -about me in connection with this shocking occurrence should get into the -papers, for I meant no harm. Mr. Loring was a distant connection of my -father's and I went to him in behalf of some one else--" she hesitated. - -"Can you tell why your visit should have so excited him?" asked the -lawyer. - -"Yes. It was because I spoke of his daughter." - -"Will you repeat to us just what you said to him?" - -"I will tell _you_. It is a matter for a lawyer." - -"Miss Wilbur," said Dr. Veldt, rising and speaking in a voice which he -strove not to make too unlike his previous manner, "we cannot tell, -until the post mortem takes place, just what caused this death, but I -hope the result of the investigation may be enlightenment that will set -your mind at rest. Since you wish to speak with Mr. Wrenn, I will leave -you and hope that he will be able to assist you in your problem, -whatever it may be. Good-morning." And with what grace he could muster, -the physician left the room. - -Diana sank back in her chair and Mrs. Lowell saw her exhaustion. - -"Shall I tell our story to Mr. Wrenn?" she asked. - -The girl nodded. - -"Miss Wilbur has generously thrown herself into the thick of a problem -which has been absorbing me in the last weeks," she began, and then she -proceeded to tell the details of their experience. - -The lawyer listened with close attention. "So, on the impulse of the -moment, we came to Boston, arriving yesterday morning, and Miss Wilbur's -request to see Mr. Loring was met by an appointment by him for -three-thirty, which she kept." - -"He was very gracious to me," said Diana, "and I was very hopeful at -first." She stopped to control the quivering of her lips. - -"How did you proceed?" asked the lawyer kindly. - -"I told him the boy's story, and he advised me to keep out of that sort -of entanglement in another's affairs. I was frightened then, but I -continued because, of course, I could not relinquish the matter there, -and finally, I told him that the boy was his grandson." Diana's voice -stopped again, and she shook her head. - -"He became excited, heated?" asked the lawyer encouragingly. - -"No; cold, stern. He--he repulsed me and utterly repudiated the whole -matter. He said there was not even the--the echo of a memory left." -Diana lifted her handkerchief to her eyes. - -"Poor little Helen. I knew her well," said the lawyer thoughtfully. - -"You did know Bertie's mother?" said Mrs. Lowell with interest. "Then -you will be able to judge of the sketch a lonely little boy made of -her." - -"We had put this matter into the hands of Mrs. Lowell's husband, who is -a lawyer in New York," said Diana. "We expected to have a long search -for Bertie's grandfather, but, as Mrs. Lowell has told you, my mother, -all unconsciously gave us the information we needed, and then--Oh, Mr. -Wrenn, how could I do otherwise, and yet it is--so dreadful to think--" -Again Diana covered her eyes. - -"Don't think it, Miss Wilbur," said the lawyer decidedly. "You did what -was womanly and brave. Had you come to me, instead of going directly to -Mr. Loring, it might possibly have been better, but how can we know? My -client and old friend was immovably set against the daughter who defied -him, and if the intense feeling which your plea roused in him was a -boomerang that laid him low, that is not your fault, and couldn't -possibly have been foreseen. Now, dismiss that fear from your thoughts. -A condition has arisen which perhaps has not occurred to either of you -ladies. From what you tell me, it looks as if the boy who has interested -you may really be Herbert Loring's grandson. That will have to be -proved, and doubtless the avaricious uncle has the proofs if they exist. -That once accomplished, this lad will be sole heir to a considerable -fortune, for there is no will." - -Mrs. Lowell and Diana exchanged a look. - -"Mr. Wrenn," said Mrs. Lowell quickly, "Mr. Gayne is capable of any -brutality. He will see Mr. Loring's death in the papers--" - -"But he does not know that there is no will," the lawyer reminded her, -"and he will probably come to me with proofs that the boy should -inherit. That would naturally be his next step. Do you think the boy's -mentality has been hopelessly impaired?" - -"I do not," said Mrs. Lowell, and her face grew radiant. "When once the -slave is freed, God will take care of Bertie's mentality." - -The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon her gravely. "Young Herbert has a -good friend in you," he said. - -"Oh, Mr. Wrenn," exclaimed Diana fervently, "if you can get Mrs. Lowell -to supervise his life for the next five years, you will do the best -thing that could be done for him in all the world." - -The lawyer nodded, still with thoughtful eyes on Mrs. Lowell's speaking -face. She was thanking God as she sat there that the crushing burden was -being lifted from one of His little ones. - -"Mr. Loring's funeral will be a rather sad and perfunctory ceremony," -said Mr. Wrenn. "For several years he has absented himself from this -country most of the time. He is not rich in even poor relations. I -remember a few names which were mentioned in the will which was -destroyed yesterday, and I am sure he would wish me to respect his -wishes and give moderate sums to those beneficiaries, for he stated that -he should not change that clause. I wonder if you ladies might be -willing to stay over for the funeral. I am certain that Mr. Gayne will -attend it and see me afterward." - -A compassion that swept through Diana at remembrance of the tired eyes -and the helpless figure in its rich wrappings caused her to give her -consent to remain for the funeral. - -She wired her mother that, being in Boston for a few days, she should -attend that ceremony, and was disconcerted to receive a return message -stating that her mother would also attend, her father not having -returned from his cruise. She showed this to Mrs. Lowell, and the latter -was privately amused at the consternation betrayed by the girl at the -prospect of welcoming a parent. - -"Of course, it won't be necessary to trouble her with any details," said -Mrs. Lowell, and Diana pressed her hand in token that she appreciated -the comfort of her perception. - -The first thought Mrs. Lowell had, upon seeing Mrs. Wilbur, was: "What a -handsome man Diana's father must be," for the girl did not get her -beauty from this plump little lady with the short nose, wide mouth, and -small eyes. Even Mrs. Wilbur's grand air, erect carriage, and perfect -dress could not make her a stately figure, although it was her habit to -consider herself one, and her plump little jeweled hand wielded a -lorgnette in a manner which entitled her to a Roman nose and impressive -height. Her maid, Leonie, was with her, and looked after her mistress -with what seemed to Mrs. Lowell an amazing knowledge of her needs and -wishes. - -"Look at your hands!" was Mrs. Wilbur's greeting of her daughter. "I -know you have not worn gloves." - -Diana bent down to her in all meekness. "Not continuously, Mamma," she -said. "They will very soon blanch again." - -"You're coming right home with me after this sad, sad affair, of -course," continued Mrs. Wilbur. "How strange that you happened to be in -Boston, and fortunate, too. Your father would have liked us to show this -attention." By this time they were in Mrs. Wilbur's suite in the hotel, -and she turned to Mrs. Lowell. "I am grateful to you for taking care of -this child of mine," she said. "I don't like to tell her how well she -looks, for it encourages her in such a prank as this island summer." - -"It has proved a good plan for her, I'm sure," responded Mrs. Lowell. - -"But enough is enough," said Mrs. Wilbur. "She is rested now and our -friends are always asking for her. No more island." - -"Dear Mamma, do not be so determined, for Mrs. Lowell and I just came -here for a few days and I shall have to return and gather my belongings -together at least." - -"Very well, then I will go with you and look at it myself." - -Mrs. Lowell could with difficulty repress a smile at the way Diana's -eyes enlarged with apprehension. - -"You would not like it, dear, you would not like it," she said -earnestly. - -"Then why do you?" responded her mother defiantly. - -"Because I like roughing it. I like camping." - -"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "I am so near, I may as well look at it." - -"What would you do in a house without a bathroom?" asked Diana. - -The blank, incredulous look with which Mrs. Wilbur met her daughter's -question made Mrs. Lowell expect her parted lips to utter: "There ain't -no such animal." But the lady merely said, reproachfully: "How can you -like it there, Diana?" - -"My ancestors had no bathtubs," replied the girl. "Then, besides, we -have the ocean." - -"Well," sighed Mrs. Wilbur, "the funeral comes first. I suppose Mr. -Loring was confined to his room so you couldn't happen to see him about -the hotel." - -Diana cast a glance at Mrs. Lowell before she replied: "I did see him, -though, Mamma." The girl felt very certain that the episode could never -be finished without this fact transpiring. - -"You did?" Mrs. Wilbur sat up with great interest. "That explains why -you have seemed to me a little sad ever since I came. You saw the poor -man. How did it happen?" - -"I wrote him a note and asked him if I could call. I reminded him that -we were related--" She hesitated. - -"Why, Diana Wilbur, I never heard of anything so extraordinary! You dear -lamb, how pleased your father will be! Mrs. Lowell," she turned to that -lady, "do you wonder I'm proud of this child? Do you believe that one -young girl in a thousand would take the trouble to pay such an attention -to an elderly relative whom she had never seen?" - -Mrs. Lowell was saved from the embarrassment of replying, for Diana -spoke hurriedly: - -"It isn't what you think, Mamma. I went to him on an errand--some one -else's errand." - -Mrs. Wilbur put up her lorgnette the better to view her daughter's -crimsoning cheeks and quivering lips. - -"Tell me what it was, at once," she commanded. "Who dared to make use of -you in such a way?" - -"No one," protested the girl. "It was my own idea, but please don't ask -me to tell you of it now. I have had such a shock--I am really not able -to talk about it yet." - -"Very well, then, I will wait." Mrs. Wilbur's dilated nostrils expressed -her displeasure. "But this proves that you are, just as I have felt, too -young to be wandering about on your own. I should not have allowed you -to leave me." As she finished, the mother swept Mrs. Lowell with a -condemning glance in which she withdrew all her previous approval of -that lady. - -Mrs. Lowell understood it, but she spoke pleasantly: "When the right -time comes for you to learn what brought us to Boston, you will find -that your daughter deserves only approval," she said in her quiet, -cheerful manner. - -Mrs. Wilbur's nostrils still dilated and she used her fan in a majestic -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -THE WILL - - -Herbert Loring's funeral was conducted in the church to which he had -been a contributor for many years. Distant connections of the family, -old business friends, and curiosity-seekers made a gathering of average -size, and among those seated, toward the back of the audience, was -Nicholas Gayne. - -The astute lawyer's expectation of a visit from him was not -disappointed. Indeed, Luther Wrenn came to his office at an earlier hour -than usual the following morning, entirely in honor of that gentleman. - -On the drive to the cemetery the day of the funeral, Mr. Wrenn had -placed Diana, her mother, and Mrs. Lowell in the motor with himself. -There was little said on the way out. The lawyer was well known by -reputation to Mrs. Wilbur, and the only drawback to her satisfaction in -the arrangement was Diana's preoccupation and the knowledge that -interesting information was being kept back from her. Mrs. Wilbur had -not only sent lavish gifts of flowers to the church, but, there seeming -to be no one but paid workers to attend to the decorations, she had -personally supervised them, and, coming back from the cemetery, the -lawyer expressed his appreciation of her kindness and her presence in a -manner to apply much balm. However, he turned directly from his -respectful laudation of Mrs. Wilbur to her daughter. - -"How long can you and Mrs. Lowell stay on?" he asked, and the mother -became alert. His manner signified previous acquaintance with Diana. - -"Just as long as is necessary," was the girl's surprising reply. - -"I am certain that Gayne will call on me the first thing to-morrow -morning, and I should like you to remain near the telephone if you -will." - -"Certainly," replied Diana. - -"Mr. Wrenn, I don't understand what you are asking of my daughter," said -Mrs. Wilbur crisply. - -"Ah,"--the lawyer bowed gravely. "Perhaps you have not been told of the -surprising turn events have taken. It is a matter which requires secrecy -until identities are established and evil-doers circumvented. Let me -congratulate you, Mrs. Wilbur, on a remarkably fine and intelligent -daughter. She is a credit to your bringing-up. Not many mothers can -boast of having instilled such prudence." - -The lady leaned back in her corner, not certain whether to accept this -disarming, or to insist immediately upon her rights. She decided to -compromise and wait until they reached the hotel. - -"My daughter tells you she can wait in Boston as long as is necessary," -she said at last, "and her mother will have to understand the -necessity." - -"Certainly, Mrs. Wilbur," responded the lawyer. "We have found ourselves -in a totally unexpected situation. Mr. Herbert Loring destroyed his will -and died before he could make another." - -Mrs. Wilbur exclaimed. Mr. Loring was known to be wealthy and she was -interested in fortunes. Her brain began working actively on the -probabilities of the heirs. - -"The next strange event is that your young daughter has probably found -the heir." - -Mrs. Wilbur raised her lorgnette and regarded Diana, drooping opposite, -as if she were a new discovery. - -"I wish to understand," she said with dignity. - -"It seems that Mr. Loring's disobedient daughter left a son whose -existence has been unsuspected unless Mr. Loring himself knew of it, -which he never betrayed. Your daughter and Mrs. Lowell have found the -boy." - -"Not I," protested Diana. "Mrs. Lowell, in her sweet unselfishness, -deserves all the credit. I should have paid no attention to him, but -I--it was through your letter, Mamma, that I found the boy's -grandfather." - -"We all had a hand in it, then, it seems," said Mrs. Wilbur. - -"The boy's uncle has possession of him. His father and mother are both -dead, and, according to these ladies, the uncle can qualify as the -world's meanest man. So we proceed carefully until the proofs which he -is supposed to have are in hand. You, Mrs. Wilbur, will aid us in -silence on the subject until the right time for speaking." - -"How old is he, Diana?" burst forth the lady. "What does he look like? -Is he clever and worthy of such a heritage?" - -"He is a poor, shabby, ill-treated boy about fourteen years old. He has -never had a chance, but I scarcely know him. Mrs. Lowell is the one who -discovered him and cared for him." - -Mrs. Wilbur glanced at Mrs. Lowell, but she could not bring herself to -ask her a question. She felt a vague jealousy and sense of injury at -finding this stranger in her child's confidence and aiding and abetting -her in so much independence of action. - -As soon as possible after the reception of Mrs. Wilbur's enlightening -letter at the island, Mrs. Lowell had wired her husband that the search -was ended before it had begun, and he returned Diana's check with -congratulations. - -"What an amazed boy that will be, Mr. Wrenn," remarked Mrs. Wilbur. -"What is his name?" - -"Herbert Loring Gayne." - -"H'm. I suppose his mother had all sorts of hope that with a son of that -name she could placate her father." - -"Doubtless she did," replied the lawyer, "and I wish it might have -proved so. Perhaps they would both have been alive to-day had she -succeeded, but my old friend Loring never mentioned her to me and I -don't know what efforts she made. There must be a good deal of delay -before the young heir can come into his own." - -"I suppose so," sighed Mrs. Wilbur. "That tiresome law moves slowly." - -Diana looked up with sudden attention. "But we must not be dilatory in -rescuing the boy." - -Mr. Wrenn nodded. "If he is proved to be the right one." - -"There can be no doubt of it," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"Not to charming, sympathetic ladies, of course," returned the lawyer -with a smile. - -"I feel that every day counts," said Mrs. Lowell. "He must be removed -from that mental malaria as soon as possible." - -"I will--" began Diana, and then she glanced at her mother,--"I mean -Mamma will gladly finance him, I'm sure, for the present." - -"Perhaps," said Mrs. Wilbur with dignity, "when you see fit to tell me -the whole story. I'm sure I haven't it yet." - -"There is no reason to burden you, Mamma, with disagreeable -considerations," said Diana meekly. "I can myself look after the boy's -needs." - -"Yes, she can," said Mrs. Wilbur in an offended tone. "What do you -think, Mr. Wrenn, of a father who insists on giving a young girl an -unlimited check-book, not requiring her to give any account of what she -does with money?" - -The lawyer smiled at the embarrassed culprit. "I think that your -husband has proved himself a very good reader of character all through -his career." - -Mrs. Wilbur bounced back into her corner. She didn't intend to bounce; -she intended to lean back gracefully, with an air of renouncing all -interest in this matter which had proceeded so far without her -cooperation, but just at that moment the car went over a -"thank-you-ma'am." - -As has already been said, Luther Wrenn, the following morning, sought -his office at an earlier hour than was customary, and Nicholas Gayne was -there before him. - -He did not keep him waiting long, and the stocky figure and dark face -soon appeared in the private office. - -The lawyer regarded the stranger over his eye-glasses. - -"I didn't have any card," said the visitor. "My name is Gayne, Nicholas -Gayne." - -"Be seated, sir. What is your errand?" - -"I would like to be present at the reading of the Herbert Loring will." -The speaker's manner was confident, and he seemed endeavoring to repress -excitement. - -"Indeed? Are you a relative?" - -"No, but my nephew is. I have a great surprise for you, Mr. Wrenn. My -nephew is Herbert Loring's grandson and namesake." Nicholas Gayne -marveled at the self-control of a lawyer, for Luther Wrenn's expression -did not change. "I visited Mr. Loring before he went abroad the last -time, but he would not listen to me or look at my proofs. So I suppose -he has not mentioned his grandson in his will, and, if that is the fact, -I wish to retain you to break the will." This declaration was made with -great energy and a flash of the speaker's dark eyes. - -"You have proofs, then," said Mr. Wrenn, after a short hesitation, -perhaps to make sure of the retention of that self-control. - -"Yes, right here." Gayne caught up from the floor a small black leather -bag, and opened it. "Here are the letters Bert's mother wrote her father -to try for a reconciliation. Returned unopened, you see. Here is her -picture. Perhaps you knew her." - -Luther Wrenn took the small card photograph and gazed at it long. - -"My brother was an irresponsible sort of chap. At the time he met Miss -Loring, he had put through a good deal and was riding on top of the -wave. She was artistic in her tastes, and he met her through the artist -set at Gloucester, where she was that summer, and she took a fancy to -him that her father couldn't break off. Unfortunate, you'll say, but -Lambert was a stunning-looking chap and she decided firmly on her -course. So now here is this boy and the law should protect his rights. -Here's the record of his birth fourteen years ago, in her own writing; -perhaps you know her writing." Gayne was talking fast and excitedly, and -Wrenn took from his hand one after another of the proofs he offered and -laid them on his desk with no change of countenance. - -"What sort of a boy is your nephew?" he asked. "A bright boy?" - -Gayne's face changed. He looked away. "Well, no. I can't say he is. Bert -is delicate. He needs all sorts of care, care that takes heaps of money -to pay for. I haven't been able to do for him what I'd like to. As soon -as you get his money for him, I shall engage professional care and see -that he has the best. I'm a good business man, if I do say it, and I'll -see that his funds multiply until he is able to look after his fortune -himself." - -Luther Wrenn nodded. "I see," he said; and he did, very plainly. "Now, -there will be no reading of the will, Mr. Gayne. That is all attended -to. So you may leave this matter with me." - -"Was the boy mentioned?" asked Gayne eagerly. - -"No; no mention of him." - -"You think you can get some money, though, don't you?" - -"Possibly. I'll see you again." - -"There ain't any kind of doubt that he's the genuine grandson," said -Gayne, rising reluctantly, as the lawyer got to his feet. - -"Your proofs seem to be convincing," was the grave reply. - -"Well, could you--couldn't you advance me something now for Bert's care? -He needs a lot of things, that boy does." - -"You go too swiftly, Mr. Gayne. Come back here at three o'clock day -after to-morrow." - -Gayne looked at the papers and picture strewn on the lawyer's desk. "I -don't know about leaving the only proofs of our rights that I've got." - -Luther Wrenn turned to the desk and gathered them up. "Certainly. Take -them to some lawyer in whom you have confidence." - -"Oh, pshaw, no," said Gayne sheepishly. "I didn't mean that. You were -Mr. Loring's lawyer. You're the one to handle the case." - -"Good-day, then, Mr. Gayne." - -"Good-day," and Nicholas took his departure. - -As soon as the door had closed behind him, Wrenn seated himself at the -desk and called up the Copley-Plaza. Diana was waiting. - -"Miss Wilbur?" - -"Yes." - -"Mr. Wrenn speaking. Mr. Gayne has been here. Please wire at once to the -island and get some one to bring the boy to your hotel as soon as -possible." - -"Yes, Mr. Wrenn." - -"I think Mr. Barrison is the one to ask," said Diana to Mrs. Lowell, who -was waiting near. - -So it was that an hour later Philip Barrison was called to the telephone -at the island store to receive a telegram. - -"I know what it is!" exclaimed Barney Kelly. "'All Saints' is going to -outbid 'The Apostles' for you. You're the rising young beggar." - -He wandered down with Philip to the store and loitered about outside -talking to Matt Blake. When Philip reappeared, it was with a hurried -air. - -"Want anything in Boston?" he asked. - -"Of course, we do--the Brahms, but what's up?" - -"I've got to go. Wire from Miss Wilbur." - -"Aha," said Kelly, following Philip's long strides to the express wagon -which Blake was just mounting. - -"No, no, no," returned Philip. "Naught personal. No such luck. Hello, -Matt, going up-along?" - -"Yes." - -"See you later, Kelly, I have to go up to Miss Burridge's." And Philip -jumped into the seat beside the driver. - -"No, you guessed wrong. You're going to see me right along," returned -Barney, hopping up on the tail of the wagon and letting his feet hang -over, while he whistled cheerily. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -A SUDDEN JOURNEY - - -"I have to get the afternoon boat, Matt," explained Philip. "Miss Wilbur -wants me to bring the Gayne boy to Boston in a hurry." - -Blake looked around alertly as his horse pulled slowly up the hill to -the road. "Miss Wilbur?" he repeated. "Why didn't his uncle send for -him? He is there." - -"Is he?" asked Philip carelessly. "I didn't know the island had been -deprived of his artistic presence." - -"Yes. You bet he lit out when he saw by the paper that the millionaire -he's had his eye on was dead." Blake shook his head. "There must be -something doing or Miss Wilbur wouldn't be sending for the kid." - -"Oh, you know she and Mrs. Lowell made a protege of him. My idea is they -want to give him some kind of a treat, but I must say I'm surprised at -the importance she seems to put on my bringing him--dead or alive, as -you might say. She says if he holds back, through fear of his uncle's -displeasure, to tell the boy his uncle is there." - -"Oh, yes, he's there, believe me. Keep it under your hat, but that old -souse has got it all fixed that the boy is the grandson of that Herbert -Loring who has just died, and that he's going to get a slice o' the -money. Now you might as well know, Phil, as long as you're doing the -errand, that Gayne's a skunk. He's counting on shutting that boy up and -gettin' the money himself. He told me so one time when he was half-seas -over. Believe me, I feel sorry for that kid. If he ever had any spirit, -he's had it squeezed out of him. By George, I'd like to have those -ladies know Gayne's plans." - -"They certainly must be greatly interested in the boy to take all this -trouble," said Philip. "I knew they were very much stirred up over -Gayne's treatment of Bert, but I don't know whether they're aware of how -far he intends to carry it. I'm glad you've told me this. I fancy we -shall find that their plan is to give the boy a show or two and some -ice-cream instead of a fortune. Bert Gayne, Herbert Loring's heir!" -scoffed Philip. "Don't make me laugh. My lip's cracked. However, I'll -oblige those two corking women and bring him to them, by the scruff of -the neck, if necessary. Ever see the Copley-Plaza, Matt? If you did, you -can make a picture of me making a grand entrance there with Bert." - -"I do feel sorry for that kid," repeated Blake with feeling. - -"So do I, and after what you say, I'm wondering why Gayne is keeping -himself in the background and letting the goddess Diana take charge." - -"I wish her luck," said Matt emphatically. "I wish her luck." - -Arrived where the road branches away to the Inn, Philip and his friend -left the wagon and struck off through the field. Halfway across they met -Miss Emerson, walking triumphantly between Mr. Pratt and Mr. Evans, a -parasol over her shoulder. It is not well to sun soft ripples of hair, -when the head that grew them is far across the seas. - -"Good-morning," she cried gayly; "we're going to the post-office. Can we -do anything for you?" - -"Thank you," said Barney. "We've just come from there. You might write -me a letter or two, Miss Emerson, while you're waiting. I've been -neglected since I've been here." - -"I shall be delighted," she returned, regarding his tanned face and -permanent wave with high approval. "I love to write. I even like pencil -and paper games, verbarium, and crambo, and all those. I've been trying -to convert these men. I wish you would both come up and spend the -evening and let me show you how much fun it is." - -There was a wild look in the grave faces of her escorts which advised -caution. - -"You're always so kind, Miss Emerson," said Kelly. - -"Shall we see you at dinner?" she asked. - -"Depends on how good your eyes are," said Philip pleasantly. "We dine at -home and then I'm off for Boston." - -"Really? How can you bear to leave here!" Miss Emerson waved her parasol -as the young men nodded and passed on. - -"I think that Mr. Kelly is perfectly delightful," she said as they -pursued their way. "So full of fun always." Then she proceeded to tell -her captives how many words could be made from the one: c-a-r-p-e-t. - -Philip and Barney walked around to the front of the Inn and there were -Veronica and the unconscious young Herbert, leaning over the sweet-pea -bed. Veronica was using the trowel and the boy was weeding. He glanced -up under his lashes, then went on with his work. Veronica rose and -welcomed the arrivals. - -"You see, Aunt Priscilla keeps us at it, Mr. Barrison. She isn't going -to have your garden neglected, and just look at the buds." - -"Fine. In another week they'll be a show." - -"And a smell," said Barney fervently. "I adore them. You look rather -sweet-peaish yourself, Miss Veronica," he added, regarding her gingham -gown of fine pink-and-white checks. "Do you know you're going to have me -on your hands the next few days?" - -"What's going to happen?" asked Veronica. - -"There is going to be a dance at the hall to-night," suggested Barney. - -"I know it," returned Veronica. "Can you dance?" - -Barney looked at her reproachfully. "It's a land sport. How can you ask? -A duck can swim and Kelly can dance. Will you take me? I'm shy." - -"If Mr. Barrison will allow it," said Veronica with a demure glance at -Philip. - -"Not a word to Puppa. I promise," he said. - -"What a pity Miss Diana isn't here!" she exclaimed. - -"I shall see her to-morrow," returned Philip. - -"You going to Boston?" - -"'M-h'm." - -"That's what I'm telling you," said Kelly. "You mustn't allow me to get -lonely. We'll row in the cove." - -"Really go near the water?" replied Veronica, laughing incredulously. - -"Yes. Aunt Maria is stuffing me like a Thanksgiving turkey. No tennis, I -just natchelly had to get a boat--without a motor, be it well -understood." - -"That's fun," said Veronica, her eyes shining. She hoped Philip would -stay away indefinitely. "If Mr. Kelly could really dance--" - -Meanwhile Philip had stood watching the boy's slender hands pulling out -weeds. - -"Aren't you going to speak to me, Bert?" - -"I--yes. How do you do?" The lad was so used to being overlooked by -everybody except Mrs. Lowell and Diana that Philip's question surprised -him and he rose and looked at him. - -"Do you miss Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur?" asked Philip. - -"Yes." - -"His uncle has gone, too," said Veronica. "We have had some good times -all alone, haven't we, Bert? He is learning to play croquet and he helps -me with the garden." - -The boy regarded her in silence and with no change of expression. Philip -thought or imagined that in his dull, undeveloped way he resented the -girl's kindly tone of patronage. He caught the lad's eye again. - -"I am going to see Mrs. Lowell and Miss Wilbur. Would you like to go -with me to see them?" - -Color stole up into Bert's face and he brushed the clinging soil from -his hands. - -"Yes.--No," he said. - -"I am going to Boston this afternoon," continued Philip, in a quiet, -matter-of-fact tone. "The ladies would like to have you come with me." - -"No," returned the boy. "I have to--to wait here for--for Uncle Nick." - -"Oh, he is there, too," returned Philip. "They have made some plan. We -shall be all together there just as we were here. It won't take you long -to get ready. I'll help you." - -"No," said the boy breathlessly. "Uncle Nick--" - -"But Mrs. Lowell wants you." - -"No. Uncle Nick doesn't want--Mrs. Lowell--" - -"Oh, boy, you know Mrs. Lowell wouldn't ask you to do anything that -would get you into any trouble," said Philip pleasantly. "Perhaps your -uncle has decided not to come back to the island. At any rate, they want -you there in Boston and they sent me a telegram asking me to bring you. -So it is up to us to do what they say. Don't you think so? Come upstairs -and I'll help you get ready." - -The boy's stolid habit of obedience stood Philip in good stead now. With -heightened color, but no other change in his face, he followed to his -room, washed his face and hands, and got into his shabby best while -Philip found a comb and brush and toothbrush, and put them into a paper -parcel. Returning downstairs, they found Veronica consuming with -curiosity, but considerably entertained by her future dance partner, who -was teaching her a new step by means of his blunt finger-tips on the -porch rail. - -"I'm going to take Bert home to dinner with me, Veronica. So say -good-bye and expect us when you see us. Where's Miss Burridge?" - -"Oh, Aunt Priscilla!" shouted Veronica at the kitchen door. "Come out. -Bertie Gayne is going to Boston with Mr. Barrison." - -Miss Burridge emerged wiping her hands on a towel. The other went to -meet her. - -"How nice!" she said, beaming. "What a nice outing for Bertie. That's -real clever of you, Philip. How did you happen to think of it?" - -"Well, his friends in Boston want him," said Philip, and he administered -a wink which Miss Burridge understood sufficiently to postpone a -catechism until later. The boy allowed her and Veronica to shake his -passive hand in bidding him good-bye and then he went away with his -companions with no further questioning. - -When they were gone, Miss Burridge exclaimed her astonishment. - -"Mr. Barrison received a wire, that's all I know," said Veronica. "The -youngster's in mortal terror of his uncle, but Mr. Barrison told him his -uncle was there and it was all right. Miss Wilbur or else Mrs. Lowell -sent the telegram. Sort of queer they should be hobnobbing with old -Nick, but perhaps he let them send the wire to save expense." - -Philip made conscientious efforts to entertain his young charge on -their trip. In Portland, where they spent the night, he bought some -magazines, naturally guessing that the more filled with pictures they -were the better, and he was puzzled at the evident shrinking from the -illustrations that the boy displayed. - -"Something seriously off with the poor little nut," he thought. "Any boy -likes to look at pictures." - -So he left him in peace and let him stare apathetically from the car -window all the way to Boston, or doze in his corner. - -Philip wired Diana just before they took the train, and she ordered -luncheon to be served in her rooms. She wished very much that some kind -turn of Fortune's wheel would call her mother forth to the shops that -morning, but by reason of the fragments Mrs. Wilbur overheard passing -between her child and Mrs. Lowell or the lawyer, her curiosity as to -this waif who might be going to carry on the Loring fortunes became -sufficiently vivid to determine her to remain where she could oversee -all that her daughter did. - -"Who did you say is bringing the boy on?" she asked Diana that morning. - -"His name is Barrison." - -"You wired him to do this?" - -"Yes, Mamma." - -"How could you ask it? Is he a servant?" - -"No, Mamma, he is a professional singer taking his vacation at the -island." - -Mrs. Wilbur looked at the girl closely. "You must have become rather -friendly with him to ask such a favor?" - -Mrs. Lowell glanced up from a glove she was mending. "Everybody is -friendly at the island, Mrs. Wilbur. It is one of the assets of the -simple life. As one of the men at the Inn said: 'Every time you go out -the door, you wade up to your knees in the milk of human kindness.'" - -Mrs. Wilbur regarded her coldly. "An inexperienced schoolgirl cannot -discriminate," she said. "I felt all the time that Diana should not go -there." - -Her dominating tone was significant of the relation she, contrary to the -experience of most American mothers, had succeeded in retaining with her -daughter. The average American girl of Diana's age would have had no -difficulty in telling her mother that the expected boy would be -embarrassed by the presence of a stranger and requesting her, more or -less agreeably, to return to her apartments. Not so Diana. Her mother -plied her now with additional questions about Herbert Loring's heir. - -"For mercy's sake," said Mrs. Wilbur at last, "I should judge from what -you say that the boy isn't far off melancholia." - -Mrs. Lowell sighed unconsciously. Mrs. Wilbur heard her, but did not -understand the reason for it. - -"Well, don't ask me to lunch with him. I am sure he would make me -nervous," added the lady. - -"I think it quite likely he would, Mamma," said her daughter dutifully, -one of her problems disappearing. "There certainly will be an -interesting evolution observable in him very soon, but just at first his -limitations might annoy you." - -"Well, I'll just stay long enough to look at him and then I will go," -returned Mrs. Wilbur. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE NEW CLIENT - - -She used her lorgnette upon the pair of guests when they were ushered -in, but her interest in the silent boy was quickly transferred to the -tall, attractive blond man with the flashing smile and sparkling eyes, -who greeted her daughter with such accustomed friendliness. - -"Mamma, may I present Mr. Barrison," said Diana serenely. - -Philip's smile vanished and he bowed. His manner, Mrs. Wilbur thought, -was unpleasantly good. - -"And this is Herbert Gayne, Mamma," went on Diana. - -The boy's eyes roved to the plump lady, who came forward and took his -hand. - -"I knew your grandfather, my dear child," she said, and she glanced over -his shabby figure, appalled that the name of Loring could ever fall so -low. - -Bertie said nothing. What did the lady mean by talking about his -grandfather? No one but his mother had ever done that. - -A slight smile touched his lips as Mrs. Lowell greeted him, and then he -looked over his shoulder and all about the flower-strewn room. - -"Your uncle is not here," she said quietly. "He isn't coming, Bertie. We -are going to have lunch alone." - -The boy's melancholy eyes lifted to hers questioningly. She nodded -reassuringly. - -"Mr. Barrison, this is the key to Bert's room," said Diana. "Will you go -up with him and then return here? Luncheon will be ready." - -Philip took the key, and, wondering, escorted his charge to the -elevator. "Bert's room," he said to himself. When they arrived there, -the flowers on the dresser caused him to remember Matt Blake's absurd -account, and he felt his first questioning as to whether ice-cream and a -show or two did really cover the plans of these ladies for the boy. "But -where is Uncle Nick?" was his mental query. - -Herbert, second, looked about his bathroom. He had never seen anything -in the slightest degree like it. - -"Treating you pretty well, aren't they, old man?" said Philip, opening -his bag and taking out the boy's worn brush and broken comb. - -"Uncle Nick will be mad," said Bert. - -"I heard Mrs. Lowell say that he wasn't coming," remarked Philip. - -"Of course--he'll come," returned the boy. "And he'll--he'll beat me." - -"Bet you a thousand dollars he won't," said Philip. "Have you any money -with you?" - -The boy felt in his pockets and brought forth a penny. - -"That's all right," said Philip gayly. "If your Uncle Nick beats you, -I'll give you a thousand dollars. If he doesn't, you are to give me that -penny. Understand?" - -Philip's smile was infectious. The corners of the boy's mouth twitched a -little. The flowers on the dresser smelled sweet, so did the soap he was -using. It was all like a wonderful dream, but over its brightness hung a -dark cloud: Uncle Nick. - -"All right," he said vaguely. - -"Say, make it snappy, boy. I'm as hungry as a bear, aren't you? Here's a -nailbrush. Better use it." - -Bert hurried, and finally dried his hands and brushed his hair -obediently. As much as he noticed anybody he had always noticed and -liked Philip from the day that he watched him paint the Inn sign, and -now, in spite of his apprehensions, he felt some stimulation from the -company of this big strong man who was going to give him a thousand -dollars if Uncle Nick should beat him. - -While he was brushing his hair, the telephone rang. Philip answered it. -It was Diana speaking. - -"I want to thank you so much for doing this errand for us. I know you -must be mystified by the urgency of my wire, and this is my best way to -tell you in a few words what has occurred. You can see that the matter -is confidential, for time and labor and the law will be necessary to -adjust matters, but I feel we owe it to you to tell you all. Of course, -the boy knows nothing as yet--" - -When Philip finally turned from the telephone, he met his companion's -troubled gaze, the hairbrush hung suspended in the air. - -"Was it Uncle Nick?" he asked. - -"No," returned Philip. He continued to sit still for a minute, regarding -the unconscious millionaire with the penny in the pocket of his outgrown -trousers. "It's all right, old man. Miss Wilbur wants us to come down to -lunch, that's all." - -As they went to the elevator to descend, the boy spoke again: "Uncle -Nick hates--he hates Mrs. Lowell," he said. - -"Good thing he isn't coming, then, isn't it?" returned Philip. - -"But he'll--he will come sometime," said Bert with conviction. - -Arrived at Diana's suite, they found luncheon ready to be served. Mrs. -Wilbur had vanished, not without some uneasy comments upon Philip, which -Diana had answered with such utter serenity as to quiet any suspicion -she might have entertained that there was something personal in her -child's extraordinary attachment to the wilderness. - -The four sat down to the charming little meal, and, in spite of the -boy's unconquerable apprehensions, he ate pretty well, as he sat there -opposite Philip and between Mrs. Lowell and Diana. - -The former asked him about the garden and the croquet ground, while -Philip addressed himself to Diana, who wore the gray gown with a rose at -the belt, although she had felt she could never put it on again. The -contents of a suitcase do not admit of much variety of costume. - -"I'm almost dumb with surprise at your news," he said. - -"Of course you would be." - -"Does the ogre know of the arrival of relatives?" - -"He has not the least suspicion of it. He will be told to-morrow." - -"Can a can be tied to him?" - -Bert was telling about weeding the garden with Veronica, and Diana -leaned a little toward Philip. "What--what was your question?" - -Philip smiled. "I asked if it would be possible to eliminate the -gentleman." - -"I think so. Mr. Loring's lawyer is, of course, attending to the whole -matter and is to see him for the second time to-morrow. Does any one -doubt that truth is stranger than fiction?" - -"No." Philip looked across at Mrs. Lowell and the sweet regard she was -bending upon the boy, who was trying in his hesitating way to tell her -something about the beach. - -Bert put his hand in his pocket, and Philip wondered if he were going to -produce his capital, but instead he drew forth a little yellow stone and -offered it to his friend. - -"That is unusually lovely," she said, and held it up to the light before -she handed it back. - -"No, it is for you," said the boy. Sad as he may have maintained that -it made him to be in this lady's company, her gentle presence was -irresistible to him, and his face, as he handed back to her the little -stone, had a more interested expression than his friends had ever seen -it wear. - -"It is to go--with the others in--in a bottle," he said. - -"It is almost too nice for that. I think this is a little gem. Supposing -I take it to a lapidary, a man who polishes stones, and have it made -into a scarf-pin for you." - -"No, for you," said the boy. - -Philip and Diana exchanged a look. - -"There is 'the greatest thing in the world' working again," he said. - -They had just finished dessert when Miss Wilbur was called to the -telephone. - -"Ask him to come up to my room," she answered. - -"Is it--Uncle Nick?" asked Bert, his light extinguished. - -"No," returned Mrs. Lowell, smiling reassuringly. "You must remember I -told you he is not coming." - -Philip gave the boy his gay smile. "Bert thought he was going to make a -thousand dollars," he said; but the rusty springs of the lad's mind -could not respond quickly. He looked at the young man questioningly. -"Don't you remember," added Philip, "we have a bet up, one thousand -dollars to a cent?" - -The boy did not answer. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Nothing -which could be said was able entirely to quiet the apprehension that his -uncle would walk in upon him, surrounded as he was by forbidden -companions, and a luxury which his tyrant had not been invited to share. - -"The gentleman who is coming to call on us is one who knew your mother," -said Mrs. Lowell. "You will like to meet him." - -"Is he--is he angry with her, too?" asked the boy quickly. - -"No, dear child," returned Mrs. Lowell, compassion surging through her -for this young life which knew so much of anger and so little of -anything else. - -The noiseless waiters were removing all signs of the luncheon when the -door opened and Luther Wrenn entered. - -As soon as he had greeted the ladies and Philip had been introduced, his -smooth-shaven, keen face at once centered on the boy. Mrs. Lowell, her -hand on Bert's arm, guided him to stand. - -"This is Herbert Gayne, Mr. Wrenn, and this is your mother's friend, -Bertie." - -The boy's plaintive, spiritless gaze and the passive hand which the -lawyer took bore out all he had heard of him, but Mrs. Lowell's -expressive face was courageous and the lawyer sat down beside Herbert -Loring's heir determined not to be outdone by her in hopefulness. Of -course, he had been painstakingly told every detail concerning the boy -which Mrs. Lowell had discovered, and it was a very kindly look with -which he regarded his new client as they were seated near together. - -"I brought my introduction with me, Herbert," he said, and feeling in a -breast-pocket he drew forth the card photograph which had yesterday been -put into his hands. - -Color streamed over the boy's face when he saw it. "It is--it is like -one I lost," he said, and he held it between his hands, studying it. - -"You shall have this one, then," said Mr. Wrenn. "I was fond of your -mother, Herbert." - -"They were angry with her," said the boy, and his lip quivered at some -memory. - -"Yes, her father felt very badly because she went away from him, but he -has gone to her now. Did you know that?" - -The boy lifted his eyes to the thin, kindly face. "No," he said. - -"Yes," went on Mr. Wrenn quietly. "Her father has gone to her in that -pleasant world where she is." - -"I want to go," burst forth the boy, holding the picture tightly. - -"All in good time," returned the lawyer. "You have some work to do for -her here first." - -"Do you mean--weed the garden?" - -"I mean quite a lot of very pleasant things. I'll tell you about them -later." - -"But Uncle Nick won't--won't let me. He--I don't know whether I can hide -this picture." A sudden panic seemed to seize the boy, and he looked -toward the door. It was not possible that his uncle would not come in -upon all these totally forbidden proceedings. - -"See here, Herbert,"--Mr. Wrenn leaned toward the lad, speaking very -kindly. "I think it quite likely that you will never see your uncle -again." - -Some thought made the boy's eyes dilate. "He hasn't--gone where--where -my mother is--has he?" - -"No." - -"I'm--I'm glad. He'd--he'd spoil heaven," declared Bertie earnestly. - -Luther Wrenn nodded slowly. "An excellent description," he said. The -three observers of the interview smiled. "Do you think you might adopt -me in his place?" added the lawyer. - -"He--he wouldn't let me. He'll come," said the boy with conviction. - -"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn, with reassuring calm, "I know more about -this than you do. I talked with your uncle yesterday and I think he will -give you to me." - -The boy's lips fell apart and he stared at the speaker gravely. - -"To me, and to Mrs. Lowell. How would you like that?" - -It was evident that this information could not be credited entirely, but -the boy glanced around at Mrs. Lowell, who still sat close beside him, -and she looked as if she believed this marvel. Unconsciously he pressed -the picture against his breast. Luther Wrenn regarded the thin wrists -and ankles protruding from the worn coat and trousers. - -"Have you your sketch of your mother?" asked Mrs. Lowell. "Will you -show it to Mr. Wrenn?" - -The boy put his hand in a pocket and drew out the small folded square, -and the lawyer felt some obstruction in his throat as he saw the worn -tissue paper and the morsel of oiled silk being so tenderly unrolled. - -"When I lost the one like--like this, I tried to--to make another," the -boy explained. - -Luther Wrenn put on his eye-glasses and examined the little sketch. He -looked at Mrs. Lowell and nodded. "Save this," he said to the boy. "Go -on being careful of it, for you will always be glad you made it, but you -need never hide anything again. Do you understand that? We will get a -case for this photograph so you can carry it in your pocket, and I can -have an enlargement made of it so you can have it framed on your wall." - -"I haven't--haven't any money," said Bertie, overwhelmed by these novel -prospects, and convinced that this kindly visitor must be laboring under -some great delusion. "I just have--have one cent, but--but I have to -give that to--to Mr. Barrison if Uncle Nick doesn't--doesn't beat me. He -bet me a thousand dollars." - -Luther Wrenn gave a queer broken sort of laugh and wiped his -eye-glasses. "Mr. Barrison has won," he said. "Always pay your debts, -Herbert." - -"Do you mean I--I shall give him the cent?" - -"Your last cent, yes. He was right, you see, and it belongs to him." - -The boy took out the penny and, rising gravely, crossed to Philip and -proffered the coin. - -Philip accepted it and bowed. "You are an honorable gentleman," he said. - -Bert returned quickly to his chair and again possessed himself of the -picture which he had given Mrs. Lowell to hold during the financial -transaction. - -"Now, Herbert," said Mr. Wrenn slowly, "I see that you were thinking -that photograph cases and frames cost money. You will be glad to know -that your grandfather--your mother's father, who has now gone to -her--has left you some of his money. If you think of anything especial -that you would like to have while you are here in Boston, you can buy -it." - -No one present ever forgot the boy's face as he spoke, looking up into -the lawyer's eyes. "A pencil?" he said. - -Luther Wrenn nodded and swallowed again. "Yes, pencils, paper, -sketch-blocks, brushes, paints, anything you want. Just tell Mr. -Barrison. I think he will take you out presently and get you the clothes -you need--" The boy looked down over his old suit, quite dazed, and more -than ever certain that all this must be a dream and that he should waken -on his cot at the island and find the familiar dark face bending over -him and some greeting, like "Get up, stupid," assailing his ears. - -But he did not waken. Mrs. Lowell put her arm around his shoulders and -gave him a little squeeze, and when he looked up he found her smiling at -him. - -Mr. Wrenn addressed her. "The more I see of the boy, the more I -recognize a resemblance to his mother." He rose and crossed to Philip, -who got to his feet. "Mr. Barrison, we are greatly indebted to you, and -we wish to be more so. Can you oblige us by dressing this young client -of mine this afternoon?" - -"Delighted," replied Philip. - -"What has he brought with him?" - -"A brush and comb and toothbrush, all veterans, and all wounded." - -"Very well. If you will get for him everything a boy needs for the -remainder of the summer only, I shall be greatly obliged. Mrs. Lowell -will make the list, I am sure, and you can help her if she gets lost. -Have everything charged to me. Here is my card with the order, and here -is a check for your traveling expenses on this trip." - -"It is too much," said Philip as he saw the figure. - -"Pretty accurate," said the lawyer. "I am calculating that you will stay -in town over one night at least. If there is a balance you might send -some roses to"--the door opened and a very dignified and extremely -curious little lady entered: a quite plump and not entirely pleased -little lady--"some roses to Mrs. Wilbur," finished the lawyer. - -"Do you hear that, Mrs. Wilbur?" asked Philip. "Mr. Wrenn is telling me -I may send you roses. Is that one word for me and two for himself?" - -The lady shrugged her marvelously fitted shoulders, but she smiled. Even -she could not help responding to Philip's vital spark. "It is my own -private feeling that some attention should be paid to me," she returned, -lifting her chin. - -Philip approached her. "Name your color!" he exclaimed with an air of -devotion. - -"I think it will be a real pleasure to him, Mamma," said Diana, smiling, -"to turn from an immersion in sublunary matters like socks and neckties -to a poetic purchase." - -"Why should Mr. Barrison be about to bathe in socks and neckties?" - -"He is kind enough to take the matter off my hands, Mrs. Wilbur, and -make our young friend fit," said the lawyer. - -The lady lifted her lorgnette and surveyed the silent boy. - -Mr. Wrenn approached him. "Herbert, you have no reason to like the name -of Gayne. What do you say to dropping it? What do you say to being -Herbert Loring, Second?" - -"If Mrs. Lowell says so," he responded. He might have said: "What's in a -name?" For the excited color had settled in his cheeks. Let them call -him what they liked. He was going, boldly and unafraid, to have a -pencil. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE HEIR - - -Luther Wrenn gave himself the luxury of calling at the Copley-Plaza the -next morning, perhaps as a bracer for his afternoon appointment. When he -sent up his name, he received a summons to come to a room on the floor -above Diana's. - -Entering, he found the group he had left yesterday, minus Mrs. Wilbur, -chatting and laughing before a boy's wardrobe spread out on the bed. As -he shook hands with the boy himself, the lawyer looked him over with -satisfaction. From the barber to the haberdasher, the lad had evidently -been served well; and though pale and thin, Herbert Loring, Second, -stood there a credit to his name already, and full of promise for the -future. A wardrobe trunk in steamer size stood at one side of the room -and a fine suitcase beside it. - -"Is everything all right, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn, with a hand on the -boy's shoulder and his eyes wandering over the variety of apparel laid -out on the bed. "Nothing seems to be missing." - -"I have--I have blue pyjamas," said the boy. - -"And did they sleep all right, eh?" - -"They did not," said Philip. "I had the other room opening off Bert's -bath and I prowled once in a while to see how the land lay, and the -electric light was evidently too easy. He was always examining his box." - -"What box is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn. - -The boy was keeping lifted eyes on him, not quite sure whether this -dispenser of gifts was going to be displeased at the burning of midnight -electricity. At the question he hurried to a table and brought the new -sketching materials which had interfered with his dreams. - -Mr. Wrenn gave the boy's shoulder a little shake and laughed. "They -won't run away in the night," he said. "Better sleep and keep your eyes -bright. When do you plan to return to the island, Mrs. Lowell?" - -She was sitting with Diana by the bed, where they were sewing markers on -Bert's new possessions. "If your afternoon interview proves -satisfactory, and you can arrange that we shall not be molested, I think -we might go to-morrow," she replied. - -"Want to go back to the island, Herbert?" asked Mr. Wrenn. The appealing -eyes, so like Helen Loring's, were winning him more and more with their -trustfulness. - -"I--I don't care where we go if he--if nobody takes me away from--from -Mrs. Lowell." - -"You dear youngster," said that lady, her swift needle stitching busily. - -"Well, it is my intention that nobody shall, for the present. Of course, -when these charming ladies hamper themselves with husbands, it brings in -an element of uncertainty. What sort of a man is Monroe Lowell, now? I -suppose his wife is entirely impartial." - -Mrs. Lowell laughed. "The finest ever," she said, "but I see signs of -impatience beginning to show in his letters. So I hope he will soon join -us. Probably I know what you are thinking of, Mr. Wrenn, but let us not -cross any bridges until we come to them. The right way is sure to open." - -The lawyer nodded. "I will let you have a bulletin as soon as the final -farewells are said this afternoon. I hope to secure the island from -further intrusion." - -Diana looked up from her work. "Would it not be well to offer him money -not to return?" - -Philip, who was engaged in snipping the markers apart, spoke: "If he -comes, I can take the bone of contention to my place until the hurricane -is passed." - -"I am quite certain he will not go," said Mrs. Lowell quietly. - -"Why is that?" asked Mr. Wrenn. "I must confess to some qualms myself." - -"Because it is not right for him to go," said Mrs. Lowell. - -"My dear young lady," the lawyer smiled, "if that is the only ground for -your belief, my limited observation of the gentleman suggests that he -never has done anything right in his life unless by accident. But no -money, Miss Diana. Start that once with that individual and you will be -purchasing something from him at intervals the rest of his life. I must -be off. Good-bye, Herbert." - -The boy started. He had been hanging over his treasures and handling -them, oblivious to everything around him. This gentleman, who knew his -mother and had showered upon him so many benefits, was looking at him -now with kind, serious eyes, and Bert became mindful of a little talk -Mrs. Lowell had had with him this morning. - -He walked up to the lawyer and held out his slender hand. "I thank -you--sir," he said. - -"Good boy. I will see you again before you leave," and, bowing to the -others, Mr. Wrenn went out, Philip accompanying him to the elevator. - -"Thank you, Mr. Barrison, for your good offices," he said as they shook -hands. - -"Never had so much fun in my life," said Philip. "Made me wish I had -half a dozen of my own and the coin to treat them like that." - -The lawyer bent his heavy brows upon him and smiled. "Are events shaping -themselves toward that end? That extremely charming young woman who has -been making you the slave of the lamp is enough to turn any man's head." - -Philip flushed. "Any man's head _would_ be turned," he responded -quickly, "if he thought of her as approachable. No, some common mortal -for me some day, I hope, but she's a goddess, you know." - -The young fellow smiled and the lawyer still regarded him, and placed a -hand on his shoulder. - -"Never let anything like money rob you," he said slowly and with -emphasis. "Goddesses have been known to stoop to mortals before this." - -"I think her parents would see to that," responded Philip, laughing. - -The elevator came, and with one more nod of farewell the lawyer -disappeared. - -"Fierce job he's got before him," muttered Philip as he returned to the -dry goods, refusing to allow his mind to dwell on his new friend's -surpassingly ignorant suggestions. - -Promptly at the appointed time Nicholas Gayne presented himself at the -lawyer's office and was admitted to the sanctum. His air of assurance -almost reached the swaggering stage, and his "How are you?" breathed a -suggestion of a fortifying beverage. Without waiting for permission, he -fell into the chair near the desk. - -"Well, are you satisfied?" he asked triumphantly. - -"Yes, I am satisfied that the boy is my old friend's grandson." - -"I knew you would be. Now, how soon do you think you can fix it up?" - -"Fix what up?" - -"The inheritance." - -"I told you the boy was not mentioned in the will." - -"I know that, but what's the law for if it can't get justice done?" came -the impatient question, and Gayne's chin shot out belligerently. - -"It can and will get justice done," said Luther Wrenn slowly, "but it -will take time." - -"Oh, of course, I know it will, but you can advance money on a sure -thing, and I'll make it worth your while as soon as the cash is in my -hands." - -"In yours?" The lawyer tapped his desk with a paper-cutter. - -"Yes. I told you the boy's delicate. He needs care." - -"I'm sure he does. It may take a year to straighten out the matter of -the will." - -"It don't need to," said Gayne angrily. "I've had the expense of Bert -for five years and I ought to be reimbursed and provided with enough -money to care for him right, until he gets all that's coming to him." - -Luther Wrenn looked for a silent minute at the dark, impatient face and -thick, powerful shoulders and hands, and recalled the boy's panic. - -"I have obtained a good deal of information as to the occurrences of the -past years as they affect Mr. Loring's grandson," he said quietly, and -his visitor scowled at him, startled. - -"I'm a poor man," he blustered. "I told you I hadn't been able to care -for him right." - -"If you would like," went on the lawyer slowly, "to be relieved of the -boy, I am willing to take charge of him from now on for his mother's -sake." - -"For his mother's sake," sneered Gayne. "You know damned well that it's -because you know you can get hold of the money that ought to be his." - -"You have been drinking, Mr. Gayne, and the reason I don't have you put -out of the office is because we shall never meet again, and it is always -well to settle matters out of court if possible. I am going to tell you, -instead of asking a judge to do so, why I am taking Helen Loring's boy -away from you." - -"Lambert Gayne's boy and my nephew!" roared Gayne. "Where do you get -that stuff? Take him away from me, after all the expense--" - -"Be quiet, Mr. Gayne, or I shall have to forego my peaceful plans. I -have a man outside prepared to take you; so it would be better for you -to listen to me." - -Nicholas Gayne looked behind him in angry amazement. - -"What have you done for that helpless boy?" went on Wrenn quietly. -"Have you endeavored to have him properly taught and cared for? Have you -allowed him the happiness, which would have cost you nothing, of -exercising the talent inherited from his mother?" - -"I'm a poor man,"--the declaration came with a loud burst. "He couldn't -spend his time like a nabob." - -"No. So you took no pains to have him educated. You allowed him to be -made to scrub floors and wash windows and do any menial work which a -lazy, dissolute woman could put upon him. You allowed a creature like -Cora to be his companion, caring less than nothing for the possible -degradation of the boy's mind and body." - -Nicholas Gayne started up from his chair, purple in the face with -surprise and fury. - -"All this you did with the one single base intention of so beating down -any sign of mental efficiency in your nephew that in time you could get -the handling of his heritage." - -As the words fell clearly and concisely from the lawyer's lips, Nicholas -Gayne's muddled brain worked fast. Where could this devil of a lawyer -have learned so much in two days? The boy was at the island. It must be -the women. That Mrs. Lowell! But how could she have connected Bert with -Herbert Loring in the first place, and how could she, with her slight -opportunity, have elicited so much from the dull boy and communicated -with Luther Wrenn? Gayne wished his brain were clearer, but, looking at -the stony calm of the lawyer's face and the cold accusation in his eyes, -he realized that the combination of legal power and money made it very -hard in instances like this for a poor man like himself to get his -rights. - -"Now, I will detain you only a minute longer, Mr. Gayne. Herbert Loring, -Second, as he will after this be called, is now at the Copley-Plaza with -friends." Gayne stared and seized the back of the chair from which he -had risen, apparently for support. "I shall provide for him as I think -best. It is too early as yet to tell whether your criminal treatment of -the child has worked permanent injury. Time and the tenderest, wisest -care will be necessary to establish that, and, meanwhile, you will be -left in freedom. We desire to avoid all publicity, and, if you keep out -of the way and do not intrude and awaken in the boy brutal and sad -associations, we may succeed in restoring him to a normal condition, -but, I assure you, if you even show your face near the boy or interfere -in any degree, you will be called upon to answer serious charges, and -witnesses will be easy to procure." - -The purple had faded from Nicholas Gayne's face and it was ashy under -the sunburn. He opened his lips to speak, but no sound came. Mr. Wrenn -touched a button on his desk and the office door opened. Gayne started -and looked toward it. - -"I feel that we understand each other perfectly, Mr. Gayne," said the -lawyer, pleasantly. "Good-afternoon." - -Nicholas Gayne mumbled something and, moving as swiftly as his unsteady -knees would permit, he disappeared from that office, fear engulfing all -his other emotions. He wondered which of the men in plain clothes, whom -he saw moving about outside, was the one who might have been his escort. - -Luther Wrenn took up the telephone and called Diana. - -"Mr. Wrenn speaking." - -An excited voice answered, all serenity thrown to the winds. "Oh, Mr. -Wrenn, is it over?" - -"Yes, Miss Diana, and very satisfactorily. I'm a little tired and I -believe I won't make you another call to-day." - -"I'm _sure_ you must be tired," sympathetically. - -"I just wanted you and Mrs. Lowell to know that you may plan to take the -nine o'clock train for Portland to-morrow morning with as much freedom -as if our precious uncle had passed away from the planet." - -"Thank you, thank you." - -"And, by the way, Miss Diana, you may tell Mr. Barrison, too." - -"Oh, of course, I should." - -"Do you know, I find him a very engaging young man. Why, why are your -cheeks blooming so? Can't one say as much as that for relaxation after a -nasty quarter of an hour?" - -A soft gurgle of laughter went to the listening lawyer. - -"I did not know you ever condescended to such play, Mr. Wrenn." - -"Well, don't tell, will you? My best wishes to you all, and especially -to Herbert, and tell him I shall come to the island to look him over in -a short time." - -"Do. Mr. Barrison will take you fishing." - -"Is he always successful? Does he know just what bait to use?" - -Another soft gurgle. "You don't understand, Mr. Wrenn. He uses too much -bait. He catches too many fish. Good-bye. My mother has just come in. -She is going with us to Maine." A pause. "She hopes to see you there. -Good-bye." - -Before the arrival of the Copley-Plaza contingent at the island, Matt -Blake received the following letter: - - - _Dear Matt_: - - You know the business that brought me to Boston. I proved my - position all right. The old man's lawyer couldn't deny it, but the - boy, not being named in the will, as, of course, I knew he wouldn't - be, the lawyer said it would take a long time before he could get - anything for Bert, and advised me to put the boy into his hands. So - I'm going to let him run matters to suit himself. - - I'm asking you if you will be good enough to pack up my stuff at - the island and send everything on C.O.D. to the address on the card - I enclose. You know what I found at the farm, but I've got to wait - till I can get some backing before I can do anything about it. Keep - it under your hat, though. You know what I left at the farm, too: - out in the kitchen. Take that for your trouble. I don't know what - I'm going to do next. What I do know is that a lawyer has no more - blood than a turnip, and that a man can go to the expense and - trouble of taking care of a boy for five years and then be asked to - hand him over to those that know he'll have money, without even a - thank you for all he has done. I'm disgusted with the world. - - Your friend, - NICHOLAS GAYNE - - -When he read this, Matt Blake looked off thoughtfully, his thin lips -twitching. - -"I hope Phil Barrison can tell me all that's between those lines," he -thought. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -DIANA'S IDEAL - - -"Come here, Aunt Priscilla," called Veronica at the top of her lungs. It -was a joyous call, and Miss Burridge hurried into the dining-room where, -a few minutes before, she had left Veronica sweeping, and found her -standing still and confronting a boy who stood, hat in hand, while on -the floor beside him reposed a new and handsome suitcase. - -"Would you know him, Aunt Priscilla?" - -Miss Burridge pulled down her spectacles and gazed at the trim figure -with the immaculately brushed and parted hair. - -"It ain't Bertie Gayne? Why, it is! Where are the other folks? Somebody -has been being awful good to you." - -How could it be possible that the boy they sent away a few days ago -could be the same one who looked at them now with happy eyes and a faint -smile. - -"They're coming," he answered. "Mr. Blake brought me up--in his wagon, -and the others had to wait--for the car, and they were going to take a -drive." - -Matt Blake here appeared in the open doorway from the piazza, bearing -on his back a shining new trunk. - -"Where's this going?" he asked. - -"I'll show you," said the boy, and they made a procession up the stairs, -Bert leading and the women bringing up the rear, full to the lips of -questions ready to pour out upon Matt, who was smiling, eyes twinkling -under his burden, at the amazed countenances of Miss Burridge and -Veronica. - -"Where's your Uncle Nick?" asked Veronica when they reached the bedroom. - -"No," said Bert quickly; "no, he isn't coming." - -"Isn't?" cried Miss Burridge as Blake set the trunk down. "Matt, has Mr. -Gayne come into money?" - -"This Mr. Gayne has," returned Blake, grinning and indicating the boy. - -"No, my name isn't Gayne any more," said Bert gravely. "I am Herbert -Loring, Second." - -"That so?" said Matt. "There you have it, ladies. You've read about the -Prince and the Pauper, haven't you? You sent away the pauper and got -back the prince." - -"Yes," said the boy; "my grandfather gave me all these things because -he didn't need money any more." - -While the boy spoke, Blake noticed that he was looking at Nicholas -Gayne's trunk. - -"Kind o' in the way, ain't it? That's a good place for yours to stand. -We'll pull Mr. Gayne's trunk out here where I can pack it. He wants me -to send him all his things." - -Bert's face looked as if sunlight suddenly struck it. It was as if now -only he entirely credited the fact that there was nothing to apprehend -in the way of a reckoning. - -"You are going to send all Uncle Nick's things to him?" - -"Yes, everything but you," replied Matt jocosely. - -"But I--I don't belong to him any more," explained Bert eagerly. "He -gave me to--to the lawyer." - -"Good work," said Blake, and, lifting the lid of the old trunk, he fell -to opening the dresser drawers. - -"Matt Blake," said Miss Burridge, "_will_ you tell me what has -happened?" - -"Ever hear of Herbert Loring, one o' Boston's rich men? Well, he died -suddenly and this boy's his grandson, and the lawyer has persuaded Mr. -Gayne to take his hands off." As an addendum to his explanation, Matt -bestowed upon Miss Burridge a wink which seemed to say: "More anon." - -"And Mr. Gayne isn't coming back?" asked Miss Burridge, sundry financial -considerations occurring to her. - -"I guess he'll pay up all right," said Blake, reading her thought. "You -make out what he owes. I'll see to it. Come on, Herbert Loring, help me -to get your uncle's duds together so I won't be packing any o' yours." - -"That wouldn't make--make any difference," said the boy, "because Mrs. -Lowell said for me not to wear them any more." And he turned to with a -will, emptying dresser and closet while Matt packed. - -"I hear the motor," said Veronica suddenly. - -Miss Burridge had been in a flutter ever since Diana's telegram, saying -that her mother and maid would return with her. Miss Priscilla's outlook -on life was placidly democratic, but somehow the prospect of having to -care for the wife of the steel magnate loomed as something overwhelming. -She and Veronica hurried downstairs to meet the guests. Mrs. Lowell and -Diana were in high spirits. Leonie had fortunately discovered some -resemblance in the island to a fishing village of her childhood and had -sat with Bill Lindsay on the front seat coming up. He understood her -trim appearance, even if half of what she said so volubly was lost to -him. - -The springs of the machine were not reminiscent of Mrs. Wilbur's -Rolls-Royce, and her lorgnette had not yet been able to discover what -charm this corner of the world had exercised upon her daughter. She had -been predisposed, from her first view of Philip Barrison, to give him -the credit, or discredit; and during the trip from Boston, she had kept -one eye upon every move he or Diana had made toward the other. But the -examination had revealed nothing. Philip had not even been assiduous -toward herself. She would have suspected that instantly. As a matter of -fact, almost all the way to Portland, he had concentrated his attention -on a book of Brahms' songs, which were welcomed effusively by a -curly-headed Irishman in white sweater and trousers who met them when -they landed from the island steamer. - -"Is it the mother of the goddess, then?" he said when he was presented. -"You lost your heart, I'm sure, to that ride down the bay, Mrs. -Wilbur." - -"It was very lovely. I should like to come around here in the yacht -sometime. The rudder chain, or whatever it was on that little boat, -nearly banged a hole in my head." - -Diana smiled on Kelly. "Mamma has begun roughing it, that's all," she -said. "I warned her." - -Philip had telephoned down to bespeak the motor in order that the august -Mrs. Wilbur might not be obliged to linger on the wharf where, on -account of the adjacent fish-house, the odors were not always of Araby, -and the only seat was a weather-worn board a little wider than a -knife-blade. - -Diana leaned out of the car just before they drove away and offered him -her hand. "Have I thanked you nearly enough, Mr. Barrison?" she asked, -and Barney Kelly observed her melting eyes. "You have filled in every -need and been an untold help to us all in this affair. Even Mr. Wrenn -said the nicest things about you." - -"And about you," returned Philip pressing her willing hand. "I think Mr. -Wrenn has had the time of his life the last few days." - -"It has been very exciting, very happy--" - -"Had we not better start, Diana?" put in Mrs. Wilbur. "I just caught a -glimpse of a dreadful fish over there by a post. Do they catch whales -here?" - -"They stop at nothing, Mrs. Wilbur," Barney assured her. "Good-bye, -good-bye." - -The motor sped off with a grinding noise. - -"You've put in your time well, eh, Barrison?" - -"What makes you think so?" - -"My word! If Miss Wilbur ever turned those lamps on me with that look in -them, I'd fly right in and singe my wings for life." - -"I don't intend to singe mine," said Philip quietly. "They think I've -been useful in this one-act play they've been staging and they are -grateful, that's all. The goddess is as transparent and honest as any -child that ever lived. She doesn't want to light any flame for the moth, -she has far too big a soul. Did you notice that the boy I took away -looked different from the one we brought back to-day?" - -"It wasn't the same one, was it?" - -"Yes, with a few renovations in mind and body. I'll tell you about it as -we go along." - - -When Mrs. Wilbur went out on the Inn piazza and was assailed with the -island sights and odors, the snowy daisy drifts, the dark evergreens, -the rock-lashed foam dragging at the pebbles and flinging them back with -a never-ceasing crescendo and diminuendo, the soaring, sweeping gulls -above and beneath the blue, she did not speak for a time, and it was a -place where her lorgnette failed. - -Leonie, however, kept up a joyous undertone. "Mais, c'est comme chez -moi. C'est vraiment comme chez moi, et Mr. Beel, he will take me to see -ze poisson." - -"Mr. Beel" kept his word, and not once, but many times, did Mrs. Wilbur -look about vainly for her maid in a place where there was no bell to -ring for her, and no clocks for her to see when she was without, and -Bill's motor was running up and down the road in such a convenient way -for him to stop and take on an eager passenger, for whom no fishing boat -was too dirty, and who could swim as well as any fish in the bay. - -"Do let her go, Mamma," Diana said one morning when they were alone. -"She is having a real vacation. When you are once attired and your hair -is dressed, can I not perform any other office for you?" - -"But I don't know which is the maid, Leonie or I," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"First she had to have a sweater and I sent for that. Then she wanted a -bathing-suit and I sent for that. Then she bought herself some fishing -tackle and, if she can't get out in a boat, she sits on the wharf with -her feet hanging over and fishes for those--those--" - -"Cunners?" suggested Diana. - -"Yes; and she knows every one of the island boys, and how does she know -when I need her? She doesn't think anything about it." - -"That's it," returned Diana, nodding. "She has lost her head. That is -what we all do. You will, too, Mamma. I heard you laughing and laughing -with Mr. Kelly yesterday." - -"He is such a droll creature," said Mrs. Wilbur, with a reminiscent -smile. "It's such a queer place here," she went on with a puzzled brow. -"You could put this whole Inn into the ballroom at Newport, and there -isn't space enough to turn around in the little rooms; yet out of doors -it is all space, and something in the air makes you want to run and -jump. I might as well tell you, Diana, my mind is just getting set at -rest on the subject of Mr. Barrison. Your craze for this place seemed -unnatural, and when I first saw him in Boston, I suspected that he was -the cause." The lady met her daughter's calm eyes which contradicted her -changing color. - -"What should have disturbed you about that?" asked the girl quietly. - -"Disturbed me! That you should have come off here alone and fallen in -love with nobody knows who?" - -"Oh, a good many people are learning who. That is really the chief -trouble with him: I mean from a girl's standpoint. He is rapidly -becoming one of the stars of the musical world." - -"And why is that a drawback?" Mrs. Wilbur began to feel somewhat -bewildered by her daughter's attitude. - -Diana's color was rather high, but she turned toward her mother with -entire calm. "I am not going to marry a man whom other women besiege. My -husband will be rather short. I think he will stoop and be nearsighted -and wear spectacles. He will incline to baldness, but he will be very -charming--to me, and he will be mine." The smile that accompanied this -declaration was so winning that Mrs. Wilbur was startled. - -"Diana, have you met any such person?" she returned. "I don't like the -sound of him at all!" - -"Not yet," admitted Diana. "But I keep him in mind. He fights off other -types." - -"Supposing," said Mrs. Wilbur sharply, "some very desirable man, as -attractive as Mr. Barrison, for instance, were to say he wouldn't marry -you, because you are too pretty--other men would look at you." - -"You do think he is attractive, do you, Mamma?" - -"Why--certainly," returned Mrs. Wilbur, not quite sure even yet that the -admission was safe. - -"The cases are not parallel," said Diana. "Women as a rule are more -faithful, and men are conceited. The average man must have severe -lessons before he believes that the woman who has loved him will turn to -some one else." - -"Why, Diana, I am surprised at you. You talk in such a sophisticated -way; but, my dear, let me remind you that you have some one beside -yourself to please when you marry. Your father may give you an unlimited -check-book, but he won't give you _carte blanche_ when it comes to -marrying. He isn't going to welcome into the family any insignificant -little scarecrow such as you are counting on." - -If Philip wanted to hear Diana laugh, it was a pity he wasn't near now, -for she burst forth so merrily that Veronica peeped out the window. - -"I see you are going to be as difficult as I am, Mamma," she said at -last. - -It was soon after this that the cottage people with one accord begged -Philip to give a recital in the hall. The summer colony was an -appreciative and cultured one. Many of them had known Philip from his -boyhood, and were watching his career with interest. So it was an -occasion of intimacy and delight. - -When the evening arrived, the hall was decked with flowers, and the -singer and his accompanist appeared in white flannels. Philip was his -own programme, announcing his songs and receiving at times stentorian -requests for special encores. - -Mrs. Wilbur, as she looked and listened, felt that she gained an -understanding of Diana's arguments: not that, in any case, she desired -this young man for a son-in-law, but she was greatly surprised at the -beauty of his voice and his art. It was a feast he gave them that night -in the uncalculating opulence of his youth and strength: Arias from -"Boheme" and "La Tosca"; the "Dream Song" from "Manon"; ballads; a group -of modern French songs; another of old English. Barney Kelly's -accompanying was perfect. He was among strangers, and he was as serious -throughout as if they were performing in Carnegie Hall. Despite the fact -that the piano was an upright, he played a group of Chopin, Palmgren, -and Debussy with great charm, and the contingent from the Inn led the -strong applause. As he bowed, Kelly recognized Veronica's rosy, serious -face and wildly active hands. - -At the close of the recital, Mrs. Wilbur was more excited than she had -been for years. - -"He's _wonderful_, Diana," she said, standing up while she was still in -the throes of hand-clapping. "_Wonderful!_ We must try to get him for an -October date in Pittsfield. Our room is quite large enough. He will make -a sensation." - -"Yes," said Diana, rather faintly. "That is the easiest thing he does." -Her face was pale. The possible charmer with the bald head and -spectacles had had a hard fight to-night. - -Barney Kelly disappeared through some back door while Philip's -enthusiastic friends gathered around him, and Veronica dashed out on the -front piazza, cleared the steps in two bounds, and the July moon aided -her progress between the bushes to the back of the hall where a figure -in white was straying. - -"Mr. Kelly," she called breathlessly, "you were perfectly splendid. Why -didn't you stay and let the people tell you so?" - -"Oh, I don't know them," said Barney carelessly. "And they want to eat -up Barrison." - -"But they want to eat up you, too. Didn't you see how crazy they were -about that last funny out-of-tune thing you played?" - -Kelly laughed. - -"And don't you go away; they're going to dance." - -"Oh, do they want me to play?" - -"Don't you dare to play! Don't you dare to let them know you can." -Barney laughed again. "Well, of course, they know now you can, but not -dance music." - -"You're a very nice child, Veronica." Barney looked at her little -dimpled rose face, and the pale green dress she wore. - -"Well, if I am, then come around to the front piazza with me. They're -setting back the chairs." - -Meanwhile Mrs. Wilbur was drawing Diana toward the group surrounding -Philip. "I don't know what to say to you that won't sound too effusive," -she said as soon as she could get his attention and his hand. "Will you -come to us in October and sing a recital?" - -"I shall be glad to, if I can. I will see about my dates." As Philip -replied, he looked at Diana. She gave him a pale smile and said nothing. -More people approached and Mrs. Wilbur drew away, her daughter with her. - -"Miss Diana," said Philip, across the heads of the crowd, "they are -going to dance. Will you stay?" - -Diana nodded. "You like to dance, Mamma. You stay, too." - -"Oh, not in this little place where everybody will be stepping on every -one else. Beside, Leonie's beau is waiting outside to take us home. I -will go with Miss Burridge and tell Bill to come back for you in an -hour. I suppose you don't need a chaperon for I don't see your ideal -here to-night, Diana," in a lowered voice. "You were right about Mr. -Barrison. Let us pray that women don't make a complete fool of him. You -don't look just right, dear. Don't stay late. I'll tell Bill to come -back in an hour. Oh, there is that comical Mr. Kelly." Mrs. Wilbur -sailed up to him. "Thank you so much for this evening. You were -delightful, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. Barrison is most fortunate in having -you." - -"But you're not going, Mrs. Wilbur?" - -"Yes; good-night." - -"No, not until you've danced once with me. There, the music is just -going to begin." And, sure enough, Miss Burridge stood back and waited -while Mrs. Wilbur's little satin-clad feet tripped lightly around in the -dance with the volatile Barney, and she talked to him about the date in -October and promised she would dance with him again at that time. - -Mrs. Lowell and Herbert had been enjoying the concert and had told -Philip so, and now stood back watching the dancing. - -"Would you like to learn to dance?" asked Mrs. Lowell. - -"No." - -"It sounds better to say, 'No, Mrs. Lowell,' or, 'No, I thank you.'" - -"Then I will," said the boy. - -"I like to dance," said Mrs. Lowell, "and I wish you would learn." - -"Then I will," said the boy again. - -The music had thrilled his artist soul. It seemed all a part of the -entrancing night, a part of the safe world of love into which he had -been guided. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -MOONLIGHT - - -Mrs. Wilbur looked back into the hall from the piazza before she stepped -into the motor. Diana was already dancing with Philip Barrison. She -watched their smooth movements for a minute, then turned to Mrs. Lowell -who had just emerged with her boy. - -"This--this gathering, this settlement here, seems rather like a family -party, doesn't it?" she said, with a sort of troubled curiosity. - -"Yes; nearly all of these people have known each other for many -summers." - -"I feel a little strange to go and leave Diana." - -"I don't think you need," replied Mrs. Lowell. - -"I suppose," said Mrs. Wilbur, "if the steed were going to be stolen, it -would have happened before this. The stable door has been open for -weeks." - -"Quite so," said Mrs. Lowell, laughing. "It is so light, Bert and I are -going to walk up to the Inn." - -"I am going to send the car back for Diana in one hour," declared Mrs. -Wilbur. Her daughter's theories were all very well, but this was a -distractingly beautiful night and the echoes of that marvelous voice -were even yet thrilling her own nerves. Leonie was sitting at the front -of the car with Bill Lindsay, and Mrs. Wilbur mounted into the back seat -with Miss Burridge. - -"I suppose Miss Veronica will return with my daughter," she said. - -"I only hope so," returned Miss Burridge resignedly. "Mr. Kelly has -promised to see to her." - -"I don't feel like dancing," said Diana, as her partner guided her -through the narrow spaces. - -"No one would suspect it," he replied. "I was just thinking that this -night was to be superlative in all directions." - -"But how can one endure this silly music when '_Manon! Manon!_' is -echoing through the heart!" - -Philip did not reply, nor did he release her until the gay strumming at -the piano ceased. Then they went out on the piazza. The laughing, -chattering young people were streaming out into the air, and occupying -every available seat. The field surrounding the hall was light as day. - -"Let us go down to the rocks," said Philip. - -"I mustn't because my mother is going to send the car back for me in one -hour. You've no idea how firmly my mother can say 'one hour' and mean -it." - -"There should be no rules on a night like this," Philip regarded his -companion, pale in the moonlight as her pale, filmy garments. "I feel -like quoting a choice spirit of my childhood days. He was trying to get -me to go on a tear of some kind with him, and I told him my mother would -worry. He said, 'Oh, come on. Scoldings don't hurt, whippings don't last -long, and she da'sn't kill you.'" - -Diana smiled. "Now that she is here, she likes to tuck me in," she said. - -"I would she had waited until after the moon. Well, let us go to the -near rocks. I will keep watch of the time." - -They went down the populous steps. - -"Oh, Mr. Barrison!" exclaimed a woman upon whom he nearly trod. "What -ecstasy you have given us!" - -It was Miss Emerson. She was cooling off from a dance with Mr. Pratt, -and was in high feather, because neither he nor Mr. Evans knew another -woman present, save Veronica, and her acquaintance, though not wide, -seemed intensive. - -"Yes, that was corking," said Mr. Evans. "We sure do thank you. Say, -folks, I'm tired. I'm going to trot along." - -"Back to the Inn?" asked Philip with interest. - -"Yes. Anything I can do for you?" - -"If you will be so kind. Mrs. Wilbur has just gone. Will you be kind -enough to tell her not to worry if her daughter is a little later than -she expected? Tell her you left her in good hands and we are going to -walk up after a while." - -"Certainly. Be glad to," replied Evans. - -"Oh," breathed Diana, softly, as they moved on into the glory of the -night, "I'm quite sure you should not have done that." - -"Do you want to be shut up in a tin Lizzie to-night?" - -"No, nor anywhere." - -Philip led her to the shore and found a corner among the rocks from -which they could watch the beaten silver of the billows rushing -tumultuously landward, breaking in foam about their eyrie, and slipping -back in myriad bridal veils. - -"There is always one night in the summer, and this is the night," said -Philip. "Think of viewing the moon in company with the goddess herself! -If you only wouldn't mind leaning against my arm. I'm sorry to have that -rock cutting into your dandy gown." - -"Thank you, but it doesn't. I have a very good place here." - -"Comfortable enough to tell me that you liked the music?" - -Diana looked around at him slowly, and he laughed softly. - -"Yes, I know you did. I know if I ever could sing, I sang to-night. -There was something new in it. It taught me something, something I've -been waiting for. They've always told me, my teachers, that the one -thing I needed was to fall in love. It must have happened--happened, -somehow, when I wasn't looking." Philip crossed his arms behind his -head, leaned back and looked at the high sailing moon. "Thank you, great -goddess Diana, I am at your feet. You have dropped upon me a spark of -the divine fire. I build you an altar. The flame shall never go out." - -The girl beside him bit her lip and silence fell between them. The -bright billows swept in and crashed apart. - -"I suppose that is what love means to an artist," she said at last. -"The nourishing of his art. That is all." - -"That is all it can mean to me," he answered; "but isn't it enough? An -object to worship with all a man's strength, receiving the return of -inspiration?" - -She looked at him as he lay there reclining against the rock, his -upturned face not seeking hers. This evening had shown her in miniature -the truth of all she had felt and, because her heart was beating fast, -she clung more strongly than ever to the spectacled gentleman with the -scanty hair. - -"Say something, divine one," he said suddenly, turning to her. - -"Don't confuse me with the moon, Mr. Barrison," she warned him. - -"But at least can't you congratulate me?" - -"Yes, I can, on many things; but--don't fall in love with any ideal less -impersonal than a planet." - -"I don't intend to, but why these words of wisdom?" - -"Because any--any mere mortal girl married to you would be miserable." - -"Oh, come, now!" Philip sat up, and frowned at her with a quizzical -smile. "So you think I ought to try kindness first, do you? Why?" - -Diana turned her fair moonlit face directly to him. "Because you cannot -ever belong to yourself, even. Much less to her." - -"I don't quite get that." - -"I can't speak for all girls, but for myself, if I ever have a husband, -I want--I want to creep off into a corner with him." - -"A corner like this rock?" - -"This is big enough." - -"How would that suit the great Charles Wilbur?" - -"It would not suit him. I know that. The homely little stoop-shouldered -man, with the lovely soul, whom I mean to marry, will not altogether -please my father." - -Philip's eyes grew big in the moonlight. "Have you picked him out?" - -"Yes, as an ideal. Other women will leave me in possession of him." - -"Ah," Philip nodded, "I begin to see." They were both silent again. At -last Philip spoke again. "I deny that that girl you are warning me away -from would have such a rocky time. What do you suppose I should care for -the babble, no matter how kind it was, how sweet even, of other women? -I should see only her." - -"You think so," said Diana. "I know you think so. And at first it would -probably be so, but a singer's appetite for flattery grows. Of course it -does. I'm not blaming you. It's just your career." - -Silence again, until Philip spoke. "Very well, I shall hunt you out in -your corner with your faithful gnome, and I shall beg: (he sang) 'Drink -to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine.'" - -Philip sang the song entirely through, slowly and deliberately, and -Diana closed her eyes, and the laces on her sleeve trembled. The glory -of the night, the glory of the voice were all one. She shrank into her -corner and held desperately to her ideal. - -When he had finished, Philip looked at her. Her head rested back upon -the rock, her eyes were closed. The mysterious light lent her face a -strange radiance. - -"Diana," he said, and there was a thrill in his voice, "you are well -named. Goddess of the moon you certainly are, and this night is an epoch -in my life. I love, and in spite of your skepticism I shall be true." -She opened her eyes and looked at him, and he drew a long, quick -breath. "I can't let you stay here any longer. Your wrap isn't enough. -Now we will sprint up to the Inn. Do you feel like it?" - -"Oh, is it over?" she said softly. - -"Yes, or else it has just begun. I am not sure which," he answered, and -rising he gave her his hand and helped her to her feet. "The moon is no -farther away from me than you," he said in the moment while he held her -hand. "I am not going to forget it." - -"Then it is I!" she thought, with a bound of the heart that turned her -faint. - -They scarcely spoke on the long, heavenly walk up the island. The sea -was starry as the sky with the lights of fishing boats, and -phosphorescence gleamed where the water was in shadow. - -When he took her hand for good-night on the piazza of the Inn, she said: -"I haven't thanked you for this wonderful evening. You know I -do--Philomel." - -He smiled down at her. "That reminds me of our first meeting here. -'Philomel with melody,' you said. I remember what I had been singing, -too. It is still true." He kissed her hand, jumped over the piazza rail, -narrowly missing the sweet peas, and strode away. The girl stood in the -shadow watching the tall, white figure and listening to the waves of -song that floated back through the moonlight. - - - "Thou'rt like unto a flower - So sweet, so pure, so fair--" - - -"What shall I do!" murmured the poor, bewildered moon-goddess on the -piazza. "What shall I _do_!" - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -REUNION - - -There was one case of happiness without drawbacks on the island at this -time. It was in the humble starved heart of Herbert Loring, Second. Each -morning Mrs. Lowell came into his room after breakfast and made his bed, -taught him how to take care of his belongings, and read with him from -the books she loved. All traces of Nicholas Gayne's occupation having -been removed, and every article the boy had used in the past dispensed -with, his fresh new possessions were neatly arranged, and he waked each -morning to a new and wonderful life. Mrs. Lowell encouraged his artistic -work and allowed him to spend as much time upon it as he wished. All -fear being removed, his appetite revived, and one could almost daily see -the flesh return upon his bones. His good friend, finding that his -sapped energies recoiled from muscular effort, did not urge him to swim -or to row, but fed his mind and heart and awaited his rebuilding. - -His story became known on the island, and from being ignored or -contemptuously pitied, the good-looking boy in the simple, smart sports -clothes was the object on all sides of a friendly curiosity, which he -could not understand and frequently rebuffed through his very directness -and inexperience. It was his weekly duty to write to Mr. Wrenn, and this -was a dreaded task, but Mrs. Lowell explained to him that he had his -grandfather's name, and that he must begin to learn to fill his place in -the world; and his pitifully childish writing and misspelling had to be -corrected under the eyes that were still sad at such times. - -"I'm so ignorant, such a baby!" he exclaimed one morning when this trial -was being undergone. - -"But you needn't mind it, need you, since it isn't your fault?" returned -Mrs. Lowell cheerfully. "So many good years are coming for you to study -and learn in." - -"What will happen when the summer is over?" asked the boy. "Are you -going to take me with you? Will Mr. Lowell like me?" - -"Indeed, he will. I am going to have you live near me." - -"Not with you?" - -"No, Bert, that wouldn't be best. I have been corresponding with a very -nice young man whom I have known a long time, and he will be pleased to -live with you and give you lessons." - -"In drawing?" asked the boy. - -"No, sir." Mrs. Lowell gave him the gay, smiling look he liked: it was -so full of everything cheerful and kind. "No, sir, reading and writing -and 'rithmetic." - -"Oh," returned Bert, looking very serious. - -"First you must give your time to study. Education is the foundation. -Then, later, when you have gone through college--Oh, how proud I shall -be when I go to see you graduate!" - -"Shall you ever be proud of me?" asked the boy slowly. - -"If you will let me," she answered. "It all remains with you." - -"Then--then I'll try. I would rather stay with Mr. Blake when you go -away, but if you want me to, I'll live with the young man." - -"You will like him. He is only twenty years old, and he wants to go to -college when he gets money enough. So he is glad to do tutoring now. -That means helping a younger boy to learn." - -"He will laugh at me," remarked Bert, looking off moodily. "I would -rather stay with Mr. Blake and paint the snow on the evergreens." - -"Oh, no, dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "That wouldn't please your -grandfather. Besides, wouldn't you miss me?" - -"I don't like Mr. Lowell," remarked the boy. - -His friend laughed and took his hand between both her own. "We shall all -love each other," she said, "and I shall hope to see you every day." - -Bert thoughtfully visualized the boat carrying her away without him, and -decided to be glad of the other horn of the dilemma. He had learned to -smile, and he did so now, looking at her so trustfully that she patted -his hand as she laid it down. - -"That's a good boy," she said. - - -On the morning after the concert, Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child rather -anxiously. - -"Is it ever considered malarial here?" she asked. - -"The opposite extreme," said Diana. - -"Well, you look pale. You stayed out of doors too long. The night air -anywhere--" - -"Oh, but it has such a pleasant way of growing warmer here at evening. -I wasn't cold, indeed, Mamma." - -"And I heard that divine voice going back through the field singing -Rubinstein," said Mrs. Wilbur. She sighed. "I am glad you are so -matter-of-fact, Diana. He made me feel like a matinee girl, that man." -Mrs. Wilbur was already planning her autumn musicale, and in fancy saw -the air dark with automobiles parked in rows about the Wilbur residence -in Pittsfield. - -She left Diana now to go upstairs to make her list, and the girl went -out of doors to gather sweet peas for the living-room. Pausing when her -hands were full of the color and fragrance, she turned about to view the -fresh morning landscape. As she did so she heard a gay whistling that -grew louder as it neared. - - - "The owl and the pussy cat went to sea - In a beautiful pea-green boat--" - - -The thrill of delicious terror, which had come over her on waking from -her short sleep that morning, constricted her heart now. - -Philip approached. "Good-morrow, fair one; posing for a study of -Aurora?" - -Diana looked around at him with deliberation. "I was deciding what -individuals of the fauna and flora here were most marked." - -Philip ducked his face down into her bouquet. "You chose the sweet pea, -of course." - -"No, I decided on swallows and daisies. The swallows are ravishing: so -fearless and so beautiful. Have you noticed how they dart past, nearly -brushing our cheeks, and how the sun brings out glints of blue in their -plumage? I often mistake them for bluebirds with that touch of color on -their breasts." - -"Daisies and swallows," said Philip musingly. "They do seem to belong -especially. It makes me think of a song." He paused. "Did you hear that -booming of a new whistle this morning? There's a stranger in the cove, a -swell yacht. I thought you might like to come down and see it." - -"Yes, I should. Let me put the flowers in water and I will be with you." -She reappeared quickly, and they struck off across the field to the -road. - -"How could I know it was a strange whistle?" asked the girl. - -"I suppose you wouldn't, but to us islanders every familiar whistle is -like the voice of a friend. Kelly is waiting for us in his boat. We want -to row out to the beauty." - -"It was very kind of you to come 'way up here for me," said Diana. - -There came walking toward them along the road a man in white trousers, -dark-blue coat, and cap with a gold insignia. - -"That must be some one from the yacht now," said Philip. - -Diana looked up, looked again, and with a cry of delight, ran forward -straight into the arms of the man. - -"Daddy, Daddy!" she cried, "how good of you!" - -The tall, handsome stranger, with silver threads in his brown mustache, -glanced up at his daughter's escort while he kissed her. - -"I had to look you up, you know," he said while she held him tight, her -arms around his neck. - -Loosing him, she half turned to Philip. "This is Mr. Barrison, Daddy. We -were just going down to see who was the stranger in the cove." - -Mr. Wilbur shook hands with the tanned, blond youth in a perfunctory -manner, scarcely looking at him. - -"Mamma is here. Did you know it?" cried Diana. - -"No. You don't say so! Kill both my birds with one stone, eh?" - -The girl held out her hand to Philip. "I shall have to go back, Mr. -Barrison. Daddy, take your card and write an order for Mr. Barrison and -his friend to go over the yacht. They were just going to row out to it, -and I was going with them. How little I thought it was you, dearest." -She kissed him again and fumbled at her father's buttons. - -Philip thought there was some reluctance in the cool glance the -yachtsman flung him again. "Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Wilbur. Another -time, perhaps." - -"No, this minute," said Diana. Mr. Wilbur got at an inside pocket. "Mr. -Barrison will take you deep-sea fishing if you can stay a few days. You -have often spoken of it." - -"A fisherman, eh?" said Mr. Wilbur, as he took out his card and wrote -upon it. - -Diana laughed nervously. "Oh, no, Daddy, but he knows the ropes here." -She handed the card to Philip. "The Idlewild is worth visiting," she -said, "and you never can tell with these yachtsmen. They slip off -sometimes in the middle of the night. A bird in the hand, you know." She -smiled. "Au revoir." - -Philip, holding his card, looked after them as they went on up the -road. Diana was hanging on her father's arm. The young fellow's face -flushed deeply under the tan, and his lips came together firmly. - -"That girl is worth all the adoration a man can waste on her," he -thought. "I don't know that he is such a fool at that." - - -"What a summer, Veronica!" exclaimed Miss Burridge when she found that -Charles Wilbur was going to eat mackerel and sweet potatoes at her table -that noon. - -"Some do have greatness thrust upon them, Aunt Priscilla. First the -arrival of Prince Herbert, then King Charles himself." - -"Yes, my knees feel kind o' queer, Veronica, and I think we'd better -have the lobster salad this noon instead of saving it for night." - -The other boarders eliminated themselves, so that the Wilbur family -could occupy the piazza after dinner. Mr. Wilbur had praised the cooking -and Veronica had carried the good report to the kitchen. He sat now with -his wife and daughter, one on each side of him, and, as he smoked his -cigar, looked off on the glory that is Casco Bay. - -"You're pretty nearly on a boat here, aren't you?" he said. - -"It is the most wonderful place in the world," said Diana fervently. - -He turned to her and pinched her chin. The excited color that had risen -in her happy surprise had faded. "You're not a good advertisement for -it," he said. "You didn't eat anything at dinner and you look as if you -had been up all night." - -"I do think Diana feels the effect of all the excitement she went -through in Boston," said Mrs. Wilbur; and forthwith she proceeded to -tell the story of the grandson of her husband's old friend, and Diana's -part in it. He had met the boy at table and he listened with absorbed -interest. - -"Well, little girl, well," he said kindly, "that was some experience. -You'll have to brace up now." - -"Oh, I'm going to, Daddy, and I want to purchase some of this island. I -love it here. It inspires me." - -"Better hold on," was the quiet response. "Why not take this place next -summer? Engage Miss Burridge as cook and housekeeper, then bring some -guests and run up here for a week or so, off and on, when you feel like -it." - -"That might be pleasant," returned Diana. - -Her father smiled and patted her. "You are not always going to be a -tired schoolgirl. Home may hold out more attractions next summer than -you think." - -"You don't know the rocks and the walks here yet, Daddy," said Diana -wistfully. - -"How many walks shall I have to take before you are ready to go back -with me?" - -"Of course we're going back with Daddy," said Mrs. Wilbur warningly. - -"You like the yacht, don't you, Diana?" he asked. - -"Indeed, I do. It was only that you were going to have such gay people -this summer, and I couldn't be gay." - -"I understand, dear. I've ditched the gay people now, and we will have a -family party only, going back." - -"That will be delightful," replied Diana. - -"We haven't told you the most wonderful thing yet," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"There is a most charming singer on the island. He gave a recital last -night. Nothing commonplace. A very unusual voice. I'm engaging him for -Pittsfield, Charles. He thinks he can come for a recital. He is young -and little known yet, and so will be a novelty. I want you to hear him. -You'll be wild, too." - -"I promise not to be," responded her husband. - -"But you can't help it, dear. Diana, why shouldn't we have a little -dinner on the yacht and Mr. Barrison would probably sing afterward, and -your father could hear him. Let me see now. Who would we have?" - -"I don't care," put in Mr. Wilbur, "so long as you have that sparkling -person who sat beside the boy at dinner." - -"Mrs. Lowell," said Diana. "I'm so glad you appreciate Mrs. Lowell, -Daddy." - -"I'm not blind in one eye and I can see out of the other. I have my -hearing, too, and her voice is as fresh as a robin's." - -"But, oh, speaking of voices!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, rolling up her -eyes. "Well, then, Diana, supposing we have just Mr. Barrison and Mr. -Kelly and Mrs. Lowell." - -"And Veronica," said Diana. - -"The young person who waits on the table," explained Mrs. Wilbur. "She -and her aunt, Miss Burridge, are very worthy people." - -"Veronica and Mr. Kelly are such good friends," said Diana. "It would be -too bad not to ask her." - -"Mr. Kelly is Mr. Barrison's accompanist," put in Mrs. Wilbur. - -"Barrison?" repeated Mr. Wilbur. "Isn't that the name of the husky I -met on the road just now?" The speaker removed his cigar to ask his -daughter the question. - -"Yes, Mamma, Mr. Barrison came up to take me down to row out in Mr. -Kelly's boat to see the stranger in the cove. So when we encountered -Daddy on the road, I persuaded him to give them an order to go over the -yacht." - -In spite of herself, the missing color came back into the girl's cheeks -while she related this, and Charles Wilbur, whom no circumstance -connected with his daughter ever escaped, observed it. - -When next he was alone with his wife, he asked a few questions as to -Diana's regard for the singer. - -"No, no, my dear," she returned scornfully. "You don't know Diana. We -have an extraordinary daughter, there is no mistake about _that_, but -she was telling me the other day of her ideal for a husband. He is a -fright, I can assure you, but full of charm and all that. She doesn't -want to marry any man who is attractive to women." - -"Wants to fool the vamps, eh?" was the laughing reply. - -"Why doesn't she look at her daddy?" was the affectionate response. -"The most attractive being on earth and one who never gave me a -heartache?" - -Charles Wilbur slipped his arm around his wife and kissed her. They were -the best of friends. - -"Don't you know, my dear, that a girl's father is always unique? He -isn't a man." - -"Oh," exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur, harking back to her find. "But, Charlie, -you don't know how delighted I am to have such a prize for Pittsfield. I -must show you my list." - -She produced it and Mr. Wilbur, frowning patiently, looked it over. He -hated lists. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -GOOD-BYES - - -But before the dinner party came off, Philip Barrison did take the steel -man deep-sea fishing. Barney Kelly was so overwhelmed by the luxury of -the yacht that he refrained from saying a word against the nocturnal -expedition. He happened to meet Veronica down at the post-office and -gave her his reasons. - -"I say it's only fair that Mr. Wilbur should be racked and tortured," he -said. "Any man so deep in the lap of luxury should learn a little of how -the other half lives. That yacht is the slickest thing I ever saw. The -deep-cushioned armchairs on the deck are upholstered in a light-green -leather that you would think a drop of water would deface, and the salt -spray doesn't faze it in the least. Then the master's room with its twin -beds is divided from the bathroom by a sliding door which is a huge -mirror, and the dining-saloon is in mahogany with the exquisite china -and glass all enameled with the yacht's flag." - -Veronica's mouth always grew very small when she was deeply interested -and her eyes very wide, and they looked so now as she listened. - -"Just think," she said, "I am going to see it." - -"Good work. I wanted you to." - -"I'm going to eat off those dishes and sit in the easy-chairs." - -"What's happening?" - -"A dinner party, and you are in it. Miss Diana told me." - -"I shall be careful to eat nothing between now and then," declared -Barney, "for I suspect that _chef_ of being an artist. Let us not count -on it too much, though, Veronica. Barrison takes Mr. Wilbur on that -unspeakable expedition to-morrow morning. We all may be thrown out of -that dinner party by the violence of his feelings." - -As it turned out, however, Kelly's apprehensions were not realized. Mr. -Wilbur's wife and daughter were on the yacht to greet him when he -returned from his novel experience at nearly noon of the next day. He -had changed his clothing at "Grammy's" and was full of praise of that -old gentlewoman. - -"Nice people as ever lived, those folks," he said as he stretched -himself out in a _chaise longue_ on the deck under the awning, and was -served with iced drinks. - -"Mamma hasn't met Mr. Barrison's grandmother," said Diana as she placed -the cigars beside her father. - -"Oh, he comes of superior people, you can see that," said Mrs. Wilbur. -"Charlie, I'm going to invite Mrs. Coolidge." - -"All right. I guess she can stand it." - -"Stand it!" echoed Mrs. Wilbur. "You don't know what you're talking -about." - -"He is still thinking about the fishing, Mamma," put in Diana. - -"Yes, and young Barrison," said Mr. Wilbur. "He's a tonic, that chap. -The way he went over that boat, regular Douglas Fairbanks stunts he did. -He's a hundred-per-cent man, whether he can sing or not." The speaker -regarded his daughter out of the tail of his eye as he talked, and he -saw the slight compression of her lips and the glow in her eyes. - -"I offered him a cigar, but he shook his head: 'My voice is my fortune, -sir,' he said." - -"Sensible," said Mrs. Wilbur, not looking up from the silk she was -knitting. - -"When are you giving your dinner party?" - -"To-morrow night." - -"That is good, for we must be on our way," said Mr. Wilbur. He yawned. -"I'm dead to the world. I must go to sleep." - -"Daddy," said Diana, "are we really going away at once?" - -He took her hand, and it was cold. "Yes, I think we shall have to be -off." He regarded her with affectionate thoughtfulness. "I want to go -somewhere and find some roses for you." - -The roses suddenly bloomed in the girl's face under his searching eyes. - -"You want to go with your old dad, don't you?" he added affectionately. - -"Of course I do, dearest," she answered, and he forgave her the lie -because she looked so pretty in her embarrassment. "But I have packing -to do, you know. I can't go without any warning." - -He continued to gaze at her and to hold her cold hand. - -"That young Caruso of yours is quite a boy," he said irrelevantly. "No -lugs, honest, substantial." - -"He is more than that, Daddy. He is a self-made man." - -"Did a good job, too; physically at least." - -"No; more than that; he has been a hero to get where he is in his art." - -"Told you so, eh?" - -"No, indeed." The roses bloomed brighter. The hand twitched in his. "He -gratified my curiosity one day by telling me his experiences. He thinks -they were entirely commonplace. He was very poor and with no influence, -but his persistence and determination won." - -"That's the stuff," returned Charles Wilbur quietly. "I like the way he -treats his grandmother, too." - -"And, Charlie," said his wife, looking up from her work, "I believe I'll -invite some people from Lenox. I'll have a house party." - -"Very well, my dear." Her husband smiled toward her preoccupied face, -and released his daughter's hand. - -"Now, you run along up to the Inn, Diana," said Mrs. Wilbur, "and pack. -Then have Mr. Blake bring the trunk and our bags aboard this afternoon." - -"Not go back to the Inn at all, afterward, then?" asked Diana. - -"No. There won't be any necessity. I told that perfectly crazy Leonie to -have my things and hers ready and bring them aboard before dinner. She -looked at me as if I had struck her down." - -"Poor Leonie," breathed Diana. - -Mrs. Wilbur shrugged her shoulders. "I shall be lucky if she doesn't -tell me she has decided to marry Bill Lindsay and stay here." The lady -laughed and looked at her husband. "I should have to invite them to take -their wedding trip on the yacht, for I can't let her go until she has -shown some one else how to do my hair." - -"Let her teach me, immediately, to-day," said Diana quickly. - -Her mother stared at her. "You don't want her to marry Bill Lindsay, I -hope!" - -"I do not care whom she marries," returned Diana with amazing spirit. -"The important, colossally important thing is that she should marry whom -she pleases, when she pleases." - -Mrs. Wilbur continued to stare while her husband's closed eyes opened -and he also regarded Diana as she stood up, her hands clenched. - -"That was Helen Loring's creed," said Mrs. Wilbur dryly. "There is a -better one. Don't forget that." - -The girl's head drooped and the roses faded. - -Ten minutes later she went down the awning-guarded steps at the yacht's -side, and entered the waiting boat with its shining brasses and natty, -white-uniformed sailors, to go ashore. - - -Miss Burridge was quite touched by the feeling displayed by her star -boarder at their parting. - -"I do not remember any period of my life which has been so happy as the -last six weeks," said the girl, her lip quivering. "Would you take care -of me if I should take the Inn for next summer and come here with -friends a part of the season?" - -"Take the Inn, Miss Wilbur?" - -"Yes. My father said that might be more sensible than for me to build -here. I would make satisfactory arrangements with you. Perhaps Veronica -would come with you, then you wouldn't mind if you had the place to -yourselves much of the season." - -"Of course, I should like an easy berth like that, Miss Wilbur." Miss -Burridge laughed with a suspicion of moisture around her lashes at the -pressure of Diana's hands, and the seriousness of her plaintive eyes. - -"I must say good-bye to Bertie. I wonder where he is." - -"Up in his room, I think. He came in a few minutes ago." - -There Diana found him. He looked up from the stretcher over which he was -working and was surprised to see his friend in her street clothes. - -"Are you going to Boston again?" he asked. - -"I am leaving permanently," she answered, and she took his hand and drew -him down to a seat beside her. He looked at her as she bit her lip while -she smiled on him, and he thought she was going to cry. "We shall be -here a couple more nights, but I shall be on the yacht. Have you seen -it, Bertie? Would you like to come down with me now and go over it?" - -"I'd like to make a sketch of it." The boy looked interested. - -"Very well, you shall. Bill is coming for us in a few minutes. You drive -down with us; but I want to tell you, before we go, how happy I am for -you." - -"You don't look happy at all, Miss Diana. You look sad. Are you sad?" - -"I am a little bit--leaving here, and all the friends. Do you know that -we are related in some far-off way, Bertie? You might call me Cousin -Diana. You mustn't forget me." - -"No, I won't forget you," replied the boy, noticing that her lip -quivered. "Mrs. Lowell will write to you." - -"Yes, I'm sure she will," said Diana, touching her eyes quickly with her -handkerchief, "and Mrs. Lowell is a wonderful friend. She has told me of -her arrangements for you, told me about the fine, strapping young -fellow, Mr. Lawrence, who is going to be your companion and tutor. I -expect when I see you next that you will stand up, straight as a young -soldier--" - -"Straight as--as Mr. Barrison," said Bert, pulling his slender shoulders -back hopefully. - -"Yes, as--as he is, and I know you will like this young Mr. Lawrence, -and do every thing just as Mrs. Lowell desires to have you. I am glad -you can stay on longer here, for it is--it is a place to be happy, isn't -it, Bertie?" - -Diana's lips quivered again dangerously. "There, I hear the motor. Bring -your sketch-book, and come." - -They descended to where Leonie was standing beside the bags in her trim -street clothes. Matt Blake's wagon was waiting, too, and he carried -Diana's trunk, and the various and sundry suitcases and bags which -represented the Wilbur party, out to his wagon. - -Miss Burridge and Veronica saw them off. Mrs. Lowell was away in the -woods with her bird-glasses, and the other boarders were fortunately -absent. Diana left her good-byes for them, and then with a lump in her -throat got into the car. Leonie sat in front with her cavalier, and all -the way down the road, her head was popping out and a stream of "adieux" -pouring forth upon animate and inanimate objects alike. - -Herbert Loring sat beside his friend and, feeling wonderingly her need -for comfort, slipped his hand into hers, and she held it tightly. - -Diana had many good-byes to say at the float, while her baggage was -being lifted into the yacht's boat, waiting with its picturesque crew. -At last they were off, and Bertie's eyes were greedily fixed on the -lines of the handsome white yacht. - -After the trunks were placed on the yacht, she let Bert look about, but -he was eager to get his sketch. So she allowed him to descend again into -the small boat and put him in command of it. So he was taken to the -point he indicated and remained there until he was satisfied with his -sketch. Then the flashing oars fell into position and he was rowed back -to the shore. Diana waved him a last good-bye. Her father was taking his -much-needed forty winks, her mother was downstairs somewhere, and Leonie -stood near her, straining her eyes toward the float and waving to a -waiting figure thereon. - -"Adieu, charmante, belle ile," she murmured, sniffing audibly. -"Mademoiselle, c'est comme si je quittais chez moi." - -"Oui, Leonie. Nous reviendrons quelque jour." - -There was a difference in their situations. Leonie had no hope of -entertaining Bill Lindsay at dinner. - -That function came off the next evening. Mr. Wilbur had spent much of -the afternoon with Philip Barrison. The latter had taken him out to the -pound and he had watched the drawing of the nets, and had had long -confabs with the fishermen, listening to their stories, scattering -cigars like hail, and enjoying himself thoroughly. - -He returned to the yacht in high good humor and made ready for the -farewell festivity. - -"That's a regular fellow, Barrison," he said to his wife, as he was -making his toilet. - -"Oh, you wait," she replied. - -"I don't care a darn how he sings," remarked Mr. Wilbur, "but in his -case a man's a man for a' that. I don't wonder--" he stopped. - -"What don't you wonder, dear?" - -"Oh--at his popularity. My dear, dear Laura," he added after a pause, -smiling at his reflection in the glass as he used his military brushes, -"you're a wonderful woman." - -"Why, thank you, Charlie. What have I done now?" As he did not reply, -but continued to smile into his own eyes, she gave his arm a little -squeeze as she passed him. "I won _you_, anyway," she said triumphantly, -"and I need a compliment or two, for I never knew Diana to be so strange -and changeable as she has been to-day. The dear girl can't be well, and -I don't think I have realized quite the awfulness of her experience with -Herbert Loring. She was actually in danger for a time of being accused -of hastening his death. Why, it was dreadful." - -"Poor Diana, poor little girl," returned Charles Wilbur ruminatively. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE DINNER PARTY - - -Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were the first of the dinner guests to arrive. -They were received with remarkable effusiveness by Diana as links with -the life she was reluctantly leaving. - -"Did you see anything of our musician friends as you came down to the -float?" asked Mrs. Wilbur. - -"No, not just now," replied Mrs. Lowell, "but earlier in the day, I had -occasion to go to the post-office and there I found Mr. Kelly in a state -of great excitement. It seems that Mr. Barrison has been summoned to New -York to have his voice tried out for the opera. There is some trouble -and disappointment about a tenor who was expected." - -"That _is_ exciting," remarked Mr. Wilbur, looking approvingly at the -lady with the fresh robin-voice and the charming costume. - -"Miss Veronica and I are all eyes, Mr. Wilbur," she continued. "I'm sure -you allow newcomers to stare as much as they please." - -"Certainly. Let me show you some of our snug arrangements for 'a life -on the ocean wave.'" - -The guests followed him, and Mrs. Wilbur and her daughter regarded one -another, the elder with some consternation, the younger with brilliant -eyes and flaming cheeks. - -"I do hope he won't have to break his date with me," said Mrs. Wilbur. - -"Perhaps to sing with the Metropolitan is more important," returned -Diana. - -"You never have taken any interest in my plan," said her mother, her -eyes snapping. "I'm sure I don't know what has come over you on this -island. From the time you came back to the yacht yesterday, I have had -to speak twice to make you hear anything, and I've been afraid every -minute that you would let your father see that you were depressed at -leaving this foolish place and going with him." - -"I am perfectly willing to go, Mamma," was the docile reply, the change -of heart that had taken place in the last fifteen minutes not being -explained. - -"Well, I'm glad to hear it," declared Mrs. Wilbur, placated. "You are -looking wonderfully well to-night, Diana. Clinging stuff suits you, and -in that silver girdle you have quite a classical appearance." - -"Do I look statuesque, Mamma?" Diana smiled, but not pensively. Her eyes -were alive with anticipation of this one more, this last evening. -"To-day I have been remembering my first days at the island, all alone -with Miss Burridge, the long, cold evenings with their wonderful -coloring, the vesper songs of the hardy robins and sparrows; the -grinding pebbles swept back and forth on the beach; the entrancing odors -that one cannot name, so mingled of balsam and sea--the great spaces of -earth and sky--" Something seemed to stop the rush of reminiscence. - -Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child's kindling face with fond admiration. -"Yes," she returned, laughing softly, "I know how all that captured you, -but what has it to do with your being statuesque?" - -"Oh,"--Diana seemed to come to herself with a little start,--"Miss -Burridge used to say sometimes that I looked like a statue," she -returned, rather lamely. - -Motor boats were constantly putt-putt-ing around the yacht. - -"I'm glad," said Mrs. Wilbur, looking down upon them now, "that this is -the last night we are to stay here. Didn't those inquisitive little -things keep you awake all last night, just like gnats?" - -"I didn't sleep much," admitted Diana. - -"There they come," said Mrs. Wilbur, suddenly, looking across at the -float. - -Two men in white flannels were stepping aboard the waiting boat whose -brasses flashed in the light of the lowering sun. Diana's heart bounded -toward her throat. - -"Well, I shall make him understand that he must tell me just as soon as -he knows himself," said Mrs. Wilbur rather fretfully, watching the -approach. - -The dinner party was a gay one. When the guests were seated at table, -they looked out through a wide semicircle of glass at the familiar -sights of the cove--its wooded shore, and the silhouettes of great waves -far out against the horizon. - -"I shall not forgive Kelly for giving me away," said Philip when his -host congratulated him on his call to New York. "How shall I feel when -you all hear that I didn't pass muster?" - -"Believe me," said Barney feelingly, "if that proves to be the case, -you'll all have cause to congratulate him. The life of an American -singer in a Grand Opera Company is one fight, if it isn't an inferno. -The call-boy forgets to call him, the prompter forgets to prompt him. -Every curtain-call is begrudged him." - -"I'm glad you're husky, Barrison," remarked Mr. Wilbur. - -"Yes," laughed Philip. "Kelly has been an industrious crepe-hanger ever -since the letter arrived. At the same time he shoves me on." - -"Oh, certainly," said Barney, setting his lips energetically. "Must be -done. I think he's safe to win." - -"I am thinking about October and Pittsfield," said Mrs. Wilbur ruefully. - -Philip turned toward her. "I think there is little doubt that I shall be -with you," he answered. - -"Mamma doesn't mean that," declared Diana of the steadily burning -cheeks. "She wants you to succeed, of course." - -"Yes, Barrison," added her father, "but when your voice fails, we know -what you can do: skip around a vessel at sea for the movies." - -"You rather liked that fracas, didn't you, Mr. Wilbur?" returned Philip. - -"Indeed, I did. When you come here to recuperate from the atrocities of -singer allies, I'll join you and we will repeat the dose." - -"Dose is the word," put in Kelly in an undertone. - -When finally the party adjourned to the deck, they fell into groups: -Mrs. Lowell and Diana, Veronica and Barney, Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur and -Philip. The sun had gone down, and the western sky was still crimson. - -Diana put her hand over in Mrs. Lowell's lap. "We know how violet the -sea looks this minute from the Inn piazza," she said. "You will go on -seeing it." - -"And you will carry it away," returned Mrs. Lowell. "That, and many -another picture which you will stop to look at sometimes on a winter -day." - -"Yes, they are mine," said Diana gravely. "Even this pond of a cove with -the green banks and woods rising all about it. This is a picture that I -love, too." - -"Bert was quite troubled because he thought you seemed sad at leaving." - -"Good little sympathetic fellow," said Diana. "I don't want to believe, -Mrs. Lowell, that this is good-bye for us." - -"I hope it is not. New York and Philadelphia are not far apart, but you -will begin to be absorbed in other interests as soon as this yacht -leaves the cove." - -Diana shook her head. "My memory is not so short." - -Mrs. Lowell looked at her with thoughtful affection. "I hope they won't -spoil you, my dear," she said wistfully. "It is very remarkable that you -have come along so far with 'a heart at leisure from itself.'" - -"Oh, do you think I have that?" returned Diana, looking up with seeking -eyes. - -"I do, my dear. The key note of happy usefulness is unselfishness. I -have been surprised by your unselfishness, Diana--under circumstances -that usually make for the other thing." - -"But, Mrs. Lowell, I am frightfully selfish!" exclaimed the girl. "You -don't know!" - -Her friend smiled. "Well, if you see it, that is half the battle. The -other half is putting it down--destroying it." - -"It is usually about--about people," said Diana unsteadily. "I--I am -afraid I am a monopolist--" - -"My word, but you people are interested in each other," said Philip -Barrison, suddenly appearing beside them. "Just lift your eyes." - -They looked up and saw the moon rising majestically above the -hill-road, and the cove beginning to glitter. - -"Now that mustn't make any difference," said Mrs. Wilbur firmly. "The -moon won't run away and Mr. Barrison has consented to sing for us." - -"The minutes are going so fast, so fast," thought Diana, "and there will -be no more." - -Mrs. Wilbur herded her group together and convoyed them to the -music-room. - -"This is really an especial treat for Mr. Wilbur," she said to Philip. -"You know he is the only one of us who hasn't heard you." - -"And you needn't imagine," added Mr. Wilbur, "that you are singing for -the impresario of the Metropolitan, either. So long as I am the chief -beneficiary to-night, it is only fair to tell you, Barrison, that -musically I am very despicable. 'The Last Rose of Summer,' and 'Annie -Laurie,' are where I am. So don't waste any _moderne_ stuff on me." - -Philip smiled as he moved to the piano, and the company chose their -places. Mrs. Wilbur took a seat beside her husband, enveloped in the -anticipatory glow of the matinee girl. - -"I want to be where I can hold your hand if I need to, dear," she said. -Her husband glanced at Diana, flushed and grave, as she placed herself -on a low stool near the door, then back at the upstanding white figure -beside the piano. - -Philip said a few words to his accompanist as Barney's fingers strayed -softly over the keys--then a familiar strain began, and the heralded -voice was heard: - - - "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms - That I gaze on so fondly to-day--" - - -At the close, the host was smiling and nodding while his wife's eyes -challenged him in mute triumph. Philip discoursed with Barney a few -moments and apparently the pigeonholes of the accompanist's mind were -well-stored and the contents available, for the old favorite was -followed by "If I but Knew," "At Parting," "To Mary," and so on, Mr. -Wilbur growing more enthusiastic at each number. - -"You can speak, young man, so as to be understood, and you're the singer -for me," he said. "You have been very indulgent. Now if you don't mind, -let us have 'Drink to me only.'" - -Philip, for the first time, turned and looked directly at Diana. Her -father noticed it. He was becoming every moment more alert as to the -hundred-per-cent man in the white flannels. - -The song followed. Diana, on her low seat, had her elbows on her knees -and her chin in her hands, and never once looked at the singer. - -"I have one more for you," said Philip when the applause had died away. -"It is a song of Maude Valerie White's, which I think fits into your -category, Mr. Wilbur. It has been haunting me of late." - -He turned for a few words to the accomplished Barney, during which Diana -looked up questioningly, apprehensively. She felt she could not bear -much more of the beating upon her heart-strings. - -Philip turned back, and, after only one running chord of prelude, began -to sing: - - - "Let us forget we loved each other much, - Let us forget we ever have to part. - Let us forget that any look or touch - First let in either to the other's heart. - - "Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass, - And hear the larks and see the swallows pass. - Only we'll live awhile as children play, - Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -The last note was one of those high ones which Kelly had stated did such -fell work upon the feminine heart, and Mrs. Wilbur's lips were tremulous -as she met her husband's eyes. - -"Say, my dear," he said, while clapping his hands manfully, "you have -Barrison sing that at Pittsfield, and I'll come to your party and make -love to you the rest of the night." - -Philip smiled and nodded, and drifted away from the piano, while Barney -got up and stretched his legs. - -"Where's Diana?" exclaimed her father, and instantly condemned himself -for drawing attention to her departure. - -"Oh, but she heard it, I'm sure," said Mrs. Wilbur apologetically, still -wiping her eyes. "I'm sure no one appreciates your singing more than -Diana." - -"Gone to look after her moon, probably," said Philip. "You know a -goddess has her duties." - -"There have been things going on," thought Charles Wilbur, with -ever-deepening conviction. "Mr. Kelly, you are a wizard," he said, -shaking Barney by the hand while Mrs. Lowell and Veronica were thanking -Philip. - -"You have both been so good to us," said Mrs. Wilbur warmly. "Why, -Diana, where have you been? We missed you," she added, as the girl came -into the room. - -"I wanted to see if the steward understood," she replied. "I think, if -we go on deck now, we shall have something else refreshing after this -delightful feast." Her father watched the girl approach Barney. "Mr. -Kelly, you are wonderful. I remember the comical things you said about -your insignificance at recitals. I've seen again how apocryphal those -statements are." - -Her father continued to watch for her thanks to Philip. Apparently there -were none forthcoming, and fortunately Mrs. Wilbur was too busy talking -to him herself to notice it. - -"But won't Mr. Kelly play something before we leave?" she said -supplicatingly. - -"Oh, no, my dear lady," returned Barney lightly. "One has no appetite -for dinner after dessert." - -They went on deck, and the moon was glorifying the still cove. -Apparently the motor boats had sated their curiosity as to the yacht, -and all was peaceful. The company sat about in a social group and ate -and drank. Barney Kelly told some amusing experiences which he and -Philip had had on the road last season. Diana scarcely heard his -anecdotes, but she laughed with the rest. - - - "Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -The words sang themselves over and over in her heart, and her cheeks -still burned. The minutes were flying, flying, and Philip was sitting -near her mother, who waited on him assiduously and rallied him upon his -lack of appetite. - -"Say, boy," said Kelly at last, "do you know we have a cart-load of -music to look over and we ought to do it to-night?" - -Then they would go. She would not see him alone again! - -"Mrs. Lowell, are you ready?" asked Philip. "We four will have a grand -moonlight walk up to the Inn." - -"No, indeed," replied that lady. "The faithful Bill is expecting us. I -know how busy you and Mr. Kelly must be." - -"Oh, dear!" burst forth Veronica. It was almost her first utterance of -the evening. "Isn't it a shame that the pleasantest things in life are -always the shortest!" She did wish Mrs. Lowell would not be so -considerate of the men's time. "Miss Diana, don't you really feel just a -little bit sorry to go and leave us?" - -"I do, indeed," returned Diana, receiving the girl's offered hand in her -cold one. "The best way probably is to remember Mr. Barrison's song and -live as children play--'without to-morrow, without yesterday.' It has -been a--a wonderful playtime." - -"But there will be a to-morrow," said Philip, approaching her. "Will you -come to the opera next winter and hear me peep a few lines like 'Madam, -the carriage waits'?" He smiled radiantly. "That is, if I get in at -all." - -"Certainly, all your friends will be there," she returned, with -palpitating dignity. How could he speak so gayly? Probably the dazzling -possibilities of the future had effaced for him the memories that glowed -in her. That is what life with him would be: a constant craving, and a -constant disappointment. - -"I want a word with you, Barrison, before we break up," said Mr. Wilbur. -"You have been some star in this island visit of mine." He took Philip's -arm and walked apart with him. - -"Oh, Mr. Kelly, see the phosphorescence," cried Veronica from where she -had moved near the rail. Barney followed her. - -"What do you suppose Mr. Wilbur wants with Barrison?" said Kelly softly, -as they leaned over the rail. "Going to write him a check for a million, -maybe. He'd never miss it." - -"I don't believe Mr. Barrison will need anybody else's millions. He -made a lump come right up in my throat when he sang that last song about -forgetting and sitting on the daisies. I just wished I was in love with -somebody so I could be miserable all night like girls in books. -But"--Veronica sighed--"I am the most unsentimental girl in the world." - -"I wonder if that is what makes you so nice," said Barney, regarding her -mignonne face instead of the phosphorescence. "You're a little brick. Do -you know it? Are you coming back here again next summer?" - -"Perhaps," returned Veronica demurely. "But meanwhile I live in Newark; -quite near New York." - -"I know, my dear, but when I get submerged, even little bricks can't -make me come to the surface to breathe. Do you think your father would -let you come over to lunch with me sometimes?" - -"You can ask him," replied Veronica. - -"Oh, dear, is that the way you feel about it?" - -"Just the way." - -"All ashore that's going ashore." It was Philip's voice. "Come on, -Kelly, and Little V." - -Diana had been talking with Mrs. Lowell. She kissed her now hurriedly, -and stood rigid. The time had come. She would never go to the opera. She -would never see him again. Meanwhile, she joined her mother's gracious -reception of the parting courtesies, and shook hands with all the guests -alike. They went down the guarded stairway. It was midnight, and the -cove was very still. Diana could not watch the departure of the small -boat. - -"I'm tired," she said, stifling a yawn. "Good-night, dears." - -She disappeared quickly. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur stood by the rail and waved -to the departing boat-load. - -"What a delightful evening it has been," said the lady with a sigh. "But -wasn't it strange that Mr. Barrison wasn't hungry after singing? I -thought people always were. Didn't you think the sandwiches were as good -as usual?" - -"Better. I was as hungry as a hunter--or a sailor. Great air, this, -Laura." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THE MOON-GODDESS - - -In the twin beds of the master's room on the yacht Idlewild two persons -lay wide awake at one-thirty o'clock that morning. - -One of them finally said softly and tentatively: "Charlie, are you -awake?" - -"I am, my dear," came the reply, "and I should like to ask whether it is -simply insomnia with you, or whether you are suffering from incipient -St. Vitus?" - -"Why, I thought I had been keeping so still. It was the same way after I -heard that man sing the last time. I couldn't sleep for hours. Isn't he -all I said? I'll warrant he is keeping you awake, too." - -"I think he is." - -"There!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilbur triumphantly. "You do consider him -extraordinary, don't you?" - -"I do. So much so that I have asked him to go out with us to-morrow -night--Oh, it's to-night, isn't it? The Captain says we will leave at -nine-thirty, and go as far as Portland." - -"Why, I think that is fine," said Mrs. Wilbur, greatly surprised. -"Well," she added, after a pause, "you could scarcely give a greater -proof of your liking, for I know how careful you are not to commit -yourself to being bored by anybody on the yacht. Why didn't he tell me -when he left to-night?" - -"Because he did not expect to accept. He may do so yet, however. I told -him he might decide at the last minute." - -"Why did he hesitate? Perhaps because you didn't invite Mr. Kelly." - -"Oh, but I did. I told him they might reign supreme in the music-room -and work as much as they pleased." - -"How delightful! Then why didn't he jump at such a prospect? I suppose -because they wouldn't get to New York so quickly." - -"No, he has considerable latitude concerning the date for arrival in New -York. I'll tell you just what he replied when I asked him. He looked me -straight in the eye and he said: 'Thank you, Mr. Wilbur, but it wouldn't -do me any good to take such a trip. It's best for me to play safe. I've -passed the age when it is permissible to cry for the moon.' He said it -slowly, with pauses. He was perfectly willing I should know what he -meant, and he saw that I did know." - -"Will you kindly tell me"--Mrs. Wilbur sat up in bed and looked across -at her husband, bewildered--"what the man was talking about?" - -"Can't you possibly think it out?" asked Charles Wilbur quietly. - -She frowned into the darkness. "You don't mean--he teases Diana about -being goddess of the moon--" She paused. - -"You're getting warm, dear, very warm," remarked her husband. - -"Why, Charlie, it's impossible!" Then hotly: "He is very wise. Nothing -would induce Diana to think of him." - -"You wouldn't like it, eh?" - -"Why, the idea! It's an impossible idea! I was a little apprehensive at -first, when I saw how attractive he was and knew that she had been up -here alone with him so long, but I soon saw there was nothing in it, and -you should hear what Diana says--" - -"Yes, I know young girls say a great many things besides their prayers." - -"Well, what did you say to him when he answered you like that?" Mrs. -Wilbur's tone was tense. - -"I told him that he might think it over, and that I should be glad to -have him come." - -"Charles Wilbur!" exclaimed his wife severely. She threw off a down -cover as if minded to rise. - -"Cover yourself up, dear. It's rather cool." - -"But that was encouraging him, Charlie." - -"I think he perceived it dimly. He looked at me--a long gaze--by George, -he's a good-looking boy--and he didn't say a word. Then we shook hands -and rejoined the others." - -"You have done very wrong," declared Mrs. Wilbur, pulling back the -cover, but not lying down. - -"What do you want for Diana, Laura? A title?" - -"You needn't use that tone. I haven't thought out what I want for -Diana." - -"I _have_. I want happiness for her. From the day of my arrival here, I -have seen signs. I'm a rich man, but there is one thing I can't buy for -my only child, and that is happiness. Diana is a fastidious, carefully -bred girl, unspoiled as they make 'em, yet, of course, just as liable to -fall for an infatuation as Helen Loring was." - -"But she hasn't, she has not, Charlie," interrupted his wife -impetuously. "You don't know--" - -"It is you who do not know, my dear. You have been so in love with him -yourself, and so obsessed with the joy of springing him on Mrs. Coolidge -and your other musical friends, that you haven't seen what was going on -under your nose any more than if you were a dear little bat." - -"Don't you call me a dear little bat! Diana is much more my child than -yours. A mother understands her daughter far better than the father can. -The idea of your high-handedly taking this matter into your hands -without even consulting me!" - -"Don't get excited, Laura. I'm not forcing anything. You've had your -innings. You didn't even notice what that last song of Barrison's did to -Diana to-night." - -"Mere emotionality. The same thing that keeps me awake after I hear him -sing. That proves nothing. It should even make you pull away from him -instead of pulling for him. You're crazy, Charles. He has hypnotized -you. The idea that a mere thrilling tenor voice and a fine figure could -make you lay down your common sense." Mrs. Wilbur's voice quavered and -she felt under her pillow for her handkerchief. - -Her husband smiled in the darkness. "Wait, dear. I don't care whether -Diana marries a singer or not. I want her to marry a real man. I was on -the lookout for infatuation when I saw you so captivated, and I began to -inquire into the facts. I found an all-American chap who had had a -struggle from childhood and won out over poverty and discouragement by -hitching his wagon to a star. He volunteered during the late war and was -slightly wounded. He has a clean inheritance, good muscle, and plenty of -red blood. I don't care for the blue kind, myself. In short, he is the -sort of man I am perfectly willing our daughter should marry, _if she -wants to_." - -"I tell you--" - -"Yes, I know. You tell me she doesn't want to. Now, I have an idea we -shall very soon learn the truth about that. Barrison has shown that he -knows how to get what he wants. In this case, I can see how our money -will stick in his crop." - -"Ho!" from the other bed. A tremendous aspiration. - -"Don't blow me out of the room, dearie. I know people will laugh at that -idea, but I have had lots of experience in reading character. Barrison -will have a great deal to overcome in his own mind. He will not feel -free to approach Diana. Perhaps, after all, the affair will amount to -nothing. All right, if it does. I'm a passenger, now that I feel sure -the boy is a clean specimen." - -"Has it come to this!" ejaculated Mrs. Wilbur slowly. "That Diana Wilbur -is to be given to a clean specimen!" - -"If she so desires," returned the other. "Now I'm going to ask a big -thing of you, Laura. It is not to speak to Diana on this subject until -she speaks to you. She knows nothing of my invitation to Barrison. We -can't handle the matter any further with good effect until the -principals declare themselves. You know our girl. You know it is a hall -mark of genuineness, a proof of pure metal when she likes a man or a -woman. Can't you trust her?" - -Mrs. Wilbur was lying down now. Her husband heard a sniff or two stifled -in a pillow. - -"I wasn't anybody when you married me, Laura," he went on gently. -"Weren't we just as happy when we economized on taking a taxi as we are -in this yacht? Our boy would be nearly twenty-three now if he had lived. -I would have liked my son to look at me with as clear eyes, to have -known as little of self-indulgence as Barrison. It is all up to the -children, but wouldn't there be points in being mother-in-law to that -voice, when you come to think it over?" - -No answer, and soon Charles Wilbur completed his infamy by a long and -regular breathing that assured his wife that he was sleeping the sleep -of the unjust and the outrageous. - -Leonie arose a few hours later to a hard day. Mrs. Wilbur had a headache -and did not leave her bed. Diana, with dark shadows under her eyes, came -in to make a dutiful visit of condolence, and was well snubbed. She -retreated to the deck, where her father was cheerfully watching the life -of the cove. - -"Good-morning, dear," he said, turning and putting his arm around her. -"We have your mother laid out, haven't we?" - -"Why, Daddy, what is the matter? The coordination of her nervous system -seems entirely thrown out." - -He smiled heartlessly. "She didn't sleep much, honey. Neither did you," -regarding her closely. - -"No, Daddy," she replied, rather breathlessly. "I seem to be more -reposeful when the yacht is in motion." - -"'Rocked in the cradle of the deep,' eh? Want to go ashore this -morning?" - -"No, I think not. Mrs. Lowell is coming out for tea this afternoon, a -little good-bye visit." - -"All right, then. What do you say to some cribbage?" - -"Fine, if we cannot be of any assistance to Mamma. Are you sure?" - -"Yes, my love. She has been drinking heavily of 'the wine of -astonishment' and must sleep it off. If there is any humble pie on -board, you might have Leonie take her some for luncheon." - -"What are you talking about, Daddy? Poor Mamma!" - -"Yes, she is absolutely one of the finest. I thought so when she was -eighteen, and cute, with a little turn-up nose and dimples something -like that Veronica girl, and I think so now; but the best of women must -sometimes lie by until they get a new perspective." - -"Daddy, I don't understand you. You and Mamma have--have differed about -something, I fear." - -"Well, it--it might be described that way. Morris,"--turning toward his -valet who was near,--"the cribbage-board, please." - -Diana strove valiantly not to have a miserable day. She played cribbage -with her father until luncheon was served on deck. Then she gave orders -for her tea, and Leonie came to remind her of her promise that she might -show Bill Lindsay over the yacht. He arrived about the same time as Mrs. -Lowell, and Leonie, frightened to death of her mistress's strange mood, -besought Diana to remain with her mother while she should fulfill the -promise to her island pal, and bid him a long and racking farewell. - -So Diana left Mrs. Lowell with her father while she ventured to her -mother's bedside and sat down, silently. A handkerchief, redolent of -cologne, covered the sufferer's eyes. - -"Who is that?" came faintly from the blinded one. - -"It is I, Mamma," said Diana meekly. "Are you feeling a little better?" - -"Diana,"--the voice was still faint but stern,--"have I been a good -mother to you?" - -"Mamma, dear, there never was a better. How can you ask?" - -"Because no one else thinks so." - -Diana threw herself on her knees beside the bed and took the hand that -was outside the rosy silk coverlet. "Dearest, I am not feeling very -well to-day and you will destroy my poise if you say such things. My -heart feels sore for some reason, so do not give it any blows. You know -how Daddy and I think there is nobody in the world like you. Daddy was -talking about it this morning and telling me how cute and pretty you -were when he first knew you,"--Diana's voice began to quaver,--"told me -about your dimples and everything, and how you were just as attractive -to him now as you had been then, and"--Diana succumbed and tears fell on -the hand she held--"and if I am ever married, Mamma,--I do so hope that -in twenty-five years afterward--he--he will feel that way about me." - -One eye emerged from the cologne bandage and viewed the girl's lovely, -bowed head. - -"Now, don't cry, Diana," firmly. "Why in the world should you cry? You -have a wonderful life opening before you. You've known nothing yet but -school, and I want you to spend a little time thinking of the -possibilities of the future. With your looks and the money at your -command, there is no social experience among the highest-placed and most -cultivated people abroad and at home that you may not enjoy. You've -heard the saying: 'Of the unspoken word you are master, the spoken word -is master of you.' It is the same with actions. You are deliberate by -nature, and exquisite by breeding. Never commit yourself to anything -impulsively. No mother would be a good mother who did not say as much as -this to you." - -Diana experienced a sudden stricture of the heart that dried her eyes -and held her motionless over the hand she held. She knew all at once the -cause of her parents' difference. She had never in her life been able to -conceal anything from her father. She flushed deeply. Whatever he had -said to her mother must have been in Philip's favor. With thoughts, -humble, frightened, resentful, racing through her mind, she did not know -how long she had been kneeling there when Leonie came in with soft step, -and she looked up to see her mother's eye again eclipsed. She remembered -Mrs. Lowell. - -"Leonie is here now and I must go, dearest. Mrs. Lowell has come out for -some tea. Shall Leonie bring you some?" - -"No. I want nothing. I am feeling better, Diana. Don't distress yourself -about me." - -The girl kissed the forehead above the bandage and passing Leonie saw -that her eyes, too, were red. - -"I wonder if this day will ever be over", she thought dismally. - -She found her father and Mrs. Lowell having a visit, charming to each of -them, and tea was served at once. - -While they were eating and drinking, the island steamer came into the -cove and up to its landing. - -"I suppose our delightful musician friends are leaving on that boat," -said Mrs. Lowell. "Shan't we stand at the rail, and wave a good-bye?" - -"No, I wouldn't," returned Diana hastily. "Everybody except the right -ones will take the greeting to themselves, and--" Indeed, she would not -wave to Philip after his cruelty in singing that song! And obeying it so -literally as not to manage one word of farewell to her alone! - -"Little snob, eh, Mrs. Lowell?" said her father. - -The steamer was turning around to leave. - -"He is going!" cried Diana's heart. The whole day to have passed with no -sign from him! Cruel! Cruel! "You know, Daddy, Mrs. Lowell and I must -see something of each other the coming winter if only for Bert's sake. -He is related to us." - -The passenger boat was passing near now. The yacht felt its waves. Diana -turned her eyes toward it in spite of herself. Some people were waving -handkerchiefs toward the handsome yacht, and the Captain whistled three -times. The yacht replied, and Charles Wilbur stood up and saluted. -Diana's heart beat hard and painfully. She looked back at the tea-table. - -"Tell us, Daddy, just what relation Mr. Herbert Loring was to you." - -"Why, it was this way. My grandmother and his mother were--" - -Diana never knew what they were, for the island steamer was moving -toward the mouth of the cove. Handkerchiefs were waving from the stern. -It receded. It rounded the rocks at the farthest point, and disappeared. - -"That is very interesting, indeed," said Mrs. Lowell. "I shall tell -Bert. He will be glad and proud of the connection. I have a fine boy -there, Mr. Wilbur. I am hoping my husband won't mind my taking such a -responsibility." She rose to go. - -"You have a good ally in Luther Wrenn," remarked Mr. Wilbur, arranging -her wrap. - -"Yes, and in you, I hope?" - -"Certainly. At your service. A big responsibility awaits that youngster. -Let us hope he will grow up to be as clean-cut and simply honest as -young Barrison." - -"You do like him, don't you?" said Mrs. Lowell with her direct look. - -"Very much, so far. I don't know how he may carry sail in the prosperity -before him, but so far he seems to be all to the good." - -The small boat was summoned for the guest. Bill Lindsay had gone off in -the dory that brought him. Diana went alone with her friend to the head -of the awninged stairway. - -Mrs. Lowell saw the marks of distress in the young face, and she held -the girl's hand for a minute. "God bless you," she said, and kissed her -lovingly. "Trust Him, my dear," she added meaningly. "He is taking care -of you. Claim it and know it. Good-bye." - -Diana watched the boat glide toward the shore. "This awful day is nearly -over," she thought. "I feel as if my good angel was going away in that -boat." - -Mrs. Wilbur did not arise for dinner. Diana and her father ate it alone -in state. Keen to do her duty and grateful to him for his attitude -toward the man whom she must henceforth forget, she had dressed herself -in her prettiest gown. At twenty, pensive eyes with shadows about them -are not unbecoming, and her father looked across at her admiringly. - -"The Count de No-Account or some other titles, should be here to-night, -my dear. The moon-goddess is too lovely to beam upon no one more -thrilling than her humdrum old daddy." - -"As if any one could come up to him," rejoined Diana affectionately. -"You remind me of the way Mamma was talking this afternoon, of all the -possibilities money opens to a girl, abroad and at home. She did not -stop to think what a standard she had set up by marrying you." - -Her father nodded slowly, regarding her with a curious smile. "Indeed. -So little Mamma was able to sit up with a comforter around her and show -you the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, was she? Well, -well. Foxy little Mamma." - -Diana blushed violently and busied herself with her salad. "I am sorry -we have to sleep in Portland harbor to-night. It won't be quiet for -Mamma." - -There were no more personalities during the meal. The girl and her -father went on deck and watched the sunset together, after which Mr. -Wilbur said he would go down and see his wife, and Diana was left alone. -She had a deeply cushioned seat moved near the yacht's rail in the -stern, and leaned back to watch the cove darken and the lights flash out -on the other boats. Her thoughts ran over a resume of the summer. How -long the weeks stretched out in retrospect! How they had fled in -passing! Presently, the moon arose over the hill-road. She thought of -last evening when their group had welcomed it. Philip had said that -night on the rocks that he should not forget that she was as distant -from him as that planet, and he had kept his word. Not to see his merry -eyes again. Not to see the sensitiveness of his smile when he looked at -her. Not to hear him call her a goddess, not to hear him sing except as -others heard him. - - - "Only we'll sit upon the daisied grass, - And hear the larks, and see the swallows pass. - Only we'll live awhile as children play, - Without to-morrow, without yesterday." - - -She had heard the song all day, and her heart now felt sick and empty as -she sat there, that golden moon beaming down upon her alone, and -striking to silver the ripples across the cove. She leaned among her -cushions and turned her face aside. Her eyes began to smart, and she -closed them. The wind as usual had gone down with the sun, and the -awning fringes were but faintly stirred. - -Suddenly she felt that the boat was moving. So smooth and silent its -motion, that, when she looked up, the yacht was halfway out of the cove. -She leaned forward. - -"Oh, good-bye," she murmured, and she held out her hands toward the -wooded bank. "Good-bye. Oh, good-bye, Isola Bella. I shall always love -you, and every blade of grass, and every daisy, and every swallow." - -Tears veiled the shadowy woods. She dashed them away, and resisted the -sob that rose in her throat. The yacht moved swiftly out into the waves -of the summer sea. It was now only the end of the wooded bluff which she -could perceive in the moonlight. She leaned back again, and, covering -her eyes, relaxed, holding her quivering lip between her teeth. - -A neighboring movement made her look up, expecting her father. - -Philip Barrison stood there. - -She caught her breath. "It is impossible!" she gasped. - -"Yes, it is." He took her outstretched hands and sank down beside her. -"It is a midsummer night's dream; but I couldn't--I tried, Diana, but I -couldn't resist. Your father asked me--said I might come--even at the -last minute." At each pause Philip kissed the hands he was holding. "Are -you--that is the one vital question--are you glad I came, my goddess?" - -The look she gave him in the moonlight made him take her quickly in his -arms, and she sank into them with the certainty of the bird that finds -its nest. - -"I don't know how I dared this, Diana,--dared the future, I mean. How -can I be the right one to win the prize of the whole world?" - -"Because you are the only man in the whole world for me, and you felt -it, and I felt it. Oh, Philip, I won't be so selfish as in the way I -have talked to you. I am never going to grudge that others should admire -you." - -"No, you never will," he answered. "The sparkle of what others may say -is like the phosphorescence down there in the unlighted places. The -radiance and glow filling my whole being now is an eternal thing. I -can't believe it yet, it will take me a long time to believe it, but, -oh, my beautiful one, I wish, I do wish you were a poor girl!" - -She lifted her head from his breast, looking at him with glorified eyes. -"I should be," she said slowly, "if you did not love me--Philomel." - -They kissed, and the moon shone down on the beaten foam of the snowy -wake in a long, ineffable silence. - - - - -The Riverside Press -CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS -U . S . 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