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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..3927cfb --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #52240 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52240) diff --git a/old/52240-8.txt b/old/52240-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f067a83..0000000 --- a/old/52240-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13139 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Inner Flame, 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 Inner Flame - -Author: Clara Louise Burnham - -Release Date: June 5, 2016 [EBook #52240] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INNER FLAME *** - - - - -Produced by Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - [Illustration: THE CALL] - - - - - The Inner Flame - - A Novel - - by - Clara Louise Burnham - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - - Contents - - - I. A NOVEMBER NIGHT 1 - - II. SEVERED COMPANIONSHIP 25 - - III. MRS. FABIAN'S VISIT 41 - - IV. PHILIP SIDNEY 55 - - V. ELIZA'S INVITATION 79 - - VI. BROTHER AND SISTER 95 - - VII. THE FLITTING 114 - - VIII. AN INTERRUPTED TEA 131 - - IX. HEIRLOOMS 157 - - X. THE ARRIVAL 176 - - XI. MRS. FABIAN'S GIFTS 194 - - XII. MRS. FABIAN'S DINNER LIST 209 - - XIII. CHRISTMAS 222 - - XIV. SPRING 242 - - XV. JUNE 258 - - XVI. THE PEACEMAKER 276 - - XVII. MRS. FABIAN'S SCHEME 296 - - XVIII. CASCO BAY 312 - - XIX. FLASHES OF BLUE 328 - - XX. ELIZA SURRENDERS 347 - - XXI. THE SINGER 366 - - XXII. THE NEW STUDIO 383 - - XXIII. PHILIP'S LETTER 400 - - XXIV. PHILIP ENTERTAINS 405 - - XXV. BY MOONLIGHT 429 - - XXVI. TIDES 450 - - XXVII. THE SON 466 - - XXVIII. A TIDAL WAVE 480 - - - - -The Inner Flame - - - - -The Inner Flame - - - - -CHAPTER I - -A NOVEMBER NIGHT - - -Soft snowflakes whirled around the lonely mountain cabin under a -November sky. The wind that had rushed up the valley sighing and -groaning between the wooded walls, now roared its wild delight in the -freedom of the heights. The twilight was deepening fast. Two women were -alone in the cabin. The one who was at home stooped and put another log -on the blazing fire. The other could not have stooped, no matter how -willing her spirit, so straitly and fashionably was her ample figure -bound by artful bone and steel. - -"Mercy, Mary!" she ejaculated, standing stock still in the middle of -the room, fixed there by a triumphant shriek of the rioting wind. "I -never had the least desire to go up in an aeroplane. Are you well -anchored here?" - -"Like a lichen on a rock," returned Mary Sidney, smiling. "Take off -your hat, Isabel, and be comfy." - -"Do you think we _must_ stay all night?" demurred the visitor. "You -know I love you, Mary, and if that wind would just let us hear -ourselves think, I wouldn't ask anything better than an evening's chat -with you alone." - -"You wouldn't as it is," returned Mrs. Sidney soothingly, approaching -her cousin and unpinning the veil which Mrs. Fabian had not raised. The -visitor clung to her wraps with the feeling that an entire readiness to -flee back to the haunts of men would aid her to depart. Mary Sidney's -calm amused smile carried some reassurance. It flickered across her -face as the firelight flickered across the dark rafters above. - -"I _told_ Henry I thought the sky looked threatening before we left -town," declared the guest while she submitted to the gentle touch, "but -nothing would do but that he should visit the mine this very afternoon. -Isn't this fearful, Mary?" as a renewed gust shook the firelit rafters -until they creaked heavily. - -"Oh, no, this sounds a great deal worse than it is," was the response. - -"You're comforting me, I know you are"; and Mrs. Fabian, denuded of her -correct hat, permitted herself to take the offered chair by the fire. -"I hope, though, that you have a kennel of St. Bernard dogs in the back -yard. I _should_ like to see Henry again, bad as he is!" - -Mrs. Sidney took the other chair and rolled a blazing log to a better -position. - -"You'll see the men coming along in a little while--when they grow -hungry," she returned placidly. - -"And how in the world do you get servants up here?" demanded the other. - -"We don't. We could get a Chinaman, but if we had him we'd have to -amuse him, there's no one else for him to talk to, so we go without." - -"Horrors!" ejaculated Mrs. Fabian with solemn repugnance. "And you live -here alone!" - -The hostess laughed at her tone. "Not enough of the year to dislike it. -One learns a lot of things in these hills--bidding farewell to time, -for instance. You see a man with a gun tramping through the valley and -you rush to the door, and cry out, 'Hey, there, you with the gun, what -day is this?' and the man turns and shouts back, 'You can't prove it by -me!'" - -Mrs. Sidney laughed again and her cousin shuddered. - -"Thank God for civilization!" ejaculated the latter devoutly; then, -as the window-glass sucked in and out with a cracking sound, "Give -me my hat, Mary," she said, sitting up. "If we're going down the -mountain-side, let's go decently and in order." - -"For shame, you Maine woman!" was the laughing rejoinder. "Your -sea-captains would call this 'a breeze o' wind!' That's all. That's -another thing one becomes acquainted with up here: the wind. I didn't -know anything about it when I came. You should be here some nights if -you call this a storm! I used to set my dish-pans out at the door; -but when a few had whirled down the mountain-side into the valley, -I learned caution. One can't go around the corner here and buy a -dish-pan." - -"Mary," Mrs. Fabian eyed her with bewildered admiration, "you're -wonderful! You didn't used to be wonderful," she added in an -argumentative tone. "Once you'd have made just as much fuss about this -as I would. You remember--if you try, you'll remember perfectly--that -I warned you, more than twenty-five years ago, not to marry a mining -engineer. I told you then it was just as bad as marrying an army -officer. There would be no repose about it, and no comfort. You see -I was right. Here we are, to all intents and purposes, in a shrieking -balloon, and you call it home!" The speaker kept a watchful eye on the -rattling casement and drew herself up with renewed tension at each wind -blast, but nevertheless she talked on. - -"With it all you haven't as many lines in your face as I have, and your -hair is as brown as ever. Mine would be white if I lived here instead -of in New York. And the calmness of your eyes, and your smile! Tell me, -Mary, tell me now honestly,--I shall sympathize with you,--_is_ it the -calmness of despair?" - -Mary Sidney did not smile. She looked into the depths of the fire and -her guest wondered what memories were unfolding themselves to her rapt -vision. - -"No," she answered simply at last, "such calmness as I possess is not -of despair, but of--faith." The speaker paused before the utterance of -the last word as if hesitating for the one which should best express -her meaning. - -"Do you mean something religious?" asked Mrs. Fabian stiffly. - -The stiffness was not disapproval. It was owing to the divided -attention she was bestowing upon the storm, lest if she took her mind -off the wind it might seize the advantage and hurl the cabin from its -moorings. - -"I should think a person would _have_ to be religious here," she went -on. "You must be reduced--simply _reduced_ to trusting in Providence!" - -Mary Sidney smiled at the fire. "I didn't have a trusting disposition. -I didn't have even a happy disposition, as you evidently remember." - -"Well," returned Isabel, "it wasn't a bad one: I didn't imply anything -like that; but you were one of the spoiled-beauty sort of girls, not a -bit cut out for hardship," the speaker looked judicially at the once -familiar face, softened from its old brilliancy. "What an advantage it -is to have beautiful eyes!" she added bluntly. "They don't desert you -when other things go;--not that it matters a bit what sort of eyes a -woman has, living the life you have." - -"Oh, Allan thinks it does," returned Mary in her restful manner. - -"Does he appreciate you?" Mrs. Fabian asked the question almost angrily. - -Mrs. Sidney smiled. "We don't talk much about that, but we're better -companions, happier, dearer, than we were twenty-five years ago." - -Her cousin gazed curiously. "Then it did turn out all right. You've -written so little to your friends. How could your relatives tell?" - -"You see, now, why," returned the other. "There's not much -letter-material here, and even when we're living in town, all our -friends and our pursuits are so foreign to the people at home. Little -by little one gets out of the way of writing." - -"Don't you ever long for Fifth Avenue?" asked Mrs. Fabian suddenly, her -cousin's exile impressing her more and more as utter forlornity. - -"Oh, no, not for many years." - -"You never could have kept your figure there as you have here," -admitted the other in a spirit of justice. "I must say that," and the -speaker composed her own rigid armor into a less uncomfortable position. - -"Do your own housework, Isabel," advised the hostess with a smile. - -"Heavens! it is too late to talk to me about that. I've enough to do -without housework, I should hope. You've no idea how much worse things -have grown in twenty-five years, Mary. A woman has so much on her mind -now that nothing but regular massage from the crown of her head to her -heels will offset it. The modistes and milliners are in a conspiracy -to change styles so often that it takes active thought to keep abreast -of them. Then you no sooner settle down really to learn Bridge, for -instance, and feel that you can hold your own, than everybody begins -playing Auction! And to know what people are talking about at luncheons -you must see plays, and skim through books, reading at least enough so -you can express an opinion; not that anybody listens. They all talk at -once, their one and only object seems to be to get their own ideas out -of their systems. I was glad to send Kathleen off to school. It does -seem as if the girls had to go to college to escape as great a rush -as we grownups live in. Then when they come back, having had another -environment for four years, they adjust themselves to their own homes -with such a sense of superiority that it makes you _tired_; that's what -it does, Mary, _tired_. I've had a taste of it this summer. Kathleen -has another year to go, but already she is perfectly changed. She cares -no more for my advice, I assure you, than if I had just come down -from Mars and had no judgment as to the things of this world. She's -well-bred, of course,--I hope no daughter of mine could be less than -well-bred,--but when I give her directions, or try to guide her in any -way, there's a twinkle in her eye that I resent, Mary, I resent it -distinctly. So there you are!" Mrs. Fabian gestured with a perfectly -kept hand whereon a blazing gem flashed in the firelight. "There we -are between Scylla and Charybdis. We either have to send our girls to -college and let the little upstarts think they've outgrown us, or else -have them rushed to death at home, keep them up on tonics, and let them -sleep till noon!" - -With this dismal peroration Mrs. Fabian sat as far back in her chair as -disciplined adipose would permit, and shuddered again at the wind. - -"Is a son an easier proposition then, in that madding crowd of yours?" - -"A boy does seem to have his life more plainly mapped out than a girl. -Edgar is in his father's office." The speaker sighed unconsciously. -"What is your boy like, Mary?" - -Mrs. Sidney kept silence for a thoughtful moment before answering. - -"He is like Pegasus harnessed to a coal-wagon," she said at last -slowly. - -"How very extraordinary. What do you mean?" - -Instead of replying, Mrs. Sidney went to a table in the far corner of -the cabin and brought therefrom a portfolio which she opened on the -chair beside her guest. - -A mass of sketches was disclosed,--charcoal, water-color, oil. Mrs. -Sidney lifted one, and held it before the other's eyes. - -Mrs. Fabian raised her lorgnette. - -"Why, it's you, Mary; and it's capital!" she ejaculated. - -Another and another sheet was offered for her inspection. - -"Why, they're all of you. The artist must be in love with you." - -Mary Sidney gave her a slight smile. "I hope so, a little, but it was -Hobson's choice when it came to models. Phil seldom could get any one -beside me. Here's one of his father. He had to do it slyly behind a -newspaper, for Allan is rather impatient of Phil's tendency." - -"So that is what your boy is at! It's real talent, isn't it?" - -"Yes, it is," returned the mother with quiet conviction. - -"And where is he studying?" - -"He has never studied anything but mining engineering. He is working -with his father here." - -The unconscious sadness of the speaker's tone impressed her listener. - -"He does landscapes, too," went on the mother, lifting one after -another of the sketches of mountain, valley, and streamlet, "a little -of everything, you see." Mrs. Sidney regarded the work wistfully. - -"Why, they're lovely," declared Mrs. Fabian. "Why don't you pin them up -on the walls?" - -"Because it rather annoys Phil's father, to see them, and it only -tantalizes the boy." - -"So Mr. Sidney isn't willing he should study?" - -"I don't think he would thwart us if he saw any hope in it, but one -can't enter on the life of an art-student without any capital. Allan -knows there is a living for Phil in the work of a mining engineer, so -he has discouraged the boy's talent." - -"It is a great responsibility to thwart a child's bent," declared Mrs. -Fabian impressively. - -"I have always felt so. I used to be very restless and anxious about -it. My husband seemed to feel that because Phil was a strapping boy, -a natural athlete, that painting was a womanish profession for him. -He had the ability to help him into mining engineering lines, and he -always pooh-poohed the idea of Phil's attempting to be an artist." Mrs. -Sidney gave a little shrug. "We didn't have the money anyway, so Allan -naturally has had his way." - -"One can't blame him," returned Mrs. Fabian, who had relaxed as the -wind ceased to shake the cabin. "Painting is even more precarious than -acting; yet what a talent the boy has!" - -She held before her a bold sketch in charcoal of the mountain-side in -the winter--few in strokes, but striking in its breadth and power. - -"He has had an offer from a newspaper in Denver to take the position of -cartoonist. His ability for caricature is good. See these of Allan." - -Mrs. Fabian laughed as she examined the small sheets. "I haven't seen -your husband for ten years, Mary, but these recall his clean-cut face -better than a photograph would, I believe. Phil rather gets back at his -father in these, doesn't he?" - -"Oh, Allan laughed at them too. He's secretly proud of Phil's -cleverness, even while he discourages it. He tells him it is all right -for an accomplishment, but a forlorn hope for a living." - -"And right he is," responded Mrs. Fabian, laying down the sketches. -"Look at Aunt Mary's experience. There she has lived alone all these -years and given her life to the attempt to make a name in the artistic -world. I go sometimes to see her, of course, for there she is right -in town, but her pictures"--Mrs. Fabian lifted her eyes to the -rafters--"they're daubs!" - -"I know," returned Mary Sidney, looking back into the fire. "She sent -me one on my last birthday. She never forgets her name-child." - -Mrs. Fabian laughed. "I fancy you wished she would, for that time." - -"No," returned the hostess, slowly, "I think Aunt Mary sees more than -she has the technique to express. She gets an effect." - -Mrs. Fabian raised her eyebrows. "She certainly does. She makes me want -to run a mile." - -"The gift led to our having a little correspondence. I sent her a -couple of Phil's sketches and she was delighted with them." - -"She might well be," was the answer. There was a brief silence, then -the visitor continued: "So Phil is something of a bone of contention -between you and his father?" - -"It is our only difference. Yet it can scarcely even be called that, -because it is a fact that we haven't the money to give him the start he -should have." - -Mrs. Fabian looked at her cousin curiously. - -"So this new calmness of yours--this repose. It is resignation, at -least, if not despair." - -Mary Sidney smiled at the fire. "No," she returned, "I told you. It is -faith." - -"Religion?" - -"Yes, religion. Not the sort of ideas we were brought up in, Isabel. -Something quite different." - -"What is it, then? Where did you find it?" - -"It found me." - -"How mysterious! Is that wind coming up again, Mary?" - -"How it blew that night!" said Mary Sidney thoughtfully, still looking -into the fire. "It was just before Thanksgiving, I remember, five -years ago. Allan and I had come up to the mine, Phil had gone back to -college, and one night a belated traveller, overtaken by the storm -which came up as suddenly as this, stopped at the door and asked if he -could stay all night with us. He was one of these vital men, full of -energy, who seem to exhale good cheer. Allan thoroughly enjoyed a talk -with him that evening, and when we went to bed I remember his sighing -and remarking that a man must be either a fool or a philosopher who -could keep such an optimistic outlook on life as this Mr. Tremaine. -I returned that perhaps our guest had struck a gold-mine here in the -mountains, and I remember how Allan grumbled--'Either that, or the pot -of gold at the end of the rainbow.' - -"Allan came in here once, where we had left the guest to sleep on the -couch, to see if he wanted anything; and he found him reading in front -of the embers. When he came back he remarked: 'That fellow has a smile -that doesn't usually last beyond the tenth year.' The next morning -dawned bright and our guest was in haste to depart. He tried in the -nicest way to pay us for taking in a stranger, and we quite honestly -told him that if any money were to pass it should go from us to him -for cheering our exile. He took from his pocket a small black book and -held it out to me. 'Then,' he said, 'may I leave with you a little -book which has broken up the clouds of life for me, and let the light -stream through? You have time up here to read,--and to think?' He made -the addition with that smile which had roused Allan's curiosity, shook -hands with us both, thanked us again, mounted his horse and rode away. -We never saw him afterward. I often wish I knew where he was, that I -might thank him." - -"What was the book?" asked Mrs. Fabian, impressed by the fervor of the -other's tone. - -"A--a commentary on the Bible. A new light on the meaning of the Bible." - -"How queer! I'm sure I thought our family knew as much about the Bible -as the average of decent people." - -Mrs. Fabian's tone was slightly resentful. - -"We did," returned Mary Sidney. - -"So that's what you meant a few minutes ago by the calm of faith." - -Mrs. Sidney nodded. "I know now what that sentence means: 'Cast your -burden on the Lord.' Phil is the most precious thing on earth to me. -The years seem to be slipping by without showing us a possible path -to what we wish. 'Wait patiently on the Lord' doesn't mean inaction -either. I've learned that. I know that at the right time--the right -moment--circumstances will arise to show us if Phil is to--" - -A sudden blast of wind brought a start and a muffled exclamation from -the guest, and at the same instant a stamping sounded outside. The -lamp-flames rose wildly, and smoked in the instant of opening the door -wide enough to admit the lithe form of a man whose shoulders and soft -felt hat glistened with snow. He quickly closed the door and stamped -again, taking off the hat from his short damp locks and shaking it -vigorously. - -"Phil, this is my cousin, Mrs. Fabian," said Mrs. Sidney. "You used to -call her Aunt Isabel when you were a little chap and we went to visit -her once. Do you remember?" - -"When a cousin is once removed she becomes an aunt," declared Mrs. -Fabian, looking the young man over with approval. - -"My hand is too wet to shake," he said, meeting her interested gaze, -his own luminous in the firelight. - -"Lucky boy! You have your mother's eyes!" she exclaimed. - -"Oh, no," said Mary Sidney; "Phil's are blue." - -"Dark with terror, then!" exclaimed Mrs. Fabian, again anxious. "Isn't -the storm frightful?" - -Phil's amused glance sought his mother's. - -"It's sort of spitting outside," he returned, unbuttoning his corduroy -coat. - -"You're making fun of a tenderfoot," said Mrs. Fabian, watching his -keen face admiringly. "Don't pretend. What have you done with my poor -innocent husband?" - -"He'll be up here in a few minutes with my poor innocent father who has -been showing him why he'll never be a millionaire out of that mine." - -"What do I care if he isn't, so long as he isn't lost in this storm!" - -"I came on ahead because the mail had just been brought in." As he -spoke, the young man brought a small bunch of letters and papers from -an inner pocket. - -"A great excitement, Isabel," said the hostess. "Only twice a week, you -know." - -"There's another letter from the Denver paper," went on Phil, looking -at his mother steadily. - -"You'll forgive us if we open everything, won't you, Isabel?" asked -Mrs. Sidney. - -"Indeed, yes. Don't mind me." Mrs. Fabian returned to her chair by the -fire and regarded the pair who seated themselves by the table. - -Phil had slipped off the damp coat, and his arm in its striped linen -sleeve was thrown around his mother's shoulders. - -The visitor's eyes filled with something like envy. Kathleen and Edgar -were her step-children, the boy had been five years of age when she -began to be, to use her own declaration, the best stepmother in the -world. Edgar would never think of reading his letters with her in this -frankly affectionate attitude. Must one live on a mountain-top, she -wondered, to win the sort of look she had seen in this son's eyes? - -"I've been showing your Aunt Isabel your sketches, Phil," said Mrs. -Sidney, holding open a letter they had just read. "I told her about the -Denver paper. This is another offer from them, Isabel, an increased -offer." - -"I'm sure that's very flattering," returned Mrs. Fabian. - -Phil did not speak. His straight brows were knit in perplexity, and his -lips were set in the look of longing that his mother knew. - -"I don't know this writing from New York," said Mrs. Sidney, opening -the next letter. - -Glancing over it she gave a startled exclamation. - -"Whew!" breathed the boy, reading over her shoulder. "Poor Aunt Mary!" - -"Isabel, Aunt Mary has gone!" exclaimed Mrs. Sidney. - -"What! I didn't know she was ill. She wasn't ill. Who is there to -attend to things? Who wrote you?" - -"Eliza Brewster. This is from her. It was very sudden. She had been -at work at her easel an hour before. How sad it seems! How lonely! I -wish we had both been there, Isabel. There is the letter." Phil took it -across to Mrs. Fabian. "You see. She was buried day before yesterday. -Oh, I'm glad we had that little interchange in the summer. Eliza loves -her, but, after all, she is not her own." - -Phil mechanically opened another letter. His thoughts were with that -unknown relative with cravings like to his, working through the -gathering years toward a goal which had ever retreated before her. -He unfolded a business letter. It enclosed a small sealed envelope -addressed to himself in another handwriting. - -"Aunt Mary's!" said his mother. The son's arm was again around her as -with heads close together they perused the following:-- - - MY DEAR GRAND-NEPHEW, PHILIP SIDNEY:-- - - When you open this letter, I shall have gone to a world where surely I - shall be permitted to come nearer to the source of beauty. - - My family all consider me a failure. I know it. They have laughed at - my poor efforts. I know it; but since your mother wrote to me a month - ago, sending me your sketches and telling me your longings, I have - felt that out in the free Western country, there lives one with my - blood in his veins, who will understand the thirst that has led me on, - and nerved me to untiring effort--that has made it my only hope of - happiness to live as I have lived, and work as I have worked. He will - also understand, perhaps, that few as my rewards have been, I have - occasionally felt that some beauty has crept through my brain and been - fixed to the canvas, and that such moments have given me the highest - bliss this world could bestow. - - For a month, then, I have taken comfort in my artist-boy, no matter if - you are known to others as an engineer. I have kept on my easel the - photograph your mother sent me, and every day while I work, I look - from time to time into your eyes, your mother's lovely eyes. I rejoice - in your thick hair, and your splendid chin and firm, full-curved - mouth. It isn't often that a head wanders from the Louvre and becomes - set on a pair of modern shoulders. I, the old woman, peering through - her spectacles, and painting with a hand that is often far from - steady, have found a joy in studying the harmony of your promise. You - have my blood in your veins, but you will succeed where I have failed. - A happy failure, Philip. Don't feel sad for me. I've had moments of - joy that no one knew. No one took the trouble to know; but nobody is - to blame. Lives are very full in these rushing days. - - I believe in you, and I long for you to get started toward that - land where you fain would be. Your mother says that the door hasn't - opened yet. Looking into your young eyes, a great thought came to - me. Supposing I, the ineffectual, could set that door ajar! With - the thought came the first great regret for my poverty. Never mind, - thought I stoutly; if I can set that door a wee bit open, his young - strength can do the rest! - - I have had warnings that soon the great door will be opened for me; - the door that ushers in to the heart's desire. Mine has been for Truth - and Beauty, O God, Thou knowest! - - So I am making my will--such a poor little short will; but all for - you, my kindred spirit, my knight who will deliver from failure, my - Philip Sidney. - - The faithful maid Eliza will take care of my effects for you. You will - find some useful things among the paraphernalia here. I look at my old - easel and wonder if it will ever be promoted to hold a canvas of yours. - - This letter will be enclosed to you in one from my lawyer, telling - you the business side of my wishes. The heart side no one can tell. I - swell with longing for your success, and happiness; and so good-bye. - - The mother who never had a son, gains one in you. The painter who - never was an artist, becomes one in you! - - And so, dear, I am your happy - - AUNT MARY. - -Mary Sidney and her boy exchanged a look. With unsteady hands Phil -straightened the legal letter, and they read it together. Then they -rose from the table with one accord. - -Mrs. Fabian, wrapped in thought, looked up at the sudden movement. - -Phil's concentrated gaze went past her to the fire, and he stood -motionless, one hand leaning on the table, the other arm around his -mother. Mary Sidney clasped the rustling paper to her breast. All the -self-forgetfulness of mother-love shone in her wet eyes as she met Mrs. -Fabian's questioning look. - -"Isabel, I told you it would come," she said. "I told you we should -know. The light is here. Phil is going to New York." - - - - -CHAPTER II - -SEVERED COMPANIONSHIP - - -Eliza Brewster could count on the fingers of one hand the number of -times that tears had escaped her pale eyes. She had always felt for -those who wept easily, the same leniency without comprehension that she -entertained for women who fainted. - -Trials had come and gone in her life; but never, since the day when she -discovered some boys maltreating her cat, had she shed such tears as -flowed now in her sorrow. The cat's abbreviated tail bore witness still -to that day's conflict, but both his wound and hers had healed. - -When would this new wound cease to ache and palpitate! Each day there -in the lonely flat, Eliza Brewster renewed war with the memories to -which she had no mind to succumb. The gentleness of her mistress, -her innocent, ever-springing hope, her constant disappointments, the -solitariness of her narrow life, the neglect of her relatives--all -these things recurred to the faithful handmaiden with the terrific -appeal which contracts the newly bereft heart, causing it to bleed -afresh. Mary Ballard, in spite of her twenty years' greater age, had -been child as well as mistress to the faithful woman, who cared for -the quiet, shy dreamer of dreams through the twenty-five years of the -latter's widowhood. - -Now Eliza's occupation was gone. All her rather hard philosophy, all -her habitual self-possession, was swamped in a world where she could -no longer call her dear one from the easel to her meals; and where -the rooms of the little apartment grew spacious and echoed from sheer -emptiness. - -Mrs. Ballard had bequeathed her maid all her clothing, and all her -personal possessions, save one old-fashioned diamond brooch, which was -to be sent to her namesake, Mary Sidney. Some weeks before her death, -she told Eliza of the disposition of her effects. In referring to the -small gift of money which was to be hers, she said:-- - -"I wish it were more, Eliza, but," looking wistfully into the eyes of -her companion, "I have a great mission for my little capital as I have -told you. If only the amount were as great as the object!" - -"Nonsense, talking about wills," rejoined Eliza brusquely, a new -delicacy in the loved face making her tone sharp, "more likely I'll be -leaving something to you; though I don't know what it would be, unless -'twas the cat." - -Mrs. Ballard smiled. "Not a bad legacy," she replied. "Pluto is very -sympathetic. He likes to watch me paint. He has really concluded to -endure the smell of oil and turpentine just to keep me company." - -At the moment the night-black cat was lifting green eyes of approval -to his own portrait which stood near, and Mrs. Ballard buried a -veined hand in his glossy fur. A few weeks later that hand was still. -Oh, the dear garments with the outline of the wearer still warm in -their curves! Who has not known the tender, overpowering anguish of -their touch? Every day Eliza tried to systematize and pack her new -belongings, and every day she postponed the ordeal until to-morrow. - -Mrs. Ballard's watch alone stood on the table at the head of her bed, -hanging in the little satin slipper just as it had ticked beside her -mistress's sleeping form so many years. The watch seemed as alive as -Pluto, and almost as much of a companion. It spoke eloquently of the -gentle being who had always been unconscious of its warnings. - -On the mantelpiece in the living-room, which had been studio as well, -was Philip Sidney's photograph and his two sketches, one of his mother, -and one of a storm-beaten tree. They were the two that Mary Sidney -had sent in response to her aunt's gift in the summer-time. All three -pictures were turned now to the wall. Mrs. Sidney was a relative. That -stamped her for Eliza. The sketches had been either the vainglorious -gift of a fond mamma, or else prompted by hope of the very result they -had gained. As for the photograph of the artist, Eliza could not deny -that it had marvellously cheered and companioned the last months of her -dear one's life. - -Indeed, in those days, recent yet already seeming so long past, -Eliza, out in her kitchen, had often laughed grimly to herself at the -infatuation for the picture shown by her mistress. - -"If she was sixteen she couldn't be more head over heels in love," she -would soliloquize. "I s'pose an artist has got to be just so stirred -up by good looks, whether it's a landscape or a human; but I know I -wouldn't trust a handsome man around the corner with a dog's dinner." - -In pursuance of these reflections, when her mistress had gone, Phil's -picture went with the sketches, his face to the wall. - -Eliza's attitude toward the whole world was defiance on the subject of -her mistress's lifework. Of course, Mrs. Ballard was an artist; a great -artist. Eliza knew it must be so, there were so many of her pictures -that she could not understand. - -A canvas which was a blur to her contained so much which the painter -would explain while Eliza stood devotedly by, dutifully assenting to -the unravelling of the snarl of form and color. - -"You don't care for it, do you, Eliza?" the artist would say sometimes, -wistfully. - -"Indeed, I do, Mrs. Ballard," would come the response, and never words -rang more prompt and true. "I'm just one o' those folks so practical, -I can't see an inch before my nose and I've never had advantages. I -haven't got any insight, as you call it, beyond a dishpan; but when you -explain it so clear, that's when I begin to see." - -This latter was a loyal lie; as a rule, Eliza never did see; but she -applauded just the same with vague murmurs of wonder and admiration. - -It hurt the faithful soul even now to recall how, when the sketches -came from the West, her mistress had eagerly examined them, and bitten -her lip, her eyes glistening. "There's the true touch, Eliza," she had -said quietly. "This boy has a spark of the divine fire." - -"Pooh! I don't think so at all," Eliza had returned stoutly and -contemptuously. "Of course, that drawin' of his mother is pleasant -enough, but you haven't seen her in years. You don't know how good the -likeness is; and as for that landscape, that rough twisted tree most -blown off its feet and clouds racin' above those rocks, nobody'd ever -think they was anything except just what they are, a tree and rocks and -clouds; awful pokerish, I call it, not a bit pretty." Eliza's long nose -lifted in scorn. - -Mrs. Ballard smiled and bowed her head over the wind-blown tree. - -"My flesh and blood, still," she murmured. - -Now, in the dreary days, Eliza moved about aimlessly, forgetting to -eat, and roused only by Pluto's indignant _meows_, to remember that, -though he might mourn, still he felt that he owed it to himself to keep -his coat glossy by milk baths, taken internally. - -Never had he known such long luxurious naps in the lap of his mistress -as now. Wrapped in thought she sat for hours without moving; the -irrepressible tears welling up from her heart and creeping, one by one, -down her thin cheeks. - -She had made no friends in the cheap apartment building where they -lived. It was a changing population, which ebbed and flowed at the -mercy of its own financial tide. - -"There ain't a lady in this house except you," Eliza had been wont to -say to her mistress. - -"I don't believe we know that," Mrs. Ballard had rejoined; "but we're -too busy for neighboring, aren't we, Eliza?" - -Whenever there had been any leisure, Mrs. Ballard had taken her -handmaiden to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. - -Not for worlds would Eliza mar the joy with which her mistress bestowed -upon her this treat. So she climbed endless stairs, and plodded weary -miles with fortitude, having ready a response to every worshipful -utterance with which Mrs. Ballard pointed out this and that marvel. - -"Wonderful, ain't it!" Eliza would respond with the regularity of -clockwork. - -"How I love to get you out of that kitchen, Eliza, up into this -atmosphere of genius!" her mistress would say, in a burst of affection -for the strong mainspring of her household. - -"Wonderful, ain't it!" returned the beneficiary, stepping on the other -foot in the effort to rest one leg. - -The sight of the very exterior of the great repository of art-treasures -caused Eliza's bones to ache, if she caught sight of the imposing pile -from a car window. - -One day, however, all this was changed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art -rose in Eliza's estimation to the level of her own kitchen where a -chromo depicting kittens in various attitudes of abandon hung over the -table. - -Mistress and maid were doing the well-worn circuit. The faithful echo -had repeated "Wonderful, ain't it!" for the twentieth time. The ardor -in Mrs. Ballard's eyes was lending wings to her slender body, but Eliza -had lagged, spurred on, and rested the other leg, until, to paraphrase -a bit from Mr. Lowell-- - - "On which leg she felt the worse, - She couldn't 'a' told you, 'nother,"-- - -when suddenly an inspiration of deliverance seized her. The fact that -it had not seized her months before was simply another proof of -devotion to the sun of her existence. Each time she entered the massive -gates to her place of torture, she left such mentality as she possessed -behind her. As well might a fish be expected to navigate in the free -air of heaven as Eliza in these marble halls. This was her mistress's -element. Let her guide. But one memorable day the two were standing -before a marine. - -"Oh, Eliza, that's new!" exclaimed Mrs. Ballard; and from the vigor of -her tone, her handmaid feared the worst. She had believed they were -nearly ready to depart. Now her companion seemed inspired for another -two hours. - -"Might it not have been painted from your island," continued Mrs. -Ballard. "What adorable work!" - -"Wonderful, ain't it!" came Eliza's wooden accents. - -"What feeling!" murmured her rapt companion. - -"I only hope 'tain't sciatica," thought Eliza, wiggling her hip. Her -casually roving eye caught sight of one vacancy on the bench in the -middle of the room. - -"Don't you want to sit down a spell and look at it, Mrs. Ballard?" she -asked. "There's a place." - -"No," was the slow, absent reply. "I seem to prefer to stand in its -presence--a royal presence, Eliza." - -Miss Brewster waited no longer. With incontinent haste she limped, -as in seven-league boots, toward the desired haven. She saw that a -portly gentleman was heading for the same spot. She sprinted. She beat -him by a toe's length, and nearly received him on her maiden lap. He -recovered himself and glared at her. She maintained an unconscious air, -her gaze fixed on the sky of the marine painting. It was all she could -see; there were so many standing in front of her, welcoming this new -treasure to the home of beauty. - -Presently Mrs. Ballard, missing her shadow, looked about and at last -descried Eliza. She approached, her small, veined hands clasped on her -breast for joy. - -"It seems as if it must have been done from the island!" she exclaimed. -"How can you sit down, Eliza! I should think it would take you straight -to your old home!" - -Miss Brewster did not say that she thought there was more likelihood of -her again seeing her native place if she did sit down; but for once -her clockwork did not act. It seemed as if the succumbing of her legs -had impeded the other mechanism. - -"I just felt as if I had to, Mrs. Ballard," she answered numbly. - -"You dear!" exclaimed her mistress impulsively, speaking low. "I might -have known it. You felt overcome. I don't wonder. It took me back to -the island, too, in a flash! I dare say you often conceal homesickness -from me, Eliza. We must try to go there next summer! I did use to think -that perhaps Mrs. Fabian--but, no matter; we can go on our own account, -Eliza, and we will, too." - -"It would be lots better for you than staying here in summer, that's -sure." - -Mrs. Ballard sighed, "Yes, if only the rent didn't keep on, and keep -on." - -Eliza knew the arguments. She did not pursue the subject now. She rose, -keeping firm pressure, however, against the bench. - -"Take this place, Mrs. Ballard, and rest a minute." - -"Oh, I'm not a bit tired. I thought we'd take one or two more rooms. -The light is wonderful to-day." - -Up to the present moment Eliza in this temple of genius had, as has -been said, galvanized her energies and followed where her mistress led, -at any cost, as unquestioningly as the needle follows the magnet; but -this was the moment of her emancipation. Mrs. Ballard herself gave her -the cue, for she added with consideration for an unwonted sentiment:-- - -"Unless you'd rather stay and look at that reminder of home a while -longer, Eliza? I'll come back for you." - -"Oh, would you, just as soon, Mrs. Ballard?" - -The eagerness of the tone touched her mistress. - -"Why, of course, my dear, do so; but I'd get up if I were you." Eliza -had sunk back upon the bench with the certainty and impact of a -pile-driver. "There is such a crowd you can't see anything from here -but the sky." - -"I feel as if I could look at that sky for a week," responded Eliza -with a sincerity which admitted of no doubt. - -"It is wonderful, isn't it?" returned her mistress, unconscious of -plagiarism. She patted Eliza's shoulder. "I'll be back soon," she -assured her, and moved away. - -"The good creature!" she thought. "How selfish I have been to her! -I ought occasionally to let her go home; but I know she'd never go -without me. She wouldn't believe that I'd eat three meals a day, no -matter how faithfully I promised." And Mrs. Ballard laughed a little -before becoming engrossed in an old favorite. - -She was gone so long that Eliza cogitated with newly acquired ingenuity. - -"It's a good thing," she reflected, "that the fool-catcher ain't -artistic. He'd 'a' caught me here lots o' times. Supposin' I was with -that dear crazy critter all this time, hoppin' along in misery, or -standin' in front o' some paintin' like a stork." Eliza's light eyes -twinkled. "Why shouldn't I set up a taste in pictures, too? Just watch -me from this on." - -After this day Mrs. Ballard did observe with joy a transformation in -her handmaid's attitude. When they visited the galleries Eliza would -move along with her usual calm until suddenly some picture would -particularly hold her attention. - -"Is that a very fine paintin'?" she would ask of her cicerone. - -"Which one, Eliza? Oh, yes, I see. Certainly, or it wouldn't be here; -but in that next room are those I thought we should make a study of -to-day." - -Eliza's light eyes swept the unbroken polished surface of the floor -of the adjoining room. "I know I haven't got very far along in -understandin' these things," she said modestly, "but to my eyes there -is a certain somethin' there,"--she paused and let her transfixed gaze -toward the chosen picture say the rest. - -Mrs. Ballard held her lip between her teeth reflectively as she looked -at it too. On that first occasion it was a summer landscape painted at -sunset. - -"We've passed it many times," she thought, "but it's evident that Eliza -is waking up!" - -The reflection was exultant. Far be it from Mrs. Ballard to interrupt -the birth throes of her companion's artistic consciousness. - -"Then stay right here, Eliza, as long as you wish," she replied -sympathetically. "I shall be near by." - -She hurried away in her light-footed fashion, and Eliza continued to -stand before her cynosure long enough to disarm possible suspicion, and -then backed thoughtfully away until she reached a bench upon which she -sank, still with eyes upon the picture. - -Mrs. Ballard from the next room observed her trance. - -"She is waking up. Her eyes are opening, bless her heart," she thought. -"Constant dropping does wear the stone." - -Eliza would have paraphrased the proverb and declared that constant -dropping saves the life. - -From this day on she professed, and triumphantly acted upon, an -appreciation for certain pictures; and Mrs. Ballard marvelled with -pride at the catholicity of her taste; for such serpentine wisdom -did Eliza display in passing, unseeing, many an inviting bench, that -never, to their last pilgrimage to Mrs. Ballard's mecca, did the latter -suspect the source of her companion's modest enthusiasm. - -"Poor thing," thought Eliza during these periods of rest; "it's a sin -and a shame that she hasn't got anybody worthy to come with her. If -those relatives of hers were, any of 'em, fit to live, one of 'em would -bring her here sometimes. The poor dear, as long as she hasn't a soul -but an ignorant country body like me to sympathize with her, I've got -to do my best; and really if I set a spell once in a while, I'll have -more sprawl and can seem to enjoy it more. It's awful hard when you -can't think of anything but your joints! I'm younger'n she is, and I'm -ashamed o' gettin' so tuckered; but she's got some kind o' wings that -seem to lift her along." - -Mrs. Ballard, from the next room, caught Eliza's eye, smiled, and -nodded, well pleased. So the era of peace ensued; and when Miss -Brewster caught sight from a street car of the Metropolitan Museum of -Art, she was able to regard it without a frown. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -MRS. FABIAN'S VISIT - - -Eliza was not obliged to give up the apartment until the end of the -month. Hence her drifting from day to day, and Pluto's naps in the lap -of luxury. - -All her energy and systematic habits were in a state of suspension. Her -clocks ran down. The watch in the tiny satin slipper beside her bed -alone ticked the minutes away, and when Eliza wound it her eyes were -too wet to see the time. Night fell and she went to bed. Morning dawned -and she arose. She drank tea, but it was too much trouble to eat. - -One day the bell rang. At first she determined not to answer it. Then -second thought came to her. What was she waiting here for except to -answer the bell? Was her next duty not to introduce the usurper into -his kingdom--to give into his desecrating hands those objects,--easel, -palette, brushes, paints,--hallowed by her dear one's use? At the sound -of a knock she hastened to fling open the door. Mrs. Fabian, elegantly -gowned and furred, stood before her. - -Eliza gazed at this apparition dumb. - -"Why, Eliza Brewster," exclaimed the visitor with concern, "I scarcely -knew you." After the mutual gaze of astonishment the caller moved in -with her air of stately assurance, and Eliza followed her perforce into -the living-room. Here Mrs. Fabian swiftly examined the possibilities of -the scanty chairs, then seated herself in the largest. - -"You have been ill, too, Eliza? You look like a ghost!" - -The gaunt woman in the alpaca dress, so filled with resentment that she -begrudged her own tears because they informed this "relative" of her -grief, stood in silence with a beating heart. - -"Sit down, you poor creature," went on Mrs. Fabian, unsuspecting hidden -fires. - -They burned higher at the tone of patronage, but Eliza, weakened from -mourning and lack of food, felt her knees trembling and sank into the -nearest chair. - -Mrs. Fabian, genuinely touched by the ravages she saw, broke the -silence that followed. - -"I was greatly surprised and shocked to hear of Aunt Mary's sudden -going." - -She began to feel uncomfortable under the set gaze of Eliza's swollen -eyes. - -"I suppose you sent to my house at once, and found that Mr. Fabian and -I were in the far West." - -"No, I didn't think of sending," returned Eliza. - -"You should have done so. Surely there was no one nearer to Aunt Mary -than I." - -"It was in the paper," said Eliza dully. - -"Had I been here I should, of course, have taken charge of the funeral." - -The pale eyes emitted a curious light. - -"No, you wouldn't, Mrs. Fabian," was the quiet reply. - -"Why do you say that?" - -"Because the time for you to have done something for Mrs. Ballard was -while she was alive." - -Eliza was too spent physically to speak other than softly, but her -words brought the amazed color to her visitor's face. - -"You are presuming," Mrs. Fabian said, after a moment. "What do you -know about it? I suppose Aunt Mary did not think it worth while to -tell you all the things I did for her." - -"No," agreed Eliza, "she never said a word about the times you came -with your automobile to take her riding; nor the picture exhibitions -you took her to see, or the way you had her to dinner Thanksgivin' time -and other times, or how you had her to spend part o' the summer with -you at the island, or--" - -"Eliza Brewster, what does this mean!" Mrs. Fabian's eyes were dilated. -"Aunt Mary was not related to my husband or to his children. I never -expected him to marry my family." - -Miss Brewster's gaze was fixed upon the speaker with pale scorn, but -the latter continued with what she endeavored to make a dignified -defence. "I always sent Aunt Mary a present at Christmas." - -"Yes," interrupted Eliza. "Last season 'twas a paper-cutter. You gave -her cuts enough without that." - -"And I called upon her at intervals," continued the visitor in a -heightened tone to drown the small voice. - -"Intervals of a year," said Eliza. - -Mrs. Fabian started to rise, but bethought herself, and sank back. - -"You are impertinent," she said coldly. "A person in your position -cannot understand the duties of one in mine. There can be no discussion -between you and me." The speaker stirred in her chair and collected -herself. "I--and every one of Aunt Mary's relatives--appreciate your -faithful service to her, and thank you for it." - -"Don't you dare!" ejaculated Eliza, with such sudden belligerency that -Mrs. Fabian started. - -"You're almost crazed with fatigue and grief, poor creature," she said -at last. "I can see that you are scarcely responsible for what you say -to-day. You must take a long rest. Shall you go home to the island or -take another place in town? I can find you one." - -Mrs. Fabian felt the superiority of her own self-control as she made -this kind offer; besides, in these troublous days with servants, -steady, reliable Eliza, with a sure touch in cookery, was not to be -despised. The visitor accompanied her offer with a soothing attempt at -a smile. - -Eliza had relapsed into dullness. "I won't trouble you," she said. - -"It would not be any trouble," was the magnanimous reply. "Just let me -know any time when you would like a reference, Eliza. It will give me -pleasure to reward your faithfulness." - -Mrs. Fabian loved approval quite as much as she did admiration. -She would feel much more comfortable to win that of even this -uncompromising, cranky individual, so lined with the signs of -suffering. As Eliza Brewster was a native of the island where Mrs. -Fabian had resorted from the days of her girlhood, she had a very -slight but old acquaintance with this woman. As she glanced at the -thin hair, now fast turning grey, the sunken eyes and cheeks, and the -bony, roughened hands, she shuddered beneath her ermine-lined sables, -to remember that she and Eliza Brewster were about the same age. She -passed a white-gloved hand over the firm contour of her smooth cheek as -if to make sure of its firmness. "I believe it was I who recommended -you to Aunt Mary in the first place, long ago," she added. - -"That's one o' your mistakes," said Eliza drily. - -"On the contrary," returned Mrs. Fabian graciously. She was determined -to warm this forlorn specimen of New England frigidity into something -humanly companionable, else how was she going to attain the object of -her visit? She went on with such flattery of manner as she might have -employed toward a desirable débutante. "It has proved quite the best -thing that I ever did for Aunt Mary; securing her comfort and thereby -the peace of mind of all who belonged to her. Don't call it a mistake, -Eliza." - -"However that may be," returned the other immovably, "'t wa'n't you -that did it. 'Twas your Cousin Mary." - -"Oh--was it? Oh, indeed?" responded Mrs. Fabian, slipping back her furs -still further. Eliza Brewster's disagreeable manner was making her -nervous. "Yes, I believe Mrs. Sidney was with us on her wedding-trip -just at that time. Mr. Fabian and I have just returned from visiting -Mrs. Sidney out in her wild mountain home." - -Eliza's eyes roved involuntarily to two blank sheets of board standing -on the mantelpiece; but she was silent. - -"Do you know the contents of Aunt Mary's will, Eliza?" asked Mrs. -Fabian, after waiting vainly for an inquiry as to her cousin's -well-being. - -"I do." - -"What do you think of it?" - -"That don't matter, does it?" - -A streak of light illumined Mrs. Fabian's annoyance. Ah, that was -what was the matter with Eliza. After twenty-five years of faithful -service, she had expected to inherit her mistress's few hundreds. Full -explanation, this, of the present sullenness. The disappointment must, -indeed, have been bitter. - -Mrs. Fabian felt an impulse of genuine sympathy. She knew the singular -loneliness of Eliza's situation; knew that she had no near kin, and the -transplanting from the island home had been complete. What an outlook -now, was Eliza Brewster's! - -"Perhaps the will was as much of a surprise to you as it was to the -rest of us," Mrs. Fabian went on. "The Sidneys were amazed. They didn't -tell me just how much Aunt Mary left young Mr. Sidney. Do you know?" - -"Yes," replied Eliza promptly. - -And again Mrs. Fabian looked at her interrogatively. As well question -the Sphinx. She comprehended the stony closing of the thin lips. There -might be a combination which would make them open, but she did not -have it. She shrugged her fine-cloth shoulders. "Oh, well, it doesn't -matter. It must have been very little, anyway." - -She sighed. She must get at her business, though she dreaded absurdly -to introduce it. "Well, Eliza, if you will take me to Aunt Mary's room, -I will go through her belongings. It is always the most painful duty -connected with a death, but it cannot be escaped." - -Eliza stared at her, speechless. - -"Aunt Mary had a few very nice things," went on Mrs. Fabian. She tried -to smile as at a loving memory. "The regulation treasures of a dear old -lady,--her diamond ring, a diamond brooch, and a camel's hair shawl--My -heavens!" cried the visitor, interrupting herself suddenly with a -shriek of terror. "Take it away! Take it away!" - -She clung to the back of her chair; for Pluto, silent as a shadow, had -sprung upon the ends of her pelerine as they lay in her lap and was -daintily nosing the fur, while perilously grasping its richness, his -eyes glowing with excitement. Eliza rose, and sweeping him into one arm -resumed her seat. - -"Oh, how that frightened me!" Mrs. Fabian panted and looked angrily at -the animal with the jetty coat and abbreviated tail, whose eyes, live -emeralds, expanded and contracted as they glowed still upon the coveted -fur. - -If she expected an apology, none came. Eliza's pale face showed no -emotion. Endurance was written in every line. - -"To be interrupted at such a critical moment!" Mrs. Fabian felt it was -unbearable. - -"Let me see"--she began again with a little laugh. "Your pet knocked -everything out of my head, Eliza. Oh, yes, I was saying that I will -look over Aunt Mary's things now." - -She rose as she spoke. Eliza kept her seat. - -"You can't do that, Mrs. Fabian." - -"I certainly shall, Eliza Brewster. What do you mean?" - -"I mean that they're mine. She left 'em all to me." - -The speaker struggled to control the trembling of her lips. - -The visitor looked the limp black alpaca figure over, haughtily. - -"Aunt Mary left you her diamond ring, her diamond brooch, and her -camel's hair shawl?" she asked sceptically. - -"She left her diamond brooch to her namesake, Mrs. Sidney. I sent it to -her a week ago." - -"Then, since you know Aunt Mary's wishes, what did she leave me? The -ring?" - -"No, ma'am!" - -"The shawl?" - -"No, ma'am." - -Mrs. Fabian's nostrils dilated. - -"My aunt's poor trifles are nothing to me, of course, except for -sentiment's sake," she said haughtily. - -Eliza bowed her bitter face over Pluto's fur. - -"I am quite sure, however, that she did not pass away without some -mention of me,--her sister's child." - -"She did, though, Mrs. Fabian. If it's a keepsake you want," added -Eliza drily, "you may have the paper-cutter. It's never been out o' the -box." - -The visitor, still standing, eyed the other with compressed lips before -she spoke:-- - -"I have told you that I don't consider you responsible to-day. You are -half-crazed, and I'm sorry for you. Answer me this, however, and mind, -I shall verify your words by a visit to Mrs. Ballard's lawyer. Did my -aunt leave you, legally, all her personal possessions?" - -"She did." - -Mrs. Fabian maintained another space of silence, gazing at the seated -figure, whose gown looked rusty behind the polished lynx-black pressed -against it. There was no mistaking the truth in the pale, wretched eyes. - -"Disappointed about the money, though, and taking out her ill temper on -me," thought the visitor. - -To Eliza's increased heaviness of heart, the lady resumed her seat. - -"Aunt Mary's death was sudden and unexpected and that explains her -not speaking of me," she said; "but I know it would please her that I -should use something that she had owned. I remember that shawl as being -a very good one. It came to her from some of her husband's people. I'll -buy that of you, Eliza." - -"Will you?" returned the other, and Pluto emitted an indignant yowl and -tried to leap from the tightening hold. - -"Don't you let him go, Eliza!" cried Mrs. Fabian in a panic. "He's -crazy about my fur. They always are.--Yes, the shawl is of no use to -you and the money will be. It is so fine, it would be wicked to cut it -into a wrap. I shall spread it on my grand piano." - -Silence, while Eliza struggled still to control the trembling lips, -and Pluto twisted to escape her imprisoning arm. - -"I'm willing to give you twenty-five dollars for that shawl." - -Mrs. Fabian waited, and presently Eliza spoke:-- - -"It ain't enough," she said, against her impeding breath. - -"Fifty, then. We all feel grateful to you." - -"Mrs. Fabian," Eliza sat up in her chair as if galvanized and looked -her visitor in the eyes, while she spoke with unsteady solemnity, "the -price o' that shawl is one million dollars." - -The visitor stared at the shabby figure with the grey, unkempt locks, -then shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "You'll come to your senses, -Eliza," she said. "Some day that fifty dollars will look very good to -you. I'll hold the offer open--" - -"Likewise," added Eliza, breaking in upon her words with heightened -voice, but the same deliberation, "that is the price of each -handkerchief she left me, and each one of her little, wornout slippers, -and her--" - -She could get no further. She choked. Mrs. Fabian rose; Pluto, with -another cry and a supreme writhe, tore himself from his iron prison. - -The visitor shuddered, and looked at him fearfully, as his eager eyes -seemed to threaten her. She hastened precipitately toward the door. - -Eliza, putting the utmost constraint upon herself, rose and ushered her -out. - -Mrs. Fabian uttered a brief good-bye. Eliza was beyond speech. - -While the visitor entered her waiting car, and sank with relief among -its cushions, the mourner stood, her back against the closed door, and -her eyes closed. - -Restrained drops ran down her cheeks in well-worn ruts, and -occasionally a spasmodic sob shook the slight form. - -Pluto came to her feet, his short tail stiffly outstretched and his -half-closed eyes lifted to the sightless face. In the long silence he -rubbed himself against her feet in token of forgiveness. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -PHILIP SIDNEY - - -The Fabians had given Philip Sidney a pressing invitation to spend -his first week in New York with them. When he arrived, however, and -announced himself at the house, through some misunderstanding there was -no one there to receive him save the servants. - -A comely maid apologized for the absence of her mistress, saying that -Mr. Sidney had not been expected until the following day; and showing -him to his room she left him to his own devices. - -Emerging from his bath and toilet, he found Mrs. Fabian not yet -returned. It was but four o'clock, and he decided to go to the Ballard -apartment and attend to his errand there. - -Eliza had been doing some sweeping, the need for it goading her New -England conscience to action. Her brown calico dress was pinned up -over her petticoat, and her stern, lined face looked out from a -sweeping-cap. - -There sounded suddenly a vigorous knock on her door. - -She scowled. "Some fresh agent, I s'pose," she thought. "Too sly to -speak up the tube." - -Broom in hand, she strode to the door and pulled it open with swift -indignation. - -"Why didn't you ring?" she exclaimed fiercely. "We don't want--" - -She paused, her mouth open, and stared at the young man who pulled off -a soft felt hat, and looked reassuring and breezy as he smiled. - -"I did ring, but it was the wrong apartment. There was no card -downstairs, so I started up the trail. Is this Mrs. Ballard's?" - -The frank face, which she instantly recognized, and the clear voice -that had a non-citified deliberation, accused Eliza of lack of -hospitality; and she suddenly grew intensely conscious of her cap and -petticoat. - -"Come in," she said. "I was doin' some sweepin'. The first--" she -paused abruptly and led the way down the corridor to the shabby -living-room. - -Phil's long steps followed her while his eyes shone with appreciation -of the drum-major effect of the cap and broom, and the memory of his -fierce greeting. - -"I don't wonder Aunt Mary died," he thought. "I would too." - -Meanwhile Eliza's heart was thumping. This interview was the climax -of all she had dreaded. The usurper had an even more manly and -attractive exterior than she had expected, but well she knew the brutal -indifference of youth; the selfishness that takes all things for -granted, and that secretly despises the treasures of the old. - -The haste with which she set the broom in the corner, unpinned her -dress, and pulled off her cap, was tribute to the virile masculinity -of the visitor; but the stony expression of her face was defence -from the blows which she felt he would deliver with the same airy -unconsciousness that showed in the swing of his walk. - -"You're Eliza Brewster, I'm sure," he said. "My mother knew you when -she was a girl." - -The hasty removal of Eliza's cap had caused a weird flying-out of her -locks. The direct gaze bent upon her twinkled. - -"I wonder if she'd let me paint her as Medusa," he was thinking; while -her unspoken comment was: "And she never saw his teeth! It's just as -well." - -"Yes, that's who I am," she said. "Sit down, Mr. Sidney. I've been -expectin' you." - -"You didn't behave that way," he replied good-naturedly, obeying. "I -thought at first I was going downstairs quicker than I came up, and I'd -taken them three at a time." - -His manner was disarming and Eliza smoothed her flying locks. - -"The agents try to sneak around the rules o' the house," she said -briefly. - -"So this is where Aunt Mary lived." He looked about the room with -interest. "We people in God's country hear about these flats where you -don't dare keep a dog for fear it'll wag its tail and knock something -over." - -The troublesome lump in Eliza's throat had to be swallowed, so the -visitor's keen glance swept about the bare place in silence. - -"I see she didn't go in much for jim-cracks," he added presently. - -Eliza's lump was swallowed. "Mrs. Ballard didn't care for common -things," she said coldly. "She was an artist." - -Phil comprehended vaguely that rebuke was implied, and he met the hard -gaze as he hastened to reply:-- - -"Yes, yes, I understand." An increase of the pathos he had always -discerned since learning about his great-aunt, swept over him now, face -to face with the meagreness of her surroundings. "Did Aunt Mary work in -this room? I see an easel over there." - -"Yes, she worked here." The reply came in an expressionless voice. - -"Poor Aunt Mary!" thought the visitor. "No companion but this image!" - -Eliza exerted heroic self-control as she continued: "I've got the -things packed up for you--the paints, and brushes, and palette. The -easel's yours, too. Do you want to take 'em to-day?" - -"Would it be a convenience to you if I did? Are you going to give up -the flat immediately?" - -"In a week." - -"Then I'll leave them a few days if you don't mind while I'm looking -for a room. I haven't an idea where to go. I'm more lost here than I -ever was in the woods; but the Fabians will advise me, perhaps. Mrs. -Fabian has been here to see you, I suppose." - -Eliza's thin lips parted in a monosyllable of assent. - -"What a wooden Indian!" thought Phil. Nevertheless, being a genial soul -and having heard Miss Brewster's faithfulness extolled, he talked on: -"We hear about New York streets being canyons. They are that, and the -sky-line is amazing; but the noise,--great heavens, what a racket! and -I can't seem to get a breath." - -The young fellow rose restlessly, throwing back his shoulders, and -paced the little room, filling it with his mountain stride. - -Eliza Brewster watched him. She thought of her mistress, and the pride -and joy it would have been to her to receive this six feet of manhood -under her roof. - -"She wouldn't 'a' kept her sentimental dreams long," reflected Eliza -bitterly. "He'd 'a' hurt her, he'd 'a' stepped on her feelin's and -never known it. He walks as if he had spurs on his boots." She steeled -herself against considering him through Mrs. Ballard's eyes. "He's -better-lookin' than the picture," she thought, "and I wouldn't trust a -handsome man as far as I could see him. They haven't any business with -beauty and it always upsets 'em one way or another--yes, every time." - -Her eyes wandered to the mantelpiece whose bareness was relieved only -by three varying sized pieces of blank paper. She felt the slightest -quiver of remorse as she looked. She seemed to see her mistress's -gentle glance filled with rebuke. - -She stirred in her chair, folded her arms, and cleared her throat. - -"You can leave the things here till I go, if you want to," she said. - -Phil paused in his promenade and regarded her. Her manner was so -unmistakably inimical that for the first time he wondered. - -Perhaps, after all, she was not just a machine. And the same thought -which had been entertained by Mrs. Fabian occurred to him. - -"Twenty-five years of faithful service," he reflected. "I wonder if she -expected the money? She's sore at me. That's a cinch." - -Phil's artist nature grasped her standpoint in a flash. The granite -face, with its signs of suffering, the loneliness, the poverty, all -appealed to him to excuse her disappointment. - -His eyes swept about the bare walls. - -"Where are Aunt Mary's pictures?" he asked. "Was she too modest to hang -them?" - -"There were some up there," replied Eliza. "I took 'em down." - -The visitor's quick eyes noted the white boards on the mantelpiece. -With an unexpected movement, he strode across to it, and turned them -around. - -He stood in the same position for a space. - -"Great guns, but she hates me!" he thought, while Eliza, startled, felt -the shamed color stream up to her temples. - -"What would Mrs. Ballard say!" was her guilty reflection. - -Pluto here relieved the situation by making a majestic entrance. -His jewel eyes fixed on the stranger for a moment with blinking -indifference, then he proceeded, with measured tread, toward the haven -of his mistress's lap. - -"Hello, Katze," said Phil, stooping his scarlet face. He seized the -creature by the nape of its neck and instantly the amazed cat was swung -up to his broad shoulder, where it sat, claws digging into his coat and -eyes glowering into his own. - -"Say, charcoal would make a white mark on you, pussy," he went on, -smoothing the creature in a manner which evidently found favor, for -Pluto did not offer to stir. - -"When I'm not doing her as Medusa," he reflected, "I'll paint her as a -witch with this familiar. She'll only have to look at the artist to get -the right expression." - -"A distinguished visitor from the island of Manx, I suspect," he said -aloud. - -"No," returned Eliza, still fearfully embarrassed. "Pluto was born -right here in New York." - -The ever-ready stars in the visitor's eyes twinkled again into the -green fire opposite them. - -"It was his tail I was noticing. Manx cats are like that." - -"Oh, that was boys. If I could 'a' caught 'em I'd 'a' liked to cut off -their arms." - -"I'll bet on that," thought Phil, "and their legs too." - -Eliza cleared her throat. She seemed still to see the gentle eyes of -her lost one rebuking her. With utter disregard of a future state she -was preparing a lie. - -"About those sketches," she said presently, and such was her -hoarseness that she was obliged to clear her throat again, "you see, I -was--sweepin', and I turned 'em to the wall." - -"Oh, yes," said Phil, and continued to smooth Pluto who purred lustily. -"A pretty good one for New England," he thought; and carelessly turning -the third card about, he came face to face with his own photograph. - -With one glance of disgust he tore the picture in two and threw it down. - -Eliza started. "What did you do that for?" she demanded sharply. - -Phil made a motion of impatience. - -"Oh, it's so darned pretty!" he explained. "I thought all those -pictures were in the fire." - -"Mrs. Ballard set great store by that," said Eliza coldly, "and by the -sketches, too," she added. - -She was sitting up stiffly in her chair, now, and her gaze fixed on -Phil, as, her cat on his shoulder singing loud praise of his fondling -hand, he came and stood before her. - -"I wish you'd let me see some of Aunt Mary's pictures," he said. - -The dead woman's letter was against his heart. He felt that they were -standing together, opposed to the hard, grudging face confronting him. - -But this was Eliza's crucial moment. In spite of herself she feared in -the depths of her heart that that which Mrs. Ballard had said was true; -that this restless, careless boy had an artistic ability which her dear -one had never attained. She shrank with actual nausea from his comments -on her mistress's work. He might not say anything unkind, but she -should see the lines of his mouth, the quiver of an eyelash. - -She felt unable to rise. - -"She left 'em all to me," she said mechanically, pale eyes meeting dark -ones. - -Phil brushed Pluto's ears and the cat sang through the indignity. - -"Talk about the bark on a tree!" he thought. "I believe I'll paint her -as a miser, after all! She'd be a wonder, with Pluto standing guard, -green eyes peering out of the shadow." - -He smiled down at Eliza, the curves of his lips stretching over the -teeth she had admired. - -"All right," he said. "I'm not going to take them away from you." - -Eliza forced herself to her feet, and without another word slowly left -the room. - -Phil met the cat's blinking eyes where the pupils were dilating and -contracting. "Katze, this place gives me the horrors!" he confided. - -More than once on the train he had read over his aunt's letter, and -each time her words smote an answering chord in his heart and set it to -aching. - -The present visit accentuated the perception of what her life had -been. For a moment his eyes glistened wet against the cat's indolent -contentment. - -"I wish she hadn't saved any money, the poor little thing," he -muttered. "No friends, no sympathy--nothing but that avaricious piece -of humanity, calculating every day, probably, on how soon she would -get it all. I'll paint her as a harpy. That's what I'll do. Talons of -steel! That's all she needs." He heard a sound and dashed a hand across -his eyes. - -Eliza, heavy of heart, stony of face, entered, a number of pictures -bound together, in her hands. The visitor darted forward to relieve -her, and Pluto drove claws into his suddenly unsteady resting-place. - -Eliza yielded up her treasures like victims, and stood motionless while -Phil received them. Never had she looked so gaunt and grey and old; but -the visitor did not give her a glance. Aunt Mary's letter was beating -against his heart. Here was the work her longing hands had wrought, -here the thwarting of her hopes. - -His fingers were not quite steady as he untied the strings, and moving -the easel into a good light placed a canvas upon it. - -Eliza did not wish to look at him, but she could not help it. Her pale -gaze fixed on his face in a torture of expectation, as he backed away -from the easel, his eyes on the picture. - -Pluto rubbed against his ear as a hint that caressing be renewed. - -He stood in silence, and Eliza could detect nothing like a smile on his -face. - -Presently he removed the canvas, and took up another. It was the -portrait of Pluto. - -"Hello, Katze. Got your picture took, did you? Aunt Mary saw your green -shadows all right." - -He set the canvas aside, and took up another. Eliza's muscles ached -with tension. Her bony hands clasped as she recognized the picture. To -the kittens over the table in the kitchen she had once confided that -this landscape, which the artist had called "Autumn," looked to her -eyes like nothing on earth but a prairie fire! It had been a terrible -moment of heresy. She was punished for it now. - -Phil backed away from the canvas, and elbow in his hand, rested his -finger on his lips for what seemed to Eliza an age. Her heart thumped, -but she could not remove her gaze from him. - -Pluto, finding squirming and rubbing of no avail, leaped to the floor -and blinked reflectively at his mistress. A flagpole would have offered -equal facilities for cuddling. - -He therefore made deliberate selection of the least unsatisfactory -chair, and with noiseless grace took possession. - -Phil nodded. "Yes, sir," he murmured; "yes, sir." - -Eliza's teeth bit tighter on her suffering under lip. What did "Yes, -sir" mean? At least he was not smiling. - -He went on, slightly nodding, and thinking aloud; "Aunt Mary was ahead -of her time. She knew what she was after." - -Eliza tried to speak, and couldn't. Something clicked in her throat. - -Phil went on regarding the autumnal tangle, and with a superhuman -effort Eliza commanded her tongue. - -"What was that you said, Mr. Sidney?" - -Phil, again becoming conscious of the stony presence, smiled a little. - -"Aunt Mary would have found sympathizers in Munich," he said. - -"That's Germany, ain't it?" said Eliza, words and breath interlocking. - -"Yes. Most of Uncle Sam's relatives want to see plainer what's doing; -at least those who are able to buy pictures." - -"Ahead of her time!" gasped Eliza, her blood racing through her veins. -"Ought to 'a' been in Germany!" - -And then the most amazing occurrence of Philip Sidney's life took -place. There was a rush toward him, and suddenly his Medusa, his witch, -his miser, his harpy was on her knees on the floor beside him, covering -his hand with tears and kisses, and pouring out a torrent of words. - -"I've nearly died with dread of you, Mr. Sidney. Oh, why isn't she here -to hear you say those words of her pictures! Nobody was ever kind to -her. Her relations paid no more attention to her, or her work, than if -she'd been a--a--I don't know what. She was poor, and too modest, and -the best and sweetest creature on earth; and when your sketches came -she admired 'em so that I began to hate you then. Yes, Mr. Sidney, you -was a relative, and goin' to be a success, and the look in her eyes -when she saw your work killed me. It killed me!" - -"Do, do get up," said Philip, trying to raise her. "Don't weep so, -Eliza. I understand." - -But the torrent could not yet be stemmed. - -"I've looked forward to your comin' like to an operation. I've thought -you might laugh at her pictures, 'cause young folks are so cruel, and -they don't know! Let me cry, Mr. Sidney. Don't mind! You've given me -the first happy moment I've known since she left me. I was the only -one she had, even to go to picture galleries with her, and my bones -ached 'cause I was a stupid thing, and she had wings just like a little -spirit o' light." - -Philip's lashes were moist again. - -"I wish I had been here to go with her," he said. - -Eliza lifted her streaming eyes. "Would you 'a' gone?" she asked, and -allowed Phil to raise her gently to her feet. - -"Indeed, I would," he answered gravely, "and we should have lived -together, and worked together." - -"Oh, why couldn't it 'a' been! Why couldn't it 'a' been! What it -would 'a' meant to her to have heard what you said just now about her -pictures!" - -Phil's hands were holding Eliza's thin shoulders, and her famished eyes -were drinking in the comfort of him. - -"I have an idea that we ought not to believe that we could make her -happier than she is," he said, with the same gravity. - -"I know," faltered Eliza, surprised; "of course that's the way I -ought to feel; but there wasn't ever anything she cared much about -except paintin'. She"--Eliza swallowed the tremulous sob that was the -aftermath of the storm--"she loved music, but she wasn't a performer." - -Phil smiled into the appealing face. - -"Then she's painting, for all we know," he said. "Do you believe music -is all that goes on there?" - -"It's all that's mentioned," said Eliza apologetically. - -"I have an idea that dying doesn't change us any," said the young man. -"Why should it?" - -"It didn't need to change her," agreed the other, her voice breaking. - -"I believe that in the end we get what we want." - -"That's comfortin'." - -"Not so you'd notice it," returned Phil with conviction. "It makes the -chills run down my spine occasionally when I stop to realize it." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Only that we had better examine what we're wanting; and choose -something that won't go back on us. Aunt Mary did; and I believe she -had a strong faith." - -"We never talked religion," said Eliza. - -"Just lived it. That's better." - -"I didn't," returned Eliza, a spark of the old belligerency flashing in -her faded eyes. "I can't think of one single enemy that I love!" - -"You were everything to Aunt Mary. Do you suppose I shall ever forget -that?" - -"I sat down in front o' those pictures in the Metropolitan Museum," -said Eliza, her lips trembling again. "It's awful big, and I got so -tuckered, the pictures sort o' ran together till I didn't know a -landscape from a portrait. Then I used to take on over somethin' that -had a seat in front of it, and she'd leave me sittin' there starin'. -Oh, Mr. Sidney, I can't think o' one other mean thing I ever did to -her,"--remorseful grief shook the speaker's voice,--"but I'd ought to -'a' stood up to the end. It would 'a' showed more interest!" - -Phil squeezed the spare shoulders as they heaved. He laughed a little. - -"Now, Eliza, whatever way you managed it, I know you made her happy." - -"Yes," groaned the repentant one, "she said my artistic soul was wakin' -up. Do you s'pose where she is now she knows it was black deceit?" - -"She knows nothing black where she is,"--Phil's voice rang with -decision; "but she does know more than ever about love and sacrifice -such as you have shown her. Beside," in a lighter tone, "how about your -artistic soul? See how far above everybody else you understood her -pictures." - -Eliza's hungry gaze became suddenly inscrutable. "Mr. Sidney," she -began, after a pause, "I loved every stroke her dear hand made, -but"--again pain crept into the breaking voice--"you said yourself -America wasn't worthy of her, and I'm only what you might call the scum -of America when it comes to _insight_ and--and _expression_ and--and -_atmosphere_. Usually I had sense enough to wait till she told me what -a thing was before I talked about it; but one day, I can't ever forget -it, I praised a flock o' sheep at the back of a field she was doin' and -she said they was--was cows!" - -Sobs rent the speaker and she covered her eyes. - -"I told her--'twas my glasses," she went on when she could speak. -"I--told her they--hadn't been right for--a long time. She laughed--and -tried to make a joke of it, but--" - -Eliza's voice was drowned in the flood. - -Phil patted her shoulders and smiled across the bowed head at the -forlorn mantelpiece, where the sketches, unconscious of forgiveness, -still turned faces toward the wall. - -"You've grown awfully morbid, alone here," he said, giving her a little -shake. "You should be only thankful, as I am, that Aunt Mary had you -and that you were here to take care of her to the end. Come and sit -down. She wrote me a wonderful letter. I have it in my pocket and I'll -show it to you." - -Eliza obediently yielded herself to be guided to a chair. Pluto had -selected the best with unerring instinct; and suddenly into his feline -dreams an earthquake intruded as Phil tossed him lightly to the floor. - -Drawing his chair close to Eliza, who had wilted back against the faded -cretonne roses, the young man drew from his pocket an envelope and took -out of it a letter, and a small card photograph. - -"Mother gave me this old picture of Aunt Mary--" - -Eliza pulled herself up and took it eagerly. "I must get my glasses," -she said. "I've cried myself nearly blind." - -Phil's big hand pushed her back. - -"I'll get them," he returned. "Where are they?" - -"There, on the end o' the mantelpiece. I had 'em, readin' an -advertisement." - -She leaned back again and watched him as he crossed the room; watched -him with wonder. In years she had not so given her confidence to a -human being. - -She put on the spectacles and wistfully regarded the picture of a -pretty woman whose heavy braids, wound around her head, caught the -light. Her plain dress was white and she wore black velvet bands on her -wrists. - -"Aunt Mary was considered different by her friends, mother says. In a -time of frills she liked plain things." - -"I guess she _was_ different," agreed Eliza devoutly. "Would you think -a man who married her would like whiskey better?" - -Phil shook his head. "Sorry," he said, laconically. - -"One good thing, he drank himself to death quick and left her free." - -Phil held out the letter. - -"Read it to me, please, Mr. Sidney." - -"Can't do it," returned the young man with cheerful frankness. "It -makes my nose tingle every time." - -So Eliza read the letter in silence. It took her some minutes and when -she had finished, her lip caught between her teeth, she took off her -glasses and wiped them while she regarded Phil. - -"And you've got to live up to that," she said. - -"I'm going to try," he answered simply. - -Eliza gazed at him, her hands in her lap. She felt old beside his -youth, weak beside his strength, ignorant beside that knowledge which -had stirred her mistress to exaltation. Nevertheless, the humble love, -and desire to help him that swelled her heart was a new desire to live, -a consecration. - -Presently he took his leave, promising to return in a few days for his -belongings. - -After the door had closed behind him, she looked down at the cat, who -had awakened from another nap at the stir of the departure. - -He rubbed against her brown calico skirt as she lighted the gas; then -she moved thoughtfully to the mantelpiece and turned the sketches about. - -"Mary Sidney," she mused, looking at the graceful head of Phil's -mother, "you've had your heartache, and your sacrifices. You've been -most pulled in two, between longin' to stay with your husband and -follow your son--you told me somethin' of it in your note thankin' for -the brooch. Nobody escapes, Mary Sidney. I guess I haven't done you -justice, seein' you've raised a boy like that." - -Turning to the sketch of the storm-beaten tree, she clasped her hands -before it. "Dear one," she mused tenderly, "you loved him. You was -great. You died not knowin' how great you were; and you won't care if I -do understand this kind better, 'cause all America's too ignorant for -you, and I'm one o' the worst." - -Her eyes dwelt lingeringly on the sketch. She fancied she could hear -the wind whistling through the writhing branches. "It looks like my -life," she thought, "risin' out o' the mist and the cloud." - -She gazed at it in silence, then turned to the destroyed photograph. -She seized the pieces quickly and turned them face up. The rent had -missed the chin and cut across the collar. She regarded the face -wistfully. The cat stretched his forepaws up her skirt until he was of -a preternatural length. It was supper-time. - -"I wonder, Pluto," she said slowly, "if I couldn't fit that into a -minicher frame. Some of 'em come real reasonable." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ELIZA'S INVITATION - - -For the first time since she had been left alone, Eliza drank her tea -that night without tears; and no lump in her throat prevented her -swallowing the egg she had boiled. - -She held Mrs. Ballard's watch in her hand a minute before getting into -bed; and looked long at its gold face, and listened to its loud and -busy ticking. - -"Forgive me, Mrs. Ballard," she thought; and association added, "as we -forgive our debtors!" - -"No, I can't!" she muttered fiercely. "I can't! What's the use o' -pretendin'!" - -Muffling the watch in its slipper, she turned out the gas and got into -bed. Composing herself to sleep more peacefully than she had been -able to do for many a night, her last thought was of Mrs. Ballard's -heir; and a sense of comfort stole over her in the very fact of his -existence. Again she seemed to feel the sympathetic pressure of his -kind hand. - -"He thinks she may be paintin' still," she reflected. "She's got colors -to work with that's most blindin', they're so gorgeous, if we can judge -anything by the sunsets at the island. Why not think so! It's just as -reasonable as playin' harps, for all I can see." - -Ever since her dear one's passing, Eliza had felt too crushed and too -wicked to pray; and being unable to say the whole of her Lord's Prayer, -her New England conscience would not allow her to say any of it; but -to-night a sense of hope and gratitude lightened the darkness, and a -new gentleness crept over her countenance as it relaxed its lines in -slumber. - -She wakened next morning without the load of despair on her heart; and -slowly realized what had changed her outlook. She even smiled at the -cat, who had leaped up on the foot of her bed. He understood that he -might come no nearer. - -"Every single mornin', Pluto, I've been dreadin' that the day had come -I'd got to show her pictures to him. Well, that's over." - -"Meow!" remarked Pluto, commenting on the selfishness of beings who -overslept. - -"Yes, I know what you want." Eliza turned her head wearily on the -pillow. "'Weak as a cat'! I don't think much o' that expression. I -notice you're strong enough to get everything you want. Oh, dear, I -wonder if I'll ever feel like myself again!" - -The cat jumped to the floor, and coming to the head of the bed sat down -and regarded the haggard face reproachfully. - -"You're just as handsome as a picture, Pluto," mused Eliza aloud. "I -don't know as it's ever made you any worse 'n common cats." - -This optimistic change of heart lightened the atmosphere of the -cheerless kitchen that morning; and Eliza drew up the shade, which let -the sun slant in past a neighboring roof for a short half-hour. - -A beam struck the kittens frisking above the kitchen table, and they -seemed to spring from the shadowy gloom of their corner, flinging their -little paws about with the infantine glee which had first captivated -their owner. - -"Oh, yes, you can dance, still," she murmured, addressing them -reproachfully; but she left the shade up. - -It was nearly noon when her doorbell rang again. Eliza hastened to the -glass. She had on her black alpaca to-day. Sweeping-cap and apron -were remanded to their corner, and she made certain that her hair was -smooth, then went to the speaking-tube. - -"Yes?" she said, and listened for the possible voice of yesterday; but -a woman's tones put the question:-- - -"Is this Mrs. Ballard's apartment?" - -"Yes," replied Eliza briefly. - -"Is this Eliza Brewster?" again asked the sweet voice. - -"It is," came the non-committal admission. - -"May I come up, Eliza? It's Mrs. Wright." - -"Mrs. who?" - -"Mrs. Wright. Don't you remember my spending the day with Mrs. Ballard -last spring, just before I went to Brewster's Island?" - -"Oh, Mrs. Wright!" exclaimed Eliza in a different tone. "Excuse me for -keepin' you waitin'. Come right up." - -Well Eliza recalled the enjoyment of her dear one in that visit of an -old friend, rarely seen. Mrs. Ballard's social pleasures were so few, -this day gleamed as a bright spot in memory; and, not content with -opening wide the door, Eliza went out to the head of the stairs to -receive the mounting figure. - -"_She_ stood here the last time," she said brokenly, as the visitor -reached her and held out both hands to receive Eliza's. - -The newcomer's silver-white hair made an aureole about the face that -looked with kindly eyes into the other's dim ones. - -"I was just thinking of that as I saw you waiting," she said. "It was a -shock to me to learn that Mrs. Ballard had left us. Was it very sudden, -Eliza?" - -The latter could not trust herself to speak. She nodded and ushered -Mrs. Wright into the living-room, where they both sat down, the -visitor's heart touched by the mourner's altered countenance, and the -evident struggle she was making not to give way. Her compassion showed -in her gentle face and Eliza made a brave effort to smile. - -"I know I'm a sight, Mrs. Wright," she faltered. "I've never been any -hand to cry, but I've nearly washed the eyes out o' my head the past -week. I don't expect anybody to know what I've lost." Her lips twitched -and she bit them hard. - -"I can very well imagine," returned the other, "for Mrs. Ballard spoke -so warmly of you to me, and told me how many years your fortunes had -been cast together. She said you were the mainspring of the house." - -"Thank you, Mrs. Wright," said Eliza humbly. "Yes, I saw that she ate -and slept right. Her interests were where I couldn't follow 'cause I -didn't know enough; but she was the mainspring o' my life. It's broken, -broken. I haven't got the energy to lift a finger, nor a thing to live -for. Honestly, Mrs. Wright," added Eliza in a burst of despair, "if 't -wa'n't for the commonness of a Brewster bein' found so disrespectable -as dead in a New York flat, and strange folks layin' their hands on me, -I wouldn't 'a' lived through some o' the nights I've had since she went -away. I'd lay there and try to think o' one single person it'd make any -difference to, and there ain't one." - -"My dear," returned Mrs. Wright, regarding the haggard face, "how about -your relatives on the island?" - -Eliza shook her head. "The only folks o' mine that are left are -'-in-laws,' or else cousins I've scarcely heard from for twenty-five -years. They haven't troubled themselves about me, and if I'd 'a' walked -out that way, they'd only 'a' said I'd ought to be ashamed o' myself." - -"And so you ought," said Mrs. Wright with her gentle smile. - -"Well, I didn't anyway," said Eliza wearily. "Did you stay at the -island all summer?" - -"Yes, and I'm still there. May I take off my coat, Eliza?" - -The hostess started up with sudden recollection. - -"I hope you'll excuse me, Mrs. Wright; if I ever had any manners -they're gone." - -Slipping off the coat, and relinquishing it into Eliza's hands, the -visitor went on talking. "My husband gave up business a couple of years -ago. Perhaps Mrs. Ballard has told you that he was never a successful -business man." Mrs. Wright stifled a sigh under a bright smile. "Nobody -can be well and idle long, you know, so the next thing he began to be -ailing, the dear man, and he thought the sea would do him good; and, my -dear Eliza, it has done him so much good that we have become islanders." - -"You don't mean you're going to stay there?" - -The visitor nodded the silvery aureole of her hair. - -"That is what I mean. Mr. Wright went fishing all summer and he thinks -he has found his niche in life. He has not been so well and happy in -years." - -"You'll stay all winter?" asked Eliza incredulously. - -"Yes," the visitor smiled again, "and all the winters, so far as I -know. Mr. Wright is perfectly content." - -"How about you?" asked Eliza briefly. She had gone back to her chair -and frowned unconsciously into the peaceful face regarding her. - -"Oh!" Mrs. Wright raised her eyebrows and gave her head a slight shake. -"'In my father's house are many mansions!' I like to feel that it is -all His house, even now, and that wherever I may live He is there, so -why should I be lonely?" - -Listening to these words, it seemed to Eliza as if some lamp, kept -burning on the altar of this woman's soul, sent its steady light into -the peaceful eyes regarding her. - -"It's a good thing you can get comfort that way," she responded, rather -awkwardly. "I know it must 'a' been a struggle to consent to it--any -one used to a big city like Boston. What does your niece say to it?" - -"Violet was with me a while. I am visiting her here now." - -"She teaches, don't she?--the languages, or something?" inquired Eliza -vaguely. - -"No, gymnastic dancing and other branches of physical culture. She -works hard, and no place ever rested her like the island, she thought. -Do you remember Jane Foster?" - -The corners of Eliza's mouth drew down in a smiling grimace of -recollection. - -"Do I remember Jennie Foster!" she said. "We grew up together." - -"Well, she keeps a boarding-house in Portland now in winters and comes -to the old home, summers. We boarded with her, and now, instead of -closing up the place, she has rented it to me." - -Eliza shook her head. "Pretty high up," she commented. "Some o' those -February gales will pretty near shave you off the hill." - -"A good many husky generations have been brought up and gone forth into -the world out of that house," said Mrs. Wright cheerfully. "There are -some trees, you know. Do you remember the apple orchard?" - -"Huh!" commented Eliza. "I know how the scrawny little things look when -they're bare! A lot o' shelter they'll be." - -Mrs. Wright dropped her head a little to one side and her kind grey -eyes rested on Eliza's grief-scarred face. "I'm glad I came to see -you," she said irrelevantly. - -"I'm a kind of a Job's comforter, I'm afraid. When I've thought of -anything the past fortnight I've thought about Brewster's Island,--a -sort of a counter-irritant, I guess." - -"No, no, we can't have that. You mustn't call the Blessed Isle by such -a name." - -"Perhaps it won't be such a Blessed Isle after you've spent a winter -there," remarked Eliza drily. - -Mrs. Wright smiled. "I know it was your native place, and I hoped you -might have pleasant associations with it." - -Eliza sighed wearily. "Yes, if I could be twelve years old again, and -go coastin' and skatin', and when it was dark tumble into bed under -the eaves with a hot bag o' sand to keep the sheets from freezin' me, -I should like it, I s'pose. I used to; but nobody on that snow-covered -hill cares whether I'm alive or dead, and that cruel black ocean that -swallowed up my father one night, and killed my mother, _that_ roarin' -around the island in the freezin' gale is the only thing I can see and -hear when I think of the winter." - -"Then you have been thinking of going back to the island?" - -"Well, it's either that or goin' into somebody's kitchen, -here." Eliza's mouth twitched grimly. "Mrs. Fabian offered me a -recommendation." - -"Oh, yes. The Fabians were very kind to Violet this summer." - -"You don't say so! I'm glad they can be kind to somebody." - -The bitterness of Eliza's tone impressed her visitor. "Mrs. Ballard was -Mrs. Fabian's aunt, I believe," she ventured. - -"I believe so, too," said Eliza, "but nothing she ever did proved it." - -Mrs. Wright veered away from dangerous ground. "I have been thinking of -you a great deal since I learned of Mrs. Ballard's going, and I wanted -at least to see you before I went back." There was a little pause, -then she added: "It occurred to me that you might be going home to the -island--" - -"I haven't any home there," interrupted Eliza stoically. - -"--and I was going to ask you, in that case, if you wouldn't eat your -Thanksgiving dinner with me." - -Eliza looked at her visitor, startled. - -"Think of me," she said slowly, "eatin' a Thanksgivin' -dinner--anywhere." - -Mrs. Wright felt a pang at her heart under the desolation of the voice. -It seemed the voice of the forlorn room in which they sat. She rose -to hide the look in her eyes, and moving to the mantel took up the -sketches that stood there. - -"Are these interesting things Mrs. Ballard's work?" she asked. - -Eliza was clutching the meagre arms of her chair until her knuckles -whitened. How fate was softening toward her! The thought that this -friend of her lost one would have her own hearth on the dreaded island -warmed the winter prospect. A link with Mrs. Ballard. A friend with -whom she might talk of her. The rift made yesterday in her submerging -clouds widened. - -"Mrs. Wright," she said, unheeding the visitor's question, "you're -religious, I know, 'cause you quoted the Bible, and 'cause you take -cheerfully bein' buried in a snowdrift on Brewster's Island instead -of havin' the things you're accustomed to. So I want you to know -before you invite me to have Thanksgivin' dinner with you that I'm -the wickedest woman in New York. I haven't said a prayer since Mrs. -Ballard died. I hate Mrs. Fabian for her neglect of her, and I did hate -the young man Mrs. Ballard left her little bit o' money to." - -Mrs. Wright, holding the sketch of Mary Sidney, turned and looked at -the speaker. - -"Hated him 'cause he was an artist, and I didn't believe he'd -appreciate her work, but just spend her savings careless. That's -his mother you've got in your hand, and that's him, layin' on the -mantelpiece torn across the middle." - -Eliza's aspect as she talked was wild. Mrs. Wright picked up the torn -pieces and fitted them together. In fancy she saw Eliza rending the -card. She felt that she understood all; the heart-break, the starvation -fare of tea, tears, and misery, and the blank future. - -"His name's Philip Sidney, and his mother was Mrs. Ballard's niece and -namesake. Yesterday he came. He was altogether different from what I -expected. He took a load off o' my mind and heart. I don't begrudge him -anything." - -"You're sorry, then, that you tore this handsome picture." - -"Oh, I didn't--'cause Mrs. Ballard set such store by it. I only -turned it to the wall. 'Twas he tore it. He said it was too pretty -or something. He does look different. The picture's kind o' dreamin' -lookin' and he's so awake he--well, he sparkles." - -Mrs. Wright smiled at the haggard speaker. - -"I'm so glad you like him. Has he come to New York to study?" - -"Yes; he had to be a mining engineer when he wanted to paint. So now -he's goin' to study with Mrs. Ballard's money." - -"Why--I remember," said Mrs. Wright, thoughtfully regarding the -sketches. "Mrs. Ballard told me about him in the spring." She looked up -again at her hostess. "You've been through a great deal, Eliza," she -said, "and you've tried to go alone." - -"I had to go alone," returned Eliza fiercely; "but I can be honest if I -am lonely and I won't sit down at your table without your knowin' that -I'm a sinner. Don't talk religion to me either," she added, "'cause I -ain't the kind it would do any good to." - -Mrs. Wright came back to her chair and her eyes were thoughtful. - -"I have a better idea still," she said. "For how long have you this -apartment?" - -"One week more." - -"Oh, only a week. Then, supposing you come and live with me this -winter." - -Eliza leaned back in her chair, speechless. The grey wall of the -future slowly dissolved. The possibility of friendship--of a home--was -actually unnerving in its contrast to all she had steeled herself to -endure. - -"Come and help me, Eliza," went on the gentle voice. "Show me how to -meet an island winter. I believe between us we can make a cosy sort of -season of it." - -"Cosy!" echoed Eliza's dry lips. - -"Yes. There by the gnarled little apple trees, handicapped by winter -winds, and the forlorn little chicken-house that stands near the -orchard. Do you remember that?" - -"Yes," answered Eliza mechanically. "'T wa'n't always a chicken-house. -Polly Ann Foster built it 'cause she quarrelled with her son and -wouldn't live with him. I was a little girl and we were all scared of -her. When she died they began using it for the hens." - -"Well, it's empty and forlorn now. Miss Foster can't keep chickens and -go back to Portland every fall. That's our only near neighbor, you -remember." - -"I remember. Why should you be such an angel to me?" burst forth Eliza. - -"Is that being an angel? Why, I'm so glad. You know I might be a little -bit lonely at the island. Mr. Wright is pretty sleepy in the evening -and the house rambles. We'll shut up part of it, Eliza, won't we?" - -"Oh, Mrs. Wright!" exclaimed the lonely woman, every trace of her -fierceness gone. "What a godsend you're givin' me." - -"Then it's settled; and Violet will be so glad. She isn't quite pleased -with our plan for the winter." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -BROTHER AND SISTER - - -Kathleen Fabian sat at her desk, deeply engrossed in the theme she was -writing, when her brother's name was brought to her. - -The expression of her face as she took the card did not indicate that -the surprise was wholly joyous. She frowned and bit her lip, and an -anxious look grew in her eyes as she went out into the hall to meet the -visitor, who advanced with bounds, and grasped her in one arm, giving -her cheek a brotherly peck. - -"What has happened, Edgar?" she asked as he led her back into her room. - -"I've come to see you, that's all," was the rejoinder. - -Edgar Fabian was an airy youth, carefully arrayed in the height of -fashion. His fair hair was brushed until it reflected the light, and -his jaunty assurance was wont to carry all before it. - -"Is anything wrong at home?" insisted his sister. - -"Certainly not." - -They were now inside the room and the young man closed the door. - -"Well, I haven't any money," said Kathleen bluntly,--"at least, not for -you!" - -Edgar was but little taller than she, and, as she looked at him now, -her serious slender face opposed to his boyish one, her peculiar slow -speech, in which her teeth scarcely closed, sounding lazy beside his -crispness, she seemed the elder of the two. - -"This leaping at conclusions is too feminine a weakness for you to -indulge in, Kath," was the rejoinder as the visitor slid out of a -silk-lined overcoat; but he rested his gaze upon his sister's dark hair -rather than the eyes beneath. "I like your hospitality," he added. "I -hope it isn't presumption for me to remove my coat. Try to control your -joy when your brother comes up from New York to see you." - -"Of course I should always be glad to see you if--if you'd let me," was -the reply. - -"What's to prevent?" inquired the visitor cheerfully. - -"My diary," was the laconic response. - -"Oh, you make me tired," said Edgar, taking out a cigarette-case. "May -I?" - -"No," returned Kathleen, speaking with her characteristic deliberation. - -"You may have one, too"; he offered his case, still standing, since she -did not sit. He smiled as he said it; the evenness of his teeth and the -glee of his smile had melted much ice before now. - -"No, thanks," she answered coldly. - -He gave an exclamation. - -"Oh, your grave and reverend senior airs won't go down with me, you -know." He sniffed suspiciously. "Some one has been having a whiff here -this morning." - -"It wasn't I." - -"Well, it was somebody; and some one more critical than I is liable to -drop in here and notice it. Just to save you trouble, I'll light up. -Better take one. It's your golden opportunity." - -Again he offered the case, and now Kathleen took a cigarette -mechanically. She still questioned her brother's debonair countenance. - -"Well," he said impatiently, after a moment of silence, "are we going -to stand here until dinner-time like two tenpins?" - -"Are you going to stay until dinner-time?" - -"Why," with another effort at gayety, "if you go on like this and -positively won't take no for an answer, perhaps I shall be obliged to. -Say, Kath, what's the matter with you? You used to be a good fellow. -College has ruined you. I didn't treat you like this when you came to -see me." - -"Forgive me, Edgar," Kathleen's drawl became very nearly an -exclamation. "I was thinking so hard." - -She dropped into a chair and he lighted his cigarette, and bending -forward allowed her to draw the flame into her own. - -"Now, this is something like it," remarked the young man, sinking -upon a leather-covered divan. He picked up a guitar that lay at its -head, and strummed lightly upon it. "Think of your giving house-room -to anything so light-minded as a guitar!" he added, his disapproving -eyes roving about the entire apartment. "This room looks more like a -hermit's cell every time I come." - -"No," rejoined Kathleen, with her soft laziness of speech, and blowing -a ring of smoke upon the air, "it is only that you have time to forget -between your visits." - -Edgar removed his cigarette and began to murmur "The Owl and the Pussy -Cat," in a tenor voice calculated to pour oil on troubled waters, -while he struck the accompanying chords with a sure touch. - - "They took some honey, and plenty of money, - Wrapped up in a five-pound note!" - -he sang. "Think of it!" he groaned, pausing to save the life of his -cigarette; "plenty of money! Who wouldn't be an owl or a pussy-cat!" - -Kathleen's eyes narrowed. - -"You speak of the rarity of my visits," he went on. "I suppose you -think it is nothing to take a few hours out of a business day to run up -here." - -Kathleen smiled. "On the contrary, I think it so much of a thing that -it always startles me to get your card on a week day, and you seem to -have other uses for your Sundays." - -"Very well," returned her brother, strumming the guitar with conscious -rectitude; "know then that the Administration sent me up here to-day on -business." - -"With me?" - -"No" (singing)-- - - 'Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge--'" - -"Edgar!" protested the girl lazily, "it's too early in the day for -that." - -"Hello, grave and reverend senior," he retorted. "I didn't know you -were so much of a connoisseur." - -The girl's reply had a sad note. - -"I wish you would do something with that voice," she said. - -The singer smiled. He was now smoking again, and strumming the melody -of the song. Perhaps he was thinking that he had done a good deal with -his voice. - -"I don't know that it has been altogether wasted," he replied. - -"Carrying off the honors as the singing-girl in a college play isn't -what I mean." - -"Oh, I'm sure it isn't," scoffed the possessor of the voice. "I'd take -long odds that what you mean involves something that would come under -the head of work spelled with a capital W--" - -"Think of a _man butterfly_!" ejaculated Kathleen, removing her -cigarette and her drawl for an unwonted verbal explosion. "Edgar, _I_ -should have been the man, and you the girl in our family." - -"I should object," he rejoined calmly, all his attention apparently -concentrated on the compassing of some intricate fingering of the -guitar strings. - -"Think of your rooms at college and this!" went on Kathleen. - -"I'd like mighty well to have a squint at the loved and lost to take -the taste of this out of my mouth," returned the visitor imperturbably. - -"How is father?" asked Kathleen, relapsing into her usual manner. - -"Smaht," rejoined Edgar. - -At the reminder of Brewster's Island, Kathleen's eyes smiled, then grew -grave. "I can't bear to have you call father the Administration," she -said. - -"Why not?--you didn't want me to call him Governor." - -"It sounds so--so disrespectful." - -"Not to me. I think it suggests salaams." - -"No, Edgar--slams; but I don't want to joke." - -"I'm sure of it," interpolated the guitar-playing one. - -"Stop that noise a minute, please." - -He obeyed. - -"I wish you wouldn't speak of father so coldly." - -"Then it'll be likely to be hotly, and at that you'd make a fuss," -returned the youth doggedly. - -"He is a good father," declared the girl, the lingering words coming -devoutly. - -"Yes," retorted Edgar drily. "Perhaps, if your little day-dream could -come true and you be the son, you wouldn't think so." - -"I believe it is father's fault largely," said Kathleen. "He began by -spoiling you." - -"Then, if I'm spoiled, what's the use of kicking?--and if he's done it -he must pay for it; but that's just what he won't do--pay for it." - -The speaker stubbed the light out of his cigarette and tossed it on the -table. He rose and walked the floor. - -"He has put you in his office," said Kathleen. "He will give you every -chance to rise." - -"Yes, and meanwhile pays me a salary smaller than the allowance he gave -me at college." - -"Because," said the girl, "he found that you couldn't even keep within -that. He knew you must wake up." - -"What occasion?" demanded Edgar, standing still to gesture. "I'm the -only son. Look at the money he has." - -"And has worked for; _worked_ for, Edgar. Can't you understand? -Supposing you had worked like that, and had a son who dipped into the -bag with both hands and threw your money away." - -"I don't want to throw it away. I get one hundred cents' worth of fun -out of every dollar I spend. What more does he want? I didn't ask to be -born, did I? I didn't ask to have expensive tastes. Why should I have -to ride in a taxicab?" - -"You don't. There are the street cars." - -Edgar's blond face turned upon her angrily. "When do you suppose I want -a machine? When I'm doddering around with a cane?" - -"Earn it, then." - -"Yes, I can on a petty few hundreds a year!" - -"You drive down with father every morning, don't you?" - -"No, I don't. I have to get there before he does." - -Kathleen laughed. "What an outrage!" - -"I take the car first and then it goes back for him," said Edgar -sulkily. - -"Oh, the cruelty of some parents!" drawled Kathleen, knocking the ash -from her cigarette. "The idea of Peter going back for father. He should -stand in Wall Street awaiting your orders." - -"No, he shouldn't, but I should have a motor of my own. The Ad. is more -old-fashioned than any of the other fathers in our set." The speaker -paused and gestured defensively. "You'll get off all that ancient stuff -about the new generation wanting to begin where the old left off. Of -course we do. Why not? I hope my son will begin where I leave off." - -Kathleen gave her one-sided smile--her Mona Lisa smile her admirers -called it:-- - -"Where you leave off is not liable to be a bed of roses if you keep on -as you've begun." She looked up at her brother gravely as she tapped -the end of her cigarette and dropped it in the ash receiver. "Why don't -you use your brains?" she asked. "Can't you see that the more father -notices that you have no ambition, the tighter he will draw the rein?" - -"I have plenty of ambition." - -"For work?" - -"Oh, you make me tired!" - -The young man resumed his impatient walk. - -The sister leaned back in her chair, her dark eyes following him, -without the hint of a smile. - -"I'd like to see you tired," she said seriously. - -He turned on her. "Ever see me after a polo game?" - -"But life isn't a game, Edgar." - -He opened his eyes at her and grimaced scornfully. - -"The grave and reverend senior again; nearly ready to graduate, and -inform the world that - - 'Life is real, life is earnest, - And the grave is not its goal!' - -Might as well be in the grave at once as dig and grind the days away. -Heaven help us when you get home! I suppose you must go through the -fine-spun theory stage like the usual attack of measles." - -"Measles are catching," remarked Kathleen quietly. - -"Exactly! but I'm mighty glad I'm immune from the know-it-all disease." - -"That would mean that you'd had it, Edgar, and you never did have it; -not even a rash. Open the window, please. We're a little blue in here." - -Edgar threw open the unoffending window with a force that threatened -the mechanism. - -"No doubt," he said, "you'd like to have me live, like that cowboy, in -a stable, and get my own meals." - -"A garage would suit you better, I suppose," returned Kathleen. "What -are you talking about?" - -"Hasn't mother written you of the genius who has come out of the wild -and woolly to get his Pegasus curried in New York?" - -"Has mother taken up a genius?--Mother, of all people!" - -"Why, she's had him at the house, and insists on my being civil to him; -but I haven't seen him yet. I get enough of him right at the breakfast -and dinner table without hunting up the stable. His ambition is at the -bottom of my coffee cup, and his genius for hard work is served as an -entrée every night." - -"Oh,"--Kathleen's face gained a ray of interest,--"you mean that cousin -of ours." - -"He's no cousin," retorted Edgar. "He's one of mother's fifty-seven -varieties, a sort of step-neighbor-in-law of ours. When father and -mother were out at the mine they met him. I think it was up to him to -stay out there and make that mine pay. I think if he'd shown a little -genius for hard work right there, it would have been more to the point." - -"Yes, mother wrote me." Kathleen's tone was tinged with the interest in -her eyes. "What is his name, now?" - -"Sidney," responded Edgar with open disgust. "Oh, I'm authority on -his name all right,--Philip Sidney; I've had it dinged into my ears -faithfully." - -"A name to live up to," remarked the girl. "It was interesting, Aunt -Mary leaving him her money." - -"It would have been more interesting if she'd had anything to leave." - -Edgar had thrown himself back on the divan and was watching curtains -and smoke draw out the window. - -"Do you remember," continued his sister, "what nice cookies Aunt Mary -used to give us when we were little? Mother felt sorry not to be here -when she died." - -"Oh, mother's ripping," declared Edgar, his cheerfulness -restored by some inspiriting memory. "She's had a hand-to-hand, -knock-down-and-drag-out with the old gargoyle that holds the fort over -there at Aunt Mary's." - -"What do you mean?" drawled Kathleen with faint disgust. - -"Mother gave a graphic account of the fray at dinner one night. I -wasn't giving the story my whole attention, but I gathered that she -and the doughty Eliza each got hold of one end of Aunt Mary's camel's -hair shawl and had a tug of war; and Eliza's cat won the day for her by -jumping on mother and nearly clawing her furs off." - -"Edgar," protested Kathleen, "your bump of respect is an intaglio!" - -"Well, I think I've got it about right. There were diamonds mixed up in -it too. I believe Eliza wears a diamond tiara at her work so as to keep -it away from mother; while the parent of the worshipful Philip came in -for a diamond necklace, and mother was left nothing but cold neglect." - -"Absurd!" breathed Kathleen. "Aunt Mary was poor as a church mouse." - -"Well, whatever happened, the fur was rising on the back of mother's -neck, and I didn't know but there would be a silver lining to the cloud -and she'd cut Philip Sidney; but," with a heavy sigh, "no such luck. -The cowboy still gallops his Pegasus over my prostrate body every meal." - -"What do you mean by a stable?" asked Kathleen. - -"Why, Pegasus has to have one, I suppose." - -"Is that all? Are you only being witty?" - -"Not a bit of it. You know the literal truth is all I'm ever up to. -The genius has a room over a stable, and an oil stove!" - -"Why a stable?" - -"Convenient for Pegasus, I suppose," responded Edgar carelessly. -"Beside, doubtless he would feel out of place in any abode more -civilized." - -"Edgar Fabian, that's nonsense. I remember his mother, when she came -East years ago, don't you?" - -"They're as poor as Job's turkey," said Edgar with a careless shrug. -"That's why he jumped at Aunt Mary's pittance like a trout at a fly." - -"Oh, Edgar, what an object-lesson for you!" Kathleen clasped her hands. - -"Oh, of course!" ejaculated Edgar, his even teeth very much clenched. - -"You ought to go to see him!" - -"So I've heard," with intense sarcasm. "Mother has bored the life out -of me." - -"It isn't civil not to," said Kathleen, relapsing into languor. "He's a -sort of a relative." - -"Yes. The sort to keep away from. If I went up there, it would be to -take his mahl-stick and smash his face." - -"Nice, hospitable plan," remarked Kathleen. "Possibly he wouldn't -permit it." - -"Oh, I've no doubt he'd think it was real mean and pick up a fan and -slap me on the wrist. Oh, forget him! Say, Kath," as if with sudden -remembrance, "do you know I came off without my purse to-day?" - -The girl's eyes gained a curious expression. She was silent a moment, -hands clasped around her knee. Under her gaze her brother picked up the -guitar again and his nervous fingers swept the strings. - -"I thought you said this was a business trip." - -"It is. Go down and ask them at the bank if I didn't put a bee in their -bonnet this morning." - -"Then the house pays your expenses. Your purse didn't have to suffer." - -"Oh, well, if you want the literal truth, I'm flat broke." - -"You always are flat broke at this time in the month. Why shouldn't _I_ -be?--as a matter of fact, I am." - -Edgar frowned. "What have you been buying?" - -"A new microscope. I've saved for it, Edgar." - -The girl cast a warm glance across the room to where, on a table, stood -a tall slender object covered with a cloth. - -"Saved for it!" was the disgusted response. "Shameful idea when the Ad. -could just as well buy you an observatory." - -"I don't believe father is nearly as rich as you think he is," said the -girl defensively. - -"He's the prize tight-wad. That's what he is. Look at our summers! -Isn't it enough that instead of Newport the Fabians rusticate on -Brewster's Island?" - -"He met mother there. He loves it." - -"Well, I can tell you, mother would exchange a whole lot of sentiment -for one good whirl at Newport or some other place where there are live -ones! Say, Kath, be a good fellow. You can spare a dime or so. Ten -dollars would be better than nothing. I'll give it back the first of -the month, honor bright. Think of my having to depend on taxis! It -would make angels weep." - -The sister continued to regard him and he reddened under the pensive -gaze, and twanged the guitar. - -"You never have paid me back the first of the month and I wish you -wouldn't promise," she said at last; "but I'll tell you what I'll -do. I'm coming home to spend Sunday and I will give you the ten -dollars--it's all I have just now--if you will take me to see that -cousin of ours." - -"What cousin?" asked Edgar. - -"Aunt Mary's heir. The artist." - -"Why are you determined to stuff him down my throat? He is absolutely -no kin to us and has no demand on us. I decline." - -"Then I shall go with mother," declared Kathleen, in her laziest drawl. -"I'm sure she will take me. I am interested in his determination. I -want to see--his oil stove. I want to pat Pegasus." - -"Go, then, and much good may it do you!" Edgar put down the guitar and -started up. "Where's the ten, Kath? Awful sorry to bother you." - -The girl did not rise. She shook her head. - -"You haven't earned it. I've decided you must work for this one, before -it follows its predecessors to that bourne from which no bank-note -returneth." - -There was an unusual sparkle in the eyes that met the blue ones. - -"You said you could go with mother," protested Edgar. - -"I can if I have to, but I prefer to hunt up stables with a man." - -"Oh, confound it! you always get your own way. Fork over, then. I'll go -with you; but it just means fastening him right on us. We'll be cousins -then for sure." - -Kathleen went to her closet and reappeared with the ten dollar bill. -With a gesture of farewell she touched her finger to her lips and -bestowed the kiss on the bank-note. - -Her brother looked at his watch. - -"Great Scott! I've got to hike for that train," he said; and wriggling -into his overcoat he kissed his sister's cheek, and hurried away. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE FLITTING - - -It was Eliza's last day in the apartment. Out of respect to probable -scruples on the part of her future hostess as to travelling on Sunday, -she had planned to sit idle this Sabbath day, although everything was -packed and she was ready to start. - -By Mrs. Wright's advice she had sold nearly all the shabby furnishings -of the apartment. She had eaten a picnic luncheon in the forlorn -kitchen, from whence even the gambolling kittens had fled to the bottom -of Eliza's trunk, and now sat on a camp-chair in the middle of the -empty parlor, as solitary as Alexander Selkirk on his island, monarch -of all she surveyed, which was a pair of green eyes glowering at her -from behind the wire network in the side of a wicker basket, which -reposed on the only other chair in the room. - -Stern and inexorable looked Eliza sitting in state on the camp-chair, -and furious glared the jewel eyes back at her. - -"You've got to get used to it, Pluto," she said. "Do you suppose I like -it any better than you do? I don't know as you're so bad off either. I -think I'd like to be put in a bag and carried to Brewster's Island with -no care of cars or boats or anything else. You always do get the best -of it." - -Eliza looked very haggard. It had been a wrenching week, packing her -dear one's belongings, and selling into careless, grudging hands the -old furniture with its tender associations. - -Philip had been too busy to come to her aid. They had exchanged notes. -She had addressed him at the Fabians', and he had replied that he had -taken a room, and asked that his belongings be stacked up somewhere. He -promised that he would come for them early Sunday afternoon. - -So now she was waiting, her capable hands folded in her black alpaca -lap, and her face expressing endurance. - -"I'm countin' the hours, Pluto," she declared. "This place is misery -to me now. I feel just as much in a strange garret as you do in that -basket. I just wish Mr. Sidney'd come and take his things and then -there won't be much more daylight to look around here in. And I hope -you won't act like all possessed when we start for the train nor when -we get on it." - -"Meow!" cried Pluto, exasperated. - -"There now!" exclaimed Eliza, in trepidation--"you do that just once -when the train's standin' still, and where'll we be! I've always -thought you had a little more intelligence than the law allows; and if -you go to actin' like an alley cat you'll disappoint me dreadfully!" - -Eliza rose anxiously and threw herself on her knees beside the basket -and opened it. Pluto sprang out, and she caught him and pressed her -thin cheek against his fur in a rare caress. Her eyes stung in her -effort to repress tears. - -"Oh, law! I'm sick o' myself," she muttered. "Cryin'! cryin'! gracious, -what a fool! I'd ought to sold you to somebody, I suppose,"--she clung -tighter to the handsome creature and buried her eyes in his glossy -coat,--"or given you away, more likely. Who'd want to pay anything for -a cat that don't know how bothersome it's goin' to be to get the right -train, and hasn't the decency to keep his mouth shut, and--Oh!" as a -knock sounded on the door. "There he is now." - -The glow of Eliza's one interview with Mrs. Ballard's heir had faded -long ago. The sordid and wounding events of the week had eclipsed -whatever cheer he had brought her, and it was only as one of the events -of her flitting that she looked forward to his advent this afternoon, -and the departure of the last and most intimate of her dear one's -possessions. - -The knock on the door preceded its immediate opening. - -"May I come in?" - -The long step took the little hall in three strides. - -The sight that met the newcomer's eyes was the bare room, with Eliza -kneeling in front of an open basket, clasping Pluto to her breast. The -woman's face and posture were dramatic. - -"Deserted!" was the word that rose to Phil's lips, but he repressed it. -He would not twit on facts; but his all-observing eyes shone. - -"I'm always wanting to paint you, Eliza," he said. "Sometime I will, -too." - -"Me!" returned Eliza drearily. "You'll be hard up when you take me." - -"So far as that goes, I'm hard up now. That's chronic," responded Phil -cheerfully. "What are you doing--not taking leave of that king among -cats? If you're leaving him behind, I speak for him." - -"H'm!" exclaimed Eliza, loosening her clasp of her pet and rising. -"You'd made a bad bargain if you took Pluto." She removed the basket -from its chair. "Sit down, Mr. Sidney," she said wearily, resuming her -own seat. "It's too forlorn for you to stay, but maybe you'd like to -ketch your breath before you take the things." - -Philip picked up the basket and looked curiously at its wire window. - -"Yes," continued Eliza. "I'm taking Pluto, so I had to have that. It -was an extravagance, and he ain't worth it. I despise to see folks -cartin' cats and dogs around. I didn't think I'd ever come to it; but -somehow I'm--used to that selfish critter, and he's--he's all the folks -I've got. It never once came to me that you'd take him." - -"Indeed I would," replied Phil; "and wait till you see the place I have -for him. Rats and mice while you wait, I suppose, though I haven't seen -any yet." - -"Oh, well," returned Eliza hastily, her eyes following Pluto as he -rubbed himself against Phil's leg. "I've got the basket now. I guess -I'll have to use it." - -"It's a shame I haven't been here to help you," said Phil. "You've had -a hard week, I know, but I've had a busy one." - -"You've got a room, you say," said Eliza listlessly. "Rats and mice. -That don't sound very good." - -Phil smiled. "I don't know,--as I say, I haven't seen them yet; but -Pluto would be a fine guard to keep them off my blankets. I don't -believe, though, there's been any grain in there for a good while." - -"Grain!" repeated Eliza. - -Phil laughed. "I'll tell you about it later; but first, may I have the -things? I have an expressman down at the door. I rode over here with -him in state. Good thing I didn't meet Mrs. Fabian." - -Eliza's thin lip curled as she rose. She led Philip to a room, in the -middle of which was gathered a heterogeneous collection of articles. -"In this box is the paintin' things," she said, touching a wooden case. -"In this barrel is some dishes. I couldn't get anything for 'em anyway, -and you wrote you was going to get your own breakfasts." - -"Capital," put in Phil; "and here's a bedstead." - -"Yes, and the spring and mattress," returned Eliza. "It's Mrs. -Ballard's bed. I couldn't sell it." - -Philip regarded the disconnected pieces dubiously--"I guess I'd have to -be amputated at the knees to use that." - -"Well,"--Eliza shook her head quickly. "Take it anyway, and do what -you've a mind to with it, only don't tell me. The beddin''s in the -barrel with the dishes--you said you'd be glad of a chair, so here's -one, and the two in the parlor are for you. You can take 'em right -along. I haven't got very long to wait anyway. I calc'late to go to the -station early." - -Phil touched her shoulder with his hand. - -"I'll see that you get to the station early enough." - -"You mustn't think o' me," said Eliza, as Phil picked up some of the -furniture and started for the stairs. - -When he returned for the next load he brought the expressman with him. -Together they took the last of the articles down the stairway. - -Eliza stood at the top and watched the final descent. - -"Good-bye Mr. Sidney," she said. - -He smiled brightly up at her across a couple of chairs, and the easel. - -"Good-bye for five minutes." - -"No, no," said Eliza; "don't you come back." She winked violently -toward the receding cap of the expressman. "You'd better ride right -over with the things just the way you came." - -"All right," responded Phil laughing. "_Bon voyage!_" - -"Hey?" asked Eliza. - -"Have a good trip. My respects to Pluto." - -She went back into the apartment and closed the door. It seemed -emptier, stiller than ever after the little flurry of moving. - -"It was clever of him," she thought gratefully, "not to let the other -man handle the easel." - -Now, indeed, desolation settled upon Eliza Brewster. Pluto's short tail -stiffened in the majestic disapproval with which he walked about the -room in search of an oasis of comfort. - -Eliza heard his protesting meows. She stood still at the window looking -out on the grey November sky. "I haven't got a chair to sit down on, -Pluto," she said. "It's got past cryin'!" - -She took out the gold-faced watch that was ticking against her thin -bosom. Two hours yet before there would be any reason in going to the -station. Suddenly it occurred to her that she had placed flannel in -the bottom of the cat's travelling-basket. This would be the golden -opportunity to endear the spot to his forlorn feline heart. - -She tucked the watch back in its hiding-place. "Here, kitty, kitty, -kitty!" she cried. - -No response. The receding meows had ceased. She looked perplexed; then -an illuminating thought occurred to her. Tables there were none, but -the square top of the kitchen range remained. On this she had spread -clean papers and upon them had laid her coat and hat, and the shabby -boa and muff of black astrachan which had belonged to her dear one. - -She hastened down the hall. Her intuition had not failed. Upon this -bed, his glossy coat revealing the rustiness of the garments, lay Pluto -curled up, regardless of vicissitudes. - -Eliza had scarcely swept him off his bed when the outer door of the -apartment opened again, and closed. - -"There," called a cheerful voice; "that's finished. Business before -pleasure." - -Eliza hastened out into the hall. "You, Mr. Sidney?" she exclaimed in -surprise. "Why, you haven't had time to get over there. Is your room -so near?" - -"Oh, no. We've been making the wagon artistically safe, so as not to -smash any of Aunt Mary's valuables." The speaker, strong and breezy, -smiled reassuringly into Eliza's anxious face. - -"You'd ought to gone with him," she said. "Do you suppose the folks'll -let him in all right." - -"There aren't any folks but English sparrows," returned Phil. "I don't -think they'll object." - -"What are you sayin'?" demanded Eliza. "If there's a house in this -city where there ain't any folks, I didn't know it. It's queer, ain't -it, Mr. Sidney, that it's folks make loneliness. Now, this buildin''s -running over with _folks_, but there ain't an apartment where I could -go in and say good-bye. They're always movin' in and movin' out like -ants, and it makes it worse than if there was nobody. It was clever of -you to come back, but don't you stay, 'cause there ain't any place to -sit but the floor, and I'm going in just a few minutes to leave the key -where I promised the agent I would, and then on to the station." - -"When does your train go?" asked Phil. - -"I ain't just certain," replied Eliza evasively. "I'll get there in -good season." - -"I'm sure you will." Phil's eyes looked very kind. "How did you happen -to take a night train?" - -"Well, I didn't know as Mrs. Wright would want me to travel on Sunday." - -"Isn't it Sunday in the afternoon?" - -"Not after six o'clock," replied Eliza hastily. "We could play dominoes -after six o'clock when I was a youngster." - -"Aha," said Phil. "Then that train doesn't go till after six. It isn't -yet three." - -"Now, Mr. Sidney,"--Eliza was frowning at her own blunder,--"I wish -you wouldn't trouble yourself. The station's nice and warm. I expect -Pluto'll act like all possessed, but I didn't calc'late to have any -comfort with him. I'd been practisin' with him in the basket before you -came to-day." - -Eliza's careworn brow went to her visitor's heart. - -"Where are you to leave the key? I'll take it for you." - -"Oh, you needn't. It's the janitor, right here in the buildin'." - -"Then it's all clear sailing," said Phil. "Get on your things, Eliza." - -"It's a little early," she demurred. "If it wasn't for Pluto I wouldn't -care; but you go along, Mr. Sidney, and don't think anything more about -us. You ought to go and see that those goods get in all right." - -"We'll be there to meet them. Do you suppose I would let you leave New -York without seeing where I'm going to live? And do you suppose I'd let -you out of my sight anyway till I put you on the train?" - -"Dear me!" returned Eliza, fluttered, but feeling as if the sun had -suddenly peeped through the November clouds. "I never thought--" she -stopped undecidedly. - -"Well, I did," said Phil heartily. "It's a shame that I haven't helped -you any this hard week. Where's Pluto?" - -"He may be back on the stove again," returned Eliza. "I don't dare take -my eyes off him." She moved quickly toward the kitchen, and there on -her habiliments lay the cat; but at sight of her he leaped guiltily to -the floor. - -Phil, following, laughed. "Well, things have come to a pretty pass -when you have to hang your coat up on the stove." He looked about -the spotless place. "I wonder if this apartment will ever be so clean -again." - -"Oh, I'm clean," admitted Eliza. "Mr. Sidney,"--she paused again, her -coat in her hand, and faced him,--"you don't want to go traipsing -through the streets o' New York with an old woman and a cat!" - -"That's where you're wrong," returned Phil. "You're the only girl I -have in town. It's highly proper that we should go walking of a Sunday -afternoon. You get on your things, and I'll wrestle with Pluto." - -The cat, suspecting that whatever plan was afoot was not entirely -according to his taste, led Phil a short chase; but all the havens -which usually harbored his periods of rebellion having disappeared, -he was soon captured, and when Eliza, hatted and coated, entered the -living-room, Phil had laid the cat on the flannel in the bottom of the -basket, and was keeping him there by reassuring caresses. - -"Ain't he just as kind as he can be!" thought Eliza. - -"Ready?" asked Phil, and closed the basket. He met Pluto's gaze through -the window. - -"It's all right, old chap," he laughed. - -He was not unmindful of the advantage of this diversion of Eliza's -mind, in leaving the apartment forever. He had a green memory of her -stormy emotion. He tried to take the key from her now as they stepped -outside. - -"No," she said briefly, "I'll close this chapter myself," and she -locked the door. - -Philip balanced the basket ostentatiously. "Believe me," said he, -"Pluto is some cat! How did you expect to get on with him alone?" - -"I calc'lated to get a boy," replied Eliza in an unsteady voice. -Memories were crowding her. - -"Well, you have one," returned Phil, leading the way downstairs. - -"But I'm strong, too. You've heard about the woman that carried the -calf uphill every day till it was a cow? I've had Pluto ever since his -eyes was open." - -"Well, you'd need some hill-climbing with him to fit you for taking the -elevated." - -"Yes, I did some dread those steps. It's certainly clever of you, Mr. -Sidney. They say the lame and the lazy are always provided for." - -Thus Eliza Brewster left her home of years. She gave the key to the -janitor and went out into the dull, damp November afternoon with her -strong escort, whose good cheer again impressed her consciousness as a -wonderful thing to have any relation to her own life. - -"You've learned your way around real quick," said Eliza as they plunged -into the nearest subway station. - -"This is all bluff, Eliza, and you're the most trustful woman in the -world. I want to go somewhere near Gramercy Park; but if we come out at -Harlem I shall try to look as if I lived there." - -"Gramercy Park!" exclaimed Eliza; and she thought--"Well, at that rate, -Mrs. Ballard's money won't last long." - -"I didn't know," she said aloud, "as you'd feel like gettin' a room in -a real fashionable neighborhood." - -"I'll bet," she thought acutely, "that's Mrs. Fabian's doin's." - -The subway train came crashing in, and Pluto crouched in his basket. - -Eliza's suspicions and anxieties increased as, after leaving the -subway, their journey continued; and when they finally came into a -region of old and aristocratic dwellings, her eyes were round and she -could no longer keep silent. It was an outrage, an imposition, to have -influenced the young art-student to commit himself to a home in these -surroundings. - -"I'd 'a' been a whole lot better person to 'a' helped you find a -place than Mrs. Fabian," she said, more and more impressed with the -incongruity of the situation. To be sure, Phil looked like a prince and -fit for any environment; but not while trudging along with a shabby, -grey-haired woman, and carrying a cat-basket. - -"I know, I know, Eliza," he returned, with gay recognition of her -perturbation and disapproval. "I'm sorry sometimes that elegance and -luxury are necessary to me. It's the penalty of blue blood. Mrs. Fabian -had nothing to do with this; but I had to find my level, Eliza. Blood -will tell." - -"You said rats and mice," she returned mechanically. "Are you sure -you've got the right street?" - -"Sure as a homing pigeon;--by the way, I might keep pigeons! I never -thought of it." - -"For the rats?" inquired Eliza with some asperity. - -She had always heard that geniuses were erratic. Also that without -exception they were ignorant of the value of money. Poor Mrs. Ballard! -What a small space of time it would take for her little capital to be -licked up as by a fierce heat. - -"This way," cried her escort, and swung Pluto's basket triumphantly as -he turned abruptly into an alley. - -Eliza caught her breath in the midst of her resentment. "You do go in -the back way, then." - -"Not a bit of it!" retorted Phil. "My proud spirit couldn't brook -anything like that." He caught Eliza's arm and hurried her pace. "We go -in the front way, please take notice!" - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -AN INTERRUPTED TEA - - -More bewildered every moment, Eliza hurried along, obediently, and in a -minute more found herself in a paved yard on which faced a stable built -of stone similar to the fine house backing upon it. - -Phil threw open a side door and disclosed the round, good-natured face -of a man, leaning back in a ragged Morris chair, his feet on a deal -table. - -"Hello, Pat. I've brought my best girl to show her my room." - -The Irishman sprang to his feet, and grinned politely. - -"They have old girls in New York," remarked Eliza drily. - -"Whativer age ye are, mum," said Pat gallantly, "ye don't look it." - -They passed him and ascended a narrow stair. "This is cement, Mr. -Sidney," said Eliza, "and probably no mice." - -"That settles it, Pluto," remarked Phil. "You for the island." - -He ushered his companion into a room, empty but for a deal table and -chair, an oil stove with a saucepan on it, and a couple of piles of -Indian blankets, two of which were spread on the floor in place of -rugs. One end of the table was piled with sketches. - -"Well!" exclaimed Eliza. "Why did you--" - -"Because," interrupted Phil laconically, and pointed to a double window -facing north. - -"Take off your things, Eliza," he added joyously, beginning to unbutton -her coat. - -"There were no horses that I saw," said the bewildered visitor. - -"Family in Europe," returned Phil. - -"But it's warm and comfortable." - -"Have to keep fires on account of the plumbing. The coachman was a -family man before master and mistress departed, and they kept house in -two rooms up here. I have succeeded to Mrs. Maloney's kitchen. Behold -the running water. The other room is used for storage. Being single, -Pat got the job of caretaker and sleeps downstairs. Can you suggest an -improvement?" - -If Eliza had thought Phil handsome before, she stared now at the -illumination of his triumphant face as his eyes questioned her. - -She smiled, and there was a protesting scramble in the basket. - -"Come out, Katze, of course," said the host, and, stooping, released -the prisoner. - -Pluto leaped forth and made a tour of the room, smelling daintily of -the blankets. - -"Of course, when I get Aunt Mary's things, you know," continued Phil. - -"I wish they'd come," said Eliza, dazed and smiling. "I'd like to see -how they're goin' to look." - -"They'll be here before you leave. Now, take the Turkish armchair, Miss -Brewster, and loll back while I talk to you; and pretty soon we'll have -some tea." - -As he spoke the host doubled a striped blanket over the kitchen chair -and deposited Eliza. She felt dumb in the change from dismal loneliness -to this atmosphere charged with vitality. - -Phil threw himself on the blanket at her feet, and leaning on one elbow -looked up into the eyes which wandered about the plastered room. - -"Made to order, Eliza, made to order," he assured her. "No one but Mrs. -Fabian knows where I am, and she's not likely to interrupt me." - -"Stables ain't just in her line," said Eliza. "I was afraid, comin' up -the street, that she had led you into extravagance." - -"Oh, she is very kind," laughed Phil. "She was appalled when I told her -what I had found, and seemed to think my oil stove the most pathetic -thing in the world." - -"Yes," remarked Eliza. "Her son Edgar'd find some trouble livin' this -way." - -"I haven't met him yet." - -"Nor Miss Kathleen?" - -"No, she's at school, you know. Mrs. Fabian has been very good to me. -No one could be kinder, and I'm afraid I've been a rather absent-minded -guest, but getting started has been so glorious. Eliza, I'm the most -fortunate fellow in the world. Just think! Even no paper on these -walls!" - -Eliza looked with disfavor at the rough greyish plaster. - -"'Twould be more cheerful with some real pretty pattern," she said. - -Phil laughed and caught Pluto by the back of the neck as he was -passing, and lifted him over into the hollow of his arm. - -"I like it this way," he explained. - -Eliza looked down at him admiringly. "I wish Mrs. Ballard could see -you now," she said. - -"I wish she knew what she has done for me. It seems as if this is the -first time since my childhood that I have known peace." - -At the word there came a sound of voices from below. - -"The expressman!" exclaimed Phil, and springing to his feet opened the -door. - -"Sure; go right up," they heard in Pat's rich brogue. - -"I'd better help him," said Phil, and went to the head of the stair. - -What met his astonished gaze was a large black velvet hat ascending. -It was willowy with drooping feathers, and in the dimness of the -narrow stair it eclipsed the motive power which was lifting it. In his -amazement Philip stepped back and presently met a slender face whose -dark eyes were lifted to his. - -"We're taking you by storm, Mr. Sidney," said a low, slow voice. "I -hope it's not inconvenient." - -Edgar followed close behind. "I tried to send your man up ahead," he -said stridently, "but he seemed to think this sort of thing was all -right." - -Philip stood back a pace further in actual bewilderment, and Kathleen -Fabian extended her delicately gloved hand. - -"We're the Fabians," she said, examining her host with quick -appraisement, and her smile was alluring. - -"Oh!" exclaimed Phil, recovering himself and taking the hand. "Very -kind of you, I'm sure." - -"If you think you're easy to find," said Edgar as they greeted, "you're -much mistaken. Mother got it all wrong, as usual." - -Philip took in at a glance the dapper form of his visitor. He had not -been insensible of Edgar's neglect of him in the young man's own home; -and had decided that Eastern and Western ideas of hospitality must -differ with more than the width of a continent. - -"Very good of you, I'm sure, to stick to it," he returned composedly. -"Come into my suite and overlook its shortcomings if you can." - -Eliza had risen, startled. - -"I suppose you both know Eliza Brewster," continued Phil. "She made -life comfortable for Aunt Mary so many years." - -Edgar Fabian jerked his blond head in Eliza's direction. "How do," he -said; but the host's tone and manner constrained Kathleen to approach -the grey-haired woman, and again hold out the delicate hand. - -"Was it you who made those good cookies Aunt Mary used to give us?" she -asked slowly, looking curiously at Phil's guest. - -Eliza allowed the white glove to take her bony fingers a moment, then -she stepped behind the solitary chair and set it forward for the -visitor. - -The girl would have accepted it, but Phil interposed. - -"Sit down, Eliza," he said good-humoredly. "Miss Fabian can get chairs -at home. I am going to treat her with truly Oriental magnificence. Try -this, Miss Fabian." The host indicated a pile of Indian blankets, and -Kathleen sank upon them. - -Then Phil turned to Edgar, who reached to the host's ear as he stood in -high-chested superiority looking about the apartment with disfavor. - -"The choice of soft spots is small," said Phil, "but help yourself. -There's room beside your sister here." - -Edgar moved to the pile of blankets and sat down; while Phil dropped, -Turkish fashion, at Eliza's feet and faced them. - -"What a splendid cat!" said Kathleen. - -"Yes," agreed Phil. "Come here, Katze, and see the lady." He seized -Pluto and handed him over to Kathleen." - -"Oh, get out," said Edgar. "I hate cats." - -His sister moved Pluto over to her other side where he drove his claws -into the blanket with satisfaction while she caressed him. - -"He'll soil your glove," said Eliza; "his hair comes out some." She -resented the Fabian touch on her pet, and Edgar's remark had sent color -to her sallow cheeks. - -"I'd like a muff made of him," drawled Kathleen. - -"Too late," said Phil. "He's going to Maine to-night with Eliza." - -"He isn't your cat, then?" said the girl, and brushed her glove. - -"No, Eliza refuses to give him to me." - -"There's that oil stove," remarked Edgar. "I don't know what there is -so particularly virtuous about an oil stove; but mother throws yours at -me every time we have an argument." - -Philip regarded the speaker speculatively. Edgar's voice had an -arrogant quality, which gave no idea of its beauty when he broke into -song. "I'd give you a glimpse of its virtues if the expressman would -come," replied the host. He smiled up at Eliza while Kathleen watched -him. "Did you put in cups enough for all of us?" - -"Six cups and saucers," returned Eliza, "and six plates, and six knives -and forks, and six spoons. I gave you the plated ones 'cause then you -wouldn't care if they were stolen." - -"But I should care," returned Phil gravely. "I shall search every -departing guest." - -"Indian blankets," said Edgar. "They suggest the pipe of peace. Let's -make it a cigarette." He took out his case. - -"Only one room here," remarked Phil. "Perhaps the ladies object." - -Edgar grinned at his sister. "Do you object to a cigarette, Kath?" he -asked, offering her the open case. - -"Perhaps Mr. Sidney is not a smoker," she said, "and it would be -unsociable." - -The same curiosity which had grown in Phil's eyes as he regarded young -Fabian, now stole into them as they met Kathleen's. - -"I'm almost sure Eliza doesn't indulge," said the host, "and perhaps -she doesn't like it." - -"Don't think of me, Mr. Philip," exclaimed Eliza hastily. "This is your -house." - -"My stable, you mean." He smiled. "No, it's yours this afternoon, -Eliza. You're to give orders." - -"Then you may smoke to your hearts' content," she responded promptly; -and she sent an inimical look toward the graceful girl in the drooping -hat. Let her smoke! Eliza hoped she would, and let Philip Sidney see -what the Fabians were. - -"Remove my sister's scruples, won't you, Sidney?" said Edgar, offering -his case. - -Phil took a cigarette, and Edgar passed them back to Kathleen. - -"No, thanks," she replied. She had seen the cool curiosity in the -host's eyes as they rested upon her a moment ago. - -"Oh, go ahead," urged Edgar. - -"I don't like your cigarettes," she returned shortly, annoyed by his -persistence. A deep color grew in her cheeks. - -"Wait till you know Kath better," said Edgar with a wink toward Philip. -"You'll welcome any little human touches about her. She's at the most -painful stage of her college career where she knows everything; and -she's one of these high-brows; saves money--good money--and buys -microscopes with it!" The utter scorn of the speaker's tone, as he -offered Phil a light, caused the latter to smile. - -"What are you doing with a microscope, Miss Fabian?" he asked. - -"Hunting for an honest man," she returned in her lingering speech. - -"Stung!" remarked her brother. "Say, I don't see any symptoms of -painting up here," he added, looking around. - -"No; you'll have to come down to the academy to see the works of art -I'm throwing off," said Phil. "I've been there two days." - -Now there was another stir belowstairs and this time it really was the -expressman; and Philip's effects began to come upstairs. - -"I'm afraid we're dreadfully in the way," said Kathleen; while Edgar -held his cigarette between two fingers and moved about, watching the -invasion of barrels, boxes, and bedstead, uncertain whether to lend a -hand. "Aunt Mary's old duds, as I'm alive!" he thought, seeing Eliza's -anxious supervision of each piece as Phil came carrying it in. - -"A great way to entertain you, Miss Fabian," said the host brightly. - -"What can I do?" inquired Edgar perfunctorily, continuing to get in -Phil's way with the assiduity of a second Marcelline. - -"If you won't mind being put on the shelf for a minute," said Phil, -tired of avoiding him, "I'm going to tote in one more and then we're -done." And picking up the astonished Edgar he set him on a barrel -which had been placed in a corner, and so succeeded in bringing in the -heaviest of the boxes undisturbed. - -Edgar, very red in the face, swung his patent leather feet for a minute -and then jumped down. "We must be going, Kath," he said stiffly. - -"Not till you've found the mahl-stick," she drawled, with stars in her -eyes. "My brother is so curious about your painting implements, Mr. -Sidney." - -"They're in these boxes," responded Phil. "The very ones that dear -little Aunt Mary used." - -He had paid the expressman and was pulling down his cuffs. His guests -were both standing. - -"Personally," he continued, "I think the contents of the barrel more -interesting just now. You mustn't go without a cup of tea. One moment -and I'll make a raid on Pat for a hammer." - -Phil left the room and Edgar still stood, quite flushed under his -sister's smile. - -"Do you want any tea?" he asked severely. - -"I think I do," replied Kathleen. - -"I'll send the car back for you, then." - -"Not at all," she answered; and when the girl's voice took this tone -and her eyes narrowed, her brother usually paid attention. After all, -Kathleen was a useful court of last appeal. It was unwise to offend her. - -"What's the matter? Eliza can chaperone you," he protested. - -Simultaneously with Phil's disappearance Eliza had moved to the window -and looked out on the advancing twilight. She heard the words, and her -thin lips tightened. - -"That's the very cat that assaulted and battered mother," went on -Edgar, and although he lowered his voice Eliza heard the words and -smiled grimly at a neighboring stable. - -Kathleen frowned and motioned with her head toward the black alpaca -back. - -Edgar shrugged his immaculate shoulders. - -"Well, tell me when you have had enough of it," he said, and threw -himself back on the pile of blankets. - -Kathleen was just planning some civil overture to Eliza when the host -reappeared, a hatchet in his hand. - -"That bold son of Erin dares to imply that I borrowed his hammer -yesterday," he announced. "If I did, it is in Mrs. Maloney's closet; -and if there it is as a needle in a haystack; for that closet, Miss -Fabian, is responsible for the air of chaste elegance you observe in -this apartment. If you'll all stand aside, not to be bombarded when I -open the door, I will give one glimpse within." - -Phil opened the closet door cautiously, and deftly caught a mandolin as -it bounded forth. - -"Sole relic of glee-club days," he remarked. "I don't know why I -brought it, for I couldn't play 'Yankee Doodle' on it now." - -He delved further into the closet, and Edgar, picking up the mandolin -as one friend in a strange land, removed it from its case with slow and -condescending touch. - -"Here's the hammer on the sink," said Eliza suddenly. - -"Saved!" exclaimed Phil, pushing back billowing folds of grey. "I was -just about losing in a combat with a bath-wrapper. Now, with these -chairs and the hammer, what is to prevent our salon from being the most -delightful success?" - -"Nothing!" exclaimed Kathleen, standing at the end of the table. "I -have found some sketches, Mr. Sidney. May I look at them?" - -"Certainly." The artist took the hammer and began an attack on the -barrel which caused Edgar to raise his eyebrows in annoyance. He was -testing the strings of the mandolin. - -"Shall I light the stove?" asked Eliza. - -"No, you're the guest of honor. Sit down, Eliza, and watch us. Mr. -Fabian will light the stove." - -"Heaven forbid," exclaimed Edgar devoutly, "that I should touch the -enemy of my peace!" - -Kathleen, her lip caught between her teeth as she turned the sketches -with concentrated interest, sent an ironical glance toward her brother, -strumming the mandolin on the blanket couch. - -"Yes, you're elected, Fabian," said Phil, deftly removing the -barrel-hoop. "You have the matches. You see the peace and calm on my -brow? That is because I am serene in the knowledge of a lemon and a bag -of sugar outside on the window ledge." - -Reluctantly Edgar laid down the mandolin and approached the stove. - -"What do you do?" he asked superciliously. "Turn on something at the -bottom, and light it at the top?" - -"Edgar," warned his sister, "it isn't gas." - -"Marrow-bones, Fabian, get down on them," said Phil good-humoredly; and -disgustedly Edgar knelt to his _bête noir_. - -Eliza's fingers itched to help him. She obeyed Phil's warning gestures -to keep her seat until the match was finally applied to the wicks. -Then, seeing that they were turned too high, she pounced down on the -floor beside the young man, and pushing his immaculate arm away she -lowered the wicks. - -Edgar stared at the familiarity. "Excuse me," she said shortly. - -"Must have a finger in the pie, eh?" remarked Phil. - -"Do you know how long it'd take to get this room so full o' soot we -couldn't stay in it?" asked Eliza. "I wonder what sort of a mess you're -goin' to live in here, Mr. Sidney, if you don't know that?" - -"It's a smokeless one," protested Phil meekly. - -"The cat's foot!" quoth Eliza scornfully. "Don't tell me! There's no -such thing." She partly filled the kettle and placed it on the stove, -watching the wicks with a jealous eye. - -Edgar removed himself from danger and looked with exasperation at -Kathleen, who with eyes aglow was turning the sketches. - -"If I ever worked as hard for tea as this I'll be hung!" he thought, -and returned to the mandolin as the one congenial object in a forlorn -abode. - -Even its long silent strings spoke plaintively against the vulgar -banging which was removing the barrel-head. - -"There!" exclaimed Phil presently. "I rather fancy the way I did that. -I can use that barrel again." - -"Yes," assented Edgar as he strummed, "for kindlings for the oil-stove." - -Phil drew the barrel nearer the table. - -"Now for the plums in the pudding," he said, and began to draw forth -some papered cups from the excelsior. - -Kathleen dropped the sketches and unwrapped the packages. She had stood -three cups and saucers on the table before Eliza turned from her labors -about the stove. - -"What delightful old things!" exclaimed the girl. - -"Now, aren't you glad you stayed?" asked Phil, bringing forth a silver -cream pitcher of long ago. - -Eliza caught sight of the table, and suddenly threw up both hands with -an exclamation. - -"Mr. Sidney!" she cried. "I've given you the wrong barrel!" - -"What? What's happened?" inquired Phil, halted by her tragic tone. - -"All Mrs. Ballard's best things are in that barrel; the old china that -was her mother's, and the solid silver, and everything; and I've gone -and sent yours with the substantial crockery and the beddin' to the -island!" - -Edgar Fabian regarded Eliza as inimically as his stepmother might have -done. So this old servant had been carrying off the heirlooms and been -discovered. - -He sat up very straight on his blanket couch. - -"I'll speak to my mother," he said. "She can come over to-morrow and -get them, and buy the right sort of thing for a bachelor"--he threw a -glance around the plastered room--"apartment!" - -Phil, not realizing the sensitiveness of the subject, laughed. - -"Good work, Eliza! We'll have one aristocratic tea in the Sidney -studio, before we fall to stone china and mugs." - -"The others ain't stone china and mugs," cried Eliza. She was trembling -from head to foot, as frightened and enraged by Edgar's suggestion -as if her own life had been at stake. "They're all good, comfortable -things. If it was safe I'd leave all these for you, Mr. Philip, just as -liefs to as not, for she loved you; but you are gone all day; they'd be -stole--just as Mr. Fabian says." - -Edgar blinked, then his face grew scarlet as the servant's implication -grew upon him. - -"What do you mean--you--!" - -He leaped to his feet and faced Eliza, who glared back at him. "These -things should belong to my mother," he said, "and it's a good thing you -didn't succeed in getting away with them. She may set some value on the -old stuff. I don't know." - -"Edgar!" exclaimed Kathleen, as scarlet as he, while the duel had all -happened so suddenly that the host stared, dazed. - -He had just lifted another silver piece from the barrel and taken it -from its flannel bag. - -"They do not belong to your mother," returned Eliza angrily. "They -belong to me, to have and to hold, or to give away as I see fit." - -Edgar shrugged. "Oh, in that case--" he returned. He didn't like -Eliza's eyes. - -"In that case," said Phil to him gravely, "I think you'll feel better -to apologize to the woman who has put Aunt Mary's relatives under -lifelong obligation for her devoted care." - -Edgar tossed his head with a scornful grimace. - -"Yes, I understand perfectly," went on Phil, coloring; "Aunt Mary was -no kin to you, and I understand that she was a person held in little -consideration by your family." The host's attitude was tense now, and -his look compelling. "Nevertheless, Eliza Brewster happens to be my -honored guest to-day, and I'm sure you will be glad to express your -regret for your choice of words." - -"Edgar, you didn't understand," said Kathleen. "Say so. Why, of course, -you're glad to say so." - -"No, I didn't understand," remarked Edgar with a languid air, strumming -the mandolin, "and now that I do, I don't know that it is very -interesting." - -Phil saw Kathleen's acute distress. - -"Very sorry, I'm sure," continued the young man, nodding toward Eliza. -"You can run away with your barrel and welcome. The Fabians will -still have cups and saucers. I think," returning Phil's grave gaze -contemptuously, "if your honored guest should apologize for her attack -on my mother, it would be quite as much to the point. You heard her -say that mother would come over and steal her trash, didn't you? Come, -Kathleen." The speaker dropped the mandolin, squared his shoulders, and -started for the door. - -"No; oh, no!" exclaimed Phil, all his hearty Western hospitality in -arms at the sight of his girl guest's expression. - -Edgar turned on him again. "I fancied that my mother had been rather -civil to you since your arrival. I'll tell her how you guard her -dignity." - -Edgar was fairly swelling with emotion, one fourth of which was -indignant defence of his mother, and three fourths joy at a clear case -against the poverty-stricken artist who had dared set his own sacred -person on a barrel and make him light an oil-stove. - -Kathleen's scarlet face and lambent eyes spoke her distress. Phil, -faced with condoning the slur on his kind hostess, was bewildered and -uncertain. - -Eliza saw it all and was the most disturbed of the four. - -"Oh, Mr. Fabian, it's all my fault!" she exclaimed, looking appealingly -at Edgar. "Please stay for tea." - -"Really, you know," said Phil, "this is all a tempest in a tea-pot." He -held up Aunt Mary's graceful old-colonial silver. "This one would be -too big to hold it." - -"Come, Kath," said Edgar, ignoring them. "Will you come with me or -shall I wait for you in the car?" - -Kathleen gave him an imploring look, but he was already moving to the -door. - -Phil took an impulsive step toward her. "Perhaps you will stay," he -said, in supreme discomfort. She gave him a little smile. "No, I -mustn't," she answered gently. "I'm sorry I hadn't finished looking at -the sketches." - -"May I bring them over to you?" - -She shook her head. "I go back to school in the morning. Good-bye, I -wish you all success." - -Eliza stood with tight-clasped hands. It had been her fault that the -bud of an acquaintance which might have been serviceable to her young -friend had been blighted. They would tell Mrs. Fabian. She might visit -her anger upon him. Eliza had never expected to feel gratitude toward -one of the name, but her surprise was mingled with that sentiment when -Kathleen now approached her, laying her smooth gloved hand on the rough -clasped ones to say good-bye. - -"You are going to Brewster's Island?" she asked. "It is a strange time -of year." - -"'Twas my home once," replied Eliza, tragedy of past and present so -evident in her haggard face that a touch of pity stirred the girl's -heart. - -"I heard," said Kathleen, "that Mrs. Wright is staying there. How can -she in the desolate winter?" - -"I guess angels can live anywhere," responded Eliza. Her disturbed eyes -met Kathleen's. "Miss Fabian," and her hard hand grasped the gloved -one, "I don't care how cold the winter's goin' to be if only you'll -promise me that I haven't done any harm to this boy here by my foolish -talk. He ain't to blame if I seemed to--to speak about your mother. -Don't, don't let her blame him for it. If I thought she would--if I -thought I'd cut him off from friends--some day when I get to thinkin' -about it up there on that hill I feel as if I should jump into the -water and done with it." - -"I'll explain," said Kathleen gently. "I hope you'll have a good -winter. I'm glad you will have Mrs. Wright." - -When the girl turned back, Edgar had gone; and the veil of -perfunctoriness had fled from her host's eyes. He was looking at her as -friend at friend. - -He escorted her downstairs, and out through the alley to the waiting -limousine within which, with elevated feet, Edgar was already solacing -himself with a cigarette. At sight of the approaching pair, he leaped -from the car, and received his sister with hauteur. - -"Good-bye," said Phil composedly, when they were inside; "very good of -you to come." - -He closed the door, the machine started, and he returned to the stable, -where Pat received him with a grin, still standing where he had risen -when Kathleen passed through a minute ago. "I say, me bye," he said -huskily, jerking his thumb in the direction of the stairway, "the auld -one above there--she's yer second best girl, I'm thinkin'. That one," -pointing to the street, "she do be a princess all roight. She turned -them lamps on me when she first come in and asked for you, and I felt -chape 'cause the stairs wasn't marble; but look out, me son, I know -that breed. She'll make ye toe the mark." - -Phil smiled. "To be honest with you, Pat, I have just one best girl," -he said emphatically. - -Pat looked up at him with admiration. - -"Is she in New York, thin?" - -"Sometimes I think I shall get a glimpse of her here." - -"Sure if she knows where ye are ye will, thin!" said Pat devoutly. "How -does she dress so I'll know her? I'll be on the watch." - -"Just now in scarlet and gold," said Phil, lifting his head and gazing -beyond the stable wall. - -"Faith, she knows a thing or two," nodded Pat. "'Tis an old dodge, 'Red -and Yeller, ketch a feller.'" - -"In winter she goes all in white," said Phil, "soft, pure, spotless." - -"Moighty wasteful fer the city!" said Pat seriously. "'Twill be hard -on yer pocket, me bye." - -"In spring she's in golden-green among the browns, but in summer, full, -glorious green, Pat. Oh, she's a wonderful girl, a goddess!" - -"Sure she is if she knows that green's the best of all the game," -exclaimed the Irishman. "Whin'll she be comin'?" - -"Ah, I have to go to her, Pat." - -"'Tis better so," agreed the other. - -"I've thought she might meet me sometime out in the park." - -"She can, sir." Pat gave Phil's shoulder a sounding slap. - -"But I notice the park gate is kept locked." - -"It is," agreed Pat, with shining face, "and 'tis meself has a key. -'Twill be yours for the askin' any day in the week." - -"Great!" responded Phil. "I'll remember that." - -"And sure I'll be lookin'," thought Pat, watching the artist take the -stairway in bounds. "The women'll mob that bye afore he gets through. -Sure I'd like to see the gurl brings that look to his eyes." - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -HEIRLOOMS - - -As the Fabian car started toward home, Edgar hoped his sister would -rally him on his failure to chastise the puny artist from the West. -Anything was better than one of Kathleen's "stills," as he called his -sister's periods of scornful silence. He was Kathleen's elder, he was -her brother. By every law of propriety she should be guided by him and -lean upon his opinions; but as he now reflected she was "more apt to -jump on them." - -At present her sombre eyes looked straight ahead under the picture hat, -and her countenance expressed only composure of mind and body. He had -thrown away his cigarette, and he began to hum the favorite aria from -"Madam Butterfly." Kathleen, if she spoke at all, would probably try to -persuade him to say nothing to their mother of the scene just passed. -He would offer her an opening for speech. Perhaps she was anxious in -spite of her acted composure. - -"I heard 'Butterfly' last week," he said. "Farrar can have me." - -Silence. - -"Well," he looked around at the slender dark face with the eyes full -of slumberous fire. "Well, why don't you get off one of those juices -of yours about the fair Geraldine probably not being aware of her good -luck, et cetera?" - -The chauffeur was playing with the speed limit. They would soon be at -home. Kathleen realized that this would be the only opportunity to -speak with her brother alone. - -She slowly turned her head and met his quickly averted gaze. "You are -not usually so chivalrous toward mother," she said. "Why did you think -it worth while to make such a fuss?" - -"Twitting on facts is bad taste," declared Edgar with his usual air of -insouciance. If his sister would only talk, all would be well. - -"What do you mean by that?" - -"Why, Aunt Mary's faithful retainer showed the poorest possible taste. -She said if mother knew that those antiques were left unprotected by -anything but the oil-stove, she would prance over to that stable and -nab them." - -Kathleen stared at him. "Do you mean that she would?" - -"Like a shot," responded Edgar cheerfully. "Wasn't I bound to resent -it?" - -Kathleen kept silence a space. Since she had been at home this time, -her mother had told her with some excitement of Eliza's presumption in -retaining articles of no value to a servant. - -"And whether I was warranted or not," went on Edgar, elated by her -muteness, "'there comes an opportunity in the lives of men' which -seldom knocks on a man's door the second time. I flatter myself I was -quick enough to shut the box between that wild and woolly Westerner and -us, so that he won't expect anything more of _me_, in any event." - -"I should think not," returned Kathleen slowly. "The childish way you -took your playthings and went home was ridiculous." - -Edgar's face flamed. "Don't be nasty, Kathleen, just because you know -how," he said, dropping his careless tone. "No doubt you thought it was -very funny to see me lifted about like a doll, and on my knees lighting -a stove. I went there to please you, but I can tell you a very little -of alleys and stables will do for me. When I go slumming it'll be where -the poor know their place and know mine." - -"Oh, Edgar," said Kathleen hopelessly. "Well, is it your intention to -tell mother what happened?" - -"I'm going to keep that up my sleeve. It may come in handy sometime." - -"It would hurt her feelings, and do no good," said the girl. - -"Do no good? What! Not if it kept her from inviting the cowboy early -and often to the house? Oh, yes, I've no doubt he's got you all right. -He's a looker, and girls are all alike." - -Kathleen did not condescend to notice this thrust. Her eyes turned back -to gaze upon the road as it flew beneath their car. "Don't lie awake -planning to avoid Mr. Sidney," she said quietly. "He will probably -always see you first; but from the moment you tell mother about this -petty little scene we've just passed through, you need never come to me -for assistance in any line. I shall not give it to you." - -Stealing a side glance at his sister's face, Edgar Fabian knew that she -meant what she said. - -"Supposing," she went on presently, "that you had smoothed over an -awkward moment, and that we had had tea in Aunt Mary's egg-shell cups, -and had let that brave fellow think he was giving us pleasure, and that -you had sung something to his mandolin in your charming voice;--think -of the difference in situation to us all. Instead of four hurt people, -scattering, and feeling awkward and ashamed, we should have given the -stranger in a strange land a little housewarming to begin life with -here." - -"Not four hurt people, if you please," retorted Edgar with bravado; but -he was surprised, and somewhat affected by his sister's picture. His -charming voice would doubtless have increased the host's respect for -him. - -"I expect sometime, of course," he went on with a superior air, "to be -a patron of the arts to a certain extent. If the cowboy makes good, and -learns to keep his hands off his betters, I may do something for him -yet." - -Kathleen's risibles were not easily stirred; but now she laughed low, -and so heartily that Edgar's inflation over her compliment to his voice -became as a pricked balloon. She even wiped away a tear as she ceased. - -"Philip Sidney is going to interest the patrons of art," she said at -last. - -"What makes you so sure?" asked Edgar with a sneer. "His physique?" - -"His sketches, his superiority to his circumstances, and his behavior -to Eliza," returned Kathleen composedly. - -"Great Scott!" exclaimed her brother. "I'd like to see myself saddled -with that gargoyle and a wild-cat, in an unfurnished stable on a dismal -afternoon." - -"Yes, you've shown your sympathy and assistance in a manly and powerful -manner," said Kathleen, as the car stopped before the brown-stone front -of their home. - -"Sarcasm, Miss Fabian," returned her brother, as he assisted her to -alight, "is the cheapest and meanest of weapons. Each one to his taste. -That state of things suited him. It wouldn't suit me. That's all. It -takes all sorts of people to make the world." - -Mrs. Fabian was in the drawing-room, and as her children entered she -looked up expectantly, then her face fell. - -"I told you to bring Phil back with you to tea." - -"I forgot it, mother, really," said Kathleen. She sat down and began -taking off her gloves. "But he couldn't have come." - -"No," added Edgar. "He had a guest; your friend Eliza Brewster was -there with her cat." - -"Eliza!" echoed Mrs. Fabian, sitting up. "Is she going to cook for -Philip?" - -"No," said Kathleen. "She is going to Brewster's Island to-night." - -"I tried," added Edgar, "to get her to send you the cat as a souvenir, -but she refused." - -"I'm glad she is leaving town," said Mrs. Fabian. "She is a very -ungrateful person and I detest ingratitude. Moreover, a person who is -in an anomalous position is always annoying, and Aunt Mary made Eliza -so much a member of her family that the woman doesn't know her place. -What was she doing over at Phil's?" - -"Overseeing the moving in of Aunt Mary's dunnage," replied Edgar. - -"Why! Has he more than one room?" asked Mrs. Fabian with interest. - -"No, mother," said Kathleen, in a tone designed to offset Edgar's -sprightly scorn. "He has just one, and nothing in it but piles of -Indian blankets and a table and chair." - -"The chair for Eliza, mind you," put in Edgar, "while Kathleen and I -were stowed on the floor." - -A spark glowed in the girl's eyes as she regarded her brother. "He let -you sit on a barrel, I remember," she said. - -"Oh, yes," returned Edgar; "and speaking of barrels," he went on, a -belligerent spark glowing in his eyes, "a ripping thing happened. All -this old stuff came over while we were there, and among them a barrel -of dishes. Well, Sidney opened it and began taking out the things, but -instead of the coarse stuff Eliza had meant to give him, there were -gold-banded china, and colonial silver tea-things--" - -Mrs. Fabian's backbone suddenly seemed of steel. "Aunt Mary had a few -fine old things," she interrupted. - -"Well, there they were. She'd given Sidney the wrong barrel. You should -have seen her face. She was ready to faint." - -"You say she leaves to-night?" Mrs. Fabian's eyes were looking far -away through the wall of her house toward Gramercy Park. "Philip won't -want the care of those delicate old things," she added. "I'll get some -proper ones for him in the morning." - -Edgar laughed gleefully, none the less that Kathleen's lips were grave. - -"If I were you, mother," said the girl, "I would let them work it out. -Eliza seems to have taken the helm over there." - -"Of course she has," agreed Mrs. Fabian sharply. "Taking is Eliza's -forte. That china and silver belonged to my grandmother. If Aunt Mary -didn't have enough thoughtfulness to leave it to me in writing, is that -any reason it should not be mine?" - -"Aunt Mary knew," said Kathleen, "that you had everything you wanted." - -"Everything I needed, perhaps," retorted Mrs. Fabian, with excitement, -"but I certainly want my own grandmother's things; and Providence has -thrown them into my hands. I shall explain everything to Philip and he -will be glad to have me take them. Isn't he all that I said he was, -Kathleen?" - -"He is very interesting," returned Kathleen quietly. - -Then she rose and went to the door. Edgar followed her uneasily to the -foot of the stairs. - -"I'm not going to peach, Kath, don't worry," he said. "I'll keep the -compact. I just wanted to prove to you that I knew the _mater_." - -His sister turned on him. "I told you that you should have been the -girl and I the man," she said; and he winced under the contempt of her -look. "If mother gets those things to-morrow, the result for you will -be just what I promised. I shall never be at your call again." - -"You said--" began Edgar, perturbed. - -But Kathleen ran swiftly upstairs. Her brother returned to the -drawing-room. - -"What's the matter with Kathleen?" inquired Mrs. Fabian. "She behaved -so strangely." - -"Oh," returned Edgar, shaking his head as if exasperated beyond -patience, "Kath's a stiff. She can't see a joke if she runs into it. -Now, I think that barrel business was funny, don't you?" - -"It's something more than funny," returned Mrs. Fabian impressively. -"It's Providence, as I said." - -"Well, now, I'll wager," declared her son argumentatively, "that if you -take the law into your own hands and bring that old truck over here, -Kathleen will cut us both." - -"What in the world is the reason? Was she so impressed with -Philip? I think he's irresistible myself, but Kathleen is so -unimpressionable--and beside, he won't disapprove." - -"I'm not so sure. He treats Eliza as if she was the one best bet. I -don't pretend to know all Kath thinks. She's a high-brow and a crank. -Do you suppose she'd look at a man unless he was a college professor? I -guess not." - -"Don't speak of your sister so, Edgar. You have reason to be grateful -that she is not an ordinary silly flirt." - -"Flirt!" ejaculated Edgar, with rolling eyes. "Do you suppose she'd sit -on the stairs with anything but a Latin book, or flirt with anything -but a microscope?" - -"Well, then, you don't have to worry about her?" - -"Don't I!" retorted Edgar laconically. - -"I must say," pursued Mrs. Fabian virtuously, "it is too much for -Kathleen always to expect me to hold her judgment superior to mine. I -shall do in this matter what I see fit." - -"Then it's all up with me," observed Edgar. - -"What do you mean?" - -"She'll visit it on me. She always does." Edgar was beginning to wish -that he had not played with fire. "Beside, in this case, Eliza says -that old stuff belongs to her; is hers to do as she pleases with." - -"Yes," returned Mrs. Fabian, with righteous indignation. "Possession is -nine tenths of the law; and if I get that possession we'll see what the -law can do for her!" - -"Oh," protested Edgar petulantly, "why do you want to bother with it?" - -His mother's eyes were glistening. In fancy she saw the convenient -barrel in which was compactly stowed Aunt Mary's little store of -heirlooms. - -"Because," she answered with dignity, "genuine old things like that are -not to be despised. They would be just the thing at the island." - -"That's what Eliza thought," said Edgar drily. - -"The idea," exclaimed Mrs. Fabian, "of her using such things in the -sort of home she'll have!" - -"Perhaps she'll console Mrs. Wright with them," said Edgar. "You were -pitying her last night for her winter exile." - -"If she did, Mrs. Wright would give them back to me at once," declared -Mrs. Fabian; "but never mind, there will be no need now. Providence has -thrown them right into my hands. Occasionally you can see justice work -out in this world." - -Edgar looked toward the portières. Kathleen might return. There was no -sign of any one approaching, however. - -"Well, I'm in wrong with Kath for having spoken of it, then," he said. -"Let me have twenty, will you, mother? You can afford to on the -strength of the heirlooms." - -"I can't, Edgar." - -"Ten, then; you owe me that much, I'm sure." - -Mrs. Fabian's lips took a tight line. - -"You know, Edgar," she said impressively, "your father has forbidden me -to give you money. He says you must learn the worth of it." - -The youth shrugged his shoulders impatiently, and throwing himself into -an easy-chair, stretched his legs toward the blazing logs and stared at -the fire with the gloom of one who feels that he has killed the goose -that laid the golden eggs. He had not, however, told of Eliza's insult -and his own wrathful departure from the stable. He could defend himself -to Kathleen so far, when next they met, and it might possibly soften -her heart. - - * * * * * - -When Philip Sidney bounded up the stable stairs, he came in upon -Eliza, who was standing as he had left her, and with such a woe-begone -expression that, meeting her tragical gaze, he burst into a peal of -laughter. - -"Oh, Mr. Philip, Mr. Philip!" she mourned. "I've spoiled everything." - -"What! Let the kettle boil over?" - -"No, no; you'll make light of it for my sake; but I've turned the -Fabians against you! That pert little bantam will go home and tell his -mother everything, and it'll make a lot o' difference. They might have -been lots o' use to you." - -"Don't borrow trouble, Eliza. I'm not going to have our last visit -spoiled. I don't make use of my friends anyway; and beside, I'm going -to be too busy to have any. Come, now, make the tea. I want to see you -drink so much that you 'swell wisibly before my wery eyes.' Shall we -use this fine old silver jug?" - -"Mr. Sidney." Eliza wrung her hands. "You're awful smart and strong; -can we get this barrel headed up again and off to the depot to-night?" - -"Why," Phil hesitated, "I suppose so, but wouldn't you rather have -your tea in comfort now, before we go out to dinner, and let me do the -barrel to-morrow and send it off?" - -"There wouldn't be any barrel," returned Eliza darkly. "Not unless you -packed and sent it before you went to your school." - -"Why not?" - -"You heard me tell 'em right to their face," said Eliza. - -"Oh, surely," protested Phil, "you don't think Mrs. Fabian would do -anything highhanded?" - -"Wouldn't she, though?" returned Eliza. "She hasn't got over it yet -that Mrs. Ballard sent your mother a diamond pin and didn't leave her -anything." - -Phil looked puzzled. "Why didn't Aunt Mary remember Aunt Isabel?" he -asked. - -"To tell the truth, I don't think Mrs. Ballard meant to slight her. She -just didn't think anything about it. She knew Mrs. Fabian was rich, and -didn't suppose she'd care for any of her little things. Your mother -always acted human toward her, and was her namesake, and 'twas natural -she should send her something." - -"Well, well; have a cup of tea anyway." Eliza's pallor went to her -host's heart. He went to the window and brought in the lemon and sugar. - -Eliza followed him with her eyes. - -"Do you think you can, Mr. Sidney?" she asked, her hands interlocked. - -"Can what?" - -"Do the barrel. I'll never forget it of you," she said fervently. - -"I can't believe there's any necessity for such haste. Pat's a good -watch-dog so far as thieves are concerned." - -"You don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Sidney. Trust me, it's -my only chance to save the dishes; and I tell you she might have the -whole kit and boodle of 'em and welcome, if she'd been kind, or even -decent to that little angel. 'T ain't the silver and things I want. -It's to keep 'em away from her." - -Phil could see that Eliza was trembling in her intensity. She had -shaken her head until she had again loosened the grey locks about her -gaunt face. - -"I don't care anything about anything to eat, Mr. Sidney," she went on. -"I can head up the barrel myself in some kind of a way, but it's got to -go to the depot or else I don't, and my berth's all paid for." - -"How did you ever happen to be born in New England?" returned Phil -meditatively, noting her clenched hands. "You and Bernhardt would have -been rivals. Settle down comfortably now. Make the tea and I'll head up -the barrel after you have used one of these cups. If necessary, we'll -ride on the wagon." - -"Oh, Mr. Sidney, _can_ we ride on the wagon?" exclaimed Eliza in a -frenzy of gratitude. - -Phil laughed. "Anyway, the barrel shall leave here to-night. I'll take -one of my brushes and do such high-art addressing that it will follow -you meekly to the island. Don't you worry another moment. I guarantee -it." - -"Then it'll have to leave here before we do," persisted Eliza. - -"It shall leave here before we do. Now, are you satisfied?" - -Eliza heaved a deep sigh of relief and proceeded to make the tea. - -Phil was inclined to be impatient with her fears; but the next day, -when he returned from the Academy, Pat met him with a grin. - -"Sure ye're the divil of a bye," he said with an expansive gesture. -"I'll have to put on a biled shirt every day to resave yer company. 'T -was no less than the Queen o' Sheby came to see ye this mornin' an' you -not gone tin minutes." - -"A lady--the one who was here yesterday?" - -"Sure 't was no slip of a girl in a big hat to-day, 'T was a queen, I'm -tellin' ye. She rolled up in her motor car an' come here an' knocked -on me door, an' me without a collar on. She was dressed in furs an' -looked like she owned the earth. - -"'I wish to see Mr. Sidney,' says she. - -"'Thin ye'll have to go farther, mum,' says I. 'Ye'll find him at the -paintin' school,' says I. - -"She didn't need any paint herself, I'm tellin' ye. She got rid in the -face while she was talkin'. - -"'I'm his aunt,' says she, haughty-like, 'an' as long as I'm here I'll -see his room,' says she; an' wid that she wint up them stairs like they -belonged to her. I heerd her movin' around, an' I hurried to button -me collar an' slick up. Presently I dropped the comb, for I heerd her -comin' back. Before she'd got away downstairs, 'What have ye done wid -the barrel?' says she. 'What bar'l?' says I. 'The wan Mr. Sidney had -here last night,' says she. Thin I remembered there was wan. 'It moved -out,' says I, 'wid his company,' says I. 'What company?' says she, and -her eyes snapped the way I expected to hear her say, 'Off with his -head!' - -"'A lady,' says I, 'wid a cat in a basket. 'T was a reg'lar movin',' -says I. - -"She bit her lip, and muttered: 'Just like her!' I heerd her plain, -though she wasn't lookin' at me no more. Take an auld man's advice, me -bye. Kape away from the Queen o' Sheby for a while; an' if ye don't -tell me what was in that bar'l rollin' up an' down stairs like a -restless soul, I'll be havin' the nightmare, sure." - -Phil laughed, and shook his head. "The ways of women, Pat," he said, -"are so far beyond me that I can't even guess." - -"Can't guess what was in the bar'l? Tell me, now, or ye'll not git the -key to the park nor meet yer sweetheart." - -"There were dishes and silver in that barrel, Pat. Each of the women -thinks she owns them." - -"I'd bet on the Queen o' Sheby," said Pat. - -"You'd lose, then," returned Phil, running upstairs. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE ARRIVAL - - -Eliza Brewster reached Portland in time for breakfast; and the hours -she must spend before the one afternoon boat started for the island -were embarrassing ones on account of Pluto. She had a cup of coffee and -an egg in the station, and then lifted her heavy basket on the car and -rode across the city to the wharf. - -Setting the cat at liberty she followed him about, and held him on her -lap, alternately, until passengers were allowed to board the steamer. -The captain and purser were new to her. She glanced about the cabin as -she sat, her arms clasped about the basket, out of whose window Pluto's -eyes were again glowering. Eliza dreaded recognizing some one she -knew; but no recognition occurred, and she had ample time in the two -hours' ride to meditate on past and future. Many years had fled since -she last saw Casco Bay. She and Mrs. Ballard had spent a couple of -weeks at Brewster's Island one summer, but it had been their farewell -to outings further from home than Coney Island. She had not enjoyed -the experience because of wrathful resentment at the neglect of Mrs. -Fabian, then a bride; but Mrs. Ballard had revelled in the natural -beauty which feasted her soul. Eliza evoked the memory now and smiled -grimly with satisfaction at the consideration that the precious barrel -was safely starting on its journey after her. - -She met her cat's green gaze through his wire window. "If I set more -value on my life than I do, Pluto," she muttered, "I'd risk it on Mrs. -Fabian visitin' a certain stable this mornin'. Then Mr. Philip'll know, -and he'll forgive me." - -Her heart warmed as she thought of the jolly kindness of her late host; -of his assiduity and care for her comfort; of the milk he had fed to -Pluto, and the hot beefsteak to herself. - -"That supper last night cost him a lot o' money. I know it did!" she -thought remorsefully, "but," with a revulsion of affectionate concern, -"I hope he'll eat good and not slight himself when he's alone. There's -such a lot of him to nourish." - -It was the sort of dismal weather which inspired the description, "No -sun, no moon, no stars, November!" and Eliza dreaded the return to -her old changed home. Her heart beat a little faster as the steamer -ploughed along, each minute bringing her nearer to that especial hill -rising from the waters of Casco Bay where she first opened her eyes to -life. Memories of those dead and gone assailed her until her eyes stung. - -"I'd like to know," she thought sternly, "if there's as ungrateful a -critter in the universe. S'posin' I was goin' to the island to nobody? -S'posin' I'd been seen off in New York by nobody? That's what I'd -expected to happen two weeks ago." - -Eliza gazed rebukingly at the steam radiator in the middle of the cabin -until her tears ceased. - -She had not slept much in her unaccustomed bed on the sleeping-car, -impeded by the heavy basket and her own hand-bag, and the fear of how -Pluto might behave at the stops; so the boat ride seemed long, and it -was with relief that she at last heard the summons:-- - -"Brewster's Island. Land from the lower deck." - -"Praise be!" she thought. "I haven't got to lug my things upstairs." - -There were but few passengers to get off at this island, and but few -persons standing in the raw air on the wharf. - -There was a lump in Eliza's throat as she carried her burdens up -the gangplank, but through the mist in her eyes she saw a face she -recognized. It was lean, and smooth-shaven, and had scarcely grown more -lined in twenty years. The man met her gaze with alert scrutiny and -then looked beyond her for some one. The gangplank was drawn in. - -"James," said Eliza, when she had swallowed. - -The alert, searching eyes returned to her, and looked, at first, -without recognition. - -"Don't tell me you don't know me, James," added the traveller, trying -to laugh. - -"Why, Eliza Brewster, I was runnin' over ye," said the captain in hasty -amazement. "You--you've grown some spare, Eliza. Just at first I didn't -see who't wuz." The kindly speaker endeavored to conceal his dismay. -"Amazin' how a little flesh off or on'll change a body," he added. -"Here, let me take your bundles. Carriage right up here waitin' for us. -Mrs. Wright sent me down to meet ye. Kinder homely day, ain't it?" - -"That's a cat, James," said Eliza as he seized the basket. "You see, -I'm a real old maid, travellin' with a cat." - -"Well, it's all right, I s'pose," returned the captain gallantly, as -they walked up the wharf toward the waiting carry-all; "but 't would -'a' been more to the point if ye'd brought somethin' that was kind of -a rarity on the island. We could 'a' supplied ye with a cat fer every -day in the week, black, white, malty, whatever ye wanted. Well! how ye -been, Eliza?" - -"I guess you can see," returned Eliza laconically. - -"Well, well," said Cap'n James. He helped her into the carriage and -followed. "Git ap, Tom. Mrs. Wright'll fat ye up in no time. She says -you're goin' to stay with her." - -"Yes, for a while I am." Eliza's eyes were travelling over the familiar -rolling landscape. "How does she make out here?" - -"Don't seem to complain none. Mr. Wright has settled down like a round -peg in a round hole. Brewster's Island's good enough for him." - -"My, my! How it's changed!" murmured Eliza as one unexpected roof after -another rose into view. - -"I s'pose that's so," agreed Captain James. "You can't stay away even -from one o' these islands a dozen years or so without seein' the foot -o' man encroachin'. It's good fer trade, Eliza, good fer trade. Lots -o' the roofs ye see cover empty cottages now, but come summer time the -place swarms all right. The Fabians got enough room to swing a cat in. -Nobody can come very near them; but the rest o' the island's pretty -well dotted here and there." - -"It don't look like the place I was brought up," said Eliza. - -They had reached the height of the road now, and her wistful eyes fell -on a cove which pierced the island's side. Its softly rising banks were -studded with evergreen trees, standing black above the black water. A -threatening sky hung sullenly over all. - -"'Tain't the place you was brought up," returned Captain James -cheerfully. "It's a darned sight more prosperous place. While the -summer folks are restin' up, we're makin' hay and cuttin' ice, as ye -might say; and come fall we get shet of 'em and go back to a quiet -life. No one can't say this ain't a quiet life, can they, Eliza?" - -Captain James reined in the horse before taking the Foster Hill, and -compassion showed in his kindly eyes as he turned and watched the grey -face of his passenger. - -"Eliza Brewster used to be a pretty girl," was his pitiful thought. - -She kept silence, her pale eyes resting on the dark waters of the cove, -austerely quiet in the windless twilight. - -"Feels like snow," said Captain James. "S'pose you could snowball now, -Eliza? I know when we were youngsters you could hold yer own with any -boy on the island." - -"That's my one talent, James," responded Eliza drily. "I can hold my -own yet." - -The captain smiled with relief at this sign that some of the old spirit -lingered behind that haggard face. - -"By cracky," he said, "I'll bring up a bob-sled after the first snow, -and we'll toboggan downhill again, Eliza. Never say die. Git ap, Tom." - -The carriage started up toward a long low white house on the summit of -the ridge. Four bare Balm of Gilead trees stood sentinel before it in a -waste of withered grass. Beyond rose the gnarled boughs of a struggling -apple orchard, beside which a tiny house with blank uncurtained windows -stood beneath the forlorn guard of two more gaunt bare trees standing -ready for the conflict with winter winds, and bearing the scars of -many a battle past. Back of the little building was a shallow field -inclining downward to the open ocean which held the island now in its -black, mighty embrace, creeping with a subdued roar upon the cold rocky -sands. - -"Say, Eliza," said Captain James, as the tiny deserted cottage came -into view, "was we afraid o' Granny Foster, was we? Say!" - -The speaker turned and interrogated his passenger with a twinkle. - -A wan smile rewarded him. - -"Afterward Jenny used it for chickens, Mrs. Wright says," she returned. - -"Yes; but there never was an old hen there that come up to Granny -Foster, you bet." - -"How long ago does that seem to you, James?" asked Eliza, after a pause. - -"As if 'twas yesterday," he responded valiantly. - -His memory was picturing the little girl in plaid gingham and sunbonnet -who could outrun any boy on the island. That sunbonnet was never in -place, but always hung down Eliza's back, the strings tied at her -throat. Captain James remembered to have thought there was something -very pleasing about that throat. - -"It seems a hundred years ago to me," said Eliza quietly. - -"Whew! You must 'a' lived fast in New York," returned Captain James. -"That's an awful record." - -"Do you suppose I'll ever get used to the stillness again, James? I -believe if a pin was to drop in this grass you could hear it." - -"Guess Nature'll make rumpus enough for ye before long," returned the -captain. "You've never tried it up on this hill, Eliza. I guess when -the pebbles and rocks begin draggin' around below there at high tide, -you won't miss the elevated trains none." - -The horse was climbing slowly and patiently as they talked, and a woman -within the old farmhouse was watching the ascent from a window. Now the -watcher disappeared, and presently the house door opened and a figure -came out on the stone step. - -"There's Mrs. Wright now. Git ap, Tom." - -A gleam came into Eliza's pale eyes. It was an attractive figure that -stood there in dark blue gown and white apron. The silver aureole of -hair framed a smiling face. Eliza grasped the handles of Pluto's basket. - -"To think that after all the years I should have a homecoming on this -island!" was her grateful thought. - -"Here we are," called Captain James cheerfully as they approached; -"little box, big box, bandbox, and bundle, and the cat." - -Mrs. Wright approached as the carry-all stopped. - -"Did you really bring a cat, Eliza?" she asked, laughing. - -"Why,--why," stammered Eliza, "it never once came to me till this -minute that perhaps you don't like cats!" - -"I like everything alive," was the response; and the speaker looked it, -as she received the cat-basket, and Eliza stepped out on the grass. - -"But does Mr. Wright?" inquired Eliza in perturbation. Was it Pluto's -destiny to become a wild-cat after travelling by land and sea! - -That gentleman now appeared, stout and with tousled hair, which -suggested that he had just risen from slumber. - -"This is Eliza Brewster, Morris, and she has brought us a pet," said -Mrs. Wright pleasantly. - -The host shook hands with the newcomer with sufficient grace and eyed -the basket curiously. Captain James looked benignly on the group. - -"Eliza and me have been lookin' backward as we came along," he said. -"We used to race and tear around this hill--she says 'twas a hundred -years ago, but don't you believe it. I'm goin' to bring a bob-sled, -first snow, and sail her down the hill and make her think 'twa'n't -more'n yesterday that we did it last." - -The smile on Eliza's haggard face but made her fatigue more evident. - -"Where's the trunk, Cap'n James?" asked Mrs. Wright. - -"I'm goin' to fetch it right up. Git ap, Tom." - -"Hurry in, Mrs. Wright," said Eliza, her care-taking instinct asserting -itself. "You'll take cold." - -"Not a bit of it," was the reply as the hostess led the way in; "I -never take anything that doesn't belong to me." - -There was a cheerful fire blazing in the living-room and Eliza was -at once seated before it and made to feel for a second time like an -honored guest. - -"I'll let Pluto out, first thing, if you don't mind," she said, and -unfastened the basket. - -Mr. Wright, his eyes indolently curious under the rumpled grey hair, -watched the proceeding. - -"A Manx cat," he remarked as the prisoner leaped out. Pluto's green -eyes blazed in the moment that he stood and looked about him. - -"Here, poor thing," said Eliza, "your troubles are over. There's a fire -such as you've never seen in all your days." - -But the outraged cat scorned the fire, scorned even Eliza's caressing -hand. Leaping from her touch he descried the lounge; and thanking the -gods of his Egyptian ancestors that at last he had reached a place -where furniture accorded hiding-places, he dashed into the darkest -corner its valance concealed. - -"He's kind o' put out by all he's been through," said Eliza -apologetically. - -Mr. Wright went to the couch and stooping lifted the valance. - -"Shall I get him for you?" he asked. - -Two green eyes blazed at him from the darkness and a vigorous spitting -warned him away. - -"Please just let him sulk a little while," said Eliza hastily. -Supposing Pluto should inaugurate their visit by scratching the host! -Awful thought! "He's a real good cat in his way," she added. - -"Well, I'm certainly not invited under the lounge," said Mr. Wright, -straightening up. - -"I didn't know anybody to give him to," went on Eliza, still -apologetic. "Mr. Sidney said he would have taken him if he'd known." - -"Mr. Sidney. That's Mrs. Ballard's young artist, isn't it?" asked Mrs. -Wright, who was boiling a kettle over an alcohol lamp at a tea-table in -the corner of the room. - -"Yes--we spent our last day with him in his stable." - -"His what, Eliza?" - -"His stable. He's found one for a studio in a real stylish place up in -Gramercy Park where the folks have gone to Europe. He's as tickled as -if he owned the whole big house." - -"I'm glad he's found a place to suit him. You like him very much, don't -you, Eliza?" - -"He couldn't be any better," said Eliza simply. "We'd 'a' had a real -nice visit only the Fabian children came in, Edgar and Kathleen." - -"Oh, how are they?" asked Mrs. Wright with interest. - -"They seemed to be all right. I hadn't seen 'em for years." - -Mrs. Wright remembered Eliza's criticism of Mrs. Fabian on the occasion -of the call she made upon her in New York. - -"Just turn your head," she said, "and you can see right from where you -are sitting the fine cottage Mr. Fabian built here five years ago in -place of the old one his wife owned." - -Eliza turned and looked out the window. Far across the field and an -intervening wall she could see a house built of boulders, low and -broad, and obtained glimpses of its wide verandas. - -"It's a charming place," went on Mrs. Wright, "and they have a -delightful small yacht. We became acquainted with them during the last -fortnight of Violet's stay in the summer and she had a few fine sails -with them." - -Here the hostess rose and brought Eliza a cup of fragrant tea. - -The guest started. "The idea of your waitin' on me, Mrs. Wright," she -said humbly. - -"Oh, making tea is fun, Eliza; and I want you to drink that before I -take you to your room. This isn't any steam-heated apartment, as you -remember." - -As she spoke, Mrs. Wright took a cup of tea to her husband, who was -sitting on the couch, occasionally lifting the valance and peering -beneath, apparently vastly entertained by the feline explosions with -which Pluto, his sharp teeth bared, spat at the intrusion. - -"You won't put your hand under, will you, Mr. Wright?" asked Eliza -anxiously. "Pluto's so quick you'd think 'twas lightnin' struck you. -I'm ashamed of him with this good fire; but he had an awful time with -boys once and that's where his tail went, and I don't feel to blame him -so much as if he hadn't ever suffered any. He's scarcely seen any men -except Mr. Sidney. He was clever to him always, but I don't know as -Pluto'll forgive him now for shuttin' him up in the basket. Oh!" Eliza -heaved a sigh of relief, "I'm so glad we've got here." - -"I've put an oil-stove in your room, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright, as all -three sat sipping their tea. - -"That's real nice," returned Eliza. "Mr. Sidney's got an oil-stove. I -do hope he won't smoke up everything. I tried to scare him,--told him -he'd ruin his pictures." - -"We shall watch to see him make the success Mrs. Ballard expected," -said Mrs. Wright kindly, seeing that Eliza's heart was much with her -dear one's heir. - -"He couldn't make anything but a success," responded Eliza. - -Presently her trunk arrived and was carried into the bedroom which -Mrs. Wright had arranged for her. It was on the ground floor. All the -second story of the house was to be left unused in the cold weather. - -In the evening Captain James came back a third time to play checkers -with Mr. Wright. It seemed to be a daily custom; but soon after the -supper dishes were washed, Mrs. Wright insisted on her tired guest -getting into bed for a long night's rest. - -Pluto had leaped to the shed and thence out into the black darkness of -the cloud-laden night. - -Eliza went to the door to call him, but her most ingratiating -invitations were ignored. - -"Oh, go to bed, Eliza," said Captain James, who had just opened the -checker-board. "What ye 'fraid of? 'Fraid he'll jump off the bank? He -ain't fond enough o' the water, I'll bet. Go to bed and don't worry. -Haven't ye ever heard the song, 'The cat came back, he couldn't stay -away'?" - -"You know, James," said Eliza, ashamed of her anxiety, but nevertheless -too much affected by it to seek her pillow while her pet was homeless, -"you know it's places, not people, with a cat, selfish critters." - -"Well," responded the captain, "he can't get back to New York 'cause -the walkin' 's so poor." As he spoke, a dark shadow passed into the -light that streamed from the window. - -With the quickest movement of her life, Eliza jumped off the doorstep -and pounced upon it. It was Pluto, and she held him under her arm with -a vice-like grip as she reëntered the house. - -"Good-night, all," she said, rather shamefaced. - -"Good-night, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright, who had taken up a book. "Your -lamp is lighted." - -When Eliza had reached her room, she closed the door and dropped the -cat, who leaped toward it, and finding exit hopeless, looked up at her, -night-fires gleaming in his eyes. - -"See here, Pluto," said Eliza severely, "will you stop actin' so crazy? -I tell you we're home; _home_. If ever two folks ought to be filled to -the brim with gratitude it's you and me. I'll give you a chance to look -around here in daylight and get your bearin's, and then, if you don't -behave as if you had some sense, I'll put you in the chicken-house and -you shall live there. Do you hear that?" - -She stooped to smooth the jetty fur to offset in a measure her -severity; but Pluto glided from beneath her hand and took refuge -beneath the bed. - -"Well, of all the fools!" she soliloquized. Nevertheless she knew what -the temperature of the room would be by the small hours, and, taking an -old knitted grey shawl from her trunk, she threw it under the bed. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -MRS. FABIAN'S GIFTS - - -Mrs. Fabian had taken her daughter to the train before she appeared -to Pat's amazed eyes at the stable door. Her chagrin at discovering -the removal of the barrel did not prevent her recognition of the -discomforts of Phil's north-lighted chamber. Her nostrils dilated as -she looked about her at the rumpled pile of blankets where the artist -had evidently slept; the unlighted stove, and the open windows through -which came an eager and a nipping air. - -"Poor boy! Poor boy!" she said to herself repeatedly. - -She had had an unpleasant fifteen minutes with Kathleen in the motor, -for the girl had asked her directly if she intended to kidnap the -missent barrel, and she had replied in an emphatic affirmative. - -"Would you rather have those old dishes than Mr. Sidney's respect?" -Kathleen asked her. - -Mrs. Fabian looked her surprise. "It sounds very absurd to hear you -call Phil 'Mr. Sidney,'" she said, fencing. "Don't you remember your -Aunt Mary Sidney?" - -"Indeed, I do." - -Mrs. Fabian's mind was of the sort which associates social status -indissolubly with money. She had always felt that in winning a -millionaire for a husband, she had married above her; and, shaking -off her own humble family connection wherever possible, had tried to -be as nearly all Fabian as circumstances permitted. Her step-children -had therefore never been expected or requested to adopt her relatives -as their own. She now referred to the one memorable visit of Phil's -beautiful mother to their island home, for Kathleen's persistent -formality in referring to the artist brought a flush to her cheeks. - -If Kathleen, the proud, the reserved, the self-contained, were to -pronounce upon the young man unfavorably, she should have nothing to -say to the contrary, though she would continue to be kind to Mary's -child in private. - -"I was only thinking," she continued, "that if you still remember his -mother in your thoughts as your Aunt Mary, it seems rather formal to -tack a Mr. upon Philip. You know, Kathleen," Mrs. Fabian's flush -deepened, "I did not ask you to go to see him. I wanted Edgar to go, -for the looks of the thing, since Phil is an entire stranger, and when -I found he never would go by himself, I was thankful that you took him. -You have been so--so grouchy ever since, that I'm sorry you went; but I -don't see why you should blame me for it. It was your own proposition." - -"I know, mother," returned the girl; "and if you will promise not to -go over there and take the tea-set I'll not be grouchy." The dark eyes -lifted wistfully to Mrs. Fabian's astonished countenance. - -"What do you mean by my forfeiting Phil's respect?" she asked. "Do you -mean that he wants them so much? Why, they'll be smashed or stolen in -that rough place. They'll be nothing but a nuisance to him." - -"They belong to Eliza," pleaded Kathleen. - -"They belong to me!" retorted Mrs. Fabian explosively. "Philip will see -that at once." - -Kathleen's lips closed. They had arrived at the station, and she said -no more; but she departed with one consoling thought. Mrs. Fabian had -misdirected herself and Edgar the day before. Perhaps she could not -find the place to-day; but that lady, as soon as the car door was -closed on her child, spoke through the tube to the chauffeur. - -"Drive," she said, "to the same place in Gramercy Park where you took -Miss Kathleen yesterday." - -Soon she was face to face with Pat, and presently standing in Phil's -forlorn apartment. The pieces of Mrs. Ballard's bedstead were still -leaning against the wall. - -She pictured Kathleen the fastidious, the dainty, perching on that -pile of blankets; but if the girl had despised the poverty-stricken -art-student, why was she so strenuous and persistent as to retaining -his respect? Why had she left for the studio in the best of spirits, -and returned distrait, behaving in an absent-minded manner ever since. - -"Kathleen is a great deal more tenderhearted than she appears. I -believe she pitied Phil so much it made her blue, and she couldn't bear -to have me take away the only pretty things he had. Well, it seems I'm -not going to!" - -Mrs. Fabian even opened the closet door. A few suits of clothes -hung within, but the rest was chaos; and in that chaos no welcome -curves of a barrel were to be found. Her alert eyes made a hasty but -comprehensive search of the room. - -"The boy drank his coffee out of that mug!" she decided. "He is not in -a mountain camp and he shall not live as if he were. He shall see that -he is not dependent on Eliza Brewster for the decencies of life!" - -Then followed her descent upon Pat, her catechism, and her magnificent -departure. - -Scarcely had Phil received the Irishman's account of the visit and gone -up to his room that afternoon, when he heard a knocking on the stable -door; and when Pat had opened it, a violent expletive from somebody. - -Phil stood still to listen. Surely he could not be connected with the -present invasion, whatever it might be. His circle of acquaintance in -Gotham had come, done its best and its worst, and departed for all time. - -"Misther Sidney, sor," yelled Pat from the foot of the stairs. "'T is -the barr'l come back. Sure, and is it worth while totin' it up, whin it -can't be at rest!" - -"It isn't for me," called Phil, coming out in his little hallway. "I -refuse to live in such a whirl of excitement." - -"It is fer you, else all the money spint on me eddication is gone fer -nothin'--and faith there's more to follow," added Pat, in a tone of -such sudden surprise that Phil ran downstairs faster than he had gone -up. A couch was approaching the stable door. This was followed by -several large packages, upon one of which was tied a letter, and at -last a Morris chair entered upon the scene. - -"Ye're the very soul of extravagance," said Pat severely, when the -delivery man had departed. "If ye're a poor art-shtudent, say so; but -if ye're a prince in disguise, out with it!" - -"This is a surprise party if I ever had one," declared Phil slowly, -staring around at the objects. - -"Poor art-shtudents don't buy iligant couches with box springs long -enough fer the lord mayor!" said Pat, unconvinced. "What brings ye to a -stable whin ye've the Queen o' Sheby fer an aunt?" - -At the word a light illumined the situation. - -"For a fact, Pat! You did tell me my aunt was here!" And in a flash -Phil's mind reverted to Kathleen with a sensation of gratitude. In -some way she had prevented the disagreeable details of yesterday from -angering her mother. - -"Give me a hand up, Pat," he said. "I'll guarantee this barrel will -stay where it's put." - -When they had all the articles upstairs, Phil found himself possessed -of a springy bed with ample clothing for the night, and ample couch -cushions for day; well-selected dishes, alcohol lamp and copper kettle, -and a table on which to stand them, a reading-lamp, and the easy-chair. - -"What do you think of it?" he said, looking about half-dazed. - -"I think ye're in the wrong box, bein' in a stable," answered Pat, -scratching his head in perplexity. - -"No, no," Phil laughed; "a box stall for me. Wait till you see me -scattering paint around here." - -"Faith, I have me doubts o' you," said Pat. - -His Irish dislike of voicing the unpleasant withheld him from -expressing his thought; but as he regarded Phil now, standing coatless, -and with tossed hair, looking about his transformed apartment, he -decided that he was viewing the black sheep of a wealthy family, the -masculine members of which had left him to his own poverty-stricken -devices, while his softer-hearted female relatives were surreptitiously -ameliorating his hard lot. It was difficult to see Phil in the rôle of -black sheep, but Pat was sophisticated and knew that appearances were -deceitful. - -"Pat," said the perplexing tenant suddenly, "I begin to believe I was -born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I'm the happiest fellow in the -world." - -"Sure a man doesn't say that till his wedding-day," objected Pat. - -Phil smiled confidently. "I told you I had the girl; and she's the -faithfullest of the faithful." - -"You bet she is," returned the Irishman devoutly. "Whativer you've -done, the gurr'l gets her hands on you once'll niver let go." - -"Whatever I've done? What do you think I've done?" laughed Phil. -"Here's my mother. Want to see her?" And he sorted several leaves from -the pile of sketches and laid them out on the new table. - -"It's swate she is!" said the Irishman, gazing with interest; and, -perceiving the expression in the artist's eyes as he looked upon the -pictures, he spoke suspiciously: "She ain't the gurr'l ye're talkin' -of?" - -"No, no," returned Phil, "but she entirely approves of the match." - -"That helps, ye know," said Pat benevolently. "'Tis well to get airly -settled in life, thin if"--he made a lenient gesture--"if ye've played -too many cards or made any other mistakes, ye soon lave thim behind ye -and there's little time wasted." - -That evening Phil called up the Fabian house, and, finding that Mrs. -Fabian was to be at home, soon presented himself in that lady's boudoir. - -Mrs. Fabian, in a becoming négligée, sat before an open fire; a soft -lamp at her elbow, and a French novel in her hand. - -"You know the naughty things in a French story are so stimulating, -Phil," she explained, when he commented on her book. "You wouldn't -think of reading the same things in English; but you get so curious to -know what it's all about, that you work, and study, and I find it very -helpful. Excuse my not rising to greet you. I've had an exhausting day; -so as Edgar wasn't coming home, and Mr. Fabian had to attend a banquet, -I had my dinner brought to me here." - -"I'm sure it is I who have exhausted you," said Phil, drawing his -chair close to the luxurious downy nest which was embracing her plump -person. "I don't know what to say to you, Aunt Isabel," he added -gratefully, regarding her as she half-reclined, a living example of -what can be accomplished by beauty-doctor and accomplished maid. - -She placed her white hand, with its perfect rosy tips, for an instant -on his, then she patted the folds of her violet gown. - -"Now, don't say a word, my dear," she returned, complacency lighting -her countenance. Her husband had little time for compliments, Edgar was -uniformly ungrateful, and Phil was very handsome. She remembered how -charming had seemed to her the relation between him and his mother; and -she felt a longing to evoke something like that affection for herself. - -"But, indeed, I shall say a great deal," he declared. "You've turned -my camp over there into the lap of luxury. I go on accepting things, -everybody seems in a conspiracy to prevent my having any hardships, so -I suspect I'm going to catch them at the school." - -"Aren't the teachers agreeable?" - -"Well, I've been there only a few days, but I see already that doctors -disagree there as they do elsewhere. One comes and tells you you're -all right, and the next declares you're all wrong; but I'm after the -fundamental training I've never had, and I'm going to get it if I make -their lives a burden to them." - -"I don't pretend to know anything about art, Phil," said the hostess -complacently, "and I'm not going to add that I know what I like, -either, so you needn't smile at the fire; but from those sketches of -yours that I saw out at the mine I could see that you were bound to -accomplish something if you had free rein. Kathleen was delighted with -them." - -"I was much pleased to meet Miss Fabian," said Phil. - -"Dear me, why should you children be so formal!" exclaimed his hostess. -"'Miss Fabian'! 'Mr. Sidney'! It's ridiculous when you consider your -mother and me--more like sisters than cousins as we are." - -Philip bit his lip. The description struck him as diverting, -considering the lapse of years during which his mother had heard -nothing from this cousin. - -"I shall be very glad if Miss Fabian will let me know her better," he -said. - -"It's a very, very strange thing, Phil," went on Mrs. Fabian, shaking -her waved head and gazing at the fire, "to be a step-mother. I should -have always said that environment was more powerful than heredity; but -I've had those children almost from babyhood,"--the speaker challenged -Phil with impressive eyes,--"and yet I look at them, yes, I assure you, -I look at them as a hen might look at the ducks she had hatched." - -Phil saw that he was intended to respond, so he changed his position -and made a soft, inarticulate exclamation. - -"Those children," declared Mrs. Fabian, "would probably both claim that -they understood me from _a_ to _z_; but I am frank enough to state that -I understand neither of them. Now, I'm going to tell you, Phil, that I -am hanging great hopes upon your influence over Edgar." - -"My dear Aunt Isabel!" ejaculated the visitor. Phil's gratitude to this -relative did not blind him to her characteristics, or as to how her -idle and fashionable life had reflected in the bringing-up or coming-up -of her son. - -"Now, don't say no, Phil," she went on. "I don't expect that you found -any kindred spirit in Edgar, but I'm going to be frank, his father -is so out of patience with him that he is severe, and I am hoping -that the sight of your economy will show Edgar that something beside -extravagance can bring happiness; and the sight of your industry will -rebuke his idle tastes." - -"I can't conceive of myself as an example to the young," laughed Phil -uncomfortably. "I half suspected yesterday that you had been holding -me up before Edgar. There aren't any comparisons to be made between a -gilded youth and a painter, and I assure you it is no lofty principle -that makes me care little where I live and eat. It is only a desire to -do a certain thing, so intense that it dwarfs every other need." - -"He has overpowering desires, too," said Mrs. Fabian bitterly; "but -it is to go yachting and play polo and drink champagne." She sighed. -"I suppose I haven't known how to be a good mother," she added with -dejection, "but there,"--her voice grew suddenly argumentative,--"look -at Kathleen! I've brought them up alike, but she is the other extreme. -She has no taste for pleasure. She's a natural student and bookworm; -and what I am to do with her when she graduates, Heaven only knows. I -shall insist upon her coming out," added Mrs. Fabian virtuously. "She -must go through the same form as the other girls in her set, and it may -be that a reaction will set in and she will find a normal satisfaction -in it. It will break my heart if she drops out and becomes one of -these poky oddities. Well,"--another sigh,--"I mustn't borrow trouble. -Were you surprised at my early morning call at your room, Phil? I hoped -I should be early enough to catch you." - -"I was surprised; but it was a lucky visit for me, even though I was -not there." - -"I'm glad you're pleased with those little comforts; but I shall be -frank,--it was to try to get my grandmother's silver that I went. If -you had known you were working against me, Phil, you wouldn't have -helped that crazy Eliza to carry the things away." - -"They belong to her, she tells me," said Phil simply. "Aunt Mary seemed -to think you were living in an embarrassment of riches anyway." - -"Then you should have shipped them to your mother. It's quite indecent -that a servant should have them. It reflects upon your mother and me. -Can't you see that, Phil?" - -He stirred his broad shoulders uncomfortably. - -"I'm glad you aren't going to blame me for it anyway," he returned, -looking at his hostess with a frank smile. "After all they're only -_things_, you know. The important part is how Aunt Mary felt about -them, isn't it? You know probably what sort of thoughts she had about -you in her last days." - -Mrs. Fabian looked at him with quick suspicion as he rose to go. Was he -rebuking her in spite of his smile? - -"Some people marry into a family," she said after the pause. "Some -marry out of one. I did both. I married a man with children, and a big -establishment. I simply married out of my family. I didn't have time to -attend to both, and any right-minded person can see where my duty lay!" - -The virtuousness in the speaker's face and voice were so enveloping -that they created an atmosphere in which Phil was able to make his -adieux without further embarrassment. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -MRS. FABIAN'S DINNER LIST - - -For the next two months, Phil, to his entire satisfaction, had -practically no social life. One or two of his fellow students found -their way to the stable studio, envying him loudly when they viewed it, -but for the most part he succeeded in keeping his castle to himself. -Aunt Mary's easel found a good situation beneath the north light, and -the evenings were spent in reading works calculated to help him on his -way. - -Occasionally the satisfactoriness of his lamp or his easy-chair would -cause him to start in a panic and begin to figure how long a time had -elapsed since he had called on his benefactress; usually discovering -that it was high time to go again. - -Frequently he declined invitations from Mrs. Fabian to dine, giving -the excuse of incessant occupation. Once in a while, on the occasion -of these duty calls, he saw Edgar, and the latter prided himself on -the subtle implication of injury which he infused into the perfunctory -courtesy of a host. - -Phil saw it, and, while he was amused, he gave Edgar some credit for -not having carried out the threat to tell his mother how Phil had -guarded her dignity with Eliza. - -"So there are some things too petty for him, after all," thought -Phil carelessly; but he suspected and was grateful for Kathleen's -intervention. - -When Edgar was not in evidence, Phil rather enjoyed an evening with his -aunt. It gave him an opportunity to talk about his mother, and Mrs. -Fabian could tell him events of their girlhood. She soon found that no -occurrence in which Mary Sidney had figured was too trifling to bring -the light of close attention into the young fellow's eyes. - -"Dear me," she said one night when they were alone together, and she -had been entertaining him with reminiscence, "I wonder how your mother -made you love her so." - -There was a sincere wistfulness in her tone that touched Phil. -He laughed with some embarrassment, throwing a glance around the -too-gorgeous room. - -"I don't believe she went for to do it," he said. "I contracted the -habit early." - -"But Edgar was only five years old when I married his father," said -Mrs. Fabian plaintively. - -"We didn't have any money," said Phil. "Perhaps that helped. Mother and -I were pals, you see; had to be. She could afford only one maid." - -"It's true I was very, very busy," admitted Mrs. Fabian thoughtfully, -with the return of her ever-ready tone of virtue. "I had the best -nurses and governesses. They couldn't speak a word of English,--and I -didn't neglect the children. I made it a point to hear them say their -prayers every night that I wasn't going out." - -Phil's clasped finger tips were pressed to his lips and he did not -reply to this. He admired Mrs. Fabian's exquisite costumes, and now he -dropped his twinkling eyes to the hem of her gossamer gown. - -"How often do you write to your mother?" pursued Mrs. Fabian. - -"I'd be ashamed to tell you," he answered. - -She sighed. "It's beautiful," she declared; again wistful. "I suppose -she has told you about our dear old dull island." - -"Brewster's Island? I don't remember her talking of it; but Eliza has -spoken of my mother having been there." - -At the mention of her humble enemy Mrs. Fabian's nostrils dilated. -"Eliza!" she repeated indignantly. "Every time I think of the impudence -of that woman--" she paused, at a loss for words. - -"I suppose the island was named for Eliza's family," hazarded Phil. - -"I suppose so. You may call nearly every islander 'Brewster,' and -seldom go wrong." Mrs. Fabian continued: "Edgar made a joke of the -barrel affair, but Kathleen put on tragedy airs at the idea of my -trying to get my own. Kathleen knows so much more than her mother, you -understand. She knows so much more about everything than she will ten -years from now. It's rather painful. Well, of course you didn't realize -what you were doing in helping Eliza spirit the things away. I'm glad -the creature has gone, for your sake. She would have been a dreadful -bore to you as a part of Aunt Mary's legacy." - -"I feel very kindly toward Eliza," said Phil. Aunt Mary's letter was -against his heart where it always lay. "She did too much for Aunt Mary -for me ever to forget it." - -"But you didn't know Aunt Mary." - -"Not until she had gone. Then she revealed herself to me in a letter. I -seem to have seen her at her patient work." - -"Yes, and Eliza has probably told you that I neglected her." Mrs. -Fabian colored and looked at Phil defensively. - -"Yes," he answered simply. - -"It's a wonder she didn't make you hate me. I know what a virago the -creature can be." - -"I like," said Phil,--"I like that saying, 'Yesterday is as dead as -Egypt.' I like to feel that the only enemy a man can have is himself." - -"I'm glad you don't hate me, Phil," returned Mrs. Fabian, again -plaintive. "I have enough troubles. 'Qui s'excuse, s'accuse,' and I -shall not try to explain to you why I saw so little of Aunt Mary; but -it is beyond belief that a common creature like Eliza should dare to -sit in judgment on a person in my position." - -"Eliza is not a common creature," said Phil quietly. - -"I see. Her devotion is all you think of. We won't talk of her, -then.--What are you going to do in the summer, Phil?" - -"Work!" he answered, smiling. - -"Not under that stable roof. I won't permit it." - -"Then I'll take the road. There's nothing I know better than how to be -a tramp." - -At this juncture Mr. Fabian came in from his library. He was a -smooth-shaven man, comfortably stout; and the stern lines on his -forehead and about his mouth softened at sight of Phil, who rose to -greet him. - -"What of the mine?" asked the newcomer, seating himself. - -"Oh, father's digging away," returned Phil. "He probably tells you more -than he does me." - -Mr. Fabian drew his brows together. - -"Not sick of the picture business yet?" he asked, regarding the young -man curiously. - -Phil shook his head and laughed. He knew Mr. Fabian's disapproval of -his chosen profession. - -"I was just about telling Phil," said Mrs. Fabian, "that he must visit -us at the island next summer." - -Mr. Fabian nodded cordially. "Care for sailing?" he asked. - -"I never had a chance to know. Horses and tramping and camping have -given me all my outings so far." - -"Then you must come. We'll have a cruise. I've only a small yacht, for -I prefer to run it myself with a few friends." - -"That sounds attractive, but I shan't indulge, I think." - -"Why, what sort of a painter is it who doesn't do marines?" asked Mrs. -Fabian. - -"Yes, I know," returned Phil, smiling. "I'll do them at Coney Island." - -When he had taken his departure Mrs. Fabian turned to her husband. - -"Isn't it a shame," she said, "for a boy like that not to have any -money?" - -"No," responded her husband. "It's in his favor. The shame is that a -fine husky chap like that should give himself over to paint-pots. I'd -make a position for him in the office if he'd come. I wish I had a son -like that." - -When her husband made this sort of reference, Mrs. Fabian was glad that -she was not Edgar's own mother; yet since she had known Phil she had -never entirely escaped a consciousness that Mary Sidney would have bent -the twig in Edgar's childhood in a manner to have produced a different -inclination in the tree. - -As Christmas approached, Mrs. Fabian detained her son one evening as he -was about to leave the house. - -"Edgar, you are always in such a hurry," she complained. "I never can -catch you for a word except at table when the servants are about. Sit -down for five minutes." - -The youth paused reluctantly. "I must keep my engagements," he said, -shrugging his shoulders, "and since the Administration has shut down on -my using the car at night, I have to live by my wits; in other words, -sponge on other people's motors as much as possible." - -"You know, dear," said Mrs. Fabian, "your father didn't do that until -we found, evening after evening, that we could never have the car -ourselves. Somehow or other, Edgar, you manage very badly. You always -rub your father the wrong way." - -Edgar's chest in his dress shirt rose very high. "I'm not the cringing, -begging sort," he returned. "Unless a thing is offered me freely I -don't care for it." - -In the last month he had affected a short, pointed mustache, and this -he now twisted with a haughty air. - -Mrs. Fabian's sense of humor was latent, but she smiled now. "Sit -down a minute, dear," she said. "It won't detain you, for you may use -the car to-night. Your father has just 'phoned that he is obliged -to attend a sudden meeting of directors, so I have to give up the -opera--unless you will go with me?" - -Edgar regarded his mother's charming toilet appraisingly. "I don't -mind," he said graciously, "if you will ask Mrs. Larrabee. I was going -there to call to-night." - -Mrs. Fabian's brow clouded. "She is so conspicuous," she said -persuasively; "I wish you didn't go there, Edgar. Why are all the men -daft about her when there are so many sweet young girls so much better -worth their attention?" - -"Shall I see if she is disengaged?" asked Edgar alertly. "If she cares -to go I can come back and talk with you." - -"Oh, yes," Mrs. Fabian sighed resignedly; and Edgar disappeared, -presently returning, a self-satisfied smile curving the little mustache. - -"She was gracious, evidently," remarked Mrs. Fabian. - -"Says she was saving this evening for me anyway, and will be -delighted," said Edgar, seating himself. "She says she is glad it is a -Caruso night, for she can prove to me that I ought to be on his side of -the footlights." - -"That's the way she does it, is it?" returned Mrs. Fabian. - -"Oh, she means it," declared Edgar quickly. "She's the most sincere -creature alive. Everybody knows that." - -"Where is Mr. Larrabee? I've never seen him yet. Does anybody see him?" - -"His clerks, I fancy," returned Edgar, with his careless, gleeful smile. - -"It's really a pity the woman's so well connected," said Mrs. Fabian. -"She is insolently daring. Did you tell her you were taking me?" - -"I told her you were asking her to be so good as to accept an impromptu -invitation; that you had but just found that you could go, yourself." - -Mrs. Fabian sighed again. "Well, Edgar, then I have earned a few -minutes of your time. I'm going to give a dinner for you and Kathleen -while she is at home for the holidays. I thought of Christmas night, -with a little informal dance afterward; and I want you to help me -decide on the list." - -"Mrs. Larrabee?" suggested Edgar, twisting his mustache complacently. - -"Certainly not," returned his mother, with energy. "This is to be -just for your and Kathleen's young friends--a simple Christmas -merry-making." - -"Couldn't you let me off?" asked Edgar, with his most blasé, -man-of-the-world air. - -"Don't be absurd, Edgar Fabian. Have you no interest in helping to make -your sister's holidays pleasant?" - -"My dear mother," protested the young man, "in order to make Kath's -holidays pleasant, all you need to do is to give her a pair of blue -spectacles for a Christmas gift, and invite a few Columbia professors -to engage her in light conversation. If I should send her roses, -she would only analyze them and reel off the learned names of their -innards." - -"Very well; I am giving you an opportunity to suggest some names if you -care to. Of course I shall ask Philip Sidney." - -Edgar shrugged again. "Do you suppose he has any evening clothes?" - -"And Kathleen suggested Violet Manning," went on Mrs. Fabian. "Do you -remember Mrs. Wright's niece? Her life must be a dull one. - -"So it is to be a dinner party of derelicts," said Edgar; "a charity -affair." - -"Kathleen is always thoughtful," said Mrs. Fabian reproachfully. "As -it is to be on Christmas Day I don't know that trying to give pleasure -to some people who don't have much usually would be so far out of the -way. I'm not sure about Miss Manning myself. Kathleen has suggested -once or twice that, as we saw quite a little of her at the island, it -might be well to show her some courtesy here; but, as I say, I'm not -quite sure. What I am sure of is that I will not allow you to speak of -Philip Sidney slightingly in my presence." - -Edgar looked up in some surprise. - -"A derelict, indeed," she went on. "I wish I might ever hope to see -you bring the look into your father's eyes that they hold when he sees -Phil." - -"You choose a fine way to make me like him!" answered the youth; but -beneath his carelessness was a twinge which proved that the words went -home. "I remember Miss Manning now. She sailed with us a few times." - -"Yes, and she lives here with some girl students in a bachelor-maid -way, and teaches--" - -"I remember the whole thing!" interrupted Edgar. "She dances." - -"What! The stage?" asked Mrs. Fabian. - -"No; some sort of school business; more on the gymnastic order. Of -course, I remember her. She did a jig once on the boat." - -"Oh, I don't think we'd better ask her," exclaimed Mrs. Fabian hastily. - -"Yes, put her down," said Edgar. "If we're going into the charity -business, I greatly prefer worthy girls who can jig; and for the rest, -you and Kath fix it up. Christmas is a sort of a lost night anyway. I -don't mind." - -And with this gracious cooperation Mrs. Fabian was fain to be content. -Although she felt somewhat dubious about sending an invitation to -Violet Manning, she concluded from the vivacity in Edgar's countenance, -as memory awakened, that the purchase of his interest was worth the -risk. - -Mrs. Fabian did not care for sailing, and she had but a vague memory -of an inoffensive girl who arrived at the island as Mrs. Wright's -niece. She hoped Miss Manning's propensity for jigging would not be the -cause of any shock to the carefully nurtured buds who were Kathleen's -friends. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -CHRISTMAS - - -It was shortly after this that a miniature riot broke out in the tiny -apartment where Violet Manning and her two friends made a home; and it -was on the subject of Christmas, too. - -The year before, Violet had spent the holidays with Mrs. Wright in -Boston; but this year the loving letter which she now held in her hand -invited her cordially not to come to the island. - -"I want to see my little girl," wrote Mrs. Wright, "but I would rather -risk the sort of days you will spend among the many pupils who are sure -to ask you than to let you take the expensive journey to the island, so -bleak and cold as it is, and with nothing to repay you at this end but -a hug from Aunt Amy." - -Violet read this aloud, and her two friends listened attentively. - -"I told you," said Roxana, the teacher and the eldest, "that Mrs. -Wright wouldn't let you come. I shall stay here with you." She spoke -firmly. Her face had the lines of one who always spoke firmly. - -"Then I shall stay, too", said Regina, the art-student. - -"Then you'll make me miserable, girls!" ejaculated Violet -energetically, folding her letter back in its envelope. She was sitting -on the table, a favorite perch not to be despised in that box of a room -where she often said one must either be under the table or on it. She -swung both her slippered feet and her blonde head. "Roxy--Rex--" she -added beseechingly, "do you want to ruin my holidays?" - -"Rex can go, it's very foolish for her to talk about staying, when she -can go sleighing in the country and study the shadows on the snow," -said Roxana. - -"What's the use of being a bachelor girl if you can't have any -independence?" inquired Violet, her blue eyes, and full, pretty lips -looking stormy. - -"The baby bachelor can't have everything she wants," said Roxana. -"You're the baby bachelor. Rex may do approximately as she pleases, -but I am the only one entirely independent. Rex still waves her hair. -I stopped a year ago; just forgot it. That was the rubicon. Have you -heard of the old colored mammy who deplored the failure of her dear but -mature miss to marry? She said to her consolingly: 'Never mine, honey, -I'se known some old maids who settled down right happy and contented -when they stopped strugglin'.' I knew when I forgot to wave my hair -that I'd stopped 'strugglin'." Roxana rocked gently. It was the only -safe way to rock in that apartment. "So when that time comes, Violet, -you will see that you have earned independence." - -"Oh, Rox, don't be so unkind," pleaded Violet. "I've had ever so many -invitations for Christmas dinner from parents. I knew my small admirers -slapped them into it, so I refused; but I give you my word that if you -will go ahead with your Christmas plans, I will write to one of the -most ardent, and Cinderella's coach will be nothing compared to the -limousine that will be sent for me Christmas morning, and nothing will -be lacking but the prince to make the story complete. If you don't -promise, I'll sulk all the holidays, and I won't stay with you either. -I'll go skating in the park." - -Roxana smiled meditatively. - -"Prince!" repeated Regina ecstatically. "That reminds me of mine -again." - -"Oh, help!" exclaimed Violet. "I've reminded her of Mr. -What's-his-name. Rex, if you'll promise to go ahead with your holiday -doings, I'll let you tell us again how He came into the class-room -first, and how He chose the best light, and how His sketches were -always stunning, and how hard it was for you not to sketch Him instead -of the model, and I'll let you show me the head you did of Him on the -sly, and you shall tell us again how you plotted for an introduction -and how you didn't get it, and--" - -"Oh, hush up," said Regina good-naturedly. "How about that Mr. Fabian -you met at the island? How about the careless elegance of his manners? -How about that wonderful, heartrending, angelic voice in which he sang -on moonlight sails?" - -"Dear me!" said Violet, swinging her feet and smiling with mischievous -eyes, "what a wonderful memory you have! I had forgotten all about him." - -"It shows what a superior being he considers himself that he has -allowed you to," retorted Regina, with curling lip; "after the way he -behaved at the island--" - -"I never said he behaved," interrupted Violet mildly. - -"Well, he kept on asking you to go, every time they sailed, and gave -you every reason to think he was friendly." - -"That's summer friendship," returned Violet, but her cheeks took a -deeper rose. The shoe pinched. - -"Well, it's settled," said Roxana. "Rex proceeds to the farm and -studies snow shadows. I stay here, and sleep as late as I wish in the -morning. Now, be calm, Violet. It isn't as if I had a home to go to. -It wouldn't be all holiday to visit, and be on my best behavior, and -not be sure which fork to use nor how large tips I ought to give the -servants, nor--" - -"Nonsense!" interrupted Violet. "It will do you all the good in the -world to sit down in the lap of luxury for a while; to live in large -rooms, and drive in large motors, and eat large dinners, and lounge on -large divans, and sleep in large beds; and you're going, Rex, you're -going." - -There was something like tears in the stormy blue eyes, and Regina -heard with relief the postman's whistle. - -"Go down and see if we have anything, will you, Violet? I'm fixed so -comfortably, and it's nothing to hop off the table." - -Violet obeyed, and the other bachelors saw her press a very small -handkerchief to her eyes as she went. - -"You'd better go, Rox," said Regina in a low tone. "I know just how she -feels." - -"If it weren't for Christmas day I would; but I am sure Violet won't -accept a pupil's hospitality for more than an hour, just so she can -tell us she went; and the baby shan't spend Christmas eve and Christmas -night alone. Even if she won't speak to me, I shall stay. It's the -lesser of two evils. Honestly, I would enjoy a lazy time at home here -with no papers to correct. The trouble is to get her to believe it." - -Here Violet returned; her face and bearing so laden with dignity that -Roxana coughed lest she laugh. The baby bachelor handed a postcard to -Regina, then took a very straight-backed chair. To sit on either of her -customary thrones, the table or the floor, would be too much concession -to her mutinous companions. She opened the letter in her hand, and -as she read, a curious change altered her countenance. The wintry -stiffness of her expression began to thaw. A springtime warmth appeared -in her eyes, and, spreading to her lips, relaxed their corners. At last -she looked up. The sparkle of summer seas shone in her glance. - -"You can go, girls," she said; "it is all right. Mrs. Fabian has asked -me to dinner on Christmas, with a dance afterward and to spend the -night. Now, then!" She challenged Roxana triumphantly. - -"How about Christmas eve?" inquired the latter inflexibly. - -"You tiresome old dear, the Settlement has a tree and I'll attend it, -and spend the night with one of my class who is interested there." - -"Then I'll go," agreed Roxana mildly. "Fled is the rosy dream of -sleeping till noon and watching you skate in the afternoons; and I will -ask Mrs. McCabe across the hall to keep an eye on you." - -The invitation came as a welcome event to Philip Sidney as well. Aunt -Isabel had been uniformly kind and motherly to him. The thought of a -solitary Christmas, or one spent in a glittering restaurant, made him -wince even with all the allurements of his easel and his books; so at -last Mrs. Fabian received a grateful reply to a dinner invitation. - -The roses that came with his card on Christmas morning pleased her -also, more than her extravagant gifts. While Phil was dressing he -thought again of Kathleen. He had never seen her since the Sunday -afternoon visit. He felt he could put up with Edgar's airs and graces -through a dinner for the sake of seeing Kathleen again. - -"I wonder if she'll smoke a cigarette to-night," he thought, while he -adjusted the dress tie he had bought for the occasion: adjusted it very -carefully, for the tie was a unique possession. If he made a botch -of it he could not go to the dinner. The girl never came to his mind -except when her mother spoke of her; but now that he was to be her -guest he recalled agreeably how womanly and sweet had been her manner -to Eliza on that autumn day before the stable had turned into a studio. - -It was Kathleen who suggested sending the car for Violet. It was not -the traditional Christmas of dry sparkling snow under a radiant moon, -but a day of slush and clouds, and Kathleen was not of those owners of -motors who believe that every one else has one, too. Her acquaintance -with Violet was slight, but she knew she was a teacher and a very young -one. She fancied that dollars were precious with her as yet. - -So Violet rolled up to the brown-stone house on Christmas evening in -state, arrayed in her best and full of anticipation. Mrs. Wright's -gift to her had been a small gold pendant holding a turquoise matrix, -and this she wore on a slender chain around her throat, where it shone -between the deep blue of her eyes and the pale blue of her gown. - -Kathleen's greeting to her had a ring of friendliness through its -gentle formality. Violet's involuntary thought was that she might have -been less formal, for, although there was nothing chilling in her -manner, it seemed to suggest the difference between the bachelor maid -doing light housekeeping in a hemmed-in apartment and the heiress of -this stately mansion. - -Mrs. Fabian was kindly patronizing, and held Violet at her side that -she might meet the other dinner guests. - -Edgar Fabian was one of the last to enter the drawing-room. Violet -noted that he was not alone, but although his companion dwarfed him she -saw no one but the well-set-up, exquisite youth with the shining hair -who had been the companion of her moonlight sails. Her heart quickened -and her color deepened. - -"I'm behaving exactly like Rex," she thought impatiently. Really there -had been no reason why Edgar Fabian should take pains to find her in -the city or show her any courtesy, after the return from the island, -but in her heart of hearts she had expected he would; and it showed no -proper pride in this same heart to give an undignified bound at the -present juncture. What was the idiotic thing bounding for anyway? - -This query she put to it as Edgar approached his mother; and now Violet -saw that his companion was a tall man whose evening clothes could not -lessen the breadth of his shoulders, and whose poetic face was lighted -with alert, observant eyes. - -Mrs. Fabian greeted the stranger warmly, and presented him to Violet as -her nephew, Mr. Sidney; while Edgar's cool eyes swept the girl's face -for a brief moment without recognition. - -"You remember Miss Manning, Edgar," said his mother; and then the -sudden gleeful smile relieved the youth's face of its superciliousness. - -"What a difference feathers make to the bird, Miss Manning!" he -ejaculated. "Upon my word, I think I must have believed you always wore -a jolly little red sweater and hat. Weren't those corking sails we -had? Awfully glad to see you again." And he bore Phil off to meet his -friends. - -"I think, Miss Manning," said Mrs. Fabian impressively, "that in -meeting my nephew you have seen a future celebrity. He is wonderfully -talented." - -"How pleasant," murmured Violet, the idiot heart having given one -record-breaking bound and then retired into its usual self-effacement. - -"Yes, he is a painter. Only a student as yet, of course. I think he has -the sort of originality that longs to spread its wings and fly; but he -holds himself down to foundation work in the most level-headed way." - -Violet's eyes followed the easy movements of the athletic figure. - -"Studying art, did you say?" - -"Yes." - -"I didn't quite get his name?" - -"Sidney. Philip Sidney." - -Stars began to twinkle in Violet's eyes at her sudden enlightenment. -What would Rex say? - -Kathleen Fabian's observing eyes found time to follow Phil, too. He -wore his dress clothes more like one accustomed to inhabit palaces than -stables. She saw girlish eyes brighten as Edgar personally conducted -the Westerner about the room. When she planned to sit next him at -dinner, it had been with a thought of protection; as Edgar had been -lavish of prophecies of the probable _gaucherie_ of the cowboy. She -also had believed it quite likely that the mining engineer did not -possess a dress suit; and Edgar had drawn cheerful pictures of the way -his arms and legs would probably protrude from any which he might rent; -but it was quite evident now that Phil had a good tailor and had not -spent all his evenings in a mountain cabin. - -Kathleen had suggested to her brother that he be seated beside Violet -Manning, as there would be no other man present whom she had ever seen, -but Edgar vetoed that plan. - -"Let the two derelicts go in together," he had said. "I never did see -any sense in this business of social philanthropy. Let the lonely -people take care of each other. They will if you only have the -cleverness to bring them together. Then you're spared all the boredom -yourself, and kill two birds with one stone." - -"My dear," his mother had said, "Miss Manning is an orphan, alone in -the city, and you were quite friendly with her at the island--" - -"Yes, but I don't want to talk about the island all the evening. There -are some widows I would consider; but when it comes to orphans--orphan -teachers--count me out." - -He smiled the gleeful smile, and Kathleen sighed, and allotted him to -the maiden of his choice; one who knew and hated the enthralling Mrs. -Larrabee, and who, he averred, had enough "pep" not to bore him. - -Violet had somehow expected to be placed with Edgar at dinner, and -argue with herself as she would, the surprise of finding herself with -a stranger instead gave her the sensation of a slight; but she was -cheery and natural, and her escort, a youth with long lashes and a -sallow complexion, found the sea-blue eyes intelligent and sympathetic -repositories for his mournful rhapsodies upon Kathleen Fabian's charms. - -She was sitting across the table from them beside Philip Sidney. -Aqua-marines glistened water-blue about her bare throat, and filmy -lace clung to her satin shoulders. Her simple coiffure was in contrast -to the puffs and curls that danced airily on the other girlish heads. -Kathleen's was straight hair, but fine, thick, and lustrous. The -simplicity of her aspect gave one to know that with her "the colors -seen by candlelight" would look the same by day. - -"It isn't every one who understands Miss Fabian," the long lashes -announced to Violet, with the implication that he was in the inner -circle. "She's what I call a subtle girl--a mysterious girl. Those -jewels suit her. That liquid, elusive play of light, as the moonlight -sparkles on the water, is like her moods, gentle, and--and remote. I -often think Miss Fabian lives in a world of her own. One can't always -be sure that she hears what one is saying." - -"I know her very little," returned Violet, "but she does seem a very -thoughtful girl." - -"Who is that chap with her?--the big fellow?" - -"That is her cousin, Mr. Sidney." - -"Her cousin? I never saw him before." - -"I fancy he's not a New Yorker," said Violet. "He is here studying art." - -"H'm," ejaculated Long-Lashes. "He doesn't look the part. He doesn't -wear artistic hair." - -"No," agreed Violet. "There is no studied disorder in his appearance. -Miss Fabian seems to hear everything _he_ says," she added demurely; -"and why, if he is her cousin, does she call him Mr. Sidney?" - -Long-Lashes, who had looked cheered at the information of relationship, -gloomed again. - -"I'm sure I have it right," went on Violet. "Mrs. Fabian told me he was -her nephew." - -"Oh," returned her companion, "but Mrs. Fabian is Kathleen's -step-mother." He looked across at the pair anxiously. "She has adopted -him, though, that's evident. Her wits haven't gone wool-gathering since -we sat down." - -When the young people returned to the drawing-room they found a -charming transformation had taken place. The spacious floor was bare, -garlands of evergreen, holly, and mistletoe were wreathed in all -possible positions, and a majestic Christmas tree sparkling with the -tiny electric bulbs of these sophisticated days stood in a recess. Its -boughs were gay with favors for a german. - -An orchestra, concealed behind palms in the hall, played a Christmas -carol as the couples entered. - -"There are Christmas fairies even in Gotham," said Phil to Kathleen. -"Ah," he thought, "poverty may be no disgrace, but what a convenience -is money!" "Before we go any further," he added aloud, "I want to thank -you, Miss Fabian, for the honor you paid the stranger in a strange land -by allowing me to take you out to dinner. I want you to know that I -appreciate it in a gathering of your own friends." - -Kathleen's calm eyes met his. She was glad he could not know that she -had expected to champion his crude appearance in a gathering where -clothes went far to make the man. - -"I never thought of doing anything else," she returned; then added, -smiling, "You know I owed you hospitality." - -"Brave girl," returned Phil, "to dare to refer to that ill-starred day. -I should never have had the courage." - -"Do you ever hear from Eliza?" asked Kathleen. - -"I received one letter after her arrival. It was mostly about her cat, -Pluto. She said he acted like an imp of darkness." - -"Why wouldn't he--saddled with that name?" returned Kathleen. - -Phil watched the aqua-marines sparkle and dissolve on the whiteness of -her neck. - -"Your mother did to my stable what the brownies have done here while we -were dining. Did she tell you?" - -"She told me she bought you a few things." - -"That is a modest way to put it. Will you come to tea with her some -day this week and see for yourself?" - -"I shall be glad to. I've not been able to remember you as being very -comfortable." - -The carol ceased. The odor of evergreen was fresh as the forest itself. -The orchestra began a waltz. - -"I wonder if he can dance," thought Kathleen, in her ignorance of the -West. The evening clothes were promising but she had her doubts of -Terpsichore west of the Rockies. She little knew that in dress clothes -or sweater the cowboy leads the world in dancing. - -The music was irresistible and in a moment she was floating away in the -waltz. - -"Dear me!" she thought with a mixture of consternation and -satisfaction. "I've taken the best of everything!" - -Edgar cast a glance after them. "A duck to the water," he thought. -A touch of nature makes the whole world kin; and when Phil arrived -to-night, that unique dress tie of his had suffered damage from his -overcoat. Edgar with lofty hospitality had supplied the lack. It had -given him a foretaste of self-satisfaction as patron of the arts, and -he now felt quite benevolently glad to find that Phil was not going -to entangle Kathleen's feet, as he sailed off with his own partner, -humming the waltz in her appreciative ear. - -Long-Lashes danced as he talked, with poetic meditation. Violet had no -objection to him, but she was conscious of Edgar's every movement. If -he did not ask her for the next dance she would not give him any, even -if she had to sprain her ankle. - -However, the catastrophe was averted, because he did ask her for the -second, and, joy of joys, she could not give it to him; for as she -and Long-Lashes crept near Kathleen and Phil during the waltz, Phil, -prompted by his partner, raised his eyebrows in a request. - -"The next, Miss Manning?" - -She nodded assent; and so it was that Edgar took the third; and as soon -as he joined her asked her opinion of Phil's dancing. - -"Of course you're authority," he added tactfully, as they started. - -"Oh, I quite forgot shop while I was with him," said Violet coolly; -"beside, I don't teach ballroom dancing." - -Edgar suspected that he had, in his own language, put his foot in it; -so he used his universal panacea and sang the waltz in his partner's -ear. - -"Pretty, isn't it? Say, you can dance, Miss Manning, if you don't know -how to teach it. Watch me favor you in the german." - -"Mr. Sidney is a perfect dancer," she said. - -"He looks it. I'm mighty glad he doesn't fall all over himself. He's a -trifle too big to make that safe; and being a wild Westerner I didn't -know just what he would do. Do you ever do a jig nowadays?" - -"Occasionally--in the way of business." - -"Say," exclaimed Edgar with enthusiasm, as he led her safely among the -thickening couples, "would you do one to-night if I clear the floor?" - -"Certainly not," returned Violet, laughing. - -"But you did at the island." - -"I only jig on a vessel's deck," said the girl. - -"And I have to wait till next summer?" - -"Poor, poor fellow!" Violet's eyes looked up into his pathetically. -He had forgotten what very nice eyes they were, and what jolly little -stars danced in their depths. - -"I'd like to clog, and I believe I'd be a good one. Do you teach it?" - -"Yes." - -"Then I'll enter the class!" declared Edgar with enthusiasm. - -"You're just a tiny bit over-age," said Violet. "Fifteen's the limit." - -"Then I'll come to your home, that's what I'll do. I'll take private -lessons." - -"Impossible. There's no place to clog there except on the table." - -"But that's what I should prefer to any other place." - -"I'll teach you next summer," said Violet, "and take my pay in song." - -"That's proverbially cheap," said Edgar. - -"Yes, '_a_ song,' perhaps," returned Violet, "but I shall exact dozens." - -Edgar tossed his head with the gleeful smile. - -"It's a bargain," he declared. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -SPRING - - -Spring came all too soon for Philip after his gloriously solitary and -absorbed winter. - -One Saturday morning, even from his sunless north window, it proclaimed -itself and would not be denied. The tint of the sky, the scanty -glimpses of waving green, and the jubilant song of birds in the park, -all spoke of the annual miracle. - -"Just the day for a sketch," thought Phil, and buttoning his collar, he -went to the head of the stairs and called Pat. - -"Here," responded the Irishman, "and sure I wish it was there, thin." - -"Where's that?" - -"Annywhere in the country-side where I couldn't see a pavement the day." - -"Just what I was thinking, Pat. I'm going to borrow the key to the park -again. I wonder if you'd go over to Streeter's on Fourth Avenue for me. -You remember the place you bought the framed Madonna for your sister. -I'd like you to get a package of materials they were to have sent me -yesterday. I don't want to miss a minute of this weather for a sketch, -and I can be making my coffee while you're gone." - -"Sure I will. I've got to go that way for a pair o' boots annyway." - -"If I get a good sketch," called Phil after him, "you may look at it -for nothing." - -Pat was privately not at all sure that it would be worth looking at, -even if the artist thought it good. He had seen a number of Phil's -efforts which looked like nothing to him, and the artist's explanation -that they were merely impressions did not bring them within Pat's -comprehension as being worth the paper they spoiled. Nevertheless his -devotion to the artist was steadfast and he hastened on his errand. - -Phil ate his breakfast, and primed two canvases for the Monday pose. -Then his Streeter package having arrived, he hurriedly transferred a -few pieces of charcoal and some pans of water-color to his sketch-box, -and was off down the stable steps into the mellow light of spring, the -park key in his hand. - -"What a morning!" he thought, as he passed through the gate and -snapped the lock after him. At different times when he had visited -this enclosure with his scratch-pad, he had made mental notes of -advantageous points for sketching, and he now moved straight to a -chosen spot. - -The gravel path winding between the patches of fresh spring green -crunched under his feet and reminded him of the tar and pebble roof he -had put on a barn in Montana. How different this life! How glorious! If -only his mother could sit beside him while he sketched this morning. - -The day was joyous as his spirit, and the park was soon alive with -children and their capped and aproned nurses, truly distinguished in -their right of eminent domain, while outside the hedges and railings -sauntered those with no proprietary rights in Gramercy Park. A child -often peeped through the fence at coveted dandelions, like a little -peri at the gates of paradise. - -Phil worked away, paying no attention to the more inquisitive -youngsters who dared from a well-bred distance to stretch and strain -for a look at what was being done in art. - -He was hastily washing in a soft rose grey that was eventually to take -the form of several charming old brick houses. They had dormer windows -above and fascinating iron grilled balconies with long drawing-room -windows and great masses of spring flowers growing in front of the -basements. - -Philip was working with an intensity of interest and absorption, and -suddenly he threw a quantity of color and water from his brush with a -quick backward motion which sent a flood over one of the youngsters who -had ventured quite near. A shout of glee went up from the others of the -group and he turned quickly to see what had happened, just as a girl, -not capped or aproned, seized the little color-target, and wiped the -moisture from the boy's face with her handkerchief. - -"You, Miss Manning!" cried the artist, "and I can't spare time to rise -and fall on my knees in apology." - -"Ernest is the one who should apologize," said Violet, laughing, "but -you know an artist out of doors is common property." - -"Of course," returned Phil, washing away industriously. "Come here, -little chap. I'm sorry I doused you. Come and see what I'm doing--no, -not the rest of you. I can't have a heavy weight on my sword arm." - -Upon this, Ernest, who had been scarlet under his companions' -amusement, gave them a glance of superiority and moved to Phil's side. - -"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the object in the sketch which had -been the cause of the present smooches on his blouse. - -"What?" asked Phil encouragingly. - -"That big tall thing that looks kind of rough, like a rock or -something." - -"Why, that's the Metropolitan Tower. See it there over those roofs?" -Phil directed the boy's gaze with his brush-handle. - -"Doesn't look much like it, does it?" - -"Oh, you wait and see." - -"Are those going to be trees there?" - -"Yes; and those spots are going to be filled with red and pink and -yellow and white. You know what a tulip is? Those are the tulip beds." - -Ernest leaned comfortably against the green park bench. "What are you -going to make the picture for?" - -"Enough questions," said Violet brightly. She was standing away a -little, but mounting guard over her small charge and taking notes of -the sketch for the benefit of Rex. Now she stepped forward and took the -child's hand with intent to lead him away; but Phil looked smiling at -the boy, and said:-- - -"I'm going to try to paint this picture so that when any one studies it -he will get its message and feel as I do to-day." - -The child looked back into the man's eyes, and discerned a fellow child. - -"Is it your birthday?" he asked gravely. - -Phil laughed softly. "I shouldn't wonder," he answered. "What made you -think so?" - -"You look happy--and you said--" the boy didn't finish, and Phil nodded. - -"Did you ever see a chrysalis, Ernest? Well, I think I've been -expanding all winter. I feel sort of wingy this morning. This is a good -sort of day for a chrysalis to burst, don't you think so? Perhaps this -_is_ my birthday and you guessed it before I did." - -"Come, Ernest, we must go," said Violet, smiling. "We're a load on the -butterfly's wings." - -"Do you live here in the park, Miss Manning?" - -"No. I spent last night with a friend here, and one of the maids fell -ill, so Ernest and I thought we could walk about a bit and smell the -lilacs." - -"I don't want to go away," said Ernest. "I like to see him paint." - -"Just move some of that paraphernalia from the end of the bench and sit -down, can't you, Miss Manning?" suggested Phil. "I piled it there in -self-defence, but it's for show. Keep away from my arm, old man, and -you may watch me all you like." - -"Come here, Ernest, you can see just as well," and Violet, seating -herself, drew the child against her knee. - -The scent of moist lilacs was in the air. - -"There's a robin," cried Ernest--"oh, two! Look." - -"Quiet, don't frighten them," said Violet, as the bright-eyed birds ran -beneath the bushes. - -"Put them in, won't you, Mr.----" began the child eagerly. - -"That is Mr. Sidney, Ernest," said Violet. "It is time you were -introduced and this is Ernest Tremaine, Mr. Sidney." - -"I'll make you a sketch of the robin in a minute." - -One of the birds ran toward the seated group, and stood a moment, proud -and high-chested, his sleek head gleaming in the sun. Phil laughed to -himself as his busy hand worked. - -"What are you laughing at?" asked the little boy. - -"Cock robin. He reminded me of somebody I know. Don't you think he -looks very pleased with his red vest and his smooth feathers?" - -"Yes," replied the child. "Perhaps it's his birthday, too." He laughed, -delighted that his big friend was amused. - -"Perhaps; and see there! He has found a birthday present." - -The robin had suddenly pounced upon a worm and was digging it from its -earthy stronghold. - -Violet had to put her hand over the child's mouth to still his mirth. -The bird was sitting on his tail, claws dug in the ground as he leaned -back, dragging at his prey. - -"How good of the robins to stray away from Central Park, and bring -spring to all these little places," said Violet. "I heard one last -night. Perhaps this is the very fellow. Their notes always make me -think of links in a chain, link after link, alike, yet so fresh. -Wouldn't it be great, Ernest, if this pair are hunting for a place to -build here, and would take a tree that you could see from your windows, -and you could watch them with an opera-glass?" - -"Do you think they will?" The child looked up into the golden-green of -tender new leaves through which the mellow light was sifting. - -"We must ask them to hurry up," said Violet, "before the foliage grows -heavy and makes it hard to watch them." - -"What news from the island, Miss Manning?" asked Phil. - -"Oh, spring is peeping in on them, too, once in a while. Aunt Amy says -their hill will soon be white with strawberry blossoms, and blue with -violets." - -"And what of my friend, Eliza Brewster? I believe you told me you have -never seen her." - -"Aunt Amy always speaks of her in her letters. She has been a great -comfort to them, so helpful and kind." - -"Mrs. Fabian will have it that I am to see this wonderful island." - -"You should go. It would be paradise for an artist." - -"And how about yourself?" asked Phil. "You also have an aunt and a home -on that green mound I hear about." - -"Oh, I'm going for the whole summer," replied Violet. "I had two weeks -last year, and it created an inordinate appetite." - -"Then you knew the Fabians there." - -"Yes, a little. In two weeks one doesn't make much headway with a girl -like Kathleen." - -"Is she difficult for a girl, too?" asked Phil. - -"Oh, yes--at least for a new girl. She reminds me of a series of locked -doors. You succeed in unlocking one, and the small room within merely -leads to another door. You must strive to unlock that, and you succeed -only to find another waiting. Such wholesome, clean, airy rooms, but -small--always small. She is fascinating to me, perhaps for that very -reason. Did you ever notice that even her hair is reserved?" - -Phil smiled, as his busy hand worked. "Christmas night is the only time -I ever saw her with her hat off," he answered. "I'm afraid you're too -subtle for me." - -"Oh, you'll see," said Violet; "an artist couldn't help seeing in the -daytime. What color do you think it is?" - -"Dark brown." - -"I knew you would say that. Wait till you see her in the sunshine. It's -almost red; and that's just like her. Even her hair keeps everything to -itself as long as it can." - -Phil laughed. "Quite different from brother, eh?" - -"You mean that he is frank?" asked Violet, with a perceptible -indrawing of her own frankness. - -"Well, that's a mild word for it," answered Phil. "I don't know Edgar's -family crest, but the inscription should read, freely translated, 'I -give myself away.'" - -The speaker laughed at his own folly, and glanced up for sympathy. The -baby bachelor's full lips were grave and her eyes a little dark. - -"I like people to be frank," she said briefly. - -Phil drew his own lips together in a noiseless whistle and his eyes -twinkled at the Metropolitan Tower in the sketch. - -"Keep off the grass," he mused. "I thought you said reserve fascinated -you," he remarked aloud, mildly. - -"One thing I don't like Mr. Fabian to reserve," said Violet, "and that -is his voice." - -"Great, isn't it?" agreed Phil. "I was glad he sang for us Christmas -night." - -"Oh, I supposed you had heard him many times. If he were my cousin I -would give him no rest." - -"He's not mine, you see. I'm only a step-relation, and such a long -step!" - -Violet bit her lip and looked at the speaker reflectively. She felt -there was no rhyme or reason in his amused expression. - -"Then, that is why you haven't seen Miss Kathleen's hair in the -daylight," she said. "Have you discovered her locked doors?" - -"She let me into her ballroom, at Christmas, and I think I must have -been so pleased with that I didn't try to get any further." - -"I see," returned Violet. "Well, if you go to the island you'll have a -chance to explore. Of course your experience with her may be different -from mine. Perhaps an artist will have the open sesame to her doors. -I'm not a bit intellectual. I have to dance my way into people's -confidence, or I don't get there." - -"I hear you teach that very pretty art." - -"She teaches me," put in Ernest, who was tired of being left out of the -conversation. "I can dance a jig." - -"Bully for you," said Phil. "Go ahead, right here on the path." - -"Oh, I can't without any music." - -"There's the music." Phil pointed with his brush-handle to a lofty -branch where the robin was pouring forth linked sweetness, long -drawn-out. - -"The pebbles are too rolly," said the child. "You said you'd make me a -picture of the robin." - -"So I did." - -Phil pulled toward him another block of paper and swiftly washed in the -green of the lilac bush and its purple pendants. Before it, on a little -stretch of green sward, grew the robin, high-chested, alert. - -"How proud he looks!" said the child, delighted. - -"Yes, he is saying: 'I own the earth, and the worms therein.'" The -artist laughed to himself. "'If a worm shows his head, I gobble him up! -and I can sing as beautifully as I gobble. The world stops to watch and -listen. I am cock robin! Look at me!'" - -Artist and child laughed together as Phil handed over the wet sketch -to the eager little hands. Violet's eyes were glued to it. She was -wondering if later she could make a surreptitious purchase of it for -Rex. - -"I had heard of you before Christmas," she said. "One of my housemates -goes to your art school. Regina Morris." - -Phil shook his head. "I've not met any of the girls. Are you a -housekeeper?" - -"Three of us live together in a tiny apartment. I wish you might come -to see us sometime." - -Phil looked up with his frank smile. "I'll call on you at the island if -you'll let me, and if I come--that last is such a big If, though Mrs. -Fabian is determined." - -"Oh, then you'll go. I've seen enough of Mrs. Fabian to know that." - -"Then it must be but for a week or two. I mustn't stay where I can't -work." - -"You'll stay," nodded Violet. "You'll live under a rock if necessary -and catch fish for food." - -"Are you so enthusiastic?" - -"Isn't everybody?" - -"Nobody, that I have heard. Eliza spoke of it like facing grim death. -Edgar says it gives him the 'Willies,' whatever they may be. Aunt -Isabel goes because her husband wants to sail." - -"Did Mr. Fabian say it gave him the 'Willies'?" asked Violet, her -cheeks rose and her eyes dark again. "Why does he go, then?" - -"I didn't ask him; but a bare hill lying in a wet fog doesn't sound -inviting even if one may occasionally catch a glimpse of the sea. You -know the sea and I are strangers." - -"Did Kathleen talk to you about it?" asked Violet, the hurt spot -in her pride still smarting, as memory showed her pictures of waves -sparkling in moonlight, and song that turned the scene into enchantment. - -"No, I believe we never mentioned the summer. She talked to me of -college and I talked to her of my one dissipation of the autumn, -an evening over there at the Players' Club,"--Phil nodded over his -shoulder toward the club windows,--"and the wit and wisdom I heard." - -"I judge you have friends in the park," said Violet. - -"Yes, I have a work-room over here," replied Phil vaguely. His wits -were about him when he contemplated the disconcerting possibility of -Ernest's sturdy little legs finding their way up his stable stair. - -"I want to show this to mother," said the child, gloating over his -sketch. Phil had used no anæmic colors in that. The lilacs were of a -generous purple, the robin's vest a royal red. When he had thanked -the artist and they had parted, Ernest prattled of his treasure as he -walked on beside Violet. - -"He's a proud bird," he said, half-soliloquizing after his kind. "He -wants the world to listen when he sings; and his eyes are so bright, -when he sees a worm coming along he gobbles him quick, and then he -looks prouder than ever." - -Violet's thoughts were busy, and somewhat gloomy. Edgar had spoken -patronizingly to her of the big Western artist who had fallen into -their family circle. - -Of whom was Phil thinking that gave him so much amusement while he -sketched the robin? - -Violet was not sure whether her mental disturbance was more resentment -toward the artist, or hurt that Edgar Fabian should declare that he had -been bored at the island. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -JUNE - - -During the long winter a strong bond of friendship grew between Mrs. -Wright and Eliza Brewster. The latter's broken heart seemed to heal in -the very act of caring for the exiled lady, and in the consolation of -knowing that her own familiarity with the island, and with all domestic -cares, gave daily return for the unspeakable benefit of her home. - -Upon Mr. Wright she looked from the first with a reflective and -judicial eye. He was Mrs. Wright's husband, and that fact made Eliza -rigidly careful to do her duty by him; but mentally she classified the -adopted islander as a lazy man who had all his days been looking for -a soft spot and who had been irresistibly drawn to the freedom and -irresponsibility of a life which permitted him to wear a négligée shirt -during the semi-hibernation of the winter, and made no demands upon him -beyond an occasional arising, by request, from the lounge to shovel -snow-paths and bring in fuel, and at evening to play checkers with -Captain James until an early bedtime. - -He liked Eliza's cooking and her nimble, quiet ways, and externally -they were at peace; but Captain James's shrewd eyes often read Eliza's -suppressed impatience. One spring morning, when he met her in the -island road, he attempted a mild protest in favor of the master of the -house. - -"Mr. Wright's a clever feller," he said argumentatively. "What's wrong -with him, Eliza?" - -"What have I said about him?" she snapped. - -"Don't you suppose I got eyes?" asked Captain James. - -Eliza was startled. She must put even greater guard upon herself. - -"Now, I ain't a-goin' to talk about him, James. I s'pose it's all right -for a great hulk of a man to own a dainty city woman and take her away -from her friends and mew her up on a snow-bank to suit his convenience." - -"What you goin' back on the island for?" inquired Captain James. - -"I ain't goin' back on it. I'm island folks. I find there is something, -after all, in this talk about native air." - -"It's treated you all right," agreed the other, regarding her -countenance critically. "You've dropped off five years this winter. -Come summer you'll shed ten more, like enough, and look like you ought -to look, Eliza. You ain't any old woman." - -Eliza ignored the blandishment. - -"I can see in the glass I look better," she returned impersonally, "and -it makes me mad to think it's all because I live in the house with a -sacrifice. Supposin' I'd come back to this island alone." - -"Mrs. Wright don't act like any sacrifice," protested Captain James; -"she's chipper as a canary bird." - -"Of course she is. That's the kind of a wife a man like that's sure to -get. It's been my lot in life, James, to live with angels," added Eliza -fiercely. "Can you tell me why I should be just as cantankerous as -ever?" - -Captain James laughed. "Mebbe there's as much truth in that talk about -original sin as there is about native air," he returned. "You always -was a limb, Eliza." - -She smiled reluctantly. "I warned her before I came," she returned, -grave again. "I told her I was bad, and _set_." - -"But you couldn't scare her, eh?" - -"Nobody could do that. She ain't afraid of anything above ground. 'T -ain't fear makes her yield to Lazy-Bones there; and when she sets out -to make him do something he don't want to, she gets him every time." -Eliza's eyes wandered to a cottage by the roadside. "There's Betsy -Eaton watchin' us. I expect she's wonderin' why we're standin' in the -wet so long. Well, I've blown off steam and I'll run home. I s'pose -you'll be comin' up to-night to move those little pieces o' wood -around." - -"Sure thing, Eliza," returned Captain James with a grin. "Lemme teach -you the game so you can play it with him times when I don't come." - -In the speaker's own parlance he was trying to "get a rise" out of his -old friend; and he succeeded. Eliza's eyes flashed almost with the fire -of youth. - -"I'd throw 'em at him. I know I would--every checker of 'em." - -"Well, he'll be fishin' again soon," laughed Captain James soothingly, -"now his new boat's about done." - -"H'm!" grunted Eliza; and with no other form of farewell, she started -to trudge up the hill toward home. The earth was moist and yielding; -the chill spring was here, and nature was drawing her green paint-brush -over the high wave of the bluff. Little star-flowers bloomed under her -energizing kisses, and shivered bravely when the east wind blew. - -This morning the sun fell with sufficient warmth on the stone step for -Pluto to lie there, and blink at the first sparrow he had seen. On the -whole, Eliza's move away from New York had his entire approval. The -change from the restrictions of a city flat to this place was in itself -a delight, and far from agreeing with Eliza's estimation of the master -of the house he found him quite the most sensible human being he had -ever encountered. One who appreciated a soft lounge when he saw it, and -who always made room for a cat, and never disturbed his slumbers with -precipitate movement. Eliza watched their growing intimacy with grim -amusement. - -"Birds of a feather flock together," was frequently her mental comment. - -As the spring unfolded, and the early mornings were less chill, Mr. -Wright again took up his suspended practice of making sunrise visits -to his pond. At first Pluto considered this a foolish practice; but -at last he learned to connect it with attractive pieces of fish which -came his way, and again he paid tribute of admiration to the hand which -always discriminated so nicely just which point back of his ears should -be scratched in order to establish the most friendly relations. - -Eliza's threat that he should reside in the chicken-house had come to -naught, for it had required but a few days for Pluto to recover from -the savagery to which his novel contact with Mother Earth at first -reduced him; and he again became a domestic animal full of content in -the equally novel petting which now fell to his share. - -One day Eliza with amused memory of her childish terrors pushed open -the door of the forlorn chicken-house, and looked in; but one look was -enough. She closed it again quickly on the dirt and cobwebs. Its small -windows were opaque with the dust of years. It was almost picturesque -with its leaking roof which had once been red, huddling close to earth -under the protection of those hardy old warriors, the balm-of-Gilead -trees. - -"If 'twas mine," mused Eliza, as she withdrew from the dirt and damp of -the close interior, "I'd clean it with a good fire. It's hopeless." - -A sparrow lit on the despised roof, and poured a song toward the sea. - -"That's so," said Eliza looking up at the tiny creature with a smile. -"It _is_ spring. It's a wonder to be in a place where there ain't one -o' your English cousins." - -She turned and nearly trod on Pluto. His green eyes were fixed on the -bird. His lithe body crouched in the fresh grass and quivered along its -length in the intensity of his upward gaze. - -"Pluto Brewster!" she exclaimed in desperation. "Supposin' you ever -should catch a bird up here!" She stooped and boxed his ears. He laid -them back and, blinking the eager eyes, crouched lower. - -Mrs. Wright on her doorstep saw Eliza approaching, the cat under her -arm. - -"He was lookin' at a sparrow," announced Eliza. - -Mrs. Wright laughed. "I've heard that a cat may look even at a king," -she said. - -"If Pluto should kill birds!" exclaimed his owner desperately. - -"Would you, little tiger?" asked Mrs. Wright, closing her hand over -the cat's face and giving it a little shake. - -Pluto was beginning to consider that women were a sad mistake. He -struggled to get free and Eliza dropped him. - -"How the spring has stolen past us," said Mrs. Wright. "Do you realize -Eliza that even June is moving on its way? Look over there at the -Fabian cottage." - -"Why that's James out on the veranda." - -"Yes, he has had a letter from Mrs. Fabian. She wants him to open the -house. To-day is Kathleen Fabian's Commencement." - -"That's so," said Eliza coolly. "You showed me the invitation." - -"It was rather nice of her to remember me, way off here, and little as -I know them." - -"I guess Kathleen would be an agreeable enough girl if she was let -alone," said Eliza. - -She had for some time now given up anxiety lest the high words over the -barrel in Phil's studio bear bad fruit for him; for a letter had set -her mind at rest on that score, and she felt instinctively that she had -Kathleen Fabian to thank for that. - -"But any girl would be slow to cut off friendly relations with a feller -like Mr. Sidney," she considered, prejudice still holding her in a -strong grasp. - -"So they're comin'," said Eliza, in a lifeless voice. The winter had -been very happy. She began to long for the fall. - -"Yes, very soon." - -"Is your niece comin' with 'em?" - -"No; she will keep busy until July." Mrs. Wright drew a deep breath. - -"Oh, how lovely this is, Eliza," she went on. "This morning makes me -think of Stopford Brooke's lines,-- - - 'A little sun, a little rain, - A soft wind blowing from the West-- - And woods and fields are sweet again, - And the warmth within the mountain's breast.' - -Our mountain--what a height we should see we had if that sea could roll -back; we can feel the warmth in its breast this morning, and the lovely -miracles it is putting forth. Why don't you look happier, Eliza?" -Mrs. Wright smiled as she asked the question. Her friend's eyes were -gloomily following the movements of Captain James in the distance as he -beat rugs on the grass beside the boulder cottage. - -"I guess you know why," rejoined Eliza briefly. - -"The idea of letting anybody rob you of your happiness," said Mrs. -Wright. "I shall have to put Marcus Aurelius side of your bed so you -can read him before you go to sleep. I thought you were more of a -philosopher, Eliza." - -"You ain't half through your disappointments in me yet," returned Eliza -drily. - -"Ho!" exclaimed Mrs. Wright, resting her hand on the shoulder of her -companion as she stood a step below her. "I haven't begun on them yet." - -"Just s'posin'," said Eliza, looking about at the fair prospect, "that -Mrs. Ballard could be with us to see the summer comin'. How comfortable -we'd make her!" - -"I don't believe she'd come," said Mrs. Wright gently, "as much as she -loves us." - -"That's what he said," returned Eliza musingly. "He said we hadn't -ought to believe we could make her happier than she is." - -"He? Who?" - -"Mr. Sidney." - -"Good for the boy," said Mrs. Wright, who had heard so much and often -about Philip that she felt as if she had met him. - -"Why can't we go on here just as we have," said Eliza regretfully. -"Why must folks come?" - -"Listen to the grudging one!" exclaimed Mrs. Wright lightly. "And what -a different doctrine Nature is preaching us this morning. Look where -you will, no limitations--none. Illimitable sky, illimitable sea. -That's the way it should be in our hearts, Eliza, illimitable love." - -"I dare say," returned the other with a world of obstinacy in her tone. - -"The world can't be full of Mrs. Ballards, but they're all our brothers -and sisters just the same. Mr. Brooke goes on in his verse to say:-- - - 'A little love, a little trust, - A soft impulse, a sudden dream, - And life as dry as desert dust - Is fresher than a mountain stream,' - -I don't like that hard look to come in your eyes, Eliza. The feeling -behind it turns life as dry as desert dust wherever it holds sway." - -"I told you--" began Eliza slowly. - -"I know all about that," interrupted Mrs. Wright, "but little by little -you'll find that all hard wilfulness is flat, stale, and unprofitable. -Now you'd better spend this week before the Fabians come in trying that -recipe every time you think of them. 'A little love, a little trust, a -soft impulse.'" - -"And what will Mrs. Fabian be doin' all that time?" asked Eliza -hardily. "Do you suppose she'll have any soft impulses toward me until -I give her her aunt's things? That barrel upstairs in the back bedroom -has got her grandmother's china and silver in it." - -"What do you want of it, Eliza?" asked Mrs. Wright. - -"To keep it away from her," was the prompt reply; and the speaker saw -a cloud pass over the eyes she had learned to love. "Anyway, Mrs. -Wright," she went on earnestly, "she left 'em all to me, all her -things, Mrs. Ballard did." - -"I see," said Mrs. Wright thoughtfully. "Doubtless her grateful heart -longed to leave you her money, and deciding to do otherwise she felt -she wished you to have something equivalent." - -While they talked, Captain James had started across the field toward -them, and now he drew near, walking beneath the bold and intricate -curves made by wheeling swallows, the deep blue of their backs flashing -iridescent in the sunlight. - -"Say," he called, "these fellers have set up housekeepin' over there -in the Fabian porch. Snug as bugs in rugs they are. Darned if I know -what to do." - -"Who?--the swallows?" asked Mrs. Wright. - -"Yes." Captain James seated himself on a rustic bench in the sun. "It's -the new wind-break they had put up last summer did the mischief. Always -been too blowy other springs for 'em to try it." - -"You dislike to disturb them? Is that the trouble?" asked Mrs. Wright. - -"I dislike to get my head took off," returned Captain James. "Mrs. -Fabian'll have the law on me if I don't knock the nest down and clean -up, and Kathleen'll read me the riot act if I do." - -The speaker pushed his hat to one side and scratched his head. - -Eliza regarded him unsmiling. - -"Do you always take care of their cottage?" she asked. - -"Ever since they've had one," he answered. "Used to take Kathleen and -Edgar out to my pound when they wa'n't knee high to a grasshopper." - -"And now she has graduated from college. Think of it," said Mrs. -Wright. - -"Wa'n't I invited?" asked Captain James proudly. "I guess I was. All -engraved up pretty, and Kathleen's card inside. When they fledged -Edgar and shoved him out o' the nest he didn't remember me; but little -sober-sides there, she wa'n't goin' to forget an old friend. Edgar's -boots nor his hat don't exactly fit him, late years," went on Captain -James good-humoredly, "but Kathleen always was a brick and she ain't -got over it. I guess I'll let the swallers alone till she's had her say -anyway." - -"Going to be over there this afternoon, Captain James?" asked Mrs. -Wright. - -"Yes. I've got Betsy Eaton washin' the dishes and cleanin' now, and -I'll be back again on the rugs later." - -"Let us go over, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright. "I want you to see what a -beautiful cottage it is." - -Eliza looked at her with steady significance. "I'm goin' to be too -busy," she said slowly. - -Captain James sighed and rose. "Handsome day," he remarked, as he -trudged off to dinner. - -"To-morrow, then?" asked Mrs. Wright. - -"No," responded Eliza firmly, freed of Captain James's presence, "nor -the day after that. I ain't double-faced, Mrs. Wright. I can't go in -when they ain't there, if I wouldn't when they are there." - -Mrs. Wright laughed softly. "My square-toed Eliza," she said, turning -into the house. "Oh, I forgot to say there's a letter for you here. Mr. -Wright must have left it on the table." - -Eliza had stooped over the row of sweet peas coming up thriftily -about the house, and she rose slowly and followed her friend indoors, -but when she saw the small stubbed writing on the envelope her eyes -brightened. Twice before during the winter had it come to cheer her. - -"Mr. Sidney!" she said, and sat down to enjoy her letter to the full. - -"DEAR ELIZA," it began. - -"We had a hot day yesterday. Pat's tongue hung out and he assured -me that the only thing that would do him any good was to take off -his flesh and sit in his bones. They tell me the summer is here to -stay, and I am going to make an aisle through my opposite neighbor, -the storeroom, and get at the window in there so as to get a draught -through. The sun bakes the stable roof, but I wouldn't mind it if the -perspiration didn't run into my eyes. This state of things makes me an -easy prey to Aunt Isabel's kind insistence that I shall spend a week -with her. She says two; but that will depend on how much fog there is -and whether I have to waste time. - -"I can't compliment you on being a complete letter-writer, but I judge -you have had a good winter and kept from freezing. You say the islands -have looked like frosted wedding cakes. The first part sounds good to -me. I hope you've saved some over. That's the sort of wedding cake I'd -like to dream on just now. You may believe my heart often goes homing -to the mountains. What would I give for one night under the windy -trees. The very stars are hot here--but--I like it! - -"I've had a wonderful winter. I can't say I'm a belle at the Academy. -One of the teachers turned on me the other day and said he would -thank me to stop trying to teach him how to teach me. He said my -'stand-and-deliver' methods might be _de rigueur_ west of the Rockies, -but something less aggressive would be more becoming a student here -who knew as little as I did. They all have a hunted look as they come -near me; for I don't care a straw how much they snub me if I can only -get from them what I'm after; and I glow with the consciousness that I -have accomplished a lot, even though my strenuous path is strewn with -the wounded and I have some bruises myself. - -"Dear Aunt Mary! I send her a wireless every night. I wonder if she -gets it! - -"Aunt Isabel has been a trump to me the whole winter, patient with my -neglect, and letting me go my own gait; but she brought a thermometer -over to the stable in my absence one day and sat down in my room -waiting for it to go up. It didn't lag, and I found her sitting there -in a wilted state, and she declared that she should stay until I -promised to go with her to the island and get a coat of tan. So I -promised. It will be great to get a breath, and great to see you again, -Eliza. Kindly arrange that the third week in June shall be free from -fog. My time will be precious. - -"Give my compliments to Mrs. Wright and tell her I had a pleasant chat -with her niece one morning in the park while I was sketching. - -"Tell Pluto to be ready to pose with you if old ocean veils himself. - -"With my best to you, - - "As ever - - "PHILIP SIDNEY." - -"Now, then, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright when her companion had read this -epistle aloud. - -"Now, then, what?" returned Eliza happily. - -"He'll be a link. He'll have to be. You can't be crabbed and offish and -spoil his one vacation." - -"Do you mean Mrs. Fabian?" Eliza gave her rare laugh as she pushed -the letter back into its envelope. "If she could help her nephew from -runnin' after common folks, she would; but she certainly won't run -after him. We shan't clash any." - -"I'm glad I'm going to see the boy," said Mrs. Wright. Violet had -written of him: at first with girlish enthusiasm, but after the park -interview more grudgingly. It seemed rather silly in a grown man to be -so amused by the airs of a robin! For some unknown reason the memory of -that foolishness had rankled for days. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE PEACEMAKER - - -Kathleen Fabian, out of school in that month of June, was at home in -body, but with her mind still clinging about the scenes of her college -life. - -"I do believe, all things considered," said her mother when they were -sitting alone one morning over their coffee, "that I am against college -for girls!" - -Kathleen looked up absent-mindedly from the letter she had been -reading. "What's the matter?" she asked vaguely. - -"You have scarcely heard a word I have said since you came home," -declared Mrs. Fabian. "Your thoughts are a thousand miles away all the -time." - -"Not a thousand," protested the girl. "Four years is a long time, you -know. To break up one's home--to break all those ties--means so much." - -"Exactly what I say," retorted Mrs. Fabian. "I should like to know -when you will begin again to realize that this is home, and that your -father and mother would like some share in your thoughts." - -"Why, I must be horribly selfish," returned the girl. - -"There it is again!" exclaimed her mother, increasingly nettled. "If it -takes unselfishness to show some interest in home after a girl leaves -college, I say she had better not go there." - -"Very well," returned Kathleen, smiling. "Don't you ever send another -daughter; but I'm glad you made the mistake with me. I've been so -happy, mother." - -"Oh, well," returned Mrs. Fabian, somewhat mollified by the wistfulness -of the girl's look and tone, "I suppose you have, and perhaps it is all -for the best; but hereafter, when I speak to you, I intend to begin -'Kathleen Fabian!' and you must reply 'Present' before I go on." - -"Have you been talking to me?" asked Kathleen naïvely. - -"Well, rather. I have been telling you something that should be very -interesting, considering the height of the thermometer. Father says we -are to start for the island next Wednesday; and I am holding in my hand -an acceptance from Philip Sidney to my invitation to go with us." - -"How very nice," said Kathleen courteously. - -Mrs. Fabian, always on the sensitive lookout where her young relative -was concerned, thought she detected a perfunctory note. - -"You knew I had asked him?" - -"Yes, I think you did mention it before Commencement." - -"He says," said Mrs. Fabian, "that you have never talked to him about -the island." - -"But think," returned Kathleen, "how seldom I have talked with him." - -"Yes," returned her mother resignedly, "and how full your head is of -other matters. You were very nice to Phil on Christmas night, here. I -wasn't sure but that you would invite him yourself." - -"Oh, why should I?" - -"No reason, if you don't see any. Phil was very polite to you at your -graduation. Those flowers were exquisite." - -"Yes." The girl smiled. "They would have worried me, but that I know -flowers are cheaper in June." - -"I don't think that's a very nice thing to say," observed Mrs. Fabian. - -"I meant it very nicely," returned Kathleen mildly. - -"Well, perhaps it isn't so strange that you have not talked the island -to him, since you have been engrossed in other things; but I have had -all the trouble in the world to induce him to go; and if you had roused -his enthusiasm a little it would have been easier." - -"Why have you urged him?" asked the girl. - -Her mother regarded her for a pause, in exasperated silence. "Are you -aware," she returned at last, "that it is 87 in the shade this morning? -Are you aware that these rooms, where the draught constantly changes -the air, are slightly different from that studio, baking under a stable -roof and hemmed in by high buildings?" - -"Of course, of course!" - -"Are you aware," went on Mrs. Fabian sonorously, "that one who has -always previously had a home might find a brief change from cheap -restaurants invigorating in hot weather?" - -"I didn't know," said Kathleen. "I thought perhaps he was too busy to -notice. He"--she hesitated, but imperceptibly to Mrs. Fabian,--"he has -not called here since I returned." - -"That's just it," flashed Phil's defender. "He never spares himself. -He thinks of nothing but work. Now, I have never forced any of my -relatives on the Fabians," with heightened color, "but your father -likes Phil. He was delighted to have me ask him. He has charged me to -hold on to the boy until he can join us." - -"I hope he can stay," put in Kathleen politely. - -"If I can get him there," said Mrs. Fabian. "Here is this matter of the -berths, as usual. The stateroom has been engaged for a month, but we -have only Molly's berth outside." - -Kathleen's eyes grew eager. "Well, that's all right," she said. "You -won't mind taking Molly in the stateroom in my place, and let Mr. -Sidney have her berth. I'll wait and come up with father." - -"You not go with us? Kathleen, you're absurd." Color streamed again -over Mrs. Fabian's face. - -"No, no. That will be a fine plan, and relieve you of all -embarrassment. Father will like to have me here, and I shall love to -stay with him." - -Mrs. Fabian gazed at the girl in silence. She admired Kathleen -extravagantly. There was something in the girl's natural poise and -elegance which the stepmother, with an innate, unacknowledged -consciousness of inferiority, worshipped. She never forgot that -Kathleen's mother had been a Van Ruysler. Now, as if it were not enough -that Edgar scorned the island, and even if he should be granted leave -of absence would not play the courteous host to Phil, now Kathleen was -anxious to avoid him, and caught at an excuse to postpone her departure. - -The girl grew uncomfortable under the fixed stare bent upon her, and -when suddenly Mrs. Fabian dropped her coffee-spoon and burying her face -in her hands burst into tears, Kathleen arose in dismay, the soft laces -of her négligée floating in the breeze she made hastening around the -table and taking the weeping one in her arms. - -"I don't know what has happened," she said in bewilderment, "but I am -sure it is all my fault. I was trying to help you, mother." - -"You were not!" responded Mrs. Fabian, as angrily as the softening -nature of salt water would permit. "You were trying to avoid that poor, -lonely little fellow." - -Kathleen bit her lip as memory presented the stalwart, self-confident -artist before her. - -"You tell me to take my young cousin if I must, and get his visit over -with before you come up there to enjoy yourself. You don't care how -much you hurt his feelings." - -"Why, mother, wouldn't he think it very natural that I should keep -father company?" - -"No, certainly not, when he knows that Edgar is here. He doesn't know -that Edgar isn't any use to anybody, unless it's Mrs. Larrabee. He'd -just think the truth: that you don't want to be there at the same time -he is." - -"Now, mother, you're so mistaken. He wouldn't even miss me. When he -gets the view from our porch he won't know whether I'm there or not." - -"Very convenient excuse; but you needn't make any more of them. I -understand you, Kathleen. Why shouldn't I, when I taught you to walk? -I'm foolish to break down before you. I ought to have more pride; but -it's the heat. I'm tired and nervous; and you come home from college -with no interest except in what you've left behind you, and want to -arrange things so that my guest at the island will have his visit -spoiled--" - -"Mother, he--" - -"Nobody at the cottage but me, and nobody to help entertain him but -Mrs. Wright and Eliza Brewster and--" - -"Mother, he--" - -"It's so often that I ask any of my friends there! So often that I bore -you and Edgar to look out for my guests! I must always be on hand for -yours, to chaperone you and see that all goes smoothly for your plans. -I suppose--" - -"Mother, indeed--" - -"If Phil had sunstroke, it would be all the same to you, just so he -kept out of your way; and Christmas week when we went there to tea, how -nice he was to us, and so amusing, getting everything in such perfect -order that he apologized for not dusting the marshmallows. Oh, my head -is just bursting!" - -"There, mother dear, I know you will be ill, if you get so excited," -said Kathleen, patting the heaving white silken shoulder. "Of course, -I'll go to the island with you. I didn't know you cared so much." - -Mrs. Fabian lifted her swollen eyes to behold her victory. "There's one -comfort, Kathleen," she said, deep catches in her breath. "You never do -things by halves. If you do go, you'll never allow Phil to feel that he -bores you." - -The girl smiled. "No, if I succeed in calling myself to his -attention," she answered, "I promise he shan't suspect it." - -"If he is sometimes absent-minded," said Mrs. Fabian defensively, "I'm -sure I don't know any one who should have so much sympathy with him as -you--the very queen of wool-gatherers." - -Kathleen laughed and went back to her seat at the table. "I see that I -must reform," she replied. - -"I'm relieved, and I do thank you," said her mother; "but the question -remains, how are we going to get Phil there?" - -"That's easy. Send Molly with the other maids by the boat. I'll hook -your gown." - -"There," returned Mrs. Fabian; "you see, you might have suggested that -in the first place. I understand you well enough, Kathleen." - -"I thought it would be good fun to hob-nob with father. It's so long -since I have." - -"I'm going to persuade him to leave business early this year. It has -worried him unusually this winter. He can if he only thinks so. I -reminded him this morning that if he died, the business would have to -get on without him. He agreed, but said in that case the loss would be -wholly covered by insurance. Rather grim sort of humor, that. I told -him I couldn't see anything funny in such talk." - -"Poor father," commented Kathleen. "Everybody is tired this time of -year. There should be some arrangement of relays in running a business. -The winter workers should be turned out to grass in May." - -She looked at her father that evening with observant eyes, as together -they moved into his den after dinner. It had been closed from the sun -all day and he sank into a big leather armchair by a breeze-blown -window, following his daughter's white-clad figure with appreciative -eyes. - -"I'm glad you're through college, Kath," he said. - -"So I can light your cigar the rest of my life?" she asked, seating -herself on his knee and applying the lighted match. - -"Partly that," he answered, drawing in the flame, "and partly for your -mother's sake. She needs more companionship than I can give her. She -has a gay nature; she likes going out. I hope you aren't too much like -me." - -"I hope I'm exactly like you," the girl returned devoutly; and leaning -forward, she drew in a mouthful of the fragrant cigar smoke and -exhaled it through her nostrils. The movement was quick and graceful, -and she looked mischievously pretty. - -"Don't do that, you monkey," said her father quickly. - -"Why not?" - -"I don't like it." - -"I'm frightfully unfashionable, because I smoke so little," she -returned. - -"It's a vicious habit--for women," declared Mr. Fabian. - -"But I'm a suffragist; besides, men tolerate it in women now--they like -them to do it." - -"Not the women they love," said Mr. Fabian quickly. - -"Oh!" responded Kathleen. - -"When I saw you smoking a cigarette with Edgar a little while ago," he -went on, "I spoke to you about it. Don't you remember? I told you how -unbecoming I thought it. I hoped you would heed me." - -Kathleen met his serious gaze. - -"That wasn't a little while ago," she said. - -"Certainly it was. This winter." - -"It couldn't have been later than November," she went on slowly, "for -I haven't touched a cigarette since then." - -"Good girl." Mr. Fabian patted her shoulder. "It disgusted me to see -you. You'll never do it again?" - -"No." She shook her head, and carefully ran her finger through a ring -of smoke as it passed her. - -"I wish I could get Edgar to say the same," remarked Mr. Fabian. - -"You don't set him a good example," she returned. - -"You never saw me with a cigarette. Edgar has to abstain from them in -the office, but I think he sits up all night to make up for it. I have -an idea they contribute to his general uselessness." - -Kathleen smoothed the care-worn lines in the speaker's brow with her -gentle fingers. He loved their touch. - -"I think Edgar isn't smoking much these days," she said. - -"Indeed." The response was indifferent. "Why should that be? Does Mrs. -Larrabee want them all?" - -"It's on account of his voice," said Kathleen. - -The tired man of affairs removed his cigar to laugh while his daughter -arranged his hair around his temples. "Edgar denying himself!" he -ejaculated quietly. - -"Yes, father, he's waking up to it," said the girl, with a little -serious nod; "and that's one thing Mrs. Larrabee has really done for -him--made him believe that his voice is worth working for." - -"It's the only thing she can find to flatter him about. That's all that -amounts to," said Mr. Fabian, resuming his cigar. "So long as she can -make any use of him she will keep him dangling about, and flattery is -the best bait." - -"But his voice is a real gift," insisted Kathleen, with deliberate -emphasis. "Don't you think so?" - -"I never heard him sing that I know of--certainly not for years." - -"It is beautiful--the heart-reaching kind. If he hadn't been a rich -man's son it would have been given to the world in some shape." - -"A rich man's son." Mr. Fabian repeated the words quietly, and took his -daughter's arm in a strong grasp. "Kathleen, this has been an awful -winter. I don't know what the next year will bring forth. Say nothing -to your mother, but there are threatening clouds all about me." - -"Father!" The girl pressed her cheek to his, and there was a moment of -silence; then she spoke again gently. "I have often wished I might have -been your son." - -The hand that had gripped her arm, stole around her and drew her close. - -After a moment, she sat up again and faced him. "I came in here -to-night on purpose to speak to you about Edgar," she went on. "He -wanted me to intercede for him in a matter." - -"A matter of debts, I suppose," said Mr. Fabian, his manner -imperturbable again, and his tone bitter. - -"Yes, but--" - -"I'm through," interrupted the man. "He has had plenty of warning. I -would not tell you, Kathleen, the number of foolish, and sometimes -disgraceful, affairs I have settled for him." - -"I don't doubt it, dear, but let me tell you about this," said the girl -seriously. "Edgar has no judgment or foresight. He persists in claiming -that he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth and that whatever he -can scoop up with it is his right. He is your only son and you owe him -unlimited liberty." - -"The lessons I have given him would be sufficient if he had any -brains," said the father sternly. - -"Yes; but just a minute more. This debt will astonish you. It is to -Mazzini, the famous voice teacher. He has been studying with him since -January." - -"Just like his vanity! Let him send the bill to Mrs. Larrabee. It is -her doing." - -"Yes, it was her doing in the first place, but I suspect from what -Edgar says that she is tired of him. He hasn't seen her often of late, -and she sails for Europe anyway next week; and Edgar is so interested -in his music that now it comes first. His teacher is so enthusiastic!" - -"Of course he is!" observed Mr. Fabian cynically. "They're always -enthusiastic over the voices of pupils whose pocketbooks will stand the -strain." - -"Edgar sang for me last night while you and mother were out. Father, -it was a beautiful performance. It is the real thing. Of course, he -was wrong--crazy, to go into such expense without asking you, for -the lessons are frightfully dear; but if the boy were to amount to -something in an artistic line, wouldn't it be worth the investment? You -are discouraged by his lack of interest in business." - -Mr. Fabian's chin sank dejectedly as he flicked the ash from his cigar -into the receiver on the stand beside his chair. - -"Discouraged by his inability," he said slowly; "discouraged by his -lack of principle, by his vanity and conceit. I will give him board and -lodging as long as he wishes to live with me; but--" - -"Then, dear," interrupted Kathleen, her voice thrilling with the -sympathy she felt, "try this one thing more. If the expense doesn't -appall you--" - -Mr. Fabian shook his head impatiently. "That would be nothing--as yet." - -"Edgar can't study through the summer. His teacher is going to Italy. -He would like to go with him--" the girl paused doubtfully. - -Her father laughed. "I dare say. Edgar's European travel, however, is -over until he is engaged to sing before the crowned heads." - -"Yes, I supposed so," agreed the girl; "but he means to work faithfully -all summer." - -"Work faithfully! Edgar!" repeated Mr. Fabian. - -"Supposing he should, father. Supposing he has found his niche in life -and will do something worth while." - -"Wonderful if true," remarked Mr. Fabian. - -"But it won't help to disbelieve in him. I know he began all wrong -forcing you to pay this money--" - -Kathleen arose suddenly, and, moving across the room, opened the heavy -door of the den. "Come in, Edgar," she called. The invitation was -unnecessary; for the youth, in his eagerness to hear what fate was -being meted out to him within the closed apartment, had been leaning so -hard against the door that when all at once it fell away from him, he -staggered into the room with the most undignified celerity. - -Stirred as Kathleen was, she had to bite her lip before she could -speak; but when her brother had gained his perpendicular and faced them -with a somewhat frightened and very crimson countenance, she broke the -silence. - -"Tell father," she said, "that you know you began this new venture -wrong: that it was shameful to force him to pay this big bill for your -lessons." - -Edgar choked and swallowed, meeting the eyes that were lifting to him -from the depths of the leathern armchair. Convicted of eavesdropping -and reading the cold appraisement in his father's gaze, he had not -gathered himself to utter a word when Mr. Fabian spoke. - -"You have not forced me," he said slowly. "I can refuse. You are of -age. You can be sued and imprisoned quite independently of me." - -Edgar's heart beat fast and he set the even teeth. - -"You have counted once more on my unwillingness to have this occur; but -that unwillingness has been weakening for years." - -Still Edgar did not speak. Kathleen, standing by her father's chair, -her hands clasped tightly, dared not. She noted that Edgar's gaze did -not fall. He met his father's eyes in crimson silence. - -"You know," continued Mr. Fabian distinctly, "whether I have exhausted -persuasion and argument with you. You know my futile attempts to rouse -your ambition to be my coadjutor, my successor. What you do not know, -because you are incapable of understanding, is the agony of the slow -death of my hope in my only son: the successive stages of thought which -have finally reduced me to closing the account, and charging him up to -profit and loss." - -Kathleen watched her brother under the lash with the same pitiful -misery she felt for his punishments when they were children. - -"But you're going to try him in this new field, father," she said -beseechingly. - -There was a space of silence, then Mr. Fabian spoke:-- - -"I am going to trust your sister's judgment in this matter, Edgar. She -believes you are in earnest. I am going to pay these tuition bills, and -the coming months will show whether this is another passing toy, or a -matter in which you can make good. To find you are good for anything, -my boy," added the father, after another painful pause, "will be an -amazing and welcome discovery." - -Something clicked in Edgar's throat. He evidently wished to speak, but -his tongue seemed glued to the roof of his mouth. At last he found -voice. - -"I don't blame you," he said jerkily, "but--I'll show you!" - -Mr. Fabian nodded his head slightly. "That's what I want," he said -quietly; "I need to be shown." - -Without another word, Edgar turned on his heel and left the room. - -Kathleen sank on her knees and buried her face on her father's breast. - -"He didn't thank you," she said, half weeping, "but he felt it. I know -he felt it. Oh, father, how I hope for your sake--" - -She could not speak further, and Mr. Fabian patted her shoulder, his -eyes gazing out the darkening window. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -MRS. FABIAN'S SCHEME - - -Mrs. Fabian chanced to meet Edgar as he was leaving the house -immediately after this interview. She had heard the closing of the -library door, and the expression of her son's excited face, as he -strode by her, was such that she let him go in silence. - -She knew Kathleen was with her father, and she was only too willing to -use the girl as a buffer when Edgar was the subject of conversation. - -She moved about restlessly until she heard Kathleen leave the den and -close the door softly behind her. Then she waylaid her daughter at the -foot of the staircase. By the soft light of the electric lantern, she -could see that the girl's eyes were red. - -"Come right up to my room," she whispered, excitedly, as if the very -walls had ears. "I just met Edgar." - -They ascended in silence and Mrs. Fabian led the way into her boudoir, -started an electric fan, and turned on the light. - -"Has his father cut him off?" she asked, facing Kathleen, her gaze wide -with dread. - -"No, oh, no." The girl sank into a chair. "It was awful, but I hope it -is the beginning of better things. Did you know that Edgar had begun to -work with his voice?" - -"No! I've noticed that he has been making the most awful noises in his -room lately." - -"Well, the talk grew out of that and the new debts he has contracted." - -"Edgar can't turn around without getting into debt!" ejaculated his -mother desperately. - -Kathleen told her then what had occurred and she listened attentively. - -"Do you suppose it will amount to anything?" she asked at last. - -Kathleen shook her head vaguely. "I don't know enough about the -opportunities," she replied, "and I know too much about Edgar. If he -is only going to use an accomplishment to stand in a more brilliant -limelight with those whose admiration he wants--" she shook her head -again. - -Mrs. Fabian looked thoughtful. "I never saw such a look in his face as -he had just now." - -"Father's words stung him, I know. He even said, 'I don't blame you.' -Perhaps he will begin now to be a man." - -"I thought he might be going forever. I didn't dare to speak to him." - -Kathleen gave a disclaiming exclamation. "He couldn't do that. He is -more helpless than a little new-fledged chicken." - -"I don't know," returned Mrs. Fabian sapiently. "Take a weak, -good-looking fellow like Edgar, with a lovely voice, and if he became -reckless there are plenty of sporty cafés in this town where they would -pay him as an attraction. He knows that." - -"Mother!" exclaimed Kathleen, aghast. - -"Why, certainly!" averred Mrs. Fabian dismally elated at the dismay -she had evoked. "There are a few things I know more about than you do, -Kathleen. Imagine a handsome young fellow in correct evening clothes, -when the patrons are hilarious at midnight, rising in his place, and, -wineglass in hand, suddenly singing a love-song or ragtime. Do you -think he would get a few encores? Do you think he could get paid to -come again?" Mrs. Fabian had heard a description of lurid New Year's -Eve revels and she built a shrewd surmise upon it. - -Kathleen was so worked upon by the picture that she rose restlessly, -and moving to the window gazed into the summer gloom as if searching -for a glimpse of her brother's well-carried, polished blond head. - -Mrs. Fabian bridled with dignified importance as she watched her; but -her complacency was short-lived. - -Kathleen suddenly faced about. "Then how," she asked, "can you wish me -to leave for the island at such a time?" - -"Oh, are you going back to that again!" - -"With father and Edgar in this sensitive state toward each other--to -leave them to meet alone in this great house, with no one to soften the -embarrassment. Would it be any wonder if Edgar fled to just such scenes -as you describe? And wouldn't it be decidedly our fault?" - -Mrs. Fabian leaned forward in her armchair. - -"You couldn't do any permanent good," she said earnestly. "Edgar must -really act alone, whether you are here or not. He hasn't done any of -his practising here anyway, except those uncanny noises in his room." - -"No. There is some piano house where he has been able to use a room at -noon; but his teacher sails this week and he cannot get the room any -more. He would naturally do a lot of work at home after you were gone, -if he felt at ease; and if I were here, it would help a great deal." - -Mrs. Fabian felt baffled. The truth of Kathleen's proposition was -unanswerable; and to urge any claim above Edgar's good at this crucial -time would be, she knew, inexcusable in his sister's eyes. - -The girl, burdened with the double responsibility of her father's -confidence, and Edgar's future, turned again to the window and gazed -out into the darkness, while Mrs. Fabian, leaning back in the breeze -from the electric fan, put on her thinking-cap. It seemed hard that her -wayward boy, if he had started on a worthy road, should manage at his -very first step to get in her way. - -Her will was strong and shrewd. When later that night she was alone -with her husband, she opened the subject. - -"Kathleen tells me Edgar has taken up serious work with his voice." - -"Kathleen is optimistic," was the laconic reply. - -"I think, Henry, we ought to meet him half-way in any honourable -undertaking." - -Mr. Fabian made an inarticulate exclamation. He was thinking of the -bill Kathleen had placed in his hands before she left him to-night. - -"I can't think," proceeded Mrs. Fabian, "that anything but a high sense -of duty would induce anybody to make the blood-curdling noises that -I've heard lately from Edgar's room." - -A short silence; then Mrs. Fabian spoke again. "It seems he cannot go -any longer to the place where he has done his practising. I'm afraid if -he should work evenings here, it might annoy you, Henry." - -"I dare say it might," agreed the weary man, with an involuntary sigh. - -"I was thinking that if he is not very busy at the office--" - -"Very busy!" The father threw back his head. - -"You might give him a longer vacation"-- - -"Edgar's whole life is a vacation," said Mr. Fabian. - -"And let him go with us to the island. If he is really going to make -music his lifework he could practise regularly there and be away from -temptations, and--" - -Mr. Fabian slowly faced his wife with such attention that she paused -hopefully, then went on:-- - -"You know Philip Sidney is going with me, and his companionship would -be so good for Edgar." - -"It's a bright thought, my dear," said Mr. Fabian. "The office will be -able to struggle along without Edgar, and then we can close the house -and I can live at the club." - -"Not too long," said his wife, so pleased at her sudden success that -she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Not too long, Henry. -You must take a long vacation this year." - -He returned her caress. "One day at a time," he said briefly. - -Mrs. Fabian sought her pillow, well-pleased; and contrary to her habit, -she was up betimes next morning, and hastened to her son's room before -he came down to breakfast. - -"Can I come in?" she asked, knocking. - -Edgar was in his shirt-sleeves adjusting his tie; and when he opened -the door and saw his mother, he gave an exclamation. - -"What's the matter?" he asked. "Too hot to sleep?" - -A cloudless sun was promising another day with a soaring thermometer. - -Mrs. Fabian noted the hard questioning in her boy's eyes. She knew he -considered her his father's aid in denying him the right to spend as a -millionaire's son should--knew that his attitude toward her had long -been defensive; and that her unusual visit to his room roused only his -suspicion of something disagreeable. - -"Do you mind if I come in, dear?" she asked, her soft silks trailing -noiselessly as she moved across the room. "I am so interested in what I -hear about your music." - -Edgar was silent, continuing to busy himself with his tie. He knew -his stepmother too well to believe that she had risen with the lark -to felicitate him on his last venture. He took up the ivory military -brushes she had given him and began to use them vigorously. He was -still smarting from the scene of the night before and he braced himself -for a homily on the subject of his music bill. - -"I've never believed in thwarting a child's bent," said Mrs. Fabian, -flicking the ashes from a chair to make it fit to sit upon. "I said to -Philip Sidney's mother, 'let him paint.' I said to your father last -night when I heard all this, 'let Edgar sing.'" - -Mrs. Fabian paused to allow her breadth of view to sink in. Edgar -glanced around at her sulkily, from his mirror, and then looked back -again. - -"Now, you have no taste for commercial life, dear, why waste more time -in it at present until you see what the artistic line holds for you?" - -Edgar glanced back at the speaker again quickly. What was the "nigger -in the fence"? Her face looked innocently out at him from a becoming -boudoir cap. - -"And I suggested to your father that he let your vacation start earlier -and that you come with us to the island next Wednesday. You are going -to work for a time anyway without your teacher, and this hot atmosphere -must be so relaxing to the throat. There it is pure and bracing and you -can lay out your course of study and be undisturbed." - -Edgar regarded the speaker with some interest now, but still -questioning. - -"Father thinks, then, we could close the house and he would live at the -club." - -Edgar tossed his head, raised his eyebrows, and proceeded to put on his -coat. - -"You want to close the house. That's it," he said. - -"Don't you think it would be a good plan?" asked Mrs. Fabian -ingratiatingly. - -All Edgar's cynicism was not proof against allowing some satisfaction -to appear in the prospect of leaving the office routine and pursuing -the line of work which had genuinely captured his interest. - -"Yes, I don't mind," he answered. "Kath going with you?" - -"Yes, and Philip Sidney,--just for a short visit." - -Edgar shrugged his shoulders. - -"You can imagine the heat of that stable room," suggested Mrs. Fabian. - -"Tophet, I suppose," agreed Edgar. "All right. I'll go." The even -teeth had been set many times since last evening in the prospect of a -_tête-à-tête_ existence with his father. - -"I wish we might go on all together, but, of course, not knowing, I -didn't engage a berth for you." - -"I'll go on the day train," responded Edgar; adding with his customary -grace, "I never was keen for travelling in caravans anyway." - -Mrs. Fabian was not critical of his rudeness. She was too pleased at -having gained her end, and soon floated away to Kathleen's room, her -next strategic point. - -She found her daughter propped up in bed with coffee and toast on a -table before her. - -"Good morning, mother, you put me to shame," said the girl. "Didn't you -sleep either? This is early for you." - -"Poor child," said Mrs. Fabian, seating herself on the foot of the bed -and observing the rings around the other's eyes. "Yes, I slept pretty -well, but not until after your father and I had had a long talk." - -Kathleen scrutinized her mother's complacent countenance and made up -her mind that the talk could not have concerned business. - -"I told him how sure I felt that Edgar was in earnest now, and we both -concluded it was time wasted to try any longer to fit a square peg into -a round hole, so your father is going to let the boy go to the island -at once with us and work at his voice there, away from temptations." - -"Oh, how fine!" breathed Kathleen. "Then," she added aloud, "he will -entertain Mr. Sidney in my place, and I can stay with father." - -"That's an absurd idea and you know it. Philip and Edgar would get -along like two tigers. You can see that I need you more than ever to -reconcile them." - -Kathleen's face did not look encouraging. She longed to tell her mother -of her father's straits, but her lips were sealed. - -"Besides," added Mrs. Fabian, with the conscious power of one who plays -the last trump, "one reason your father wishes to dispense with Edgar -is that he wants to close the house and live at the club." - -Kathleen's face fell and her eyes looked away. - -"You see he'll come to us all the sooner, dear," said her mother. "Men -talk about enjoying living at the club, but when they are happy family -men they tire of it very soon." - -The girl smiled faintly. "We have been something of a 'happy family' -lately," she said; "but if Edgar really turns over a new leaf--" - -"Oh, he has!" declared Mrs. Fabian. "I'm glad to remember that the -outdoors is large at Brewster's. I suspect he will nearly drive us -crazy, but one must exercise some self-sacrifice in this world." She -rose. "Take another nap if you can, Kathleen. I'm thankful the island -is so near for you. You're completely tired out." - -But Kathleen did not take another nap. She dressed very soon, and, -pleading a desire for fresh air, left the house. She did not ask -for the machine lest her mother should offer to accompany her, but -descended in all her dainty whiteness into the subway and started for -Wall Street. Arrived at the labyrinth of offices where daily Mr. Fabian -struggled and Edgar endured, she dreaded meeting her brother, but she -saw nothing of him, and waited in an ante-room, looking about her with -a swelling heart. How little part she and her mother had ever had in -the heavy responsibilities of her father's life. She doubted if her -mother came here twice a year, and when she did it was simply to obtain -money. - -She had not long to wait, for Mr. Fabian himself opened the door of his -private office, and the clerk passing out saw him stoop and kiss the -girl in the large hat strewn with lilacs. - -"What brings you, my dear?" he asked, his brows knitting anxiously. -She smiled and clung to his hand as they moved inside. "You're pale, -Kathleen. Off to the island with you, child. Off to the island." - -"That's just what I came about," she answered, taking the chair he set -for her, and the electric fan whirring above her head carried the scent -of orris to her father. "I would so much rather stay with you. I came -to urge you to let me." - -He regarded her with eyes full of affection and gave a short laugh. - -"I frightened you last night," he said. "Perhaps I did wrong." - -"No, no, you didn't. Mother told me the plan to let Edgar go. That is -right. Edgar can't be a comfort to you; but I can, father. Don't shut -up the house. Let me stay with you till you are ready to go." - -Mr. Fabian nodded, his eyes fixed upon the sensitive face with its -beseeching eyes. - -"You're a good girl, Kathleen. You are a comfort to me, whether we're -together or not; and just now it will be an advantage to me to live -close to my associates at the club. Go without anxiety, child. I -promise to keep you advised of everything important." - -The troubled eyes did not leave his face. - -"Don't exaggerate what I said last night. I am not going to make any -spectacular failure, but I have my own ideas of equity and I'm not -going to wriggle out on a technicality. My course may lose me friends -as well as money; but I've got to live with myself, and there are some -memories I don't propose to entertain. Your mother has always been -moderate in her demands, she has never shared the insane ambitions of -some of her acquaintances; but her toys are very dear to her and I hate -to curtail them. It looks as if I might have to." - -"It might be the making of Edgar," said Kathleen. - -Her father regarded her in silent admiration. It was evident that her -own part in the loss had not occurred to her. - -"Your mother's unselfishness in keeping the island summer home, because -I like its simplicity, makes this season's problem easy. By autumn I -shall know the worst." - -"How I would like to stay with you right along until everything is -settled," said Kathleen fervently. "I want to be sure that you know how -happy I should be in it. I keep so busy with my slides and microscope, -and then--there's something else I do." Kathleen colored consciously. -"I meant not to tell any one yet, but,--I write a little!" - -"Stories, you mean?" - -The girl nodded. "It is nothing, it may never amount to anything; but -the microscope suggested it to me. There is such a great world that we -never enter or think about. So you can see how happy I should be in our -big, cool house, and not a bit lonely,--if you'll only have me." - -"I believe you, Kathleen, but it wouldn't work, dear. I could be at -home so little, and I'd like to cut off the expense of the house." - -"Oh, oh! Is it so bad as that?" - -"No, not nearly so bad; but in time of peace, prepare for war." - -"Then mother had better not take her usual weeks at a resort." - -Mr. Fabian raised his eyebrows. "How else is the dear lady to exhibit -her summer toilets? The fish at the island are so unappreciative." - -"Don't keep things from mother," pleaded Kathleen. - -"I promise not to when there is anything to tell. I was weak enough to -think out loud with you. Now, run along, my child." - -"Oh, father, always be weak enough to think out loud with me. Will -you?" He had risen and she did so reluctantly. - -He crushed her trim whiteness in his arms, and kissed her. "Don't make -me sorry, then. Don't cross any bridge until you come to it. Promise." - -She smiled up at him bravely. "I promise," she said, and left the -office with a wistful backward look at him standing there, his eyes -following her. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -CASCO BAY - - -Pat's benevolent heart swelled with satisfaction when, a few evenings -later, Philip ran down the stable stairs, his packed suitcase in hand. - -"Wish you were going along," said the artist, meeting the Irishman's -approving gaze. - -"I will as soon as ye need a valet," was the reply. "Ye think I can't -put on style!" Pat winked and shook his head knowingly. "Ye'd burst wid -pride if ye saw me fixed up and waitin' on ye." - -"I haven't a doubt of it. Well, so long. It will be only a few nights -before I shall be back, sizzling with you again." And Phil gave the man -a smiling nod and went out of the door, almost running into the arms of -Mrs. Fabian, who, in the trimmest of cool grey travelling gowns, was -looking askance at a spring and mattress outside the barn door. - -Pat aghast, hastened to button the open throat of his shirt. "The Queen -o' Sheby," he muttered. - -"Why, did I keep you waiting, Aunt Isabel?" asked Phil, with -contrition. "I was planning to be out in front in plenty of time." - -"Yes, it is early, but I wanted to speak to your man a minute." - -Pat bowed in the direction of the voluminous grey chiffon veil. "You -may go out and join Kathleen," Mrs. Fabian added. - -"Dear me, nothing private, I hope," said Phil, vastly amused by the -conflicting emotions on the Irishman's face. - -"Have you seen to putting your evening clothes away?" asked Mrs. Fabian. - -"Why--why, they're hanging up there in the closet." - -"Just what I expected. Run along, and I'll tell this good man what to -do." - -Phil gave Pat one humorous glance and obeyed, passing out toward the -street where he soon saw Kathleen in the waiting car, her hat tied down -by a roseate veil. - -Mrs. Fabian at once accosted Pat. "Could you pack up Mr. Sidney's -belongings and send them after him, if we ask you?" - -"I could, mum, but 'tis only a week he'll be away." - -"He wouldn't want his evening clothes. Do you know what a moth-bag is?" - -"I do not, thin." - -"Well, go to the store and ask, please. Brush Mr. Sidney's evening -clothes thoroughly and put them in the bag, seal it up tight, and hang -it in the closet. The careless boy. That's what comes of always having -had a mother." - -"Lot's o' folks is jist that careless," remarked Pat. He was beginning -to feel that even a queen, if she invaded his own vine and fig tree, -might be a little less peremptory. - -"You may send everything else, except of course his winter overcoat. -By the way, you may get another moth-bag for that, and treat it in the -same manner." - -"He'll not be stayin', mum. He's all for work." - -"Has he been sleeping out here on these hot stones?" demanded Mrs. -Fabian, with dilating nostrils, looking at the mattress. - -"No, mum, he usually took the bed," responded the Irishman. - -"Well, you've carried his upstairs, I see." - -"I'll have to break it to ye that he did it himself," said the man. - -Mrs. Fabian ignored his manner. Her thought was filled with Philip's -situation. - -"Well, here," she said, with a preoccupied air, and, taking a bill -from the fine-mesh purse which hung from her wrist, she held it out to -the Irishman. "Take this and do what I've asked you. You needn't prepay -the trunk if you send it. Keep the change, and I hope the heat here -won't grow any worse. Good-bye." And Mrs. Fabian turned on her heel and -the grey chiffon floated away up the alley. - -Pat looked at the five-dollar bill he held and tossed his head. "Who is -that bye," he muttered, "and will he iver live in the stable ag'in?" - -Suddenly, bethinking himself that he might see the grand departure of -his lodger, he hurried out to the street, and was in time to see Phil's -straw hat loom amid a confusion of grey and rosy streaming veils. - -"Sure, 'tis only the rich enjoys this life," he thought good-naturedly, -and unbuttoning his neckband again, he returned to his palm-leaf fan. - -As the motor flew breezily through the hot city streets, Philip gave -himself up to the pleasure of his outing. Mrs. Fabian regarded him with -supreme satisfaction, and Kathleen, though a little heartsore from -parting with her father, dared not indulge in a pensive moment, knowing -that her mother would pounce upon it alertly and later reproach her. - -They passed the evening in the stateroom of the flying train, and Mrs. -Fabian narrated with much dignity the tale of Edgar's retirement from -commercial life in favor of the arts. Philip pricked up his ears when -he learned that the heir of the house was expected at the island at -once. - -Kathleen was not obliged to talk much, and at last they all ceased -fanning themselves and shouting remarks against the clatter of the open -windows, and retired. - -After breakfast the following morning, as they entered a carriage to -cross Portland, Kathleen nodded at Philip. - -"Say good-bye to heat," she remarked. - -"Hard to believe," returned the Westerner, who had tried to refrain -from talking of his native mountains. His thoughts often travelled back -even to the stable studio where certain work begun stood awaiting his -return; but soon after they entered the boat for the island, he began -to see Kathleen's words fulfilled. The ladies wrapped themselves in -heavy coats and Mrs. Fabian begged Phil to put on his sweater; but he -held his hat in his hand and declared his desire to be chilled to the -bone. - -As they pulled out past the near islands into wide spaces of sea, -interest slowly grew in Phil's eyes. His comments grew less frequent, -and finally stopped. The islands rose tree-crowned from the water, -casting deep green reflections at their feet. Phil took a notebook from -his pocket, and occasionally asking the name of an island, he wrote it -in the book. Kathleen, understanding his intent, and knowing that he -would not fulfil it because of greater satisfaction further on, smiled -at her mother. - -"What did I tell you?" she asked. - -"Well, what did you?" - -"That he wouldn't know whether I was here or not." - -"Sh--!" - -"He can't hear me any more than if he were anæsthetized." - -"Hush, Kathleen." - -"I'll prove it." She raised her voice. "Mr. Sidney!" - -Phil not only did not reply, but after a moment more he moved away to -another and more unobstructed spot. - -Kathleen gave a low laugh and Mrs. Fabian looked pleased. - -"He is enjoying it, isn't he?" she returned. "This day is a wonderful -bit of good fortune. First impressions are so important. What made you -expect him to behave like this?" - -"I think I must have a groping, artistic sense myself. At any rate, -I knew what Casco Bay must do to an artist when he comes upon it all -unprepared." - -Mrs. Fabian sighed. "Well, I'm glad our coming here does somebody some -good. Are you going on forever calling that boy 'Mr.'? Of course, he -can't be informal with you unless you will be so with him." - -"Mother dear, I tell you it doesn't matter," laughed the girl. "He has -gone into a trance and he probably won't come out of it till the first -fog. By that time, perhaps I shall feel entirely informal." - -Captain James stood on the pier when the boat approached Brewster's -Island. Kathleen caught sight of him and waved her handkerchief. - -"Mother, it's time to go and make passes over Philip," she said. "He'll -have to wake up." - -Mrs. Fabian went to the guest and touched him on the arm. For an hour -and a half he had not addressed them. - -He started. - -"We're there, Phil," she said. - -He followed her, and glanced at Kathleen with a sensation of guilt. He -seized the bags with an alacrity intended to offset his preoccupation. - -"It's a wonderful bay," he said. - -Kathleen was not regarding him. She was leaning over the rail, waving -again toward a tall lean man on the wharf, who smiled, well-pleased, -and jerked his head in her direction. - -Soon many passengers were streaming up the gangplank, and in a minute -Kathleen was greeting the tall lean man with a gayety Phil had never -before seen in her demeanor. - -Mrs. Fabian next shook hands with him, and introduced Phil, who, in the -confusion and limitations of the commonplace wharf, had quite regained -his normal alertness. - -"You gave us a very nice day, Cap'n James," said Mrs. Fabian -graciously. "Where's the carriage?" - -"Waitin'. Can't take you all, I'm afraid. Mrs. Frick from down-along -engaged me ahead." - -"Ahead of us?" inquired Mrs. Fabian superbly. - -"Got one seat," said Captain James. He was accustomed to Mrs. Fabian's -autocracy. - -"That's all we want," said Kathleen. "Mr. Sidney and I will walk up." - -So Mrs. Fabian and the bags were stowed in the carriage and the young -people were started on their walk before Tom had turned heavily into -the road. - -"What air!" exclaimed Phil, as they struck into the deep grass. - -"One can live on it," agreed the girl. - -"Don't expect me to; I feel wonderful pangs already. Gramercy Park had -nearly cured me of eating." - -He smiled down at his companion in the roseate veil tied under her -chin, and she glanced up at the city pallor of his face. "I should -think it might," she agreed. "Wait a week. We shall both look like -tomatoes and feel like disembodied spirits." - -"I'm afraid I behaved like the latter, coming down the bay; but really -I forgot everything. I want to study the boat-tables and go back to -some of those wonderful shores." - -Kathleen smiled demurely. "This doesn't cut much of a figure by -contrast, does it?" she said. - -They were crossing diagonally through a green field which led gently up -to the island road. - -"It's beautifully fresh here," replied Phil politely, looking about the -bare treeless expanse rolling up to a bluff against illimitable sky. - -A village store upon the road, a little school-house and a cottage or -two, were all that was to be seen. - -Above, on Mrs. Wright's doorstep, Eliza Brewster was standing, opera -glass in hand, watching the tall figure and the rosy veil coming up -through the field. She had restrained herself from running down to -the road, for she dreaded Mrs. Fabian, and Phil for the moment had -forgotten that Eliza might be in the neighborhood. His eyes brightened -as they reached the road. He had been privately wondering why the -Fabians had chosen this unpromising island as their abiding place. Now -he caught sight of the spreading cove, its brilliant banks dark with -evergreen trees, while in sheltered spots maples and birches stood amid -a riot of shrubs inviting the birds. - -"That's a fine cove," he said, his eyes fixed on the far reaches of the -sea. - -"So the yachtsmen think," returned Kathleen. - -"Let's look at it a minute," said Phil. - -The girl paused obediently and a smile touched the corners of her lips. -Phil's impersonality with regard to herself was novel; for Kathleen -had the intangible quality called charm to such a degree that nothing -masculine had ever before been able to approach so near to her without -striving to win her favor. - -From that first Sunday in the stable studio she had perceived that if -she were going to see more of this new factor in the family circle she -must do the striving if she were to become a factor to him. A dread -that she might desire to do this had beset her ever since, and warned -her away from him with a sense of self-preservation. - -He stood forgetful of her now, and narrowed his eyes to the picture. - -"Well, have you looked enough?" she asked. "How are the pangs?" - -"Yes, yes," he replied hurriedly. "I can come back." - -"Certainly, we promise not to lock you up," she answered, -half-laughing. "We'll get better views of it, too, as we go on," she -added, and turned at a right angle into a green ribbon road leading up -a second incline. - -Phil looked about vaguely, and followed her. He noticed on the crest -above them a cottage of boulders and shingles. - -"Yours?" he asked. - -"Home, sweet home," she answered. - -Captain James passed them now with his load, and by the time they -reached the cottage, Mrs. Fabian was on the steps to welcome them; but -Philip was absorbed in the surprise which the summit of that hill gave -the newcomer. Before him, but a few rods away, spread the Atlantic, -foaming at the foot of the bluff. Distant islands came near in the -crystal air, their outline defined by rocks, which in the distance -seemed ribbons of sandy beach. The superb breadth of view, ending -either in the horizon or in the irregular skyline of the mainland, took -the breath of the unfamiliar. - -Mrs. Fabian straightened with pleasure in the spellbound look of her -guest as, his hat dropped upon the grass, he gazed in silence. It was -her island and her view. She started to speak, but Kathleen touched her -finger to her lips with a suggestive smile; so the lady sank instead -into a hammock chair. Her maid Molly came out of the house, greeted -the ladies and carried in their bags, saying that dinner would be -served whenever they were ready. - -Philip, from his stand below on the grass, turned and looked up at -them, his eyes dark with the blue of the sea. - -"I understand now," he said, "why you haven't talked about it." - -"Come in and have something to eat," suggested his exultant hostess. -"We have noon dinner. Kathleen simply refuses to shorten the day with a -long evening meal." - -Philip gave the girl a brilliant smile of appreciation. - -"After dinner," went on Mrs. Fabian, "Kathleen will take you to walk to -some of our pretty places." - -"No, indeed," said the girl hastily. "I understand just how Mr. Sidney -will love to explore for himself. I wouldn't spoil his surprises." - -Philip said nothing to the contrary. His thoughts were absorbed -taking mental stock of the materials he had brought, and he followed -mechanically into the charming cottage whose every window framed a -water scene, waves creaming upon the rocks which stretched granite -fingers unceasingly to grasp them, while unceasingly they slipped away. - -As soon as Phil reached his room he threw open his suitcase with -feverish haste and examined all the sketching paraphernalia he had -packed so hastily. - -The music box which called to meals played all its tunes, but the guest -did not appear. At last Mrs. Fabian sent Molly to knock on his door. - -"What a wonderful day," she said to Kathleen when they were alone, "and -in June one is so likely to strike fog and rain. Now let it come. He -has seen what Brewster's Island really is--or he will see when you have -taken him about this afternoon. The only drawback to the whole trip so -far has been your refusal to do that. How could you be so abrupt, my -dear?" - -"Mother, don't try to manage an artist," replied the girl emphatically. -"He will want only to be let alone. Can't you see it? And so do I." -Kathleen looked remarkably defiant. "I want to be let alone. This is my -vacation, too, remember. I have worked as hard as he has." - -Mrs. Fabian met her child's determined regard with surprise. Kathleen -did look pale and thin, now that she had time to observe it. The heat -of the train last night had not been conducive to sleep. - -"Very well, dear," she acquiesced with meekness. "Perhaps you ought to -lie down this afternoon. I'm sure I shall. I'd like the very waves to -be still." - -As she spoke the last word, Philip appeared and they sat down at table. -The combination of the air and the delicious fresh sea-food to one -long unaccustomed to home fare made the guest suspend all artistic -calculations and do such justice to the dinner that Mrs. Fabian sighed. - -"It is such a satisfaction to have a man's appetite at the table," -she said, when Phil made laughing apology and referred to the city -restaurants. "To-morrow we shall have two men." - -"To be sure," thought Phil. These were Edgar's mother and sister and -home. Somehow he could not fit the _blasé_ society man into this -Arcadia. He must make the most of to-day. - -As his hunger wore away he looked more and more from the windows. The -dining-room might have been on a ship for the freedom of its vast sea -views. When they rose from the table, he looked at Kathleen with -boyish expectancy. - -"Are we going to walk?" he asked. - -Mrs. Fabian interposed with the best intentions. "I don't think -Kathleen had better go, after all, Phil," she said. "She is very tired. -She is going to lie down. You won't mind running about this first -afternoon by yourself, I'm sure." - -Kathleen saw disappointment and then concern grow in the guest's face, -for he suddenly observed that she was pale. - -"Nonsense, I wouldn't think of wasting time lying down," she said -cheerfully. "Wait a few minutes. I'll be downstairs in a jiffy." - -Mrs. Fabian watched her as she ran lightly up the stairway. - -"Do you think she ought to go?" asked Phil doubtfully. - -"Philip," returned his hostess dryly, "don't ask me what I think. If -you ever have a daughter twenty years old and just out of college, you -will find the safest, wisest course is not to think at all." But she -smiled as she said it; for this time Kathleen's waywardness was not -displeasing. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -FLASHES OF BLUE - - -When Kathleen ran downstairs a little later, Phil looked at her in -smiling surprise. The elegant Miss Fabian had disappeared. In her stead -was a young girl, shorter by the height of a fashionable boot-heel, and -with braided hair wound around her head, fastened by a broad bow of -black ribbon. Her short, dark-blue skirt reached to her ankles and a -Tam o' Shanter crowned her head. - -Phil turned to his hostess. "What a strong family resemblance your -youngest bears to Miss Fabian. I should know she was her sister if I -met her anywhere." - -"Yes, this is Kathleen, not Miss Fabian. Don't forget it. When you come -back, I expect you to be treating each other as cousins should. Don't -let her walk too far, Phil." Mrs. Fabian stifled a yawn. "I think I -shall take a nap in the wind-break." - -She watched the pair as they moved away from the house. The breeze was -tossing the short dark hair on Phil's uncovered head. Kathleen, in her -rubber-soled, heelless shoes, scarcely reached his ear. - -"I'm glad now," mused Mrs. Fabian, "that Kathleen is a Van Ruysler -iceberg. If she were a susceptible girl, I wouldn't wish her to be with -that man a minute. What matter if he is a high-minded, fine chap? If he -didn't care for her she'd suffer just the same." And Mrs. Fabian gave a -yawn mightier than its predecessors and sought her favorite nook. - -Meantime Eliza Brewster was making restless sallies from the kitchen -to the front room and gazing over toward the boulder cottage. She felt -sure Phil would inquire about her, and not let too much time pass -before he ran across the field to Mrs. Wright's. - -The dinner dishes were washed and cleared away and Eliza had on a clean -gingham dress and white apron. Mrs. Wright saw her expectancy. - -"Mr. Sidney is a stranger in a strange land," she said. "He will be -entirely dependent on his hosts this first day. Why shouldn't we run -over there?" she added with a bright thought. "That's only island -neighborliness." - -But Eliza shook her head. - -"It would be the very way to begin a new chapter," urged Mrs. Wright. - -Eliza gazed from the window by which she was sitting. In the evolution -to health and peace which the winter had brought, her causes of offence -had gradually retreated into greater perspective, and the broad calm -outlook which Mrs. Wright brought to bear on the untoward as well as -the agreeable events of life had affected the narrow hardness of her -own observations. Nevertheless, to beard the lioness in her den on the -very day of her arrival would be a feat entirely beyond Eliza; so she -only shook her head again, put on a shade hat, turned up the skirt of -her dress, and went out to weed the sweet peas. - -Thus it was that, with her back to the boulder cottage and her hands -busy with the earth she loved, she did not hear steps that approached -on the springy turf; and the first notice she had of the arrival of -callers was a man's voice speaking above her. - -"Doing finely, aren't they?" was the remark. - -Well she knew the voice. She stepped on her petticoat in her haste to -arise, and two strong hands went under her arms and lifted her to her -feet. - -"Mr. Philip!" she said gladly. - -He was laughing down at her, and Pluto was on his shoulder. Kathleen -Fabian stood a few feet away, and Eliza nodded a greeting to her -while she allowed Phil to shake both her hands, green stains and all. -Mrs. Wright, seeing them from a window, came out to welcome Kathleen -and meet Phil, and the usual felicitations on the weather and first -impressions followed. - -"I can see," said Phil, "that I am going to be miserly of my days. I -was just asking Miss Kathleen if all this beauty is liable to vanish in -a fog-bank to-morrow." - -"And she told you not at all liable, I'm sure," said Mrs. Wright; "but -if it does--that is the beauty of the island--you'll sit before a -blazing open fire and enjoy that quite as well." Phil shook his head. -"The mere amazement of enjoying a fire at the end of the past week -would, indeed, be absorbing for a while; but I want to try my hand at -this--this new world." He looked off at the blue of the crested waves -and the blue of the distant hills. "We are just on our way to the boat -now to send a night letter to Pat to get him to send on some stuff. I'm -glad you're such a near neighbor, Eliza. I shall be seeing you often." - -"I'll not waste your time now asking you into the house," said Mrs. -Wright, "but some wet day you must come in and try our fireplace. When -does your brother come, Miss Kathleen?" - -"To-morrow; and your niece, Mrs. Wright?" - -"In another week, I think. I long to get hold of the child." - -After a few more amenities, in which Eliza took but little part, except -to gaze at Phil with wistful eyes, the young people started for the -wharf. - -"What a bonny young man," said Mrs. Wright, looking after them. - -"Ain't he just about right?" agreed Eliza proudly. "You see there ain't -any philanderin' there. He just wants to work and work. Here, Pluto! -Kitty, kitty," for the cat was running after the departing couple. He -paused, not from obedience, but because he saw that their course lay -downhill and he preferred a sheltered sunny corner by the step. - -Phil sent his night letter by the purser of the boat, and the two went -back up the hill. Mrs. Fabian beckoned to them from the veranda. - -"I thought you would be asleep by this time," said Kathleen. - -"I thought I would, too," returned Mrs. Fabian. "Come here and let me -show you how careless Cap'n James has been." - -They followed her to the shelter of the windbreak where her favorite -hammock hung, and whirring wings nearly brushed Phil's face as they -entered. The nook was enclosed on two sides with glass, and Mrs. Fabian -pointed to the snug lofty corner where the swallows had nested. The -young were grown and one had ventured out upon a beam. - -"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Kathleen, with soft delight. "We're in time for -the coming-out party. Come here, mother, you're frightening them." And -Mrs. Fabian found herself seized unsympathetically and drawn to a safe -distance. - -"But I must sleep, Kathleen. I'm exhausted. I was just dozing off when -those creatures swooped across me chattering. I nearly jumped out of -the hammock. It was a nervous shock." - -"I suppose," said the girl, "they were saying, 'Why couldn't those big -clumsy human beings have stayed away just one more day!' You must be a -mascot, Phil, so many fortunate happenings for your first day." - -She was quite unconscious that the name had slipped out, and the guest -smiled and seated himself on the railing near her while Mrs. Fabian in -a rocking-chair began to be consoled for her lost nap. - -"Perhaps you would prefer to go on exploring," added Kathleen, "but I -really can't miss this function." - -"I wouldn't miss it for a farm," responded the guest, eyes fixed on the -nest. - -Mrs. Fabian pulled her chair so that its rockers scraped the boards. - -"We must all be still as mice," warned Kathleen softly. - -Her mother looked up at the seething nest with disfavor. Since her -young people considered the show such a treat, she would be obliged to -edit the lecture she had been preparing for Captain James. The parent -birds flew in and out in a state of great excitement, and one of them -fed the venturesome little fellow on the beam, whereupon the others -stretched their necks and vociferated with wide mouths. - -"But they're so slow," complained Mrs. Fabian. "Why don't they fly and -be done with it? I can hardly keep my eyes open." - -"They may not go for an hour, or perhaps all night--oh, if they are -so unkind as to wait until we're all asleep to-morrow morning!" said -Kathleen. - -"Then I don't know that I shall wait," said Mrs. Fabian. - -"Perhaps you'd better not," agreed the girl, her eyes fixed on the -young bird lest he should elude her. "We're none of us invited to this -party, you see." - -Upon this, the venturesome little swallow appeared to have an attack -of homesickness, for, instead of flying away, he hopped back to the -nest, where he immediately became very unpopular with his brothers and -sisters. Whatever the spot into which he had this morning fitted so -snugly, it seemed to have disappeared. - -"Well, did you ever!" exclaimed Mrs. Fabian in exasperation. "Why -couldn't Phil climb up there and set them all out on the beam and take -the nest down. I'm sure it would just help them along." - -"Worse than pulling open a rosebud," said Kathleen. - -"Very well, then," returned Mrs. Fabian. "I shall go upstairs." - -No one objecting, she rose and suited the action to the word; and -Kathleen and Phil were left to a welcome solitude. - -The parent swallows soon ceased to notice the two large, strange birds -perched on the veranda railing below. - -Kathleen had discarded her Tam and as she sat between Phil and the -wind-break, the sun gave him the red glints in her "reserved hair." - -The tide was going out, but rushing with a splendid sweep toward the -foot of their hill, the sky had occasional billows of downy white lying -against its clear blue. The sweet wind swept the fresh grass where -daisies were beginning to appear, and all down the irregular coast-line -of the island the snowy foam broke on rock and sand. - -The iridescent blue of the swallows' backs and the delicate rose of -their breasts lent an exquisite touch of color, as they flew and -wheeled in the curving flight designed to tempt the solemn-faced young, -crowded so uncomfortably in the outgrown nest. - -Again one struggled out upon the beam. The cunning parents fed it, -while the others begged in vain. Then again the old birds were away in -airy flight. - -"Come out, come out in the sunshine," they seemed to cry, wheeling back -toward the nest. "Come out to the ecstasy of wind and waves. The whole -world, the world of sea and sky, is ours." - -Kathleen for an instant turned about to her companion. "Do you see how -he can resist?" she asked. - -"Kathleen!" exclaimed Phil. - -She turned back, but too late. In that instant the young bird on the -beam had flown. - -"They're right there, though," said Phil excitedly, and indeed the -birds kept wheeling above the bluff, when, wonder of wonders, the other -young ones, struggling to the edge of the nest as if unable to resist -the intoxication of the sight, flew out into the open. - -For a minute the bright air was astir with the whir of wings. It was -impossible to distinguish the young birds from the old; then they all -alighted on the ridge-pole of a small summer house which stood on the -edge of the bluff. - -Kathleen turned to Phil, her hands clasped on her breast. He thought -her enchanted eyes and smile suggested the unlocking of one of her -inner doors. - -"Yes," he replied, nodding, "I never saw anything prettier than that." - -The girl looked back at the summer house. The birds were still sitting -there all in a row. The two watched until again wings were afloat in -the bright air; then they ran down the steps to see what would be the -next resting-place, and saw the birds alight on posts and netting about -the tennis court. When again they flew, they disappeared. - -Kathleen sighed. "In my next incarnation," she said, "I choose to be a -swallow on Brewster's Island." - -"Then," said Phil, looking at her radiant face, "I'm glad I happened to -be a man during your present one." - -The open door closed. Phil thought he could almost hear it click. In an -instant the dark eyes were the reflective ones he had known. - -"Thank you kindly, sir," she said. "That was good fun. Shall we go on -now with our interrupted walk?" - -He continued to regard her. "I have an idea that you have walked -enough. Twice up and down this hill and over to Mrs. Wright's is -enough." - -"Ho!" returned the girl lightly, "I walk all day here." - -"Yes, after you have cooled off and slept for a night or two; but I -suggest the hammock now." - -They were standing in the shade and not a hint of red showed in the -girl's soft hair. "There are weeks to rest in," she said. "We ought to -make the most of this perfect day." - -Phil still regarded her. The excitement of the closing college -experiences and the city heat had left their mark; and he did not know -of other and deeper reasons for her weariness. The flush of pleasure in -the swallow ball had departed. - -"Come," he said decidedly, "let's try the hammock." - -"Really, Mr. Sidney," she answered, smiling, "I know when I'm tired." - -But he proceeded up the veranda steps and she followed him into the -wind-break. - -"I'm willing," he said, "to go two steps forward and one back in my -acquaintance with you; but I draw the line at two back. It sounded very -friendly a few minutes ago when you called me Phil. I hope you'll see -your way clear to doing it again sometime." - -While he spoke, Philip was testing the ropes of the hammock. - -"Oh, I'm sure I didn't call you Phil," she said in surprise. - -"Let me see. Did I call you Kathleen?" - -"I think you did," she replied, a delicate formality in her voice; "but -the circumstances certainly excused it." - -"I hope they will continue to excuse it, for I feel it coming on that I -shall do it again. You took off Miss Fabian with your tailor gown." He -turned and faced her. "Didn't you?" he added. - -She shrugged her shoulders, and smiled again. "Perhaps." - -"Then get right down on this couch, little Kathleen," he ordered, -smiling, and after a moment's hesitation the girl obeyed. He drew -over her the linen coverlet that had lain on a neighboring chair, and -looked, not at her, but with fascinated eyes through the broad sheets -of glass which guarded the hammock from the wind. - -"Now, if you can feel sober enough to sleep in this intoxicating place, -do so," he said. - -Kathleen, propped high on cushions, folded her arms beneath her head. - -"But isn't it questionable courtesy for both your hostesses to go to -sleep, no matter how sober they may be?" she asked. - -"There's another hostess here," he returned, with a brilliant look down -into her uplifted eyes. - -"Yes, I know," said Kathleen. - -"My best girl," said Phil, moving out of the wind-break. - -Kathleen smiled. "Yes, I like her, too," she answered. "I never had a -lonely moment on this island in my life; so I shall not worry about -you. There's another hammock around on the other side of the porch. Why -don't you go to sleep yourself?" - -"Because I'm afraid I should wake up in Gramercy Park," returned Phil, -and, vaulting over the porch railing, he disappeared from Kathleen's -view. - -Walking to the back of the house, he gazed down at the waters of the -cove, then across the field to the long low white farmhouse where he -had found Eliza, then back again at the water. "Miss Manning said I -should stay here if I had to live under a rock," he reflected. - -One week: one week was all he had planned for, although Mrs. Fabian had -pressed him for two. - -What were two weeks now in prospect? He knew his aunt would welcome him -for an indefinite stay, but Kathleen doubtless had plans for guests, -and moreover Edgar's advent was but one little night away. He shuddered -at the prospect of the gilded youth's questions and comments on his -work. - -He decided to walk around the edge of the island. Then he looked back -toward Mrs. Wright's house. He remembered the look of disappointment in -the depths of Eliza's shade hat when he had paid the fleeting visit on -his way to the wharf. - -"I'll go to see her once more," he reflected, "and have her off my -mind, for I'm afraid I shall forget when I get a little deeper in here." - -Accordingly, he moved off with long swinging steps through the soft -deep grass, and Mrs. Wright saw him coming. She was sitting with her -book on the rustic bench which took the place of piazza at the old -farmhouse. - -"Eliza," she called, "your young man is coming back." - -It was an hour afterward that Mrs. Fabian, her grudge against the -swallows mollified by a nap, came downstairs to the living-room to -reconnoitre. All was so still that she knew that either those dull -birds were still dawdling, or else that her young people had seen them -off and were away again. - -She peered from a window into the glass enclosure, and to her surprise -saw her daughter asleep in the hammock. How slender and pale looked the -sleeping face. - -"Poor child. She's worn out, I wonder where Phil is." - -As if the gaze had disturbed the sleeper, Kathleen turned on her pillow -and opened her eyes. - -Mrs. Fabian promptly left the house and came out to her swinging couch. - -"So you took forty winks, too," she said, casting a glance up at the -deserted nest. "Where's Phil?" - -"I don't know," returned Kathleen languidly. "I scarcely know where I -am." - -"I hope I didn't wake you, gazing from the window; but it's no use your -trying to sleep again, for Cap'n James is coming up at last with the -trunks. Kathleen, I've had a bright idea," added Mrs. Fabian alertly. - -The girl stifled a yawn. - -"You know Phil won't stay here unless he's working. I'm going to have -him do our portraits for father's Christmas present!" - -Kathleen was wide awake instantly. - -"It would cost so much, mother," she said. - -Mrs. Fabian stared at her. "What an idea!" she retorted. "Phil hasn't -come to enormous prices yet!" - -"But you would not want to pay him a small price. It wouldn't be right." - -"Since when have you become so economical?" asked Mrs. Fabian, -laughing. "After Christmas, I must tell your father of this talk. How -he will laugh. You and Edgar should be shaken up. Phil's sketches of -his mother show his gift for getting likeness. I don't know whether he -has ever painted a portrait, but I have every confidence in him." - -"Then have yours done, dear," said Kathleen. "You're looking as well as -usual, but nothing would hire me to have my lantern jaws perpetuated." - -"Oh, a week or two of this will make you bloom, child." - -"Yes, especially my nose," returned the girl. - -Her thoughts were working fast. She had been happy in the thought that -they were now in the place where neither her mother nor Edgar could -commit themselves to any large expense. Her father had said that by -autumn he should know where he stood. She could not say any more, -however, for Captain James's wagon had arrived, and Mrs. Fabian went -to see to the disposition of the trunks and to give her caretaker -explicit low-voiced directions as to examining for and eliminating any -and all birds' nests found in future on the premises, and at last she -brought him around to the wind-break to point out the one he was to -remove now, with all its traces, at the earliest possible moment. - -Kathleen, still lying, her hands clasped under her head, looked up at -him with a smile. - -"I'm so glad you didn't notice that nest any sooner, Cap'n James," she -said. "You might have disturbed it." - -Captain James chewed a wisp of grass and favored the girl with a wink. - -"It wasn't like you," said Mrs. Fabian, with elaborately gentle rebuke, -"not to have this wind-break cleaner. Look at the windows." - -"I had Betsy Eaton wash 'em on the outside," said the captain -imperturbably, and winked at Kathleen again. - -"It was fine of you, Cap'n James," she laughed. "They flew to-day, and -I was at the party." - -Mrs. Fabian looked from one to the other of the laughing ones, in -injured dignity. - -"Very well," she said at last; "now, if you're quite sure it won't -disturb the plans of man or beast, Cap'n James, I'd like to have this -wind-break cleaned." - -"'Nuff said," returned the man, and once more grinning down at the -girl's laughing face, he went back to his helper sitting on the wagon. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -ELIZA SURRENDERS - - -Eliza had begun some work in the kitchen which she could not at once -leave when Mrs. Wright called her, so the latter brought Phil into the -house. - -"No wonder Eliza didn't expect me twice a day," he said. "What an -interesting old place this is." - -"Yes," answered Mrs. Wright; "and we are making the most of the few -days that it will still be all ours. Miss Jane Foster, who owns it, -comes almost immediately to take possession and receive her summer -boarders." - -"But won't that be a rest for you?" - -"Scarcely; for Eliza has taken such a laboring oar that I live in the -lap of luxury, so far as work is concerned." - -Eliza came in, in time to hear this statement. "Don't you believe it, -Mr. Philip. She's the busy bee of the house; but we've both had just -enough to do." - -"Eliza!" exclaimed Phil, approaching and taking both her hard hands. -"Why, I didn't half see you in that shade hat! You look like a new -being." - -Eliza laughed and colored under the scrutiny. Her added pounds had -distributed themselves comfortably and becomingly. She did, indeed, -bear little resemblance to the haggard creature of the autumn. - -"Why, let me look at you!" went on the artist gladly. "You've robbed -me of a whole lot of good material. If you posed for me now, it would -amount to nothing more than the portrait of a lady." - -Mrs. Wright laughed, well pleased, and amused, too, at the embarrassed -manner in which Eliza pulled away her hands. - -"But you stay on here, I suppose, just the same," said Phil, turning -back to his hostess. - -"Oh, yes. I've taken a room for Violet, my niece, and Miss Foster has -made a business arrangement with Eliza to be her helper, so the only -great difference will be the arrival of new people." - -Considerations immediately ran through Phil's head of this home as a -possibility for his prolonged stay. Second thought, however, pictured -the going and coming of summer boarders and the impossibility of -privacy. Besides, he could not afford it. - -He picked up a small black book which his eye had caught lying beside -the Bible on Mrs. Wright's table. - -"Oh!" he said, raising his eyebrows and looking at her with a smile. - -"Do you know it?" she asked. - -"My mother lives by it," he returned. - -"Then her boy does, I'm sure," said Mrs. Wright. - -"He tries to," answered Phil. "I was just thinking now of our -philosophy, and trying to know that, if it's right for me to stay on -this island, it will come to pass. I feel as if I could do a lot of -work here." - -"Mrs. Fabian will have too much of a houseful?" - -"Perhaps not; but there couldn't be any independence in that; and I -couldn't bring paint rags into her spick-and-span cottage." - -"Take board here," suggested Mrs. Wright. - -Phil shook his head. "I don't want to give the price for a long pull. -Miss Manning prophesied that I should live under a rock rather than -leave. I'll go rock-hunting some day." - -"There must be some way, Mr. Philip!" exclaimed Eliza, who had -listened attentively. The intensity of her manner reminded Phil of -other days. - -"You should have more stables on the island," he returned. "It's very -thoughtless of you." - -"We can all help him, remember, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright--"you know -I've told you--by thinking right." - -"Goodness knows, I'd think anything that'd keep him here," returned -Eliza bluntly. "He's as white as a candle, and it makes me sick to -think o' the perspiration runnin' into his eyes. What d'you want me to -think? I'll say the moon's made o' green cheese, if it'll do any good." - -"No, it only does good to think the truth. It's law. You remember how -I've told you that we live under laws and they aren't material ones? -Our thoughts are our whole concern. Get thought right, and action takes -care of itself. You're stopping up one of the channels through which -good can come to you and yours. You consider Mr. Sidney one of yours, -I'm sure." - -Eliza averted her eyes uncomfortably. - -"Yes," went on Mrs. Wright, smiling, "I'm speaking right out in -meeting, because you've told me that Mr. Sidney knows of your -antagonism." - -"She's talkin' about the barrel," remarked Eliza dryly. - -"Oh, the barrel!" laughed Phil. "I'd forgotten about that. So has Aunt -Isabel, I fancy." - -"I'll bet a cookie she went to your room and tried to get it," said -Eliza, eyeing him shrewdly. - -Phil nodded. "Yes, she did." - -Eliza struck her hands together with satisfaction. "I'd give more'n a -cookie to have seen her face when she got there," she said triumphantly. - -"No, I wasn't talking about the barrel," continued Mrs. Wright. "That -is your own affair: whether you care to keep those family treasures -or to give them up. I was speaking in general about your forgiving -Mrs. Fabian as you would be forgiven, and banishing discord from the -atmosphere. How can you tell how much sunlight that cloud is holding -back from this dear boy of Mrs. Ballard's?" - -Eliza stared into space and bit her lip. The three were standing in a -group near the table. - -"Well, sit down, anyway," she said briefly, and they did so. - -Phil saw that there was method in Mrs. Wright's choosing of this -particular opportunity to make a point. Hers was the face of a -peacemaker and it was easy to see what pain she would find in discord. - -Now she turned to Phil and asked him about his father and mother, and -he told her of the mountains, and his periodical longing for them. This -place, he added, gave him a similar sense of exhilaration. It seemed as -if he were breathing again for the first time since November. - -"You've got to stay," said Eliza nervously; "that's all there is about -it." - -He smiled. "The bark on a tree isn't as tight as I am," he replied. -"I've planned to make my money do just so much." - -"'With God all things are possible,'" remarked Mrs. Wright. - -"Yes," he laughed; "I'm going to look for a cave with a skylight." - -Eliza's thoughts were painfully busy. The constant dropping of the -winter had made an impression on their adamant. Supposing there should -be anything in what Mrs. Wright just said. Supposing God were to punish -her for continuing to hate an enemy; punish her by holding back some -benefit from her dear one's _protégé_. - -She stirred around in her chair during a pause. "I've been thinkin' -to-day," she said carelessly, "that I didn't exactly know what I was -goin' to do with that barrel. I've got to bring it down from upstairs -before Jennie gets here." - -"Let me do that for you," said Phil quickly. "I've been honing to lift -something heavy all the afternoon. I've felt as if I could lick my -weight in wild cats ever since dinner." - -He started up with such eagerness that Eliza mechanically arose and -went to the stairs, Phil following; and Mrs. Wright, a hopeful light in -her eyes, looked on. - -"We've got to get these rooms ready for boarders," explained Eliza as -they went up to the second story. "It's real clever of you to lug the -barrel down for me." - -Phil smiled covertly as he recognized the old bone of contention with -the flourishing address he had executed, and he steered it down the -narrow stairs successfully. - -Eliza had preceded him nimbly. - -As soon as she reached the living-room, Mrs. Wright approached her. - -"Where are you going to put it?" she asked, looking wistfully at Eliza. - -"Oh, anywhere," replied the latter with bravado. - -"Jane wouldn't like it in here, of course," remarked Mrs. Wright. - -"Well, I suppose I have a right to my own room, haven't I?" Eliza -retorted sharply. - -"Wouldn't it be very much in the way, dear? You have it fixed so pretty -in there." - -"Well, what's the reason it can't stand in the shed?" asked Eliza, with -defiance. - -Mrs. Wright shook her head. "'Where moth and rust doth corrupt,'" she -said slowly. - -Phil now had the barrel down, and was standing beside it, waiting. - -"Whither away, now?" he asked. - -"Eliza," said Mrs. Wright, "there's a wheelbarrow out in the shed." - -Eliza colored and bit her lip. "Do you know," she said, turning to -Phil, "Mrs. Wright wants me to give those things to Mrs. Fabian?" - -"Well, it would tickle Aunt Isabel almost to pieces," he admitted. - -"Do you see any reason or justice in it?" - -Phil smiled. "It's a luxury to do an unreasonable thing once in a -while," he answered. - -"If I thought it would do you the least bit o' good," said Eliza, "I'd -do anything. I'd find a white hair in a black dog's tail and burn it -by the light o' the moon, at midnight," she added scornfully; "but -unluckily I ain't superstitious." - -Phil glanced at Mrs. Wright's sweet, earnest face, and understood that -she had thought deeply of the prospect of discord between the two -cottages. - -"Come on, Eliza," he said, with boyish enthusiasm, "it would be great -fun to see Aunt Isabel's face. Even if you were after revenge, coals of -fire are a mighty punishment, and if you're only being magnanimous and -letting bygones be bygones why, who knows but it will be the means of -my finding the cave with the skylight?" - -Eliza turned away suddenly from his laughing eyes. "All right," she -said, "take it! I'll show you where the wheelbarrow is; and when you've -got it across that hubbly field you won't be looking for wild cats to -fight." - -"Oh, but you'll steady the barrel." - -"Will I! Well, you can guess again, young man." Eliza's eyes flashed. - -"Oh, pshaw," he said. "Don't make two bites of a cherry. If the barrel -goes, you go." - -Eliza met his gay, determined look with exasperation. - -"This is persecution," she declared angrily; then added beseechingly, -"Don't make me, Mr. Philip." - -"I couldn't let you miss it," he returned. "We have the white hair of -the black dog, but, you see, we have to burn it." - -Eliza looked appealingly toward Mrs. Wright, whose face was expectant. - -"Dear Eliza," she said. - -"Don't you 'dear' me," snapped Eliza. "Come this way, Mr. Philip." - -She marched out of the room, and Mrs. Wright seized and squeezed Phil's -hand as he passed. He gave her a laughing look. - -Soon the march across the field began. Mrs. Wright watched them -from the window. Eliza, her shade hat tied primly down beneath her -chin, steadied the barrel when Phil's route encountered too great an -irregularity. - -"Dear martyr," thought Mrs. Wright, who had caught a glimpse of -her companion's expression as they moved away. "She does love that -beautiful boy. I hope her reward will come soon." - -Captain James had just driven back down the hill after bringing up the -trunks when Phil and Eliza reached the shaven sward about the Fabian -cottage. - -Phil dropped the wheelbarrow at the steps. - -"Wait here a minute, Eliza, till I reconnoitre," he said. "This was a -sleeping castle when I left." - -"Now, if they're asleep--" said Eliza, hastily and hopefully; but Phil -had disappeared quietly around the corner which led to the windbreak. -As he approached, the sound of voices mingled with the tide, so he -advanced with confidence. - -Kathleen was sitting on the edge of the hammock facing her mother, who -looked around as Phil came in view. - -"Here we are, awake at last," she said. "Where have you been? How well -you look! You have quite a flush." - -He came close to her. "I've been helping Eliza Brewster bring you a -present," he said. - -Mrs. Fabian was all attention, but a look of resentment spread over her -countenance. - -"She is here with me," went on Phil, low and rapidly. "It means a good -deal, you know. I hope you will be very nice to her." - -Kathleen, alertly comprehending, rose from the hammock and moved past -her mother and around to where Eliza stood by the steps, schooling -herself. - -"You can't get out of a barrel what ain't in it," she reflected. -"'Tain't any use tappin' a barrel o' vinegar and bein' mad 'cause maple -syrup don't come out." - -"You scarcely spoke to me this morning," said Kathleen pleasantly, "you -were so glad to see Mr. Sidney." - -Eliza shook hands awkwardly. Kathleen Fabian seemed even to her -prejudice to ring true. "She don't inherit vinegar," thought Eliza. "I -don't know why I shouldn't give her the benefit o' the doubt. Maybe she -is maple clear through." - -Mrs. Fabian now came in stately fashion around the corner into view. -Her eyes caught sight of the barrel and glistened. It was almost -impossible to believe that-- - -"How do you do, Eliza?" she said, in mellifluous tones. "Mr. Sidney -tells me you wish to see me--" - -"Yes, about this barrel," interrupted Eliza, with nervous haste. "It's -some o' the things Mrs. Ballard left me that I thought you'd enjoy -havin'. It's her silver and china, just as I packed 'em in New York. I -haven't taken out anything." - -"Why, really, Eliza, do you know, I appreciate that very much," said -Mrs. Fabian graciously, "and I shall enjoy them far more here than I -could in New York. I--" - -"Yes,'m," said Eliza, "I've got to hurry back to get supper. We have a -real early tea." - -"No, not until you've come in and seen where Aunt Mary's things are to -be. I really couldn't allow you to go without sitting down a minute to -rest." - -"No, no, thank you," said Eliza, more hurriedly. - -"Perhaps you did come in and see the cottage while it was being -prepared for us." - -"No, ma'am," returned Eliza, arrested in flight. "I've never been as -near to it as this." - -"I wish you would come in, then," said Kathleen. "We think it's very -pretty." - -So Eliza yielded, and Phil followed her into the house, showing her the -views from the windows, and before she came out again she had exchanged -remarks with Mrs. Fabian on the increased price of lobsters and other -practical subjects. - -"Really quite human," commented Mrs. Fabian when the guest had departed. - -"And how well she looks," said Kathleen. - -"Now," remarked her mother complacently, "you see my own has come to -me. I knew Eliza was half-crazy last autumn. I just anticipate pulling -over those funny old things." - -Meanwhile Phil and Eliza were retracing their steps across the field. - -"There! that didn't hurt much, did it?" he asked. - -"I haven't got much use for her," replied Eliza, "but I do believe -Kathleen Fabian's a sensible girl." - -"Our friend Edgar is coming to-morrow," remarked Phil. - -Eliza looked up at him shrewdly from beneath the shade hat. "Is that -the reason you want to be a cave man?" - -Phil laughed. "Perhaps it's one," he admitted. "He's a -rather--well--pervasive person, we'll say. I need elbow room to -work. Isn't this a great place, Eliza?" The speaker's eyes swept the -surroundings. "You're farther from the sea than the Fabians. You have a -grand orchard, I see," added Phil, laughing; "or does it belong to that -little cottage over there?" - -"Where? Oh, you mean the chicken-house?" - -"Chicken-house! Are the hens here so high-toned they have to have -windows besides their roosts? There are places out West where the -reason for the cows giving little milk is said to be because they -become so enchanted with the scenery that they forget to eat. I suppose -those hens go up to the second floor to watch the sunset." - -Phil looked curiously at the little story and a half building guarded -by the balm-of-Gilead trees. - -"Law, there ain't any hens there," replied Eliza. "A pig wouldn't live -there now. I'm itchin' to burn it down, it's so dirty." - -"Nobody lives there?" asked Phil. - -"No, not since Granny Foster that it was built for. She scared us -children out of our wits in her time, and I s'pose we pestered her, -'cause of course we was imps and couldn't keep away. We'd rather play -tricks on her than eat, but only a few got their courage up to do more -than knock on the door and run away. That door! My! to think I can walk -up to it and open it. It seems wonderful even now." - -"Let's go and open it," said Phil, eagerly, beginning to stride in that -direction. - -"Oh, no, Mr. Philip, keep away. It's too dirty and musty in there for -words. Jennie quit keepin' hens a long time ago, and I guess she just -let it rot away there, 'cause 'twa'n't worth cleanin'!" - -"Oh, but I want to see where little Eliza was scared," persisted Phil, -hurrying so fast that Eliza was obliged to run after him. She stood -away a little, though, with her long nose lifted while he opened the -door and his eager eyes swept the interior. - -"Don't you go in there, oh, don't, Mr. Philip," she said. "I can tell -you just what there is, a parlor and a kitchen, and a rough kind o' -steps that go upstairs where there's only half a floor. It would make a -grand bonfire. I wish Jennie'd let us." - -"She owns it, does she? The woman that's going to keep your -boarding-house?" - -"Oh, yes; all this land's hers and the orchard." - -Phil closed the dingy door and walked around back of the cottage. -Apparently, Granny Foster had liked the view of the open ocean, -contrary to the taste of most of the women on the island, who had good -reason to dread its mighty power. At any rate, while the front of the -little house grew straight out of the grass, the back had once boasted -a piazza, which had fallen away and capsized in the field which ran -down to the water's edge. - -"What a view your old lady had!" said Phil, standing still and -listening to the rustling leaves that whispered in the orchard. - -"'Tis a sightly place," said Eliza. - -The artist looked with starry eyes over the little cottage again and -then at his companion. - -"It's wonderful," he said. - -"'M-h'm," agreed Eliza; "and it'll do you all the good in the world if -you can only stay here." - -Phil's radiant smile beamed upon her. - -"Why, I'm going to stay. Can't you see what I'm thinking?" - -"No," replied Eliza, staring at him curiously. - -"I've found my cave." He waved his hand toward the chicken-house. "Do -you think Jennie'll let me have it?" - -"Mr. Philip!" exclaimed Eliza distractedly, clasping her hard hands as -his meaning broke upon her. "There ain't any use to talk about it even! -How could I ever clean that place for you!" - -"I shan't let you touch it! Hurrah!" exclaimed the artist, turning a -somersault in the grass and coming right-side up so suddenly that Eliza -blinked. - -"Oh, my sorrows and cares!" she mourned; "it's the craziest idea"-- - -"When, when did you say she's coming?" - -"To-morrow. Dear, dear!" Eliza was half laughing and half crying. - -"Then I've only to wait one night. Oh, it's too good to be true, like -everything else that happens to me." Another flight of long arms and -legs accompanied by a whoop of joy, and once more Phil was right-side -up and catching Eliza by the arm. - -"Let's go and tell Mrs. Wright," he exclaimed, and hurried his -companion toward the farmhouse, where Mrs. Wright was sitting on the -rustic bench. - -"He's crazy," declared Eliza. "Tell him so. There must be lots o' -better places. That wouldn't smell good in a thousand years." - -But when Phil had divulged his great plan, Mrs. Wright nodded. - -"The very thing," she said. "I'm sure Jane will let you use it free, -and be glad to have it put in shape. Then you can take as many or as -few meals here as you like." - -Her calm, happy approval closed Eliza's lips in a desperate silence. - -"I must rush back to my hostesses," said Phil. "Hurrah for us, Eliza. -I'll go to every boat to meet Jennie." - -He started across the field on a long, swinging run. - -"Splendid boy," mused Mrs. Wright, aloud, looking after him. - -Eliza had sunk on the bench, dumb. - -"Now, then," her friend turned to her; "see how you've helped him." - -Eliza's eyes snapped. "Do you mean to say," she retorted, speaking fast -and defiantly, "that if I hadn't gone over to Mrs. Fabian's and given -her the dishes, he wouldn't 'a' found that chicken-house?" - -Mrs. Wright smiled and shook her head. - -"There's only one thing I know, Eliza," she said with deliberation, -"and that is that Love is Omnipotence, and that in every problem we -mortals have the choice of looking down into error and discord, or up -into Truth and Harmony." - -Eliza's breath caught in her throat, and she felt so strangely stirred -that she rose abruptly and went into the house. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE SINGER - - -The combination of at last having a definite aim in life, and the -cutting rebuke received in his father's library, had caused Edgar -Fabian to wake up. - -On the hot morning when he took the train for Portland, he even looked -a little pale from the unwonted vigil of the night before. As he tossed -on his bed in the small hours, he had fretted at the heat, but it -was not temperature that made him survey the causes for his father's -drastic words; and he recalled the emotion which Kathleen had not been -able to conceal with a sort of affectionate dismay. Kathleen was a good -sort, after all. She had worked for him, he knew, and mitigated the -situation so far as she could. - -"Father wants to be shown, does he?" he thought, clenching his teeth. -"Well, I'll show him. I will." - -His soul was still smarting when he boarded the train in the breathless -station and the porter carried his suitcase to his chair in the day -coach. - -A group of girls were standing about the neighboring seat, but he did -not regard them. One of them observed him, and for her the thermometer -suddenly went up ten degrees more. - -"Hurry girls, you must go," she said, softly and peremptorily, moving -with them to the end of the car. "How I wish you didn't have to!" Then, -as they reached the door, the flushed one squeezed their arms. "That -was Mr. Fabian, girls!" she added. - -"Where? Where?" they ejaculated, looking wildly about. - -"Back there in the very next chair to mine. Oh, get off, dears." - -They regarded the rosy face. - -"Slyboots!" exclaimed Roxana. - -"Indeed, I knew nothing of it!" declared Violet. - -"Very well." Regina spoke in hasty exhortation. "The sun shines hard -enough for you to make all the hay there is. I've a great mind to throw -a pump after you!" - -The friends slipped off just in time, and Violet waved them a laughing -adieu; then her face sobered while her eyes shone. She could not go -back to her place at once. The combination was more than flesh and -blood could endure nonchalantly: her work finished, she starting for -the island earlier than she had hoped, with the joyful anticipation of -surprising her aunt, and, instead of journeying alone, to find _the_ -man beside her. - -Violet was extremely indignant with herself for calling Edgar _the_ -man. Never one thing had he done to deserve it. There was no one -on earth to whom in reality she was more indifferent. She allowed -conductors, porter, passengers, and luggage to stumble by and over her -in the narrow passage while she reflected upon the utter uncongeniality -of herself and Edgar Fabian; the gulf fixed between their lots, their -habits, their tastes. A man who was so artificial that he couldn't like -Brewster's Island. How could any girl with genuine feeling do more than -politely endure him! - -Violet finally, having been bumped and trodden on until she realized -that she was being scowled at by all comers, stepped under the portière -into the ladies' room and looked in the glass. The neatest and trimmest -of visions regarded her. - -"I don't care a snap how I look, but I am dreadfully warm," she -thought, and taking a powder-puff from her mesh bag, she raised her -veil and cooled her crimson cheeks and dabbed her nose; then she pinned -the veil back closely; and gave her bright eyes a challenging and -warning gaze. - -"If you dare!" she murmured, then moved out into the aisle again and -sought her place. - -Edgar had hung up his hat, his back was to the car, and his gloomy eyes -gazed out of the window. Violet sank into her chair, turning its back -to him. "There!" she thought sternly, "we can ride this way all day. -There's not the slightest necessity for recognition." - -An hour passed and this seemed only too true. She took up the copy of -"Life" which Roxana had left with her, and looked through it with more -grim determination than is usually brought to bear upon that enlivening -sheet. - -Everything continued to be quiet behind her. She wondered if Edgar had -gone to sleep; but what was it to her what he was doing? She became -conscious that there were more strokes on the illustrations than the -artists had intended. - -"I must take off my veil!" she reflected. - -Of course, no girl can take off her veil and hat without making some -stir. She hoped she should not attract her neighbor's attention by -these movements. She didn't. - -At last all was comfortably arranged, and she picked up the periodical -which had been Regina's offering and looked at her chatelaine watch, -wondering how much time had been wasted already. - -She never before heard of a man who stayed in his seat on the train -unless he was an invalid. One would think he would at least walk up -and down once in a while. She turned her chair a little away from the -window and toward the aisle. A fat man who was her vis-à-vis glanced -at her, and finding the glance most satisfactory, looked again, long -enough to make her aware of him. She swung slowly back toward the -window, but not so far that she could not command movements in the -aisle. - -Of course, Mr. Fabian was asleep. He had probably been turning night -into day in the festivities which society events had recorded as -preceding Mrs. Larrabee's departure for Europe. - -The thought was a tonic. She loved to realize how insignificant and -selfish was the life this young man led; making him not worth a second -thought to a womanly woman who scorned to associate with any man to -whom she could not look up, and he hadn't shaved off that blond pointed -mustache, either; how she despised mustaches. - -"Why--why, Miss Manning." The interested greeting broke forth directly -above her, and she started and looked up straight into the scorned -mustache. "How wonderful," said Edgar. "I was just wondering who liked -the 'Century' better upside down than right-side up; then I noticed -that whoever it was had pretty hair, so I looked again and saw it was -you." - -"I"--stammered Violet, blushing violently and dropping the -magazine,--"I think I was so sleepy I didn't know--I--where did you -spring from?" - -"Just now from the smoking-room, but I'm here, right here in this chair -next to you. Can you beat it? Are you for the island?" - -"Yes." - -"I, too. Great that we should meet. Let me turn your chair around. I -was never so glad to see you." - -"Why? Were you bored?" Violet's tone and manner of courteous -indifference were so excellent that they deceived the fat man, who -regarded the _contretemps_ over the top of his paper and felt quite -chivalrously impatient of the "fresh guy" who had interrupted the young -traveller's meditations; and heartily commiserated the girl for the -coincidence which had made her the prey of an acquaintance. - -"No, not more bored than usual," replied Edgar, having arranged the -chairs at the best angle for sociability, "but if you talk to me I may -forget how I want to smoke." - -Violet raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm to be useful and not ornamental," -she said with an icily sweet smile. - -"You can't help being ornamental," said Edgar, drumming nervously on -the arm of his chair. "There, that's the last compliment I'm going -to give you. I warn you. I'm a bear to-day. I'm sorry for you." The -speaker was pale and Violet laid both pallor and nervousness to the -door of the vivacious lady about to sail for foreign shores. - -"Yes," she replied, looking at him blandly. "I saw that your charming -friend Mrs. Larrabee is leaving." - -Edgar looked around quickly. "Yes, she's leaving. I bade her good-bye -last night." - -"Is that why you wish to smoke all the time?" asked Violet, with cooing -gentleness. - -"All the time! Great Scott! I've had just one cigarette since I got up." - -"You said you had just come from the smoking-room." - -"Yes, but I hadn't been in. That's the trouble. I'm cutting it out." - -"Why? Have you made a virtuous vow?" - -"I'm afraid I'm in no mood for joking this morning." Edgar frowned and -twisted his mustache. - -Violet spoke with laughing sweetness. - -"Nothing is more easy than to escape it," she said, and deftly turned -her chair with its back to him. - -He seized it by the arm and twisted it around again. - -"No, you don't," he said. "Forgive me; you know the stereotyped advice -to newly married couples about the two bears; 'bear and forbear,' don't -you? Well, remember it, please." - -"I don't see the parallel," said Violet coolly; "and anyway, is the -advice directed entirely at the woman?" - -"No, I'm bearing with you now for turning your back to me, you who are -going to teach me to clog when we reach the island." He gave her the -smile designed to melt the icy heart. - -"In consideration," returned Violet, "for a continuous ripple of song." - -Edgar suddenly looked important, and gazed out of the window. Then he -turned back to the girl who was regarding him. - -"What do you think of my voice--honestly?" he asked. - -"I think it is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard," she -answered promptly. - -He nodded slowly. "I fished to some purpose, didn't I," he said -gravely. "Well, since you really think that, and I've always admired -your sincerity, you may be interested to know that I have given up -business in order to cultivate it." - -There being nobody present who was employed in Mr. Fabian's office, the -dignity of this statement was not impaired by hilarity; and Violet, -greatly impressed, clasped her hands. - -"Oh, I'm so glad," she said. "All your friends will be so glad." - -Had she known it, she might have added, "and all your business -associates"; but neither word nor look minimized the enthusiasm of the -moment. - -Enough of Violet's faith and admiration shone in her speaking eyes to -fall like balm on Edgar's wounded soul. He began to heal under it; -began to mount into his wonted atmosphere of assurance. - -"I've been studying ever since January with Mazzini. I've kept quiet -about it because, after all,"--the speaker spread his hands in a modest -gesture,--"he might be mistaken in his extremely enthusiastic estimate." - -"Oh, no, no!" said Violet earnestly. Edgar drank more healing from the -fountain of her eyes. "What shall you do? Go into opera?" - -"I don't know yet," replied the aspirant, with the air of one who was -holding Mr. Hammerstein in the hollow of his hand, uncertain whether -to throw him over or to be gracious. "I'm very much alone in this," he -added, meeting the girl's gaze with an air of confidence. "Of course -my father and mother and sister are willing; in fact, they are pleased -that I have undertaken this." - -"Think of giving up smoking!" exclaimed Violet. "What a sacrifice that -means to a man! I should think your family would see by that how in -earnest you are." - -"Yes, they believe I am in earnest; but when one in a family is keenly -temperamental and the others are not, there are only certain planes on -which they can meet, you understand?" - -"By all means!" Violet understood perfectly. - -"I have certain ideas that I never divulge to them. They would only -laugh. What would it mean to them if I were to say that I had purple -moods--and red moods--" - -"Probably nothing," returned Violet, quickly and with close attention. -"Black and green and blue are the only common ones." - -Edgar looked at her suspiciously. Had the fountain of healing -admiration vanished, and was she laughing at him? Not at all. She was -regarding him with a respect and awe which he could not doubt. - -"Explain the others to me. Do you think you could?" she asked. - -"I'm afraid not," he answered gently, "but, well, for instance, while -in the purple mood I could never learn to clog. Does that mean anything -to you?" - -"Ah, yes," returned Violet fervently. "I see. You would be too intense." - -"Exactly. In the red, I might. It would depend on which way it took me." - -His listener nodded earnestly. "Yes, yes. A berserk rage is red. They -always see red in books." - -"But so is a glowing sunset red," said Edgar. "The red of joy. I see -you understand. Oh, what rest it is to have people understand!" - -Violet glowed. Some memory recurred to her. "Does Mr. Sidney know about -this?" she asked. - -Edgar shrugged his shoulders. "He is at the island with my people. They -may have told him." - -The girl's rosy lips set. "Now," she wondered, "would he chuckle over -foolish sketches of conceited robins! At all events, he would very soon -give it up." - -The two travellers had a wonderful day together, undaunted by heat and -cinders. - -Edgar gave Violet as dainty a luncheon as circumstances permitted, and -when they reached Portland too late for the last boat, he left her at -her hotel with the promise to call for her in the morning. - -The boat they took next day was the same one which bore Miss Jane -Foster to her summer home; so when, after the cooling ride down the -bay, they arrived at Brewster's Island and saw Philip Sidney and Eliza -Brewster waiting with Kathleen, Edgar pointed Eliza out to Violet with -amusement. - -"I wonder how Sidney enjoys his shadow," he remarked, "I suppose she's -trailing him all over the place." - -As Mrs. Wright had no expectation of her niece's early arrival, Eliza -looked out with indifference from under her closely tied shade hat at -the fair girl in neat tailor gown who stood by Edgar as the boat pulled -in; and the exclamation of her companions was her first intimation that -it was Violet Manning. - -Eliza stood quietly amid the greeting and laughing and explanations of -the young people, and was introduced to Miss Manning; then she caught -sight of Jane Foster, for whose eagerly expected face Phil had been -gazing over the heads of everybody, notwithstanding that he had no idea -what she looked like. - -"Better go home with the Fabians and come to us later," she suggested, -speaking low to him. - -"Guess again, Eliza," he returned softly. Then he turned to Kathleen. -"I'll not interrupt your first _tête-à-tête_ with your brother. I'll -walk up the hill with Miss Manning and see Mrs. Wright's face when we -appear." - -Kathleen nodded her agreement, and when they all reached the road, she -opened her eyes at the manner in which her brother parted from Violet. -Neither spoke. They clasped hands and exchanged a look, which was, to -say the least, unusual. - -"You and Miss Manning seemed to be giving each other the grip," she -laughed when the two began their ascent slowly. "Do you belong to the -same secret society?" - -His reply was still more amazing. "We do," he answered impressively. -"You guessed right the very first time. That girl has more sense in a -minute than the general run have in years." - -"I always liked her," returned Kathleen, wondering. - -As for Philip, he carried Violet's suitcase and Miss Foster's bag and -received the jubilant chatter of the young girl with appreciative -assent, casting sheep's eyes all the way up the hill at the modest -owner of the chicken-house, who little suspected that the big handsome -young man who was carrying her bag cared more to get one monosyllable -from her than for all the pleasant things this pretty girl might say to -him. - -Mrs. Wright, busy taking Eliza's place in the preparations for the -early dinner, was not watching for the arrival, and the first warning -she had of Violet's presence was two vigorous arms being thrown around -her neck. - -Her first impression was that Jane Foster had an attack of emotional -insanity, but in a moment she was returning the embrace. - -"My little girl, what does this mean?" she cried joyously. "Not a -flower in your room. Nothing ready." - -"Yes, dinner is. I can smell it. Oh, Aunt Amy, _you_ and vacation, and -no city and no heat, and the divine island smell, and twenty-four hours -in the day, and seven days in the week. Oh, it's too much happiness!" -And Violet danced back into the living-room straight into the arms of -Mr. Wright, who had just been washing his hands for dinner. - -"Right you are, Violet. No place like the island," he said heartily, -while Eliza and Jane Foster regarded the newcomer with calm wonder. How -could they know the glamour that was gilding all? - -Phil was so preoccupied, he scarcely noticed the girl's antics. His -eyes were fixed with the most lover-like eagerness on Jane Foster's -serious countenance. - -"Had you better ask her or I, Eliza?" he murmured, under cover of -Violet's laughter. - -"You'd better not trust me," replied Eliza darkly, upon which Phil -interrupted Miss Foster as she was starting for the stairs. - -"Might I speak to you one moment before you go up?" he asked. - -Her calm eyes turned to him. "You want board?" she asked. - -"No--not exactly. Would you mind coming outside a minute. I'd like to -see you alone." - -Jane Foster looked into the brilliant face, wondering; then she -followed him outside the door. Perhaps he wanted to buy the farmhouse. -She had made some calculation before she reached the rustic bench; but -his first words dashed her expectations. - -"Miss Foster, I'm an artist and like them all, at first, I haven't -any money. I've been wondering if you'd let me camp down in your -chicken-house and do some work. What rent would you want?" - -Jane Foster regarded him calmly. "'T ain't habitable," she said. - -"I'll make it so," he returned forcefully. - -"I can't imagine--" she began slowly. - -"You don't have to," he interrupted ardently. "Imagining is my -business." He beamed upon her with a smile that warmed her through and -through from the chill of the boat. "If you haven't any other use for -it just now--" - -"Oh, 'tain't any use," she said slowly. - -"Then I may?" Phil embarrassed Miss Foster terribly by seizing her hand. - -Violet observed them from a window. "Is Mr. Sidney proposing to Miss -Foster?" she laughed, turning to Eliza. - -"Yes, he is, exactly," returned the latter, hanging up her shade hat. - -"Well, I can't imagine anyone refusing him," said Violet. - -"I only hope she will," muttered Eliza; but the devout words were -scarcely out of her lips when Phil came into the room like a cyclone -and she was seized and swung up till her respectable head nearly grazed -the ceiling. - -"It's mine," he cried. "Hurray!" and went out of the house again and -across the field toward the boulder cottage. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE NEW STUDIO - - -In spite of the incense Edgar had been receiving, he was still a -somewhat chastened being; and he had no disagreeable remarks to make -about Phil when Mrs. Fabian wondered why he stayed so long at the -Wright cottage. He objected to the fact somewhat on his own account. -No doubt Violet was entertaining Philip. She had the artistic soul and -Phil was horribly good-looking. It was a soothing thought that he was -practically penniless and that he must soon return to his labors in New -York. - -"How long are you expecting Phil to stay here?" he asked his mother -after a glance or two across the empty field. - -"He says only a week," replied Mrs. Fabian, "but I hope to make it at -least two. He's daft about the island." - -"But he couldn't work here," said Edgar with conviction. "You've no -place for oil and turpentine and splotches generally." - -"That's what he says," sighed Mrs. Fabian. "I told him this morning -we'd give up the summer-house to him." - -Edgar faced her. "Where do I come in?" he asked. "I expect the -summer-house to save your lives from me. I don't believe we can have -two artists in the family." - -Kathleen caught the last words as she came downstairs. "Don't worry," -she said lightly. "Phil will have none of us. He wants either a -ten-acre lot or a stable." - -"Well, where is he?" asked Edgar, with some irritation. "I'm as hungry -as a hunter." - -"And we have Aunt Mary's pretty things. Eliza gave them to mother." - -"You don't say so! Well, the Angel of Peace has moulted a feather on -this island. There, I see Phil now, loping across the field. Do order -dinner to be served, mother." - -The music-box was playing when the guest entered. - -"Oh, am I late?" he cried contritely, and took the stairs in three -bounds. - -"How burned he is already!" laughed Mrs. Fabian. "You will be looking -like that in a few days, Edgar." - -The latter was standing, high-chested and with repressed impatience, in -an attitude his mother knew. He had not at all liked the radiance of -Phil's countenance as the latter burst into the room. - -"This dinner is especially ordered for you, dear," said Mrs. Fabian -soothingly, "from the clam soup to the strawberry shortcake." - -"When am I going to have any of it?" inquired Edgar. "Is it worth while -to be formal here?" - -"Oh, he'll be down in one minute," said Kathleen; and indeed Philip -soon appeared and they all seated themselves. - -"Last offence, really," said the guest gaily, "but one must be granted -a little extra license when he's proposing." - -The waitress had placed the filled soup-plates before the family sat -down; and Edgar promptly choked on his first mouthful. Violet had told -him of meeting Phil in Gramercy Park. Where else and how often had the -perfidious girl been with him? - -Kathleen swallowed her spoonful of soup, but it was not hot enough to -account for the strange burning heat which suddenly travelled down her -spine. - -Mrs. Fabian alone looked up. "Don't take our breath away like that," -she protested. "Who is the woman? Violet Manning or Eliza Brewster?" - -"I dreamed of her all last night," returned Phil, eating hungrily. "I -knew she was coming, and I could hardly wait to learn my fate. Didn't -you notice that I merely played with my breakfast this morning?" - -"You ate like a hunter. Didn't he, Kathleen?" - -Phil laughed and raised his happy eyes to his hostess. - -"Well, you'd save a whole lot of dinner this noon, only that she said -'Yes.'" - -There was a miniature storm of hurt vanity in Edgar Fabian's breast. -That was the way with these "lookers." Let them have scarce the price -of a laundry bill, yet a girl couldn't resist them; and that gaze -of almost awed admiration in Violet's eyes yesterday. It had meant -nothing then but a tribute to genius. Phil should not have that look at -his table daily! Edgar wouldn't stand it. He would match his singing -against the other's painting, and time would show if Philip Sidney -would have a walk-away. She couldn't be happy with a pauper like that, -and she should be saved. - -As for Kathleen, she could not stop to criticize Philip's blunt -announcement. Whether he were jesting or in earnest his sudden words -had flashed an awful light upon her own sentiments. - -"There's no depth to it," she thought now in defence of her pain. "I -know in time." - -"Tell us more this minute," said Mrs. Fabian, "and stop eating, you -unromantic creature! I didn't even suspect that you knew Violet Manning -well. You sly-boots. I'm offended with you." - -"The lovely Violet!" exclaimed Phil, "I left her having an attack of -emotional insanity over there." - -He looked up and met a gaze from Edgar, suggestive of locking horns; -and remembered Gramercy Park, and Violet's sudden dignity. - -"But not on my account," he went on easily. "My inamorata's name is -Jane!" He cast his eyes adoringly ceilingward. "Dear little name! -Quaint little name! Jane!" - -The relaxation that travelled throughout Kathleen's limbs was as -painful and as exasperating as the burn had been. Her eyes were fixed -on her soup-plate, and she smiled. - -Edgar's teeth shone with the utmost glee. Phil wasn't such a bad sort -after all. He regarded him with interest, waiting for the sequel. - -"Philip Sidney, don't be idiotic," said Mrs. Fabian. "My soup is -getting cold waiting for you to explain yourself." - -"Why, Jane Foster came this morning, mother," said Kathleen. "I'll help -you out." - -"And I can really only stay with you a week, Aunt Isabel," added Phil. - -"She has taken you for a boarder? And all this fuss is about that?" -asked Mrs. Fabian. "I should scarcely have thought you'd be so crazy to -change my house for hers." - -"I know how Phil feels," said Edgar benevolently. "He wants to feel -free to make smudges." - -"I do, Edgar, mind-reader that you are. Listen, then, all of you. I -proposed to Jane that she let me use her chicken-house, and Jane, -blessings on her, said the one little word to make me a happy man." - -Phil's radiant gaze was bent now upon Kathleen, who met it and nodded. -"Just the thing!" she said, and her mother and brother started in on a -Babel of tongues. Mrs. Fabian had forgotten the chicken-house. She had -not been in that field for years; but Edgar approved, and altogether -they joined in Phil's jubilation, and Mrs. Fabian related how she had -prepared Pat to pack for just such an exigency. - -"The little house is awfully dilapidated," said Kathleen. "Its piazza -has fallen off; and I'm sure it leaks. But perhaps you can make it fit -to hold your paraphernalia." - -"Aunt Isabel, I want you and Kathleen to keep away until I'm in order," -said Phil impressively. "You'd try to discourage me and that would -waste your time. Eliza is almost in tears, but I know what I want and -what I can do." - -"A chicken-house!" exclaimed Mrs. Fabian, with second thoughts of -disgust. - -"Yes, nobody can come near but Edgar; and if he does, he'll have to -scrub." - -"Thank you very much," and the young man raised his eyebrows: "I have -my own work to do, you may remember." Scrubbing chicken-houses he -thought might even eclipse the memory of lighting the oil-stove. - -"Of course," returned Phil, all attention. "I'm extremely interested in -this determination of yours. You certainly have the goods." - -"So they tell me," said Edgar, and twisted his mustache. - -"What are you going to do for furniture?" asked Mrs. Fabian. "You must -at least have some chairs and a table." - -"And a lounge!" cried Phil,--"and an oil-stove." He laughed toward -Edgar. "I'm going to live there, best of aunts, and maybe take my -dinners with Jane, the star of my existence!" - -"Phil, you're crazy," said Mrs. Fabian, despairing. "You will continue -to live here and work over there." - -He shook his head gaily. "Don't worry. Just watch; and if you have any -attic treasures in the way of furniture, let me store them for you." - -When Mrs. Fabian really understood the enterprise Phil was embarking -upon, she resigned herself, and finding an old suit of Mr. Fabian's -which he had used for fishing, she bestowed it upon her guest. - -Then the work commenced. Eliza tried with a lofty sense of devotion -to lend a hand and even besought the privilege; but she was repulsed. -Philip induced Captain James to take an interest in his scheme and -render him assistance at certain epochs in the reconstruction period, -but the Captain and Jane Foster were the only persons privileged to -come near the scene of operations; and Miss Foster's heart so far went -out to her strong, determined young tenant that she began hunting in -her own garret for things to help him along. - -With shovel and wheelbarrow, scrubbing-brushes, soapsuds, -disinfectants, hammer and nails, Phil went to work. - -Eliza stood on her boundary-line, her hands on her hips, and watched, -her long nose lifted, while loads of refuse and debris were patiently -wheeled down to the edge of the bank and given over to the cleansing -tide. - -Violet generously offered her window which gave upon the scene of -operations, and the opera-glass with which she watched birds; but Eliza -declined. - -"I won't spy on him," she said, adding vindictively, "but I'll -look--the obstinate boy!" - -The first time Kathleen called, Violet took her up to her room and they -sat in the open window. - -"The opera-glass is scarcely any use," she explained, "for he hasn't -washed the windows yet and you can't see in at all." - -Kathleen laughed, but shrank back. "I don't want him to think we're -watching," she replied. - -"Oh, he knows we all are; but even after he has gone at night, we don't -dare to go and look in. We can't pass that rock there--not even Eliza." - -A charming tenor voice suddenly sounded on the air, singing an aria -from "La Bohème." The girls looked and saw Edgar advancing toward the -chicken-house, peering in curiously. - -Suddenly, Phil, attired in a sweater and Mr. Fabian's trousers which -scarcely reached his ankles, dashed out at the caller and pressed a -scrubbing-brush on his acceptance. Edgar suddenly stopped his lay and -ran, laughing, toward Mrs. Wright's, where he found the girls and took -them out on the water. - -"I should think you'd want to help him," said Kathleen wistfully. - -"I do," replied Edgar, "but I restrain myself. Phil doesn't want me, -really," he added; and he was certainly right. Phil had no time to -stumble over Marcellines. - -A week passed. Jane Foster had been smiling and important for the last -few days, but not for kingdoms would Eliza have questioned her. She -had acquired an air of calm indifference, which belied the burning -curiosity within. When Phil stopped in passing to speak with her, she -talked of the weather. Mrs. Wright, on the contrary, expressed her -eagerness to see what was going on so near and yet so far from them. - -"Pluto gets ahead of us," she said, "and you've trained him so well he -never tells anything." - -Edgar happened to be present and he shrugged his shoulders. "Better -hurry up, Phil," he remarked, "and have your opening before interest -wanes. You'll have an anti-climax the first thing you know." - -Mrs. Wright turned the gentle radiance of her eyes on the speaker. - -"We heard you last night, singing as you went home, Mr. Fabian," she -said: "that lovely voice floating across the field will make us famous. -People will hear it and wonder about the source, and begin to talk of -the angel of Brewster's Island." - -"Wonderfully level-headed people, those Wrights," soliloquized Edgar, -as he sauntered home. "A distinct acquisition to the island." Some -thought occurred to him. "I wish father could have heard that," he -mused. - -Phil lingered behind him. He had changed into his own clothes -remarkably early this afternoon. There was an hour yet before -supper-time. - -"Where are the rest of your family this afternoon?" he asked. - -"Violet went with Kathleen into the woods to get some specimens she -wants for her microscope," replied Mrs. Wright. - -"Where's Eliza?" Phil smiled as he asked it, and his companion smiled -in answer. - -"In her room, I think." - -Phil raised his eyebrows interrogatively. - -"Yes, I think so, a little," she replied softly, nodding. "You see Jane -has been there every day." - -"But that's all the rent I pay," protested Phil, all very quietly, for -though they were standing outdoors, the windows were open. - -"Yes, but--it's a good deal for flesh and blood to bear," said Mrs. -Wright with a twinkling glance. "The green-eyed monster ramps at the -best of us, you know." - -"I wonder if I could see Eliza," said Phil in his natural voice. - -"Yes, I think she's in her room," returned Mrs. Wright. "I'll go and -see." - -She disappeared, and Phil's eyes roved to the boulder cottage and fixed -there. A smile touched the corners of his lips. He had not meant to -carry prohibition too far with Eliza. It was genuine desire to save -her trouble as well as the wish to surprise her after her vehement -opposition to his scheme, which had made him warn her away. Now he was -eager to make it right with her. - -"I remember now," said Mrs. Wright, returning; "Eliza went down the -hill this afternoon. I don't know just when she'll come back; but won't -you sit down and wait for her?" - -"Thank you, I don't believe I will. I'll come back later. I've been a -runaway guest all this week," and with a smile of farewell, an eager -look grew in Phil's eyes as he started to run across the field toward -home. - -In all his arrangements, each time he had gained an effect he had -thought of Kathleen's amusement and appreciation. - -As soon as he found that Eliza was out of the question, his eagerness -burst forth to get the girls' point of view. He met Violet Manning -returning from the woods escorted by Edgar. - -"I open the studio to-morrow," he cried gaily. "Will you come to my tea -at three-thirty?" - -"Will we!" exclaimed Violet. "We couldn't have lasted much longer! I'm -glad you let us see it 'before' so we can fully appreciate it 'after.'" - -Violet was looking pretty and very happy. Phil considered for one -moment whether he should ask her to pour. Even yet he felt that -Kathleen lived in a remote rarefied air of elegance. Would one dare ask -her to dispense tea in a chicken-house? But he wisely kept silence. -Aunt Isabel might yet enter into what she continued to term his -foolishness. - -With a wave of his hand, he fled on his way, and found Kathleen, -flushed from her walk, carrying mosses to the table in the wind-break. - -"I've finished," he cried, vaulting over the railing and appearing -beside her. "Want to see it?" - -She looked up into his expectant eyes. - -"Are we invited?" she returned. - -"To-morrow, everybody is; but I thought I'd like you to see it right -now--if you aren't too tired." - -"A private view!" she exclaimed. "Who was ever too tired for that? But -I'm of the earth so earthy, I shall have to go in and wash my hands." - -"No, no, don't," replied Phil softly. "You'd meet Aunt Isabel, and -this is to be clandestine. Wipe your hands on this,"--he pulled his -handkerchief out of his pocket,--"and come." - -Kathleen laughed and brushing her fingers free of traces of the -treasured moss, she wiped them and they started across the field. - -"Here's hoping Violet and Edgar don't see us," said Phil, and took the -path he had trodden so often straight to the hen-house, and which did -not pass very near the Wrights. - -As they approached, Kathleen looked curiously at the little cottage -with its sloping red roof, nestling close to the ground on the breast -of the hill and sheltered by the tall Balm-of-Gilead trees. Their -rustling leaves held always a murmur as of rain and to-day fleecy white -clouds piled against the blue sky behind the cottage. - -As they drew near, Kathleen stopped and clasped her hands, and laughter -bubbled from her lips. - -"That's clever!" she exclaimed heartily, and Phil's eyes danced as she -met them. - -A swinging sign had been hung above the low door. Upon it strutted a -splendid cock and above his proudly lifted comb appeared the legend:-- - - VILLA CHANTECLER. - -Phil threw open the low door with a sweeping bow; and Kathleen paused -on the threshold with a low cry of surprise; then stepped into the -cool, dusky interior. - -She found herself in a low-ceiled room with small-paned windows set -high. A golden radiance streamed through, falling on the soft tone of -floor and walls. - -On a table draped with dull green a tall candlestick and ivory-tinted -plate reflected gleams of light. - -Kathleen sank on the cushions of a long, low divan. - -"You can paint Rembrandt portraits in here!" she said. "Don't explain -how you've done it. I don't want to know. It is the most restful, -delightful studio I've ever seen--and smelling of ambergris?" - -"No, only of bay leaves." - -Phil waited and let her look at the hangings, the cushioned chairs, and -spindle legs of the quaint table. - -"You like it," he said after a pause of deep satisfaction. - -She looked up at him. "I am making genuflexions to you in my mind." - -He laughed. "But the best is yet to come. Sit where you are." - -He moved to the back of the room and opened a door toward the ocean. -It was as if a brilliant panel had suddenly been set in the dark wall. - -Kathleen sprang to her feet. - -"Like enamel!" she said softly, and approached the opening. - -It led upon a terrace with a white railing. Tall white pillars at -either end were crowned with dark-green bay. - -"Is it a stage-setting," she said, "or is it practicable?" - -"Come out and see." - -Together they moved outside and the wind came up out of the sea across -the sleeping field and swept their faces and set the young leaves of -the orchard to whispering with sweet fresh lips to their gnarled stems. - -Kathleen looked up at her companion, smiled and shook her head. - -"You have added poetry to our island," she said. "I didn't think any -one could do that." - -Phil met her gaze. - -"And you," he said, "have put the finishing touch to my satisfaction." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -PHILIP'S LETTER - - -DEAREST MOTHER:--You remember I told you I had found a pig's ear and -was going to make a silk purse out of it despite the scepticism of the -neighborhood. Behold the purse! I call it the Villa Chantecler. It has -taken me the whole week, but the result--well, Kathleen says I have -added poetry to the island, and I suspect she is authority on poetry, -although that too is hidden in one of the locked rooms I've told you -about. She gives just enough of herself to each person to fit every -occasion; but the way she took the first view of the Villa yesterday -was like everything else she does; perfection. I didn't know I was -going to write that. I didn't know I thought it. That's the beauty of -having some one to whom you can think aloud. You find out what you do -think; but she and I touch only on the high places and when we leave -the island we shall fly apart for the whole winter again; with pleasant -memories, however. She has a positive talent for letting people alone. -I love such people! - -Now, to tell you how I did my little trick. I could never have done -it but for New England tenacity and thrift. They never throw anything -away in this part of the world; and even importations like Aunt Isabel -collect some lumber-room outcasts rather than injure the scenery by -throwing them over the bank. - -Jane Foster, adorable landlady and Lady Bountiful that she is, turned -me loose in her attic, and told me to help myself. So, first of all, -I made the hen-house shine with cleanliness. Then Cap'n James helped -me drag up its dejected piazza which had capsized in the neighboring -field. We nailed it to the house and painted it white. - -Aunt Isabel had discarded a Crex rug, which I took for my studio, also -a three-legged divan and chairs whose cane seats had surrendered. These -I mended and cushioned. In Miss Foster's attic, I found what I should -think were all the potato sacks that had ever been used in the Foster -family. These made my hangings and cushions, although the poverty they -implied nearly reduced Jane to tears. She implored me to use turkey red -and found enough in the attic to begin on. The stuff smelled so new, -I'm nearly certain the dear woman bought it and placed it there. - -I found an old spinet under the eaves. Its voice had long departed; -but its charming legs and framework were intact. I placed some boards -across that and used my green bathrobe for a cover. I took a straight -length of pipe, fixed it into a wooden stand, topped it with a spool, -bronzed the whole thing, and behold, a stunning candlestick in which -stands a tall wax candle. - -Among the refuse I had carried out of the place, I had found charming -old plates, heavy as lead, crackled with age, and cream and gray in -color. These I disposed variously, and I am perfectly sure Cap'n James -and Jane Foster have laid their heads together in order to condole -over the fact that so pleasant a young man should have so gloomy and -unpicturesque a taste when he expects to get his living by that same -lame faculty. In fact, Cap'n James unburdened his mind one day. He -said:-- - -"Ain't you goin' to have anything cheerful 'round here? It looks to me -more fit for hens than it does for folks right now." - -Under the house I found lengths of drain-pipe. These I used on my -terrace at the back of the Villa, overlooking the sea. When I had -placed these pillars at each end of the railing and crowned them with -the polished bay that grows luxuriantly here, I had a quite Italian -effect, I assure you. - -Jane looks at me with pitiful eyes, and yesterday came down to the -Villa with a framed chromo from her parlor wall. - -"I just as lieves you'd use it as not," she said, "and anyway you might -put it up till the folks have seen the place. Your own paintin's can go -up later." I almost kissed her, she pitied me so, and I could see that -she agreed with Cap'n James, who said the place gave him the "Injun -blues." - -There is a rough stairway that leads to the half-floored room above. -I took a drain-pipe to make a newel post for that. It is surmounted -with a bronze Mercury on a pedestal. The pedestal is a small, rusty tin -wash-basin that I found under the house. I covered it with varnish and -rolled it in sand, inverted it, and behold! I also gave an appearance -of advanced age to the Mercury; so the general appearance is as of a -treasure from Pompeii. - -If only you and father could see and feel the beauty and the heavenly -quiet of the place. I have a kitchen, too. The door was a wreck, and I -tacked upon it a dark ornate window shade which tones in with all the -rest. - -Sometimes I feel as if I were only living to see you again. I know it's -what I'm working for anyway; and I well know that you are working for -me every day of your dear life. - -I love you. - - PHIL. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -PHILIP ENTERTAINS - - -Philip still had Eliza on his mind, so when Kathleen had left him, -he went back to the farmhouse and had the good fortune to meet Eliza -returning home. - -"I'm looking for you!" he called cheerfully. - -She regarded him unsmiling. "Well," she remarked carelessly, "you look -like a gentleman of leisure." - -"Just what I am. You guessed right. My Villa is finished and I've been -waiting for you because I'm going to let everybody in to-morrow and I -wanted you to see it with me alone." - -"My opinion ain't worth anything," said Eliza; "besides, it's pretty -near time to get supper. Miss Foster went up to Portland to-day." - -"I know she did. That's why I'm in a hurry to take you into the studio -before the boat arrives. You know how discouraging you were, Eliza, and -I wanted to surprise you. I'd have liked to surprise everybody, but, -of course, I hadn't the nerve to keep Miss Foster out. The rent I pay -didn't warrant it." The speaker twinkled down into Eliza's unresponsive -eyes. "I'm going to give a tea to-morrow and I want to talk it over -with you." - -They had strolled near to the rustic bench where Mrs. Wright was still -sitting with her work. - -"Eliza is going with me to have a private view of the Villa," said -Phil. "Your turn to-morrow. I'm going to give a tea. Will you come?" - -"Most assuredly," answered Mrs. Wright. "As soon as you cleaned those -windows, my curiosity began to effervesce." - -"I can't go now," said Eliza. "I've waited this long, I guess I can -wait till to-morrow. I've got to get supper." - -Philip threw an arm around her and drew her forward. - -"Boarders have come, Mr. Philip," she exclaimed. "They'll see you." - -"I hope they will," he responded firmly. "If they don't know I love -you, it's the best way to tell them." - -Eliza walked along stiffly, perforce, toward the forbidden ground. - -"Yes, I thought I'd make a grand splurge to-morrow, and give a tea," he -continued. "I want you to preside." - -"Do what?" - -"Pour. I want you to pour for me." - -"H'm. Ridiculous! Let one of the girls do it." - -"Well, just as you say. Now, then," they were drawing near the little -house, "prepare! Be a good sport now, and own yourself wrong if you -think you are. See my shingle?" - -Eliza's eyes followed his gesture and caught sight of the crowing cock. - -"H'm," she said; then they went inside. - -Eliza looked about in silence for a minute. - -"It's clean," she said at last; and Phil knew she was moved to catch at -a word of praise as one says of a neighbor's plain and uninteresting -baby, "How healthy he looks!" - -He began explaining his devices to Eliza and her heart was touched by -his joy in all this cheap gloom. - -By the time he opened the back door, she was ready to weep over him; -and she said:-- - -"That's a real sightly piazza." - -Then they moved into the little kitchen. - -"I've been waiting for you to tell me what to do here," said the -artist, and Eliza rose to the bait and began pulling things about and -showing him where shelves must be placed. - -"How are you goin' to give a tea," she asked, "with one broken mug?" - -"Borrow cups and saucers from Aunt Isabel. That's easy; but," he -looked down at Eliza, whose face had regained its usual alertness, -"it occurred to me that perhaps I have some of my own--those that you -packed for me and that ran away to the island." - -"Mr. Philip, I'm a fool to forget those!" responded the other, after -gazing at him in silence. "You shall have every one of 'em. They're all -mixed in with the Foster things. I'll pick 'em out; and we'll lend you -all you need beside." - -"Would it interfere with supper proceedings if we were to do it right -now?" - -"Law! it ain't time to get supper yet," responded Eliza, so promptly -that, as they hurried out of the door, Phil stooped to break a long -blade of grass to bite. - -A vigorous search was at once instituted for the china, and Phil and -Eliza carried it down to the studio; and as they went, Mr. Wright came -up from the water and joined his wife. - -"We're to be let in to-morrow," she said. "He has finished." - -"Well, it's been a job," remarked Mr. Wright, who had occasionally sat -on a log and watched Phil at his roof-mending or some other strenuous -part of the work. - -"Yes, he ought to succeed," said Mrs. Wright. "He hasn't a lazy bone in -his body." - -"There aren't many of us that have at his age," remarked Mr. Wright. -"Are there, Pluto?" - -The cat had run to meet him like a dog. For him the scent of Mr. -Wright's fishing trousers was as the perfume of Araby; and he followed -him to the room in the shed where his friend changed them for -habiliments more generally agreeable. - -At last Phil returned to the boulder cottage where he found Mrs. Fabian -and Kathleen in the wind-break. The latter was working at the table, -sorting the moss specimens for her slides. - -She looked up at him now with a new realization of his powers. - -"Well, you said this morning to-day would finish the work," said Mrs. -Fabian, closing her novel on her finger for a mark. "Are you through?" - -"As nearly as I ever shall be," he replied, throwing himself into a -chair near Kathleen's table and regarding her deft fingers at their -work. - -"Well, I'm glad," said Mrs. Fabian, "for we've seen nothing of you. I -like the way you visit us." - -He looked at her quickly to see if there were feeling behind the -accusation. - -"Now, you'll have to stay on a week when you are not so preoccupied." - -"Not if he doesn't wish to, mother," said Kathleen, going on with her -work. Her cheeks were still flushed from the warm tramp to the woods; -the red glints in her hair shone lustrous. - -"It does look like making use of you, doesn't it?" he said impetuously. -"But you're so good to me, both of you. To-morrow you'll forgive me, -Aunt Isabel, when you see I have a place to work and trouble no one. I -do hope it won't rain." - -"Oh, no," said Kathleen, handling a tiny bit of moss. "The moon holds -the weather." - -Mrs. Fabian laughed. "Kathleen, the astronomer," she said. - -The girl nodded. "It may not be a scientific way to put it, but I've -always noticed it here. It will be full to-morrow night. The weather -won't change till the moon does." - -"Delightfully consoling," said Phil, continuing to watch her averted -face. It seemed to him this was the first time since Christmas -night that his mind had been sufficiently at leisure from itself to -concentrate upon her. He suddenly remembered that she used to like -cigarettes. He had not yet seen her use one. Perhaps she was aiding -Edgar in the stern limit which he was imposing upon himself. - -"I wonder," he said, "if either of you would pour for me at my grand -tea to-morrow." - -Kathleen did not look up, but her cheeks grew warmer while she -manipulated the moss. - -"Oh, a tea in the chicken-house," laughed Mrs. Fabian. - -The light jeering tone struck Kathleen as coming at a particularly -unfortunate moment. - -"I will. Be glad to," she said heartily. - -"Whom are you going to invite? The fish?" laughed Mrs. Fabian. - -Phil's naïveté was dashed by her tone. Kathleen felt it. - -"Mother's jealous, Phil," she said, "because she has seen so little of -you all the week. She is at fever heat of curiosity as to what you have -been doing; and as for tea! Mother's an inebriate. She won't leave any -for the fish. You'll see." - -Phil looked at the speaker gratefully, and leaned toward her a little. -"I have the right barrel at last," he said. "The one that ran away to -the island. Do you remember?" - -His eyes were so very speaking that Kathleen dropped hers to the moss. -She nodded and smiled. - -"It knew where it ought to go, didn't it?" she returned. - -Mrs. Fabian's countenance had sobered. She knew the descendant of the -Van Ruyslers so well that she understood that she had offended. - -"Can't one make a bit of fun once in a while?" she asked in injured -tones of Kathleen when next they were alone. - -"Yes, once in a while," answered the girl, and kissed her. - -"It'll be something funny for you to look back upon when you come out, -Kathleen, that your first function after graduating took place in a -chicken-house." - -"I hope I shall not be homesick for it," thought the girl; but she only -smiled. - -"Kathleen is certainly touchy about Phil," mused Mrs. Fabian. "She -glared up at me just the way she did last fall when I wanted to get -Aunt Mary's silver. She is the queerest girl!" - -The moon or something else did hold the weather and the artist could -have had no better day on which to give his proof that where there's a -will there's a way. - -The company swarmed through the little house, laughing, admiring, -questioning. At last they stood on the terrace. - -"My dear boy!" exclaimed Mrs. Wright. "You could have no better view if -you were a millionaire!" - -"The only thing lacking," cried Violet, "is a white peacock. Where is -the white peacock?" - -"How about it, Edgar?" asked Phil. "Couldn't you stand out there for -the lady?" - -"The nightingale could never deceive us," said Mrs. Wright, bending her -universally loving gaze on Edgar, whose chin was held rather higher -than usual. - -"That's so," cried Phil. "Sing us something, Edgar, right here and now." - -"Certainly," responded the gifted one, regarding his host as he -launched easily into song:-- - - "'I'm looking for a lobster and I think you'll do.'" - -Mrs. Fabian did not join in the laugh. She had moved inside, and her -lorgnette was fixed on a closed door. - -"I must see in there, Phil," she said. - -"Of course, you must, Mrs. Bluebeard," he replied. "You may all go in -this once, but it's the last time ever, I warn you, for that is my -kitchen." - -They swarmed through to the little room, where Edgar perceived with -a groan an oil-stove burning cosily in the midst of canvas, paints, -easel, et cetera. - -"_I'll_ never go in again, I promise you," he declared. - -At the host's invitation, the company arranged themselves on -the rejuvenated chairs and couch, and Kathleen made tea at the -spindle-legged table. - -Mrs. Fabian's lorgnette was bent upon the newel post. - -"However did you make him stand up, dear?" she asked, regarding the -Mercury which had winged his way from her garret. "We haven't been -upstairs yet, remember." - -"And you won't go till you're tired of life," returned the host. -"It abounds in trapdoors and, aside from my affection for you, the -furniture down here couldn't stand being fallen on." - -Being turned ceilingward, Mrs. Fabian's lorgnette discovered that -branches of bay had been woven through the rafters in some places. She -shrugged her shoulders. - -"You'll get rained on in this dilapidated old place," she said. "A few -bay leaves can't deceive me." - -"Madam! Are you aware that you are talking about the Villa Chantecler? -That roof is as tight as a drum." - -Mrs. Fabian stirred the lemon in her substantially thick cup; and -looked admiringly at the energetic host. - -"I only hope, Phil," she sighed, "that you aren't too practical to -succeed in your profession. So few artists would know how to mend a -roof or even remember the necessity for it. I hope it isn't a bad sign." - -Edgar, sitting with Violet on the railing, drinking tea, heard his -mother's comment. - -"A good deal in that, I think," he remarked softly. "I've never seen -any of Phil's things except that rough black-and-white stuff he has in -there. He never seemed to me to have a particle of temperament." - -Violet was inclined to agree. She had seen nothing amusing in Philip's -chaff about the peacock. She thought it quite as silly as were the -other comments on the robin. - -"I wish you would sing something," she said. "Do, and surprise them." - -"I can't. I haven't even a banjo." - -"I've noticed you have everything over at the house: banjo, guitar, -mandolin, everything. You must leave one of them over here. Music would -sound perfectly charming in this place." - -"_Any_ music?" asked Edgar, smiling. - -She returned his look from the tops of her eyes. "Bold fisherman," she -replied. - -Her companion scanned the horizon: "The moon is going to be great -to-night. It looks as if it would rise clear out of the water. Want to -go for a sail?" - -"I don't believe I can," replied Violet. "I have an engagement." - -"An engagement!" returned Edgar, sceptically. "Are you going to read -aloud to your aunt?" - -Violet smiled at him provokingly. "You're not the only man on this -island," she remarked. - -A quick flush mounted to Edgar's forehead. - -"Phil?" he asked quickly. - -She nodded, mutely, and took the last swallow of her tea. - -Her companion looked as if he might be in the throes of the red mood. - -"That's beastly," he said, dismayed to think that in all Phil's -preoccupation he had had sufficient forethought to secure Violet for -this perfect evening. "Since when?" he demanded fiercely. - -"Since yesterday," she returned demurely, apparently unconscious that -the arrangement caused annoyance. - -"Very well, then, we'll take the yacht," he said, "and let the crowd -go. Phil can help me sail her. I was intending to take the motor-boat -and you alone." - -"I don't know whether Mr. Sidney would care to," she returned coolly, -"but it's very kind of you." - -Edgar regarded her, baffled. "What--what had you planned to do?" -he asked. He knew the question was inexcusable and braced himself -for a snub; but the sweet Violet, exultant at his open disturbance, -administered none. - -"Nothing special," she replied. "Mr. Sidney is invited to dine with us, -in celebration of the completion of the improvements he has been making -on the estate. That's all." - -"Oh, absurd!" declared Edgar. "As if you couldn't dine any foggy night. -Well, you don't need to stay after dinner. He isn't your guest." - -Violet regarded him with an ironical smile. - -"I've been taught manners," she said. "Beside, perhaps I want to stay. -Didn't that occur to you?" - -Edgar scowled and looked off on the ocean and back again. "I don't want -to take the whole family out in order to get you," he said, fuming. - -"I wouldn't," she answered, laughing. "It isn't worth the trouble." - -Her companion clenched his even teeth. He didn't want to risk Philip's -meandering about the island alone with Violet on such an evening -as this was going to be. He would be sure to talk of his work and -his hopes, and her confoundedly soulful eyes would look back at him -comprehendingly, and a precedent would be established and-- - -"You see, Mr. Sidney expects to take all his dinners with us after he -begins working here," went on Violet sweetly. "It will be so convenient -just to run across." - -Edgar gave her a furious glance, but the simplicity of her regard was -complete. - -Mrs. Wright came to the open door. "We're going now, Violet," she said. -"Will you come? Our host positively refuses to allow us to help him -put things away, and he will follow a little later. I've been hoping," -turning to Edgar, "that you might be moved to sing as you sat out here." - -The young man had sprung to his feet and was trying to banish evidences -of the red mood from his brow. - -"I wanted to take Violet out on the water to-night," he said. "It seems -there's an obstacle." - -"Yes, a large one," returned Mrs. Wright pleasantly. "Lots of evenings -coming, but I don't know about letting my little girl go on the water -at night." - -"I guarantee her safety. I've come here ever since I was a baby, Mrs. -Wright, and I'm an amphibious animal; but if Sidney should ever suggest -it, remember he's a landlubber. Half the time they don't know enough to -be afraid." - -"Very true," returned Mrs. Wright, with her natural graceful sweetness -of manner, which at least succeeded in making Edgar feel rude. "Come, -dear," turning to Violet, "I'd like to have you come with me." - -So the girl rose and yielded her cup to Edgar, who took it with -dignity. He, the ex-cavalier of Mrs. Larrabee, not to be able to mould -circumstances among these poor and provincial people! - -He took leave of Philip, and tendered his congratulations with an air -fitted to grace marble halls. "I believe," he added, "you don't dine at -home to-night." - -"No," replied Phil, "Miss Foster is very kindly entertaining her -tenant." - -Edgar pricked up his ears; and instantly ran after Violet. "Phil says -Jane Foster invited him," he said vehemently. "I shall call for you by -eight o'clock. I'll take the best care of her, Mrs. Wright. I assure -you I will, and bring her in early." - -He was off before he could be gainsaid, and Mrs. Wright noticed that -Violet's expression was such as might be worn by a well-grown kitten -who had been hilariously entertained in a game with a mouse which was -as yet unfinished and highly promising. - -The events of the week had thrown light on the happiness Violet evinced -the day of her arrival under Edgar Fabian's escort. Mrs. Wright's -tenderness for her orphan niece was alertly watchful. She put an arm -around her now and drew her away from the house, and they walked slowly -across the grass. - -"It really is perfectly safe to go on the water with Edgar," said the -girl, half laughing. - -"For me, it might be," returned Mrs. Wright quietly. - -Violet blushed deeply, and dreaded what might be coming. - -"The Fabians are nice people," went on her aunt, "very rich people and -able to give you pleasures, and I like you to be friendly with them; -but I'm a little afraid of this situation." - -"You needn't be," burst forth the girl impulsively. "Edgar doesn't -really care much about me." - -"That's the trouble," said Mrs. Wright quietly. - -The reply was so unexpected that Violet felt a sharp twinge of -mortification and a spontaneous desire to show her aunt that she was -wrong. There were lots of small proofs that she might give her-- - -"No," she returned, suddenly serious. "He cares very much for me in -a certain way: my understanding of his gift--and his hopes--and his -career. His family mean to be kind, but they're so unsympathetic. -They're not temperamental like him and--" - -Violet paused because Aunt Amy was smiling. It was unkind to smile at -such a time. Very well! Her lips should be sealed from this time on. -She would never again speak to her about Edgar! - -"He is very attractive even with all his conceit," said Mrs. Wright, -who was quite conscious that the girl's slender body had suddenly -a resentful rigidity. "A beautiful tenor voice and conceit seem to -be inseparable in this mundane sphere; and if my little girl has -understood and responded to his outpourings about himself she is -charming to him." Mrs. Wright paused and then went on: "Look around, -Violet, and realize that you are the only girl here to whom he can show -attention. Did he show you any in New York? Did he go out of his way -for you? You fell right into his reach on the train and he took the -gifts the gods provided; and they were very sweet gifts." - -The speaker squeezed her unresponsive listener, whose heart was beating -hotly. "As a rule men are marauders," she went on. "As a rule, women -are single-hearted, faithful. There are exceptions. I want to give you -one piece of advice and I can't put it too strongly. Take it in and -act upon it, and it may save you a world of hurt vanity, and possibly -a broken heart. No matter how a man behaves toward you,--no matter how -he looks, or what he does,--or what he says,--don't believe or even -imagine that he loves you until he tells you he does, in so many words." - -There were tears in the baby-bachelor's blue eyes. Among the stormy -emotions that filled her was the horrible suspicion that, instead of -being a foreordained victor, the kitten might possibly in the end be -the mouse's victim. - -"Now, Mr. Sidney," went on Mrs. Wright's calm voice, "is a man who I -believe has hold of life by the right end." - -"He is always making fun of Edgar," burst forth Violet, her breath -coming fast. "You heard what he said about the peacock." - -At this, Mrs. Wright fell a peg lower in her niece's estimation, for -she laughed. - -"I knew what he meant," she answered, "but I couldn't let the lovely -singer's feelings be hurt." - -"Knew what he meant!" exclaimed Violet, indignantly, and suddenly -breaking away from her aunt's embrace, she ran toward the house and -disappeared. - -Mrs. Wright followed the fleeing form with her eyes, and nodded gently. - -"I thought so. Only just in time," she said to herself. The seed was -dropped, and even though the ground did have to be harrowed to get the -necessary depth, it was better so. - -The evening was as beautiful as Edgar Fabian had foreseen. One of the -many charms of Brewster's Island was the habit the wind had of lulling -at sunset, often making the evening air milder than that of day. - -To-night the sun had sunk in a clear sky behind the White Mountains. -All the family at the Wright cottage had come out after supper to see -the Presidential Range, ninety miles away, silhouetted black against -the golden glory. - -"One can breathe here," thought Philip. "One can breathe here." He -wondered if Kathleen were watching the sunset. - -"Oh, but turn around," cried Violet suddenly. "This is a three-ringed -circus. One should live on a pivot here on a clear night." - -Phil turned obediently, and saw the waters dashing against a huge disk -of pale gold. - -Kathleen, lying in her hammock, arm folded beneath her head, was also -watching the moon. - -Edgar sat near her on the steps, smoking his third cigarette that day. -It was his rigid allowance. He saw dimly the figures come out from the -Wright cottage and his first impulse was to stroll across and join -them; but pride forbade. Supposing he were to get there just in time to -see Violet walk off with Philip. - -"What a perfect evening!" said Kathleen lazily. "Go in and get the -guitar, Edgar, and sing me something." - -Sing something! Edgar's teeth clenched at the thought. - -"I've practised such a lot to-day, I'm no good," he replied. - -"Why, I didn't hear you," she said. - -"No. I took my trusty pitch-pipe down in the woods and scared the -birds. I have some mercy on you and mother." - -"What is your aim?" asked his sister. "What do you want to do? Concert -work?" - -"Yes, perhaps. Mazzini says I could teach right now if I wanted to." - -"Teach?" repeated Kathleen, trying to speak respectfully, but smiling -at the man in the moon, who grinned back as if he understood. - -"Of course, there's no necessity for that, so I shall simply prepare -myself for public work; recitals; possibly go abroad for the prestige -of study over there. Not that I need it but the name goes a long way, -and if I should go into opera it is best to begin there." - -The man in the moon grew redder in the face. So did Kathleen; but she -knew that sublime self-assurance is an asset not to be despised. She -looked at her brother's trim shapely head, rising from the white silk -collar of his negligée shirt. - -"Does Mazzini really think you are already prepared to teach?" she -asked. - -"Oh, yes. I had very few errors in method to unlearn, and he says, -given a good voice, a good presence, and good looks, tact, and an -attractive studio, pupils will come fast enough," replied Edgar -carelessly. "He said he'd send me his overflow; but of course all that -was in joke. He knows that it is no question of money with me." - -Kathleen ceased to smile at the moon, for her thoughts recurred to -their father, meeting his problems in the heat of the great city. So -far his letters had breathed no hint of trouble. - -"That's a glorious feeling, Edgar," she said soberly, "to feel certain -that you can be independent." - -"Yes," he returned, speaking low, and holding the cigarette between his -fingers. "I said I'd show father, and I will." - -The remainder of his thoughts he did not voice; but there was some one -else he meant to show. The vivacious Mrs. Larrabee who had dared to use -him when it suited her and then discard him with raised eyebrows and a -scornful word. She should see him win the plaudits of the multitude; -then, when she endeavored to add her incense and claim to have been his -inspiration, it should be his turn to show cold disdain. He ground the -even teeth at some memory. - -"I want to tell you, Edgar," went on Kathleen in the same serious tone, -"that I am proud of your determination; proud of your regular work; -proud of your cutting down on smoking; and it will overwhelm me with -joy to see you succeed." - -"Thanks, Kath," he returned. "I appreciate that." - -"And I also want to ask you not to make love to Violet Manning," went -on the low, serious voice. - -Edgar was dumb, and now the man in the moon met _him_ with a grin. - -"You know it will be only an idle pastime with you, and because she is -the only girl here. It might mean a lot to her, and--it's a hard world -for girls." - -Kathleen had not intended to end her appeal in that way, but the -declaration broke from her. - -"She doesn't care a picayune for me," returned Edgar. "Don't you -worry." He hoped his sister would contradict him; but she did not. - -"You might be able to make her," she said. "Be too manly to try, Edgar. -Do, do be unselfish and honest." - -The earnest deliberation of her tone caused her listener to reflect for -a moment; and the man in the moon, by this time crimson in the face, -met his frowning regard mirthfully. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -BY MOONLIGHT - - -While Edgar was still frowning, and divided between consoled pride -and a consciousness of guilt, a tall dark form came into sight in the -moonlit landscape. It broke into a run as it neared the cottage, and -with a sense of relief Edgar recognized Philip Sidney, who bounded over -the piazza railing. - -Catching sight of Edgar sitting alone, he spoke eagerly:-- - -"Has Kathleen gone anywhere?" - -"No, she's there in the hammock. How did you break away so early?" - -"I didn't think it was going to be easy," replied Phil half laughing, -and looking toward the shadowy hammock where Kathleen in her white gown -was watching him; "but we finished supper a long time ago, and--and -have been talking ever since. We had told each other about everything -we knew, and so I thought"--his voice trailed away--"well, I think I -was homesick." - -"Why didn't you bring Violet with you?" asked Edgar. - -"I tried to; that is, I suggested that it was too heavenly a night to -keep still, and asked her if she would like to go to walk--" As he -talked, Phil kept his eyes on the white figure in the hammock and he -spoke eagerly as if he were justifying himself. "But," he went on, "she -said she had a headache and felt that she must excuse herself." - -Edgar looked up triumphantly at the man in the moon, but he refused -to see the joke. His hilarious mood had changed. He beamed down now -in pensive golden serenity with the usual remote benevolence for all -lovers which has won his reputation. - -"What was there in that tea I made?" inquired Kathleen lazily. "Mother -has the headache, too. Isn't it a shame on such an evening." - -"Too bad," said Phil perfunctorily. He approached the hammock and -neither he nor Kathleen noted that Edgar made an unostentatious -departure such as the comic papers describe as a cat-like sneak. -Certainly Pluto could not have moved any more quietly, and his heart -was gay. - -"Headache!" he thought, the even teeth broadly exhibited. "What that -headache needs is the water-cure"; and the boarders sitting out in -front of the Wright cottage heard the "Toreador Song" blithely whistled -by some one coming across the field. - -When Edgar arrived at the farmhouse he looked about for a familiar -figure. Among the little group, Eliza Brewster was the only one he -knew. He approached her with his most debonair manner. - -"Good evening, Eliza. Will you please tell Miss Manning I am here?" - -"She's got the headache, Mr. Fabian." - -"So Mr. Sidney said; but I thought she might see me for just a minute. -I want to tell her something important." - -"Well, that's too bad, 'cause she's gone to bed. I'll take any message -you want me to, and give it to her in the morning. I'd rather not -disturb her now 'cause I just took her up a pitcher o' water and she -told me she was goin' to try to go to sleep." - -Edgar was so blankly silent that Eliza spoke again. - -"I'll call Mrs. Wright if you'd rather see her. She's in her room -writin' a letter." - -"No, no, don't trouble yourself," said the visitor, lightly. "Good -night." - -He moved away quickly toward the Villa Chantecler and made a détour -around it. The little piazza overlooking the sea gleamed white in the -moonlight. The bay leaves stood up crisp and polished. Edgar recalled -the mocking in Violet's eyes as they had sat there this afternoon. To -lose an evening like this. It was a crime! - -Coming out beside the orchard he looked up at the windows of Violet's -room. They were dark. - -His hopeful vanity relinquished the hope that she had manoeuvred to get -rid of Phil in order to leave the coast clear for himself. He moved up -the incline and threw himself down in the shadow. He could hear a stir -at the front of the house. The lingerers in the moonlight were moving -inside and he could see lamps twinkle in rooms where the shades were -pulled down. - -In a few minutes more all lights vanished. Only the rising tide broke -the stillness. Edgar had been giving himself over to dreams of a -brilliant future in which his only handicap consisted of his father's -money. Would the cynical blasé critics be able to be as fair to him as -if he had been discovered among the peasants of Italy? - -Suddenly he realized that never would a more wonderful stage-setting be -his than that which now surrounded him. He rose on his elbow and looked -up again at Violet's windows. - -Then he began to sing. Into the girl's unrestful dreams the sound fell -like balm:---- - - "Drink to me only with thine eyes, - And I will pledge with mine." - -She was wide awake suddenly and looking wide-eyed toward the open -windows. - - "Leave but a kiss within the cup - And I'll not ask for wine." - -Her heart beat fast and she pressed her hand over her eyes, every -faculty absorbed in listening to the melting loveliness of the voice. - -Last night she would have knelt happily by the open window and called -out a hushed "Bravo," to the singer. - -Now she lay perfectly still after the song ceased. - -"It is because there isn't any other girl here," she reflected. "He is -a fashionable man with countless friends. I am a dancing-teacher whom -he forgets in town and always will forget.--That's the most beautiful -voice in the world," she thought with swift irrelevance; but Edgar, -looking up at the windows, saw only blankness. He smiled to himself. He -felt that she was not asleep. - -The moon shed a wondrous luminous glow in the clear heavens as it -sailed above him. The "man" looked into vast space as though no such -hilarity as that of his earlier mood had been possible. - -Edgar sang again. The higher the range of the song, with the more ease -did his voice thrill the still night. - - "Oh, Moon of my delight, that knows no wane, - The Moon of heaven is rising once again. - How oft hereafter rising shall she look - Through this same garden after me in vain! - - And when thyself with shining foot shall pass - Among the guests star-scattered on the grass, - And in thy joyous errand reach the spot where I made one, - Turn down an empty glass!" - -Violet did not know when or how she reached the window, but the ending -of the song found her kneeling there, sobbing quietly, her head buried -on her crossed arms. The moonlight fell on her shining hair. Edgar saw -her and, springing up, came near, careful to keep in shadow, for other -window shades had risen. - -"Violet!" he called softly. - -No answer. - -"Violet!" he said again. A hand white in the moonlight motioned him -away, and he believed that she was weeping. Tears of sympathy, of -triumph, sprang to his own eyes. So before very long would hundreds be -shaken by his art. - -"Just say good night, Violet," he begged softly; but she would not look -up. She waved her hand again, and her shade came down. - -Only one week since she had come to the island and it seemed months. -Her aunt's words had pierced what she knew now had been a hope. How -could she have been so insane as to hope it! Even given such a wild -supposition as that Edgar Fabian would marry a nobody, what comfort or -peace was in store for his wife? Violet had seen a play called "The -Concert," in which a wife had been obliged to share her artist husband -with a miscellaneous lot of female admirers. Better a thousand times -to marry a shoemaker or any other obscure body and so be left to his -undisturbed possession. - -Aunt Amy was terribly right. More right than she knew. - -Violet crept back to bed in a tumult of sensible reasoning, -accompanying which was an intoxicating obbligato of divine music, which -sang and sang through her excited brain. - -Meanwhile Edgar, strolling back deliberately through the field, smiled -at his own thoughts. So the mocking eyes had been quenched. What a fine -combination that girl was: so spirited, so sincere, so temperamental. - -Kathleen's appeal recurred to him. "She's right, I suppose," he -reflected. "After smelling hothouse flowers all winter, the wild rose -is alluring; but--" his further thoughts were vague; but they comprised -a virtuous intention of fair play towards the girl whom he had left -weeping at the feet of his genius. - - * * * * * - -Kathleen sprang to a sitting posture as Philip approached the hammock, -and sitting on its edge, swung gently. - -"Well," he said, smiling, "aren't we going to the rocks?" - -"Oh, are we?" - -"Certainly. I was afraid I shouldn't get back before you had gone. I -was afraid you and Edgar might be making the most of the opportunity -for a fraternal _tête-à-tête_." - -"We were; but we found the piazza satisfactory for it." - -"Blasé creatures!" returned Phil. "Hurry, Kathleen," he added eagerly. -"Get your coat." - -"I wonder if mother may not need me." - -"No one needs you so much as I do to-night," was the impulsive -response. "The Villa finished, a summer's work before me, a full moon, -a rising tide. I feel as if I could hardly contain myself to-night, -and I've been holding my wings folded, and listening to Miss Foster -and Eliza deplore the high price of fruit, and sympathizing with Miss -Manning's headache, and holding wool for Mrs. Wright, all the time in a -prickly heat for fear you would be gone somewhere; and then to get over -here and find you lying like a little white cloud in the hammock--it's -just like everything else that happens to me--just the best thing in -the world!" - -Kathleen laughed at the boyish joy of his tone. "Well, I'll see if -mother needs me," she said, and went into the house and to her mother's -room. - -The moonlight streamed across the floor and the figure on the bed -turned. "Is that you, Kathleen?" asked the prostrate one, through her -nose. - -"Yes, how are you feeling, dear? Can I do anything for you?" - -"Why, yes, Kathleen. If you've had enough of the piazza, you might -light the lamp and read to me a little while." - -The simple request magnified itself to a disaster. Kathleen frowned, -not at her mother, but at herself. Was this all the progress she had -made? - -"Shall I leave Phil alone?" she asked quietly. - -Mrs. Fabian revived. "I thought he was over at the Wrights." - -"He was; but he just came home. Violet had a headache, too." - -"Where is Edgar?" - -"I don't know." - -"Oh, then, stay with him. It's too bad for a headache in every house -to spoil his evening. I wonder if I couldn't get down to the piazza. -Perhaps I'd feel better in the fresh air." - -A little pulse, its existence hitherto unsuspected, began doing queer -things in Kathleen's throat. - -"Phil wants to go down to the rocks," she said. - -"Well, why doesn't he? He was mooning all over the island alone last -night." - -"He thinks I am going with him. I came in for my coat. Shall I tell him -you need me?" - -"Oh, no. Go with him. And don't speak to me when you come in. I shall -be asleep. I'm feeling better." - -Kathleen came over to the bed and kissed her mother, and Mrs. Fabian -patted her hand. "Tell Phil I wish I could go, too," she said with -nasal sleepiness. - -Kathleen smiled, and going to her own room took a white polo coat and -hurried downstairs. - -Phil met her with relief, and she gave him a couple of cushions. - -"I began to think," he said, "that she did want you." - -"Only for a minute," returned Kathleen. "She sent word she wished she -was able to come with us." - -The girl looked up at her companion as they moved down on the grass and -he smiled at her with bravado. - -"Not one polite lie to-night," he answered; "I want you all to myself. -Think how seldom it has happened." - -Kathleen laughed from sheer contentment. - -"I think Cap'n James is the only one who has seen you alone," she -replied. - -"He's been a trump: and now," Phil inflated his lungs and looked about -the irregular outline of the island lying in sheeted silver, and at the -great lighthouses flashing in the distance, "I have a foothold in this -paradise." - -Their destination was the spot where rocks rose highest on the island's -shore, turning the rising tide into boiling cauldrons of white foam, -and meeting the tremendous impact of the great waves with jagged -granite shelves that flung the compact water high in fountains of -diamonds. Giant power, giant unrest, fascinating beauty glittering with -phosphorescence, and silvered for miles with moonlight. - -"Let me help you, Kathleen," said Phil, offering his hand. - -"'Bred and bawn in a briar patch,'" she responded, springing lightly -over the rocks. - -"I follow you, then," he answered; and Kathleen led the way to a partly -sheltered nook, too inaccessible for most less-accustomed visitors, -and so, remote from certain other figures which loomed penguin-like on -points of rock. - -"Father thinks he made the mistake of his life in not buying the -island outright," said the girl; "then there wouldn't be any penguins." - -"Supposing you had bought the Villa Chantecler? Where would I be?" -asked Phil, as he settled down a little below the seat she had chosen, -and tried to put the second cushion behind her back. - -"Not at all," she said, turning to him. "Share and share alike." She -laughed softly. "When I'm married, I'm going to have the tenderloin cut -in two. Once in a while a husband wants his wife to have it all, but -mostly I've noticed the wife expects the husband to have it all." - -"That's like my mother," said Phil, resting his elbow on the discarded -cushion. "I have the most wonderful mother." - -"I know you have." Kathleen met the eyes lifted to her with a gaze as -grave as their own and a sympathy that opened the flood-gates to all -that was pressing in her companion's heart to-night. - -"No one but myself knows how wonderful," said Phil, looking back at the -water, something swelling in his throat. After a pause he went on. "We -never had much money, and I couldn't pull away and do what I wished. -That would be no return for my father's efforts and denials for me. -Mother understood. Her whole life was a living example of self-denial -and courage. She taught me to think clearly and showed me the value of -noble-mindedness, virtue, and controlling love. It was her splendid -patience and wisdom that gave me education and standing-room in the -world." - -Kathleen did not speak, but he felt her receptivity. - -"It was very early when I began to think and dream and plan along -entirely different lines from those my lot promised. My whole being -from a child cried out for artistic expression; and what pathetic -outbursts there were! I understand it now. Doesn't it seem natural for -a child born in the month of May with a mother like a Madonna, sweet -and gentle, to chase butterflies and pick flowers for their beauty -and fragrance? And that child--I can't remember when he didn't long -to create; but firmly, day by day, he was urged toward the practical. -Create! Yes; but let it be machinery; money. - -"The marble building with its sculpture against the blue of the sky, -the painting that makes men wonder, the book that sets their hearts to -throbbing--that was what I craved; and often lost my head in craving, -my whole being vibrating with a great cry of joy in the thought of such -creation. Can't you see it? The month of May--and the flowers--and -God's universe--and the boy!" - -The last word choked in Phil's throat. - -"Your mother," said Kathleen in a low voice. "She understood." - -Phil looked up, and surprised the tenderness, the comprehension in the -face bent toward him. "She understood," he returned slowly, "but she -thought she saw her duty. I went to college. I forgot her many times, -and every time I was a fool. At last, I came out and was put to the -treadmill; but in my last year at school a wonderful thing happened -to my mother. A Mr. Tremaine visited our cabin and left with her a -little book. Sometime I will tell you about it if you care to know; -but it made a great difference in her life. My work in the mine seemed -typical of my life. The grime, the clank of machinery, the perfunctory -drudgery, and the hand's breath of blue sky above. I crushed my -longings and tried to be practical. Could purgatory be worse than, with -such a nature, to be caged in underground gloom? The glimpse of sky was -like my mother's eyes with their joy, their knowledge. She talked to -me, she permeated me with the new point of view; the new strength; the -new patience. My father praised my efficiency, and then suddenly the -nightmare was broken by a message as from heaven--you know the rest!" -Philip turned quickly, and again met his companion's speaking eyes. - -"Kathleen, can you forgive me!" he exclaimed. "This has been an orgy of -egotism!" Even as he gazed, the dark eyes veiled themselves. Only then -he realized how wide-open the doors had been thrown. - -"I thank you for telling me," she said, with her direct look. - -"I seem," he answered, with a vague unrest,--"I seem always to have -been going to tell you. There is--there is no one but you to whom I -could talk like that." He stared out on the water, then changed the -position of the cushion. - -"Was that Mr. Tremaine a publisher?" asked Kathleen. - -"I don't know. Mother has always wished she might know who he was." - -"There is a Mr. Tremaine who lives in Gramercy Park who is a friend of -father's." - -"Gramercy Park?" repeated Phil, and suddenly remembered. "Then I -believe his son and heir was my first and only patron. I made a picture -for a small Tremaine one day in the park with Violet Manning." - -"Wouldn't it be odd if it turned out to be the same?" said Kathleen. - -A magnificent burst of spray clattering in myriad drops on the rock -near them warned them that their tenure of the place was short. - -The girl smiled. "I think, as we have spoken of Mr. Tremaine, I must -return your confidence with another"; and Phil, looking up suddenly, -saw a new shy consciousness in the slender face which was for some -reason disagreeable. - -"Don't tell me to-night, Kathleen!" he said impulsively. - -"Why not?" she asked, wondering. - -"I don't know," he answered honestly; "only that everything is perfect. -What you tell me might change it. Any change would be for the worse." - -Kathleen smiled thoughtfully into space. - -"I suppose," she said, with a little shrug, "if you had urged me I -might have popped back into my shell. I'm terribly at home in a shell! -But as it is I think I'm going to tell you." - -Phil looked at the delicate face, smiling in the moonlight. - -"Is it something you have made up your mind to do?" he asked. - -"Yes," she answered, looking at him, surprised. "How did you guess?" - -"Then don't tell me till to-morrow. I want to think that this won't -end--that it will always be a rising tide and--and we watching it -together." - -That newly acquired pulse of Kathleen's asserted itself again, but she -swallowed past it resolutely. "Oh, I shall still be able to watch the -rising tide--once in a while," she answered, laughing. "But I'm going -to tell you. I'm writing a little book. There!" - -"What?" cried Phil. - -"Yes, and I'm going to publish it. Mr. Tremaine likes the idea. He is -the only one I've told." - -"And is that all?" asked Phil eagerly. - -"All!" Kathleen regarded him with mock indignation. The little pulse -prevented its being genuine. "Is all you're going to do, just to paint -pictures, Mr. Sidney?" - -"Why, I think that's bully," exclaimed Phil, turning so suddenly as to -test the sharpness of his rocky couch. "Tell me about it." - -"Well, for the past year, I have been bewitched by the microscope. It -reveals a world that we are too clumsy to discern. The idea occurred to -me to write a series of microscopic fairy tales." - -"Fine! Fine!" - -"It's great fun. And of course they will be illustrated." - -"Who's going to do it?" - -"You." - -Phil looked up quickly. She was laughing and blushing. "Of course you -wouldn't consider it," she said, "but there might be money in it. How -do you feel toward pot-boilers?" - -"I don't know, Kathleen. Tell me more. What sort of illustrations?" - -"Well, you saw me with that moss yesterday that I had brought up out of -the woods? The slide I was making was to be the design for a tree in -the illustration. I thought to make the pictures educational in a way. -To put in a corner of the page what the original was. Moss, seaweed, an -aphide, or whatever it happened to be." - -"What a pretty idea!" said Phil. - -"Of course, you don't want to do it, though," she went on in a -different tone. "Just as your studio is finished, and you are aching to -paint." - -"It's good of you to think of me," replied the artist warmly. "I don't -know that I could do that work. I should have to satisfy Mr. Tremaine -with a sample. We couldn't put our educational tips on the pictures, -but there could be a thin cover for each illustration with the -description on a corner of that." - -"Oh, yes, much better," agreed Kathleen. - -They talked a little longer and the splendid tide suddenly splashed -them with glittering spray. - -"A broad hint," laughed Kathleen, springing up. "We must go back." - -Phil sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, and getting reluctantly to his feet, -he started to give his hand to Kathleen, then remembering that she -preferred independence, he picked up the cushions and started ahead of -her. - -They had nearly crossed the rocks when a cry from her arrested him. - -He turned. She had sunk down in the moonlight. - -"Oh, how dull of me!" she cried. "I'm used to my rubber-soled shoes." - -"What! Turned your ankle?" Phil flung the cushions over upon the grass, -and hurried to her. - -"I'm afraid so." - -"I ought to have helped you," said Phil, with contrition, "but I -thought you preferred--" - -"I do. I'm a regular mountain goat." Kathleen was half laughing in a -way that showed her pain. - -Phil lifted her gently, and she went on:-- - -"Everybody knows nowadays that the best way to treat a strain is to -walk right ahead. Oh!" - -"Yes, that may do on flat ground," said Phil; "I'm a mountain goat too, -so don't be afraid"; and, lifting her in his arms, he carried her over -the remaining rocks and set her down upon the grassy bank. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -TIDES - - -Philip paused a moment when he reached the grassy bank. - -"You're quite sure you wish to walk?" he said. - -"I certainly am," she returned with an effort at lightness. "It's the -best thing I can do, now that I've been so careless." - -He set her down gently, and picked up the cushions with one hand while -he put the other under her arm, and they started; but there was no -path; the points of granite and the grassy hummocks made difficult -walking for sound feet. Phil felt his companion's sudden limps and -cringes, the while she was talking valiantly of the satisfaction it was -to feel that a little pain didn't matter, so long as one knew that the -best thing for a strain was exercise; but all the time it seemed to her -that home was miles away, and that this Transgressors' Boulevard would -never end. - -Phil smiled down at the dark uncovered head so near his shoulder; then -as she sank in an unexpected hollow:-- - -"Pluck is all very well, Kathleen," he said, "but I'm going to pick you -up again." - -"No, no, Phil! You could never carry me home. I'm much too heavy to be -doing these foolish things." Tears of vexation stood in the girl's eyes. - -"I needn't carry you home," he returned quietly, "but it is all my -fault that you slipped. As soon as we get to level ground you shall try -again. Cushions will be safe in Arcadia, I fancy," he added, storing -them at the foot of a rock they were passing. "I can come back for -them." - -"Put this heavy polo coat with them," said Kathleen, trying not to cry. -"No need of carrying any more than you have to. Oh, Phil, really! I -could hop. Couldn't I hop if you lifted me on one side?" - -"We'll hop, skip, and jump when we get on the level," he returned, -wrapping the coat carefully about her, and taking her up again. - -"Put your arm around my neck, please. There we are." He moved on at a -good pace. "Can't you feel that it's easy?" - -"I'm so ashamed to make you this trouble." Kathleen's lip quivered. - -"I'm so ashamed that you are hurt, but I need the exercise," rejoined -her bearer. "What am I going to do now that I don't have to struggle -with the Villa? Have you a rowboat?" - -"Yes," returned Kathleen, in a small voice. - -They were approaching a cottage with sightless midnight eyes. She had -no idea what time it was, but devoutly hoped they were the only persons -awake on the island. It was ridiculous to be carried about like this, -and a terrible imposition on an innocent guest; but how wonderful he -was, striding along from hummock to hummock with apparent ease. - -"Then I'll do some rowing, if you'll let me. Do you like to row?" - -"Yes," came again in such a small, choked voice, that Phil suddenly -turned his head and his face came close to Kathleen's. The elegant -remote Miss Fabian, with the slumbrous eyes and the red-brown hair, was -a helpless child in his arms. - -"Are you suffering?" he asked, and such a note of tenderness sounded -suddenly in his voice that the girl's heart gave a great throb. - -"Only in my mind," she faltered, trying to laugh. "You'll set me down -as soon as we reach the point, won't you? It's easy from there." - -It was not very easy from there, but Kathleen set her teeth, and walked -it, leaning on Phil's arm, and sometimes stopping to rest. - -"And I thought it was such a small island," she said with a little -sighing laugh when at last the home piazza was reached. - -Philip helped her upstairs to her room. - -"Shall I knock on your mother's door?" he asked. - -"No, indeed. I can get on perfectly well now." She held out her hand. -"Will you forgive me?" - -He took it and looked straight into her eyes without speaking. - -For an instant he held her hand, still mute, then turned, and instead -of going to his room went downstairs again. - -Kathleen, closing her door softly, heard him. She stood a moment -perfectly still, her lambent eyes looking into space, the long straight -lines of her white coat shining in the dim room. - -"If it should be!" she thought with awe. "If it should be!" - -Philip went out on the porch. The tide was receding and dragging in and -out the stones of the beach. He frowned thoughtfully at the rolling -expanse. "This is disturbing," he reflected. His blood was pumping and -dragging mightily at locked doors of his own which he knew must be -locked for years to come. - -"And even then it cannot be Kathleen who opens them," he reminded -himself. While she was flashing about to fashionable functions in her -limousine the coming season, he would still be planning which meal to -make the substantial one of the day. - -"The cushions!" he thought suddenly, and, finding relief in action, -he began running back with long, even strides, through the silent, -silvered fields. - - * * * * * - -Before ten o'clock the next morning Edgar presented himself at the -farmhouse to make inquiries for the invalid. He was eager to begin -treating Violet right; and as a commencement he brought a box of -bonbons which he had ordered from the city before that resolution was -made. However, flowers and candy were conventional attentions. So were -books. He reflected that no one could criticize his giving Violet a -marked copy of Tennyson. - -"She isn't here," Mrs. Wright told him when he reached the house. "She -has gone somewhere to get an extra coat of tan and see the tide come -in." - -"Why didn't I come sooner!" exclaimed Edgar, vexed. "I thought her -headache--I thought she wouldn't be up early." - -"Oh, I think you must have exorcised that last night," said Mrs. -Wright. "How we all enjoyed the medicine! Will you promise to sing -every night if one of us will fall ill?" - -Edgar smiled and twisted his mustache. "We have a lame duck over at our -house," he said. "Kathleen managed to slip on the rocks last night. -She's as plucky as they make 'em, though. She's limping around. Phil -was with her--not very bright of him, I must say." - -"Oh, I'm sorry he has that cloud over his first morning at the studio," -returned Mrs. Wright. "I saw him go in there an hour ago." - -"You're sure Violet isn't there?" asked Edgar quickly. - -"Oh, perfectly," rejoined Mrs. Wright quietly. "We're as much warned -off the Villa as ever, now, you know. I hope he is going to do great -things." - -"Yes, I hope so," said Edgar absently. "This full sunlight isn't -particularly good for Violet's head. Don't you think I'd better find -her and get her out of it?" - -"Oh, it's the steadiest little head in the world. Last night was simply -the exception that proves the rule." - -"Well, then, she'll be fit for tennis. I'm going to find her and see if -we can't have some singles before dinner." - -"All right, if you can find her." - -Edgar tossed his head. "Perhaps I couldn't put a girdle 'round the -earth, but this island's a cinch"; and with the beribboned box under -his arm and the sun glinting on his polished blond head, Edgar set off -running toward the rocks where Kathleen had met her slip. - -Perhaps, he reflected, it was just as well that Violet had been _hors -de combat_ last evening. If they had come down here in the moonlight, -and he had sung, and she had turned upon him that wonderful, confiding, -devout look which warmed every fibre of his vanity, there is no telling -what he might have said or done. He was shrewd enough to know that -Mrs. Larrabee's rebuff had caused a rebound in which just such an -innocent, womanly girl as Violet Manning could catch his heart in both -hands. She had laughed at him yesterday afternoon, and to force her -to capitulate he might have done something foolish in the evening. Now -that pitfall--the time, the place, and the girl--was past, and the -bright clear winds of morning found him forewarned and forearmed; but -friendly, perfectly friendly. He thoroughly liked Violet Manning. - -All this time he was running toward the show-place at high tide, the -precipitous rocks whose walls and crannies repulsed the crashing waves, -causing a never-ending series of fountains, and cascades of crystal -water. - -A few penguins in shade hats studded the heights this morning, but -Violet was not among them. He walked past slowly, scanning the rocks. -A few rods farther on, a small harbor pierced the island's side. Its -farther bank was soft with evergreens; a sturdy growth of tall spruces -which fixed their roots amid the inhospitable rocks. - -An artist had set up his easel on the near shore, and was sitting on -a camp-stool before it, working busily. A large straw hat was crowded -down to the tops of his ears to thwart the wind, and Edgar wondered -who might be the competitor of the painter who was working away at the -Villa Chantecler. He glanced carelessly at the artist and then renewed -his scrutiny of the rocks; being so engrossed, that the next time his -gaze went forward, he saw that a girl was lying on the rock near the -easel, leaning on her elbow and alternately watching the artist and the -sea. - -Edgar suspected the truth with a wave of anger. How could Phil be in -two places at once? He had allowed Kathleen to slip on the rocks. -Probably he had been absent-minded. This had been planned for; Mrs. -Wright couldn't have known it. - -He strode forward. - -"Good morning!" he said, with awe-inspiring dignity. - -"Oh, hello," returned Violet carelessly, turning her head so as to see -the newcomer. - -Could this nonchalant girl be she who had wept at the window! - -"I went over to the house to see how you were," said Edgar severely, -"and Mrs. Wright said you were watching the tide." - -"Yes," returned Violet, lazy in the sun, "but I found something so much -better to watch." - -"You can't see anything from there," declared Edgar, speaking crisply. - -"Do you allow that, Mr. Sidney?" asked the girl. - -"I allow anything but people to talk to me," said Phil, busy with the -blues and greens of the water. - -"There, you see!" said Violet accusingly. "He hadn't said a word of -reproach to me before you came"; and the little minx allowed herself -to throw a devoted glance in the direction of the artist's hat. If the -mouse were going ultimately to make its escape, surely the kitten was -entitled to whatever fun it could find in the situation. - -Edgar pulled himself together. - -"It's great just now," he said. "Don't you want to come out on the -rocks, and see the row?" - -Violet shook her head and touched her finger to her lips warningly. - -Edgar scowled and looked at Phil's swift brush. Confound the girl, -how was he to treat her magnanimously if she wouldn't give him an -opportunity? - -He held out the beribboned box and raised his eyebrows, gesturing with -his head toward the rocks. - -"Is there a string tied to it?" asked Violet, with a saucy, lazy -smile; and Edgar lifted his chin superbly and tossed the box into her -lap. - -"The only girl here," she reflected; for she felt tempted to be -flattered by the implied forethought. - -"How perfectly sweet," she said and opened the luxurious box. Rising -to her knees she lifted a chocolate in the little tongs and put it in -Philip's mouth. - -"_Mille remerciments_," he mumbled; "but don't do it again, please." - -"Phil wants to be alone," said Edgar. "Can't you see that?" He held out -his hand to Violet to rise. She ignored it, but rose with supple grace. - -"Well," she said, "if little boys will come and chatter to me, I -suppose I shall have to go. It's been so interesting, Mr. Sidney. -That's going to be wonderful. I hope you'll let me watch you again -sometime." - -"You didn't really want to stay there, did you?" asked Edgar, when they -had begun to climb out on the rocks at a point where there were no -other gazers. - -"Indeed I did, marplot," returned the girl, "but three's a crowd when -one is painting." - -"Oh, very well," said Edgar, stiffly; "I'll stay away the next time." - -"That's right. Do," returned Violet. "Have a chocolate? These are -delicious." - -"No, I thank you." Edgar gave a dark glance at his companion. He did -not like her mood. - -"I didn't know you cared more for painting than for music," he said. - -"More?" she returned with wide eyes. "Oh, no, I'm an impartial and -humble admirer of all the arts." - -Wasn't she going to speak of last evening? He stood in silence beside -her for a space to give her opportunity; but she was engrossed in -munching a chocolate. - -"My!" she said, regarding the heavy, satin, heart-shaped crimson box -admiringly, "I've gazed at these with awe in shop windows, and then -gone in and bought ten cents worth in a striped bag. I feel so grand!" - -"I was disappointed last night," said Edgar, his gloomy regard changing -slowly to his best look of devotion. There was nothing for him in -Violet's eyes this morning. The expression he craved must be brought -back in order that he might exercise care to treat her fairly. - -"Because I couldn't go to walk with Mr. Sidney?" she rejoined, with the -ironical gayety Edgar hated. "I was, too; but your charming serenade -almost made up for it." - -Edgar ground the even teeth. "I suppose it was foolish of me to exert -myself," he said. "I probably waked you up." - -"Oh, it didn't sound like the least bit of exertion," replied Violet. -"The ease of your singing is really its great charm. You didn't mind my -laughing, right at the end, did you?" - -"Laughing!" - -"Yes; you see Miss Foster is on my side of the house, and when you sang - - 'Turn down an empty glass,' - -I knew she'd think it was a prohibition song, and I nearly suffocated." - -Edgar met her dancing eyes, and glared at her while she ate a chocolate -with relish. - -"And I thought you were temperamental!" he muttered. - -"Do you wonder really that Maine is a prohibition state?" she asked -conversationally. "Here, eat this peppermint one for me. I don't like -them," and the even teeth opened mechanically to receive the bonbon she -popped between them. "I mean because it's so intoxicating here anyway. -Why, I can hardly keep my feet still this morning"; and as they were -standing, Violet, on her flat rock, and with the great crimson heart -pressed to her breast, began to clog. - -Edgar half unconsciously moved away to where he could see her nimble -feet. "Whistle," she laughed. "Whistle, and I won't come to you, my -lad!" - -Edgar whistled, he couldn't help it. Her fair hair blowing, her -sea-blue eyes shining, and her sure feet dancing, she seemed the -incarnation of the radiant morning. He found himself patting in rhythm, -and whistling like a bird until she tired and sank in a blue heap on -the rock. - -"Oh, it's a jolly world," she cried. - -"And you're a jolly girl!" he exclaimed, striding over and flinging -himself down beside her. "Why don't you teach me to do that? You -promised." - -"I've begun twice, haven't I? You haven't any patience." - -"Oh, that was in the woods. What could I do on a hillside? Teach me in -the summer house this afternoon." - -"That's where you ought to be now, practising," said Violet. - -"I've put in half an hour this morning." - -"That isn't enough. It's time for another." - -"Oh, you want me to go, do you, so you can go back and watch Phil?" - -"Well, I never before had a chance to see the wheels go 'round in a -painting. Don't you think it's wonderful?" - -"Yes, he's a wizard. It's a pity you couldn't go with him last night. -He took Kath and she managed to turn her ankle." - -"So he has been telling me. I'm sorry. So you'd rather have had mine -turned? Then I couldn't have taught you to clog, remember." - -"No; he might not have gone mooning around then. He might have paid -more attention to _you_." - -Violet glanced at the speaker out of the tail of her eye and ate a -chocolate. Then she cast a look over on the point where the easel -stood. "He is so good-looking," she sighed. "I like smooth-faced men." - -"My mustache is catching it next, is it?" said Edgar irritably, -twisting that treasure. - -"Oh, I simply despise mustaches," rejoined Violet equably; "but of -course if it makes you look older, or more dignified, or helps you in -your career, you have to wear one." - -"I don't know as there's any 'have to' about it," returned Edgar. "It's -just a matter of taste with me"; he made the addition with a superior -carelessness. - -"So it is with me," returned Violet with engaging frankness. "Here's -another peppermint." She picked it up in the silver tongs. "Open your -mouth and shut your eyes and I'll give you something to make you wise." - -Edgar jerked back his head, seized the confection in his fingers, and -scaled it across the rocks. - -"I loathe peppermint," he said shortly, "and as for making me wise, -you're making me wiser every day. Will you, or will you not give me a -lesson in clogging this afternoon?" - -"I _will_!" returned Violet, dramatically. "You paid partly in advance -last night, and I'm the soul of honor!" - -He met her mischievous eyes with a baffled look. He longed to shake -her. His hand lifted mechanically to his mustache and dropped again. He -had lost faith in that, too. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE SON - - -When Philip returned to dinner that day he found a strange man sitting -on the veranda with Kathleen. The table beside her was filled with -loose sheets of paper, and she was reading aloud. - -As Phil approached she looked up. - -"We spoke of an angel last night," she said, "and lo, he appeared -to-day. This is Mr. Tremaine, and he knows you already." - -Phil laid down his impedimenta and his hat, and shook hands. - -The grey-eyed portly stranger smiled as they greeted. "Miss Fabian has -told me so much about you," he said, "that I am wondering if you belong -to the Sidneys who took me in in the mountains of Montana one night -five or six years ago." - -Philip's perfunctory gaze quickened. - -"And you left my mother a little book?" he asked quickly. - -The pressure of the newcomer's handclasp tightened. He nodded. - -"The very same," he said. "And you do belong to that charming woman." - -"You did a great deal for us, Mr. Tremaine," said Phil heartily. - -"And this Kathleen child says we're not through with each other. She -wants you to illustrate this clever little book of hers." - -"If he will," put in the girl quickly. "You don't know yet what small -business it will be for him to picture my stuff. Show us what you have -done this morning." - -"I hear you are my neighbor in Gramercy Park," said Mr. Tremaine while -Phil stooped to get his picture. "I hear that the artist who did my -son's treasure, 'The Proud Robin,' stands before me." - -Phil laughed and turned his canvas about. A great wave uplifted its -heavy snowy crest, just at the point of breaking into rushing surge. - -"Stand back," cried Kathleen, "it's coming!" Her cheeks reddened. "You -do such true things, Phil!" - -"Upon my word!" said Mr. Tremaine, "Miss Fabian is right. That's really -great, Mr. Sidney. One gets the weight of the water. I think the -breadth and perception of the mountains helped you in that. How long -have you been so intimate with the physiognomy of old Ocean?" - -"I have been at this off and on for some days in time stolen from house -decoration." - -"There is time before dinner," said Kathleen, "and Mr. Tremaine is -going to stay such a little while, take him over to the Villa. I want -him to be sure to see it though I begrudge his seeing it without me, -too!" - -"Sure you can't go?" asked Mr. Tremaine. - -Kathleen looked ruefully at her right foot, wearing a loose slipper of -her mother's. - -"That field is so rough," she said. - -"We'll make an armchair," said Phil. - -The girl shook her head. "No, I'll gather up my book. Mr. Tremaine -likes it, so I'm happy though lame, and you must talk over the -illustrations together." - -In truth she was glad that these two should have the opportunity for -a _tête-à-tête_ and she smiled happily to herself as she picked up -the flying sheets. There was color in her cheeks, the rose-color that -seemed this morning to tinge the universe. It was such a beautiful -world, and for Mr. Tremaine suddenly to appear and to approve her -work and to meet Phil--Phil whose eyes had seemed this morning always -to see her and regard her reflectively, instead of looking over or -through her--all this made a wonderful combination, a strange, sweet -expectancy, as of harmonious progressions which could but resolve into -one triumphant chord. - -The dinner hour approached and Mrs. Fabian came out on the piazza. - -"How are you, poor child?" she asked with commiseration; then meeting -Kathleen's eyes, she laughed. "Here I am pitying you, and you look as -if you'd been left a million. What is it? Is Mr. Tremaine so pleased -with your stories?" - -"He thinks they'll do," returned Kathleen. - -"Very modest," said Mrs. Fabian; "but I'm quite sure from your looks -that he said you were a second Hans Christian Andersen. Keeping it a -secret from me, too! I'm a very good judge of stories, and you might -have asked my opinion about those, at any rate." - -"I felt very shy about it, mother, but now I'm just bubbling with -encouragement; and perhaps Phil will make the pictures." - -Mrs. Fabian regarded the rosy face admiringly. - -"There, you see his business is coming along, and this morning I gave -him the commission to paint our portraits." - -Even this news could not dampen Kathleen's present mood. - -"Yours," she returned. "Remember, I told you I refused to be -perpetuated as I look now." - -"I never saw you look as pretty as you do to-day, in your whole life," -said Mrs. Fabian, gazing as she spoke. - -The girl laughed from sheer satisfaction. "Is the big head so -becoming?" she returned. - -"I saw Phil taking Mr. Tremaine over to the studio," said Mrs. Fabian. -"Edgar said this morning he wanted to bring Violet to dinner. He will -be surprised to find Mr. Tremaine here. We shall have quite a party. I -hope they won't all be late. If Phil and Mr. Tremaine get to talking -over at the studio they won't know what time it is." - -The air at the island, however, was of a nature to create an inner -monitor which called to dinner, so the two couples soon approached from -opposite directions. Mr. Tremaine and Phil were talking busily as they -came, and Kathleen noted Violet's crimson heart while she drew near. -She gazed questioningly at her brother whose alert happy face turned -red as he met her eyes; but Violet was self-possessed when Kathleen -greeted her. - -"Pardon my remaining enthroned, Violet," she said. "I'm not precisely -wasting steps to-day." - -"I heard about it," returned the guest, coming up the steps and meeting -Mrs. Fabian. "I do hope it's nothing serious." - -"No, indeed. I shall soon forget it." - -"I suppose neither of you will have a chocolate before dessert, but -they're very very good." Violet opened the box temptingly as she took a -seat beside Kathleen. - -"Who is that coming with Phil?" asked Edgar. - -"My publisher," returned Kathleen, proudly. "Just think, Edgar! I've -written some stories, and Mr. Tremaine has accepted them!" - -Edgar lifted his eyebrows and smiled wonderingly into his sister's -happy face. "Good work, Kath! It may really pay to be a highbrow. Why -have you kept so still about it?" - -"Oh, that was natural. Supposing Mr. Tremaine had said, 'You're a nice -child, Kathleen, but your little yarns are trash.' How then! Shouldn't -I be glad nobody saw me hide my diminished head?" - -Edgar continued to regard her curiously. He had never before noticed -how really good-looking Kath was. - -Violet expressed her interest and sympathy heartily, and while she -was speaking, the other guests arrived and Mr. Tremaine met his son's -dancing-teacher with pleasure. - -It was a gay dinner-party, and Kathleen glowed with satisfaction in Mr. -Tremaine's manifest interest in Phil. He could be such a useful friend. - -They had coffee on the veranda, and while Edgar was planning in what -manner and how soon he could segregate himself and Violet in the summer -house, the boy whose duty it was to bring the mail appeared with the -letters. At a sign from Mrs. Fabian he handed them to her. - -She ran them over with a smile. "I'm always impolite," she said, "when -Mr. Fabian's letter comes, and I think everybody will forgive me." She -laid the others on the rail beside her and opened the letter she held. - -"I'm hoping so much he will set the day for coming." - -The smiling expectancy of her face gave way to bewilderment and -incredulity as she read. No one observed it, for Kathleen had started -to tell an island adventure. - -Her mother's voice broke in upon the tale. - -"Kathleen!" she said breathlessly, "I don't understand this letter. -Father is in trouble of some kind. He is trying to comfort me. He says -to ask you--" - -Mrs. Fabian looked up at Kathleen whose face was transformed while her -mother spoke. The color left it, the laughing eyes grew startled, and -she tried to rise. - -Phil sprang to his feet, "What do you want, Kathleen?" - -"The letters!" she said. "See if there is one for me?" - -Edgar, who had been observing how remarkably good was the line of -Violet's hair at the nape of her neck, brought his thoughts back with -difficulty to his sister. Kath was looking frightened. What was the -matter? - -Mr. Tremaine leaned forward in his chair and looked with serious -questioning at Kathleen while she tore open a letter from her -father. Her brow drew together as she read. Mrs. Fabian regarded her -helplessly, two sheets of paper blowing in her fingers. - -When finally the girl dropped her letter her face had flushed again. -She rose from her chair with difficulty. - -"I must go to father immediately," she said. - -Phil was at her side in an instant. "You can't do that," he returned, -"but you can send me." - -Mrs. Fabian's lips were parted. Edgar frowned and looked from one to -another; then he too sprang to his feet. - -"What is this, Kath?" he asked with sudden authority. - -His sister regarded him absently. Edgar would suffer, of course, but -just now, in the crucial moment, he didn't count; and she! Oh, how -could fate have been so unkind as to hamper her at the only time in -her life when it would make any difference! A time when she longed for -wings to carry her to her father's side and let her throw her arms -around his neck. - -She looked at Edgar's frowning, questioning face with curious vagueness. - -"Father has lost a great deal of money," she said, "and friends -as well, because he would not yield to plans which he considered -dishonorable. He told me before we left that it might come; but he -had no idea the crisis was right upon him. Oh, I must, I must go to -father--at once--at once!" The girl limped toward the door. - -"You can't go to-day," said Phil decidedly, "but I can. I will go on -this next boat with Mr. Tremaine. Tell me what--" - -"What are you talking about!" It was Edgar who spoke, and his tone -turned every eye upon him. His nostrils were dilated and his eyes -looked dark. "Father in trouble! I'm going to him, of course." - -He tried to speak quietly, but there was a thrill in his tone that -echoed in Kathleen's heart. She knew as she looked at the new stern -expression of the _debonair_ countenance that in that minute the boy -had become a man. - -Violet gazed at him with a swelling heart and swept poor Phil with a -supercilious glance wholly undeserved, but of which he was unconscious. - -Edgar hastened into the house to make his preparations and Kathleen and -Phil exchanged a look. - -"It's all for the best," said Phil in a low tone. "Edgar will find -himself." - -Kathleen's hands were clasped on her breast. Mrs. Fabian regarded -her beseechingly. "What do you mean?" she cried, her voice breaking -hysterically. "Money and friends! What do you mean?" - -Kathleen sank into the chair beside her. "I mean that father is an -honest man," she said proudly. - -Mr. Tremaine came to Mrs. Fabian's other side. "I was at college with -your husband," he said. "Henry Fabian was always doing fine things. I -suspect that this last move, whatever it is, is one of the finest. I -would trust him before I would myself." - -Mrs. Fabian looked from one to the other, tears running down her cheeks. - -"I can't have my portrait painted, Phil," she faltered. "We're very -poor." - -Phil knelt down before her and put his arms around her and she rested -her head on his shoulder and sobbed quietly. - -"Perhaps not poor," he said; "but what if you are, Aunt Isabel? Look -about at this beautiful place with everything to make people happy. -Health and freedom and honor beside; and Edgar will bring his father -here and everything will straighten out and we shall make him forget -his troubles." - -"No motor, Phil," came from the sobbing woman. "I can't imagine living -without a motor." - -"Indeed you can. You're going to show Mr. Fabian what a good sport he -married; and we're all going to cheer him up and make him forget his -nightmare before fall. You have everything that's real left--unless Mr. -Fabian breaks down under this strain," added Phil artfully. - -He had struck the right note. Mrs. Fabian lifted her head and wiped her -eyes wildly. "I'm going with Edgar," she cried. "Henry may be ill. I -shall go." - -"No, dear mother," said Kathleen, gently taking her hand. "Let Edgar -manage this alone. He will wire us at once." - -It was nearly time for the boat and Edgar came out of the house with -his bag. All his machinations of the morning had not succeeded in -bringing to Violet's eyes the expression that grew there when she -saw him ready to start on his hard journey. Speechless and unsmiling -he pressed her hand, then kissed his mother and listened to her -exhortations. Mr. Tremaine was ready, and together they started toward -the wharf. - -Philip was going to accompany them, but his aunt clung to him. - -"Stay with us, Phil," she begged. "You are my son, too." - - * * * * * - -Mr. Fabian, heavy-lidded from a sleepless night, was working at the -desk in his private office, when the door opened and closed quietly -and quickly, and he looked up to see Edgar standing beside him. An -added cloud passed over his face. - -The young man saw it and he paid for many a misdemeanor in the pang it -gave him. - -"Father, I've come to see if I can be of any use," he said. - -Mr. Fabian pushed his chair back and looked up at his visitor, the deep -line in his forehead deeper. - -"I know I have no experience, and little business sense; but if you'll -take the trouble to explain the situation to me, I'll try to understand -as I've never before tried to do anything; and I can at least carry out -your instructions to the letter." - -Mr. Fabian continued to gaze up into the sunburned face and the eyes -that regarded him with steady purpose. - -"I've lost a lot of money for you, my boy," he said. "Quite a half of -everything I possessed." - -"And come out clean," returned the other promptly. "Good for you." - -Mr. Fabian kept silence, studying him for another space. - -"My son," he said at last, slowly, as if to himself. "I have a son"; -and he held out his hand. - -Edgar clasped it in silence. Then he spoke again. "I haven't had any -breakfast, and of course I couldn't sleep; so my head isn't worth much -just now. Can you spare time to come out and talk to me while I eat, or -shall I go alone?" - -Mr. Fabian rose and his heavy eyes had brightened. "Neither of us will -go alone, after this," he said. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - -A TIDAL WAVE - - -Mr. Fabian's firm stand resulted in a dissolution of his partnership, -and very soon he was able to repair with Edgar to the island. - -The son had found the man-to-man relationship with his father a -strangely sweet one; and by the time they reached the island--so deeply -had his father's steadfastness and suffering worked upon Edgar, he -had no other plan than that of rejuvenating the tired man's strained -nerves. Therefore, when Mr. Fabian reached the heavenly calm of his -hill cottage, he found his wife and daughter ready to accompany him on -a cruise. Mrs. Fabian, lukewarm sailor though she was, was as fully -prepared as Kathleen; and with scarcely any delay they all started out -on the yacht. Mr. Fabian urged Phil to join the party, but he could not -leave his work, and in any case would not add himself to a family party -at this time. He and Violet stood on the shore and watched the white -sails swell as they caught the wind. - -Edgar had been so absorbed in his father and his plans that she had -but a flying glimpse of him after his return from New York; but -it flattered her to observe that he had left his mustache in the -metropolis. - -Philip's assiduous work during the summer resulted in finished pictures -and numerous sketches, all of which he carried back in the autumn to -the stable where Pat met him with effusion. - -"Sure 'tis a red Injun ye are!" he exclaimed at sight of his lodger's -mahogany tints. - -"Yes, and next summer, Pat, if I'm not a pauper, you're coming up there -to get a red nose, too," responded Phil. - -The first step toward independence had been made. He had finished the -illustrations for Kathleen's fairy tales, and but a few days after his -return, Mr. Tremaine came to the studio to welcome him and show him the -first copy of the book; for it was October before Phil had consented -to leave his enthralling Villa, being finally shooed out by Eliza who -insisted that he either come over to them and live in a Christian -house, or go back to his warm stable. - -Phil was eager for news that Mr. Tremaine could give him. - -"Aunt Isabel has written me very little," he said. "I know they are -settled in an apartment near the park, but how are they all, and how do -they bear the change?" - -"Wonderfully well," was the reply. "Mrs. Fabian is the one to feel -the pinch, of course. Kathleen, not at all. She has too much resource -within herself to be dependent, and then there are not a few people of -influence who would find a Van Ruysler if she hid herself on the East -Side." - -It was true, Mrs. Fabian lived too much in reflected glory to suffer -loneliness, and as the winter went on Kathleen drew her into artistic -circles where Philip's interests lay, and gradually she gained much -pride and satisfaction in the understanding of technical terms, and -learned not to discuss pictures. She even occasionally felt some -remorse in the remembrance of Mrs. Ballard and was conscious of a wish -that she might have sympathized with her more. - -The startling event in the family, however, was provided by Edgar. -The great Mazzini was as good as his word, and Edgar Fabian started -in at once, on his return to New York, as a teacher of the vocal art. -Successful is too mild a word to be applied to the young tenor. -Mazzini procured him opportunities to sing in drawing-rooms where he -had heretofore been the entertained. He sent pupils to him, and they -advertised him _con amore_. Before the winter was over he became a fad. -He drew a good salary in a fashionable church. Other musicians sneered -at him as a _poseur_, and turned their lunch tables into knockers' -clubs to ease their minds concerning the vagaries of this upstart. - -Edgar, with his characteristic self-assurance gave full play to the -moods of which he had spoken in the past to Violet. Perhaps he was not -blind to the fact that it was good advertising, but in any case it was -a temperamental fling which gave him the utmost satisfaction. - -He had different sets of hangings made, divan covers, cushions, et -cetera, easily removed and placed in a box couch, so that his pupils -sometimes found a purple studio, sometimes a crimson, sometimes one in -luminous gold. None knew beforehand in which mood the wonderful young -_maestro_ would be found; and they talked of him with bated breath. - -His sister took the liberty, early in his career, of laughing at -this ebullition of fancy, but she soon found that Edgar took himself -seriously, and she repressed her smiles; for nothing succeeds like -success; and Edgar Van Ruysler Fabian was an idol whom it was not her -place to knock from his pedestal. - -Violet Manning meanwhile was industriously proceeding with her own -teaching. As some of it lay in fashionable schools, she heard echoes -of Edgar's popularity, and she and her housemates often attended the -church where he sang. He came to their apartment occasionally and -relaxed from the strain of living up to the ideal of his admirers whom -he terrorized grandly at moments, after the most approved Mazzini -methods. - -Once he had the three bachelor maids at a chafing-dish supper at his -studio. He was in a red mood that night, and the crimson hangings -reminded Violet of the glowing heart which always lay on her -dressing-table. - -The function was an informal and jolly one. One of the men present -was Edgar's accompanist, and he had played for Violet to dance. It -was a triumphant occasion for the girl. She looked charming in a thin -iridescent gown which changed with the blues and greens of the sea -while she floated and pirouetted, as light and tireless as thistledown. -Edgar's eyes were bright with pride in her and she was wildly -applauded, sharing the honors of the evening with him. - -Edgar sang the better for the inspiration of her, and when at her -request he began, "O moon of my delight," she closed her eyes, shutting -out the gay company and the diffused rosy light. Again she saw him -stretched on the grass in the silvery radiance of a still, still night. - -"I think Mr. Fabian is in love with Violet," said Regina afterward, -privately, to Roxana. - -"I think he is in love with himself," returned Roxana; "and I take off -my hat to Violet, for I believe she knows it, too. I'm afraid if I were -her age and he wanted me, I'd marry him even if I knew he'd beat me all -the time he wasn't singing." - -Her housemates noticed that Violet never spoke of Edgar, and they drew -their conclusions. She had a sketch of his head done by Phil in an -idle moment, pinned up on her wall. That and the bonbon box were the -only evidences of the acquaintance save those occasional calls with -which Edgar favored the apartment. The fact that he came at all was -important, for his engagements were legion. - -Philip carried himself much as he had done the winter before. Through -the Fabians and Mr. Tremaine he began to have invitations, but he -declined them. Mr. Tremaine bought the painting of the wave which he -had seen at the island, and one of his friends bought another of Phil's -marines. - -The artist kept on with his work in the life class at the Academy. -Edgar sometimes tried to get him for a festivity at the studio, but, as -he told his sister in disgust, one might as well try to get the Shah of -Persia. - -Every Sunday evening Phil spent at the Fabians' but never since he -had returned to town had he made opportunity to resume a disturbing -intimacy with Kathleen. Her book was having a fairly good sale, and -the girl was at work upon another. Their lives lay apart mainly except -on the Sunday evenings when Mr. Fabian, once again adjusted to his -business life, claimed the guest far more than any of the others. - -Edgar, finding that the propinquity of Phil and Violet during his -absence in the summer had not produced any results, altered his -expectations of trouble from that quarter. He made it a point to spend -his Sunday evenings with the family, in order, as his mother said, to -keep up the acquaintance; and on one of these evenings, toward spring, -he brought Violet Manning to supper. - -The busy young teacher's friendship with Kathleen had not progressed. -The latter firmly believed that any romantic notions which such a girl -might conceive for Edgar would bring her to grief in the end; and his -present amazing popularity but augmented that conviction; so the girls -had exchanged one call only during the season. - -Violet responded to Mrs. Fabian's invitation for this Sunday and Edgar -regarded her critically throughout the evening. - -Never had he felt himself such authority on girls as now. They crowded -his studio. Fashionable girls, wealthy girls, pretty girls, plain -girls, clever ones, dull ones, aggressive, and shy girls; and he had -frequently detected himself comparing the more interesting with Violet. -Her spirit, her poise, her independence, her compact, graceful, healthy -body, always stood the test. - -As of old, to-night she seemed more interested in Phil than in himself. -Her spontaneous joy over the news that during the past week he had sold -a third picture, actually roused again Edgar's old train of thought. -How did he know what had occurred during the summer, between the -farmhouse and the Villa? Were these two only waiting, perhaps, until -Phil began to find a sale for his pictures? - -Poor little Violet was not intriguing. She found herself embarrassed -in Edgar's family circle, and she was defending herself in the only -way she knew. It seemed as if it must be legible on her face that she -out-adored the adoration of all the singer's pupils; and it was a -relief to her when she and the object were at last in a taxicab on the -way home. The cover of the darkness, and the sober return to thoughts -of to-morrow's duties, made her heave an inaudible sigh; but it is the -unexpected that always happens. - -Edgar's teeth were tightly closed and every street-lamp they passed -showed him gazing at his companion. - -"I wonder," he said at last,--"I wonder, Violet, why I've never been -able to make you like me better. Other--other people like me." - -"Probably that's the reason," returned the girl lightly. "Some one must -help strike an average." - -She did not say it easily; for she was obliged to swallow between -sentences; but she said it pretty well, and applauded herself. - -"You see I love you, Violet," he went on, as simply as the most -non-temperamental swain could have spoken. - -She shrank into her corner, and when he tried to take her hands she -crossed them quickly on her breast. - -"Which mood is this?" she asked, a tumultuous beating under the crossed -hands. - -"You don't believe me," said Edgar quietly. "It's true, Violet. I want -you to marry me. You've made me believe once or twice--and yet the -next moment I always feel your utter indifference. I'm afraid you're a -flirt." - -"I know you are!" responded the girl, her fingers whitening against her -fluttering heart. "I'm afraid of you, Edgar." - -Happiness leaped into his eyes and he gathered her hands into his in -spite of her. - -"Have you ever seen 'The Concert'?" she asked breathlessly. - -"Oh, that's what you mean!" exclaimed Edgar triumphantly. - -"You shouldn't marry," said Violet. "You are like a matinée idol. -You will lose your capital when you marry, unless you are like that -selfish man. I warn you, I am not like that wonderful wife. I couldn't -bear it." - -"You've thought about it, then," said Edgar joyously. - -"Yes, oh, yes," replied Violet, her defences down and tears welling -through her half-closed lids. "I'm sure I should be miserable." - -"Then you love me." Edgar drew her out of her corner into his arms. -"Violet, I promise you--" - -"Dear," she interrupted him, "I am just as much afraid of myself as -of you. No convention would hold me. The minute I found you were not -honest with me--that you concealed from me--I should go. You would look -about, and I shouldn't be there." - -Edgar held her close in ecstatic possession. - -"And that's why I'll be honest with you, Violet. I swear it. If we're -both honest, what can--" - -The taxi-cab driver threw open the door. - - * * * * * - -Once again the daisy-snow drifted over the hills on Brewster's Island; -and Eliza sat in the doorway of the Villa Chantecler watching Phil -adjust his possessions. - -"When are the Fabians coming?" she asked. - -"Next week." - -"Are you and Miss Kathleen goin' to do another book this year?" - -"I hope so. She's going to let me see her story when she comes. She has -written her first novel." - -Eliza's eyes studied him sharply during a silence. - -"Is she engaged yet?" she asked. - -"Not that I know of." - -"I thought you two were pretty thick one time there last summer." - -"It's not for the likes o' me to be thick with the likes o' her," -replied Phil, busy setting up an easel. - -"I'd like to know why not," retorted Eliza, who had read between -the lines of Phil's letters during the winter; and illustrated her -imaginings with looks and actions remembered from the season before. -"Think of the pictures you've sold this winter. Look how quick you've -begun your success. Has Kathleen many beaux?" - -"She has worshippers," returned Phil, with a slight smile; "and several -of them come much nearer to her than I can." - -"You can if you want to," said Eliza bluntly; "you're a great fool if -you don't." - -Philip turned and looked at the speaker in surprise. Her words were so -exactly opposite to the training he gave himself night and morning. - -"'Tain't as if her father was so rich any more. Nobody could say you -was after money, and," Eliza's voice lost its hardness, "your--your -Aunt Mary left me her ring you remember." - -Phil smiled at her openly now, then he went on with his work. - -"You're a loyal soul, Eliza, and you always yearn to give me everything -I want; but Miss Fabian will be married long before I'm able to ask any -woman to trust herself to me." - -Eliza gave him a fierce nod and drew down the corners of her mouth. - -"_I--don't--believe it!_" she said, so significantly that Phil flushed -and looked at her again. - -"_I've_ got eyes if you haven't," she added; and with this Parthian -shot she rose and went back to the house. - -Philip went on with his work, but the flush stayed, and there was a -line between his shining eyes. - -At this juncture Pat came up from the wharf with a heavy package. The -family had returned to the house in Gramercy Park, and he and Phil had -vacated the stable this spring. - -"Sure the Queen o' Sheby hersilf stepped off the boat," he announced as -he came into the Villa. - -"My Aunt come!" exclaimed Phil, turning around quickly. "I wonder what -changed their plan. Was she alone?" - -"She was not, thin," declared the Irishman proudly. "D'ye think the -Princess didn't come straight up and hold out her pretty hand with a -smile swate enough to beckon the bees? 'How d'ye do, Pat,' says she. -''Tis fine ye're to be here this summer,' says she. 'We shall call upon -you for a lot o' help,' she says." - -Philip stood still in indecision. No, he wouldn't hurry over. They knew -he was not expecting the arrival; and he fell to business again. - -The Irishman looked about him, on pictures and sketches. - -"Sure 'tis a power o' work ye've done, me bye," he said. "I feel I shud -have on a bathin' suit to look at 'em." - -Eliza from her window saw Captain James drive up to the boulder cottage -and saw the ladies dismount, and with them the maid of all work with -whom they intended this year to live the simple life. Pat would be a -valuable auxiliary. - -It was evening before Phil went across the field to call. A brilliant -planet showed a pale wake of light across the water, forerunner of the -moon which was soon to rise. - -"So serene, so soft, is she," thought Phil, in whose head Eliza's words -still rang, "and so remote," he added. "So she shines on me, and on -all, alike. Eliza hasn't seen the others, so she thinks me selected"; -and he pressed down the stopper which a long time ago he fitted to -repress disturbing emotions; for in the last hours they had effervesced -threateningly around its rough edges. - -Mrs. Fabian received him effusively and Kathleen with the calm -directness to which he had adjusted himself. - -"Your portrait comes off this summer, Aunt Isabel," he said. - -"I can't afford it, my dear," she answered. - -Phil shook his head. "If I painted a portrait of every Fabian on earth, -would it pay my debt to you?" he asked. "And anyway I have the finest -collection of Sidneys in the country; but there isn't a portrait among -them." - -"Do yourself sometime, Phil, will you?" suggested Kathleen. - -"Yes, and you," he replied. "I want to do a picture of you on my -terrace. Pat and I have brought up the bay to-day; and I want to begin -it immediately." - -"I know," laughed Kathleen. "You want to do both mother and me before -our complexions desert us." - -"I'll take you alternate days if you'll let me. I'd like you to-morrow, -for my background is just as I want it." He turned to Mrs. Fabian. -"Will you lend me your daughter to-morrow? I have the finest of Irish -terriers for a watch-dog, you know." - -Mrs. Fabian shrugged her shoulders. "I certainly shan't waste my time -chaperoning you two cousins at this late day," she answered. - -On the afternoon following Eliza met Kathleen coming across the field. -She looked at her in surprise, for instead of khaki the girl was -wearing a filmy white gown whose length was lifted from the clover and -buttercups, and carried over her arm. - -Eliza looked admiringly at the lithe figure, and the deep eyes that -beamed kindly upon her. - -"No wonder you are startled, Eliza; I am going to sit for my -portrait," she said, clasping Miss Brewster's hard hand. - -"You look as if you was ready for your wedding," returned Eliza. - -"I should like it to be here if I ever have one," said Kathleen; and -Eliza watched the rose-color spread from the girl's cheek to her brow, -while the young eyes kept their steady, kind regard; then she inquired -of Eliza as to the winter. - -"I do believe she kind o' likes me for his sake," thought Eliza, -standing still to look after the slender, graceful figure when Kathleen -moved on amid the daisies and clover. - -"She's a flower herself. That's what she is, and Mr. Philip didn't go -as red as a beet for nothin' when I spoke yesterday. He thinks she's -above him. There ain't anybody above him!" - -Whatever was the errand that had brought Eliza into the field this -afternoon she abandoned it, and turned slowly back toward the -farmhouse, glancing often at the Villa through whose door the slender -white figure had disappeared. - -"I wish there was somethin' I could do to help 'em," she thought. "That -pretty critter can't do a thing against Mr. Philip's determination if -he's set out. I know _him_." - -"Why was Kathleen so exquisite?" asked Mrs. Wright as Eliza came in. - -"Settin' for her portrait," answered Eliza absently. "Said she was too -dressed up to come and see you, but would come to-morrow." - -"She was a picture already, coming bareheaded through that flowery -field," said Mrs. Wright. - -Eliza did not respond. She disappeared into her own room and closed the -door. Then she unlocked her trunk and took from its depths a package -which she untied, disclosing a fine camel's-hair shawl. She unfolded it -with loving fingers, and regarded it. "A good enough weddin' present -even for her," she muttered. - -Then she reached into another corner and took out a tin box which she -unlocked and drew forth a tiny velvet case, rubbed and worn. When she -opened this, tears rushed to her eyes and she lifted it to her lips. -"Nothin' could make you so happy, my dear one," she murmured brokenly. -"Nothin'! Nothin'!" - - * * * * * - -Half an hour later Eliza entered the Villa. Pat was doing some scraping -of palette knives in the kitchen. She looked timidly out on the -terrace. A lovely living picture met her eyes. Kathleen was sitting on -the white railing, her filmy gown falling in folds at her feet. Behind -her rose the bay-crowned pillar casting shadows on the red-glints of -her hair. - -"Mr. Philip, please excuse me," said Eliza humbly; "but could you spare -Pat to go on an errand for us?" - -"Yes, yes," replied Phil absently, working at a white heat. - -Eliza withdrew with quiet celerity. The errand she required was to be -performed at a distance, and she was so nervous while she gave Pat -directions that he grinned at her. - -"Ye're thinkin' about _thim_!" he said, jerking his thumb over his -shoulder in the direction of the terrace. - -Eliza's eyes widened. "Why in the world should I think about them?" she -asked, all the time tolling Pat away toward the farmhouse. - -"I cud look at 'em from now till Christmas sittin' there," he -responded. "I don't blame ye." - - * * * * * - -"I haven't asked you about the turtle doves," said Phil, sketching in -Kathleen's hands. - -"They believe themselves the happiest people in the world, and perhaps -they are. Violet has really convinced me that she is the right girl for -Edgar. A meek one would have little chance." - -"They're coming up here, I suppose." - -"Oh, yes. Edgar can't get his vacation from the church quite yet, and -she'll not come till he can." - -"Of course not," replied Phil simply. "How can one voluntarily live -without the other a day after the great discovery is made?" - -Kathleen made no answer to this. The lump that rose in her throat was -rebellious; and the artist, looking up suddenly, met fire in the depths -of her dark eyes. The lids dropped. His hand grew suddenly unsteady. - -"Tell me when you're tired, Kathleen," he said. "We have the summer." -He smiled as he spoke; but it was a rigid sort of smile. - -The field sown thickly with the late wild-flowers of the island, and -stretching to a sparkling sea, the rustling orchard leaves, and the -crown of bay behind the queenly young head, the soft white figure with -the loosely dropped hands! It was no time or place for Kathleen to look -at him like that. - -"I'm tired now, I believe," she said, quietly. "Will it be enough for -to-day?" - -"At least until you're rested. Come in and let me show you a sketch I -did yesterday." - -She rose and lifted her white shoulders with a movement of weariness, -then they moved inside the room. - -A vase of daisies stood on the table. "I believe," said Phil, "I should -have asked you to wear daisies in your hair." - -They were standing by the table and he took three of the long stems and -breaking them to convenient length made a movement toward her head. -Then he shrank. "Put them in, will you?" he asked. - -The least smile touched her lips, and her hands hung down. - -"You know best what you want," she replied and inclined her regal head -toward him. - -The golden radiance streamed through the small-paned windows and -reddened her hair. - -Phil's fingers trembled as they tucked the flower stems under the soft -folds. He dropped his eyes from the lustrous tints, and they caught a -sudden elusive spark of violet, then green that shone on the table. He -looked closer, and pointed. - -"Did you leave your ring there?" he asked. - -Kathleen looked. A diamond ring was shining beneath the tall -candlestick. - -She shook her daisy-crowned head. - -"It's not mine," she said, wondering. "I never saw it." - -"Nor I." Phil's breath came faster. "This is an enchanted place, -Kathleen. The very spirit of the sea must have pitied me in my struggle -and brought this ring." The ring! He looked at it, dazed for another -moment, then like a flash he remembered Eliza's interruption, and his -illumined eyes met Kathleen's, grave and wondering. - -"I adore you, my darling. I give up the fight." He kept his eyes on -hers as he picked up the quaint little jewel and pressed it to his lips. - -Kathleen smiled at him, then her eyes veiled and dropped. - -He lifted her hand and slowly put the ring on her finger; for the inner -sanctuary of her heart had flown open, and he had seen within. - -Quickly he clasped her close in his arms. She clung to him, and the -golden radiance enveloped them. - - -THE END - - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - -Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired. - -Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully -as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other -inconsistencies. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Inner Flame, by Clara Louise Burnham - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INNER FLAME *** - -***** This file should be named 52240-8.txt or 52240-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/4/52240/ - -Produced by Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -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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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 Inner Flame - -Author: Clara Louise Burnham - -Release Date: June 5, 2016 [EBook #52240] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INNER FLAME *** - - - - -Produced by Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/i002.jpg" alt="" /> - <p class="caption">THE CALL</p> -</div> - - -<h1 class="mt4">The Inner Flame</h1> - -<p class="ph2">A Novel<br /> -by<br /> -Clara Louise Burnham</p> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/i003.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="mb4 ph3">NEW YORK<br /> -GROSSET & DUNLAP<br /> -PUBLISHERS</p> - - - - -<p class="front-matter ph3">COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY CLARA LOUISE BURNHAM<br /> - -ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2>Contents</h2> -</div> - -<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> -<tr> - <td class="rom">I.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">A November Night</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">II.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Severed Companionship</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">III.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Fabian's Visit</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">IV.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Philip Sidney</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">V.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Eliza's Invitation</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">VI.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Brother and Sister</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">VII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Flitting</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">VIII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">An Interrupted Tea</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">IX.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Heirlooms</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">X.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Arrival</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XI.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Fabian's Gifts</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_194">194</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Fabian's Dinner List</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XIII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Christmas</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XIV.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Spring</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XV.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">June</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XVI.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Peacemaker</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XVII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Mrs. Fabian's Scheme</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_296">296</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XVIII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Casco Bay</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XIX.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Flashes of Blue</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_328">328</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XX.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Eliza Surrenders</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_347">347</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXI.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Singer</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_366">366</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The New Studio</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_383">383</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXIII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Philip's Letter</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_400">400</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXIV.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Philip Entertains</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_405">405</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXV.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">By Moonlight</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_429">429</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXVI.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">Tides</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_450">450</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXVII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">The Son</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_466">466</a></td> - -</tr><tr> - <td class="rom">XXVIII.</td> - <td class="cht"><span class="smcap">A Tidal Wave</span></td> - <td class="pag"><a href="#Page_480">480</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - -<p class="half-title">The Inner Flame</p> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="ph1">The Inner Flame</p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CHAPTER I</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">A NOVEMBER NIGHT</p> - - -<p>Soft snowflakes whirled around the lonely -mountain cabin under a November sky. The -wind that had rushed up the valley sighing and -groaning between the wooded walls, now -roared its wild delight in the freedom of the -heights. The twilight was deepening fast. Two -women were alone in the cabin. The one who -was at home stooped and put another log on the -blazing fire. The other could not have stooped, -no matter how willing her spirit, so straitly and -fashionably was her ample figure bound by artful -bone and steel.</p> - -<p>"Mercy, Mary!" she ejaculated, standing -stock still in the middle of the room, fixed there -by a triumphant shriek of the rioting wind. "I -never had the least desire to go up in an aeroplane. -Are you well anchored here?"</p> - -<p>"Like a lichen on a rock," returned Mary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -Sidney, smiling. "Take off your hat, Isabel, -and be comfy."</p> - -<p>"Do you think we <em>must</em> stay all night?" demurred -the visitor. "You know I love you, -Mary, and if that wind would just let us hear -ourselves think, I wouldn't ask anything better -than an evening's chat with you alone."</p> - -<p>"You wouldn't as it is," returned Mrs. Sidney -soothingly, approaching her cousin and -unpinning the veil which Mrs. Fabian had not -raised. The visitor clung to her wraps with the -feeling that an entire readiness to flee back to -the haunts of men would aid her to depart. -Mary Sidney's calm amused smile carried some -reassurance. It flickered across her face as the -firelight flickered across the dark rafters above.</p> - -<p>"I <em>told</em> Henry I thought the sky looked -threatening before we left town," declared the -guest while she submitted to the gentle touch, -"but nothing would do but that he should visit -the mine this very afternoon. Isn't this fearful, -Mary?" as a renewed gust shook the firelit -rafters until they creaked heavily.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, this sounds a great deal worse than -it is," was the response.</p> - -<p>"You're comforting me, I know you are"; -and Mrs. Fabian, denuded of her correct hat,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -permitted herself to take the offered chair by -the fire. "I hope, though, that you have a kennel -of St. Bernard dogs in the back yard. I <em>should</em> -like to see Henry again, bad as he is!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sidney took the other chair and rolled -a blazing log to a better position.</p> - -<p>"You'll see the men coming along in a little -while—when they grow hungry," she returned -placidly.</p> - -<p>"And how in the world do you get servants -up here?" demanded the other.</p> - -<p>"We don't. We could get a Chinaman, but if -we had him we'd have to amuse him, there's no -one else for him to talk to, so we go without."</p> - -<p>"Horrors!" ejaculated Mrs. Fabian with solemn -repugnance. "And you live here alone!"</p> - -<p>The hostess laughed at her tone. "Not -enough of the year to dislike it. One learns a lot -of things in these hills—bidding farewell to -time, for instance. You see a man with a gun -tramping through the valley and you rush to -the door, and cry out, 'Hey, there, you with -the gun, what day is this?' and the man -turns and shouts back, 'You can't prove it by -me!'"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sidney laughed again and her cousin -shuddered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Thank God for civilization!" ejaculated -the latter devoutly; then, as the window-glass -sucked in and out with a cracking sound, "Give -me my hat, Mary," she said, sitting up. "If -we're going down the mountain-side, let's go -decently and in order."</p> - -<p>"For shame, you Maine woman!" was the -laughing rejoinder. "Your sea-captains would -call this 'a breeze o' wind!' That's all. That's -another thing one becomes acquainted with up -here: the wind. I didn't know anything about it -when I came. You should be here some nights -if you call this a storm! I used to set my dish-pans -out at the door; but when a few had -whirled down the mountain-side into the valley, -I learned caution. One can't go around the -corner here and buy a dish-pan."</p> - -<p>"Mary," Mrs. Fabian eyed her with bewildered -admiration, "you're wonderful! You -didn't used to be wonderful," she added in an -argumentative tone. "Once you'd have made -just as much fuss about this as I would. You -remember—if you try, you'll remember perfectly—that -I warned you, more than twenty-five -years ago, not to marry a mining engineer. -I told you then it was just as bad as marrying -an army officer. There would be no repose about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -it, and no comfort. You see I was right. Here -we are, to all intents and purposes, in a shrieking -balloon, and you call it home!" The speaker -kept a watchful eye on the rattling casement -and drew herself up with renewed tension at -each wind blast, but nevertheless she talked -on.</p> - -<p>"With it all you haven't as many lines in -your face as I have, and your hair is as brown as -ever. Mine would be white if I lived here instead -of in New York. And the calmness of -your eyes, and your smile! Tell me, Mary, tell -me now honestly,—I shall sympathize with you,—<em>is</em> -it the calmness of despair?"</p> - -<p>Mary Sidney did not smile. She looked into -the depths of the fire and her guest wondered -what memories were unfolding themselves to -her rapt vision.</p> - -<p>"No," she answered simply at last, "such -calmness as I possess is not of despair, but of—faith." -The speaker paused before the utterance -of the last word as if hesitating for the one -which should best express her meaning.</p> - -<p>"Do you mean something religious?" asked -Mrs. Fabian stiffly.</p> - -<p>The stiffness was not disapproval. It was -owing to the divided attention she was bestow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>ing -upon the storm, lest if she took her mind off -the wind it might seize the advantage and hurl -the cabin from its moorings.</p> - -<p>"I should think a person would <em>have</em> to be -religious here," she went on. "You must be -reduced—simply <em>reduced</em> to trusting in Providence!"</p> - -<p>Mary Sidney smiled at the fire. "I didn't -have a trusting disposition. I didn't have even -a happy disposition, as you evidently remember."</p> - -<p>"Well," returned Isabel, "it wasn't a bad -one: I didn't imply anything like that; but you -were one of the spoiled-beauty sort of girls, not -a bit cut out for hardship," the speaker looked -judicially at the once familiar face, softened -from its old brilliancy. "What an advantage it -is to have beautiful eyes!" she added bluntly. -"They don't desert you when other things go;—not -that it matters a bit what sort of eyes a -woman has, living the life you have."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Allan thinks it does," returned Mary in -her restful manner.</p> - -<p>"Does he appreciate you?" Mrs. Fabian -asked the question almost angrily.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sidney smiled. "We don't talk much -about that, but we're better companions, hap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>pier, -dearer, than we were twenty-five years -ago."</p> - -<p>Her cousin gazed curiously. "Then it did -turn out all right. You've written so little -to your friends. How could your relatives tell?"</p> - -<p>"You see, now, why," returned the other. -"There's not much letter-material here, and -even when we're living in town, all our friends -and our pursuits are so foreign to the people at -home. Little by little one gets out of the way of -writing."</p> - -<p>"Don't you ever long for Fifth Avenue?" -asked Mrs. Fabian suddenly, her cousin's exile -impressing her more and more as utter forlornity.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, not for many years."</p> - -<p>"You never could have kept your figure there -as you have here," admitted the other in a spirit -of justice. "I must say that," and the speaker -composed her own rigid armor into a less uncomfortable -position.</p> - -<p>"Do your own housework, Isabel," advised -the hostess with a smile.</p> - -<p>"Heavens! it is too late to talk to me about -that. I've enough to do without housework, I -should hope. You've no idea how much worse -things have grown in twenty-five years, Mary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -A woman has so much on her mind now that -nothing but regular massage from the crown -of her head to her heels will offset it. The -modistes and milliners are in a conspiracy to -change styles so often that it takes active -thought to keep abreast of them. Then you no -sooner settle down really to learn Bridge, for -instance, and feel that you can hold your own, -than everybody begins playing Auction! And -to know what people are talking about at luncheons -you must see plays, and skim through -books, reading at least enough so you can -express an opinion; not that anybody listens. -They all talk at once, their one and only object -seems to be to get their own ideas out of their -systems. I was glad to send Kathleen off to -school. It does seem as if the girls had to go -to college to escape as great a rush as we grownups -live in. Then when they come back, having -had another environment for four years, they -adjust themselves to their own homes with such -a sense of superiority that it makes you <em>tired</em>; -that's what it does, Mary, <em>tired</em>. I've had a -taste of it this summer. Kathleen has another -year to go, but already she is perfectly changed. -She cares no more for my advice, I assure you, -than if I had just come down from Mars and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -had no judgment as to the things of this world. -She's well-bred, of course,—I hope no daughter -of mine could be less than well-bred,—but when -I give her directions, or try to guide her in any -way, there's a twinkle in her eye that I resent, -Mary, I resent it distinctly. So there you are!" -Mrs. Fabian gestured with a perfectly kept -hand whereon a blazing gem flashed in the firelight. -"There we are between Scylla and Charybdis. -We either have to send our girls to college -and let the little upstarts think they've outgrown -us, or else have them rushed to death at -home, keep them up on tonics, and let them -sleep till noon!"</p> - -<p>With this dismal peroration Mrs. Fabian sat -as far back in her chair as disciplined adipose -would permit, and shuddered again at the wind.</p> - -<p>"Is a son an easier proposition then, in that -madding crowd of yours?"</p> - -<p>"A boy does seem to have his life more -plainly mapped out than a girl. Edgar is in his -father's office." The speaker sighed unconsciously. -"What is your boy like, Mary?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sidney kept silence for a thoughtful -moment before answering.</p> - -<p>"He is like Pegasus harnessed to a coal-wagon," -she said at last slowly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p>"How very extraordinary. What do you -mean?"</p> - -<p>Instead of replying, Mrs. Sidney went to a -table in the far corner of the cabin and brought -therefrom a portfolio which she opened on the -chair beside her guest.</p> - -<p>A mass of sketches was disclosed,—charcoal, -water-color, oil. Mrs. Sidney lifted one, and -held it before the other's eyes.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian raised her lorgnette.</p> - -<p>"Why, it's you, Mary; and it's capital!" -she ejaculated.</p> - -<p>Another and another sheet was offered for her -inspection.</p> - -<p>"Why, they're all of you. The artist must be -in love with you."</p> - -<p>Mary Sidney gave her a slight smile. "I hope -so, a little, but it was Hobson's choice when it -came to models. Phil seldom could get any one -beside me. Here's one of his father. He had to -do it slyly behind a newspaper, for Allan is -rather impatient of Phil's tendency."</p> - -<p>"So that is what your boy is at! It's real -talent, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is," returned the mother with quiet -conviction.</p> - -<p>"And where is he studying?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He has never studied anything but mining -engineering. He is working with his father -here."</p> - -<p>The unconscious sadness of the speaker's tone -impressed her listener.</p> - -<p>"He does landscapes, too," went on the mother, -lifting one after another of the sketches -of mountain, valley, and streamlet, "a little of -everything, you see." Mrs. Sidney regarded the -work wistfully.</p> - -<p>"Why, they're lovely," declared Mrs. Fabian. -"Why don't you pin them up on the -walls?"</p> - -<p>"Because it rather annoys Phil's father, to -see them, and it only tantalizes the boy."</p> - -<p>"So Mr. Sidney isn't willing he should -study?"</p> - -<p>"I don't think he would thwart us if he saw -any hope in it, but one can't enter on the life -of an art-student without any capital. Allan -knows there is a living for Phil in the work of -a mining engineer, so he has discouraged the -boy's talent."</p> - -<p>"It is a great responsibility to thwart a -child's bent," declared Mrs. Fabian impressively.</p> - -<p>"I have always felt so. I used to be very rest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>less -and anxious about it. My husband seemed -to feel that because Phil was a strapping boy, a -natural athlete, that painting was a womanish -profession for him. He had the ability to help -him into mining engineering lines, and he always -pooh-poohed the idea of Phil's attempting -to be an artist." Mrs. Sidney gave a little -shrug. "We didn't have the money anyway, so -Allan naturally has had his way."</p> - -<p>"One can't blame him," returned Mrs. -Fabian, who had relaxed as the wind ceased to -shake the cabin. "Painting is even more precarious -than acting; yet what a talent the boy -has!"</p> - -<p>She held before her a bold sketch in charcoal -of the mountain-side in the winter—few in -strokes, but striking in its breadth and power.</p> - -<p>"He has had an offer from a newspaper in -Denver to take the position of cartoonist. His -ability for caricature is good. See these of -Allan."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian laughed as she examined the -small sheets. "I haven't seen your husband for -ten years, Mary, but these recall his clean-cut -face better than a photograph would, I believe. -Phil rather gets back at his father in these, -doesn't he?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, Allan laughed at them too. He's secretly -proud of Phil's cleverness, even while he -discourages it. He tells him it is all right for an -accomplishment, but a forlorn hope for a -living."</p> - -<p>"And right he is," responded Mrs. Fabian, -laying down the sketches. "Look at Aunt -Mary's experience. There she has lived alone -all these years and given her life to the attempt -to make a name in the artistic world. I go -sometimes to see her, of course, for there she is -right in town, but her pictures"—Mrs. Fabian -lifted her eyes to the rafters—"they're -daubs!"</p> - -<p>"I know," returned Mary Sidney, looking -back into the fire. "She sent me one on my last -birthday. She never forgets her name-child."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian laughed. "I fancy you wished -she would, for that time."</p> - -<p>"No," returned the hostess, slowly, "I think -Aunt Mary sees more than she has the technique -to express. She gets an effect."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian raised her eyebrows. "She certainly -does. She makes me want to run a mile."</p> - -<p>"The gift led to our having a little correspondence. -I sent her a couple of Phil's sketches -and she was delighted with them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> - -<p>"She might well be," was the answer. There -was a brief silence, then the visitor continued: -"So Phil is something of a bone of contention -between you and his father?"</p> - -<p>"It is our only difference. Yet it can scarcely -even be called that, because it is a fact that we -haven't the money to give him the start he -should have."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked at her cousin curiously.</p> - -<p>"So this new calmness of yours—this repose. -It is resignation, at least, if not despair."</p> - -<p>Mary Sidney smiled at the fire. "No," she -returned, "I told you. It is faith."</p> - -<p>"Religion?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, religion. Not the sort of ideas we were -brought up in, Isabel. Something quite different."</p> - -<p>"What is it, then? Where did you find it?"</p> - -<p>"It found me."</p> - -<p>"How mysterious! Is that wind coming up -again, Mary?"</p> - -<p>"How it blew that night!" said Mary Sidney -thoughtfully, still looking into the fire. "It was -just before Thanksgiving, I remember, five -years ago. Allan and I had come up to the mine, -Phil had gone back to college, and one night a -belated traveller, overtaken by the storm which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -came up as suddenly as this, stopped at the door -and asked if he could stay all night with us. He -was one of these vital men, full of energy, who -seem to exhale good cheer. Allan thoroughly -enjoyed a talk with him that evening, and when -we went to bed I remember his sighing and remarking -that a man must be either a fool or a -philosopher who could keep such an optimistic -outlook on life as this Mr. Tremaine. I returned -that perhaps our guest had struck a -gold-mine here in the mountains, and I remember -how Allan grumbled—'Either that, or the -pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.'</p> - -<p>"Allan came in here once, where we had left -the guest to sleep on the couch, to see if he -wanted anything; and he found him reading in -front of the embers. When he came back he -remarked: 'That fellow has a smile that doesn't -usually last beyond the tenth year.' The next -morning dawned bright and our guest was in -haste to depart. He tried in the nicest way to -pay us for taking in a stranger, and we quite -honestly told him that if any money were to -pass it should go from us to him for cheering our -exile. He took from his pocket a small black -book and held it out to me. 'Then,' he said, -'may I leave with you a little book which has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -broken up the clouds of life for me, and let the -light stream through? You have time up here -to read,—and to think?' He made the addition -with that smile which had roused Allan's -curiosity, shook hands with us both, thanked -us again, mounted his horse and rode away. We -never saw him afterward. I often wish I knew -where he was, that I might thank him."</p> - -<p>"What was the book?" asked Mrs. Fabian, -impressed by the fervor of the other's tone.</p> - -<p>"A—a commentary on the Bible. A new -light on the meaning of the Bible."</p> - -<p>"How queer! I'm sure I thought our family -knew as much about the Bible as the average of -decent people."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's tone was slightly resentful.</p> - -<p>"We did," returned Mary Sidney.</p> - -<p>"So that's what you meant a few minutes -ago by the calm of faith."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Sidney nodded. "I know now what -that sentence means: 'Cast your burden on the -Lord.' Phil is the most precious thing on earth -to me. The years seem to be slipping by without -showing us a possible path to what we wish. -'Wait patiently on the Lord' doesn't mean -inaction either. I've learned that. I know -that at the right time—the right moment—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>circumstances -will arise to show us if Phil -is to—"</p> - -<p>A sudden blast of wind brought a start and a -muffled exclamation from the guest, and at the -same instant a stamping sounded outside. The -lamp-flames rose wildly, and smoked in the instant -of opening the door wide enough to admit -the lithe form of a man whose shoulders and -soft felt hat glistened with snow. He quickly -closed the door and stamped again, taking off -the hat from his short damp locks and shaking -it vigorously.</p> - -<p>"Phil, this is my cousin, Mrs. Fabian," said -Mrs. Sidney. "You used to call her Aunt Isabel -when you were a little chap and we went to visit -her once. Do you remember?"</p> - -<p>"When a cousin is once removed she becomes -an aunt," declared Mrs. Fabian, looking the -young man over with approval.</p> - -<p>"My hand is too wet to shake," he said, -meeting her interested gaze, his own luminous -in the firelight.</p> - -<p>"Lucky boy! You have your mother's eyes!" -she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Mary Sidney; "Phil's are -blue."</p> - -<p>"Dark with terror, then!" exclaimed Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -Fabian, again anxious. "Isn't the storm -frightful?"</p> - -<p>Phil's amused glance sought his mother's.</p> - -<p>"It's sort of spitting outside," he returned, -unbuttoning his corduroy coat.</p> - -<p>"You're making fun of a tenderfoot," said -Mrs. Fabian, watching his keen face admiringly. -"Don't pretend. What have you done -with my poor innocent husband?"</p> - -<p>"He'll be up here in a few minutes with my -poor innocent father who has been showing him -why he'll never be a millionaire out of that -mine."</p> - -<p>"What do I care if he isn't, so long as he -isn't lost in this storm!"</p> - -<p>"I came on ahead because the mail had just -been brought in." As he spoke, the young man -brought a small bunch of letters and papers -from an inner pocket.</p> - -<p>"A great excitement, Isabel," said the hostess. -"Only twice a week, you know."</p> - -<p>"There's another letter from the Denver -paper," went on Phil, looking at his mother -steadily.</p> - -<p>"You'll forgive us if we open everything, -won't you, Isabel?" asked Mrs. Sidney.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, yes. Don't mind me." Mrs. Fabian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -returned to her chair by the fire and regarded -the pair who seated themselves by the table.</p> - -<p>Phil had slipped off the damp coat, and his -arm in its striped linen sleeve was thrown -around his mother's shoulders.</p> - -<p>The visitor's eyes filled with something like -envy. Kathleen and Edgar were her step-children, -the boy had been five years of age -when she began to be, to use her own declaration, -the best stepmother in the world. Edgar -would never think of reading his letters with -her in this frankly affectionate attitude. Must -one live on a mountain-top, she wondered, to -win the sort of look she had seen in this son's -eyes?</p> - -<p>"I've been showing your Aunt Isabel your -sketches, Phil," said Mrs. Sidney, holding open -a letter they had just read. "I told her about -the Denver paper. This is another offer from -them, Isabel, an increased offer."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure that's very flattering," returned -Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>Phil did not speak. His straight brows were -knit in perplexity, and his lips were set in the -look of longing that his mother knew.</p> - -<p>"I don't know this writing from New York," -said Mrs. Sidney, opening the next letter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> - -<p>Glancing over it she gave a startled exclamation.</p> - -<p>"Whew!" breathed the boy, reading over her -shoulder. "Poor Aunt Mary!"</p> - -<p>"Isabel, Aunt Mary has gone!" exclaimed -Mrs. Sidney.</p> - -<p>"What! I didn't know she was ill. She -wasn't ill. Who is there to attend to things? -Who wrote you?"</p> - -<p>"Eliza Brewster. This is from her. It was -very sudden. She had been at work at her easel -an hour before. How sad it seems! How lonely! -I wish we had both been there, Isabel. There is -the letter." Phil took it across to Mrs. Fabian. -"You see. She was buried day before yesterday. -Oh, I'm glad we had that little interchange -in the summer. Eliza loves her, but, -after all, she is not her own."</p> - -<p>Phil mechanically opened another letter. His -thoughts were with that unknown relative with -cravings like to his, working through the gathering -years toward a goal which had ever retreated -before her. He unfolded a business -letter. It enclosed a small sealed envelope -addressed to himself in another handwriting.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary's!" said his mother. The son's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -arm was again around her as with heads close -together they perused the following:—</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">My dear Grand-Nephew, Philip Sidney</span>:—</p> - -<p>When you open this letter, I shall have gone -to a world where surely I shall be permitted to -come nearer to the source of beauty.</p> - -<p>My family all consider me a failure. I know -it. They have laughed at my poor efforts. I -know it; but since your mother wrote to me a -month ago, sending me your sketches and telling -me your longings, I have felt that out in the -free Western country, there lives one with my -blood in his veins, who will understand the -thirst that has led me on, and nerved me to untiring -effort—that has made it my only hope -of happiness to live as I have lived, and work as -I have worked. He will also understand, perhaps, -that few as my rewards have been, I have -occasionally felt that some beauty has crept -through my brain and been fixed to the canvas, -and that such moments have given me the -highest bliss this world could bestow.</p> - -<p>For a month, then, I have taken comfort in -my artist-boy, no matter if you are known to -others as an engineer. I have kept on my easel -the photograph your mother sent me, and every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -day while I work, I look from time to time into -your eyes, your mother's lovely eyes. I rejoice -in your thick hair, and your splendid chin and -firm, full-curved mouth. It isn't often that a -head wanders from the Louvre and becomes -set on a pair of modern shoulders. I, the old -woman, peering through her spectacles, and -painting with a hand that is often far from -steady, have found a joy in studying the harmony -of your promise. You have my blood in -your veins, but you will succeed where I have -failed. A happy failure, Philip. Don't feel sad -for me. I've had moments of joy that no one -knew. No one took the trouble to know; but -nobody is to blame. Lives are very full in these -rushing days.</p> - -<p>I believe in you, and I long for you to get -started toward that land where you fain would -be. Your mother says that the door hasn't -opened yet. Looking into your young eyes, a -great thought came to me. Supposing I, the -ineffectual, could set that door ajar! With the -thought came the first great regret for my poverty. -Never mind, thought I stoutly; if I can -set that door a wee bit open, his young strength -can do the rest!</p> - -<p>I have had warnings that soon the great door<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -will be opened for me; the door that ushers in to -the heart's desire. Mine has been for Truth -and Beauty, O God, Thou knowest!</p> - -<p>So I am making my will—such a poor little -short will; but all for you, my kindred spirit, -my knight who will deliver from failure, my -Philip Sidney.</p> - -<p>The faithful maid Eliza will take care of my -effects for you. You will find some useful things -among the paraphernalia here. I look at my -old easel and wonder if it will ever be promoted -to hold a canvas of yours.</p> - -<p>This letter will be enclosed to you in one from -my lawyer, telling you the business side of my -wishes. The heart side no one can tell. I swell -with longing for your success, and happiness; -and so good-bye.</p> - -<p>The mother who never had a son, gains one -in you. The painter who never was an artist, -becomes one in you!</p> - -<p>And so, dear, I am your happy</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span class="smcap">Aunt Mary</span>. -</p></div> - -<p>Mary Sidney and her boy exchanged a look. -With unsteady hands Phil straightened the -legal letter, and they read it together. Then -they rose from the table with one accord.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian, wrapped in thought, looked up -at the sudden movement.</p> - -<p>Phil's concentrated gaze went past her to the -fire, and he stood motionless, one hand leaning -on the table, the other arm around his mother. -Mary Sidney clasped the rustling paper to her -breast. All the self-forgetfulness of mother-love -shone in her wet eyes as she met Mrs. Fabian's -questioning look.</p> - -<p>"Isabel, I told you it would come," she said. -"I told you we should know. The light is here. -Phil is going to New York."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">SEVERED COMPANIONSHIP</p> - - -<p>Eliza Brewster could count on the fingers of -one hand the number of times that tears had -escaped her pale eyes. She had always felt for -those who wept easily, the same leniency without -comprehension that she entertained for -women who fainted.</p> - -<p>Trials had come and gone in her life; but -never, since the day when she discovered some -boys maltreating her cat, had she shed such -tears as flowed now in her sorrow. The cat's -abbreviated tail bore witness still to that day's -conflict, but both his wound and hers had -healed.</p> - -<p>When would this new wound cease to ache -and palpitate! Each day there in the lonely -flat, Eliza Brewster renewed war with the memories -to which she had no mind to succumb. -The gentleness of her mistress, her innocent, -ever-springing hope, her constant disappointments, -the solitariness of her narrow life, the -neglect of her relatives—all these things re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>curred -to the faithful handmaiden with the -terrific appeal which contracts the newly bereft -heart, causing it to bleed afresh. Mary Ballard, -in spite of her twenty years' greater age, had -been child as well as mistress to the faithful -woman, who cared for the quiet, shy dreamer -of dreams through the twenty-five years of the -latter's widowhood.</p> - -<p>Now Eliza's occupation was gone. All her -rather hard philosophy, all her habitual self-possession, -was swamped in a world where she -could no longer call her dear one from the easel -to her meals; and where the rooms of the little -apartment grew spacious and echoed from sheer -emptiness.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard had bequeathed her maid all her -clothing, and all her personal possessions, save -one old-fashioned diamond brooch, which was -to be sent to her namesake, Mary Sidney. Some -weeks before her death, she told Eliza of the disposition -of her effects. In referring to the small -gift of money which was to be hers, she said:—</p> - -<p>"I wish it were more, Eliza, but," looking -wistfully into the eyes of her companion, "I -have a great mission for my little capital as I -have told you. If only the amount were as great -as the object!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Nonsense, talking about wills," rejoined -Eliza brusquely, a new delicacy in the loved -face making her tone sharp, "more likely I'll -be leaving something to you; though I don't -know what it would be, unless 'twas the cat."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard smiled. "Not a bad legacy," -she replied. "Pluto is very sympathetic. He -likes to watch me paint. He has really concluded -to endure the smell of oil and turpentine -just to keep me company."</p> - -<p>At the moment the night-black cat was lifting -green eyes of approval to his own portrait -which stood near, and Mrs. Ballard buried a -veined hand in his glossy fur. A few weeks later -that hand was still. Oh, the dear garments with -the outline of the wearer still warm in their -curves! Who has not known the tender, overpowering -anguish of their touch? Every day -Eliza tried to systematize and pack her new -belongings, and every day she postponed the -ordeal until to-morrow.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard's watch alone stood on the table -at the head of her bed, hanging in the little -satin slipper just as it had ticked beside her -mistress's sleeping form so many years. The -watch seemed as alive as Pluto, and almost as -much of a companion. It spoke eloquently of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -the gentle being who had always been unconscious -of its warnings.</p> - -<p>On the mantelpiece in the living-room, which -had been studio as well, was Philip Sidney's -photograph and his two sketches, one of his -mother, and one of a storm-beaten tree. They -were the two that Mary Sidney had sent in -response to her aunt's gift in the summer-time. -All three pictures were turned now to the wall. -Mrs. Sidney was a relative. That stamped her -for Eliza. The sketches had been either the -vainglorious gift of a fond mamma, or else -prompted by hope of the very result they had -gained. As for the photograph of the artist, -Eliza could not deny that it had marvellously -cheered and companioned the last months of -her dear one's life.</p> - -<p>Indeed, in those days, recent yet already -seeming so long past, Eliza, out in her kitchen, -had often laughed grimly to herself at the infatuation -for the picture shown by her mistress.</p> - -<p>"If she was sixteen she couldn't be more -head over heels in love," she would soliloquize. -"I s'pose an artist has got to be just so stirred -up by good looks, whether it's a landscape or a -human; but I know I wouldn't trust a hand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>some -man around the corner with a dog's -dinner."</p> - -<p>In pursuance of these reflections, when her -mistress had gone, Phil's picture went with the -sketches, his face to the wall.</p> - -<p>Eliza's attitude toward the whole world was -defiance on the subject of her mistress's lifework. -Of course, Mrs. Ballard was an artist; a -great artist. Eliza knew it must be so, there -were so many of her pictures that she could not -understand.</p> - -<p>A canvas which was a blur to her contained -so much which the painter would explain while -Eliza stood devotedly by, dutifully assenting to -the unravelling of the snarl of form and color.</p> - -<p>"You don't care for it, do you, Eliza?" the -artist would say sometimes, wistfully.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I do, Mrs. Ballard," would come -the response, and never words rang more -prompt and true. "I'm just one o' those folks -so practical, I can't see an inch before my nose -and I've never had advantages. I haven't got -any insight, as you call it, beyond a dishpan; -but when you explain it so clear, that's when I -begin to see."</p> - -<p>This latter was a loyal lie; as a rule, Eliza -never did see; but she applauded just the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -with vague murmurs of wonder and admiration.</p> - -<p>It hurt the faithful soul even now to recall -how, when the sketches came from the West, -her mistress had eagerly examined them, and -bitten her lip, her eyes glistening. "There's the -true touch, Eliza," she had said quietly. "This -boy has a spark of the divine fire."</p> - -<p>"Pooh! I don't think so at all," Eliza had -returned stoutly and contemptuously. "Of -course, that drawin' of his mother is pleasant -enough, but you haven't seen her in years. -You don't know how good the likeness is; and -as for that landscape, that rough twisted tree -most blown off its feet and clouds racin' above -those rocks, nobody'd ever think they was anything -except just what they are, a tree and rocks -and clouds; awful pokerish, I call it, not a bit -pretty." Eliza's long nose lifted in scorn.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard smiled and bowed her head over -the wind-blown tree.</p> - -<p>"My flesh and blood, still," she murmured.</p> - -<p>Now, in the dreary days, Eliza moved about -aimlessly, forgetting to eat, and roused only by -Pluto's indignant <em>meows</em>, to remember that, -though he might mourn, still he felt that he -owed it to himself to keep his coat glossy by -milk baths, taken internally.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> - -<p>Never had he known such long luxurious naps -in the lap of his mistress as now. Wrapped in -thought she sat for hours without moving; the -irrepressible tears welling up from her heart and -creeping, one by one, down her thin cheeks.</p> - -<p>She had made no friends in the cheap apartment -building where they lived. It was a changing -population, which ebbed and flowed at the -mercy of its own financial tide.</p> - -<p>"There ain't a lady in this house except you," -Eliza had been wont to say to her mistress.</p> - -<p>"I don't believe we know that," Mrs. Ballard -had rejoined; "but we're too busy for neighboring, -aren't we, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>Whenever there had been any leisure, Mrs. -Ballard had taken her handmaiden to the -Metropolitan Museum of Art.</p> - -<p>Not for worlds would Eliza mar the joy with -which her mistress bestowed upon her this -treat. So she climbed endless stairs, and -plodded weary miles with fortitude, having -ready a response to every worshipful utterance -with which Mrs. Ballard pointed out this and -that marvel.</p> - -<p>"Wonderful, ain't it!" Eliza would respond -with the regularity of clockwork.</p> - -<p>"How I love to get you out of that kitchen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -Eliza, up into this atmosphere of genius!" her -mistress would say, in a burst of affection for -the strong mainspring of her household.</p> - -<p>"Wonderful, ain't it!" returned the beneficiary, -stepping on the other foot in the effort to -rest one leg.</p> - -<p>The sight of the very exterior of the great -repository of art-treasures caused Eliza's bones -to ache, if she caught sight of the imposing pile -from a car window.</p> - -<p>One day, however, all this was changed. The -Metropolitan Museum of Art rose in Eliza's -estimation to the level of her own kitchen where -a chromo depicting kittens in various attitudes -of abandon hung over the table.</p> - -<p>Mistress and maid were doing the well-worn -circuit. The faithful echo had repeated "Wonderful, -ain't it!" for the twentieth time. The -ardor in Mrs. Ballard's eyes was lending wings -to her slender body, but Eliza had lagged, -spurred on, and rested the other leg, until, to -paraphrase a bit from Mr. Lowell—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"On which leg she felt the worse,</div> - <div class="verse">She couldn't 'a' told you, 'nother,"—</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>when suddenly an inspiration of deliverance -seized her. The fact that it had not seized her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -months before was simply another proof of devotion -to the sun of her existence. Each time -she entered the massive gates to her place of -torture, she left such mentality as she possessed -behind her. As well might a fish be expected -to navigate in the free air of heaven as Eliza -in these marble halls. This was her mistress's -element. Let her guide. But one memorable -day the two were standing before a marine.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Eliza, that's new!" exclaimed Mrs. -Ballard; and from the vigor of her tone, her -handmaid feared the worst. She had believed -they were nearly ready to depart. Now her -companion seemed inspired for another two -hours.</p> - -<p>"Might it not have been painted from your -island," continued Mrs. Ballard. "What adorable -work!"</p> - -<p>"Wonderful, ain't it!" came Eliza's wooden -accents.</p> - -<p>"What feeling!" murmured her rapt companion.</p> - -<p>"I only hope 'tain't sciatica," thought -Eliza, wiggling her hip. Her casually roving eye -caught sight of one vacancy on the bench in the -middle of the room.</p> - -<p>"Don't you want to sit down a spell and look<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -at it, Mrs. Ballard?" she asked. "There's a -place."</p> - -<p>"No," was the slow, absent reply. "I seem -to prefer to stand in its presence—a royal -presence, Eliza."</p> - -<p>Miss Brewster waited no longer. With incontinent -haste she limped, as in seven-league -boots, toward the desired haven. She saw that -a portly gentleman was heading for the same -spot. She sprinted. She beat him by a toe's -length, and nearly received him on her maiden -lap. He recovered himself and glared at her. -She maintained an unconscious air, her gaze -fixed on the sky of the marine painting. It was -all she could see; there were so many standing -in front of her, welcoming this new treasure to -the home of beauty.</p> - -<p>Presently Mrs. Ballard, missing her shadow, -looked about and at last descried Eliza. She -approached, her small, veined hands clasped on -her breast for joy.</p> - -<p>"It seems as if it must have been done from -the island!" she exclaimed. "How can you sit -down, Eliza! I should think it would take you -straight to your old home!"</p> - -<p>Miss Brewster did not say that she thought -there was more likelihood of her again seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -her native place if she did sit down; but for -once her clockwork did not act. It seemed as if -the succumbing of her legs had impeded the -other mechanism.</p> - -<p>"I just felt as if I had to, Mrs. Ballard," she -answered numbly.</p> - -<p>"You dear!" exclaimed her mistress impulsively, -speaking low. "I might have known it. -You felt overcome. I don't wonder. It took me -back to the island, too, in a flash! I dare say -you often conceal homesickness from me, Eliza. -We must try to go there next summer! I did -use to think that perhaps Mrs. Fabian—but, -no matter; we can go on our own account, -Eliza, and we will, too."</p> - -<p>"It would be lots better for you than staying -here in summer, that's sure."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard sighed, "Yes, if only the rent -didn't keep on, and keep on."</p> - -<p>Eliza knew the arguments. She did not pursue -the subject now. She rose, keeping firm -pressure, however, against the bench.</p> - -<p>"Take this place, Mrs. Ballard, and rest a -minute."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm not a bit tired. I thought we'd take -one or two more rooms. The light is wonderful -to-day."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<p>Up to the present moment Eliza in this temple -of genius had, as has been said, galvanized -her energies and followed where her mistress led, -at any cost, as unquestioningly as the needle -follows the magnet; but this was the moment -of her emancipation. Mrs. Ballard herself gave -her the cue, for she added with consideration -for an unwonted sentiment:—</p> - -<p>"Unless you'd rather stay and look at that -reminder of home a while longer, Eliza? I'll -come back for you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, would you, just as soon, Mrs. Ballard?"</p> - -<p>The eagerness of the tone touched her mistress.</p> - -<p>"Why, of course, my dear, do so; but I'd get -up if I were you." Eliza had sunk back upon -the bench with the certainty and impact of a -pile-driver. "There is such a crowd you can't -see anything from here but the sky."</p> - -<p>"I feel as if I could look at that sky for a -week," responded Eliza with a sincerity which -admitted of no doubt.</p> - -<p>"It is wonderful, isn't it?" returned her -mistress, unconscious of plagiarism. She patted -Eliza's shoulder. "I'll be back soon," she assured -her, and moved away.</p> - -<p>"The good creature!" she thought. "How<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -selfish I have been to her! I ought occasionally -to let her go home; but I know she'd never -go without me. She wouldn't believe that I'd -eat three meals a day, no matter how faithfully -I promised." And Mrs. Ballard laughed -a little before becoming engrossed in an old -favorite.</p> - -<p>She was gone so long that Eliza cogitated -with newly acquired ingenuity.</p> - -<p>"It's a good thing," she reflected, "that the -fool-catcher ain't artistic. He'd 'a' caught me -here lots o' times. Supposin' I was with that -dear crazy critter all this time, hoppin' along -in misery, or standin' in front o' some paintin' -like a stork." Eliza's light eyes twinkled. -"Why shouldn't I set up a taste in pictures, -too? Just watch me from this on."</p> - -<p>After this day Mrs. Ballard did observe with -joy a transformation in her handmaid's attitude. -When they visited the galleries Eliza -would move along with her usual calm until -suddenly some picture would particularly hold -her attention.</p> - -<p>"Is that a very fine paintin'?" she would ask -of her cicerone.</p> - -<p>"Which one, Eliza? Oh, yes, I see. Certainly, -or it wouldn't be here; but in that next room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> -are those I thought we should make a study of -to-day."</p> - -<p>Eliza's light eyes swept the unbroken polished -surface of the floor of the adjoining room. -"I know I haven't got very far along in understandin' -these things," she said modestly, "but -to my eyes there is a certain somethin' there,"—she -paused and let her transfixed gaze toward -the chosen picture say the rest.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard held her lip between her teeth -reflectively as she looked at it too. On that first -occasion it was a summer landscape painted at -sunset.</p> - -<p>"We've passed it many times," she thought, -"but it's evident that Eliza is waking up!"</p> - -<p>The reflection was exultant. Far be it from -Mrs. Ballard to interrupt the birth throes of her -companion's artistic consciousness.</p> - -<p>"Then stay right here, Eliza, as long as you -wish," she replied sympathetically. "I shall be -near by."</p> - -<p>She hurried away in her light-footed fashion, -and Eliza continued to stand before her cynosure -long enough to disarm possible suspicion, -and then backed thoughtfully away until she -reached a bench upon which she sank, still with -eyes upon the picture.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard from the next room observed her -trance.</p> - -<p>"She is waking up. Her eyes are opening, -bless her heart," she thought. "Constant -dropping does wear the stone."</p> - -<p>Eliza would have paraphrased the proverb -and declared that constant dropping saves the -life.</p> - -<p>From this day on she professed, and triumphantly -acted upon, an appreciation for certain -pictures; and Mrs. Ballard marvelled with -pride at the catholicity of her taste; for such -serpentine wisdom did Eliza display in passing, -unseeing, many an inviting bench, that never, -to their last pilgrimage to Mrs. Ballard's mecca, -did the latter suspect the source of her companion's -modest enthusiasm.</p> - -<p>"Poor thing," thought Eliza during these -periods of rest; "it's a sin and a shame that she -hasn't got anybody worthy to come with her. -If those relatives of hers were, any of 'em, fit to -live, one of 'em would bring her here sometimes. -The poor dear, as long as she hasn't a soul but -an ignorant country body like me to sympathize -with her, I've got to do my best; and -really if I set a spell once in a while, I'll have -more sprawl and can seem to enjoy it more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -It's awful hard when you can't think of anything -but your joints! I'm younger'n she is, -and I'm ashamed o' gettin' so tuckered; but -she's got some kind o' wings that seem to lift -her along."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Ballard, from the next room, caught -Eliza's eye, smiled, and nodded, well pleased. -So the era of peace ensued; and when Miss -Brewster caught sight from a street car of the -Metropolitan Museum of Art, she was able to -regard it without a frown.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">MRS. FABIAN'S VISIT</p> - - -<p>Eliza was not obliged to give up the apartment -until the end of the month. Hence her drifting -from day to day, and Pluto's naps in the lap of -luxury.</p> - -<p>All her energy and systematic habits were in -a state of suspension. Her clocks ran down. -The watch in the tiny satin slipper beside her -bed alone ticked the minutes away, and when -Eliza wound it her eyes were too wet to see the -time. Night fell and she went to bed. Morning -dawned and she arose. She drank tea, but it -was too much trouble to eat.</p> - -<p>One day the bell rang. At first she determined -not to answer it. Then second thought -came to her. What was she waiting here for -except to answer the bell? Was her next duty -not to introduce the usurper into his kingdom—to -give into his desecrating hands those -objects,—easel, palette, brushes, paints,—hallowed -by her dear one's use? At the sound -of a knock she hastened to fling open the door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -Mrs. Fabian, elegantly gowned and furred, -stood before her.</p> - -<p>Eliza gazed at this apparition dumb.</p> - -<p>"Why, Eliza Brewster," exclaimed the visitor -with concern, "I scarcely knew you." -After the mutual gaze of astonishment the -caller moved in with her air of stately assurance, -and Eliza followed her perforce into the -living-room. Here Mrs. Fabian swiftly examined -the possibilities of the scanty chairs, -then seated herself in the largest.</p> - -<p>"You have been ill, too, Eliza? You look -like a ghost!"</p> - -<p>The gaunt woman in the alpaca dress, so -filled with resentment that she begrudged her -own tears because they informed this "relative" -of her grief, stood in silence with a beating -heart.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, you poor creature," went on Mrs. -Fabian, unsuspecting hidden fires.</p> - -<p>They burned higher at the tone of patronage, -but Eliza, weakened from mourning and lack of -food, felt her knees trembling and sank into the -nearest chair.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian, genuinely touched by the -ravages she saw, broke the silence that followed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I was greatly surprised and shocked to hear -of Aunt Mary's sudden going."</p> - -<p>She began to feel uncomfortable under the -set gaze of Eliza's swollen eyes.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you sent to my house at once, and -found that Mr. Fabian and I were in the far -West."</p> - -<p>"No, I didn't think of sending," returned -Eliza.</p> - -<p>"You should have done so. Surely there was -no one nearer to Aunt Mary than I."</p> - -<p>"It was in the paper," said Eliza dully.</p> - -<p>"Had I been here I should, of course, have -taken charge of the funeral."</p> - -<p>The pale eyes emitted a curious light.</p> - -<p>"No, you wouldn't, Mrs. Fabian," was the -quiet reply.</p> - -<p>"Why do you say that?"</p> - -<p>"Because the time for you to have done -something for Mrs. Ballard was while she was -alive."</p> - -<p>Eliza was too spent physically to speak other -than softly, but her words brought the amazed -color to her visitor's face.</p> - -<p>"You are presuming," Mrs. Fabian said, -after a moment. "What do you know about -it? I suppose Aunt Mary did not think it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> -worth while to tell you all the things I did for -her."</p> - -<p>"No," agreed Eliza, "she never said a word -about the times you came with your automobile -to take her riding; nor the picture exhibitions -you took her to see, or the way you had -her to dinner Thanksgivin' time and other -times, or how you had her to spend part o' the -summer with you at the island, or—"</p> - -<p>"Eliza Brewster, what does this mean!" Mrs. -Fabian's eyes were dilated. "Aunt Mary was -not related to my husband or to his children. -I never expected him to marry my family."</p> - -<p>Miss Brewster's gaze was fixed upon the -speaker with pale scorn, but the latter continued -with what she endeavored to make a dignified -defence. "I always sent Aunt Mary a -present at Christmas."</p> - -<p>"Yes," interrupted Eliza. "Last season -'twas a paper-cutter. You gave her cuts -enough without that."</p> - -<p>"And I called upon her at intervals," continued -the visitor in a heightened tone to drown -the small voice.</p> - -<p>"Intervals of a year," said Eliza.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian started to rise, but bethought -herself, and sank back.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You are impertinent," she said coldly. "A -person in your position cannot understand the -duties of one in mine. There can be no discussion -between you and me." The speaker stirred -in her chair and collected herself. "I—and -every one of Aunt Mary's relatives—appreciate -your faithful service to her, and thank you -for it."</p> - -<p>"Don't you dare!" ejaculated Eliza, with -such sudden belligerency that Mrs. Fabian -started.</p> - -<p>"You're almost crazed with fatigue and grief, -poor creature," she said at last. "I can see that -you are scarcely responsible for what you say -to-day. You must take a long rest. Shall you -go home to the island or take another place in -town? I can find you one."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian felt the superiority of her own -self-control as she made this kind offer; besides, -in these troublous days with servants, steady, -reliable Eliza, with a sure touch in cookery, was -not to be despised. The visitor accompanied -her offer with a soothing attempt at a smile.</p> - -<p>Eliza had relapsed into dullness. "I won't -trouble you," she said.</p> - -<p>"It would not be any trouble," was the -magnanimous reply. "Just let me know any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> -time when you would like a reference, Eliza. It -will give me pleasure to reward your faithfulness."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian loved approval quite as much as -she did admiration. She would feel much more -comfortable to win that of even this uncompromising, -cranky individual, so lined with the -signs of suffering. As Eliza Brewster was a -native of the island where Mrs. Fabian had -resorted from the days of her girlhood, she had -a very slight but old acquaintance with this -woman. As she glanced at the thin hair, now -fast turning grey, the sunken eyes and cheeks, -and the bony, roughened hands, she shuddered -beneath her ermine-lined sables, to remember -that she and Eliza Brewster were about the -same age. She passed a white-gloved hand over -the firm contour of her smooth cheek as if to -make sure of its firmness. "I believe it was I -who recommended you to Aunt Mary in the -first place, long ago," she added.</p> - -<p>"That's one o' your mistakes," said Eliza -drily.</p> - -<p>"On the contrary," returned Mrs. Fabian -graciously. She was determined to warm this -forlorn specimen of New England frigidity into -something humanly companionable, else how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -was she going to attain the object of her visit? -She went on with such flattery of manner as she -might have employed toward a desirable débutante. -"It has proved quite the best thing -that I ever did for Aunt Mary; securing her -comfort and thereby the peace of mind of all -who belonged to her. Don't call it a mistake, -Eliza."</p> - -<p>"However that may be," returned the other -immovably, "'t wa'n't you that did it. 'Twas -your Cousin Mary."</p> - -<p>"Oh—was it? Oh, indeed?" responded Mrs. -Fabian, slipping back her furs still further. -Eliza Brewster's disagreeable manner was making -her nervous. "Yes, I believe Mrs. Sidney -was with us on her wedding-trip just at that -time. Mr. Fabian and I have just returned -from visiting Mrs. Sidney out in her wild -mountain home."</p> - -<p>Eliza's eyes roved involuntarily to two blank -sheets of board standing on the mantelpiece; -but she was silent.</p> - -<p>"Do you know the contents of Aunt Mary's -will, Eliza?" asked Mrs. Fabian, after waiting -vainly for an inquiry as to her cousin's well-being.</p> - -<p>"I do."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What do you think of it?"</p> - -<p>"That don't matter, does it?"</p> - -<p>A streak of light illumined Mrs. Fabian's -annoyance. Ah, that was what was the matter -with Eliza. After twenty-five years of faithful -service, she had expected to inherit her mistress's -few hundreds. Full explanation, this, of -the present sullenness. The disappointment -must, indeed, have been bitter.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian felt an impulse of genuine sympathy. -She knew the singular loneliness of -Eliza's situation; knew that she had no near -kin, and the transplanting from the island home -had been complete. What an outlook now, was -Eliza Brewster's!</p> - -<p>"Perhaps the will was as much of a surprise -to you as it was to the rest of us," Mrs. Fabian -went on. "The Sidneys were amazed. They -didn't tell me just how much Aunt Mary left -young Mr. Sidney. Do you know?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Eliza promptly.</p> - -<p>And again Mrs. Fabian looked at her interrogatively. -As well question the Sphinx. She -comprehended the stony closing of the thin lips. -There might be a combination which would -make them open, but she did not have it. She -shrugged her fine-cloth shoulders. "Oh, well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -it doesn't matter. It must have been very -little, anyway."</p> - -<p>She sighed. She must get at her business, -though she dreaded absurdly to introduce it. -"Well, Eliza, if you will take me to Aunt -Mary's room, I will go through her belongings. -It is always the most painful duty connected -with a death, but it cannot be escaped."</p> - -<p>Eliza stared at her, speechless.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary had a few very nice things," -went on Mrs. Fabian. She tried to smile as at -a loving memory. "The regulation treasures of -a dear old lady,—her diamond ring, a diamond -brooch, and a camel's hair shawl—My -heavens!" cried the visitor, interrupting herself -suddenly with a shriek of terror. "Take it -away! Take it away!"</p> - -<p>She clung to the back of her chair; for Pluto, -silent as a shadow, had sprung upon the ends of -her pelerine as they lay in her lap and was -daintily nosing the fur, while perilously grasping -its richness, his eyes glowing with excitement. -Eliza rose, and sweeping him into one -arm resumed her seat.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how that frightened me!" Mrs. Fabian -panted and looked angrily at the animal with -the jetty coat and abbreviated tail, whose eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -live emeralds, expanded and contracted as they -glowed still upon the coveted fur.</p> - -<p>If she expected an apology, none came. -Eliza's pale face showed no emotion. Endurance -was written in every line.</p> - -<p>"To be interrupted at such a critical moment!" -Mrs. Fabian felt it was unbearable.</p> - -<p>"Let me see"—she began again with a -little laugh. "Your pet knocked everything -out of my head, Eliza. Oh, yes, I was saying -that I will look over Aunt Mary's things -now."</p> - -<p>She rose as she spoke. Eliza kept her seat.</p> - -<p>"You can't do that, Mrs. Fabian."</p> - -<p>"I certainly shall, Eliza Brewster. What do -you mean?"</p> - -<p>"I mean that they're mine. She left 'em all -to me."</p> - -<p>The speaker struggled to control the trembling -of her lips.</p> - -<p>The visitor looked the limp black alpaca -figure over, haughtily.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary left you her diamond ring, her -diamond brooch, and her camel's hair shawl?" -she asked sceptically.</p> - -<p>"She left her diamond brooch to her namesake, -Mrs. Sidney. I sent it to her a week ago."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Then, since you know Aunt Mary's wishes, -what did she leave me? The ring?"</p> - -<p>"No, ma'am!"</p> - -<p>"The shawl?"</p> - -<p>"No, ma'am."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's nostrils dilated.</p> - -<p>"My aunt's poor trifles are nothing to me, of -course, except for sentiment's sake," she said -haughtily.</p> - -<p>Eliza bowed her bitter face over Pluto's fur.</p> - -<p>"I am quite sure, however, that she did not -pass away without some mention of me,—her -sister's child."</p> - -<p>"She did, though, Mrs. Fabian. If it's a -keepsake you want," added Eliza drily, "you -may have the paper-cutter. It's never been -out o' the box."</p> - -<p>The visitor, still standing, eyed the other -with compressed lips before she spoke:—</p> - -<p>"I have told you that I don't consider you -responsible to-day. You are half-crazed, and -I'm sorry for you. Answer me this, however, -and mind, I shall verify your words by a visit to -Mrs. Ballard's lawyer. Did my aunt leave you, -legally, all her personal possessions?"</p> - -<p>"She did."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian maintained another space of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> -silence, gazing at the seated figure, whose gown -looked rusty behind the polished lynx-black -pressed against it. There was no mistaking the -truth in the pale, wretched eyes.</p> - -<p>"Disappointed about the money, though, -and taking out her ill temper on me," thought -the visitor.</p> - -<p>To Eliza's increased heaviness of heart, the -lady resumed her seat.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary's death was sudden and unexpected -and that explains her not speaking of -me," she said; "but I know it would please -her that I should use something that she had -owned. I remember that shawl as being a very -good one. It came to her from some of -her husband's people. I'll buy that of you, -Eliza."</p> - -<p>"Will you?" returned the other, and Pluto -emitted an indignant yowl and tried to leap -from the tightening hold.</p> - -<p>"Don't you let him go, Eliza!" cried Mrs. -Fabian in a panic. "He's crazy about my fur. -They always are.—Yes, the shawl is of no use -to you and the money will be. It is so fine, it -would be wicked to cut it into a wrap. I shall -spread it on my grand piano."</p> - -<p>Silence, while Eliza struggled still to control<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -the trembling lips, and Pluto twisted to escape -her imprisoning arm.</p> - -<p>"I'm willing to give you twenty-five dollars -for that shawl."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian waited, and presently Eliza -spoke:—</p> - -<p>"It ain't enough," she said, against her -impeding breath.</p> - -<p>"Fifty, then. We all feel grateful to you."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Fabian," Eliza sat up in her chair as if -galvanized and looked her visitor in the eyes, -while she spoke with unsteady solemnity, "the -price o' that shawl is one million dollars."</p> - -<p>The visitor stared at the shabby figure with -the grey, unkempt locks, then shrugged her -shoulders with a smile. "You'll come to your -senses, Eliza," she said. "Some day that fifty -dollars will look very good to you. I'll hold the -offer open—"</p> - -<p>"Likewise," added Eliza, breaking in upon -her words with heightened voice, but the same -deliberation, "that is the price of each handkerchief -she left me, and each one of her little, -wornout slippers, and her—"</p> - -<p>She could get no further. She choked. Mrs. Fabian -rose; Pluto, with another cry and a supreme -writhe, tore himself from his iron prison.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> - -<p>The visitor shuddered, and looked at him -fearfully, as his eager eyes seemed to threaten -her. She hastened precipitately toward the -door.</p> - -<p>Eliza, putting the utmost constraint upon -herself, rose and ushered her out.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian uttered a brief good-bye. Eliza -was beyond speech.</p> - -<p>While the visitor entered her waiting car, -and sank with relief among its cushions, the -mourner stood, her back against the closed -door, and her eyes closed.</p> - -<p>Restrained drops ran down her cheeks in -well-worn ruts, and occasionally a spasmodic -sob shook the slight form.</p> - -<p>Pluto came to her feet, his short tail stiffly -outstretched and his half-closed eyes lifted to -the sightless face. In the long silence he rubbed -himself against her feet in token of forgiveness.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">PHILIP SIDNEY</p> - - -<p>The Fabians had given Philip Sidney a pressing -invitation to spend his first week in New York -with them. When he arrived, however, and -announced himself at the house, through some -misunderstanding there was no one there to -receive him save the servants.</p> - -<p>A comely maid apologized for the absence of -her mistress, saying that Mr. Sidney had not -been expected until the following day; and -showing him to his room she left him to his own -devices.</p> - -<p>Emerging from his bath and toilet, he found -Mrs. Fabian not yet returned. It was but -four o'clock, and he decided to go to the -Ballard apartment and attend to his errand -there.</p> - -<p>Eliza had been doing some sweeping, the -need for it goading her New England conscience -to action. Her brown calico dress was pinned -up over her petticoat, and her stern, lined face -looked out from a sweeping-cap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> - -<p>There sounded suddenly a vigorous knock on -her door.</p> - -<p>She scowled. "Some fresh agent, I s'pose," -she thought. "Too sly to speak up the tube."</p> - -<p>Broom in hand, she strode to the door and -pulled it open with swift indignation.</p> - -<p>"Why didn't you ring?" she exclaimed -fiercely. "We don't want—"</p> - -<p>She paused, her mouth open, and stared at -the young man who pulled off a soft felt hat, -and looked reassuring and breezy as he smiled.</p> - -<p>"I did ring, but it was the wrong apartment. -There was no card downstairs, so I started up -the trail. Is this Mrs. Ballard's?"</p> - -<p>The frank face, which she instantly recognized, -and the clear voice that had a non-citified -deliberation, accused Eliza of lack of -hospitality; and she suddenly grew intensely -conscious of her cap and petticoat.</p> - -<p>"Come in," she said. "I was doin' some -sweepin'. The first—" she paused abruptly -and led the way down the corridor to the -shabby living-room.</p> - -<p>Phil's long steps followed her while his eyes -shone with appreciation of the drum-major -effect of the cap and broom, and the memory of -his fierce greeting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I don't wonder Aunt Mary died," he -thought. "I would too."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Eliza's heart was thumping. This -interview was the climax of all she had dreaded. -The usurper had an even more manly and attractive -exterior than she had expected, but -well she knew the brutal indifference of youth; -the selfishness that takes all things for granted, -and that secretly despises the treasures of the -old.</p> - -<p>The haste with which she set the broom in -the corner, unpinned her dress, and pulled off -her cap, was tribute to the virile masculinity -of the visitor; but the stony expression of her -face was defence from the blows which she -felt he would deliver with the same airy unconsciousness -that showed in the swing of his -walk.</p> - -<p>"You're Eliza Brewster, I'm sure," he said. -"My mother knew you when she was a girl."</p> - -<p>The hasty removal of Eliza's cap had caused -a weird flying-out of her locks. The direct gaze -bent upon her twinkled.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if she'd let me paint her as -Medusa," he was thinking; while her unspoken -comment was: "And she never saw his -teeth! It's just as well."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes, that's who I am," she said. "Sit down, -Mr. Sidney. I've been expectin' you."</p> - -<p>"You didn't behave that way," he replied -good-naturedly, obeying. "I thought at first I -was going downstairs quicker than I came up, -and I'd taken them three at a time."</p> - -<p>His manner was disarming and Eliza -smoothed her flying locks.</p> - -<p>"The agents try to sneak around the rules o' -the house," she said briefly.</p> - -<p>"So this is where Aunt Mary lived." He -looked about the room with interest. "We -people in God's country hear about these flats -where you don't dare keep a dog for fear it'll -wag its tail and knock something over."</p> - -<p>The troublesome lump in Eliza's throat had -to be swallowed, so the visitor's keen glance -swept about the bare place in silence.</p> - -<p>"I see she didn't go in much for jim-cracks," -he added presently.</p> - -<p>Eliza's lump was swallowed. "Mrs. Ballard -didn't care for common things," she said -coldly. "She was an artist."</p> - -<p>Phil comprehended vaguely that rebuke was -implied, and he met the hard gaze as he hastened -to reply:—</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes, I understand." An increase of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -pathos he had always discerned since learning -about his great-aunt, swept over him now, face -to face with the meagreness of her surroundings. -"Did Aunt Mary work in this room? I see an -easel over there."</p> - -<p>"Yes, she worked here." The reply came in -an expressionless voice.</p> - -<p>"Poor Aunt Mary!" thought the visitor. -"No companion but this image!"</p> - -<p>Eliza exerted heroic self-control as she continued: -"I've got the things packed up for you—the -paints, and brushes, and palette. The -easel's yours, too. Do you want to take 'em -to-day?"</p> - -<p>"Would it be a convenience to you if I did? -Are you going to give up the flat immediately?"</p> - -<p>"In a week."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll leave them a few days if you don't -mind while I'm looking for a room. I haven't -an idea where to go. I'm more lost here than I -ever was in the woods; but the Fabians will -advise me, perhaps. Mrs. Fabian has been here -to see you, I suppose."</p> - -<p>Eliza's thin lips parted in a monosyllable of -assent.</p> - -<p>"What a wooden Indian!" thought Phil. -Nevertheless, being a genial soul and having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -heard Miss Brewster's faithfulness extolled, he -talked on: "We hear about New York streets -being canyons. They are that, and the sky-line -is amazing; but the noise,—great heavens, -what a racket! and I can't seem to get a -breath."</p> - -<p>The young fellow rose restlessly, throwing -back his shoulders, and paced the little room, -filling it with his mountain stride.</p> - -<p>Eliza Brewster watched him. She thought of -her mistress, and the pride and joy it would -have been to her to receive this six feet of manhood -under her roof.</p> - -<p>"She wouldn't 'a' kept her sentimental -dreams long," reflected Eliza bitterly. "He'd -'a' hurt her, he'd 'a' stepped on her feelin's and -never known it. He walks as if he had spurs on -his boots." She steeled herself against considering -him through Mrs. Ballard's eyes. "He's -better-lookin' than the picture," she thought, -"and I wouldn't trust a handsome man as far -as I could see him. They haven't any business -with beauty and it always upsets 'em one way -or another—yes, every time."</p> - -<p>Her eyes wandered to the mantelpiece whose -bareness was relieved only by three varying -sized pieces of blank paper. She felt the slight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>est -quiver of remorse as she looked. She seemed -to see her mistress's gentle glance filled with -rebuke.</p> - -<p>She stirred in her chair, folded her arms, and -cleared her throat.</p> - -<p>"You can leave the things here till I go, if -you want to," she said.</p> - -<p>Phil paused in his promenade and regarded -her. Her manner was so unmistakably inimical -that for the first time he wondered.</p> - -<p>Perhaps, after all, she was not just a machine. -And the same thought which had been entertained -by Mrs. Fabian occurred to him.</p> - -<p>"Twenty-five years of faithful service," he -reflected. "I wonder if she expected the money? -She's sore at me. That's a cinch."</p> - -<p>Phil's artist nature grasped her standpoint in -a flash. The granite face, with its signs of suffering, -the loneliness, the poverty, all appealed to -him to excuse her disappointment.</p> - -<p>His eyes swept about the bare walls.</p> - -<p>"Where are Aunt Mary's pictures?" he -asked. "Was she too modest to hang them?"</p> - -<p>"There were some up there," replied Eliza. -"I took 'em down."</p> - -<p>The visitor's quick eyes noted the white -boards on the mantelpiece. With an unex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>pected -movement, he strode across to it, and -turned them around.</p> - -<p>He stood in the same position for a space.</p> - -<p>"Great guns, but she hates me!" he thought, -while Eliza, startled, felt the shamed color -stream up to her temples.</p> - -<p>"What would Mrs. Ballard say!" was her -guilty reflection.</p> - -<p>Pluto here relieved the situation by making a -majestic entrance. His jewel eyes fixed on the -stranger for a moment with blinking indifference, -then he proceeded, with measured tread, -toward the haven of his mistress's lap.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Katze," said Phil, stooping his scarlet -face. He seized the creature by the nape of -its neck and instantly the amazed cat was -swung up to his broad shoulder, where it sat, -claws digging into his coat and eyes glowering -into his own.</p> - -<p>"Say, charcoal would make a white mark on -you, pussy," he went on, smoothing the creature -in a manner which evidently found favor, -for Pluto did not offer to stir.</p> - -<p>"When I'm not doing her as Medusa," he -reflected, "I'll paint her as a witch with this -familiar. She'll only have to look at the artist -to get the right expression."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<p>"A distinguished visitor from the island of -Manx, I suspect," he said aloud.</p> - -<p>"No," returned Eliza, still fearfully embarrassed. -"Pluto was born right here in New -York."</p> - -<p>The ever-ready stars in the visitor's eyes -twinkled again into the green fire opposite them.</p> - -<p>"It was his tail I was noticing. Manx cats -are like that."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that was boys. If I could 'a' caught -'em I'd 'a' liked to cut off their arms."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet on that," thought Phil, "and their -legs too."</p> - -<p>Eliza cleared her throat. She seemed still to -see the gentle eyes of her lost one rebuking her. -With utter disregard of a future state she was -preparing a lie.</p> - -<p>"About those sketches," she said presently, -and such was her hoarseness that she was -obliged to clear her throat again, "you see, -I was—sweepin', and I turned 'em to the -wall."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," said Phil, and continued to -smooth Pluto who purred lustily. "A pretty -good one for New England," he thought; and -carelessly turning the third card about, he came -face to face with his own photograph.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> - -<p>With one glance of disgust he tore the picture -in two and threw it down.</p> - -<p>Eliza started. "What did you do that for?" -she demanded sharply.</p> - -<p>Phil made a motion of impatience.</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's so darned pretty!" he explained. -"I thought all those pictures were in the fire."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Ballard set great store by that," said -Eliza coldly, "and by the sketches, too," she -added.</p> - -<p>She was sitting up stiffly in her chair, now, -and her gaze fixed on Phil, as, her cat on his -shoulder singing loud praise of his fondling -hand, he came and stood before her.</p> - -<p>"I wish you'd let me see some of Aunt -Mary's pictures," he said.</p> - -<p>The dead woman's letter was against his -heart. He felt that they were standing together, -opposed to the hard, grudging face -confronting him.</p> - -<p>But this was Eliza's crucial moment. In spite -of herself she feared in the depths of her heart -that that which Mrs. Ballard had said was true; -that this restless, careless boy had an artistic -ability which her dear one had never attained. -She shrank with actual nausea from his comments -on her mistress's work. He might not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -say anything unkind, but she should see the -lines of his mouth, the quiver of an eyelash.</p> - -<p>She felt unable to rise.</p> - -<p>"She left 'em all to me," she said mechanically, -pale eyes meeting dark ones.</p> - -<p>Phil brushed Pluto's ears and the cat sang -through the indignity.</p> - -<p>"Talk about the bark on a tree!" he -thought. "I believe I'll paint her as a miser, -after all! She'd be a wonder, with Pluto standing -guard, green eyes peering out of the -shadow."</p> - -<p>He smiled down at Eliza, the curves of his -lips stretching over the teeth she had admired.</p> - -<p>"All right," he said. "I'm not going to take -them away from you."</p> - -<p>Eliza forced herself to her feet, and without -another word slowly left the room.</p> - -<p>Phil met the cat's blinking eyes where the -pupils were dilating and contracting. "Katze, -this place gives me the horrors!" he confided.</p> - -<p>More than once on the train he had read over -his aunt's letter, and each time her words smote -an answering chord in his heart and set it to -aching.</p> - -<p>The present visit accentuated the perception -of what her life had been. For a moment his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -eyes glistened wet against the cat's indolent -contentment.</p> - -<p>"I wish she hadn't saved any money, the -poor little thing," he muttered. "No friends, no -sympathy—nothing but that avaricious piece -of humanity, calculating every day, probably, -on how soon she would get it all. I'll paint her -as a harpy. That's what I'll do. Talons of -steel! That's all she needs." He heard a sound -and dashed a hand across his eyes.</p> - -<p>Eliza, heavy of heart, stony of face, entered, -a number of pictures bound together, in her -hands. The visitor darted forward to relieve -her, and Pluto drove claws into his suddenly -unsteady resting-place.</p> - -<p>Eliza yielded up her treasures like victims, -and stood motionless while Phil received them. -Never had she looked so gaunt and grey and -old; but the visitor did not give her a glance. -Aunt Mary's letter was beating against his -heart. Here was the work her longing hands -had wrought, here the thwarting of her hopes.</p> - -<p>His fingers were not quite steady as he untied -the strings, and moving the easel into a good -light placed a canvas upon it.</p> - -<p>Eliza did not wish to look at him, but she -could not help it. Her pale gaze fixed on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -his face in a torture of expectation, as he -backed away from the easel, his eyes on the -picture.</p> - -<p>Pluto rubbed against his ear as a hint that -caressing be renewed.</p> - -<p>He stood in silence, and Eliza could detect -nothing like a smile on his face.</p> - -<p>Presently he removed the canvas, and took -up another. It was the portrait of Pluto.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Katze. Got your picture took, did -you? Aunt Mary saw your green shadows all -right."</p> - -<p>He set the canvas aside, and took up another. -Eliza's muscles ached with tension. Her bony -hands clasped as she recognized the picture. -To the kittens over the table in the kitchen she -had once confided that this landscape, which -the artist had called "Autumn," looked to her -eyes like nothing on earth but a prairie fire! -It had been a terrible moment of heresy. She -was punished for it now.</p> - -<p>Phil backed away from the canvas, and elbow -in his hand, rested his finger on his lips for -what seemed to Eliza an age. Her heart -thumped, but she could not remove her gaze -from him.</p> - -<p>Pluto, finding squirming and rubbing of no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -avail, leaped to the floor and blinked reflectively -at his mistress. A flagpole would have -offered equal facilities for cuddling.</p> - -<p>He therefore made deliberate selection of the -least unsatisfactory chair, and with noiseless -grace took possession.</p> - -<p>Phil nodded. "Yes, sir," he murmured; "yes, -sir."</p> - -<p>Eliza's teeth bit tighter on her suffering under -lip. What did "Yes, sir" mean? At least he -was not smiling.</p> - -<p>He went on, slightly nodding, and thinking -aloud; "Aunt Mary was ahead of her time. She -knew what she was after."</p> - -<p>Eliza tried to speak, and couldn't. Something -clicked in her throat.</p> - -<p>Phil went on regarding the autumnal tangle, -and with a superhuman effort Eliza commanded -her tongue.</p> - -<p>"What was that you said, Mr. Sidney?"</p> - -<p>Phil, again becoming conscious of the stony -presence, smiled a little.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary would have found sympathizers -in Munich," he said.</p> - -<p>"That's Germany, ain't it?" said Eliza, -words and breath interlocking.</p> - -<p>"Yes. Most of Uncle Sam's relatives want to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -see plainer what's doing; at least those who are -able to buy pictures."</p> - -<p>"Ahead of her time!" gasped Eliza, her blood -racing through her veins. "Ought to 'a' been -in Germany!"</p> - -<p>And then the most amazing occurrence of -Philip Sidney's life took place. There was a -rush toward him, and suddenly his Medusa, -his witch, his miser, his harpy was on her knees -on the floor beside him, covering his hand with -tears and kisses, and pouring out a torrent of -words.</p> - -<p>"I've nearly died with dread of you, Mr. -Sidney. Oh, why isn't she here to hear you say -those words of her pictures! Nobody was ever -kind to her. Her relations paid no more attention -to her, or her work, than if she'd been a—a—I -don't know what. She was poor, and too -modest, and the best and sweetest creature on -earth; and when your sketches came she admired -'em so that I began to hate you then. -Yes, Mr. Sidney, you was a relative, and goin' -to be a success, and the look in her eyes when -she saw your work killed me. It killed me!"</p> - -<p>"Do, do get up," said Philip, trying to raise -her. "Don't weep so, Eliza. I understand."</p> - -<p>But the torrent could not yet be stemmed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I've looked forward to your comin' like to -an operation. I've thought you might laugh at -her pictures, 'cause young folks are so cruel, -and they don't know! Let me cry, Mr. Sidney. -Don't mind! You've given me the first happy -moment I've known since she left me. I was the -only one she had, even to go to picture galleries -with her, and my bones ached 'cause I was a -stupid thing, and she had wings just like a little -spirit o' light."</p> - -<p>Philip's lashes were moist again.</p> - -<p>"I wish I had been here to go with her," he -said.</p> - -<p>Eliza lifted her streaming eyes. "Would you -'a' gone?" she asked, and allowed Phil to raise -her gently to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I would," he answered gravely, -"and we should have lived together, and -worked together."</p> - -<p>"Oh, why couldn't it 'a' been! Why -couldn't it 'a' been! What it would 'a' meant -to her to have heard what you said just now -about her pictures!"</p> - -<p>Phil's hands were holding Eliza's thin shoulders, -and her famished eyes were drinking in the -comfort of him.</p> - -<p>"I have an idea that we ought not to believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -that we could make her happier than she is," he -said, with the same gravity.</p> - -<p>"I know," faltered Eliza, surprised; "of -course that's the way I ought to feel; but there -wasn't ever anything she cared much about -except paintin'. She"—Eliza swallowed the -tremulous sob that was the aftermath of the -storm—"she loved music, but she wasn't a -performer."</p> - -<p>Phil smiled into the appealing face.</p> - -<p>"Then she's painting, for all we know," he -said. "Do you believe music is all that goes on -there?"</p> - -<p>"It's all that's mentioned," said Eliza -apologetically.</p> - -<p>"I have an idea that dying doesn't change -us any," said the young man. "Why should -it?"</p> - -<p>"It didn't need to change her," agreed the -other, her voice breaking.</p> - -<p>"I believe that in the end we get what we -want."</p> - -<p>"That's comfortin'."</p> - -<p>"Not so you'd notice it," returned Phil with -conviction. "It makes the chills run down my -spine occasionally when I stop to realize it."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Only that we had better examine what -we're wanting; and choose something that -won't go back on us. Aunt Mary did; and I -believe she had a strong faith."</p> - -<p>"We never talked religion," said Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Just lived it. That's better."</p> - -<p>"I didn't," returned Eliza, a spark of the old -belligerency flashing in her faded eyes. "I can't -think of one single enemy that I love!"</p> - -<p>"You were everything to Aunt Mary. Do -you suppose I shall ever forget that?"</p> - -<p>"I sat down in front o' those pictures in the -Metropolitan Museum," said Eliza, her lips -trembling again. "It's awful big, and I got so -tuckered, the pictures sort o' ran together till -I didn't know a landscape from a portrait. -Then I used to take on over somethin' that had -a seat in front of it, and she'd leave me sittin' -there starin'. Oh, Mr. Sidney, I can't think o' -one other mean thing I ever did to her,"—remorseful -grief shook the speaker's voice,—"but -I'd ought to 'a' stood up to the end. It -would 'a' showed more interest!"</p> - -<p>Phil squeezed the spare shoulders as they -heaved. He laughed a little.</p> - -<p>"Now, Eliza, whatever way you managed it, -I know you made her happy."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes," groaned the repentant one, "she said -my artistic soul was wakin' up. Do you s'pose -where she is now she knows it was black -deceit?"</p> - -<p>"She knows nothing black where she is,"—Phil's -voice rang with decision; "but she does -know more than ever about love and sacrifice -such as you have shown her. Beside," in a -lighter tone, "how about your artistic soul? See -how far above everybody else you understood -her pictures."</p> - -<p>Eliza's hungry gaze became suddenly inscrutable. -"Mr. Sidney," she began, after a -pause, "I loved every stroke her dear hand -made, but"—again pain crept into the breaking -voice—"you said yourself America wasn't -worthy of her, and I'm only what you might -call the scum of America when it comes to -<em>insight</em> and—and <em>expression</em> and—and <em>atmosphere</em>. -Usually I had sense enough to wait -till she told me what a thing was before I talked -about it; but one day, I can't ever forget it, I -praised a flock o' sheep at the back of a field -she was doin' and she said they was—was -cows!"</p> - -<p>Sobs rent the speaker and she covered her -eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I told her—'twas my glasses," she went -on when she could speak. "I—told her they—hadn't -been right for—a long time. She -laughed—and tried to make a joke of it, -but—"</p> - -<p>Eliza's voice was drowned in the flood.</p> - -<p>Phil patted her shoulders and smiled across -the bowed head at the forlorn mantelpiece, -where the sketches, unconscious of forgiveness, -still turned faces toward the wall.</p> - -<p>"You've grown awfully morbid, alone here," -he said, giving her a little shake. "You should -be only thankful, as I am, that Aunt Mary had -you and that you were here to take care of her -to the end. Come and sit down. She wrote me a -wonderful letter. I have it in my pocket and -I'll show it to you."</p> - -<p>Eliza obediently yielded herself to be guided -to a chair. Pluto had selected the best with unerring -instinct; and suddenly into his feline -dreams an earthquake intruded as Phil tossed -him lightly to the floor.</p> - -<p>Drawing his chair close to Eliza, who had -wilted back against the faded cretonne roses, -the young man drew from his pocket an envelope -and took out of it a letter, and a small card -photograph.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Mother gave me this old picture of Aunt -Mary—"</p> - -<p>Eliza pulled herself up and took it eagerly. -"I must get my glasses," she said. "I've cried -myself nearly blind."</p> - -<p>Phil's big hand pushed her back.</p> - -<p>"I'll get them," he returned. "Where are -they?"</p> - -<p>"There, on the end o' the mantelpiece. I had -'em, readin' an advertisement."</p> - -<p>She leaned back again and watched him as he -crossed the room; watched him with wonder. -In years she had not so given her confidence to a -human being.</p> - -<p>She put on the spectacles and wistfully regarded -the picture of a pretty woman whose -heavy braids, wound around her head, caught -the light. Her plain dress was white and she -wore black velvet bands on her wrists.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary was considered different by her -friends, mother says. In a time of frills she -liked plain things."</p> - -<p>"I guess she <em>was</em> different," agreed Eliza -devoutly. "Would you think a man who married -her would like whiskey better?"</p> - -<p>Phil shook his head. "Sorry," he said, -laconically.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> - -<p>"One good thing, he drank himself to death -quick and left her free."</p> - -<p>Phil held out the letter.</p> - -<p>"Read it to me, please, Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>"Can't do it," returned the young man with -cheerful frankness. "It makes my nose tingle -every time."</p> - -<p>So Eliza read the letter in silence. It took her -some minutes and when she had finished, her lip -caught between her teeth, she took off her -glasses and wiped them while she regarded Phil.</p> - -<p>"And you've got to live up to that," she -said.</p> - -<p>"I'm going to try," he answered simply.</p> - -<p>Eliza gazed at him, her hands in her lap. She -felt old beside his youth, weak beside his -strength, ignorant beside that knowledge which -had stirred her mistress to exaltation. Nevertheless, -the humble love, and desire to help him -that swelled her heart was a new desire to live, a -consecration.</p> - -<p>Presently he took his leave, promising to -return in a few days for his belongings.</p> - -<p>After the door had closed behind him, she -looked down at the cat, who had awakened -from another nap at the stir of the departure.</p> - -<p>He rubbed against her brown calico skirt as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -she lighted the gas; then she moved thoughtfully -to the mantelpiece and turned the -sketches about.</p> - -<p>"Mary Sidney," she mused, looking at the -graceful head of Phil's mother, "you've had -your heartache, and your sacrifices. You've -been most pulled in two, between longin' to -stay with your husband and follow your son—you -told me somethin' of it in your note -thankin' for the brooch. Nobody escapes, -Mary Sidney. I guess I haven't done you -justice, seein' you've raised a boy like that."</p> - -<p>Turning to the sketch of the storm-beaten -tree, she clasped her hands before it. "Dear -one," she mused tenderly, "you loved him. -You was great. You died not knowin' how -great you were; and you won't care if I do -understand this kind better, 'cause all America's -too ignorant for you, and I'm one o' the worst."</p> - -<p>Her eyes dwelt lingeringly on the sketch. She -fancied she could hear the wind whistling -through the writhing branches. "It looks like -my life," she thought, "risin' out o' the mist -and the cloud."</p> - -<p>She gazed at it in silence, then turned to the -destroyed photograph. She seized the pieces -quickly and turned them face up. The rent had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> -missed the chin and cut across the collar. She -regarded the face wistfully. The cat stretched -his forepaws up her skirt until he was of a preternatural -length. It was supper-time.</p> - -<p>"I wonder, Pluto," she said slowly, "if I -couldn't fit that into a minicher frame. Some -of 'em come real reasonable."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">ELIZA'S INVITATION</p> - - -<p>For the first time since she had been left alone, -Eliza drank her tea that night without tears; -and no lump in her throat prevented her -swallowing the egg she had boiled.</p> - -<p>She held Mrs. Ballard's watch in her hand a -minute before getting into bed; and looked long -at its gold face, and listened to its loud and busy -ticking.</p> - -<p>"Forgive me, Mrs. Ballard," she thought; -and association added, "as we forgive our -debtors!"</p> - -<p>"No, I can't!" she muttered fiercely. "I -can't! What's the use o' pretendin'!"</p> - -<p>Muffling the watch in its slipper, she turned -out the gas and got into bed. Composing herself -to sleep more peacefully than she had been -able to do for many a night, her last thought -was of Mrs. Ballard's heir; and a sense of comfort -stole over her in the very fact of his existence. -Again she seemed to feel the sympathetic -pressure of his kind hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He thinks she may be paintin' still," she -reflected. "She's got colors to work with that's -most blindin', they're so gorgeous, if we can -judge anything by the sunsets at the island. -Why not think so! It's just as reasonable as -playin' harps, for all I can see."</p> - -<p>Ever since her dear one's passing, Eliza had -felt too crushed and too wicked to pray; and -being unable to say the whole of her Lord's -Prayer, her New England conscience would not -allow her to say any of it; but to-night a sense -of hope and gratitude lightened the darkness, -and a new gentleness crept over her countenance -as it relaxed its lines in slumber.</p> - -<p>She wakened next morning without the load -of despair on her heart; and slowly realized -what had changed her outlook. She even -smiled at the cat, who had leaped up on the foot -of her bed. He understood that he might come -no nearer.</p> - -<p>"Every single mornin', Pluto, I've been -dreadin' that the day had come I'd got to show -her pictures to him. Well, that's over."</p> - -<p>"Meow!" remarked Pluto, commenting on -the selfishness of beings who overslept.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know what you want." Eliza turned -her head wearily on the pillow. "'Weak as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> -cat'! I don't think much o' that expression. I -notice you're strong enough to get everything -you want. Oh, dear, I wonder if I'll ever feel -like myself again!"</p> - -<p>The cat jumped to the floor, and coming to -the head of the bed sat down and regarded the -haggard face reproachfully.</p> - -<p>"You're just as handsome as a picture, -Pluto," mused Eliza aloud. "I don't know -as it's ever made you any worse 'n common -cats."</p> - -<p>This optimistic change of heart lightened the -atmosphere of the cheerless kitchen that morning; -and Eliza drew up the shade, which let the -sun slant in past a neighboring roof for a short -half-hour.</p> - -<p>A beam struck the kittens frisking above the -kitchen table, and they seemed to spring from -the shadowy gloom of their corner, flinging their -little paws about with the infantine glee which -had first captivated their owner.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, you can dance, still," she murmured, -addressing them reproachfully; but she -left the shade up.</p> - -<p>It was nearly noon when her doorbell rang -again. Eliza hastened to the glass. She had on -her black alpaca to-day. Sweeping-cap and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -apron were remanded to their corner, and she -made certain that her hair was smooth, then -went to the speaking-tube.</p> - -<p>"Yes?" she said, and listened for the possible -voice of yesterday; but a woman's tones put the -question:—</p> - -<p>"Is this Mrs. Ballard's apartment?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied Eliza briefly.</p> - -<p>"Is this Eliza Brewster?" again asked the -sweet voice.</p> - -<p>"It is," came the non-committal admission.</p> - -<p>"May I come up, Eliza? It's Mrs. Wright."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. who?"</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Wright. Don't you remember my -spending the day with Mrs. Ballard last spring, -just before I went to Brewster's Island?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mrs. Wright!" exclaimed Eliza in a -different tone. "Excuse me for keepin' you -waitin'. Come right up."</p> - -<p>Well Eliza recalled the enjoyment of her dear -one in that visit of an old friend, rarely seen. -Mrs. Ballard's social pleasures were so few, this -day gleamed as a bright spot in memory; and, -not content with opening wide the door, Eliza -went out to the head of the stairs to receive the -mounting figure.</p> - -<p>"<em>She</em> stood here the last time," she said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -brokenly, as the visitor reached her and held -out both hands to receive Eliza's.</p> - -<p>The newcomer's silver-white hair made an -aureole about the face that looked with kindly -eyes into the other's dim ones.</p> - -<p>"I was just thinking of that as I saw you -waiting," she said. "It was a shock to me to -learn that Mrs. Ballard had left us. Was it very -sudden, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>The latter could not trust herself to speak. -She nodded and ushered Mrs. Wright into the -living-room, where they both sat down, the -visitor's heart touched by the mourner's altered -countenance, and the evident struggle she was -making not to give way. Her compassion -showed in her gentle face and Eliza made a brave -effort to smile.</p> - -<p>"I know I'm a sight, Mrs. Wright," she faltered. -"I've never been any hand to cry, but -I've nearly washed the eyes out o' my head the -past week. I don't expect anybody to know what -I've lost." Her lips twitched and she bit them -hard.</p> - -<p>"I can very well imagine," returned the -other, "for Mrs. Ballard spoke so warmly -of you to me, and told me how many -years your fortunes had been cast together.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -She said you were the mainspring of the -house."</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Mrs. Wright," said Eliza humbly. -"Yes, I saw that she ate and slept right. -Her interests were where I couldn't follow -'cause I didn't know enough; but she was the -mainspring o' my life. It's broken, broken. I -haven't got the energy to lift a finger, nor a -thing to live for. Honestly, Mrs. Wright," -added Eliza in a burst of despair, "if 't wa'n't -for the commonness of a Brewster bein' found -so disrespectable as dead in a New York flat, -and strange folks layin' their hands on me, I -wouldn't 'a' lived through some o' the nights -I've had since she went away. I'd lay there -and try to think o' one single person it'd -make any difference to, and there ain't one."</p> - -<p>"My dear," returned Mrs. Wright, regarding -the haggard face, "how about your relatives on -the island?"</p> - -<p>Eliza shook her head. "The only folks o' -mine that are left are '-in-laws,' or else cousins -I've scarcely heard from for twenty-five years. -They haven't troubled themselves about me, -and if I'd 'a' walked out that way, they'd -only 'a' said I'd ought to be ashamed o' myself."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And so you ought," said Mrs. Wright with -her gentle smile.</p> - -<p>"Well, I didn't anyway," said Eliza wearily. -"Did you stay at the island all summer?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I'm still there. May I take off my -coat, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>The hostess started up with sudden recollection.</p> - -<p>"I hope you'll excuse me, Mrs. Wright; if I -ever had any manners they're gone."</p> - -<p>Slipping off the coat, and relinquishing it into -Eliza's hands, the visitor went on talking. "My -husband gave up business a couple of years ago. -Perhaps Mrs. Ballard has told you that he was -never a successful business man." Mrs. Wright -stifled a sigh under a bright smile. "Nobody -can be well and idle long, you know, so the next -thing he began to be ailing, the dear man, and -he thought the sea would do him good; and, my -dear Eliza, it has done him so much good that -we have become islanders."</p> - -<p>"You don't mean you're going to stay -there?"</p> - -<p>The visitor nodded the silvery aureole of her -hair.</p> - -<p>"That is what I mean. Mr. Wright went -fishing all summer and he thinks he has found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> -his niche in life. He has not been so well and -happy in years."</p> - -<p>"You'll stay all winter?" asked Eliza -incredulously.</p> - -<p>"Yes," the visitor smiled again, "and all the -winters, so far as I know. Mr. Wright is perfectly -content."</p> - -<p>"How about you?" asked Eliza briefly. She -had gone back to her chair and frowned unconsciously -into the peaceful face regarding her.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" Mrs. Wright raised her eyebrows and -gave her head a slight shake. "'In my father's -house are many mansions!' I like to feel that it -is all His house, even now, and that wherever -I may live He is there, so why should I be -lonely?"</p> - -<p>Listening to these words, it seemed to Eliza -as if some lamp, kept burning on the altar of -this woman's soul, sent its steady light into the -peaceful eyes regarding her.</p> - -<p>"It's a good thing you can get comfort that -way," she responded, rather awkwardly. "I -know it must 'a' been a struggle to consent to it—any -one used to a big city like Boston. What -does your niece say to it?"</p> - -<p>"Violet was with me a while. I am visiting -her here now."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> - -<p>"She teaches, don't she?—the languages, or -something?" inquired Eliza vaguely.</p> - -<p>"No, gymnastic dancing and other branches -of physical culture. She works hard, and no -place ever rested her like the island, she -thought. Do you remember Jane Foster?"</p> - -<p>The corners of Eliza's mouth drew down in a -smiling grimace of recollection.</p> - -<p>"Do I remember Jennie Foster!" she said. -"We grew up together."</p> - -<p>"Well, she keeps a boarding-house in Portland -now in winters and comes to the old -home, summers. We boarded with her, and -now, instead of closing up the place, she has -rented it to me."</p> - -<p>Eliza shook her head. "Pretty high up," she -commented. "Some o' those February gales -will pretty near shave you off the hill."</p> - -<p>"A good many husky generations have been -brought up and gone forth into the world out -of that house," said Mrs. Wright cheerfully. -"There are some trees, you know. Do you -remember the apple orchard?"</p> - -<p>"Huh!" commented Eliza. "I know how the -scrawny little things look when they're bare! -A lot o' shelter they'll be."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright dropped her head a little to one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> -side and her kind grey eyes rested on Eliza's -grief-scarred face. "I'm glad I came to see -you," she said irrelevantly.</p> - -<p>"I'm a kind of a Job's comforter, I'm afraid. -When I've thought of anything the past fortnight -I've thought about Brewster's Island,—a -sort of a counter-irritant, I guess."</p> - -<p>"No, no, we can't have that. You mustn't -call the Blessed Isle by such a name."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps it won't be such a Blessed Isle -after you've spent a winter there," remarked -Eliza drily.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright smiled. "I know it was your -native place, and I hoped you might have -pleasant associations with it."</p> - -<p>Eliza sighed wearily. "Yes, if I could be -twelve years old again, and go coastin' and -skatin', and when it was dark tumble into bed -under the eaves with a hot bag o' sand to keep -the sheets from freezin' me, I should like it, I -s'pose. I used to; but nobody on that snow-covered -hill cares whether I'm alive or dead, -and that cruel black ocean that swallowed up -my father one night, and killed my mother, -<em>that</em> roarin' around the island in the freezin' gale -is the only thing I can see and hear when I -think of the winter."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Then you have been thinking of going back -to the island?"</p> - -<p>"Well, it's either that or goin' into somebody's -kitchen, here." Eliza's mouth twitched -grimly. "Mrs. Fabian offered me a recommendation."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. The Fabians were very kind to -Violet this summer."</p> - -<p>"You don't say so! I'm glad they can be -kind to somebody."</p> - -<p>The bitterness of Eliza's tone impressed her -visitor. "Mrs. Ballard was Mrs. Fabian's aunt, -I believe," she ventured.</p> - -<p>"I believe so, too," said Eliza, "but nothing -she ever did proved it."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright veered away from dangerous -ground. "I have been thinking of you a great -deal since I learned of Mrs. Ballard's going, -and I wanted at least to see you before I went -back." There was a little pause, then she -added: "It occurred to me that you might be -going home to the island—"</p> - -<p>"I haven't any home there," interrupted -Eliza stoically.</p> - -<p>"—and I was going to ask you, in that case, -if you wouldn't eat your Thanksgiving dinner -with me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> - -<p>Eliza looked at her visitor, startled.</p> - -<p>"Think of me," she said slowly, "eatin' a -Thanksgivin' dinner—anywhere."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright felt a pang at her heart under -the desolation of the voice. It seemed the voice -of the forlorn room in which they sat. She rose -to hide the look in her eyes, and moving to the -mantel took up the sketches that stood there.</p> - -<p>"Are these interesting things Mrs. Ballard's -work?" she asked.</p> - -<p>Eliza was clutching the meagre arms of her -chair until her knuckles whitened. How fate -was softening toward her! The thought that -this friend of her lost one would have her own -hearth on the dreaded island warmed the winter -prospect. A link with Mrs. Ballard. A friend -with whom she might talk of her. The rift made -yesterday in her submerging clouds widened.</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Wright," she said, unheeding the -visitor's question, "you're religious, I know, -'cause you quoted the Bible, and 'cause you -take cheerfully bein' buried in a snowdrift on -Brewster's Island instead of havin' the things -you're accustomed to. So I want you to know -before you invite me to have Thanksgivin' -dinner with you that I'm the wickedest woman -in New York. I haven't said a prayer since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -Mrs. Ballard died. I hate Mrs. Fabian for her -neglect of her, and I did hate the young man -Mrs. Ballard left her little bit o' money to."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright, holding the sketch of Mary -Sidney, turned and looked at the speaker.</p> - -<p>"Hated him 'cause he was an artist, and I -didn't believe he'd appreciate her work, but -just spend her savings careless. That's his mother -you've got in your hand, and that's -him, layin' on the mantelpiece torn across the -middle."</p> - -<p>Eliza's aspect as she talked was wild. Mrs. -Wright picked up the torn pieces and fitted -them together. In fancy she saw Eliza rending -the card. She felt that she understood all; the -heart-break, the starvation fare of tea, tears, -and misery, and the blank future.</p> - -<p>"His name's Philip Sidney, and his mother -was Mrs. Ballard's niece and namesake. Yesterday -he came. He was altogether different -from what I expected. He took a load off o' my -mind and heart. I don't begrudge him anything."</p> - -<p>"You're sorry, then, that you tore this -handsome picture."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I didn't—'cause Mrs. Ballard set -such store by it. I only turned it to the wall.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> -'Twas he tore it. He said it was too pretty -or something. He does look different. The -picture's kind o' dreamin' lookin' and he's so -awake he—well, he sparkles."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright smiled at the haggard speaker.</p> - -<p>"I'm so glad you like him. Has he come to -New York to study?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; he had to be a mining engineer when -he wanted to paint. So now he's goin' to study -with Mrs. Ballard's money."</p> - -<p>"Why—I remember," said Mrs. Wright, -thoughtfully regarding the sketches. "Mrs. -Ballard told me about him in the spring." She -looked up again at her hostess. "You've been -through a great deal, Eliza," she said, "and -you've tried to go alone."</p> - -<p>"I had to go alone," returned Eliza fiercely; -"but I can be honest if I am lonely and I won't -sit down at your table without your knowin' -that I'm a sinner. Don't talk religion to me -either," she added, "'cause I ain't the kind it -would do any good to."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright came back to her chair and her -eyes were thoughtful.</p> - -<p>"I have a better idea still," she said. "For -how long have you this apartment?"</p> - -<p>"One week more."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, only a week. Then, supposing you -come and live with me this winter."</p> - -<p>Eliza leaned back in her chair, speechless. -The grey wall of the future slowly dissolved. -The possibility of friendship—of a home—was -actually unnerving in its contrast to all she -had steeled herself to endure.</p> - -<p>"Come and help me, Eliza," went on the -gentle voice. "Show me how to meet an island -winter. I believe between us we can make a -cosy sort of season of it."</p> - -<p>"Cosy!" echoed Eliza's dry lips.</p> - -<p>"Yes. There by the gnarled little apple trees, -handicapped by winter winds, and the forlorn -little chicken-house that stands near the orchard. -Do you remember that?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered Eliza mechanically. -"'T wa'n't always a chicken-house. Polly -Ann Foster built it 'cause she quarrelled with -her son and wouldn't live with him. I was -a little girl and we were all scared of her. -When she died they began using it for the -hens."</p> - -<p>"Well, it's empty and forlorn now. Miss -Foster can't keep chickens and go back to Portland -every fall. That's our only near neighbor, -you remember."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I remember. Why should you be such an -angel to me?" burst forth Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Is that being an angel? Why, I'm so glad. -You know I might be a little bit lonely at the -island. Mr. Wright is pretty sleepy in the -evening and the house rambles. We'll shut up -part of it, Eliza, won't we?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mrs. Wright!" exclaimed the lonely -woman, every trace of her fierceness gone. -"What a godsend you're givin' me."</p> - -<p>"Then it's settled; and Violet will be so glad. -She isn't quite pleased with our plan for the -winter."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">BROTHER AND SISTER</p> - - -<p>Kathleen Fabian sat at her desk, deeply engrossed -in the theme she was writing, when -her brother's name was brought to her.</p> - -<p>The expression of her face as she took the -card did not indicate that the surprise was -wholly joyous. She frowned and bit her lip, and -an anxious look grew in her eyes as she went out -into the hall to meet the visitor, who advanced -with bounds, and grasped her in one arm, giving -her cheek a brotherly peck.</p> - -<p>"What has happened, Edgar?" she asked as -he led her back into her room.</p> - -<p>"I've come to see you, that's all," was the -rejoinder.</p> - -<p>Edgar Fabian was an airy youth, carefully -arrayed in the height of fashion. His fair hair -was brushed until it reflected the light, and -his jaunty assurance was wont to carry all before -it.</p> - -<p>"Is anything wrong at home?" insisted his -sister.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Certainly not."</p> - -<p>They were now inside the room and the -young man closed the door.</p> - -<p>"Well, I haven't any money," said Kathleen -bluntly,—"at least, not for you!"</p> - -<p>Edgar was but little taller than she, and, as -she looked at him now, her serious slender face -opposed to his boyish one, her peculiar slow -speech, in which her teeth scarcely closed, -sounding lazy beside his crispness, she seemed -the elder of the two.</p> - -<p>"This leaping at conclusions is too feminine a -weakness for you to indulge in, Kath," was the -rejoinder as the visitor slid out of a silk-lined -overcoat; but he rested his gaze upon his sister's -dark hair rather than the eyes beneath. "I like -your hospitality," he added. "I hope it isn't -presumption for me to remove my coat. Try to -control your joy when your brother comes up -from New York to see you."</p> - -<p>"Of course I should always be glad to see you -if—if you'd let me," was the reply.</p> - -<p>"What's to prevent?" inquired the visitor -cheerfully.</p> - -<p>"My diary," was the laconic response.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you make me tired," said Edgar, taking -out a cigarette-case. "May I?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<p>"No," returned Kathleen, speaking with her -characteristic deliberation.</p> - -<p>"You may have one, too"; he offered his -case, still standing, since she did not sit. He -smiled as he said it; the evenness of his teeth -and the glee of his smile had melted much ice -before now.</p> - -<p>"No, thanks," she answered coldly.</p> - -<p>He gave an exclamation.</p> - -<p>"Oh, your grave and reverend senior airs -won't go down with me, you know." He -sniffed suspiciously. "Some one has been having -a whiff here this morning."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't I."</p> - -<p>"Well, it was somebody; and some one more -critical than I is liable to drop in here and notice -it. Just to save you trouble, I'll light up. Better -take one. It's your golden opportunity."</p> - -<p>Again he offered the case, and now Kathleen -took a cigarette mechanically. She still questioned -her brother's debonair countenance.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said impatiently, after a moment -of silence, "are we going to stand here until -dinner-time like two tenpins?"</p> - -<p>"Are you going to stay until dinner-time?"</p> - -<p>"Why," with another effort at gayety, "if -you go on like this and positively won't take no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> -for an answer, perhaps I shall be obliged to. -Say, Kath, what's the matter with you? You -used to be a good fellow. College has ruined -you. I didn't treat you like this when you came -to see me."</p> - -<p>"Forgive me, Edgar," Kathleen's drawl became -very nearly an exclamation. "I was -thinking so hard."</p> - -<p>She dropped into a chair and he lighted his -cigarette, and bending forward allowed her to -draw the flame into her own.</p> - -<p>"Now, this is something like it," remarked -the young man, sinking upon a leather-covered -divan. He picked up a guitar that lay at its -head, and strummed lightly upon it. "Think of -your giving house-room to anything so light-minded -as a guitar!" he added, his disapproving -eyes roving about the entire apartment. "This -room looks more like a hermit's cell every time -I come."</p> - -<p>"No," rejoined Kathleen, with her soft laziness -of speech, and blowing a ring of smoke -upon the air, "it is only that you have time to -forget between your visits."</p> - -<p>Edgar removed his cigarette and began to -murmur "The Owl and the Pussy Cat," in a -tenor voice calculated to pour oil on troubled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -waters, while he struck the accompanying -chords with a sure touch.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"They took some honey, and plenty of money,</div> - <div class="verse">Wrapped up in a five-pound note!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>he sang. "Think of it!" he groaned, pausing to -save the life of his cigarette; "plenty of money! -Who wouldn't be an owl or a pussy-cat!"</p> - -<p>Kathleen's eyes narrowed.</p> - -<p>"You speak of the rarity of my visits," he -went on. "I suppose you think it is nothing to -take a few hours out of a business day to run up -here."</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled. "On the contrary, I think -it so much of a thing that it always startles me -to get your card on a week day, and you seem to -have other uses for your Sundays."</p> - -<p>"Very well," returned her brother, strumming -the guitar with conscious rectitude; -"know then that the Administration sent me -up here to-day on business."</p> - -<p>"With me?"</p> - -<p>"No" (singing)—</p> - -<p> -'Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge—'" -</p> - -<p>"Edgar!" protested the girl lazily, "it's too -early in the day for that."</p> - -<p>"Hello, grave and reverend senior," he re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>torted. -"I didn't know you were so much of a -connoisseur."</p> - -<p>The girl's reply had a sad note.</p> - -<p>"I wish you would do something with that -voice," she said.</p> - -<p>The singer smiled. He was now smoking -again, and strumming the melody of the song. -Perhaps he was thinking that he had done a -good deal with his voice.</p> - -<p>"I don't know that it has been altogether -wasted," he replied.</p> - -<p>"Carrying off the honors as the singing-girl -in a college play isn't what I mean."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm sure it isn't," scoffed the possessor -of the voice. "I'd take long odds that what you -mean involves something that would come -under the head of work spelled with a capital -W—"</p> - -<p>"Think of a <em>man butterfly</em>!" ejaculated Kathleen, -removing her cigarette and her drawl -for an unwonted verbal explosion. "Edgar, <em>I</em> -should have been the man, and you the girl in -our family."</p> - -<p>"I should object," he rejoined calmly, all his -attention apparently concentrated on the compassing -of some intricate fingering of the guitar -strings.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Think of your rooms at college and this!" -went on Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I'd like mighty well to have a squint at the -loved and lost to take the taste of this out of my -mouth," returned the visitor imperturbably.</p> - -<p>"How is father?" asked Kathleen, relapsing -into her usual manner.</p> - -<p>"Smaht," rejoined Edgar.</p> - -<p>At the reminder of Brewster's Island, Kathleen's -eyes smiled, then grew grave. "I can't -bear to have you call father the Administration," -she said.</p> - -<p>"Why not?—you didn't want me to call -him Governor."</p> - -<p>"It sounds so—so disrespectful."</p> - -<p>"Not to me. I think it suggests salaams."</p> - -<p>"No, Edgar—slams; but I don't want to -joke."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure of it," interpolated the guitar-playing -one.</p> - -<p>"Stop that noise a minute, please."</p> - -<p>He obeyed.</p> - -<p>"I wish you wouldn't speak of father so -coldly."</p> - -<p>"Then it'll be likely to be hotly, and at -that you'd make a fuss," returned the youth -doggedly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p>"He is a good father," declared the girl, the -lingering words coming devoutly.</p> - -<p>"Yes," retorted Edgar drily. "Perhaps, if -your little day-dream could come true and you -be the son, you wouldn't think so."</p> - -<p>"I believe it is father's fault largely," said -Kathleen. "He began by spoiling you."</p> - -<p>"Then, if I'm spoiled, what's the use of -kicking?—and if he's done it he must pay for -it; but that's just what he won't do—pay for -it."</p> - -<p>The speaker stubbed the light out of his -cigarette and tossed it on the table. He rose -and walked the floor.</p> - -<p>"He has put you in his office," said Kathleen. -"He will give you every chance to rise."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and meanwhile pays me a salary -smaller than the allowance he gave me at -college."</p> - -<p>"Because," said the girl, "he found that you -couldn't even keep within that. He knew you -must wake up."</p> - -<p>"What occasion?" demanded Edgar, standing -still to gesture. "I'm the only son. Look at -the money he has."</p> - -<p>"And has worked for; <em>worked</em> for, Edgar. -Can't you understand? Supposing you had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -worked like that, and had a son who dipped into -the bag with both hands and threw your money -away."</p> - -<p>"I don't want to throw it away. I get one -hundred cents' worth of fun out of every dollar -I spend. What more does he want? I didn't -ask to be born, did I? I didn't ask to have -expensive tastes. Why should I have to ride in -a taxicab?"</p> - -<p>"You don't. There are the street cars."</p> - -<p>Edgar's blond face turned upon her angrily. -"When do you suppose I want a machine? -When I'm doddering around with a cane?"</p> - -<p>"Earn it, then."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I can on a petty few hundreds a year!"</p> - -<p>"You drive down with father every morning, -don't you?"</p> - -<p>"No, I don't. I have to get there before he -does."</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed. "What an outrage!"</p> - -<p>"I take the car first and then it goes back for -him," said Edgar sulkily.</p> - -<p>"Oh, the cruelty of some parents!" drawled -Kathleen, knocking the ash from her cigarette. -"The idea of Peter going back for father. He -should stand in Wall Street awaiting your -orders."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> - -<p>"No, he shouldn't, but I should have a motor -of my own. The Ad. is more old-fashioned -than any of the other fathers in our set." -The speaker paused and gestured defensively. -"You'll get off all that ancient stuff about the -new generation wanting to begin where the old -left off. Of course we do. Why not? I hope my -son will begin where I leave off."</p> - -<p>Kathleen gave her one-sided smile—her -Mona Lisa smile her admirers called it:—</p> - -<p>"Where you leave off is not liable to be a bed -of roses if you keep on as you've begun." She -looked up at her brother gravely as she tapped -the end of her cigarette and dropped it in -the ash receiver. "Why don't you use your -brains?" she asked. "Can't you see that the -more father notices that you have no ambition, -the tighter he will draw the rein?"</p> - -<p>"I have plenty of ambition."</p> - -<p>"For work?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you make me tired!"</p> - -<p>The young man resumed his impatient walk.</p> - -<p>The sister leaned back in her chair, her dark -eyes following him, without the hint of a smile.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to see you tired," she said seriously.</p> - -<p>He turned on her. "Ever see me after a polo -game?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But life isn't a game, Edgar."</p> - -<p>He opened his eyes at her and grimaced -scornfully.</p> - -<p>"The grave and reverend senior again; -nearly ready to graduate, and inform the world -that</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">'Life is real, life is earnest,</div> - <div class="verse">And the grave is not its goal!'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Might as well be in the grave at once as dig and -grind the days away. Heaven help us when you -get home! I suppose you must go through the -fine-spun theory stage like the usual attack of -measles."</p> - -<p>"Measles are catching," remarked Kathleen -quietly.</p> - -<p>"Exactly! but I'm mighty glad I'm immune -from the know-it-all disease."</p> - -<p>"That would mean that you'd had it, Edgar, -and you never did have it; not even a rash. -Open the window, please. We're a little blue in -here."</p> - -<p>Edgar threw open the unoffending window -with a force that threatened the mechanism.</p> - -<p>"No doubt," he said, "you'd like to have me -live, like that cowboy, in a stable, and get my -own meals."</p> - -<p>"A garage would suit you better, I suppose,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> -returned Kathleen. "What are you talking -about?"</p> - -<p>"Hasn't mother written you of the genius -who has come out of the wild and woolly to get -his Pegasus curried in New York?"</p> - -<p>"Has mother taken up a genius?—Mother, -of all people!"</p> - -<p>"Why, she's had him at the house, and insists -on my being civil to him; but I haven't -seen him yet. I get enough of him right at the -breakfast and dinner table without hunting up -the stable. His ambition is at the bottom of -my coffee cup, and his genius for hard work is -served as an entrée every night."</p> - -<p>"Oh,"—Kathleen's face gained a ray of -interest,—"you mean that cousin of ours."</p> - -<p>"He's no cousin," retorted Edgar. "He's -one of mother's fifty-seven varieties, a sort of -step-neighbor-in-law of ours. When father and -mother were out at the mine they met him. I -think it was up to him to stay out there and -make that mine pay. I think if he'd shown a -little genius for hard work right there, it would -have been more to the point."</p> - -<p>"Yes, mother wrote me." Kathleen's tone -was tinged with the interest in her eyes. -"What is his name, now?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Sidney," responded Edgar with open disgust. -"Oh, I'm authority on his name all -right,—Philip Sidney; I've had it dinged into -my ears faithfully."</p> - -<p>"A name to live up to," remarked the girl. -"It was interesting, Aunt Mary leaving him her -money."</p> - -<p>"It would have been more interesting if she'd -had anything to leave."</p> - -<p>Edgar had thrown himself back on the divan -and was watching curtains and smoke draw out -the window.</p> - -<p>"Do you remember," continued his sister, -"what nice cookies Aunt Mary used to give us -when we were little? Mother felt sorry not to -be here when she died."</p> - -<p>"Oh, mother's ripping," declared Edgar, his -cheerfulness restored by some inspiriting memory. -"She's had a hand-to-hand, knock-down-and-drag-out -with the old gargoyle that holds -the fort over there at Aunt Mary's."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?" drawled Kathleen -with faint disgust.</p> - -<p>"Mother gave a graphic account of the fray -at dinner one night. I wasn't giving the story -my whole attention, but I gathered that she -and the doughty Eliza each got hold of one end<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -of Aunt Mary's camel's hair shawl and had a tug -of war; and Eliza's cat won the day for her by -jumping on mother and nearly clawing her furs -off."</p> - -<p>"Edgar," protested Kathleen, "your bump -of respect is an intaglio!"</p> - -<p>"Well, I think I've got it about right. There -were diamonds mixed up in it too. I believe -Eliza wears a diamond tiara at her work so as to -keep it away from mother; while the parent of -the worshipful Philip came in for a diamond -necklace, and mother was left nothing but cold -neglect."</p> - -<p>"Absurd!" breathed Kathleen. "Aunt Mary -was poor as a church mouse."</p> - -<p>"Well, whatever happened, the fur was rising -on the back of mother's neck, and I didn't -know but there would be a silver lining to the -cloud and she'd cut Philip Sidney; but," with a -heavy sigh, "no such luck. The cowboy still -gallops his Pegasus over my prostrate body -every meal."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by a stable?" asked -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Why, Pegasus has to have one, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Is that all? Are you only being witty?"</p> - -<p>"Not a bit of it. You know the literal truth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -is all I'm ever up to. The genius has a room -over a stable, and an oil stove!"</p> - -<p>"Why a stable?"</p> - -<p>"Convenient for Pegasus, I suppose," responded -Edgar carelessly. "Beside, doubtless -he would feel out of place in any abode more -civilized."</p> - -<p>"Edgar Fabian, that's nonsense. I remember -his mother, when she came East years ago, -don't you?"</p> - -<p>"They're as poor as Job's turkey," said -Edgar with a careless shrug. "That's why he -jumped at Aunt Mary's pittance like a trout at -a fly."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Edgar, what an object-lesson for you!" -Kathleen clasped her hands.</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course!" ejaculated Edgar, his even -teeth very much clenched.</p> - -<p>"You ought to go to see him!"</p> - -<p>"So I've heard," with intense sarcasm. -"Mother has bored the life out of me."</p> - -<p>"It isn't civil not to," said Kathleen, relapsing -into languor. "He's a sort of a relative."</p> - -<p>"Yes. The sort to keep away from. If I went -up there, it would be to take his mahl-stick and -smash his face."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Nice, hospitable plan," remarked Kathleen. -"Possibly he wouldn't permit it."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I've no doubt he'd think it was real -mean and pick up a fan and slap me on the -wrist. Oh, forget him! Say, Kath," as if with -sudden remembrance, "do you know I came off -without my purse to-day?"</p> - -<p>The girl's eyes gained a curious expression. -She was silent a moment, hands clasped around -her knee. Under her gaze her brother picked up -the guitar again and his nervous fingers swept -the strings.</p> - -<p>"I thought you said this was a business trip."</p> - -<p>"It is. Go down and ask them at the bank if -I didn't put a bee in their bonnet this morning."</p> - -<p>"Then the house pays your expenses. Your -purse didn't have to suffer."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, if you want the literal truth, I'm -flat broke."</p> - -<p>"You always are flat broke at this time in the -month. Why shouldn't <em>I</em> be?—as a matter of -fact, I am."</p> - -<p>Edgar frowned. "What have you been -buying?"</p> - -<p>"A new microscope. I've saved for it, -Edgar."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - -<p>The girl cast a warm glance across the room -to where, on a table, stood a tall slender object -covered with a cloth.</p> - -<p>"Saved for it!" was the disgusted response. -"Shameful idea when the Ad. could just as well -buy you an observatory."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe father is nearly as rich as you -think he is," said the girl defensively.</p> - -<p>"He's the prize tight-wad. That's what he -is. Look at our summers! Isn't it enough that -instead of Newport the Fabians rusticate on -Brewster's Island?"</p> - -<p>"He met mother there. He loves it."</p> - -<p>"Well, I can tell you, mother would exchange -a whole lot of sentiment for one good whirl at -Newport or some other place where there are -live ones! Say, Kath, be a good fellow. You -can spare a dime or so. Ten dollars would be -better than nothing. I'll give it back the first of -the month, honor bright. Think of my having to -depend on taxis! It would make angels weep."</p> - -<p>The sister continued to regard him and he -reddened under the pensive gaze, and twanged -the guitar.</p> - -<p>"You never have paid me back the first of -the month and I wish you wouldn't promise," -she said at last; "but I'll tell you what I'll do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> -I'm coming home to spend Sunday and I will -give you the ten dollars—it's all I have just -now—if you will take me to see that cousin -of ours."</p> - -<p>"What cousin?" asked Edgar.</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary's heir. The artist."</p> - -<p>"Why are you determined to stuff him down -my throat? He is absolutely no kin to us and -has no demand on us. I decline."</p> - -<p>"Then I shall go with mother," declared -Kathleen, in her laziest drawl. "I'm sure she -will take me. I am interested in his determination. -I want to see—his oil stove. I want to -pat Pegasus."</p> - -<p>"Go, then, and much good may it do you!" -Edgar put down the guitar and started up. -"Where's the ten, Kath? Awful sorry to bother -you."</p> - -<p>The girl did not rise. She shook her head.</p> - -<p>"You haven't earned it. I've decided you -must work for this one, before it follows its -predecessors to that bourne from which no -bank-note returneth."</p> - -<p>There was an unusual sparkle in the eyes that -met the blue ones.</p> - -<p>"You said you could go with mother," protested -Edgar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I can if I have to, but I prefer to hunt up -stables with a man."</p> - -<p>"Oh, confound it! you always get your own -way. Fork over, then. I'll go with you; but -it just means fastening him right on us. We'll -be cousins then for sure."</p> - -<p>Kathleen went to her closet and reappeared -with the ten dollar bill. With a gesture of farewell -she touched her finger to her lips and bestowed -the kiss on the bank-note.</p> - -<p>Her brother looked at his watch.</p> - -<p>"Great Scott! I've got to hike for that -train," he said; and wriggling into his overcoat -he kissed his sister's cheek, and hurried away.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE FLITTING</p> - - -<p>It was Eliza's last day in the apartment. Out -of respect to probable scruples on the part of -her future hostess as to travelling on Sunday, -she had planned to sit idle this Sabbath day, -although everything was packed and she was -ready to start.</p> - -<p>By Mrs. Wright's advice she had sold nearly -all the shabby furnishings of the apartment. -She had eaten a picnic luncheon in the forlorn -kitchen, from whence even the gambolling -kittens had fled to the bottom of Eliza's trunk, -and now sat on a camp-chair in the middle of -the empty parlor, as solitary as Alexander Selkirk -on his island, monarch of all she surveyed, -which was a pair of green eyes glowering at her -from behind the wire network in the side of a -wicker basket, which reposed on the only other -chair in the room.</p> - -<p>Stern and inexorable looked Eliza sitting in -state on the camp-chair, and furious glared the -jewel eyes back at her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You've got to get used to it, Pluto," she -said. "Do you suppose I like it any better than -you do? I don't know as you're so bad off -either. I think I'd like to be put in a bag and -carried to Brewster's Island with no care of -cars or boats or anything else. You always do -get the best of it."</p> - -<p>Eliza looked very haggard. It had been a -wrenching week, packing her dear one's belongings, -and selling into careless, grudging hands -the old furniture with its tender associations.</p> - -<p>Philip had been too busy to come to her aid. -They had exchanged notes. She had addressed -him at the Fabians', and he had replied that he -had taken a room, and asked that his belongings -be stacked up somewhere. He promised that he -would come for them early Sunday afternoon.</p> - -<p>So now she was waiting, her capable hands -folded in her black alpaca lap, and her face expressing -endurance.</p> - -<p>"I'm countin' the hours, Pluto," she declared. -"This place is misery to me now. I feel -just as much in a strange garret as you do in -that basket. I just wish Mr. Sidney'd come -and take his things and then there won't be -much more daylight to look around here in. -And I hope you won't act like all possessed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -when we start for the train nor when we get on -it."</p> - -<p>"Meow!" cried Pluto, exasperated.</p> - -<p>"There now!" exclaimed Eliza, in trepidation—"you -do that just once when the train's -standin' still, and where'll we be! I've always -thought you had a little more intelligence than -the law allows; and if you go to actin' like an -alley cat you'll disappoint me dreadfully!"</p> - -<p>Eliza rose anxiously and threw herself on her -knees beside the basket and opened it. Pluto -sprang out, and she caught him and pressed her -thin cheek against his fur in a rare caress. Her -eyes stung in her effort to repress tears.</p> - -<p>"Oh, law! I'm sick o' myself," she muttered. -"Cryin'! cryin'! gracious, what a fool! I'd -ought to sold you to somebody, I suppose,"—she -clung tighter to the handsome creature -and buried her eyes in his glossy coat,—"or -given you away, more likely. Who'd want to -pay anything for a cat that don't know how -bothersome it's goin' to be to get the right train, -and hasn't the decency to keep his mouth shut, -and—Oh!" as a knock sounded on the door. -"There he is now."</p> - -<p>The glow of Eliza's one interview with Mrs. -Ballard's heir had faded long ago. The sordid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -and wounding events of the week had eclipsed -whatever cheer he had brought her, and it was -only as one of the events of her flitting that she -looked forward to his advent this afternoon, -and the departure of the last and most intimate -of her dear one's possessions.</p> - -<p>The knock on the door preceded its immediate -opening.</p> - -<p>"May I come in?"</p> - -<p>The long step took the little hall in three -strides.</p> - -<p>The sight that met the newcomer's eyes was -the bare room, with Eliza kneeling in front of -an open basket, clasping Pluto to her breast. -The woman's face and posture were dramatic.</p> - -<p>"Deserted!" was the word that rose to Phil's -lips, but he repressed it. He would not twit on -facts; but his all-observing eyes shone.</p> - -<p>"I'm always wanting to paint you, Eliza," -he said. "Sometime I will, too."</p> - -<p>"Me!" returned Eliza drearily. "You'll be -hard up when you take me."</p> - -<p>"So far as that goes, I'm hard up now. -That's chronic," responded Phil cheerfully. -"What are you doing—not taking leave of -that king among cats? If you're leaving him -behind, I speak for him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> - -<p>"H'm!" exclaimed Eliza, loosening her clasp -of her pet and rising. "You'd made a bad -bargain if you took Pluto." She removed the -basket from its chair. "Sit down, Mr. Sidney," -she said wearily, resuming her own seat. "It's -too forlorn for you to stay, but maybe you'd -like to ketch your breath before you take the -things."</p> - -<p>Philip picked up the basket and looked curiously -at its wire window.</p> - -<p>"Yes," continued Eliza. "I'm taking Pluto, -so I had to have that. It was an extravagance, -and he ain't worth it. I despise to see folks -cartin' cats and dogs around. I didn't think -I'd ever come to it; but somehow I'm—used -to that selfish critter, and he's—he's all the -folks I've got. It never once came to me that -you'd take him."</p> - -<p>"Indeed I would," replied Phil; "and wait -till you see the place I have for him. Rats and -mice while you wait, I suppose, though I -haven't seen any yet."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well," returned Eliza hastily, her eyes -following Pluto as he rubbed himself against -Phil's leg. "I've got the basket now. I guess -I'll have to use it."</p> - -<p>"It's a shame I haven't been here to help<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -you," said Phil. "You've had a hard week, I -know, but I've had a busy one."</p> - -<p>"You've got a room, you say," said Eliza -listlessly. "Rats and mice. That don't sound -very good."</p> - -<p>Phil smiled. "I don't know,—as I say, I -haven't seen them yet; but Pluto would be a -fine guard to keep them off my blankets. I -don't believe, though, there's been any grain in -there for a good while."</p> - -<p>"Grain!" repeated Eliza.</p> - -<p>Phil laughed. "I'll tell you about it later; -but first, may I have the things? I have an -expressman down at the door. I rode over here -with him in state. Good thing I didn't meet -Mrs. Fabian."</p> - -<p>Eliza's thin lip curled as she rose. She led -Philip to a room, in the middle of which was -gathered a heterogeneous collection of articles. -"In this box is the paintin' things," she said, -touching a wooden case. "In this barrel is some -dishes. I couldn't get anything for 'em anyway, -and you wrote you was going to get your -own breakfasts."</p> - -<p>"Capital," put in Phil; "and here's a bedstead."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and the spring and mattress," re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>turned -Eliza. "It's Mrs. Ballard's bed. I -couldn't sell it."</p> - -<p>Philip regarded the disconnected pieces dubiously—"I -guess I'd have to be amputated at -the knees to use that."</p> - -<p>"Well,"—Eliza shook her head quickly. -"Take it anyway, and do what you've a mind -to with it, only don't tell me. The beddin''s in -the barrel with the dishes—you said you'd be -glad of a chair, so here's one, and the two in the -parlor are for you. You can take 'em right -along. I haven't got very long to wait anyway. -I calc'late to go to the station early."</p> - -<p>Phil touched her shoulder with his hand.</p> - -<p>"I'll see that you get to the station early -enough."</p> - -<p>"You mustn't think o' me," said Eliza, as -Phil picked up some of the furniture and started -for the stairs.</p> - -<p>When he returned for the next load he brought -the expressman with him. Together they took -the last of the articles down the stairway.</p> - -<p>Eliza stood at the top and watched the final -descent.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye Mr. Sidney," she said.</p> - -<p>He smiled brightly up at her across a couple -of chairs, and the easel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Good-bye for five minutes."</p> - -<p>"No, no," said Eliza; "don't you come -back." She winked violently toward the receding -cap of the expressman. "You'd better -ride right over with the things just the way -you came."</p> - -<p>"All right," responded Phil laughing. "<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Bon -voyage!</i>"</p> - -<p>"Hey?" asked Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Have a good trip. My respects to Pluto."</p> - -<p>She went back into the apartment and closed -the door. It seemed emptier, stiller than ever -after the little flurry of moving.</p> - -<p>"It was clever of him," she thought gratefully, -"not to let the other man handle the -easel."</p> - -<p>Now, indeed, desolation settled upon Eliza -Brewster. Pluto's short tail stiffened in the -majestic disapproval with which he walked -about the room in search of an oasis of comfort.</p> - -<p>Eliza heard his protesting meows. She stood -still at the window looking out on the grey -November sky. "I haven't got a chair to sit -down on, Pluto," she said. "It's got past -cryin'!"</p> - -<p>She took out the gold-faced watch that was -ticking against her thin bosom. Two hours yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -before there would be any reason in going to the -station. Suddenly it occurred to her that she -had placed flannel in the bottom of the cat's -travelling-basket. This would be the golden -opportunity to endear the spot to his forlorn -feline heart.</p> - -<p>She tucked the watch back in its hiding-place. -"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" she cried.</p> - -<p>No response. The receding meows had ceased. -She looked perplexed; then an illuminating -thought occurred to her. Tables there were -none, but the square top of the kitchen range -remained. On this she had spread clean papers -and upon them had laid her coat and hat, and -the shabby boa and muff of black astrachan -which had belonged to her dear one.</p> - -<p>She hastened down the hall. Her intuition -had not failed. Upon this bed, his glossy coat -revealing the rustiness of the garments, lay -Pluto curled up, regardless of vicissitudes.</p> - -<p>Eliza had scarcely swept him off his bed when -the outer door of the apartment opened again, -and closed.</p> - -<p>"There," called a cheerful voice; "that's -finished. Business before pleasure."</p> - -<p>Eliza hastened out into the hall. "You, Mr. -Sidney?" she exclaimed in surprise. "Why,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -you haven't had time to get over there. Is -your room so near?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no. We've been making the wagon -artistically safe, so as not to smash any of Aunt -Mary's valuables." The speaker, strong and -breezy, smiled reassuringly into Eliza's anxious -face.</p> - -<p>"You'd ought to gone with him," she said. -"Do you suppose the folks'll let him in all -right."</p> - -<p>"There aren't any folks but English sparrows," -returned Phil. "I don't think they'll -object."</p> - -<p>"What are you sayin'?" demanded Eliza. -"If there's a house in this city where there -ain't any folks, I didn't know it. It's queer, -ain't it, Mr. Sidney, that it's folks make loneliness. -Now, this buildin''s running over with -<em>folks</em>, but there ain't an apartment where I -could go in and say good-bye. They're always -movin' in and movin' out like ants, and it makes -it worse than if there was nobody. It was clever -of you to come back, but don't you stay, 'cause -there ain't any place to sit but the floor, and -I'm going in just a few minutes to leave the key -where I promised the agent I would, and then -on to the station."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> - -<p>"When does your train go?" asked Phil.</p> - -<p>"I ain't just certain," replied Eliza evasively. -"I'll get there in good season."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure you will." Phil's eyes looked very -kind. "How did you happen to take a night -train?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I didn't know as Mrs. Wright would -want me to travel on Sunday."</p> - -<p>"Isn't it Sunday in the afternoon?"</p> - -<p>"Not after six o'clock," replied Eliza hastily. -"We could play dominoes after six o'clock when -I was a youngster."</p> - -<p>"Aha," said Phil. "Then that train doesn't -go till after six. It isn't yet three."</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Sidney,"—Eliza was frowning -at her own blunder,—"I wish you wouldn't -trouble yourself. The station's nice and warm. -I expect Pluto'll act like all possessed, but I -didn't calc'late to have any comfort with him. -I'd been practisin' with him in the basket before -you came to-day."</p> - -<p>Eliza's careworn brow went to her visitor's -heart.</p> - -<p>"Where are you to leave the key? I'll take it -for you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you needn't. It's the janitor, right -here in the buildin'."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Then it's all clear sailing," said Phil. "Get -on your things, Eliza."</p> - -<p>"It's a little early," she demurred. "If it -wasn't for Pluto I wouldn't care; but you go -along, Mr. Sidney, and don't think anything -more about us. You ought to go and see that -those goods get in all right."</p> - -<p>"We'll be there to meet them. Do you suppose -I would let you leave New York without -seeing where I'm going to live? And do you -suppose I'd let you out of my sight anyway till -I put you on the train?"</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" returned Eliza, fluttered, but -feeling as if the sun had suddenly peeped -through the November clouds. "I never -thought—" she stopped undecidedly.</p> - -<p>"Well, I did," said Phil heartily. "It's a -shame that I haven't helped you any this hard -week. Where's Pluto?"</p> - -<p>"He may be back on the stove again," returned -Eliza. "I don't dare take my eyes off -him." She moved quickly toward the kitchen, -and there on her habiliments lay the cat; but -at sight of her he leaped guiltily to the floor.</p> - -<p>Phil, following, laughed. "Well, things have -come to a pretty pass when you have to hang -your coat up on the stove." He looked about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -the spotless place. "I wonder if this apartment -will ever be so clean again."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm clean," admitted Eliza. "Mr. -Sidney,"—she paused again, her coat in her -hand, and faced him,—"you don't want to go -traipsing through the streets o' New York with -an old woman and a cat!"</p> - -<p>"That's where you're wrong," returned Phil. -"You're the only girl I have in town. It's -highly proper that we should go walking of a -Sunday afternoon. You get on your things, and -I'll wrestle with Pluto."</p> - -<p>The cat, suspecting that whatever plan was -afoot was not entirely according to his taste, -led Phil a short chase; but all the havens which -usually harbored his periods of rebellion having -disappeared, he was soon captured, and when -Eliza, hatted and coated, entered the living-room, -Phil had laid the cat on the flannel in the -bottom of the basket, and was keeping him -there by reassuring caresses.</p> - -<p>"Ain't he just as kind as he can be!" -thought Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Ready?" asked Phil, and closed the basket. -He met Pluto's gaze through the window.</p> - -<p>"It's all right, old chap," he laughed.</p> - -<p>He was not unmindful of the advantage of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> -diversion of Eliza's mind, in leaving the apartment -forever. He had a green memory of her -stormy emotion. He tried to take the key from -her now as they stepped outside.</p> - -<p>"No," she said briefly, "I'll close this chapter -myself," and she locked the door.</p> - -<p>Philip balanced the basket ostentatiously. -"Believe me," said he, "Pluto is some cat! -How did you expect to get on with him -alone?"</p> - -<p>"I calc'lated to get a boy," replied Eliza in an -unsteady voice. Memories were crowding her.</p> - -<p>"Well, you have one," returned Phil, leading -the way downstairs.</p> - -<p>"But I'm strong, too. You've heard about -the woman that carried the calf uphill every -day till it was a cow? I've had Pluto ever since -his eyes was open."</p> - -<p>"Well, you'd need some hill-climbing with -him to fit you for taking the elevated."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I did some dread those steps. It's -certainly clever of you, Mr. Sidney. They say -the lame and the lazy are always provided -for."</p> - -<p>Thus Eliza Brewster left her home of years. -She gave the key to the janitor and went out -into the dull, damp November afternoon with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> -her strong escort, whose good cheer again impressed -her consciousness as a wonderful thing -to have any relation to her own life.</p> - -<p>"You've learned your way around real -quick," said Eliza as they plunged into the -nearest subway station.</p> - -<p>"This is all bluff, Eliza, and you're the most -trustful woman in the world. I want to go -somewhere near Gramercy Park; but if we -come out at Harlem I shall try to look as if I -lived there."</p> - -<p>"Gramercy Park!" exclaimed Eliza; and she -thought—"Well, at that rate, Mrs. Ballard's -money won't last long."</p> - -<p>"I didn't know," she said aloud, "as you'd -feel like gettin' a room in a real fashionable -neighborhood."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet," she thought acutely, "that's Mrs. -Fabian's doin's."</p> - -<p>The subway train came crashing in, and -Pluto crouched in his basket.</p> - -<p>Eliza's suspicions and anxieties increased -as, after leaving the subway, their journey -continued; and when they finally came into a -region of old and aristocratic dwellings, her -eyes were round and she could no longer keep -silent. It was an outrage, an imposition, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> -have influenced the young art-student to commit -himself to a home in these surroundings.</p> - -<p>"I'd 'a' been a whole lot better person to 'a' -helped you find a place than Mrs. Fabian," she -said, more and more impressed with the incongruity -of the situation. To be sure, Phil looked -like a prince and fit for any environment; but -not while trudging along with a shabby, grey-haired -woman, and carrying a cat-basket.</p> - -<p>"I know, I know, Eliza," he returned, with -gay recognition of her perturbation and disapproval. -"I'm sorry sometimes that elegance -and luxury are necessary to me. It's the penalty -of blue blood. Mrs. Fabian had nothing to -do with this; but I had to find my level, Eliza. -Blood will tell."</p> - -<p>"You said rats and mice," she returned -mechanically. "Are you sure you've got the -right street?"</p> - -<p>"Sure as a homing pigeon;—by the way, I -might keep pigeons! I never thought of it."</p> - -<p>"For the rats?" inquired Eliza with some -asperity.</p> - -<p>She had always heard that geniuses were -erratic. Also that without exception they were -ignorant of the value of money. Poor Mrs. -Ballard! What a small space of time it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -take for her little capital to be licked up as by a -fierce heat.</p> - -<p>"This way," cried her escort, and swung -Pluto's basket triumphantly as he turned -abruptly into an alley.</p> - -<p>Eliza caught her breath in the midst of her -resentment. "You do go in the back way, -then."</p> - -<p>"Not a bit of it!" retorted Phil. "My proud -spirit couldn't brook anything like that." He -caught Eliza's arm and hurried her pace. "We -go in the front way, please take notice!"</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">AN INTERRUPTED TEA</p> - - -<p>More bewildered every moment, Eliza hurried -along, obediently, and in a minute more found -herself in a paved yard on which faced a stable -built of stone similar to the fine house backing -upon it.</p> - -<p>Phil threw open a side door and disclosed the -round, good-natured face of a man, leaning back -in a ragged Morris chair, his feet on a deal table.</p> - -<p>"Hello, Pat. I've brought my best girl to -show her my room."</p> - -<p>The Irishman sprang to his feet, and grinned -politely.</p> - -<p>"They have old girls in New York," remarked -Eliza drily.</p> - -<p>"Whativer age ye are, mum," said Pat -gallantly, "ye don't look it."</p> - -<p>They passed him and ascended a narrow -stair. "This is cement, Mr. Sidney," said -Eliza, "and probably no mice."</p> - -<p>"That settles it, Pluto," remarked Phil. -"You for the island."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> - -<p>He ushered his companion into a room, -empty but for a deal table and chair, an oil -stove with a saucepan on it, and a couple of -piles of Indian blankets, two of which were -spread on the floor in place of rugs. One end of -the table was piled with sketches.</p> - -<p>"Well!" exclaimed Eliza. "Why did you—"</p> - -<p>"Because," interrupted Phil laconically, and -pointed to a double window facing north.</p> - -<p>"Take off your things, Eliza," he added -joyously, beginning to unbutton her coat.</p> - -<p>"There were no horses that I saw," said the -bewildered visitor.</p> - -<p>"Family in Europe," returned Phil.</p> - -<p>"But it's warm and comfortable."</p> - -<p>"Have to keep fires on account of the plumbing. -The coachman was a family man before -master and mistress departed, and they kept -house in two rooms up here. I have succeeded -to Mrs. Maloney's kitchen. Behold the running -water. The other room is used for storage. -Being single, Pat got the job of caretaker and -sleeps downstairs. Can you suggest an improvement?"</p> - -<p>If Eliza had thought Phil handsome before, -she stared now at the illumination of his triumphant -face as his eyes questioned her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p>She smiled, and there was a protesting -scramble in the basket.</p> - -<p>"Come out, Katze, of course," said the host, -and, stooping, released the prisoner.</p> - -<p>Pluto leaped forth and made a tour of the -room, smelling daintily of the blankets.</p> - -<p>"Of course, when I get Aunt Mary's things, -you know," continued Phil.</p> - -<p>"I wish they'd come," said Eliza, dazed and -smiling. "I'd like to see how they're goin' to -look."</p> - -<p>"They'll be here before you leave. Now, -take the Turkish armchair, Miss Brewster, and -loll back while I talk to you; and pretty soon -we'll have some tea."</p> - -<p>As he spoke the host doubled a striped blanket -over the kitchen chair and deposited Eliza. -She felt dumb in the change from dismal loneliness -to this atmosphere charged with vitality.</p> - -<p>Phil threw himself on the blanket at her -feet, and leaning on one elbow looked up into -the eyes which wandered about the plastered -room.</p> - -<p>"Made to order, Eliza, made to order," he -assured her. "No one but Mrs. Fabian knows -where I am, and she's not likely to interrupt -me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Stables ain't just in her line," said Eliza. -"I was afraid, comin' up the street, that she had -led you into extravagance."</p> - -<p>"Oh, she is very kind," laughed Phil. "She -was appalled when I told her what I had found, -and seemed to think my oil stove the most -pathetic thing in the world."</p> - -<p>"Yes," remarked Eliza. "Her son Edgar'd -find some trouble livin' this way."</p> - -<p>"I haven't met him yet."</p> - -<p>"Nor Miss Kathleen?"</p> - -<p>"No, she's at school, you know. Mrs. Fabian -has been very good to me. No one could be -kinder, and I'm afraid I've been a rather absent-minded -guest, but getting started has been -so glorious. Eliza, I'm the most fortunate -fellow in the world. Just think! Even no paper -on these walls!"</p> - -<p>Eliza looked with disfavor at the rough -greyish plaster.</p> - -<p>"'Twould be more cheerful with some real -pretty pattern," she said.</p> - -<p>Phil laughed and caught Pluto by the back of -the neck as he was passing, and lifted him over -into the hollow of his arm.</p> - -<p>"I like it this way," he explained.</p> - -<p>Eliza looked down at him admiringly. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -wish Mrs. Ballard could see you now," she -said.</p> - -<p>"I wish she knew what she has done for me. -It seems as if this is the first time since my -childhood that I have known peace."</p> - -<p>At the word there came a sound of voices -from below.</p> - -<p>"The expressman!" exclaimed Phil, and -springing to his feet opened the door.</p> - -<p>"Sure; go right up," they heard in Pat's rich -brogue.</p> - -<p>"I'd better help him," said Phil, and went to -the head of the stair.</p> - -<p>What met his astonished gaze was a large -black velvet hat ascending. It was willowy with -drooping feathers, and in the dimness of the -narrow stair it eclipsed the motive power which -was lifting it. In his amazement Philip stepped -back and presently met a slender face whose -dark eyes were lifted to his.</p> - -<p>"We're taking you by storm, Mr. Sidney," -said a low, slow voice. "I hope it's not inconvenient."</p> - -<p>Edgar followed close behind. "I tried to send -your man up ahead," he said stridently, "but -he seemed to think this sort of thing was all -right."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> - -<p>Philip stood back a pace further in actual -bewilderment, and Kathleen Fabian extended -her delicately gloved hand.</p> - -<p>"We're the Fabians," she said, examining -her host with quick appraisement, and her -smile was alluring.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Phil, recovering himself -and taking the hand. "Very kind of you, I'm -sure."</p> - -<p>"If you think you're easy to find," said -Edgar as they greeted, "you're much mistaken. -Mother got it all wrong, as usual."</p> - -<p>Philip took in at a glance the dapper form of -his visitor. He had not been insensible of Edgar's -neglect of him in the young man's own -home; and had decided that Eastern and Western -ideas of hospitality must differ with more -than the width of a continent.</p> - -<p>"Very good of you, I'm sure, to stick to -it," he returned composedly. "Come into my -suite and overlook its shortcomings if you -can."</p> - -<p>Eliza had risen, startled.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you both know Eliza Brewster," -continued Phil. "She made life comfortable -for Aunt Mary so many years."</p> - -<p>Edgar Fabian jerked his blond head in Eliza's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -direction. "How do," he said; but the host's -tone and manner constrained Kathleen to -approach the grey-haired woman, and again -hold out the delicate hand.</p> - -<p>"Was it you who made those good cookies -Aunt Mary used to give us?" she asked slowly, -looking curiously at Phil's guest.</p> - -<p>Eliza allowed the white glove to take her -bony fingers a moment, then she stepped behind -the solitary chair and set it forward for the -visitor.</p> - -<p>The girl would have accepted it, but Phil -interposed.</p> - -<p>"Sit down, Eliza," he said good-humoredly. -"Miss Fabian can get chairs at home. I am -going to treat her with truly Oriental magnificence. -Try this, Miss Fabian." The host indicated -a pile of Indian blankets, and Kathleen -sank upon them.</p> - -<p>Then Phil turned to Edgar, who reached to -the host's ear as he stood in high-chested -superiority looking about the apartment with -disfavor.</p> - -<p>"The choice of soft spots is small," said Phil, -"but help yourself. There's room beside your -sister here."</p> - -<p>Edgar moved to the pile of blankets and sat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -down; while Phil dropped, Turkish fashion, at -Eliza's feet and faced them.</p> - -<p>"What a splendid cat!" said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Phil. "Come here, Katze, and -see the lady." He seized Pluto and handed him -over to Kathleen."</p> - -<p>"Oh, get out," said Edgar. "I hate cats."</p> - -<p>His sister moved Pluto over to her other side -where he drove his claws into the blanket with -satisfaction while she caressed him.</p> - -<p>"He'll soil your glove," said Eliza; "his hair -comes out some." She resented the Fabian -touch on her pet, and Edgar's remark had sent -color to her sallow cheeks.</p> - -<p>"I'd like a muff made of him," drawled -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Too late," said Phil. "He's going to Maine -to-night with Eliza."</p> - -<p>"He isn't your cat, then?" said the girl, and -brushed her glove.</p> - -<p>"No, Eliza refuses to give him to me."</p> - -<p>"There's that oil stove," remarked Edgar. -"I don't know what there is so particularly -virtuous about an oil stove; but mother throws -yours at me every time we have an argument."</p> - -<p>Philip regarded the speaker speculatively. -Edgar's voice had an arrogant quality, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -gave no idea of its beauty when he broke into -song. "I'd give you a glimpse of its virtues if -the expressman would come," replied the host. -He smiled up at Eliza while Kathleen watched -him. "Did you put in cups enough for all of -us?"</p> - -<p>"Six cups and saucers," returned Eliza, "and -six plates, and six knives and forks, and six -spoons. I gave you the plated ones 'cause then -you wouldn't care if they were stolen."</p> - -<p>"But I should care," returned Phil gravely. -"I shall search every departing guest."</p> - -<p>"Indian blankets," said Edgar. "They suggest -the pipe of peace. Let's make it a cigarette." -He took out his case.</p> - -<p>"Only one room here," remarked Phil. -"Perhaps the ladies object."</p> - -<p>Edgar grinned at his sister. "Do you object -to a cigarette, Kath?" he asked, offering her the -open case.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps Mr. Sidney is not a smoker," she -said, "and it would be unsociable."</p> - -<p>The same curiosity which had grown in -Phil's eyes as he regarded young Fabian, now -stole into them as they met Kathleen's.</p> - -<p>"I'm almost sure Eliza doesn't indulge," -said the host, "and perhaps she doesn't like it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Don't think of me, Mr. Philip," exclaimed -Eliza hastily. "This is your house."</p> - -<p>"My stable, you mean." He smiled. "No, -it's yours this afternoon, Eliza. You're to give -orders."</p> - -<p>"Then you may smoke to your hearts' content," -she responded promptly; and she sent an -inimical look toward the graceful girl in the -drooping hat. Let her smoke! Eliza hoped she -would, and let Philip Sidney see what the -Fabians were.</p> - -<p>"Remove my sister's scruples, won't you, -Sidney?" said Edgar, offering his case.</p> - -<p>Phil took a cigarette, and Edgar passed them -back to Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"No, thanks," she replied. She had seen the -cool curiosity in the host's eyes as they rested -upon her a moment ago.</p> - -<p>"Oh, go ahead," urged Edgar.</p> - -<p>"I don't like your cigarettes," she returned -shortly, annoyed by his persistence. A deep -color grew in her cheeks.</p> - -<p>"Wait till you know Kath better," said -Edgar with a wink toward Philip. "You'll -welcome any little human touches about her. -She's at the most painful stage of her college -career where she knows everything; and she's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -one of these high-brows; saves money—good -money—and buys microscopes with it!" -The utter scorn of the speaker's tone, as he -offered Phil a light, caused the latter to smile.</p> - -<p>"What are you doing with a microscope, -Miss Fabian?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Hunting for an honest man," she returned -in her lingering speech.</p> - -<p>"Stung!" remarked her brother. "Say, I -don't see any symptoms of painting up here," -he added, looking around.</p> - -<p>"No; you'll have to come down to the academy -to see the works of art I'm throwing off," -said Phil. "I've been there two days."</p> - -<p>Now there was another stir belowstairs and -this time it really was the expressman; and -Philip's effects began to come upstairs.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid we're dreadfully in the way," -said Kathleen; while Edgar held his cigarette -between two fingers and moved about, watching -the invasion of barrels, boxes, and bedstead, -uncertain whether to lend a hand. "Aunt -Mary's old duds, as I'm alive!" he thought, -seeing Eliza's anxious supervision of each piece -as Phil came carrying it in.</p> - -<p>"A great way to entertain you, Miss Fabian," -said the host brightly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What can I do?" inquired Edgar perfunctorily, -continuing to get in Phil's way with the -assiduity of a second Marcelline.</p> - -<p>"If you won't mind being put on the shelf for -a minute," said Phil, tired of avoiding him, -"I'm going to tote in one more and then we're -done." And picking up the astonished Edgar he -set him on a barrel which had been placed in -a corner, and so succeeded in bringing in the -heaviest of the boxes undisturbed.</p> - -<p>Edgar, very red in the face, swung his patent -leather feet for a minute and then jumped down. -"We must be going, Kath," he said stiffly.</p> - -<p>"Not till you've found the mahl-stick," she -drawled, with stars in her eyes. "My brother is -so curious about your painting implements, -Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>"They're in these boxes," responded Phil. -"The very ones that dear little Aunt Mary -used."</p> - -<p>He had paid the expressman and was pulling -down his cuffs. His guests were both standing.</p> - -<p>"Personally," he continued, "I think the -contents of the barrel more interesting just -now. You mustn't go without a cup of tea. -One moment and I'll make a raid on Pat for a -hammer."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> - -<p>Phil left the room and Edgar still stood, -quite flushed under his sister's smile.</p> - -<p>"Do you want any tea?" he asked severely.</p> - -<p>"I think I do," replied Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I'll send the car back for you, then."</p> - -<p>"Not at all," she answered; and when the -girl's voice took this tone and her eyes narrowed, -her brother usually paid attention. -After all, Kathleen was a useful court of last -appeal. It was unwise to offend her.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter? Eliza can chaperone -you," he protested.</p> - -<p>Simultaneously with Phil's disappearance -Eliza had moved to the window and looked -out on the advancing twilight. She heard the -words, and her thin lips tightened.</p> - -<p>"That's the very cat that assaulted and -battered mother," went on Edgar, and although -he lowered his voice Eliza heard the words and -smiled grimly at a neighboring stable.</p> - -<p>Kathleen frowned and motioned with her -head toward the black alpaca back.</p> - -<p>Edgar shrugged his immaculate shoulders.</p> - -<p>"Well, tell me when you have had enough of -it," he said, and threw himself back on the pile -of blankets.</p> - -<p>Kathleen was just planning some civil over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>ture -to Eliza when the host reappeared, a -hatchet in his hand.</p> - -<p>"That bold son of Erin dares to imply that -I borrowed his hammer yesterday," he announced. -"If I did, it is in Mrs. Maloney's -closet; and if there it is as a needle in a haystack; -for that closet, Miss Fabian, is responsible -for the air of chaste elegance you observe -in this apartment. If you'll all stand aside, not -to be bombarded when I open the door, I will -give one glimpse within."</p> - -<p>Phil opened the closet door cautiously, and -deftly caught a mandolin as it bounded forth.</p> - -<p>"Sole relic of glee-club days," he remarked. -"I don't know why I brought it, for I couldn't -play 'Yankee Doodle' on it now."</p> - -<p>He delved further into the closet, and Edgar, -picking up the mandolin as one friend in a -strange land, removed it from its case with slow -and condescending touch.</p> - -<p>"Here's the hammer on the sink," said Eliza -suddenly.</p> - -<p>"Saved!" exclaimed Phil, pushing back billowing -folds of grey. "I was just about losing in -a combat with a bath-wrapper. Now, with these -chairs and the hammer, what is to prevent our -salon from being the most delightful success?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Nothing!" exclaimed Kathleen, standing at -the end of the table. "I have found some -sketches, Mr. Sidney. May I look at them?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly." The artist took the hammer -and began an attack on the barrel which caused -Edgar to raise his eyebrows in annoyance. -He was testing the strings of the mandolin.</p> - -<p>"Shall I light the stove?" asked Eliza.</p> - -<p>"No, you're the guest of honor. Sit down, -Eliza, and watch us. Mr. Fabian will light the -stove."</p> - -<p>"Heaven forbid," exclaimed Edgar devoutly, -"that I should touch the enemy of my -peace!"</p> - -<p>Kathleen, her lip caught between her teeth -as she turned the sketches with concentrated -interest, sent an ironical glance toward her -brother, strumming the mandolin on the -blanket couch.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you're elected, Fabian," said Phil, -deftly removing the barrel-hoop. "You have -the matches. You see the peace and calm on -my brow? That is because I am serene in the -knowledge of a lemon and a bag of sugar outside -on the window ledge."</p> - -<p>Reluctantly Edgar laid down the mandolin -and approached the stove.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What do you do?" he asked superciliously. -"Turn on something at the bottom, and light it -at the top?"</p> - -<p>"Edgar," warned his sister, "it isn't gas."</p> - -<p>"Marrow-bones, Fabian, get down on them," -said Phil good-humoredly; and disgustedly -Edgar knelt to his <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bête noir</i>.</p> - -<p>Eliza's fingers itched to help him. She obeyed -Phil's warning gestures to keep her seat until -the match was finally applied to the wicks. -Then, seeing that they were turned too high, -she pounced down on the floor beside the young -man, and pushing his immaculate arm away -she lowered the wicks.</p> - -<p>Edgar stared at the familiarity. "Excuse -me," she said shortly.</p> - -<p>"Must have a finger in the pie, eh?" remarked -Phil.</p> - -<p>"Do you know how long it'd take to get this -room so full o' soot we couldn't stay in it?" -asked Eliza. "I wonder what sort of a mess -you're goin' to live in here, Mr. Sidney, if you -don't know that?"</p> - -<p>"It's a smokeless one," protested Phil -meekly.</p> - -<p>"The cat's foot!" quoth Eliza scornfully. -"Don't tell me! There's no such thing." She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> -partly filled the kettle and placed it on the -stove, watching the wicks with a jealous eye.</p> - -<p>Edgar removed himself from danger and -looked with exasperation at Kathleen, who with -eyes aglow was turning the sketches.</p> - -<p>"If I ever worked as hard for tea as this I'll -be hung!" he thought, and returned to the -mandolin as the one congenial object in a forlorn -abode.</p> - -<p>Even its long silent strings spoke plaintively -against the vulgar banging which was removing -the barrel-head.</p> - -<p>"There!" exclaimed Phil presently. "I -rather fancy the way I did that. I can use -that barrel again."</p> - -<p>"Yes," assented Edgar as he strummed, -"for kindlings for the oil-stove."</p> - -<p>Phil drew the barrel nearer the table.</p> - -<p>"Now for the plums in the pudding," he said, -and began to draw forth some papered cups -from the excelsior.</p> - -<p>Kathleen dropped the sketches and unwrapped -the packages. She had stood three -cups and saucers on the table before Eliza -turned from her labors about the stove.</p> - -<p>"What delightful old things!" exclaimed -the girl.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Now, aren't you glad you stayed?" asked -Phil, bringing forth a silver cream pitcher of -long ago.</p> - -<p>Eliza caught sight of the table, and suddenly -threw up both hands with an exclamation.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney!" she cried. "I've given you -the wrong barrel!"</p> - -<p>"What? What's happened?" inquired Phil, -halted by her tragic tone.</p> - -<p>"All Mrs. Ballard's best things are in that -barrel; the old china that was her mother's, -and the solid silver, and everything; and I've -gone and sent yours with the substantial -crockery and the beddin' to the island!"</p> - -<p>Edgar Fabian regarded Eliza as inimically as -his stepmother might have done. So this old -servant had been carrying off the heirlooms -and been discovered.</p> - -<p>He sat up very straight on his blanket couch.</p> - -<p>"I'll speak to my mother," he said. "She can -come over to-morrow and get them, and buy -the right sort of thing for a bachelor"—he -threw a glance around the plastered room—"apartment!"</p> - -<p>Phil, not realizing the sensitiveness of the -subject, laughed.</p> - -<p>"Good work, Eliza! We'll have one aristo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>cratic -tea in the Sidney studio, before we fall to -stone china and mugs."</p> - -<p>"The others ain't stone china and mugs," -cried Eliza. She was trembling from head to -foot, as frightened and enraged by Edgar's suggestion -as if her own life had been at stake. -"They're all good, comfortable things. If it -was safe I'd leave all these for you, Mr. Philip, -just as liefs to as not, for she loved you; but -you are gone all day; they'd be stole—just as -Mr. Fabian says."</p> - -<p>Edgar blinked, then his face grew scarlet as -the servant's implication grew upon him.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean—you—!"</p> - -<p>He leaped to his feet and faced Eliza, who -glared back at him. "These things should belong -to my mother," he said, "and it's a good -thing you didn't succeed in getting away with -them. She may set some value on the old stuff. -I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Edgar!" exclaimed Kathleen, as scarlet as -he, while the duel had all happened so suddenly -that the host stared, dazed.</p> - -<p>He had just lifted another silver piece from -the barrel and taken it from its flannel bag.</p> - -<p>"They do not belong to your mother," returned -Eliza angrily. "They belong to me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -to have and to hold, or to give away as I see -fit."</p> - -<p>Edgar shrugged. "Oh, in that case—" he -returned. He didn't like Eliza's eyes.</p> - -<p>"In that case," said Phil to him gravely, "I -think you'll feel better to apologize to the -woman who has put Aunt Mary's relatives -under lifelong obligation for her devoted care."</p> - -<p>Edgar tossed his head with a scornful -grimace.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I understand perfectly," went on Phil, -coloring; "Aunt Mary was no kin to you, and -I understand that she was a person held in little -consideration by your family." The host's -attitude was tense now, and his look compelling. -"Nevertheless, Eliza Brewster happens -to be my honored guest to-day, and I'm sure -you will be glad to express your regret for your -choice of words."</p> - -<p>"Edgar, you didn't understand," said Kathleen. -"Say so. Why, of course, you're glad -to say so."</p> - -<p>"No, I didn't understand," remarked Edgar -with a languid air, strumming the mandolin, -"and now that I do, I don't know that it is very -interesting."</p> - -<p>Phil saw Kathleen's acute distress.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Very sorry, I'm sure," continued the young -man, nodding toward Eliza. "You can run -away with your barrel and welcome. The Fabians -will still have cups and saucers. I think," -returning Phil's grave gaze contemptuously, -"if your honored guest should apologize for -her attack on my mother, it would be quite as -much to the point. You heard her say that -mother would come over and steal her trash, -didn't you? Come, Kathleen." The speaker -dropped the mandolin, squared his shoulders, -and started for the door.</p> - -<p>"No; oh, no!" exclaimed Phil, all his hearty -Western hospitality in arms at the sight of his -girl guest's expression.</p> - -<p>Edgar turned on him again. "I fancied that -my mother had been rather civil to you since -your arrival. I'll tell her how you guard her -dignity."</p> - -<p>Edgar was fairly swelling with emotion, one -fourth of which was indignant defence of his -mother, and three fourths joy at a clear case -against the poverty-stricken artist who had -dared set his own sacred person on a barrel and -make him light an oil-stove.</p> - -<p>Kathleen's scarlet face and lambent eyes -spoke her distress. Phil, faced with condoning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -the slur on his kind hostess, was bewildered and -uncertain.</p> - -<p>Eliza saw it all and was the most disturbed -of the four.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Fabian, it's all my fault!" she exclaimed, -looking appealingly at Edgar. "Please -stay for tea."</p> - -<p>"Really, you know," said Phil, "this is all a -tempest in a tea-pot." He held up Aunt Mary's -graceful old-colonial silver. "This one would -be too big to hold it."</p> - -<p>"Come, Kath," said Edgar, ignoring them. -"Will you come with me or shall I wait for you -in the car?"</p> - -<p>Kathleen gave him an imploring look, but he -was already moving to the door.</p> - -<p>Phil took an impulsive step toward her. -"Perhaps you will stay," he said, in supreme -discomfort. She gave him a little smile. "No, -I mustn't," she answered gently. "I'm sorry I -hadn't finished looking at the sketches."</p> - -<p>"May I bring them over to you?"</p> - -<p>She shook her head. "I go back to school in -the morning. Good-bye, I wish you all success."</p> - -<p>Eliza stood with tight-clasped hands. It had -been her fault that the bud of an acquaintance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -which might have been serviceable to her young -friend had been blighted. They would tell Mrs. -Fabian. She might visit her anger upon him. -Eliza had never expected to feel gratitude -toward one of the name, but her surprise was -mingled with that sentiment when Kathleen -now approached her, laying her smooth gloved -hand on the rough clasped ones to say good-bye.</p> - -<p>"You are going to Brewster's Island?" she -asked. "It is a strange time of year."</p> - -<p>"'Twas my home once," replied Eliza, -tragedy of past and present so evident in her -haggard face that a touch of pity stirred the -girl's heart.</p> - -<p>"I heard," said Kathleen, "that Mrs. Wright -is staying there. How can she in the desolate -winter?"</p> - -<p>"I guess angels can live anywhere," responded -Eliza. Her disturbed eyes met Kathleen's. -"Miss Fabian," and her hard hand -grasped the gloved one, "I don't care how cold -the winter's goin' to be if only you'll promise -me that I haven't done any harm to this boy -here by my foolish talk. He ain't to blame if I -seemed to—to speak about your mother. -Don't, don't let her blame him for it. If I -thought she would—if I thought I'd cut him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> -off from friends—some day when I get to -thinkin' about it up there on that hill I feel as if -I should jump into the water and done with it."</p> - -<p>"I'll explain," said Kathleen gently. "I -hope you'll have a good winter. I'm glad you -will have Mrs. Wright."</p> - -<p>When the girl turned back, Edgar had gone; -and the veil of perfunctoriness had fled from her -host's eyes. He was looking at her as friend at -friend.</p> - -<p>He escorted her downstairs, and out through -the alley to the waiting limousine within -which, with elevated feet, Edgar was already -solacing himself with a cigarette. At sight of -the approaching pair, he leaped from the car, -and received his sister with hauteur.</p> - -<p>"Good-bye," said Phil composedly, when -they were inside; "very good of you to come."</p> - -<p>He closed the door, the machine started, and -he returned to the stable, where Pat received -him with a grin, still standing where he had -risen when Kathleen passed through a minute -ago. "I say, me bye," he said huskily, jerking -his thumb in the direction of the stairway, "the -auld one above there—she's yer second best -girl, I'm thinkin'. That one," pointing to the -street, "she do be a princess all roight. She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> -turned them lamps on me when she first come -in and asked for you, and I felt chape 'cause the -stairs wasn't marble; but look out, me son, I -know that breed. She'll make ye toe the mark."</p> - -<p>Phil smiled. "To be honest with you, Pat, -I have just one best girl," he said emphatically.</p> - -<p>Pat looked up at him with admiration.</p> - -<p>"Is she in New York, thin?"</p> - -<p>"Sometimes I think I shall get a glimpse of -her here."</p> - -<p>"Sure if she knows where ye are ye will, -thin!" said Pat devoutly. "How does she dress -so I'll know her? I'll be on the watch."</p> - -<p>"Just now in scarlet and gold," said Phil, -lifting his head and gazing beyond the stable -wall.</p> - -<p>"Faith, she knows a thing or two," nodded -Pat. "'Tis an old dodge, 'Red and Yeller, -ketch a feller.'"</p> - -<p>"In winter she goes all in white," said Phil, -"soft, pure, spotless."</p> - -<p>"Moighty wasteful fer the city!" said Pat -seriously. " 'Twill be hard on yer pocket, me -bye."</p> - -<p>"In spring she's in golden-green among the -browns, but in summer, full, glorious green, -Pat. Oh, she's a wonderful girl, a goddess!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Sure she is if she knows that green's the -best of all the game," exclaimed the Irishman. -"Whin'll she be comin'?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, I have to go to her, Pat."</p> - -<p>"'Tis better so," agreed the other.</p> - -<p>"I've thought she might meet me sometime -out in the park."</p> - -<p>"She can, sir." Pat gave Phil's shoulder a -sounding slap.</p> - -<p>"But I notice the park gate is kept locked."</p> - -<p>"It is," agreed Pat, with shining face, "and -'tis meself has a key. 'Twill be yours for the -askin' any day in the week."</p> - -<p>"Great!" responded Phil. "I'll remember -that."</p> - -<p>"And sure I'll be lookin'," thought Pat, -watching the artist take the stairway in bounds. -"The women'll mob that bye afore he gets -through. Sure I'd like to see the gurl brings -that look to his eyes."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">HEIRLOOMS</p> - - -<p>As the Fabian car started toward home, Edgar -hoped his sister would rally him on his failure to -chastise the puny artist from the West. Anything -was better than one of Kathleen's "stills," -as he called his sister's periods of scornful -silence. He was Kathleen's elder, he was her -brother. By every law of propriety she should -be guided by him and lean upon his opinions; -but as he now reflected she was "more apt to -jump on them."</p> - -<p>At present her sombre eyes looked straight -ahead under the picture hat, and her countenance -expressed only composure of mind and -body. He had thrown away his cigarette, and -he began to hum the favorite aria from "Madam -Butterfly." Kathleen, if she spoke at all, -would probably try to persuade him to say -nothing to their mother of the scene just passed. -He would offer her an opening for speech. Perhaps -she was anxious in spite of her acted -composure.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I heard 'Butterfly' last week," he said. -"Farrar can have me."</p> - -<p>Silence.</p> - -<p>"Well," he looked around at the slender dark -face with the eyes full of slumberous fire. -"Well, why don't you get off one of those juices -of yours about the fair Geraldine probably not -being aware of her good luck, et cetera?"</p> - -<p>The chauffeur was playing with the speed -limit. They would soon be at home. Kathleen -realized that this would be the only opportunity -to speak with her brother alone.</p> - -<p>She slowly turned her head and met his -quickly averted gaze. "You are not usually so -chivalrous toward mother," she said. "Why did -you think it worth while to make such a fuss?"</p> - -<p>"Twitting on facts is bad taste," declared -Edgar with his usual air of insouciance. If -his sister would only talk, all would be well.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that?"</p> - -<p>"Why, Aunt Mary's faithful retainer showed -the poorest possible taste. She said if mother -knew that those antiques were left unprotected -by anything but the oil-stove, she would -prance over to that stable and nab them."</p> - -<p>Kathleen stared at him. "Do you mean that -she would?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Like a shot," responded Edgar cheerfully. -"Wasn't I bound to resent it?"</p> - -<p>Kathleen kept silence a space. Since she had -been at home this time, her mother had told her -with some excitement of Eliza's presumption in -retaining articles of no value to a servant.</p> - -<p>"And whether I was warranted or not," went -on Edgar, elated by her muteness, "'there -comes an opportunity in the lives of men' -which seldom knocks on a man's door the second -time. I flatter myself I was quick enough -to shut the box between that wild and woolly -Westerner and us, so that he won't expect anything -more of <em>me</em>, in any event."</p> - -<p>"I should think not," returned Kathleen -slowly. "The childish way you took your playthings -and went home was ridiculous."</p> - -<p>Edgar's face flamed. "Don't be nasty, Kathleen, -just because you know how," he said, -dropping his careless tone. "No doubt you -thought it was very funny to see me lifted about -like a doll, and on my knees lighting a stove. I -went there to please you, but I can tell you a -very little of alleys and stables will do for me. -When I go slumming it'll be where the poor -know their place and know mine."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Edgar," said Kathleen hopelessly.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> -"Well, is it your intention to tell mother what -happened?"</p> - -<p>"I'm going to keep that up my sleeve. It -may come in handy sometime."</p> - -<p>"It would hurt her feelings, and do no good," -said the girl.</p> - -<p>"Do no good? What! Not if it kept her from -inviting the cowboy early and often to the -house? Oh, yes, I've no doubt he's got you all -right. He's a looker, and girls are all alike."</p> - -<p>Kathleen did not condescend to notice this -thrust. Her eyes turned back to gaze upon the -road as it flew beneath their car. "Don't lie -awake planning to avoid Mr. Sidney," she said -quietly. "He will probably always see you first; -but from the moment you tell mother about -this petty little scene we've just passed through, -you need never come to me for assistance in any -line. I shall not give it to you."</p> - -<p>Stealing a side glance at his sister's face, -Edgar Fabian knew that she meant what she -said.</p> - -<p>"Supposing," she went on presently, "that -you had smoothed over an awkward moment, -and that we had had tea in Aunt Mary's egg-shell -cups, and had let that brave fellow think -he was giving us pleasure, and that you had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -sung something to his mandolin in your charming -voice;—think of the difference in situation -to us all. Instead of four hurt people, scattering, -and feeling awkward and ashamed, we -should have given the stranger in a strange -land a little housewarming to begin life with -here."</p> - -<p>"Not four hurt people, if you please," retorted -Edgar with bravado; but he was surprised, -and somewhat affected by his sister's -picture. His charming voice would doubtless -have increased the host's respect for him.</p> - -<p>"I expect sometime, of course," he went on -with a superior air, "to be a patron of the arts -to a certain extent. If the cowboy makes good, -and learns to keep his hands off his betters, I -may do something for him yet."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's risibles were not easily stirred; -but now she laughed low, and so heartily that -Edgar's inflation over her compliment to his -voice became as a pricked balloon. She even -wiped away a tear as she ceased.</p> - -<p>"Philip Sidney is going to interest the patrons -of art," she said at last.</p> - -<p>"What makes you so sure?" asked Edgar -with a sneer. "His physique?"</p> - -<p>"His sketches, his superiority to his circum<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>stances, -and his behavior to Eliza," returned -Kathleen composedly.</p> - -<p>"Great Scott!" exclaimed her brother. "I'd -like to see myself saddled with that gargoyle -and a wild-cat, in an unfurnished stable on a -dismal afternoon."</p> - -<p>"Yes, you've shown your sympathy and -assistance in a manly and powerful manner," -said Kathleen, as the car stopped before the -brown-stone front of their home.</p> - -<p>"Sarcasm, Miss Fabian," returned her brother, -as he assisted her to alight, "is the cheapest -and meanest of weapons. Each one to his -taste. That state of things suited him. It -wouldn't suit me. That's all. It takes all -sorts of people to make the world."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian was in the drawing-room, and as -her children entered she looked up expectantly, -then her face fell.</p> - -<p>"I told you to bring Phil back with you to -tea."</p> - -<p>"I forgot it, mother, really," said Kathleen. -She sat down and began taking off her gloves. -"But he couldn't have come."</p> - -<p>"No," added Edgar. "He had a guest; -your friend Eliza Brewster was there with her -cat."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Eliza!" echoed Mrs. Fabian, sitting up. "Is -she going to cook for Philip?"</p> - -<p>"No," said Kathleen. "She is going to -Brewster's Island to-night."</p> - -<p>"I tried," added Edgar, "to get her to send -you the cat as a souvenir, but she refused."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad she is leaving town," said Mrs. -Fabian. "She is a very ungrateful person and I -detest ingratitude. Moreover, a person who is -in an anomalous position is always annoying, -and Aunt Mary made Eliza so much a member -of her family that the woman doesn't know her -place. What was she doing over at Phil's?"</p> - -<p>"Overseeing the moving in of Aunt Mary's -dunnage," replied Edgar.</p> - -<p>"Why! Has he more than one room?" asked -Mrs. Fabian with interest.</p> - -<p>"No, mother," said Kathleen, in a tone designed -to offset Edgar's sprightly scorn. "He -has just one, and nothing in it but piles of -Indian blankets and a table and chair."</p> - -<p>"The chair for Eliza, mind you," put in -Edgar, "while Kathleen and I were stowed on -the floor."</p> - -<p>A spark glowed in the girl's eyes as she regarded -her brother. "He let you sit on a barrel, -I remember," she said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," returned Edgar; "and speaking of -barrels," he went on, a belligerent spark glowing -in his eyes, "a ripping thing happened. -All this old stuff came over while we were there, -and among them a barrel of dishes. Well, Sidney -opened it and began taking out the things, -but instead of the coarse stuff Eliza had meant -to give him, there were gold-banded china, and -colonial silver tea-things—"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's backbone suddenly seemed of -steel. "Aunt Mary had a few fine old things," -she interrupted.</p> - -<p>"Well, there they were. She'd given Sidney -the wrong barrel. You should have seen her -face. She was ready to faint."</p> - -<p>"You say she leaves to-night?" Mrs. -Fabian's eyes were looking far away through -the wall of her house toward Gramercy Park. -"Philip won't want the care of those delicate -old things," she added. "I'll get some proper -ones for him in the morning."</p> - -<p>Edgar laughed gleefully, none the less that -Kathleen's lips were grave.</p> - -<p>"If I were you, mother," said the girl, "I -would let them work it out. Eliza seems to -have taken the helm over there."</p> - -<p>"Of course she has," agreed Mrs. Fabian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> -sharply. "Taking is Eliza's forte. That china -and silver belonged to my grandmother. If -Aunt Mary didn't have enough thoughtfulness -to leave it to me in writing, is that any reason -it should not be mine?"</p> - -<p>"Aunt Mary knew," said Kathleen, "that -you had everything you wanted."</p> - -<p>"Everything I needed, perhaps," retorted -Mrs. Fabian, with excitement, "but I certainly -want my own grandmother's things; and Providence -has thrown them into my hands. I shall -explain everything to Philip and he will be glad -to have me take them. Isn't he all that I said -he was, Kathleen?"</p> - -<p>"He is very interesting," returned Kathleen -quietly.</p> - -<p>Then she rose and went to the door. Edgar -followed her uneasily to the foot of the stairs.</p> - -<p>"I'm not going to peach, Kath, don't worry," -he said. "I'll keep the compact. I just wanted -to prove to you that I knew the <i lang="la" xml:lang="la">mater</i>."</p> - -<p>His sister turned on him. "I told you that -you should have been the girl and I the man," -she said; and he winced under the contempt of -her look. "If mother gets those things to-morrow, -the result for you will be just what I -promised. I shall never be at your call again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You said—" began Edgar, perturbed.</p> - -<p>But Kathleen ran swiftly upstairs. Her -brother returned to the drawing-room.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter with Kathleen?" inquired -Mrs. Fabian. "She behaved so -strangely."</p> - -<p>"Oh," returned Edgar, shaking his head as if -exasperated beyond patience, "Kath's a stiff. -She can't see a joke if she runs into it. Now, I -think that barrel business was funny, don't -you?"</p> - -<p>"It's something more than funny," returned -Mrs. Fabian impressively. "It's Providence, -as I said."</p> - -<p>"Well, now, I'll wager," declared her son -argumentatively, "that if you take the law -into your own hands and bring that old truck -over here, Kathleen will cut us both."</p> - -<p>"What in the world is the reason? Was she -so impressed with Philip? I think he's irresistible -myself, but Kathleen is so unimpressionable—and -beside, he won't disapprove."</p> - -<p>"I'm not so sure. He treats Eliza as if she -was the one best bet. I don't pretend to know -all Kath thinks. She's a high-brow and a crank. -Do you suppose she'd look at a man unless he -was a college professor? I guess not."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Don't speak of your sister so, Edgar. You -have reason to be grateful that she is not an -ordinary silly flirt."</p> - -<p>"Flirt!" ejaculated Edgar, with rolling eyes. -"Do you suppose she'd sit on the stairs with -anything but a Latin book, or flirt with anything -but a microscope?"</p> - -<p>"Well, then, you don't have to worry about -her?"</p> - -<p>"Don't I!" retorted Edgar laconically.</p> - -<p>"I must say," pursued Mrs. Fabian virtuously, -"it is too much for Kathleen always to -expect me to hold her judgment superior to -mine. I shall do in this matter what I see fit."</p> - -<p>"Then it's all up with me," observed Edgar.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"She'll visit it on me. She always does." -Edgar was beginning to wish that he had not -played with fire. "Beside, in this case, Eliza -says that old stuff belongs to her; is hers to do -as she pleases with."</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned Mrs. Fabian, with righteous -indignation. "Possession is nine tenths of the -law; and if I get that possession we'll see what -the law can do for her!"</p> - -<p>"Oh," protested Edgar petulantly, "why do -you want to bother with it?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - -<p>His mother's eyes were glistening. In fancy -she saw the convenient barrel in which was -compactly stowed Aunt Mary's little store of -heirlooms.</p> - -<p>"Because," she answered with dignity, "genuine -old things like that are not to be despised. -They would be just the thing at the -island."</p> - -<p>"That's what Eliza thought," said Edgar -drily.</p> - -<p>"The idea," exclaimed Mrs. Fabian, "of -her using such things in the sort of home she'll -have!"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps she'll console Mrs. Wright with -them," said Edgar. "You were pitying her last -night for her winter exile."</p> - -<p>"If she did, Mrs. Wright would give them -back to me at once," declared Mrs. Fabian; -"but never mind, there will be no need now. -Providence has thrown them right into my -hands. Occasionally you can see justice work -out in this world."</p> - -<p>Edgar looked toward the portières. Kathleen -might return. There was no sign of any one -approaching, however.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm in wrong with Kath for having -spoken of it, then," he said. "Let me have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> -twenty, will you, mother? You can afford to -on the strength of the heirlooms."</p> - -<p>"I can't, Edgar."</p> - -<p>"Ten, then; you owe me that much, I'm -sure."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's lips took a tight line.</p> - -<p>"You know, Edgar," she said impressively, -"your father has forbidden me to give you -money. He says you must learn the worth of -it."</p> - -<p>The youth shrugged his shoulders impatiently, -and throwing himself into an easy-chair, -stretched his legs toward the blazing -logs and stared at the fire with the gloom of -one who feels that he has killed the goose -that laid the golden eggs. He had not, however, -told of Eliza's insult and his own wrathful -departure from the stable. He could defend -himself to Kathleen so far, when next -they met, and it might possibly soften her -heart.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>When Philip Sidney bounded up the stable -stairs, he came in upon Eliza, who was standing -as he had left her, and with such a woe-begone -expression that, meeting her tragical gaze, he -burst into a peal of laughter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Philip, Mr. Philip!" she mourned. -"I've spoiled everything."</p> - -<p>"What! Let the kettle boil over?"</p> - -<p>"No, no; you'll make light of it for my sake; -but I've turned the Fabians against you! That -pert little bantam will go home and tell his -mother everything, and it'll make a lot o' difference. -They might have been lots o' use to you."</p> - -<p>"Don't borrow trouble, Eliza. I'm not going -to have our last visit spoiled. I don't make use -of my friends anyway; and beside, I'm going to -be too busy to have any. Come, now, make the -tea. I want to see you drink so much that you -'swell wisibly before my wery eyes.' Shall we -use this fine old silver jug?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney." Eliza wrung her hands. -"You're awful smart and strong; can we get -this barrel headed up again and off to the depot -to-night?"</p> - -<p>"Why," Phil hesitated, "I suppose so, but -wouldn't you rather have your tea in comfort -now, before we go out to dinner, and let me do -the barrel to-morrow and send it off?"</p> - -<p>"There wouldn't be any barrel," returned -Eliza darkly. "Not unless you packed and sent -it before you went to your school."</p> - -<p>"Why not?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You heard me tell 'em right to their face," -said Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Oh, surely," protested Phil, "you don't -think Mrs. Fabian would do anything highhanded?"</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't she, though?" returned Eliza. -"She hasn't got over it yet that Mrs. Ballard -sent your mother a diamond pin and didn't -leave her anything."</p> - -<p>Phil looked puzzled. "Why didn't Aunt -Mary remember Aunt Isabel?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"To tell the truth, I don't think Mrs. -Ballard meant to slight her. She just didn't -think anything about it. She knew Mrs. Fabian -was rich, and didn't suppose she'd care for -any of her little things. Your mother always -acted human toward her, and was her namesake, -and 'twas natural she should send her -something."</p> - -<p>"Well, well; have a cup of tea anyway." -Eliza's pallor went to her host's heart. He -went to the window and brought in the lemon -and sugar.</p> - -<p>Eliza followed him with her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Do you think you can, Mr. Sidney?" she -asked, her hands interlocked.</p> - -<p>"Can what?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do the barrel. I'll never forget it of you," -she said fervently.</p> - -<p>"I can't believe there's any necessity for -such haste. Pat's a good watch-dog so far as -thieves are concerned."</p> - -<p>"You don't know what you're talking about, -Mr. Sidney. Trust me, it's my only chance -to save the dishes; and I tell you she might have -the whole kit and boodle of 'em and welcome, if -she'd been kind, or even decent to that little -angel. 'T ain't the silver and things I want. -It's to keep 'em away from her."</p> - -<p>Phil could see that Eliza was trembling in her -intensity. She had shaken her head until she -had again loosened the grey locks about her -gaunt face.</p> - -<p>"I don't care anything about anything to eat, -Mr. Sidney," she went on. "I can head up the -barrel myself in some kind of a way, but it's -got to go to the depot or else I don't, and my -berth's all paid for."</p> - -<p>"How did you ever happen to be born in -New England?" returned Phil meditatively, -noting her clenched hands. "You and Bernhardt -would have been rivals. Settle down -comfortably now. Make the tea and I'll -head up the barrel after you have used one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -of these cups. If necessary, we'll ride on the -wagon."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Sidney, <em>can</em> we ride on the wagon?" -exclaimed Eliza in a frenzy of gratitude.</p> - -<p>Phil laughed. "Anyway, the barrel shall -leave here to-night. I'll take one of my brushes -and do such high-art addressing that it will -follow you meekly to the island. Don't you -worry another moment. I guarantee it."</p> - -<p>"Then it'll have to leave here before we do," -persisted Eliza.</p> - -<p>"It shall leave here before we do. Now, are -you satisfied?"</p> - -<p>Eliza heaved a deep sigh of relief and proceeded -to make the tea.</p> - -<p>Phil was inclined to be impatient with her -fears; but the next day, when he returned from -the Academy, Pat met him with a grin.</p> - -<p>"Sure ye're the divil of a bye," he said with -an expansive gesture. "I'll have to put on a -biled shirt every day to resave yer company. -'T was no less than the Queen o' Sheby came to -see ye this mornin' an' you not gone tin -minutes."</p> - -<p>"A lady—the one who was here yesterday?"</p> - -<p>"Sure 't was no slip of a girl in a big hat to-day, -'T was a queen, I'm tellin' ye. She rolled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -up in her motor car an' come here an' knocked -on me door, an' me without a collar on. She -was dressed in furs an' looked like she owned -the earth.</p> - -<p>"'I wish to see Mr. Sidney,' says she.</p> - -<p>"'Thin ye'll have to go farther, mum,' says I. -'Ye'll find him at the paintin' school,' says I.</p> - -<p>"She didn't need any paint herself, I'm -tellin' ye. She got rid in the face while she was -talkin'.</p> - -<p>"'I'm his aunt,' says she, haughty-like, 'an' -as long as I'm here I'll see his room,' says she; -an' wid that she wint up them stairs like they -belonged to her. I heerd her movin' around, an' -I hurried to button me collar an' slick up. -Presently I dropped the comb, for I heerd her -comin' back. Before she'd got away downstairs, -'What have ye done wid the barrel?' -says she. 'What bar'l? ' says I. 'The wan Mr. -Sidney had here last night,' says she. Thin I -remembered there was wan. 'It moved out,' -says I, 'wid his company,' says I. 'What company?' -says she, and her eyes snapped the way -I expected to hear her say, 'Off with his head!'</p> - -<p>"'A lady,' says I, 'wid a cat in a basket. -'T was a reg'lar movin',' says I.</p> - -<p>"She bit her lip, and muttered: 'Just like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> -her!' I heerd her plain, though she wasn't -lookin' at me no more. Take an auld man's -advice, me bye. Kape away from the Queen o' -Sheby for a while; an' if ye don't tell me what -was in that bar'l rollin' up an' down stairs like -a restless soul, I'll be havin' the nightmare, -sure."</p> - -<p>Phil laughed, and shook his head. "The ways -of women, Pat," he said, "are so far beyond me -that I can't even guess."</p> - -<p>"Can't guess what was in the bar'l? Tell me, -now, or ye'll not git the key to the park nor -meet yer sweetheart."</p> - -<p>"There were dishes and silver in that barrel, -Pat. Each of the women thinks she owns -them."</p> - -<p>"I'd bet on the Queen o' Sheby," said Pat.</p> - -<p>"You'd lose, then," returned Phil, running -upstairs.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE ARRIVAL</p> - - -<p>Eliza Brewster reached Portland in time for -breakfast; and the hours she must spend before -the one afternoon boat started for the island -were embarrassing ones on account of Pluto. -She had a cup of coffee and an egg in the station, -and then lifted her heavy basket on the -car and rode across the city to the wharf.</p> - -<p>Setting the cat at liberty she followed him -about, and held him on her lap, alternately, -until passengers were allowed to board the -steamer. The captain and purser were new to -her. She glanced about the cabin as she sat, her -arms clasped about the basket, out of whose -window Pluto's eyes were again glowering. -Eliza dreaded recognizing some one she knew; -but no recognition occurred, and she had ample -time in the two hours' ride to meditate on past -and future. Many years had fled since she last -saw Casco Bay. She and Mrs. Ballard had -spent a couple of weeks at Brewster's Island one -summer, but it had been their farewell to out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>ings -further from home than Coney Island. -She had not enjoyed the experience because of -wrathful resentment at the neglect of Mrs. -Fabian, then a bride; but Mrs. Ballard had -revelled in the natural beauty which feasted her -soul. Eliza evoked the memory now and smiled -grimly with satisfaction at the consideration -that the precious barrel was safely starting on -its journey after her.</p> - -<p>She met her cat's green gaze through his -wire window. "If I set more value on my life -than I do, Pluto," she muttered, "I'd risk it -on Mrs. Fabian visitin' a certain stable this -mornin'. Then Mr. Philip'll know, and he'll -forgive me."</p> - -<p>Her heart warmed as she thought of the jolly -kindness of her late host; of his assiduity and -care for her comfort; of the milk he had fed to -Pluto, and the hot beefsteak to herself.</p> - -<p>"That supper last night cost him a lot o' -money. I know it did!" she thought remorsefully, -"but," with a revulsion of affectionate -concern, "I hope he'll eat good and not slight -himself when he's alone. There's such a lot of -him to nourish."</p> - -<p>It was the sort of dismal weather which inspired -the description, "No sun, no moon, no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> -stars, November!" and Eliza dreaded the return -to her old changed home. Her heart beat -a little faster as the steamer ploughed along, -each minute bringing her nearer to that especial -hill rising from the waters of Casco Bay where -she first opened her eyes to life. Memories of -those dead and gone assailed her until her eyes -stung.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to know," she thought sternly, "if -there's as ungrateful a critter in the universe. -S'posin' I was goin' to the island to nobody? -S'posin' I'd been seen off in New York by nobody? -That's what I'd expected to happen two -weeks ago."</p> - -<p>Eliza gazed rebukingly at the steam radiator -in the middle of the cabin until her tears ceased.</p> - -<p>She had not slept much in her unaccustomed -bed on the sleeping-car, impeded by the heavy -basket and her own hand-bag, and the fear of -how Pluto might behave at the stops; so the -boat ride seemed long, and it was with relief -that she at last heard the summons:—</p> - -<p>"Brewster's Island. Land from the lower -deck."</p> - -<p>"Praise be!" she thought. "I haven't got to -lug my things upstairs."</p> - -<p>There were but few passengers to get off at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> -this island, and but few persons standing in the -raw air on the wharf.</p> - -<p>There was a lump in Eliza's throat as she -carried her burdens up the gangplank, but -through the mist in her eyes she saw a face she -recognized. It was lean, and smooth-shaven, -and had scarcely grown more lined in twenty -years. The man met her gaze with alert scrutiny -and then looked beyond her for some one. -The gangplank was drawn in.</p> - -<p>"James," said Eliza, when she had swallowed.</p> - -<p>The alert, searching eyes returned to her, and -looked, at first, without recognition.</p> - -<p>"Don't tell me you don't know me, James," -added the traveller, trying to laugh.</p> - -<p>"Why, Eliza Brewster, I was runnin' over -ye," said the captain in hasty amazement. -"You—you've grown some spare, Eliza. Just -at first I didn't see who't wuz." The kindly -speaker endeavored to conceal his dismay. -"Amazin' how a little flesh off or on'll change a -body," he added. "Here, let me take your -bundles. Carriage right up here waitin' for us. -Mrs. Wright sent me down to meet ye. Kinder -homely day, ain't it?"</p> - -<p>"That's a cat, James," said Eliza as he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> -seized the basket. "You see, I'm a real old -maid, travellin' with a cat."</p> - -<p>"Well, it's all right, I s'pose," returned the -captain gallantly, as they walked up the wharf -toward the waiting carry-all; "but 't would 'a' -been more to the point if ye'd brought somethin' -that was kind of a rarity on the island. We -could 'a' supplied ye with a cat fer every day in -the week, black, white, malty, whatever ye -wanted. Well! how ye been, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>"I guess you can see," returned Eliza laconically.</p> - -<p>"Well, well," said Cap'n James. He helped -her into the carriage and followed. "Git ap, -Tom. Mrs. Wright'll fat ye up in no time. She -says you're goin' to stay with her."</p> - -<p>"Yes, for a while I am." Eliza's eyes were -travelling over the familiar rolling landscape. -"How does she make out here?"</p> - -<p>"Don't seem to complain none. Mr. Wright -has settled down like a round peg in a round -hole. Brewster's Island's good enough for -him."</p> - -<p>"My, my! How it's changed!" murmured -Eliza as one unexpected roof after another rose -into view.</p> - -<p>"I s'pose that's so," agreed Captain James.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> -"You can't stay away even from one o' these -islands a dozen years or so without seein' the -foot o' man encroachin'. It's good fer trade, -Eliza, good fer trade. Lots o' the roofs ye see -cover empty cottages now, but come summer -time the place swarms all right. The Fabians -got enough room to swing a cat in. Nobody can -come very near them; but the rest o' the island's -pretty well dotted here and there."</p> - -<p>"It don't look like the place I was brought -up," said Eliza.</p> - -<p>They had reached the height of the road now, -and her wistful eyes fell on a cove which pierced -the island's side. Its softly rising banks were -studded with evergreen trees, standing black -above the black water. A threatening sky hung -sullenly over all.</p> - -<p>"'Tain't the place you was brought up," -returned Captain James cheerfully. "It's a -darned sight more prosperous place. While the -summer folks are restin' up, we're makin' hay -and cuttin' ice, as ye might say; and come fall -we get shet of 'em and go back to a quiet life. -No one can't say this ain't a quiet life, can they, -Eliza?"</p> - -<p>Captain James reined in the horse before -taking the Foster Hill, and compassion showed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -in his kindly eyes as he turned and watched -the grey face of his passenger.</p> - -<p>"Eliza Brewster used to be a pretty girl," -was his pitiful thought.</p> - -<p>She kept silence, her pale eyes resting on the -dark waters of the cove, austerely quiet in the -windless twilight.</p> - -<p>"Feels like snow," said Captain James. -"S'pose you could snowball now, Eliza? I know -when we were youngsters you could hold yer -own with any boy on the island."</p> - -<p>"That's my one talent, James," responded -Eliza drily. "I can hold my own yet."</p> - -<p>The captain smiled with relief at this sign -that some of the old spirit lingered behind that -haggard face.</p> - -<p>"By cracky," he said, "I'll bring up a bob-sled -after the first snow, and we'll toboggan downhill -again, Eliza. Never say die. Git ap, Tom."</p> - -<p>The carriage started up toward a long low -white house on the summit of the ridge. Four -bare Balm of Gilead trees stood sentinel before -it in a waste of withered grass. Beyond rose the -gnarled boughs of a struggling apple orchard, -beside which a tiny house with blank uncurtained -windows stood beneath the forlorn guard -of two more gaunt bare trees standing ready for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -the conflict with winter winds, and bearing the -scars of many a battle past. Back of the little -building was a shallow field inclining downward -to the open ocean which held the island now -in its black, mighty embrace, creeping with a -subdued roar upon the cold rocky sands.</p> - -<p>"Say, Eliza," said Captain James, as the -tiny deserted cottage came into view, "was we -afraid o' Granny Foster, was we? Say!"</p> - -<p>The speaker turned and interrogated his -passenger with a twinkle.</p> - -<p>A wan smile rewarded him.</p> - -<p>"Afterward Jenny used it for chickens, Mrs. -Wright says," she returned.</p> - -<p>"Yes; but there never was an old hen there -that come up to Granny Foster, you bet."</p> - -<p>"How long ago does that seem to you, -James?" asked Eliza, after a pause.</p> - -<p>"As if 'twas yesterday," he responded -valiantly.</p> - -<p>His memory was picturing the little girl in -plaid gingham and sunbonnet who could outrun -any boy on the island. That sunbonnet was -never in place, but always hung down Eliza's -back, the strings tied at her throat. Captain -James remembered to have thought there was -something very pleasing about that throat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It seems a hundred years ago to me," said -Eliza quietly.</p> - -<p>"Whew! You must 'a' lived fast in New -York," returned Captain James. "That's an -awful record."</p> - -<p>"Do you suppose I'll ever get used to the -stillness again, James? I believe if a pin was to -drop in this grass you could hear it."</p> - -<p>"Guess Nature'll make rumpus enough for -ye before long," returned the captain. "You've -never tried it up on this hill, Eliza. I guess -when the pebbles and rocks begin draggin' -around below there at high tide, you won't miss -the elevated trains none."</p> - -<p>The horse was climbing slowly and patiently -as they talked, and a woman within the old -farmhouse was watching the ascent from a -window. Now the watcher disappeared, and -presently the house door opened and a figure -came out on the stone step.</p> - -<p>"There's Mrs. Wright now. Git ap, Tom."</p> - -<p>A gleam came into Eliza's pale eyes. It was -an attractive figure that stood there in dark -blue gown and white apron. The silver aureole -of hair framed a smiling face. Eliza grasped the -handles of Pluto's basket.</p> - -<p>"To think that after all the years I should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -have a homecoming on this island!" was her -grateful thought.</p> - -<p>"Here we are," called Captain James cheerfully -as they approached; "little box, big box, -bandbox, and bundle, and the cat."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright approached as the carry-all -stopped.</p> - -<p>"Did you really bring a cat, Eliza?" she -asked, laughing.</p> - -<p>"Why,—why," stammered Eliza, "it never -once came to me till this minute that perhaps -you don't like cats!"</p> - -<p>"I like everything alive," was the response; -and the speaker looked it, as she received the -cat-basket, and Eliza stepped out on the grass.</p> - -<p>"But does Mr. Wright?" inquired Eliza in -perturbation. Was it Pluto's destiny to become -a wild-cat after travelling by land and sea!</p> - -<p>That gentleman now appeared, stout and -with tousled hair, which suggested that he had -just risen from slumber.</p> - -<p>"This is Eliza Brewster, Morris, and she has -brought us a pet," said Mrs. Wright pleasantly.</p> - -<p>The host shook hands with the newcomer -with sufficient grace and eyed the basket curiously. -Captain James looked benignly on the -group.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Eliza and me have been lookin' backward as -we came along," he said. "We used to race and -tear around this hill—she says 'twas a hundred -years ago, but don't you believe it. I'm -goin' to bring a bob-sled, first snow, and sail her -down the hill and make her think 'twa'n't -more'n yesterday that we did it last."</p> - -<p>The smile on Eliza's haggard face but made -her fatigue more evident.</p> - -<p>"Where's the trunk, Cap'n James?" asked -Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"I'm goin' to fetch it right up. Git ap, Tom."</p> - -<p>"Hurry in, Mrs. Wright," said Eliza, her -care-taking instinct asserting itself. "You'll -take cold."</p> - -<p>"Not a bit of it," was the reply as the hostess -led the way in; "I never take anything that -doesn't belong to me."</p> - -<p>There was a cheerful fire blazing in the living-room -and Eliza was at once seated before it and -made to feel for a second time like an honored -guest.</p> - -<p>"I'll let Pluto out, first thing, if you don't -mind," she said, and unfastened the basket.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wright, his eyes indolently curious under -the rumpled grey hair, watched the proceeding.</p> - -<p>"A Manx cat," he remarked as the prisoner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -leaped out. Pluto's green eyes blazed in the -moment that he stood and looked about him.</p> - -<p>"Here, poor thing," said Eliza, "your troubles -are over. There's a fire such as you've -never seen in all your days."</p> - -<p>But the outraged cat scorned the fire, scorned -even Eliza's caressing hand. Leaping from her -touch he descried the lounge; and thanking the -gods of his Egyptian ancestors that at last he -had reached a place where furniture accorded -hiding-places, he dashed into the darkest corner -its valance concealed.</p> - -<p>"He's kind o' put out by all he's been -through," said Eliza apologetically.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wright went to the couch and stooping -lifted the valance.</p> - -<p>"Shall I get him for you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Two green eyes blazed at him from the darkness -and a vigorous spitting warned him away.</p> - -<p>"Please just let him sulk a little while," said -Eliza hastily. Supposing Pluto should inaugurate -their visit by scratching the host! Awful -thought! "He's a real good cat in his way," -she added.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm certainly not invited under the -lounge," said Mr. Wright, straightening up.</p> - -<p>"I didn't know anybody to give him to,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> -went on Eliza, still apologetic. "Mr. Sidney -said he would have taken him if he'd known."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney. That's Mrs. Ballard's young -artist, isn't it?" asked Mrs. Wright, who was -boiling a kettle over an alcohol lamp at a tea-table -in the corner of the room.</p> - -<p>"Yes—we spent our last day with him in -his stable."</p> - -<p>"His what, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>"His stable. He's found one for a studio in -a real stylish place up in Gramercy Park where -the folks have gone to Europe. He's as tickled -as if he owned the whole big house."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad he's found a place to suit him. -You like him very much, don't you, Eliza?"</p> - -<p>"He couldn't be any better," said Eliza simply. -"We'd 'a' had a real nice visit only the -Fabian children came in, Edgar and Kathleen."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how are they?" asked Mrs. Wright with -interest.</p> - -<p>"They seemed to be all right. I hadn't seen -'em for years."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright remembered Eliza's criticism of -Mrs. Fabian on the occasion of the call she -made upon her in New York.</p> - -<p>"Just turn your head," she said, "and you -can see right from where you are sitting the fine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -cottage Mr. Fabian built here five years ago in -place of the old one his wife owned."</p> - -<p>Eliza turned and looked out the window. Far -across the field and an intervening wall she -could see a house built of boulders, low and -broad, and obtained glimpses of its wide verandas.</p> - -<p>"It's a charming place," went on Mrs. -Wright, "and they have a delightful small -yacht. We became acquainted with them during -the last fortnight of Violet's stay in the -summer and she had a few fine sails with them."</p> - -<p>Here the hostess rose and brought Eliza a cup -of fragrant tea.</p> - -<p>The guest started. "The idea of your waitin' -on me, Mrs. Wright," she said humbly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, making tea is fun, Eliza; and I want -you to drink that before I take you to your -room. This isn't any steam-heated apartment, -as you remember."</p> - -<p>As she spoke, Mrs. Wright took a cup of tea -to her husband, who was sitting on the couch, -occasionally lifting the valance and peering -beneath, apparently vastly entertained by the -feline explosions with which Pluto, his sharp -teeth bared, spat at the intrusion.</p> - -<p>"You won't put your hand under, will you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -Mr. Wright?" asked Eliza anxiously. "Pluto's -so quick you'd think 'twas lightnin' struck you. -I'm ashamed of him with this good fire; but he -had an awful time with boys once and that's -where his tail went, and I don't feel to blame -him so much as if he hadn't ever suffered any. -He's scarcely seen any men except Mr. Sidney. -He was clever to him always, but I don't know -as Pluto'll forgive him now for shuttin' him up -in the basket. Oh!" Eliza heaved a sigh of relief, -"I'm so glad we've got here."</p> - -<p>"I've put an oil-stove in your room, Eliza," -said Mrs. Wright, as all three sat sipping their -tea.</p> - -<p>"That's real nice," returned Eliza. "Mr. -Sidney's got an oil-stove. I do hope he won't -smoke up everything. I tried to scare him,—told -him he'd ruin his pictures."</p> - -<p>"We shall watch to see him make the success -Mrs. Ballard expected," said Mrs. Wright -kindly, seeing that Eliza's heart was much with -her dear one's heir.</p> - -<p>"He couldn't make anything but a success," -responded Eliza.</p> - -<p>Presently her trunk arrived and was carried -into the bedroom which Mrs. Wright had arranged -for her. It was on the ground floor. All<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -the second story of the house was to be left -unused in the cold weather.</p> - -<p>In the evening Captain James came back a -third time to play checkers with Mr. Wright. -It seemed to be a daily custom; but soon after -the supper dishes were washed, Mrs. Wright -insisted on her tired guest getting into bed for a -long night's rest.</p> - -<p>Pluto had leaped to the shed and thence -out into the black darkness of the cloud-laden -night.</p> - -<p>Eliza went to the door to call him, but her -most ingratiating invitations were ignored.</p> - -<p>"Oh, go to bed, Eliza," said Captain James, -who had just opened the checker-board. -"What ye 'fraid of? 'Fraid he'll jump off the -bank? He ain't fond enough o' the water, I'll -bet. Go to bed and don't worry. Haven't ye -ever heard the song, 'The cat came back, he -couldn't stay away'?"</p> - -<p>"You know, James," said Eliza, ashamed of -her anxiety, but nevertheless too much affected -by it to seek her pillow while her pet was homeless, -"you know it's places, not people, with a -cat, selfish critters."</p> - -<p>"Well," responded the captain, "he can't get -back to New York 'cause the walkin' 's so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -poor." As he spoke, a dark shadow passed into -the light that streamed from the window.</p> - -<p>With the quickest movement of her life, Eliza -jumped off the doorstep and pounced upon it. -It was Pluto, and she held him under her arm -with a vice-like grip as she reëntered the house.</p> - -<p>"Good-night, all," she said, rather shamefaced.</p> - -<p>"Good-night, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright, who -had taken up a book. "Your lamp is lighted."</p> - -<p>When Eliza had reached her room, she closed -the door and dropped the cat, who leaped -toward it, and finding exit hopeless, looked up -at her, night-fires gleaming in his eyes.</p> - -<p>"See here, Pluto," said Eliza severely, "will -you stop actin' so crazy? I tell you we're home; -<em>home</em>. If ever two folks ought to be filled to the -brim with gratitude it's you and me. I'll give -you a chance to look around here in daylight -and get your bearin's, and then, if you don't -behave as if you had some sense, I'll put you in -the chicken-house and you shall live there. Do -you hear that?"</p> - -<p>She stooped to smooth the jetty fur to offset -in a measure her severity; but Pluto glided -from beneath her hand and took refuge beneath -the bed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, of all the fools!" she soliloquized. -Nevertheless she knew what the temperature of -the room would be by the small hours, and, -taking an old knitted grey shawl from her -trunk, she threw it under the bed.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">MRS. FABIAN'S GIFTS</p> - - -<p>Mrs. Fabian had taken her daughter to the -train before she appeared to Pat's amazed eyes -at the stable door. Her chagrin at discovering -the removal of the barrel did not prevent her -recognition of the discomforts of Phil's north-lighted -chamber. Her nostrils dilated as she -looked about her at the rumpled pile of blankets -where the artist had evidently slept; the unlighted -stove, and the open windows through -which came an eager and a nipping air.</p> - -<p>"Poor boy! Poor boy!" she said to herself -repeatedly.</p> - -<p>She had had an unpleasant fifteen minutes -with Kathleen in the motor, for the girl had -asked her directly if she intended to kidnap the -missent barrel, and she had replied in an emphatic -affirmative.</p> - -<p>"Would you rather have those old dishes -than Mr. Sidney's respect?" Kathleen asked -her.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked her surprise. "It sounds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -very absurd to hear you call Phil 'Mr. Sidney,'" -she said, fencing. "Don't you remember your -Aunt Mary Sidney?"</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I do."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's mind was of the sort which -associates social status indissolubly with -money. She had always felt that in winning a -millionaire for a husband, she had married -above her; and, shaking off her own humble -family connection wherever possible, had tried -to be as nearly all Fabian as circumstances permitted. -Her step-children had therefore never -been expected or requested to adopt her relatives -as their own. She now referred to the one -memorable visit of Phil's beautiful mother to -their island home, for Kathleen's persistent -formality in referring to the artist brought a -flush to her cheeks.</p> - -<p>If Kathleen, the proud, the reserved, the self-contained, -were to pronounce upon the young -man unfavorably, she should have nothing to -say to the contrary, though she would continue -to be kind to Mary's child in private.</p> - -<p>"I was only thinking," she continued, "that -if you still remember his mother in your -thoughts as your Aunt Mary, it seems rather -formal to tack a Mr. upon Philip. You know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -Kathleen," Mrs. Fabian's flush deepened, "I -did not ask you to go to see him. I wanted -Edgar to go, for the looks of the thing, since -Phil is an entire stranger, and when I found he -never would go by himself, I was thankful that -you took him. You have been so—so grouchy -ever since, that I'm sorry you went; but I don't -see why you should blame me for it. It was -your own proposition."</p> - -<p>"I know, mother," returned the girl; "and -if you will promise not to go over there and take -the tea-set I'll not be grouchy." The dark eyes -lifted wistfully to Mrs. Fabian's astonished -countenance.</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by my forfeiting Phil's -respect?" she asked. "Do you mean that he -wants them so much? Why, they'll be smashed -or stolen in that rough place. They'll be nothing -but a nuisance to him."</p> - -<p>"They belong to Eliza," pleaded Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"They belong to me!" retorted Mrs. Fabian -explosively. "Philip will see that at once."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's lips closed. They had arrived at -the station, and she said no more; but she -departed with one consoling thought. Mrs. -Fabian had misdirected herself and Edgar the -day before. Perhaps she could not find the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -place to-day; but that lady, as soon as the car -door was closed on her child, spoke through the -tube to the chauffeur.</p> - -<p>"Drive," she said, "to the same place in -Gramercy Park where you took Miss Kathleen -yesterday."</p> - -<p>Soon she was face to face with Pat, and -presently standing in Phil's forlorn apartment. -The pieces of Mrs. Ballard's bedstead were still -leaning against the wall.</p> - -<p>She pictured Kathleen the fastidious, the -dainty, perching on that pile of blankets; but if -the girl had despised the poverty-stricken art-student, -why was she so strenuous and persistent -as to retaining his respect? Why had she -left for the studio in the best of spirits, and -returned distrait, behaving in an absent-minded -manner ever since.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen is a great deal more tenderhearted -than she appears. I believe she pitied -Phil so much it made her blue, and she couldn't -bear to have me take away the only pretty -things he had. Well, it seems I'm not going -to!"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian even opened the closet door. A -few suits of clothes hung within, but the rest -was chaos; and in that chaos no welcome curves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -of a barrel were to be found. Her alert eyes -made a hasty but comprehensive search of the -room.</p> - -<p>"The boy drank his coffee out of that mug!" -she decided. "He is not in a mountain camp -and he shall not live as if he were. He shall see -that he is not dependent on Eliza Brewster for -the decencies of life!"</p> - -<p>Then followed her descent upon Pat, her -catechism, and her magnificent departure.</p> - -<p>Scarcely had Phil received the Irishman's -account of the visit and gone up to his room -that afternoon, when he heard a knocking on -the stable door; and when Pat had opened it, a -violent expletive from somebody.</p> - -<p>Phil stood still to listen. Surely he could not -be connected with the present invasion, whatever -it might be. His circle of acquaintance in -Gotham had come, done its best and its worst, -and departed for all time.</p> - -<p>"Misther Sidney, sor," yelled Pat from the -foot of the stairs. "'T is the barr'l come back. -Sure, and is it worth while totin' it up, whin -it can't be at rest!"</p> - -<p>"It isn't for me," called Phil, coming out in -his little hallway. "I refuse to live in such a -whirl of excitement."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It is fer you, else all the money spint on -me eddication is gone fer nothin'—and faith -there's more to follow," added Pat, in a tone -of such sudden surprise that Phil ran downstairs -faster than he had gone up. A couch was -approaching the stable door. This was followed -by several large packages, upon one of which -was tied a letter, and at last a Morris chair -entered upon the scene.</p> - -<p>"Ye're the very soul of extravagance," said -Pat severely, when the delivery man had departed. -"If ye're a poor art-shtudent, say so; -but if ye're a prince in disguise, out with it!"</p> - -<p>"This is a surprise party if I ever had one," -declared Phil slowly, staring around at the -objects.</p> - -<p>"Poor art-shtudents don't buy iligant couches -with box springs long enough fer the lord -mayor!" said Pat, unconvinced. "What brings -ye to a stable whin ye've the Queen o' Sheby -fer an aunt?"</p> - -<p>At the word a light illumined the situation.</p> - -<p>"For a fact, Pat! You did tell me my aunt -was here!" And in a flash Phil's mind reverted -to Kathleen with a sensation of gratitude. In -some way she had prevented the disagreeable -details of yesterday from angering her mother.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Give me a hand up, Pat," he said. "I'll -guarantee this barrel will stay where it's put."</p> - -<p>When they had all the articles upstairs, Phil -found himself possessed of a springy bed with -ample clothing for the night, and ample couch -cushions for day; well-selected dishes, alcohol -lamp and copper kettle, and a table on which to -stand them, a reading-lamp, and the easy-chair.</p> - -<p>"What do you think of it?" he said, looking -about half-dazed.</p> - -<p>"I think ye're in the wrong box, bein' in a -stable," answered Pat, scratching his head in -perplexity.</p> - -<p>"No, no," Phil laughed; "a box stall for me. -Wait till you see me scattering paint around -here."</p> - -<p>"Faith, I have me doubts o' you," said Pat.</p> - -<p>His Irish dislike of voicing the unpleasant -withheld him from expressing his thought; but -as he regarded Phil now, standing coatless, and -with tossed hair, looking about his transformed -apartment, he decided that he was viewing the -black sheep of a wealthy family, the masculine -members of which had left him to his own poverty-stricken -devices, while his softer-hearted -female relatives were surreptitiously ameliorating -his hard lot. It was difficult to see Phil in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -the rôle of black sheep, but Pat was sophisticated -and knew that appearances were deceitful.</p> - -<p>"Pat," said the perplexing tenant suddenly, -"I begin to believe I was born with a silver -spoon in my mouth. I'm the happiest fellow -in the world."</p> - -<p>"Sure a man doesn't say that till his wedding-day," -objected Pat.</p> - -<p>Phil smiled confidently. "I told you I had -the girl; and she's the faithfullest of the faithful."</p> - -<p>"You bet she is," returned the Irishman devoutly. -"Whativer you've done, the gurr'l gets -her hands on you once'll niver let go."</p> - -<p>"Whatever I've done? What do you think -I've done?" laughed Phil. "Here's my mother. -Want to see her?" And he sorted several leaves -from the pile of sketches and laid them out on -the new table.</p> - -<p>"It's swate she is!" said the Irishman, gazing -with interest; and, perceiving the expression in -the artist's eyes as he looked upon the pictures, -he spoke suspiciously: "She ain't the gurr'l -ye're talkin' of?"</p> - -<p>"No, no," returned Phil, "but she entirely -approves of the match."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That helps, ye know," said Pat benevolently. -"'Tis well to get airly settled in life, -thin if"—he made a lenient gesture—"if -ye've played too many cards or made any -other mistakes, ye soon lave thim behind ye and -there's little time wasted."</p> - -<p>That evening Phil called up the Fabian house, -and, finding that Mrs. Fabian was to be at -home, soon presented himself in that lady's -boudoir.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian, in a becoming négligée, sat -before an open fire; a soft lamp at her elbow, -and a French novel in her hand.</p> - -<p>"You know the naughty things in a French -story are so stimulating, Phil," she explained, -when he commented on her book. "You -wouldn't think of reading the same things in -English; but you get so curious to know what -it's all about, that you work, and study, and I -find it very helpful. Excuse my not rising to -greet you. I've had an exhausting day; so as -Edgar wasn't coming home, and Mr. Fabian -had to attend a banquet, I had my dinner -brought to me here."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure it is I who have exhausted you," -said Phil, drawing his chair close to the luxurious -downy nest which was embracing her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> -plump person. "I don't know what to say to -you, Aunt Isabel," he added gratefully, regarding -her as she half-reclined, a living example of -what can be accomplished by beauty-doctor -and accomplished maid.</p> - -<p>She placed her white hand, with its perfect -rosy tips, for an instant on his, then she patted -the folds of her violet gown.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't say a word, my dear," she returned, -complacency lighting her countenance. -Her husband had little time for compliments, -Edgar was uniformly ungrateful, and Phil was -very handsome. She remembered how charming -had seemed to her the relation between him -and his mother; and she felt a longing to evoke -something like that affection for herself.</p> - -<p>"But, indeed, I shall say a great deal," he -declared. "You've turned my camp over there -into the lap of luxury. I go on accepting things, -everybody seems in a conspiracy to prevent my -having any hardships, so I suspect I'm going to -catch them at the school."</p> - -<p>"Aren't the teachers agreeable?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I've been there only a few days, but I -see already that doctors disagree there as they -do elsewhere. One comes and tells you you're -all right, and the next declares you're all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -wrong; but I'm after the fundamental training -I've never had, and I'm going to get it if I -make their lives a burden to them."</p> - -<p>"I don't pretend to know anything about -art, Phil," said the hostess complacently, "and -I'm not going to add that I know what I like, -either, so you needn't smile at the fire; but -from those sketches of yours that I saw out at -the mine I could see that you were bound to -accomplish something if you had free rein. -Kathleen was delighted with them."</p> - -<p>"I was much pleased to meet Miss Fabian," -said Phil.</p> - -<p>"Dear me, why should you children be so -formal!" exclaimed his hostess. "'Miss Fabian'! -'Mr. Sidney'! It's ridiculous when you -consider your mother and me—more like -sisters than cousins as we are."</p> - -<p>Philip bit his lip. The description struck him -as diverting, considering the lapse of years -during which his mother had heard nothing -from this cousin.</p> - -<p>"I shall be very glad if Miss Fabian will let -me know her better," he said.</p> - -<p>"It's a very, very strange thing, Phil," went -on Mrs. Fabian, shaking her waved head and -gazing at the fire, "to be a step-mother. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -should have always said that environment was -more powerful than heredity; but I've had -those children almost from babyhood,"—the -speaker challenged Phil with impressive eyes,—"and -yet I look at them, yes, I assure you, I -look at them as a hen might look at the ducks -she had hatched."</p> - -<p>Phil saw that he was intended to respond, so -he changed his position and made a soft, inarticulate -exclamation.</p> - -<p>"Those children," declared Mrs. Fabian, -"would probably both claim that they understood -me from <em>a</em> to <em>z</em>; but I am frank enough to -state that I understand neither of them. Now, -I'm going to tell you, Phil, that I am hanging -great hopes upon your influence over Edgar."</p> - -<p>"My dear Aunt Isabel!" ejaculated the visitor. -Phil's gratitude to this relative did not -blind him to her characteristics, or as to how -her idle and fashionable life had reflected in the -bringing-up or coming-up of her son.</p> - -<p>"Now, don't say no, Phil," she went on. "I -don't expect that you found any kindred spirit -in Edgar, but I'm going to be frank, his father -is so out of patience with him that he is severe, -and I am hoping that the sight of your economy -will show Edgar that something beside extrava<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>gance -can bring happiness; and the sight of -your industry will rebuke his idle tastes."</p> - -<p>"I can't conceive of myself as an example to -the young," laughed Phil uncomfortably. "I -half suspected yesterday that you had been -holding me up before Edgar. There aren't any -comparisons to be made between a gilded youth -and a painter, and I assure you it is no lofty -principle that makes me care little where I live -and eat. It is only a desire to do a certain thing, -so intense that it dwarfs every other need."</p> - -<p>"He has overpowering desires, too," said -Mrs. Fabian bitterly; "but it is to go yachting -and play polo and drink champagne." She -sighed. "I suppose I haven't known how to be -a good mother," she added with dejection, "but -there,"—her voice grew suddenly argumentative,—"look -at Kathleen! I've brought them -up alike, but she is the other extreme. She has -no taste for pleasure. She's a natural student -and bookworm; and what I am to do with her -when she graduates, Heaven only knows. I -shall insist upon her coming out," added Mrs. -Fabian virtuously. "She must go through the -same form as the other girls in her set, and it -may be that a reaction will set in and she will -find a normal satisfaction in it. It will break my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> -heart if she drops out and becomes one of these -poky oddities. Well,"—another sigh,—"I -mustn't borrow trouble. Were you surprised -at my early morning call at your room, Phil? I -hoped I should be early enough to catch you."</p> - -<p>"I was surprised; but it was a lucky visit for -me, even though I was not there."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you're pleased with those little -comforts; but I shall be frank,—it was to try -to get my grandmother's silver that I went. If -you had known you were working against me, -Phil, you wouldn't have helped that crazy -Eliza to carry the things away."</p> - -<p>"They belong to her, she tells me," said Phil -simply. "Aunt Mary seemed to think you were -living in an embarrassment of riches anyway."</p> - -<p>"Then you should have shipped them to your -mother. It's quite indecent that a servant -should have them. It reflects upon your mother -and me. Can't you see that, Phil?"</p> - -<p>He stirred his broad shoulders uncomfortably.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you aren't going to blame me for -it anyway," he returned, looking at his hostess -with a frank smile. "After all they're only -<em>things</em>, you know. The important part is how -Aunt Mary felt about them, isn't it? You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -know probably what sort of thoughts she had -about you in her last days."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked at him with quick -suspicion as he rose to go. Was he rebuking -her in spite of his smile?</p> - -<p>"Some people marry into a family," she -said after the pause. "Some marry out of one. -I did both. I married a man with children, and -a big establishment. I simply married out of -my family. I didn't have time to attend to -both, and any right-minded person can see -where my duty lay!"</p> - -<p>The virtuousness in the speaker's face and -voice were so enveloping that they created an -atmosphere in which Phil was able to make his -adieux without further embarrassment.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">MRS. FABIAN'S DINNER LIST</p> - - -<p>For the next two months, Phil, to his entire -satisfaction, had practically no social life. One -or two of his fellow students found their way to -the stable studio, envying him loudly when -they viewed it, but for the most part he succeeded -in keeping his castle to himself. Aunt -Mary's easel found a good situation beneath the -north light, and the evenings were spent in reading -works calculated to help him on his way.</p> - -<p>Occasionally the satisfactoriness of his lamp or -his easy-chair would cause him to start in a panic -and begin to figure how long a time had elapsed -since he had called on his benefactress; usually -discovering that it was high time to go again.</p> - -<p>Frequently he declined invitations from Mrs. -Fabian to dine, giving the excuse of incessant -occupation. Once in a while, on the occasion of -these duty calls, he saw Edgar, and the latter -prided himself on the subtle implication of -injury which he infused into the perfunctory -courtesy of a host.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span></p> - -<p>Phil saw it, and, while he was amused, he -gave Edgar some credit for not having carried -out the threat to tell his mother how Phil had -guarded her dignity with Eliza.</p> - -<p>"So there are some things too petty for him, -after all," thought Phil carelessly; but he suspected -and was grateful for Kathleen's intervention.</p> - -<p>When Edgar was not in evidence, Phil rather -enjoyed an evening with his aunt. It gave him -an opportunity to talk about his mother, and -Mrs. Fabian could tell him events of their girlhood. -She soon found that no occurrence in -which Mary Sidney had figured was too trifling -to bring the light of close attention into the -young fellow's eyes.</p> - -<p>"Dear me," she said one night when they -were alone together, and she had been entertaining -him with reminiscence, "I wonder -how your mother made you love her -so."</p> - -<p>There was a sincere wistfulness in her tone -that touched Phil. He laughed with some embarrassment, -throwing a glance around the too-gorgeous -room.</p> - -<p>"I don't believe she went for to do it," he -said. "I contracted the habit early."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But Edgar was only five years old when I -married his father," said Mrs. Fabian plaintively.</p> - -<p>"We didn't have any money," said Phil. -"Perhaps that helped. Mother and I were pals, -you see; had to be. She could afford only one -maid."</p> - -<p>"It's true I was very, very busy," admitted -Mrs. Fabian thoughtfully, with the return of -her ever-ready tone of virtue. "I had the best -nurses and governesses. They couldn't speak a -word of English,—and I didn't neglect the -children. I made it a point to hear them say -their prayers every night that I wasn't going -out."</p> - -<p>Phil's clasped finger tips were pressed to his -lips and he did not reply to this. He admired -Mrs. Fabian's exquisite costumes, and now he -dropped his twinkling eyes to the hem of her -gossamer gown.</p> - -<p>"How often do you write to your mother?" -pursued Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"I'd be ashamed to tell you," he answered.</p> - -<p>She sighed. "It's beautiful," she declared; -again wistful. "I suppose she has told you -about our dear old dull island."</p> - -<p>"Brewster's Island? I don't remember her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> -talking of it; but Eliza has spoken of my mother -having been there."</p> - -<p>At the mention of her humble enemy Mrs. -Fabian's nostrils dilated. "Eliza!" she repeated -indignantly. "Every time I think of the -impudence of that woman—" she paused, at a -loss for words.</p> - -<p>"I suppose the island was named for Eliza's -family," hazarded Phil.</p> - -<p>"I suppose so. You may call nearly every -islander 'Brewster,' and seldom go wrong." Mrs. -Fabian continued: "Edgar made a joke of the -barrel affair, but Kathleen put on tragedy airs -at the idea of my trying to get my own. Kathleen -knows so much more than her mother, you -understand. She knows so much more about -everything than she will ten years from now. -It's rather painful. Well, of course you didn't -realize what you were doing in helping Eliza -spirit the things away. I'm glad the creature -has gone, for your sake. She would have been a -dreadful bore to you as a part of Aunt Mary's -legacy."</p> - -<p>"I feel very kindly toward Eliza," said Phil. -Aunt Mary's letter was against his heart where -it always lay. "She did too much for Aunt -Mary for me ever to forget it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But you didn't know Aunt Mary."</p> - -<p>"Not until she had gone. Then she revealed -herself to me in a letter. I seem to have seen -her at her patient work."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and Eliza has probably told you that -I neglected her." Mrs. Fabian colored and -looked at Phil defensively.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he answered simply.</p> - -<p>"It's a wonder she didn't make you hate -me. I know what a virago the creature can -be."</p> - -<p>"I like," said Phil,—"I like that saying, -'Yesterday is as dead as Egypt.' I like to feel -that the only enemy a man can have is himself."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you don't hate me, Phil," returned -Mrs. Fabian, again plaintive. "I have enough -troubles. 'Qui s'excuse, s'accuse,' and I shall -not try to explain to you why I saw so little of -Aunt Mary; but it is beyond belief that a common -creature like Eliza should dare to sit in -judgment on a person in my position."</p> - -<p>"Eliza is not a common creature," said Phil -quietly.</p> - -<p>"I see. Her devotion is all you think of. We -won't talk of her, then.—What are you going -to do in the summer, Phil?"</p> - -<p>"Work!" he answered, smiling.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Not under that stable roof. I won't permit -it."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll take the road. There's nothing I -know better than how to be a tramp."</p> - -<p>At this juncture Mr. Fabian came in from his -library. He was a smooth-shaven man, comfortably -stout; and the stern lines on his forehead -and about his mouth softened at sight of -Phil, who rose to greet him.</p> - -<p>"What of the mine?" asked the newcomer, -seating himself.</p> - -<p>"Oh, father's digging away," returned Phil. -"He probably tells you more than he does me."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian drew his brows together.</p> - -<p>"Not sick of the picture business yet?" he -asked, regarding the young man curiously.</p> - -<p>Phil shook his head and laughed. He knew Mr. -Fabian's disapproval of his chosen profession.</p> - -<p>"I was just about telling Phil," said Mrs. -Fabian, "that he must visit us at the island -next summer."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian nodded cordially. "Care for -sailing?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I never had a chance to know. Horses and -tramping and camping have given me all my -outings so far."</p> - -<p>"Then you must come. We'll have a cruise.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> -I've only a small yacht, for I prefer to run it -myself with a few friends."</p> - -<p>"That sounds attractive, but I shan't -indulge, I think."</p> - -<p>"Why, what sort of a painter is it who -doesn't do marines?" asked Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I know," returned Phil, smiling. "I'll -do them at Coney Island."</p> - -<p>When he had taken his departure Mrs. -Fabian turned to her husband.</p> - -<p>"Isn't it a shame," she said, "for a boy like -that not to have any money?"</p> - -<p>"No," responded her husband. "It's in his -favor. The shame is that a fine husky chap like -that should give himself over to paint-pots. I'd -make a position for him in the office if he'd -come. I wish I had a son like that."</p> - -<p>When her husband made this sort of reference, -Mrs. Fabian was glad that she was not -Edgar's own mother; yet since she had known -Phil she had never entirely escaped a consciousness -that Mary Sidney would have bent the -twig in Edgar's childhood in a manner to have -produced a different inclination in the tree.</p> - -<p>As Christmas approached, Mrs. Fabian detained -her son one evening as he was about to -leave the house.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Edgar, you are always in such a hurry," she -complained. "I never can catch you for a word -except at table when the servants are about. -Sit down for five minutes."</p> - -<p>The youth paused reluctantly. "I must keep -my engagements," he said, shrugging his -shoulders, "and since the Administration has -shut down on my using the car at night, I have -to live by my wits; in other words, sponge on -other people's motors as much as possible."</p> - -<p>"You know, dear," said Mrs. Fabian, "your -father didn't do that until we found, evening -after evening, that we could never have the -car ourselves. Somehow or other, Edgar, you -manage very badly. You always rub your father -the wrong way."</p> - -<p>Edgar's chest in his dress shirt rose very -high. "I'm not the cringing, begging sort," he -returned. "Unless a thing is offered me freely -I don't care for it."</p> - -<p>In the last month he had affected a short, -pointed mustache, and this he now twisted with -a haughty air.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's sense of humor was latent, but -she smiled now. "Sit down a minute, dear," -she said. "It won't detain you, for you may -use the car to-night. Your father has just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -'phoned that he is obliged to attend a sudden -meeting of directors, so I have to give up the -opera—unless you will go with me?"</p> - -<p>Edgar regarded his mother's charming toilet -appraisingly. "I don't mind," he said graciously, -"if you will ask Mrs. Larrabee. I was -going there to call to-night."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's brow clouded. "She is so conspicuous," -she said persuasively; "I wish you -didn't go there, Edgar. Why are all the men -daft about her when there are so many sweet -young girls so much better worth their attention?"</p> - -<p>"Shall I see if she is disengaged?" asked -Edgar alertly. "If she cares to go I can come -back and talk with you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," Mrs. Fabian sighed resignedly; -and Edgar disappeared, presently returning, -a self-satisfied smile curving the little mustache.</p> - -<p>"She was gracious, evidently," remarked -Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Says she was saving this evening for me -anyway, and will be delighted," said Edgar, -seating himself. "She says she is glad it is a -Caruso night, for she can prove to me that I -ought to be on his side of the footlights."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That's the way she does it, is it?" returned -Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Oh, she means it," declared Edgar quickly. -"She's the most sincere creature alive. Everybody -knows that."</p> - -<p>"Where is Mr. Larrabee? I've never seen -him yet. Does anybody see him?"</p> - -<p>"His clerks, I fancy," returned Edgar, with -his careless, gleeful smile.</p> - -<p>"It's really a pity the woman's so well connected," -said Mrs. Fabian. "She is insolently -daring. Did you tell her you were taking me?"</p> - -<p>"I told her you were asking her to be so good -as to accept an impromptu invitation; that you -had but just found that you could go, yourself."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian sighed again. "Well, Edgar, -then I have earned a few minutes of your time. -I'm going to give a dinner for you and Kathleen -while she is at home for the holidays. I thought -of Christmas night, with a little informal dance -afterward; and I want you to help me decide on -the list."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Larrabee?" suggested Edgar, twisting -his mustache complacently.</p> - -<p>"Certainly not," returned his mother, with -energy. "This is to be just for your and Kath<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>leen's -young friends—a simple Christmas -merry-making."</p> - -<p>"Couldn't you let me off?" asked Edgar, -with his most blasé, man-of-the-world air.</p> - -<p>"Don't be absurd, Edgar Fabian. Have you -no interest in helping to make your sister's -holidays pleasant?"</p> - -<p>"My dear mother," protested the young -man, "in order to make Kath's holidays -pleasant, all you need to do is to give her a pair -of blue spectacles for a Christmas gift, and invite -a few Columbia professors to engage her in -light conversation. If I should send her roses, -she would only analyze them and reel off the -learned names of their innards."</p> - -<p>"Very well; I am giving you an opportunity -to suggest some names if you care to. Of course -I shall ask Philip Sidney."</p> - -<p>Edgar shrugged again. "Do you suppose he -has any evening clothes?"</p> - -<p>"And Kathleen suggested Violet Manning," -went on Mrs. Fabian. "Do you remember -Mrs. Wright's niece? Her life must be a dull -one.</p> - -<p>"So it is to be a dinner party of derelicts," -said Edgar; "a charity affair."</p> - -<p>"Kathleen is always thoughtful," said Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -Fabian reproachfully. "As it is to be on -Christmas Day I don't know that trying to -give pleasure to some people who don't have -much usually would be so far out of the way. -I'm not sure about Miss Manning myself. -Kathleen has suggested once or twice that, as -we saw quite a little of her at the island, it -might be well to show her some courtesy here; -but, as I say, I'm not quite sure. What I am -sure of is that I will not allow you to speak of -Philip Sidney slightingly in my presence."</p> - -<p>Edgar looked up in some surprise.</p> - -<p>"A derelict, indeed," she went on. "I wish I -might ever hope to see you bring the look into -your father's eyes that they hold when he sees -Phil."</p> - -<p>"You choose a fine way to make me like -him!" answered the youth; but beneath his -carelessness was a twinge which proved that the -words went home. "I remember Miss Manning -now. She sailed with us a few times."</p> - -<p>"Yes, and she lives here with some girl students -in a bachelor-maid way, and teaches—"</p> - -<p>"I remember the whole thing!" interrupted -Edgar. "She dances."</p> - -<p>"What! The stage?" asked Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"No; some sort of school business; more on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> -the gymnastic order. Of course, I remember -her. She did a jig once on the boat."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't think we'd better ask her," -exclaimed Mrs. Fabian hastily.</p> - -<p>"Yes, put her down," said Edgar. "If we're -going into the charity business, I greatly prefer -worthy girls who can jig; and for the rest, you -and Kath fix it up. Christmas is a sort of a lost -night anyway. I don't mind."</p> - -<p>And with this gracious cooperation Mrs. -Fabian was fain to be content. Although she -felt somewhat dubious about sending an invitation -to Violet Manning, she concluded from -the vivacity in Edgar's countenance, as memory -awakened, that the purchase of his interest -was worth the risk.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian did not care for sailing, and she -had but a vague memory of an inoffensive girl -who arrived at the island as Mrs. Wright's -niece. She hoped Miss Manning's propensity -for jigging would not be the cause of any shock -to the carefully nurtured buds who were -Kathleen's friends.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">CHRISTMAS</p> - - -<p>It was shortly after this that a miniature riot -broke out in the tiny apartment where Violet -Manning and her two friends made a home; and -it was on the subject of Christmas, too.</p> - -<p>The year before, Violet had spent the holidays -with Mrs. Wright in Boston; but this year -the loving letter which she now held in her -hand invited her cordially not to come to the -island.</p> - -<p>"I want to see my little girl," wrote Mrs. -Wright, "but I would rather risk the sort of -days you will spend among the many pupils -who are sure to ask you than to let you take the -expensive journey to the island, so bleak and -cold as it is, and with nothing to repay you at -this end but a hug from Aunt Amy."</p> - -<p>Violet read this aloud, and her two friends -listened attentively.</p> - -<p>"I told you," said Roxana, the teacher and -the eldest, "that Mrs. Wright wouldn't let you -come. I shall stay here with you." She spoke<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> -firmly. Her face had the lines of one who always -spoke firmly.</p> - -<p>"Then I shall stay, too", said Regina, the -art-student.</p> - -<p>"Then you'll make me miserable, girls!" -ejaculated Violet energetically, folding her -letter back in its envelope. She was sitting on -the table, a favorite perch not to be despised in -that box of a room where she often said one -must either be under the table or on it. She -swung both her slippered feet and her blonde -head. "Roxy—Rex—" she added beseechingly, -"do you want to ruin my holidays?"</p> - -<p>"Rex can go, it's very foolish for her to talk -about staying, when she can go sleighing in the -country and study the shadows on the snow," -said Roxana.</p> - -<p>"What's the use of being a bachelor girl if -you can't have any independence?" inquired -Violet, her blue eyes, and full, pretty lips looking -stormy.</p> - -<p>"The baby bachelor can't have everything -she wants," said Roxana. "You're the baby -bachelor. Rex may do approximately as she -pleases, but I am the only one entirely independent. -Rex still waves her hair. I stopped a -year ago; just forgot it. That was the rubicon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> -Have you heard of the old colored mammy who -deplored the failure of her dear but mature miss -to marry? She said to her consolingly: 'Never -mine, honey, I'se known some old maids who -settled down right happy and contented when -they stopped strugglin'.' I knew when I forgot -to wave my hair that I'd stopped 'strugglin'." -Roxana rocked gently. It was the only safe -way to rock in that apartment. "So when that -time comes, Violet, you will see that you have -earned independence."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Rox, don't be so unkind," pleaded -Violet. "I've had ever so many invitations for -Christmas dinner from parents. I knew my -small admirers slapped them into it, so I refused; -but I give you my word that if you will -go ahead with your Christmas plans, I will -write to one of the most ardent, and Cinderella's -coach will be nothing compared to the -limousine that will be sent for me Christmas -morning, and nothing will be lacking but the -prince to make the story complete. If you don't -promise, I'll sulk all the holidays, and I won't -stay with you either. I'll go skating in the park."</p> - -<p>Roxana smiled meditatively.</p> - -<p>"Prince!" repeated Regina ecstatically. -"That reminds me of mine again."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, help!" exclaimed Violet. "I've reminded -her of Mr. What's-his-name. Rex, if -you'll promise to go ahead with your holiday -doings, I'll let you tell us again how He came -into the class-room first, and how He chose the -best light, and how His sketches were always -stunning, and how hard it was for you not to -sketch Him instead of the model, and I'll let -you show me the head you did of Him on the sly, -and you shall tell us again how you plotted for an -introduction and how you didn't get it, and—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, hush up," said Regina good-naturedly. -"How about that Mr. Fabian you met at the -island? How about the careless elegance of his -manners? How about that wonderful, heartrending, -angelic voice in which he sang on -moonlight sails?"</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" said Violet, swinging her feet -and smiling with mischievous eyes, "what a -wonderful memory you have! I had forgotten -all about him."</p> - -<p>"It shows what a superior being he considers -himself that he has allowed you to," retorted -Regina, with curling lip; "after the way he -behaved at the island—"</p> - -<p>"I never said he behaved," interrupted -Violet mildly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, he kept on asking you to go, every -time they sailed, and gave you every reason to -think he was friendly."</p> - -<p>"That's summer friendship," returned Violet, -but her cheeks took a deeper rose. The -shoe pinched.</p> - -<p>"Well, it's settled," said Roxana. "Rex proceeds -to the farm and studies snow shadows. I -stay here, and sleep as late as I wish in the -morning. Now, be calm, Violet. It isn't as if I -had a home to go to. It wouldn't be all holiday -to visit, and be on my best behavior, and not be -sure which fork to use nor how large tips I -ought to give the servants, nor—"</p> - -<p>"Nonsense!" interrupted Violet. "It will do -you all the good in the world to sit down in the -lap of luxury for a while; to live in large rooms, -and drive in large motors, and eat large dinners, -and lounge on large divans, and sleep in large -beds; and you're going, Rex, you're going."</p> - -<p>There was something like tears in the stormy -blue eyes, and Regina heard with relief the -postman's whistle.</p> - -<p>"Go down and see if we have anything, -will you, Violet? I'm fixed so comfortably, and -it's nothing to hop off the table."</p> - -<p>Violet obeyed, and the other bachelors saw<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> -her press a very small handkerchief to her eyes -as she went.</p> - -<p>"You'd better go, Rox," said Regina in a low -tone. "I know just how she feels."</p> - -<p>"If it weren't for Christmas day I would; -but I am sure Violet won't accept a pupil's -hospitality for more than an hour, just so she -can tell us she went; and the baby shan't spend -Christmas eve and Christmas night alone. -Even if she won't speak to me, I shall stay. It's -the lesser of two evils. Honestly, I would enjoy -a lazy time at home here with no papers to -correct. The trouble is to get her to believe it."</p> - -<p>Here Violet returned; her face and bearing so -laden with dignity that Roxana coughed lest -she laugh. The baby bachelor handed a postcard -to Regina, then took a very straight-backed -chair. To sit on either of her customary -thrones, the table or the floor, would be too -much concession to her mutinous companions. -She opened the letter in her hand, and as she -read, a curious change altered her countenance. -The wintry stiffness of her expression began to -thaw. A springtime warmth appeared in her -eyes, and, spreading to her lips, relaxed their -corners. At last she looked up. The sparkle of -summer seas shone in her glance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You can go, girls," she said; "it is all right. -Mrs. Fabian has asked me to dinner on Christmas, -with a dance afterward and to spend the -night. Now, then!" She challenged Roxana -triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"How about Christmas eve?" inquired the -latter inflexibly.</p> - -<p>"You tiresome old dear, the Settlement has a -tree and I'll attend it, and spend the night with -one of my class who is interested there."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll go," agreed Roxana mildly. -"Fled is the rosy dream of sleeping till noon and -watching you skate in the afternoons; and I will -ask Mrs. McCabe across the hall to keep an eye -on you."</p> - -<p>The invitation came as a welcome event to -Philip Sidney as well. Aunt Isabel had been -uniformly kind and motherly to him. The -thought of a solitary Christmas, or one spent in -a glittering restaurant, made him wince even -with all the allurements of his easel and his -books; so at last Mrs. Fabian received a grateful -reply to a dinner invitation.</p> - -<p>The roses that came with his card on Christmas -morning pleased her also, more than her -extravagant gifts. While Phil was dressing he -thought again of Kathleen. He had never seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -her since the Sunday afternoon visit. He felt -he could put up with Edgar's airs and graces -through a dinner for the sake of seeing Kathleen -again.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if she'll smoke a cigarette to-night," -he thought, while he adjusted the dress -tie he had bought for the occasion: adjusted it -very carefully, for the tie was a unique possession. -If he made a botch of it he could not go -to the dinner. The girl never came to his mind -except when her mother spoke of her; but now -that he was to be her guest he recalled agreeably -how womanly and sweet had been her -manner to Eliza on that autumn day before the -stable had turned into a studio.</p> - -<p>It was Kathleen who suggested sending the -car for Violet. It was not the traditional Christmas -of dry sparkling snow under a radiant -moon, but a day of slush and clouds, and Kathleen -was not of those owners of motors who -believe that every one else has one, too. Her -acquaintance with Violet was slight, but she -knew she was a teacher and a very young one. -She fancied that dollars were precious with her -as yet.</p> - -<p>So Violet rolled up to the brown-stone house -on Christmas evening in state, arrayed in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -best and full of anticipation. Mrs. Wright's -gift to her had been a small gold pendant holding -a turquoise matrix, and this she wore on a -slender chain around her throat, where it shone -between the deep blue of her eyes and the pale -blue of her gown.</p> - -<p>Kathleen's greeting to her had a ring of -friendliness through its gentle formality. Violet's -involuntary thought was that she might -have been less formal, for, although there was -nothing chilling in her manner, it seemed to -suggest the difference between the bachelor -maid doing light housekeeping in a hemmed-in -apartment and the heiress of this stately -mansion.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian was kindly patronizing, and -held Violet at her side that she might meet the -other dinner guests.</p> - -<p>Edgar Fabian was one of the last to enter the -drawing-room. Violet noted that he was not -alone, but although his companion dwarfed him -she saw no one but the well-set-up, exquisite -youth with the shining hair who had been the -companion of her moonlight sails. Her heart -quickened and her color deepened.</p> - -<p>"I'm behaving exactly like Rex," she -thought impatiently. Really there had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -no reason why Edgar Fabian should take pains -to find her in the city or show her any courtesy, -after the return from the island, but in her heart -of hearts she had expected he would; and it -showed no proper pride in this same heart to -give an undignified bound at the present juncture. -What was the idiotic thing bounding for -anyway?</p> - -<p>This query she put to it as Edgar approached -his mother; and now Violet saw that his companion -was a tall man whose evening clothes -could not lessen the breadth of his shoulders, -and whose poetic face was lighted with alert, -observant eyes.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian greeted the stranger warmly, -and presented him to Violet as her nephew, Mr. -Sidney; while Edgar's cool eyes swept the girl's -face for a brief moment without recognition.</p> - -<p>"You remember Miss Manning, Edgar," -said his mother; and then the sudden gleeful -smile relieved the youth's face of its superciliousness.</p> - -<p>"What a difference feathers make to the bird, -Miss Manning!" he ejaculated. "Upon my -word, I think I must have believed you always -wore a jolly little red sweater and hat. -Weren't those corking sails we had? Awfully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -glad to see you again." And he bore Phil off -to meet his friends.</p> - -<p>"I think, Miss Manning," said Mrs. Fabian -impressively, "that in meeting my nephew you -have seen a future celebrity. He is wonderfully -talented."</p> - -<p>"How pleasant," murmured Violet, the idiot -heart having given one record-breaking bound -and then retired into its usual self-effacement.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he is a painter. Only a student as yet, -of course. I think he has the sort of originality -that longs to spread its wings and fly; but he -holds himself down to foundation work in the -most level-headed way."</p> - -<p>Violet's eyes followed the easy movements of -the athletic figure.</p> - -<p>"Studying art, did you say?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"I didn't quite get his name?"</p> - -<p>"Sidney. Philip Sidney."</p> - -<p>Stars began to twinkle in Violet's eyes at her -sudden enlightenment. What would Rex say?</p> - -<p>Kathleen Fabian's observing eyes found time -to follow Phil, too. He wore his dress clothes -more like one accustomed to inhabit palaces -than stables. She saw girlish eyes brighten -as Edgar personally conducted the Westerner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -about the room. When she planned to sit next -him at dinner, it had been with a thought of -protection; as Edgar had been lavish of prophecies -of the probable <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">gaucherie</i> of the cowboy. -She also had believed it quite likely that the -mining engineer did not possess a dress suit; -and Edgar had drawn cheerful pictures of the -way his arms and legs would probably protrude -from any which he might rent; but it was quite -evident now that Phil had a good tailor and had -not spent all his evenings in a mountain cabin.</p> - -<p>Kathleen had suggested to her brother that -he be seated beside Violet Manning, as there -would be no other man present whom she had -ever seen, but Edgar vetoed that plan.</p> - -<p>"Let the two derelicts go in together," he had -said. "I never did see any sense in this business -of social philanthropy. Let the lonely people -take care of each other. They will if you only -have the cleverness to bring them together. -Then you're spared all the boredom yourself, -and kill two birds with one stone."</p> - -<p>"My dear," his mother had said, "Miss Manning -is an orphan, alone in the city, and you -were quite friendly with her at the island—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, but I don't want to talk about the -island all the evening. There are some widows I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -would consider; but when it comes to orphans—orphan -teachers—count me out."</p> - -<p>He smiled the gleeful smile, and Kathleen -sighed, and allotted him to the maiden of his -choice; one who knew and hated the enthralling -Mrs. Larrabee, and who, he averred, had enough -"pep" not to bore him.</p> - -<p>Violet had somehow expected to be placed -with Edgar at dinner, and argue with herself -as she would, the surprise of finding herself with -a stranger instead gave her the sensation of a -slight; but she was cheery and natural, and her -escort, a youth with long lashes and a sallow -complexion, found the sea-blue eyes intelligent -and sympathetic repositories for his mournful -rhapsodies upon Kathleen Fabian's charms.</p> - -<p>She was sitting across the table from them -beside Philip Sidney. Aqua-marines glistened -water-blue about her bare throat, and filmy -lace clung to her satin shoulders. Her simple -coiffure was in contrast to the puffs and curls -that danced airily on the other girlish heads. -Kathleen's was straight hair, but fine, thick, -and lustrous. The simplicity of her aspect gave -one to know that with her "the colors seen by -candlelight" would look the same by day.</p> - -<p>"It isn't every one who understands Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> -Fabian," the long lashes announced to Violet, -with the implication that he was in the inner -circle. "She's what I call a subtle girl—a -mysterious girl. Those jewels suit her. That -liquid, elusive play of light, as the moonlight -sparkles on the water, is like her moods, -gentle, and—and remote. I often think Miss -Fabian lives in a world of her own. One can't -always be sure that she hears what one is saying."</p> - -<p>"I know her very little," returned Violet, -"but she does seem a very thoughtful girl."</p> - -<p>"Who is that chap with her?—the big -fellow?"</p> - -<p>"That is her cousin, Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>"Her cousin? I never saw him before."</p> - -<p>"I fancy he's not a New Yorker," said -Violet. "He is here studying art."</p> - -<p>"H'm," ejaculated Long-Lashes. "He doesn't -look the part. He doesn't wear artistic hair."</p> - -<p>"No," agreed Violet. "There is no studied -disorder in his appearance. Miss Fabian seems -to hear everything <em>he</em> says," she added demurely; -"and why, if he is her cousin, does she -call him Mr. Sidney?"</p> - -<p>Long-Lashes, who had looked cheered at the -information of relationship, gloomed again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'm sure I have it right," went on Violet. -"Mrs. Fabian told me he was her nephew."</p> - -<p>"Oh," returned her companion, "but Mrs. -Fabian is Kathleen's step-mother." He looked -across at the pair anxiously. "She has adopted -him, though, that's evident. Her wits haven't -gone wool-gathering since we sat down."</p> - -<p>When the young people returned to the -drawing-room they found a charming transformation -had taken place. The spacious floor -was bare, garlands of evergreen, holly, and -mistletoe were wreathed in all possible positions, -and a majestic Christmas tree sparkling -with the tiny electric bulbs of these sophisticated -days stood in a recess. Its boughs were -gay with favors for a german.</p> - -<p>An orchestra, concealed behind palms in the -hall, played a Christmas carol as the couples -entered.</p> - -<p>"There are Christmas fairies even in -Gotham," said Phil to Kathleen. "Ah," he -thought, "poverty may be no disgrace, but -what a convenience is money!" "Before we go -any further," he added aloud, "I want to thank -you, Miss Fabian, for the honor you paid the -stranger in a strange land by allowing me to -take you out to dinner. I want you to know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -that I appreciate it in a gathering of your own -friends."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's calm eyes met his. She was -glad he could not know that she had expected -to champion his crude appearance in a gathering -where clothes went far to make the -man.</p> - -<p>"I never thought of doing anything else," -she returned; then added, smiling, "You know -I owed you hospitality."</p> - -<p>"Brave girl," returned Phil, "to dare to refer -to that ill-starred day. I should never have had -the courage."</p> - -<p>"Do you ever hear from Eliza?" asked -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I received one letter after her arrival. It -was mostly about her cat, Pluto. She said he -acted like an imp of darkness."</p> - -<p>"Why wouldn't he—saddled with that -name?" returned Kathleen.</p> - -<p>Phil watched the aqua-marines sparkle and -dissolve on the whiteness of her neck.</p> - -<p>"Your mother did to my stable what the -brownies have done here while we were dining. -Did she tell you?"</p> - -<p>"She told me she bought you a few things."</p> - -<p>"That is a modest way to put it. Will you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> -come to tea with her some day this week and -see for yourself?"</p> - -<p>"I shall be glad to. I've not been able to -remember you as being very comfortable."</p> - -<p>The carol ceased. The odor of evergreen was -fresh as the forest itself. The orchestra began -a waltz.</p> - -<p>"I wonder if he can dance," thought Kathleen, -in her ignorance of the West. The evening -clothes were promising but she had her doubts -of Terpsichore west of the Rockies. She little -knew that in dress clothes or sweater the cowboy -leads the world in dancing.</p> - -<p>The music was irresistible and in a moment -she was floating away in the waltz.</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" she thought with a mixture of -consternation and satisfaction. "I've taken the -best of everything!"</p> - -<p>Edgar cast a glance after them. "A duck -to the water," he thought. A touch of nature -makes the whole world kin; and when Phil -arrived to-night, that unique dress tie of his had -suffered damage from his overcoat. Edgar with -lofty hospitality had supplied the lack. It had -given him a foretaste of self-satisfaction as -patron of the arts, and he now felt quite benevolently -glad to find that Phil was not going<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -to entangle Kathleen's feet, as he sailed off -with his own partner, humming the waltz in -her appreciative ear.</p> - -<p>Long-Lashes danced as he talked, with poetic -meditation. Violet had no objection to him, but -she was conscious of Edgar's every movement. -If he did not ask her for the next dance she -would not give him any, even if she had to -sprain her ankle.</p> - -<p>However, the catastrophe was averted, because -he did ask her for the second, and, joy of -joys, she could not give it to him; for as she -and Long-Lashes crept near Kathleen and Phil -during the waltz, Phil, prompted by his partner, -raised his eyebrows in a request.</p> - -<p>"The next, Miss Manning?"</p> - -<p>She nodded assent; and so it was that Edgar -took the third; and as soon as he joined her -asked her opinion of Phil's dancing.</p> - -<p>"Of course you're authority," he added -tactfully, as they started.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I quite forgot shop while I was with -him," said Violet coolly; "beside, I don't teach -ballroom dancing."</p> - -<p>Edgar suspected that he had, in his own language, -put his foot in it; so he used his universal -panacea and sang the waltz in his partner's ear.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Pretty, isn't it? Say, you can dance, Miss -Manning, if you don't know how to teach it. -Watch me favor you in the german."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney is a perfect dancer," she said.</p> - -<p>"He looks it. I'm mighty glad he doesn't -fall all over himself. He's a trifle too big to -make that safe; and being a wild Westerner I -didn't know just what he would do. Do you -ever do a jig nowadays?"</p> - -<p>"Occasionally—in the way of business."</p> - -<p>"Say," exclaimed Edgar with enthusiasm, as -he led her safely among the thickening couples, -"would you do one to-night if I clear the -floor?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly not," returned Violet, laughing.</p> - -<p>"But you did at the island."</p> - -<p>"I only jig on a vessel's deck," said the girl.</p> - -<p>"And I have to wait till next summer?"</p> - -<p>"Poor, poor fellow!" Violet's eyes looked up -into his pathetically. He had forgotten what -very nice eyes they were, and what jolly little -stars danced in their depths.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to clog, and I believe I'd be a good -one. Do you teach it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll enter the class!" declared Edgar -with enthusiasm.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You're just a tiny bit over-age," said -Violet. "Fifteen's the limit."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll come to your home, that's what -I'll do. I'll take private lessons."</p> - -<p>"Impossible. There's no place to clog there -except on the table."</p> - -<p>"But that's what I should prefer to any other -place."</p> - -<p>"I'll teach you next summer," said Violet, -"and take my pay in song."</p> - -<p>"That's proverbially cheap," said Edgar.</p> - -<p>"Yes, '<em>a</em> song,' perhaps," returned Violet, -"but I shall exact dozens."</p> - -<p>Edgar tossed his head with the gleeful smile.</p> - -<p>"It's a bargain," he declared.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">SPRING</p> - - -<p>Spring came all too soon for Philip after his -gloriously solitary and absorbed winter.</p> - -<p>One Saturday morning, even from his sunless -north window, it proclaimed itself and would -not be denied. The tint of the sky, the scanty -glimpses of waving green, and the jubilant song -of birds in the park, all spoke of the annual -miracle.</p> - -<p>"Just the day for a sketch," thought Phil, -and buttoning his collar, he went to the head of -the stairs and called Pat.</p> - -<p>"Here," responded the Irishman, "and sure -I wish it was there, thin."</p> - -<p>"Where's that?"</p> - -<p>"Annywhere in the country-side where I -couldn't see a pavement the day."</p> - -<p>"Just what I was thinking, Pat. I'm going -to borrow the key to the park again. I wonder if -you'd go over to Streeter's on Fourth Avenue -for me. You remember the place you bought -the framed Madonna for your sister. I'd like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -you to get a package of materials they were to -have sent me yesterday. I don't want to miss a -minute of this weather for a sketch, and I can -be making my coffee while you're gone."</p> - -<p>"Sure I will. I've got to go that way for a -pair o' boots annyway."</p> - -<p>"If I get a good sketch," called Phil after -him, "you may look at it for nothing."</p> - -<p>Pat was privately not at all sure that it would -be worth looking at, even if the artist thought it -good. He had seen a number of Phil's efforts -which looked like nothing to him, and the artist's -explanation that they were merely impressions -did not bring them within Pat's comprehension -as being worth the paper they spoiled. -Nevertheless his devotion to the artist was -steadfast and he hastened on his errand.</p> - -<p>Phil ate his breakfast, and primed two canvases -for the Monday pose. Then his Streeter -package having arrived, he hurriedly transferred -a few pieces of charcoal and some pans -of water-color to his sketch-box, and was off -down the stable steps into the mellow light of -spring, the park key in his hand.</p> - -<p>"What a morning!" he thought, as he passed -through the gate and snapped the lock after -him. At different times when he had visited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -this enclosure with his scratch-pad, he had -made mental notes of advantageous points for -sketching, and he now moved straight to a -chosen spot.</p> - -<p>The gravel path winding between the patches -of fresh spring green crunched under his feet -and reminded him of the tar and pebble roof he -had put on a barn in Montana. How different -this life! How glorious! If only his mother -could sit beside him while he sketched this -morning.</p> - -<p>The day was joyous as his spirit, and the park -was soon alive with children and their capped -and aproned nurses, truly distinguished in their -right of eminent domain, while outside the -hedges and railings sauntered those with no -proprietary rights in Gramercy Park. A child -often peeped through the fence at coveted dandelions, -like a little peri at the gates of paradise.</p> - -<p>Phil worked away, paying no attention to the -more inquisitive youngsters who dared from a -well-bred distance to stretch and strain for a -look at what was being done in art.</p> - -<p>He was hastily washing in a soft rose grey -that was eventually to take the form of several -charming old brick houses. They had dormer -windows above and fascinating iron grilled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -balconies with long drawing-room windows and -great masses of spring flowers growing in front -of the basements.</p> - -<p>Philip was working with an intensity of interest -and absorption, and suddenly he threw a -quantity of color and water from his brush with -a quick backward motion which sent a flood -over one of the youngsters who had ventured -quite near. A shout of glee went up from the -others of the group and he turned quickly to see -what had happened, just as a girl, not capped -or aproned, seized the little color-target, and -wiped the moisture from the boy's face with her -handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"You, Miss Manning!" cried the artist, "and -I can't spare time to rise and fall on my knees in -apology."</p> - -<p>"Ernest is the one who should apologize," -said Violet, laughing, "but you know an artist -out of doors is common property."</p> - -<p>"Of course," returned Phil, washing away -industriously. "Come here, little chap. I'm -sorry I doused you. Come and see what I'm -doing—no, not the rest of you. I can't have a -heavy weight on my sword arm."</p> - -<p>Upon this, Ernest, who had been scarlet -under his companions' amusement, gave them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -a glance of superiority and moved to Phil's -side.</p> - -<p>"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the -object in the sketch which had been the cause of -the present smooches on his blouse.</p> - -<p>"What?" asked Phil encouragingly.</p> - -<p>"That big tall thing that looks kind of rough, -like a rock or something."</p> - -<p>"Why, that's the Metropolitan Tower. See -it there over those roofs?" Phil directed the -boy's gaze with his brush-handle.</p> - -<p>"Doesn't look much like it, does it?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, you wait and see."</p> - -<p>"Are those going to be trees there?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; and those spots are going to be filled -with red and pink and yellow and white. You -know what a tulip is? Those are the tulip beds."</p> - -<p>Ernest leaned comfortably against the green -park bench. "What are you going to make the -picture for?"</p> - -<p>"Enough questions," said Violet brightly. -She was standing away a little, but mounting -guard over her small charge and taking notes of -the sketch for the benefit of Rex. Now she -stepped forward and took the child's hand with -intent to lead him away; but Phil looked smiling -at the boy, and said:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'm going to try to paint this picture so that -when any one studies it he will get its message -and feel as I do to-day."</p> - -<p>The child looked back into the man's eyes, -and discerned a fellow child.</p> - -<p>"Is it your birthday?" he asked gravely.</p> - -<p>Phil laughed softly. "I shouldn't wonder," -he answered. "What made you think so?"</p> - -<p>"You look happy—and you said—" the -boy didn't finish, and Phil nodded.</p> - -<p>"Did you ever see a chrysalis, Ernest? Well, -I think I've been expanding all winter. I feel -sort of wingy this morning. This is a good sort -of day for a chrysalis to burst, don't you think -so? Perhaps this <em>is</em> my birthday and you -guessed it before I did."</p> - -<p>"Come, Ernest, we must go," said Violet, -smiling. "We're a load on the butterfly's -wings."</p> - -<p>"Do you live here in the park, Miss Manning?"</p> - -<p>"No. I spent last night with a friend here, -and one of the maids fell ill, so Ernest and I -thought we could walk about a bit and smell -the lilacs."</p> - -<p>"I don't want to go away," said Ernest. "I -like to see him paint."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Just move some of that paraphernalia from -the end of the bench and sit down, can't you, -Miss Manning?" suggested Phil. "I piled it -there in self-defence, but it's for show. Keep -away from my arm, old man, and you may -watch me all you like."</p> - -<p>"Come here, Ernest, you can see just as -well," and Violet, seating herself, drew the child -against her knee.</p> - -<p>The scent of moist lilacs was in the air.</p> - -<p>"There's a robin," cried Ernest—"oh, two! -Look."</p> - -<p>"Quiet, don't frighten them," said Violet, as -the bright-eyed birds ran beneath the bushes.</p> - -<p>"Put them in, won't you, Mr.——" began -the child eagerly.</p> - -<p>"That is Mr. Sidney, Ernest," said Violet. -"It is time you were introduced and this is -Ernest Tremaine, Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>"I'll make you a sketch of the robin in a -minute."</p> - -<p>One of the birds ran toward the seated group, -and stood a moment, proud and high-chested, -his sleek head gleaming in the sun. Phil -laughed to himself as his busy hand worked.</p> - -<p>"What are you laughing at?" asked the little -boy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Cock robin. He reminded me of somebody -I know. Don't you think he looks very pleased -with his red vest and his smooth feathers?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replied the child. "Perhaps it's his -birthday, too." He laughed, delighted that his -big friend was amused.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps; and see there! He has found a -birthday present."</p> - -<p>The robin had suddenly pounced upon a worm -and was digging it from its earthy stronghold.</p> - -<p>Violet had to put her hand over the child's -mouth to still his mirth. The bird was sitting -on his tail, claws dug in the ground as he leaned -back, dragging at his prey.</p> - -<p>"How good of the robins to stray away from -Central Park, and bring spring to all these little -places," said Violet. "I heard one last night. -Perhaps this is the very fellow. Their notes -always make me think of links in a chain, link -after link, alike, yet so fresh. Wouldn't it be -great, Ernest, if this pair are hunting for a place -to build here, and would take a tree that you -could see from your windows, and you could -watch them with an opera-glass?"</p> - -<p>"Do you think they will?" The child looked -up into the golden-green of tender new leaves -through which the mellow light was sifting.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> - -<p>"We must ask them to hurry up," said Violet, -"before the foliage grows heavy and makes -it hard to watch them."</p> - -<p>"What news from the island, Miss Manning?" -asked Phil.</p> - -<p>"Oh, spring is peeping in on them, too, once -in a while. Aunt Amy says their hill will soon -be white with strawberry blossoms, and blue -with violets."</p> - -<p>"And what of my friend, Eliza Brewster? I -believe you told me you have never seen her."</p> - -<p>"Aunt Amy always speaks of her in her -letters. She has been a great comfort to them, -so helpful and kind."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Fabian will have it that I am to see -this wonderful island."</p> - -<p>"You should go. It would be paradise for an -artist."</p> - -<p>"And how about yourself?" asked Phil. -"You also have an aunt and a home on that -green mound I hear about."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm going for the whole summer," -replied Violet. "I had two weeks last year, and -it created an inordinate appetite."</p> - -<p>"Then you knew the Fabians there."</p> - -<p>"Yes, a little. In two weeks one doesn't -make much headway with a girl like Kathleen."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is she difficult for a girl, too?" asked -Phil.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes—at least for a new girl. She reminds -me of a series of locked doors. You succeed -in unlocking one, and the small room -within merely leads to another door. You must -strive to unlock that, and you succeed only to -find another waiting. Such wholesome, clean, -airy rooms, but small—always small. She is -fascinating to me, perhaps for that very reason. -Did you ever notice that even her hair is -reserved?"</p> - -<p>Phil smiled, as his busy hand worked. -"Christmas night is the only time I ever saw -her with her hat off," he answered. "I'm afraid -you're too subtle for me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you'll see," said Violet; "an artist -couldn't help seeing in the daytime. What -color do you think it is?"</p> - -<p>"Dark brown."</p> - -<p>"I knew you would say that. Wait till you -see her in the sunshine. It's almost red; and -that's just like her. Even her hair keeps everything -to itself as long as it can."</p> - -<p>Phil laughed. "Quite different from brother, -eh?"</p> - -<p>"You mean that he is frank?" asked Violet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -with a perceptible indrawing of her own -frankness.</p> - -<p>"Well, that's a mild word for it," answered -Phil. "I don't know Edgar's family crest, but -the inscription should read, freely translated, -'I give myself away.'"</p> - -<p>The speaker laughed at his own folly, and -glanced up for sympathy. The baby bachelor's -full lips were grave and her eyes a little -dark.</p> - -<p>"I like people to be frank," she said briefly.</p> - -<p>Phil drew his own lips together in a noiseless -whistle and his eyes twinkled at the Metropolitan -Tower in the sketch.</p> - -<p>"Keep off the grass," he mused. "I thought -you said reserve fascinated you," he remarked -aloud, mildly.</p> - -<p>"One thing I don't like Mr. Fabian to reserve," -said Violet, "and that is his voice."</p> - -<p>"Great, isn't it?" agreed Phil. "I was glad -he sang for us Christmas night."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I supposed you had heard him many -times. If he were my cousin I would give him -no rest."</p> - -<p>"He's not mine, you see. I'm only a step-relation, -and such a long step!"</p> - -<p>Violet bit her lip and looked at the speaker<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -reflectively. She felt there was no rhyme or -reason in his amused expression.</p> - -<p>"Then, that is why you haven't seen Miss -Kathleen's hair in the daylight," she said. -"Have you discovered her locked doors?"</p> - -<p>"She let me into her ballroom, at Christmas, -and I think I must have been so pleased with -that I didn't try to get any further."</p> - -<p>"I see," returned Violet. "Well, if you go to -the island you'll have a chance to explore. -Of course your experience with her may be -different from mine. Perhaps an artist will -have the open sesame to her doors. I'm not a -bit intellectual. I have to dance my way into -people's confidence, or I don't get there."</p> - -<p>"I hear you teach that very pretty art."</p> - -<p>"She teaches me," put in Ernest, who was -tired of being left out of the conversation. "I -can dance a jig."</p> - -<p>"Bully for you," said Phil. "Go ahead, right -here on the path."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I can't without any music."</p> - -<p>"There's the music." Phil pointed with his -brush-handle to a lofty branch where the robin -was pouring forth linked sweetness, long drawn-out.</p> - -<p>"The pebbles are too rolly," said the child.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> -"You said you'd make me a picture of the -robin."</p> - -<p>"So I did."</p> - -<p>Phil pulled toward him another block of -paper and swiftly washed in the green of the -lilac bush and its purple pendants. Before it, -on a little stretch of green sward, grew the -robin, high-chested, alert.</p> - -<p>"How proud he looks!" said the child, -delighted.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he is saying: 'I own the earth, and the -worms therein.'" The artist laughed to himself. -"'If a worm shows his head, I gobble him up! -and I can sing as beautifully as I gobble. The -world stops to watch and listen. I am cock -robin! Look at me!'"</p> - -<p>Artist and child laughed together as Phil -handed over the wet sketch to the eager little -hands. Violet's eyes were glued to it. She was -wondering if later she could make a surreptitious -purchase of it for Rex.</p> - -<p>"I had heard of you before Christmas," she -said. "One of my housemates goes to your art -school. Regina Morris."</p> - -<p>Phil shook his head. "I've not met any of -the girls. Are you a housekeeper?"</p> - -<p>"Three of us live together in a tiny apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>ment. -I wish you might come to see us sometime."</p> - -<p>Phil looked up with his frank smile. "I'll call -on you at the island if you'll let me, and if I -come—that last is such a big If, though Mrs. -Fabian is determined."</p> - -<p>"Oh, then you'll go. I've seen enough of -Mrs. Fabian to know that."</p> - -<p>"Then it must be but for a week or two. I -mustn't stay where I can't work."</p> - -<p>"You'll stay," nodded Violet. "You'll live -under a rock if necessary and catch fish for -food."</p> - -<p>"Are you so enthusiastic?"</p> - -<p>"Isn't everybody?"</p> - -<p>"Nobody, that I have heard. Eliza spoke of -it like facing grim death. Edgar says it gives -him the 'Willies,' whatever they may be. Aunt -Isabel goes because her husband wants to sail."</p> - -<p>"Did Mr. Fabian say it gave him the 'Willies'?" -asked Violet, her cheeks rose and her -eyes dark again. "Why does he go, then?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't ask him; but a bare hill lying in a -wet fog doesn't sound inviting even if one may -occasionally catch a glimpse of the sea. You -know the sea and I are strangers."</p> - -<p>"Did Kathleen talk to you about it?" asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> -Violet, the hurt spot in her pride still smarting, -as memory showed her pictures of waves sparkling -in moonlight, and song that turned the -scene into enchantment.</p> - -<p>"No, I believe we never mentioned the summer. -She talked to me of college and I talked to -her of my one dissipation of the autumn, an -evening over there at the Players' Club,"—Phil -nodded over his shoulder toward the club -windows,—"and the wit and wisdom I heard."</p> - -<p>"I judge you have friends in the park," said -Violet.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I have a work-room over here," replied -Phil vaguely. His wits were about him -when he contemplated the disconcerting possibility -of Ernest's sturdy little legs finding -their way up his stable stair.</p> - -<p>"I want to show this to mother," said the -child, gloating over his sketch. Phil had used no -anæmic colors in that. The lilacs were of a generous -purple, the robin's vest a royal red. When -he had thanked the artist and they had parted, -Ernest prattled of his treasure as he walked on -beside Violet.</p> - -<p>"He's a proud bird," he said, half-soliloquizing -after his kind. "He wants the world to -listen when he sings; and his eyes are so bright,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -when he sees a worm coming along he gobbles -him quick, and then he looks prouder than -ever."</p> - -<p>Violet's thoughts were busy, and somewhat -gloomy. Edgar had spoken patronizingly to her -of the big Western artist who had fallen into -their family circle.</p> - -<p>Of whom was Phil thinking that gave him so -much amusement while he sketched the robin?</p> - -<p>Violet was not sure whether her mental disturbance -was more resentment toward the -artist, or hurt that Edgar Fabian should declare -that he had been bored at the island.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">JUNE</p> - - -<p>During the long winter a strong bond of friendship -grew between Mrs. Wright and Eliza -Brewster. The latter's broken heart seemed to -heal in the very act of caring for the exiled lady, -and in the consolation of knowing that her own -familiarity with the island, and with all domestic -cares, gave daily return for the unspeakable -benefit of her home.</p> - -<p>Upon Mr. Wright she looked from the first -with a reflective and judicial eye. He was Mrs. -Wright's husband, and that fact made Eliza -rigidly careful to do her duty by him; but mentally -she classified the adopted islander as a lazy -man who had all his days been looking for a soft -spot and who had been irresistibly drawn to the -freedom and irresponsibility of a life which permitted -him to wear a négligée shirt during the -semi-hibernation of the winter, and made no -demands upon him beyond an occasional arising, -by request, from the lounge to shovel snow-paths -and bring in fuel, and at evening to play<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -checkers with Captain James until an early -bedtime.</p> - -<p>He liked Eliza's cooking and her nimble, -quiet ways, and externally they were at peace; -but Captain James's shrewd eyes often read -Eliza's suppressed impatience. One spring -morning, when he met her in the island road, he -attempted a mild protest in favor of the master -of the house.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Wright's a clever feller," he said -argumentatively. "What's wrong with him, -Eliza?"</p> - -<p>"What have I said about him?" she snapped.</p> - -<p>"Don't you suppose I got eyes?" asked -Captain James.</p> - -<p>Eliza was startled. She must put even -greater guard upon herself.</p> - -<p>"Now, I ain't a-goin' to talk about him, -James. I s'pose it's all right for a great hulk of -a man to own a dainty city woman and take her -away from her friends and mew her up on a -snow-bank to suit his convenience."</p> - -<p>"What you goin' back on the island for?" -inquired Captain James.</p> - -<p>"I ain't goin' back on it. I'm island folks. I -find there is something, after all, in this talk -about native air."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It's treated you all right," agreed the other, -regarding her countenance critically. "You've -dropped off five years this winter. Come summer -you'll shed ten more, like enough, and look -like you ought to look, Eliza. You ain't any old -woman."</p> - -<p>Eliza ignored the blandishment.</p> - -<p>"I can see in the glass I look better," she -returned impersonally, "and it makes me mad -to think it's all because I live in the house with -a sacrifice. Supposin' I'd come back to this -island alone."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Wright don't act like any sacrifice," -protested Captain James; "she's chipper as a -canary bird."</p> - -<p>"Of course she is. That's the kind of a wife a -man like that's sure to get. It's been my lot in -life, James, to live with angels," added Eliza -fiercely. "Can you tell me why I should be just -as cantankerous as ever?"</p> - -<p>Captain James laughed. "Mebbe there's as -much truth in that talk about original sin as -there is about native air," he returned. "You -always was a limb, Eliza."</p> - -<p>She smiled reluctantly. "I warned her before -I came," she returned, grave again. "I told her -I was bad, and <em>set</em>."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But you couldn't scare her, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Nobody could do that. She ain't afraid of -anything above ground. 'T ain't fear makes her -yield to Lazy-Bones there; and when she sets -out to make him do something he don't want -to, she gets him every time." Eliza's eyes wandered -to a cottage by the roadside. "There's -Betsy Eaton watchin' us. I expect she's wonderin' -why we're standin' in the wet so long. -Well, I've blown off steam and I'll run home. -I s'pose you'll be comin' up to-night to move -those little pieces o' wood around."</p> - -<p>"Sure thing, Eliza," returned Captain James -with a grin. "Lemme teach you the game so -you can play it with him times when I don't -come."</p> - -<p>In the speaker's own parlance he was trying -to "get a rise" out of his old friend; and he -succeeded. Eliza's eyes flashed almost with the -fire of youth.</p> - -<p>"I'd throw 'em at him. I know I would—every -checker of 'em."</p> - -<p>"Well, he'll be fishin' again soon," laughed -Captain James soothingly, "now his new boat's -about done."</p> - -<p>"H'm!" grunted Eliza; and with no other -form of farewell, she started to trudge up the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> -hill toward home. The earth was moist and -yielding; the chill spring was here, and nature -was drawing her green paint-brush over the -high wave of the bluff. Little star-flowers -bloomed under her energizing kisses, and -shivered bravely when the east wind blew.</p> - -<p>This morning the sun fell with sufficient -warmth on the stone step for Pluto to lie there, -and blink at the first sparrow he had seen. On -the whole, Eliza's move away from New York -had his entire approval. The change from the -restrictions of a city flat to this place was in -itself a delight, and far from agreeing with -Eliza's estimation of the master of the house he -found him quite the most sensible human being -he had ever encountered. One who appreciated -a soft lounge when he saw it, and who always -made room for a cat, and never disturbed his -slumbers with precipitate movement. Eliza -watched their growing intimacy with grim -amusement.</p> - -<p>"Birds of a feather flock together," was -frequently her mental comment.</p> - -<p>As the spring unfolded, and the early mornings -were less chill, Mr. Wright again took up -his suspended practice of making sunrise visits -to his pond. At first Pluto considered this a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -foolish practice; but at last he learned to connect -it with attractive pieces of fish which came his -way, and again he paid tribute of admiration to -the hand which always discriminated so nicely -just which point back of his ears should be -scratched in order to establish the most friendly -relations.</p> - -<p>Eliza's threat that he should reside in the -chicken-house had come to naught, for it had -required but a few days for Pluto to recover -from the savagery to which his novel contact -with Mother Earth at first reduced him; and he -again became a domestic animal full of content -in the equally novel petting which now fell to -his share.</p> - -<p>One day Eliza with amused memory of her -childish terrors pushed open the door of the -forlorn chicken-house, and looked in; but one -look was enough. She closed it again quickly on -the dirt and cobwebs. Its small windows were -opaque with the dust of years. It was almost -picturesque with its leaking roof which had -once been red, huddling close to earth under -the protection of those hardy old warriors, the -balm-of-Gilead trees.</p> - -<p>"If 'twas mine," mused Eliza, as she -withdrew from the dirt and damp of the close<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -interior, "I'd clean it with a good fire. It's -hopeless."</p> - -<p>A sparrow lit on the despised roof, and -poured a song toward the sea.</p> - -<p>"That's so," said Eliza looking up at the tiny -creature with a smile. "It <em>is</em> spring. It's a -wonder to be in a place where there ain't one -o' your English cousins."</p> - -<p>She turned and nearly trod on Pluto. His -green eyes were fixed on the bird. His lithe -body crouched in the fresh grass and quivered -along its length in the intensity of his upward -gaze.</p> - -<p>"Pluto Brewster!" she exclaimed in desperation. -"Supposin' you ever should catch a bird -up here!" She stooped and boxed his ears. He -laid them back and, blinking the eager eyes, -crouched lower.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright on her doorstep saw Eliza approaching, -the cat under her arm.</p> - -<p>"He was lookin' at a sparrow," announced -Eliza.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright laughed. "I've heard that a cat -may look even at a king," she said.</p> - -<p>"If Pluto should kill birds!" exclaimed his -owner desperately.</p> - -<p>"Would you, little tiger?" asked Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> -Wright, closing her hand over the cat's face and -giving it a little shake.</p> - -<p>Pluto was beginning to consider that women -were a sad mistake. He struggled to get free -and Eliza dropped him.</p> - -<p>"How the spring has stolen past us," said -Mrs. Wright. "Do you realize Eliza that even -June is moving on its way? Look over there at -the Fabian cottage."</p> - -<p>"Why that's James out on the veranda."</p> - -<p>"Yes, he has had a letter from Mrs. Fabian. -She wants him to open the house. To-day is -Kathleen Fabian's Commencement."</p> - -<p>"That's so," said Eliza coolly. "You showed -me the invitation."</p> - -<p>"It was rather nice of her to remember me, -way off here, and little as I know them."</p> - -<p>"I guess Kathleen would be an agreeable -enough girl if she was let alone," said Eliza.</p> - -<p>She had for some time now given up anxiety -lest the high words over the barrel in Phil's -studio bear bad fruit for him; for a letter had -set her mind at rest on that score, and she felt -instinctively that she had Kathleen Fabian to -thank for that.</p> - -<p>"But any girl would be slow to cut off -friendly relations with a feller like Mr. Sid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>ney," -she considered, prejudice still holding her -in a strong grasp.</p> - -<p>"So they're comin'," said Eliza, in a lifeless -voice. The winter had been very happy. She -began to long for the fall.</p> - -<p>"Yes, very soon."</p> - -<p>"Is your niece comin' with 'em?"</p> - -<p>"No; she will keep busy until July." Mrs. -Wright drew a deep breath.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how lovely this is, Eliza," she went on. -"This morning makes me think of Stopford -Brooke's lines,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">'A little sun, a little rain,</div> - <div class="verse">A soft wind blowing from the West—</div> - <div class="verse">And woods and fields are sweet again,</div> - <div class="verse">And the warmth within the mountain's breast.'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Our mountain—what a height we should see -we had if that sea could roll back; we can feel -the warmth in its breast this morning, and the -lovely miracles it is putting forth. Why don't -you look happier, Eliza?" Mrs. Wright smiled -as she asked the question. Her friend's eyes -were gloomily following the movements of -Captain James in the distance as he beat rugs -on the grass beside the boulder cottage.</p> - -<p>"I guess you know why," rejoined Eliza -briefly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The idea of letting anybody rob you of -your happiness," said Mrs. Wright. "I shall -have to put Marcus Aurelius side of your bed -so you can read him before you go to sleep. -I thought you were more of a philosopher, -Eliza."</p> - -<p>"You ain't half through your disappointments -in me yet," returned Eliza drily.</p> - -<p>"Ho!" exclaimed Mrs. Wright, resting her -hand on the shoulder of her companion as she -stood a step below her. "I haven't begun on -them yet."</p> - -<p>"Just s'posin'," said Eliza, looking about at -the fair prospect, "that Mrs. Ballard could be -with us to see the summer comin'. How comfortable -we'd make her!"</p> - -<p>"I don't believe she'd come," said Mrs. -Wright gently, "as much as she loves us."</p> - -<p>"That's what he said," returned Eliza musingly. -"He said we hadn't ought to believe we -could make her happier than she is."</p> - -<p>"He? Who?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>"Good for the boy," said Mrs. Wright, who -had heard so much and often about Philip that -she felt as if she had met him.</p> - -<p>"Why can't we go on here just as we have,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> -said Eliza regretfully. "Why must folks -come?"</p> - -<p>"Listen to the grudging one!" exclaimed -Mrs. Wright lightly. "And what a different -doctrine Nature is preaching us this morning. -Look where you will, no limitations—none. -Illimitable sky, illimitable sea. That's the way -it should be in our hearts, Eliza, illimitable -love."</p> - -<p>"I dare say," returned the other with a world -of obstinacy in her tone.</p> - -<p>"The world can't be full of Mrs. Ballards, -but they're all our brothers and sisters just the -same. Mr. Brooke goes on in his verse to say:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">'A little love, a little trust,</div> - <div class="verse">A soft impulse, a sudden dream,</div> - <div class="verse">And life as dry as desert dust</div> - <div class="verse">Is fresher than a mountain stream,'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>I don't like that hard look to come in your eyes, -Eliza. The feeling behind it turns life as dry as -desert dust wherever it holds sway."</p> - -<p>"I told you—" began Eliza slowly.</p> - -<p>"I know all about that," interrupted Mrs. -Wright, "but little by little you'll find that all -hard wilfulness is flat, stale, and unprofitable. -Now you'd better spend this week before the -Fabians come in trying that recipe every time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -you think of them. 'A little love, a little trust, -a soft impulse.'"</p> - -<p>"And what will Mrs. Fabian be doin' all -that time?" asked Eliza hardily. "Do you -suppose she'll have any soft impulses toward me -until I give her her aunt's things? That barrel -upstairs in the back bedroom has got her grandmother's -china and silver in it."</p> - -<p>"What do you want of it, Eliza?" asked Mrs. -Wright.</p> - -<p>"To keep it away from her," was the prompt -reply; and the speaker saw a cloud pass over the -eyes she had learned to love. "Anyway, Mrs. -Wright," she went on earnestly, "she left 'em -all to me, all her things, Mrs. Ballard did."</p> - -<p>"I see," said Mrs. Wright thoughtfully. -"Doubtless her grateful heart longed to leave -you her money, and deciding to do otherwise -she felt she wished you to have something -equivalent."</p> - -<p>While they talked, Captain James had -started across the field toward them, and now -he drew near, walking beneath the bold and -intricate curves made by wheeling swallows, the -deep blue of their backs flashing iridescent in -the sunlight.</p> - -<p>"Say," he called, "these fellers have set up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> -housekeepin' over there in the Fabian porch. -Snug as bugs in rugs they are. Darned if I -know what to do."</p> - -<p>"Who?—the swallows?" asked Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"Yes." Captain James seated himself on a -rustic bench in the sun. "It's the new wind-break -they had put up last summer did the mischief. -Always been too blowy other springs for -'em to try it."</p> - -<p>"You dislike to disturb them? Is that the -trouble?" asked Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"I dislike to get my head took off," returned -Captain James. "Mrs. Fabian'll have the law -on me if I don't knock the nest down and clean -up, and Kathleen'll read me the riot act if I -do."</p> - -<p>The speaker pushed his hat to one side and -scratched his head.</p> - -<p>Eliza regarded him unsmiling.</p> - -<p>"Do you always take care of their cottage?" -she asked.</p> - -<p>"Ever since they've had one," he answered. -"Used to take Kathleen and Edgar out to my -pound when they wa'n't knee high to a grasshopper."</p> - -<p>"And now she has graduated from college. -Think of it," said Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Wa'n't I invited?" asked Captain James -proudly. "I guess I was. All engraved up -pretty, and Kathleen's card inside. When they -fledged Edgar and shoved him out o' the nest he -didn't remember me; but little sober-sides -there, she wa'n't goin' to forget an old friend. -Edgar's boots nor his hat don't exactly fit him, -late years," went on Captain James good-humoredly, -"but Kathleen always was a brick -and she ain't got over it. I guess I'll let the -swallers alone till she's had her say anyway."</p> - -<p>"Going to be over there this afternoon, Captain -James?" asked Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"Yes. I've got Betsy Eaton washin' the -dishes and cleanin' now, and I'll be back again -on the rugs later."</p> - -<p>"Let us go over, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright. -"I want you to see what a beautiful cottage it -is."</p> - -<p>Eliza looked at her with steady significance. -"I'm goin' to be too busy," she said slowly.</p> - -<p>Captain James sighed and rose. "Handsome -day," he remarked, as he trudged off to dinner.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow, then?" asked Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"No," responded Eliza firmly, freed of Captain -James's presence, "nor the day after that. -I ain't double-faced, Mrs. Wright. I can't go in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -when they ain't there, if I wouldn't when they -are there."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright laughed softly. "My square-toed -Eliza," she said, turning into the house. -"Oh, I forgot to say there's a letter for you -here. Mr. Wright must have left it on the -table."</p> - -<p>Eliza had stooped over the row of sweet peas -coming up thriftily about the house, and she -rose slowly and followed her friend indoors, -but when she saw the small stubbed writing -on the envelope her eyes brightened. Twice -before during the winter had it come to cheer -her.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney!" she said, and sat down to -enjoy her letter to the full.</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Eliza</span>," it began.</p> - -<p>"We had a hot day yesterday. Pat's tongue -hung out and he assured me that the only thing -that would do him any good was to take off his -flesh and sit in his bones. They tell me the -summer is here to stay, and I am going to make -an aisle through my opposite neighbor, the -storeroom, and get at the window in there so as -to get a draught through. The sun bakes the -stable roof, but I wouldn't mind it if the perspiration -didn't run into my eyes. This state<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> -of things makes me an easy prey to Aunt Isabel's -kind insistence that I shall spend a week -with her. She says two; but that will depend on -how much fog there is and whether I have to -waste time.</p> - -<p>"I can't compliment you on being a complete -letter-writer, but I judge you have had a good -winter and kept from freezing. You say the -islands have looked like frosted wedding cakes. -The first part sounds good to me. I hope you've -saved some over. That's the sort of wedding -cake I'd like to dream on just now. You may -believe my heart often goes homing to the -mountains. What would I give for one night -under the windy trees. The very stars are hot -here—but—I like it!</p> - -<p>"I've had a wonderful winter. I can't say -I'm a belle at the Academy. One of the teachers -turned on me the other day and said he -would thank me to stop trying to teach him how -to teach me. He said my 'stand-and-deliver' -methods might be <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">de rigueur</i> west of the Rockies, -but something less aggressive would be -more becoming a student here who knew as -little as I did. They all have a hunted look as -they come near me; for I don't care a straw how -much they snub me if I can only get from them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -what I'm after; and I glow with the consciousness -that I have accomplished a lot, even though -my strenuous path is strewn with the wounded -and I have some bruises myself.</p> - -<p>"Dear Aunt Mary! I send her a wireless -every night. I wonder if she gets it!</p> - -<p>"Aunt Isabel has been a trump to me the -whole winter, patient with my neglect, and letting -me go my own gait; but she brought a -thermometer over to the stable in my absence -one day and sat down in my room waiting for it -to go up. It didn't lag, and I found her sitting -there in a wilted state, and she declared that -she should stay until I promised to go with -her to the island and get a coat of tan. So I -promised. It will be great to get a breath, and -great to see you again, Eliza. Kindly arrange -that the third week in June shall be free from -fog. My time will be precious.</p> - -<p>"Give my compliments to Mrs. Wright and -tell her I had a pleasant chat with her niece one -morning in the park while I was sketching.</p> - -<p>"Tell Pluto to be ready to pose with you if -old ocean veils himself.</p> - -<p>"With my best to you,</p> - -<p class="right"> -"As ever -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Philip Sidney</span>." -</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Now, then, Eliza," said Mrs. Wright when -her companion had read this epistle aloud.</p> - -<p>"Now, then, what?" returned Eliza happily.</p> - -<p>"He'll be a link. He'll have to be. You can't -be crabbed and offish and spoil his one vacation."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean Mrs. Fabian?" Eliza gave -her rare laugh as she pushed the letter back into -its envelope. "If she could help her nephew -from runnin' after common folks, she would; -but she certainly won't run after him. We -shan't clash any."</p> - -<p>"I'm glad I'm going to see the boy," said -Mrs. Wright. Violet had written of him: at first -with girlish enthusiasm, but after the park interview -more grudgingly. It seemed rather silly -in a grown man to be so amused by the airs of a -robin! For some unknown reason the memory -of that foolishness had rankled for days.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE PEACEMAKER</p> - - -<p>Kathleen Fabian, out of school in that month -of June, was at home in body, but with her -mind still clinging about the scenes of her college -life.</p> - -<p>"I do believe, all things considered," said -her mother when they were sitting alone one -morning over their coffee, "that I am against -college for girls!"</p> - -<p>Kathleen looked up absent-mindedly from -the letter she had been reading. "What's the -matter?" she asked vaguely.</p> - -<p>"You have scarcely heard a word I have -said since you came home," declared Mrs. -Fabian. "Your thoughts are a thousand miles -away all the time."</p> - -<p>"Not a thousand," protested the girl. "Four -years is a long time, you know. To break up -one's home—to break all those ties—means -so much."</p> - -<p>"Exactly what I say," retorted Mrs. Fabian. -"I should like to know when you will begin<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -again to realize that this is home, and that your -father and mother would like some share in -your thoughts."</p> - -<p>"Why, I must be horribly selfish," returned -the girl.</p> - -<p>"There it is again!" exclaimed her mother, -increasingly nettled. "If it takes unselfishness -to show some interest in home after a girl leaves -college, I say she had better not go there."</p> - -<p>"Very well," returned Kathleen, smiling. -"Don't you ever send another daughter; but -I'm glad you made the mistake with me. I've -been so happy, mother."</p> - -<p>"Oh, well," returned Mrs. Fabian, somewhat -mollified by the wistfulness of the girl's look -and tone, "I suppose you have, and perhaps it -is all for the best; but hereafter, when I speak -to you, I intend to begin 'Kathleen Fabian!' -and you must reply 'Present' before I go on."</p> - -<p>"Have you been talking to me?" asked -Kathleen naïvely.</p> - -<p>"Well, rather. I have been telling you something -that should be very interesting, considering -the height of the thermometer. Father says -we are to start for the island next Wednesday; -and I am holding in my hand an acceptance from -Philip Sidney to my invitation to go with us."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> - -<p>"How very nice," said Kathleen courteously.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian, always on the sensitive lookout -where her young relative was concerned, thought -she detected a perfunctory note.</p> - -<p>"You knew I had asked him?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think you did mention it before -Commencement."</p> - -<p>"He says," said Mrs. Fabian, "that you -have never talked to him about the island."</p> - -<p>"But think," returned Kathleen, "how seldom -I have talked with him."</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned her mother resignedly, "and -how full your head is of other matters. You -were very nice to Phil on Christmas night, here. -I wasn't sure but that you would invite him -yourself."</p> - -<p>"Oh, why should I?"</p> - -<p>"No reason, if you don't see any. Phil was -very polite to you at your graduation. Those -flowers were exquisite."</p> - -<p>"Yes." The girl smiled. "They would have -worried me, but that I know flowers are cheaper -in June."</p> - -<p>"I don't think that's a very nice thing to -say," observed Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"I meant it very nicely," returned Kathleen -mildly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, perhaps it isn't so strange that you -have not talked the island to him, since you -have been engrossed in other things; but I have -had all the trouble in the world to induce him -to go; and if you had roused his enthusiasm a -little it would have been easier."</p> - -<p>"Why have you urged him?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p>Her mother regarded her for a pause, in -exasperated silence. "Are you aware," she -returned at last, "that it is 87 in the shade this -morning? Are you aware that these rooms, -where the draught constantly changes the air, -are slightly different from that studio, baking -under a stable roof and hemmed in by high -buildings?"</p> - -<p>"Of course, of course!"</p> - -<p>"Are you aware," went on Mrs. Fabian -sonorously, "that one who has always previously -had a home might find a brief change -from cheap restaurants invigorating in hot -weather?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't know," said Kathleen. "I thought -perhaps he was too busy to notice. He"—she -hesitated, but imperceptibly to Mrs. Fabian,—"he -has not called here since I returned."</p> - -<p>"That's just it," flashed Phil's defender. -"He never spares himself. He thinks of nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -but work. Now, I have never forced any of my -relatives on the Fabians," with heightened -color, "but your father likes Phil. He was -delighted to have me ask him. He has charged -me to hold on to the boy until he can join -us."</p> - -<p>"I hope he can stay," put in Kathleen -politely.</p> - -<p>"If I can get him there," said Mrs. Fabian. -"Here is this matter of the berths, as usual. -The stateroom has been engaged for a month, -but we have only Molly's berth outside."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's eyes grew eager. "Well, that's -all right," she said. "You won't mind taking -Molly in the stateroom in my place, and let -Mr. Sidney have her berth. I'll wait and come -up with father."</p> - -<p>"You not go with us? Kathleen, you're -absurd." Color streamed again over Mrs. -Fabian's face.</p> - -<p>"No, no. That will be a fine plan, and -relieve you of all embarrassment. Father will -like to have me here, and I shall love to stay -with him."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian gazed at the girl in silence. She -admired Kathleen extravagantly. There was -something in the girl's natural poise and ele<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>gance -which the stepmother, with an innate, -unacknowledged consciousness of inferiority, -worshipped. She never forgot that Kathleen's -mother had been a Van Ruysler. Now, as if it -were not enough that Edgar scorned the island, -and even if he should be granted leave of -absence would not play the courteous host to -Phil, now Kathleen was anxious to avoid him, -and caught at an excuse to postpone her departure.</p> - -<p>The girl grew uncomfortable under the fixed -stare bent upon her, and when suddenly Mrs. -Fabian dropped her coffee-spoon and burying -her face in her hands burst into tears, Kathleen -arose in dismay, the soft laces of her négligée -floating in the breeze she made hastening around -the table and taking the weeping one in her -arms.</p> - -<p>"I don't know what has happened," she said -in bewilderment, "but I am sure it is all my -fault. I was trying to help you, mother."</p> - -<p>"You were not!" responded Mrs. Fabian, as -angrily as the softening nature of salt water -would permit. "You were trying to avoid that -poor, lonely little fellow."</p> - -<p>Kathleen bit her lip as memory presented -the stalwart, self-confident artist before her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You tell me to take my young cousin if I -must, and get his visit over with before you -come up there to enjoy yourself. You don't -care how much you hurt his feelings."</p> - -<p>"Why, mother, wouldn't he think it very -natural that I should keep father company?"</p> - -<p>"No, certainly not, when he knows that -Edgar is here. He doesn't know that Edgar -isn't any use to anybody, unless it's Mrs. -Larrabee. He'd just think the truth: that you -don't want to be there at the same time he is."</p> - -<p>"Now, mother, you're so mistaken. He -wouldn't even miss me. When he gets the view -from our porch he won't know whether I'm -there or not."</p> - -<p>"Very convenient excuse; but you needn't -make any more of them. I understand you, -Kathleen. Why shouldn't I, when I taught -you to walk? I'm foolish to break down before -you. I ought to have more pride; but it's the -heat. I'm tired and nervous; and you come -home from college with no interest except in -what you've left behind you, and want to -arrange things so that my guest at the island -will have his visit spoiled—"</p> - -<p>"Mother, he—"</p> - -<p>"Nobody at the cottage but me, and nobody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> -to help entertain him but Mrs. Wright and -Eliza Brewster and—"</p> - -<p>"Mother, he—"</p> - -<p>"It's so often that I ask any of my friends -there! So often that I bore you and Edgar to -look out for my guests! I must always be on -hand for yours, to chaperone you and see that -all goes smoothly for your plans. I suppose—"</p> - -<p>"Mother, indeed—"</p> - -<p>"If Phil had sunstroke, it would be all the -same to you, just so he kept out of your way; -and Christmas week when we went there to tea, -how nice he was to us, and so amusing, getting -everything in such perfect order that he apologized -for not dusting the marshmallows. Oh, -my head is just bursting!"</p> - -<p>"There, mother dear, I know you will be ill, -if you get so excited," said Kathleen, patting -the heaving white silken shoulder. "Of course, -I'll go to the island with you. I didn't know -you cared so much."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian lifted her swollen eyes to behold -her victory. "There's one comfort, Kathleen," -she said, deep catches in her breath. "You -never do things by halves. If you do go, you'll -never allow Phil to feel that he bores you."</p> - -<p>The girl smiled. "No, if I succeed in calling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> -myself to his attention," she answered, "I -promise he shan't suspect it."</p> - -<p>"If he is sometimes absent-minded," said -Mrs. Fabian defensively, "I'm sure I don't -know any one who should have so much sympathy -with him as you—the very queen of -wool-gatherers."</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed and went back to her seat -at the table. "I see that I must reform," she -replied.</p> - -<p>"I'm relieved, and I do thank you," said her -mother; "but the question remains, how are -we going to get Phil there?"</p> - -<p>"That's easy. Send Molly with the other -maids by the boat. I'll hook your gown."</p> - -<p>"There," returned Mrs. Fabian; "you see, -you might have suggested that in the first -place. I understand you well enough, Kathleen."</p> - -<p>"I thought it would be good fun to hob-nob -with father. It's so long since I have."</p> - -<p>"I'm going to persuade him to leave business -early this year. It has worried him unusually -this winter. He can if he only thinks so. I -reminded him this morning that if he died, the -business would have to get on without him. -He agreed, but said in that case the loss would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> -be wholly covered by insurance. Rather grim -sort of humor, that. I told him I couldn't see -anything funny in such talk."</p> - -<p>"Poor father," commented Kathleen. -"Everybody is tired this time of year. There -should be some arrangement of relays in running -a business. The winter workers should be -turned out to grass in May."</p> - -<p>She looked at her father that evening with -observant eyes, as together they moved into -his den after dinner. It had been closed from -the sun all day and he sank into a big leather -armchair by a breeze-blown window, following -his daughter's white-clad figure with appreciative -eyes.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad you're through college, Kath," -he said.</p> - -<p>"So I can light your cigar the rest of my -life?" she asked, seating herself on his knee and -applying the lighted match.</p> - -<p>"Partly that," he answered, drawing in the -flame, "and partly for your mother's sake. -She needs more companionship than I can give -her. She has a gay nature; she likes going out. -I hope you aren't too much like me."</p> - -<p>"I hope I'm exactly like you," the girl returned -devoutly; and leaning forward, she drew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> -in a mouthful of the fragrant cigar smoke and -exhaled it through her nostrils. The movement -was quick and graceful, and she looked mischievously -pretty.</p> - -<p>"Don't do that, you monkey," said her -father quickly.</p> - -<p>"Why not?"</p> - -<p>"I don't like it."</p> - -<p>"I'm frightfully unfashionable, because I -smoke so little," she returned.</p> - -<p>"It's a vicious habit—for women," declared -Mr. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"But I'm a suffragist; besides, men tolerate -it in women now—they like them to do -it."</p> - -<p>"Not the women they love," said Mr. -Fabian quickly.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" responded Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"When I saw you smoking a cigarette with -Edgar a little while ago," he went on, "I spoke -to you about it. Don't you remember? I told -you how unbecoming I thought it. I hoped you -would heed me."</p> - -<p>Kathleen met his serious gaze.</p> - -<p>"That wasn't a little while ago," she said.</p> - -<p>"Certainly it was. This winter."</p> - -<p>"It couldn't have been later than Novem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>ber," -she went on slowly, "for I haven't -touched a cigarette since then."</p> - -<p>"Good girl." Mr. Fabian patted her shoulder. -"It disgusted me to see you. You'll never -do it again?"</p> - -<p>"No." She shook her head, and carefully -ran her finger through a ring of smoke as it -passed her.</p> - -<p>"I wish I could get Edgar to say the same," -remarked Mr. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"You don't set him a good example," she -returned.</p> - -<p>"You never saw me with a cigarette. Edgar -has to abstain from them in the office, but I -think he sits up all night to make up for it. I -have an idea they contribute to his general -uselessness."</p> - -<p>Kathleen smoothed the care-worn lines in the -speaker's brow with her gentle fingers. He -loved their touch.</p> - -<p>"I think Edgar isn't smoking much these -days," she said.</p> - -<p>"Indeed." The response was indifferent. -"Why should that be? Does Mrs. Larrabee -want them all?"</p> - -<p>"It's on account of his voice," said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>The tired man of affairs removed his cigar to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> -laugh while his daughter arranged his hair -around his temples. "Edgar denying himself!" -he ejaculated quietly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, father, he's waking up to it," said the -girl, with a little serious nod; "and that's one -thing Mrs. Larrabee has really done for him—made -him believe that his voice is worth working -for."</p> - -<p>"It's the only thing she can find to flatter -him about. That's all that amounts to," said -Mr. Fabian, resuming his cigar. "So long as -she can make any use of him she will keep him -dangling about, and flattery is the best bait."</p> - -<p>"But his voice is a real gift," insisted Kathleen, -with deliberate emphasis. "Don't you -think so?"</p> - -<p>"I never heard him sing that I know of—certainly -not for years."</p> - -<p>"It is beautiful—the heart-reaching kind. -If he hadn't been a rich man's son it would -have been given to the world in some shape."</p> - -<p>"A rich man's son." Mr. Fabian repeated -the words quietly, and took his daughter's arm -in a strong grasp. "Kathleen, this has been an -awful winter. I don't know what the next year -will bring forth. Say nothing to your mother, -but there are threatening clouds all about me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Father!" The girl pressed her cheek to his, -and there was a moment of silence; then she -spoke again gently. "I have often wished I -might have been your son."</p> - -<p>The hand that had gripped her arm, stole -around her and drew her close.</p> - -<p>After a moment, she sat up again and faced -him. "I came in here to-night on purpose to -speak to you about Edgar," she went on. "He -wanted me to intercede for him in a matter."</p> - -<p>"A matter of debts, I suppose," said Mr. -Fabian, his manner imperturbable again, and -his tone bitter.</p> - -<p>"Yes, but—"</p> - -<p>"I'm through," interrupted the man. "He -has had plenty of warning. I would not tell -you, Kathleen, the number of foolish, and -sometimes disgraceful, affairs I have settled -for him."</p> - -<p>"I don't doubt it, dear, but let me tell you -about this," said the girl seriously. "Edgar -has no judgment or foresight. He persists in -claiming that he was born with a golden spoon -in his mouth and that whatever he can scoop -up with it is his right. He is your only son and -you owe him unlimited liberty."</p> - -<p>"The lessons I have given him would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> -sufficient if he had any brains," said the father -sternly.</p> - -<p>"Yes; but just a minute more. This debt -will astonish you. It is to Mazzini, the famous -voice teacher. He has been studying with him -since January."</p> - -<p>"Just like his vanity! Let him send the bill -to Mrs. Larrabee. It is her doing."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it was her doing in the first place, but -I suspect from what Edgar says that she is -tired of him. He hasn't seen her often of late, -and she sails for Europe anyway next week; -and Edgar is so interested in his music that now -it comes first. His teacher is so enthusiastic!"</p> - -<p>"Of course he is!" observed Mr. Fabian -cynically. "They're always enthusiastic over -the voices of pupils whose pocketbooks will -stand the strain."</p> - -<p>"Edgar sang for me last night while you and -mother were out. Father, it was a beautiful -performance. It is the real thing. Of course, -he was wrong—crazy, to go into such expense -without asking you, for the lessons are frightfully -dear; but if the boy were to amount to -something in an artistic line, wouldn't it be -worth the investment? You are discouraged -by his lack of interest in business."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian's chin sank dejectedly as he -flicked the ash from his cigar into the receiver -on the stand beside his chair.</p> - -<p>"Discouraged by his inability," he said -slowly; "discouraged by his lack of principle, -by his vanity and conceit. I will give him board -and lodging as long as he wishes to live with -me; but—"</p> - -<p>"Then, dear," interrupted Kathleen, her -voice thrilling with the sympathy she felt, "try -this one thing more. If the expense doesn't -appall you—"</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian shook his head impatiently. -"That would be nothing—as yet."</p> - -<p>"Edgar can't study through the summer. -His teacher is going to Italy. He would like to -go with him—" the girl paused doubtfully.</p> - -<p>Her father laughed. "I dare say. Edgar's -European travel, however, is over until he is -engaged to sing before the crowned heads."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I supposed so," agreed the girl; "but -he means to work faithfully all summer."</p> - -<p>"Work faithfully! Edgar!" repeated Mr. -Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Supposing he should, father. Supposing he -has found his niche in life and will do something -worth while."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Wonderful if true," remarked Mr. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"But it won't help to disbelieve in him. I -know he began all wrong forcing you to pay -this money—"</p> - -<p>Kathleen arose suddenly, and, moving across -the room, opened the heavy door of the den. -"Come in, Edgar," she called. The invitation -was unnecessary; for the youth, in his eagerness -to hear what fate was being meted out to him -within the closed apartment, had been leaning -so hard against the door that when all at once -it fell away from him, he staggered into the -room with the most undignified celerity.</p> - -<p>Stirred as Kathleen was, she had to bite -her lip before she could speak; but when -her brother had gained his perpendicular -and faced them with a somewhat frightened -and very crimson countenance, she broke the -silence.</p> - -<p>"Tell father," she said, "that you know you -began this new venture wrong: that it was -shameful to force him to pay this big bill for -your lessons."</p> - -<p>Edgar choked and swallowed, meeting the -eyes that were lifting to him from the depths -of the leathern armchair. Convicted of eavesdropping -and reading the cold appraisement in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> -his father's gaze, he had not gathered himself -to utter a word when Mr. Fabian spoke.</p> - -<p>"You have not forced me," he said slowly. -"I can refuse. You are of age. You can be -sued and imprisoned quite independently of -me."</p> - -<p>Edgar's heart beat fast and he set the even -teeth.</p> - -<p>"You have counted once more on my unwillingness -to have this occur; but that unwillingness -has been weakening for years."</p> - -<p>Still Edgar did not speak. Kathleen, standing -by her father's chair, her hands clasped -tightly, dared not. She noted that Edgar's gaze -did not fall. He met his father's eyes in crimson -silence.</p> - -<p>"You know," continued Mr. Fabian distinctly, -"whether I have exhausted persuasion -and argument with you. You know my futile -attempts to rouse your ambition to be my -coadjutor, my successor. What you do not -know, because you are incapable of understanding, -is the agony of the slow death of my -hope in my only son: the successive stages of -thought which have finally reduced me to -closing the account, and charging him up to -profit and loss."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen watched her brother under the -lash with the same pitiful misery she felt for his -punishments when they were children.</p> - -<p>"But you're going to try him in this new -field, father," she said beseechingly.</p> - -<p>There was a space of silence, then Mr. Fabian -spoke:—</p> - -<p>"I am going to trust your sister's judgment -in this matter, Edgar. She believes you are in -earnest. I am going to pay these tuition bills, -and the coming months will show whether this -is another passing toy, or a matter in which you -can make good. To find you are good for anything, -my boy," added the father, after another -painful pause, "will be an amazing and welcome -discovery."</p> - -<p>Something clicked in Edgar's throat. He -evidently wished to speak, but his tongue -seemed glued to the roof of his mouth. At last -he found voice.</p> - -<p>"I don't blame you," he said jerkily, "but—I'll -show you!"</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian nodded his head slightly. "That's -what I want," he said quietly; "I need to be -shown."</p> - -<p>Without another word, Edgar turned on his -heel and left the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen sank on her knees and buried her -face on her father's breast.</p> - -<p>"He didn't thank you," she said, half -weeping, "but he felt it. I know he felt it. Oh, -father, how I hope for your sake—"</p> - -<p>She could not speak further, and Mr. Fabian -patted her shoulder, his eyes gazing out the -darkening window.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">MRS. FABIAN'S SCHEME</p> - - -<p>Mrs. Fabian chanced to meet Edgar as he was -leaving the house immediately after this interview. -She had heard the closing of the library -door, and the expression of her son's excited -face, as he strode by her, was such that she let -him go in silence.</p> - -<p>She knew Kathleen was with her father, and -she was only too willing to use the girl as a buffer -when Edgar was the subject of conversation.</p> - -<p>She moved about restlessly until she heard -Kathleen leave the den and close the door softly -behind her. Then she waylaid her daughter at -the foot of the staircase. By the soft light of -the electric lantern, she could see that the girl's -eyes were red.</p> - -<p>"Come right up to my room," she whispered, -excitedly, as if the very walls had ears. "I just -met Edgar."</p> - -<p>They ascended in silence and Mrs. Fabian led -the way into her boudoir, started an electric -fan, and turned on the light.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Has his father cut him off?" she asked, facing -Kathleen, her gaze wide with dread.</p> - -<p>"No, oh, no." The girl sank into a chair. -"It was awful, but I hope it is the beginning of -better things. Did you know that Edgar had -begun to work with his voice?"</p> - -<p>"No! I've noticed that he has been making -the most awful noises in his room lately."</p> - -<p>"Well, the talk grew out of that and the new -debts he has contracted."</p> - -<p>"Edgar can't turn around without getting -into debt!" ejaculated his mother desperately.</p> - -<p>Kathleen told her then what had occurred -and she listened attentively.</p> - -<p>"Do you suppose it will amount to anything?" -she asked at last.</p> - -<p>Kathleen shook her head vaguely. "I don't -know enough about the opportunities," she -replied, "and I know too much about Edgar. -If he is only going to use an accomplishment to -stand in a more brilliant limelight with those -whose admiration he wants—" she shook her -head again.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked thoughtful. "I never -saw such a look in his face as he had just -now."</p> - -<p>"Father's words stung him, I know. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> -even said, 'I don't blame you.' Perhaps he will -begin now to be a man."</p> - -<p>"I thought he might be going forever. I -didn't dare to speak to him."</p> - -<p>Kathleen gave a disclaiming exclamation. -"He couldn't do that. He is more helpless -than a little new-fledged chicken."</p> - -<p>"I don't know," returned Mrs. Fabian sapiently. -"Take a weak, good-looking fellow like -Edgar, with a lovely voice, and if he became -reckless there are plenty of sporty cafés in this -town where they would pay him as an attraction. -He knows that."</p> - -<p>"Mother!" exclaimed Kathleen, aghast.</p> - -<p>"Why, certainly!" averred Mrs. Fabian dismally -elated at the dismay she had evoked. -"There are a few things I know more about -than you do, Kathleen. Imagine a handsome -young fellow in correct evening clothes, when -the patrons are hilarious at midnight, rising in -his place, and, wineglass in hand, suddenly -singing a love-song or ragtime. Do you think -he would get a few encores? Do you think he -could get paid to come again?" Mrs. Fabian -had heard a description of lurid New Year's -Eve revels and she built a shrewd surmise -upon it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen was so worked upon by the picture -that she rose restlessly, and moving to the window -gazed into the summer gloom as if searching -for a glimpse of her brother's well-carried, -polished blond head.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian bridled with dignified importance -as she watched her; but her complacency -was short-lived.</p> - -<p>Kathleen suddenly faced about. "Then -how," she asked, "can you wish me to leave for -the island at such a time?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, are you going back to that again!"</p> - -<p>"With father and Edgar in this sensitive state -toward each other—to leave them to meet -alone in this great house, with no one to soften -the embarrassment. Would it be any wonder if -Edgar fled to just such scenes as you describe? -And wouldn't it be decidedly our fault?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian leaned forward in her armchair.</p> - -<p>"You couldn't do any permanent good," -she said earnestly. "Edgar must really act -alone, whether you are here or not. He hasn't -done any of his practising here anyway, except -those uncanny noises in his room."</p> - -<p>"No. There is some piano house where he -has been able to use a room at noon; but his -teacher sails this week and he cannot get the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> -room any more. He would naturally do a lot of -work at home after you were gone, if he felt -at ease; and if I were here, it would help a great -deal."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian felt baffled. The truth of Kathleen's -proposition was unanswerable; and to -urge any claim above Edgar's good at this -crucial time would be, she knew, inexcusable -in his sister's eyes.</p> - -<p>The girl, burdened with the double responsibility -of her father's confidence, and Edgar's -future, turned again to the window and gazed -out into the darkness, while Mrs. Fabian, leaning -back in the breeze from the electric fan, -put on her thinking-cap. It seemed hard that -her wayward boy, if he had started on a worthy -road, should manage at his very first step to -get in her way.</p> - -<p>Her will was strong and shrewd. When later -that night she was alone with her husband, she -opened the subject.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen tells me Edgar has taken up serious -work with his voice."</p> - -<p>"Kathleen is optimistic," was the laconic -reply.</p> - -<p>"I think, Henry, we ought to meet him half-way -in any honourable undertaking."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian made an inarticulate exclamation. -He was thinking of the bill Kathleen had -placed in his hands before she left him to-night.</p> - -<p>"I can't think," proceeded Mrs. Fabian, -"that anything but a high sense of duty would -induce anybody to make the blood-curdling -noises that I've heard lately from Edgar's -room."</p> - -<p>A short silence; then Mrs. Fabian spoke -again. "It seems he cannot go any longer to -the place where he has done his practising. I'm -afraid if he should work evenings here, it might -annoy you, Henry."</p> - -<p>"I dare say it might," agreed the weary man, -with an involuntary sigh.</p> - -<p>"I was thinking that if he is not very busy -at the office—"</p> - -<p>"Very busy!" The father threw back his -head.</p> - -<p>"You might give him a longer vacation"—</p> - -<p>"Edgar's whole life is a vacation," said Mr. -Fabian.</p> - -<p>"And let him go with us to the island. If he -is really going to make music his lifework he -could practise regularly there and be away -from temptations, and—"</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian slowly faced his wife with such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> -attention that she paused hopefully, then went -on:—</p> - -<p>"You know Philip Sidney is going with me, and -his companionship would be so good for Edgar."</p> - -<p>"It's a bright thought, my dear," said Mr. -Fabian. "The office will be able to struggle -along without Edgar, and then we can close the -house and I can live at the club."</p> - -<p>"Not too long," said his wife, so pleased at -her sudden success that she put her arms around -his neck and kissed him. "Not too long, Henry. -You must take a long vacation this year."</p> - -<p>He returned her caress. "One day at a time," -he said briefly.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian sought her pillow, well-pleased; -and contrary to her habit, she was up betimes -next morning, and hastened to her son's room -before he came down to breakfast.</p> - -<p>"Can I come in?" she asked, knocking.</p> - -<p>Edgar was in his shirt-sleeves adjusting his -tie; and when he opened the door and saw his -mother, he gave an exclamation.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" he asked. "Too hot -to sleep?"</p> - -<p>A cloudless sun was promising another day -with a soaring thermometer.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian noted the hard questioning in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> -her boy's eyes. She knew he considered her his -father's aid in denying him the right to spend -as a millionaire's son should—knew that his -attitude toward her had long been defensive; -and that her unusual visit to his room roused -only his suspicion of something disagreeable.</p> - -<p>"Do you mind if I come in, dear?" she asked, -her soft silks trailing noiselessly as she moved -across the room. "I am so interested in what -I hear about your music."</p> - -<p>Edgar was silent, continuing to busy himself -with his tie. He knew his stepmother too well -to believe that she had risen with the lark to -felicitate him on his last venture. He took up -the ivory military brushes she had given him -and began to use them vigorously. He was still -smarting from the scene of the night before -and he braced himself for a homily on the subject -of his music bill.</p> - -<p>"I've never believed in thwarting a child's -bent," said Mrs. Fabian, flicking the ashes from -a chair to make it fit to sit upon. "I said to -Philip Sidney's mother, 'let him paint.' I said -to your father last night when I heard all this, -'let Edgar sing.'"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian paused to allow her breadth of -view to sink in. Edgar glanced around at her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> -sulkily, from his mirror, and then looked back -again.</p> - -<p>"Now, you have no taste for commercial life, -dear, why waste more time in it at present until -you see what the artistic line holds for you?"</p> - -<p>Edgar glanced back at the speaker again -quickly. What was the "nigger in the fence"? -Her face looked innocently out at him from a -becoming boudoir cap.</p> - -<p>"And I suggested to your father that he let -your vacation start earlier and that you come -with us to the island next Wednesday. You are -going to work for a time anyway without your -teacher, and this hot atmosphere must be so -relaxing to the throat. There it is pure and -bracing and you can lay out your course of -study and be undisturbed."</p> - -<p>Edgar regarded the speaker with some interest -now, but still questioning.</p> - -<p>"Father thinks, then, we could close the -house and he would live at the club."</p> - -<p>Edgar tossed his head, raised his eyebrows, -and proceeded to put on his coat.</p> - -<p>"You want to close the house. That's it," -he said.</p> - -<p>"Don't you think it would be a good plan?" -asked Mrs. Fabian ingratiatingly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span></p> - -<p>All Edgar's cynicism was not proof against -allowing some satisfaction to appear in the -prospect of leaving the office routine and pursuing -the line of work which had genuinely -captured his interest.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I don't mind," he answered. "Kath -going with you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, and Philip Sidney,—just for a short -visit."</p> - -<p>Edgar shrugged his shoulders.</p> - -<p>"You can imagine the heat of that stable -room," suggested Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Tophet, I suppose," agreed Edgar. "All -right. I'll go." The even teeth had been set -many times since last evening in the prospect -of a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</i> existence with his father.</p> - -<p>"I wish we might go on all together, but, of -course, not knowing, I didn't engage a berth -for you."</p> - -<p>"I'll go on the day train," responded -Edgar; adding with his customary grace, "I -never was keen for travelling in caravans anyway."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian was not critical of his rudeness. -She was too pleased at having gained her end, -and soon floated away to Kathleen's room, her -next strategic point.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span></p> - -<p>She found her daughter propped up in bed -with coffee and toast on a table before her.</p> - -<p>"Good morning, mother, you put me to -shame," said the girl. "Didn't you sleep -either? This is early for you."</p> - -<p>"Poor child," said Mrs. Fabian, seating herself -on the foot of the bed and observing the -rings around the other's eyes. "Yes, I slept -pretty well, but not until after your father and -I had had a long talk."</p> - -<p>Kathleen scrutinized her mother's complacent -countenance and made up her mind that -the talk could not have concerned business.</p> - -<p>"I told him how sure I felt that Edgar was in -earnest now, and we both concluded it was time -wasted to try any longer to fit a square peg -into a round hole, so your father is going to let -the boy go to the island at once with us and -work at his voice there, away from temptations."</p> - -<p>"Oh, how fine!" breathed Kathleen. "Then," -she added aloud, "he will entertain Mr. Sidney -in my place, and I can stay with father."</p> - -<p>"That's an absurd idea and you know it. -Philip and Edgar would get along like two -tigers. You can see that I need you more than -ever to reconcile them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen's face did not look encouraging. -She longed to tell her mother of her father's -straits, but her lips were sealed.</p> - -<p>"Besides," added Mrs. Fabian, with the -conscious power of one who plays the last -trump, "one reason your father wishes to dispense -with Edgar is that he wants to close the -house and live at the club."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's face fell and her eyes looked away.</p> - -<p>"You see he'll come to us all the sooner, -dear," said her mother. "Men talk about enjoying -living at the club, but when they are -happy family men they tire of it very soon."</p> - -<p>The girl smiled faintly. "We have been -something of a 'happy family' lately," she said; -"but if Edgar really turns over a new leaf—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, he has!" declared Mrs. Fabian. "I'm -glad to remember that the outdoors is large at -Brewster's. I suspect he will nearly drive us -crazy, but one must exercise some self-sacrifice -in this world." She rose. "Take another nap if -you can, Kathleen. I'm thankful the island is -so near for you. You're completely tired out."</p> - -<p>But Kathleen did not take another nap. She -dressed very soon, and, pleading a desire for -fresh air, left the house. She did not ask for the -machine lest her mother should offer to accom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span>pany -her, but descended in all her dainty whiteness -into the subway and started for Wall -Street. Arrived at the labyrinth of offices -where daily Mr. Fabian struggled and Edgar -endured, she dreaded meeting her brother, but -she saw nothing of him, and waited in an ante-room, -looking about her with a swelling heart. -How little part she and her mother had ever -had in the heavy responsibilities of her father's -life. She doubted if her mother came here twice -a year, and when she did it was simply to obtain -money.</p> - -<p>She had not long to wait, for Mr. Fabian -himself opened the door of his private office, -and the clerk passing out saw him stoop and -kiss the girl in the large hat strewn with lilacs.</p> - -<p>"What brings you, my dear?" he asked, his -brows knitting anxiously. She smiled and -clung to his hand as they moved inside. -"You're pale, Kathleen. Off to the island with -you, child. Off to the island."</p> - -<p>"That's just what I came about," she answered, -taking the chair he set for her, and the -electric fan whirring above her head carried the -scent of orris to her father. "I would so much -rather stay with you. I came to urge you to let -me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span></p> - -<p>He regarded her with eyes full of affection -and gave a short laugh.</p> - -<p>"I frightened you last night," he said. "Perhaps -I did wrong."</p> - -<p>"No, no, you didn't. Mother told me the -plan to let Edgar go. That is right. Edgar -can't be a comfort to you; but I can, father. -Don't shut up the house. Let me stay with you -till you are ready to go."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian nodded, his eyes fixed upon the -sensitive face with its beseeching eyes.</p> - -<p>"You're a good girl, Kathleen. You are a -comfort to me, whether we're together or not; -and just now it will be an advantage to me to -live close to my associates at the club. Go without -anxiety, child. I promise to keep you advised -of everything important."</p> - -<p>The troubled eyes did not leave his face.</p> - -<p>"Don't exaggerate what I said last night. I -am not going to make any spectacular failure, -but I have my own ideas of equity and I'm not -going to wriggle out on a technicality. My -course may lose me friends as well as money; -but I've got to live with myself, and there are -some memories I don't propose to entertain. -Your mother has always been moderate in her -demands, she has never shared the insane ambi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>tions -of some of her acquaintances; but her -toys are very dear to her and I hate to curtail -them. It looks as if I might have to."</p> - -<p>"It might be the making of Edgar," said -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>Her father regarded her in silent admiration. -It was evident that her own part in the loss had -not occurred to her.</p> - -<p>"Your mother's unselfishness in keeping the -island summer home, because I like its simplicity, -makes this season's problem easy. By -autumn I shall know the worst."</p> - -<p>"How I would like to stay with you right -along until everything is settled," said Kathleen -fervently. "I want to be sure that you -know how happy I should be in it. I keep so -busy with my slides and microscope, and then—there's -something else I do." Kathleen -colored consciously. "I meant not to tell any -one yet, but,—I write a little!"</p> - -<p>"Stories, you mean?"</p> - -<p>The girl nodded. "It is nothing, it may never -amount to anything; but the microscope suggested -it to me. There is such a great world -that we never enter or think about. So you can -see how happy I should be in our big, cool house, -and not a bit lonely,—if you'll only have me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I believe you, Kathleen, but it wouldn't -work, dear. I could be at home so little, and -I'd like to cut off the expense of the house."</p> - -<p>"Oh, oh! Is it so bad as that?"</p> - -<p>"No, not nearly so bad; but in time of peace, -prepare for war."</p> - -<p>"Then mother had better not take her usual -weeks at a resort."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian raised his eyebrows. "How else -is the dear lady to exhibit her summer toilets? -The fish at the island are so unappreciative."</p> - -<p>"Don't keep things from mother," pleaded -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I promise not to when there is anything to -tell. I was weak enough to think out loud with -you. Now, run along, my child."</p> - -<p>"Oh, father, always be weak enough to think -out loud with me. Will you?" He had risen -and she did so reluctantly.</p> - -<p>He crushed her trim whiteness in his arms, -and kissed her. "Don't make me sorry, then. -Don't cross any bridge until you come to it. -Promise."</p> - -<p>She smiled up at him bravely. "I promise," -she said, and left the office with a wistful backward -look at him standing there, his eyes following -her.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">CASCO BAY</p> - - -<p>Pat's benevolent heart swelled with satisfaction -when, a few evenings later, Philip ran down -the stable stairs, his packed suitcase in hand.</p> - -<p>"Wish you were going along," said the artist, -meeting the Irishman's approving gaze.</p> - -<p>"I will as soon as ye need a valet," was the -reply. "Ye think I can't put on style!" Pat -winked and shook his head knowingly. "Ye'd -burst wid pride if ye saw me fixed up and waitin' -on ye."</p> - -<p>"I haven't a doubt of it. Well, so long. It -will be only a few nights before I shall be back, -sizzling with you again." And Phil gave the -man a smiling nod and went out of the door, -almost running into the arms of Mrs. Fabian, -who, in the trimmest of cool grey travelling -gowns, was looking askance at a spring and -mattress outside the barn door.</p> - -<p>Pat aghast, hastened to button the open throat -of his shirt. "The Queen o' Sheby," he muttered.</p> - -<p>"Why, did I keep you waiting, Aunt Isabel?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> -asked Phil, with contrition. "I was planning to -be out in front in plenty of time."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is early, but I wanted to speak to -your man a minute."</p> - -<p>Pat bowed in the direction of the voluminous -grey chiffon veil. "You may go out and join -Kathleen," Mrs. Fabian added.</p> - -<p>"Dear me, nothing private, I hope," said -Phil, vastly amused by the conflicting emotions -on the Irishman's face.</p> - -<p>"Have you seen to putting your evening -clothes away?" asked Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Why—why, they're hanging up there in -the closet."</p> - -<p>"Just what I expected. Run along, and I'll -tell this good man what to do."</p> - -<p>Phil gave Pat one humorous glance and -obeyed, passing out toward the street where he -soon saw Kathleen in the waiting car, her hat -tied down by a roseate veil.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian at once accosted Pat. "Could -you pack up Mr. Sidney's belongings and send -them after him, if we ask you?"</p> - -<p>"I could, mum, but 'tis only a week he'll -be away."</p> - -<p>"He wouldn't want his evening clothes. Do -you know what a moth-bag is?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I do not, thin."</p> - -<p>"Well, go to the store and ask, please. Brush -Mr. Sidney's evening clothes thoroughly and -put them in the bag, seal it up tight, and hang -it in the closet. The careless boy. That's what -comes of always having had a mother."</p> - -<p>"Lot's o' folks is jist that careless," remarked -Pat. He was beginning to feel that even a -queen, if she invaded his own vine and fig tree, -might be a little less peremptory.</p> - -<p>"You may send everything else, except of -course his winter overcoat. By the way, you -may get another moth-bag for that, and treat -it in the same manner."</p> - -<p>"He'll not be stayin', mum. He's all for -work."</p> - -<p>"Has he been sleeping out here on these hot -stones?" demanded Mrs. Fabian, with dilating -nostrils, looking at the mattress.</p> - -<p>"No, mum, he usually took the bed," responded -the Irishman.</p> - -<p>"Well, you've carried his upstairs, I see."</p> - -<p>"I'll have to break it to ye that he did it -himself," said the man.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian ignored his manner. Her thought -was filled with Philip's situation.</p> - -<p>"Well, here," she said, with a preoccupied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> -air, and, taking a bill from the fine-mesh purse -which hung from her wrist, she held it out to -the Irishman. "Take this and do what I've -asked you. You needn't prepay the trunk if -you send it. Keep the change, and I hope the -heat here won't grow any worse. Good-bye." -And Mrs. Fabian turned on her heel and the -grey chiffon floated away up the alley.</p> - -<p>Pat looked at the five-dollar bill he held and -tossed his head. "Who is that bye," he muttered, -"and will he iver live in the stable ag'in?"</p> - -<p>Suddenly, bethinking himself that he might -see the grand departure of his lodger, he hurried -out to the street, and was in time to see Phil's -straw hat loom amid a confusion of grey and -rosy streaming veils.</p> - -<p>"Sure, 'tis only the rich enjoys this life," he -thought good-naturedly, and unbuttoning his -neckband again, he returned to his palm-leaf fan.</p> - -<p>As the motor flew breezily through the hot -city streets, Philip gave himself up to the -pleasure of his outing. Mrs. Fabian regarded -him with supreme satisfaction, and Kathleen, -though a little heartsore from parting with her -father, dared not indulge in a pensive moment, -knowing that her mother would pounce upon it -alertly and later reproach her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p> - -<p>They passed the evening in the stateroom of -the flying train, and Mrs. Fabian narrated with -much dignity the tale of Edgar's retirement -from commercial life in favor of the arts. Philip -pricked up his ears when he learned that the -heir of the house was expected at the island at -once.</p> - -<p>Kathleen was not obliged to talk much, and -at last they all ceased fanning themselves and -shouting remarks against the clatter of the open -windows, and retired.</p> - -<p>After breakfast the following morning, as -they entered a carriage to cross Portland, -Kathleen nodded at Philip.</p> - -<p>"Say good-bye to heat," she remarked.</p> - -<p>"Hard to believe," returned the Westerner, -who had tried to refrain from talking of his -native mountains. His thoughts often travelled -back even to the stable studio where certain -work begun stood awaiting his return; but soon -after they entered the boat for the island, he -began to see Kathleen's words fulfilled. The -ladies wrapped themselves in heavy coats and -Mrs. Fabian begged Phil to put on his sweater; -but he held his hat in his hand and declared his -desire to be chilled to the bone.</p> - -<p>As they pulled out past the near islands into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> -wide spaces of sea, interest slowly grew in Phil's -eyes. His comments grew less frequent, and -finally stopped. The islands rose tree-crowned -from the water, casting deep green reflections -at their feet. Phil took a notebook from his -pocket, and occasionally asking the name of an -island, he wrote it in the book. Kathleen, -understanding his intent, and knowing that he -would not fulfil it because of greater satisfaction -further on, smiled at her mother.</p> - -<p>"What did I tell you?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Well, what did you?"</p> - -<p>"That he wouldn't know whether I was here -or not."</p> - -<p>"Sh—!"</p> - -<p>"He can't hear me any more than if he were -anæsthetized."</p> - -<p>"Hush, Kathleen."</p> - -<p>"I'll prove it." She raised her voice. "Mr. -Sidney!"</p> - -<p>Phil not only did not reply, but after a moment -more he moved away to another and more -unobstructed spot.</p> - -<p>Kathleen gave a low laugh and Mrs. Fabian -looked pleased.</p> - -<p>"He is enjoying it, isn't he?" she returned. -"This day is a wonderful bit of good fortune.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> -First impressions are so important. What made -you expect him to behave like this?"</p> - -<p>"I think I must have a groping, artistic sense -myself. At any rate, I knew what Casco Bay -must do to an artist when he comes upon it all -unprepared."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian sighed. "Well, I'm glad our -coming here does somebody some good. Are -you going on forever calling that boy 'Mr.'? -Of course, he can't be informal with you unless -you will be so with him."</p> - -<p>"Mother dear, I tell you it doesn't matter," -laughed the girl. "He has gone into a trance -and he probably won't come out of it till the -first fog. By that time, perhaps I shall feel -entirely informal."</p> - -<p>Captain James stood on the pier when the -boat approached Brewster's Island. Kathleen -caught sight of him and waved her handkerchief.</p> - -<p>"Mother, it's time to go and make passes -over Philip," she said. "He'll have to wake -up."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian went to the guest and touched -him on the arm. For an hour and a half he had -not addressed them.</p> - -<p>He started.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span></p> - -<p>"We're there, Phil," she said.</p> - -<p>He followed her, and glanced at Kathleen -with a sensation of guilt. He seized the bags -with an alacrity intended to offset his preoccupation.</p> - -<p>"It's a wonderful bay," he said.</p> - -<p>Kathleen was not regarding him. She was -leaning over the rail, waving again toward a -tall lean man on the wharf, who smiled, -well-pleased, and jerked his head in her direction.</p> - -<p>Soon many passengers were streaming up the -gangplank, and in a minute Kathleen was greeting -the tall lean man with a gayety Phil had -never before seen in her demeanor.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian next shook hands with him, and -introduced Phil, who, in the confusion and -limitations of the commonplace wharf, had -quite regained his normal alertness.</p> - -<p>"You gave us a very nice day, Cap'n James," -said Mrs. Fabian graciously. "Where's the -carriage?"</p> - -<p>"Waitin'. Can't take you all, I'm afraid. -Mrs. Frick from down-along engaged me -ahead."</p> - -<p>"Ahead of us?" inquired Mrs. Fabian -superbly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Got one seat," said Captain James. He -was accustomed to Mrs. Fabian's autocracy.</p> - -<p>"That's all we want," said Kathleen. "Mr. -Sidney and I will walk up."</p> - -<p>So Mrs. Fabian and the bags were stowed in -the carriage and the young people were started -on their walk before Tom had turned heavily -into the road.</p> - -<p>"What air!" exclaimed Phil, as they struck -into the deep grass.</p> - -<p>"One can live on it," agreed the girl.</p> - -<p>"Don't expect me to; I feel wonderful pangs -already. Gramercy Park had nearly cured me -of eating."</p> - -<p>He smiled down at his companion in the roseate -veil tied under her chin, and she glanced -up at the city pallor of his face. "I should -think it might," she agreed. "Wait a week. -We shall both look like tomatoes and feel like -disembodied spirits."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I behaved like the latter, coming -down the bay; but really I forgot everything. -I want to study the boat-tables and go back -to some of those wonderful shores."</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled demurely. "This doesn't -cut much of a figure by contrast, does it?" she -said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were crossing diagonally through a -green field which led gently up to the island -road.</p> - -<p>"It's beautifully fresh here," replied Phil -politely, looking about the bare treeless expanse -rolling up to a bluff against illimitable -sky.</p> - -<p>A village store upon the road, a little school-house -and a cottage or two, were all that was -to be seen.</p> - -<p>Above, on Mrs. Wright's doorstep, Eliza -Brewster was standing, opera glass in hand, -watching the tall figure and the rosy veil coming -up through the field. She had restrained -herself from running down to the road, for she -dreaded Mrs. Fabian, and Phil for the moment -had forgotten that Eliza might be in the neighborhood. -His eyes brightened as they reached -the road. He had been privately wondering -why the Fabians had chosen this unpromising -island as their abiding place. Now he caught -sight of the spreading cove, its brilliant banks -dark with evergreen trees, while in sheltered -spots maples and birches stood amid a riot of -shrubs inviting the birds.</p> - -<p>"That's a fine cove," he said, his eyes fixed -on the far reaches of the sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> - -<p>"So the yachtsmen think," returned Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Let's look at it a minute," said Phil.</p> - -<p>The girl paused obediently and a smile -touched the corners of her lips. Phil's impersonality -with regard to herself was novel; for Kathleen -had the intangible quality called charm to -such a degree that nothing masculine had ever -before been able to approach so near to her -without striving to win her favor.</p> - -<p>From that first Sunday in the stable studio -she had perceived that if she were going to see -more of this new factor in the family circle she -must do the striving if she were to become a -factor to him. A dread that she might desire -to do this had beset her ever since, and warned -her away from him with a sense of self-preservation.</p> - -<p>He stood forgetful of her now, and narrowed -his eyes to the picture.</p> - -<p>"Well, have you looked enough?" she asked. -"How are the pangs?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," he replied hurriedly. "I can -come back."</p> - -<p>"Certainly, we promise not to lock you up," -she answered, half-laughing. "We'll get better -views of it, too, as we go on," she added, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> -turned at a right angle into a green ribbon road -leading up a second incline.</p> - -<p>Phil looked about vaguely, and followed her. -He noticed on the crest above them a cottage -of boulders and shingles.</p> - -<p>"Yours?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Home, sweet home," she answered.</p> - -<p>Captain James passed them now with his -load, and by the time they reached the cottage, -Mrs. Fabian was on the steps to welcome them; -but Philip was absorbed in the surprise which -the summit of that hill gave the newcomer. -Before him, but a few rods away, spread the -Atlantic, foaming at the foot of the bluff. Distant -islands came near in the crystal air, their -outline defined by rocks, which in the distance -seemed ribbons of sandy beach. The superb -breadth of view, ending either in the horizon -or in the irregular skyline of the mainland, took -the breath of the unfamiliar.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian straightened with pleasure in -the spellbound look of her guest as, his hat -dropped upon the grass, he gazed in silence. -It was her island and her view. She started to -speak, but Kathleen touched her finger to her -lips with a suggestive smile; so the lady sank -instead into a hammock chair. Her maid Molly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> -came out of the house, greeted the ladies and -carried in their bags, saying that dinner would -be served whenever they were ready.</p> - -<p>Philip, from his stand below on the grass, -turned and looked up at them, his eyes dark -with the blue of the sea.</p> - -<p>"I understand now," he said, "why you -haven't talked about it."</p> - -<p>"Come in and have something to eat," suggested -his exultant hostess. "We have noon -dinner. Kathleen simply refuses to shorten the -day with a long evening meal."</p> - -<p>Philip gave the girl a brilliant smile of appreciation.</p> - -<p>"After dinner," went on Mrs. Fabian, -"Kathleen will take you to walk to some of our -pretty places."</p> - -<p>"No, indeed," said the girl hastily. "I understand -just how Mr. Sidney will love to -explore for himself. I wouldn't spoil his surprises."</p> - -<p>Philip said nothing to the contrary. His -thoughts were absorbed taking mental stock -of the materials he had brought, and he followed -mechanically into the charming cottage -whose every window framed a water scene, -waves creaming upon the rocks which stretched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> -granite fingers unceasingly to grasp them, while -unceasingly they slipped away.</p> - -<p>As soon as Phil reached his room he threw -open his suitcase with feverish haste and examined -all the sketching paraphernalia he had -packed so hastily.</p> - -<p>The music box which called to meals played -all its tunes, but the guest did not appear. At -last Mrs. Fabian sent Molly to knock on his -door.</p> - -<p>"What a wonderful day," she said to Kathleen -when they were alone, "and in June one is -so likely to strike fog and rain. Now let it come. -He has seen what Brewster's Island really is—or -he will see when you have taken him about -this afternoon. The only drawback to the whole -trip so far has been your refusal to do that. -How could you be so abrupt, my dear?"</p> - -<p>"Mother, don't try to manage an artist," -replied the girl emphatically. "He will want -only to be let alone. Can't you see it? And so -do I." Kathleen looked remarkably defiant. -"I want to be let alone. This is my vacation, -too, remember. I have worked as hard as he -has."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian met her child's determined regard -with surprise. Kathleen did look pale and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span> -thin, now that she had time to observe it. -The heat of the train last night had not been -conducive to sleep.</p> - -<p>"Very well, dear," she acquiesced with -meekness. "Perhaps you ought to lie down this -afternoon. I'm sure I shall. I'd like the very -waves to be still."</p> - -<p>As she spoke the last word, Philip appeared -and they sat down at table. The combination -of the air and the delicious fresh sea-food to -one long unaccustomed to home fare made the -guest suspend all artistic calculations and do -such justice to the dinner that Mrs. Fabian -sighed.</p> - -<p>"It is such a satisfaction to have a man's -appetite at the table," she said, when Phil -made laughing apology and referred to the city -restaurants. "To-morrow we shall have two -men."</p> - -<p>"To be sure," thought Phil. These were -Edgar's mother and sister and home. Somehow -he could not fit the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">blasé</i> society man into this -Arcadia. He must make the most of to-day.</p> - -<p>As his hunger wore away he looked more and -more from the windows. The dining-room -might have been on a ship for the freedom of -its vast sea views. When they rose from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> -table, he looked at Kathleen with boyish -expectancy.</p> - -<p>"Are we going to walk?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian interposed with the best intentions. -"I don't think Kathleen had better go, -after all, Phil," she said. "She is very tired. -She is going to lie down. You won't mind running -about this first afternoon by yourself, -I'm sure."</p> - -<p>Kathleen saw disappointment and then concern -grow in the guest's face, for he suddenly -observed that she was pale.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense, I wouldn't think of wasting time -lying down," she said cheerfully. "Wait a few -minutes. I'll be downstairs in a jiffy."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian watched her as she ran lightly -up the stairway.</p> - -<p>"Do you think she ought to go?" asked Phil -doubtfully.</p> - -<p>"Philip," returned his hostess dryly, "don't -ask me what I think. If you ever have a -daughter twenty years old and just out of -college, you will find the safest, wisest course is -not to think at all." But she smiled as she said -it; for this time Kathleen's waywardness was -not displeasing.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">FLASHES OF BLUE</p> - - -<p>When Kathleen ran downstairs a little later, -Phil looked at her in smiling surprise. The elegant -Miss Fabian had disappeared. In her -stead was a young girl, shorter by the height -of a fashionable boot-heel, and with braided -hair wound around her head, fastened by a -broad bow of black ribbon. Her short, dark-blue -skirt reached to her ankles and a Tam o' -Shanter crowned her head.</p> - -<p>Phil turned to his hostess. "What a strong -family resemblance your youngest bears to -Miss Fabian. I should know she was her sister -if I met her anywhere."</p> - -<p>"Yes, this is Kathleen, not Miss Fabian. -Don't forget it. When you come back, I expect -you to be treating each other as cousins should. -Don't let her walk too far, Phil." Mrs. Fabian -stifled a yawn. "I think I shall take a nap in -the wind-break."</p> - -<p>She watched the pair as they moved away from -the house. The breeze was tossing the short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> -dark hair on Phil's uncovered head. Kathleen, -in her rubber-soled, heelless shoes, scarcely -reached his ear.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad now," mused Mrs. Fabian, "that -Kathleen is a Van Ruysler iceberg. If she were -a susceptible girl, I wouldn't wish her to be -with that man a minute. What matter if he is -a high-minded, fine chap? If he didn't care -for her she'd suffer just the same." And Mrs. -Fabian gave a yawn mightier than its predecessors -and sought her favorite nook.</p> - -<p>Meantime Eliza Brewster was making restless -sallies from the kitchen to the front room -and gazing over toward the boulder cottage. -She felt sure Phil would inquire about her, and -not let too much time pass before he ran across -the field to Mrs. Wright's.</p> - -<p>The dinner dishes were washed and cleared -away and Eliza had on a clean gingham dress -and white apron. Mrs. Wright saw her expectancy.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Sidney is a stranger in a strange land," -she said. "He will be entirely dependent on his -hosts this first day. Why shouldn't we run -over there?" she added with a bright thought. -"That's only island neighborliness."</p> - -<p>But Eliza shook her head.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It would be the very way to begin a new -chapter," urged Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>Eliza gazed from the window by which she -was sitting. In the evolution to health and -peace which the winter had brought, her causes -of offence had gradually retreated into greater -perspective, and the broad calm outlook which -Mrs. Wright brought to bear on the untoward -as well as the agreeable events of life had -affected the narrow hardness of her own observations. -Nevertheless, to beard the lioness in -her den on the very day of her arrival would be -a feat entirely beyond Eliza; so she only shook -her head again, put on a shade hat, turned up -the skirt of her dress, and went out to weed the -sweet peas.</p> - -<p>Thus it was that, with her back to the boulder -cottage and her hands busy with the earth she -loved, she did not hear steps that approached -on the springy turf; and the first notice she had -of the arrival of callers was a man's voice -speaking above her.</p> - -<p>"Doing finely, aren't they?" was the remark.</p> - -<p>Well she knew the voice. She stepped on her -petticoat in her haste to arise, and two strong -hands went under her arms and lifted her to -her feet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Mr. Philip!" she said gladly.</p> - -<p>He was laughing down at her, and Pluto was -on his shoulder. Kathleen Fabian stood a few -feet away, and Eliza nodded a greeting to her -while she allowed Phil to shake both her hands, -green stains and all. Mrs. Wright, seeing them -from a window, came out to welcome Kathleen -and meet Phil, and the usual felicitations on -the weather and first impressions followed.</p> - -<p>"I can see," said Phil, "that I am going to be -miserly of my days. I was just asking Miss -Kathleen if all this beauty is liable to vanish -in a fog-bank to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"And she told you not at all liable, I'm sure," -said Mrs. Wright; "but if it does—that is the -beauty of the island—you'll sit before a blazing -open fire and enjoy that quite as well." -Phil shook his head. "The mere amazement -of enjoying a fire at the end of the past week -would, indeed, be absorbing for a while; but I -want to try my hand at this—this new world." -He looked off at the blue of the crested waves -and the blue of the distant hills. "We are just -on our way to the boat now to send a night -letter to Pat to get him to send on some stuff. -I'm glad you're such a near neighbor, Eliza. -I shall be seeing you often."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'll not waste your time now asking you -into the house," said Mrs. Wright, "but some -wet day you must come in and try our fireplace. -When does your brother come, Miss Kathleen?"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow; and your niece, Mrs. Wright?"</p> - -<p>"In another week, I think. I long to get -hold of the child."</p> - -<p>After a few more amenities, in which Eliza -took but little part, except to gaze at Phil with -wistful eyes, the young people started for the -wharf.</p> - -<p>"What a bonny young man," said Mrs. -Wright, looking after them.</p> - -<p>"Ain't he just about right?" agreed Eliza -proudly. "You see there ain't any philanderin' -there. He just wants to work and work. Here, -Pluto! Kitty, kitty," for the cat was running -after the departing couple. He paused, not -from obedience, but because he saw that their -course lay downhill and he preferred a sheltered -sunny corner by the step.</p> - -<p>Phil sent his night letter by the purser of the -boat, and the two went back up the hill. Mrs. -Fabian beckoned to them from the veranda.</p> - -<p>"I thought you would be asleep by this time," -said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I thought I would, too," returned Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> -Fabian. "Come here and let me show you how -careless Cap'n James has been."</p> - -<p>They followed her to the shelter of the windbreak -where her favorite hammock hung, and -whirring wings nearly brushed Phil's face as -they entered. The nook was enclosed on two -sides with glass, and Mrs. Fabian pointed to -the snug lofty corner where the swallows had -nested. The young were grown and one had -ventured out upon a beam.</p> - -<p>"Oh, oh!" exclaimed Kathleen, with soft -delight. "We're in time for the coming-out -party. Come here, mother, you're frightening -them." And Mrs. Fabian found herself seized -unsympathetically and drawn to a safe distance.</p> - -<p>"But I must sleep, Kathleen. I'm exhausted. -I was just dozing off when those creatures -swooped across me chattering. I nearly jumped -out of the hammock. It was a nervous shock."</p> - -<p>"I suppose," said the girl, "they were saying, -'Why couldn't those big clumsy human beings -have stayed away just one more day!' You -must be a mascot, Phil, so many fortunate -happenings for your first day."</p> - -<p>She was quite unconscious that the name had -slipped out, and the guest smiled and seated -himself on the railing near her while Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> -Fabian in a rocking-chair began to be consoled -for her lost nap.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you would prefer to go on exploring," -added Kathleen, "but I really can't miss -this function."</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't miss it for a farm," responded -the guest, eyes fixed on the nest.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian pulled her chair so that its -rockers scraped the boards.</p> - -<p>"We must all be still as mice," warned Kathleen -softly.</p> - -<p>Her mother looked up at the seething nest -with disfavor. Since her young people considered -the show such a treat, she would be obliged -to edit the lecture she had been preparing for -Captain James. The parent birds flew in and -out in a state of great excitement, and one of -them fed the venturesome little fellow on the -beam, whereupon the others stretched their -necks and vociferated with wide mouths.</p> - -<p>"But they're so slow," complained Mrs. -Fabian. "Why don't they fly and be done with -it? I can hardly keep my eyes open."</p> - -<p>"They may not go for an hour, or perhaps all -night—oh, if they are so unkind as to wait -until we're all asleep to-morrow morning!" -said Kathleen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Then I don't know that I shall wait," said -Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you'd better not," agreed the girl, -her eyes fixed on the young bird lest he should -elude her. "We're none of us invited to this -party, you see."</p> - -<p>Upon this, the venturesome little swallow -appeared to have an attack of homesickness, -for, instead of flying away, he hopped back to -the nest, where he immediately became very -unpopular with his brothers and sisters. Whatever -the spot into which he had this morning -fitted so snugly, it seemed to have disappeared.</p> - -<p>"Well, did you ever!" exclaimed Mrs. -Fabian in exasperation. "Why couldn't Phil -climb up there and set them all out on the beam -and take the nest down. I'm sure it would just -help them along."</p> - -<p>"Worse than pulling open a rosebud," said -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Very well, then," returned Mrs. Fabian. -"I shall go upstairs."</p> - -<p>No one objecting, she rose and suited the -action to the word; and Kathleen and Phil were -left to a welcome solitude.</p> - -<p>The parent swallows soon ceased to notice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> -the two large, strange birds perched on the -veranda railing below.</p> - -<p>Kathleen had discarded her Tam and as -she sat between Phil and the wind-break, the -sun gave him the red glints in her "reserved -hair."</p> - -<p>The tide was going out, but rushing with a -splendid sweep toward the foot of their hill, the -sky had occasional billows of downy white lying -against its clear blue. The sweet wind swept -the fresh grass where daisies were beginning to -appear, and all down the irregular coast-line -of the island the snowy foam broke on rock and -sand.</p> - -<p>The iridescent blue of the swallows' backs -and the delicate rose of their breasts lent an -exquisite touch of color, as they flew and -wheeled in the curving flight designed to tempt -the solemn-faced young, crowded so uncomfortably -in the outgrown nest.</p> - -<p>Again one struggled out upon the beam. The -cunning parents fed it, while the others begged -in vain. Then again the old birds were away in -airy flight.</p> - -<p>"Come out, come out in the sunshine," they -seemed to cry, wheeling back toward the nest. -"Come out to the ecstasy of wind and waves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> -The whole world, the world of sea and sky, is -ours."</p> - -<p>Kathleen for an instant turned about to her -companion. "Do you see how he can resist?" -she asked.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen!" exclaimed Phil.</p> - -<p>She turned back, but too late. In that instant -the young bird on the beam had flown.</p> - -<p>"They're right there, though," said Phil -excitedly, and indeed the birds kept wheeling -above the bluff, when, wonder of wonders, the -other young ones, struggling to the edge of the -nest as if unable to resist the intoxication of the -sight, flew out into the open.</p> - -<p>For a minute the bright air was astir with the -whir of wings. It was impossible to distinguish -the young birds from the old; then they all -alighted on the ridge-pole of a small summer -house which stood on the edge of the bluff.</p> - -<p>Kathleen turned to Phil, her hands clasped -on her breast. He thought her enchanted eyes -and smile suggested the unlocking of one of her -inner doors.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he replied, nodding, "I never saw -anything prettier than that."</p> - -<p>The girl looked back at the summer house. -The birds were still sitting there all in a row.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> -The two watched until again wings were afloat -in the bright air; then they ran down the steps -to see what would be the next resting-place, -and saw the birds alight on posts and netting -about the tennis court. When again they flew, -they disappeared.</p> - -<p>Kathleen sighed. "In my next incarnation," -she said, "I choose to be a swallow on Brewster's -Island."</p> - -<p>"Then," said Phil, looking at her radiant -face, "I'm glad I happened to be a man during -your present one."</p> - -<p>The open door closed. Phil thought he could -almost hear it click. In an instant the dark -eyes were the reflective ones he had known.</p> - -<p>"Thank you kindly, sir," she said. "That -was good fun. Shall we go on now with our -interrupted walk?"</p> - -<p>He continued to regard her. "I have an -idea that you have walked enough. Twice up -and down this hill and over to Mrs. Wright's -is enough."</p> - -<p>"Ho!" returned the girl lightly, "I walk all -day here."</p> - -<p>"Yes, after you have cooled off and slept for -a night or two; but I suggest the hammock -now."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were standing in the shade and not a -hint of red showed in the girl's soft hair. "There -are weeks to rest in," she said. "We ought to -make the most of this perfect day."</p> - -<p>Phil still regarded her. The excitement of -the closing college experiences and the city -heat had left their mark; and he did not know -of other and deeper reasons for her weariness. -The flush of pleasure in the swallow ball had -departed.</p> - -<p>"Come," he said decidedly, "let's try the -hammock."</p> - -<p>"Really, Mr. Sidney," she answered, smiling, -"I know when I'm tired."</p> - -<p>But he proceeded up the veranda steps and -she followed him into the wind-break.</p> - -<p>"I'm willing," he said, "to go two steps forward -and one back in my acquaintance with -you; but I draw the line at two back. It -sounded very friendly a few minutes ago when -you called me Phil. I hope you'll see your way -clear to doing it again sometime."</p> - -<p>While he spoke, Philip was testing the ropes -of the hammock.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm sure I didn't call you Phil," she -said in surprise.</p> - -<p>"Let me see. Did I call you Kathleen?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I think you did," she replied, a delicate -formality in her voice; "but the circumstances -certainly excused it."</p> - -<p>"I hope they will continue to excuse it, for I -feel it coming on that I shall do it again. You -took off Miss Fabian with your tailor gown." -He turned and faced her. "Didn't you?" he -added.</p> - -<p>She shrugged her shoulders, and smiled again. -"Perhaps."</p> - -<p>"Then get right down on this couch, little -Kathleen," he ordered, smiling, and after a -moment's hesitation the girl obeyed. He drew -over her the linen coverlet that had lain on a -neighboring chair, and looked, not at her, but -with fascinated eyes through the broad sheets -of glass which guarded the hammock from the -wind.</p> - -<p>"Now, if you can feel sober enough to sleep -in this intoxicating place, do so," he said.</p> - -<p>Kathleen, propped high on cushions, folded -her arms beneath her head.</p> - -<p>"But isn't it questionable courtesy for both -your hostesses to go to sleep, no matter how -sober they may be?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"There's another hostess here," he returned, -with a brilliant look down into her uplifted eyes.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes, I know," said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"My best girl," said Phil, moving out of the -wind-break.</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled. "Yes, I like her, too," she -answered. "I never had a lonely moment on -this island in my life; so I shall not worry about -you. There's another hammock around on the -other side of the porch. Why don't you go to -sleep yourself?"</p> - -<p>"Because I'm afraid I should wake up in -Gramercy Park," returned Phil, and, vaulting -over the porch railing, he disappeared from -Kathleen's view.</p> - -<p>Walking to the back of the house, he gazed -down at the waters of the cove, then across the -field to the long low white farmhouse where -he had found Eliza, then back again at the -water. "Miss Manning said I should stay here -if I had to live under a rock," he reflected.</p> - -<p>One week: one week was all he had planned -for, although Mrs. Fabian had pressed him for -two.</p> - -<p>What were two weeks now in prospect? He -knew his aunt would welcome him for an indefinite -stay, but Kathleen doubtless had plans for -guests, and moreover Edgar's advent was but -one little night away. He shuddered at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> -prospect of the gilded youth's questions and -comments on his work.</p> - -<p>He decided to walk around the edge of the -island. Then he looked back toward Mrs. -Wright's house. He remembered the look of -disappointment in the depths of Eliza's shade -hat when he had paid the fleeting visit on his -way to the wharf.</p> - -<p>"I'll go to see her once more," he reflected, -"and have her off my mind, for I'm afraid -I shall forget when I get a little deeper in -here."</p> - -<p>Accordingly, he moved off with long swinging -steps through the soft deep grass, and Mrs. -Wright saw him coming. She was sitting with -her book on the rustic bench which took the -place of piazza at the old farmhouse.</p> - -<p>"Eliza," she called, "your young man is -coming back."</p> - -<p>It was an hour afterward that Mrs. Fabian, -her grudge against the swallows mollified by a -nap, came downstairs to the living-room to -reconnoitre. All was so still that she knew that -either those dull birds were still dawdling, or -else that her young people had seen them off -and were away again.</p> - -<p>She peered from a window into the glass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> -enclosure, and to her surprise saw her daughter -asleep in the hammock. How slender and pale -looked the sleeping face.</p> - -<p>"Poor child. She's worn out, I wonder where -Phil is."</p> - -<p>As if the gaze had disturbed the sleeper, -Kathleen turned on her pillow and opened her -eyes.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian promptly left the house and -came out to her swinging couch.</p> - -<p>"So you took forty winks, too," she said, -casting a glance up at the deserted nest. -"Where's Phil?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know," returned Kathleen languidly. -"I scarcely know where I am."</p> - -<p>"I hope I didn't wake you, gazing from the -window; but it's no use your trying to sleep -again, for Cap'n James is coming up at last -with the trunks. Kathleen, I've had a bright -idea," added Mrs. Fabian alertly.</p> - -<p>The girl stifled a yawn.</p> - -<p>"You know Phil won't stay here unless he's -working. I'm going to have him do our portraits -for father's Christmas present!"</p> - -<p>Kathleen was wide awake instantly.</p> - -<p>"It would cost so much, mother," she said.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian stared at her. "What an idea!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> -she retorted. "Phil hasn't come to enormous -prices yet!"</p> - -<p>"But you would not want to pay him a small -price. It wouldn't be right."</p> - -<p>"Since when have you become so economical?" -asked Mrs. Fabian, laughing. "After -Christmas, I must tell your father of this talk. -How he will laugh. You and Edgar should be -shaken up. Phil's sketches of his mother show -his gift for getting likeness. I don't know -whether he has ever painted a portrait, but I -have every confidence in him."</p> - -<p>"Then have yours done, dear," said Kathleen. -"You're looking as well as usual, but nothing -would hire me to have my lantern jaws perpetuated."</p> - -<p>"Oh, a week or two of this will make you -bloom, child."</p> - -<p>"Yes, especially my nose," returned the girl.</p> - -<p>Her thoughts were working fast. She had -been happy in the thought that they were now -in the place where neither her mother nor -Edgar could commit themselves to any large -expense. Her father had said that by autumn -he should know where he stood. She could not -say any more, however, for Captain James's -wagon had arrived, and Mrs. Fabian went to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> -see to the disposition of the trunks and to give -her caretaker explicit low-voiced directions as -to examining for and eliminating any and all -birds' nests found in future on the premises, -and at last she brought him around to the wind-break -to point out the one he was to remove -now, with all its traces, at the earliest possible -moment.</p> - -<p>Kathleen, still lying, her hands clasped under -her head, looked up at him with a smile.</p> - -<p>"I'm so glad you didn't notice that nest any -sooner, Cap'n James," she said. "You might -have disturbed it."</p> - -<p>Captain James chewed a wisp of grass and -favored the girl with a wink.</p> - -<p>"It wasn't like you," said Mrs. Fabian, -with elaborately gentle rebuke, "not to have -this wind-break cleaner. Look at the windows."</p> - -<p>"I had Betsy Eaton wash 'em on the outside," -said the captain imperturbably, and winked at -Kathleen again.</p> - -<p>"It was fine of you, Cap'n James," she -laughed. "They flew to-day, and I was at the -party."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked from one to the other of -the laughing ones, in injured dignity.</p> - -<p>"Very well," she said at last; "now, if you're<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> -quite sure it won't disturb the plans of man or -beast, Cap'n James, I'd like to have this wind-break -cleaned."</p> - -<p>"'Nuff said," returned the man, and once -more grinning down at the girl's laughing face, -he went back to his helper sitting on the wagon.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">ELIZA SURRENDERS</p> - - -<p>Eliza had begun some work in the kitchen -which she could not at once leave when Mrs. -Wright called her, so the latter brought Phil -into the house.</p> - -<p>"No wonder Eliza didn't expect me twice a -day," he said. "What an interesting old place -this is."</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered Mrs. Wright; "and we are -making the most of the few days that it will -still be all ours. Miss Jane Foster, who owns -it, comes almost immediately to take possession -and receive her summer boarders."</p> - -<p>"But won't that be a rest for you?"</p> - -<p>"Scarcely; for Eliza has taken such a laboring -oar that I live in the lap of luxury, so far as -work is concerned."</p> - -<p>Eliza came in, in time to hear this statement. -"Don't you believe it, Mr. Philip. She's the -busy bee of the house; but we've both had just -enough to do."</p> - -<p>"Eliza!" exclaimed Phil, approaching and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> -taking both her hard hands. "Why, I didn't -half see you in that shade hat! You look like -a new being."</p> - -<p>Eliza laughed and colored under the scrutiny. -Her added pounds had distributed themselves -comfortably and becomingly. She did, indeed, -bear little resemblance to the haggard creature -of the autumn.</p> - -<p>"Why, let me look at you!" went on the -artist gladly. "You've robbed me of a whole -lot of good material. If you posed for me now, -it would amount to nothing more than the -portrait of a lady."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright laughed, well pleased, and -amused, too, at the embarrassed manner in -which Eliza pulled away her hands.</p> - -<p>"But you stay on here, I suppose, just the -same," said Phil, turning back to his hostess.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. I've taken a room for Violet, my -niece, and Miss Foster has made a business -arrangement with Eliza to be her helper, so the -only great difference will be the arrival of new -people."</p> - -<p>Considerations immediately ran through -Phil's head of this home as a possibility for -his prolonged stay. Second thought, however, -pictured the going and coming of summer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> -boarders and the impossibility of privacy. -Besides, he could not afford it.</p> - -<p>He picked up a small black book which his -eye had caught lying beside the Bible on Mrs. -Wright's table.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" he said, raising his eyebrows and -looking at her with a smile.</p> - -<p>"Do you know it?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"My mother lives by it," he returned.</p> - -<p>"Then her boy does, I'm sure," said Mrs. -Wright.</p> - -<p>"He tries to," answered Phil. "I was just -thinking now of our philosophy, and trying to -know that, if it's right for me to stay on this -island, it will come to pass. I feel as if I could -do a lot of work here."</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Fabian will have too much of a houseful?"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps not; but there couldn't be any -independence in that; and I couldn't bring -paint rags into her spick-and-span cottage."</p> - -<p>"Take board here," suggested Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>Phil shook his head. "I don't want to give -the price for a long pull. Miss Manning prophesied -that I should live under a rock rather -than leave. I'll go rock-hunting some day."</p> - -<p>"There must be some way, Mr. Philip!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> -exclaimed Eliza, who had listened attentively. -The intensity of her manner reminded Phil of -other days.</p> - -<p>"You should have more stables on the island," -he returned. "It's very thoughtless of you."</p> - -<p>"We can all help him, remember, Eliza," -said Mrs. Wright—"you know I've told you—by -thinking right."</p> - -<p>"Goodness knows, I'd think anything that'd -keep him here," returned Eliza bluntly. "He's -as white as a candle, and it makes me sick to -think o' the perspiration runnin' into his eyes. -What d'you want me to think? I'll say the -moon's made o' green cheese, if it'll do any -good."</p> - -<p>"No, it only does good to think the truth. -It's law. You remember how I've told you -that we live under laws and they aren't material -ones? Our thoughts are our whole concern. -Get thought right, and action takes care of -itself. You're stopping up one of the channels -through which good can come to you and -yours. You consider Mr. Sidney one of yours, -I'm sure."</p> - -<p>Eliza averted her eyes uncomfortably.</p> - -<p>"Yes," went on Mrs. Wright, smiling, "I'm -speaking right out in meeting, because you've<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> -told me that Mr. Sidney knows of your antagonism."</p> - -<p>"She's talkin' about the barrel," remarked -Eliza dryly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, the barrel!" laughed Phil. "I'd forgotten -about that. So has Aunt Isabel, I fancy."</p> - -<p>"I'll bet a cookie she went to your room and -tried to get it," said Eliza, eyeing him shrewdly.</p> - -<p>Phil nodded. "Yes, she did."</p> - -<p>Eliza struck her hands together with satisfaction. -"I'd give more'n a cookie to have -seen her face when she got there," she said -triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"No, I wasn't talking about the barrel," -continued Mrs. Wright. "That is your own -affair: whether you care to keep those family -treasures or to give them up. I was speaking in -general about your forgiving Mrs. Fabian as -you would be forgiven, and banishing discord -from the atmosphere. How can you tell how -much sunlight that cloud is holding back from -this dear boy of Mrs. Ballard's?"</p> - -<p>Eliza stared into space and bit her lip. The -three were standing in a group near the table.</p> - -<p>"Well, sit down, anyway," she said briefly, -and they did so.</p> - -<p>Phil saw that there was method in Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> -Wright's choosing of this particular opportunity -to make a point. Hers was the face of a -peacemaker and it was easy to see what pain -she would find in discord.</p> - -<p>Now she turned to Phil and asked him about -his father and mother, and he told her of the -mountains, and his periodical longing for them. -This place, he added, gave him a similar sense of -exhilaration. It seemed as if he were breathing -again for the first time since November.</p> - -<p>"You've got to stay," said Eliza nervously; -"that's all there is about it."</p> - -<p>He smiled. "The bark on a tree isn't as -tight as I am," he replied. "I've planned to -make my money do just so much."</p> - -<p>"'With God all things are possible,'" remarked -Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he laughed; "I'm going to look for a -cave with a skylight."</p> - -<p>Eliza's thoughts were painfully busy. The -constant dropping of the winter had made an -impression on their adamant. Supposing there -should be anything in what Mrs. Wright just -said. Supposing God were to punish her for -continuing to hate an enemy; punish her by -holding back some benefit from her dear one's -<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégé</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span></p> - -<p>She stirred around in her chair during a -pause. "I've been thinkin' to-day," she said -carelessly, "that I didn't exactly know what I -was goin' to do with that barrel. I've got to -bring it down from upstairs before Jennie gets -here."</p> - -<p>"Let me do that for you," said Phil quickly. -"I've been honing to lift something heavy all -the afternoon. I've felt as if I could lick my -weight in wild cats ever since dinner."</p> - -<p>He started up with such eagerness that Eliza -mechanically arose and went to the stairs, Phil -following; and Mrs. Wright, a hopeful light in -her eyes, looked on.</p> - -<p>"We've got to get these rooms ready for -boarders," explained Eliza as they went up to -the second story. "It's real clever of you to -lug the barrel down for me."</p> - -<p>Phil smiled covertly as he recognized the old -bone of contention with the flourishing address -he had executed, and he steered it down the -narrow stairs successfully.</p> - -<p>Eliza had preceded him nimbly.</p> - -<p>As soon as she reached the living-room, Mrs. -Wright approached her.</p> - -<p>"Where are you going to put it?" she asked, -looking wistfully at Eliza.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, anywhere," replied the latter with -bravado.</p> - -<p>"Jane wouldn't like it in here, of course," -remarked Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"Well, I suppose I have a right to my own -room, haven't I?" Eliza retorted sharply.</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't it be very much in the way, -dear? You have it fixed so pretty in there."</p> - -<p>"Well, what's the reason it can't stand in the -shed?" asked Eliza, with defiance.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright shook her head. "'Where moth -and rust doth corrupt,'" she said slowly.</p> - -<p>Phil now had the barrel down, and was standing -beside it, waiting.</p> - -<p>"Whither away, now?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Eliza," said Mrs. Wright, "there's a wheelbarrow -out in the shed."</p> - -<p>Eliza colored and bit her lip. "Do you -know," she said, turning to Phil, "Mrs. Wright -wants me to give those things to Mrs. Fabian?"</p> - -<p>"Well, it would tickle Aunt Isabel almost to -pieces," he admitted.</p> - -<p>"Do you see any reason or justice in it?"</p> - -<p>Phil smiled. "It's a luxury to do an unreasonable -thing once in a while," he answered.</p> - -<p>"If I thought it would do you the least bit -o' good," said Eliza, "I'd do anything. I'd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> -find a white hair in a black dog's tail and burn -it by the light o' the moon, at midnight," she -added scornfully; "but unluckily I ain't superstitious."</p> - -<p>Phil glanced at Mrs. Wright's sweet, earnest -face, and understood that she had thought -deeply of the prospect of discord between the -two cottages.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Eliza," he said, with boyish -enthusiasm, "it would be great fun to see Aunt -Isabel's face. Even if you were after revenge, -coals of fire are a mighty punishment, and if -you're only being magnanimous and letting bygones -be bygones why, who knows but it will -be the means of my finding the cave with the -skylight?"</p> - -<p>Eliza turned away suddenly from his laughing -eyes. "All right," she said, "take it! I'll -show you where the wheelbarrow is; and when -you've got it across that hubbly field you won't -be looking for wild cats to fight."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but you'll steady the barrel."</p> - -<p>"Will I! Well, you can guess again, young -man." Eliza's eyes flashed.</p> - -<p>"Oh, pshaw," he said. "Don't make two -bites of a cherry. If the barrel goes, you -go."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span></p> - -<p>Eliza met his gay, determined look with -exasperation.</p> - -<p>"This is persecution," she declared angrily; -then added beseechingly, "Don't make me, -Mr. Philip."</p> - -<p>"I couldn't let you miss it," he returned. -"We have the white hair of the black dog, but, -you see, we have to burn it."</p> - -<p>Eliza looked appealingly toward Mrs. Wright, -whose face was expectant.</p> - -<p>"Dear Eliza," she said.</p> - -<p>"Don't you 'dear' me," snapped Eliza. -"Come this way, Mr. Philip."</p> - -<p>She marched out of the room, and Mrs. -Wright seized and squeezed Phil's hand as he -passed. He gave her a laughing look.</p> - -<p>Soon the march across the field began. Mrs. -Wright watched them from the window. Eliza, -her shade hat tied primly down beneath her -chin, steadied the barrel when Phil's route -encountered too great an irregularity.</p> - -<p>"Dear martyr," thought Mrs. Wright, who -had caught a glimpse of her companion's expression -as they moved away. "She does love -that beautiful boy. I hope her reward will come -soon."</p> - -<p>Captain James had just driven back down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> -the hill after bringing up the trunks when Phil -and Eliza reached the shaven sward about the -Fabian cottage.</p> - -<p>Phil dropped the wheelbarrow at the steps.</p> - -<p>"Wait here a minute, Eliza, till I reconnoitre," -he said. "This was a sleeping castle -when I left."</p> - -<p>"Now, if they're asleep—" said Eliza, hastily -and hopefully; but Phil had disappeared -quietly around the corner which led to the windbreak. -As he approached, the sound of voices -mingled with the tide, so he advanced with -confidence.</p> - -<p>Kathleen was sitting on the edge of the hammock -facing her mother, who looked around as -Phil came in view.</p> - -<p>"Here we are, awake at last," she said. -"Where have you been? How well you look! -You have quite a flush."</p> - -<p>He came close to her. "I've been helping -Eliza Brewster bring you a present," he said.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian was all attention, but a look of -resentment spread over her countenance.</p> - -<p>"She is here with me," went on Phil, low and -rapidly. "It means a good deal, you know. I -hope you will be very nice to her."</p> - -<p>Kathleen, alertly comprehending, rose from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> -the hammock and moved past her mother and -around to where Eliza stood by the steps, -schooling herself.</p> - -<p>"You can't get out of a barrel what ain't in -it," she reflected. "'Tain't any use tappin' a -barrel o' vinegar and bein' mad 'cause maple -syrup don't come out."</p> - -<p>"You scarcely spoke to me this morning," -said Kathleen pleasantly, "you were so glad to -see Mr. Sidney."</p> - -<p>Eliza shook hands awkwardly. Kathleen -Fabian seemed even to her prejudice to ring -true. "She don't inherit vinegar," thought -Eliza. "I don't know why I shouldn't give her -the benefit o' the doubt. Maybe she is maple -clear through."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian now came in stately fashion -around the corner into view. Her eyes caught -sight of the barrel and glistened. It was almost -impossible to believe that—</p> - -<p>"How do you do, Eliza?" she said, in mellifluous -tones. "Mr. Sidney tells me you wish to -see me—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, about this barrel," interrupted Eliza, -with nervous haste. "It's some o' the things -Mrs. Ballard left me that I thought you'd -enjoy havin'. It's her silver and china, just as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> -I packed 'em in New York. I haven't taken -out anything."</p> - -<p>"Why, really, Eliza, do you know, I appreciate -that very much," said Mrs. Fabian graciously, -"and I shall enjoy them far more here -than I could in New York. I—"</p> - -<p>"Yes,'m," said Eliza, "I've got to hurry -back to get supper. We have a real early -tea."</p> - -<p>"No, not until you've come in and seen -where Aunt Mary's things are to be. I really -couldn't allow you to go without sitting down -a minute to rest."</p> - -<p>"No, no, thank you," said Eliza, more hurriedly.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you did come in and see the cottage -while it was being prepared for us."</p> - -<p>"No, ma'am," returned Eliza, arrested in -flight. "I've never been as near to it as this."</p> - -<p>"I wish you would come in, then," said -Kathleen. "We think it's very pretty."</p> - -<p>So Eliza yielded, and Phil followed her into -the house, showing her the views from the windows, -and before she came out again she had -exchanged remarks with Mrs. Fabian on the -increased price of lobsters and other practical -subjects.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Really quite human," commented Mrs. -Fabian when the guest had departed.</p> - -<p>"And how well she looks," said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Now," remarked her mother complacently, -"you see my own has come to me. I knew -Eliza was half-crazy last autumn. I just anticipate -pulling over those funny old things."</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Phil and Eliza were retracing -their steps across the field.</p> - -<p>"There! that didn't hurt much, did it?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>"I haven't got much use for her," replied -Eliza, "but I do believe Kathleen Fabian's a -sensible girl."</p> - -<p>"Our friend Edgar is coming to-morrow," -remarked Phil.</p> - -<p>Eliza looked up at him shrewdly from beneath -the shade hat. "Is that the reason you -want to be a cave man?"</p> - -<p>Phil laughed. "Perhaps it's one," he admitted. -"He's a rather—well—pervasive -person, we'll say. I need elbow room to work. -Isn't this a great place, Eliza?" The speaker's -eyes swept the surroundings. "You're farther -from the sea than the Fabians. You have a -grand orchard, I see," added Phil, laughing; "or -does it belong to that little cottage over there?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Where? Oh, you mean the chicken-house?"</p> - -<p>"Chicken-house! Are the hens here so high-toned -they have to have windows besides their -roosts? There are places out West where the -reason for the cows giving little milk is said to -be because they become so enchanted with the -scenery that they forget to eat. I suppose those -hens go up to the second floor to watch the sunset."</p> - -<p>Phil looked curiously at the little story and a -half building guarded by the balm-of-Gilead -trees.</p> - -<p>"Law, there ain't any hens there," replied -Eliza. "A pig wouldn't live there now. I'm -itchin' to burn it down, it's so dirty."</p> - -<p>"Nobody lives there?" asked Phil.</p> - -<p>"No, not since Granny Foster that it was -built for. She scared us children out of our wits -in her time, and I s'pose we pestered her, 'cause -of course we was imps and couldn't keep away. -We'd rather play tricks on her than eat, but -only a few got their courage up to do more than -knock on the door and run away. That door! -My! to think I can walk up to it and open it. -It seems wonderful even now."</p> - -<p>"Let's go and open it," said Phil, eagerly, -beginning to stride in that direction.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, no, Mr. Philip, keep away. It's too -dirty and musty in there for words. Jennie -quit keepin' hens a long time ago, and I guess -she just let it rot away there, 'cause 'twa'n't -worth cleanin'!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, but I want to see where little Eliza was -scared," persisted Phil, hurrying so fast that -Eliza was obliged to run after him. She stood -away a little, though, with her long nose lifted -while he opened the door and his eager eyes -swept the interior.</p> - -<p>"Don't you go in there, oh, don't, Mr. -Philip," she said. "I can tell you just what there -is, a parlor and a kitchen, and a rough kind o' -steps that go upstairs where there's only half a -floor. It would make a grand bonfire. I wish -Jennie'd let us."</p> - -<p>"She owns it, does she? The woman that's -going to keep your boarding-house?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes; all this land's hers and the -orchard."</p> - -<p>Phil closed the dingy door and walked around -back of the cottage. Apparently, Granny Foster -had liked the view of the open ocean, contrary -to the taste of most of the women on the -island, who had good reason to dread its mighty -power. At any rate, while the front of the little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> -house grew straight out of the grass, the back -had once boasted a piazza, which had fallen -away and capsized in the field which ran down -to the water's edge.</p> - -<p>"What a view your old lady had!" said Phil, -standing still and listening to the rustling leaves -that whispered in the orchard.</p> - -<p>"'Tis a sightly place," said Eliza.</p> - -<p>The artist looked with starry eyes over the -little cottage again and then at his companion.</p> - -<p>"It's wonderful," he said.</p> - -<p>"'M-h'm," agreed Eliza; "and it'll do you all -the good in the world if you can only stay -here."</p> - -<p>Phil's radiant smile beamed upon her.</p> - -<p>"Why, I'm going to stay. Can't you see -what I'm thinking?"</p> - -<p>"No," replied Eliza, staring at him curiously.</p> - -<p>"I've found my cave." He waved his hand -toward the chicken-house. "Do you think -Jennie'll let me have it?"</p> - -<p>"Mr. Philip!" exclaimed Eliza distractedly, -clasping her hard hands as his meaning broke -upon her. "There ain't any use to talk about it -even! How could I ever clean that place for -you!"</p> - -<p>"I shan't let you touch it! Hurrah!" ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span>claimed -the artist, turning a somersault in the -grass and coming right-side up so suddenly that -Eliza blinked.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my sorrows and cares!" she mourned; -"it's the craziest idea"—</p> - -<p>"When, when did you say she's coming?"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow. Dear, dear!" Eliza was half -laughing and half crying.</p> - -<p>"Then I've only to wait one night. Oh, it's -too good to be true, like everything else that -happens to me." Another flight of long arms -and legs accompanied by a whoop of joy, and -once more Phil was right-side up and catching -Eliza by the arm.</p> - -<p>"Let's go and tell Mrs. Wright," he exclaimed, -and hurried his companion toward the -farmhouse, where Mrs. Wright was sitting on -the rustic bench.</p> - -<p>"He's crazy," declared Eliza. "Tell him so. -There must be lots o' better places. That -wouldn't smell good in a thousand years."</p> - -<p>But when Phil had divulged his great plan, -Mrs. Wright nodded.</p> - -<p>"The very thing," she said. "I'm sure Jane -will let you use it free, and be glad to have it -put in shape. Then you can take as many or -as few meals here as you like."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span></p> - -<p>Her calm, happy approval closed Eliza's lips -in a desperate silence.</p> - -<p>"I must rush back to my hostesses," said -Phil. "Hurrah for us, Eliza. I'll go to every -boat to meet Jennie."</p> - -<p>He started across the field on a long, swinging -run.</p> - -<p>"Splendid boy," mused Mrs. Wright, aloud, -looking after him.</p> - -<p>Eliza had sunk on the bench, dumb.</p> - -<p>"Now, then," her friend turned to her; "see -how you've helped him."</p> - -<p>Eliza's eyes snapped. "Do you mean to -say," she retorted, speaking fast and defiantly, -"that if I hadn't gone over to Mrs. Fabian's -and given her the dishes, he wouldn't 'a' found -that chicken-house?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright smiled and shook her head.</p> - -<p>"There's only one thing I know, Eliza," she -said with deliberation, "and that is that Love -is Omnipotence, and that in every problem we -mortals have the choice of looking down into -error and discord, or up into Truth and Harmony."</p> - -<p>Eliza's breath caught in her throat, and she -felt so strangely stirred that she rose abruptly -and went into the house.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE SINGER</p> - - -<p>The combination of at last having a definite -aim in life, and the cutting rebuke received in -his father's library, had caused Edgar Fabian -to wake up.</p> - -<p>On the hot morning when he took the train -for Portland, he even looked a little pale from -the unwonted vigil of the night before. As he -tossed on his bed in the small hours, he had -fretted at the heat, but it was not temperature -that made him survey the causes for his father's -drastic words; and he recalled the emotion -which Kathleen had not been able to conceal -with a sort of affectionate dismay. Kathleen -was a good sort, after all. She had worked for -him, he knew, and mitigated the situation so -far as she could.</p> - -<p>"Father wants to be shown, does he?" he -thought, clenching his teeth. "Well, I'll show -him. I will."</p> - -<p>His soul was still smarting when he boarded -the train in the breathless station and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> -porter carried his suitcase to his chair in the day -coach.</p> - -<p>A group of girls were standing about the -neighboring seat, but he did not regard them. -One of them observed him, and for her the thermometer -suddenly went up ten degrees more.</p> - -<p>"Hurry girls, you must go," she said, softly -and peremptorily, moving with them to the -end of the car. "How I wish you didn't have -to!" Then, as they reached the door, the flushed -one squeezed their arms. "That was Mr. Fabian, -girls!" she added.</p> - -<p>"Where? Where?" they ejaculated, looking -wildly about.</p> - -<p>"Back there in the very next chair to mine. -Oh, get off, dears."</p> - -<p>They regarded the rosy face.</p> - -<p>"Slyboots!" exclaimed Roxana.</p> - -<p>"Indeed, I knew nothing of it!" declared -Violet.</p> - -<p>"Very well." Regina spoke in hasty exhortation. -"The sun shines hard enough for you -to make all the hay there is. I've a great mind -to throw a pump after you!"</p> - -<p>The friends slipped off just in time, and -Violet waved them a laughing adieu; then her -face sobered while her eyes shone. She could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> -not go back to her place at once. The combination -was more than flesh and blood could endure -nonchalantly: her work finished, she starting -for the island earlier than she had hoped, with -the joyful anticipation of surprising her aunt, -and, instead of journeying alone, to find <em>the</em> -man beside her.</p> - -<p>Violet was extremely indignant with herself -for calling Edgar <em>the</em> man. Never one thing had -he done to deserve it. There was no one on earth -to whom in reality she was more indifferent. -She allowed conductors, porter, passengers, -and luggage to stumble by and over her in the -narrow passage while she reflected upon the -utter uncongeniality of herself and Edgar -Fabian; the gulf fixed between their lots, their -habits, their tastes. A man who was so artificial -that he couldn't like Brewster's Island. -How could any girl with genuine feeling do -more than politely endure him!</p> - -<p>Violet finally, having been bumped and trodden -on until she realized that she was being -scowled at by all comers, stepped under the -portière into the ladies' room and looked in the -glass. The neatest and trimmest of visions -regarded her.</p> - -<p>"I don't care a snap how I look, but I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> -dreadfully warm," she thought, and taking a -powder-puff from her mesh bag, she raised her -veil and cooled her crimson cheeks and dabbed -her nose; then she pinned the veil back closely; -and gave her bright eyes a challenging and -warning gaze.</p> - -<p>"If you dare!" she murmured, then moved -out into the aisle again and sought her place.</p> - -<p>Edgar had hung up his hat, his back was to -the car, and his gloomy eyes gazed out of the -window. Violet sank into her chair, turning its -back to him. "There!" she thought sternly, -"we can ride this way all day. There's not the -slightest necessity for recognition."</p> - -<p>An hour passed and this seemed only too -true. She took up the copy of "Life" which -Roxana had left with her, and looked through -it with more grim determination than is usually -brought to bear upon that enlivening sheet.</p> - -<p>Everything continued to be quiet behind her. -She wondered if Edgar had gone to sleep; but -what was it to her what he was doing? She -became conscious that there were more strokes -on the illustrations than the artists had intended.</p> - -<p>"I must take off my veil!" she reflected.</p> - -<p>Of course, no girl can take off her veil and hat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> -without making some stir. She hoped she -should not attract her neighbor's attention by -these movements. She didn't.</p> - -<p>At last all was comfortably arranged, and -she picked up the periodical which had been -Regina's offering and looked at her chatelaine -watch, wondering how much time had been -wasted already.</p> - -<p>She never before heard of a man who stayed -in his seat on the train unless he was an invalid. -One would think he would at least walk up and -down once in a while. She turned her chair a -little away from the window and toward the -aisle. A fat man who was her vis-à-vis glanced -at her, and finding the glance most satisfactory, -looked again, long enough to make her aware -of him. She swung slowly back toward the -window, but not so far that she could not command -movements in the aisle.</p> - -<p>Of course, Mr. Fabian was asleep. He had -probably been turning night into day in the -festivities which society events had recorded -as preceding Mrs. Larrabee's departure for -Europe.</p> - -<p>The thought was a tonic. She loved to realize -how insignificant and selfish was the life this -young man led; making him not worth a second<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> -thought to a womanly woman who scorned to -associate with any man to whom she could not -look up, and he hadn't shaved off that blond -pointed mustache, either; how she despised -mustaches.</p> - -<p>"Why—why, Miss Manning." The interested -greeting broke forth directly above her, -and she started and looked up straight into the -scorned mustache. "How wonderful," said -Edgar. "I was just wondering who liked the -'Century' better upside down than right-side -up; then I noticed that whoever it was had -pretty hair, so I looked again and saw it was -you."</p> - -<p>"I"—stammered Violet, blushing violently -and dropping the magazine,—"I think I was -so sleepy I didn't know—I—where did you -spring from?"</p> - -<p>"Just now from the smoking-room, but I'm -here, right here in this chair next to you. Can -you beat it? Are you for the island?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"I, too. Great that we should meet. Let me -turn your chair around. I was never so glad to -see you."</p> - -<p>"Why? Were you bored?" Violet's tone -and manner of courteous indifference were so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> -excellent that they deceived the fat man, who -regarded the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">contretemps</i> over the top of his -paper and felt quite chivalrously impatient of -the "fresh guy" who had interrupted the -young traveller's meditations; and heartily -commiserated the girl for the coincidence which -had made her the prey of an acquaintance.</p> - -<p>"No, not more bored than usual," replied -Edgar, having arranged the chairs at the best -angle for sociability, "but if you talk to me I -may forget how I want to smoke."</p> - -<p>Violet raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm to be -useful and not ornamental," she said with an -icily sweet smile.</p> - -<p>"You can't help being ornamental," said -Edgar, drumming nervously on the arm of his -chair. "There, that's the last compliment I'm -going to give you. I warn you. I'm a bear -to-day. I'm sorry for you." The speaker was -pale and Violet laid both pallor and nervousness -to the door of the vivacious lady about to -sail for foreign shores.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she replied, looking at him blandly. "I -saw that your charming friend Mrs. Larrabee is -leaving."</p> - -<p>Edgar looked around quickly. "Yes, she's -leaving. I bade her good-bye last night."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Is that why you wish to smoke all the time?" -asked Violet, with cooing gentleness.</p> - -<p>"All the time! Great Scott! I've had just -one cigarette since I got up."</p> - -<p>"You said you had just come from the smoking-room."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but I hadn't been in. That's the -trouble. I'm cutting it out."</p> - -<p>"Why? Have you made a virtuous vow?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I'm in no mood for joking this -morning." Edgar frowned and twisted his -mustache.</p> - -<p>Violet spoke with laughing sweetness.</p> - -<p>"Nothing is more easy than to escape it," -she said, and deftly turned her chair with its -back to him.</p> - -<p>He seized it by the arm and twisted it around -again.</p> - -<p>"No, you don't," he said. "Forgive me; you -know the stereotyped advice to newly married -couples about the two bears; 'bear and forbear,' -don't you? Well, remember it, please."</p> - -<p>"I don't see the parallel," said Violet coolly; -"and anyway, is the advice directed entirely -at the woman?"</p> - -<p>"No, I'm bearing with you now for turning -your back to me, you who are going to teach<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> -me to clog when we reach the island." He gave -her the smile designed to melt the icy heart.</p> - -<p>"In consideration," returned Violet, "for a -continuous ripple of song."</p> - -<p>Edgar suddenly looked important, and gazed -out of the window. Then he turned back to the -girl who was regarding him.</p> - -<p>"What do you think of my voice—honestly?" -he asked.</p> - -<p>"I think it is one of the most beautiful I have -ever heard," she answered promptly.</p> - -<p>He nodded slowly. "I fished to some purpose, -didn't I," he said gravely. "Well, since -you really think that, and I've always admired -your sincerity, you may be interested to know -that I have given up business in order to cultivate -it."</p> - -<p>There being nobody present who was employed -in Mr. Fabian's office, the dignity of this -statement was not impaired by hilarity; and -Violet, greatly impressed, clasped her hands.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm so glad," she said. "All your -friends will be so glad."</p> - -<p>Had she known it, she might have added, -"and all your business associates"; but neither -word nor look minimized the enthusiasm of the -moment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p> - -<p>Enough of Violet's faith and admiration -shone in her speaking eyes to fall like balm on -Edgar's wounded soul. He began to heal under -it; began to mount into his wonted atmosphere -of assurance.</p> - -<p>"I've been studying ever since January with -Mazzini. I've kept quiet about it because, -after all,"—the speaker spread his hands in a -modest gesture,—"he might be mistaken in -his extremely enthusiastic estimate."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, no!" said Violet earnestly. Edgar -drank more healing from the fountain of her -eyes. "What shall you do? Go into opera?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know yet," replied the aspirant, -with the air of one who was holding Mr. Hammerstein -in the hollow of his hand, uncertain -whether to throw him over or to be gracious. -"I'm very much alone in this," he added, -meeting the girl's gaze with an air of confidence. -"Of course my father and mother and -sister are willing; in fact, they are pleased that -I have undertaken this."</p> - -<p>"Think of giving up smoking!" exclaimed -Violet. "What a sacrifice that means to a man! -I should think your family would see by that -how in earnest you are."</p> - -<p>"Yes, they believe I am in earnest; but when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> -one in a family is keenly temperamental and -the others are not, there are only certain planes -on which they can meet, you understand?"</p> - -<p>"By all means!" Violet understood perfectly.</p> - -<p>"I have certain ideas that I never divulge to -them. They would only laugh. What would it -mean to them if I were to say that I had purple -moods—and red moods—"</p> - -<p>"Probably nothing," returned Violet, quickly -and with close attention. "Black and green -and blue are the only common ones."</p> - -<p>Edgar looked at her suspiciously. Had the -fountain of healing admiration vanished, and -was she laughing at him? Not at all. She was -regarding him with a respect and awe which he -could not doubt.</p> - -<p>"Explain the others to me. Do you think -you could?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid not," he answered gently, "but, -well, for instance, while in the purple mood I -could never learn to clog. Does that mean anything -to you?"</p> - -<p>"Ah, yes," returned Violet fervently. "I -see. You would be too intense."</p> - -<p>"Exactly. In the red, I might. It would -depend on which way it took me."</p> - -<p>His listener nodded earnestly. "Yes, yes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> -A berserk rage is red. They always see red in -books."</p> - -<p>"But so is a glowing sunset red," said Edgar. -"The red of joy. I see you understand. Oh, -what rest it is to have people understand!"</p> - -<p>Violet glowed. Some memory recurred to -her. "Does Mr. Sidney know about this?" -she asked.</p> - -<p>Edgar shrugged his shoulders. "He is at the -island with my people. They may have told -him."</p> - -<p>The girl's rosy lips set. "Now," she wondered, -"would he chuckle over foolish sketches -of conceited robins! At all events, he would -very soon give it up."</p> - -<p>The two travellers had a wonderful day together, -undaunted by heat and cinders.</p> - -<p>Edgar gave Violet as dainty a luncheon as circumstances -permitted, and when they reached -Portland too late for the last boat, he left her -at her hotel with the promise to call for her in -the morning.</p> - -<p>The boat they took next day was the same -one which bore Miss Jane Foster to her summer -home; so when, after the cooling ride down the -bay, they arrived at Brewster's Island and saw -Philip Sidney and Eliza Brewster waiting with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span> -Kathleen, Edgar pointed Eliza out to Violet -with amusement.</p> - -<p>"I wonder how Sidney enjoys his shadow," -he remarked, "I suppose she's trailing him all -over the place."</p> - -<p>As Mrs. Wright had no expectation of her -niece's early arrival, Eliza looked out with indifference -from under her closely tied shade hat -at the fair girl in neat tailor gown who stood -by Edgar as the boat pulled in; and the exclamation -of her companions was her first intimation -that it was Violet Manning.</p> - -<p>Eliza stood quietly amid the greeting and -laughing and explanations of the young people, -and was introduced to Miss Manning; then she -caught sight of Jane Foster, for whose eagerly -expected face Phil had been gazing over the -heads of everybody, notwithstanding that he -had no idea what she looked like.</p> - -<p>"Better go home with the Fabians and come -to us later," she suggested, speaking low to him.</p> - -<p>"Guess again, Eliza," he returned softly. -Then he turned to Kathleen. "I'll not interrupt -your first <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</i> with your brother. -I'll walk up the hill with Miss Manning and see -Mrs. Wright's face when we appear."</p> - -<p>Kathleen nodded her agreement, and when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> -they all reached the road, she opened her eyes -at the manner in which her brother parted from -Violet. Neither spoke. They clasped hands -and exchanged a look, which was, to say the -least, unusual.</p> - -<p>"You and Miss Manning seemed to be giving -each other the grip," she laughed when the two -began their ascent slowly. "Do you belong to -the same secret society?"</p> - -<p>His reply was still more amazing. "We -do," he answered impressively. "You guessed -right the very first time. That girl has more -sense in a minute than the general run have in -years."</p> - -<p>"I always liked her," returned Kathleen, -wondering.</p> - -<p>As for Philip, he carried Violet's suitcase and -Miss Foster's bag and received the jubilant -chatter of the young girl with appreciative -assent, casting sheep's eyes all the way up the -hill at the modest owner of the chicken-house, -who little suspected that the big handsome -young man who was carrying her bag cared -more to get one monosyllable from her than -for all the pleasant things this pretty girl might -say to him.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright, busy taking Eliza's place in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> -preparations for the early dinner, was not -watching for the arrival, and the first warning -she had of Violet's presence was two vigorous -arms being thrown around her neck.</p> - -<p>Her first impression was that Jane Foster -had an attack of emotional insanity, but in a -moment she was returning the embrace.</p> - -<p>"My little girl, what does this mean?" she -cried joyously. "Not a flower in your room. -Nothing ready."</p> - -<p>"Yes, dinner is. I can smell it. Oh, Aunt -Amy, <em>you</em> and vacation, and no city and no -heat, and the divine island smell, and twenty-four -hours in the day, and seven days in the -week. Oh, it's too much happiness!" And -Violet danced back into the living-room straight -into the arms of Mr. Wright, who had just been -washing his hands for dinner.</p> - -<p>"Right you are, Violet. No place like the -island," he said heartily, while Eliza and Jane -Foster regarded the newcomer with calm wonder. -How could they know the glamour that -was gilding all?</p> - -<p>Phil was so preoccupied, he scarcely noticed -the girl's antics. His eyes were fixed with the -most lover-like eagerness on Jane Foster's serious -countenance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Had you better ask her or I, Eliza?" he -murmured, under cover of Violet's laughter.</p> - -<p>"You'd better not trust me," replied Eliza -darkly, upon which Phil interrupted Miss -Foster as she was starting for the stairs.</p> - -<p>"Might I speak to you one moment before -you go up?" he asked.</p> - -<p>Her calm eyes turned to him. "You want -board?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"No—not exactly. Would you mind coming -outside a minute. I'd like to see you alone."</p> - -<p>Jane Foster looked into the brilliant face, -wondering; then she followed him outside the -door. Perhaps he wanted to buy the farmhouse. -She had made some calculation before she -reached the rustic bench; but his first words -dashed her expectations.</p> - -<p>"Miss Foster, I'm an artist and like them -all, at first, I haven't any money. I've been -wondering if you'd let me camp down in your -chicken-house and do some work. What rent -would you want?"</p> - -<p>Jane Foster regarded him calmly. "'T ain't -habitable," she said.</p> - -<p>"I'll make it so," he returned forcefully.</p> - -<p>"I can't imagine—" she began slowly.</p> - -<p>"You don't have to," he interrupted ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>dently. -"Imagining is my business." He -beamed upon her with a smile that warmed her -through and through from the chill of the boat. -"If you haven't any other use for it just -now—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, 'tain't any use," she said slowly.</p> - -<p>"Then I may?" Phil embarrassed Miss -Foster terribly by seizing her hand.</p> - -<p>Violet observed them from a window. "Is -Mr. Sidney proposing to Miss Foster?" she -laughed, turning to Eliza.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he is, exactly," returned the latter, -hanging up her shade hat.</p> - -<p>"Well, I can't imagine anyone refusing him," -said Violet.</p> - -<p>"I only hope she will," muttered Eliza; but -the devout words were scarcely out of her lips -when Phil came into the room like a cyclone -and she was seized and swung up till her -respectable head nearly grazed the ceiling.</p> - -<p>"It's mine," he cried. "Hurray!" and went -out of the house again and across the field -toward the boulder cottage.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE NEW STUDIO</p> - - -<p>In spite of the incense Edgar had been receiving, -he was still a somewhat chastened being; -and he had no disagreeable remarks to make -about Phil when Mrs. Fabian wondered why he -stayed so long at the Wright cottage. He objected -to the fact somewhat on his own account. -No doubt Violet was entertaining Philip. She -had the artistic soul and Phil was horribly good-looking. -It was a soothing thought that he was -practically penniless and that he must soon -return to his labors in New York.</p> - -<p>"How long are you expecting Phil to stay -here?" he asked his mother after a glance or -two across the empty field.</p> - -<p>"He says only a week," replied Mrs. Fabian, -"but I hope to make it at least two. He's daft -about the island."</p> - -<p>"But he couldn't work here," said Edgar -with conviction. "You've no place for oil and -turpentine and splotches generally."</p> - -<p>"That's what he says," sighed Mrs. Fabian.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> -"I told him this morning we'd give up the -summer-house to him."</p> - -<p>Edgar faced her. "Where do I come in?" he -asked. "I expect the summer-house to save -your lives from me. I don't believe we can have -two artists in the family."</p> - -<p>Kathleen caught the last words as she came -downstairs. "Don't worry," she said lightly. -"Phil will have none of us. He wants either a -ten-acre lot or a stable."</p> - -<p>"Well, where is he?" asked Edgar, with some -irritation. "I'm as hungry as a hunter."</p> - -<p>"And we have Aunt Mary's pretty things. -Eliza gave them to mother."</p> - -<p>"You don't say so! Well, the Angel of Peace -has moulted a feather on this island. There, I -see Phil now, loping across the field. Do order -dinner to be served, mother."</p> - -<p>The music-box was playing when the guest -entered.</p> - -<p>"Oh, am I late?" he cried contritely, and -took the stairs in three bounds.</p> - -<p>"How burned he is already!" laughed Mrs. -Fabian. "You will be looking like that in a few -days, Edgar."</p> - -<p>The latter was standing, high-chested and -with repressed impatience, in an attitude his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span> -mother knew. He had not at all liked the radiance -of Phil's countenance as the latter burst -into the room.</p> - -<p>"This dinner is especially ordered for you, -dear," said Mrs. Fabian soothingly, "from the -clam soup to the strawberry shortcake."</p> - -<p>"When am I going to have any of it?" inquired -Edgar. "Is it worth while to be formal -here?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, he'll be down in one minute," said -Kathleen; and indeed Philip soon appeared and -they all seated themselves.</p> - -<p>"Last offence, really," said the guest gaily, -"but one must be granted a little extra license -when he's proposing."</p> - -<p>The waitress had placed the filled soup-plates -before the family sat down; and Edgar promptly -choked on his first mouthful. Violet had told -him of meeting Phil in Gramercy Park. Where -else and how often had the perfidious girl been -with him?</p> - -<p>Kathleen swallowed her spoonful of soup, but -it was not hot enough to account for the strange -burning heat which suddenly travelled down her -spine.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian alone looked up. "Don't take -our breath away like that," she protested.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> -"Who is the woman? Violet Manning or Eliza -Brewster?"</p> - -<p>"I dreamed of her all last night," returned -Phil, eating hungrily. "I knew she was coming, -and I could hardly wait to learn my fate. -Didn't you notice that I merely played with -my breakfast this morning?"</p> - -<p>"You ate like a hunter. Didn't he, Kathleen?"</p> - -<p>Phil laughed and raised his happy eyes to his -hostess.</p> - -<p>"Well, you'd save a whole lot of dinner this -noon, only that she said 'Yes.'"</p> - -<p>There was a miniature storm of hurt vanity -in Edgar Fabian's breast. That was the way -with these "lookers." Let them have scarce the -price of a laundry bill, yet a girl couldn't resist -them; and that gaze of almost awed admiration -in Violet's eyes yesterday. It had meant nothing -then but a tribute to genius. Phil should -not have that look at his table daily! Edgar -wouldn't stand it. He would match his singing -against the other's painting, and time would -show if Philip Sidney would have a walk-away. -She couldn't be happy with a pauper like that, -and she should be saved.</p> - -<p>As for Kathleen, she could not stop to criti<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>cize -Philip's blunt announcement. Whether he -were jesting or in earnest his sudden words had -flashed an awful light upon her own sentiments.</p> - -<p>"There's no depth to it," she thought now in -defence of her pain. "I know in time."</p> - -<p>"Tell us more this minute," said Mrs. Fabian, -"and stop eating, you unromantic creature! -I didn't even suspect that you knew -Violet Manning well. You sly-boots. I'm offended -with you."</p> - -<p>"The lovely Violet!" exclaimed Phil, "I left -her having an attack of emotional insanity over -there."</p> - -<p>He looked up and met a gaze from Edgar, -suggestive of locking horns; and remembered -Gramercy Park, and Violet's sudden dignity.</p> - -<p>"But not on my account," he went on easily. -"My inamorata's name is Jane!" He cast his -eyes adoringly ceilingward. "Dear little name! -Quaint little name! Jane!"</p> - -<p>The relaxation that travelled throughout -Kathleen's limbs was as painful and as exasperating -as the burn had been. Her eyes were fixed -on her soup-plate, and she smiled.</p> - -<p>Edgar's teeth shone with the utmost glee. -Phil wasn't such a bad sort after all. He regarded -him with interest, waiting for the sequel.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Philip Sidney, don't be idiotic," said Mrs. -Fabian. "My soup is getting cold waiting for -you to explain yourself."</p> - -<p>"Why, Jane Foster came this morning, mother," -said Kathleen. "I'll help you out."</p> - -<p>"And I can really only stay with you a week, -Aunt Isabel," added Phil.</p> - -<p>"She has taken you for a boarder? And all -this fuss is about that?" asked Mrs. Fabian. -"I should scarcely have thought you'd be so -crazy to change my house for hers."</p> - -<p>"I know how Phil feels," said Edgar benevolently. -"He wants to feel free to make smudges."</p> - -<p>"I do, Edgar, mind-reader that you are. Listen, -then, all of you. I proposed to Jane that she -let me use her chicken-house, and Jane, blessings -on her, said the one little word to make me -a happy man."</p> - -<p>Phil's radiant gaze was bent now upon Kathleen, -who met it and nodded. "Just the -thing!" she said, and her mother and brother -started in on a Babel of tongues. Mrs. Fabian -had forgotten the chicken-house. She had not -been in that field for years; but Edgar approved, -and altogether they joined in Phil's jubilation, -and Mrs. Fabian related how she had prepared -Pat to pack for just such an exigency.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The little house is awfully dilapidated," -said Kathleen. "Its piazza has fallen off; and -I'm sure it leaks. But perhaps you can make it -fit to hold your paraphernalia."</p> - -<p>"Aunt Isabel, I want you and Kathleen to -keep away until I'm in order," said Phil impressively. -"You'd try to discourage me and -that would waste your time. Eliza is almost in -tears, but I know what I want and what I can -do."</p> - -<p>"A chicken-house!" exclaimed Mrs. Fabian, -with second thoughts of disgust.</p> - -<p>"Yes, nobody can come near but Edgar; and -if he does, he'll have to scrub."</p> - -<p>"Thank you very much," and the young -man raised his eyebrows: "I have my own work -to do, you may remember." Scrubbing chicken-houses -he thought might even eclipse the -memory of lighting the oil-stove.</p> - -<p>"Of course," returned Phil, all attention. -"I'm extremely interested in this determination -of yours. You certainly have the goods."</p> - -<p>"So they tell me," said Edgar, and twisted -his mustache.</p> - -<p>"What are you going to do for furniture?" -asked Mrs. Fabian. "You must at least have -some chairs and a table."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And a lounge!" cried Phil,—"and an oil-stove." -He laughed toward Edgar. "I'm going -to live there, best of aunts, and maybe take my -dinners with Jane, the star of my existence!"</p> - -<p>"Phil, you're crazy," said Mrs. Fabian, despairing. -"You will continue to live here and -work over there."</p> - -<p>He shook his head gaily. "Don't worry. Just -watch; and if you have any attic treasures in the -way of furniture, let me store them for you."</p> - -<p>When Mrs. Fabian really understood the enterprise -Phil was embarking upon, she resigned -herself, and finding an old suit of Mr. Fabian's -which he had used for fishing, she bestowed it -upon her guest.</p> - -<p>Then the work commenced. Eliza tried with -a lofty sense of devotion to lend a hand and -even besought the privilege; but she was repulsed. -Philip induced Captain James to take -an interest in his scheme and render him assistance -at certain epochs in the reconstruction -period, but the Captain and Jane Foster were -the only persons privileged to come near the -scene of operations; and Miss Foster's heart so -far went out to her strong, determined young -tenant that she began hunting in her own garret -for things to help him along.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span></p> - -<p>With shovel and wheelbarrow, scrubbing-brushes, -soapsuds, disinfectants, hammer and -nails, Phil went to work.</p> - -<p>Eliza stood on her boundary-line, her hands -on her hips, and watched, her long nose lifted, -while loads of refuse and debris were patiently -wheeled down to the edge of the bank and given -over to the cleansing tide.</p> - -<p>Violet generously offered her window which -gave upon the scene of operations, and the -opera-glass with which she watched birds; but -Eliza declined.</p> - -<p>"I won't spy on him," she said, adding vindictively, -"but I'll look—the obstinate boy!"</p> - -<p>The first time Kathleen called, Violet took -her up to her room and they sat in the open -window.</p> - -<p>"The opera-glass is scarcely any use," she -explained, "for he hasn't washed the windows -yet and you can't see in at all."</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed, but shrank back. "I don't -want him to think we're watching," she replied.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he knows we all are; but even after he -has gone at night, we don't dare to go and look -in. We can't pass that rock there—not even -Eliza."</p> - -<p>A charming tenor voice suddenly sounded on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> -the air, singing an aria from "La Bohème." The -girls looked and saw Edgar advancing toward -the chicken-house, peering in curiously.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, Phil, attired in a sweater and Mr. -Fabian's trousers which scarcely reached his -ankles, dashed out at the caller and pressed a -scrubbing-brush on his acceptance. Edgar suddenly -stopped his lay and ran, laughing, toward -Mrs. Wright's, where he found the girls and -took them out on the water.</p> - -<p>"I should think you'd want to help him," -said Kathleen wistfully.</p> - -<p>"I do," replied Edgar, "but I restrain myself. -Phil doesn't want me, really," he added; -and he was certainly right. Phil had no time to -stumble over Marcellines.</p> - -<p>A week passed. Jane Foster had been smiling -and important for the last few days, but not -for kingdoms would Eliza have questioned her. -She had acquired an air of calm indifference, -which belied the burning curiosity within. -When Phil stopped in passing to speak with her, -she talked of the weather. Mrs. Wright, on the -contrary, expressed her eagerness to see what -was going on so near and yet so far from -them.</p> - -<p>"Pluto gets ahead of us," she said, "and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> -you've trained him so well he never tells anything."</p> - -<p>Edgar happened to be present and he -shrugged his shoulders. "Better hurry up, Phil," -he remarked, "and have your opening before -interest wanes. You'll have an anti-climax the -first thing you know."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright turned the gentle radiance of -her eyes on the speaker.</p> - -<p>"We heard you last night, singing as you -went home, Mr. Fabian," she said: "that -lovely voice floating across the field will make -us famous. People will hear it and wonder about -the source, and begin to talk of the angel of -Brewster's Island."</p> - -<p>"Wonderfully level-headed people, those -Wrights," soliloquized Edgar, as he sauntered -home. "A distinct acquisition to the island." -Some thought occurred to him. "I wish father -could have heard that," he mused.</p> - -<p>Phil lingered behind him. He had changed -into his own clothes remarkably early this afternoon. -There was an hour yet before supper-time.</p> - -<p>"Where are the rest of your family this afternoon?" -he asked.</p> - -<p>"Violet went with Kathleen into the woods to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span> -get some specimens she wants for her microscope," -replied Mrs. Wright.</p> - -<p>"Where's Eliza?" Phil smiled as he asked it, -and his companion smiled in answer.</p> - -<p>"In her room, I think."</p> - -<p>Phil raised his eyebrows interrogatively.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think so, a little," she replied softly, -nodding. "You see Jane has been there every -day."</p> - -<p>"But that's all the rent I pay," protested -Phil, all very quietly, for though they were -standing outdoors, the windows were open.</p> - -<p>"Yes, but—it's a good deal for flesh and -blood to bear," said Mrs. Wright with a twinkling -glance. "The green-eyed monster ramps -at the best of us, you know."</p> - -<p>"I wonder if I could see Eliza," said Phil in -his natural voice.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think she's in her room," returned -Mrs. Wright. "I'll go and see."</p> - -<p>She disappeared, and Phil's eyes roved to -the boulder cottage and fixed there. A smile -touched the corners of his lips. He had not -meant to carry prohibition too far with Eliza. -It was genuine desire to save her trouble as well -as the wish to surprise her after her vehement -opposition to his scheme, which had made him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> -warn her away. Now he was eager to make it -right with her.</p> - -<p>"I remember now," said Mrs. Wright, returning; -"Eliza went down the hill this afternoon. -I don't know just when she'll come back; -but won't you sit down and wait for her?"</p> - -<p>"Thank you, I don't believe I will. I'll come -back later. I've been a runaway guest all this -week," and with a smile of farewell, an eager -look grew in Phil's eyes as he started to run -across the field toward home.</p> - -<p>In all his arrangements, each time he had -gained an effect he had thought of Kathleen's -amusement and appreciation.</p> - -<p>As soon as he found that Eliza was out of the -question, his eagerness burst forth to get the -girls' point of view. He met Violet Manning -returning from the woods escorted by Edgar.</p> - -<p>"I open the studio to-morrow," he cried -gaily. "Will you come to my tea at three-thirty?"</p> - -<p>"Will we!" exclaimed Violet. "We couldn't -have lasted much longer! I'm glad you let us -see it 'before' so we can fully appreciate it -'after.'"</p> - -<p>Violet was looking pretty and very happy. -Phil considered for one moment whether he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> -should ask her to pour. Even yet he felt that -Kathleen lived in a remote rarefied air of elegance. -Would one dare ask her to dispense tea -in a chicken-house? But he wisely kept silence. -Aunt Isabel might yet enter into what she continued -to term his foolishness.</p> - -<p>With a wave of his hand, he fled on his way, -and found Kathleen, flushed from her walk, -carrying mosses to the table in the wind-break.</p> - -<p>"I've finished," he cried, vaulting over the -railing and appearing beside her. "Want to see -it?"</p> - -<p>She looked up into his expectant eyes.</p> - -<p>"Are we invited?" she returned.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow, everybody is; but I thought -I'd like you to see it right now—if you aren't -too tired."</p> - -<p>"A private view!" she exclaimed. "Who was -ever too tired for that? But I'm of the earth -so earthy, I shall have to go in and wash my -hands."</p> - -<p>"No, no, don't," replied Phil softly. "You'd -meet Aunt Isabel, and this is to be clandestine. -Wipe your hands on this,"—he pulled -his handkerchief out of his pocket,—"and -come."</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed and brushing her fingers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span> -free of traces of the treasured moss, she wiped -them and they started across the field.</p> - -<p>"Here's hoping Violet and Edgar don't see -us," said Phil, and took the path he had trodden -so often straight to the hen-house, and -which did not pass very near the Wrights.</p> - -<p>As they approached, Kathleen looked curiously -at the little cottage with its sloping red -roof, nestling close to the ground on the breast -of the hill and sheltered by the tall Balm-of-Gilead -trees. Their rustling leaves held always -a murmur as of rain and to-day fleecy white -clouds piled against the blue sky behind the -cottage.</p> - -<p>As they drew near, Kathleen stopped and -clasped her hands, and laughter bubbled from -her lips.</p> - -<p>"That's clever!" she exclaimed heartily, and -Phil's eyes danced as she met them.</p> - -<p>A swinging sign had been hung above the low -door. Upon it strutted a splendid cock and -above his proudly lifted comb appeared the -legend:—</p> - -<p class="center"> -<span class="smcap">Villa Chantecler.</span> -</p> - -<p>Phil threw open the low door with a sweeping -bow; and Kathleen paused on the threshold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> -with a low cry of surprise; then stepped into the -cool, dusky interior.</p> - -<p>She found herself in a low-ceiled room with -small-paned windows set high. A golden radiance -streamed through, falling on the soft tone -of floor and walls.</p> - -<p>On a table draped with dull green a tall -candlestick and ivory-tinted plate reflected -gleams of light.</p> - -<p>Kathleen sank on the cushions of a long, low -divan.</p> - -<p>"You can paint Rembrandt portraits in -here!" she said. "Don't explain how you've -done it. I don't want to know. It is the most -restful, delightful studio I've ever seen—and -smelling of ambergris?"</p> - -<p>"No, only of bay leaves."</p> - -<p>Phil waited and let her look at the hangings, -the cushioned chairs, and spindle legs of the -quaint table.</p> - -<p>"You like it," he said after a pause of deep -satisfaction.</p> - -<p>She looked up at him. "I am making genuflexions -to you in my mind."</p> - -<p>He laughed. "But the best is yet to come. Sit -where you are."</p> - -<p>He moved to the back of the room and opened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span> -a door toward the ocean. It was as if a brilliant -panel had suddenly been set in the dark wall.</p> - -<p>Kathleen sprang to her feet.</p> - -<p>"Like enamel!" she said softly, and approached -the opening.</p> - -<p>It led upon a terrace with a white railing. -Tall white pillars at either end were crowned -with dark-green bay.</p> - -<p>"Is it a stage-setting," she said, "or is it -practicable?"</p> - -<p>"Come out and see."</p> - -<p>Together they moved outside and the wind -came up out of the sea across the sleeping field -and swept their faces and set the young leaves -of the orchard to whispering with sweet fresh -lips to their gnarled stems.</p> - -<p>Kathleen looked up at her companion, smiled -and shook her head.</p> - -<p>"You have added poetry to our island," she -said. "I didn't think any one could do that."</p> - -<p>Phil met her gaze.</p> - -<p>"And you," he said, "have put the finishing -touch to my satisfaction."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">PHILIP'S LETTER</p> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Dearest Mother</span>:—You remember I told -you I had found a pig's ear and was going to -make a silk purse out of it despite the scepticism -of the neighborhood. Behold the purse! I -call it the Villa Chantecler. It has taken me -the whole week, but the result—well, Kathleen -says I have added poetry to the island, and -I suspect she is authority on poetry, although -that too is hidden in one of the locked rooms -I've told you about. She gives just enough of -herself to each person to fit every occasion; but -the way she took the first view of the Villa yesterday -was like everything else she does; perfection. -I didn't know I was going to write that. -I didn't know I thought it. That's the beauty -of having some one to whom you can think -aloud. You find out what you do think; but she -and I touch only on the high places and when -we leave the island we shall fly apart for the -whole winter again; with pleasant memories, -however. She has a positive talent for letting -people alone. I love such people!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span></p> - -<p>Now, to tell you how I did my little trick. -I could never have done it but for New England -tenacity and thrift. They never throw -anything away in this part of the world; and -even importations like Aunt Isabel collect -some lumber-room outcasts rather than injure -the scenery by throwing them over the -bank.</p> - -<p>Jane Foster, adorable landlady and Lady -Bountiful that she is, turned me loose in her -attic, and told me to help myself. So, first of all, -I made the hen-house shine with cleanliness. -Then Cap'n James helped me drag up its dejected -piazza which had capsized in the neighboring -field. We nailed it to the house and -painted it white.</p> - -<p>Aunt Isabel had discarded a Crex rug, which -I took for my studio, also a three-legged divan -and chairs whose cane seats had surrendered. -These I mended and cushioned. In Miss Foster's -attic, I found what I should think were all -the potato sacks that had ever been used in the -Foster family. These made my hangings and -cushions, although the poverty they implied -nearly reduced Jane to tears. She implored me -to use turkey red and found enough in the attic -to begin on. The stuff smelled so new, I'm<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span> -nearly certain the dear woman bought it and -placed it there.</p> - -<p>I found an old spinet under the eaves. Its -voice had long departed; but its charming legs -and framework were intact. I placed some -boards across that and used my green bathrobe -for a cover. I took a straight length of pipe, -fixed it into a wooden stand, topped it with a -spool, bronzed the whole thing, and behold, a -stunning candlestick in which stands a tall wax -candle.</p> - -<p>Among the refuse I had carried out of the -place, I had found charming old plates, heavy as -lead, crackled with age, and cream and gray in -color. These I disposed variously, and I am perfectly -sure Cap'n James and Jane Foster have -laid their heads together in order to condole -over the fact that so pleasant a young man -should have so gloomy and unpicturesque a -taste when he expects to get his living by that -same lame faculty. In fact, Cap'n James unburdened -his mind one day. He said:—</p> - -<p>"Ain't you goin' to have anything cheerful -'round here? It looks to me more fit for hens -than it does for folks right now."</p> - -<p>Under the house I found lengths of drain-pipe. -These I used on my terrace at the back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> -of the Villa, overlooking the sea. When I had -placed these pillars at each end of the railing -and crowned them with the polished bay that -grows luxuriantly here, I had a quite Italian -effect, I assure you.</p> - -<p>Jane looks at me with pitiful eyes, and yesterday -came down to the Villa with a framed -chromo from her parlor wall.</p> - -<p>"I just as lieves you'd use it as not," she -said, "and anyway you might put it up till the -folks have seen the place. Your own paintin's -can go up later." I almost kissed her, she pitied -me so, and I could see that she agreed with -Cap'n James, who said the place gave him the -"Injun blues."</p> - -<p>There is a rough stairway that leads to the -half-floored room above. I took a drain-pipe to -make a newel post for that. It is surmounted -with a bronze Mercury on a pedestal. The -pedestal is a small, rusty tin wash-basin that I -found under the house. I covered it with varnish -and rolled it in sand, inverted it, and behold! -I also gave an appearance of advanced -age to the Mercury; so the general appearance -is as of a treasure from Pompeii.</p> - -<p>If only you and father could see and feel the -beauty and the heavenly quiet of the place. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span> -have a kitchen, too. The door was a wreck, and -I tacked upon it a dark ornate window shade -which tones in with all the rest.</p> - -<p>Sometimes I feel as if I were only living to see -you again. I know it's what I'm working for -anyway; and I well know that you are working -for me every day of your dear life.</p> - -<p>I love you.</p> - -<p class="right"> -<span class="smcap">Phil.</span> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">PHILIP ENTERTAINS</p> - - -<p>Philip still had Eliza on his mind, so when -Kathleen had left him, he went back to the -farmhouse and had the good fortune to meet -Eliza returning home.</p> - -<p>"I'm looking for you!" he called cheerfully.</p> - -<p>She regarded him unsmiling. "Well," she remarked -carelessly, "you look like a gentleman -of leisure."</p> - -<p>"Just what I am. You guessed right. My -Villa is finished and I've been waiting for you -because I'm going to let everybody in to-morrow -and I wanted you to see it with me alone."</p> - -<p>"My opinion ain't worth anything," said -Eliza; "besides, it's pretty near time to get -supper. Miss Foster went up to Portland to-day."</p> - -<p>"I know she did. That's why I'm in a hurry -to take you into the studio before the boat arrives. -You know how discouraging you were, -Eliza, and I wanted to surprise you. I'd have -liked to surprise everybody, but, of course, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span> -hadn't the nerve to keep Miss Foster out. The -rent I pay didn't warrant it." The speaker -twinkled down into Eliza's unresponsive eyes. -"I'm going to give a tea to-morrow and I want -to talk it over with you."</p> - -<p>They had strolled near to the rustic bench -where Mrs. Wright was still sitting with her -work.</p> - -<p>"Eliza is going with me to have a private -view of the Villa," said Phil. "Your turn to-morrow. -I'm going to give a tea. Will you -come?"</p> - -<p>"Most assuredly," answered Mrs. Wright. -"As soon as you cleaned those windows, my -curiosity began to effervesce."</p> - -<p>"I can't go now," said Eliza. "I've waited -this long, I guess I can wait till to-morrow. I've -got to get supper."</p> - -<p>Philip threw an arm around her and drew her -forward.</p> - -<p>"Boarders have come, Mr. Philip," she exclaimed. -"They'll see you."</p> - -<p>"I hope they will," he responded firmly. "If -they don't know I love you, it's the best way to -tell them."</p> - -<p>Eliza walked along stiffly, perforce, toward -the forbidden ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes, I thought I'd make a grand splurge to-morrow, -and give a tea," he continued. "I -want you to preside."</p> - -<p>"Do what?"</p> - -<p>"Pour. I want you to pour for me."</p> - -<p>"H'm. Ridiculous! Let one of the girls do it."</p> - -<p>"Well, just as you say. Now, then," they -were drawing near the little house, "prepare! -Be a good sport now, and own yourself wrong if -you think you are. See my shingle?"</p> - -<p>Eliza's eyes followed his gesture and caught -sight of the crowing cock.</p> - -<p>"H'm," she said; then they went inside.</p> - -<p>Eliza looked about in silence for a minute.</p> - -<p>"It's clean," she said at last; and Phil knew -she was moved to catch at a word of praise as -one says of a neighbor's plain and uninteresting -baby, "How healthy he looks!"</p> - -<p>He began explaining his devices to Eliza and -her heart was touched by his joy in all this -cheap gloom.</p> - -<p>By the time he opened the back door, she was -ready to weep over him; and she said:—</p> - -<p>"That's a real sightly piazza."</p> - -<p>Then they moved into the little kitchen.</p> - -<p>"I've been waiting for you to tell me what to -do here," said the artist, and Eliza rose to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span> -bait and began pulling things about and showing -him where shelves must be placed.</p> - -<p>"How are you goin' to give a tea," she asked, -"with one broken mug?"</p> - -<p>"Borrow cups and saucers from Aunt Isabel. -That's easy; but," he looked down at Eliza, -whose face had regained its usual alertness, "it -occurred to me that perhaps I have some of my -own—those that you packed for me and that -ran away to the island."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Philip, I'm a fool to forget those!" responded -the other, after gazing at him in silence. -"You shall have every one of 'em. They're all -mixed in with the Foster things. I'll pick 'em -out; and we'll lend you all you need beside."</p> - -<p>"Would it interfere with supper proceedings -if we were to do it right now?"</p> - -<p>"Law! it ain't time to get supper yet," responded -Eliza, so promptly that, as they hurried -out of the door, Phil stooped to break a long -blade of grass to bite.</p> - -<p>A vigorous search was at once instituted for -the china, and Phil and Eliza carried it down to -the studio; and as they went, Mr. Wright came -up from the water and joined his wife.</p> - -<p>"We're to be let in to-morrow," she said. -"He has finished."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, it's been a job," remarked Mr. -Wright, who had occasionally sat on a log and -watched Phil at his roof-mending or some other -strenuous part of the work.</p> - -<p>"Yes, he ought to succeed," said Mrs. -Wright. "He hasn't a lazy bone in his body."</p> - -<p>"There aren't many of us that have at his -age," remarked Mr. Wright. "Are there, -Pluto?"</p> - -<p>The cat had run to meet him like a dog. -For him the scent of Mr. Wright's fishing trousers -was as the perfume of Araby; and he followed -him to the room in the shed where his -friend changed them for habiliments more generally -agreeable.</p> - -<p>At last Phil returned to the boulder cottage -where he found Mrs. Fabian and Kathleen in -the wind-break. The latter was working at the -table, sorting the moss specimens for her slides.</p> - -<p>She looked up at him now with a new realization -of his powers.</p> - -<p>"Well, you said this morning to-day would -finish the work," said Mrs. Fabian, closing her -novel on her finger for a mark. "Are you -through?"</p> - -<p>"As nearly as I ever shall be," he replied, -throwing himself into a chair near Kathleen's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span> -table and regarding her deft fingers at their -work.</p> - -<p>"Well, I'm glad," said Mrs. Fabian, "for -we've seen nothing of you. I like the way you -visit us."</p> - -<p>He looked at her quickly to see if there were -feeling behind the accusation.</p> - -<p>"Now, you'll have to stay on a week when -you are not so preoccupied."</p> - -<p>"Not if he doesn't wish to, mother," said -Kathleen, going on with her work. Her cheeks -were still flushed from the warm tramp to the -woods; the red glints in her hair shone lustrous.</p> - -<p>"It does look like making use of you, doesn't -it?" he said impetuously. "But you're so good -to me, both of you. To-morrow you'll forgive -me, Aunt Isabel, when you see I have a place to -work and trouble no one. I do hope it won't -rain."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Kathleen, handling a tiny bit -of moss. "The moon holds the weather."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian laughed. "Kathleen, the astronomer," -she said.</p> - -<p>The girl nodded. "It may not be a scientific -way to put it, but I've always noticed it here. -It will be full to-morrow night. The weather -won't change till the moon does."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Delightfully consoling," said Phil, continuing -to watch her averted face. It seemed to him -this was the first time since Christmas night -that his mind had been sufficiently at leisure -from itself to concentrate upon her. He suddenly -remembered that she used to like cigarettes. -He had not yet seen her use one. Perhaps -she was aiding Edgar in the stern limit which he -was imposing upon himself.</p> - -<p>"I wonder," he said, "if either of you would -pour for me at my grand tea to-morrow."</p> - -<p>Kathleen did not look up, but her cheeks -grew warmer while she manipulated the moss.</p> - -<p>"Oh, a tea in the chicken-house," laughed -Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>The light jeering tone struck Kathleen as -coming at a particularly unfortunate moment.</p> - -<p>"I will. Be glad to," she said heartily.</p> - -<p>"Whom are you going to invite? The fish?" -laughed Mrs. Fabian.</p> - -<p>Phil's naïveté was dashed by her tone. Kathleen -felt it.</p> - -<p>"Mother's jealous, Phil," she said, "because -she has seen so little of you all the week. She is at -fever heat of curiosity as to what you have been -doing; and as for tea! Mother's an inebriate. -She won't leave any for the fish. You'll see."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span></p> - -<p>Phil looked at the speaker gratefully, and -leaned toward her a little. "I have the right -barrel at last," he said. "The one that ran -away to the island. Do you remember?"</p> - -<p>His eyes were so very speaking that Kathleen -dropped hers to the moss. She nodded and -smiled.</p> - -<p>"It knew where it ought to go, didn't it?" -she returned.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's countenance had sobered. She -knew the descendant of the Van Ruyslers so -well that she understood that she had offended.</p> - -<p>"Can't one make a bit of fun once in a -while?" she asked in injured tones of Kathleen -when next they were alone.</p> - -<p>"Yes, once in a while," answered the girl, -and kissed her.</p> - -<p>"It'll be something funny for you to look -back upon when you come out, Kathleen, that -your first function after graduating took place -in a chicken-house."</p> - -<p>"I hope I shall not be homesick for it," -thought the girl; but she only smiled.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen is certainly touchy about Phil," -mused Mrs. Fabian. "She glared up at me just -the way she did last fall when I wanted to get -Aunt Mary's silver. She is the queerest girl!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span></p> - -<p>The moon or something else did hold the -weather and the artist could have had no better -day on which to give his proof that where -there's a will there's a way.</p> - -<p>The company swarmed through the little -house, laughing, admiring, questioning. At last -they stood on the terrace.</p> - -<p>"My dear boy!" exclaimed Mrs. Wright. -"You could have no better view if you were a -millionaire!"</p> - -<p>"The only thing lacking," cried Violet, "is a -white peacock. Where is the white peacock?"</p> - -<p>"How about it, Edgar?" asked Phil. -"Couldn't you stand out there for the lady?"</p> - -<p>"The nightingale could never deceive us," -said Mrs. Wright, bending her universally loving -gaze on Edgar, whose chin was held rather -higher than usual.</p> - -<p>"That's so," cried Phil. "Sing us something, -Edgar, right here and now."</p> - -<p>"Certainly," responded the gifted one, regarding -his host as he launched easily into song:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"'I'm looking for a lobster and I think you'll do.'"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian did not join in the laugh. She -had moved inside, and her lorgnette was fixed -on a closed door.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I must see in there, Phil," she said.</p> - -<p>"Of course, you must, Mrs. Bluebeard," he -replied. "You may all go in this once, but it's -the last time ever, I warn you, for that is my -kitchen."</p> - -<p>They swarmed through to the little room, -where Edgar perceived with a groan an oil-stove -burning cosily in the midst of canvas, paints, -easel, et cetera.</p> - -<p>"<em>I'll</em> never go in again, I promise you," he -declared.</p> - -<p>At the host's invitation, the company arranged -themselves on the rejuvenated chairs -and couch, and Kathleen made tea at the -spindle-legged table.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's lorgnette was bent upon the -newel post.</p> - -<p>"However did you make him stand up, -dear?" she asked, regarding the Mercury which -had winged his way from her garret. "We -haven't been upstairs yet, remember."</p> - -<p>"And you won't go till you're tired of life," -returned the host. "It abounds in trapdoors -and, aside from my affection for you, the furniture -down here couldn't stand being fallen on."</p> - -<p>Being turned ceilingward, Mrs. Fabian's -lorgnette discovered that branches of bay had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span> -been woven through the rafters in some places. -She shrugged her shoulders.</p> - -<p>"You'll get rained on in this dilapidated old -place," she said. "A few bay leaves can't -deceive me."</p> - -<p>"Madam! Are you aware that you are talking -about the Villa Chantecler? That roof is as -tight as a drum."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian stirred the lemon in her substantially -thick cup; and looked admiringly at -the energetic host.</p> - -<p>"I only hope, Phil," she sighed, "that you -aren't too practical to succeed in your profession. -So few artists would know how to mend a -roof or even remember the necessity for it. I -hope it isn't a bad sign."</p> - -<p>Edgar, sitting with Violet on the railing, -drinking tea, heard his mother's comment.</p> - -<p>"A good deal in that, I think," he remarked -softly. "I've never seen any of Phil's things -except that rough black-and-white stuff he has -in there. He never seemed to me to have a particle -of temperament."</p> - -<p>Violet was inclined to agree. She had seen -nothing amusing in Philip's chaff about the -peacock. She thought it quite as silly as were -the other comments on the robin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I wish you would sing something," she said. -"Do, and surprise them."</p> - -<p>"I can't. I haven't even a banjo."</p> - -<p>"I've noticed you have everything over at -the house: banjo, guitar, mandolin, everything. -You must leave one of them over here. Music -would sound perfectly charming in this place."</p> - -<p>"<em>Any</em> music?" asked Edgar, smiling.</p> - -<p>She returned his look from the tops of her -eyes. "Bold fisherman," she replied.</p> - -<p>Her companion scanned the horizon: "The -moon is going to be great to-night. It looks as -if it would rise clear out of the water. Want to -go for a sail?"</p> - -<p>"I don't believe I can," replied Violet. "I -have an engagement."</p> - -<p>"An engagement!" returned Edgar, sceptically. -"Are you going to read aloud to your -aunt?"</p> - -<p>Violet smiled at him provokingly. "You're -not the only man on this island," she remarked.</p> - -<p>A quick flush mounted to Edgar's forehead.</p> - -<p>"Phil?" he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>She nodded, mutely, and took the last swallow -of her tea.</p> - -<p>Her companion looked as if he might be in the -throes of the red mood.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That's beastly," he said, dismayed to think -that in all Phil's preoccupation he had had sufficient -forethought to secure Violet for this -perfect evening. "Since when?" he demanded -fiercely.</p> - -<p>"Since yesterday," she returned demurely, -apparently unconscious that the arrangement -caused annoyance.</p> - -<p>"Very well, then, we'll take the yacht," he -said, "and let the crowd go. Phil can help me -sail her. I was intending to take the motor-boat -and you alone."</p> - -<p>"I don't know whether Mr. Sidney would -care to," she returned coolly, "but it's very -kind of you."</p> - -<p>Edgar regarded her, baffled. "What—what -had you planned to do?" he asked. He knew -the question was inexcusable and braced himself -for a snub; but the sweet Violet, exultant at -his open disturbance, administered none.</p> - -<p>"Nothing special," she replied. "Mr. Sidney -is invited to dine with us, in celebration of the -completion of the improvements he has been -making on the estate. That's all."</p> - -<p>"Oh, absurd!" declared Edgar. "As if you -couldn't dine any foggy night. Well, you don't -need to stay after dinner. He isn't your guest."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span></p> - -<p>Violet regarded him with an ironical smile.</p> - -<p>"I've been taught manners," she said. "Beside, -perhaps I want to stay. Didn't that -occur to you?"</p> - -<p>Edgar scowled and looked off on the ocean -and back again. "I don't want to take the -whole family out in order to get you," he said, -fuming.</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't," she answered, laughing. "It -isn't worth the trouble."</p> - -<p>Her companion clenched his even teeth. He -didn't want to risk Philip's meandering about -the island alone with Violet on such an evening -as this was going to be. He would be sure to talk -of his work and his hopes, and her confoundedly -soulful eyes would look back at him comprehendingly, -and a precedent would be established -and—</p> - -<p>"You see, Mr. Sidney expects to take all his -dinners with us after he begins working here," -went on Violet sweetly. "It will be so convenient -just to run across."</p> - -<p>Edgar gave her a furious glance, but the simplicity -of her regard was complete.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright came to the open door. "We're -going now, Violet," she said. "Will you come? -Our host positively refuses to allow us to help<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span> -him put things away, and he will follow a little -later. I've been hoping," turning to Edgar, -"that you might be moved to sing as you sat out -here."</p> - -<p>The young man had sprung to his feet and -was trying to banish evidences of the red mood -from his brow.</p> - -<p>"I wanted to take Violet out on the water to-night," -he said. "It seems there's an obstacle."</p> - -<p>"Yes, a large one," returned Mrs. Wright -pleasantly. "Lots of evenings coming, but I -don't know about letting my little girl go on the -water at night."</p> - -<p>"I guarantee her safety. I've come here ever -since I was a baby, Mrs. Wright, and I'm an -amphibious animal; but if Sidney should ever -suggest it, remember he's a landlubber. Half -the time they don't know enough to be afraid."</p> - -<p>"Very true," returned Mrs. Wright, with her -natural graceful sweetness of manner, which -at least succeeded in making Edgar feel rude. -"Come, dear," turning to Violet, "I'd like to -have you come with me."</p> - -<p>So the girl rose and yielded her cup to Edgar, -who took it with dignity. He, the ex-cavalier of -Mrs. Larrabee, not to be able to mould circumstances -among these poor and provincial people!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span></p> - -<p>He took leave of Philip, and tendered his -congratulations with an air fitted to grace marble -halls. "I believe," he added, "you don't -dine at home to-night."</p> - -<p>"No," replied Phil, "Miss Foster is very -kindly entertaining her tenant."</p> - -<p>Edgar pricked up his ears; and instantly ran -after Violet. "Phil says Jane Foster invited him," -he said vehemently. "I shall call for you by eight -o'clock. I'll take the best care of her, Mrs. -Wright. I assure you I will, and bring her in -early."</p> - -<p>He was off before he could be gainsaid, and -Mrs. Wright noticed that Violet's expression -was such as might be worn by a well-grown kitten -who had been hilariously entertained in a -game with a mouse which was as yet unfinished -and highly promising.</p> - -<p>The events of the week had thrown light on -the happiness Violet evinced the day of her -arrival under Edgar Fabian's escort. Mrs. -Wright's tenderness for her orphan niece was -alertly watchful. She put an arm around her -now and drew her away from the house, and -they walked slowly across the grass.</p> - -<p>"It really is perfectly safe to go on the water -with Edgar," said the girl, half laughing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span></p> - -<p>"For me, it might be," returned Mrs. Wright -quietly.</p> - -<p>Violet blushed deeply, and dreaded what -might be coming.</p> - -<p>"The Fabians are nice people," went on her -aunt, "very rich people and able to give you -pleasures, and I like you to be friendly with -them; but I'm a little afraid of this situation."</p> - -<p>"You needn't be," burst forth the girl impulsively. -"Edgar doesn't really care much -about me."</p> - -<p>"That's the trouble," said Mrs. Wright -quietly.</p> - -<p>The reply was so unexpected that Violet felt -a sharp twinge of mortification and a spontaneous -desire to show her aunt that she was -wrong. There were lots of small proofs that she -might give her—</p> - -<p>"No," she returned, suddenly serious. "He -cares very much for me in a certain way: my -understanding of his gift—and his hopes—and -his career. His family mean to be kind, but -they're so unsympathetic. They're not temperamental -like him and—"</p> - -<p>Violet paused because Aunt Amy was smiling. -It was unkind to smile at such a time. Very -well! Her lips should be sealed from this time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span> -on. She would never again speak to her about -Edgar!</p> - -<p>"He is very attractive even with all his conceit," -said Mrs. Wright, who was quite conscious -that the girl's slender body had suddenly -a resentful rigidity. "A beautiful tenor voice -and conceit seem to be inseparable in this mundane -sphere; and if my little girl has understood -and responded to his outpourings about himself -she is charming to him." Mrs. Wright paused -and then went on: "Look around, Violet, and -realize that you are the only girl here to whom -he can show attention. Did he show you any in -New York? Did he go out of his way for you? -You fell right into his reach on the train and he -took the gifts the gods provided; and they were -very sweet gifts."</p> - -<p>The speaker squeezed her unresponsive listener, -whose heart was beating hotly. "As a -rule men are marauders," she went on. "As a -rule, women are single-hearted, faithful. There -are exceptions. I want to give you one piece of -advice and I can't put it too strongly. Take it -in and act upon it, and it may save you a world -of hurt vanity, and possibly a broken heart. No -matter how a man behaves toward you,—no -matter how he looks, or what he does,—or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span> -what he says,—don't believe or even imagine -that he loves you until he tells you he does, in -so many words."</p> - -<p>There were tears in the baby-bachelor's blue -eyes. Among the stormy emotions that filled -her was the horrible suspicion that, instead of -being a foreordained victor, the kitten might -possibly in the end be the mouse's victim.</p> - -<p>"Now, Mr. Sidney," went on Mrs. Wright's -calm voice, "is a man who I believe has hold of -life by the right end."</p> - -<p>"He is always making fun of Edgar," burst -forth Violet, her breath coming fast. "You -heard what he said about the peacock."</p> - -<p>At this, Mrs. Wright fell a peg lower in her -niece's estimation, for she laughed.</p> - -<p>"I knew what he meant," she answered, "but -I couldn't let the lovely singer's feelings be -hurt."</p> - -<p>"Knew what he meant!" exclaimed Violet, -indignantly, and suddenly breaking away from -her aunt's embrace, she ran toward the house -and disappeared.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Wright followed the fleeing form with -her eyes, and nodded gently.</p> - -<p>"I thought so. Only just in time," she said to -herself. The seed was dropped, and even though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span> -the ground did have to be harrowed to get the -necessary depth, it was better so.</p> - -<p>The evening was as beautiful as Edgar -Fabian had foreseen. One of the many charms -of Brewster's Island was the habit the wind -had of lulling at sunset, often making the -evening air milder than that of day.</p> - -<p>To-night the sun had sunk in a clear sky behind -the White Mountains. All the family at -the Wright cottage had come out after supper -to see the Presidential Range, ninety miles -away, silhouetted black against the golden -glory.</p> - -<p>"One can breathe here," thought Philip. -"One can breathe here." He wondered if -Kathleen were watching the sunset.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but turn around," cried Violet suddenly. -"This is a three-ringed circus. One -should live on a pivot here on a clear night."</p> - -<p>Phil turned obediently, and saw the waters -dashing against a huge disk of pale gold.</p> - -<p>Kathleen, lying in her hammock, arm folded -beneath her head, was also watching the moon.</p> - -<p>Edgar sat near her on the steps, smoking his -third cigarette that day. It was his rigid allowance. -He saw dimly the figures come out from -the Wright cottage and his first impulse was to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span> -stroll across and join them; but pride forbade. -Supposing he were to get there just in time to see -Violet walk off with Philip.</p> - -<p>"What a perfect evening!" said Kathleen -lazily. "Go in and get the guitar, Edgar, and -sing me something."</p> - -<p>Sing something! Edgar's teeth clenched at -the thought.</p> - -<p>"I've practised such a lot to-day, I'm no -good," he replied.</p> - -<p>"Why, I didn't hear you," she said.</p> - -<p>"No. I took my trusty pitch-pipe down in -the woods and scared the birds. I have some -mercy on you and mother."</p> - -<p>"What is your aim?" asked his sister. "What -do you want to do? Concert work?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, perhaps. Mazzini says I could teach -right now if I wanted to."</p> - -<p>"Teach?" repeated Kathleen, trying to speak -respectfully, but smiling at the man in the -moon, who grinned back as if he understood.</p> - -<p>"Of course, there's no necessity for that, so I -shall simply prepare myself for public work; -recitals; possibly go abroad for the prestige of -study over there. Not that I need it but the -name goes a long way, and if I should go into -opera it is best to begin there."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span></p> - -<p>The man in the moon grew redder in the face. -So did Kathleen; but she knew that sublime -self-assurance is an asset not to be despised. -She looked at her brother's trim shapely head, -rising from the white silk collar of his negligée -shirt.</p> - -<p>"Does Mazzini really think you are already -prepared to teach?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. I had very few errors in method to -unlearn, and he says, given a good voice, a good -presence, and good looks, tact, and an attractive -studio, pupils will come fast enough," replied -Edgar carelessly. "He said he'd send me -his overflow; but of course all that was in joke. -He knows that it is no question of money with -me."</p> - -<p>Kathleen ceased to smile at the moon, for her -thoughts recurred to their father, meeting his -problems in the heat of the great city. So far -his letters had breathed no hint of trouble.</p> - -<p>"That's a glorious feeling, Edgar," she said -soberly, "to feel certain that you can be independent."</p> - -<p>"Yes," he returned, speaking low, and holding -the cigarette between his fingers. "I said I'd -show father, and I will."</p> - -<p>The remainder of his thoughts he did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span> -voice; but there was some one else he meant to -show. The vivacious Mrs. Larrabee who had -dared to use him when it suited her and then -discard him with raised eyebrows and a scornful -word. She should see him win the plaudits -of the multitude; then, when she endeavored to -add her incense and claim to have been his inspiration, -it should be his turn to show cold -disdain. He ground the even teeth at some -memory.</p> - -<p>"I want to tell you, Edgar," went on Kathleen -in the same serious tone, "that I am proud -of your determination; proud of your regular -work; proud of your cutting down on smoking; -and it will overwhelm me with joy to see you -succeed."</p> - -<p>"Thanks, Kath," he returned. "I appreciate -that."</p> - -<p>"And I also want to ask you not to make -love to Violet Manning," went on the low, serious -voice.</p> - -<p>Edgar was dumb, and now the man in the -moon met <em>him</em> with a grin.</p> - -<p>"You know it will be only an idle pastime -with you, and because she is the only girl here. -It might mean a lot to her, and—it's a hard -world for girls."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen had not intended to end her appeal -in that way, but the declaration broke from her.</p> - -<p>"She doesn't care a picayune for me," returned -Edgar. "Don't you worry." He hoped -his sister would contradict him; but she did not.</p> - -<p>"You might be able to make her," she said. -"Be too manly to try, Edgar. Do, do be unselfish -and honest."</p> - -<p>The earnest deliberation of her tone caused -her listener to reflect for a moment; and the -man in the moon, by this time crimson in the -face, met his frowning regard mirthfully.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">BY MOONLIGHT</p> - - -<p>While Edgar was still frowning, and divided -between consoled pride and a consciousness of -guilt, a tall dark form came into sight in the -moonlit landscape. It broke into a run as it -neared the cottage, and with a sense of relief -Edgar recognized Philip Sidney, who bounded -over the piazza railing.</p> - -<p>Catching sight of Edgar sitting alone, he -spoke eagerly:—</p> - -<p>"Has Kathleen gone anywhere?"</p> - -<p>"No, she's there in the hammock. How did -you break away so early?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't think it was going to be easy," replied -Phil half laughing, and looking toward the -shadowy hammock where Kathleen in her white -gown was watching him; "but we finished supper -a long time ago, and—and have been talking -ever since. We had told each other about -everything we knew, and so I thought"—his -voice trailed away—"well, I think I was -homesick."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Why didn't you bring Violet with you?" -asked Edgar.</p> - -<p>"I tried to; that is, I suggested that it was -too heavenly a night to keep still, and asked her -if she would like to go to walk—" As he talked, -Phil kept his eyes on the white figure in the hammock -and he spoke eagerly as if he were justifying -himself. "But," he went on, "she said she -had a headache and felt that she must excuse -herself."</p> - -<p>Edgar looked up triumphantly at the man in -the moon, but he refused to see the joke. His -hilarious mood had changed. He beamed down -now in pensive golden serenity with the usual -remote benevolence for all lovers which has won -his reputation.</p> - -<p>"What was there in that tea I made?" inquired -Kathleen lazily. "Mother has the headache, -too. Isn't it a shame on such an evening."</p> - -<p>"Too bad," said Phil perfunctorily. He approached -the hammock and neither he nor -Kathleen noted that Edgar made an unostentatious -departure such as the comic papers describe -as a cat-like sneak. Certainly Pluto -could not have moved any more quietly, and his -heart was gay.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Headache!" he thought, the even teeth -broadly exhibited. "What that headache needs -is the water-cure"; and the boarders sitting out -in front of the Wright cottage heard the -"Toreador Song" blithely whistled by some -one coming across the field.</p> - -<p>When Edgar arrived at the farmhouse he -looked about for a familiar figure. Among the -little group, Eliza Brewster was the only one he -knew. He approached her with his most -debonair manner.</p> - -<p>"Good evening, Eliza. Will you please tell -Miss Manning I am here?"</p> - -<p>"She's got the headache, Mr. Fabian."</p> - -<p>"So Mr. Sidney said; but I thought she -might see me for just a minute. I want to tell -her something important."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's too bad, 'cause she's gone to -bed. I'll take any message you want me to, -and give it to her in the morning. I'd rather -not disturb her now 'cause I just took her up a -pitcher o' water and she told me she was goin' -to try to go to sleep."</p> - -<p>Edgar was so blankly silent that Eliza spoke -again.</p> - -<p>"I'll call Mrs. Wright if you'd rather see her. -She's in her room writin' a letter."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span></p> - -<p>"No, no, don't trouble yourself," said the -visitor, lightly. "Good night."</p> - -<p>He moved away quickly toward the Villa -Chantecler and made a détour around it. The -little piazza overlooking the sea gleamed white -in the moonlight. The bay leaves stood up -crisp and polished. Edgar recalled the mocking -in Violet's eyes as they had sat there this afternoon. -To lose an evening like this. It was a -crime!</p> - -<p>Coming out beside the orchard he looked up -at the windows of Violet's room. They were -dark.</p> - -<p>His hopeful vanity relinquished the hope that -she had manœuvred to get rid of Phil in order -to leave the coast clear for himself. He moved -up the incline and threw himself down in the -shadow. He could hear a stir at the front of -the house. The lingerers in the moonlight were -moving inside and he could see lamps twinkle in -rooms where the shades were pulled down.</p> - -<p>In a few minutes more all lights vanished. -Only the rising tide broke the stillness. Edgar -had been giving himself over to dreams of a -brilliant future in which his only handicap consisted -of his father's money. Would the cynical -blasé critics be able to be as fair to him as if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span> -he had been discovered among the peasants of -Italy?</p> - -<p>Suddenly he realized that never would a -more wonderful stage-setting be his than that -which now surrounded him. He rose on his -elbow and looked up again at Violet's windows.</p> - -<p>Then he began to sing. Into the girl's unrestful -dreams the sound fell like balm:——</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"Drink to me only with thine eyes,</div> - <div class="verse">And I will pledge with mine."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>She was wide awake suddenly and looking -wide-eyed toward the open windows.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"Leave but a kiss within the cup</div> - <div class="verse">And I'll not ask for wine."</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Her heart beat fast and she pressed her hand -over her eyes, every faculty absorbed in listening -to the melting loveliness of the voice.</p> - -<p>Last night she would have knelt happily by -the open window and called out a hushed -"Bravo," to the singer.</p> - -<p>Now she lay perfectly still after the song -ceased.</p> - -<p>"It is because there isn't any other girl -here," she reflected. "He is a fashionable man -with countless friends. I am a dancing-teacher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span> -whom he forgets in town and always will forget.—That's -the most beautiful voice in the -world," she thought with swift irrelevance; but -Edgar, looking up at the windows, saw only -blankness. He smiled to himself. He felt that -she was not asleep.</p> - -<p>The moon shed a wondrous luminous glow in -the clear heavens as it sailed above him. The -"man" looked into vast space as though no -such hilarity as that of his earlier mood had -been possible.</p> - -<p>Edgar sang again. The higher the range of -the song, with the more ease did his voice thrill -the still night.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">"Oh, Moon of my delight, that knows no wane,</div> - <div class="verse">The Moon of heaven is rising once again.</div> - <div class="verse">How oft hereafter rising shall she look</div> - <div class="verse">Through this same garden after me in vain!</div> -</div><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">And when thyself with shining foot shall pass</div> - <div class="verse">Among the guests star-scattered on the grass,</div> - <div class="verse">And in thy joyous errand reach the spot where I made one,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Turn down an empty glass!"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>Violet did not know when or how she reached -the window, but the ending of the song found -her kneeling there, sobbing quietly, her head -buried on her crossed arms. The moonlight -fell on her shining hair. Edgar saw her and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> -springing up, came near, careful to keep in -shadow, for other window shades had risen.</p> - -<p>"Violet!" he called softly.</p> - -<p>No answer.</p> - -<p>"Violet!" he said again. A hand white in the -moonlight motioned him away, and he believed -that she was weeping. Tears of sympathy, of -triumph, sprang to his own eyes. So before very -long would hundreds be shaken by his art.</p> - -<p>"Just say good night, Violet," he begged -softly; but she would not look up. She waved -her hand again, and her shade came down.</p> - -<p>Only one week since she had come to the -island and it seemed months. Her aunt's words -had pierced what she knew now had been a -hope. How could she have been so insane as to -hope it! Even given such a wild supposition as -that Edgar Fabian would marry a nobody, -what comfort or peace was in store for his wife? -Violet had seen a play called "The Concert," -in which a wife had been obliged to share her -artist husband with a miscellaneous lot of female -admirers. Better a thousand times to marry a -shoemaker or any other obscure body and so be -left to his undisturbed possession.</p> - -<p>Aunt Amy was terribly right. More right -than she knew.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span></p> - -<p>Violet crept back to bed in a tumult of sensible -reasoning, accompanying which was an intoxicating -obbligato of divine music, which -sang and sang through her excited brain.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Edgar, strolling back deliberately -through the field, smiled at his own thoughts. -So the mocking eyes had been quenched. What -a fine combination that girl was: so spirited, so -sincere, so temperamental.</p> - -<p>Kathleen's appeal recurred to him. "She's -right, I suppose," he reflected. "After smelling -hothouse flowers all winter, the wild rose is alluring; -but—" his further thoughts were vague; -but they comprised a virtuous intention of fair -play towards the girl whom he had left weeping -at the feet of his genius.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Kathleen sprang to a sitting posture as -Philip approached the hammock, and sitting on -its edge, swung gently.</p> - -<p>"Well," he said, smiling, "aren't we going to -the rocks?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, are we?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly. I was afraid I shouldn't get -back before you had gone. I was afraid you and -Edgar might be making the most of the opportunity -for a fraternal <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</i>."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span></p> - -<p>"We were; but we found the piazza satisfactory -for it."</p> - -<p>"Blasé creatures!" returned Phil. "Hurry, -Kathleen," he added eagerly. "Get your -coat."</p> - -<p>"I wonder if mother may not need me."</p> - -<p>"No one needs you so much as I do to-night," -was the impulsive response. "The -Villa finished, a summer's work before me, a -full moon, a rising tide. I feel as if I could -hardly contain myself to-night, and I've been -holding my wings folded, and listening to Miss -Foster and Eliza deplore the high price of fruit, -and sympathizing with Miss Manning's headache, -and holding wool for Mrs. Wright, all the -time in a prickly heat for fear you would be -gone somewhere; and then to get over here and -find you lying like a little white cloud in the -hammock—it's just like everything else that -happens to me—just the best thing in the -world!"</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed at the boyish joy of his -tone. "Well, I'll see if mother needs me," she -said, and went into the house and to her -mother's room.</p> - -<p>The moonlight streamed across the floor and -the figure on the bed turned. "Is that you,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span> -Kathleen?" asked the prostrate one, through -her nose.</p> - -<p>"Yes, how are you feeling, dear? Can I do -anything for you?"</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, Kathleen. If you've had enough -of the piazza, you might light the lamp and -read to me a little while."</p> - -<p>The simple request magnified itself to a disaster. -Kathleen frowned, not at her mother, but -at herself. Was this all the progress she had -made?</p> - -<p>"Shall I leave Phil alone?" she asked quietly.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian revived. "I thought he was -over at the Wrights."</p> - -<p>"He was; but he just came home. Violet had -a headache, too."</p> - -<p>"Where is Edgar?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Oh, then, stay with him. It's too bad for a -headache in every house to spoil his evening. I -wonder if I couldn't get down to the piazza. -Perhaps I'd feel better in the fresh air."</p> - -<p>A little pulse, its existence hitherto unsuspected, -began doing queer things in Kathleen's -throat.</p> - -<p>"Phil wants to go down to the rocks," she -said.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Well, why doesn't he? He was mooning all -over the island alone last night."</p> - -<p>"He thinks I am going with him. I came in -for my coat. Shall I tell him you need me?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no. Go with him. And don't speak to -me when you come in. I shall be asleep. I'm -feeling better."</p> - -<p>Kathleen came over to the bed and kissed her -mother, and Mrs. Fabian patted her hand. -"Tell Phil I wish I could go, too," she said with -nasal sleepiness.</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled, and going to her own room -took a white polo coat and hurried downstairs.</p> - -<p>Phil met her with relief, and she gave him a -couple of cushions.</p> - -<p>"I began to think," he said, "that she did -want you."</p> - -<p>"Only for a minute," returned Kathleen. -"She sent word she wished she was able to come -with us."</p> - -<p>The girl looked up at her companion as they -moved down on the grass and he smiled at her -with bravado.</p> - -<p>"Not one polite lie to-night," he answered; -"I want you all to myself. Think how seldom -it has happened."</p> - -<p>Kathleen laughed from sheer contentment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I think Cap'n James is the only one who -has seen you alone," she replied.</p> - -<p>"He's been a trump: and now," Phil inflated -his lungs and looked about the irregular -outline of the island lying in sheeted silver, and -at the great lighthouses flashing in the distance, -"I have a foothold in this paradise."</p> - -<p>Their destination was the spot where rocks -rose highest on the island's shore, turning the -rising tide into boiling cauldrons of white foam, -and meeting the tremendous impact of the great -waves with jagged granite shelves that flung the -compact water high in fountains of diamonds. -Giant power, giant unrest, fascinating beauty -glittering with phosphorescence, and silvered -for miles with moonlight.</p> - -<p>"Let me help you, Kathleen," said Phil, offering -his hand.</p> - -<p>"'Bred and bawn in a briar patch,'" she responded, -springing lightly over the rocks.</p> - -<p>"I follow you, then," he answered; and -Kathleen led the way to a partly sheltered -nook, too inaccessible for most less-accustomed -visitors, and so, remote from certain other -figures which loomed penguin-like on points of -rock.</p> - -<p>"Father thinks he made the mistake of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> -life in not buying the island outright," said the -girl; "then there wouldn't be any penguins."</p> - -<p>"Supposing you had bought the Villa Chantecler? -Where would I be?" asked Phil, as he -settled down a little below the seat she had -chosen, and tried to put the second cushion behind -her back.</p> - -<p>"Not at all," she said, turning to him. -"Share and share alike." She laughed softly. -"When I'm married, I'm going to have the -tenderloin cut in two. Once in a while a husband -wants his wife to have it all, but mostly -I've noticed the wife expects the husband to -have it all."</p> - -<p>"That's like my mother," said Phil, resting -his elbow on the discarded cushion. "I have the -most wonderful mother."</p> - -<p>"I know you have." Kathleen met the eyes -lifted to her with a gaze as grave as their own -and a sympathy that opened the flood-gates to -all that was pressing in her companion's heart -to-night.</p> - -<p>"No one but myself knows how wonderful," -said Phil, looking back at the water, something -swelling in his throat. After a pause he went -on. "We never had much money, and I -couldn't pull away and do what I wished.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span> -That would be no return for my father's efforts -and denials for me. Mother understood. Her -whole life was a living example of self-denial and -courage. She taught me to think clearly and -showed me the value of noble-mindedness, -virtue, and controlling love. It was her splendid -patience and wisdom that gave me education -and standing-room in the world."</p> - -<p>Kathleen did not speak, but he felt her receptivity.</p> - -<p>"It was very early when I began to think and -dream and plan along entirely different lines -from those my lot promised. My whole being -from a child cried out for artistic expression; -and what pathetic outbursts there were! I understand -it now. Doesn't it seem natural for a -child born in the month of May with a mother -like a Madonna, sweet and gentle, to chase butterflies -and pick flowers for their beauty and -fragrance? And that child—I can't remember -when he didn't long to create; but firmly, day -by day, he was urged toward the practical. -Create! Yes; but let it be machinery; money.</p> - -<p>"The marble building with its sculpture -against the blue of the sky, the painting that -makes men wonder, the book that sets their -hearts to throbbing—that was what I craved;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span> -and often lost my head in craving, my whole -being vibrating with a great cry of joy in the -thought of such creation. Can't you see it? The -month of May—and the flowers—and God's -universe—and the boy!"</p> - -<p>The last word choked in Phil's throat.</p> - -<p>"Your mother," said Kathleen in a low voice. -"She understood."</p> - -<p>Phil looked up, and surprised the tenderness, -the comprehension in the face bent toward him. -"She understood," he returned slowly, "but she -thought she saw her duty. I went to college. I -forgot her many times, and every time I was a -fool. At last, I came out and was put to the -treadmill; but in my last year at school a wonderful -thing happened to my mother. A Mr. -Tremaine visited our cabin and left with her a -little book. Sometime I will tell you about it if -you care to know; but it made a great difference -in her life. My work in the mine seemed typical -of my life. The grime, the clank of machinery, -the perfunctory drudgery, and the hand's -breath of blue sky above. I crushed my longings -and tried to be practical. Could purgatory -be worse than, with such a nature, to be -caged in underground gloom? The glimpse of -sky was like my mother's eyes with their joy,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span> -their knowledge. She talked to me, she permeated -me with the new point of view; the new -strength; the new patience. My father praised -my efficiency, and then suddenly the nightmare -was broken by a message as from heaven—you -know the rest!" Philip turned quickly, and -again met his companion's speaking eyes.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen, can you forgive me!" he exclaimed. -"This has been an orgy of egotism!" -Even as he gazed, the dark eyes veiled themselves. -Only then he realized how wide-open -the doors had been thrown.</p> - -<p>"I thank you for telling me," she said, with -her direct look.</p> - -<p>"I seem," he answered, with a vague unrest,—"I -seem always to have been going to tell -you. There is—there is no one but you to -whom I could talk like that." He stared out on -the water, then changed the position of the -cushion.</p> - -<p>"Was that Mr. Tremaine a publisher?" asked -Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"I don't know. Mother has always wished -she might know who he was."</p> - -<p>"There is a Mr. Tremaine who lives in Gramercy -Park who is a friend of father's."</p> - -<p>"Gramercy Park?" repeated Phil, and sud<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span>denly -remembered. "Then I believe his son -and heir was my first and only patron. I made -a picture for a small Tremaine one day in the -park with Violet Manning."</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't it be odd if it turned out to be -the same?" said Kathleen.</p> - -<p>A magnificent burst of spray clattering in -myriad drops on the rock near them warned -them that their tenure of the place was short.</p> - -<p>The girl smiled. "I think, as we have spoken -of Mr. Tremaine, I must return your confidence -with another"; and Phil, looking up suddenly, -saw a new shy consciousness in the slender face -which was for some reason disagreeable.</p> - -<p>"Don't tell me to-night, Kathleen!" he said -impulsively.</p> - -<p>"Why not?" she asked, wondering.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," he answered honestly; -"only that everything is perfect. What you -tell me might change it. Any change would be -for the worse."</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled thoughtfully into space.</p> - -<p>"I suppose," she said, with a little shrug, -"if you had urged me I might have popped -back into my shell. I'm terribly at home in -a shell! But as it is I think I'm going to tell -you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span></p> - -<p>Phil looked at the delicate face, smiling in the -moonlight.</p> - -<p>"Is it something you have made up your -mind to do?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes," she answered, looking at him, surprised. -"How did you guess?"</p> - -<p>"Then don't tell me till to-morrow. I want -to think that this won't end—that it will always -be a rising tide and—and we watching -it together."</p> - -<p>That newly acquired pulse of Kathleen's asserted -itself again, but she swallowed past it -resolutely. "Oh, I shall still be able to watch -the rising tide—once in a while," she answered, -laughing. "But I'm going to tell you. -I'm writing a little book. There!"</p> - -<p>"What?" cried Phil.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and I'm going to publish it. Mr. Tremaine -likes the idea. He is the only one I've -told."</p> - -<p>"And is that all?" asked Phil eagerly.</p> - -<p>"All!" Kathleen regarded him with mock -indignation. The little pulse prevented its being -genuine. "Is all you're going to do, just to -paint pictures, Mr. Sidney?"</p> - -<p>"Why, I think that's bully," exclaimed -Phil, turning so suddenly as to test the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span> -sharpness of his rocky couch. "Tell me about -it."</p> - -<p>"Well, for the past year, I have been bewitched -by the microscope. It reveals a world -that we are too clumsy to discern. The idea -occurred to me to write a series of microscopic -fairy tales."</p> - -<p>"Fine! Fine!"</p> - -<p>"It's great fun. And of course they will be -illustrated."</p> - -<p>"Who's going to do it?"</p> - -<p>"You."</p> - -<p>Phil looked up quickly. She was laughing -and blushing. "Of course you wouldn't consider -it," she said, "but there might be money -in it. How do you feel toward pot-boilers?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know, Kathleen. Tell me more. -What sort of illustrations?"</p> - -<p>"Well, you saw me with that moss yesterday -that I had brought up out of the woods? -The slide I was making was to be the design for -a tree in the illustration. I thought to make the -pictures educational in a way. To put in a -corner of the page what the original was. Moss, -seaweed, an aphide, or whatever it happened to -be."</p> - -<p>"What a pretty idea!" said Phil.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Of course, you don't want to do it, though," -she went on in a different tone. "Just as your -studio is finished, and you are aching to paint."</p> - -<p>"It's good of you to think of me," replied the -artist warmly. "I don't know that I could do -that work. I should have to satisfy Mr. Tremaine -with a sample. We couldn't put our educational -tips on the pictures, but there could be -a thin cover for each illustration with the description -on a corner of that."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, much better," agreed Kathleen.</p> - -<p>They talked a little longer and the splendid -tide suddenly splashed them with glittering -spray.</p> - -<p>"A broad hint," laughed Kathleen, springing -up. "We must go back."</p> - -<p>Phil sighed. "I'm sorry," he said, and getting -reluctantly to his feet, he started to give -his hand to Kathleen, then remembering that -she preferred independence, he picked up the -cushions and started ahead of her.</p> - -<p>They had nearly crossed the rocks when a cry -from her arrested him.</p> - -<p>He turned. She had sunk down in the moonlight.</p> - -<p>"Oh, how dull of me!" she cried. "I'm used -to my rubber-soled shoes."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What! Turned your ankle?" Phil flung the -cushions over upon the grass, and hurried to -her.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid so."</p> - -<p>"I ought to have helped you," said Phil, with -contrition, "but I thought you preferred—"</p> - -<p>"I do. I'm a regular mountain goat." -Kathleen was half laughing in a way that -showed her pain.</p> - -<p>Phil lifted her gently, and she went on:—</p> - -<p>"Everybody knows nowadays that the best -way to treat a strain is to walk right ahead. -Oh!"</p> - -<p>"Yes, that may do on flat ground," said -Phil; "I'm a mountain goat too, so don't be -afraid"; and, lifting her in his arms, he carried -her over the remaining rocks and set her down -upon the grassy bank.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">TIDES</p> - - -<p>Philip paused a moment when he reached the -grassy bank.</p> - -<p>"You're quite sure you wish to walk?" he -said.</p> - -<p>"I certainly am," she returned with an effort -at lightness. "It's the best thing I can do, now -that I've been so careless."</p> - -<p>He set her down gently, and picked up the -cushions with one hand while he put the other -under her arm, and they started; but there was -no path; the points of granite and the grassy -hummocks made difficult walking for sound -feet. Phil felt his companion's sudden limps and -cringes, the while she was talking valiantly of -the satisfaction it was to feel that a little pain -didn't matter, so long as one knew that the -best thing for a strain was exercise; but all the -time it seemed to her that home was miles away, -and that this Transgressors' Boulevard would -never end.</p> - -<p>Phil smiled down at the dark uncovered head<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span> -so near his shoulder; then as she sank in an unexpected -hollow:—</p> - -<p>"Pluck is all very well, Kathleen," he said, -"but I'm going to pick you up again."</p> - -<p>"No, no, Phil! You could never carry me -home. I'm much too heavy to be doing these -foolish things." Tears of vexation stood in the -girl's eyes.</p> - -<p>"I needn't carry you home," he returned -quietly, "but it is all my fault that you slipped. -As soon as we get to level ground you shall try -again. Cushions will be safe in Arcadia, I fancy," -he added, storing them at the foot of a rock they -were passing. "I can come back for them."</p> - -<p>"Put this heavy polo coat with them," said -Kathleen, trying not to cry. "No need of carrying -any more than you have to. Oh, Phil, -really! I could hop. Couldn't I hop if you lifted -me on one side?"</p> - -<p>"We'll hop, skip, and jump when we get -on the level," he returned, wrapping the coat -carefully about her, and taking her up again.</p> - -<p>"Put your arm around my neck, please. -There we are." He moved on at a good pace. -"Can't you feel that it's easy?"</p> - -<p>"I'm so ashamed to make you this trouble." -Kathleen's lip quivered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'm so ashamed that you are hurt, but I -need the exercise," rejoined her bearer. "What -am I going to do now that I don't have to struggle -with the Villa? Have you a rowboat?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned Kathleen, in a small voice.</p> - -<p>They were approaching a cottage with sightless -midnight eyes. She had no idea what time -it was, but devoutly hoped they were the only -persons awake on the island. It was ridiculous -to be carried about like this, and a terrible imposition -on an innocent guest; but how wonderful -he was, striding along from hummock to -hummock with apparent ease.</p> - -<p>"Then I'll do some rowing, if you'll let me. -Do you like to row?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," came again in such a small, choked -voice, that Phil suddenly turned his head and -his face came close to Kathleen's. The elegant -remote Miss Fabian, with the slumbrous eyes -and the red-brown hair, was a helpless child in -his arms.</p> - -<p>"Are you suffering?" he asked, and such a -note of tenderness sounded suddenly in his -voice that the girl's heart gave a great throb.</p> - -<p>"Only in my mind," she faltered, trying to -laugh. "You'll set me down as soon as we reach -the point, won't you? It's easy from there."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was not very easy from there, but Kathleen -set her teeth, and walked it, leaning on Phil's -arm, and sometimes stopping to rest.</p> - -<p>"And I thought it was such a small island," -she said with a little sighing laugh when at last -the home piazza was reached.</p> - -<p>Philip helped her upstairs to her room.</p> - -<p>"Shall I knock on your mother's door?" he -asked.</p> - -<p>"No, indeed. I can get on perfectly well -now." She held out her hand. "Will you forgive -me?"</p> - -<p>He took it and looked straight into her eyes -without speaking.</p> - -<p>For an instant he held her hand, still mute, -then turned, and instead of going to his room -went downstairs again.</p> - -<p>Kathleen, closing her door softly, heard him. -She stood a moment perfectly still, her lambent -eyes looking into space, the long straight -lines of her white coat shining in the dim -room.</p> - -<p>"If it should be!" she thought with awe. "If -it should be!"</p> - -<p>Philip went out on the porch. The tide was -receding and dragging in and out the stones of -the beach. He frowned thoughtfully at the roll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span>ing -expanse. "This is disturbing," he reflected. -His blood was pumping and dragging mightily -at locked doors of his own which he knew must -be locked for years to come.</p> - -<p>"And even then it cannot be Kathleen who -opens them," he reminded himself. While she -was flashing about to fashionable functions -in her limousine the coming season, he would -still be planning which meal to make the substantial -one of the day.</p> - -<p>"The cushions!" he thought suddenly, and, -finding relief in action, he began running back -with long, even strides, through the silent, silvered -fields.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Before ten o'clock the next morning Edgar -presented himself at the farmhouse to make -inquiries for the invalid. He was eager to begin -treating Violet right; and as a commencement he -brought a box of bonbons which he had ordered -from the city before that resolution was made. -However, flowers and candy were conventional -attentions. So were books. He reflected that -no one could criticize his giving Violet a -marked copy of Tennyson.</p> - -<p>"She isn't here," Mrs. Wright told him -when he reached the house. "She has gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span> -somewhere to get an extra coat of tan and see -the tide come in."</p> - -<p>"Why didn't I come sooner!" exclaimed -Edgar, vexed. "I thought her headache—I -thought she wouldn't be up early."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I think you must have exorcised that -last night," said Mrs. Wright. "How we all -enjoyed the medicine! Will you promise to sing -every night if one of us will fall ill?"</p> - -<p>Edgar smiled and twisted his mustache. -"We have a lame duck over at our house," he -said. "Kathleen managed to slip on the rocks -last night. She's as plucky as they make 'em, -though. She's limping around. Phil was with -her—not very bright of him, I must say."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'm sorry he has that cloud over his -first morning at the studio," returned Mrs. -Wright. "I saw him go in there an hour -ago."</p> - -<p>"You're sure Violet isn't there?" asked Edgar -quickly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, perfectly," rejoined Mrs. Wright quietly. -"We're as much warned off the Villa as ever, -now, you know. I hope he is going to do great -things."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I hope so," said Edgar absently. "This -full sunlight isn't particularly good for Violet's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span> -head. Don't you think I'd better find her and -get her out of it?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's the steadiest little head in the world. -Last night was simply the exception that proves -the rule."</p> - -<p>"Well, then, she'll be fit for tennis. I'm going -to find her and see if we can't have some -singles before dinner."</p> - -<p>"All right, if you can find her."</p> - -<p>Edgar tossed his head. "Perhaps I couldn't -put a girdle 'round the earth, but this island's -a cinch"; and with the beribboned box under -his arm and the sun glinting on his polished blond -head, Edgar set off running toward the rocks -where Kathleen had met her slip.</p> - -<p>Perhaps, he reflected, it was just as well that -Violet had been <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">hors de combat</i> last evening. If -they had come down here in the moonlight, and -he had sung, and she had turned upon him that -wonderful, confiding, devout look which warmed -every fibre of his vanity, there is no telling -what he might have said or done. He was -shrewd enough to know that Mrs. Larrabee's -rebuff had caused a rebound in which just such -an innocent, womanly girl as Violet Manning -could catch his heart in both hands. She had -laughed at him yesterday afternoon, and to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span> -force her to capitulate he might have done -something foolish in the evening. Now that -pitfall—the time, the place, and the girl—was -past, and the bright clear winds of morning -found him forewarned and forearmed; but -friendly, perfectly friendly. He thoroughly -liked Violet Manning.</p> - -<p>All this time he was running toward the show-place -at high tide, the precipitous rocks whose -walls and crannies repulsed the crashing waves, -causing a never-ending series of fountains, and -cascades of crystal water.</p> - -<p>A few penguins in shade hats studded the -heights this morning, but Violet was not among -them. He walked past slowly, scanning the -rocks. A few rods farther on, a small harbor -pierced the island's side. Its farther bank was -soft with evergreens; a sturdy growth of tall -spruces which fixed their roots amid the inhospitable -rocks.</p> - -<p>An artist had set up his easel on the near -shore, and was sitting on a camp-stool before -it, working busily. A large straw hat was -crowded down to the tops of his ears to thwart -the wind, and Edgar wondered who might be -the competitor of the painter who was working -away at the Villa Chantecler. He glanced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span> -carelessly at the artist and then renewed his -scrutiny of the rocks; being so engrossed, that -the next time his gaze went forward, he saw that -a girl was lying on the rock near the easel, leaning -on her elbow and alternately watching the -artist and the sea.</p> - -<p>Edgar suspected the truth with a wave of -anger. How could Phil be in two places at once? -He had allowed Kathleen to slip on the rocks. -Probably he had been absent-minded. This -had been planned for; Mrs. Wright couldn't -have known it.</p> - -<p>He strode forward.</p> - -<p>"Good morning!" he said, with awe-inspiring -dignity.</p> - -<p>"Oh, hello," returned Violet carelessly, turning -her head so as to see the newcomer.</p> - -<p>Could this nonchalant girl be she who had -wept at the window!</p> - -<p>"I went over to the house to see how you -were," said Edgar severely, "and Mrs. Wright -said you were watching the tide."</p> - -<p>"Yes," returned Violet, lazy in the sun, -"but I found something so much better to -watch."</p> - -<p>"You can't see anything from there," declared -Edgar, speaking crisply.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do you allow that, Mr. Sidney?" asked the -girl.</p> - -<p>"I allow anything but people to talk to me," -said Phil, busy with the blues and greens of the -water.</p> - -<p>"There, you see!" said Violet accusingly. -"He hadn't said a word of reproach to me before -you came"; and the little minx allowed -herself to throw a devoted glance in the direction -of the artist's hat. If the mouse were -going ultimately to make its escape, surely the -kitten was entitled to whatever fun it could -find in the situation.</p> - -<p>Edgar pulled himself together.</p> - -<p>"It's great just now," he said. "Don't you -want to come out on the rocks, and see the -row?"</p> - -<p>Violet shook her head and touched her finger -to her lips warningly.</p> - -<p>Edgar scowled and looked at Phil's swift -brush. Confound the girl, how was he to treat -her magnanimously if she wouldn't give him -an opportunity?</p> - -<p>He held out the beribboned box and raised -his eyebrows, gesturing with his head toward -the rocks.</p> - -<p>"Is there a string tied to it?" asked Violet,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span> -with a saucy, lazy smile; and Edgar lifted his -chin superbly and tossed the box into her -lap.</p> - -<p>"The only girl here," she reflected; for she felt -tempted to be flattered by the implied forethought.</p> - -<p>"How perfectly sweet," she said and opened -the luxurious box. Rising to her knees she lifted -a chocolate in the little tongs and put it in -Philip's mouth.</p> - -<p>"<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Mille remerciments</i>," he mumbled; "but -don't do it again, please."</p> - -<p>"Phil wants to be alone," said Edgar. "Can't -you see that?" He held out his hand to Violet -to rise. She ignored it, but rose with supple -grace.</p> - -<p>"Well," she said, "if little boys will come and -chatter to me, I suppose I shall have to go. It's -been so interesting, Mr. Sidney. That's going -to be wonderful. I hope you'll let me watch you -again sometime."</p> - -<p>"You didn't really want to stay there, did -you?" asked Edgar, when they had begun to -climb out on the rocks at a point where there -were no other gazers.</p> - -<p>"Indeed I did, marplot," returned the girl, -"but three's a crowd when one is painting."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, very well," said Edgar, stiffly; "I'll -stay away the next time."</p> - -<p>"That's right. Do," returned Violet. "Have -a chocolate? These are delicious."</p> - -<p>"No, I thank you." Edgar gave a dark -glance at his companion. He did not like her -mood.</p> - -<p>"I didn't know you cared more for painting -than for music," he said.</p> - -<p>"More?" she returned with wide eyes. "Oh, -no, I'm an impartial and humble admirer of all -the arts."</p> - -<p>Wasn't she going to speak of last evening? -He stood in silence beside her for a space to -give her opportunity; but she was engrossed in -munching a chocolate.</p> - -<p>"My!" she said, regarding the heavy, satin, -heart-shaped crimson box admiringly, "I've -gazed at these with awe in shop windows, and -then gone in and bought ten cents worth in a -striped bag. I feel so grand!"</p> - -<p>"I was disappointed last night," said Edgar, -his gloomy regard changing slowly to his -best look of devotion. There was nothing for -him in Violet's eyes this morning. The expression -he craved must be brought back in order -that he might exercise care to treat her fairly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Because I couldn't go to walk with Mr. -Sidney?" she rejoined, with the ironical gayety -Edgar hated. "I was, too; but your charming -serenade almost made up for it."</p> - -<p>Edgar ground the even teeth. "I suppose it -was foolish of me to exert myself," he said. "I -probably waked you up."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it didn't sound like the least bit of -exertion," replied Violet. "The ease of your -singing is really its great charm. You didn't -mind my laughing, right at the end, did you?"</p> - -<p>"Laughing!"</p> - -<p>"Yes; you see Miss Foster is on my side of -the house, and when you sang</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse">'Turn down an empty glass,'</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>I knew she'd think it was a prohibition song, -and I nearly suffocated."</p> - -<p>Edgar met her dancing eyes, and glared at -her while she ate a chocolate with relish.</p> - -<p>"And I thought you were temperamental!" -he muttered.</p> - -<p>"Do you wonder really that Maine is a prohibition -state?" she asked conversationally. -"Here, eat this peppermint one for me. I don't -like them," and the even teeth opened mechanically -to receive the bonbon she popped between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span> -them. "I mean because it's so intoxicating -here anyway. Why, I can hardly keep my feet -still this morning"; and as they were standing, -Violet, on her flat rock, and with the great crimson -heart pressed to her breast, began to clog.</p> - -<p>Edgar half unconsciously moved away to -where he could see her nimble feet. "Whistle," -she laughed. "Whistle, and I won't come to -you, my lad!"</p> - -<p>Edgar whistled, he couldn't help it. Her fair -hair blowing, her sea-blue eyes shining, and her -sure feet dancing, she seemed the incarnation -of the radiant morning. He found himself patting -in rhythm, and whistling like a bird until -she tired and sank in a blue heap on the rock.</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's a jolly world," she cried.</p> - -<p>"And you're a jolly girl!" he exclaimed, -striding over and flinging himself down beside -her. "Why don't you teach me to do that? You -promised."</p> - -<p>"I've begun twice, haven't I? You haven't -any patience."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that was in the woods. What could I do -on a hillside? Teach me in the summer house -this afternoon."</p> - -<p>"That's where you ought to be now, practising," -said Violet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I've put in half an hour this morning."</p> - -<p>"That isn't enough. It's time for another."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you want me to go, do you, so you can -go back and watch Phil?"</p> - -<p>"Well, I never before had a chance to see the -wheels go 'round in a painting. Don't you think -it's wonderful?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, he's a wizard. It's a pity you couldn't -go with him last night. He took Kath and she -managed to turn her ankle."</p> - -<p>"So he has been telling me. I'm sorry. So -you'd rather have had mine turned? Then I -couldn't have taught you to clog, remember."</p> - -<p>"No; he might not have gone mooning around -then. He might have paid more attention to -<em>you</em>."</p> - -<p>Violet glanced at the speaker out of the tail of -her eye and ate a chocolate. Then she cast a -look over on the point where the easel stood. -"He is so good-looking," she sighed. "I like -smooth-faced men."</p> - -<p>"My mustache is catching it next, is it?" said -Edgar irritably, twisting that treasure.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I simply despise mustaches," rejoined -Violet equably; "but of course if it makes you -look older, or more dignified, or helps you in -your career, you have to wear one."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I don't know as there's any 'have to' about -it," returned Edgar. "It's just a matter of -taste with me"; he made the addition with a -superior carelessness.</p> - -<p>"So it is with me," returned Violet with -engaging frankness. "Here's another peppermint." -She picked it up in the silver tongs. -"Open your mouth and shut your eyes and I'll -give you something to make you wise."</p> - -<p>Edgar jerked back his head, seized the confection -in his fingers, and scaled it across the -rocks.</p> - -<p>"I loathe peppermint," he said shortly, "and -as for making me wise, you're making me wiser -every day. Will you, or will you not give me -a lesson in clogging this afternoon?"</p> - -<p>"I <em>will</em>!" returned Violet, dramatically. -"You paid partly in advance last night, and -I'm the soul of honor!"</p> - -<p>He met her mischievous eyes with a baffled -look. He longed to shake her. His hand lifted -mechanically to his mustache and dropped -again. He had lost faith in that, too.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">THE SON</p> - - -<p>When Philip returned to dinner that day he -found a strange man sitting on the veranda with -Kathleen. The table beside her was filled with -loose sheets of paper, and she was reading aloud.</p> - -<p>As Phil approached she looked up.</p> - -<p>"We spoke of an angel last night," she said, -"and lo, he appeared to-day. This is Mr. Tremaine, -and he knows you already."</p> - -<p>Phil laid down his impedimenta and his hat, -and shook hands.</p> - -<p>The grey-eyed portly stranger smiled as they -greeted. "Miss Fabian has told me so much -about you," he said, "that I am wondering if -you belong to the Sidneys who took me in in the -mountains of Montana one night five or six -years ago."</p> - -<p>Philip's perfunctory gaze quickened.</p> - -<p>"And you left my mother a little book?" he -asked quickly.</p> - -<p>The pressure of the newcomer's handclasp -tightened. He nodded.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The very same," he said. "And you do belong -to that charming woman."</p> - -<p>"You did a great deal for us, Mr. Tremaine," -said Phil heartily.</p> - -<p>"And this Kathleen child says we're not -through with each other. She wants you to illustrate -this clever little book of hers."</p> - -<p>"If he will," put in the girl quickly. "You -don't know yet what small business it will be -for him to picture my stuff. Show us what you -have done this morning."</p> - -<p>"I hear you are my neighbor in Gramercy -Park," said Mr. Tremaine while Phil stooped to -get his picture. "I hear that the artist who did -my son's treasure, 'The Proud Robin,' stands -before me."</p> - -<p>Phil laughed and turned his canvas about. -A great wave uplifted its heavy snowy crest, -just at the point of breaking into rushing surge.</p> - -<p>"Stand back," cried Kathleen, "it's coming!" -Her cheeks reddened. "You do such true -things, Phil!"</p> - -<p>"Upon my word!" said Mr. Tremaine, "Miss -Fabian is right. That's really great, Mr. Sidney. -One gets the weight of the water. I think the -breadth and perception of the mountains -helped you in that. How long have you been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span> -so intimate with the physiognomy of old -Ocean?"</p> - -<p>"I have been at this off and on for some days -in time stolen from house decoration."</p> - -<p>"There is time before dinner," said Kathleen, -"and Mr. Tremaine is going to stay such -a little while, take him over to the Villa. I want -him to be sure to see it though I begrudge his -seeing it without me, too!"</p> - -<p>"Sure you can't go?" asked Mr. Tremaine.</p> - -<p>Kathleen looked ruefully at her right foot, -wearing a loose slipper of her mother's.</p> - -<p>"That field is so rough," she said.</p> - -<p>"We'll make an armchair," said Phil.</p> - -<p>The girl shook her head. "No, I'll gather up -my book. Mr. Tremaine likes it, so I'm happy -though lame, and you must talk over the illustrations -together."</p> - -<p>In truth she was glad that these two should -have the opportunity for a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">tête-à-tête</i> and she -smiled happily to herself as she picked up the -flying sheets. There was color in her cheeks, -the rose-color that seemed this morning to tinge -the universe. It was such a beautiful world, and -for Mr. Tremaine suddenly to appear and to approve -her work and to meet Phil—Phil whose -eyes had seemed this morning always to see her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span> -and regard her reflectively, instead of looking -over or through her—all this made a wonderful -combination, a strange, sweet expectancy, -as of harmonious progressions which could but -resolve into one triumphant chord.</p> - -<p>The dinner hour approached and Mrs. Fabian -came out on the piazza.</p> - -<p>"How are you, poor child?" she asked with -commiseration; then meeting Kathleen's eyes, -she laughed. "Here I am pitying you, and you -look as if you'd been left a million. What is it? -Is Mr. Tremaine so pleased with your stories?"</p> - -<p>"He thinks they'll do," returned Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Very modest," said Mrs. Fabian; "but I'm -quite sure from your looks that he said you were -a second Hans Christian Andersen. Keeping -it a secret from me, too! I'm a very good judge -of stories, and you might have asked my opinion -about those, at any rate."</p> - -<p>"I felt very shy about it, mother, but now -I'm just bubbling with encouragement; and -perhaps Phil will make the pictures."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian regarded the rosy face admiringly.</p> - -<p>"There, you see his business is coming along, -and this morning I gave him the commission to -paint our portraits."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span></p> - -<p>Even this news could not dampen Kathleen's -present mood.</p> - -<p>"Yours," she returned. "Remember, I told -you I refused to be perpetuated as I look now."</p> - -<p>"I never saw you look as pretty as you do -to-day, in your whole life," said Mrs. Fabian, -gazing as she spoke.</p> - -<p>The girl laughed from sheer satisfaction. "Is -the big head so becoming?" she returned.</p> - -<p>"I saw Phil taking Mr. Tremaine over to the -studio," said Mrs. Fabian. "Edgar said this -morning he wanted to bring Violet to dinner. -He will be surprised to find Mr. Tremaine here. -We shall have quite a party. I hope they won't -all be late. If Phil and Mr. Tremaine get to -talking over at the studio they won't know -what time it is."</p> - -<p>The air at the island, however, was of a nature -to create an inner monitor which called to -dinner, so the two couples soon approached -from opposite directions. Mr. Tremaine and -Phil were talking busily as they came, and -Kathleen noted Violet's crimson heart while -she drew near. She gazed questioningly at her -brother whose alert happy face turned red as -he met her eyes; but Violet was self-possessed -when Kathleen greeted her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Pardon my remaining enthroned, Violet," -she said. "I'm not precisely wasting steps to-day."</p> - -<p>"I heard about it," returned the guest, coming -up the steps and meeting Mrs. Fabian. "I -do hope it's nothing serious."</p> - -<p>"No, indeed. I shall soon forget it."</p> - -<p>"I suppose neither of you will have a chocolate -before dessert, but they're very very good." -Violet opened the box temptingly as she took -a seat beside Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Who is that coming with Phil?" asked -Edgar.</p> - -<p>"My publisher," returned Kathleen, proudly. -"Just think, Edgar! I've written some stories, -and Mr. Tremaine has accepted them!"</p> - -<p>Edgar lifted his eyebrows and smiled wonderingly -into his sister's happy face. "Good -work, Kath! It may really pay to be a -highbrow. Why have you kept so still about -it?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that was natural. Supposing Mr. Tremaine -had said, 'You're a nice child, Kathleen, -but your little yarns are trash.' How then! -Shouldn't I be glad nobody saw me hide my -diminished head?"</p> - -<p>Edgar continued to regard her curiously. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span> -had never before noticed how really good-looking -Kath was.</p> - -<p>Violet expressed her interest and sympathy -heartily, and while she was speaking, the other -guests arrived and Mr. Tremaine met his son's -dancing-teacher with pleasure.</p> - -<p>It was a gay dinner-party, and Kathleen -glowed with satisfaction in Mr. Tremaine's -manifest interest in Phil. He could be such a -useful friend.</p> - -<p>They had coffee on the veranda, and while -Edgar was planning in what manner and how -soon he could segregate himself and Violet in the -summer house, the boy whose duty it was to -bring the mail appeared with the letters. At a -sign from Mrs. Fabian he handed them to her.</p> - -<p>She ran them over with a smile. "I'm always -impolite," she said, "when Mr. Fabian's letter -comes, and I think everybody will forgive me." -She laid the others on the rail beside her and -opened the letter she held.</p> - -<p>"I'm hoping so much he will set the day for -coming."</p> - -<p>The smiling expectancy of her face gave way -to bewilderment and incredulity as she read. No -one observed it, for Kathleen had started to -tell an island adventure.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span></p> - -<p>Her mother's voice broke in upon the tale.</p> - -<p>"Kathleen!" she said breathlessly, "I don't -understand this letter. Father is in trouble of -some kind. He is trying to comfort me. He says -to ask you—"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked up at Kathleen whose -face was transformed while her mother spoke. -The color left it, the laughing eyes grew startled, -and she tried to rise.</p> - -<p>Phil sprang to his feet, "What do you want, -Kathleen?"</p> - -<p>"The letters!" she said. "See if there is one -for me?"</p> - -<p>Edgar, who had been observing how remarkably -good was the line of Violet's hair at -the nape of her neck, brought his thoughts back -with difficulty to his sister. Kath was looking -frightened. What was the matter?</p> - -<p>Mr. Tremaine leaned forward in his chair and -looked with serious questioning at Kathleen -while she tore open a letter from her father. Her -brow drew together as she read. Mrs. Fabian -regarded her helplessly, two sheets of paper -blowing in her fingers.</p> - -<p>When finally the girl dropped her letter her -face had flushed again. She rose from her chair -with difficulty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I must go to father immediately," she said.</p> - -<p>Phil was at her side in an instant. "You -can't do that," he returned, "but you can -send me."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian's lips were parted. Edgar -frowned and looked from one to another; then -he too sprang to his feet.</p> - -<p>"What is this, Kath?" he asked with sudden -authority.</p> - -<p>His sister regarded him absently. Edgar -would suffer, of course, but just now, in the -crucial moment, he didn't count; and she! Oh, -how could fate have been so unkind as to hamper -her at the only time in her life when it -would make any difference! A time when she -longed for wings to carry her to her father's side -and let her throw her arms around his neck.</p> - -<p>She looked at Edgar's frowning, questioning -face with curious vagueness.</p> - -<p>"Father has lost a great deal of money," she -said, "and friends as well, because he would not -yield to plans which he considered dishonorable. -He told me before we left that it might come; -but he had no idea the crisis was right upon -him. Oh, I must, I must go to father—at once—at -once!" The girl limped toward the door.</p> - -<p>"You can't go to-day," said Phil decidedly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span> -"but I can. I will go on this next boat with Mr. -Tremaine. Tell me what—"</p> - -<p>"What are you talking about!" It was Edgar -who spoke, and his tone turned every eye upon -him. His nostrils were dilated and his eyes -looked dark. "Father in trouble! I'm going to -him, of course."</p> - -<p>He tried to speak quietly, but there was a -thrill in his tone that echoed in Kathleen's heart. -She knew as she looked at the new stern expression -of the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">debonair</i> countenance that in that -minute the boy had become a man.</p> - -<p>Violet gazed at him with a swelling heart -and swept poor Phil with a supercilious glance -wholly undeserved, but of which he was unconscious.</p> - -<p>Edgar hastened into the house to make his -preparations and Kathleen and Phil exchanged -a look.</p> - -<p>"It's all for the best," said Phil in a low tone. -"Edgar will find himself."</p> - -<p>Kathleen's hands were clasped on her breast. -Mrs. Fabian regarded her beseechingly. "What -do you mean?" she cried, her voice breaking -hysterically. "Money and friends! What do -you mean?"</p> - -<p>Kathleen sank into the chair beside her. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span> -mean that father is an honest man," she said -proudly.</p> - -<p>Mr. Tremaine came to Mrs. Fabian's other -side. "I was at college with your husband," he -said. "Henry Fabian was always doing fine -things. I suspect that this last move, whatever -it is, is one of the finest. I would trust him before -I would myself."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian looked from one to the other, -tears running down her cheeks.</p> - -<p>"I can't have my portrait painted, Phil," she -faltered. "We're very poor."</p> - -<p>Phil knelt down before her and put his arms -around her and she rested her head on his shoulder -and sobbed quietly.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps not poor," he said; "but what if you -are, Aunt Isabel? Look about at this beautiful -place with everything to make people happy. -Health and freedom and honor beside; and Edgar -will bring his father here and everything will -straighten out and we shall make him forget his -troubles."</p> - -<p>"No motor, Phil," came from the sobbing woman. -"I can't imagine living without a motor."</p> - -<p>"Indeed you can. You're going to show Mr. -Fabian what a good sport he married; and we're -all going to cheer him up and make him forget<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span> -his nightmare before fall. You have everything -that's real left—unless Mr. Fabian breaks -down under this strain," added Phil artfully.</p> - -<p>He had struck the right note. Mrs. Fabian -lifted her head and wiped her eyes wildly. "I'm -going with Edgar," she cried. "Henry may be -ill. I shall go."</p> - -<p>"No, dear mother," said Kathleen, gently -taking her hand. "Let Edgar manage this -alone. He will wire us at once."</p> - -<p>It was nearly time for the boat and Edgar -came out of the house with his bag. All his -machinations of the morning had not succeeded -in bringing to Violet's eyes the expression that -grew there when she saw him ready to start on -his hard journey. Speechless and unsmiling he -pressed her hand, then kissed his mother and -listened to her exhortations. Mr. Tremaine was -ready, and together they started toward the -wharf.</p> - -<p>Philip was going to accompany them, but his -aunt clung to him.</p> - -<p>"Stay with us, Phil," she begged. "You are -my son, too."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Mr. Fabian, heavy-lidded from a sleepless -night, was working at the desk in his private<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span> -office, when the door opened and closed quietly -and quickly, and he looked up to see Edgar -standing beside him. An added cloud passed -over his face.</p> - -<p>The young man saw it and he paid for many -a misdemeanor in the pang it gave him.</p> - -<p>"Father, I've come to see if I can be of any -use," he said.</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian pushed his chair back and looked -up at his visitor, the deep line in his forehead -deeper.</p> - -<p>"I know I have no experience, and little business -sense; but if you'll take the trouble to explain -the situation to me, I'll try to understand -as I've never before tried to do anything; and -I can at least carry out your instructions to the -letter."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian continued to gaze up into the sunburned -face and the eyes that regarded him -with steady purpose.</p> - -<p>"I've lost a lot of money for you, my boy," -he said. "Quite a half of everything I possessed."</p> - -<p>"And come out clean," returned the other -promptly. "Good for you."</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian kept silence, studying him for -another space.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span></p> - -<p>"My son," he said at last, slowly, as if to himself. -"I have a son"; and he held out his hand.</p> - -<p>Edgar clasped it in silence. Then he spoke -again. "I haven't had any breakfast, and of -course I couldn't sleep; so my head isn't worth -much just now. Can you spare time to come -out and talk to me while I eat, or shall I go -alone?"</p> - -<p>Mr. Fabian rose and his heavy eyes had -brightened. "Neither of us will go alone, after -this," he said.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span></p> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class="ph3">A TIDAL WAVE</p> - - -<p>Mr. Fabian's firm stand resulted in a dissolution -of his partnership, and very soon he was -able to repair with Edgar to the island.</p> - -<p>The son had found the man-to-man relationship -with his father a strangely sweet one; and -by the time they reached the island—so deeply -had his father's steadfastness and suffering -worked upon Edgar, he had no other plan than -that of rejuvenating the tired man's strained -nerves. Therefore, when Mr. Fabian reached -the heavenly calm of his hill cottage, he found -his wife and daughter ready to accompany him -on a cruise. Mrs. Fabian, lukewarm sailor -though she was, was as fully prepared as Kathleen; -and with scarcely any delay they all -started out on the yacht. Mr. Fabian urged -Phil to join the party, but he could not leave -his work, and in any case would not add himself -to a family party at this time. He and Violet -stood on the shore and watched the white sails -swell as they caught the wind.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span></p> - -<p>Edgar had been so absorbed in his father and -his plans that she had but a flying glimpse of -him after his return from New York; but it -flattered her to observe that he had left his -mustache in the metropolis.</p> - -<p>Philip's assiduous work during the summer -resulted in finished pictures and numerous -sketches, all of which he carried back in the -autumn to the stable where Pat met him with -effusion.</p> - -<p>"Sure 'tis a red Injun ye are!" he exclaimed -at sight of his lodger's mahogany tints.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and next summer, Pat, if I'm not a -pauper, you're coming up there to get a red nose, -too," responded Phil.</p> - -<p>The first step toward independence had been -made. He had finished the illustrations for -Kathleen's fairy tales, and but a few days after -his return, Mr. Tremaine came to the studio -to welcome him and show him the first copy of -the book; for it was October before Phil had consented -to leave his enthralling Villa, being finally -shooed out by Eliza who insisted that he either -come over to them and live in a Christian house, -or go back to his warm stable.</p> - -<p>Phil was eager for news that Mr. Tremaine -could give him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Aunt Isabel has written me very little," he -said. "I know they are settled in an apartment -near the park, but how are they all, and how -do they bear the change?"</p> - -<p>"Wonderfully well," was the reply. "Mrs. -Fabian is the one to feel the pinch, of course. -Kathleen, not at all. She has too much resource -within herself to be dependent, and then there -are not a few people of influence who would find -a Van Ruysler if she hid herself on the East -Side."</p> - -<p>It was true, Mrs. Fabian lived too much in -reflected glory to suffer loneliness, and as the -winter went on Kathleen drew her into artistic -circles where Philip's interests lay, and gradually -she gained much pride and satisfaction in -the understanding of technical terms, and -learned not to discuss pictures. She even occasionally -felt some remorse in the remembrance -of Mrs. Ballard and was conscious of a wish that -she might have sympathized with her more.</p> - -<p>The startling event in the family, however, -was provided by Edgar. The great Mazzini was -as good as his word, and Edgar Fabian started -in at once, on his return to New York, as a -teacher of the vocal art. Successful is too mild -a word to be applied to the young tenor.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span> -Mazzini procured him opportunities to sing in -drawing-rooms where he had heretofore been -the entertained. He sent pupils to him, and they -advertised him <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">con amore</i>. Before the winter -was over he became a fad. He drew a good salary -in a fashionable church. Other musicians -sneered at him as a <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">poseur</i>, and turned their -lunch tables into knockers' clubs to ease their -minds concerning the vagaries of this upstart.</p> - -<p>Edgar, with his characteristic self-assurance -gave full play to the moods of which he had -spoken in the past to Violet. Perhaps he was not -blind to the fact that it was good advertising, -but in any case it was a temperamental fling -which gave him the utmost satisfaction.</p> - -<p>He had different sets of hangings made, -divan covers, cushions, et cetera, easily removed -and placed in a box couch, so that his pupils -sometimes found a purple studio, sometimes a -crimson, sometimes one in luminous gold. None -knew beforehand in which mood the wonderful -young <i lang="it" xml:lang="it">maestro</i> would be found; and they talked -of him with bated breath.</p> - -<p>His sister took the liberty, early in his career, -of laughing at this ebullition of fancy, but she -soon found that Edgar took himself seriously, -and she repressed her smiles; for nothing suc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span>ceeds -like success; and Edgar Van Ruysler -Fabian was an idol whom it was not her place -to knock from his pedestal.</p> - -<p>Violet Manning meanwhile was industriously -proceeding with her own teaching. As some of -it lay in fashionable schools, she heard echoes -of Edgar's popularity, and she and her housemates -often attended the church where he sang. -He came to their apartment occasionally and -relaxed from the strain of living up to the ideal -of his admirers whom he terrorized grandly at -moments, after the most approved Mazzini -methods.</p> - -<p>Once he had the three bachelor maids at a -chafing-dish supper at his studio. He was in a -red mood that night, and the crimson hangings -reminded Violet of the glowing heart which -always lay on her dressing-table.</p> - -<p>The function was an informal and jolly one. -One of the men present was Edgar's accompanist, -and he had played for Violet to dance. -It was a triumphant occasion for the girl. She -looked charming in a thin iridescent gown which -changed with the blues and greens of the sea -while she floated and pirouetted, as light and -tireless as thistledown. Edgar's eyes were -bright with pride in her and she was wildly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span> -applauded, sharing the honors of the evening -with him.</p> - -<p>Edgar sang the better for the inspiration of -her, and when at her request he began, "O -moon of my delight," she closed her eyes, shutting -out the gay company and the diffused rosy -light. Again she saw him stretched on the grass -in the silvery radiance of a still, still night.</p> - -<p>"I think Mr. Fabian is in love with Violet," -said Regina afterward, privately, to Roxana.</p> - -<p>"I think he is in love with himself," returned -Roxana; "and I take off my hat to Violet, for -I believe she knows it, too. I'm afraid if I were -her age and he wanted me, I'd marry him even -if I knew he'd beat me all the time he wasn't -singing."</p> - -<p>Her housemates noticed that Violet never -spoke of Edgar, and they drew their conclusions. -She had a sketch of his head done by Phil in an -idle moment, pinned up on her wall. That and -the bonbon box were the only evidences of the -acquaintance save those occasional calls with -which Edgar favored the apartment. The fact -that he came at all was important, for his engagements -were legion.</p> - -<p>Philip carried himself much as he had done -the winter before. Through the Fabians and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span> -Mr. Tremaine he began to have invitations, but -he declined them. Mr. Tremaine bought the -painting of the wave which he had seen at the -island, and one of his friends bought another of -Phil's marines.</p> - -<p>The artist kept on with his work in the life -class at the Academy. Edgar sometimes tried -to get him for a festivity at the studio, but, as -he told his sister in disgust, one might as well -try to get the Shah of Persia.</p> - -<p>Every Sunday evening Phil spent at the Fabians' -but never since he had returned to town -had he made opportunity to resume a disturbing -intimacy with Kathleen. Her book was -having a fairly good sale, and the girl was at -work upon another. Their lives lay apart mainly -except on the Sunday evenings when Mr. Fabian, -once again adjusted to his business life, -claimed the guest far more than any of the -others.</p> - -<p>Edgar, finding that the propinquity of Phil -and Violet during his absence in the summer -had not produced any results, altered his expectations -of trouble from that quarter. He -made it a point to spend his Sunday evenings -with the family, in order, as his mother said, -to keep up the acquaintance; and on one of these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span> -evenings, toward spring, he brought Violet -Manning to supper.</p> - -<p>The busy young teacher's friendship with -Kathleen had not progressed. The latter firmly -believed that any romantic notions which such -a girl might conceive for Edgar would bring -her to grief in the end; and his present amazing -popularity but augmented that conviction; so -the girls had exchanged one call only during the -season.</p> - -<p>Violet responded to Mrs. Fabian's invitation -for this Sunday and Edgar regarded her critically -throughout the evening.</p> - -<p>Never had he felt himself such authority on -girls as now. They crowded his studio. Fashionable -girls, wealthy girls, pretty girls, plain girls, -clever ones, dull ones, aggressive, and shy girls; -and he had frequently detected himself comparing -the more interesting with Violet. Her -spirit, her poise, her independence, her compact, -graceful, healthy body, always stood the -test.</p> - -<p>As of old, to-night she seemed more interested -in Phil than in himself. Her spontaneous joy -over the news that during the past week he had -sold a third picture, actually roused again Edgar's -old train of thought. How did he know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span> -what had occurred during the summer, between -the farmhouse and the Villa? Were these two -only waiting, perhaps, until Phil began to find -a sale for his pictures?</p> - -<p>Poor little Violet was not intriguing. She -found herself embarrassed in Edgar's family -circle, and she was defending herself in the only -way she knew. It seemed as if it must be legible -on her face that she out-adored the adoration -of all the singer's pupils; and it was a relief to -her when she and the object were at last in a -taxicab on the way home. The cover of the -darkness, and the sober return to thoughts of -to-morrow's duties, made her heave an inaudible -sigh; but it is the unexpected that always -happens.</p> - -<p>Edgar's teeth were tightly closed and every -street-lamp they passed showed him gazing at -his companion.</p> - -<p>"I wonder," he said at last,—"I wonder, -Violet, why I've never been able to make you -like me better. Other—other people like -me."</p> - -<p>"Probably that's the reason," returned the -girl lightly. "Some one must help strike an -average."</p> - -<p>She did not say it easily; for she was obliged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span> -to swallow between sentences; but she said it -pretty well, and applauded herself.</p> - -<p>"You see I love you, Violet," he went on, as -simply as the most non-temperamental swain -could have spoken.</p> - -<p>She shrank into her corner, and when he tried -to take her hands she crossed them quickly -on her breast.</p> - -<p>"Which mood is this?" she asked, a tumultuous -beating under the crossed hands.</p> - -<p>"You don't believe me," said Edgar quietly. -"It's true, Violet. I want you to marry me. -You've made me believe once or twice—and -yet the next moment I always feel your utter -indifference. I'm afraid you're a flirt."</p> - -<p>"I know you are!" responded the girl, her -fingers whitening against her fluttering heart. -"I'm afraid of you, Edgar."</p> - -<p>Happiness leaped into his eyes and he gathered -her hands into his in spite of her.</p> - -<p>"Have you ever seen 'The Concert'?" she -asked breathlessly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's what you mean!" exclaimed -Edgar triumphantly.</p> - -<p>"You shouldn't marry," said Violet. "You -are like a matinée idol. You will lose your capital -when you marry, unless you are like that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span> -selfish man. I warn you, I am not like that wonderful -wife. I couldn't bear it."</p> - -<p>"You've thought about it, then," said Edgar -joyously.</p> - -<p>"Yes, oh, yes," replied Violet, her defences -down and tears welling through her half-closed -lids. "I'm sure I should be miserable."</p> - -<p>"Then you love me." Edgar drew her out of -her corner into his arms. "Violet, I promise -you—"</p> - -<p>"Dear," she interrupted him, "I am just as -much afraid of myself as of you. No convention -would hold me. The minute I found you were -not honest with me—that you concealed from -me—I should go. You would look about, and -I shouldn't be there."</p> - -<p>Edgar held her close in ecstatic possession.</p> - -<p>"And that's why I'll be honest with you, -Violet. I swear it. If we're both honest, what -can—"</p> - -<p>The taxi-cab driver threw open the door.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Once again the daisy-snow drifted over the -hills on Brewster's Island; and Eliza sat in the -doorway of the Villa Chantecler watching Phil -adjust his possessions.</p> - -<p>"When are the Fabians coming?" she asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Next week."</p> - -<p>"Are you and Miss Kathleen goin' to do -another book this year?"</p> - -<p>"I hope so. She's going to let me see her -story when she comes. She has written her first -novel."</p> - -<p>Eliza's eyes studied him sharply during a -silence.</p> - -<p>"Is she engaged yet?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Not that I know of."</p> - -<p>"I thought you two were pretty thick one -time there last summer."</p> - -<p>"It's not for the likes o' me to be thick with -the likes o' her," replied Phil, busy setting up -an easel.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to know why not," retorted Eliza, -who had read between the lines of Phil's letters -during the winter; and illustrated her imaginings -with looks and actions remembered from the -season before. "Think of the pictures you've -sold this winter. Look how quick you've begun -your success. Has Kathleen many beaux?"</p> - -<p>"She has worshippers," returned Phil, with -a slight smile; "and several of them come -much nearer to her than I can."</p> - -<p>"You can if you want to," said Eliza bluntly; -"you're a great fool if you don't."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span></p> - -<p>Philip turned and looked at the speaker in -surprise. Her words were so exactly opposite -to the training he gave himself night and morning.</p> - -<p>"'Tain't as if her father was so rich any -more. Nobody could say you was after money, -and," Eliza's voice lost its hardness, "your—your -Aunt Mary left me her ring you remember."</p> - -<p>Phil smiled at her openly now, then he went -on with his work.</p> - -<p>"You're a loyal soul, Eliza, and you always -yearn to give me everything I want; but Miss -Fabian will be married long before I'm able to -ask any woman to trust herself to me."</p> - -<p>Eliza gave him a fierce nod and drew down -the corners of her mouth.</p> - -<p>"<em>I—don't—believe it!</em>" she said, so significantly -that Phil flushed and looked at her -again.</p> - -<p>"<em>I've</em> got eyes if you haven't," she added; -and with this Parthian shot she rose and went -back to the house.</p> - -<p>Philip went on with his work, but the flush -stayed, and there was a line between his shining -eyes.</p> - -<p>At this juncture Pat came up from the wharf<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span> -with a heavy package. The family had returned -to the house in Gramercy Park, and he and -Phil had vacated the stable this spring.</p> - -<p>"Sure the Queen o' Sheby hersilf stepped off -the boat," he announced as he came into the -Villa.</p> - -<p>"My Aunt come!" exclaimed Phil, turning -around quickly. "I wonder what changed their -plan. Was she alone?"</p> - -<p>"She was not, thin," declared the Irishman -proudly. "D'ye think the Princess didn't -come straight up and hold out her pretty hand -with a smile swate enough to beckon the bees? -'How d'ye do, Pat,' says she. ''Tis fine ye're to -be here this summer,' says she. 'We shall call -upon you for a lot o' help,' she says."</p> - -<p>Philip stood still in indecision. No, he wouldn't -hurry over. They knew he was not expecting -the arrival; and he fell to business again.</p> - -<p>The Irishman looked about him, on pictures -and sketches.</p> - -<p>"Sure 'tis a power o' work ye've done, me -bye," he said. "I feel I shud have on a bathin' -suit to look at 'em."</p> - -<p>Eliza from her window saw Captain James -drive up to the boulder cottage and saw the -ladies dismount, and with them the maid of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span> -all work with whom they intended this year to -live the simple life. Pat would be a valuable -auxiliary.</p> - -<p>It was evening before Phil went across the -field to call. A brilliant planet showed a pale -wake of light across the water, forerunner of the -moon which was soon to rise.</p> - -<p>"So serene, so soft, is she," thought Phil, in -whose head Eliza's words still rang, "and so -remote," he added. "So she shines on me, and -on all, alike. Eliza hasn't seen the others, so -she thinks me selected"; and he pressed down -the stopper which a long time ago he fitted to -repress disturbing emotions; for in the last hours -they had effervesced threateningly around its -rough edges.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian received him effusively and -Kathleen with the calm directness to which he -had adjusted himself.</p> - -<p>"Your portrait comes off this summer, Aunt -Isabel," he said.</p> - -<p>"I can't afford it, my dear," she answered.</p> - -<p>Phil shook his head. "If I painted a portrait -of every Fabian on earth, would it pay my debt -to you?" he asked. "And anyway I have the -finest collection of Sidneys in the country; but -there isn't a portrait among them."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do yourself sometime, Phil, will you?" -suggested Kathleen.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and you," he replied. "I want to do a -picture of you on my terrace. Pat and I have -brought up the bay to-day; and I want to begin -it immediately."</p> - -<p>"I know," laughed Kathleen. "You want to -do both mother and me before our complexions -desert us."</p> - -<p>"I'll take you alternate days if you'll let me. -I'd like you to-morrow, for my background is -just as I want it." He turned to Mrs. Fabian. -"Will you lend me your daughter to-morrow? -I have the finest of Irish terriers for a watch-dog, -you know."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fabian shrugged her shoulders. "I certainly -shan't waste my time chaperoning you -two cousins at this late day," she answered.</p> - -<p>On the afternoon following Eliza met Kathleen -coming across the field. She looked at her -in surprise, for instead of khaki the girl was -wearing a filmy white gown whose length was -lifted from the clover and buttercups, and carried -over her arm.</p> - -<p>Eliza looked admiringly at the lithe figure, -and the deep eyes that beamed kindly upon her.</p> - -<p>"No wonder you are startled, Eliza; I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span> -going to sit for my portrait," she said, clasping -Miss Brewster's hard hand.</p> - -<p>"You look as if you was ready for your wedding," -returned Eliza.</p> - -<p>"I should like it to be here if I ever have one," -said Kathleen; and Eliza watched the rose-color -spread from the girl's cheek to her brow, while -the young eyes kept their steady, kind regard; -then she inquired of Eliza as to the winter.</p> - -<p>"I do believe she kind o' likes me for his -sake," thought Eliza, standing still to look -after the slender, graceful figure when Kathleen -moved on amid the daisies and clover.</p> - -<p>"She's a flower herself. That's what she is, -and Mr. Philip didn't go as red as a beet for -nothin' when I spoke yesterday. He thinks -she's above him. There ain't anybody above -him!"</p> - -<p>Whatever was the errand that had brought -Eliza into the field this afternoon she abandoned -it, and turned slowly back toward the farmhouse, -glancing often at the Villa through whose -door the slender white figure had disappeared.</p> - -<p>"I wish there was somethin' I could do to help -'em," she thought. "That pretty critter can't -do a thing against Mr. Philip's determination -if he's set out. I know <em>him</em>."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Why was Kathleen so exquisite?" asked -Mrs. Wright as Eliza came in.</p> - -<p>"Settin' for her portrait," answered Eliza -absently. "Said she was too dressed up to come -and see you, but would come to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"She was a picture already, coming bareheaded -through that flowery field," said Mrs. -Wright.</p> - -<p>Eliza did not respond. She disappeared into -her own room and closed the door. Then she -unlocked her trunk and took from its depths -a package which she untied, disclosing a fine -camel's-hair shawl. She unfolded it with loving -fingers, and regarded it. "A good enough weddin' -present even for her," she muttered.</p> - -<p>Then she reached into another corner and -took out a tin box which she unlocked and drew -forth a tiny velvet case, rubbed and worn. -When she opened this, tears rushed to her eyes -and she lifted it to her lips. "Nothin' could -make you so happy, my dear one," she murmured -brokenly. "Nothin'! Nothin'!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Half an hour later Eliza entered the Villa. -Pat was doing some scraping of palette knives -in the kitchen. She looked timidly out on the -terrace. A lovely living picture met her eyes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span> -Kathleen was sitting on the white railing, her -filmy gown falling in folds at her feet. Behind -her rose the bay-crowned pillar casting shadows -on the red-glints of her hair.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Philip, please excuse me," said Eliza -humbly; "but could you spare Pat to go on an -errand for us?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," replied Phil absently, working -at a white heat.</p> - -<p>Eliza withdrew with quiet celerity. The errand -she required was to be performed at a distance, -and she was so nervous while she gave -Pat directions that he grinned at her.</p> - -<p>"Ye're thinkin' about <em>thim</em>!" he said, jerking -his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of -the terrace.</p> - -<p>Eliza's eyes widened. "Why in the world -should I think about them?" she asked, all the -time tolling Pat away toward the farmhouse.</p> - -<p>"I cud look at 'em from now till Christmas -sittin' there," he responded. "I don't blame -ye."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>"I haven't asked you about the turtle -doves," said Phil, sketching in Kathleen's -hands.</p> - -<p>"They believe themselves the happiest people<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span> -in the world, and perhaps they are. Violet has -really convinced me that she is the right girl for -Edgar. A meek one would have little chance."</p> - -<p>"They're coming up here, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes. Edgar can't get his vacation from -the church quite yet, and she'll not come till he -can."</p> - -<p>"Of course not," replied Phil simply. "How -can one voluntarily live without the other a day -after the great discovery is made?"</p> - -<p>Kathleen made no answer to this. The lump -that rose in her throat was rebellious; and the -artist, looking up suddenly, met fire in the -depths of her dark eyes. The lids dropped. His -hand grew suddenly unsteady.</p> - -<p>"Tell me when you're tired, Kathleen," he -said. "We have the summer." He smiled as he -spoke; but it was a rigid sort of smile.</p> - -<p>The field sown thickly with the late wild-flowers -of the island, and stretching to a sparkling -sea, the rustling orchard leaves, and the -crown of bay behind the queenly young head, -the soft white figure with the loosely dropped -hands! It was no time or place for Kathleen to -look at him like that.</p> - -<p>"I'm tired now, I believe," she said, quietly. -"Will it be enough for to-day?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span></p> - -<p>"At least until you're rested. Come in -and let me show you a sketch I did yesterday."</p> - -<p>She rose and lifted her white shoulders with -a movement of weariness, then they moved inside -the room.</p> - -<p>A vase of daisies stood on the table. "I believe," -said Phil, "I should have asked you to -wear daisies in your hair."</p> - -<p>They were standing by the table and he took -three of the long stems and breaking them to -convenient length made a movement toward -her head. Then he shrank. "Put them in, will -you?" he asked.</p> - -<p>The least smile touched her lips, and her -hands hung down.</p> - -<p>"You know best what you want," she replied -and inclined her regal head toward him.</p> - -<p>The golden radiance streamed through the -small-paned windows and reddened her hair.</p> - -<p>Phil's fingers trembled as they tucked the -flower stems under the soft folds. He dropped -his eyes from the lustrous tints, and they caught -a sudden elusive spark of violet, then green that -shone on the table. He looked closer, and -pointed.</p> - -<p>"Did you leave your ring there?" he asked.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span></p> - -<p>Kathleen looked. A diamond ring was shining -beneath the tall candlestick.</p> - -<p>She shook her daisy-crowned head.</p> - -<p>"It's not mine," she said, wondering. "I -never saw it."</p> - -<p>"Nor I." Phil's breath came faster. "This is -an enchanted place, Kathleen. The very spirit -of the sea must have pitied me in my struggle -and brought this ring." The ring! He looked -at it, dazed for another moment, then like a -flash he remembered Eliza's interruption, and -his illumined eyes met Kathleen's, grave and -wondering.</p> - -<p>"I adore you, my darling. I give up the fight." -He kept his eyes on hers as he picked up the -quaint little jewel and pressed it to his lips.</p> - -<p>Kathleen smiled at him, then her eyes veiled -and dropped.</p> - -<p>He lifted her hand and slowly put the ring on -her finger; for the inner sanctuary of her heart -had flown open, and he had seen within.</p> - -<p>Quickly he clasped her close in his arms. She -clung to him, and the golden radiance enveloped -them.</p> - - -<p class="center">THE END</p> - - -<div class='transnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3> - <p>Minor punctuation and printer errors repaired.</p> - - <p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully - as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other - inconsistencies.</p> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Inner Flame, by Clara Louise Burnham - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INNER FLAME *** - -***** This file should be named 52240-h.htm or 52240-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/2/4/52240/ - -Produced by Christopher Wright and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -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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